Rurouni Kenshin Fan Fiction ❯ The Alchemy of Gold and Silver ❯ Reunited ( Chapter 11 )

Chapter 11: Reunited

 

Truth persuades by teaching, but does not teach by persuading.

-Quintus Septimius Tertullianus

 

~Kaoru~

 

“Ugh, that's it. We're stopping for the night,” Kaoru grumbled. Why Sano had to insist on this stupid game was beyond her. The minute the three of them had begun their journey, she could tell it wasn't going to go as smoothly as she had hoped.

 

Oh sure, it had started off genially enough, Sano cracking jokes and being his usual silly self. But when Himura had proven just as taciturn as ever, Kaoru's foster brother had seemingly decided to completely ignore him, save the occasional glare.

 

And then there had been the matter of stopping. It took a good two days to reach Hiko-sensei's house from the Aoiya, and that was assuming fair weather and healthy travelers, neither of which had proven to be the case. It had started raining almost as they left, and the spittle had rapidly become a downpour. Natural for this time of the year, perhaps, but annoying all the same. Add that to the fact that Sano was still injured, and Kaoru had expected them to stop at sundown.

 

Not so, apparently. She had left it to Sano to signal their stop, but from the way he kept shooting looks at the redheaded samurai, the proud fool had gone and turned this into some kind of endurance test, one which the other competitor was not entirely unaware of. It seemed to simply amuse Himura, but a good three hours into the night, Kaoru was covered in mud from the road and in no mood to continue.

 

What is it with men anyway? They compete over the most stupid things! Not for the first time, she wished Misao or Megumi were here, the first because she would be sure to cheer the mood up a little, and the second because she would never have let Sano get this far without resting. To her shame, it had taken Kaoru some time to figure out how much pain he was actually in and demand the stop herself.

 

At her words, though, Himura obligingly halted, allowing Sano to move past him, ostensibly in search of a suitable clearing, but really just for the satisfaction of “winning,” whatever that meant. Sometimes, it was easy to forget Sano was the almost the same age as his “competitor,” especially when it came to matters of pride. So mature about some things, but stick him in a competition, and it's like he's fifteen again. She shot Himura a grateful look behind Sano's back, and the swordsman inclined his head slightly.

 

The three swiftly spotted a grove of trees off the road, and settled themselves therein. The rain had abated an hour or so ago, but finding dry wood for a fire might be a challenge. Still, that could wait. “I'm going to take a bath,” she announced.

 

Sano, who had sunk gratefully to the ground with a sigh that he had likely thought no one heard, protested. “Are you sure that's a good idea, missy?”

 

Kaoru rolled her eyes. “Sano, contrary to popular belief, women don't lose skills or sense when bathing, and I doubt there are any bandits around here anyway. We're close enough to Hiko-sensei's that it's fine,” she replied decisively. “Besides, the river isn't that far.” Grabbing a towel from her pack, she marched off through the tree line, ignoring anything else that might have been said on the subject. Sano and Himura could smell all they wanted; she at least was going to remain clean whenever possible.

 

~Kenshin~

 

Himura didn't listen too closely to the argument. He knew the girl was strong enough to take care of herself. Besides, there weren't any ki signatures in the area save their own. Instead, he busied himself collecting fallen branches in the immediate vicinity; they were somewhat damp, but the canopy overhead had saved them from the worst of the rain. He wasn't entirely comfortable lighting something as visible as a fire while there was likely a manhunt for him, but decided that ultimately, anyone strong enough to be worth bothering with wouldn't need such an obvious signal to find him. Additionally, chances were the river was still pretty cold, and would be until full summer. Kaoru was going to need the heat.

 

When he had started to care for her well-being, he did not know. He could trace his concern for her life generally probably back to when he had first met her; she had puzzled him enough that he had wanted to solve the mystery before allowing her to die. Now, he knew a great deal more about her, but rather than understanding her, he was simply more confused.

