Hey Guys! I'm in a great mood! I just finished this chapter and it's ready for uploading! So enjoy and remember to review!
Disclaimer: I don't own Rurouni Kenshin . . .but I have plans to take over the world someday!
Chapter 12: Trouble Arises
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Kenshin stood on his front porch early one Thursday morning reminiscing about the past weeks. The wind nipped at his skin and the cold air chilled his bones. He looked up at the sky. The clouds were luminous just lurking above the little house ready to send their downpour. He shivered slightly. 'It'll be nice when summer arrives.' He thought longingly. He decided he should probably get started on his chores when he heard Kaoru calling his name.
"Out here Kaoru."
She peeked her head around the door to look at him. "Brrr it's freezing. Kenshin? I was wondering if I could take one of the horses and go into town today. I have to give Tokio this blanket I've been working on for her. I had told her Sunday that I would bring it when I could."
Kenshin immediately disliked the idea. There was no way his Kaoru was going to go around town all by herself yet. 'My Kaoru? Where did that come from?' he shrugged the thought away.
"How about I hitch up the team and go with you?"
Kaoru looked at him skeptically. "Kenshin, you don't have to do that. Besides you have so much work to do, and you've been really tired lately."
Kenshin reeled at that last comment. How did she know he wasn't resting very well? He had done everything he could to hide it.
She continued on, 'And with this weather-"
"Yes, this weather is precisely the reason I don't want you going by yourself. I'm going to go hitch up the team."
"But-"
"No. Get ready to leave. It'll only take a minute."
She watched Kensin's back disappear as he entered the barn. She sighed with defeat. He looked so tired. She hadn't wanted to bother him, which was why she could have gone herself. 'I'd best get my things. There's no reason to keep him waiting.'
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Kenshin sat staring out the window at the darkening clouds. 'It's going to be a horrible storm.' He thought anxiously before turning to look at his wife, who was happily chatting away with Tokio. 'We need to leave and soon. OR else we'll get caught out in that madness. They had stayed at the Saito's house longer than he had intended. Already the day was almost over and he had yet to finish his chores. He sighed inwardly as he listened to Kaoru's laughter. 'What I would give to make her laugh like that.' HE thought remorsefully. He shook his head. 'What are you thinking Himura?'
Just then Hajime entered trough the back door. "The wind's pickin' up."
"Ahh, then we should get going. Kaoru, please wrap everything up. WE need to leave very soon." Kenshin said as he stood and exited towards the stable.
"It was so much fun Tokio. Thank you for the wonderful dinner."
"It was my pleasure. The blanket you made is beautiful. I can't wait to use it."
The two women hugged and Kaoru went out the front door. The wind ripped at her skirt sending it flailing about her legs. She grabbed onto the hat she was wearing and quickly skittered down the front steps up to the wagon. Kenshin lifted her up, and with a final wave to Tokio she and Kenshin took off down the road.
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Kenshin now dearly regretted leaving as late as they did. The sky had opened up and torrents of rain blasted down upon them. With the wind whipping about the wagon the trip home was slow going. Kaoru was clinging to his arm. The water from the rain ran down her face in streams. She buried her head into his shoulder as the deafening thundered growled above their heads. He wished he could comfort her now but he was too preoccupied with the horses.
The storm raged on, not letting up for a moment. The horses were beginning to panic and rear up. Kaoru looked up into his face worriedly. His face was set firm. His arms worked with the rains. He called out soothing words to the beasts as they rolled on. She rested her head on his shoulder again. They were both soaked to the bone. The wind was cutting and the lighting flashed. She closed her eyes hard. She didn't like the situation at all. The only thing that kept her from crying out in fear was the steady sound of Kenshin's heartbeat. Soon she found herself focused on nothing else but the rhythmic beat of his heart.
Kenshin was trying to calm the terrified animals when the storm began to let up. The intense part was over and the rain was now just falling freely over his face. He looked up at the sky thankful that the worst was over. His head was pounding. The sight of their home was gratifying, as he guided the horses up the road. He looked down at Kaoru to let her know they were home when he realized she had fallen asleep.
He smiled as he slid his arm around her waist in order to lift her. He hopped down from the wagon with Kaoru in his arms and soon regretted it. A stream of pain shot up his back and he gasped for breath as he tried to stable himself. The storm had begun to pick up again and Kenshin cursed its bad timing. He stumbled up the steps and eventually managed to get through the front door. He could hear the branches of the trees snapping in the wind outside. He hobbled back to the bedroom and laid her gently on the bed and covered her up. She was still soaked, but at this point there was nothing he could do. His head had begun to spin his legs began to fail him and as he stumbled around his final thought before he collapsed onto the bed was. 'I hope she doesn't get mad at me for this . . .'
