Rurouni Kenshin Fan Fiction ❯ Memories Forgotten ❯ Awakening Confusion ( Chapter 2 )

A/N: Okay people, just so that we are clear on a couple of things:

1) I don't mind having flames(but don't burn me too badly)

2) There will not be anymore Ruro/Batt thought conversations……. GOMEN to all you who said they liked/loved them…. It just wouldn't work now…

3) This is the Battousai here(he doesn't have his amber eyes now) you'll see why in the later chapters. So R&R peoples.

GOMEN NASAI for not updating in two months! School happened! *gives a pointed look to Mr. Jewitt (English Teacher) even though I haven't had homework in English since the essays* Well, you've waited and waited, and you aren't going to wait anymore! Read, enjoy, and leave a review!

By the way: I don't own, no sue please!

'blah' = thoughts
"blah" speach

~~~><><>***<><><~~~ denotes change in places(scene) or in perspective

~~~><><>Flashback<><><~~ ~ and ~~~><><>End Flashback<><><~~~ pretty
self-explanatory


Awakening Confusion

"Good morning Ken-san, Yahiko," Megumi greeted him the next morning at the clinic. She noticed that his eyes were still an icy blue. 'I'd better lay off with the jokes', she thought. 'Well, at least until Kaoru-chan wakes up'. "Kaoru-chan hasn't woken up yet, but you can go and wait if you wish. Shall I bring you some tea?"

"Good morning to you too, Megumi-dono. Aa, bring the tea to Kaoru's room." Kenshin replied, deciding to ditch the honorific on Kaoru's name once and for all.

"All right Ken-san." Then, turning to Yahiko, she asked, "Yahiko, why don't you come with me for now?"

"Sure thing, Megumi." Yahiko replied.

As they reached the small kitchen that was normally used for making medicinal tea, medicine and preparing meals,(A/N duh, what else did you expect? ^_~) Yahiko stopped and turned to Megumi.

"Hey, Megumi, Kaoru is going to be alright, right?" Yahiko asked, child-like concern making him say her name instead of the teasing 'busu'. "Kenshin only told Sano and I that Kaoru was hit by a dart and probably won't remember much, and then he left saying to Sano to look after the dojo."

"Yes, Yahiko, in time I'm sure that Kaoru-chan will be just fine." Megumi replied, looking down at the young boy.

~~~><><>***<><><~~~

Ke nshin started to walk towards the room where Kaoru was sleeping. 'I'm not too sure about asking him to get that information, but I did cause quite a stir last night,' he thought, chuckling at the memory.

~~~><><>Beginning of Flashback<><><~~~

Kenshin walked into the police station. His eyes narrowed even further as he searched for someone. Not finding the person that he was looking for, he stretched out his senses until he felt a familiar ki. He strode off in that direction. He had gotten no more that a few paces when an officer spotted him. The officer walked over to Kenshin, looking him up and down, and that is how he spotted Kenshin's sword.

"Carrying swords is illegal, you know. I'll have to arrest you on terms of carrying a sword in public." The officer stated, looking quite smug.

"I'm here to see Fugita-san. I'm well aware of that rule, but," he unsheathed his sword a little, "it is just a sakabatou, that it is."

"I don't care if it is 'just a sakabatou', I'll have you know that-"

"Look, if it would make you happy, show me to Fugita-san so that I may speak with him, and then you may arrest me." Kenshin said, starting to get pissed off that someone was standing in his way, even if they had a good reason to.

"Resisting arrest will be another charge added if you don't come quietly now." The officer stubbornly stated, gesturing for backup.

"Look, I really don't need any more trouble right now, that I don't, please move, and once I'm done talking with Fugita-san I'll come quietly."

"No, you'll come now, or-"

'These officers never listen', Kenshin thought, and he then used his god-like speed to get around them.

"Hold it!" they shouted and started to run after Kenshin, who had reappeared quite mysteriously (A/N: their thoughts, we all know otherwise) behind them.

By that time, Kenshin was running towards the ki that was Saitou's, and stopped just outside the door. He knocked on it and turned to face the officers that had just caught up with him.

