Rurouni Kenshin Fan Fiction ❯ One Man ❯ The Aftermath ( Chapter 5 )

Disclaimer: I do not own Rurouni Kenshin or any of its characters.

Sanosuke's POV

Kenshin, Yahiko, and I all knelt around the table waiting to hear from Megumi after she was done with Kaoru. I had never seen Kenshin so upset. Of course that was relative. The guy was practically a rock.

So how did I know he was upset? Well first of all, Kenshin had not said two words since I had got to the dojo with Yahiko and Megumi. Yahiko had told me the entire story about their encounter with one of the anarchists on the road. And although Yahiko added a lot of comments about how fast, brave, and generally invincible Kenshin was, Kenshin had never blushed or tried to correct Yahiko.

In fact I was pretty sure that Kenshin had not heard anything said since Megumi had kicked us all out of Kaoru's room.

But really what told me that he was dangerously upset was the fact that he had not put his sword on the rack. Although he took his sword with him every where, when he was in the dojo, Kenshin put it away with the other wooden swords. But now, I saw him occasionally lay his hand on the hilt as if to reassure himself that it was still there.

"Hey, brat," I said to Yahiko. He looked up to glare at me. I grinned and said, "Why don't you go get us something to drink."

"Listen stupid," he yelled at me from across the table. "You know we don't keep sake in the dojo so if you're so thirsty go the Akabeko!"

I groaned and rolled my eyes. "I meant some tea or something!"

Yahiko looked at me in surprise. Kenshin actually looked up from his clasped hands to look, too. "Oh for crying out loud!" I said throwing my arms in the air. "I drink tea…sometimes. What?" I asked Kenshin as he regarded me strangely.

Kenshin stood up and head for the door.

"Wait! Where are you going," I said jumping up.

He raised an eyebrow at me. "To boil water."

"Oh," I said rubbing the back of my head in embarrassment. "Why don't I just go with you then."

Kenshin pulled open the door and stepped outside. We started over to the well. "Tell me everything you know about this group." I immediately did not like his tone of voice. He was not acting like his normal overly polite self. That had almost sounded like a command.

I only hesitated a moment before saying, "They are hiring every fighter and assassin in Tokyo. They probably want to kill off as many political leaders as possible in a short amount of time."

"Were you approached?" Kenshin was not facing me as he pulled a bucket of water up. He put it up on the side of the well and turned to look at me. I noticed with relief that his eyes were still lilac and not the cold amber that his voice may have suggested.

"Yeah." A lot of people still thought of me as Zanza the fighter for hire.

Kenshin began to walk back to the dojo. "What did you say?"

"What do you mean?" I said surprised. "I said no of course!" He actually looked disappointed! I couldn't believe this!

"Relax, Sano." This time some of his normal calm penetrated his voice. "We merely have to find where this nest of rats is located. I had hoped they had not approached you so you could simply go along with them when they did."

We stepped into the kitchen and Kenshin filled the teapot with water and began heating it. "Are you ok?" I asked suddenly.

"Oro?" he said with obvious surprise.

"Well, um…" I stammered. Suddenly I felt very uncomfortable. "It's just that in there," I indicated the dining room, "I could have sworn you were fuming. But now, you just seem so…calm."

"Sano," he sighed and suddenly he seemed exhausted. He dropped his head slightly and his red hair obscured his eyes. "I am fine, that I am. I was angry about this, but I am in control of my emotions."

I watched him for a moment. "I'm angry, too." It was a pathetic attempt to comfort, but it was the best I could do. He gave me a small smile and I think he understood that.

The door slid open and Megumi stepped into the kitchen.

"Well?" I asked.

"Really, she's fine. She has a small nip under her chin, but mostly she is just a bit shaken up." Megumi glanced over at Kenshin. "She wants to talk to you."

Kenshin nodded and stepped out of the kitchen.

Kenshin's POV

I tapped lightly on the door to Miss Kaoru's room. I was more nervous about going in there than I had been about anything in a long time. I wondered if I could take her anger and disappointment in me. I would have to.

"Come in," came Miss Kaoru's soft voice.

I slid the door open and stepped inside. Miss Kaoru was seated cross-legged on her futon. Although I could not see her face because of the poor light, I felt certain what emotions I would see there. I knelt and leaned my head on the floor.

"Miss Kaoru, I am truly sorry that I abandoned you here after I caused you to be in danger. If you ask me to leave, I will."

I did not look up as I heard her stand. Suddenly I felt something hit me hard over the head. I looked up and saw Miss Kaoru standing over me with an angry look on her face and her wooden sword in her hand. I had expected anger, but I have to admit that physical violence was unforeseen.

"Kenshin," she said with surprising tenderness for someone who had just tried to give me a concussion. She knelt in front of me and pushed my shoulders up right. "Kenshin," she repeated. "I am not angry with you for not being around and I am certainly not going to ask you to leave. Further more, in case you haven't noticed, I did just fine taking care of myself while you were gone."

"But…" I tried to protest.

"You need to stop trying to be responsible for everything and everyone around you," she said. "I am fine."

"You killed some one because of me," I said unable to meet her eyes. I felt her loss of innocence in that matter very keenly.

"No," she said firmly. I looked at her in confusion. "That man killed himself and used me as his weapon. And yes, that is upsetting, but I did not kill him." Then she practically yelled at me, "But if I had it would have nothing to do with you!" She stood up.

I hesitated and also stood. "What I really want to know is exactly what is going on? And don't tell me nothing is. Two men have died in the past three days around this dojo. " I marveled once again at this amazing woman's strength.

So I told her everything I knew and everything that had happened. She sat silently in thought for a moment after I finished. "Are you going to tell the police?"

"That hadn't occurred to me," I said truthfully. The police had been by to collect the man's body but it was pretty evident that he had attack Kaoru. And I not even thought of telling them the rest.

She rolled her eyes at me. "Why do you insist on handling everything yourself? Let someone else handle this problem for once."

It was not completely unreasonable, I thought. The two men we had seen so far were not beyond the police's skills. Sure they had both caused quite a bit of trouble, but that was mostly due to the inopportune times and places.

"Very well," I said slowly. "I will try this your way, that I will." It would be strange to let someone else protect my friends and me, too.

A/N: Ok, I promise I'm going to get back to Kenshin's slaying it's just other things are overshadowing that at the present. Wow, can you believe how fast I've been updating? I wouldn't expect that to last long.

Note to : I was really elated to see another review from you since you gave me my very first review. I'm glad you've read the rest. THANK YOU!!!