A/N * waves* Hi guys!!. I'm back on track and all set. ^_^x. Sorry for all
the mishaps that happened last week, * slaps the fan fiction demons* I hope
they don't pop up again or I just might have to call on reinforcements to
help me out. Now for the dedications. Shadow girl- * smiles* I know you
will back me up as much as you can...both you and Kohachan. Everything is
going just smoothly now, and the only thing I'm worried about is if another
month long case of writers block attacks * knock on wood*. Cat- Thanks!!
Kaoruchan30- no I haven't read that story, but if you send a pen name I'll
check it out for sure! And I'm glad you love my writing! Koishii Sweet-
LOL, I'm updateding as fast as I can! ^_^ , Falling_from_the_sky @_@ No
need for that gun now. * hands in the air*
Well I want to thank every one who reviewed. I hope you like this next chapter. Not much goes on in this chapter but it is important to the story line. So read and enjoy ^_^ ...Oh yeah, Disclaimer: I don't own the wanderer, or his crazy friends.
Devotion
By
Melissa ^_^
Chapter six
Warm sunlight streamed though the window, causing Kenshin to stir and open his eyes. He was sitting, leaning up against the wall with one leg out in front of him and his sakabatou leaning against him. This was how the ex- samurai slept, always ready just incase. Blinking to get used to the morning light, he kept his head bowed as he recited in his head.
'Please let my sword be true.. help me to protect those who cannot protect themselves. I wish to atone for the deaths that I caused. Please help me to be strong, so I may protect my friends, and this home..especially Karou-dono'
After his morning vows where said, he silently got to his feet and walked over to the window to greet the new day, stepping over a softly snoring Yahiko in the process. He picked up a brush as he stepped up to the window and tried to tame the knots and tangles in his fiery red hair. Yet no matter what he did, his long hair would always bounce back into his tousled look. Sighing, he set the brush down and silently slid open the screen door and shut it just as silently behind him. ' I should start breakfast, that I should' He thought to himself as he headed down to the kitchen. But as he reached the kitchen, a sight made his freeze in his tracks. The table was set and breakfast was made and set on the table. Kenshin relaxed and smiled to himself. ' I forgot, we have another person in the house now.'
He went to go find the one responsible for the wonderful breakfast; he didn't have to look far, for as soon as he stepped out the kitchen door, he spotted the young girl in the yard. She was practicing punching and kicking invisible opponents, already working up a sweat in the morning sun. She was free of her cloak and Kenshin could see how swift her movements were. The cloak had hidden them from view the day before; Kenshin was impressed by how swift and silent Tanako moved. He snaked his arm around the wooden post of the dojo and leaned against it as he watched the girl. He thought he was unseen and unnoticed, but just as Tanako landed from a high kick; she turned, and flung three tanto daggers at Kenshin. He hardly blinked as the dagger embedded themselves in the wooden post he was leaning on.
" So you knew I was here the whole time." Kenshin laughed as he set his sword against the post and sat down on wooden porch. Tanako slowly ambled up, panting for breath. She leaned over and placed her hands on her knees so she could better catch her breath.
" I did..you're pretty hard ..to miss." She said in-between breaths. " Your presence is something I can not ignore." Tanako reached up and pulled free the daggers and swiftly replaced them back in their hidden sheathes. " I must be getting out of shape or something. I've never been this winded, it's only been a few days since my last practice,"
" I wanted to thank you for making the breakfast," Kenshin said, " You didn't have to get up so early to surprise us, that you didn't."
" Oh it's alright, I was up already and I thought that Kaoru could use a break." Tanako replied as she leaned up against the porch. Kenshin smiled and rubbed the back of his head.
" Well actually, I do most of the cooking around here, especially breakfast." He said, trying his best not to blush.
Tanako laughed, " Well I bet Yahiko is glad about that!"
" I bet he is too!" Kenshin added and joined in the laughter.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Karou groaned and opened her eyes; only to find that she was surrounded by darkness!! She flailed out her arms and kicked her legs to fight what ever it was that was covering her. Just as she did so, her blanket slid off her and Karou lay there blinking in the sunlight that was flooding her room.
