Acceptance

Bliss Before The Storm

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Disclaimer: I don't, under any circumstances, own Rurouni Kenshin.

Quick note: This happens some time between last chapter and before Jinchuu arc. Hmm... if you think about it, the impact of Jinchuu will be greater than ever to Kenshin as he is officially courting her now, eh?

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Kaoru paused in her musing as she caught the sight of her Kenshin—she smiled happily to herself at the thought—standing in the courtyard and looking up at the clear azure sky. Grinning, Kaoru stood up in one swift, graceful motion and headed towards the redhead.

It had been weeks after she accepted his proposal. It had confused her at first, since she had never experienced something like this—one out of love, that is. As a daughter of a samurai family and a swordswoman, she had the appeal as a bride. Her father had looked carefully for the candidates, but until his death, he had never considered any of them suitable for Kaoru. After his death, the nakodo had insisted the young orphan to at least choose one from the many propositions coming her way. While Kaoru herself was not adverse to miai, she had hoped that she would get married to someone she loved. Yet, knowing the implications that was sure to follow, she firmly rejected the nakodo again and again and eventually, she made her answer clear: she wasn't interested, and would stay single as long as she wanted to. Plus, she was still grieving over losing her invincible father and keeping her students to stay under her tutelage. The nakodo had stared at her strangely, then, and scorned the young woman over her choice.

Kaoru ignored her. She was quite content with what she did with her own life, thank you. She also never entertained herself of the idea of having a family of her own, lest she reminded herself of her loneliness, and busied herself to fulfill her duty as the sole Kamiya heir.

Then came Yahiko. She was visiting Genzai-sensei for a pain-reliever for her monthly cramps, when she saw a young boy curling into a ball in the alley she passed with a larger figure lying beneath his body. She decided to check on him, and was quite alarmed to find he was panting heavily, his eyes closed and cheeks wet. All over his body was bruises, old and new. She almost got into a shock when she noticed the figure—a woman—whose eyes were lifeless, staring at her blankly, and Kaoru quickly crouched down, checking her pulse. Nothing.

She ran to Genzai-sensei's clinic, cradling the boy carefully in her arms. After he had been tended to, Kaoru went all the way back again with one of the apothecary's male assistant, bringing the woman's body to the clinic. She thought that the kid would be looking for the woman she assumed was his mother when he woke up, although she personally think that the mother should have been buried already to lessen the grief she'd seen prior.

True to her prediction, the boy, Yahiko was his name, immediately went panic when he woke up in a foreign place, with no one by his side. If it weren't for Kaoru's quick intervention, Yahiko would run all over the place or even run away to town just to seek his mother out. Of course, it wasn't an easy matter to subdue him; he kicked, bit, and even managed to punch Kaoru on her stomach, to which Kaoru merely sighed and carried him on her shoulder. She didn't listen to his curses and feeble threats until she practically yelled to his ear to calm down, and set him on his feet in the room where his mother resided. Yahiko was silent for a long moment, then burst into tears when Kaoru held him in silent support.

After burying Myojin-san, Kaoru turned to him and made an offer—one that she would never feel any regret in the future. "Would you like to be a swordsman, Yahiko?"

Yahiko lifted a brow in disbelief. "What?"

"If you want, I can teach you in Kamiya Kasshin-ryū. It is a style where the sword used as a tool to protect life."

He almost bobbed his head yes, but stopped as a thought crossed his mind. Regardless of his wish to follow the path of his deceased father, he couldn't afford to pay her. "I don't have money, Kaoru." Not even a home. "I'm not gonna bother you again after..." He swallowed the rest of his words and looked away.

Kaoru put a hand on his shoulder, stooping down to his eye level. Smiling kindly, she assured the boy, "You're going to pay in another way." As Yahiko opened his mouth to protest, Kaoru shook her head. "Come, student, you need to heal yourself properly first before I beat you up into a samurai you'll become in the future."

