Rurouni Kenshin Fan Fiction ❯ How the Past Can Change ❯ Setting Matters Straight ( Chapter 17 )

How the Past can Change

A K&K Rurouni Kenshin Romance FanFiction

by: bunny ;D

Disclaimer: Rurouni Kenshin is the creation of Nobuhiro Watsuki, with the manga and anime rights belonging to Jump Comics and Sony Entertainment, respectively. I do not own and did not create the series or its characters...I'm just a fan, and I have no money anyways, so NO SUING ME!! :D

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AN: This story is altering the original story of Rurouni Kenshin / Samurai X. If you don't like that idea, or can't handle it…I would advise you not to read this fic. If you are a hard core Tomoe and Kenshin forever kind of person, I would advise you to not read this fic. Don't get me wrong, I like Tomoe, this is just a different story ok?

Ja ne,

Bunny ;D

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"I came here, to get her, I'm lost without her, she's my only happiness." Battousai explained, hoping that his future self would give in.

"Aa." Kenshin agreed. "But Kaoru is all those things to me as well. You have your own Kaoru waiting for you in the past, you should go to her. But as for my Kaoru, she is staying here with me, where she belongs."

Battousai growled. "No! She's just a baby still! I can't do that. I want MY Kaoru back and I want her now, don't make me fight you for her." He challenged, backing away and pushing Kaoru over to the side, he dropped into a Battou Jutsu stance, ready to attack his future self.

Kenshin frowned. He didn't expect his younger half to be so unreasonable, however, he was not yet a rurouni, and he did not suffer the loss of Tomoe, so he was in some ways a different person than himself. "I have no desire to fight myself. The last thing I want to do is knock myself out, even if you are a little different than me, we are still the same person. You must realize that this is insanity." Kenshin tried to reason with his younger half again.

"Shut up, rurouni!" Battousai yelled and began to draw his katana to attack.

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Chapter Seventeen

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With his trademark god-like speed, Kenshin successfully blocked the attack thrown by his younger self. Keeping on the defensive, he continued to block each attack and reason with him at the same time.

"Stop this! This is completely ridiculous!!" he yelled while blocking yet another attack.

"I don't want to hear what you have to say about it. I need her way more than you do OK?" Battousai yelled back while attacking his future self yet again.

"You don't know Kaoru like you think you do! Do you really believe that she would go back with you if she even could if you killed me in order to accomplish that?" Kenshin tried yet again to reason with him.

"Kenshin's right Kenshin!!" Kaoru yelled. 'O_o;; what was THAT baka! How are they supposed to know what you mean when you yell out crap like that?' Kaoru berated herself. "I mean…My Kenshin is right Young Hitokiri Battousai!!" Kaoru tried again. '-_-;; That was even worse you moron!! Now Kenshin isn't going to think you love him anymore! WHY does this have to be such a delicate situation!! I'm NO GOOD AT THIS!!' Kaoru screamed in her head as the younger Kenshin ceased his attacks and turned to look at Kaoru, heartbroken. The older Kenshin returned his sakabatou into his sheath and looked at Kaoru, with a look almost as heartbroken as his younger self.

'Kaoru-koishii did not say what I think she just said did she?' Kenshin asked himself. He looked at her with great puzzlement. 'I thought she might have loved the real me there for a minute…' he thought sadly.

Battousai looked shattered. 'Kaoru…she - she doesn't really love me does she? She only loves me after I've changed, in the future…all that time…she didn't even care about me did she? She just wanted to come back…back to him.' He glanced at his future self with intense hatred. 'Why? Why does it have to be like this? Couldn't she have loved me at least just a little?' he asked himself.

'Oh Kenshin!! You look like someone just killed your favorite dog! I HAVE TO FIX THIS!!' Kaoru thought to herself. She ran to the younger Kenshin and put her arms around him. "I'm sorry Kenshin!! I didn't mean it, I take it back!! You know I love you right?" she pleaded with him.

Battousai growled and removed her arms from his neck and pushed her away. "LIAR!!" he yelled to her. "You are a liar Kaoru!! You never loved me!! You always wanted to go back to the future to be with your precious rurouni!! I thought maybe you had loved me too, but I was wrong!!"

Kaoru's eyes spilled with silent tears. "How - How could you say that?" she asked him in barely more than a whisper. "HOW COULD YOU SAY THAT TO ME!!" she yelled at him before turning and running away.

"Now you've really done it, Himura-san." Came a voice from the porch.

Both Kenshin's turned to see Tomoe standing there with a disgusted look on her face.

"Tomoe" they said in unison.

Tomoe crossed her arms over her chest and glared at the two of them. "Well…" she paused and lifted an eyebrow at them wondering if either would chose to do the right thing without her telling them. Neither responded, they just stared at her, hoping maybe she had the answers. "Are you going to run after her and tell her you're sorry or what?" she asked them both.

