Rurouni Kenshin Fan Fiction ❯ A New Light ❯ Chapter 5 ( Chapter 5 )

I sincerely apologize to everyone who tried to read chapter four when it was all messed up (sorry Susan!) I had to retype the entire thing so there are a ton of spelling errors in that chapter, but I decided not to edit in fear of my Word program changing the text on me again…talk about a long night full of "Oro Oro Oro's" hee hee, kidding…Thanks so much for your reviews and keep them coming!

Standard Disclaimers apply: I don't own RK, never will, and I have no money…I just like to write stories about my favorite manga….

Chapter 5

Sano looked back and forth between Kenshin and Kaoru, "What? Did you say 'baby'?" His eyes traveled down Kaoru's slender frame, lingering for a moment on her belly. He shook his head, trying to clear his mind and met Kenshin's gold and violet gaze, "You didn't knock up Jou-chan, did you, Kenshin?"

Kenshin's eyes narrowed as Kaoru leaned heavily into his arms. He could feel her hot tears on his chest, "Sano," he warned.

Megumi stalked up and bashed the thug across the back of his head with amazing force. "I swear, you're the most insensitive lurch I've ever met! If you got any more stupid, your head would implode!" She whacked him again for good measure, then grabbed the protesting Sano by the front of his coat, dragging him to the dojo. "I'm going to make some tea, " she called out, "I think we all need to have a talk in the training hall."

Yahiko gulped at the lady doctor's fearsome display and decided it best to make himself useful and he darted off to the hall to clean it up.

Left alone in the shadows of the yard, Kenshin pulled Kaoru close to him, one hand stroking her soft hair. He nuzzled the dark strands, inhaling the sweet scent that clung to them, and closed his eyes. "What have I done?" he thought, feeling the sticky wetness of his beloved's tears on his bare skin. "Kaoru," he whispered, "I'm so sorry." He could not bear to be the cause of her sorrow and pain, yet his irrational actions were no doubt to blame. Even worse, he could not explain to her where the severe reaction to her sudden absence came from, for he himself didn't fully understand it.

Kaoru leaned against him, her hands balled to her chest. Being angry with him for his senseless outburst would not remove the damage that was done. She could not muster the strength to shout at him and in her heart, she knew that would not be fair.

The man she fell in love with was one who lived his life through the eyes of passion. He had trained himself with amazing precision to use reason and wits before succumbing to the ardor that drove his soul. Yet, even that discipline was lost to the fire when he felt something dear to him was threatened. She could not slight him for being who and what he was.

She reminded herself that she chose to love him for himself and everything that he stood for. This included the reasonable, level headed, yet slightly witless rurouni, as well as the amber eyed and intensely fervid battousai that lived now only to protect what he felt was his. Somewhere between the two stood Himura Kenshin, always teetering in the balance of peace and madness, waiting for a situation to arise that would make him choose.

"It's okay, Kenshin. We got into this together, remember," she finally replied, her voice cracking slightly.

Kenshin shook his head, refusing to allow her to take any part of the blame. He broke his vow, and jeopardized the honor of the Kamyia name through his foolish actions. "No," he whispered in her ear. The blame was his, and his alone.

Kaoru pulled away, staring at him with reddened eyes, "Kenshin, it took two of us to get me pregnant, and I was a willing partner. That makes us both at fault. So don't you dare go blaming yourself for this mess."

She was in no mood to deal with his stubbornness now and she glared hard into the violet and gold flecked eyes.

Kenshin's shoulders sagged and he held his hand out in offering, "Aa, kioshii, lets go speak with the others," he replied, silently hoping they would understand.

********

"So you mean to tell me that busu over there is going to be a mom?" Yahiko pointed a finger at Kaoru, who sat quietly as her friends discussed the situation. The boy scrunched up his face and gave Kenshin a disgusted look, "The poor kid," he muttered.

"Yahiko!" Megumi snapped, "This isn't the time to be fooling around!" The doctor wasn't particularly keen on the idea of the youngster being involved in such an adult conversation, but it couldn't be helped. He had to be made aware of how important it was to keep things quiet. "Yahiko, the Kamyia family name could be in jeopardy if this leaves the dojo. Not only would that affect Kaoru, but you too."