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Kaoru woke up to the sound of rain patting on the roof. She stretched groggily before realizing she wasn't alone. She froze. 'Calm down Kaoru, just calm down.' She turned slowly and found herself staring at Kenshin back. She began to breath again as she slowly slid out of the covers and backed against the wall.
'He could at least warn me before thinking we're ready to move on' she thought angrily. But then brushed her anger aside and slipped out of the room closing the door behind her. She noticed she was still in her clothes from the night before, but that didn't daunt her. She figured Kenshin would be up soon enough anyway and she could change then.
She grabbed her shawl and stepped outside. The rain was still pouring down. And Kaoru's brow wrinkled with frustration. 'It's STILL raining?' She shrugged inwardly and quickly darted to the barn where she was duly caught off guard.
There in the middle of the barn was the team still hitched up to the wagon. The horses were breathing heavily and were shaking with cold. Kaoru immediately dropped the bucket she had been carrying and ran over to them. 'Shhhh, you poor dears. Why did Kenshin leave you out last night hmmm?" She was beginning to worry, but right now she had to warm theses horses up. She pulled on the leather that held them attached to the wagon until it finally gave. She ran around to the other side to repeat the process. Only this time the leather refused to give way. She yanked and yanked, but nothing happened. She groaned in frustration, and finally decided just to unsaddle the horse and that would fix the problem.
'There ya go Pete." She said softly to the chestnut brown horse. "All better ya see?" She immediately ran to the utility room of the barn and grabbed blankets. She threw a blanket onto Pete then onto Polly. She led each horse to its stall, then proceeded to fill their buckets up with oats and hay. She ran out again into the rain to grab some water from the pump.
By the time she had returned to the barn she was soaked to the skin. She filled up each horses water bin. And looked at the wagon which still stood right in the middle of the barn. 'There's no way I'm going to be able to move that, maybe Kens-"
KENSHIN! She had completely forgotten. What would have made him forget to brush down the horses and cover them up. He was so proud of his horses and leaving them like that all night could have killed them. Something was seriously wrong and she wasn't so sure she wanted to know what it was.
She made her way back into the house. Silence. 'HE must be up by now.' She thought with anxiety. 'Why isn't he up? He's always up before me.' She crept back to the bedroom and opened the door slowly and looked in.
He hadn't budged and inch. He still lay completely motionless. A shiver ran up her spine as she made her way over to the bed. She stared down at him. She watched his chest as it rose and fell. 'His breathing's labored.' She thought growing more afraid by the minute. She reached down and placed her hand on his forehead only to immediately jerk it up again. 'HE'S BURNING UP!' Her mind screamed at her. She panicked. 'No he can't die on me. I won't.' She calmed herself down and began to work. She noticed he was still in the wet clothes from the night before.
'He can't stay in those.' She thought regretfully, but with deft movements immediately began to undress him blushing all the while. 'Quit it Kaoru you're married to the man for heaven's sake!' As soon as she finished she threw the blankets over him and ran into the other room to fetch more. They were going to have to sweat this fever out at this point. If that didn't work, she'd have to cool him down . . .and fast. She rushed around the house boiling water and grabbing clean rags. She placed a warm rag on his forehead, and thought desperately for something else she could do.
Nothing. She couldn't think of anything that would help her right now. She stared at him worriedly. 'I have to go for a doctor. His fever's too high for me to handle.' She leaned down and said softly, "I'll be back soon." She brushed a few stray strands of hair away from his eyes before running out the front door to the barn.
She made her way to Summer's stall and stood staring at the majestic horse. "Hello, Summer." She said quietly. "I need you to let me saddle you ok?" She approached Summer slowly and reached up to stroke her mane. Summer shook her head happily and Kaoru led her out of the stall up to the front. She struggled as she tried to hook the saddle on. Every time she went to buckle it is slid of Summer's back. But all the while Summer just stood there allowing Kaoru to make each amateur mistake. Eventually Kaoru secured the saddle.
'Now comes the fun part.' she thought remorsefully. She grabbed the bridle and began trying to slip it around the horses head. She was growing frustrated when she couldn't seem to get the bit into Summer's mouth. But Summer just stood there watching Kaoru with amusement as she fought with the bridle. Eventually Kaoru was finished and she stepped onto a box to help her mount. She leapt onto Summer's back but immediately fell off again. She grunted with pain as she landed on her rear. She climbed up again and began the whole procedure again. This time she was successful. And with her shoulders held high she urged Summer forward.
