A/N. Ah, so it seems we have reached the end! Sorry it took a little while, but I was determined to read Harry Potter before I went back on my computer :P
This is the last chapter in Violently Happy. In the actual doujinshi there's one with Aoshi and Misao, I think I'll try my hand at that one later on. Thank you very much to everyone who has reviewed and who has read this. I have to thank Aya for beta-reading this as well. As the last one, this one will be based purely on my imagination, but with the theme of the other three in mind. I hope you like it. Tell me what you think:)
Disclaimer: Hurray! The idea and the dialogue are finally mine! Sadly, the characters still aren't. :(
"Oroorooo!"
"Come back here, Kenshin!" yelled a furious Kaoru as she swung her bokken in a vain attempt to land a blow on the redhead. He was evading her with ease. Just when she thought she had caught up to him, he sped up ever so slightly and Kaoru's bokken missed him by a hair.
Kaoru was chasing Kenshin around the dojo. The chase had started in the kitchen when Kenshin had made a particularly thoughtless comment on Kaoru's cooking skills, or more accurately, her lack of. She had begun to throw all the objects in her reach at him and Kenshin had dodged expertly. He had then run off into the front yard saying something about laundry.
Kaoru had not given up. She had been annoyed before the comment was made and now she wanted to vent her anger. She chased Kenshin to the front yard and proceeded to chase him around the yard. Kenshin was starting to wonder if he should just slow down and let her beat on him, because she may very well never give up. Just as this thought was occurring to him, Kenshin's eyes suddenly widened in surprise.
He had been paying close attention to Kaoru's movements. He suddenly heard the sound of her footfall change. It wasn't the same as the others, it was as if her foot hadn't landed probably, the ground hadn't taken her full weight, as if she had slipped.
Kenshin whipped around and found Kaoru in the middle of falling to the ground face first. He had been running slowly on purpose, to make sure he could stay close to her, but while he was thinking he accidentally put on too much speed. He couldn't stop her falling, so he did the next best thing.
Kenshin landed flat on his back. "Kyaaaaa!" cried Kaoru as she landed right on top of Kenshin. On her way down, Kenshin had managed to grab her so she didn't have to brace herself against the ground and get cut, acting as a human cushion.
Wincing slightly, Kenshin opened one eye to look up at Kaoru. "Are you hurt?" he asked. Kaoru shook her head no and carefully got off him. Kenshin sat up and rubbed his head. Kaoru was sitting in an awkward kneel and looking as though she couldn't remember how to stand up. Hoping he was wrong about why she looked like that, Kenshin crawled over to her.
"Your right ankle hurts, doesn't it?" asked Kenshin as he carefully bent to inspect her foot.
Kaoru felt a blush creep into her cheeks. Kenshin's warm fingers gently examined her ankle and his other rested absently on her thigh. Damn, thought Kenshin, it seems that she really was beyond saving. This happened when she slipped, not when she fell. Sighing quietly, Kenshin looked up and smiled reassuringly at Kaoru, "It's a very minor sprain. You should be fine in two or three days. We should probably visit the doctor anyway, just in case. But we could do that tomorrow since it's almost sunset now. Kaoru-dono won't be able to put weight on this foot though," explained Kenshin.
Without waiting for a reply, Kenshin gathered Kaoru into his arms and picked her up.
WHACK! "Kyaaa! Kenshin! What-I'm fine!" shouted Kaoru as she repeatedly hit Kenshin about his head.
"Oro!"
However, Kenshin did not put Kaoru down. Instead he tightened his hold on her and pushed her firmly to his chest. Kaoru quietened at this and allowed Kenshin to carry her to their room. She could hear his heartbeat and feel the warmth of his body seep from under his gi to her cheek and hands.
Careful not to drop the girl in his arms, Kenshin slid open the door to their bedroom. He walked over to the futon and gently put Kaoru down. Smiling softly Kenshin helped Kaoru make herself comfortable. "Wait one moment," said Kenshin and he got up and left the room.