" Stupid blanket," she hissed to herself as she stood up from her bed. A fiery pain lanced through her leg and she fell back on her bedroll. " Stupid ankle!" she added. Sighing, she slowly got back to her feet and was able to dress herself in her favorite yellow kimono and brush her hair without once falling down. Sliding open her screen door, Karou could smell the yummy smells of breakfast sitting on the table calling for her. 'Kenshin's so nice to get up so early and make breakfast for us.' She thought to herself and she slowly made her way into the kitchen. But when she got there she was surprised when she didn't hear Kenshin's good morning. She was just about to turn around to call for him when she heard Kenshin's voice outside the kitchen. It was fate that brought Karou to the door at the moment Kenshin added his two cents about Karou's cooking.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Kenshin's laughter was cut short when he heard the kitchen door slide open, but before he could turn around, a very low and anger contained voice was heard, accompanied by a sharp smack up side his head.
" KENSHIN!!!! I can't believe you would make fun of me like that behind my back!.or even that your making fun of me at all!! Your mean and cruel!!"
Kenshin whipped around and hoped off the porch, his eyes wide in surprise. " Karou-dono, I meant nothing by-"
" You really do think that my cooking is bad." Karou tearfully interrupted. Tanako was again stunned to see how fast the girl could change her moods. One moment she looked about ready to take his head off.the next she had tears welling up in her eyes.
" No Karou-dono I was only-" Kenshin tried to explain, but he was again cut off by the livid girl.
" Your mean and insensitive, how could talk about me like that?! Well, if that is how you really feel about my cooking,.THEN YOU CAN DO ALL THE COOKING FROM NOW ON!! She shouted and turned on her heal and stomped away. At least, that's what she wanted to do. When she turned away, pain shot up from her ankle and caused Karou to lose her footing and fall right off the dojo porch. Kenshin acted fast and caught her before she came close to the ground and swiftly placed her back on the porch. Karou cursed her ankle for ruining her exit. But she refused to let the misshape change her mood. She crossed her arms and refused to look or talk to Kenshin.
Kenshin stood there for a moment, watching Karou struggle to not lose face. It hurt him to see Karou act as if she needed to keep her honor in such a way in front of him. He thought it would be best if he were not around; perhaps she would cool down better if she didn't have to act for his sake.. Sighing he turned to Tanako, " I think I'm going to fetch Miss Megumi now..to get a look at Karou's ankle, I won't be long." He said softly and bowing slightly to both girls. Without another word he turned and walked to the front of the dojo and left.
Tanako was now alone with Karou and she had absolutely no idea what to do or say to the girl to make up for what she had said. Moreover, after witnessing the temper Karou had, she was a little uneasy about it. Kicking off her sandals by the steps, she sat down by the silent girl and placed a hand on her shoulder.
" Karou, I'm very sorry about what I said. I know nothing of you and I only went off by what Yahiko said last night, I-"
" It's alright Tanako." Karou interrupted softly, " I don't know why I got so upset at Kenshin. Now that I think about it, I wish I hadn't of yelled at him so." Karou bowed her head in sadness, and Tanako moved to sit in front of the girl. " I haven't lost my temper in weeks." Karou added, " Kenshin didn't deserve all those things I said to him." Karou cursed herself for being so hot-tempered; She saw the hurt that Kenshin hid behind those eyes. She knew her sharp words had hit him...even though they both knew none of it was true, the words still hurt.
The new mood swing surprised Tanako; she did not expect the girl to feel bad about what she did. She put Kenshin in his place, showed him that she was not a weak woman. Tanako mentally slapped herself; this was not the Onozawa gang. These where not people who had to look out for themselves. These where two people who obviously loved and cared for each other very much. Tanako was about to give Karou some words of reassurance when Yahiko bounded up to them.
" Hey you two! If you don't hurry I'm going to eat your breakfast for you!" He shouted, and then bounded back into the kitchen.
