Recommended music : RK's Sekihotai theme (or similar sad music, but not Starless). For more info, read the author's notes first.

Suenagaku na Aki

Chapter 3

Kenshin walked to the door when he heard footsteps and a boy's voice muttering. He opened the main door to see Kaoru and Yahiko who had just returned from their training at one of the other dojos in Tokyo.

"Tadaima," Kaoru's voice rang out, announcing that both of them have arrived home.

"Ksssoooooooo, I'm dead tired," Yahiko said, ignoring that it was an inappropriate greeting.

"Okaerinasai Kaoru-dono, Yahiko", Kenshin welcomed both of them.

Kaoru breezed inside while Yahiko dragged himself inside.

"Huhhhhhh…"Yahiko said while letting his body drop on the floor after walking a few steps.

"Yahiko, you shouldn't sleep there," Kaoru admonished him.

"But, sensei… I'm too tired"

Kenshin and Kaoru eyes widened. Yahiko was indeed tired that he didn't even have the energy to call Kaoru names. Kaoru picked him by his shoulder.

"Walk," she commanded.

"! #!&^," came the weak reply.

"Or I can carry you if you want,"

Upon hearing that Yahiko staggered toward his room while being supported by Kaoru. Kenshin started to follow after them when Megumi got between him and them.

"I suddenly recall that I have something to do at the clinic," she announced clearly.

Kenshin narrowed his eyebrows. He could still hear Megumi's words echoing in his mind. "Talk to her. She may be more willing to tell you than anybody else. But I am afraid that it may not be that simple" As if knowing that he was thinking about it, Megumi gave a small nod and walked out of the door. His head followed her departing form.

"Did I hear that Megumi is going to the clinic?"

Kenshin turned to see Kaoru looking at him. No. The term was wrong, he decided as he implored her yes. She was trying to look into him. Ever since he stayed at the dojo, he found that Kaoru gave him that look now and then, as if trying to unravel him. "Yes, she has something to do. Kaoru-dono, how's Yahiko? Sessha feel that Kaoru-dono is pushing him a bit more than usual today"

"Don't worry about that. He just needs some rest. He'll be up and running in no time"

"Talk to her" "Kaoru-dono?"

"Hai?"

A few seconds passed as Kenshin tried to think of how to ask her. Meanwhile, Kaoru seemed to feel that whatever Kenshin wanted to ask her, it would be serious; hence she waited apprehensively. An innocent lapse of almost casual silence began to become tense as both of them maintained their silence.

Kenshin finally found his voice. "Sessha…"

"And then what happened?" Megumi asked while dipping a meatball into the boiling oil using a pair of chopstick.

"Sano appeared" Kenshin answered.

"AND?" Megumi turned to take another uncooked meatball from a bowl.

"It ended there and then"

Megumi almost drop the meatball on the floor. "WHAT?! It ended just like that?!"

"Sano did ask sesha about dinner…"

"Mou! I meant the conversation between you and her"

"As sessha said, it ended just like that"

Megumi pointed to him using the chopsticks, with the meatball still sandwiched between them. "You should have kicked him out or done anything to chase him away, at least for a while"

Kenshin was about to answer her when the meatball between the chopsticks fell. "DAMN!" Megumi cursed while trying to pick up the rolling food.

"Sessha thinks that maybe Kaoru-dono was just a bit tired lately from her training "

Megumi stopped to stare at him for a second before resuming her chase.

Kaoru jabbed at the rice in the bowl using her chopsticks aimlessly. In the background, Sanosuke and Yahiko were bickering about who should have the last fish that was left on the plate while Kenshin tried to calm them down and Megumi watched the whole proceeding. Finally, she put down her bowl.

"Minna," she began, "Would you stop fighting? I can't see why the two of you have to fight just to have one measly fish"

"Ugly's right, rooster. We shouldn't fight over it," Yahiko said in agreement.

"Oh? And what do you think we should do?"

"We can settle it like civilized men"

"Civilized men? A brat and a rooster? This I've got to see" Megumi said, adding her thought.

"Che, kitsune no onna, don't you…"

"A Fox-lady, am I?" Megumi turned her face away indignantly. "Such an ungentlemanly thing to say"

"Huh?!…But…"

"Quit paying attention to the her," Yahiko interjected. "We have to settle about the fish, remember?"

