Baby ima wa dakishimete furuechau kara / Baby when I hold you, you start to shiver
Kinou yori shy na kono omoi wo kowasanai you ni / I want to make sure that theses thoughts are shyer than yesterday’s don’t break
Kaoru strained to move; however, she had a rurouni clamped on her. “Mou! Kenshin! Dame! Dame! Let go already!” she protested, kicking and shoving at him. Her struggles only seemed to make things worse. The look in his face didn’t look pleasant nor was the painful whimpering he was making. ‘Am I hurting him?’ she thought, stopping all movement.
Suddenly the demons returned and Kenshin started trembling and sobbing profusely. “Kenshin!” she cried. Her clenched fists loosened and slowly lifted over his shoulders “It’s okay, daijoubu…” she said softly, “I’m here…”
“Kaoru…” he murmured sleepily, the convulsions dying down. He leaned his head on her shoulder and was quiet for a long time. She relaxed for the moment, thinking about the times she had heard him crying out in his sleep. She had gone to check on him, but he told her everything was okay.
‘Kenshin no baka.’ she thought, stroking back his hair to look at his closed eyes, ‘You keep too much to yourself and barely let anyone help you.’
Meanwhile, Sanosuke and Megumi had arrived at her house. He skimmed his eyes at the empty house. “Where’s Genzai and the girls?” he asked, stumbling inside after her as she closed the door.
“They’re out of town, visiting an old colleague of his.” she replied, going into the kitchen. She came back with tea. “Tori Atama, why don’t you make yourself comfortable. Take your shirt off.”
“Heh, good one.”
“No seriously.” Megumi put the tea on the table and walked towards him. “Let’s quit fooling ourselves. You think there’s tension always between us because we love to argue… no, it’s because we love each other.”
Sanosuke blinked his eyes. “Am I hearing right? Is this the sake talking or the Fox?”
“Baka, it’s neither.” She pulled him by the collar and kissed him. “Just Megumi is talking.”
Sanosuke’s heart jumped. ‘Masaka! She loves me?!’ All of a sudden, she passed out. He caught her before she hit the floor and lifted her up in his arms. ‘What should I do?’ He was barely thinking as he carried her towards her room.
Kaoru blew the red strands of hair out of from her face and stared at the ceiling. Hours had passed. Kenshin had an attack just about every fifteen minutes. Sometimes he would be battling Saitou or Jin E, then Shishi-O or Enishi. Sometimes they double-teamed him. Other times, he would be battling people she never heard off. ‘Probably from his past. There’s still so much I don’t know. I still don’t know everything that’s been troubling you…’ she thought, rubbing his back, ‘I only wish there was more I could do…’
She was able to soothe him from his nightmares with just her voice and her touch, but she couldn’t prevent the nightmares. They kept coming. She began to worry more. ‘What if I can’t call him back? He might hurt himself! I should get Yahiko to help me…’ She blinked for a moment. ‘But if that little punk saw us like this… he’ll tell everyone nasty things that aren’t true! Mou, I can’t let that happen! I have to get out of here!’
It was then that Kenshin had calmed down. His mind had stabilized and it looked like he was taking a break in his battles. Kaoru realized that he wasn’t using any more strength in his hold and that she could squeeze out from under him. She let out a sigh of relief as she became free. ‘Yosshi! Time to escape!’ She tiptoed over to the door and pulled it open, snickering quietly to herself.
“Dame…” Kenshin suddenly uttered in his sleep, “Don’t leave me…” Kaoru stopped and looked at his agonizing face. Tears were rolling down his pale cheeks colored by the moonlight. “Sessha… I … need you… Kaoru…”
“Kenshin…” Kaoru shut the door and knelt down to him, her eyes full of tears, “I won’t leave you." She then climbed back into the futon and put her arms around him, rocking him gently. “I’ll stay for as long as you want me to.”
* * *
“ORO?” The first thing Kenshin saw the next morning was Kaoru’s sleeping face, her yukata slightly loose. He erupted into panic. ‘What happened? My head hurts… Did sessha… did we… ??? ORO!?!?!’
Kenshin got up and saw his clothes lying in a pile. His heart beating fast, he remembered Kaoru yelling at him. He faintly remembers her hitting him. He remembered tears. Closing his eyes hard, he uttered, “Oh, this is not good… what has sessha done?!” He picked up his clothes and sakabatou, then ran outside.
Meanwhile, Kaoru was stirring. ‘Kenshin…’ she thought, remembering the exhausting night. A smile curled on her lips. She remembered how Kenshin called out for her, her of all people! How he clung to her for dear life, saying that he needed her. ‘Even though I’m tired, I’ve never felt this good in my life…’
She finally opened her eyes and realized that she was alone in the room. “Kenshin?” Kaoru didn’t even think about changing. She ran around the house, then checked all over the dojo. Her greatest fear had come true. Kenshin was gone.
Sanosuke stared at the ceiling. Megumi’s head was on his shoulder; they were sitting in her chair. ‘I wonder if she’ll remember anything that she said? I won’t ever forget…’ Had heard right? She said she loved him. ‘Yakuso! She loves Kenshin! Everyone loves Kenshin! Not a Tori Atama badass…’ He gently pried the woman off his arm and crept out of the room. It was sunny outside and he took in a deep breath. ‘I should go before she wakes up. I can’t bear to hear her take back those words…’
With that, Sanosuke swung his shirt over his shoulder and started walking down the dirt road. It was so early in the morning that it was practically deserted road. He started to head towards the dojo and see how the rest of them held up. While thinking about that, he suddenly realized that Kenshin was passing him. “Oi! Kenshin, where ya going?”
