Disclaimer: I don't own Rurouni Kenshin or anything that belongs to Rurouni
Kenshin's creators or whatever. Blah, blah, blah. Who cares?
A/N: I was gonna maybe trash this chapter but I thought 'what the hey'? So I just left it. I hope you enjoy!
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Chapter 9: "A Fox and a Couple of Night Mares"
A few hours later, they had eaten and then discussed some of Kenshin's past. He told them he'd grown up with a master swordsman of the Hiten Mitsurugi Style, (the most deadly style of swordsmanship). The man, whose name was Hiko Seijiro, had named him 'Kenshin', saying it was a name worthy of a samurai, and taken him in and taught him to fight. Still he didn't say anything of what came before or after that, but Kaoru was, for the moment, content with that explanation.
~~~~~~~~~~
Sano left for work after breakfast. Tae yelled at him for being late.
"I'm really sorry-we had a little trouble at the dojo."
"You're staying at the dojo? I mean, where are you living?" Tae asked in surprise.
Sano blinked, "Oh. . .uhm, with Kaoru Kamiya and her boyfriend Kenshin Himura."
"The sword fighting teacher? I didn't know she had a boyfriend."
"Well, uhm. . .I was just joking." Sano grinned as he explained, "He's helping out around the place, but Kaoru /does/ like him," he added mischievously.
Tae smiled a bit then frowned. "Shame on you for changing the subject. You're not getting away with being late." She handed him an apron. "Here, you're going to work the tables today."
"B-but. . ." Sanosuke protested weakly.
"No excuses," She said, "Now get to it."
~~~~~~~~~~~
A few hours later, Sanosuke was finally getting the hang of this 'waiting tables' business. The only thing he was afraid of was running into one of his gambling buddies again. He whistled softly to himself as he headed to the next table. . .and then whistled a bit louder when he saw the pretty woman sitting in the booth. As it happened, the dark-haired, brown-eyed beauty was having lunch with Dr. Genzai, Kaoru's neighbor, and his two granddaughters.
"May I take your order, Dr. Genzai," Sano asked politely as he winked at Suzume and Ayame. They giggled, but the woman flashed him a cold, evil scowl.
The old man replied, "Yes, my guest, Miss Takani, and I would like the special."
"Alright, what about Ayame and Suzume?" The girls giggled again and exclaimed, "We want the special, too!"
"Yeah, the special," The younger repeated.
Sano grinned and said, "Coming right up."
He headed back to the kitchen and told the cook their order. . . then a while later headed back with their plates. . .
As he placed their orders in front of them he asked, "If you don't mind me asking, is Miss Takani your date?"
Miss Takani glared scathingly at him, but Dr. Genzai laughed heartily. "Ah, no, Sanosuke, Miss Megumi is going to be working with me from now on. She wants to become a doctor."
Sanosuke whistled again. /Beautiful /and/ intelligent,/ he thought.
"What are you staring at, rooster head?" The young woman snapped when Sanosuke eyed her for a little too long.
Sano bristled, "Nothing, just a stuck up Fox."
"Why you upstart hooligan," She growled at him.
Dr. Genzai interrupted, "Don't you have other tables to see to, Sanosuke?" He hinted.
Sano nodded, "Yeah, anything's better than having to look at this lady, anymore."
"Good riddance," the woman retorted.
Sano stiffened slightly at the comment then walked away.
~~~~~~~~~~~
"You wouldn't believe who I saw. . ." Sanosuke's voice trailed off when he spotted the very object of his comment sitting with Kaoru and the rest around dinner.
"You!" She exclaimed when she saw him.
"What are /you/ doing here?" Sanosuke demanded.
Kaoru said, "Miss Megumi has started working with Dr. Genzai, and so I invited them to have dinner with us in celebration."
Yahiko glanced between the two people glaring daggers at each other and began to grin.
