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The Faerie Chronicles of Kenshin & Kaoru, a Rurouni Kenshin fanfic series by Raberba girl
Part 5: Immortality
Summary: Kaoru thinks she is a normal high school student who happens to have caught the attention of one the richest men in the city. Ken O'Neill, however, seems to know her much better than he should from merely a few days' acquaintance, as do his employees. Why is he so interested in her, and what is his link to the infamous Battousai, who is fighting against a government now headed by Shishio Makoto? *PERMANENTLY INCOMPLETE*
Prologue
"Dying isn't as bad as I thought it would be," Kaoru murmured thoughtfully.
"You're not dead yet," her husband grumbled. He lay beside her, propping his head on one hand, her body nestled against his. Their hands were clasped over her chest, his thumb idly caressing her knobby fingers.
"I'm almost a hundred years old," she pointed out. "I'm sick. I could go at any time."
"You've been saying that for months now."
"It's true."
He shifted his arm so he could lay his head down next to hers. "What is this one supposed to do when you're gone?" he whispered.
"Find some other girl," she suggested. "Someone who won't die on you this time. Have lots of red-haired kids and remember me with fondness." She was trying to tease, but her chest felt tight at the thought of her Kenshin with another woman. She didn't want to be selfish, but...well, she wasn't quite dead yet. "The sex'll finally be better again, anyway."
She smiled to feel his lips against her neck, soft kisses moving up to her ear, into which his voice finally breathed, "The sex has been fine."
"Only just 'fine'?" she teased.
He pulled himself up again, smiling, his face so close to hers that she felt his breath against her skin. "It's been wonderful."
"Liar," she murmured, and their lips met. When they parted, she took a moment to get her breath back and then said, "Well, you lie very well, I'll give you that much."
She reached up, as she had so often done, to trace the mark on his face, now thin and bright red. It had been almost invisible for so long, but its color had become more and more vivid in recent months. It was selfishly reassuring to see that, despite the contentment of their life together, he was distressed at the prospect of losing her.
It had been awful to watch herself growing older and older, wrinkles beginning to ravage her face, blue veins blossoming on her legs, the gray hairs becoming so numerous that she had given up plucking them out - as beside her, he remained handsome and ever-young, practically unchanged since their wedding day.
She had been upset and anxious at first, but his love had never wavered, patient through all the clinging and moodiness and jealousy, until finally she had given him her trust again and settled down into the way things had to be.
It had been painful.... For a while, she had refused to appear together with him in public, since she thought angrily that they looked like a young prince lovingly caring for an aging queen mother. Yet eventually, she gave up and stopped trying to hide it. It was a pitiful situation no matter what she did about it, and anyone whose opinion she cared about didn't bother them about it, anyway. The brain she used to co-govern, after all, had only grown sharper with the years.
What had been more pleasant was watching the children grow up - watching Kenji charm the hearts of the people and take on rulership with earnest grace, watching the girls grow into beautiful, passionate young women. Kenshin and Kaoru had been so reluctant to betroth their eldest daughter that she ended up falling in love with a young farm boy before they made a decision, and neither of them had had the heart to forbid such an outrageous marriage.
After that, they had been in some anxiousness about their younger daughter, but Suzume was perfectly willing to marry the nobleman who first asked for her hand. He was many years her senior and not too handsome, but he was very kind and very rich and treated her like the princess she was, so that by the time their first child was born, Suzume declared that she couldn't possibly be happier.
In the meantime, their old friends slept on, hidden in a room that was nevertheless well furnished and well cared-for ("Not that they'll ever notice," Kenji sometimes pointed out). Kenshin and Kaoru had been understandably upset to return, all those years ago, and discover what had happened, but the strange letter in Kenshin's familiar messy handwriting had been difficult to argue with.
"...This one begs your trust in this matter. Sano and the rest are sorely needed at this time, as you will one day come to understand...."
With it had come the uncanny pictures, flat and glossy like stolen moments of time, showing Sanosuke and the others in strange clothes, smiling. More ominous had been a thin paper printed in black and white, depicting a person who looked terribly, horrifically familiar.
Then something had happened a few years ago which convinced Kenshin that the letter spoke truth, and gave him dark thoughts of the future. He had told Kaoru, who began to nurse a secret hope. Yet if some strange adventure was to befall them, there had been no further sign of it, and now it seemed almost too late.
"This one will miss you so much," he whispered.
Her eyes filled with tears, and she squeezed his hand. "What do you think it will be like?" she whispered back. "Do you think it's like falling asleep?" He gazed at her silently, unable to answer.
