Rurouni Kenshin Fan Fiction ❯ If I Should Fall ❯ Chapter 7
[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]
By: Dreamweaver 
Anime/Manga: Rurouni Kenshin Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Drama / Romance | Type: Alternate Universe | Uploaded On: 02.20.2006 | Pages: 3 | Words: 2.5K | Visits: 282 | Status: Work In Progress
Anime/Manga: Rurouni Kenshin Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Drama / Romance | Type: Alternate Universe | Uploaded On: 02.20.2006 | Pages: 3 | Words: 2.5K | Visits: 282 | Status: Work In Progress
Due to ff.net’s ban on review responses, I will not be posting my review responses. My apologies. If you are upset about this, take it up with ff.net, not me (I’m not the one who imposed the ban!).
If I Should Fall
Chapter 7
By Night Imp
Restaurants always seem to have really bad-tasting coffee.
---------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------
- Would you look at her
She looks at me
She's got me thinking about her constantly
But she don't know how I feel
And as she carries on without a doubt
I wonder if she's figured out
I'm crazy for this girl -
Soujiro gently stirred his very bad-tasting coffee as he listened to the conversation coming from the booth behind him. It seemed the husband’s ex-wife came back and wanted to marry him again, even though he had a fiancŽ who was about to have his baby, and the fiancŽ was none too happy about it all. It also didn’t seem to help that the man was about to stand trial for embezzlement.
What a pickle they were in.
What a pickle he and Yumi were in.
Hell, what a pickle the world was in.
He glanced across the table at Yumi, who was sipping tea and reading a newspaper, and for the hundredth time that night (or, actually, it was morning now), blushed in remembrance of her kiss. He certainly had not expected it. Not that he minded it; quite the contrary, he had thoroughly enjoyed it. But he hadn’t been expecting it.
Without looking up, Yumi smiled slightly. “Would you stop staring at me?”
Again, Soujiro blushed. “Sorry.” He looked out the window at the grayish pre-dawn sky, and began to think about Isis. She was probably wondering where he was. She was probably hungry.
What if Shishio left the door open and she ran out? This city was no place for a house cat. He shook his head and chided himself for worrying too much.
“Sorry ‘bout the wait.” The young blonde waitress said with a cheery smile as she brought their food.
“Oh, that’s fine.” Yumi murmured as she moved her newspaper and the waitress set their plates down,
“Anything else I can get you?”
They shook their heads.
“Okay, have a great day!” With that she set their check down on the table and walked off.
“I wonder what kind of mood Shishio will be in when we get back.” Soujiro mused as he smothered his eggs in ketchup.
Yumi said nothing but pushed her hash browns around on her plate, and looked out the window.
“He usually calms down pretty quickly.”
Yumi raised an eyebrow. “You act like he’s done this before.”
Soujiro nodded as if this was nothing to be surprised about.
“Where was I?”
Soujiro shrugged. “He’s never really done it with you around.”
Yumi frowned and looked back down at her plate without saying anything. Maybe she had over-reacted last night. But the fact remained that he had hit her, and she didn’t like being slapped around. She sighed and thought it best to change the subject.
“Sou, have you ever had a girlfriend?”
“Huh? Who, me?”
“I think you’re the only person sitting near to me named Sou.”
“Oh. Uh, yeah, um, sorta. Not exactlyÉbut um, sorta.”
Yumi rolled her eyes. “Yes or no.”
“UmÉnot exactly.”
“What does ‘not exactly’ mean?”
“UmÉit means that I kinda did but I kinda didn’t.” At Yumi’s exasperated expression, he decided to explain. “We didn’t exactly ‘go out’, per se, like you kinda think of when you say ‘girlfriend’ or whatever, but we kinda considered ourselves to be dating.”
“So how long ago was this?”
Soujiro shrugged. “Back in high school, before I dropped out. Why do you want to know?”
“Just curious. I really don’t know that much about you.”
“Well, same goes for you. Like, how did you meet Mister Shishio?”
Yumi smiled and closed her eyes. “In a restaurant.” She paused, “He told me I was too pretty to be working as a waitress.”
Her eyes remained closed, and she continued to smile. Soujiro watched her. She smiled so beautifully when she thought about Shishio.
It was such a pity that he didn’t do the same when he thought about her.
Yumi cleared her throat and opened her eyes, looking down at her plate.
Soujiro pushed his food around. “I’m really not very hungry.”
“Neither am I.”
“Maybe we should get a doggy bag.” Soujiro caught the waitress’s attention, and they remained silent as they waited.
And waited.
And waited.
