Chapter Eighty-Four
The interior of the small mountain home was much warmer than it had been only the day before. That was to be expected when housing a fire demon. Hiko didn't hate the warmth so much as he preferred the cold. Too much heat made him feel soggy and lethargic, while cooler temperatures helped to keep his form solid and stable. Stepping carefully around the exhausted komainu, he stopped at the head of his guests' futons. They each slept in their own bed, but were directly next to one another without any space. Kaoru slept with a blanket, and on top of that blanket lay her salamander guardian. Its blood-red head rested on her shoulder while its torso splayed across her chest diagonally. Its wings were half-spread over her body for extra insulation, and the tuft of fire at the end of its tail twitched gently in contentment. With one arm outside of the blanket, Kaoru hugged the salamander to her in her sleep. Her other hand was curled and pressed intimately to her cheek.
Next to her, Kenshin lay on his side without a blanket, and had squeezed himself so close to the edge of his own futon that he might as well have slept on hers. One of his hands had been pushed up under Kaoru's blanket, where it had been captured and tucked against her face.
Toeing Kenshin's pillow to wake him, Hiko wasn't surprised by how quickly the boy's violet eyes darted up, completely alert. He was a light sleeper, so Hiko had already learned. Jerking his head to avoid speaking and possibly waking the others, Hiko averted his eyes back to the human girl after receiving a nod of acknowledgement. The girl shifted in her sleep when Kenshin's hand was extracted, but it was the salamander that lifted its head. Dark golden eyes parted to stare up at Hiko in open hostility, and its jagged mouth of sharp teeth split to hiss like a steam vent releasing pressure. Under the threatening sound, a deep growl of aggression shook the salamander's chest and throat.
Hiko found it amusing. The boy didn't have to say anything at all when his hair charm was openly expressing his true feelings for him.
Placing a hand on the salamander's head, Kenshin silently communicated for the protective charm to calm down. Its mouth closed sullenly, but it continued to growl while side-eying Hiko. The water dragon smirked at it before turning to wait for Kenshin outside. Once the dragon was out of sight, the salamander dropped his chin back onto Kaoru's shoulder with a huff through its nose.
"I'll evaporate that water droplet if he asks Kaoru to stay with him again."
Kenshin sighed, but didn't respond. In a way, it was almost relieving to see the salamander acting out again when it had done nothing but mope after finding out who had been responsible for Kaoru's death. In another way, he wondered if he needed to adjust the charm's parameters when it was showing such open aggression in a situation where Kaoru wasn't even in danger.
Is it even a charm at this point?
Whatever Kenshin had done during its creation, he had obviously altered the original casting spell that Sano had taught to him hundreds of years ago.
It was still half-dark outside, with the early morning sun barely lightening the heavy winter clouds hanging in the sky. Snow fell in large flakes around them, and the woods had been transformed overnight from cold and empty to tucked away under a thick blanket of snow. The silence was deafening due to the heavy insulation, and only the crunch of their footsteps rose up and died as Kenshin followed Hiko away from the house and higher up the mountain.
They stopped in a clearing at an elevation that would have winded Kenshin only the year before. Thankfully, his training had improved his lung capacity as well as his ability to maintain his internal flame on the least amount of oxygen possible. Once stopped, the snow began to melt around him, and the silence was completely broken by the incessant sizzle and steam of crystalized ice turning to liquid.
"So…" Hiko turned to face him at a distance. His right hand lifted out to one side, and the falling snow was caught in the swirl of water that formed his sword. The release of power lightened his dark hair and revealed the coral horns sprouting from his temples. "Are you going to tell me how you came across a human?"
Readying the Kagu-tsuchi, Kenshin circled with Hiko, leaving a path of melted snow in his wake. The stunted horns on his own head glowed like superheated magma.
"Quite by accident."
The flippant response earned him an annoyed tilt of Hiko's head. A moment later, the water dragon's sword slammed down at him from above, but was caught just short of his hair by the pristine length of the Kagu-tsuchi. Kenshin grunted, and answered more seriously.
"I told you how I found her, and what state she was in." Slipping out from under the weight of his strike instead of trying to fight him head on, Kenshin sidestepped and launched his own attack.
"You did." Parring neatly, Hiko dodged back. "But there's something I'm confused about."
"And that is?"
