Who was that Skateboarding Fool!

By Altia

Disclaimer: I don't own Rurouni Kenshin, so don't bother suing me.

A/N: Well, I hope to gain back some of my fan base by updating quickly. I'm so close to 500 reviews I can taste it. Help me reach my goal!

Chapter 30: Tales of the Scar and Plans for a Date

Kenshin and Kaoru both sat in each other's arms for a long time, neither one of them wanting to move, though Kaoru had called her father and told him she was at Kenshin's house and would be back later. Kaoru kept looking over at Kenshin, a smile on her face. He truly had to be sent from above for her. She could have been raped, beaten, and killed if Kenshin and Sano hadn't shown up when they did.

After sitting in silence for a little while longer, Kaoru finally decided to speak. "Kenshin? I have a question… If you don't want to tell me, then I'll understand," she said softly.

Kenshin blinked a bit, looking down at Kaoru with a smile. "What is it, Kaoru?"

"Well… How did you get that scar on your face? I mean, it's such an odd shape and I don't think you could get something like that from skating," she said.

Silence seemed to reign the room once the question was asked. Kenshin's eyes drifted to the ground in front of him. He'd known for a while that this question would come up, he'd just hoped it would have come later. Sighing a bit, he turned his violet eyes towards Kaoru.

"I guess… I knew this question would come up eventually. It's not a pretty story, and it's not something I'm proud of, but I suppose I should tell you," he said slowly.

:Flashback:

A thirteen year old Kenshin had his fists clenched at his sides as he stood in front of the door of his house.

"No! I refuse to let you leave again! I'm tired of being left alone all the time!" he yelled, his juvenile face scrunched in anger and desperation.

"Kenshin, I've told you this a hundred times. It's part of our work that keeps this roof over your head and food in your stomach! You can't be this unreasonable every time we have to leave," his father reasoned, doing his best to calm his angered son.

Kenshin shook his head wildly, not caring about money or food or anything else at that moment. All he wanted was his parents to stay home with him where they should be. "I don't care! Why can't you just stay home like normal parents? Or at least one of you stay!" he demanded, staring at his parents with a look of defiance.

Kenshin's father was about to lose his temper with his son and left the room for a few moments to calm himself down. Kenshin's mother stayed, however, trying to calm the boy.

Kneeling down in front of Kenshin, his mother put her hand on the boy's shoulder. "Kenshin, you have to understand that a lot of families are feeling the need to have both parents working. It's not just us. Please, I promise we'll be back sooner then last time," she said soothingly.

Kenshin shook his head again, not liking that answer either. "I don't care about other families! I don't think our family needs both parents to work! I refuse to let you go!" he yelled.

Even being in the other room, Kenshin's father couldn't get himself to calm down enough and stop the explosion that was going to come. Storming back into the room, Kenshin's father had a look of pure rage upon his face.

"Stop being so selfish! We're doing this for you so you can live comfortably and not have to get a part time job when you're older! Why can't you appreciate the sacrifices we're making for you! Do you think we like leaving you!" he demanded, his fists clenched at his sides.

Kenshin, being the angry, naïve teenager he was, decided to smart off to his parents. "Maybe you do! For all I know, you might not be working at all! You might just be leaving the house to get away from me!" he shouted, not backing down at all from his parents.

That was enough to send Kenshin's father over the edge. Picking up the nearest thing to him, which happened to be the fragile coffee cup he'd used to drink his morning coffee, he threw the object at the wall near Kenshin's head. He'd just expected to scare the boy into moving, but what had happened terrified the whole family.

When the glass shattered against the wall, a large, jagged shard of the cup flew at a weird angle and left a deep cut on Kenshin's face. And since the boy had tried to duck his head to avoid the cup, the shard cut his cheek from his cheekbone to nearly his jawbone.

A scared Kenshin slowly reached to his left cheek, feeling a hot, sticky liquid flowing from the wound. Moving his hand in front of him, he saw the crimson fluid and knew instantly that he'd been cut. And very deep.

Kenshin's mother screamed at the sight of the blood pouring down her son's face and onto the carpet near his feet. His father cursed as he ran to the phone, calling the hospital and telling them they would be there immediately for a deep wound to the face.

