Be My Future

Disclaimer: This fanfic is based on the manga series "Please save my earth". All characters Belong to Nobuhiro Watsuki from Rurouni Kenshin series.

Chapter 4– Nostalgia

Kaoru looked down with her hands in top of her legs a little embarrassed. Sanosuke sat across the table with both arms on top of it and one his chin. It passed some days since she babysitted Kenshin. She had to see some papers at the university to know if she was really in and to know when the classes really began. This was the only time she had with him to reveal her little dream that never seem to get out of her head.

"Do you think…it's weird?" she asked with her head still down. His hand fell down from his chin surprised.

"Weird? Of course not, I have those dreams too you know?" he asked mocking her

"That's not what I meant." She answered "After you and Megumi talked about it, I dreamt of it in the same day."

"I did ask you think about it." Her head looked up at him "this is your second dream since you had your first one on the plane. 'If you start to think more of them they will start to appear', that's what I thought." He paused "I'm glad."

"Eh?" she asked confused "What do you mean?"

"I mean that my suspicions were right and Megumi was wrong." He showed her a smile "Actually I was a little worried about what you would think about the whole situation." She was silent as he spoke with relieve in his eyes.

Kaoru smiled "I was happy you told me about it, I'm happy to know you can still trust me like old times." His smile became bigger and then he looked at his cup of juice.

"I'm just sad that Megumi was never here to know about this." Kaoru gave a little laugh and he looked again at her. "I let her know of it as soon as I can. But now I have to tell you some more things." His face became a little serious. "About other people."

"Of the past?" she asked curious.

"Yes. This will not be so easy to understand, but I'll try to talk about them as brief as I can." She waited for him to speak with both hands now on top of the table. "You only saw Kenshin right?" her head went down again embarrassed by what happened in the dream.

"Ha-hai."

"Why are you so embarrassed?" she became tense again and looked at him with a smile

"Nothing!"

He looked suspicious at her but decided to continue. "I sent an article to a magazine just recently. The magazine is a little weird since it talks about mysterious things as UFOs and stuff."

"The 'Boo magazine'?" she asked as he hid his face and she understood this gesture as a yes making her laugh "Why did you do that?"

"Well Ken-" he paused abruptly. She never seemed to notice and he continued "I mean Kenshin has some of them and I thought it would be a way to find the others. I've put my number on it too."

"You did?" she asked admired

"Actually I received a lot of calls, some wanting to know why I wrote that article and some just to make fun of me." Kaoru let out a little laugh but he kept his eyes closed embarrassed "It was a good idea. Yahiko was the one to call."

"Yahiko?" she thought a little trying to remember where she listened his name. "Was he at the dojo too?"

"He lived there with Kaoru and Kenshin. He had 10 years at the time." He paused "He was a student of the dojo Kamyia Kaoru gave him classes of kendo."

"Was he her brother or something?" she asked

"He used to live on streets." Kaoru's eyes widened "Kenshin and Kaoru saved him of some troubles and allowed him to live there." She was silent for a while hearing. "But actually, he didn't want to call."

"Eh? Then why did he-?

"Misao obliged him to do it. She was too embarrassed to call and so he did it." He had a little smile on his lips, imagining the situation.

"Mochi Mochi?"

"Eh... Hm..." Sanosuke was silent waiting for someone, a man to answer. "Say something you baka!" Sano heard a second voice, a girl's voice. "Don't tell me what to do, I'm the one with the phone remember? You couldn't even pick it up! Remind me again why I'm the one calling!" The man looked at him phone confused. "What the-?" recognition hit his hears and he tried to listen for a little more. "This is an opportunity!" the girl talked now "Stop talking to me and start talking to HIM!" "Give me some space though, the phone was made for only one person!" "But I want to hear too!"

"Excuse me," Sanosuke said and they stopped "Are you Misao?"

There was a long pause. Sanosuke tried to listen something but couldn't. He had almost half of the phone inside his hear, when:

"OH MY GOD! HE REMEMBERS MY VOICE!"

After the call, he had still some time trying to fix his hear.

