How the Past can Change
A K&K Rurouni Kenshin Romance FanFiction
by: bunny ;D
Disclaimer: Rurouni Kenshin is the creation of Nobuhiro Watsuki, with the manga and anime rights belonging to Jump Comics and Sony Entertainment, respectively. I do not own and did not create the series or its characters...I'm just a fan, and I have no money anyways, so NO SUING ME!! :D
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A/N: This story is altering the original story of Rurouni Kenshin / Samurai X. It also has some OOCness, (especially with Battousai.) If you don't like that idea, or can't handle it…I would advise you not to read this fic. If you are a hard-core Tomoe and Kenshin forever kind of person, I would advise you to not read this fic. Don't get me wrong, I like Tomoe, this is just a different story ok?
Ja ne,
Bunny ;D
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The fake Battousai had taken his leave and was already parading down the street, swinging his sword around proclaiming, "I'm the Hitokiri Battousai of the Kamiya Kasshin Ryu!"
"I finally found him, and he's not getting away with this any longer Kenshin!!" Kaoru had yelled, continuing to squirm, in an effort to be released and chase after the man defaming her good dojo.
Kenshin tightened his hold on her as she squirmed. "I'll come and take care of him later if you want, but first we need to take care of that arm of yours." He said calmly before he ran back towards the dojo, carrying a befuddled and bemused Kaoru the whole way there.
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Chapter Thirty-Five - I Will Always Love You
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Kaoru sat on the floor of the dojo while Dr. Genzai bandaged her arm and watched Kenshin pace back and forth across from her like a man possessed. As if his body language wasn't obvious enough, Kaoru could also tell from his intense ki that he was furious. He was mumbling to himself in an undertone that Kaoru was certain he probably couldn't even understand, while swinging his arms up and down, as if he was trying to figure out some great puzzle and he only had a few precious moments to get the right answer. Frankly, he was acting like the Battousai had chopped off her arm, and Kaoru thought it was all a bit drastic over a small cut.
"There you go now, all better Kaoru-chan." Dr. Genzai said gently as he stood up from his position at her side and made his way to the exit. "Himura." He said as he nodded towards Kenshin as a goodbye before leaving.
After Dr. Genzai left, Kenshin stopped pacing and turned towards Kaoru. "What were you thinking?" he scolded.
"Huh?" Kaoru asked, confused over his reprimand. "You mean, I shouldn't have been hit? I know. I was careless, I'm sorry. I'm still going to go get that guy though!" Kaoru said passionately as she brought her arm up and made a fist.
Kenshin practically growled. "No! I mean what were you thinking going out after that guy by yourself? You could have been killed!" Kenshin yelled at her, his eyes narrowing to intense violet slits.
Kaoru stood up and frowned. "Don't yell at me!" she screamed while she stomped her foot for emphasis.
Kenshin stormed across the room at her and grabbed her upper arms, "You don't get it do you?" he hissed at her.
Kaoru flinched briefly, but she held her ground. "Don't get what Kenshin?" she questioned blankly.
"I can't STAND the thought of anything ever happening to you. The sight of your blood makes me sick, even a small cut Kaoru, it makes me insane. I want to hunt down that Battousai impersonator and cut his head off for even thinking he could attack you and get away with it." He said shaking her slightly as if trying to make her understand what he was feeling.
"Stop it," Kaoru begged as a few tears sprung to her eyes. It hurt her to hear Kenshin talking that way, even though his anger wasn't directed at her.
"Kaoru, perhaps I haven't made myself clear enough in the past, but you mean everything to me, and I don't know what I would do if something ever happened to you; do you understand?" Kenshin finished and released Kaoru's arms from his tight grasp. As he stepped away, he noticed he himself had been hurting her in his craze and in complete shame he hung his head, covering his eyes with his bangs. "I'm sorry." He whispered to her.
"It's ok." Kaoru replied, taking a tentative step closer to him and wiping away the long tears still streaming down her face.
