Rurouni Kenshin Fan Fiction ❯ Time Can Not Erase ❯ Chapter 2
[ P - Pre-Teen ]
By: Silent Tears of Agony 
Anime/Manga: Rurouni Kenshin Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Drama / Angst | Type: Continuation | Uploaded On: 09.29.2006 | Pages: 3 | Words: 2.5K | Visits: 522 | Status: Completed
Anime/Manga: Rurouni Kenshin Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Drama / Angst | Type: Continuation | Uploaded On: 09.29.2006 | Pages: 3 | Words: 2.5K | Visits: 522 | Status: Completed
Title: Time Cannot Erase
Chap: 2
I don't care as much for this chapter as I did the last one. I think it's not as emotion-filled, but hopefully the feel rings at least a little true to the original. :)
Suppressed By All My Childish Fears
-
Kenshin was saying something, but Kaoru wasn't listening to him. All she could concentrate on was how much the piece of metal in her hand looked like an engagement ring.
Kenshin's heart skipped again when he heard Kaoru say those words. He was beginning to wonder if the abused organ would ever beat again. "Yes, that's what it is."
His quiet words confirmed Kaoru's suspicions and the woman's shoulders dropped along with her heart. So he had been seeing another woman. After last year's fiasco her mind couldn't believe the ring was meant for her, no matter how badly her heart wanted to agree with that idea. "Who is she?"
Kenshin furrowed his brows in response to Kaoru's question. He thought it was odd she would want to know what vendor he bought the ring from. "It was a man actually. I'm not sure if you've met him. He's new here."
Kaoru screamed and dropped the ring. "A-a guy!" The shocked girl looked as if she was about to cry. "I lost to a guy?"
"Oro?" Kenshin looked at the young woman in confusion. "Kaoru-dono, sessha doesn't understand. What did you lose?"
"I'm talking about the man you bought that ring for!" Kaoru jabbed an accusing finger at the ring lying innocently on a porch board. Kenshin stared at it as he tried to process the young woman's frantic speech.
"The man I -" The redhead's eyes bulged as he squeaked out another "oro." "No, Kaoru-dono, you don't understand! Sessha bought this ring for you!" The words came out much easier than Kenshin expected they would. Then again, he found his words seemed to form more easily the few times he had blurted them out mindlessly.
Kaoru thought she might be hearing things. "You bought it for me?" Her voice was somewhere between giddy and disbelieving. "So that means you want to . . . to marry me?"
The anxiety Kenshin had been so worried about finally clogged his throat and he was able only to nod in response.
Stars formed in Kaoru's eyes as she leapt forward to embrace her love. "Oh Kenshin, of course I'll marry you!"
It took a few seconds for the words to register in Kenshin's brain. The stunned man returned her hug and grinned in elation. "May sessha put the ring on you?"
"Oh of course!" Kaoru stepped back so Kenshin could pick up the ring.
The redhead stared at his fiancee in indecision. Obviously, the ring was supposed to go on her finger, but which one?
"What's wrong?" Kaoru asked.
Kenshin scratched his head in embarrassment. "Sessha doesn't know where to put this."
"Is that all?" The dark-haired woman stuck out her left hand and pointed to her ring finger. "Right here."
Even though she already said yes, Kenshin's hand shook nervously as he put the ring on Kaoru. Seeing it on her finger made the man realize this situation was real, not some fantasy. This special woman in front of him had found him worthy of marrying her. The thoughtful man was interrupted from his reverie when the subject of his thoughts gathered him into another fierce hug.
"It's beautiful, Kenshin. I love it." Kaoru leaned back to look him in the eyes. "I love you," she announced shyly. Kaoru scowled after Kenshin failed to respond during what she felt was an appropriate length of time. "Well?" she asked tartly. "Aren't you going to tell me you love me?"
Kenshin picked up Kaoru's hand and wrapped his fingers around hers. "Sessha isn't very good at expressing his feelings," he admitted quietly. "However, sessha knows you make this unworthy one feel special and . . . complete." Kenshin smiled, more to himself than for Kaoru's benefit. "Love doesn't seem like a strong enough word to describe how I feel about you."
