Rurouni Kenshin Fan Fiction ❯ Bathtime ❯ Chapter 1 ( Chapter 1 )

Rurouni Kenshin and all its characters are copyrighted to the proper companies and individuals responsible for their creation. I felt like tapping into this universe one more time since my previous romp was so much fun. It looks like this story could be two or three chapters, but ain't nothing saying it will be. Please review-it makes my world go `round.

Bath Time

Chapter 1

Muscles ached with the sweetly familiar work. Sudsy water trickled down, adding to the small puddles forming around the washbasin. The scent of clean soap wafted lazily upwards, tickling the nose of a daydreaming rurouni.

Eventually the scent grew tired of being ignored, and went in for the attack. His nose twitched, and one sneeze after another erupted from him. The force was enough to rock Kenshin back from his squatting position so quickly that he lost his balance and ended up in a heap.

The purple-eyed man was surprised to find the last traces of sunlight fading from the sky. How long have I been out here? He wondered. Muscles in his neck and shoulders cried out for attention, and Kenshin stretched briefly. The ground under him was wet, but at the moment it didn't matter.

All he could think about-which, according to calculations had been close to two hours-was the nearby bathhouse. Shortly after beginning his favorite chore, Kaoru had emerged from the dojo, presumably after an afternoon of training with Yahiko, with a clean yukata in hand.

Their gazes met across the yard and suddenly the heat of the laundry water had been nothing compared to the fire in the rurouni's heart. Kaoru's bangs hung heavily in her face, and patches of sweat dotted the underarms of her uniform. The previous annoyance in her face and posture disappeared as the red-haired man smiled at her, and she paused halfway across the yard. Late-afternoon sun caressed her dark hair, and in that moment Kenshin thought he had never seen anyone else as beautiful.

He continued to stare at the assistant master until she began to fidget under his gaze. Realizing his error, Kenshin blinked and shook his head to clear away the thoughts which, spoken, would clearly earn him a knock from her bokken. Kaoru's smile faltered, as if she had been able to peer into his mind. "Kenshin?" He plastered on the rurouni smile.

"Yes, Miss Kaoru?" Bad, this is bad.

His voice trembled like it had for two weeks during puberty. He had become a mute in order to avoid Hiko's taunting, and only days after that had fought with his master and gone to join the Ishin Shishi.

"-bath now…Kenshin, are you listening?"

Her foot was tapping. He tried to piece together what she had said, but the memory was blank. "Would you like me to draw a bath for you, Miss Kaoru?" She gave him an exasperated sigh, but instead of launching into a lecture simply nodded.

Would you like me to join you in that bath, Miss Kaoru? He thought, and tipped the final bucket of water into the wooden tub. After exiting the bathhouse, Kenshin stumbled past Kaoru to the neutral laundry tub and proceeded to forget about her…for all of two minutes. The problem with laundry was that it was easy to do it and think of other things. Idly he considered going off to some secluded place to train for a while, but there was no way to justify going off and leaving the dojo unguarded just to control some…urges.

He sighed, and sat up. She had been in there an awfully long time. Or maybe she had already finished and slipped back to her room while he was scrubbing. The purple-eyed man tried to extend his senses towards the bathhouse, but he couldn't see or hear anything from that direction.

The last piece of laundry was hung and set out to dry. Kenshin carefully tipped the cooled water out into the small garden behind the dojo and laid the basin to rest. His back and shoulders hurt just as much, if not more than they had earlier. Maybe she had the right idea. A warm bath would soothe those kinks right out. A quick trip to gather necessities, and Kenshin was on his way out to the bathhouse without even a thought as to check on Kaoru's whereabouts.