“HeyÉSou? ÉDo you mind if I ask youÉwhat do your parents think about all this? I mean, you know, the boxing.”
Soujiro was silent and stared at his food as the waitress finally came with the doggy bags.
“Have a great day!” The waitress said cheerfully as she walked off.
Soujiro watched her, then looked back down at his plate. “UmÉthey’re dead, so I don’t think they really think much one way or the other.”
“Oh.” That explained a few things. “I’m sorry.”
He shrugged. “’Sall right. It was a long time ago.” He grabbed the doggy bag and began to fill it. “We should get going.”
“Do you mind if I ask how they died?”
Soujiro sighed slightly. “My father died of tuberculosis, my mother had a breakdown because of it and committed suicide.”
“Oh. I thought they had a cure for TB?”
He shoved his plate over and slammed the doggy bag down. “I don’t know, okay? I was six, they didn’t always tell me everything. Look, do mind if we talk about something else?”
“I’m sorry.” She said quietly. Soujiro took the check and walked to the cash register, leaving Yumi alone at the table.
---
“I didn’t think you’d ever get back. Soujiro, you have a promo tomorrow, so I suggest you get some sleep tonight. You look like shit. Yumi, may I speak to you? Privately?”
Soujiro and Yumi both hesitated at the door, surprised to see Shishio in such a good mood (at least, when compared to the night before). He stood at the doorway to the bedroom, obviously expecting Yumi to follow. She took a deep breath and did so, the door closing quietly behind them.
Soujiro scratched the back of his head and looked around uncomfortably. It was just like Shishio to completely ignore his protests and go ahead with this fight. He closed the door and slowly shuffled over to his suite. Maybe some music would calm him down.
---
“I’m sorry I hit you last night.” Yumi sat on the bed with her hands on her lap, looking rather tense. Shishio alternated between pacing, and standing looking out the window, his arms crossed, looking quite uncomfortable. Apologies had never come very naturally to him. “But you know you shouldn’t interfere with Soujiro and me. I’ve told you that before.” Yumi looked down at her lap. Shishio cleared his throat. “Look, you’ve been bugging me about this for a while now, so I’ve been thinkingÉmaybe it’s about time we get married.”
Yumi looked up in surprise, and was greeted with a smile. “Really?”
Shishio leaned against the wall. “If you still want to.”
“OhÉ” Her hand instinctively went to her mouth as she began to cry. She had waited nearly four years for this.
---
He smelled the roses on his way out the door. A dozen long-stemmed roses. Thornless.
Kaoru would love them.
Kenshin took in a deep breath and looked around. He loved mornings. They were always so crisp and refreshing; they represented the start of something new.
He looked back down at the roses. Kaoru had been rather down lately, and he was buying these in hopes of lifting her spirits.
He sprinted up the steps in a burst of energy brought on by the crisp air. The thought of the look on Kaoru’s lovely face when presented with these made him smile at everyone he passed.
He was in a very good mood.
---
“Soujiro! I didn’t expect you to call.”
“Yeah, um, look, Kao, I just wanted to apologize for yesterday.”
“It’s all right. I know you’re upset.” Kaoru dragged the phone over to a chair and sat down. “So are you feeling any better this morning?”
“Well you know how you’re always bugging me to get a girlfriend?”
Kaoru grinned. “Yeah?”
“Well, I think I got one.”
“Really!?” She glanced up as she heard the door open and close, and found Kenshin standing before her, holding a dozen roses. “OhÉI got to go, I’ll call you in a bit, okay? I want to know everything!”
She hung up quickly and stood. “Oh Kenshin, thank you! They’re so beautiful!”
Kenshin grinned at her. "I'm glad you like them."
Kaoru kissed his cheek and took the flowers into the kitchen, Kenshin tagged behind her.
"So, um," Kaoru began as she searched for a vase, "have you talked to Sano yet? You know about the fight?" She looked over at Kenshin anxiously.
Kenshin closed his eyes and nodded. Kaoru sighed. “I thought we were going to try to talk him out of it?”
“I did try. But he and Shishio have already made an agreement.”
Kaoru sighed again and finally pulled a vase from the cupboard.
“Don’t worry Kaoru, it will work out all right.”
---
Soujiro hummed. He had a habit of humming when he was preoccupied. He hummed as he fed Isis, he hummed as he started up his computer, he hummed as he stood and gazed out of the window. Despite what had happened with Shishio, last night had been a relatively good night. He smiled and blushed and thought of Yumi. He felt like a schoolboy.
