Err, I'm not too sure about my story, and if anyone will read it, the idea just came on a whim, but here goes…
Disclaimer: I don't own Rurouni Kenshin. If I did, there would be a lot more romance than sword duels!
Prologue: Hidden Rivers
"Ms. Kamiya." A voice intoned.
Said Kamiya was doodling idly on her lined paper, a far away look in her cobalt eyes as she sketched in the facial features of the figure's face. Her Dixon pencil filled in eyes with a shade of gray that in her mind were a soft amethyst. Then she added in a touch of shading underneath the chin.
Kamiya Kaoru frowned suddenly at the picture; that bit of shading didn't fit in properly with the long haired man. Dutifully she erased it with an eraser that was more stub than anything else. 'Almost done!' Kaoru thought cheerfully, completely unaware of the stares that she was getting from the other students around her as the teacher crossed the room to stand by her desk.
"Ms. Kamiya." The voice stated more forcibly.
Kaoru blinked and looked up, only to see her teacher's annoyed face hovering above her. Guilt assaulted her, she had promised herself earlier in the school year that she wasn't going to pick up a pencil and draw again. She'd even gone so far as to buy pens, something she didnot like to sketch with at all. Now here she was, caught with a pencil in her hand and a half finished drawing slightly hidden beneath her history notes.
Kaoru hadn't even been aware of her actions when her hands had slipped into a side pocket of her binder earlier and fished out a thin piece of wood, a pencil in other words. Nor had she been aware when pencil met paper to softly slide in an arc upwards. It's just that when she got bored Kaoru had to draw something- anything.
The dark haired teacher leaned down and took the paper with the evidence; he gave it a haughty glare with mud brown eyes, then crumpled it and tossed the paper ball into the garbage. Kaoru could hear the snickers from the other students as they watched. Lowering her midnight bangs to hide her face as much as possible, she waited for the tinge of red of embarrassment to fade.
She never got the chance to wait that long.
"Now Kamiya, stand up and read the text on page 154 involving the Bakumatsu and its revolutionaries." Kaoru groaned slightly but did as she was told.
Mr. Watanabe went back to the front while she stood and flipped pages as did her classmates.
Kaoru skimmed the old book quickly and began.
"…Truly this age was one filled with bloodshed, but with that blood came peace. What sacrifices had to be made for this peace, and who brought about it? Undeniably all contributed to the civil war in a bid for a brighter future, and while it is true that many men were given titles in recognition of their selflessness and bravery. None of them could boast of the title that was given to an assassin of the Ishin Shishi group. To this date his actual name is not known, the name given by the Ishin leader Katsura Kogoro however is known." Kaoru paused.
"Hitokiri Battousai or Battousai as he was also known as. This is the name that records have unearthed."
Finally! Her turn to read was over. She really didn't like this sort of attention, and whenever she had to endure it her fingers twitched for her trusty bokken. She just knew that Watanabe made her uncomfortable on purpose, if only she could teach him a lesson or two! Kaoru couldn't stop the evil little smile that graced her face at the image of a swirly-eyed Watanabe with lumps on his head from a certain Tanuki.
Kaoru went to sit down; but was stopped by her teacher asking, no, demanding her to read over the short profile of the Battousai.
Oh joy.
She flashed her cobalt eyes over to the clock and saw that there was only a few more seconds left until class was dismissed.
'Well, at least its not that long.' Kaoru sighed in exasperation, earning the disapproval of the squat and balding teacher.
"There are many legends that are whispered about this deadly man, whose speed and strength surpassed all. He was described to be a giant among men, with a mane full of deep red hair, piercing amber eyes, and his most distinguishing feature was the scar carved in the shape of an 'X' on his left cheek.
In that day and age, his very name struck fear into all, even his allies. Battousai was rumored to be capable of slaying dozens of men at a time armed with a wakizashi and katana. His glare alone was said to be able to freeze a man in their place and cower in fear of death approaching. Many claimed him to be a demon; at the time there was no other explanation for his abilities. Society knows better than to believe those rumors, as there has never been any evidence of any caliber to support such a theory. Hitokiri Battousai was simply a man with an extraordinary physique.
Battousai-" Kaoru was abruptly cut off by the bell ringing, signaling dismissal.
Mr. Watanabe assigned them all to finish reading the profile, and to create a paragraph response as to whether they thought Battousai really was how the textbook described, or if his appearance had been exaggerated.
Everyone groaned at this, but it was the weekend and so they had until Monday, which was plenty of time. Taking the rubric from the handout box, they shoved away the hateful homework and packed up.
She too, gathered up her items and packed them away, leaving the room with the crowd that surged to freedom.
Hours later found Kaoru breathing calmly, a bokken held loosely in her grasp. She had changed from her school uniform into her usual training gi and hakama. Kaoru relaxed her body and gracefully slipped into the stance for a basic kata.
The wooden katana raised and was brought down; this was repeated until the movements seemed to flow like a dance that only Kaoru knew. This was her place, in her family's dojo, her father's style- that would eventually be mastered by his daughter. When Kaoru trained in the Kamiya Kasshin Ryu, she felt at ease, all tension leaked out. It was also the time when she could think about things.
SWISH!
'Battousai…'
SWISH!
'Wha-what? Where did that come from and why am I thinking about some dead guy?'
She sidestepped and the air whistled past her bokken as she brought it down in an arc.
'Kaoru!' she scolded herself, 'stop thinking about some deadhistorical assassin.'
The young woman froze.
'…'
'Did I… just talk to myself? Mou… first sign of insanity, it was bound to happen one day or other.' Kaoru chuckled to herself unaware of the shadow that stealthily slunk up behind her.
