Chapter 10: The Boy

Her heart was pounding in her chest. For a moment it felt like all the air in the world had been sucked away.

Standing there, looking at her, was a boy of about her age (her real age) with scruffy dark hair pulled back at the nape of his neck. He wore a light-blue kimono with dark-blue hakama over it and white socks. All of the clothing looked rather dirty and torn.

On the boy's back was a boken tied into a small, purple, square-shaped pack that was tied around his right shoulder. He blinked his blue eyes innocently at her, seeming a bit surprised.

She stared at him, shivering. He had seen her.

She couldn't remember seeing him at the training camp, but he had to have been there! Where else would he come from!

"Goodness," He said. "You're a girl, aren't you?"

She fell into the water. How stupid was this guy?

She rose up, furious. "You saw! Of course I am!" Little did she realize she could have gotten away with hiding.

"Yes… so you are," The boy replied, rubbing his chin. "Well, girl, what are you doing out here?… and why do you have a boy's haircut?"

She watched him for a moment, frozen.

He glanced at her clothing that was laid out on a rock. "Oh… You… You're in disguise, aren't you…"

She lowered her eyes.

"Don't worry, I won't tell," He giggled. "Any girl who cut her hair certainly cares a lot about her mission. You'd better get out before you catch cold."

"Turn around!" She yelled defensively.

"Sorry, but I can't. I always have to see people as who they are. I'm an artist, you see, and I always look at other people for inspiration."

She turned red. "Why should I believe you?"

"I guess you shouldn't, but you'll have to leave eventually, and Ican stayhere all night," He responded simply, beaming at her. His smile had the sort of hollowness in it that she couldn't put her finger on. It was true, yes, but something about it… Yes, it reminded her a lot of Kenshin's.

She slowly stood up and splashed her way to the shore.

His eyes widened. "My goodness…"

"What?" She asked angrily.

"I've seen a lot of women, but never as beautiful as you."

"Give me a break," She rolled her eyes, trying to shake off the water.

He laughed. "My name is Tenka."

"Tenka? That's an odd name," She said, sighing as she realized she was not getting dry anytime soon.

"Would you pose for me?" He asked, pulling a black book and charcoal pencil out of his shirt. "If you will, I'll give you a towel."

Kaoru agreed hesitantly.

He had her stand with her head tilted back and her arms wrapped over her chest. She stood with a profile view towards him, and then he had her turn her head towards him.

He quickly began to go to work, giving such quick glances at her that for awhile she didn't even know he was looking.

-

About twenty minutes passed.

"There," He said, writing his name on the bottom of the picture. "Finished." Keeping his word, he miraculously pulled a towel out of his pack without even removing it from his bag and tossed it to her. It was blue as well.

"You really like the color blue, don't you," She said, wiping her face with it first, then working on her shoulders.

"Yes, indeed… It's the color of sadness," He said, his eyes glazing over, a smile still placed on his lips.

She gazed at him. The boy was indeed… sad.

"Oh, um… my name is Kaoru," She told him, "but my alias is Kasuhige Kahei."

"I'll remember that," He smiled. "Kaoru…"

She finished drying off and lifted her bandages.

"Allow me to help you with those," He said, wandering over and taking them from her.

As he wrapped her, she blushed, feeling his breath against her neck.

"Before you ask, I'm not out to get you into bed with me," Tenka told her.

Her face turned even redder. "I wasn't going to ask that!" Yes, she was.

"Yes you were!" He laughed. "I'm not like that though, I swear on my own life. In fact, I'm a virgin."

"How old are you?" She asked.

"I'm not sure. I never celebrated many birthdays. I believe I'm about… twenty-two, twenty-three… something like that."

"Really?" Kaoru marveled as she slipped her shirts on. "You seem a lot younger to me."

"I'm really not," He laughed. "If anything, I'm older. You're twenty-three, right?"

"Yeah, how'd you know?"

"An artist can always tell," He said, tapping his forehead. "It's something in their brains."

Kaoru giggled. He was quite nice even though he was so secluded. Yes, he was open with his work and opinions, but his feelings were so far that she couldn't read them at all, not even in his eyes.

"Dear Kaoru, I do believe you have the most incredible look about you. If I ran into you on the street, I would never guess you were a woman. Brilliant work," He said, walking around in front of her as she tied her pants. He leaned in so that they were touching noses. "That is… unless I looked into those eyes of yours."

Her cheeks flushed at the closeness of him to her. "Wh… why is that?" She whispered.

"Only a woman can have such kind, innocent eyes. I only fear they won't be that way at the end of your journey."

Then, in a blink of her eyes, he passed her. "I'll see you hear tomorrow, same time and same place. I'd like to get to know you better… Kaoru."

What else could she say besides okay?

Tenka exited onto the path he was originally traveling down and opened his sketchbook to a picture of a woman from the waist up. Her hair was long and raven and flew out behind her, and tears rolled down her cheeks. Wings were emitting out of her back. This was his picture of Kaoru.