But the thought of Shishio- and moreover, the fight- kept nagging in the back of his mind. He was beginning to wonder just why he continued this. He didn’t enjoy it. He really never did enjoy it, he only continued because Shishio gave him good food and a secure roof over his head. But he had so much money of his own now, he no longer had to rely on Shishio.
This made him stop and stare at his monitor. If he no longer relied on Shishio, why did he stay?
He shook his head. He knew why he stayed; he had no other place to go.
But with determined cheerfulness he pushed his mind onto other issues.
He didn’t like to dwell on things too much, particularly things regarding him.
He stopped when he heard voices. He was worried that Shishio and Yumi would resume their fight when he and Yumi returned. He stopped and thought, then headed to their door to listen.
---
Yumi stared off into space as Shishio ranted. It was just like him to suddenly bring this up.
"I already told you Makoto, I was with Soujiro last night. I was too mad to stay here, so I stayed with him while he was training. I'm fine, there's nothing to worry about."
“Nothing to worry about.” He mocked. “You said the same thing to your father the night you left with me.”
Yumi shook her head and closed her eyes. “Why don’t you ever believe me? No matter what I say, you don’t believe me. What am I supposed to do, Makoto?”
Shishio turned away.
“First you propose to me, then you start yelling at me and demanding to know what happened last night.” Yumi continued. “How can you want to marry me when you suspect me of everything?”
Shishio sighed. “I’m sorry. But YumiÉ”
“No, no ‘but’s. I’m tired of listening to you accuse me. I’m not going to put up with it when we’re married!”
Shishio turned back around with a glint in his eye. “When? Does this mean you accept?”
Yumi smiled slightly. “Yeah.”
---
Soujiro didn’t look up as he started away from the door. He honestly couldn’t believe Yumi was finally getting married.
His Yumi.
--------
This thing is getting so sappy; I think I’m starting to hate it. -_- I just realized that I kinda make Yumi out to be a two-timer. Poor Yumi. She’s actually my all-time favorite female anime character (next to Myoubi from Alichino, and Akesato from Peacemaker Kurogane), so I honestly didn’t mean to do that.
Sobrina-kun (or actually, Turtle-kun as she is now known, and it’s her own fault!) convinced me to submit this fic to the Rurouni Kenshin-Broken Moons contest at www. Geocities .com / xfhbx / brokenmoons
(Take the spaces out. I had to put them in in order for the link to stay in the file when I submit it to ff.net) She also nominated it for the RKRC awards Alternate Reality category, along with my songfic Baby of Mine for one-shot. (I have such a wonderful cousin. Aren’t you jealous?) SoÉif anyone happens to be interested in seconding these two, the addy is
My thanks to darling Tortise (Turtle- kun) for helping me through my writer’s block.
If I Should Fall
Chapter 7
By Night Imp
Restaurants always seem to have really bad-tasting coffee.
---------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------
- Would you look at her
She looks at me
She's got me thinking about her constantly
But she don't know how I feel
And as she carries on without a doubt
I wonder if she's figured out
I'm crazy for this girl -
Soujiro gently stirred his very bad-tasting coffee as he listened to the conversation coming from the booth behind him. It seemed the husband’s ex-wife came back and wanted to marry him again, even though he had a fiancŽ who was about to have his baby, and the fiancŽ was none too happy about it all. It also didn’t seem to help that the man was about to stand trial for embezzlement.
What a pickle they were in.
What a pickle he and Yumi were in.
Hell, what a pickle the world was in.
He glanced across the table at Yumi, who was sipping tea and reading a newspaper, and for the hundredth time that night (or, actually, it was morning now), blushed in remembrance of her kiss. He certainly had not expected it. Not that he minded it; quite the contrary, he had thoroughly enjoyed it. But he hadn’t been expecting it.
Without looking up, Yumi smiled slightly. “Would you stop staring at me?”
Again, Soujiro blushed. “Sorry.” He looked out the window at the grayish pre-dawn sky, and began to think about Isis. She was probably wondering where he was. She was probably hungry.
What if Shishio left the door open and she ran out? This city was no place for a house cat. He shook his head and chided himself for worrying too much.
“Sorry ‘bout the wait.” The young blonde waitress said with a cheery smile as she brought their food.
“Oh, that’s fine.” Yumi murmured as she moved her newspaper and the waitress set their plates down,
“Anything else I can get you?”
They shook their heads.
“Okay, have a great day!” With that she set their check down on the table and walked off.
“I wonder what kind of mood Shishio will be in when we get back.” Soujiro mused as he smothered his eggs in ketchup.
Yumi said nothing but pushed her hash browns around on her plate, and looked out the window.