'Should I?' Kenshin asked himself. 'Should I run after her? She doesn't really want to hear it from me…does she? She wants to hear it from the other me…the one she loves…her lover…she doesn't know…she doesn't know that I remember…I could tell her…but then…do I really want to go talk to her anyways?' Kenshin was torn. Part of him wanted to run after her, and yet, another part of him was just as hurt as his younger self. He felt the same emotions as his younger self did, heartbreak, betrayal, guilt, and most of all, a deep loss and yearning. True, Kaoru might love him, the him he was now…but he didn't know if he could live with it if Kaoru didn't love the other half of him as well. He turned to look at his younger self, wondering what to do.

Battousai turned to Kenshin. "Well, now what?" he asked his older self, hoping that perhaps he had the answers he was seeking. 'Did Kaoru love him just as much as the rurouni he becomes in the future? Was she mad at him, or did he truly hurt her feelings? Would she ever speak to him again?'

Kenshin saw the questions swimming in the violet eyes of his younger self and didn't know what to say, so he shrugged. "I…I don't know…Kaoru-koishii…" he began and then trailed off, not finishing his thought aloud. Battousai knew what he was thinking anyways. After all, they ARE the same person.

Tomoe had had enough. She ran down the steps into the courtyard where the two had been fighting and grabbed both of them by their ponytails and swung them in the direction Kaoru had ran off to. "Listen you jerk!! You're going to fix this!! You got that?! It's YOUR fault that Kaoru-chan is upset!! She LOVES YOU!!" she yelled.

Both of them stopped and turned to her.

"No she doesn't!!" Battousai said at the same time that Kesnhin said "Do you really think so Tomoe-dono?"

Tomoe threw her hands in the air in frustration. NEVER had she lost her temper like this before. SHE was a lady, a very distinguished lady, graceful, mannerly, non-violent, all these things. But, they had made Kaoru-chan upset. She loved Kaoru-chan!! She was like a sister to her, and she just couldn't bare it that they could hurt her like that. She completely lost her cool and blew up at them.

"YOU!!" she yelled pointing at Battousai. "How can you say that?!?!!! You know she loves you!! Don't you remember how much she cared for you when we were all at the inn in Kyoto? She was so sweet to you, she tried to protect you and everything!! She attacked me for trying to slice your face!! Don't you remember? She would die for you that girl would!!"

Battousai's expression darkened even more. His eyes took on an amber hue. He was mad…he was mad at himself for saying those things, he was mad at Karou for not choosing between them, and most of all he was mad at this infernal woman who had to be right about all this.

"AND YOU!!" Tomoe turned her attention to Battousai's older self and began to reprimand him as well. "YOU!! You've lived with the woman for 2 years, YOU led her on for most of them…EVEN LEFT HER ONCE!!! You profess to love and protect her, and yet how quickly you question her love for you!!"

"ORO!!" Kenshin exclaimed and fell over.

Battousai looked to the ground at his older self and mumbled something like "how could Kaoru ever have fallen in love with a baka like you."

"I heard that." Kenshin growled at his younger self while picking himself up off the ground. Once up, he directed his attention to Tomoe. "Tomoe-dono…how did you know all that stuff about me and Kaoru?" he questioned her.

Tomoe blushed. "Well, actually…when Kaoru-chan was in the past…with my younger self, and him" she said gesturing to Battousai. "She told me of some of the things that had happened to you two. I didn't know that she was from the future at the time…but…then when I came out here, and I heard the 3 of you talking…and I saw for myself you and your younger self, I put two and two together, and I knew that all those stories Kaoru had told me had been about you." She said pointing to the older Kenshin.

Battousai glanced from Kenshin to Tomoe and back again. Then he scowled. "HEY!" he said jabbing Kenshin in the side.

Kenshin looked at his younger self with amber slitted eyes. "WHAT! And why did you poke me!" he yelled.

"You've only known Kaoru for 2 years right?" he asked, his own eyes narrowing.

"Yeah…so?" Kenshin replied.

"…so…" he looked at Tomoe once again and then back at his older self. "So…what Kaoru was saying…at the inn…about…" he paused "about you" he pointed to Kenshin "and her" he pointed at Tomoe "getting-"

Kenshin cut off his younger self, grabbing him by his gi collar and yelled in his face. "DON'T YOU EVEN!! I LOVE KAROU!! And KAORU ONLY!!" Then he released his younger self and stalked off in the direction that Kaoru had gone running off in.

