Rurouni Kenshin Fan Fiction ❯ Eyes on Me ❯ Visiting ( Chapter 1 )

Rurouni Kenshin

Eyes on Me

Chapter 1 ~ Visiting

By: C-Chan

Disclaimer: I don't own anything. Do you think they'd trust someone like me with an anime series?

Warnings: Slight bit of sap/Waff, more OOCness for Kenshin, and….I think that's it.

Notes: Wow! I want to thank everyone who reviewed! I didn't think I'd get such a good response! It gives me a warm and fuzzy feeling to know that people like this so far. And to answer the couple of questions that asked "If Kenshin's crazy, why did he fight the orderlies?" hopefully I can answer that for you within the next couple of chapters. Wheee!

……

Absently looking into the windows of the other rooms, Kaoru stopped in front of a particular one, recognizing the patient. That was the man from earlier.

Inside was the same man from earlier who was trying to fight for his freedom, strapped down by his ankles and wrists. He was staring at the ceiling, but feeling eyes watching him he turned his head towards the door.

The locked eyes-Sapphire and Amethyst-and Kaoru watched as Kenshin mouthed one, solitary phrase. "I'm not crazy."

…….

Kaoru sighed as she leaned her forehead against the window of Misao's borrowed car, exhausted. Despite knowing her brother was fine, she still worried about him, making it hard to get a full night's sleep. But that wasn't the only thing that kept her from sleeping. Sadness and pain reflected in those amethyst orbs, making Kaoru's heart twist in sympathy. It didn't occur to her that the man was supposedly crazy and had to be strapped to the hospital bed to prevent escape. No, the thought of him being remotely insane never crossed her mind.

"Kaoru?" A voice said, breaking her thoughts.

Kaoru looked over to the driver, smiling slightly at the worried look on Misao's face. Misao was her best friend, someone she knew she could always go to with her problems. That fact changed drastically when her brother Aoshi finally found the guts to ask Misao out after a year of emotional cat and mouse games; after that, Misao practically became the sister she never had. "I'm alright. I guess all the worrying I did yesterday hasn't left my system yet." Kaoru replied in a slightly joking tone, earning a small giggle from her friend.

"I couldn't sleep at all after you told me!" Misao began to explain, pausing to turn down Main Street. The hospital was about a mile away. "I stayed up all night talking to him on the phone and then worrying about him after the nurse came in and yelled at him."

The thought of a nurse yelling at her brother for talking on the phone too late made Kaoru giggle. What Misao actually meant to say was 'She spent all night talking to Aoshi on the phone while he made little sounds in the form of grunts and hums' stating that he was still listening.' Her brother rarely even talked to her parents, let alone his girlfriend.

They pulled into the parking lot of the hospital and walked in through the ER doors, immediately dodging the bum standing there asking for handouts. After getting their visitor IDs from the Nurse's Station/Front Desk, they both headed down the hallway towards Aoshi's room. Kaoru spared a glance into to the room Kenshin was staying in, not surprised to find the red-head the same way she had found him last night; hands and feet strapped to the bed, his eyes turned towards the ceiling. Another pang of sympathy hit her heart.

"Aoshi!" Misao exclaimed, running into the room and glomping her boyfriend. A small, nearly unrecognizable smile reached his face as he wrapped his arms around her in a hug. "Hello Misao."
"Hey Crash." Kaoru said with a devilish grin, sitting down in the chair next to the bed. She earned another one of her brother's glares, but shrugged it off. It wasn't the first and sure as hell wasn't the last. "When can you go home, Aoshi?"

"The doctor said as soon as someone arrives to pick me up. I take it you two are here for that reason?" Her brother replied softly.

"Yep!" Misao chirped, throwing her arms around Aoshi's neck and cuddling up against him.

"I just have to get dressed." Aoshi continued, blushing a bit.