"Misao?" he looked at Kaoru who was waiting for him to explain to her. It was sad that she didn't know who the little weasel was. His smile became a sad one.

"Misao was a ninja that belonged to Oniwabanshu. They all lived in Kyoto."

"Oniwabanshu…" she said thinking. None of these names were familiar to her. The more she thought the more she knew that it was impossible to know it. Even the name Yahiko and what Sanosuke revealed to her were unfamiliar.

"You'll get to understand everything later on." He said trying to comfort her "we're going to meet them this Sunday. I would like to take you with us." She stayed silent while thinking. She knew so little and now that he asked her this she didn't know if she could go. "Don't be worried, it's only normal for you to don't know everything yet. I'm sure you are the Kaoru I saw in my dreams, the one from the past. There are so many things that come together. It's impossible for you to not be her."

She still kept silent. Would she accept and go?

"I-" she hesitated "I think I'll try it."

…

College would start soon. In two weeks actually. Kaoru wasn't expecting to be so soon. As she looked trough the calendar she started to think on time. It's been almost a month since she left home and now she wondered how her friends were and how her family was doing. Mother called a lot but father just spoke to her once. It has been like this since her mother said she was leaving again to Japan.

His reaction was unexpected, she had never seen him so furious and angry. She was scared but as some minutes passed he had calmed down and left the room leaving her mother and her behind. Kaoru's eyes closed a little with sadness. Mom had smiled then saying he was only worried and sad about the news. She didn't believe much mother's words since his father never had time to be with his daughter and seemed he never cared.

As she thought about her father, she came to realize that he wasn't that close to his family. Mother didn't have brothers or sisters and Kaoru's grandparents had died when she was little. Mother was the only one who understands father and has always been with him since college. She never understood how mother was able to live with such a distant man. But Kaoru knew she loved her father a lot.

The name Kamyia came from her father's side. If she wanted to ask some questions about her family past she knew he wouldn't say much. Mother could know something but even so, it would be little.

Kaoru's head came down thoughtful. She was still in doubt, she didn't know if that dream was real but some days passed since she had that one.

Putting her arms around herself, embracing her form, she looked again at the calendar. It was good that college was going to start soon. It would be a way to make her occupied and thinking less about this. She wasn't getting anywhere.

Turning away, she headed to the kitchen exit and went to her room. As she was getting upstairs, a sound made her stop. It was already late and she was sure she had closed the kitchen door. As she turned her head slightly, she now recognized the sound: it was the sound of a window opening. She wondered if it would be Kenshin but it was already late for him to walk around at this hour.

She started to panic, her legs didn't seem to move as she wanted them to. Someone was entering her house and she didn't know what to do. This never happened back in America. She slowly came down the stairs again and without looking she started to search something with her hands. Her eyes were focused on the kitchen doorway, where she could not see any light since she turned it off. Accidentally, her hands grabbed something like a stick. She looked at it and realized it was her broom. She gave a relief sighed once she saw it.

But then she thought about it, what could she do with a stick? As she heard the nearing the kitchen door way, she came to be close to the wall next to it. With the broom in hand, she began to sweat, not knowing yet what to do. She closed her eyes and waited as she heard it near her.

With closed eyes, her body moved by reflex as her broom made a horizontal swing. The stick seemed to hit something soft. Instantly she opened her eyes and saw a young Kenshin by its side, holding her broom with two fingers. His eyes were hidden by his hair and she could not see if he was hurt. Her eyes were wide opened and then she dropped the broom on the ground making a horrible sound as it fell. Kenshin's arm fell too with the movement and she just stared at the boy in panic.

"Kenshin are you alright?" she asked as she almost came to her knees to look at his face extremely worried. He didn't look at her and she wondered if he was mad at her "I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to hit you."

"Nice-"his voice left his lips breathlessly. She then realized he was breathing with difficulty and didn't understand why. His right hand came to his chest softly and rubbed his left side. "Nice move."

"Kenshin?" she asked again confused and worried. His breathing wasn't calming down which was strange. She saw his hand on his left side and asked "What is it? Do you feel any pain?"