The smitten woman's lips parted in astonishment. "Kenshin . . . "
The redhead gave a half-smile, embarrassed by the effect his words had on Kaoru.
"Would you like to sit with sessha for a while, Kaoru-dono?" Kenshin offered with a genuine smile.
Kaoru brushed a stray lock of hair out of her face in an effort to regain her composure before answering with a smile of her own. "Yes, I would."
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
"Good morning Yahiko!" Kaoru chirped as she breezed into the boy's room. "It's time to get up! The day is too beautiful to sleep it away!"
Yahiko rubbed his eyes and glanced out the window. "It's raining. I don't think I'll miss very much if I do sleep."
The boy's sensei grinned and patted him on the head. "I'm not going to let your attitude affect me today, Yahiko-chan! Now hurry up! Kenshin's almost finished with breakfast."
Yahiko stared after the cheerful young woman as she left his room. He was almost afraid of what other oddities he might encounter on the other side of his door. His stomach was complaining too loudly to allow him to stay in bed, however, and he hurried to change his clothes. Everything appeared to be normal when Yahiko made his way to the kitchen.
Kaoru was giving Kenshin a sickeningly sweet smile as the rurouni obliviously served up the food.
'Guess I was worried for nothing,' Yahiko thought as he sat down at the table.
"Good morning Yahiko!" Kenshin greeted the youth with his usual cheerful smile.
"Yahiko," Kaoru spoke up suddenly, "Kenshin and I have an announcement we'd like to make. We thought we should tell you first."
Yahiko looked up from his rice bowl to see the two adults sitting closer together than usual. "Is that why you were acting so weird earlier? You guys are together or something?"
"I wasn't acting weirdly!" Kaoru protested. "And you ruined the surprise!"
Kenshin gave one of his rare, genuine smiles as he cupped his hand around Kaoru's tense fist. "What Kaoru is trying to say is that we are going to be married."
Yahiko stared down at his bowl and mashed his rice with his chopsticks. "I'll guess I'll be moving into Sano's old place sooner than I thought."
"You don't have to do that!" Kaoru objected. "Here is your home!"
"You may stay as long as you wish." Kenshin assured the boy. "We don't want you to leave or stay because you feel you have to for our benefit."
Kaoru frowned. "Why would he want to leave?"
"We should eat now," Kenshin suggested in a firm tone.
Kaoru flicked her gaze between Yahiko and her fiancee in confusion. What was so wrong about wanting her pupil to stay where he belonged?
-.-.-.-.-.-.-
Kaoru sighed as her attention drifted to the stormy conditions outside the dojo. The young woman let out a cry when a dull object crashed into her shoulder. "Yahiko!" Kaoru glared at the perpetrator with hot eyes. "How dare you!"
Yahiko returned his sensei's fierce gaze. "You've been daydreaming the whole time we were supposed to be practicing! You'd never let me get away with that! During a spar a swordsman should let nothing distract him!"
Kaoru rubbed her throbbing shoulder and let out another sigh. "Your right," she admitted in a disappointed voice.
Yahiko bowed his head to cover his shock. He never thought his sensei would admit defeat so easily! "Of course I am," he smirked.
She frowned and cracked her bokken over her pupil's spiky head. "Watch your mouth!" Kaoru chastised him. "As your sensei, you should respect me!"
"As my sensei, I pity you," Yahiko retorted blandly.
Kaoru's face contorted with rage as she lunged for her tormenter.
"Too slow!" the boy taunted the older girl. "You need to go on a diet. You'll never catch me with all that weight your lugging around!"
Of course Kaoru retorted with some threatening comment and an increase in her speed. Even so, Kaoru was still having difficulty keeping up with her student. She doubted it was because of extra weight, her training kept her in excellent shape. No, it was because Yahiko had advanced so quickly in his training. She wished to teach him more, but his desire to become stronger had used all of her knowledge of the Kamiya Kasshin Ryu.
Yahiko stopped running when he noticed Kaoru had done the same. "You're giving up already?" he asked in disbelief.
Kaoru made a motion with her hand indicating she wanted him to be serious. "Yahiko, do you really want to move out?"
