Disclaimer: RK is not mine
Hello everyone! Finally an update! Gomen because there are no individual responses for reviews in this chapter. You see I have a paper to finish and I still have to read several articles for Political Science and Philosophy… College life is soooo stressfull!
Thank you for all those who reviewed my story and those who included me and this story in their favorite stories! Thank you! Doumo Arigatou Gozaimasu!
This chapter is in Kenshin's point of view!
I hope you guys enjoy this one!
In advance, I am apologizing for the wrong grammar and others because I was not able to edit this. I'm going to though, as soon as I have the time to do it
On with the story!
0
0
---Chapter 10: His Story---
My eyes fluttered open as the shrill ring of the alarm clock invaded my senses. My eyes took in the sight of a blue ceiling and the quite gloomy atmosphere of the room. The dark blinds are covering the windows, preventing the bright rays of the sun to enter the room.
"Damn it Kenshin! Shut off your damn alarm! I'm trying to sleep here!" My friend and college buddy, Sagara Sanosuke, shouted from the other room, which is directly beside mine. The two of us drank the night away last night as we talked about anything that our minds can put themselves into. I did not trust my friend to go home in one piece so I offered to let him stay in my house for the night.
I rose from my bed and slammed my alarm clock shut with my hand. Then I opened the blinds and looked at the scene outside. Stretching out my arms, my mind scanned through what I have planned for today.
My name is Himura Kenshin. I'm 21 years old and am currently an incoming senior college student in Tokyo University where I'm pursuing a degree in Business Administration. Aside from being a student, I also have a part time job in my uncle Himura Hiko Seijuro's dojo as an instructor. Even though my father's twin brother has a knack for annoying me out of my mind, the pay is good and I can continue with my kendo training.
I have been living here in Tokyo for three years already and to most of the people here, I'm the perfect epitome of a single, boy-next-door type of guy who is kind to everyone and loves to have a good time with his friends.
However, I'm not really what they perceived me to be.
What they didn't know is that I'm a 21-year old college guy who is on his way to his fourth year of marriage.
That's right. I have been married for four years already. Even I have a hard time convincing myself that yet it has been four years already. Maybe it's because I still believe that the marriage is not real, and it is just something that our parents forced on us. That is why I never told anyone that I am married and pretended that I'm a single and ordinary college student here in Tokyo.
And that leads me to my wife… where is Mrs. Himura Kaoru right now?
In all honesty, I don't know. I haven't seen her or talked to her for three years…
"No matter what anyone says, I will go to France. I don't need your money. I can go there on my own and get a job to support myself." Kaoru said that night when I announced that I am going to Tokyo University. Both of our parents were in shock with our decisions but they have no choice. I have a scholarship so they can't stop me, Kaoru used her connections so no matter what, and she can leave Japan without her parent's support.
What I didn't realize back then is how intent my wife is in leaving.
Our graduation day was supposed to be a happy day in any high school senior student's life. For the three years we have spent in high school, this day is what we have been waiting for.
Kaoru and I have not been talking ever since that night almost two weeks ago. I did not wait for her and went to school early so that I can run through my speech with Tomoe. I told myself that I would speak with Kaoru to clear out some things because our conversation back in my room where she told me how much she both hated me and loved me stuck to my mind like glue. I hated that feeling of being disturbed by my guilt.
However, I did not get the chance and it was not until everyone assembled in the school auditorium did I realize that my wife is nowhere in sight.
I was sitting in front and the seat next to mine, which is supposed to be occupied by the 2nd highest student (and that belongs to Kaoru), was empty. After the principal ended with his speech, I was called in front and addressed the student body, the teachers and the parents with the valedictory speech.
She did not show up for the entire graduation and I learned from my parents a little much later that she packed her bags and took the morning flight bound for Paris.
She left without saying good-bye.
After that, I never got the chance to talk to her again. I have to admit that back then, even though I was feeling guilty, I was quite relieved when she left. With her out of the picture, I can do what I want and pretend that I never married anyone. With Tomoe and I going to Tokyo together, my life would return to its normal track and I can go on with what I have initially planned.