" Come on Tanako, we better hurry or there will be nothing left." Karou said as she stood up with Tanako's help. They sat at the table and ate without a word. Tanako hardly ate a bite for she was too busy thinking about what had happened between Karou and Kenshin, she was also staring at Yahiko, who was swallowing food as fast as he could get his hands on it. When the boy was finally finished with his breakfast, he sighed happily and fell back from the table to lie on the mat and stared up at the ceiling.
" Alright Yahiko, you have three hundred practice stokes to do before you clean the dojo." Karou told the boy as she also finished her breakfast and was feeling much better.
" What!!" Yahiko sat up suddenly, " You want me to practice while you sit around? Forget it ugly, I'm not doing it." He crossed his arms and turned his head away.
Karou calmly sipped at her tea, " Five hundred strokes, and you better hurry, your burning daylight." she added as she looked in her cup.
" WHAT!?!?!"
" Yahiko, just because I can't practice beside you does not mean you should get a day behind in your training. You would have to do twice as much tomorrow. So if I were you, I would listen to my Assistant Master and get my butt outside and complete those five hundred strokes."
" Alright, alright" Yahiko grumbled as he climbed to his feet and went to fetch his bokken. He didn't know why he should have to practice; this should be a chance for him to get at least on day off. But Noooo, Karou the Ugly told him to practice.oh well. Yahiko was grumbling and thinking to himself and did not notice that Kenshin was walking up to the door. He opened the door just as Yahiko reached for it and the boy lost his balance. Kenshin reached out to steady the boy, but it was not needed, Yahiko's swift reflexes kept him from tumbling into Kenshin. " Hi Kenshin, Hi Megumi." The boy called as he spotted the lady doctor behind Kenshin.
" Good morning Yahiko." Megumi chirped. Yahiko nodded back and continued on his way to practice, grumbling the whole way. " Well.he doesn't seem to be in the best of moods this morning." Megumi turned to Kenshin for an explanation.
Kenshin only smiled and stepped into the dojo. " He must be upset that Karou-dono forced him to continue with his practice even though she is injured." Megumi followed Kenshin to the kitchen where they found the two girls chatting quietly as they gathered the breakfast dishes. Kenshin introduced Megumi to the new member of the family; she seemed rather pleased to meet Tanako.
" Well It's about time that the dojo had a woman who knows how to cook and do at least some domestic chores that Karou couldn't do to save her life." Megumi said with a laugh and a wink in Tanako's direction. Tanako's mouth dropped open but she quickly recovered herself.
" WHAT!!!!" Karou shouted, giving Megumi a glare that would have made anyone shiver. But Megumi only flicked her hair over her shoulder and laughed it off.
" Now hold still Karou, so I can get a good look at you ankle." Megumi reached out and took hold of Karou's leg, causing the girl to fall back on her rear. Karou flushed so red with anger that Kenshin started to slide away, he took the dishes from Tanako and headed out the door to wash them. Megumi defused the possible explosion with three words. " So what happened?" Karou's eyes grew bright again and she went off on the story about how she had received her injury; though not very surprisingly, the story was getting more and more extravagant with each telling.
Tanako was so immersed with how that Lady doctor was wrapping Karou's ankle that she didn't notice that Megumi was looking at her. But after a second or two, Tanako's training kicked in and she felt Megumi's eyes on her.
" You see very interested in how I'm caring for Karou." she whispered to the younger girl. Karou hadn't noticed that her story was now going unnoticed, and that Megumi's attention was now on the newcomer.
" Well, I've had many sprained ankles myself, any chance of learning a new way to care for them is always a plus." learning to care for her own injuries was always a plus as well. One could never hope that they would only be hurt when there was someone around to help you. Most likely you would have to fix yourself up. These thoughts only brought back the memory of Toshiki, and that he was hurt, very badly. Tanako could have at least helped him before she ran off. But she didn't, and he had to make sure he kept himself alive. Tanako shook the head; Toshiki was strong and very able to care for himself. She had seen him come back to the base with many wounds and he was alone most of the time. Nothing was different about this time...only this time...she would not be there to watch him return home.
