tampered | (no subject)

(no subject)

When; Oct 30th
Rating; PG-13
Characters; Himura Kenshin & ~~Himura~~ Kamiya Kaoru
Summary; A certain ex-rurouni has some more explaining to do to a rather angry tanuki...
Log;

He moved through the apartment until he found her... He honestly thought it was too soon to be telling her this, but at the same time... if he waited too long things would be revealed in ways he didn't want...

He couldn't help but think of the way Kaoru had initially found out about Tomoe. Not the tale itself, but just her existence... the fact that he had been married before...

He didn't want that to happen again. If she was going to find out about these things it would be on his terms, not the City's. That was his stance on all of it.

He found her in the kitchen, as he expected, considering she had been speaking about cooking. A small smile pulled at his lips. Yes, he was fully aware of how bad her cooking was, and that he was probably going to wind up being poisoned...

But he missed it. He missed it. He missed her. He never thought that two and a half months could feel so long... He wanted to come up behind her and wrap his arms around her: to pull her close and hell her how much he loved her. That he would never leave her side again...

But... that was too much... He couldn't do that to her yet.

He couldn't imagine a scenario where this would be bad news though... Her feelings had essentially been an open book since the very beginning. He hadn't been blind back then, as everyone seemed to think. He simply... would not allow himself to reciprocate those feelings...

If the City had done nothing else for him... it had helped him grow passed that...

His jaw tensed briefly while he stood in the doorway.

"Kaoru-dono..." he said. "Perhaps... now is a good time to talk...?"

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At the sound of his voice she puffed. Kaoru was still angry. He'd been hiding things from her! Things that were important and needed to be known. She hated that he was keeping secrets from her.

Especially ones that Sano knew.

He... knew that look... and that air of her own special "tanuki rage"...

He probably wasn't getting out of this without a good thwack to the head. He moved forward and pulled a chair out for her.

"Please?"

She didn't take the seat. She wasn't taking anything the man offered her until she knew the truth. The whole truth.

She did turn around however, one hand curling into a fist and then uncurling as angry eyes settled on Kenshin. She really wanted her shinai right now. If only to give the man a good thracking for keeping things from her.

His shoulders slumped slightly.

"He really thinks... you should sit down for this... It might take a while..." he said, hoping it didn't sound as bad as he thought it did.

His new attempt was just met with more eye narrowing and now glaring at him. "JUST SAY IT ALREADY!"

Was it possible for his shoulders to slump any further? He gave a long sigh, leaving the offered chair pulled out, and taking the one next to it around the corner.

He had a feeling she would be sitting down soon, despite her protests.

"He said already that time moves differently in this place. By City time, he arrived here last June. At that point he came from a time before what you remember, maybe a few days before Saitou made an appearance. He was here for... several months... September he thinks, and he was sent back to our world, seemingly at the exact moment he was taken.

"Then. He was in our world again for... one month? Two? He isn't sure anymore. He was there for the entire ordeal of Kyoto, all the way until we had returned to Tokyo... You were standing outside the dojo... and welcomed him home..." He looked down at the table, remembering the completeness he felt when he said 'I'm home.'

"And at about that point he was brought here again... But this time he was in the City for much longer... by City-time it had only been three or four days since he had left... he was here from September until around February. At that time, he was returned home at the same point that he was taken around June in our world, and brought back that August. Again, it had only been a few days in the City... And he has been in the City ever since... Between the three stays he has been here for nearly a year and a half."

He paused, choosing his words carefully. "So... you can see how the City pulls people in and throws them out again..." He scratched at the back of his head then. "Sometimes... when people are brought back to the City... they have no memories of their previous stays..." He looked up at her then. "Kaoru-dono... you came to the City that October... You were here... for a very long time... From that October to this August..."

He leaned onto the table, his hands nearly folding. He studied the tabletop for a long moment, trying to decide the best way to phrase this, all the while his right hand fingered his wedding band. He was sure she had noticed it. He wasn't quite as sure if she knew what it meant...

"Kaoru-dono..." he looked up then, "This unworthy one realizes... that you don't have the same memories that he does... that you don't remember the City... and he will not hold you to anything, but you deserve to know nonetheless..." He swallowed a little. "You... and this unworthy one... were married December 18th of last year. It would have been our 10 month anniversary earlier this month..."