Kenshin just smiled. What was new there? Dr. Genzai looked a little worried, and Ayame and Suzume squealed happy 'hellos'.
Sano growled, "You started eating without me."
Kaoru frowned, "Get over it. Anyway, Kenshin made plenty of food."
Sano warily seated himself between Kenshin and Yahiko and got a plate of food.
"Hey, I think Sano has the hots for Miss Megumi," Yahiko said out of nowhere.
"Yahiko!" Kaoru reprimanded. "We have children here!"
Ayame and Suzume looked confused. . .
Sano glared at his younger brother, "You dumby-she's an evil shape-changing fox. . ."
Kenshin 'oro'd' at that, but Yahiko just grinned wickedly. Sano scowled.
"Shut up, stupid rooster head," Megumi retorted. "Even if you /did/ like me- there's no way I'd ever return the feeling."
Sano scowled at her while munching on his food. He swallowed and said, "Don't worry-there's no way I'd ever like you."
Kaoru sat there blinking. /Yahiko's right,/ she thought. /He's got it bad./
~~~~~~~~~~~~
After their guests left, the group settled in for the night. Kenshin propped himself against the wall as he sat on his futon and drifted off to sleep.
Kenshin awakened with a start. The events of the day must have dredged up that memory from his past. Kenshin sighed and decided he'd rather not go back to sleep just yet.
He headed for the kitchen to make himself some tea. . .
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Kaoru awakened from yet another nightmare about her parents. She sighed and got up. She'd found it was best to let the dream fade before trying to sleep again right away. She headed for the kitchen and the comfort of a midnight snack. . .
When she got there, she found that someone had already lighted a candle and set some tea to brewing. Kenshin was sitting against the wall staring in the direction of the kettle with eyes that appeared a bit glazed.
"Kenshin? Why are you awake?"
He looked up at her and smiled, "Oh, Miss Kaoru, did you have another nightmare?" His tone was concerned.
"Yes, but. . .I'm okay." She smiled then sat beside him.
"You didn't explain about your wife's death. . .would you mind explaining it to me, now?" She asked gently after they'd been sitting quietly for a while.
Kenshin looked at her with big, blue-purplish, blinking eyes and said, "No. . ."
He told her of a time during the Meiji Revolution. . .
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Kenshin was still working as an assassin for the government of Japan when he met Tomoe Yukishiro, the daughter of a high-ranking government official. She was a beautiful young woman with dark-brown hair and soft-brown eyes. They fell in love. . .They were married. However, her younger brother, Enishi, had always been displeased with his older sister's choice. A few months after they had been married he sought to interfere. He hired a man named Akira Kiyosato to kill Kenshin.
Kenshin would have been able to defend himself against the assassin's attack easily, being a better swordsman, but he'd been asleep. . . Tomoe had awakened in the night sensing that something was wrong. She saw the sword slicing through the air towards her husband and had flung herself in the way.
Kenshin had thought she was asleep. . . he had awakened a moment before and had seen the assassin approaching. He'd been ready to deflect the attack with his sword, which was never far from him. So what Tomoe did came unexpectedly.
"No. . ." he remembered saying. He gently rolled her off of himself and looked to see if she were still living.
Blood soaked onto the sheets beneath Tomoe from the wound on her back, but she was still breathing. "Tomoe. . . please, hang on. . .I'll get help." Kenshin pleaded.
The assassin recovered from the shock of killing an innocent woman and charged at Kenshin with his sword raised. Kenshin rose and parried the blow and slashed out with his sword, cutting the man down with lighting quick speed and skill.
"Kenshin," came Tomoe's weakened voice.
Kenshin turned away from the fallen man and knelt beside his wife. He drew her into his arms. . . hardly aware of the tears falling from his eyes . . .
Tomoe opened her eyes . . .they drooped heavily from pain, but she smiled slightly. Her hand lifted to touch his left cheek. "You're bleeding, my love." She said, and Kenshin didn't see the irony of it, he only realized that he must have been cut across the face with the same sword stroke that Tomoe had thrown herself in front of.