The door was opened quite suddenly, just as the officers were skidding to a halt in front of Kenshin.

"F-Fugita-san," one of the officers stuttered.

"What is it, Namero-san?"

"This person is currently carrying a sword and is resisting arrest." He said, gesturing towards Kenshin with a sweep of his hand.

"Him? You want to arrest Battousai?" Saitou said, a bored expression on his face.

"Battousai?" the officers whispered around themselves.

"Leave him be. He isn't going to hurt anybody, especially with his little vow of non-killing," Saitou told them, "You are all dismissed. Never come to me with something you morons should have been able to figure out yourselves."

He then turned around, and Kenshin followed him into his office. The officers scattered.

As soon as the two men felt the last of the officers move away from the office, Saitou turned to Kenshin.

"What could possibly bring you here looking like that, Battousai, other than that Kamiya girl." Saitou said, a statement, not a question.

"Saitou, have you ever heard of a memory loss drug?" Kenshin asked, not bothering to beat around the bush.

"Hmm, a memory loss drug? I remember hearing something along those lines about three years back."

"Can you find the names of any of the people Takeda Kanryu did personal business with?"

"Do you realize just what you are asking of me, Battousai?" Saitou asked.

"Yes, Saitou, indeed I do," responded Kenshin.

"Well, I should have the information to you sometime tomorrow afternoon," Saitou said, sitting in his desk. He then started sifting through the papers that were neatly stacked on a corner of his desk. "You owe me, remember that, Battousai," Saitou said, "Now go."

Kenshin left without a backwards glance.

'Damn, Tokio is going to be pissed.' Thought Saitou as he started reading.

Kenshin left the police building without further incident.

~~~><><>End Flashback<><><~~~

Kenshin was jerked out of his musings by a blood-curdling shriek. 'Kaoru!' was his only thought before he raced off in the direction of her room.

~~~><><>***<><><~~~

K aoru woke up to sunlight that was muted by the rice paper doors and somebody leaning against them.

'Who is he?' she thought groggily, 'Wait, why is he..!?'

"AHHHHH!!!" Kaoru let out a blood-curdling shriek.

"Hey, Jou-chan, are-umph," Sano couldn't get the rest of his question out because of a well aimed pillow.

He fell backwards onto the floor, his torso hitting with a thud, and then each of his feet following.

The shouji door was slammed open. Kaoru turned her head and caught sight of Kenshin. Her mouth slightly opened, forming an o shape, and her eyes were wide with shock. They were locked onto his. She was completely stunned by his eyes, which were an icy blue with vivid amber swirling amongst it. Kaoru snapped her mouth shut, and her eyes lost the shocked look that they
once held.

"Who are you two?" she asked, tilting her head to the side, a quizzical look crossing her face. "You," she said, turning to Kenshin, "look slightly
familiar. Demo, I cannot remember anything else."

"Jeez, Jou-chan, you really don't remember us, do you?" questioned Sano.

Kaoru shook her head, and was about to speak when she caught site of two more people coming into the room with tea. She looked over at the two who just entered. The woman was tall and graceful with long black hair and brown colored eyes. The boy had spiky black hair with dark brown eyes.

"Well, Kaoru-chan, I see that you are finally awake. How much do you remember?" Megumi questioned.

She shrugged, as if waking up with absolutely no memory of her past what-so-ever was perfectly normal, and answered, "Nothing much, but I suppose I know my name now."

"Oh my," Megumi replied, her eyes widening. 'I suppose the drug is very strong,' thought Megumi.

"He looks familiar, but I'm not really sure why." Kaoru said, looking over to Kenshin with a confused expression fluttering across her features.

Kenshin felt a small stab of pain at the words that she had said again. 'Megumi-dono said that it would be like this,' he reminded himself.

"Well," Megumi said, "I suppose I'll have to bring some more cups. I had been planning on having tea just with my Ken-san though. Ohohohoho!" Megumi laughed as her fox ears popped out. "Yahiko, please go and get Tae-san, and explain that we need her here at the clinic for a while."