The young boy shrugged carelessly. "So what if I did? Not much would change. I'd still train here. You'd still force me to eat your bad cooking. And Kenshin would still be, well, Kenshin!"
'I'm getting married!' Kaoru wanted to scream at her student. 'That's a big change!' She was even willing to admit it was a scary change. What if she changed too much trying to please Kenshin? What if she didn't change enough and he tired of her? What if she found out the person responsible for the loud snoring at night was actually her beloved redhead and not her bratty student? Could she spend the rest of her life with someone who snored?
'Now you're just being ridiculous!' the young woman scolded herself. 'Kenshin and I have been through too much to quibble over our petty flaws.' She found the argument only half-reassuring. Married couples argued over small things all the time, didn't they?
"Busu, if you're that hungry, why don't you get something out of the kitchen?"
Kaoru frowned in confusion and looked down to find she was chewing on her thumbnail. She blushed a little in embarrassment. The young sensei hadn't chewed on her nails since she was a little girl and her father had poured some vile liquid on her fingers.
"You are hungry Kaoru-dono? Then sessha came at the right time." A smiling Kenshin hurried in with a plateful of rice balls for everybody.
Kaoru wasn't really very hungry, but she took one to nibble on to avoid a further embarrassing situation. "I wonder when this rain will ever let up?"
Kenshin chuckled mentally. Out of his makeshift family, only he and Megumi enjoyed the rain. Everybody else was too active to appreciate it beyond a practical view. "Is Kaoru-dono anxious to tell the friends in town about our engagement?"
"Why shouldn't I be?" Kaoru huffed.
"No reason," the rurouni apologized. Part of him wanted to announce their happiness as much as she did. Another, more cautious part wanted to hide this new relationship lest another enemy found out and steal her away from him.
"The stupid rooster-head left too soon," Yahiko's voice was angry as he spoke. "He would have wanted to be here for your wedding."
"That's right," Kaoru's eyes turned misty. "It won't be the same without him."
"No, it won't," Kenshin agreed as he thought of his friend's parting comment to Kaoru. "However, I think Sano knew it would happen."
"Yeah, the birdbrain would just be gloating right now."
Kaoru slapped her student on the head. "Stop speaking so rudely, Yahiko-chan! Sano didn't want to leave! He had no choice."
"He should have stayed!" Yahiko yelled. "Then he wouldn't miss anything, and you would stop blubbering so much!"
"Oh, so you'd rather I blubber after he was killed?" Kaoru's face turned red with her anger. "Because that's what would have happened to him. At least now he's alive. We may even see him again someday, so he wouldn't miss everything!"
"Calm down, calm down." Kenshin set a hand on both of their shoulders. "Perhaps we should do something that doesn't make us think of Sano, right now."
"Like what?" Yahiko asked. "The guy practically lived here! He was everywhere! We can't even eat without thinking about him!"
His sensei snorted. "Especially not when we eat," she muttered.
Kenshin chuckled. "Yes, it felt strange this morning not to make more food just for Sano."
"The way Yahiko eats, you'll have to cook that way again soon!"
Yahiko rolled his eyes at Kaoru's taunt. "Why aren't you taking this seriously!"
"What happened to your sense of humor, eh, Yahiko-chan?"
Before their argument could escalate any further, a female voice interrupted them. "Am I interrupting anything?" Everyone turned to see Megumi standing in the doorway, her expression a little less guarded than usual. "I had hoped my last memory of you would be an improvement and here you are arguing like children. Not including you, of course, Ken-san."
Kaoru's hackles rose at the older woman's coy smile. "'Last memory'? Does that mean we'll finally be rid of your annoying presence?" the blue-eyed woman sneered.
Megumi shocked everyone with her next statement. "Yes, I plan to leave for Aizu tomorrow. Why else do you think I walked all this way in the rain?"
-
I wanted to reach at least the wedding in this chapter, but I dallied too long. Also, it will probably at least a year until I am able to update again. I think all of you who have been so patient with me. :)
Note: All RECOMMENDED FANFICS can be found at fanfiction . net, unless otherwise indicated.
