Rurouni Kenshin Fan Fiction ❯ Heaven In Your Arms ❯ One Small Moment ( Chapter 11 )

ANN: Flashbacks are ((( text )))

Chapter 11 – One Small Moment

Kenshin stood leaning by the window in the Lounge, and while Aoshi sat opening the Sake bottles, Kenshin found himself watching Sano opening cupboards and draws in his kitchen trying to find where Kenshin kept his Sake glasses. He thought he should perhaps go over and show him, but it was cute watching him looking for them.

“You’ve got that look again.”

Kenshin glanced to his right to see Megumi smiling sweetly at him, having caught him staring at Sano. She had seen that look before, a gentle expression, the same look she used to catch on him when he was going out with Soujirou all those years ago.

Kenshin smiled at her, before looking back at Sano.

“So?” she said.

Kenshin turned to her again, “…So?”

Megumi smiled, “This has started a lot quicker than with Soujirou, it took you a long to time to trust him, don’t you think this is going a little fast?”

Kenshin smiled again, looking back at Sano, “Perhaps…” He said idly, “But it’s nice.”

Soujirou had been the first person to ‘like’ him, well, perhaps that wasn’t true. There had been plenty of girls when growing up in high school who had asked him out, but back then, he was still recovering. Memories were too sharp, he didn’t feel like he deserved their attention, and had unwittingly become the heartbreaker of the class.

Soon girls stopped asking him, they become friends, but knew there was no point in trying for anything else.

It had been around that time when Soujirou had transferred in from another school, his parents moving from Hiroshima to Toyko. Soujirou had taken an instant liking to Kenshin, the only male in the class not to pick on him for being so short. They become quick friends, but Kenshin still didn’t trust him too much. The only people he ever trusted were his brother and sister, they had been the only ones to prove their trust for him. But with Soujirou’s constant smile and cheerful attitude, Kenshin found himself smiling more and more with him. They’d go round each other’s houses for study sessions, meet outside school heading to the arcades, copy each others notes in class if one of them wasn’t paying attention, and eventually, Kenshin admitted to himself that yes, he’d found a best friend.

But as another year went by, and their 16th birthday’s were coming up, suddenly out of the blue Soujirou had asked him a very strange question…

((( “Hey Kenshin?”

“Mm?” Kenshin replied, as they sat on metal railing in the local park over looking the city. They were waiting for Soujirou’s mum to come by and pick them up after seeing a movie straight after school, and this was their usual pick up place.

“If someone said they loved you, I mean, other than family, what do you think you’d say?”

Kenshin peered over at him, his legs swinging as he sat on the bar. “I don’t know.” He said, wondering where this had come from, “What would you say?”

Soujirou stared up at the starlit sky, “Depends who it was.” He replied, “I think if it had been one of the girls that follow you around all the time, if that was me, and they said they loved me, I would have refused them too. They’re all so fake.” Kenshin frowned a little, this was a very odd conversation, “But if it was…” Soujirou paused, glancing at Kenshin before looking back up at the sky, “If it was you who said you loved me, I think I’d probably say I loved you back-………Kenshin?” Soujirou blinked when he realised Kenshin wasn’t sitting next to him, and looked behind him to see he’d fallen backwards off the bar.

Soujirou laughed and jumped down, “Are you okay?” he said, reaching out with his hand to help him up.

Kenshin however just stared at him, his black school uniform splattered with mud from the earlier rains, and very confused expression on his face. “What…what do you mean you’d say you love me?”

Soujirou blinked at him, “If you said you loved me, I’d say I love you back too.” He smiled.

“But…” Kenshin began, an agitated look at Soujirou, “…but, we’re…”

“It doesn’t matter that we’re both boys,” he said, deciding what the hey and sitting down next to Kenshin in the mud too, “It’s nice to hear someone say they love you, don’t you think?”

Sitting next to each other, when Kenshin turned to look at him, he found their faces barely inches apart. A sudden blush appeared on Soujirou’s cheeks, a nervousness seemed to descend upon them, “Have you ever kissed anyone Kenshin?” Kenshin wondered how to answer that, wondering how Soujirou would react, but quietly shook his head anyway, “Can I…can I kiss you then?”