Swiping his sword to meet Kenshin's next attack, Hiko conjured a sickle of water to come at him from the side. A stomp of Kenshin's foot sprouted fire from his heel, and the water evaporated before it could get close enough to cause any damage.
"I thought you hated humans."
The confrontational statement most likely would have upset him only a few months prior. Instead of reacting or losing his focus, however, Kenshin countered the attack meant to knock him flat, and jumped back to place distance between them. Hiko stayed where he had left him and didn't immediately advance. Without lowering his guard, Kenshin's response was steady.
"I did. Some of them, I still do. But Kaoru helped me realize how much of a fool I was to indiscriminately hate an entire race purely because of a few."
A half-smile pulled at one corner of Hiko's mouth. "A remarkable woman." That smile disappeared under the weight of his next blow. "It's really too bad you only met her now and not before her entire race was destroyed."
Uncomfortable with how incorrect Hiko's statement was, Kenshin made the mistake of averting his gaze, and promptly found himself flat on his back staring up at the brightening cloud-cover. Now standing over him, Hiko rested his sword on his shoulder, and his voice was low with anger.
"Do you think there would still be humans in this world if you had?"
Closing his eyes in shame, Kenshin paused before answering.
"Perhaps… but perhaps not. That war would have happened either way."
"That's unfortunately true." Something else had replaced the anger in Hiko's tone. Something that sounded a lot like regret. "Now that that's out of the way, would you mind explaining how your little human girl has onibi powers?" Violet eyes snapped open to dart over and peer up at the water dragon. There was a serious countenance about Hiko's features, but then his face almost always appeared stern. "You and I both know only the dead can use onibi flames, and I'm having a hard time believing she's a natural onibi. Her form and demeanor are not… usual for their kind."
Sitting up, Kenshin turned his gaze towards the seemingly endless sea of trees. Slowly, he explained what Kaoru was and who had brought her back from the dead, but avoided how she had ended up with Death in the first place.
"Necromancy, huh?" There was nothing in Hiko's voice to give away his position on the matter. "That would explain the discrepancies in her aura and why I mistook what she is." The observation was more for his own benefit than Kenshin's, but before Kenshin could ask him what he meant, Hiko continued. "And you think that's why the Emperor wants her dead?"
"Most likely."
An impatient sigh issued from the water dragon's nostrils, and Kenshin frowned even as he accepted the hand Hiko offered to help him up.
"What is it?"
A shake of his head expressed skepticism. "It doesn't seem to be that simple."
"How so?"
"Think about it, boy. If his intention was only to get rid of a soul ripped from the afterlife through necromancy, he wouldn't need to hide his intentions from the public. In fact, the country would agree he was doing the right thing. Most would be more than willing to cooperate. Honestly… I wouldn't disagree myself, if I hadn't met the young lady. Necromancy is an abomination that should not be practiced."
"But wanting her dead just because she's human makes even less sense. She's only one human, and she doesn't even have the ability to make more." Arguing with him, Kenshin demonstrated that he had already thought this through as far as he could with what limited information he had.
"You're right. None of it makes sense. Which leads me to believe he either knows something about her that we don't, or she isn't his true target."
"You think he's after me?" The Kagu-tsuchi disappeared in a flash of fire to return to its dormant resting place inside of his core. Crossing his arms and frowning, Kenshin appeared miffed. "It's not even a secret that he doesn't like me. Why bring Kaoru, or the public for that matter, into it at all?"
"Could be he hopes to use Kamiya-san as a hostage. You are the Kagu-tsuchi's vessel."
It had crossed his mind multiple times that the Emperor might know about the Kagu-tsuchi. After all, there was no other reason to keep him alive other than the devastation that would occur if the Kagu-tsuchi's vessel were to be destroyed. A now familiar stab of anxiety and guilt pierced his insides as he remembered how his father's impressive lineage ended with him. And quite possibly, so too would the world end without a new vessel to contain the Kagu-tsuchi's power.
A concern for another time.
"Regardless, my biggest concern is keeping Kaoru safe, and me preferably out of prison." Sighing, Kenshin tilted his head back to look up at the sky. "Despite what you said last night, I would also prefer not to fight the Emperor. I had only hoped to deter him from fighting by becoming a dragon myself. A battle between wind and fire will cause more harm to those around us than to each other."
"You're thinking ahead. Good." The deep voice of his mentor was genuinely proud of his forethought, but the praise only made Kenshin feel like a child.
