The Faerie Chronicles of Kenshin & Kaoru: Immortality, a Rurouni Kenshin fanfic by Raberba girl
Chapter 4
Himura Natsue aside, Kaoru's parents had been so delighted with Kenshin that they were all for attending the not-historical re-enactment a week later, which did indeed seem more like a fantasy play (though there was definitely a large percent of realistic-looking fighting). Kaoru had been amazed to watch Kenshin - not only was she surprised by the fact that he was taking an active role at all, but his performance was incredible. It was like he turned into a completely different person on the mock-battlefield, a cold-eyed soldier with exquisite swordplay whose heart thawed with delightful angst in the final act.
"He should be an actor," was Mrs. Arai's comment.
"I think he's got enough on his plate with the museum," Kaoru said, thinking of the meetings and paperwork he kept inadvertently hinting at, and the tired creases she sometimes saw in his forehead and in the corners of his eyes. Those were the only times when he ever looked even a little old; when he was happier (which was most of the time when Kaoru saw him face to face), he looked as if he could walk into a high school and not look out of place as long as he dressed the part.
Kaoru was not surprised when Kenshin caught her afterwards to chat, but it was a mere brief whirlwind of exchanged words amongst the crowd before he was pulled away again (apparently in several directions at once). Kaoru felt sorry for him as she saw how many people, both official-looking and everyday-looking, sought his attention. "It must be tough," she murmured.
"He is an important man," her mother mused, looking thoughtful. "I still can't get over the fact that he sets aside so much time for you, Kaoru-chan."
"Me, neither."
o.o.o.o.o
Kaoru managed to forget about Himura Castle for a few days, as if she was a normal person with a normal life. Then, after what happened at school the next Wednesday, she shakily volunteered for cleaning duty so that she wouldn't have to go home with her friends. This was so that they wouldn't see her get off at the Himura Castle bus stop and march straight up to the doors. She walked in and told the lady at the front desk, "I'm Arai Kaoru."
The woman smiled. "Welcome. Please enjoy your visit."
So apparently the entire castle now had orders to let her have the run of the place. Feeling a mix of gratification and anger, Kaoru marched on, her steps only slowing when she realized she had no idea where Kenshin's office was. She found the information booth and asked. The man there was not familiar to her, and for once he didn't seem to recognize her, but when he heard her name, he suddenly straightened and nervously informed her that Officer Sagara would escort her.
"What's up, Jouchan?"
"How about you tell me," Kaoru said angrily, so that he suddenly looked alarmed.
"Huh?"
"You heard me, Officer. Or should that be Sanosuke? Just how well am I supposed to know you, anyway?"
After a moment, the disconcerted look slipped from his face and he asked, surprisingly gently, "Did something happen, Jouchan?"
"How did you know?!" she screamed furiously.
He backed away, once again alarmed. "Whoa, whoa, calm down! I just guessed, okay?"
"Yeah, right!"
"Look, let's go see Kenshin, okay?" he said hurriedly.
"Why?" she demanded. "Why Kenshin? Why not you, or Megumi, or Yahiko, or any of the other people here who seem to know me soooo well?"
"Because Kenshin knows you best," Sanosuke said simply, which shut her up for a moment.
"What are you people planning?" she finally whispered.
He grinned. "Bad things. To our enemies. Who would kill you or worse if they knew who you were, Jouchan."
There was a moment of silence. "I think," she finally said faintly, "I'll ask Kenshin after all." As they resumed walking again, "Who am I, anyway?"
"At the moment?" he said with false carelessness, "Arai Kaoru."
"Who do you think I am?" she challenged.
"Well," he said cautiously. "You've had different names...but believe me, Jouchan, you will definitely always be you."
"This is all crazy, you know? I don't know you, I don't know any of you, I've never seen you in my life before. Why am I somehow mixed up in all this?!"
"You ever watch much sci-fi?" he asked, seemingly out of the blue.
"What does that have to do with-" She broke off when she remembered yet again what had happened earlier at school. She didn't say anything else until they had reached Kenshin's office.
Sanosuke pushed open the door just as they heard someone start to yell behind it. They watched in astonishment as Kenshin, who seemed to have discarded the less necessary pieces of his business suit, tossed an armful of items up in the air and swept out a sword in seemingly the same movement. As the items fell, the blade first slashed through what looked like his office telephone, then one of those new cellular phones, but at that moment, he caught sight of them in the doorway.
His mouth dropped open for an instant, after which the last of the falling items, a walkie-talkie, crashed down onto his head and bounced to the floor, where its seams burst. Kenshin collapsed on his desk, covering his head in his arms and groaning in what sounded more like mortification than pain.