“He usually calms down pretty quickly.”
Yumi raised an eyebrow. “You act like he’s done this before.”
Soujiro nodded as if this was nothing to be surprised about.
“Where was I?”
Soujiro shrugged. “He’s never really done it with you around.”
Yumi frowned and looked back down at her plate without saying anything. Maybe she had over-reacted last night. But the fact remained that he had hit her, and she didn’t like being slapped around. She sighed and thought it best to change the subject.
“Sou, have you ever had a girlfriend?”
“Huh? Who, me?”
“I think you’re the only person sitting near to me named Sou.”
“Oh. Uh, yeah, um, sorta. Not exactlyÉbut um, sorta.”
Yumi rolled her eyes. “Yes or no.”
“UmÉnot exactly.”
“What does ‘not exactly’ mean?”
“UmÉit means that I kinda did but I kinda didn’t.” At Yumi’s exasperated expression, he decided to explain. “We didn’t exactly ‘go out’, per se, like you kinda think of when you say ‘girlfriend’ or whatever, but we kinda considered ourselves to be dating.”
“So how long ago was this?”
Soujiro shrugged. “Back in high school, before I dropped out. Why do you want to know?”
“Just curious. I really don’t know that much about you.”
“Well, same goes for you. Like, how did you meet Mister Shishio?”
Yumi smiled and closed her eyes. “In a restaurant.” She paused, “He told me I was too pretty to be working as a waitress.”
Her eyes remained closed, and she continued to smile. Soujiro watched her. She smiled so beautifully when she thought about Shishio.
It was such a pity that he didn’t do the same when he thought about her.
Yumi cleared her throat and opened her eyes, looking down at her plate.
Soujiro pushed his food around. “I’m really not very hungry.”
“Neither am I.”
“Maybe we should get a doggy bag.” Soujiro caught the waitress’s attention, and they remained silent as they waited.
And waited.
And waited.
“HeyÉSou? ÉDo you mind if I ask youÉwhat do your parents think about all this? I mean, you know, the boxing.”
Soujiro was silent and stared at his food as the waitress finally came with the doggy bags.
“Have a great day!” The waitress said cheerfully as she walked off.
Soujiro watched her, then looked back down at his plate. “UmÉthey’re dead, so I don’t think they really think much one way or the other.”
“Oh.” That explained a few things. “I’m sorry.”
He shrugged. “’Sall right. It was a long time ago.” He grabbed the doggy bag and began to fill it. “We should get going.”
“Do you mind if I ask how they died?”
Soujiro sighed slightly. “My father died of tuberculosis, my mother had a breakdown because of it and committed suicide.”
“Oh. I thought they had a cure for TB?”
He shoved his plate over and slammed the doggy bag down. “I don’t know, okay? I was six, they didn’t always tell me everything. Look, do mind if we talk about something else?”
“I’m sorry.” She said quietly. Soujiro took the check and walked to the cash register, leaving Yumi alone at the table.
---
“I didn’t think you’d ever get back. Soujiro, you have a promo tomorrow, so I suggest you get some sleep tonight. You look like shit. Yumi, may I speak to you? Privately?”
Soujiro and Yumi both hesitated at the door, surprised to see Shishio in such a good mood (at least, when compared to the night before). He stood at the doorway to the bedroom, obviously expecting Yumi to follow. She took a deep breath and did so, the door closing quietly behind them.
Soujiro scratched the back of his head and looked around uncomfortably. It was just like Shishio to completely ignore his protests and go ahead with this fight. He closed the door and slowly shuffled over to his suite. Maybe some music would calm him down.
---
“I’m sorry I hit you last night.” Yumi sat on the bed with her hands on her lap, looking rather tense. Shishio alternated between pacing, and standing looking out the window, his arms crossed, looking quite uncomfortable. Apologies had never come very naturally to him. “But you know you shouldn’t interfere with Soujiro and me. I’ve told you that before.” Yumi looked down at her lap. Shishio cleared his throat. “Look, you’ve been bugging me about this for a while now, so I’ve been thinkingÉmaybe it’s about time we get married.”
Yumi looked up in surprise, and was greeted with a smile. “Really?”
Shishio leaned against the wall. “If you still want to.”
“OhÉ” Her hand instinctively went to her mouth as she began to cry. She had waited nearly four years for this.
---
He smelled the roses on his way out the door. A dozen long-stemmed roses. Thornless.
Kaoru would love them.
Kenshin took in a deep breath and looked around. He loved mornings. They were always so crisp and refreshing; they represented the start of something new.