She fell back into practice position, focused and-
"Busu!"
-And jumped at least five feet into the air from the shock, well, that's what it felt like to her at least.
Fire blazing in blue orbs she turned to see her younger brother Yahiko rolling on the ground, laughing his head off at her expense. Her eye twitched, Kaoru's grip on the practice sword tightened and she smirked.
"Oh Yahiko." She called sweetly. He looked up to see her standing above him menacingly.
With a bokken in her hand.
With a very, very, VERY scary face.
'Oh shit.' Were his last thoughts before the bokken came crashing down on his head.
Their Father wasn't home that day; he was off on a work related trip. He usually wasn't around for weeks on end, even months. So Kaoru was left to make supper with her meager skills, currently she was on a warpath and a daikon was about to taste the business end of a cutting knife. Her thoughts strayed…
((Kaoru's thoughts))
Thinking back years ago to when she had been a child, Kaoru remembered how she used to cry whenever Father left. She always knew when he had to leave; Father would hug her in his strong and safe arms, and he'd ask her to be a good girl for him. Later on, sometimes hours later, sometimes minutes later, Kaoru would cry. Her mother would come to her, finding her daughter in one hiding place or other. Then she would gather her into her embrace and whisper soft words to the little girl. Kaoru's whimpers would start to quiet down and she would fall asleep, dreams filled of her family before Daddy had taken the job, when they had spent time together, and they all smiled.
A year later, Mother had fallen ill with a sickness, the doctors had no cure for it, and every day her beautiful Mother would become sicker. The spark of life that had made her eyes sparkle dimmed. All Kaoru wanted to do was to stay with her Mother, and be near her. Each morning she would shuffle in and sit down next to her Mama, watching her while she slept. She would hold her Mama's frail, white hand while the elder Kamiya told stories of her youth. This was their time together. Father had come home to stay, the company paid for him for his absence.
Back then Kaoru had felt selfish.
Before Mama had gotten sick, Kaoru had wished upon a star that her family would spend more time together. Her child's mind saw this whole sickness as a result of her unthinking actions. Kaoru to this day, still wasn't sure whether she had come to terms with herself yet or not.
One day, when she woke up, Kaoru had gone over into Mama's room. Then time stopped. Kaoru sat down in a daze.
Mama was so still. She didn't move. The child just sat there, uncomprehending, her mind refused to believe what she saw, but her heart told her otherwise.
A low noise came from her, Kaoru gingerly touched her Mother's cold cheek. Then she knew for certain.
The noise turned into an inhuman keening that told everyone who heard it of her grief. Kaoru threw herself on her Mother, she clutched at the clothing, and sobbed.
That was how her Father found her. Yahiko had been a baby at the time, and didn't understand what was going on. For the years following, they had been raised by an assortment of nurses. Father still left on trips, and Kaoru grew to hate the man that she called Father. Hated him for leaving her and her brother alone in their grief, hated him for not being there….
((end thoughts))
Kaoru sniffled; a tear had found its way out and crept down her cheek. Determinedly she wiped it off with the back of her hand. She wasn't crying, Kaoru hadn't cried for years since her mother had died. She couldn't be crying now. No, it was the onions that she had started to slice up having recently finished with the radishes. After all, onions were notorious for making people cry.
The salty tears stopped.
Dinner was dinner.
Yahiko taunted her and threw comments to her about her cooking.
"Ewww! Busu, next time get take-out! Even I can do better than this" The boy gagged on his meal, trying to force it down.
"Well, Yahiko-CHAN, if you'd like to cook instead, be my guest!" Kaoru snapped.
"Eh? Me… cook? HEY! Don't call me 'chan'!" Yahiko yelled in outrage, his spiky hair quivered in the force of his rage. Without noticing he had stuck more food into his mouth and continued to yell at her for the blow to his pride.
Kaoru fought the urge to smile, she had gotten him to eat. Instead she took her plate over to the sink. Next she cleared away the pots and pans, put the leftovers in the fridge, and tossed what dishes she could into the dishwasher. Yahiko would do the rest, it was an agreement that they had come to.
"Yahiko, I'm going to run a bath and then go to bed, if anyone comes calling for me, tell them that I'd have to get back to them at a later time."
"Yeah, right, who'd want to come visit you anyways?"
Kaoru left the room, although she had been tempted to whack him across the head at his audacity. She missed the comment that her brother made to her retreating back.
"Okay, Kaoru, and goodnight."
The moonlight filtered in through the blinds, coming to rest upon a seventeen year old girl. Her breath came out evenly but Kaoru wasn't asleep yet. She couldn't get comfortable and for some odd reason her throat had tightened painfully. She rolled over onto her side on the futon and listened to the crickets that played their music outside of her room.
Silently her fists clenched and she curled up into a fetal position. Her raven tresses fanned behind her, and limply laid on her face. Kaoru shivered, not from cold but from something unknown that assaulted her from the inside.
"Mother… Father…" Came the words unbidden, and then something inside her broke.
A hot wetness caressed her cheeks and she blinked bleary eyes. Reaching up with a shaking hand up she felt water. A salty scent hit her. No, not water.
Tears.
And this time there were no onions.
A/N: Anyways, I hoped you liked it, it's my first RuroKen fanfic (and pretty much my first fanfic as well!), and I tried my best. I know this chapter might have seemed slow, but more action is on the way. I just wanted to shed some light on the situation with Kaoru's family, this chapter is a building block for events to come.
Please review, it'll help me know if I should continue this story or not. Thanks for reading it! Bye!