The door burst open and Tomoe swept in, still spry despite her aged body; she had been luckier than Kaoru in the effects of her mortality. "Is Kaoru-san dead yet?"
Kenshin sat up to stare at her in astonishment, and Kaoru glared indignantly.
Akira came in then, laughing. "You're not supposed to ask it like that, love."
"Really!" Kaoru agreed. "You'll give someone around here a bad impression!"
"Good," Tomoe breathed out in relief, presumably in response to the fact of Kaoru's continued survival rather than what she had actually said. The enchantress turned to Kenshin. "Kenshin-kun, I need to have some time alone with Kaoru-san. Would you mind keeping Akira company for a little while?"
Kenshin and Kaoru glanced at each other. Then she nodded, and he brought her hand up to kiss it. "I love you," he said softly.
"Love you," she answered, returning his smile.
Outside the room, Kenshin leaned against the wall with folded arms to wait, and Akira paced slowly, looking restless. "So," Kenshin finally said. "How have you been?"
"Great," Akira said at once, and paused to smile at Kenshin. He seemed excited and nervous, though he offered no explanation.
After an awkward pause, Kenshin asked curiously, "How are the children?"
"They're running me ragged, I don't know how Tomoe keeps up with them," he said happily. "Sora started turning everything to ice last week, and it turns out that Rika's been so upset lately because she's growing wings. It's got to be from Tomoe's side of the family, since everyone in my line has kept their feet firmly on the ground."
Kenshin nodded, smiling at the thought of the little ones. "And Ena, how's she?"
"She's doing great, the baby came along fine." Then he smirked. "She swears she didn't keep us up 24/7 when she was a newborn, but of course her memory back then was just a tad sketchy. What about your own girls?"
It was not until the conversation had moved on to Chou's latest exploits that Tomoe finally came back out. "I'm sorry, love," she told Akira. "It looks like I'll be having to say good-bye sooner than I thought." She smiled wryly. "Kaoru-san doesn't quite trust me."
"What?" Kenshin said, startled.
Tomoe and Akira had wrapped their arms around each other and did not hear. She closed her eyes and rested her head against him, and he rocked her gently. "Will it take a long time?" he asked softly.
"I don't know," she sighed. "It might be only a few minutes, or it might be years. But Akira--" She pulled back and looked earnestly into his eyes. "I promise I will see you again."
"I'll be waiting," he said solemnly, stroking her silvery hair. "I love you."
She kissed him, then went back into Kaoru's room.
"What was that all about?" Kenshin asked suspiciously.
Akira shrugged. "You should ask your wife."
"Does this have something to do with Tomoe-dono's elixir?" Kenshin asked cautiously.
Akira smiled widely. "She did it. It works." Then he frowned. "At least, theoretically. Tomoe hasn't tried it yet, and we didn't have any mortals to test for alternate effects."
"Please tell me," Kenshin growled, "that Kaoru-dono is not going to be your test subject."
"Only if she chooses to," Akira said, shrugging.
Kenshin started toward the door, but Akira quickly laid a hand on his arm. "Kenshin, you know Tomoe. She wouldn't do anything to hurt your wife."
"Once," Kenshin said coldly, "she did something terrible to this one's son, though wishing to keep him from hurt." Akira's grip slackened helplessly, and Kenshin shoved the door open.
Tomoe still sat next to the bed, but she had leaned forward to pillow her head on her arms, and her eyes were closed. Kaoru also lay apparently asleep, the rose she had kept over so many years clutched in her withered fist; an empty vial rested in her other palm. Neither of the women moved, or responded when he called their names.
To be continued....
Author's Note: There was a reason why I'd had Tomoe with young kids even at an advanced age, but I never got a chance to fully deal with that. Also, I'm almost certain that I gave that one kid the name "Sora" before getting into Kingdom Hearts, so I might have had a different Sora in mind.
Ftr, Kaoru accidentally drank too much of the elixir, and Tomoe was already gone by the time Kaoru made her decision.
The Faerie Chronicles of Kenshin & Kaoru: Immortality, a Rurouni Kenshin fanfic by Raberba girl
Chapter 1 - A Fated Meeting
"Shut up," Arai Kaoru mumbled at...something. She wasn't sure what it was, just that it was loud and annoying, beating over and over at her head like an alarm clock--
Oh no!
Kaoru fell out of bed with a thunk, clawed at her clock until she finally killed the alarm, then crawled blindly around her room, searching for bits of her school uniform. By this time, her eyes were reasonably functional and she was able to locate her book bag and comb, so that she was fairly presentable by the time she stumbled downstairs. As usual, the rest of her family was already up and about, looking obscenely fresh and cheery for so early in the morning.