 

Nobody he had ever met before looked at him with such an open expression. Or such kindness and concern, for that matter. It was almost laughable, that someone should show regard for a killer like him.

 

Setting the wood in a careful pile, he stacked several of the more flammable-looking pieces into an inverted cone-shape and attempted to set it alight. After a few tries, the small flame was licking its was up the sticks, and he sat back, satisfied. He was met with Sano's unwavering gaze, a scrutiny which he retuned in kind. He had something of a grudging respect for this man, though he thought some of the fistfighter's antics immature at best. They belied the strength he could sense coming from the man, and it wasn't anyone who could take an entire strike squad- minus the hitokiri- and survive.

 

“So Kenshin,” he began, and Himura carefully concealed the irritation he felt at the familiar use of his given name, “what's your plan?”

 

The samurai's eyes narrowed, and he responded tersely. “I assumed Shinomori-san had told you.”

 

Sano crossed his arms, and Himura knew he was in for a fight. “Yeah, he did, but I wanna hear it from you.”

 

Sighing inwardly, the shorter man obliged. While he would rather not have spoken, it wouldn't do well to offend a high-ranking member of an organization whose assistance he required, and he was very conscious that the ground he was treading was quite precarious indeed. The only thing keeping his chances at success alive was Kaoru's seemingly implicit trust in him, and it would not hurt to have another ally. “I intend to complete my training and then stop Shishio.”

 

There was a short nod. “Which is all fine. But what I wanna know is, what's the missy got to do with all this?”

 

It took Himura a minute to remember that this was Sano's pet name for Kaoru. “I don't understand.”

 

His interrogator cocked his head to the side slightly. “I ain't stupid, pal. There's some reason you never bothered to kill her, and there's a reason we're all here now. I wanna know what it is.” Sano's glare was fiercely protective, and it took a minute for the swordsman to understand why.

 

Of course. He thinks of Kaoru as a sibling. Once this piece of information was duly processed, it took even longer for Himura to formulate an answer. It was, after all, a question he'd asked himself many times. Why didn't I kill her?

 

“I don't know,” he replied, honestly but unsatisfactorily.

 

The other man snorted. “Fine. But let's get one thing straight: that girl means a lot of things to a lot of people, and most of those people would be pretty pissed if anything happened to her. And strong enough to do something about it.” The threat was obvious, and though Himura wasn't particularly intimidated by such things, it did cause him to guess that Kaoru must have this odd effect on most people, to have earned the loyalty and trust of the people she had.

 

Rather than say anything, he simply nodded to acknowledge that he had heard, and went about skewering some of their rations on thin sticks, thrusting them into the ground next to the fire to roast.

 

“Mmm, something smells delicious!” Gold met blue, and Kaoru smiled slightly. “Did you do this, Kenshin?” her eyes grew wide as she realized her mistake. “Oh, excuse me, Himura-san!” she cried, bowing slightly.

 

For a moment, he just stared at her. Her hair was loose about her shoulders and fell in damp tendrils down her back. She was clearly cold, but attempted not to shiver, probably in case Sano should say something about it. Her blue gaze was clear and bright, and until a moment ago, the small smile of happiness had seemed to light her entire countenance. For some reason, he found that he wanted her to smile again.

 

“Kenshin is fine,” he said softly, and averted his gaze as the light blush stained her cheeks slightly pink. It was too… something.

 

But he could hear the smile in her voice as she spoke. “All right then. Thank you, Kenshin.” He could not stop himself from looking up again, because there it was, that soft expression that he found he liked.

 

A short time and much praise for his cooking later- he could not understand why simple grilled vegetables were so well-received- the three settled down for the night. Sano volunteered heartily for first watch, since they had unanimously decided that caution never hurt.

