Rurouni Kenshin Fan Fiction ❯ Don't Let Go ❯ The Beginning of the Storm ( Chapter 3 )

Don't Let Go_by Sephiress

Chapter 3) The Beginning of the Storm

It was far-past closing time and the Aoiya was empty, save one Misao Makamatchi. The battle worn hand clasped a moist rag as it wiped the last low-table in the large resturaunt. Aqua eyes cast a weary glance over the now sparkling dining room. It had been a long day. Her every-day long braid whipped around as she turned to stare out the window.

Rain.

Normally Misao loved the rain. It brought back lovely memories of her and Aoshi-sama playing in the puddles when they were children. And it seemed whenever it rained, the next day would always be brighter, like how you feel after a good cry. But not this rain.

Someone, someone was in pain. She could feel it. It was such an agony that the heavens could do nothing but weep a torrent of tears. Her heart reached out to that person, wherever they were.

"Do you feel it?"

The voice did not startle her. Misao had grown up in a house of ninjas, so sensing the presence behind her was child's play. Besides, the ki she had sensed belonged to the one she cherished more then any. Aoshi.

"Hai."

Misao did not turn around, but she could feel him walking closer to her, even as his footsteps were light as air. She felt the familiar butterflies in her stomach as his body heat grew closer and closer. The swish of his jacket, the brush of his pants. Each individual sound of his movements has been etched into her mind for so long that she always knew when he walked into a room. This man was her obsession, her life, and he now stood next to her, ice blue eyes peering out into the storm.

"What do you suppose is happening?" Misao's voice was calm, yet dripped with wonder. Her eyes looked up at the Okashira when he did not respond.

"Aoshi-sama?"

He sighed. "I don't know Misao."

"Aoshi!"

Okina's voice rattled the wood halls. He sounded angry and messing with an angry Okina was not wise. Misao shrugged. Why was it whenever she had a moment alone with Aoshi, someone had to ruin it.

Aoshi ran his long fingers through his raven hair before turning around and walking out of the room. But not before he spoke again.

"Just be careful."

Misao blinked as she watched his retreating figure. 'Be careful?' She didn't know what he meant by that, but her senses did tell her one thing.

Something big was about to happen.

************************************************

'I don't love you'

'I don't love you'

The rain had remained in full force. Lightning flashed across the sky while thunder blared. The winds had picked up and lashed against everything in its path. The streets were empty, as no one in their right mind would be out in a storm like this. But all of these were unnoticed by Kenshin Himura, as he walked down the roads of Tokyo. The gods could have been screaming his name, and he wouldn't have blinked. The only thing the man could hear was the sound of her words.

'I don't love you'

And how could he focus on anything except her. She was his world. The sun was her eyes, the rain was her tears. Her body was the earth and the wind was her voice. The fact was, without Kaoru Kamiya, there was no point of living for Kenshin.

But she did not love him in return.

'I am a fool, to believe she would love me. I could see it in her eyes. How could she ever love a monster like me. My hands are too stained with the blood of the past. Too many lives lost from the blade of the Battousai.'

He had told himself this everyday. It was the only thing that had kept his emotions for the young kendo instructor in hold. And yet, his love for her grew stronger with each passing breath.

It was not hard to fall in love with Kaoru. Her spirit was a passionate blaze, but her heart was gentle and kind. She held no judgement or superiority over anyone. And it wasn't just inner beauty. Kendo training had molded her body into a curvacous figure, and her face was that of a youthfull goddess.

But she didn't love him.

Under the mass of red silk, the eyes of the wanderer held a pain that he had experianced only once before. The pain of heartbreak. But he would not cry. Hitokiris do not show emotion.

A voice in his head spoke. 'Hitokiris do not fall in love either.'

Kenshin shrugged off the comment. He looked up realizing he had reached the place he had called home for the last two years. It was true, home is where the heart is. And this was where he found his heart. In the wood walls of the dojo, in the determination of a young samurai, in the renewed conscience of a gangster...

And in Kaoru Kamiya.

Kenshin shook his head, droplets of rain flailing from his hair. He needed to clear his head. The sharp pain in his arm reminded him of the wound he gained in battle.