"Good morning, Kaoru-chan," her mother laughed. "Goodness, you're up early!"
"School, Mom!" Kaoru said in exasperation, pausing only to plant a kiss on her father's head before shoveling down a bowlful of rice.
"Piggy!" her little brother laughed, from his high chair where his mother was trying to feed him.
Kaoru glared indignantly. "I liked it better when you called me tanuki."
"Piggy tanuki!" little Iori said happily. Kaoru rolled her eyes and gulped down the rest of her breakfast.
The radio was going in the background, a soft stream of news reports. "...eagerly, and anticipation is high about Vice-Chancellor Shishio's new proposal about the issue. In other news, DNA analysis has confirmed that the deaths of Tsukasa Kei and Shuro were not, in fact, the work of the so-called 'Hitokiri Battousai,' but of the couple's son, Tsukasa Kagami, age 25, who confessed to the murders yesterday evening. Police believe...."
"Geez, Dad," Kaoru complained, "turn that stuff off in front of Iori."
"Oh!" Mr. Arai exclaimed, and reached to change it to a different station. "I forgot it was on."
Kaoru finished breakfast and brushed her teeth in a record seven seconds, then shot out the front door.
"Have a good day at school!" Mrs. Arai called after her.
"Love you!" the seventeen-year-old called back, already rushing down the street.
Mr. Arai frowned and turned to his wife. "I thought this was an off-Saturday."
"I thought so, too," Mrs. Arai said in puzzlement. The conversation never progressed, since Iori chose that moment to dump his breakfast on the floor.
Of course she would reach the bus stop just as the bus was pulling away, traveling inexorably down the street no matter how loud she yelled at it or how crazily she waved her arms after it. She paced back and forth impatiently as she waited for the next bus, then finally plopped down on the bench and yanked out her battered school-issue copy of The Tempest. She had a vague idea that they were supposed to have a reading exam the next time her literature class met.
When the next bus finally pulled up five minutes later, Kaoru found a seat and kept her nose buried in the book, frantically speed-reading; she hadn't studied at all, and there was no time to enjoy the scenery.
Too rushed to even spare a glance at Himura Castle, which she liked to admire on slower days, Kaoru ran on down the street, wondering vaguely why she seemed to be the only one in a school uniform. Well, she was late; presumably all the students were now sitting in class, not on the street. Then she reached the school and came to a stop.
Why on earth were the gates locked? She stood there in confusion, looking at the padlock, wondering why the school was still closed at this hour of the morning. "Um, hello?" she said to it. "Late student here, trying to get to class...."
The campus looked deserted. Then, and only then, did it occur to Kaoru that today was a Saturday; perhaps-- "Arghhh!" Now that her brain had finally paused to think, she remembered that she had been at school last Saturday - which meant that this was an off-week. Which meant that she had woken up early and pelted down here for ABSOLUTELY NO REASON.
"Fine, then!" she shouted at the gates. "Be that way!" After delivering a jarring kick to the insensate entryway, she made her slow, depressed way back down the street. She could have slept in...she could have eaten a full breakfast for once...she could have put off studying for the Shakespeare exam some more....
"Argh!" Kaoru suddenly yelled. In that particular moment, there seemed to be no better way to express her feelings than to fling her book bag away as hard as she could - so she did so. Even as the strap was leaving her fingers, the thought crossed her mind that this was probably a bad idea, but by now it was too late.
"Oro?!"
Groaning in mortification, Kaoru turned apprehensively to look at whomever she had just assaulted. She was surprised at the sight of him - his bright red hair and blue eyes would have been enough to make him stand out in a crowd, so the long scars on his otherwise good-looking face seemed like overkill. He was somehow still upright, though he had been knocked against a wall and was now staring at her with huge eyes as he clutched her bag. He probably thought she was insane.
"I am so, so sorry," Kaoru gasped, hurrying over to him. "I shouldn't have done that, it was really stupid. Are you all right?"
"Y...Yes," he said faintly, his eyes glued to her face.
"I'm - not usually this, er, violent," Kaoru said awkwardly. "I was just...frustrated."
Then she waited, but he seemed to have no plans to speak or return her bag. Arching an eyebrow, Kaoru took hold of her bag and tried to pull it away. "You're here," he whispered.
Kaoru hesitated. "Do I...know you?" she asked slowly, suddenly a little dizzy. She thought, very strongly, that she should know him, but she couldn't recall ever seeing him before in her life.
"Do you...remember this one?" he returned cautiously.