***************************************************************
A/N Ok I hope that can hold you over for a few days. I'm already working on the next chapter, which dives a little deeper into Tanako's past. So I hope to see y'all there!. 0_0 p.s. Should Karou apologize to Kenshin in front of everyone or in private..or should Karou just be stubborn and not apologize?..OR should Kenshin apologize? Gimme feed back !!..
Well I want to thank every one who reviewed. I hope you like this next chapter. Not much goes on in this chapter but it is important to the story line. So read and enjoy ^_^ ...Oh yeah, Disclaimer: I don't own the wanderer, or his crazy friends.
Devotion
By
Melissa ^_^
Chapter six
Warm sunlight streamed though the window, causing Kenshin to stir and open his eyes. He was sitting, leaning up against the wall with one leg out in front of him and his sakabatou leaning against him. This was how the ex- samurai slept, always ready just incase. Blinking to get used to the morning light, he kept his head bowed as he recited in his head.
'Please let my sword be true.. help me to protect those who cannot protect themselves. I wish to atone for the deaths that I caused. Please help me to be strong, so I may protect my friends, and this home..especially Karou-dono'
After his morning vows where said, he silently got to his feet and walked over to the window to greet the new day, stepping over a softly snoring Yahiko in the process. He picked up a brush as he stepped up to the window and tried to tame the knots and tangles in his fiery red hair. Yet no matter what he did, his long hair would always bounce back into his tousled look. Sighing, he set the brush down and silently slid open the screen door and shut it just as silently behind him. ' I should start breakfast, that I should' He thought to himself as he headed down to the kitchen. But as he reached the kitchen, a sight made his freeze in his tracks. The table was set and breakfast was made and set on the table. Kenshin relaxed and smiled to himself. ' I forgot, we have another person in the house now.'
He went to go find the one responsible for the wonderful breakfast; he didn't have to look far, for as soon as he stepped out the kitchen door, he spotted the young girl in the yard. She was practicing punching and kicking invisible opponents, already working up a sweat in the morning sun. She was free of her cloak and Kenshin could see how swift her movements were. The cloak had hidden them from view the day before; Kenshin was impressed by how swift and silent Tanako moved. He snaked his arm around the wooden post of the dojo and leaned against it as he watched the girl. He thought he was unseen and unnoticed, but just as Tanako landed from a high kick; she turned, and flung three tanto daggers at Kenshin. He hardly blinked as the dagger embedded themselves in the wooden post he was leaning on.
" So you knew I was here the whole time." Kenshin laughed as he set his sword against the post and sat down on wooden porch. Tanako slowly ambled up, panting for breath. She leaned over and placed her hands on her knees so she could better catch her breath.
" I did..you're pretty hard ..to miss." She said in-between breaths. " Your presence is something I can not ignore." Tanako reached up and pulled free the daggers and swiftly replaced them back in their hidden sheathes. " I must be getting out of shape or something. I've never been this winded, it's only been a few days since my last practice,"
" I wanted to thank you for making the breakfast," Kenshin said, " You didn't have to get up so early to surprise us, that you didn't."
" Oh it's alright, I was up already and I thought that Kaoru could use a break." Tanako replied as she leaned up against the porch. Kenshin smiled and rubbed the back of his head.
" Well actually, I do most of the cooking around here, especially breakfast." He said, trying his best not to blush.
Tanako laughed, " Well I bet Yahiko is glad about that!"
" I bet he is too!" Kenshin added and joined in the laughter.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Karou groaned and opened her eyes; only to find that she was surrounded by darkness!! She flailed out her arms and kicked her legs to fight what ever it was that was covering her. Just as she did so, her blanket slid off her and Karou lay there blinking in the sunlight that was flooding her room.