"Right on, kid"

Yahiko glowered at him for a second. "I'll pretend not to hear that. First, let's agree on one thing"

"And what is that?"

"Both of us agree that the fish should given to me"

"Hey!"

Both Sanosuke and Yahiko got into another round of fighting. Kaoru sighed. "As far as I can recall, I don't remember the two of them two fighting over a fish before"

"Kaoru-dono, sessha knows why they didn't fight before," Kenshin said while smiling timidly.

"And why is that?"

"While you were in the kitchen, Yahiko mentioned to me that the fish don't taste like firewood today"

"Is that so…"

A hand grabbed a still fighting Yahiko by his collar. Yahiko struggled and twisted violently until he came face to face with a smiling Kaoru. Instinctively, Yahiko knew that something was wrong. "What?" he demanded.

Kaoru made him turn to face Kenshin. "Is it true what Kenshin said, YA-HI-KO-KUN?"

Yahiko groaned at Kenshin's inability to shut his mouth

"Yosha! That's the spirit; Jo-chan. Beat him up. It's a good thing that I only said that the fish you cooked tastes like charcoal"

A fish still on its plate was thrown hard at Sano's face to silence him.

Kaoru pouted and sat down to continue eating. Meanwhile, their injuries forgotten, Sanosuke and Yahiko continued their disagreement, moving on to another food. Megumi looked at all of them, thinking. And then she put her arm on Kenshin. "Ne, Ken-san? It's a good thing I came back to keep you company. You would've been bored by them. Ohohohoho"

"Megumi-dono…," Kenshin wondered why Megumi had to start another problem during dinner. He closed his eyes and prepared for any kind of projectile aimed at his head.

It never came.

Kenshin opened his eyes to see a small serene smile on Kaoru's lips as she looked at everyone else. His trained ears pick up something that resembled a sigh of contentment coming out of her mouth. Then in an instant Kaoru was tugging at his arm while Megumi tugged at another. The already chaotic dinner became a slugfest.

After dinner, Kenshin was washing the plates when Megumi approached him from behind. Expecting her to do something, he moved away. "Sorry, Megumi-dono, but sessha is doing the dishes and hoped that sessha wouldn't be disturbed. Anyway, Kaoru-dono would probably be angry"

"That's the reason why I'm here, Ken-san"

"Oro? Sessha is not sure why Megumi-dono would do it if you know she would be angry"

Megumi clenched her arms. "Ken-san, you just don't get it, do you?"

"Oro?"

"What I did just now was intentional. I believe you can see for yourself about what I told you this afternoon"

The goofy expression on Kenshin's face was replaced with a serious and thoughtful one. He began slowly," Megumi-dono, the only thing different I noticed about her was the brief look of joy on her face" He wiped dry a bowl using a piece of rag. "Sessha thinks that's perfectly normal. Sessha wonders whether Megumi-dono is overreacting"

Megumi was quiet for a moment. "Actually, she knew that you would be looking at her to gauge her reactions to me holding your hand," she said quietly.

"… sessha doesn't know how that is possible"

Megumi chuckled softly while shaking her head. "You are one of the best swordsmen in Japan, but there is one weakness in your technique that even I can figure out. You are quite rigid in applying your skills outside battles. Haven't you realized that you WILL look at her every time you want to gauge her reaction?"

"…"

"Even I noticed it. You did it to prepare yourself to act dumb and goofy when she hit you or threw something at you, right?"

"…"

"I thought so," Megumi said while crossing her arms. "I saw something in her eyes I don't understand while you were being distracted by me"

"What does Megumi-dono mean by that?"

"The truth is, Kaoru knows that you will be worried if there's something amiss. It is understandable that she wants you to see that's she's all right. However she would never have thought that kitsune no onna would be concerned about her. It is true that I would like to tease her, but that's because…" Megumi bit her lip, letting the sentence die. "Anyway, I do care about her, and just now, even as we fought, I feel… that something… is wrong. I can't describe it, but I…"

"I think," Megumi continued, "that this… GASP!"