“Away.” he uttered, continuing his slow-paced rurouni walk, “Bye, Sano.”
“Nan de?!” Sanosuke yanked him back by the ponytail and threw his knapsack on the ground. “Why are you taking off? What happened at the dojo? Where’s Jou-chan?”
Kenshin blinked. “Kaoru-dono … sessha… “ He took a deep breath. “I woke up with her. We were –together- de gozaru.”
Sanosuke looked him over. “Oh? Finally! It’s taken what… a whole year! Good for you, Kenshin!”
“Oro, not really. Sessha… well… I think it was against her will.” His eyes filled with tears. “I remember her screams, her struggling… her pleads… Sessha can’t bear to look at her after what’s he done. Sessha feels terrible and ashamed… “
“Hmm… you sure about that? It could have been her who did the hustling. Women are really tricky.” Sanosuke thought about Megumi’s attempted seduction, “Jou-chan WAS the only one sober. She could have seen the chance to take advantage of you. I bet she was hitting you to get into bed and yelling at you to hurry it up.”
Kenshin blinked. “Iya, there's no way Kaoru-dono could … could she?” He shook his head. “How it happened, it doesn’t matter. Sessha still feels terrible and ashamed.”
Just then Megumi came running down the road. She swatted Sanosuke on the head with her purse. “You Tori Atama! Why’d you just take off from my house without saying anything?!” she sneered.
“Oro?” Kenshin looked from Megumi to Sanosuke. “Eto… Sano… Megumi-dono… did you two… ??”
“Oh! Ken-san!” Megumi had suddenly realized his presence. “Don’t misunderstand. Absolutely nothing happen. This Tori Atama brought me home and well I –let- him stay since he was too drunk to go home by himself.”
“That’s not what happened!” Sanosuke exclaimed angrily, “You kissed me! You said you loved me!” Megumi’s eyes widened. Kenshin was also shocked by this declaration. “You know what, Fox. I love you too. But who the hell cares. I’m out of here.” Sanosuke muttered, turning to leave.
“Sanosuke, matte.”
He turned to look at Megumi, who was concentrating on him. “I do remember how it happened, but I felt ashamed about it. I was hoping you’d forget it…”
“How can I forget?” he uttered, “It was the happiest moment of my life.”
“Oh Sanosuke!” Megumi rushed into his arm, crying with relief, “I’m so glad! I was so afraid of what you’d say! I thought you didn’t care for me…”
“I thought you didn’t care for me. I thought you loved Kenshin. Megumi, let’s not fool ourselves anymore; we feel the same way!”
Megumi giggled, “Looks like the sake was a good thing. Otherwise, I doubt we would have admitted our feelings.”
Meanwhile, Kaoru was dragging Yahiko out of the dojo. “Hell, Kaoru! What’s wrong with you? My head hurts! Let go of me already!!” he yelled, still feeling a hang-over, “Look, Kenshin probably just went to the market to get breakfast. You’re freaking out for nothing!”
She was running pretty fast for a girl in kimono and sandals. “Yahiko, I know he left and he’s not coming back…”
“What makes you say that? What happened…?”
Kaoru felt a lump in her throat. ‘How do I say this? Without making it sound too, well, scandalous…’
Yahiko shook his head at her. “You’re just being a retard. Kenshin would never leave you. He cares about you, Kaoru. This is his home now. He isn’t going no where, you hear me!”
She smiled at him, despite her layers of worries piling in her mind. “Arigatou, Yahiko. I know you’re just trying to cheer me up, but I seriously believe Kenshin has left for good…”
Back on the dirt road, Sanosuke elbowed Megumi. “Guess what… Kenshin and Jou-chan finally did it.”
“It’s about time!”
Kenshin blushed. “Maa maa… let’s not talk about it.”
“KENSHIN!!!!” Kaoru clobbered him from behind. “What have you been telling everyone?!”
Yahiko grinned. “Aa, I see. Kenshin gave her some of his ‘hot samurai loving’. That’s why she’s been moody all morning!”
“MOU!! That’s not what happened! How would any of you know, you were all too drunk!!” Kaoru hollered, “I had to get you all out of my dojo! And Kenshin… he started having nightmares… so I…” She fell speechless, her face blushing.
Kenshin snapped his fingers. “Aa! Now Sessha remembers! Kaoru-dono stayed with me and made the nightmares go away… she stayed all night.” He looked over the embarrassed girl. “Suman de gozaru. Sessha has cause so much trouble and humiliation.”
“It’s all right…” she stammered, “But I won’t forgive the rest of you for saying such nasty things about me!” Kaoru proceeded to chase everyone down the dirt road, everyone laughing at her. “MOU!! What’s so funny!!!!”
That night, Kaoru heard a faint noise outside her room. “Hai? Dare?” she asked, sitting up in her futon, securing her yukata. Kenshin opened the door and took a step inside. “Is something wrong?”
“About earlier…”
“Don’t worry about it. I’ve already forgiven you.”
“It’s not that… it’s just…” he stumbled over his words, “Arigatou for helping me get through the night. I’ve never slept so sound before. I suppose it was because you were holding me.” he stammered, “What shessa is trying to say is… I don’t know if I could sleep ever again without you.”
Blushing hard, Kaoru pouted, “Mou! I just did it because you were having a nightmare. You seem fine enough, so there’s no need for me to hold you. You’ll be fine on your own.”
“Sou ka.” he uttered, going to leave, “Suman for keeping you up. See you in the morning, Kaoru.”
“Kenshin.” Kaoru’s voice caused him to stop and turn back. “I didn’t say ‘I’d be fine on my own.’ If it isn’t any bother...” she uttered timidly. Kenshin smiled and closed the door behind him.
fin