Chapter 16: Training With Kenshin

"Everyone get up!" Shoji's voice yelled as he came down the stairs.

"Oh.." Kaoru moaned. "Again…?"

The group from Aoshi's team and Kenshin's team were trotting down behind him, all looking quite tired.

Kaoru crawled out of bed, feeling heavy. She hadn't gotten enough sleep, and she was really regretting it now… Well, she'd gotten to actually sit and talk with Kenshin for once, so maybe she didn't quite regret it. She couldn't remember going back to her bed. When had she fallen asleep?

Kenshin trudged down last of all, rubbing his eye. Kaoru made sure to stand next to him.

"Ken-- Ah- Himura-san…" She mumbled, grabbing his sleeve.

"You fell asleep," He responded.

"You look tired…"

Kenshin laughed a bit. "So do you. You look like hell."

"Well, you look like hell froze over."

They both snickered a bit, trying to wake themselves up.

"You already told us there was a spy," Yahiko complained.

"The government has managed to throw off our location," Shoji said, sounding a bit bitter that Yahiko brought it up.

"Is that why you bothered us?" Sano chimed in tiredly, looking rather angry himself.

"Partly. Let me finish, Sagara."

"Hum…" Sano mumbled, leaning back against the wall.

"They've been thrown off our trail, but we have no idea when they'll find us," Shoji said, his eyes narrowing. "So, we're changing the schedule. Everyone will rise with team one, and everyone will go in with team three."

Moans erupted from the crowd.

"You're kidding me!" One of the men screamed. "This isn't fair!"

They all began complaining and expressing their anger with quite loud, quite vulgar exclamations.

"SHUT YOUR MOUTHS!" Shoji screamed over them all, and the room went deathly silent. "You will follow my orders."

Kaoru clutched onto Kenshin's arm, blushed, and let go. Shoji had a very menacing scream.

"Now," Shoji said, looking satisfied and angry at the same time. "Get out there and train. Our country is counting on you."

-

The rain from the night before had left a murky, damp feeling in the air, and today they were using their swords.

Kaoru drew her weapon, feeling slightly dazed and confused. She blinked several times to knock the sleep out of her eyes, yawned, and scanned the crowd for challengers that would be easy to fight. She didn't really feel like working at the moment.

After a few minutes of dragging her way along the outskirts of the men brawling each other (since the anger from inside had surely built up steam they needed to release), she saw Kenshin, not fighting for once, but standing and watching the others with a far-off look in his eye.

She approached him calmly, lifted her hand, and placed it on his shoulder, speaking his name in time with it.

"Ah! Kaoru-" He turned around and faced her, eyes wide.

She felt her whole body numb. He recognized her so suddenly… She felt faint.

"Oh…" He said, calming down. "My apologies, Kahei-san."

"Eh-heh…" She choked, forcing a smile. If she had blurted out something she shouldn't have, she definitely would've been caught. She was a needle's width away at that very moment, but somehow she emerged unscathed. "Isn't Kaoru a girl's name?" She joked nervously, nudging him. "You're silly, Himura-san."

"Sessha has just been spacey this morning," Kenshin replied, beaming. "Do you need something?"

"Ah---" Now that she'd been asked, she didn't know why she was even going near him. Her heart was moving her again, the damned thing. "Well, I uh--- it's kinda embarrassing to say but…"

"You need help with your training?" He asked.

"N--- Yeah. That's the one," Kaoru replied, then chewed on her lower lip.

"Sessha will help you," Kenshin said, leading her to a spot a ways away from the brawl. His warm hand on her cold back sent shivers down her spine, and she only prayed he didn't notice.

She stared at him as he got into stance, looking oh-so-serious, and a dream she'd had that night entered her head. It was very vague in her mind, but it involved him approaching her on a white horse without his shirt on and asking if she wanted a ride.

"Kahei-san."

"What!" She yelled, blushing.

"Sessha asked if you knew the Battou Jutsu stance."

"Oh… yeah, yeah…" She nodded, feeling flustered as she copied the position she'd seen Kenshin make several times. "This is right, right?"

"No, move your hand downward a bit… Yes, that's right… move your foot forward…There, that's perfect."

She stood completely still, trying not to tremble. He was so… intimidating… This would scare men, but with her… it was… very attractive.

"Draw your weapon quickly," Kenshin explained, pulling his sakabatou free and slashing the air. The blade flew so fast that it left a blue streak.