RECOMMENDED FANFIC: A Son’s Guilt by charmed-sword The authoress has done a wonderful job with this story and it’s characters. Kenshin is as I imagined him to be in the future. He still feels guilt and wants to atone, however, he is determined not to let his guilt affect his family and friends. Although Kenji doesn’t conform to his personality in Seis Houen, I think it’s a change for the better. The story starts off a little care-free, but I suspect the authoress did that to throw her readers off-guard for the sea of emotions that is to come. :)
Chap: 2
I don't care as much for this chapter as I did the last one. I think it's not as emotion-filled, but hopefully the feel rings at least a little true to the original. :)
Suppressed By All My Childish Fears
-
Kenshin was saying something, but Kaoru wasn't listening to him. All she could concentrate on was how much the piece of metal in her hand looked like an engagement ring.
Kenshin's heart skipped again when he heard Kaoru say those words. He was beginning to wonder if the abused organ would ever beat again. "Yes, that's what it is."
His quiet words confirmed Kaoru's suspicions and the woman's shoulders dropped along with her heart. So he had been seeing another woman. After last year's fiasco her mind couldn't believe the ring was meant for her, no matter how badly her heart wanted to agree with that idea. "Who is she?"
Kenshin furrowed his brows in response to Kaoru's question. He thought it was odd she would want to know what vendor he bought the ring from. "It was a man actually. I'm not sure if you've met him. He's new here."
Kaoru screamed and dropped the ring. "A-a guy!" The shocked girl looked as if she was about to cry. "I lost to a guy?"
"Oro?" Kenshin looked at the young woman in confusion. "Kaoru-dono, sessha doesn't understand. What did you lose?"
"I'm talking about the man you bought that ring for!" Kaoru jabbed an accusing finger at the ring lying innocently on a porch board. Kenshin stared at it as he tried to process the young woman's frantic speech.
"The man I -" The redhead's eyes bulged as he squeaked out another "oro." "No, Kaoru-dono, you don't understand! Sessha bought this ring for you!" The words came out much easier than Kenshin expected they would. Then again, he found his words seemed to form more easily the few times he had blurted them out mindlessly.
Kaoru thought she might be hearing things. "You bought it for me?" Her voice was somewhere between giddy and disbelieving. "So that means you want to . . . to marry me?"
The anxiety Kenshin had been so worried about finally clogged his throat and he was able only to nod in response.
Stars formed in Kaoru's eyes as she leapt forward to embrace her love. "Oh Kenshin, of course I'll marry you!"
It took a few seconds for the words to register in Kenshin's brain. The stunned man returned her hug and grinned in elation. "May sessha put the ring on you?"
"Oh of course!" Kaoru stepped back so Kenshin could pick up the ring.
The redhead stared at his fiancee in indecision. Obviously, the ring was supposed to go on her finger, but which one?
"What's wrong?" Kaoru asked.
Kenshin scratched his head in embarrassment. "Sessha doesn't know where to put this."
"Is that all?" The dark-haired woman stuck out her left hand and pointed to her ring finger. "Right here."
Even though she already said yes, Kenshin's hand shook nervously as he put the ring on Kaoru. Seeing it on her finger made the man realize this situation was real, not some fantasy. This special woman in front of him had found him worthy of marrying her. The thoughtful man was interrupted from his reverie when the subject of his thoughts gathered him into another fierce hug.
"It's beautiful, Kenshin. I love it." Kaoru leaned back to look him in the eyes. "I love you," she announced shyly. Kaoru scowled after Kenshin failed to respond during what she felt was an appropriate length of time. "Well?" she asked tartly. "Aren't you going to tell me you love me?"
Kenshin picked up Kaoru's hand and wrapped his fingers around hers. "Sessha isn't very good at expressing his feelings," he admitted quietly. "However, sessha knows you make this unworthy one feel special and . . . complete." Kenshin smiled, more to himself than for Kaoru's benefit. "Love doesn't seem like a strong enough word to describe how I feel about you."
The smitten woman's lips parted in astonishment. "Kenshin . . . "
The redhead gave a half-smile, embarrassed by the effect his words had on Kaoru.
"Would you like to sit with sessha for a while, Kaoru-dono?" Kenshin offered with a genuine smile.
Kaoru brushed a stray lock of hair out of her face in an effort to regain her composure before answering with a smile of her own. "Yes, I would."