Kaoru stood up and stretched a bit, then smiled down at her brother. "I'm going to go for a walk…I'll let Misao help you get dressed, okay?" She said with a hint of amusement in her voice.

"Okay Kaoru!" Misao responded with a wink; She knew Kaoru was just giving them some 'alone time', and owed her best friend the next time a favor came up.

Kaoru headed out of the room-making sure the door closed behind her-and started back down the hallway. Despite being in a part of town Kaoru rarely visited, the hospital wasn't that bad. It was simple, kind of like the ones she saw on morning soap operas and those late night drams everyone was addicted to, but had its own, safe feeling. Well…when mental patients and bums weren't running around wild.

Kaoru found herself coming to a stop in front of Kenshin's room again. Last night ran through her head, seeing him claim silently that he wasn't crazy…but why was he here if they thought he was crazy? Kaoru suddenly wanted to find out.

The fight between Kenshin and the orderlies replayed in her mind also, causing her to rethink what she wanted to do. So, she found herself standing in front of the door, watching the red-head stare at the ceiling. He doesn't look crazy. Just lonely…

As she was about to open the door and step in, a heavy hand fell on her shoulder, causing her to shriek and spin around. She met the amused eyes of Sanosuke, the orderly from last night. "Whoa, calm down missy. I didn't mean to scare ya." He said, grinning.

Kaoru nodded, placing a hand over her racing heart. "Sorry for screaming." She said with a smile.

"No problem. If ya ain't visiting a patient, you gotta wait in the waiting area." Sanosuke said softly, moving closer towards her. "But if you ain't gonna do that, just try not to get caught, okay?"

Kaoru blinked. She knew the hospital policy, Sanosuke knew the policy. Yet he was going to let her wander around? "Actually…"

"You were gonna visit Kenshin?" He finished for her, grinning. How did he know?

"Um…" Kaoru immediately tried to think of a lie.

"Don't worry about it." Sanosuke chuckled, grabbing Kaoru by the arm gently and guiding her into Kenshin's room. "Hey Kenshin! You've got a visitor!" He announced.

The red-head rolled his towards them slowly, blinking to focus his vision. Seeing Sano he scowled lightly, probably still angry at the orderly for halting his escape. But when his eyes fell upon the girl with him, his heart started beating fast. It was the same girl from last night….

"Uhm, hello." Kaoru said nervously, moving closer to Sanosuke.

Kenshin continued to stare at her, shock and confusion written all over his face. Sanosuke chuckled to himself before turning to Kaoru. "He doesn't talk to anyone. Good luck on getting any responses from him." He said before heading out of the room. "I'll check on ya later Kenshin!"

Kaoru found herself standing in the center of the room, eyes locked with Kenshin's. Taking a deep breath, she pulled a chair over beside the bed and sat down, smiling a bit. "I'm Kaoru…how are you?"

Kenshin frowned slightly and moved his gaze to the ceiling, refusing to answer her. Kaoru pursed her lips, then tried something else. "You're name's Kenshin, right?"

She smiled wider when the red-head nodded slightly. He almost reminded her of Aoshi and his refusal to speak…if you could call it that. "You looked so lonely in here…I thought maybe you'd like some company for a little while."

"I'm dangerous."

Kaoru blinked. Though his voice was soft and she barely heard him, she was surprised that he even spoke. As she started to think of a response, Kenshin continued: "You saw what happened last night. You shouldn't be in here."

"Well, you don't look very dangerous now." Kaoru countered. "And you told me last night you weren't crazy, so what do I have to worry about?"
Kenshin rolled his head to look at her. This girl…despite last night, she was still willing to come near him? Was she the crazy one? Kenshin shrugged lightly. He didn't have a reply to that statement.

There was a long moment of a silence between the two, Kaoru trying to figure out what to say without offending Kenshin and the red-head trying to figure out what to say to a girl he didn't know. Taking a deep breath, Kaoru leaned back in her chair. "So how old are you?" A simple, non-offensive question.