"Had some nasty phone calls?" Sanosuke said delicately, obviously trying not to laugh.
"You'd think running a museum you love would be more fun," Kenshin grumbled. "Did it occur to you to knock, Sano? What is it?"
"I'd like to present," Sanosuke said, still laughing, "Arai Kaoru."
One blue eye emerged sheepishly from the mass of protective hair and sleeves. "Kaoru-dono. Er...apologies for the...rude display...this one was not expecting you," he said ruefully.
"Good," Kaoru said forcefully. "It's nice for you to be the one unbalanced for once."
Frowning, he straightened and grave her a searching look, which she returned with a glare.
"I'll leave you two alone, shall I?" Sanosuke offered, starting to move away.
"Leave the door open." Kenshin and Kaoru glanced at each other in surprise - they had spoken the exact same thing at exactly the same moment.
"Uh...will do," Sanosuke said, and left.
They waited tensely until they heard his footsteps fading. Then Kaoru said abruptly, "Why do you have a sword?"
"Oro? Oh." Kenshin looked at the blade in his hand as if he had never seen it before, then quickly sheathed it and locked it away in a cabinet, which made her feel a little better. At least he was no longer armed. "This one has been practicing swordsmanship for a long time now, that he has."
"How long?" she challenged, thinking of his bout with Himura Kensuke.
He looked at her sideways and smiled warningly. "Many years now. What can I do for you, Kaoru-dono?"
"You can explain to me," she said tightly, "what's going on."
"Hm." He went to get his tie and jacket without answering, not looking at her until he had put them back on again. Then his head snapped up when she snatched a paperweight from his desk and flung it at the wall.
"Answer me!"
Kenshin stared at the new hole in his wall for a minute, open-mouthed. Then he looked back at her. "Perhaps you've...ah...remembered some things that you...hadn't before?" he said tentatively.
"Remembered what things?! Does that mean there are things I'm supposed to remember?! Like what?! What!"
He looked nervous, which pleased her. It briefly occurred to her that he could be acting, to put her off her guard, and she desperately hoped she was being paranoid. "Like...why we all know you. Forgive us, Kaoru-dono; we were unable to hide it as we should have."
Some of her anger and fear died away at this open acknowledgement at last that the strange things that had been happening were not her imagination. "So you do know me from before. You admit it."
"Yes," he said quietly.
"Why don't I remember, then!"
He didn't answer right away. Then he reached up and, to Kaoru's surprise, pulled free a necklace that had been hidden under his collar. It was a very feminine-looking piece of jewelry, a small jeweled rose pendant on a thin gold chain. He cupped it carefully in his hand and held it out to Kaoru. "This belongs to you," he said quietly. "This one has been keeping it safe for you, but it seems time that you had it back."
"What is it?" Kaoru said guardedly, making no move to touch it.
"It contains the key to unlocking your memories," he explained.
Frowning suspiciously, Kaoru edged forward and looked at the thing for a while before picking it up. It was very beautiful, but who knew how it had been tinkered with, what hidden purposes it may have been designed for. "How, exactly?"
He seemed to wilt a little. "We don't know. None of us knows...only you are supposed to know how to use it, and it seems you've forgotten."
"Convenient," Kaoru growled. "So, spill. What's the story behind all this?"
He thought for a moment. "Well. You are aware you are adopted, yes?"
"Yeah," Kaoru said, her spine suddenly prickling. "Do you...know my real family?"
"None of them still live," he said gently. "Your parents died long ago, and you had no brothers or sisters. It was this one who brought you here, and made sure you were taken into a family who would love you and care for you as you grew."
"You!" she exclaimed. "How could you have had anything to do with me when I was a baby? How old are you, anyway?"
"Twenty-four," he answered easily.
Kaoru's eyes narrowed. "So you dropped me off with Mom and Dad when you were seven years old?"
He started to laugh, but quickly broke off when he saw the look on her face. "Well, according to the driver's license, this one is twenty-four, that he is."
"So how old are you really? Tell me the truth!"
"Why don't you guess?" he said cautiously.
"Oh, for goodness' sake! With a face like yours, you could be sixteen - or twenty-eight - or, hey, let's go all out, I bet you're two hundred years old!"
"Those are wonderful guesses," he said encouragingly. "By the way, if you're not going to wear the necklace, please, this one begs you, do not let it out of your sight. It's very important."
"I'm sure it is!" she cried. "Without it you can't track me, can you."
He smiled a little. "If we wanted to track you, don't you think we would have more efficient ways to do it than to give you a necklace you could easily lay aside? Please, Kaoru-dono, for your own sake - do not lose that rose."
Kaoru shoved it sullenly into her pocket. "What was Sa...Officer Sagara talking about, anyway? About me being in danger?"
