Disclaimer: I don't own Rurouni Kenshin. I'd've made them kiss way sooner.
As Kaoru slept, a certain strange tension filled the house, centering on its golden-eyed master. It was time to move away from this place and get away from all the threats and pressures the outside world exerted on it. There were, of course, other sources of tension, namely, between the spymaster and his student. Through the hours he waited outside Kaoru's bedroom door, alert to any sign of wakefulness within, he watched the two dance around each other with no little amusement. It was a small house, and many spaces had shared functions. To watch Aoshi attempt to concentrate on his reports while long-limbed Misao bustled about in the kitchen (visible through an open doorway) was priceless. So his spymaster had finally realized exactly how much growing his student had done while away? His well-hidden mischievous streak was already plotting some way to get them together…but he supposed that he should let nature take its course. Aoshi was subtle, and would almost certainly notice any meddling.
He let the idle thought circulate through his head a few more times, then sunk into the deep trance that let him know exactly how Kaoru was faring. She was, of course, still fast asleep—he would have noticed right away if she had woken—but something subtle had changed. She stirred in her sleep, old dreams of loneliness and feeling just plain wrong coming to the surface and marring her pretty face with sadness. Somehow he felt guilty about this, even though he had nothing to do with what she dreamed. Standing up in one smooth motion, he felt his power rising to the surface almost unconsciously. He shoved it back down with a frown—he didn't need to defend this girl, just sooth away a few nightmares. He could do that without his power.
Kaoru, even hag-ridden and obviously exhausted, looked fabulous in bed. Her normal reserve and modesty was abandoned, and with her curvy form twisted into all sorts of shapes under the covers and her silky black hair flowing all over the pillows, she was a sight to behold. Kenshin tried desperately to steer his thoughts towards something that resembled a student-teacher relationship. He sat down on the chair beside her bed, taking one of her hands in his own and sending soothing thoughts through the physical link. In the life of a Mage, nightmares were common. When you lived on the borders of what was possible and what was dreaming, you often saw things that no mortal should see. Kenshin supposed that the tight-knit communities of Mages had sprung up even before their persecution by the Orthodoxy simply because it was easier to deal with the horrors of the world that only Mages could see when one wasn't often alone. He probed her mind gently. She had slept long enough to recover from the trauma, and they still had much to do. Drinking in her languid form once more, he touched her shoulder, clamping down hard on his instinct to make it a caress. What was it about this woman? He was close to waking her, but at the last minute, he reconsidered. She didn't trust him, yet, and it would be bad for that trust he took to waking her up in strange places. He slipped from the room. She already knew and trusted Misao—she could wake his student and tell her to report to him.
"If you want me to join you, I have some questions I want to ask,"
Kenshin grinned. This was the best new he had gotten in a long time, and the girl delivering it was a sight for sore eyes. She had re-done her hair after sleeping had disheveled it, but her skin was still slightly flushed from her nap. "I'd be pleased to answer anything you ask—but you'll get the same answers and information that I give the rest of the people here. You don't have preferred status yet, I'm afraid." His manner was easy and relaxed, and though he was only a little taller than her, his presence seemed to fill the room. Kaoru thought for a moment, then decided to start with what was most important to her.
"What do you want me for?" She tried to keep her voice steady, but the question came out almost like a cry. Kenshin's heart softened. The poor little thing was obviously confused and distraught.
"Well, you're going to be a very strong mage when you're trained, and eventually you would have started showing those powers. If you had been in the Orthodoxy at that point, you would have been killed. I will not," he emphasized the words with a force that made her heart jump, "Let that happen. Of course," he continued, "We do have an ulterior motive. We have a bit of a…internal power struggle, to use the politic phrase, in the mage world. A man by the name of Enishi—Winter-aligned like Aoshi, but considerably creepier," he gave Kaoru a level look, as if daring her to grin. She resisted the temptation. "Enishi has decided that he would make a better leader than our current one. He's a charismatic speaker, brilliant, a powerful mage and has a large following among the people. There's only one problem—he's insane. Obviously, our current leader is opposed to him on many levels. That's where we come in. Our small group has been called Hiko's strong left hand." He paused at the look of confusion on her face. "Hiko's the leader of the Seasonal Mages, and the only male Summer Warrior I know. He's…quite a character. I have a feeling you two will um…hit it off…when you meet each other," Kaoru stared at him as he trailed off. Was he…embarrassed by something? Her mind boggled. "Anyway, the reason we're called his left hand is that we do all the dirty work he can't exactly be seen doing. Assassinations, quashing small rebellions, odd jobs like that. Currently, we're focusing on the Enishi problem, but if you do join us you should anticipate other jobs like it."