"Sessha should take care of this before it is infected", he said to no one in particular. He turned his back to the welcoming dojo. Ironically, now it seemed so far from reach as he headed to the home of Megumi Takani.

*******************************

Yahiko and Sanosuke watched through the window as the older man stood at the gates of the dojo, and then walked away. The pain in Kenshin's eyes was destructive. But there was a question in both their minds.

"Where is Karou?" Yahiko voiced to the older man.

"I don't know kid, but I have a feeling it has something to do with the expression on Kenshin's face." His tone was serious. Yahiko's eyes widened as his mind took a turn for the worst.

"You-you don't think..."

"We can only hope not, Yahiko." The two were so absorbed in their thoughts that they did not notice the form of a young woman enter the house and until she walked up behind them.

"Kaoru!"

"Jou-chan!"

Kaoru did not even look at either of them. She walked down the hall and slid the shouji of her room open before walking in. Man and boy looked at each other confused before running after her and grabbing the door, only to find it locked.

"BUSU!!!! Open this door and tell us what happened. And what the hell is wrong with Kenshin?" Yahiko was yelling at the top of his lungs.

After a few minutes of screaming and pounding at the paper door, it slid open unexpectedly, and there stood Kaoru. She was wearing a yukata and bath supplies were clutched in the crook of her arm. The nomal cheeriness of her face was gone, replaced by a solemn mask.

Kaoru's face was tilted down, her hair hiding the porcelin skin. "You shouldn't swear Yahiko." It was a mere breath of air, shaped into a whisper. She said no more as she walked to the bathhouse, not even a response to the insult thrown.

But Sanosuke Sagara did not give up that easily, neither did his partner in crime. This was a delicate situation, but the two did not grasp that fact. They followed her all the way to the door of the bathouse, questions flying faster then the legendary speed of the Battousai himself. Kaoru was about to walk through the shoji, but a bandaged hand enclosed around her wrist.

"Jou-chan...Kaoru...onegai." His voice was quiet, so unlike the man they had met on the streets long ago. "Please, we love Kenshin as much as you do, so tell us what happened."

For an eternal moment, the three stood there, listening to the dying pattern of rain as it lessened. Kaoru slowly turned to face Sanosuke and Yahiko, her eyes so full of remorse and grief that the two gasped.

"I..."

****************************************** ***

"Ken-san, speak to me."

Megumi's voice was as low and demanding as ever, but Kenshin would still not respond. Her frustration was building as the skillful hands of the doctor wound bandages around the injured arm. Ever since the man had walked into her clinic, Megumi had not a clue about what had caused the injuries, and more important, what had caused the grave expression on the wanderer's face. It was time for drastic measures.

"OOOWWWWWW!"

Megumi glared down at her patient, his arm now throbbing from the tightness of the bandages. "Are you going to talk now, or do I have to pull harder?"

Kenshin looked up at her with now-watering eyes. His arm would hurt for a while now, but he supposed testing the kitsune's temper would be more painful. Her cinnimon eyes oozed curioustiy, typical Megumi.

"Well?"

Kenshin took a deep breath and tried to figure out how to say this. And the best way to figure this out was the simple truth.

"I told her."

Megumi gasped. Kenshin had finally told the little tanuki that he loved her! For the past few months, her and Sanosuke had been trying to get him to tell Karou. And although the kitsune had really done it to be around Sano, she had never expected the prodding to produce results. Kenshin covered his ears as her gasp turned into a girlish screech.

"Oh this is so wonderful, Ken-san! Soon you two will get married and then there will be little Kenshins and Kaorus running around! And...OOOOOO I'll be an aunt!" Megumi ranted on and on about the future, not noticing the rurouni's saddened state.

"And then-"

"She doesn't love me..." his voice inturrepted the woman's joyful story. She stopped, looking down at Kenshin with shock.

"She said she didn't love me."

Megumi was speechless for once in her life. Kaoru Kamiya not loving Kenshin? No, it couldn't be. She had watched the girl for so long and the longing gazes the tanuki had given the swordsman was nothing short of love. She would not let this stand. Somewhere along the line, someone had made a mistake.

"No." Kenshin looked up from his depressed postion.