Summer immediately took off, and Kaoru clutched the reins for dear life. 'Please Kenshin, please. Don't die while I'm gone.' She road down the gravel road as fast as she trusted Summer to carry her. Eventually she gained enough assurance Summer wouldn't throw her and gave the horse its head. With that Summer took off even faster and before Kaoru knew it she was on town. She looked up the roads amid the rain. 'Where should I go? I don't know where the doctor lives.' She dismounted Summer and ran in the nearest store.
"Where can I find a doctor." She said quite loudly to the man behind the counter. HE blinked once or twice before answering.
"Go down the south road and you'll come to a little hut and that's where he stays . . .don't know if'n he'll be home though-" The man didn't have enough time to finish speaking for Kaoru had already left the building. 'Interestin' little critter.' The man thought to himself as he went back to work.
Kaoru mounted Summer again, this time with a little more grace and sped off down the road. She just had to find that house and fast. She road for a ways until she saw clouds of smoke floating up into the sky. 'A house! I'm close.' She dismounted Summer when the house came into view and trudged up the front steps. She banged loudly on the door.
When the door opened Kaoru found herself staring into familiar eyes.
"Kaoru?"
With a cry of relief Kaoru flung herself on the older woman and sobbed. "Me-Megumi . . ." Megumi stroked the dark haired girls tresses and guided her inside the house. Kaoru looked up into her face.
"Megumi, my husband he's extremely sick. I need a doctor, now!" Megumi handed Kaoru a towel.
"You're soaked. Why did you go gallivanting around in this storm? You could have been seriously hurt."
"Didn't you hear me I said-"
"Shhhh, I know don't worry. Matthew went to get his instruments."
"What?"
"My husband is getting his things together then we'll all go help your husband ok?"
"No time. We have to go now!" The desperate woman cried in agony. Megumi smiled reassuringly.
"Don't worry everything will be alright."
"Megumi, I'll hitch up the carriage."
"No need I can ride Summer back." The dark haired man stared at Kaoru in disbelief.
"You can't ride that horse back. It's still pouring."
"I have to. It's Kenshin's favorite horse. I can't just leave it here."
"We'll bring it to you-" Matthew couldn't finish. Kaoru was already outside mounting Summer again.
"Please. We must hurry."
Megumi placed a hand on her husband's shoulder, "Come on lets go." Kaoru watched Megumi get into the carriage along with her husband and she immediately spurred Summer on. 'We have to make it . . .we just have to.' She thought desperately, but her thoughts were scattered amid the howling wind.
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Whew, (wipes sweat from forehead) my fingers were flying. I decided to leave it here. But don't worry, I plan to update soon. I'll try to do it before Friday. Just know if I can't before Friday . . .ummm I can't update until Monday cause I'll be out of town. Hope this wasn't too cliffie. On to my reviewers!
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*My Reviewers~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Koishii Sweet- I'm so glad that you're enjoying this story! Now comes some of the major drama! Woo hooo!
Moosnsilver- Ahh yes, good times. I thought it was time for a little . . .DRAMA! Hope you like how the story id progressing!
Noner_89- I'm glad you like reading my chapters! I love getting your reviews! Hope you liked this one!
Allin656- She enters the scene! Actually Megumi will have a pretty large part in this story . . . when I said briefly I ment that you won't see her except for a brief moment. Then she fades away again. And then comes- oh well you'll see won't you now? And as for Sayo, yea I liked her character in the anime . . .but I kinda mess it up in this story . . .you'll see what I mean. Hope you liked this chapter!
The Evil Witch- Glad you liked the last chapter. I'm trying to get to the romance . . .only there's just soo much to do before it comes . . .sigh . . .too many ideas . . .brain hurts!
Me, Myself, and I- I'm sorry you were banned from the internet. Actually Megumi's husband's last name is McConroy and Lorie's husband's last name is O'Connell. So yea I kinda got confused myself. Ahh well. Hope you still like this chapter!
Mishorou Mie- Yes she loves it! Woo hoo! Throws a parade! Hope you liked this chapter!
Bob-san- Ohhh don't kill me! That would be sad! Plus I already have ideas for other stories once this one is over . . .though it'll be a while. Hope you liked this chapter!
Tintin-chan- Heh heh, Megumi enters the scene. Now what's her story? Guess you'll have to wait and see! Hope you liked this chapter!
Animegurl444- (giggles) yea K/K is coming slowly if you can't tell. But it's coming I PROMISE! Hope you liked this chapter though!
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Thanks to all who reviewed and to those who didn't . . .PLEASE REVIEW! You can really make someone's day when you do! I mean you guys make mine all the time! Hope you liked this chapter! Now Review!
~Kairi7~