Yahiko's eyes were wet with tears, though he managed not to cry. He bowed as deep as his body allowed him to, saying, "Please treat me favorably, sensei" politely.

After that, her life turned upside-down. The rumor of a hitokiri named Battousai, the self-proclaimed practitioner of Kamiya Kasshin-ryū, had been involved in several murders. She searched, day and night, despite Yahiko's warning, for Battousai. She had to give back the honor in her family name. She would not stop until—until... she could stop him. How she would do it was another matter; she was not a shihandai for nothing, and would fight him bravely despite the name that had invoked fear in her heart.

Then Kenshin came to the picture, saving her even after she had attacked him first for suspecting him as Hitokiri Battousai without knowing she had called to the right person. Hmm, Kaoru paused in her quiet padding as she recalled something. It was unnecessary to jump on me like that. No, wait, he SHOULD not have jumped AND straddled a young, unmarried woman like me in the first place! Little did she know, her ki had exploded into both anger and embarrassment, causing Kenshin to tense and turn to look at her.

"Kaoru-dono?" he called out hesitantly, cautiously.

Kaoru blinked, and stared up at his concerned face. All her previous anger and embarrassment promptly vanished into thin air. She couldn't just stay mad at him, not with his sweet, careful courtship he did. He understood her inexperience, and never pointed it out. He was attentive and caring, but also acknowledged her independence. He had never touched her inappropriately, but when he did touch her (no matter how innocent it was), Kaoru couldn't stop the effect to her heart, mind, soul, and body.

"Kaoru-dono, what is wrong?" he asked again, now standing closer to her. His gaze traveled down her body to check if she had been hurt. When he found nothing, he frowned up at her. "Kaoru-dono?"

Shaking her head, Kaoru reached out to smooth his frown. "It seems that I can never sneak up on you, hm?" She pouted a bit at the grin he made. "It's not fair."

Chuckling, he grabbed her hand and kissed the inner of her wrist. His eyes stared at her in adoration and desire, causing her heart to skip a beat. Kaoru could feel his lips' movement as he mumbled his reply to her skin, "This one will always be able to find you, Kaoru-dono, that he will."

Either from his touch or his words (or simply both), Kaoru began to blush furiously. She gathered her wits and flicked him on his forehead with her other hand, drawing out a startled oro from his lips. He blinked owlishly at her.

"It's not like I'm going anywhere, Kenshin. Not after I said I want to stay with you."

This time he was the one to blush. His cheeks pinked slightly, but he didn't let go of his hold. "It is true, that it is," he amended, "This one will not let you go either, Kaoru-dono." He moved closer, then, and wrapped both his arms around her. His head leaned down and nuzzled her temple, sighing in contentment as she melted in his arms.

"Kenshin?" she called him softly.

"Yes, Kaoru-dono?"

She pulled away a little, then cupped his scarred cheek lovingly. "Nothing is wrong," she referred to his previous query, "Everything is perfect, as it should be." Their lips were close, and her eyes went half-lidded when his warm breath caressed her lips. "Perfect."

His lips curved into a smile as they shared their first kiss of many to come.

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I never plan to continue. Your reviews, however, fuel my sleeping muse to practically possess my fingers to type this. The other one, which I wrote first, is from Hiko's point of view. I'm not quite sure of his portrayal yet; that's why I'll edit it later.

I hope you love this one too. I know I do (look at the mad grin I have when I finally made them kiss!). Let them have their bliss before Enishi strikes them down.

-dee

Notes

In short, miai (見合い: matchmaking, lit. looking at one another) or omiai is a Japanese traditional custom in which unattached individuals are introduced to each other to consider the possibility of marriage. To help this process, usually the family will use a service of nakodo (仲人: matchmaker); this person could be a relative or a professional. No one is forced to marry in the end; if one party feels that the other isn't suitable for him/her, one can 'call off' the arrangement. Nakodo then will offer another candidate to consider and oversee the... miai until both parties agree to marry each other.

Source: wikipedia and a manga I've read a long time ago.