Sano leaned back against the wall, one knee drawn up and his eyes closed, "If you ask me, they should have thought of that before they did the deed."

"Sano!" Megumi shouted, motioning to a blushing Yahiko.

The fighter cracked an eye at the doctor, "Not that it really matters to me that Jou-chan is pregnant," he continued, "I think a couple of kids would do them both some good." He looked at Kenshin and sat forward, "I just want to know why they didn't feel like they could trust us to know what's going on."

Kenshin could see the hurt look in Sano's face and suddenly realized he had no way to explain why he and Karou felt it necessary to hide the truth from their closest friends. He literally trusted Sano with his life, and the man had shown him the meaning of true friendship. He even left Yahiko to care for his most precious possession when he battled Shishio. There was no way he couldn't have confidence in them. "Sano, I…we…," he started.

"Was it because you felt you couldn't trust us Kenshin?" Sano shouted, his words harsh and angry, "Do you honestly think that little of us that we couldn't keep our mouths shut about this?"

"No, it's not like that," Kenshin replied quietly, feeling ashamed for betraying their friendship and doubting their convictions.

Kaoru's voice cut through the hostility and silenced the two men, "Sano, don't be angry with Kenshin. It's not that we didn't trust you two, we just felt it was safer if fewer people knew. That's all it was."

She gave him a pleading look and he relaxed again against the wall, "You should have known your secret was safe with us Jou-chan. We are a family you know. No one in this room would do anything to jeopardize your family's good name."

Kaoru nodded, knowing his words were nothing but the truth. They were a family, a strange one, but indeed a family bound by love, respect, and the experiences they had shared together. Sano's indignant reaction to their deception was justified and she didn't blame him for being angry with them. "This was a shock to us as well, we are still trying to cope with news. Everything is so…confusing right now." She tried not to choke as she spoke, and fought to hold back the tears that threatened to fall again.

Kenshin bowed his head, "I planned on telling everyone tomorrow that Kaoru and I are to be married in two weeks time. If we are married quickly, no one will ever know that our child was conceived before the vows were finalized. I have faith that you two will keep the secret inside these walls." He watched as everyone agreed and he suddenly felt very tired. The weight of the day's events compiled along with the stress of the entire week drained him of every last ounce of energy. He sighed softly and rubbed his neck. All he could think about was crawling into bed and losing himself to a dreamless sleep.

"So it's settled. Not a word leaves this dojo," Megumi stood up, taking charge of the meeting, "Ken-san, you look positively exhausted, why don't you get some rest while Kaoru and I make some dinner for these two lug heads."

"No, no," Kenshin started, though the idea did sound extremely enticing.

"Doctor's orders," Megumi stated, pointing for him to leave the room in the direction of his bed.

He glanced at Kaoru, who nodded her agreement.

**********

Sano took a bite out of the rice ball he held in his hand, watching Kaoru as she pushed the rice and vegetables around with her chopsticks, noting she had hardly eaten a bite of it. "Aren't you suppose to be eating for two now?" he asked through a mouth full of food.

Megumi rolled her eyes at his horrific table manners, but Kaoru just smiled.

"Don't worry about a thing, Jou-chan, we'll all protect you. Your secret is safe with us," Sano took another bite and continued, "Now eat up. I don't want that kid being as scrawny as his dad."

"Like that's going to happen," Yahiko muttered. He pictured the small, incredibly thin samurai and the even smaller Kaoru in his head, "The kid doesn't stand a chance."

Megumi frowned at the two men, "What's this 'he' business? The baby could very well be a girl."

Sano rolled his eyes, "A man like Kenshin having girls? No way! That just doesn't sound right to me."

Megumi's face turned a bright, angry red, "Of all the sexist, ridiculous things!"

"I think Sano has a point, " Yahiko interjected.

The argument ignited and Kaoru could not help but smile as her friends bickered over the possible gender of the baby. She really hadn't given it much thought herself since she was still trying to absorb the reality of the event going on inside her. Somehow hearing them talk so casually about the baby made it seem more real to her. She wondered if Kenshin had given any thought to such things. They really hadn't talked too much about their upcoming child, maybe it was time that they start.