Edited 2008-11-02 00:18 (UTC)

Kaoru wasn't sure what to say at all everything. It was a lot of information to take in. The information about his comings and goings made sense. Of course he would come back home. He belonged at the dojo.

Then he mentioned them being married. That didn't actually sink in. ~~When~~ if they ever .... if he ever felt that way about her, she wanted to .... well, remember it. "Oh, congratulations ...." She didn't quite let it sink in that he was married to HER.

"Kaoru-dono?" he asked, standing slowly. She certainly looked a little off all of a sudden. Considering what you just told her, can you blame her?

He moved toward her, hoping to guide her into the chair this time.

It took a few moments for the who of the statement sank in and she fell into the chair he guided her to like a dead weight. "You .... me?" Her eyes were huge and she was blushing so deep that it looked like her face was bleeding. She, she and Kenshin were MARRIED?!

"Hai," he whispered, standing behind her for a moment with his hands on her shoulders. "This unworthy one... he thinks that he always loved you... from the moment you said you wanted 'the rurouni' to stay..." He squeezed her shoulders slightly. "It just took him time to convince himself that he was allowed to..." He let out a long sigh. "There was a reason his Shishio always calls him 'baka-deshi'..."

He let go of her shoulders then and walked around the table to sit again, watching her. He smiled slightly. She was as red as the first time they slept together. He wasn't terribly surprised.

"He doesn't expect anything from you, Kaoru-dono... but he wanted to tell you himself before you found out in some other way."

At this exact moment Kaoru would have doubted that anyone would have believed that she was the strong minded fighting master that she really was. She thought she might have been mumbling, and she knew she had started to cry. She was still bright red too.

All in all she had no idea what to say to the man across from her. He'd .... he'd just said everything she was sure would never be said to her. He'd just confessed to her!

One thing was nagging at the back of her mind though. It just hadn't found a voice yet.

Well... he had been planning on sitting and continuing to speak--until he saw her tears. He hoped at least they were happy tears...

He moved the chair so that he sat only a few inches away and took her hands in his for a moment before one hand lifted to brush her tears away. That hand joined the other again and he just sat, studying them...

"Are you alright, Kaoru-dono?"

She nodded, small noises having to make due for her answer. She was almost sure that this was a dream and that she would be waking up anytime now.

Even if it was only a dream, it was the best dream she had ever had.

After several moments she finally started to regain some control over herself and dared to try to hold his hand. It felt strange and embarrassing, trying to make these sorts of gestures. She'd never even dared think about Kenshin in a romantic way before ~~At least she tried not to.~~ Now suddenly they were married.

He nodded in return, squeezing her hands again. Before, if she had sat across from him so emotional he would have already taken her into his arms and been trying to kiss her tears away... but it was still far too early for that...

He had to go back to the beginning...

He hesitated a moment before taking his hands back and pulling the ring from his left hand. He held the band for a moment before taking one of hers and placing it in the, curling her fingers back up over it. "When you left the City in August... your ring went with you..."

He paused for a few more moments before speaking again. "Kaoru-dono... Kaoru. When you are ready... will you accept this penniless rurouni as your husband again?"

She could feel the warm metal in her hand, but it was his words that she reacted to, finally she felt herself able to react. Without thinking about the fact that he had placed something in her hand she threw herself into his arms and held him tightly.

This had to be a dream. It had to be some sort of wonderful dream that she was going to awaken from and be without him again. If that was the case then she was going to take as much advantage of it as possible.

Somewhere between the pounding of blood in her ears and the rapid pounding of her own heartbeat she heard the little metal ring clatter to the ground ....

"Oro?!" He hadn't quite expected her to launch herself at him, but he wasn't complaining at this point. He wrapped his arms around her, turning her until she was sitting sideways on his lap. He heard the ring bounce off the floor somewhere, but he'd find it. There were only so many places the thing could get to after all. (And if nothing else, the cat would probably lead him right to it thinking it was a toy...)

One arm wrapped around the small of her waist, the other moved to stroke across the backs of her shoulders. He paused for a long time, simply happy to have her with him again, letting his head fall to her shoulder before hugging her a little tighter. He had been so worried...

"Kaoru," he said softly. "There... is still more he needs to tell you... Things from his past... ~~And the future.~~ But he honestly doesn't have the strength to tell you yet..." He paused, worrying his lip slightly while at an angle that she couldn't see. "Just know... no matter what the City may reveal... know that he loves you, and that will never change..."