Kaoru was now able to see his face. His eyes were closed as if he was concentrated and his breathing started to slow down. It seemed he was making a great effort on doing that. She watched worried as he seemed to come back to normal. His lips were slowly forming a small smile. His eyes opened again and directly looked at her.

"I'm ok." He answered with a low voice but her eyes never stopped looking at him with worry. His hand slowly fell to his side and Kaoru never got up form her knees.

"How can you be 'ok'? You were acting weird, and you were breathing so fast-"

"Kaoru, I'm ok." He interrupts her and she abruptly stopped talking as she watched his pacific eyes looking straight at hers. She was much lower than his face slowly descended to stay at the same level as hers. "Don't worry about it."

"But I hit you…" she said lowering her voice with sad eyes. He smiled with that.

"You didn't hurt me." He answered "It was such a weak attack."

He gave a short laugh and Kaoru looked at him displeased. It seemed like they had changed papers, he seemed much older than her right now, and telling her not to worry and making her feel better. She crossed her arms trying to be angry.

"Nobody, and I mean nobody! Enters by a kitchen window at this hour!" she said and he laughs more "Unless of course you're trying to assault my house."

"Oh I get it, so if I steal something from your house I can be here right?" he asked mocking her. Her mouth opened surprised "But you got nothing here to steal. What can I take away from you?"

"My house is almost empty you know?" she asked crossing her arms playing with him. He seemed thoughtful for a while, putting his hand above his chin. She waited for his answer amused.

"I'll take the most important thing in the house then." He answered suddenly. Her smile disappeared then as she looked at him confused but at the same a little scared.

"What?" his hand descended slowly to hers and she looked at it surprised.

"I want to show you something."

…

Megumi sat on the couch as she heard Sanosuke talking through the phone. She looked down at her cup as his words made way to her head.

"I told you, it was her." He said and she just sighed

"I don't know, the situation still seems strange to me." He sighed too

"Why is that? How many proves do you want?"

"I think the second dream was mere coincidence, she dreamt it after we talked to her about it." She paused "And the first one still doesn't go with ours, she saw you and her son, something that never happened."

"Well I think she's the one. I believe that she is Kaoru from the past, is too much coincidence."

"Maybe it's just a mere coincidence Sano." She explained "I don't think we should trust this so soon."

"I don't understand why." His voice became a little serious.

"I just don't want us to believe so much. You're trying so desperately to find the others but there's no need for rush. Letting make her think about it too much…Just think if Kenshin figured that she isn't our Kaoru?"

"It's about Kenshin isn't it?" Sanosuke finally asked and Megumi's eyes widened surprised.

"What?"

A long silence followed. Megumi's heart beat so fast as she waited for Sano to answer. Sano's eyes were narrowed as he thought on what to say. Her talk seemed strange to him and the fact that she denied Kaoru from the very first time made him believe her emotions in the past for the boy were surfacing again. He closed his eyes and tried to stop his mind from thinking so many things.

"Forget it," He finally said "I invited Kaoru for this Sunday to join us. I'm expecting you to come."

"Y-yeah" with this, Sanosuke hung up and she kept listening to the rough sound of the phone indicating that the call was over.

…..

"What are we looking for exactly?" Kaoru asked as she climbed all the stairs heading to her attic. She remembers her mother telling her so many times for her to keep away from there. She was too little that time. "Kenshin?"

She continued to head up even not receiving any answer. When she finally got to the top, some memories came to her mind and how she missed this house. The place was now empty but back then it served her as a room for comfort. Although her mother noticed strange behaviour from her in the past, she never asked anything when Kaoru got up to the attic. Her friends filled her with questions she just couldn't answer and this place became her comfort. It was utter silence.

"Kaoru'" Kenshin's voice was heard from outside and Kaoru then realized the only window was opened and Kenshin used it as a door to her roof. She rushed over it and peered outside searching for the boy.

Standing and smiling was Kenshin waiting for her. One leg was up unlike the other, trying to gain some balance. She wondered how he got so stylish over the years.