 

Kenshin was undisturbed by the hard earth beneath him, but knew that sleep would not come easily tonight. Too much was whirring through his brain. Thoughts of the master he had not seen in five years, of the successor he had never met but would have to fight for the sake of peace- an odd goal for a manslayer, but one he felt he was truly working towards this time. More than any of these things, though, he was plagued by musings on a most confusing person, and his dreams haunted with images of her smile.

 

~Sanosuke~

 

Sano was rudely awakened from his slumber by a sharp foot to his side. Opening his eyes groggily, he observed with the sort of detached unconcern of the recently conscious that Kaoru was standing over him. Her lips were moving, but it took him a moment to process what she was saying.

 

“Aw, missy, why you gotta be so violent? I'm still injured, ya know.” He made a show of clutching at his side as he rolled to his feet.

 

“Oh please Sano, we both know your injury's on the other side,” she replied testily, but he saw with satisfaction that her eyes were twinkling with ill-contained mirth. He was glad he wasn't the only one who was reminded of the first journey they had taken together.

 

Sano was a heavy sleeper, but let it never be said that when he was awake, he wasn't awake. He was ready to go no more than a quick few minutes of packing later, and he suspected Kaoru had left him longer to his sleep knowing that this would be the case. He was almost ready to plaster his trademark grin upon his face when his eyes fell on Kenshin.

 

Now, Sano wasn't the type of guy to hold grudges. Well, except one. He would never forgive the people who had killed Captain Sagara, but he knew that they were all long since dead in the war. Still, the fact that the samurai now with them was from the same organization made Sano disinclined to trust him.

 

This fact, however, was something he could deal with. He could push it aside and let the man's own actions speak to his character, especially since it seemed to be what the missy wanted. No, his real problem with Kenshin wasn't where he'd come from.

 

Sano's eyes narrowed reflexively as he watched the man formerly called Battousai watching Kaoru. There was no mistaking that look. Confusion wrought with indecision, overlaid with no small amount of possessiveness. And there was the rub. Kaoru's older brother-figure may eventually come to like or even trust Kenshin, but there was nothing about this situation that made it any easier.

 

He sighed inwardly. I guess I shouldn't interfere too much. The missy's right, after all. She can make her own choices, and I should be glad he hasn't done anything worse than look at her the wrong way. This his reason told him, but people like Sano were less inclined to listen to logic when the people they cared about were at stake, hence his rather unsubtle threat the night before.

 

So caught was he in these thoughts that he almost didn't notice when, half the day through, a familiar ki signature entered the edge of his range. He looked swiftly over at the other two, neither of whom seemed to have noticed anything. Looks like we'll meet the old man sooner than I thought. Were they really moving that fast? Or had he just lost track of time?

 

Either way, it was going to happen soon, and he thought for the first time about what might actually occur. He couldn't imagine that the old man was particularly happy with his first pupil, and he considered the possibilities, a decidedly sadistic smirk crossing his face, causing Kaoru to look at him oddly.

 

Sano, however, just shook his head and kept walking. This should be interesting.

 

~Hiko~

 

Hiko fixed his best intimidating glare on the prodigal student before him. To his credit, the fool did not look away, though he did shift somewhat uncomfortably under the scrutiny.

 

Choosing to ignore him for the moment, the master of the Hiten Mitsurugi turned to his goddaughter and her friend. “Kaoru-chan, Sano,” he nodded sternly, but took the fire out of his glare. He was not, after all, angry at either of them. Quite the opposite; Kaoru had done what even he had doubted was possible in bringing his baka deshi back to this forest, and Sano seemed to have kept his unspoken promise not to allow harm to come to her.

 

Kaoru was not nearly so reserved. “Hiko-sensei,” she replied lightly, beaming. “It is good to see you again.” To the surprise of everyone, probably herself included, she threw her arms around him in a hug. Hiko stiffened, then relaxed, though he did not move his arms from where they were crossed over his broad chest. It would not do to appear overly sentimental, though he had to admit he may have actually liked it. Nobody hugged Seijuro Hiko the Thirteenth. Bowed before him, certainly, and he was known for allowing the occasional woman to get close, but it wasn't a `hugging' sort of contact.

