Rurouni Kenshin Fan Fiction ❯ The Crooked Path Series ❯ I. Meanings ( Chapter 1 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

Rating: PG-13 for swear words and adult themes. In other words, this story contains material which some readers may find challenging.

Glossary: "Daisuki da" -- I like you a lot. "Ai shiteru" -- I love you. More notes concerning the usage of these words at the end of the story.

I am not a nice romantic. Consider yourself warned.

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"What the hell are you doing here?"

A waft of cigarette smoke, bitter and noxious, was his only answer.

"Not talking? Fine. At least you're not beating me bloody."

Sanosuke stared ahead at the sea, salt water turned black with night. Silver gleamed where waves held mirrors to moonlight, making visible the boats and other, less pleasant objects floating around the pier.

"You thought I'd be happy to see you, didn't you?" A strangled laugh forced its way past Sano's lips. "What, you expect me to fall into your arms?"

His lover's lean body settled beside him, the elegant fingers flicking a cigarette end into the sea. Sano watched as the red embers glowed desperately in free fall, only to die in a watery tomb.

"I'm tired, Saitou."

The man next to him stirred, amber eyes widening slightly at the child-like weariness in Sano's tone. He made as if to speak, only to falter at the onslaught of words tumbling from his young lover.

"You think it's easy, being like this?" Sano's hands clenched. "I spread my legs when you feel like fucking, and take your insults when you don't -- and you act like being your lover's a privilege. Yeah, a street rat like me should be thankful that you come in my ass every night. The great Saitou Hajime, condescending to kiss the 'ahou'."

"Sano--"

"SHUT UP!" the younger man howled, dark eyes burning with rage. "If it was just for the sex, Saitou, why couldn't you leave me before I fell in love with you?" His voice broke into something very near a sob. "And if it wasn't, why can't you tell me you love me?"

"Sano..."

"I'm leaving," he announced, his tone once again brittle. "I'll see you whenever." Sano's eyes were suspiciously bright. "Ai shiteru, Saitou."

He scrambled to his feet, intent on getting away before he could disgust Saitou by breaking down into a mass of tears. A hand, clutching his fingers, stopped him.

Saitou looked up at his face, the amber depths betraying no trace of emotion whatsoever. Shadows hid the twitching of muscles on the policeman's neck as his throat worked. "Daisuki da," he finally said, evenly.

How proper. Closing his eyes for a moment, Sano clamped down firmly on the urge to laugh hysterically. He wrenched himself from the other man's grasp. Saitou's fingertips were warm -- somehow, he'd been expecting them to be cold.

As cold as the heart of Mibu's wolf had always been, and his own ever after. Sano took a few tottering steps away from the man he loved, then broke into a run. His feet slapped loudly against the wooden planks of the pier, the echoes fading into silence mere seconds after he disappeared into the humid night.

Saitou, bereft of flesh and bone to hold, let his hand fall at his side. His lips were parted, as if he had begun to speak when Sano ran out of his life -- whatever words he had desired to speak were useless now, with their intended receiver too distant to listen. Alone, back rigid as he sat on the pier, Saitou watched the moon slowly consumed by the clouds.

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Notes: From what I've read, "daisuki da" (I like you a lot) is what a proper Japanese would use to declare his/her love. "Ai shiteru" (I love you) is considered a bit strong and can come across as clingy or desperate. I have no idea whether this is true of the culture during the Meiji era, unfortunately. Let's just pretend that it was...