She placed a shaky hand along the hilt and tried to draw it as quickly as she could but only managed to drop it.

"Not quite," He said, walking over as she picked it up, blushing even more deeply.

"I'm usually better at this…" She mumbled.

"You are facing off against the Battousai. Most are fearful…" He took her shaking hands into his own. "Including you," He finished, raising his eyebrows.

The memory of the last time he held her hands, the night before he left, entered her head. Heat crept into her cheeks.

"Hm?" He lifted one of her hands and flipped it palm up. "You have a scar."

Her hand had been cut by that dish. His finger traced it, and she felt her knees weaken.

"Something wrong?" He asked.

"I…" She breathed. It felt as if she had drunken an entire bottle of sake.

He let go of her hands. "Ahem…" He said, looking away. "T-try it again…"

He backed up.

She got back into position. He had to have noticed something. How embarrassing!

The humid air made her hair stick to her forehead and her shirt to her back. It was a gross, sticky feeling, but she tried to ignore it and concentrate on the task at hand. If Kenshin could do Battou Jutsu, then it'd be fine. It wasn't hard. She was just… nervous.

She drew the blade and swung it outward as her beloved had done. It was quite obviously not as quick as his, but she did it, and that's all that mattered to her.

"All right!" She cheered, beaming. "I did it!"

"Not bad," Kenshin comment, smiling back at her. "Can you block moves?"

"Block moves? I- AHH!" She threw her sword up in defense as Kenshin's blade crashed against hers. "Yeah!" She squeaked. It never ceased to amaze her on how fast he was.

She broke their stance and held out her weapon, unintentionally readying herself in Kamiya Kasshin-ryu's stance. She caught herself before he noticed and slid her blade back into her sheath.

The gray sky rumbled threateningly. It would rain again soon.

The thunder signified something she didn't catch immediately… She had begun battle with Kenshin.

After a few minutes of cowering through her blocks, just walking backwards as he swung his blade in perfect precision against hers, she began to get angry that he'd go so easy on her. Why did everyone have to think like Saitou!

Finally, she swung back, and he dodged smoothly. The froze for a moment, panting, and the rain fell upon them on cue in heavy sheets.

"Are you sure… you've never done any swordsmanship before this camp?" He asked, swinging his bangs out of his face with a shake of his head.

"I'm a fast learner," She replied. Walking around the truth was so much better than a lie.

…and they were at it again, but this time, she was the first to move.

"You're quite good," Kenshin commented, blocking each of her moves with unfortunately incredible ease. It didn't stop her though. She was becoming more and more determined to prove herself everyday she was here. Whether it was Kaoru or Kahei, she needed him to know that the one protecting him was strong enough to at least put up a fight.

"Quite isn't good enough, is it?" She asked, trying to read his movements. It should've been easier since she'd seen him fight so much… then again, he was sometimes to quick to actually 'see' anything but…

"It's a start," Kenshin replied. "Are you wanting sessha to try harder?"

"It's a start," She responded, smirking.

"Well, well, well," Kenshin said, raising his eyebrows. "Sessha supposes he must give you what you want, ne?"

-

Hours passed. Kaoru fought ceaselessly with Kenshin who was -she knew- still going easy on her. Obviously Hiten Mitsurugi-ryu was too much for her on full strength, and so she didn't complain anymore. She battled hard and did all she could not to get distracted. Was it fair that a man could look so beautiful when dodging through the air, sweat slipping down the side of his face? She forced herself to think like a man, since a man would never find another man attractive unless they had preferences like Kamatari, and those were few and far in-between…

Kaoru pulled back her blade as Kenshin swept down for an attack at her knees when… the sword just… slipped out of her fingers. Before she could question why, her legs turned to jelly, and she fell forward.

Kenshin caught her before she hit the mud. "Has sessha worn you out?" He asked calmly.

Her hands were raw and filled with pain as they gripped onto his shirt as she tried to hoist herself back up.

"Fighting will do that to you," Kenshin said, "especially at that speed."

She felt like she was being stared at, and when she looked out over her arms at the other men, she found that quite a few of them were watching with impressed looks on their faces.

"You did really well," Kenshin whispered in her ear. "You had sessha on the ropes."

"You were still going easy on me," Kaoru responded sleepily.