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~ Meanwhile ~

Kaoru was running through the woods towards the river. She couldn't see very well because of the tears streaming down her face, but she didn't really care anymore. 'WHY!?' she screamed in her head. 'Why did he have to come to the future? How did he get here? Why did I have to say that to him? Now even Kenshin thinks that I don't really love him!! OF COUSE HE THINKS THAT BAKA!! He is him and him is he!! They ARE the same!!' Kaoru reached the clearing by the riverside, that held so many memories for her. Being captured with Jine, the time Kenshin left her, his eventual proposal…all those memories came flooding back to her and she collapsed right there, on the log, sobbing her eyes out to the sound of the rushing river.

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Kenshin headed to where he knew his koishii would end up. She would end up by the riverbank, in the clearing with the log. That's where all the important things in their life together happened to them. He wasn't sure what he was going to say to her when he got there, but he knew that he had to make an effort to fix this. Tomoe was right, of course, she always had had a knack of knowing what was best. Besides, regardless of what Kaoru had said…he loved her…he couldn't live without her by his side. She was his meaning to life. Yes, Kenshin was determined to fix things and have his happy ending with Kaoru, no matter what obstacles he had to face…even if that meant his own self.

As he approached the clearing, he noticed Kaoru sobbing on the log, her body lying sideways on it, and her arms, covering her face, which was facing the log. He took a deep sigh, feeling her pain, as if it was his own, and then continued.

Upon feeling his approaching ki, Kaoru sat up and looked back to see which Kenshin it was. "Oh Kenshin!!" she exclaimed when she saw that it was her sweet rurouni. She stood up and threw herself into his arms, and continued to sob on his chest. "It's so horrible!! What I said to him…I shouldn't have said that." Kaoru said into Kenshin's gi.

Kenshin just held her tight. "Shhhh…it's ok koishii…I know that you didn't mean it." he soothed.

Kaoru looked up at Kenshin. "Really?" she asked him.

Kenshin nodded.

Kaoru smiled up at him through her tears. "Well, at least one of you understands what I meant." She paused. "I love you both you know? Because you are both the same…even though there are small differences, you are both my Kenshin!" Kaoru sighed.

"I know Kaoru." Kenshin said. "We are even more the same than you think." He continued.

"What do you mean?" Kaoru asked him.

"Kaoru…when you said what you said…it was the same thing as saying it to me…I was just as crushed at your words. I've even gained those memories of the past with you, and-"

Kenshin was cut off by Kaoru's fingers being placed over his lips. "Shh." She whispered, quieting him. Then she reached up on her toes and planted a kiss on his lips. Only too happy to comply, Kenshin wrapped his arms around her thin waist and pulled her closer to him, deepening the kiss. After pulling slightly apart Kenshin murmered to her. "Oh Kaoru…I've missed you so much. Even though I have the memories of the past 9 months…it's not quite the same as actually holding you in my arms…it's felt like an eternity." He nuzzled his face in her neck. "I love you koishii." He whispered.

"Oh Kenshin…I know…I missed you so much. I just never let myself think about it. I would get to depressed and sad. I was with you, but at the same time I wasn't with you. It was so hard." She confided.

"Mmm." Kenshin agreed. "I know…there was a sadness in you underneath all that happiness. That is probably why my younger self is so upset, and unsure of how you are feeling."

Kaoru frowned. "I just don't understand how the two of you can be jealous of each other…I mean really!" she exclaimed.

Kenshin threw back his head and laughed at Kaoru's tone of voice. "Kaoru, my dear, it is something you will never be able to understand, I'm sure." He answered for her.

Kaoru sighed in exasperation. "I suppose anata no baka…I suppose." She playfully glared at him.

Kenshin reached over and pinched her nose. "Don't play like your mad, I'd be willing to bet a part of you loves all the attention."

"MOU!! KENSHIN!!" Kaoru exclaimed stomping her foot.

Kenshin just continued to laugh at her. "Comon koishii, we need to get back to the dojo. I'm sure Tomoe-dono, and the other me, are worried about you." He said, his laughter subsiding.

"Yeah…you're right." Kaoru agreed and stepped out of his arms to head back to the dojo.

Kenshin put an arm over her shoulders and looked at her sideways. "Have I told you how cute you are lately koishii?"

Kaoru grinned. "No…why?" she asked happily.

"Because you are simply adorable." Kenshin finished and leaned over to kiss her on the cheek.

Despite herself, Kaoru blushed. It was weird, but he was acting strangely like his younger self…not that Kaoru minded. Just as they walked onto the pathway that headed out of the clearing and back to the dojo, a shadowed figure stepped in their path.

"I see how it is Kaoru." He said.

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Okies!! That's it for now…it seems to me that this turned into quite a long chapter! O_o

Anyhow!! Thank you bunches to everyone who has been reviewing my story!! I'm sorry if it's a little confusing with the 2 Kenshins (past and present) but I tried really hard to make it as unconfusing as possible. Honest!! ^_^;;

Well, until next time, c ya!!

Please remember to leave me a comment!!

Bunny ;D