Hello, my readers! So sorry for the delay. Work has been ridiculously busy, so I haven't had the time to write. I've been struck by inspiration now and again, most usually while I'm driving and completely unable to do anything about it. Of course.
To be honest, I'm not completely certain that I'm all that happy with this entry, but here it is, and there you have it.
Also, I'm winding this series down. I have one or two more elements I'd like to tackle, but I'm running out of ideas. If you'd like, you can PM me suggestions if you'd like to see this continue. I can't guarantee I'll write something, but I'll certainly try.
Disclaimer: Rurouni Kenshin, Aoshi and Kaoru do not belong to me.
Kaoru always knows when Aoshi is near. Whenever he approaches, Kaoru feels it, like an oncoming storm. The pressure acumulating between them.
Within her.
He is barely contained power, hard and strong. He is cool, possessing a deep, burning passion, and it is only a matter of time before it bursts forth. That's what thunder is, Kaoru thinks, shifts in temperature colliding, the atmosphere releasing the energy the only way it can: explosively.
Sometimes it builds slowly, gathering strength, like waves rushing the shore, rolling endlessly. Sometimes it is violently sudden and heavy, shaking the rafters of the dojo with undisguised fury. While Kaoru does not care for storms, she can appreciate the raw power of them. She is amazed how something intangible (it is, after all, basically air pressure and contrasting temperatures) can be so awesome. Still, thunder makes her nervous.
What it brings.
What it is.
Aoshi is both the calm before the storm and the raging eye. Perfectly still, perfectly composed, oblivious to but contributing to the chaos he brings. Or, perhaps, not so oblivious after all; perhaps opportunistic. He secretly takes delight in watching Kaoru's spine stiffen, her breathing quicken, as he steps close to her. He has noticed that he always affects her thus, even when he comes up stealthily behind her, no clue to alert her to his presence. She is tuned to him somehow. He knows she can feel, to some extent, what he feels.
And what Aoshi feels whenever he sees Kaoru is not a placid thing. On the surface, he is calm, but inside…inside is a maelstrom of reactions. Raging emotions, long dormant, needing only a little catalyst to awaken them, send them racing through his bloodstream so fast and hard that his whole body is practically reverberating and it is a wonder he does not explode. His entire being is thrumming, the desire and anticipation and anxiety rumbling around inside him, waiting and swelling until the next time he can be with Kaoru.
It is surprising how no one can see the emotions roiling within him, dark and heavy, just beneath his skin, like a dragon coiled and ready. Fewer still have ever seen him express any sort of passion visibly. Kaoru, was, is and will always be an exception. Aoshi is like a thunderstorm, she realizes; by the time you see him coming, he is already upon you.
But Kaoru can feel him coming long before she ever sees him with her own eyes, and she is always ready and waiting for (and a little startled by) that powerful, secret thrill that only he seems to be able to bring her.