Kaoru watched him go and sighed. Her ankle didn't hurt too much, she didn't think she needed to see the doctor at all, but she knew Kenshin would insist. Kaoru removed the covers from her legs and carefully took a look at her ankle. It looked a little dirty, slightly red, and maybe a bit swollen…I really should know better, I could have had an awful fall-
Just then Kenshin came back into the room carrying a bowl of warm water, towels, ice, and bandages. He smiled down at Kaoru and set up his things beside her. "Kaoru-don-" Kenshin stopped at the look Kaoru gave him. He grinned sheepishly. "Kaoru will be just fine as soon as that ankle is given some attention," finished Kenshin as he knelt down by her legs.
Kenshin carefully took her right foot and placed it in his lap. Dipping one of the towels into the warm water he began to gently clean Kaoru's ankle. She had managed to get a bit of dirt on it and Kenshin thought it would need to be cleaned before being bandaged.
Kaoru watched as Kenshin treated her ankle. She realized that the absent smile was for her benefit. It was there to comfort her and Kaoru was grateful. Kenshin's touch was very light and after he dried off her ankle Kenshin ran warm fingers across her skin. The touch was so feather light that it tickled. Kaoru squirmed slightly and fought down the urge to giggle.
Kenshin looked up in surprise. He understood almost immediately why Kaoru had been squirming. He laughed at the look on her face. She was blushing slightly and looked as if she wasn't sure if she should laugh too, or if she should be annoyed. She compromised by smiling slightly and playfully whacking his shoulder. "You're tickling me!" she accused.
Kenshin's eyes sparkled and his smile became mischievous. "Oh? This tickles?" Kenshin asked as he ran his fingers along her ankle again.
This time Kaoru did laugh and then tried, and failed, to glare at Kenshin, "You know perfectly well it does!" Kenshin simply gazed at her with a look of innocence that was betrayed by grin he was attempting to suppress.
Kenshin then began to run his fingers lightly over the underside of Kaoru's foot. Kaoru jerked her leg away, but was swiftly caught by Kenshin, as she laughed. "Kenshin!" she cried. He had begun to trace his way up her exposed leg and his touch made Kaoru squirm as she giggled and attempted to, half-heartedly, push him away from her.
Openly laughing now, Kenshin brought his attack higher. While he had been tickling her leg with one hand, the other had been working the knot on Kaoru's training gi and now he slipped both hands to her exposed sides and began a new assault. He tickled her mercilessly and had Kaoru gasping for breath under him.
After a while, still laughing, Kenshin decided that Kaoru had endured enough. He removed his hands from her and instead used one to prop up his head as he lay down and gazed at a breathless Kaoru. Her cheeks were flushed and she was still trying to appear cross with him. Kenshin tenderly pushed back stray pieces of hair from Kaoru's face and Kaoru bit her lip. I can never stay mad at him, she thought allowing herself to smile up at him.
"How is your ankle feeling?" asked Kenshin turning his head to look back at Kaoru's feet.
"It's fine," she said suddenly aware that her gi was wide open. She hastily closed it and fumbled with the tie. Kenshin chuckled as he watched his wife. She was still so shy with him; it was both endearing and cute. He caught her hands and smiled sweetly at her.
"You should be more careful, Kaoru. You could have fallen quite badly, and that's never good, especially now." As he said this Kenshin let go of Kaoru's hands and slowly reopened her gi. He carefully placed his hand over the slight bump on her stomach. Kaoru blushed but held his gaze.
"I know, I'm sorry. It's just these moods swings, it's so hard to control!" Kenshin smiled indulgently at his young wife.
"Don't worry," he replied. He bent down and kissed her forehead. "Now," said Kenshin as he carefully untangled himself from Kaoru. "This one never did finish tending to your ankle." Kaoru looked down. So he hasn't, she thought. Kaoru had completely forgotten that he had stopped in favour of tickling her.
She laughed lightly and said, "Maybe you should continue." Kenshin raised a brow at the suggestive tone of voice. Kaoru didn't look away, but blushed slightly. Chuckling softly Kenshin shook his head and proceeded to tend to his wife all the while thinking of a different reason to reopen her gi.
A/N. The end :) How did everyone like it? It took me a while to think of a good ending. I also wasn't expecting it to go in this direction either. For a split second I considered adding a little more fanservice, but then I decided it would be best to keep things light. :) I hope you enjoyed it!