"He told you that?" Kenshin said quickly.
"Yes," she said, pushing her advantage. "He said someone would...would kill me, if they knew who I was. Is that true?"
"They might kill you," Kenshin said slowly. "Though it is much more likely they would use you against...against us here at Himura Castle. You are...very important to us, Kaoru-dono. We have been trying to get you under the castle's protection, but unfortunately, progress has been slow...we don't want to push you away. But if you get hurt because of the delay, I would never forgive myself."
There was a pause. Kenshin was looking down at the floor, and Kaoru was breathing hard.
"Why do they want to hurt me?" she finally asked. "Who am I? Who you do think I am?" she quickly amended.
He eyed her. "What do you think of our government, Kaoru-dono?"
She didn't know what to say for a minute. "What does that have to do with anything?"
"A lot," he said, quite seriously.
Kaoru shrugged uneasily. "It's all right," she said warily. "Everyone complains about any kind of government. I haven't...personally had any problems with it."
"Hm. Granted, he has not yet moved for his ultimate goal, and still does his work from the shadows. He is very dangerous, though. This one assumes that you've heard nothing of the assassinations he has ordered, the officials he has corrupted, the dangerous deals he has arranged or the plans he has already begun to put into place to darken this country's future?"
"I don't even know who you're talking about," she said harshly, though a cold feeling was creeping over her.
"I see," he said in a low voice. "Kaoru-dono, we do not have a lot of time...this one doesn't know what to do. It is difficult to treat you so delicately when the situation is so desperate."
Kaoru began to edge away. "You'll let me go, right?" she said nervously. "You're not going to...keep me here, are you?"
"No, of course not," he said quickly. "You are not a...prisoner here." She was surprised to see the flicker of pain that crossed his face at those words.
"So if I turned around right this minute and walked out, and never came back," Kaoru challenged, her palms sweating, "no one would stop me?"
Kenshin seemed to have difficulty speaking. "It would not be...the first time," he finally managed.
"...What?"
"You lived in Himura Castle before," he said softly. "You were happy, I know you were. Then...something terrible was done to you...and you asked to leave. We let you. You were gone...it was a terrible time." He went silent.
"And did I come back?" Kaoru finally said, not sure yet whether she believed him or not.
He tried to smile at her, and for the first time, he couldn't. "Perhaps it would be best to let you remember on your own."
Kaoru looked away stubbornly. For a while, they didn't say anything. Then she took a deep breath. "So. What do you know about people falling off roofs and not breaking their necks?"
"...Pardon?"
She looked back at him and saw that he was confused. "Me," she clarified aggressively. "At school today. Helping hang up a banner over the underclassmen building - I leaned over too far, fell three stories, and floated."
He was gaping at her. "You fell off a roof?"
"Oh, you didn't know?" she said bitterly. "You haven't been spying on me or anything?"
"And you're not hurt?!" He had stepped forward in concern, but stopped at the realization that she didn't want him near her.
"No! I'm not!" Kaoru waved her arms for emphasis. "Not a scratch. Pretty weird, huh?"
"Someone...must have caught you," he said helplessly.
"No! There was no one, I just fell and screamed my head off and then realized I was floating, and it took a whole minute for people to run up and ask me if I was okay!"
"I meant... Well." He turned away from her. "This one will call Tomoe-dono and-" His hand paused over an empty spot on his desk, and he looked at the shattered pieces of his communication devices still littering the floor. "Oro..."
"Telephones are a horrible invention, aren't they," Kaoru remarked pointedly.
"Only sometimes," Kenshin said weakly. He turned in the other direction and went to the doorway. Kaoru yelped to see two women huddled there, startled to suddenly be noticed.
"Ken-chan! Uh..."
"We weren't listening, really!"
"Yes, I know," Kenshin said calmly, "because this one sound-proofed the room. Michiko-dono, Sara-dono, would you be kind enough to ask Tomoe-dono to come here, if it's not too much trouble?"
"Yes..."
"All right..."
Looking guilty, they slunk off. Kenshin sighed and leaned his back against the door frame, closing his eyes as if tired.
"What do you mean the room was sound-proofed?" Kaoru demanded. "The door was wide open!"
Kenshin looked at her for a minute. Then he walked over, made an odd gesture in the air, picked up a cup of paper clips, and upturned it over his desk. Kaoru blinked and took a moment to register that she hadn't heard a single sound as the clips scattered over the hard surface. As she was still gazing in surprise, Kenshin swept his fingers through the air again, then began picking up the paper clips. They made distinct clicking sounds as he dropped each one back into the cup.
"How...how did you do that?"
"How did you fall off a roof in complete safety, Kaoru-dono?" he asked quietly, not looking at her.