"25." Kenshin replied softly.

"Really? You look a lot younger than that." Kaoru said with a giggle. She was right; Kenshin barely looked 18, let alone 25.

Kenshin smiled slightly. "I get that a lot." Kaoru giggled again, leaning over to touch his hair. "And your hair is the most unusual shade of red, too. Whose side did you get that from?"

"My father." Kenshin replied softly, his smile widening. She wasn't afraid of him at all if she was willing to get that close.

The door suddenly opened, drawing both people to the newest visitor-Dr. Takani. She raised a suspicious eyebrow at Kaoru, walking over to the foot of the bed. "Kenshin, I didn't know you had a visitor."

"I'm sorry! I was just waiting for my brother to get dressed and-"Kaoru started, but Megumi cut her off. "Don't worry about it. It's rare he gets visitors, and even rarer that we get to see a smile on his face." She said, smiling herself.

Kenshin frowned at her, turning to look at Kaoru again. Please, don't leave. "You're brother and his friend are waiting for you by the Nurse's Station." Megumi continued.

"Oh." Kaoru frowned herself, standing up. She looked down at Kenshin and saw the sadness in his eyes again. Smiling slightly, she reached over to pat his hand. "I'll come visit you again, alright?"

Kenshin nodded, refusing to smile…but Kaoru could see the happiness take over in his amethyst depths. She head towards the door and waved before closing the door behind her.

Kenshin tuned out Megumi as she went through the basic check-up. He watched the raven-haired girl disappear down the hallway. I hope you do, Kaoru.

^_^

"Kaoru, where we you?" Misao asked when her friend was within hearing range.

"Sorry…I was just walking around." She lied; how could she tell her brother and friend that she was visiting a mental patient? Even if he wasn't mental….

Misao shrugged and started to wheel Aoshi out of the ER doors. "We were thinking of going back to my place for lunch. Wanna come?"

"Sure, as long as Crash isn't driving." She giggled, bringing the Aoshi-death glare-tally to two. With all the teasing she was planning on throwing at her brother, that was only the start.

"Kaoru, you're so mean!" Misao said, giggling.

Kaoru looked down the hallway one more time before following her best friend and brother out into the parking lot. She was hoping the next time she visited, she would make Kenshin smile again.

Notes: A little longer than the first chapter, with a little more interaction between Kenshin and Kaoru. I will go into detail as to why Kenshin is in the hospital as a mental patient in the next few chapters. I doubt I answered some of your questions, but I hope I did a little.

Kenshin: You always torture me. ;.;

Me: No I don't! It just a story anyway, Kenshin…

Kenshin: But you made me crazy!

Me: So? Technically you're a little crazy to begin with…you know, with the whole Battousai thing. In this time and all, that'd be considered a split personality.

Kenshin: *blinks* Whatever.

Well, I'm off to take a shower (I'm so yucky!) and head down to work. I'll try to work on the next chapter tonight! Enjoy!

Review Thank Yous:

Joey - Don't worry, he isn't as crazy as I made him out to be. ^^

Gypsy-chan - I'm glad you like it! I hope it continues to remain exciting for you!

Bat the Wood Elf - Nah…there are a lot more original and better fanfictions than mine…but thanks for the compliment!

Prudence-chan - Maybe…we'll just have to wait and see!

Mink - I tried to make it longer, I swear I did!

Val - Did this answer you're curiosity? *grins*

Naomi - I'm so happy you're reviewing this one too! And you love my fics? *Sniffles* I just got a WAFF feeling! ^^

Omochi - There's reasonings why he did what he did…but I can't say yet! It'd ruin the story!

Nemo - Hehe…I always love when authors make Kaoru and Aoshi siblings, so I just had to do it! As for that little statement at the end…it does sound like a crazy person would say it….*blinks*

Chiruken - Lol, I'll definitely update if it makes you happy! Thanks for adding it your favorite list!

Review, onegai! Just press the button!