"By God, I believe I've found my muse," He chimed proudly. "Not to mention… my source of information." He slammed the book shut and placed it back in his front. His smile grew, and he shut his eyes. "Yes, indeed, I've caught two birds in one cage I guess… No, no, that's not how the phrase goes… Killed two birds with one stone! Yes, that's it… Goodness, that's violent… Who would come up with such a phrase?"

Meanwhile, Kaoru wrapped her bar of soap in the towel that Tenka had left. She shoved it in her shirt, paused, and pulled it out again. "I don't know if I should put it there. A bulge in my shirt could cause suspicion, but…" She placed it in her underwear under her hakama. "Now, this is uncomfortable, but I guess I won't be suspicious."

-

Kaoru managed to fumble her way back into the crowd without being noticed. She doubted anyone even knew she didn't come back. They were all stumbling and laughing, drunken and stupid. Kenshin was not stumbling or laughing of course, and neither were Aoshi or Saitou. Kenshin had a red flush over his nose, though he seemed to be trying to hide it, and Saitou puffed on his cigarette, looking quite pleased, and Aoshi didn't look any different.

"D-didn't you have any sake?" She asked Aoshi, marching up next to him, more to get near Kenshin.

"I hate alcohol," Aoshi responded quietly.

Kenshin glanced at her. "My, you look lovely this evening, Kahei-kun-san!" He slurred, beaming at her stupidly. She figured it was Sano's doing, pressuring him into it.

"Oh, why thank you!" She joked, posing. Saitou smirked.

"You're an idiot," He said.

"Who, Ken--- Himura-san or me?" She asked, looking half-offended.

"Both of you," Saitou said, tossing his cigarette down and stepping on it, then withdrawing another from his jacket. "Of course, he's drunk, so he has an excuse."

Kaoru was now actually offended.

"He could still fight better than you even in this condition, too," Saitou continued on in his smug voice.

She stomped ahead. "I know when I'm not wanted!" She yelled, giving him the finger.

Saitou lit his cigarette and watched her back, staring her down. I still have my suspicions… but he's not out for blood, I know that much…

This soap in my pants is really aggravating me…She thought, grimacing.

-

She managed to find Yahiko and Sano by the time they got back inside the temple. People were ravenously grabbing for food since not enough of it had been made (since they had not kept to schedule that day).

Kaoru herself was too tired to be hungry at the moment, but she knew she'd regret it if she didn't eat something.

Yahiko stood in front of her in the line of yelling, complaining males, talking to her as if nothing at all was going on.

"I didn't see you come back," He told her.

"I did," She said defensively. "I smell clean, don't I?"

"Yeah, I guess," Yahiko laughed. "I haven't really sniffed you though, Kahei-kun."

"Well, I suppose that's a good thing," She responded, pushing him foreword in line. "By the way, sorry about being a little sissy out there earlier. I'm not going to do that anymore."

"Hey, relax. We all have trouble adapting to certain things. You don't know any swordsmanship, and all you did was wash dishes. Your arms were bound to be weaker than most."

"Thanks," She said sarcastically. "That makes me feel much better…"

"Sorry."

"It's not that I don't know how to fight. I'm just out of practice, you know? I haven't had any reason to fight. It's your turn, Yahiko."

Yahiko took his bowl of rice and chopsticks. "Arigatou," He said, bowing to them. Kaoru did the same and followed after him.

"We only got half a bowl," She commented sadly.

They sat on their futons and began quietly munching on what they had.

"It's plain too…" Yahiko said. "There's no flavor in this."

"Well, I guess they didn't have time to put any flavor in it… I do wish we had some meat or something."

"Tsubame left me some onions in my bag just in case," Yahiko whispered, pulling out a small bento box with nothing but eight onion slices in it. "She says I have to eat them all tonight or they'll go bad."

"I'll help," Kaoru said, stacking some on top of her rice. "Not a fan of onions and rice, but I'm so hungry that I don't care." Of course it was a lie, but it was better than nothing. They took four each and began to eat. Yahiko had hidden the box inside his bag.

"So," He said, swallowing. "How come you didn't drink any sake?"

"I… don't like it," Kaoru replied. She did, but she wasn't there… All these lies were starting to grate on her.

"Me neither," Yahiko said. Sano chugged down a whole bottle in a competition with Saitou. It's incredible the way Saitou can drink. It's like he's some kind of freak who never gets drunk."

"In other words," Kaoru responded. "Sanosuke lost."

"Yeah," Yahiko said. "-and Saitou will probably never let it go. He says-" He imitated Saitou's voice in a mocking way, "you aren't a real man unless you can drink like one."

Kaoru laughed. "Yeah, but what to do you bet his wife could drink him under the table!"

The two roared with laughter.

Saitou looked up from his spot across the room.

Kaoru and Yahiko became completely silent after two chopsticks flew into the wall next to their heads.