Kaoru sighed. "You're not good at answering questions."
"Apologies."
She looked at him. "That's not what I wanted to hear."
"Apologies," he said again, seemingly absorbed in picking up paper clips.
Presently, someone else came into the room - Tomoe. Kaoru remembered now that this was one of the few Himura Castle people who had first met her with no trace of inappropriate recognition.
"Thank you, Tomoe-dono," Kenshin was saying gratefully. "Kaoru-dono...she says she fell three stories at her school, and, er, floated, before she hit the ground. She is not hurt."
"Ah," Tomoe said. She turned her head to survey Kaoru openly. "Very interesting."
"Yeah. Can you explain it?" Kaoru said pointedly. "Because somebody around here had better."
"This one was thinking that perhaps there was someone nearby to catch her-"
"It seems," Tomoe said quietly, "that Kaoru-san is now capable of looking after herself in such situations."
"Huh?"
"Oro?"
"I'm sorry you were frightened," Tomoe said to Kaoru. Her calmness was refreshing. "Kenshin-san...I can sense magic awakening in her. She saved herself when she fell."
"Did you know this?" he demanded.
"No. Not until just now."
"What are you talking about - magic?" Kaoru burst out.
Tomoe looked at her. "How much we can tell you depends on how much you are willing to believe."
"I want the truth!"
Tomoe studied her. After a while she said, "What happened was too strange, wasn't it. Would you really believe any explanation we could give you?"
Kaoru had to think about it a long time before grudgingly admitting that no, there was nothing they could say that would ever fully satisfy her.
"What would be best for now," Tomoe went on, "is for you to see if you can unlock your memories from the rose. You only know your life as Arai Kaoru now, but if you were to remember being the woman you once were..." She shrugged.
"This thing," Kaoru said disbelievingly, dangling the necklace.
Tomoe lifted her arm, so that her sleeve fell back and revealed the bracelet on her wrist. "This is actually a tiara," she said. "I...re-worked it to make it look like a bracelet, but its essence has not changed. I used it to store my own memories in, and I admit it took me a little while to learn how to retrieve them. However, I was born fae, so I was not hostile to the idea of magic, as you are. I'm afraid it is more difficult for you."
Kaoru was staring at her. "You mean you went through the same thing?"
Tomoe smiled. "My case was not nearly as complicated, but yes. We both drank the elixir at the same time. I was much more certain of its effects on myself than on you, but we both knew the risk we were taking."
"This one didn't," Kenshin grumbled.
Tomoe smiled affectionately at him. "That was more Kaoru-san's fault than mine."
"What?" Kaoru said irritably.
Tomoe glanced back at her. "Unfortunately, I drank before you, so you were alone when you made the decision to drink as well. I'm afraid that your last moments as Himura Kaoru will remain a mystery until you reveal them yourself, which has been rather frustrating to us these seventeen years."
Kaoru was gaping. "Himura Kaoru?!"
"Yes," Kenshin said quietly. "You are related to that family, Kaoru-dono. Do you perhaps see some of your importance now?"
"I...I don't- You said my real family was dead!"
"Your immediate family," he amended. "The truth is, Kaoru-dono, that the Himura family is in danger from this government - from Shishio Makoto, in fact; even now, before he has reached full power. We have tried to track down as many of the direct descendants of the old kings as we could, but we have only found Kensuke, Aya-dono, Suzumi-dono - and now you. We have been trying to get you all under protection, as this one has said, before Shishio makes his real move, but it is difficult. Kensuke and the girls know the truth, but their parents are, like you, much more difficult to convince. We are having to tread very cautiously with them. We even almost lost the castle, when Himura Natsue tried to sell it to pay off debts from living beyond her means." He smiled ruefully. "This one had to buy it himself, of course."
Kaoru's head was spinning. "But...but - why would you care? Who are you people? If the Himura family is supposedly in so much danger, what are you, their guardians or something?"
Kenshin smiled a very slow, mirthless smile. "Well. This one's name is also Himura. 'Ken O'Neill' is a pseudonym, not that it's fooling anyone important. And you were right, Kaoru-dono - there is a reason why this one resembles the kings in all those portraits, that there is."
"I think that's enough," Kaoru suddenly said. "I think...I have enough to think about right now."
Kenshin bowed and murmured, "Of course."
Very slowly, Kaoru backed away. Then she stopped, and looked back at Kenshin, swallowing. "I'd like to go home now," she whispered.
To her relief, he nodded. "Would you...like someone to walk you out?"
She shook her head. "...Thank you."
"I'm sorry," he said softly.
She nodded, then turned and left.
To be continued...
Author's Notes: One of the side-effects of the elixir is that it starts turning the drinker into a fae.