And that is exactly what I did after graduation.
Two weeks after our graduation, it was my turn to pack my bags and I boarded a train bound for Tokyo ready to start a new life and leave all of the terrible things that happened behind me in Kyoto. Tomoe followed me the next week and she stayed in the in-campus dormitory, which is just a bus ride away from the house that my parents bought for me. I was really happy because I am still following that life that I wanted to have during college.
I looked at myself in the mirror as I decided if I should stick with these black shirt and jeans. I put my long red hair in a low ponytail and checked if I look all right. I'm meeting someone this morning and I want to look really good for this date.
Grabbing my keys, my wallet and my phone from my desk, I headed towards the room where my friend is staying. I chuckled as I saw him sprawled out on the bed, with the pillows and comforter tossed aside on the floor. "Sanosuke, wake up."
It took me a few nudges before I can wake up my friend. "What?" He grumbled as he rubbed his hands on his face.
"I'm going out. I have a date remember? Be sure to lock the door when you leave okay?" I reminded him. After I am sure that he understood what I said, I left my house and went towards my black Honda motorcycle. I'm quite proud to say that I bought this motorcycle with the money I earned from the dojo and some other jobs that I took during the past 3 years. I just bought this motorcycle 2 months ago and I prefer to use this one than the car my parents bought for me when I moved here three years ago. I wish I could move out of the house that they bought me as well and get an apartment of my own but I decided against it because I don't think I can afford renting an apartment until I graduate from college and get a stable job.
I got on and put on my black helmet before I sped away to reach our meeting place on time. We planned to meet on a café in Ginza and afterwards watch a movie and eat a late lunch together.
From the very first time I met Tomoe; I was very much attracted to her. It was a fateful night during the third year of Junior High school when I met her and she changed my life.
I was going home from my kendo practice. It was a little bit late because my friends dragged me to go to the karaoke for a while and I was passing through an alley because it was quicker to go home that way.
I was walking fast and not minding the surroundings around me when I suddenly heard a scared feminine voice from a distant corner.
"Please don't hurt me. Let go of me please!"
"Don't worry, you will sure enjoy what we will do to you. You won't get hurt… much." A slurred voice answered her followed by a series of maniacal laughter from several men.
I clenched my sakabatou, which I am carrying and quickly raced towards the direction where I heard the voices. I reached that corner and saw four big and burly men cornering a very beautiful girl with black hair who can't be older than me. "Let go of her!"
The four men, who are obviously drunk, turned around and snorted when they saw me. "Just who are you to demand something from us midget!" They took their pocketknives and advanced towards me with every intention of finishing me off.
"Stay back!" I ordered the girl.
She nodded her head as she looked at me with frightened eyes. She took a few steps backward clasping both of her hands in front of her chest.
"You are finished boy!" The man with spiky black hair said as he stepped forward and charged towards me. His two other companions copied his movements and attacked me.
It took several minutes and a cross wound on my cheek before I was able to knock the four men unconscious. I had a slightly hard time because I was also steering the four men away from the girl that I am protecting. As soon as I knocked down the last man, I hurried towards her side to see if she is okay. She thanked me several times then she placed her handkerchief on my face to stop my wound from bleeding.
"Thank you so much. You saved my life. I will be forever in your debt." She said as she pressed the cloth on my face, her deep black eyes probing into mine.
She was really beautiful. I have never seen anyone as beautiful as her. I gave her a smile and said," Don't mention it. I'm glad that you are safe. By the way, my name is Himura Kenshin."
She smiled gently in return. "I'm Yukishiro Tomoe."
I gripped the bike handle tightly as I felt the rush of wind pass through me. I have always liked the feeling of riding a motorcycle in great speed. While riding like this, I always felt like I am flying.
Yukishiro Tomoe. After that night, I never thought I would see her again. That is why my heart felt heavy when I watched her go inside their house after I escorted her home. What I didn't know is that a year later, our lives will intertwine…
"Yo! Himura!"
I broke into a huge grin as I saw Shishio and Cho sitting on the back part of the classroom I entered. I sat on a seat in front of them. "Hey, I didn't know you are also going here for high school."