"Well, whatever it is, I hope it doesn't look like that old hag over there," she heard Yahiko say.

There was a loud crash as the boy's face hit the tray in front of him. Kaoru rubbed her hands together and turned to the group, "I'm tired," she stated, "I'm going to bed. Yahiko, I assume you'll clean up the kitchen tonight."

*********

She did not bother to go to her own room, there was no need to slink around in the shadows of her own home any longer. It was one less burden she had to carry and it held a definite satisfaction.

She slid open the door quietly, not wanting to disturb the swordsman who slept inside. She saw how tired he was during the brief discussion this evening and knew he pushed himself far beyond the lines of exhaustion with all the excitement.

Her brows arched in surprise when she saw his futon, un-mess and clearly not slept in, in the middle of the room. Long ago, such a sight would have caused her to panic in fear that he had left her and returned to his wandering ways. A notion such as that was ludicrous now, he would never leave her, he couldn't, and Kaoru knew it.

She stepped into the room, allowing her eyes to adjust to the darkness. A dark shadow in the corner caught her eye and she tiptoed across the floor carefully to get a better look.

He slept against the wall, one knee raised slightly, his head dipping to his chest. One of his arms encircled the sword that was propped across his shoulder. "Old habits die hard," Kaoru thought to herself.

She watched the gentle rise and fall of his shoulders and the occasional twitch of his fingers that held the sheath of the sword in a loose grip. His sleep was so sound he had not the slightest clue she stood over him. Kaoru knew it was a rare moment to catch him so vulnerable and off guard, but the sight of him sleeping so soundly filled her with contentment. She decided to leave him be for the evening and quietly retrieved a blanket from his futon.

As she carefully draped the material around his shoulders, his eyes fluttered open and a hand caught her wrist. The movement startled her for a moment, but she quickly smiled as she gazed into the violet and amber depths of his eyes. "So battousai, even now you still linger," she thought, "No he's always here, watching over us."

She pulled her hand away from his grasp and stroked his cheek, watching as those amazingly intense eyes closed at her touch. "I'm sorry for waking you. I didn't want you to catch cold."

He moved his hand to cover her own, pressing her palm closer to his cheek, "I'm never cold when you are near me," his voice was husky with sleep, but Kaoru detected a hint of desire in its tone.

"My silly rurouni, battousai, husband-to-be," she teased, "You can barely keep your eyes open." Even a man of Kenshin's prestige had his limits.

He regarded her curiously. She never called him by the killer's name, but in doing it just now, she solidified her exceptance of that particular part of him. He felt himself smile a feral smile, something the rurouni never allowed himself to do, "Who says my eyes have to be open," he replied wickedly, mischief dancing in the fading violet of his eyes.

With lightening speed, he had his woman in his arms and carried her to his bed, ignoring her halfhearted protests.

*********

The two lovers lay in a tangle of blankets and clothing. Kenshin's head rested on Kaoru's chest, relishing the tingling sensations that ran through his limbs as she played with his unbound hair. He sighed in contentment as a foggy drowsiness consumed him.

"Kenshin?" Her soft voice tumbled through the sleepy mists, muffled by his tiredness.

"Hmm?" he replied lazily.

"Have you thought…" she paused, looking for the right words, "Do you…" She failed again and made a sound in frustration.

Kenshin's eyes opened and he moved to see her face, "What is it kioshii?"

"Do you want a boy or a girl?" she blurted out.

"Oro?"

"Sano and Yahiko said you'd want a boy. They think a girl wouldn't suit you."

Kenshin smiled softly, running his fingers across her stomach, "They said that did they?" He really hadn't thought too much about it, "A girl would suit me just fine, Kaoru," he replied.

Kaoru smiled and kissed him gently before nestling into the crook of his arm.

Whew….another chapter done…another one to type, but I'll do that tomorrow…this fic is turning out to be longer than I expected, I hope you all don't mind…(Sweatdrop), but I promise it will wrap up soon….then I have a new idea…*insert evil laugh here* Okay, I really need some sleep….