Scarred Sword Heart, kyaaaa….sempai in RK fanfics. Arigatou for reading and following this piece of story. Go check her stories, a way much better than Seisouhen OVA.
And thank you for the alerts and reviews…this is based on the movie version.
Of course, Rurouni Kenshin and everything related are still not mine. If it is, I will not cut the reunion scene at the beach in the third movie.
Kaoru returned to Kenshin's room with a basin, a bucket full with hot water, along with the medicine Megumi gave her. She passed Megumi and Sano; the female doctor and the ex- street fighter still bickering at each other. They both casted a glance to Kaoru, but the girl didn't see it.
When Kaoru arrived at the room, she stood still when she saw Kenshin's back. He lay on his left side, showing a diagonal and burnt scar. She couldn't imagine what kind of fight Kenshin had endured. Kaoru took a deep breath and slowly kneeled next to Kenshin's futon. His breathing was soft and his eyes were closed. Kaoru gently held Kenshin's arm.
"Kenshin, I want to clean your wounds. Can you wake up?" She asked in soft voice.
Kenshin slowly opened his eyes and stared at Kaoru's. The girl smiled while the swordsman nodded. He tried to sit with Kaoru's help. Kaoru held Kenshin with her arm, trying to steady him in his sitting position. And after that, she slowly cleaned Kenshin's face. The smell of fire and burnt clothes attacked her nose, but Kaoru dismissed it. The swordsman's eyes were half closed and didn't protest when Kaoru slowly opened his gi after cleaning his face. Kaoru worked to clean Kenshin's body and missed the diagonal scar on his back. She applied Megumi's ointment to some bruises after drying his body with a towel.
"Hold on for a while," Kaoru said before walking to the dresser. She pulled out a yukata and returned to her previous spot. "You need to change your clothes, Kenshin. Here, I'll help you to stand."
The redhead didn't protest, but wrapped his arm on Kaoru's shoulders instead. She assisted Kenshin to stand and hurriedly blushed when she realized the situation. "I'll…I'll wait outside. Do you think you can stand for a while?" She asked him.
Kenshin smiled a little and nodded. Kaoru slowly released Kenshin's arm and quickly left the room and closed the shoji door. She stood outside and looked over the bright sky, beginning to think. What would happen next? The battle was over and Japan was save…what would Kenshin do? Would he leave and started to wander again? Kaoru felt a little pang in her heart. If only she could make the wanderer to stay…and moreover, she knew Kenshin was special to her. Even a blind man could tell that with her departure to Kyoto to follow him.
Moment later, she heard the shoji door opened and turned around to see Kenshin leaned heavily on the door. Kaoru quickly held the former hitokiri and slowly guided him back to the futon. His gi and hakama were next to his futon and Kaoru made a mental note to fix it later. Megumi appeared with her medical box when Kaoru sat Kenshin back. Without another word, Megumi asked Kaoru to open Kenshin's yukata and made him drank a painkiller before working on the diagonal scar. Kaoru could see Kenshin swayed a little bit due to the effect of the medicine while Megumi stitched his wound. His head unconsciously leaned on Kaoru's right shoulder and his eyes half-closed. His breath was slow, but peaceful.
"Kaoru-dono…Kaoru…" Kenshin mumbled.
Kaoru blinked. This was the first time she heard Kenshin said her name without the honorific title.
"This one is really happy you are safe…that he is…" he slurred. The effect of the medicine got the better of him.
The corner of Megumi's lips twitched a smile and glanced at the kendo teacher while Kaoru blushed a little.
"I guess Kenshin already found his best medicine," she said playfully while gave the wound final stitch and applied ointment for his burnt skin.
Kaoru glanced at Kenshin and found the swordsman already asleep…or at least he was asleep either because of the exhaustion or the medicine.
"How's Sano?" Kaoru remembered Sanosuke was not in better condition than Kenshin.
The female doctor took a deep breath."He'll live. He's more concern for Kenshin-san than his own."
Kaoru nodded slowly. "Wakata…"
"This is the ointment for his burnt skin," Megumi showed Kaoru. "I'll go to the kitchen and prepare some food. When he wakes up, make sure he eats something," Megumi said again.
Kaoru nodded. "Arigatou, Megumi-san."
Megumi only smiled and got out from the room. Kaoru slowly lower Kenshin's body on the futon, laying on his left side for avoiding the stitches re-opened. She tentatively brushed Kenshin's hair from his face and watched him sleep. He looked untroubled, all the burdens of being a legendary killer went away.
"Rest, Kenshin," Kaoru slowly said.