"I am at least capable of understanding the strengths and weaknesses of my own power."
"This coming from the same man who feared that power only last year." Hiko laughed at his petulance. "Take the compliment, idiot. You won't get another. Now, I hear what you're saying. If you're looking for a deterrent, I'm not sure there is anything that would be full-proof against a sky dragon. I could teach you how to erect a barrier, but barriers can be bypassed, and unfortunately that bastard has enough strength to do just that." A low grumble vibrated the back of his throat. "I do have one idea, but it would be a process."
Jumping at the chance for anything, Kenshin spoke up without hesitation. "How much time would it take?"
"For you?" Hiko looked him up and down with a droll pull of his mouth, then lifted his shoulders nonchalantly. "A couple weeks, if you're committed."
A light crease formed between Kenshin's brows. "I thought you said I couldn't transition as I am right now."
"You can't, but that doesn't mean you can't use something else you have to its fullest extent."
Now Kenshin was truly confused.
"I don't have anything else but my fire power."
"Give me a break, boy." Hiko's patience had finally worn thin, and his already deep voice rumbled like turbulent ocean waves. "I know what that sword really is, and it sure as hell isn't just a weapon."
Kenshin tensed automatically. Any details about the Kagu-tsuchi always made him tense. Since he was a child, he had been taught to protect the Kagu-tsuchi, and not speaking of it had become second nature. Few others were supposed to know of its existence, and less knew of its origin. It seemed almost unnatural when others even spoke its name aloud let alone expressed intimate knowledge concerning it. Only then did it occur to him that Hiko had recognized the sword when he had first seen it. It should have been impossible for anyone to recognize it on sight alone, though it was possible he had deduced what it was simply because Kenshin was the last fire demon in the world. Then again, Hiko had mentioned that the Kagu-tsuchi had a reputation, and his words now reminded him of the claims written in Arai Shakku's journal. Did Hiko know what the Kagu-tsuchi was? Was that the reputation he had spoken of?
"The fact that you've been using it like a normal sword is almost disrespectful." Hiko's disappointed tone continued to bark at him. "Especially when it has the power to destroy this planet and chooses not to."
The Kagu-tsuchi was not a weapon, after all. It was a god.
Which was a complication on its own. What reason would a god have to protect one human soul?
"My father taught me that the Kagu-tsuchi was not a weapon to be used. I was only trained with it so that I could contain it and nothing more. Are you suggesting… that I could use its power?" Sea-foam eyes stared down Hiko's nose without answering. Something tight formed like a rock inside Kenshin's chest, and his next breath was a struggle. "But the Kagu-tsuchi was born from a birthing star. Our birthing star. Its power… would be unfathomable." The exclamation came out as a whisper, as if he were speaking of things not meant to be spoken aloud.
"Exactly. Who in their right mind would be willing to challenge you with that type of power at your disposal?"
Shaking his head, Kenshin denied what Hiko had suggested.
"It's too dangerous. I could kill everyone, including Miss Kaoru."
"I'm not suggesting you use its full power, baka. Just enough of it to be convincing."
"You want me to bluff the strongest demon in Neo-Japan?" It seemed implausible, laughable even, or had until that very moment. Even when he had thought his best chance was to transition into a dragon, Kenshin had never actually believed that he would be a match for a dragon as old as the Emperor. The Kagu-tsuchi, however, was older than the Earth itself.
"If that's how you want to look at it. Sure."
Thinking it over carefully, Kenshin realized that it could work, but also that he had little other options available. The hardest part would be figuring out how to utilize the Kagu-tsuchi, but he was already unconsciously suppressing its power. All he would need to do is learn how to consciously manipulate the amount of suppression he had over it.
"Okay." Conceding to Hiko's ludicrous suggestion was a little frightening. As if he were agreeing to break every rule his father had set for him. "Let's give it a try, but… will it be enough? He could still get to Kaoru, and I can't follow her around every second of the day. She'd… get impatient with being coddled." Looking up and to the side, Kenshin sighed protractedly through his nose. A part of him knew she was only letting him get away with pampering her more than normal at the moment because they had deepened their relationship within the last few days. The honeymoon stage wouldn't last forever, though, and she'd start wanting her own space, sooner rather than later.
Chuckling as he scratched his chin, Hiko agreed.