Kenshin’s eyes went wide for a moment, an unsure feeling washing through him, but a slight curiosity as well. He nodded his head slowly, and let Soujirou be the one to close the distance between them. This would be his first kiss, his very first kiss, with his best friend at that, a boy, just like him. Kenshin closed his eyes as he felt their lips touch, an unfamiliar tingling sensation washing through him. The kiss only lasted for a few seconds, but as Soujirou pulled gently away, he asked, “What would you say if it was me who said I love you?”

Pain.Terror. Torture. Screams. Blood. Hate.

Guilt.

Kenshin smiled cutely, “I’d say I love you too.”)))

“I love him Megumi.” Kenshin said, “I don’t know everything about him, but then, he doesn’t know everything about me. It doesn’t matter, because it’s nice to be loved, it’s always nice to hear someone loves you.” He suppressed a giggle when Sano stood up too fast and banged his head on an open cupboard, a distant swear word floating out the kitchen, “It may have started faster than with Souji, that it has…” Kenshin turned and looked at Megumi straight in the eyes, a kindly smile on his lips, “…but I don’t intend for it to end as quickly as it did with him either.”

Megumi found her smile turning into a sad smile, the memory of that night one she’d rather not remember. In this very apartment 7 years ago, that very kitchen where Sano was now wondering around getting rather frustrated, was that same kitchen she had held Kenshin so tightly as he cried onto her shoulder. Despite the depression Kenshin had gone through, she wished he had told Soujirou about his past earlier, before they had become so serious, before they bought this flat together, and of all days…

…not to have told him on the night Soujirou had asked if Kenshin would marry him.

“Don’t look so sad.” Kenshin laughed at the look on Megumi’s face, but Megumi couldn’t seem to bring that smile back.

“Ah! Found them!” came a voice from the kitchen, as Sano walked out with a small wooden box, the Sake glasses inside.

“I could have got them you know.” Kenshin smiled, “You didn’t have to offer.”

“Yeah well, if I’m staying here I’m gonna have to find where everything is anyway.” He said, putting them on the table.

Megumi and Aoshi both turned to stare at Kenshin. Kenshin stared back, before he realised why they were staring at him so unbelievingly, “Oh, yes you didn’t know that did you?” Both siblings shook their heads, eyes still wide, “Would you believe me when I say his apartment burnt down in the middle of the night?” Again, two shaking heads.

“Oh well.”

Three hours, and many a bottle of Sake later, the occupants of Kenshin’s apartment had almost become entirely different people. Megumi sat on the edge of the sofa, determined to regal everyone in embarrassing tales of things that happened to Kenshin when he was younger, and occasionally slipping off the sofa very undignified and crawling back up again.

Aoshi, who had taken nearly an hour of convincing to have any Sake in the first place, lay curled up next to Megumi fast asleep. It seemed drinking didn’t affect Aoshi in the ‘getting drunk’ stage, but just skipped straight from drinking, to immense tiredness. Kenshin sat in Sano’s lap in the one armchair, Sano seemingly deliriously happy, either forgetting or not caring that his company were teachers from his college, and kept on, strangely enough, trying to plait Kenshin’s hair, and with the lack of eye co-ordination at this moment, not doing a very good job of it.

Kenshin was in the middle of giggling fit, for no apparent reason, and only being interrupted by a series of hic cups every now and then which just brought forward another round of giggling.

“Of course, (hic cup), you can stay here.” Kenshin was attempting to say.

“Oh good!” Megumi smiled, swaying slightly, “I don’t think either of us could possibly drive back now.” She said, poking Aoshi in the shoulder receiving no response.

“As long as you don’t mind sleeping in heeere…” Kenshin slurred as he slid of Sano’s lap, giggling to himself as he tried to steady himself standing up, getting his balance, and err, ‘walking’, over to his bedroom to find some extra blankets.

“And you,” Megumi said, pointing at Sano, who blinked in surprise at the mention of his name, “You had better start behaving yourself at college, now you live here I can have Ken check up on you!” she said very motherly like.

Sano stared at her for a minute, before asking out of the blue “How old are you?”, completely unaware of the lack of respect that went with that question.

“31.” Was her reply, completely unaware that she wouldn’t normally answer that question.

“So you were…” Sano stopped for a minute to try and do the maths in his clouded mind, “16 when your family adopted Kenshin?”

“Yes, but we found him first.”

Sano frowned, “Found him?”