Kenshin turned his attention on to Megumi to see that she was staring outside one of the kitchen windows. He quickly looked out the same direction to see that she was looking at a tree. With the wind blowing gently outside, it moved, creating a life-like movement.

"Sorry. I thought I saw something," Megumi said as she laughed nervously. "I never thought I would be scared by a moving branch. I better prepare some tea to sooth my nerves" With that she began to search for the teapot and tea. Meanwhile, Kenshin tuned himself to his inner instinct to find any foreign kenki inside the dojo's compound. All he could feel was his and Megumi's in the kitchen, Sano and Yahiko's in one of the rooms and Kaoru's at the front yard. Finally satisfied, he continued his cleaning.

Kaoru looked around her, only to see trees and shadows. Everything was pitch black. She looked at the sky to see that it was covered with a blanket of darkness. Panic-stricken, she began to run, hopping to leave the place. But even as she ran through the forest, with tree branches scratching her skin and soiling her yukata, the darkness followed her relentlessly, as if wanting to consume her. As her feet took her forward, winds howled in her ears, whispering taunts and threats.

Determined to run away as far away as possible, she kept running until she managed to exit the forest and reach a clearing. Kaoru stopped and rested her hands on her knees, as she gasped for breath.

'Kaoru,' a voice hauntingly similar to hers called out.

"Who are you?" she wailed while putting her hands on her head, trying to exorcise the voice.

'Are you sure you really don't know me? I thought you and I were friends. We used to be together' the voice replied sadly.

"No! I don't know you"

Then everything around Kaoru disappeared, leaving her in a world of darkness.

'Now do you remember?'

Kaoru stood transfixed. She felt as if she had experienced the situation before. Before she could say anything, her surroundings changed, and Kaoru found herself on a street in a city. The street looked familiar, but she couldn't tell as the buildings around her were engulfed in flames. Kaoru felt that someone was behind her. She turned to see that there was no one.

'This is what I am,' the voice whispered near her ear. Kaoru turned to see that she was alone. She turned around, but there was no one beside her. The flames kept burning. Then, in an instance, the flame flared heavenward, turning the blue sky into yellowish hue. Kaoru could only watch as the atmosphere burned away, leaving dark traces where the flames were. When the flames finally extinguished themselves, she once again found herself in total darkness.

Kaoru tried to move but couldn't. Her hands and legs were tied. Then a ray of light appeared as a door opened, enough to reveal to her that she was inside a dark room. With eyes squinting, unused to the light, she could make out four shadows standing at the door.

"This is the useless bait we will use," the first person said.

"Hahahaha. Do you think it will be enough?" the second man replied.

"She will be more than enough to get him here" the first man walked toward her, with gleam in his eyes. "But while waiting for him, I can have some fun toying with her" He took a menacing step toward her. His three friends followed suit.

Then suddenly screams of death could be heard everywhere. The man and his partner withdrew their swords, waiting. A shadow appeared at the door, holding a sword. Kaoru tried to look at the man, but her eyes were still unused to the light. However, she could smell the metallic smell of blood coming from him.

"Huh. So you finally came," the third man said.

The shadow stood there, saying nothing.

"Maybe the stupid sentries we posted outside are no match for you. But do you think that you can defeat the four of us?"

No answer was given.

The four men unsheathed their swords. "Everybody, ATTACK!" the first man said. With that command, his three men dashed toward the newcomer.

The sole swordsman just stood his ground. A second later, blood splattered the whole room including the bound girl as the four aggressors fell. Even though her vision was still fuzzy, she recognized the technique that the man used. "No. It couldn't be… No…," she said while trying to block out what her brain was trying to tell her. "NOOOOO!" She screamed on top of her lungs.

A second later, Kaoru found herself in her dojo compound. A pair of hands touched her shoulders, causing shock to course through her body. The hands were gentle, yet she somehow dreaded them. The hands pushed her toward the dojo. Even as she tried to will herself not to walk inside, her feet continued taking one step at a time toward the dojo's open door.

A drop of water splashed itself on her nose. A second later another one landed on her shoulder. Kaoru looked toward the sky to see more and more drops of water coming down. "It's raining" 'Yes. Don't you remember what the rain signifies?' Kaoru nodded flashed and thunder crashed above her. Normally, they would cause her to run for shelter, but she was tired, physically and mentally. Instead, she continued walking, with the hands guiding her. But the steps taken by her became smaller and smaller until she came to a full stop. Her slender body shivered as her wet yukata continued to be drenched by the falling rain.