"I had thought of that. My offer stands, if you would be willing to leave her here. The Emperor wouldn't dare trespass on my territory, and I would keep her safe from all harm." Flat violet eyes shot daggers at him, and the water dragon smirked. "But I can see your answer to that is clearly no. So… your next best course of action would be to marry her."
Red eyebrows lifted so fast Hiko was afraid his pupil might have pulled a muscle in his face. Barely a half second later they dropped in deep contemplation. After several long moments, Kenshin's chin turned to the side to hide a very complicated expression.
"I can't do that, Hiko-sama. I won't force Miss Kaoru into such an arrangement when she doesn't even understand what kind of commitment she'd be agreeing to." Lowering his tone, Kenshin finished his thought softly. "When I ask her to be my wife, it will be when I know she's ready."
'When' you do, huh?
Huffing gently, Hiko decided not to press the issue.
"You could leave the country, I suppose, but you'll always be on the run."
"No." That was not an option. Kaoru would hate that, and so would he. "I will learn better control of the Kagu-tsuchi, and I'll… figure out something else to ensure Kaoru's safety, even when I'm not with her."
X
Heavy warmth pressed down on Kaoru's chest as she broke into wakefulness, and her lashes fluttered half open to find her gaze focused on the empty expanse of floor next to her. It took her several long seconds before she recognized that Kenshin was already long gone, and that he had left her to sleep away her fatigue. Fighting for a deep breath, she turned her chin towards the ceiling and stared at nothing as her mind bathed in leftover fervor from impassioned dreams. Deep red stained her cheeks as thoughts she had never imagined or entertained before tempted her with phantom memories of touches and hot breath. Squeezing her eyes back shut, embarrassed by her body's wants, she struggled to hide what she feared would be blatantly obvious to anyone who looked at her.
Somehow, her desire for him had become somewhat insatiable, and yet, it wasn't quite the same as before. The first time they had made love, the sensation had been so overwhelming. Every part of her body had been sensitive: to him; his touch; the air; the temperature; even her own heavy breaths. That overstimulation itself had been pleasurable. Enough so, that she had eagerly wished to repeat the experience. The second time, while a little less overwhelming in terms of sensitivity, had been just as beautiful and enjoyable. Their fourth time, though, had changed everything for her. All of her previously unchecked and all-over sensitivity had decided to finally give way, allowing her to actively take part in their love-making and not just helplessly let it possess her body; though she had liked that well enough on its own. Instead, the pleasure had focused quite insistently, to the point of desperation, and then something she couldn't describe in words had washed over her body. Something sudden and intense, like warm ocean water breaking on rocks.
Inhaling shakily as the memory swept over her, she jumped when a hard muzzle nudged against her chin. Quickly looking down, half-guilty, half-embarrassed, she found the salamander sprawled over her chest. He was no doubt the reason why she was having a hard time taking deep breaths. Smiling at his happy chuffs and the flicker of fire coming from his nostrils as a result, she fought to extract the arm pinned under the blanket so that she could hug him to her with both hands.
"Morning."
Excitedly, his tail flopped against the outer portion of her leg, and she giggled. Kissing the tip of his nose, she dopped her head back onto her pillow and glanced again to her right at the empty floor. It appeared they would not be spending any time alone together for a while. Disappointed, but resigned, Kaoru pouted out her lip, and then sat up quickly while carefully bracing the salamander's weight.
The futon was tucked away in the same place she had watched the komainu extract it the night before, and then she changed quickly into something warm and comfortable. In the other room, she found a few covered dishes waiting for her on a small kitchen table, and she ate happily while slowly looking around. The house was empty, except for her and the salamander, and she wondered what she was meant to do. It took a little while for it to sink in that this was the most freedom she had been allowed since being brought back to life.
Grinning, Kaoru washed her dishes quickly, found some shoes, and skipped to the outer door. A winter wonderland greeted her on the other side, and her flame blue irises sparkled as she skimmed over the pristine blanket of snow surrounding the mountain dragon's home. At her feet, a noise of disgust snorted from deep in the back of the salamander's throat, and she glanced down just in time to watch the fire lizard breathe just enough hot air to melt the snow before them in a wide semi-circle.
"Hey." Giggling even as she chastised him, she bent and picked him up so that he could perch on her shoulders. "Stay up there. You can't melt it all. Besides, it'd just turn into a giant mud puddle, and that would be worse." Another snort responded to her claim, but he leaned into the side of her head for balance and warmth.