 

Sano casually waved a hand before moving off a ways. The kid was good enough at reading people to know that this was not his conversation. Hiko cleared his throat pointedly, and Kaoru at last released him, smile not the least bit diminished by his lack of response to her gesture, and he acknowledged that she likely understood that when it came to her, most of his sternness was little but a façade. I really am getting too soft…

 

Not that the other one would ever get to know it. He shot his deshi another glare so that the young man-barely more than a teenager- would know he was far from off the hook. “You're probably tired, so I'll cut you some slack, just this once.” He directed his words at Kaoru, though projected them enough for Sano to hear as well. “We'll get down to business in the morning.” He had intended to beat some sense into Kenshin that very evening, but a different plan was beginning to form in his mind, one whose prospects were far more interesting.

 

~Kenshin~

 

Kenshin had watched with a fair amount of unease as Kaoru veritably bounced before him in her enthusiasm, though she did not fail to hold the door for him to file inside Hiko's house as well. He suppressed a tight-lipped frown as he considered his unwelcome reaction to his former teacher's presence. Even after five years, it seemed that Hiko still could not fail to make him feel like a foolish child.

 

Though what else have I been? Kenshin found that, since his complete break from the Shishi, and even for some time before that, it had been like he was slowly emerging from a dream. More like a nightmare really. The fanatic idealism that he had adopted upon his entrance as a boy of fifteen was falling away, and what that veil of illusion was lifting to reveal was no pretty sight.

 

It was this that he mused on for most of the night, unwilling and unable to join in the light chatter and sharp banter that seemed to ensconce the others. It was almost more than he could do to respond to direct questions. Until now, he had been able to repress the thoughts of what he had done for the most part, but being here again was bringing to the forefront things better left untouched.

 

Am I really so much of a coward than I cannot own up to what I have done? He stared unblinkingly into the depths of the teacup that had somehow appeared in his hands, as though willing the answers to present themselves to him within it. When they were not forthcoming, he stood abruptly and removed himself to a far corner of the room, where he propped himself against the wall and leaned his sword on his shoulder. His actions were followed by the calculating stare of Hiko and the concerned blue one that was Kaoru's, but he tried very hard to ignore both.

 

It was not long afterward that the others made their way to bed as well, Kaoru to the guest room after a brief argument with Sano, Hiko to his own quarters, and Sano to the opposite side of the large central living space. The fistfighter was snoring within minutes, but Kenshin knew that his own rest would be fitful at best.

 

***

 

He was awake before the sun rose the next morning. Of course, to say such a thing would imply that he had slept for any length of time, which wasn't really the case. Still, he knew Hiko would expect him to be at his kata quite soon, and he may as well get a head start, so that by the time his master joined him, the awkwardness resulting from a lack of practice would not be quite so obvious.

 

He stepped outside noiselessly, only to observe that Kaoru was already up and about as well. She had to have taken the side exit, else he would have sensed her go by. She offered him a brief smile before resuming her own kata.

 

Inhaling the scent of the morning, fresh with dew and still smelling of yesterday's rain, he observed her for a moment. She flowed through the movements of a set quite similar to the more advanced Hiten Mitsurugi ones, yet subtly different, with an admirable smoothness. It seemed that she, at least, had not neglected the basics in the year since she was last under Hiko's tutelage. He felt a brief flash of shame before he pushed it aside.

 

“Are you going to join me?” she asked abruptly, a hint of amusement in her tone. He realized that it must have been several minutes since he walked outside, and nodded silently, positioning himself at her side. He drew his blade and settled into the first position, but found that it was no easier to move through the set than it had been at the Aoiya. His movements were precise enough, but…

 

“You're too sharp,” he heard. The voice hesitated, and he opened his eyes to find her looking at him curiously. Under his return stare, a dusting of color rose to her face. “Er… that is, you're doing your kata like you're trying to kill something with every movement.”