"Let's get higher up," he said pointing to the top of the roof. She followed his ring and when she looked back at him, the boy was already "walking" over it.

"Wa-wait! That's-" he stopped looking back at her. He had already reached it and the girl couldn't hide her admired face. "-dangerous…"

"It's easy to climb," he answered already sitting. "Come." A little hesitant she looked over the window afraid of the heights. Slowly coming out she manage to crawl slowly next to him. Once she got up, a bit sign was let out. Kenshin looked amused as he watched the whole process.

After facing this old fear, she finally took the time to look up and watch the view right above her. The sky was all filled with stars, vividly shining on the dark background.

"I think I never got the time to watch the stars." She spoke making the boy look at her. "And now that some thought come to my mind... How sad." She paused observing them "But, the conclusion I come about them it's that they're really great."

"What makes you say that?" he asked somewhat anxious. She smiled with her knees coming up and hands to her cheeks.

"They shine." She simply stated. "They shine, no matter how dark it is, no matter how lonely it is, they keep shining. Like, they're hoping."

"Omasu told me something about jouchan." Words of the past filled him in "When we were off fighting Shishio and the chaos at the Shirobeko was over, jou chan kept looking to the night sky in hope for you. Even injured she refused to come inside so she could see you coming back, that's why everyone stayed out waiting for us. I wonder why you're such an ass with her sometimes."

Even so, back then, before he was left the Shirobeko, she came to join him on the roof and they had kept silent for a while watching the stars. He wondered if she was looking for hope that time too.

"It's not only Megumi, everyone is waiting for you to come back."

"I wonder why I feel so nostalgic right now." Those words woke him up suddenly. He stared at her surprised. Why was she saying that? Could it be-? "Even not being here before like this, it's strange."

As he looked at her now, his eyes were filled with hope. She didn't see it and he didn't want to interrupt her view of the stars, afraid he could break the moment. Would she remember? Would she be able to see him from the past? Could she?

"In the past I used to come to the attic to seek comfort from hard times, and I never got to watch the stars for a moment."

The more she spoke, the more he felt anxious. He knew this was a good idea, he knew she could get a clue. He waited for her to continue with a wide smile.

"When I broke up with Sano, I used to sit on this roof near the window of the attic and cry to myself."

His smile vanished.

"Even if I was the one who broke with him, it made me feel a little pain somehow."

His face went down.

"I don't know why I cried, I thought it wouldn't hurt me," pause "but it did."

He suddenly got up with hands in the pockets. She looked at him surprised.

That's why you're feeling nostalgic.

"Kenshin?" he heard her ask and slowly he shown her his serious face. She seemed confused by his behaviour. He started to walk down to the window where he came from. "Wha-what's wrong?"

"Is that the only thing?" he asked with his back to her. "Is that why you feel nostalgic?"

"I don't understand." She said and he could sense some weakness in her voice, she was worried. "Did I say something wrong?"

"…Iie." She only stayed silent. Why would she say something? She doesn't have the memories. She doesn't have the memories of you. "I have to get back."

"o-okay." She started to stand up following him "I'll take you to your house the-"

"You don't need to." Her legs stopped by the harsh words. What could have upset him?

"I have to hurry, my mom doesn't know I left my room." He continued to walk without looking at her. She followed slowly. "I'll get out through the door so don't forget to lock it again."

"Yes…"

I want to become the star Kaoru. I want to keep on going with hope. Hope that you'll remember everything, that you'll remember me, which we can be finally together and enjoy our so wanted, wonderful, peace.

Nothing matters anymore. I don't care where we are, what the others say or what will happen from now one. I will get what I've been waiting for, for so long. That will be my decision, my acts will be justified.

I'll keep watching the dark sky.

I'll be a star for you, Kaoru-dono.

End of chapter 4

A/n: Hey there, I'm really sorry for the delay, really. I haven't been too well for sometime now and it took me time to write this. Hope you're not mad at me, I'm really sorry. Hope you liked it.

And thank you so much for your wonderful review, theyme feel happy .:smiles:.

Let me know what you all think!