Grabbing Kenshin's arm after placing a cloth against his cheek and holding it there, the family drove to the hospital to get his cheek looked at.

The doctors did all they could to close and sew the wound so there would be no scar, but they informed the family there would be a scar that would most likely last the rest of his life. The wound had been so deep, there was almost no way to sew it so there wouldn't be a visible scar.

Ever since that incident, Kenshin never put up a fight about letting his parents leave. His father felt incredibly guilty about the whole thing, but Kenshin had reassured him that he knew his father didn't mean to hurt him.

:End Flashback:

"This vertical scar will be a constant reminder of how selfish I was that day," Kenshin said softly, feeling rather tired from the whole explanation of what had happened that day.

Kaoru shook her head slowly, not really agreeing with what Kenshin just said. "Kenshin, you weren't being selfish. Every kid wants their parents to stay close, not just you. Please don't think like that," she said.

Kenshin grew silent, letting what she said sink into him. "No… I was being selfish. I knew my parents had to work in order for us to keep our comfortable lifestyle, and I was just too selfish to appreciate it. Boy, hindsight sure does suck," he said softly, a slightly bitter tone in his voice.

Kaoru sighed slightly, knowing that Kenshin was feeling even worse about his behavior because of his parents' deaths. She put her head on his shoulder, wrapping her arms around him loosely in a silent form of comfort.

It seemed to help because Kenshin returned the light embrace, letting out a long, shuddering sigh.

Though, Kaoru realized something. "Wait… you just told me about how you got the scar going down your face. What about the one that goes across?" she asked, tilting her head a bit.

Kenshin shook his head slowly, looking down at her with a slight smile. "That's for another time. Anyway, it's starting to get late and you should be heading back home, right?" he asked, glancing outside. Indeed, it was nearly sunset.

Kaoru gasped a bit, nodding her head quickly. "My dad won't like it if I'm late for dinner!" she said, jumping to her feet quickly. "Drive me home?"

Rolling his eyes a bit, Kenshin stood up and nodded his head. "Of course. Like I'm going to make my girl walk home," he teased, poking her side lightly.

Kaoru let out a squeak, not liking being poked there. "Don't do that, Kenshin," she said, swatting at his hand with a smile on his face.

Kenshin raised an eyebrow at her, a slight smirk on his face. "Hm… I have a feeling that you are ticklish. Am I right?" he asked.

"No…! Kenshin, I don't like the look in your eyes. Don't you dare…" she said, taking a few steps back.

In a matter of moments, the distance between the two of them was closed as Kenshin began tickling Kaoru's sides relentlessly.

The house was filled with laughter as Kaoru tried to squirm from the red-headed skater's grasp. Kenshin smirked, finally deciding to stop his friendly torture and stopped tickling Kaoru. He held her close, staring down at her with humor and a bit of something else that Kaoru couldn't determine in his eyes.

Kenshin kissed her forehead gently, his smirk fading into a smile as he took a step back. "Alright, now that I know that little piece of information, we can go now," he said, walking and grabbing his keys.

Kaoru blinked slowly before pouting and crossing her arms over her chest. "You're horrible, Kenshin," she mumbled, reluctantly following him towards the door.

Chuckling, Kenshin opened the door and nodding his head slowly. "I know I am, Kaoru. But that's why you love me," he said, flashing her a charming smile.

Kaoru rolled her eyes as she walked out of his house and towards his car as he locked the front door and opened her side of the car for her.

"Well, maybe you are a bit of a gentleman," Kaoru said, teasing him a bit.

Shutting the door after rolling his eyes at her, Kenshin got into his side of the car and turned it on, letting it warm up before pulling out of the driveway.

Kenshin and Kaoru sat in a comfortable silence for most of the ride. Finally, Kenshin glanced over at Kaoru when they were stopped at a red light.

"Are you sure you're ok, Kaoru? I mean, they didn't do anything before I got there, right?" he asked softly.

Kaoru smiled over at Kenshin, nodding her head slowly. "I'm fine, Kenshin, really. They didn't even get a chance to grab me or anything," she said, putting a hand on his shoulder gently.

