Rurouni Kenshin Fan Fiction ❯ Midnight's Embrace ❯ Part 1 of 2 ( Chapter 1 )

Midnight's Embrace- by RaysALight

Oo0oOo0oOo0oOo0oOo0oOo0oOo0oOo0oOo0oOo0oOo0oOo0oOo0oOo0oOo0oO o0oOo0oOo0o

Summary: Kenshin and Kaoru grow closer one night after he finds her in tears. True happiness is found when the love you feel for someone is reflected in their eyes.

Disclaimer: Rurouni Kenshin belongs to Nobuhiro Watsuki. This story contains or will contain adult content, please note the rating.

Author's Note: Hello everyone! (Fear not, there's no Japanese in this story.) I thought I should post what I've written so far; maybe everyone can give me feedback on how the conclusion should be. Note: this story contains swords. Yay!

Oo0oOo0oOo0oOo0oOo0oOo0oOo0oOo0oOo0oOo0oOo0oOo0oOo0oOo0oOo0oO o0oOo0oOo0o

Kaoru's eyes burned with unshed tears. But she was beyond crying. Tears didn't make anything better. And her body was acting strangely. The ring of swords connecting and the scraping of a katana being drawn from its sheath made a shiver run down her back and an uncontrollable heat flow through her veins. But most of all, it made her think of him.

 

She did well in their match today. Kaoru was surprised when Kenshin first agreed to spar with her, but their matches soon became the highlight of her days. Of course he went easy on her, and there was no possible way to beat a master of swordsmanship like he was, but she gave herself small victories if she ever managed to catch him off guard.

 

But lately, that hadn't been happening. Whenever she was in the same room with him, her thoughts seemed to slow and her heart beat faster. He was always in her head and he ruled her dreams. Last night, one particular dream left her suddenly awake and gasping for breath, wondering why her body seemed filled with an unfamiliar ache.

 

Kaoru swallowed briskly at the memory, and knelt down on her knees. With a sigh, she picked up the comb and began pulling it through her waist-length hair. The midnight-black strands were long and unruly and often flew in her face and distracted her during matches. Perhaps it would be better if it were cut shorter. Then, if only there was some way to gain back her ever-fleeing concentration.

 

The comb snagged on one particularly difficult tangle and refused to go through. She pulled harder and once again felt tears well up in her eyes. She was so emotional lately, so restless, so tired of the same routine day after day; the same smiles, the same safe gestures, the same kind words from him.

 

They lived in the same house! Everyone thought of them as a couple, but for some reason, neither of them had taken the next step. Kaoru sniffed and went to work on the left side of her hair pulling harder at the knots.

 

Silently from across the room, Kenshin watched his love with narrowed eyes. His body tensed each time she winced when comb caught in her hair. He couldn't stand to do nothing as she hurt herself like that.

 

Although, it occurred to him, it was his fault that she felt so frustrated in the first place. He knew he loved her, and saw how she felt about him every time he looked in her eyes. Why must he keep pushing her away?

 

He wouldn't hurt her any longer.

 

Quietly, he closed the door behind him and moved across the room. Her eyes were tinged with red; she'd been trying not to cry. He hung his head as he knelt behind her. The comb found that same impossible tangle again and she cursed under her breath.

 

“Let me,” he said. His voice startled her slightly and before she could protest, he had uncurled her fingers from around the comb and taken it lightly into his hands.

 

Gently, he began to pull through her dark locks, starting at the top and lazily making his way to the ends. Karou's head bowed a bit in embarrassment at their closeness, but also in response to his soothing motions.

 

As Kenshin felt her relax, he set down the comb and began to work through the strands with his own hands. Every now and then he lightly brushed against the nape of her neck with his fingertips, smiling at the way his love tried to hold still.

 

Minutes later he came across the tangle that had been giving Kaoru so much trouble. With a frown, he decided he needed the comb's tip again. It seemed a few hairs had somehow wound themselves together into a knot. Carefully, he managed to separate them, and pleased at himself for not causing her too much pain, he finally began to speak.

 

“I was impressed by your swordsmanship today.”

 

Kaoru's eyes snapped open, once again facing the reality of the moment. His comforting actions had almost lulled her to sleep. Almost. She felt his fingers slide through her hair; he had discarded the comb again. Perhaps if she could get her mind to think clearly for a moment, she could think of something to say.

 

“It could have been better.” It was true; her concentration flew out the window when he was near.

 

“Better? How?”

 

How, she wondered. If only the furious beats of my heart could slow. If only my mind could think of something other than thoughts of you. If only this ache I feel when I'm around you could disappear.

 

“Maybe my hair has grown too long,” she answered meekly. Her teeth caught her bottom lip nervously.

 

“Hmm.”

 

There was a moment of silence. She wished she knew what he was thinking, but all thoughts were abandoned once he began to massage her scalp with the tips of his fingers. Her mouth formed a small `o' in response. His voice caught her off guard.

 

“Perhaps you'd like me to cut it?”

 

Kaoru's thoughts came in spurts. She did need a haircut. But she thought he liked her hair long. Though it would be less bothersome. Waist-length hair was hard to take proper care of.

 

“Okay,” she said, her voice barely above a whisper.

 

Since she was faced away from him, she didn't see Kenshin glance around, trying to figure out where the nearest pairs of scissors would be, then the softening of his eyes as he looked at her, not wanting interrupt their closeness, and finally the grin on his lips as his gaze fell to the sword that was always at his side.

 

“Do you trust me?”

 

“Always.” The answer was out before she had time to think what it could have possibly meant.

 

It was then she heard the `sheen' of a sword being pulled from its sheath. And her body instantly responded, the ache she'd felt in her limbs and core increasing tenfold.

 

She tried to speak, to ask what he was doing, but the words stilled on her tongue and she held still. The metal of the sword was inching up her back.

 

Kenshin's grin faded as he noticed the little shivers running through his love's body. Was she afraid? After all, he had blood on his hands; in the past he'd killed more times than he would like to remember.

 

But then he tried it again. He gathered her hair and placed over her right shoulder and starting with her lower back, he ran the flat of the sword up her body. Again, she shuddered.

 

He was about to stop and move away when a tiny whimper reached his ears.

 

He tried to hold back a smirk. So, she liked that, did she? He did it again, more slowly, easing the sword up to the pale skin of her neck and heard her sharp intake of breath.

 

“K-Kenshin?”

 

“Shhh, it's okay. Trust me.”

 

It was then he took notice of what she was wearing. She was already clothed in her sleepwear, a light robe with a sash tied around the waist. He was still in his training outfit, cream-colored loose pants and red top.

 

It was hardly appropriate for him to have intruded upon her nightly routine, but maybe it was time for their relationship to move beyond `appropriate.' Now that he thought of it, they'd lived in the same house for about three years now. Perhaps it was his definition of `appropriate' that was flawed.

 

He leaned closer to her, temporarily resting the sword on the floor at his side. His face brushed against the raven tresses pushed over her shoulder and he took a deep breath. She smelled of jasmine. His little flower.

 

“I don't think I want to cut your hair,” he spoke into her ear, his voice silky. “I've always liked it long.” His eyes drifted down what he could see of her frame. “Actually, there's a lot more of you I've always liked.” He felt her shiver as his breath tickled her ear.

 

(To Be Continued)