"No it's not. I shouldn't have yelled at you like that." He said, outwardly reprimanding himself for his actions. "Now you're crying." He added as he put a hand to her face and wiped away more of her tears. "It's all my fault." He whispered hoarsely.
"Don't worry about it, Kenshin. I understand. You don't want to see me hurt." Kaoru placed a hand gently on Kenshin's shoulder, silently comforting him. "I feel the same way about you. It makes me happy to know that you still love me," she finished
Kenshin looked up at Kaoru and locked eyes with her; "I will always love you, Kaoru. Don't ever forget that. No matter what, I will always love you." He said.
"Good." Kaoru said. She smiled and then reached out and took his hand and pulled him towards the door. "It's been a long day, and I'm tired. Let's go to sleep." She said.
"Whatever you say, Kaoru." Kenshin said as he allowed himself to be dragged back to the house and into her room. Kaoru laid out her futon for the both of them and pulled Kenshin down to sleep with her. In a daze, he agreed and didn't protest as he had in the past. He wrapped his arms around her smaller form and pulled her close to him. He heard her let out a content sigh, and almost immediately fall asleep. 'Just once more, I want to hold her in my arms, before she…' he stopped himself from completing his thought. "Ignorance is bliss." He murmured aloud to himself before allowing himself to join Kaoru in the land of the sleeping.
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The next morning Kaoru awoke to the wonderful feeling of Kenshin's arms wrapped around her and his warm breath tickling the back of her neck. She allowed herself to cuddle deeper into his arms and let out a deep sigh of utter contentment. 'Oh Kenshin. If only I could wake up to this every morning.' She thought to herself. 'Maybe…I can get a little bit more sleep before Kenshin wakes me up.' She hoped as she let out a large yawn and closed her eyes, drifting back asleep in a matter of seconds.
Not much later, Kenshin awoke to the comforting feeling of his arms around Kaoru. Not fighting his usual restraints in her presence, he allowed himself to nuzzle her neck and took a deep breath of her jasmine scented hair. 'It's been forever since I've been able to wake up and hold my wife and smell her hair.' He thought a bit wistfully. 'I wonder what Kaoru will say when I break the news to her that we have technically been married for the past twelve years.' He stopped himself from laughing out loud at the visual picture he had of her beating him over the head repeatedly with her bokken. 'More importantly, we need to get through the problems we have now before I can even get to that. If she's still even remotely interested in having any form of a relationship with me after she finds out about the rest of my past.' Kenshin's heart constricted at the thought of her rejecting him, and he unconsciously pulled her closer to him, as if to tell her that he would never let her leave him.
"Kenshin?" Kaoru questioned half-awake and half-asleep when Kenshin's arms tightened around her.
"Morning, Kaoru." Kenshin breathed into Kaoru's ear.
Kaoru shivered a bit at his close contact. "Are you awake now? I think we slept in. I woke up earlier and you were still sleeping, so I fell back asleep." She rambled, her grogginess apparent.
"It's ok." Kenshin answered. "We needed a break from our early mornings, I think we have both been under a lot of stress recently, with your Dad, and now this fake Battousai, and…"
"shhh…" Kaoru hushed him and wiggled herself closer into his embrace. "Let's just enjoy our late morning…" she murmured around a large yawn.
Kenshin smiled and put his face into her hair. "Ok." He whispered.
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Later that afternoon, Kaoru was doing a bit of personal training in the dojo when she felt Kenshin's presence. She paused in her kata and looked towards the door.
Kenshin smiled gently at her and said, "you didn't need to stop, I would have waited until you were finished."
"That's ok. What did you need?" Kaoru replied.
"I just wanted to let you know I was headed into town to buy some food at the market for dinner tonight." He paused, "would you like anything?"
"No, that's ok. I'll see you soon then. Take care." Kaoru replied with a smile.
About 10 minutes after Kenshin walked out of the dojo gates, a lone Kaoru paused suddenly in her practice and turned towards the dojo entrance. "YOU!" she hissed, immediately getting into a defensive stance.
"HAHAHAHAHAHA" her intruder replied menacingly.