"Tomoe . . .please . . .I'll go for a doctor . . ."
"No, Kenshin . . ." Tomoe drew in a shuddering breath. "It's too late. . . just promise me something. . ."
Kenshin swallowed hard against the lump in his throat. "Anything, my love. . ."
Tomoe's soft eyes shimmered with tears, "Promise. . .promise you will never kill again. . ."
Kenshin nodded. . . "I promise. . .just hang-"
Tomoe breathed a long sigh and went limp in his arms, her eyes falling closed.
"No. . ." Kenshin clutched her body to his chest. "No!"
Enishi had retaliated at his sister's death by blaming her murder on Kenshin. The authorities believed him easily because of Kenshin's reputation as Battousai the Manslayer. So Kenshin had run, leaving behind his past, and taking his promise to never kill again, he became the wanderer known as Kenshin Himura. . .
~~~~~~~~~~
"I don't know what to say," Kaoru said quietly, her voice a bit cracked from holding back tears of sympathy.
"You don't have to say anything, that you don't." Kenshin answered softly.
It was then that Kaoru noticed the tears glistening in his eyes despite the smile he was putting on for her.
"Oh, Kenshin. . ."
She threw her arms around him and hugged him tight. He was about to hug her back when the teakettle began whistling loudly.
Kaoru pulled away from him, blushing. She giggled nervously and leaped up to silence the kettle before it disturbed the other sleeping occupants of the house.
She poured the tea, but when she turned around to give Kenshin his cup, he was gone.
"W-where'd he go?"
Kaoru sighed and took an absent sip from the cup she was holding.
"Aargh. . ." /It's too hot!/
Kaoru glared at the tea and set the cup down and headed back to bed. /That Kenshin's going to get it next time I see him./ She thought vindictively. The thought strangely brought a smile to her face.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
A/N: Hey all! Did ya like it? I hope you did. And I finally got out of my funk and wrote a little more. So, yea! ---Misao-incarnate.
A/N: I was gonna maybe trash this chapter but I thought 'what the hey'? So I just left it. I hope you enjoy!
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Chapter 9: "A Fox and a Couple of Night Mares"
A few hours later, they had eaten and then discussed some of Kenshin's past. He told them he'd grown up with a master swordsman of the Hiten Mitsurugi Style, (the most deadly style of swordsmanship). The man, whose name was Hiko Seijiro, had named him 'Kenshin', saying it was a name worthy of a samurai, and taken him in and taught him to fight. Still he didn't say anything of what came before or after that, but Kaoru was, for the moment, content with that explanation.
~~~~~~~~~~
Sano left for work after breakfast. Tae yelled at him for being late.
"I'm really sorry-we had a little trouble at the dojo."
"You're staying at the dojo? I mean, where are you living?" Tae asked in surprise.
Sano blinked, "Oh. . .uhm, with Kaoru Kamiya and her boyfriend Kenshin Himura."
"The sword fighting teacher? I didn't know she had a boyfriend."
"Well, uhm. . .I was just joking." Sano grinned as he explained, "He's helping out around the place, but Kaoru /does/ like him," he added mischievously.
Tae smiled a bit then frowned. "Shame on you for changing the subject. You're not getting away with being late." She handed him an apron. "Here, you're going to work the tables today."
"B-but. . ." Sanosuke protested weakly.
"No excuses," She said, "Now get to it."
~~~~~~~~~~~
A few hours later, Sanosuke was finally getting the hang of this 'waiting tables' business. The only thing he was afraid of was running into one of his gambling buddies again. He whistled softly to himself as he headed to the next table. . .and then whistled a bit louder when he saw the pretty woman sitting in the booth. As it happened, the dark-haired, brown-eyed beauty was having lunch with Dr. Genzai, Kaoru's neighbor, and his two granddaughters.