Shishio leaned forward. "I wasn't supposed to but Yumi pulled a few strings to let me in. Her family practically owns this school you know."
My eyes swiftly studied the people inside the classroom as I saw some familiar faces, such as my neighbor Kamiya Kaoru and my other former classmate Makimachi Misao. Then my heart jumped as I acknowledged the person beside me.
"Himura-san, it's nice that we meet again."
I smiled brightly, uncaring whether I look stupid or something. "Yukishiro-san. You are also here? You mean we are classmates."
She laughed, her laughter sounding like bells. "It appears that we are."
And from that moment on, Tomoe and I were inseparable
I loved Tomoe very much. As I get to know her more and more, I feel more and more attracted to her. I was very happy when I learned that she loves me as well. Back in high school, I always had this notion that she and I will be like our parents, a couple who met during high school and will get married a few years later. I had my life mapped out for the two of us where everything will be happy and the two of us will be together.
That is why my world crumbled when I learned of my marriage to my childhood friend Kamiya Kaoru.
I hated her when I learned that. I know that I shouldn't, but aside from my parents, I can't find anyone else to blame but her. It all started when I learned that she knew about the engagement yet she did not tell me. I really thought that she planned everything because she has feelings for me, which I have learned the night before with the help of a little sake. Then it was not at all about that as time progresses… My anger towards her built it up into something bigger and deeper that. Whenever I see her, I felt something inside me snap and I have all these questions and accusations inside my head.
If she told me about the engagement sooner, I might have runaway much earlier and I could have escaped from that marriage.
If she did not exist, I might have never been in this predicament.
Just like what I told her last time, whenever I see her, I can see my life that she has ruined.
And because of that I cast her away; I never wanted to see her. Because of her I am hurt, because of her, Tomoe is hurt. Because of her, I cannot have the happy life that I want with my real love.
It is so easy to blame everything on Kaoru. By blaming and getting back on both of our parents, I can accomplish nothing. However, by blaming her I can see the results. I closed off all our happy memories together and how kind Kaoru was to me back then. I portrayed her as the villain in mine and Tomoe's story.
She was my enemy and a feeling of destroying her possessed me.
In the process, I forgot to consider her feelings and did not looked at her situation in her point of view. I forgot that it was not entirely her fault and that she is hurting as well. She was right. I was an immature jerk and an asshole for channeling all of my anger on her. I admit that I acted irrationally and that was unforgivable.
I forgot that she is also my friend.
I realized that too late because she is already gone.
And it means nothing to me anymore because I'm already too scarred to think of anything else other than she is my enemy. Especially after what happened… I don't think I can get over the hatred that I am feeling… I am too numb now to feel any guilt or remorse.
So up until this day, I still hate Himura Kaoru.
I parked my motorcycle in the parking lot. As soon as I got off from the vehicle, I removed my helmet and shook my head a little to put my hair in order. I gazed at the open café right across the street to see if the person I will be meeting is already there.
I saw her sitting alone on a chair beside a circular table with umbrella, flipping through a magazine with a steaming cup of coffee right in front of her. She flipped her long black hair as she looked closely at some article she is reading. She truly is a sight to behold in her flowing blue summer dress. My friends at school are saying that I'm so lucky to have someone like her like me. Most of the male population in Toudai admire this girl.
Am I really lucky?
I crossed the street and headed towards the café's direction. She seemed oblivious to my presence because even if I am standing right beside the table, she continued to read the magazine. I opted to sit at the table opposite hers and gently pulled the magazine away from her grasp. I smiled as I met her gaze. "Hey, did you wait long? I'm sorry."
She smiled back. "No don't apologize. I wanted to come here early since this is our first date and everything. You weren't exactly late." She took the magazine from me again and scanned through the pages. "This French magazine is really keeping me occupied so I wasn't bored at all."
"Thanks Sakura-san."
I miss her.
I miss Tomoe but due to what happened, I don't think we will ever be together again. It is due to that reason that I tremendously hate my parents and Kaoru's parents.