" Stupid blanket," she hissed to herself as she stood up from her bed. A fiery pain lanced through her leg and she fell back on her bedroll. " Stupid ankle!" she added. Sighing, she slowly got back to her feet and was able to dress herself in her favorite yellow kimono and brush her hair without once falling down. Sliding open her screen door, Karou could smell the yummy smells of breakfast sitting on the table calling for her. 'Kenshin's so nice to get up so early and make breakfast for us.' She thought to herself and she slowly made her way into the kitchen. But when she got there she was surprised when she didn't hear Kenshin's good morning. She was just about to turn around to call for him when she heard Kenshin's voice outside the kitchen. It was fate that brought Karou to the door at the moment Kenshin added his two cents about Karou's cooking.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Kenshin's laughter was cut short when he heard the kitchen door slide open, but before he could turn around, a very low and anger contained voice was heard, accompanied by a sharp smack up side his head.
" KENSHIN!!!! I can't believe you would make fun of me like that behind my back!.or even that your making fun of me at all!! Your mean and cruel!!"
Kenshin whipped around and hoped off the porch, his eyes wide in surprise. " Karou-dono, I meant nothing by-"
" You really do think that my cooking is bad." Karou tearfully interrupted. Tanako was again stunned to see how fast the girl could change her moods. One moment she looked about ready to take his head off.the next she had tears welling up in her eyes.
" No Karou-dono I was only-" Kenshin tried to explain, but he was again cut off by the livid girl.
" Your mean and insensitive, how could talk about me like that?! Well, if that is how you really feel about my cooking,.THEN YOU CAN DO ALL THE COOKING FROM NOW ON!! She shouted and turned on her heal and stomped away. At least, that's what she wanted to do. When she turned away, pain shot up from her ankle and caused Karou to lose her footing and fall right off the dojo porch. Kenshin acted fast and caught her before she came close to the ground and swiftly placed her back on the porch. Karou cursed her ankle for ruining her exit. But she refused to let the misshape change her mood. She crossed her arms and refused to look or talk to Kenshin.
Kenshin stood there for a moment, watching Karou struggle to not lose face. It hurt him to see Karou act as if she needed to keep her honor in such a way in front of him. He thought it would be best if he were not around; perhaps she would cool down better if she didn't have to act for his sake.. Sighing he turned to Tanako, " I think I'm going to fetch Miss Megumi now..to get a look at Karou's ankle, I won't be long." He said softly and bowing slightly to both girls. Without another word he turned and walked to the front of the dojo and left.
Tanako was now alone with Karou and she had absolutely no idea what to do or say to the girl to make up for what she had said. Moreover, after witnessing the temper Karou had, she was a little uneasy about it. Kicking off her sandals by the steps, she sat down by the silent girl and placed a hand on her shoulder.
" Karou, I'm very sorry about what I said. I know nothing of you and I only went off by what Yahiko said last night, I-"
" It's alright Tanako." Karou interrupted softly, " I don't know why I got so upset at Kenshin. Now that I think about it, I wish I hadn't of yelled at him so." Karou bowed her head in sadness, and Tanako moved to sit in front of the girl. " I haven't lost my temper in weeks." Karou added, " Kenshin didn't deserve all those things I said to him." Karou cursed herself for being so hot-tempered; She saw the hurt that Kenshin hid behind those eyes. She knew her sharp words had hit him...even though they both knew none of it was true, the words still hurt.
The new mood swing surprised Tanako; she did not expect the girl to feel bad about what she did. She put Kenshin in his place, showed him that she was not a weak woman. Tanako mentally slapped herself; this was not the Onozawa gang. These where not people who had to look out for themselves. These where two people who obviously loved and cared for each other very much. Tanako was about to give Karou some words of reassurance when Yahiko bounded up to them.
" Hey you two! If you don't hurry I'm going to eat your breakfast for you!" He shouted, and then bounded back into the kitchen.
" Come on Tanako, we better hurry or there will be nothing left." Karou said as she stood up with Tanako's help. They sat at the table and ate without a word. Tanako hardly ate a bite for she was too busy thinking about what had happened between Karou and Kenshin, she was also staring at Yahiko, who was swallowing food as fast as he could get his hands on it. When the boy was finally finished with his breakfast, he sighed happily and fell back from the table to lie on the mat and stared up at the ceiling.