Kenshin smiled a bit, nodding his head slowly and turning his eyes back to the road. Not much longer after their short conversation, the light turned green and Kenshin drove the rest of the way to Kaoru's house.

Stopping his car in front of Kaoru's house, Kenshin flashed her a gentle smile as he took her hand.

"Well, I guess I'll be seeing you tomorrow, then," he said, kissing the back of her hand gently.

Kaoru blinked slowly, trying to remember what the heck Kenshin was talking about. Finally, it dawned on her. "Oh! Right! I'll call you later about the details," she said quickly.

Kenshin nodded his head slowly, smiling at Kaoru as he let her hand go. "Alright, then I'll be expecting a call from you," he said.

Kaoru smiled, nodding her head. "Yeah, so I guess I'll talk to you later then," she said, leaning over and kissing his cheek gently.

Just as she was about to leave, Kenshin gently tugged Kaoru towards him and gave her a tender kiss on the lips.

Kaoru's eyes fluttered closed as she returned the kiss, pulling away a few moments later. "Talk to you later. Bye, Kenshin," she said, getting out of his car and closing the door.

Kenshin waited until she turned around at her front door, waving a bit at her then pulling away and heading back home.

Kaoru walked into her house, a smile on her face as she put her things down. Walking into the kitchen, she saw her father preparing dinner. "Hi, dad. Dinner smells very good. What are you cooking?" she asked.

Her father turned his head and looked over his shoulder at her. "Hello, Kaoru. Tonight is Italian-style spaghetti with salad," he said, turning back to finish up with their food.

Kaoru nodded her head, liking the sound of that a lot. She sat down at the table as dinner was served. She chatted with her father about what happened that day, leaving out the part with the gang of course.

Finishing up with her dinner, Kaoru excused herself and placed her plates in the sink. She walked upstairs and picked up her phone, wondering if Kenshin was home already.

'I'm sure he's home, I just wonder if he's busy or not,' she thought, sitting down on her bed. Leaning back against her pillow, she dialed Kenshin's number and listened as the phone rang a few times.

Meanwhile, Kenshin had just finished his dinner when he heard the phone ringing.

'Must be Kaoru,' he reasoned as he walked over and picked the phone up.

"Hello?" he asked.

"Hey, Kenshin, it's Kaoru."

'I was right.' "Oh, hey, Kaoru. Let me guess, you thought of something for us to do tomorrow?" he asked.

"Exactly. I was thinking we could go to the movies. I heard there are a lot of good ones out. Then after that, we could go get something to eat. What do you think, Kenshin?" she asked.

Kenshin blinked slowly. "Sounds like that's more of a date to me, but I don't mind either way. Sounds good to me, Kaoru. Any ideas as to what movie you want to watch, or where you want to eat?"

Kaoru shrugged a bit, smiling slightly. "You make those choices. Just give me a call around an hour before you come pick me up so I can get ready," she said.

"Alright, sounds good, Kaoru. I guess I'll be seeing you tomorrow," he said, smiling a bit.

"Ok, I love you, Kenshin."

"I love you, too, Kaoru."

"Bye."

"Bye."

Kaoru hung her phone up, a smile on her face as she got comfortable in her bed. 'I'm going on a date with Kenshin tomorrow!' she thought happily, closing her eyes to go to sleep. She was really tired from the day's events and wanted nothing more then to sleep.

And that's exactly what she did.

:OoO:OoO:OoO:OoO:

A/N: Phew… fast update. I'm hoping this chapter will put me over the 500 review mark. This is, after all the 30th chapter of your favorite story and mine. Leave a review. Be like these wonderful people!

enchantedsleeper: Yes, it's an update and he did save the day.

antica: Thanks a lot. Here's the update.

DreamerGirl02: Well, thank you for your helpful comments and I tried to use them to better this chapter. I hope I did better this time.

Serphtears: Thanks.

The Mystic Firefly: Well, I did update. We heard a part of Kenshin's story this chapter, and we'll probably hear the other part in a couple of chapters. Enjoy.

Miharu Kawashi: I'm sorry, I'm really trying to get better about the lengths of chapters and abrupt endings. Thank you for all your nice comments about my story. It means a lot when I get praised about something I've been working on so long. Yes, college is much better.