"Sure Megumi-san." Yahiko replied before running off.

"Wait up there, Yahiko-chan, I'm coming with you," Sano said, standing up and thinking that maybe he could get a free meal while he was at it.

"DON'T CALL ME CHAN, TORI-ATAMA!!!" Yahiko yelled over his shoulder as he raced off.

"Oi! Who are you calling tori-atama?!" Sano yelled back at him while cracking his knuckles and running after him.

"I'm calling YOU tori-atama Sanosuke!" came the faint cry of Yahiko.

'What?! Her Ken-san? Well, I guess they are a couple,' Kaoru thought, her temper flaring, but then she saddened, her emotions running across her face like kanji.

Kenshin mentally chuckled. 'So, even though she doesn't remember who she is, she still has the same emotional reactions. Especially to Megumi-dono's teasing. Very interesting,' he thought, the corners of his mouth slightly
quirking upwards, before falling back down.

Kaoru turned just in time to see the corners of Kenshin's mouth slightly curving upwards. 'So I guess that it really is true,' she thought, her head tilting downwards again.

Kenshin felt her ki drop drastically again. The corners of his mouth twitched as he thought, 'What's wrong now, I wonder.'

"Kaoru, daijoubu?" he asked her, his eyes softening as he looked at her with concern.

"No need to worry Kenshin, she just found out about 'us' and 'our relationship'! Ohohohoho!" came Megumi's witty reply, dropping her nickname for Kenshin, her trademark laugh ringing harshly in Kaoru's ears.

"Hai," came Kaoru's muffled reply, her head dipping even lower.

Kenshin half glared at Megumi. 'No more teasing,' was the unspoken message which Megumi undoubtedly received. Kenshin walked over to Kaoru, and sat cross-legged in front of her. He then tilted her chin up so that she was looking into his eyes. Kaoru immediately looked down, thinking that he was about to confirm what Megumi had spoken of. Even if she didn't remember anything about her past, she had this feeling that Kenshin was someone VERY important to her.

"Kaoru," Kenshin softly called to her.

"Nan desu ka?" she questioned, keeping her eyes on the futon in front of her. Her voice had such a sorrowful undertone that Kenshin couldn't miss it.

Thinking quickly, he turned to Megumi, "Megumi-dono, please go and reheat the tea. Also, could you bring some extra cups as well? Sano and Yahiko should be about halfway to Tae-dono's, which should give you enough time to do that." He worded it like a question, but it was clearly a statement that was expected to be followed.

"Of course Ken-san," Megumi replied, still miffed that she couldn't tease Kaoru anymore. 'I still have patients to check on as well,' Megumi mentally sighed as she thought of the half dozen still waiting for her.

Megumi slid out of the room, walking down the hall.
As soon as the sound of Megumi's footsteps faded, Kenshin walked over to where Sanosuke had unceremoniously dropped the pillow before he left with Yahiko. He was aware of Kaoru's curious gaze as he was walking over to pick it up.

'Why?' she thought, something finally snapping into place, 'Why would he address Megumi with an honorific and not with me? I mean, they are a couple, aren't they?' Kaoru looked out of the corner of her eyes at Kenshin,
who was walking over to the pillow that she threw at the man named Sanosuke. 'He moves like a predator, his steps measured, slow, and calculating,' she thought, then quickly directed her gaze to the floor when Kenshin turned towards her with the pillow in his grasp.

"Kaoru," he said, sitting cross-legged again, just in front of her. "What is wrong?"

"Nothing," she lied, closing her eyes to stop the moisture that was gathering in them.

"Was it Megumi-dono?" he questioned, a smirk making its way onto his face.

She glanced up, saw his smirk, and quickly ducked her head again. "Hai." she said, her voice muffled again.

He chuckled, "She was only teasing Kaoru, she does it all the time."

Kaoru's eyes widened and flew up to look at him, "She was teasing, and she does it all the time?" she sputtered, thinking herself a complete idiot for not having recognized the teasing lilt in Megumi's voice.

Kenshin chuckled again, but stopped, noticing Kaoru sigh. 'She still must be tired,' he thought.