He looked back down at the roses. Kaoru had been rather down lately, and he was buying these in hopes of lifting her spirits.
He sprinted up the steps in a burst of energy brought on by the crisp air. The thought of the look on Kaoru’s lovely face when presented with these made him smile at everyone he passed.
He was in a very good mood.
---
“Soujiro! I didn’t expect you to call.”
“Yeah, um, look, Kao, I just wanted to apologize for yesterday.”
“It’s all right. I know you’re upset.” Kaoru dragged the phone over to a chair and sat down. “So are you feeling any better this morning?”
“Well you know how you’re always bugging me to get a girlfriend?”
Kaoru grinned. “Yeah?”
“Well, I think I got one.”
“Really!?” She glanced up as she heard the door open and close, and found Kenshin standing before her, holding a dozen roses. “OhÉI got to go, I’ll call you in a bit, okay? I want to know everything!”
She hung up quickly and stood. “Oh Kenshin, thank you! They’re so beautiful!”
Kenshin grinned at her. "I'm glad you like them."
Kaoru kissed his cheek and took the flowers into the kitchen, Kenshin tagged behind her.
"So, um," Kaoru began as she searched for a vase, "have you talked to Sano yet? You know about the fight?" She looked over at Kenshin anxiously.
Kenshin closed his eyes and nodded. Kaoru sighed. “I thought we were going to try to talk him out of it?”
“I did try. But he and Shishio have already made an agreement.”
Kaoru sighed again and finally pulled a vase from the cupboard.
“Don’t worry Kaoru, it will work out all right.”
---
Soujiro hummed. He had a habit of humming when he was preoccupied. He hummed as he fed Isis, he hummed as he started up his computer, he hummed as he stood and gazed out of the window. Despite what had happened with Shishio, last night had been a relatively good night. He smiled and blushed and thought of Yumi. He felt like a schoolboy.
But the thought of Shishio- and moreover, the fight- kept nagging in the back of his mind. He was beginning to wonder just why he continued this. He didn’t enjoy it. He really never did enjoy it, he only continued because Shishio gave him good food and a secure roof over his head. But he had so much money of his own now, he no longer had to rely on Shishio.
This made him stop and stare at his monitor. If he no longer relied on Shishio, why did he stay?
He shook his head. He knew why he stayed; he had no other place to go.
But with determined cheerfulness he pushed his mind onto other issues.
He didn’t like to dwell on things too much, particularly things regarding him.
He stopped when he heard voices. He was worried that Shishio and Yumi would resume their fight when he and Yumi returned. He stopped and thought, then headed to their door to listen.
---
Yumi stared off into space as Shishio ranted. It was just like him to suddenly bring this up.
"I already told you Makoto, I was with Soujiro last night. I was too mad to stay here, so I stayed with him while he was training. I'm fine, there's nothing to worry about."
“Nothing to worry about.” He mocked. “You said the same thing to your father the night you left with me.”
Yumi shook her head and closed her eyes. “Why don’t you ever believe me? No matter what I say, you don’t believe me. What am I supposed to do, Makoto?”
Shishio turned away.
“First you propose to me, then you start yelling at me and demanding to know what happened last night.” Yumi continued. “How can you want to marry me when you suspect me of everything?”
Shishio sighed. “I’m sorry. But YumiÉ”
“No, no ‘but’s. I’m tired of listening to you accuse me. I’m not going to put up with it when we’re married!”
Shishio turned back around with a glint in his eye. “When? Does this mean you accept?”
Yumi smiled slightly. “Yeah.”
---
Soujiro didn’t look up as he started away from the door. He honestly couldn’t believe Yumi was finally getting married.
His Yumi.
--------
This thing is getting so sappy; I think I’m starting to hate it. -_- I just realized that I kinda make Yumi out to be a two-timer. Poor Yumi. She’s actually my all-time favorite female anime character (next to Myoubi from Alichino, and Akesato from Peacemaker Kurogane), so I honestly didn’t mean to do that.
Sobrina-kun (or actually, Turtle-kun as she is now known, and it’s her own fault!) convinced me to submit this fic to the Rurouni Kenshin-Broken Moons contest at www. Geocities .com / xfhbx / brokenmoons
(Take the spaces out. I had to put them in in order for the link to stay in the file when I submit it to ff.net) She also nominated it for the RKRC awards Alternate Reality category, along with my songfic Baby of Mine for one-shot. (I have such a wonderful cousin. Aren’t you jealous?) SoÉif anyone happens to be interested in seconding these two, the addy is
My thanks to darling Tortise (Turtle- kun) for helping me through my writer’s block.