There was no one immediately outside of the house, and Kaoru bit her lip excitedly as she wandered further away. Since it seemed foolish to go down the mountain where there might still be assassins waiting for her outside of the barrier, Kaoru decided to climb the gentle incline at the back of the cottage. Only a little way into the woods, she heard something interesting, and followed the sound slightly off to the left. Shortly afterwards, the loud creak of wood and cracking of branches ominously precluded the smash and rumbled of a large tree hitting the ground. A cloud of snow flew at her from between the surrounding trees, and she stopped to wait for the miniature storm to settle. In the aftermath, she found the komainu standing next to a felled tree. Strangely enough, neither held an ax or saw of any kind.
"Kaoru-san!" They turned and spoke as one, as if sensing she were there without actually seeing her first. Smiling as they waved, she waded through the almost foot of snow to be closer.
"Good morning." Greeting them cheerfully, she blinked as Suzume turned away from her to start chopping up the tree. With her bare hands. "What's… going on?"
"Master sent us out to chop wood today." Ayame answered after meeting Kaoru halfway. She took hold of her hand and then lead her the rest of the way to the tree. "He said there will be a storm soon, and that we would need to keep the house warm for you."
"For me?"
"Nii-san could do it by himself, but…" Suzume's statement was matter-of-fact, but Ayame finished the thought helpfully to explain what Kaoru would not yet know.
"But Master and Ken-nii will be training during the storm."
"So, we'll chop enough wood to keep the fire burning." They ended the rationalization together, and their voices perfectly harmonized, as if used to speaking as one.
Cracking an uncertain grin, Kaoru looked the giant tree over from trunk to branches.
"I think this will be enough to last you all winter."
While they conversed, Suzume had continued to make short work of the branches before readying herself to work her way down the tree. Once enough wood lay in the snow, Ayame let go of Kaoru's hand and fought her way over to start picking them up. In a few seconds, the elder komainu had an armload, and then she turned back towards the house and disappeared in a dustup of snow as she took off running to drop off her haul at the house. Half a minute later, she was back to pick up another.
"Um…"
The small lion-dog was already gone again before Kaoru could interrupt, and she struggled closer so that she could catch her on the next round.
"Can I help?!"
Both Ayame and Suzume paused.
"Sure!" They agreed as if happy she offered, and Ayame followed it up with an offer of her own.
"I'll make a second path for you." When she disappeared this time, she ran slightly off to the right of her first path. The deep, wet snow appeared to clear away easily, and an open trail just for her lead straight back to the mountain cottage. It was clear, without having to ask, that the second path had been necessary so that Kaoru would not be in any danger of getting run over by the komainu's quicker passes.
"Okay, great."
Kaoru was glad to have something to do, and was even more pleased to be helpful. Unfortunately, by the time she had gathered enough wood for an armload and had walked all the way back to the house, she found herself a bit jealous and awed by how many times Ayame had passed her by. When she finally dropped off her first load in triumph, she smiled at Ayame who had ended up behind her with a load of her own.
"Great!" Placing her large lion paws on her hips, Ayame grinned. "That should do it."
The smile on Kaoru's face dropped.
"What about the rest of the tree?"
"Oh, Suzume's bringing the last load." Ayame turned to look back into the trees while Kaoru blinked at her in scandalized disbelief. "There she is! Come on, slow poke!"
"Don't be mean, Big Sis! I chopped the whole tree by myself! You got help bringing it to the house!"
Slightly hysterical giggles started soft and airily from Kaoru's open mouth, but ended loud and clear as she doubled over. The situation was just so ludicrous she couldn't help herself, and Kaoru had to cover her mouth when they both turned on her. They looked a bit petulant as they assumed she was laughing at them, but Kaoru's eyes sparkled with genuine delight.
"You two are so amazing!"
Their frowns blossomed instantly into grins, and she placed a hand on each of their heads when they hugged her around the waist.
"Can we keep you, Kaoru-san?"
"We love humans so much!"
Warmth swelled Kaoru's heart, and she closed her eyes as she hugged them back.
"You're so sweet."
"I know!" Ayame stepped back, and her face was lit with pure excitement. "Why don't you play with us?"
"Play?"
"Yeah!" Suzume took to the idea with just as much enthusiasm, and both grabbed her by the hands to pull her away from the house. "Nii-san used to play with us until Master took him away."
"Kenshin did?" Trying to imagine him playing with the two child-like komainu before her, Kaoru blushed at the adorable image.