 

He raised an eyebrow, inviting her to continue. If she knew something about what he was doing wrong, well… who am I to say I know better? If his train of thought last night was anything to go by, he knew very little at all.

 

“This isn't about actually hitting an opponent,” she continued, now with a bit more confidence. “Slow it down a little, and don't think too much. Just… let yourself feel it. Feel the joy in swordsmanship.” She smiled again, as though this explained everything, and turned back to her own technique. He watched her for the second time this morning, but with the critical eye of a fellow swordsman. There was something there, a steadiness which was nothing like a real battlefield.

 

Still, it was worth a try. He deliberately closed his eyes and matched his breathing to her own, beginning the set again, this time with enforced slowness. It was better, but still not quite right.

 

“When did you lose it?” she inquired softly, and he turned once again to meet a sorrowful gaze.

 

“Lose what?” he asked flatly.

 

“The joy.” She searched his face, for what, he couldn't tell.

 

He shook his head slightly. “I don't know what you mean.”

 

A small frown creased her face, and he found that he distinctly disliked it. He preferred it when she was smiling. Why? Why do you care? You shouldn't care about me because I-

 

“What about the first time you did something right? The first time Hiko-sensei smiled or- or didn't berate you too much? And you knew that he was just being gruff because that's the way he is?” She seemed to realize that she was babbling, and fell into silence, waiting intently for an answer.

 

The thing was, he did remember. He was barely five at the time, but he remembered. He'd just mastered the first series of strikes Hiko had taught him, and was able to replicate them perfectly every time. There had been a glint to his master's eye then, and his younger self had picked up on it immediately in the way children do. He had been happy, stupidly, inexplicably happy at that small show of success, but he couldn't seem to remember the feeling itself, only that he had felt it.

 

Perhaps it was just as well. I can't feel that again, not with what I've done, he thought bitterly, so why should I be reminded of what I'm missing?

 

Kaoru seemed to pick up on something of what he was thinking, for her brow creased, and she opened her mouth to speak again, but not before they were interrupted.

 

“Alright, you two, it's time to see where you're at,” Hiko grumped, sending another glare in Kenshin's direction, and the redhead groaned inwardly. If memory served, Hiko's idea of an evaluation was a painful bout with dull practice katana. Kenshin knew that he had improved in the time since he had left, but he held no illusion that he was stronger than the man standing before him.

 

He made no outward response, but Kaoru took care of that for both of them, bowing respectfully before inquiring, “Which one of us will go first?”

 

“First?” Hiko repeated as though mildly surprised at the idea. “Well, I suppose whichever one of you is faster.” At Kaoru's confused look, he continued. “Go on, then, face each other.”

 

The swordswoman shot Kenshin a look of mild apprehension, but he ignored it in favor of facing Hiko. “No,” he replied flatly.

 

“No?” the master seemed to enjoy repeating things today. “Listen, baka deshi, I know it's been a while since you were here, but there's no way in Hell you've forgotten that if you want to learn from me, you have to obey me first.” Hiko did not raise his voice, but the danger within it was clear.

 

“I'm not going to fight her,” Kenshin replied flatly. He had not forgotten, but this was one argument he would not allow himself to lose. He could and would fight just about anyone that got in his way, but he had long since decided that he would not harm Kaoru. As strange as it was to him, this was the first line he had drawn himself in a long time, and propelling himself as far away from it as possible was his way of changing himself. From her, he had decided not to harm those she cared about, and from there, who could say? But he would not hurt her.

 

Hiko's eyes flashed, and he looked like he was about ready to draw his own sword, but Kaoru stepped in between the two and gently placed a hand over her master's. Looking back at Kenshin, she offered a gentle half-smile. “I'm not so fragile that I will break, Kenshin. It's just practice. We'll use the mercy rule, shall we?” the last was directed at Hiko, referring to the rule by which one combatant could hold up their hand in the sign for surrender, ending the match instantly.

