Chapter 15

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Kaoru was still deep in the land of sleep when she felt a heavy weight settle on her. She yawned and tried to turn over to the side. It didn’t work, she furrowed her eyebrows, eyes still closed, something wasn’t right. She opened an eye, only to be greeted by a spiky haired face glaring over her like a vulture. She opened the other eye, both of them wide now, and squealed at the top of her lungs

“Yahiko get the hell off of me!” she yelled loud enough to wake the dead, even in the middle of the day like it was. Yahiko got off of her stomach where he’s been kneeling in hopes of waking her, a petulant expression on his face.

“But Kaoru, it won’t do any good if I go see Kenshin myself, you have to come too.” He complained. “You do want to see him right?

“Of course I do” Kaoru snapped, she was a little mad at herself for sleeping in so late, and although she was glad Yahiko had woken her up, she didn’t like the way he did it “Couldn’t you have called out or something before entering my room?” she asked

“I did” he said blandly “You were dead to the world, believe me I tried everything”

“Oh” Kaoru replied, staring at the ground for a moment. She perked up after that “Well we should go find Kenshin then shouldn’t we!” she exclaimed happily. Yahiko nodded. Kaoru glared at him then smacked him atop the head “Now leave so I can get dressed.”

Yahiko left.

Half an hour later Kaoru walked down the stairs in the prettiest Kimono she could possibly fins and her hair done up in a matching patterned ribbon. Yahiko rolled his eyes at her.

“So how are we going to find him” Yahiko asked plainly

“Enishi left this map with directions” Kaoru answered, holding up a rolled up piece of paper. She grinned as she tucked it into her kimono sleeve. “Let’s get some food on the way, Enishi left us with plenty of money.” She giggled. Yahiko looked exasperated.

“Fine with me” he said in a way that clearly meant it really wasn’t. Kaoru gave him a look.

“You really should be more careful” Shinta said to Wei Li, pulling her out of the way of a person she had almost run into “You shouldn’t even be out this close to the end of your pregnancy” he sad admonishing her, knowing she still wouldn’t change her mind.

“I know I know,” She replied “But I just have to get a few last things before the baby comes” she smiled at him, trying to convey that everything would be fine. Shinta would have none of it, but he complied with her wishes.

Kaoru paused; she would recognize that voice anywhere. She turned towards it, and there he was, it was Kenshin. She could feel tears gathering in her eyes as she looked at him, although his hair was cropped shorter, and he wasn’t wearing his usual outfit, it was most defiantly Kenshin.

But he was talking, and he was laughing, and as she watched them walk down the marketplace, she heard an “oroororo” She stared dumbfounded. But after all, it had been a year since she “died” he was bound to get over it eventually.

Then why did she feel so hurt?

Yahiko stopped walking, realizing that Kaoru was no longer following. He looked at her, and then followed the path of her eyes to find Kenshin, walking alongside a heavily pregnant, pretty girl. He blanched. This did not bode well; he only hoped that Kaoru hadn’t realized the implications yet. Then he looked at her face and knew that he was wrong.

Would she turn back now after all they had gone through to get here?

Kaoru felt her eyes tear up at the sight of the redheaded vagabond, but she convinced herself it was because she was so happy to see him, smiling. She refused to even think anything else, her mind going numb. She started walking towards him slowly, and then picked up her pace, finally almost running up to meet him, her wooden sandals clicking against the pebbled road.

Shinta laughed along with Wei Li, she was right it had been the silliest carving he’d ever seen. He chuckled good heartedly, not that he would have remembered if he had seen something funnier before, he had commented, drawing a while new wave of laughter from the two.

All in a second everything changed. He heard someone running at him and crying out a word he didn’t understand. He put his hand to his sword and drew.

Yahiko watched on in apprehension, as Kenshin didn’t turn around when she called his name repeatedly. Something was definitely wrong. His heard stopped when Kenshin suddenly halted in the middle of walking and reached for something in his shirt.

Kaoru was less than five feet away when he saw a glint of metal and everything slowed down for that moment. He watched on in horror as Kenshin struck out towards Kaoru with his sword

“Please let it be the sakabatou, please let it be the sakabatou” he repeated to himself internally, over and over again, as he was to far to prevent what happened. Even though he had no idea why he’d think it anything other than the sakabatou.

He saw Kaoru catch a glimpse of the metal herself and shy away from the blade hopefully just in time as in looked like she slid under it, falling backwards with her sudden stop. Then he saw a few strands of hair fall slowly after Kaoru, and in that moment, he knew that she hadn’t avoided it completely. All he could do was hope that the hair was all that was cut.

For Kaoru time stopped that moment as well, all she saw were kenshin’s eyes, and they scared her. His eyes staring at her, unseeing yet penetrating, a deep amber color that she had grown to abhor. Battousai.

She felt the tip of his blade slice against her left cheek with a light snick as she fell. Kenshin was gone, Kenshin was…

He had tried to kill her, that was her last thought as she fainted, collapsing from her position kneeling, to hit the ground.

Shinta didn’t see her fall, or really even see her at all as a gasp and a movement out of the corner of his eye distracted him. He turned to Wei Li worriedly, still holding out his blade. She didn’t look to well. He sheathed his blade and rushed to her side as she seemed to teeter unstably. He held her up and looked at her asking what had happened. She answered with a simple statement

“My water broke” she said leaning into his arms. He picked her up and ran off towards the doctors, all the while telling her that she should have known better.
Yahiko approached Kaoru as a crowd had gathered around her. He kneeled besides her and lifted her head onto his lap, turning her head to face him. All he could see was blood smeared all across her face. He panicked, hunching over her and crying.

“Busu, you stupid stupid old lady.” He whispered “You’re to ugly to die” he sobbed.

Someone walked up to them, pausing to pick Kaoru up. Yahiko looked up to find that it was Enishi. He glared at Enishi realizing he must have been there the whole time.

“If you were here, why didn’t you save her.” Yahiko spat out bitterly. Enishi looked down at him with a cold expression that caused a shiver to rise unbidden from Yahiko.

“Don’t overreact” Enishi said “She just fainted, and it’s only a cut” He turned around and walked through the parting crowds. Yahiko stared after him, feeling like a complete idiot.