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
"Good morning Yahiko!" Kaoru chirped as she breezed into the boy's room. "It's time to get up! The day is too beautiful to sleep it away!"
Yahiko rubbed his eyes and glanced out the window. "It's raining. I don't think I'll miss very much if I do sleep."
The boy's sensei grinned and patted him on the head. "I'm not going to let your attitude affect me today, Yahiko-chan! Now hurry up! Kenshin's almost finished with breakfast."
Yahiko stared after the cheerful young woman as she left his room. He was almost afraid of what other oddities he might encounter on the other side of his door. His stomach was complaining too loudly to allow him to stay in bed, however, and he hurried to change his clothes. Everything appeared to be normal when Yahiko made his way to the kitchen.
Kaoru was giving Kenshin a sickeningly sweet smile as the rurouni obliviously served up the food.
'Guess I was worried for nothing,' Yahiko thought as he sat down at the table.
"Good morning Yahiko!" Kenshin greeted the youth with his usual cheerful smile.
"Yahiko," Kaoru spoke up suddenly, "Kenshin and I have an announcement we'd like to make. We thought we should tell you first."
Yahiko looked up from his rice bowl to see the two adults sitting closer together than usual. "Is that why you were acting so weird earlier? You guys are together or something?"
"I wasn't acting weirdly!" Kaoru protested. "And you ruined the surprise!"
Kenshin gave one of his rare, genuine smiles as he cupped his hand around Kaoru's tense fist. "What Kaoru is trying to say is that we are going to be married."
Yahiko stared down at his bowl and mashed his rice with his chopsticks. "I'll guess I'll be moving into Sano's old place sooner than I thought."
"You don't have to do that!" Kaoru objected. "Here is your home!"
"You may stay as long as you wish." Kenshin assured the boy. "We don't want you to leave or stay because you feel you have to for our benefit."
Kaoru frowned. "Why would he want to leave?"
"We should eat now," Kenshin suggested in a firm tone.
Kaoru flicked her gaze between Yahiko and her fiancee in confusion. What was so wrong about wanting her pupil to stay where he belonged?
-.-.-.-.-.-.-
Kaoru sighed as her attention drifted to the stormy conditions outside the dojo. The young woman let out a cry when a dull object crashed into her shoulder. "Yahiko!" Kaoru glared at the perpetrator with hot eyes. "How dare you!"
Yahiko returned his sensei's fierce gaze. "You've been daydreaming the whole time we were supposed to be practicing! You'd never let me get away with that! During a spar a swordsman should let nothing distract him!"
Kaoru rubbed her throbbing shoulder and let out another sigh. "Your right," she admitted in a disappointed voice.
Yahiko bowed his head to cover his shock. He never thought his sensei would admit defeat so easily! "Of course I am," he smirked.
She frowned and cracked her bokken over her pupil's spiky head. "Watch your mouth!" Kaoru chastised him. "As your sensei, you should respect me!"
"As my sensei, I pity you," Yahiko retorted blandly.
Kaoru's face contorted with rage as she lunged for her tormenter.
"Too slow!" the boy taunted the older girl. "You need to go on a diet. You'll never catch me with all that weight your lugging around!"
Of course Kaoru retorted with some threatening comment and an increase in her speed. Even so, Kaoru was still having difficulty keeping up with her student. She doubted it was because of extra weight, her training kept her in excellent shape. No, it was because Yahiko had advanced so quickly in his training. She wished to teach him more, but his desire to become stronger had used all of her knowledge of the Kamiya Kasshin Ryu.
Yahiko stopped running when he noticed Kaoru had done the same. "You're giving up already?" he asked in disbelief.
Kaoru made a motion with her hand indicating she wanted him to be serious. "Yahiko, do you really want to move out?"
The young boy shrugged carelessly. "So what if I did? Not much would change. I'd still train here. You'd still force me to eat your bad cooking. And Kenshin would still be, well, Kenshin!"
'I'm getting married!' Kaoru wanted to scream at her student. 'That's a big change!' She was even willing to admit it was a scary change. What if she changed too much trying to please Kenshin? What if she didn't change enough and he tired of her? What if she found out the person responsible for the loud snoring at night was actually her beloved redhead and not her bratty student? Could she spend the rest of her life with someone who snored?