 

“You grow impudent, girl,” their master replied gruffly, but there was no anger in his tone, and she grinned impishly before releasing his hand and pivoting neatly on her heel to face Kenshin.

 

“Shall we?” she asked, giving a brief nod to Sano, who had just appeared in the doorway.

 

Kenshin lifted his shoulders slightly in an approximation of a shrug, trying to appear more nonchalant than he felt. It had been quite some time since he had simply sparred with anyone, and he wasn't entirely confident in his ability to tread that line without succumbing to his Battousai tendencies to deaden his emotions and give in to the impulse to kill.

 

So it was with a certain heaviness in his heart that he fell into a battojutsu stance, one of the earliest ones a student of the Hiten Mitsurugi learned. I'll try and take it easy, maintain control…

 

She lowered herself as well, and the two let their ki wash over the area, blanketing their senses, and narrowing the world until their spectators and the environment around them fell away. He was left with an acute awareness of her presence; the scent of jasmine floated to his nose, and heard the rustle of her gi as the wind shifted it slightly. More than anything, though, his ki sense was gently accosted by the soft strength that seemed to characterize everything about her. Like the rain. The though leapt, once again unbidden, to the forefront of his mind, and he struggled to remember anything else. There was power behind that deceptively calm sensation, and he wondered how it was that she affected the illusion of harmlessness.

 

He was afforded a moment of clarity, and pushed back with his own ki, allowing his mind some breathing room, as it were. Taking the opportunity, he broke the stalemate and sprang forward, unsheathing his blade rapidly, but not at full speed. He was somewhat surprised to see that she met it easily, swiftly disengaging and slashing at his shins. He jumped to avoid it, and used the height advantage to bring his sword down for her head, hoping frantically that she would be able to block.

 

Instead, she simply moved to the side, frowning. Blue eyes locked onto gold ones as she sliced the air diagonally in an attempt to hit his right shoulder. The attack left her open to any number of counters that would have been near impossible to block, none of which he used. Instead, he opted to move to her other side and take aim at her more easily-defensible torso.

 

She spun away effortlessly, and they both halted, neither winded. Sano looked a little confused, but Hiko's face was positively thunderous. Before he could speak, Kaoru interjected. “Why do you refuse to fight?” her voice was not angry as their master's would have been, but he found that the dejectedness in it was worse. “Do you think me that weak?”

 

He found that he could not look at her, and for the first time in years, Kenshin lowered his gaze from an open challenge.

 

“Fine then,” he looked up abruptly at the hardening of her tone, and was somewhat surprised to see that her eyes were flashing that bright silver color he had seen before. “I guess I'll have to make you.”

 

Without warning, she moved to his side and he struggled to block the blow she delivered to his midsection. His hands wavered as he took the impact of a strange, one-handed spinning blow that seemed as though it belonged to a different kind of dance than one of blades. He could not deny its effectiveness, though, and quickly found himself on the defensive as she rapidly struck again and again; legs, elbow, shoulder, neck, chest. All were blocked, but not without effort.

 

She jumped back again, and he had to backpedal to steady himself. The color of her eyes had settled to silver, and she was regarding him with a fierce, stubborn stare, her face flush with exertion. She is… beautiful. The thought was so unlike what he expected of himself that he allowed it to turn over and over in his mind until he was sure of it. And she was certainly attractive, he realized with some trepidation. Her features were fine-boned and refined; her small form trim from constant exercise. But there was more to it than that. Kenshin had met plenty of attractive women before, and had paid them mo more mind than he would a pretty flower in a garden, or a piece of sculpture. It was, he decided, her spirit that made her different, her strength and resolve, the way her gentle ki pressed at his senses until he knew little else. She did not delicately flutter about in a pretty kimono and hair ornaments like most women, but fought for a purpose, with mercurial eyes and unconventional blade.