It was a lot of information to digest quickly. What stood out the most in Kaoru's mind was that it seemed to be exactly the job she had been trained for, but without the ugly duty of forced conversions. Still, she was confused about one thing.
"But where exactly do I come in? Even if I am a strong mage, why do you want me specifically for this?" Her curiosity was roused.
"For one thing," Kenshin noted, "You have something that none of the rest of us have: Deltography."
"But Misao passed all her tests; she has Deltography as well,"
Kenshin grinned. He was fairly close with Misao, and was extremely proud of her—especially with her most recent mission. "You'd like to think that, wouldn't you? Misao's style of Spring magery is adaptable enough that she made it look like she had Deltography, and apparently she did it well enough so that not even the inquisitors noticed. Still, Deltography isn't the only reason we need you. Through both accident and," a pained look crossed his face. "Design, we have lost every one of the Summer mages in our cadre. For some reason or another, most Summer mages tend to gravitate towards the healing arts." He looked at her with earnest eyes, though somehow seemed to keep his dignity intact. "Kaoru, I…we need you. Enishi's a Winter, he's most vulnerable to Summer magic—but he managed to kill off every last Summer we have!" Kaoru sensed something in him, dark and angry, flickering beneath the surface of his eyes. He would avenge those deaths if he could, and be ruthless and unforgiving. So why wasn't she scared? She took a deep breath, ready to make the plunge.
"Kenshin…" She glanced down at her lap, as if she could find the answer in her folded hands, then in one swift motion, looked the mage straight in the eye. Burning blue met amber, and, for that moment at least, all seemed right with the world. "I'd be honored to join you."
Kaoru's acceptance was a catalyst to the entire household. It was time to move out of such unprotected territory and get back to their own base. Kenshin, at the center of the organizational whirlwind, had very little time for anyone that wasn't involved in the packing, but Kaoru wasn't too distressed. She, in fact, had a whirlwind of her own.
"Kaoru!" Misao squealed. "I'm so glad that you decided to join us! You'll like it with us, I just know it. The keep is fantastic; I can't wait to go home, and the lessons are so much fun—nothing like the boring old lectures at the Academy,"
Kaoru smiled indulgently at her friend. One of the good points of just having arrived was not having to pack a month's worth of clothing and sundries. Because they didn't have as much to worry about, Misao and Kaoru had been asked to cook dinner. The school kitchens had run with student help, and Misao knew her friend well. Kaoru was chopping vegetables. No one could say that she wasn't good with sharp objects—or, at least, they couldn't say it twice. Between simmering, sautéing and boiling, Misao was quite busy. Still, she managed to find the presence of mind to chat with Kaoru as she cooked. She had the advantage of being able to "pop" objects across the room with her power, even to the extent of fetching fried fish directly from the pan onto the serving plate. When she noticed Kaoru staring, the third time she did it, she just grinned and winked.
"You only really think about using magic for big things, don't you? At least, I know that's what they taught us at the Academy. I guess that when you live among mages, and everybody has some sort of skill or another, it's just natural to use your magic in everyday life—especially when you're has harried as I am!" And she was flying around the kitchen again, jet-black braid snapping behind her like a whip. Kaoru could only shake her head and sigh at her friend's inexhaustible energy.
AN: Okay, no cliffhanger ending this time. Sorry! Hmm…looking back, it wasn't a very action-packed chapter. I promise they'll be more action next time. Anyway, thanks for reading, and we'll see you next time on Spring, Winter, Summer, Fall!