Underneath It All
Chapter 15: Reason
Disclaimer: I don't own Rurouni Kenshin
Recap of the last chapter:
Kenshin bowed his curious head, taking in the words. It still did not make sense to him. He did not understand why she did what she did. What was she even talking about? What did she mean?
Tomoe continued before he had the chance to ask her any questions.
"Kenshin, I wanted to hurt your reputation instead of your pride because…"
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Kenshin held his breath as he prepared himself for what Tomoe was about to say. Whatever her reasoning was, he did not care. There was nothing in the world that could compare with the hurt that he'd felt when she had crushed his heart. He was going to argue at and condemn her until she was begging on her knees for his forgiveness.
He clenched his jaw in preparation for his long upbraid.
"I'm a lesbian," Tomoe stated clearly and seriously.
Kenshin looked daft.
A good minute passed by with the wind blowing through their hair, ruffling their school uniforms, and chilling their skin. Kenshin stood stationary on his spot, his mind absolutely blank of his little "ranting" plan.
Tomoe looked directly at him, her dark eyes never shifting from their target. She would not open her mouth under he showed some sign that he had heard her.
A shocked, confused exhale was the response she wound up receiving.
"So, Kenshin. What is more important to you? Your pride, or your reputation?" the question came once again from Tomoe's red lips.
Kenshin bowed his head slightly in thought, his eyes staring down at the ground. Tomoe observed him patiently, allowing him as much time as he needed to ponder over the information. She knew that he was a smart man; he would be able to link it bit by bit until he formed the puzzle.
Everything was starting now to make sense to him. Tomoe had realized that she was a lesbian while she was going out with him. He was what helped her come out of the closet. Goodness! Tomoe had realized that she liked women instead of men through him. Perhaps she saw his more feminine aspects more appealing than his masculine attributes. That's probably how she discovered her attraction to women; she saw him more as a girl than a boy!
Kenshin's mouth dropped open. The worst way to injure a man is through his male pride. It definitely would have been a great insult to him knowing that he was seen as being feminine enough to make his girlfriend find that she was more attracted to other girls instead of boys. A great insult indeed.
He had always thought of himself as being a noble, strong-willed, handsome man. Tomoe knew that perfectly well. That's why she chose instead to go after his reputation.
After seeing and comprehending the information clearly, Kenshin realized that he would have agreed with Tomoe's choice of target, had he known. Reputation; what other people thought of him, was not as important as pride; ones' personal sense of his own value.
He… finally understood.
His eyes slowly trailed up to meet Tomoe's dark brown orbs. Their eyes stared at each other's with impassiveness. Who was going to bring up conversation, Tomoe planned on having Kenshin do the honors.
He averted his eyes as he opened his mouth. No words came out and he closed it again, trying to find the right words to say for the current situation. It was definitely a struggle for him; he was not really one to apologize. A man wasn't supposed to apologize, or so he had believed.
Kenshin closed his eyes, allowing a sigh to escape his lips before the corners of his mouth tugged up into a smile. A man isn't supposed to apologize, hm? Then again, if he was able to make a woman realize that she was a lesbian, that wouldn't really quite make him a full man. That thought would have spooked him out had he been a year in the past. However, he was not one year in the past. That thought made him somewhat content.
He opened his eyes.
"I'm sorry, Tomoe."
She smiled back.
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Alright, I know what you're all saying, 'WTF! IT'S SO SHORT!'. But frankly, I'm not really in the mood to care right now. I know that I haven't undated for a very long time, but I have other priorities to deal with, y'know?
I was concentrating a lot on my other fanfic, "Waves of Love", and I have been trying to find some new ways to schedule my time for my other stories. However, I'm finding it harder then I thought. Aside from coming up with inspiration, I have to deal with school; High School to be precise. I have also been trying to find a job where my employer isn't a parent. I worked at my dad's store for a while, but recently he got punched in the nose by a customer, so I quit. I like my face thank you very much! Anyway, I applied for a Starbucks not that far from my house and I got the job. Hehe. I'm kind of excited for it! I love Starbucks and their uniform isn't that bad looking (I know, I'm shallow)
Anyway, to sum it up; I've been very busy and I have a feeling that's not going to change much. I'm going to try to finish this story as soon as possible so that I can concentrate more on my other stories.
I'm not sure when my next update will be (hopefully by Christmas time), but I do promise one thing: Since this chapter was uber short, I'll make the next chapter just as long as chapter 14 (and I know that chapter was very long!). That's my compromise.
Oh, guess what? It's my birthday tomorrow!
DON'T FORGET TO REVIEW! I'D LIKE TO KNOW THAT YOU PEOPLE STILL LIKE THIS STORY! AND IT WOULD BE A VERY LOVELY BIRTHDAY PRESENT!
