Timeless Tale Scene 4

Disclaimer: Rurouni Kenshinnot mine (sigh)

A/N: Hi hi! I realized that I was tweaking Scene 5! Scene 4 is done, too! So here is Scene 4 as a treat! Yay! Wow! Two scenes AT ONCE! Yippee! Enjoy!

ACTION!

"Ahhhh!" Kaoru yelled out in pain as she fell to the floor. She had tripped on a washcloth she left on the ground the night before. Kenshin kneeled down to help her up.

"Are you alright Kaoru-dono?"

"DANG IT! I was so caught up in anticipating your reaction I didn't see the washcloth! OKAY! AGAIN!"

Kenshin smiled at her enthusiasm. Once again Kenshin took the defensive stance. Kaoru ran at him. (This time she checked for washcloths.) The next thing she knew Kenshin had gotten behind her and lightly tapped her shoulder. She couldn't believe it. One second he was in front of her and the next he was behind her. Her eyes couldn't even keep up!

She remembered how fast he had gone when he caught her when she fell from the tree. What was going on? She decided to play it cool.

"Wow, Himura-san! Very impressive! So, what type of kenjutsu do you use?"

"Hi-" he paused "Um.."

"Hmm?"

"Um... I'm not sure. Just whatever moves my father taught me." He smiled, satisfied with his answer.

However Kaoru wasn't convinced. But she decided if he was being so secretive she should just drop it. She made a joke a out of it. "For a minute there I thought you were going to say Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu! Ha ha! You know like the hitokiri!" She started to laugh.

She got back into her fighting stance. She wanted to spar again. She stopped when she saw how pale he looked. "Himura-san?"

He seemed to wake up from a daydream. He resumed his defensive stance (he absolutely refused to be on the offense) and they began again. The same thing resulted each time. He would manage to go super fast when she came and he would be able to tap her behind her, above her, beneath her, you name it!

But then again, Kaoru hadn't unleashed the Kamiya Kasshin Ryu Oogi Succession technique!

She ran at him and she felt him come from behind. (After you spar with someone for this long you begin to get a feel for their techniques.) She turned around, almost too slowly, and crossed swords with him. Then she threw her sword into the air causing him to lose balance, and she grappled him until she had him pinned to the floor. She smiled happily. "I win."

They were eating watermelon while facing the inner courtyard of the house. It was peaceful feeling the breeze and enjoying the sunny day. The silence was comfortable.

Kaoru looked deep in thought as she chomped on her watermelon. Did it really happen? Her mind went back to when they had crossed swords. She could've sworn she saw his eyes flicker amber. But when she had him pinned down they were back to violet. She was still deciding in her mind whether it had happened or not when... "Kaoru-dono?"

She looked up. "Yes?"

"I wanted to thank you for the cookies you gave me. Such an act of kindness made me very happy."

"Oh! You're welcome! It's the least I could do!"

"Also, they were very delicious! Too bad your cookies for the baking assignment came out... um... different." They both began to laugh.

"What did you do differently when you cooked that last batch?"

"I was happy."

She turned and smiled at him. He felt his heart beat quicken. What was going on?

They had been sitting and chatting away, long after the last watermelon slice was gone, until they heard the door of the gate open and close.

"Oi, Kaoru! I'm hungry! What are we having for dinner?"

Kaoru's eyes went wide. "Ah! I totally forgot about dinner...! Doushiyo!"

Kenshin looked at her with sympathy as she started chomping on her nails.

"Kaoru! Where are you?" Yahiko entered the courtyard to find Kaoru with someone he had never met before.

"Who's this? You're too ugly to have a boyfriend! HAHAHA"

Kaoru stopped looking worried and looked pissed. "I'm NOT ugly! He's NOT my boyfriend! And you are NOT getting any dinner!"

Yahiko realized he had just screwed himself over. No matter how badly she cooked he was hungry enough for anything. He looked up again when he saw the stranger coming towards him. "Hi, I'm Himura Kenshin. You must be Kaoru's student, Yahiko"

Yahiko froze a little as he looked up at the red-head who was smiling down at him. There was something... strange... what was that called again, deja vu? Yahiko looked up and realized he had been silent for quite awhile. "Uh.. yea! I'm Yahiko! My ancestors are from a long line of Shizoku! So you better watch out little man!"

Kaoru covered her face in embarrassment as Yahiko threatened/harassed/showed off in front of Kenshin. But then her curiosity got the best of her and she uncovered her face to see Kenshin's response. As usual... he was smiling. He merely laughed and said he enjoyed Yahiko's fighting spirit. With a pat on the head, Kenshin turned towards Kaoru. "Would you mind if I used your kitchen?"

Kaoru shook her head. As he made his way towards the kitchen Kaoru and Yahiko exchanged bewildered looks. "I've heard of people asking to use the bathroom, but the kitchen?"

"Oh, no, Kaoru! What if he's going to do his business in the pans!"

"Yahiko, shut up! That's disgusting" No matter how unconventional and goofy her home-ec teacher was sometimes, he wouldn't do that... right? Yahiko laughed as he saw worry cloud over Kaoru's face. "You actually think he'd go number 2 or something in a pan? Geez, you're a spaz"

Kaoru felt her face go hot and ran into the kitchen. "Himura-san, what are you doing?"

Her eyes went wide when she saw him in an apron simultaneously cooking rice, and what looked like sukiyaki (oishi!). He smiled (as usual). "I'm making dinner. You have been such a great hostess, and Yahiko looked crushed when you told him you wouldn't give him dinner. This is the least I can do for you both to have me here"

Kaoru sighed dreamily. "It was nothing really. And we're not even that hungry..." Suddenly the smell of the sukiyaki hit her nose. "That smells delicious!" She couldn't help herself... it smelled DIVINE! "Could I help with anything?"

"No!... I mean, no it's all under control" Kenshin blushed and kept working.

Kaoru sat down at the table and watched. Trying to picked up tips on cooking sukiyaki and such, but mainly just watching the red-headed hottie. How often do you get to have such a hunk in your kitchen! She looked at his back, which started at his broad shoulders and then went in towards his slender waist. She never noticed how muscular he was. While on the scrawny side, he wasn't a total twig. Now that she knew for sure he had learned kenjutsu, she was wondering if the other rumor was true too. People around school had been saying he used to be quite the hoodlum in his high-school days. Although everyone had a hard time believing it. But... the image of his amber eyes stayed in her mind. "Please don't be burned!"

Her train of thought broke as she heard Kenshin pleading with the sukiyaki. She began to laugh out loud... Him, a HOODLUM! She didn't stop laughing until dinner time.

Dinner was uneventful for the most part. Kaoru was pleasantly surprised with Yahiko's mild mannered-ness with Kenshin. Usually with strangers he would be pretty high strung. The dinner itself was delicious (as to be expected from a home-ec teacher, ne?). The comfortable feeling with the three of them eating was something that stirred a sentiment in Kaoru that she couldn't place her finger on. What was it?

Her thoughts plagued her long after the dinner.

CUT!

Okay, NOW the next scene is being tweaked with as we speak! (Really!) I saw that a lot of people marked this story as a favorite, and I was so happy! I couldn't/can't believe it! So thank you to you all, and I am now extra encouraged to continue writing the scenes! Peace out and stay tuned! And as always, review, please!