'Now you're just being ridiculous!' the young woman scolded herself. 'Kenshin and I have been through too much to quibble over our petty flaws.' She found the argument only half-reassuring. Married couples argued over small things all the time, didn't they?
"Busu, if you're that hungry, why don't you get something out of the kitchen?"
Kaoru frowned in confusion and looked down to find she was chewing on her thumbnail. She blushed a little in embarrassment. The young sensei hadn't chewed on her nails since she was a little girl and her father had poured some vile liquid on her fingers.
"You are hungry Kaoru-dono? Then sessha came at the right time." A smiling Kenshin hurried in with a plateful of rice balls for everybody.
Kaoru wasn't really very hungry, but she took one to nibble on to avoid a further embarrassing situation. "I wonder when this rain will ever let up?"
Kenshin chuckled mentally. Out of his makeshift family, only he and Megumi enjoyed the rain. Everybody else was too active to appreciate it beyond a practical view. "Is Kaoru-dono anxious to tell the friends in town about our engagement?"
"Why shouldn't I be?" Kaoru huffed.
"No reason," the rurouni apologized. Part of him wanted to announce their happiness as much as she did. Another, more cautious part wanted to hide this new relationship lest another enemy found out and steal her away from him.
"The stupid rooster-head left too soon," Yahiko's voice was angry as he spoke. "He would have wanted to be here for your wedding."
"That's right," Kaoru's eyes turned misty. "It won't be the same without him."
"No, it won't," Kenshin agreed as he thought of his friend's parting comment to Kaoru. "However, I think Sano knew it would happen."
"Yeah, the birdbrain would just be gloating right now."
Kaoru slapped her student on the head. "Stop speaking so rudely, Yahiko-chan! Sano didn't want to leave! He had no choice."
"He should have stayed!" Yahiko yelled. "Then he wouldn't miss anything, and you would stop blubbering so much!"
"Oh, so you'd rather I blubber after he was killed?" Kaoru's face turned red with her anger. "Because that's what would have happened to him. At least now he's alive. We may even see him again someday, so he wouldn't miss everything!"
"Calm down, calm down." Kenshin set a hand on both of their shoulders. "Perhaps we should do something that doesn't make us think of Sano, right now."
"Like what?" Yahiko asked. "The guy practically lived here! He was everywhere! We can't even eat without thinking about him!"
His sensei snorted. "Especially not when we eat," she muttered.
Kenshin chuckled. "Yes, it felt strange this morning not to make more food just for Sano."
"The way Yahiko eats, you'll have to cook that way again soon!"
Yahiko rolled his eyes at Kaoru's taunt. "Why aren't you taking this seriously!"
"What happened to your sense of humor, eh, Yahiko-chan?"
Before their argument could escalate any further, a female voice interrupted them. "Am I interrupting anything?" Everyone turned to see Megumi standing in the doorway, her expression a little less guarded than usual. "I had hoped my last memory of you would be an improvement and here you are arguing like children. Not including you, of course, Ken-san."
Kaoru's hackles rose at the older woman's coy smile. "'Last memory'? Does that mean we'll finally be rid of your annoying presence?" the blue-eyed woman sneered.
Megumi shocked everyone with her next statement. "Yes, I plan to leave for Aizu tomorrow. Why else do you think I walked all this way in the rain?"
-
I wanted to reach at least the wedding in this chapter, but I dallied too long. Also, it will probably at least a year until I am able to update again. I think all of you who have been so patient with me. :)
Note: All RECOMMENDED FANFICS can be found at fanfiction . net, unless otherwise indicated.
RECOMMENDED FANFIC: A Son’s Guilt by charmed-sword The authoress has done a wonderful job with this story and it’s characters. Kenshin is as I imagined him to be in the future. He still feels guilt and wants to atone, however, he is determined not to let his guilt affect his family and friends. Although Kenji doesn’t conform to his personality in Seis Houen, I think it’s a change for the better. The story starts off a little care-free, but I suspect the authoress did that to throw her readers off-guard for the sea of emotions that is to come. :)