Fluttering Heart

By FCChibiKenshin

Alright...

Flashbacks/Character Thoughts

"Speaking."

Chapter 3

Kaoru kneeled in front of the old cracking mirror. She puckered up her lips and applied bright red lipstick with an old paint brush. Kaoru closed her eyes and blew out, drying the new paint on her lips.

She opened her eyes and stood up again, taking a look at herself. Kaoru frowned at her fake appearance. She was caked with pale white makeup, with black lines encircling her eyes in a traditional way. And on her lips, the newly applied lipstick. From her body hung a beautiful pink flowered kimono her mother had worn when she went to see the matchmaker. Her hair was pulled pack in a bun.

'Kenshin..' She sighed and looked down, subconsciensly putting a hand to her heart.

"Well Kenshin--" Her words were cut off as Kenshin pressed his lips against hers. He pulled away and laughed softly.

Kaoru couldn't help but wonder what caused him to make such a bold action. She wasn't complaining though, it was wonderful she got to share her first kiss with none other than Kenshin. What depressed her was the fact the kiss had no meaning behind it. She knew Kenshin had just done that for her happiness, he would do anything for her, even if it meant kissing someone he didn't love just so she would stay with him.

"...It will become more and more peaceful, and my naive lie about swordsmanship will become the truth...and everyone will be together forever--that would be nice." Kaoru smiled.

Kenshin laughed softly, turning towards her. "True..." He paused a moment before saying more. "But that is impossible. The times have changed, and the swordmanship has changed. But people will never change. Everyone will eventually start living their own lives, walking their own paths. It is not parting, but embarking on a journey. It is not an end, but a beggining. It will be lonely..but that's how it is..."

Kaoru's cast her eyes toward the ground. A long silence passed. In the distance, crows cawed.

"But I- I want to be with you forever..." She finally said.

Kaoru bit back tears at the memory, leaning down to grab her purse. Her steps were careful and slow as she made her way towards Kenshin's room. She slid the shoji door open quietly, tip-toeing over to his form and laying a piece of paper next to him.

'Kenshin...you're the only man I could ever love. But you see me as more of a sister than anything else. If I cannot be with you...at least i'll make someone happy in a matched marriage.'

The shoji slid shut and she walked down the dirt path toward the gate. Not once did she look back.

An hour or two of silence passed within the dojo and home of Kaoru Kamiya.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

Kenshin woke up in a jolt, beads of sweat ran down his face as he tried to catch his breath. Nightmares from war had been plaguing him lately.

'Shit..'

Kenshin couldn't sense Kaoru's presence within the dojo.

He threw the blankets off of himself, and stood up, running for the shoji and sliding it open hastily. He took off down the hallway.

'Kaoru-dono..where are you? Could you really have left me..?'

He checked everywhere he could think of, her room, the dojo, the bathhouse..

Finally, he gave up looking around her house and returned to his room to get dressed.

After dressing, he almost didn't notice the letter.

He leaned over and scooped it up, then promptly unfolded it. Kaoru's elegant handwriting stared back at him.

'Dear Kenshin,

I'm sorry I could not stay with you. You have proven you'd do anything to get me to stay, even if it means kissing a woman you don't love. However, this is something I must do, I believe it's what my parents would have wished for. I leave my dojo and all it's contents to you.'

Love,

Kaoru Kamiya

"You've got to be kidding me..." He sighed and tucked the letter into his sleeve.

' I had better get going..'

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

"Hello, I'm Kamiya Kaoru, I'm here for--"

"Yes yes, I know what you're here for.." The gruff man snorted. "Right this way." He stepped aside and waited for her to walk past."Follow down this hallway, there will be some stairs you need to go down." The man pulled a cigarette out of his pocket.

She resisted the urge to wrinkle her nose, thoughts of a certain wolf filled her head as the man lit the cigarette. Kaoru bowed. "Thank you sir, i'll be on my way."

She followed the hallway and down some stone steps. By the time she reached the bottom, she swore the tempature had dropped a whole ten degrees. The only light now was from oil lamps that lined the stone walls. She was startled to hear a man's voice fill the air suddenly.

"Welcome, you must be Kaoru Kamiya. Glad you could finally make it."

Kaoru turned toward the voices source and realized it was none other than the man that had originally given her her flyer. She bowed.

"Yes, it's me."

He smiled and pointed toward three other girls, "Go stand with them."

She nodded and made her way towards the other girls.

The door suddenly slammed behind her.

"Well now that you're all here, it's time to get to the real thing." The man's eyes changed suddenly into a more serious expression.

'Shit..something's not right..'

Kaoru barely had time to realize that before cold hard steel was pressed up against her neck.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-

Ahh, hey folks. It's been awhile ; Sorry for not updating this for a long time. Yay for the longest chapter yet, ne? Well i'll be updating this soon hopefully. Keep on reviewing. :D pokes button