Just then, Megumi came back into the room.

"Well, Ken-san, Kaoru-chan. Tae-san is here. Why don't you straighten up the room, and I'll bring the tea."

Kenshin nodded as he got up, and Kaoru also nodded, suppressing a yawn.

Kenshin picked Kaoru up, and whispered into her ear, "You should probably get dressed into the kimono that you were wearing yesterday, Kaoru."

Kaoru shivered as the whispered words created a tingle down her spine. She blushed and nodded while she thought, 'Why do I act this way around him? Wait, get dressed? Here? With him in the room?!'

"Kenshin no hentai!" she exclaimed, trying not to yell too loudly.

"What?" he responded, and then it dawned on him, "I didn't mean that, Kaoru. Even though I want to," he growled into her ear.

Kaoru blushed again, and shoved Kenshin towards the shouji. Unfortunately, Kenshin was still holding onto her, and he pulled her down onto the floor, making sure that she was on top of him.

"Kenshin," she said as she blushed.

Kenshin smirked, "What Kaoru? You were the one that pushed."

"Baka," 'I don't care what we were before, he is not going to take advantage of me!' "Go out of here so that I can change," she said to him, a slight scowl on her face while flicking her fingers towards him. She got off of
him, all the while making sure that he couldn't wrap his hands around her waist, which was almost impossible.

Chuckling, Kenshin stood up, and brushed his hakama off. When he got to the shouji, he turned around and looked at Kaoru, "I'll be waiting just outside, call me when you are done."

Kaoru tossed a careless wave over her shoulder. "Fine Kenshin," she replied.

TBC…

A/N: Well, now I know that some of you will hit(or worse) me for leaving it there….. but I wasn't going to put the explanation for Kaoru's poisoning and a piece of her past(that Tae explains) in this chapter. By the way: Saitou should be appearing in the next chapter.. or the one after. ^^ By the way, thank you to these people who have reviewed so far:

Animelove DON'T HURT ME!!! *insane laughter, then stops* What WERE you going to do anyways?

haruko_haraharu I know, I haven't updated in a LONG time…….

ToHeLlWiThThEeNiCkS sorry, she really doesn't remember Kenshin…..

tsukix33 [non mediaminer] thank you!

Vashtya thanks SO much! ^^

Maylar [non mediaminer] thanks!

Sehira jo aww why not? Only joking Sephira-san……. Thank you for your reveiws!

AND A HUGE THANKS TO MY BETA reader Cait!!!!!! *huggles* ^^

I know where I want to go in this fic….. unfortunately my personal muse seems to like running off on me to go vacationing in Japan *growls* Lucky muse! Anyhow I WILL be able to write more over the holidays, and I will try to get out at least two chapters! … I hope…. -_-0

KEEP ON REVIEWING PEOPLE!!! Your reviews are what gets my muse to come back from vacation!!!!

Really off topic here: has anyone ever heard of the game Wild Arms 3 for the PS2??? I love the songs on it!!! WAI!!

Glossary(seeing as I didn't put it in last time)

There Mr. Jewitt, now you will have some sort of clue what they are saying!

Yarou: bastard (in some cases it is a rude word for you, but not this one)

Wai: exclamation of happiness

-dono: roughly translates to `Miss' but it was reserved mostly for royalty, so I'm not using the English version because it doesn't come close to what it really means.

-san: the honorific for Mr. or Mrs.

Busu: ugly or hag. Yahiko's nickname for Kaoru

Tanuki: a racoon

Rurouni: wanderer

Battousai: roughly means manslayer. Battou comes from the rapid drawing of Kenshin's sword from its sheath, and I have no clue what sai means.

Oro! Kenshin's explanation of surprise.

Daijoubu? Are you alright?

Kunai: Misao's weapon. A small knife, almost like a dart.

Arigato: Thank you

-sensei: the address for a doctor or someone who is well educated.

-chan: little

Ken-san: Megumi's nickname for Kenshin, and it roughly translates to `Sir Ken'

Hai: polite form of `yes'

Aa: masculine for of `yes'

Soka: I see