" Alright Yahiko, you have three hundred practice stokes to do before you clean the dojo." Karou told the boy as she also finished her breakfast and was feeling much better.
" What!!" Yahiko sat up suddenly, " You want me to practice while you sit around? Forget it ugly, I'm not doing it." He crossed his arms and turned his head away.
Karou calmly sipped at her tea, " Five hundred strokes, and you better hurry, your burning daylight." she added as she looked in her cup.
" WHAT!?!?!"
" Yahiko, just because I can't practice beside you does not mean you should get a day behind in your training. You would have to do twice as much tomorrow. So if I were you, I would listen to my Assistant Master and get my butt outside and complete those five hundred strokes."
" Alright, alright" Yahiko grumbled as he climbed to his feet and went to fetch his bokken. He didn't know why he should have to practice; this should be a chance for him to get at least on day off. But Noooo, Karou the Ugly told him to practice.oh well. Yahiko was grumbling and thinking to himself and did not notice that Kenshin was walking up to the door. He opened the door just as Yahiko reached for it and the boy lost his balance. Kenshin reached out to steady the boy, but it was not needed, Yahiko's swift reflexes kept him from tumbling into Kenshin. " Hi Kenshin, Hi Megumi." The boy called as he spotted the lady doctor behind Kenshin.
" Good morning Yahiko." Megumi chirped. Yahiko nodded back and continued on his way to practice, grumbling the whole way. " Well.he doesn't seem to be in the best of moods this morning." Megumi turned to Kenshin for an explanation.
Kenshin only smiled and stepped into the dojo. " He must be upset that Karou-dono forced him to continue with his practice even though she is injured." Megumi followed Kenshin to the kitchen where they found the two girls chatting quietly as they gathered the breakfast dishes. Kenshin introduced Megumi to the new member of the family; she seemed rather pleased to meet Tanako.
" Well It's about time that the dojo had a woman who knows how to cook and do at least some domestic chores that Karou couldn't do to save her life." Megumi said with a laugh and a wink in Tanako's direction. Tanako's mouth dropped open but she quickly recovered herself.
" WHAT!!!!" Karou shouted, giving Megumi a glare that would have made anyone shiver. But Megumi only flicked her hair over her shoulder and laughed it off.
" Now hold still Karou, so I can get a good look at you ankle." Megumi reached out and took hold of Karou's leg, causing the girl to fall back on her rear. Karou flushed so red with anger that Kenshin started to slide away, he took the dishes from Tanako and headed out the door to wash them. Megumi defused the possible explosion with three words. " So what happened?" Karou's eyes grew bright again and she went off on the story about how she had received her injury; though not very surprisingly, the story was getting more and more extravagant with each telling.
Tanako was so immersed with how that Lady doctor was wrapping Karou's ankle that she didn't notice that Megumi was looking at her. But after a second or two, Tanako's training kicked in and she felt Megumi's eyes on her.
" You see very interested in how I'm caring for Karou." she whispered to the younger girl. Karou hadn't noticed that her story was now going unnoticed, and that Megumi's attention was now on the newcomer.
" Well, I've had many sprained ankles myself, any chance of learning a new way to care for them is always a plus." learning to care for her own injuries was always a plus as well. One could never hope that they would only be hurt when there was someone around to help you. Most likely you would have to fix yourself up. These thoughts only brought back the memory of Toshiki, and that he was hurt, very badly. Tanako could have at least helped him before she ran off. But she didn't, and he had to make sure he kept himself alive. Tanako shook the head; Toshiki was strong and very able to care for himself. She had seen him come back to the base with many wounds and he was alone most of the time. Nothing was different about this time...only this time...she would not be there to watch him return home.
***************************************************************
A/N Ok I hope that can hold you over for a few days. I'm already working on the next chapter, which dives a little deeper into Tanako's past. So I hope to see y'all there!. 0_0 p.s. Should Karou apologize to Kenshin in front of everyone or in private..or should Karou just be stubborn and not apologize?..OR should Kenshin apologize? Gimme feed back !!..