“Mmm,” she said, as Aoshi stirred in his sleep, “We found him on our doorstep after coming home one evening, nothing but him and a sword, the very one in his office at college actually.” She smiled, taking another sip of Sake.

Sano frowned again, but followed her example and gulped down another mouthful of Sake, his mind drifting with this new information, but none of it really sinking in for the moment. A thought wondering how Kenshin got there in the first place floated across his mind, but with the free Sake that was being given to him at the moment, his brain couldn’t handle anything else.

With Megumi and Aoshi camped out in the Lounge, Aoshi still passed out on the sofa, Sano was trying to act sober enough to be able to lock Kenshin’s bedroom door.

He found himself grinning, because now the guests were out of the way, he had Kenshin all to himself, and as an added bonus, they were both drunk, and drunk, meant fiery passion…although as he turned around in hopes of pouncing on his love, ready to let loose this unbridled passion, he found his fiery redhead…not so fiery, lying half passed out on the bed.

He stared at him for a moment, one hand still on the door handle steadying himself while standing up, Sano smiled softly. Kenshin was so cute. When people get drunk you’d usually get to see their nasty side, but with Kenshin, it just made him even more adorable. With his loveable little drunken giggles, gorgeous smile, heck even his hic cups were cute.

--We found him on our doorstep after coming home one evening, nothing but him and a sword--

Sano frowned, what Megumi had unwittingly told him coming to the surface. What happened to him? Found him? But he was 11 years old right? Where had he been until then? And a sword? That was weird. But still…there was one thing that was bothering him even more…

Stumbling over and falling onto the bed, Sano crawled up behind Kenshin under the covers and held his back to his chest, one arm draped over Kenshin’s chest keeping him close. Snuggling up to him, the fiery heat he had a moment ago gently subsiding at the peaceful yet tired look on Kenshin’s face, Sano yawned.

“Hey Kenshin?” he said softly.

“Mm?” came the barely audible response.

“Who’s this Saito guy?”

Kenshin slowly opened his eyes, seeing nothing but darkness and the red digits on his digital clock. “What?” he frowned, not sure if he’d heard that correctly.

Sano yawned again, finding now that he’d laid down, a tiredness was quickly sweeping over him, “It’s just while you were in the kitchen when those detectives were round, Okina asked me if I knew Saito Hajime. Why’d they ask me that?”

Kenshin blinked, suddenly feeling very much awake. “Saito…?” Soujirou had mentioned him too…but why would Saito…?

“Yeah, I met him in college,” Sano continued, “Man he’s a grouch, telling me to stay away from you, what’s his problem anyway?”

Kenshin was suddenly very sober, eyes wide in the darkness, heart beat quickening. Saito had spoken to Sano? About him? But then…

“….what did he tell you?” Kenshin whispered, “…..Sano?”

“Mm?” Sano said, already half asleep.

“What did he tell you?” Kenshin repeated, more concern in his voice.

“Oh, that he’d hurt me if I stayed with you…” he trailed off, his mind finally giving up on the conscious world, and happy to be lulled to sleep by Kenshin’s warmth, holding such a wonderful person so close.

Kenshin however suddenly felt as though he hadn’t drunk a single drop of that Sake. He’d been made sober and wide awake at the simple mention of Saito. How did he know Sano had been seeing him? How! But…but even so, why would he care? He never blinked once when he went out with Soujirou, why would he suddenly want to stop him being with Sano?

That fire… Kenshin suddenly thought, heart racing at what he was about to say to himself, That fire had to have been him…he was trying to get rid of Sano…

For the first time in his life, he prayed that he’d run into Saito tomorrow at college, because if he did, Saito was going to have a lot of explaining to do, and as Kenshin’s eyes narrowed at the thought, glaring into nothingness with an image of Saito in his mind, Saito may find regretting trying to kill someone he loved.

Waking up with that bigger hangover on a college day wasn’t funny. Waking up to find you needed to wash and dry your previous day’s clothes in about 10 minutes because you had no others yet made that day even worse. To find of course you had even more work to do over the weekend now because you’d missed a day of college made that day just, not even funny anymore.

“Sano?”

“Oh for crying out loud,” Sano mumbled to himself, trying to get some work done during lunch as he wanted to spend as much time with Kenshin over the weekend rather than sitting do coursework, “What!” he demanded at Karou, in a foul mood at everyone’s constant question’s over how come he and Kenshin were off on the same day, to which of course, he denied everything. Teacher and student relationships were never shined on, so the two of them had agreed to keep things quiet at college.