"That's right. He wasn't allowed to train with the Master until he could win against us."
Realization dawned, and Kaoru's mouth opened on an inhale.
"Oh! Did you two train with Kenshin?"
"Of course! But we're fine if you just want to play together."
"No. Please." Eager now herself, Kaoru answered quickly so as not to lose her chance. "I'd like to train with you two. If that's alright."
"Okay! We've never trained a human before, though. Should we… play nice?" They looked at each other questioningly, but Kaoru answered for them.
"No need for that. I'm used to training with a stone golem and a fire demon. Don't hold back on my account."
For a minute, they seemed to think it over, and then they shrugged.
"Okay. But we should warn you, we are used to training with a dragon."
A questioning rasp sounded next to her ear, and Kaoru glanced over before tilting her temple into the salamander in reassurance. He huffed and shifted restlessly, as if uncertain he should go along with her decision, but resignedly dropped his chin on top of her head as if aware there would be no arguing with her. Meanwhile, Kaoru found herself distracted by the profile of the salamander's tiny dragon appearance. That combined with the perfect opening in the conversation, Kaoru jumped into satisfying her curiosity since it seemed she might not have a chance to ask Kenshin any time soon.
"May I ask you both a question?"
Turning to walk backwards, Suzume held one of Kaoru's hands in both of her own while Ayame continued to strut forward with only one hand grasping Kaoru's fingers.
"What would you like to know?"
"Well… I was just wondering if dragons were born or made?"
"That's easy. No one's born a dragon." Suzume's response was so matter-of-fact that Kaoru felt silly for asking.
"Oh."
"Every dragon has had to earn their title." Ayame's input sounded more mature than her sister, and Kaoru could feel the reverence in her tone. "It takes a long time and perfect control to transition into a dragon. Which is why they are considered sacred beings."
"If Nii-san wasn't injured, he would have been one of the youngest dragons in history. Right, Big Sis?"
The air in her lungs was abruptly difficult to maintain, but Kaoru felt no distress. Instead, her stomach flopped in exhilaration.
I knew it!
Kenshin's words the night before had set the wheels turning in her head, and everything, from his horns to the rough feel of his scale-like skin, had teased her with the truth.
Kenshin's going to be a fire dragon! Why didn't he tell me?!
The high of her thoughts plummeted with her smile.
Wait…
Both Kenshin and now the komainu had alluded to Kenshin being injured, but Kenshin didn't outwardly appear to be actively injured at all. She knew so for a fact. After all, she had seen almost every inch of his body fairly recently, or, at least, every inch of his solid human form. He was heavily scarred, just like her, but not visibly wounded.
"Kenshin said something about his core being too damaged last night. Is that… really bad?"
The girls looked solemn for the first time since meeting them, and they nodded in unison.
"Elementals are not like the other races. Many races are flesh and blood, like humans or animals. We have hearts and brains that, if destroyed, would kill us. Elementals have fluid bodies that are held together by a core. Just like if a heart is damaged, if a core is damaged, it is dangerous for that elemental to place strain upon it. It can heal, but… not easily."
A memory, from before the release of her seal, tickled the back of Kaoru's brain, and she recalled that night she had woken to find Kenshin covered in blood. And his words, so dismissive, explaining that it just happened sometimes.
Deep inside the center of her chest, a hot twinge twisted her features with brief pain. It subsided quickly, but an ache remained long afterwards.
Lifting sapphire eyes from where they had fallen to the snow, she found the komainu downcast by the turn in their conversation. Swallowing, Kaoru lifted her shoulders, and pulled them forward after her now instead.
"If Kenshin's having a hard time, then we'll just have to get stronger to help him out. Right?"
Slow smiles spread across their faces, and they nodded quickly in agreement.
"I do have to ask, though. Why do you call Kenshin your big brother if you're both older than him?"
Another shrug dismissed her question as silly.
"Because he's bigger than us."
X
A/N: Since this is a love story, and one of Kaoru's powers is related to song, I thought it might be fun to make a list of love songs for each of the characters (keeping in mind their personalities and this story specifically). There are a lot of love songs, of course, so more than one song will fit each character, but for the sake of being brief, I picked one song for each. Now, this may be a song they would sing to their partner, or merely listen to and feel a connection with. I'll list one character per chapter with main characters first:
Kenshin: Infinity – James Young