"May I take your order, Dr. Genzai," Sano asked politely as he winked at Suzume and Ayame. They giggled, but the woman flashed him a cold, evil scowl.
The old man replied, "Yes, my guest, Miss Takani, and I would like the special."
"Alright, what about Ayame and Suzume?" The girls giggled again and exclaimed, "We want the special, too!"
"Yeah, the special," The younger repeated.
Sano grinned and said, "Coming right up."
He headed back to the kitchen and told the cook their order. . . then a while later headed back with their plates. . .
As he placed their orders in front of them he asked, "If you don't mind me asking, is Miss Takani your date?"
Miss Takani glared scathingly at him, but Dr. Genzai laughed heartily. "Ah, no, Sanosuke, Miss Megumi is going to be working with me from now on. She wants to become a doctor."
Sanosuke whistled again. /Beautiful /and/ intelligent,/ he thought.
"What are you staring at, rooster head?" The young woman snapped when Sanosuke eyed her for a little too long.
Sano bristled, "Nothing, just a stuck up Fox."
"Why you upstart hooligan," She growled at him.
Dr. Genzai interrupted, "Don't you have other tables to see to, Sanosuke?" He hinted.
Sano nodded, "Yeah, anything's better than having to look at this lady, anymore."
"Good riddance," the woman retorted.
Sano stiffened slightly at the comment then walked away.
~~~~~~~~~~~
"You wouldn't believe who I saw. . ." Sanosuke's voice trailed off when he spotted the very object of his comment sitting with Kaoru and the rest around dinner.
"You!" She exclaimed when she saw him.
"What are /you/ doing here?" Sanosuke demanded.
Kaoru said, "Miss Megumi has started working with Dr. Genzai, and so I invited them to have dinner with us in celebration."
Yahiko glanced between the two people glaring daggers at each other and began to grin.
Kenshin just smiled. What was new there? Dr. Genzai looked a little worried, and Ayame and Suzume squealed happy 'hellos'.
Sano growled, "You started eating without me."
Kaoru frowned, "Get over it. Anyway, Kenshin made plenty of food."
Sano warily seated himself between Kenshin and Yahiko and got a plate of food.
"Hey, I think Sano has the hots for Miss Megumi," Yahiko said out of nowhere.
"Yahiko!" Kaoru reprimanded. "We have children here!"
Ayame and Suzume looked confused. . .
Sano glared at his younger brother, "You dumby-she's an evil shape-changing fox. . ."
Kenshin 'oro'd' at that, but Yahiko just grinned wickedly. Sano scowled.
"Shut up, stupid rooster head," Megumi retorted. "Even if you /did/ like me- there's no way I'd ever return the feeling."
Sano scowled at her while munching on his food. He swallowed and said, "Don't worry-there's no way I'd ever like you."
Kaoru sat there blinking. /Yahiko's right,/ she thought. /He's got it bad./
~~~~~~~~~~~~
After their guests left, the group settled in for the night. Kenshin propped himself against the wall as he sat on his futon and drifted off to sleep.
Kenshin awakened with a start. The events of the day must have dredged up that memory from his past. Kenshin sighed and decided he'd rather not go back to sleep just yet.
He headed for the kitchen to make himself some tea. . .
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Kaoru awakened from yet another nightmare about her parents. She sighed and got up. She'd found it was best to let the dream fade before trying to sleep again right away. She headed for the kitchen and the comfort of a midnight snack. . .
When she got there, she found that someone had already lighted a candle and set some tea to brewing. Kenshin was sitting against the wall staring in the direction of the kettle with eyes that appeared a bit glazed.
"Kenshin? Why are you awake?"
He looked up at her and smiled, "Oh, Miss Kaoru, did you have another nightmare?" His tone was concerned.
"Yes, but. . .I'm okay." She smiled then sat beside him.
"You didn't explain about your wife's death. . .would you mind explaining it to me, now?" She asked gently after they'd been sitting quietly for a while.