'Why are you stopping? Come inside'

"Please let me be. Onegai," Kaoru said meekly, pleading for the specter to leave her.

'No. Not until you understand about me'

This time the hands pushed her forcefully into the dojo. As she entered through the front door, she could hear the sound of swords clashing. Fear surged through her veins and she dashed to the training hall.

Two men were fighting each other. One of them had red hair while the enemy he was facing wore a police uniform.

"Kenshin"

Kenshin ignored her and lunged toward Saitou who also launched an attack. Sparks flew as their swords met in a deadlock. Then the two of them jumped away and starred at each other.

"KENSHIN!"

The red-haired rurouni looked at her, but there was something wrong with the look that he was giving her. There was no usual soft look like he normally gave her; instead she found herself looking into a pair of angry eyes. There was another thing wrong with the eyes. They were purple in shade.

"What do you want, woman?" he hissed.

"Ken… Kenshin?!" she asked, her voice and state of mind faltering.

"What do you want now, KAORU-DONO?" he said while emphasizing the suffix part.

"I…"

"Do you want to know what you are all this time?"

Kaoru were unable to open her mouth to answer.

"You are a BURDEN to me"

The words cut through her being, inflicting injuries where a sword wouldn't. Tears rolled of from her eyes.

"Now, be useful and keep quiet" Kenshin turned to face Saitou.

"Are you done, Himura?" Saitou asked.

Kenshin settled into a battou-jutsu stance as a reply. Kaoru knew the attack that he was going to attempt. Meanwhile, Saitou had settled into a slightly different Gatotsu pose. Time passed slowly as they each waited for the other to make his move. Then it happened.

Kaoru could clearly see as Kenshin began to execute his succession move. Meanwhile, Saitou also launched his. To her shock, she was given a glimpse of the outcome of the battle. Even as they were of some distance from her, she managed to close the distance as she moved at a surreal speed.

She tried to position herself between them as she held out her arms to stop them. But they didn't slow down. She felt her body being pierced from behind by Saitou's sword while Kenshin's sword slashed her from the front.

As she slowly fell down on the floor with blood gushing out of her, she was hit with the realization that the pain she felt from her injuries would never match the torment inflicted on her by what Kenshin had said to her.

'You are a BURDEN to me'

'Kenshin…'

"Kaoru-dono! Daijouka?"

Kaoru opened her eyes to look into Kenshin's. She smiled as she noted the concern in them. This was the Kenshin she had known and come to care for deeply. As her eyes adjusted themselves to the darkness of the room, she turned to look around her.

She's in her own room, lying on her futon. Cricket sounds outside of the house told her that it was night.

"Em. I am all right, Kenshin"

Kenshin wiped away sweat on her forehead with a piece of cloth. "What happened, Kaoru-dono?"

"I was just having a dream. A bad dream, that's all"

"Are you sure you're fine?" Kenshin asked, unconvinced, as he wiped her tears.

Kaoru's mind reeled back to the scenes in the dream where she was held hostage and Kenshin's fight with Saitou in her dojo. "I'm fine" 'Was it Kenshin that I saw in the room? If not, why did the technique seem familiar' "Don't worry Kenshin, everything is fine," she assured him unconvincingly.

Translation:

Tadaima : (I'm) home

Okaerinasai : Welcome home.

Kitsune no onna: Fox lady

Onegai : Please

Daijouka : (Are you) all right?

Notes

I suggest reading this chapter while listening to Sekihotai theme (or similar music). Try it and tell me whether the story seems better with the music or not. I'm a bit curious to whether it will affect the reading. As for me, it seems that using appropriate music does affect the writing to some extent. As for the Japanese words, I did my best to explain their meaning from the context. But tell me if you don't understand any of them at all. Doing away with the Japanese language is quite hard as I will use Japanese names for the fighting techniques.

Right now I feel a bit like Yahiko in my story. Oh well, I hope this chapter is good enough, as this is the reincarnation of the chapter 3.

This chapter and its proto chapter were checked by Fujifunmum.