She nodded, though his words only grazed her mind and didn't sink in just yet. She was still certain that this was a dream of some sort and that he would wake up alone and abandoned.

Her grip only tightened a little more. She thought about what she could get away with. She wanted to kiss him. She wanted to kiss him very much, but she didn't think she had the nerve to try it. Instead she nuzzled her way into the crook of his neck, reveling in the warmth that being held by the man caused.

He was perfectly content to simply hold her and nothing more... just to feel her solid, warm and alive, he could stay like this for hours and be perfectly happy.

"This unworthy one missed you," he whispered softy, barely audible, his forehead resting against her shoulder, "so much..." He pulled her closer, moving to press his temple against the side of her head.

Why was it with this man that he was so awfully dumb. She felt sure that this was the sort of dream where he should have kissed her. ~~There had been enough of these sorts of dreams in the past that he should know he should kiss her boy now.~~

"Idiot." Her admonishment wasn't actually mean, more a soft chiding. "Don't you know that you're supposed to kiss a girl when she's being emotional." She was still trying to quiet her tears.

He gave a soft chuckle to that. She was always scolding him for this sort of thing.

"Sumanu," he whispered, pulling back enough to press a kiss to her temple. "He never does these things right..." He chuckled again. So much like the first time... His hand came around to lift her chin and kissed her eyes, wiping at her remaining tears.

This was such a wonderful dream. Somewhere in the back of her mind she reasoned that she was probably delirious and passed out from exhaustion where he had left her.

But right now, this dream felt so real. His lips against her skin and arms around her. They felt as real as if he were really holding her and kissing her. The feeling, and the knowledge that this was only a dream gave her courage and boldness that she would have never had in reality.

She let herself laugh a little before scolding him again. "Like this idiot." Before either of them could say anything more she kissed him awkwardly, but kissed him none-the-less.

He gently returned the clumsy embrace, his hand still resting along her jaw. Perhaps at another time he would have wondered at the boldness of this kiss--but not after he had been married to her for seven months before she disappeared. Kissing her was natural now, so no alarm bells were sounding in his head that she was confused about anything.

His hand traced back to cradle her head slightly, gently pressing his lips to hers, pulling back, only to repeat the motion, gentle and tender.

See Kenshin, this is how you act in a girl's dream. She moved her arms to wrap them more tightly around him before helping to deepen the kiss. It was her dream, she could be as assertive as she wanted in it.

This was defiantly the best dream she had ever had. Kenshin's lips felt so very real against her own. She could feel the heat that came from him and, if she concentrated, she could even taste him. This was definatly the best dream she had ever had ~~Not including THAT dream~~

One of her hands moved to rest against his neck, the tips of her fingers threading just into his hair.

He opened his mouth to her, teasing her lips lightly with his tongue. After having been with her as long as he had... his mind was falling back before... The hand at her neck ran down her back and over her obi. He started to move to put his hand on one of her knees when reality clicked back into place.

This was not the same Kaoru. He should not be being this bold with her. Yet. Still he set his hand on her knee, but made it a point to remember to leave it there and not let it wander.

She was easily pliant if he wanted to take over dominating. She'd had more then a few dreams where Kenshin was dominant over her, she was perfectly happy to let this be one of them.

She had to pull back for breath and took the moment to giggle. She felt drunk. "I lost your ring." Her voice was cute and teasing as she leaned in to nuzzle his nose. This was a dream after all. She could be as much of a silly girl as she wanted to here.

He chuckled a little at the comment. He hadn't really expected her to chuck the thing across the room--and of course he was sure that she hadn't meant to do it either, but there was no harm done.

"Daijoubu, this unworthy one will find it," he said, leaning in to nuzzle at her neck and inhale that jasmine scent that always lingered on her.

She closed her eyes lightly and reveled in the feel of him. She really wished this wasn't a dream. That this was really happening and that Kenshin had really fallen in love with her.

Still, she knew this was all just her mind running away with the emotions he had brought up by leaving her alone.

He closed his eyes again, still holding her close.

This wasn't a dream. She would be in for quite a shock when she realized it too.

Yes, he had left her once. But as far as he was concerned, it would never happen again. Never. Again. He had said "I'm home" to her. Tadaima de gozaru. Even if she didn't know it yet. Wherever she was, that was his home...

Always.

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