Kenshin looked at her with big, blue-purplish, blinking eyes and said, "No. . ."
He told her of a time during the Meiji Revolution. . .
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Kenshin was still working as an assassin for the government of Japan when he met Tomoe Yukishiro, the daughter of a high-ranking government official. She was a beautiful young woman with dark-brown hair and soft-brown eyes. They fell in love. . .They were married. However, her younger brother, Enishi, had always been displeased with his older sister's choice. A few months after they had been married he sought to interfere. He hired a man named Akira Kiyosato to kill Kenshin.
Kenshin would have been able to defend himself against the assassin's attack easily, being a better swordsman, but he'd been asleep. . . Tomoe had awakened in the night sensing that something was wrong. She saw the sword slicing through the air towards her husband and had flung herself in the way.
Kenshin had thought she was asleep. . . he had awakened a moment before and had seen the assassin approaching. He'd been ready to deflect the attack with his sword, which was never far from him. So what Tomoe did came unexpectedly.
"No. . ." he remembered saying. He gently rolled her off of himself and looked to see if she were still living.
Blood soaked onto the sheets beneath Tomoe from the wound on her back, but she was still breathing. "Tomoe. . . please, hang on. . .I'll get help." Kenshin pleaded.
The assassin recovered from the shock of killing an innocent woman and charged at Kenshin with his sword raised. Kenshin rose and parried the blow and slashed out with his sword, cutting the man down with lighting quick speed and skill.
"Kenshin," came Tomoe's weakened voice.
Kenshin turned away from the fallen man and knelt beside his wife. He drew her into his arms. . . hardly aware of the tears falling from his eyes . . .
Tomoe opened her eyes . . .they drooped heavily from pain, but she smiled slightly. Her hand lifted to touch his left cheek. "You're bleeding, my love." She said, and Kenshin didn't see the irony of it, he only realized that he must have been cut across the face with the same sword stroke that Tomoe had thrown herself in front of.
"Tomoe . . .please . . .I'll go for a doctor . . ."
"No, Kenshin . . ." Tomoe drew in a shuddering breath. "It's too late. . . just promise me something. . ."
Kenshin swallowed hard against the lump in his throat. "Anything, my love. . ."
Tomoe's soft eyes shimmered with tears, "Promise. . .promise you will never kill again. . ."
Kenshin nodded. . . "I promise. . .just hang-"
Tomoe breathed a long sigh and went limp in his arms, her eyes falling closed.
"No. . ." Kenshin clutched her body to his chest. "No!"
Enishi had retaliated at his sister's death by blaming her murder on Kenshin. The authorities believed him easily because of Kenshin's reputation as Battousai the Manslayer. So Kenshin had run, leaving behind his past, and taking his promise to never kill again, he became the wanderer known as Kenshin Himura. . .
~~~~~~~~~~
"I don't know what to say," Kaoru said quietly, her voice a bit cracked from holding back tears of sympathy.
"You don't have to say anything, that you don't." Kenshin answered softly.
It was then that Kaoru noticed the tears glistening in his eyes despite the smile he was putting on for her.
"Oh, Kenshin. . ."
She threw her arms around him and hugged him tight. He was about to hug her back when the teakettle began whistling loudly.
Kaoru pulled away from him, blushing. She giggled nervously and leaped up to silence the kettle before it disturbed the other sleeping occupants of the house.
She poured the tea, but when she turned around to give Kenshin his cup, he was gone.
"W-where'd he go?"
Kaoru sighed and took an absent sip from the cup she was holding.
"Aargh. . ." /It's too hot!/
Kaoru glared at the tea and set the cup down and headed back to bed. /That Kenshin's going to get it next time I see him./ She thought vindictively. The thought strangely brought a smile to her face.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
A/N: Hey all! Did ya like it? I hope you did. And I finally got out of my funk and wrote a little more. So, yea! ---Misao-incarnate.