 

It was then that he finally understood. This was what she was. A fighter, a truer samurai than he had any right to call himself. By refusing to combat her, he was denying her nature, showing her that he believed her inadequate. I have been a fool. He felt her ki brush up against his senses again, and it called to him, bade him remember something he had forgotten. Joy.

 

Decided, he went on the offensive, this time pulling none of his punches, checking none of his blows. She matched him strike-for-strike, and he realized she had improved since the last time he had fought her. Now as then, though, he knew that he had the advantage of strength and experience on the battlefield, but she had the same fierce determination as before, and though he landed more hits, it would be a falsehood to claim that he did not feel the bite of her blade more times than he cared to count.

 

It had been a long time since someone had landed a hit on him, and he found that his blood began to boil at the thought of having a worthy adversary after so many years of killing those weaker than himself. The two of them fell into a rhythm: strike, block, slash, dodge, jump, thrust, parry. Slowly but surely, their breathing grew more and more ragged, and though he had long since lost track of time, it felt like they had been fighting for hours.

 

He was just through blocking the last in a succession of blindingly fast techniques that he did not know when he caught sight of her face. Kaoru was radiant with the smile that spread across it, and the steely glint to her eyes only confirmed the ferocious joy which had overtaken her. Much to his surprise, her golden-eyed opponent found that much the same exhilaration was coursing through his own body, and his lips had twisted into a smirk of their own.

 

Still, they were tiring fast, and a shared glance confirmed that the next pass would be their last. They separated, and Kenshin resheathed his sword for the highest-level battojutsu stance he knew. Kaoru regarded him for a second, but chose not to duplicate the maneuver. Instead, she held her sakabatou before her with slightly-shaking hands. For a moment, both were completely still, and Kenshin watched a small trickle of sweat make its way down the side of her face as he fought to steady his breathing.

 

The moment the droplet hit the ground, he launched himself forward. Fully expecting her to attempt to block his blow, he was surprised when instead she took a step into it, and brought her own blade up in a cross-slash.

 

They both froze at the place where their blades would have made contact, and Kenshin took quick stock of the situation. Though she had stepped into his blow, it seemed the move was incomplete. While she would have been struck only by the base of his sword rather than the deadlier middle or end, she would likely still have been fatally wounded by the blow. He was more shocked, however, to see that had their swords indeed been bladed, he would be missing his right arm. He would have killed this opponent, but at the cost of never being able to kill another, assuming he couldn't teach himself to fight one-handed with his left. A fairly safe assumption, given his style.

 

A low whistle broke the silence, and Kenshin turned to find Sano looking at them both, clearly impressed. “Jeez, missy, I didn't know you had it in ya.”

 

Kaoru laughed lightly, and Kenshin's eyes snapped to her. She was flushed and still shaking, but her smile had softened into her usual one, and her eyes had become blue again. How does she do that? Change from one thing to another so quickly?

 

Hiko was looking at them both steadily. “Kaoru-chan,” he said with an unusual amount of gentleness, “your scrolls are on my table. Baka,” his tone hardened again so fast Kenshin almost thought he had imagined it, “you're coming with me.” He turned swiftly, cape billowing behind him, and though Kenshin was exhausted, he did not protest. He could only hope this meant Hiko had decided to teach him again.

 

***

 

Kiku's Corner:

 

Hey guys, and welcome once again to the endnotes. I decided to get the chapter out a little earlier for all of you, though most of you probably won't notice lol. Anyhow, I just wanted to take a moment to thank everyone who's still reading this; and my story traffic feature tells me there are quite a few of you. I know I usually give individual review responses, and I will continue to do so, but I wanted to thank all the readers, too.

 

That said, Beth is having internet issues, so this chapter had not been beta'd. My apologies for any spelling or grammar mistakes that may have resulted from this.

 

I do hope you'll stick with me till the end, and enjoy!

~Kiku~