“Umm…” she said, looking rather strangely at him, “What is that on your neck?” she pointed.

Sano blinked, “My neck?”

Placing his pen on the table and putting his hand at the side of his neck, he felt a small bump there. Feeling it for a moment wondering what on earth he could have done, his eyes suddenly went wide when he realised what it was……just as a shocked Karou did too.

“Is that a love bite!” she said horrified, coming to the conclusion that with him and Kenshin being off together that love bite could only have come from one person.

“Errr…man, I totally forgot about that.” Sano said, rather nervous looking at Karou who suddenly glowered at him, her fists clenched, “Umm, look, Kenshin and I, don’t-“

“DID MY KENSHIN DO THAT! NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!” she screamed, bursting into tears, most of the lunch hall turning to face them, other nearer girls who’d been half listening to the conversation turning to see this love bite, then they too bursting into tears.

“Oh boy…” Sano sighed, giving up before he’d even started on an explanation, knowing full well he was in for a lot of jealous girls coming his way for information/gossip/general torture.

Kenshin hurried from the small teachers meeting during the first part of lunch back to his office. He walked quicker through the halls, a darker look on his face, heading to his office where he hoped that Saito would be waiting for him. If he was going to show up any when during the day, it would be during lunch, and this would the one time he’d really want to see him.

Coming up to the door, Kenshin opened it to see the very person he’d been hoping to see.

Saito sat in Kenshin’s chair behind his desk, polishing the sheath of the sword he’d taken down from above the window. He glanced up when Kenshin walked in, and continued polishing for a moment.

“You look angry.” he commented, as he picked up the sheathed sword and stood up.

“Did you start that fire?” Kenshin demanded, closing and locking the door.

“Fire? What fire?” Saito asked, eyes smirking.

Something in Kenshin’s own eyes seemed to snap for a moment, and in lightening fast speed, Saito suddenly found the tip of an un-sheathed sword pointing at his neck, the sheath he was holding feeling light now empty.

“Did you, or did you not, start that fire.” Kenshin growled, his eyes piercing into Saito’s.

Saito kept his head back a little at the closeness of the metal tip at his throat, and smirked, “Yes…I started the fire.”

Almost unconsciously Kenshin’s arm moved the sword an inch closer to Saito’s neck, a burning anger inside as the tip touched his skin.

“Why?” he demanded.

Saito watched him for a moment, in a stance he hadn’t seen in a long long time. The way he held the sword, the stillness and perfect balance of the blade, and those eyes…eyes that had never accompanied such a young child, and eyes that hadn’t been seen since. To the untrained eye, nothing had changed about Kenshin, but there was one thing that made Saito want laugh.

“What are you doing?” he asked, not a falter in Kenshin’s eyes, “Why are you threatening me with this? You know very well you wouldn’t do it…you wouldn’t kill me, you can’t anymore, remember?”

The sword lowered a small fraction as a conflict began in Kenshin’s eyes. He wanted to be angry, he wanted to hurt Saito so much for trying to kill Sano, he wanted to…to….

“You’re no threat anymore,” Saito continued, as Kenshin struggled within himself to come to some sort of a conclusion about what he should do, “Years ago if you had done this to me, I would have been generally afraid, but now…you’re just like this sword.” Saito raised one hand, wrapping it around the sword, squeezing gently letting blood seep from his hand, but it shouldn’t have been from where it came from. “You’re just like this reverse blade sword that I gave you…” he smirked as Kenshin’s eyes seemed to soften, a more worried expression as the sword slipped from his hand, letting Saito take its weight and take it from him, placing it back into its sheath.

Putting in back on his desk and walking up to him, Saito took Kenshin’s chin in his hand and stared down at him, “…pathetic.” He said, letting go sharply and unlocking the door, walking out leaving Kenshin alone.

As the door swung shut, Kenshin stood there staring at the sword on his desk with wide eyes, eyes that couldn’t believe the thought that had ran through his mind. For a brief second, he would have done the one thing that he had sworn never, never to let himself do again. For a split second, he would have returned to that time, a time that he had spent so long running away from.

For one small moment, Kenshin had wanted to kill him.

To Be Continued…