It was during the second semester of our first year in college together when Tomoe suddenly disappeared without even hinting to me where she went. We were supposed to meet one afternoon when she did not show up. When I stopped by her dormitory to see if she was there, the lady-in-charge told me that she packed her bags and went away. She also said that Tomoe dropped out of Toudai.
There were no letters, no phone calls, no visits— no nothing. I thought I was going to go crazy so I went to all of our friends asking if they knew where my girlfriend was. When they were not able to supply any relevant information, I decided to go back to Kyoto and see if she went home.
It was then that I learned that my father and Kaoru's father pulled out all of their stocks from the Yukishiro Corporation. In addition, they discouraged anyone from supporting Tomoe's father.
As a result, the Yukishiro's went bankrupt and no one will ever help them to recover their losses. The banks would not give them loans, no investors were interested— they were blacklisted in several industries.
All because of my family's intervention.
I learned all of this from Yumi and Kamatari. They said that the Yukishiro's were given no choice but to move somewhere else. Tomoe's uncle, who is the twin brother of her father, is still angry with his brother that is why they did not offer any help and left them to suffer. That same day when Tomoe did not show up in our meeting, that was the same day her family left for China to start anew.
And I never saw her again.
I was so angry and I confronted my parents about it. My father said that I was too young to understand but he did the right thing for everyone. He did not explain further and closed off the topic.
He's right. I don't understand. What is so right about bankrupting the family of my beloved, leaving them in tatters? Did that happen because I continued seeing Tomoe despite my marriage to Kaoru? I abide by their wishes! I married Kaoru so that they would not do that to Tomoe's family!
Yet they did it right after getting what they want from me.
They did not keep up with their promise.
I hated all of them from that moment on. I hated my parents; I hated Kaoru's parents. That hatred carried over and even if I was beginning to realize my mistake in hurting Kaoru during high school senior year, I forgot all about that realization and I hated her as well.
I don't want to have anything to do with them.
After that, I did not return to Kyoto and stayed at Tokyo for two years without going home. My parents visit occasionally but I never visit them, and while they are here, I close myself and build a huge wall between us.
Because of them I lost Tomoe.
Hell, I don't even know if she hates me because it was my family's fault that they have to experience that.
Will I ever see Tomoe again?
I don't know.
What I'm sure right now is I don't think I can ever forgive them for what they did.
I studied Sakura as she turned the pages of the magazine. "What are you looking for?"
"I wanted to show you the picture of an Japanese model here in this magazine endorsing a popular brand. She is really pretty and has a figure to die for. What I would do to look like her…" she gushed. I don't really understand girls sometimes. Sakura is really really pretty yet she still desire to look like someone else.
I looked at my watch and saw that it is already 10:30am. "We should get going now. The movie is about to start in 20 minutes and we still have to buy tickets and popcorn."
She sighed as she tossed the magazine on the table and reached for her bag on the floor. "Right, I want to see the trailers!"
"Let's go then," I stood up and offered my hand to hers. She smiled at me gratefully as she took my hand and stood up as well. I led her to where my motorcycle in parked and we got on and sped off towards the direction of the cinema houses.
For me it was just a regular day where a guy and a girl are meeting for a regular date.
But it should not have been a regular day at all.
I should have not looked at my watch and waited for Sakura to show me that Japanese model. If I did that, I might have been prepared with whatever surprise that will come to me in the following weeks. It might have served as a warning of some sort, an omen that tells you to get ready and be prepared.
But I didn't.
A few minutes after we left the table, a strong breeze passed by causing the pages of the magazine to turn one by one. Until it stopped on a page where a girl with black hair and beautiful sapphire blue eyes is looking up at the sky with a wistful and dreamy look in her face. She looks like an angel in her white sleeveless dress and her hair in soft curls cascading down her back like a waterfall.
At the left bottom of the page, one will see that the angel is named Kamiya Kaoru.
---000000-----
AN: Hi everyone! This is my first time to write in Kenshin's point of view. I hope I did okay…
Please tell me what you think! Leave me a review!
The next chapter will be titled "Her Story" and Kaoru will be telling her life in France for the past three years. Will she come back in the next chapter? Read the next chapter!
Thanks guys!