He laughed slightly. "You catch on quick…"

Her hands loosened on his shirt, and she collapsed completely. Kenshin picked her up and carried her towards the temple.

"Hey, Himura! Don't take him in! Wake him up and put him to work!" Shoji yelled defensively.

Kenshin sighed and smiled at him. "He's done enough. Fighting sessha took all his strength."

"-but-"

"Do not question this one," Kenshin replied, carrying her up the steps.

-

When Kaoru awoke, Yahiko and Sano were right up in her face.

"WAAH!" She screamed, wriggling like crazy and smacking them in the face.

"Ow!" Sano yelled, rubbing his chin.

"Oh, wow, you scared me…" She whispered, clutching her heart. "What were you looking at me for?"

"No reason," Sano replied, and if she hadn't of been so freaked out, she would have realized the red tint on his cheeks.

"Yeah," Yahiko responded, the same tint on his cheeks.

"You'd better hurry and get some dinner or there won't be any for you," Sano said, nodding in the direction of the server.

"Ah!" She yelped, getting up and running to get in line.

"Sessha sees Kahei-san is feeling better, ne?" Kenshin said, approaching the two boys and sitting down with them.

"Hey, Kenshin, long time no talk," Yahiko rejoined flatly.

"Sorry…" He chuckled nervously.

"You worried about your little boy toy, Kenshin?" Sano asked rather suggestively.

"B-boy toy?" Kenshin asked, as if he'd never heard the term before.

"Oh, come on!" Sano exclaimed. "I know you've noticed. Kahei is totally getting the boy lust for you!"

"Oro…" Kenshin said, flattening his eyebrows and blushing.

"Boy lust…?" Yahiko questioned, raising his eyebrow.

"When men are all stuck together with no women for a long time, they usually start having other things arouse them, mainly other men. Whether it's your preference or not, we all start to feel that way if left with them for a long time."

Kenshin nodded. "Indeed… That's why many men, mostly young boys since they resembled women more, were raped during the Bakumatsu."

"Way to take a topic and turn it disturbing," Sano commented.

"It happened," Kenshin sighed. "…boy toy?"

Sano burst out laughing. "Come on! You know he likes you! I mean, he at LEAST looks up to you. He gets all flustered when you're around. Hey, I can't exactly blame him. You're a little easier on the eyes than a bunch of these men, since you kinda look like a girl."

"Sessha isn't sure if that was a compliment or an insult…"

"Not saying Kahei's not nice too," Sano said, looking in Kaoru's direction and blushing, a bit of a perverted grin on his face. "He's a beautiful guy. He's the kind of man men would go gay for."

"Oro…" Kenshin mumbled.

"Gross!" Yahiko yelled, laying down on his futon.

"Oh, you know he is," Sano said to Yahiko. "Just imagine him for one second."

Silence followed through the group as an image of Kahei (all male) with more roughed up hair and in a somewhat girly pose beamed a sparkly smile at them.

They all blushed. "SEE! You're thinking about it!" Sano yelled, falling over laughing.

"Well, it's kind of hard not to when you talk about it, Sano!" Kenshin retorted, looking embarrassed.

"AGH!" Yahiko screamed into his pillow.

"Yeah, I know…" Sano said, laying back and sticking a fishbone (where he got it was anybody's guess) into his mouth. "I think women should be in the army. They fight a hell of a lot harder than lots of us… stronger too…"

Kenshin stared at Sano for a few moments, when his eyes looked beyond him as they often did. "That's a good point… Sanosuke… but…"

"-but NOTHIN'!" Sano replied. "I know for sure that if Kaoru were here, she'd be beating up every last one of us!"

"Don't be so sure," Saitou said, passing. "You I can understand, but not Himura."

"GO AWAY!" Sano yelled, balling up his fists.

"Is that the best you can come up with?" Saitou asked, putting out his cigarette on Sano's shirt. Sano didn't yelp in pain, but he paled considerably.

Saitou looked at Kenshin.

Their eyes met and silence followed between them.

Something… he's trying to tell me something with his eyes, but… I can't figure out what it is… Kenshin thought, staring intently through him, into his mind almost.

"Hey," Kaoru said, approaching with a bowl in her hands. "What are you guys talking about?"

They all looked at her and blushed then looked away.

"What?" She asked innocently.

(A/N: Happy New Year everyone! I hope you liked the chapter. Much love to you reviewers. XOXO.)