"No, NO NO!!!! Kenshin I don't know what heppened between you two, but this is all a horrible mistake!"

His eyes widened. "It is?"

"YES!" Megumi was about to smack the man over his head. "Why do you think she followed you all the way to Kyoto? Why do you think she watches you when she thinks no one is looking? Why do you think she smiles so much when your name is said?! Because she LOVES you Himura!"

"But s-"

"No buts Ken-san. The whole world can see how much you two love each other. I don't know what happened to make her say something like 'no'...but I do know that I have never seen anyone look at another being with so much love."

Megumi sighed with exasperation as a small smile drew across the man's face. She tied the last bandages together in a neat knot and stood. She had other patients to tend to, and more love talk with Kenshin would have to wait for another day.

"Listen Kenshin Himura. You need to speak with her. If you talk to her again, I...I'll never hang all over you again or flirt with you, ever."

Well who could refuse an offer like that? Kenshin nodded eagerly and went back to imagining him and a young Mrs. Himura with navy eyes.

"And Ken-san...one more thing." Kenshin, slightly annoyed with her constant interuptions, gasped when he saw her angry eyes.

"GET OUT OF MY CLINIC!"

Kenshin jumped from his sitting position and dashed out of the doctors office as fast as he could. Dealing with Megumi was a scary thing, that it was.

**********************************************

Kensh in was so absorbed in his thoughts about his previous converstaion that he almost ran into the gates of the dojo. 'Enough of this', he thought. He took a deep cleansing breath and allowed himself to unlock the gates and pass through. Megumi's words had been encouraging and just knowing that he no longer had to worry about the kitsune's leech-like tendencines made a genuine smile appear on his handsome face.

But once again, it seemed like fate just hated to see him smile.

A now happy rurouni was walking through the yard when he sensed three presences coming from the back yard. Eager to meet his family, and more importantly, the woman of his life, he quickened his pace to reach them. But before he round the coner of the house, he heard it. It was faint, but voices could be heard all the way from the bathhouse.

"Jou-chan...Kaoru...onegai." His voice was quiet, so unlike the man they had met on the streets long ago. "Please, we love Kenshin as much as you do, so tell us what happened."

"I...I don't love him."

Time froze.

There were those words again. The simple sentence that cut the red-head everytime it was said. He stood there, desperate to hear more, yet fearing the response more then any enemy he had ever faced. But the only remaining sound was the whisper of the wind.

Kenshin Himura's magnificent head fell in surrender. When had he learned to love? Had it happened when Tomoe had died? Tomoe...his past wife. She had completed the cross shaped scar on his face, but at the same time, left an empty whole in his heart as she died in his arms. And then Kaoru...

She had filled that whole every day with the just smile on her face. Kenshin would have given the world to return the favor...with his love. But...

At his feet, Kenshin saw his own reflection in a dirty puddle of rainwater. The same face he saw everyday looked up at him. Except his eyes. His eyes were the clearest shade of violet anyone had ever witnessed. And it was because the wanderer finally understood pain.

'Drip'

The small noise brought Kenshin out of his mourning. He looked up to see if the rain had begun again, but the sky was clear of clouds, the stars winking down on him. Confused, he blinked, and then realized. Ever so slowly, Kenshin pressed his palm against the side of his cheek, feeling the salt water beneath his fingers.

For the first time in so many years, Kenshin Himura, the great Battousai, the man-slayer of the Japanese Revolution, and the greatest soldier of the Meji Era...he cried.

"Battousai!"

The voice was sharp as ice, and as cold. Kenshin did not even need to turn around to recognize the person behind him.

"Saitoh..."

Hajime Saitoh smiled his predetory smirk. Kenshin's tone said quite clearly that he did not want to talk right now. But that wasn't his problem right now. The "wolf" took a long drag of his cigarette and sighed. He didn't want to do this, but no matter how much he dreaded the thought, he need Himura's help.

"Let's talk..."

End of Chapter 3

************************************************* Another cliffhanger to leave you guys coming back for more. Nice of me huh? And yeah, I know Megumi was OOC in here but it's for the sake of the story. But anyway, review review review! The more you review that faster I write, simple as that.

        much luv
        Sephiress