Rurouni Kenshin Fan Fiction ❯ Battousai Unleashed ❯ Changes ( Chapter 2 )

Changes

The next morning found Kaoru with a splitting headache. She could recall nothing after collapsing against Kenshin in her sorrow. Yet somehow she was in her sleeping robe and all traces of the carnage had been washed from her hands and body. However, she could still feel the blood on her hands; could still see it in her minds eye. She gripped the sheets tightly and soon felt a pair of comforting hands on her shoulders.
"Miss Kaoru...," Kenshin's soothing voice echoed in the silence of the morning.
"Kenshin...," she whispered, "I..."
"Shh...you should eat breakfast, that you should. Then we can talk about what happened."
"Yes. Breakfast."
Kaoru sat quietly at the breakfast table as Kenshin served her a plate of scrambled eggs, bacon, and sweetbread. Yahiko sat across from her, not daring to say a word. Kenshin sat beside her and urged her to eat.
"You must eat breakfast to regain your strength, Miss Kaoru, that you must."
"I'm not very hungry, Kenshin..."
"Onegai, Miss Kaoru," he whispered, uncharacteristically.
"H-Hai, Kenshin...," she agreed.
Kaoru took small bites of her food, almost mechanically. Yahiko ate quickly and left the uncomfortable silence of the room. Tears slid down her pale face as she noticed her only student apparently run from her. She deserved it, after all. She had spilled blood, in the presence of a child. She was a hypocrite, just as that ninja had said. Everything she stood for was a lie.
"Kenshin, how can I live my life, knowing I'm nothing but a hypocrite?" she asked.
"Miss Kaoru," Kenshin breathed, "You are not a hypocrite. You did what you had to do, that you did..."
"No, Kenshin! I could have avoided killing those men! But...it felt like I was someone else! I felt this power and overwhelming knowledge surround me. I couldn't fight it. I saw what was happening, but I couldn't stop myself! The legend is true, Kenshin. My great grandfather's sword gave me the power to defeat those men, but it cost me my very being...."
"Miss Kaoru, please..."
"Iie! I can't ever go back to what I used to be. I need...I need to go out for a walk," she said, getting up.
Kenshin watched her head back to her room. He closed his eyes and sighed. Kaoru discretely hid the sword in her kimono. It was as if the blade called to her, told her it might be needed during her walk.
"Only for protection...," she lied to herself.
She left the house then and took a solitary trail toward the river. She reached it soon enough and sat on an old log. She stared hard and long at her small hands, she could still see the stain of blood on them. She lunged toward the river and dunked her hands under the rushing waters, trying to scrub away what wasn't really there. She scrubbed until she drew her own blood and then scrubbed harder in hysterics. She was pulled roughly away from her task.
He had seen the lovely young woman torture herself and could not stand to let her do this to herself. He yanked her away from the river and held her to his chest, protectively. She struggled and cried in his arms. Her perfumed scent wafted up to his nose and he looked down upon her, she was a goddess. Those desperate eyes and the pale, tear stained cheeks heightened by a delicate blush made him gasp in desire.
"Why do you want to hurt yourself so badly, little one?" he asked, his smooth voice washing over Kaoru.
"I...I'm washing the blood off my hands," she whispered, not quite knowing why she was telling this stranger.
He took her hands in his and looked into her eyes and saw the heartbreak.
"You have killed," he said.
"H-Hai...I have...," she whispered in fear.
"Don't be afraid. I'm certain that you did so in self defense. Come. I will take care of you. Do you trust me?"
Kaoru looked up at the black haired, amber eyed man and strangely found herself drawn into his arms.
"Yes, I trust you," she said as if in a trance.
"You have a warriors spirit and are very lovely, little one. I will teach you all you need to know..."
"What is your name?"
He smiled charmingly.
"Mitsurugi Tenryu. And you?"
"Kamiya Kaoru."
"Kaoru...the name suits you. Come, Miss Kaoru..."
"Hai, Mitsurugi-san."
"Call me Tenryu."
"Hai, Tenryu-san."
Tenryu smiled and led his new student away. He had seen the latent fire in her eyes. She had killed, recently. And while she was remorseful, he could not deny the chance to take on a student with the potential to be the best swords woman in Japan. Her beauty was also an added bonus. He would train her well and make her his and his alone.
She was broken and ready to be changed into something more, something she was destined to become. The blood filled crystal on the hilt of her sword glowed red for the briefest of seconds as Tenryu led Kaoru away. It would be a long time before she would ever be seen or heard from again.