Kaoru blinked, startled by the unusual pronoun. "Um...." Suddenly realizing that she was clutching the hand of a complete stranger, who was probably wondering whether he should be calling the police or the mental hospital first, Kaoru gasped and jerked away. "I'm sorry!" she said again, clutching her bag to her chest as she backed away, her face flaming. "I - I'm really sorry for throwing things at you and for, uh, acting so weird, I...um...bye!"
She turned to flee, but stumbled at the surprising note of desperation in his voice when he called after her to wait. "Ka-- I mean, ma'am, this one is not offended, and would, um...."
She glanced back at him in surprise. He sounded as flustered as she was. "What's wrong?" he finally asked her. Then he hurried to explain, with a stunningly cute sheepish smile, "People don't usually throw things at people unless they are upset, that they don't."
"Oh." Kaoru's face was past flaming now, but she supposed he deserved an explanation. "It's really stupid, actually...but I guess you already think I'm an idiot, so it can't hurt to tell you. It's just that I thought I was late for school, and I was in this huge rush, and it turns out there's not even any school today. Okay? Okay. I'm going to go home now and bash my head repeatedly against my bedroom wall." That last part hadn't been necessary. Wishing that the ground would open up and swallow her, Kaoru turned away, hoping she would never see this beautiful stranger again. The mortification was starting to make her sick.
"Wait, please."
What the heck! Kaoru spun, suddenly angry. "What do you want?! I apologized, didn't I? Leave me alone!"
He was giving her that wide-eyed stare again. "Oro, this one only meant...well, if you have no school today, then would you like, instead, to...well, this one would be pleased to show you around the castle, that he would."
Kaoru blinked. For the first time, she realized that the young man was wearing one of the Himura Castle pins on his shirt, as if he was either a tourist or affiliated with the place. Probably the former, since he looked to be foreign, despite the flawless Japanese accent. "Huh?"
He smiled sheepishly again. "Perhaps it is an odd request, but...to make up for such a bad start to the day, this one would like to treat you."
"Um, I don't have any money," Kaoru said uncomfortably.
He shook his head. "This one meant, he would like to offer you a free tour, compliments of the staff and managers of Himura Castle." He grinned. "There is another hour or so before the tourists will begin flocking."
"But you can't do that!" Kaoru protested. "I wouldn't like you to pay for me-- Or, wait...you don't work here, do you?"
"This one is the owner."
It took a minute for Kaoru to process this. "Mr....Ken...O'Neill...?" she whispered. Owner of Himura Castle. One of the richest men in the city. And she had just flung a bag of heavy books at his head and then acted like a complete and total idiot.
Kaoru put her head in her hands and burst into tears.
"Oro?!" He came close and hesitantly put a hand on her shoulder. "Kaoru-dono?"
'I'm such a moron,' she thought distractedly. She had completely humiliated herself, not just to a total stranger, but to Ken O'Neill. Cripes, he may even have reviewed the scholarship application she had sent in for college next year! Kaoru had never been more embarrassed in her life.
"It's all right, miss," he was saying soothingly. "This one had no right to ask such a thing. Deepest apologies." He paused. She was still crying, though the sobs had diminished somewhat.
Kaoru felt a feathery touch on her fingers, and parted them just enough to see that he was holding a piece of cloth in front of her face. She took it miserably, then realized what it was she was holding. "Is this a handkerchief?" she said in wobbly surprise.
"Yes. You may keep it if you wish."
Looking at the thing, admiring the beautiful rose embroidered in the castle logo at one corner, Kaoru gasped, "I can't blow my nose on this thing! I'll ruin it!"
"You have to blow your nose on something, that you do," he pointed out reasonably, and Kaoru wanted to dissolve as she realized that now she was standing in front of Ken O'Neill with a snot-covered face.
One hand shot up to cover the offensive material, the other groped helplessly at her bag. "I...I've got to have a tissue here somewhere...." She was determinedly avoiding looking at Mr. O'Neill again, so it was too late when she finally realized that he had pulled one of his long sleeves over his hand and was now reaching for her nose.
Kaoru would have shrieked in horror at the sight of him messing up his expensive clothes - but at his touch, she was suddenly frozen by a wave of blank memory. Someone...when she was little, someone had cleaned her face after she cried.... The feeling was so elusive that Kaoru finally gave up chasing it. When her eyes cleared, she realized that her face was dry, and Mr. O'Neill was now folding the soiled sleeve backwards, then the other sleeve to match.
"I cannot believe you did that," Kaoru said helplessly.
"I was happy to be of service," he answered, with no trace of irony in his smile. "Now, what will it be, Kaoru-dono? Shall this one escort you home, or around the castle?"
"Please," Kaoru begged. "Please please please don't tell me that you know my name from the scholarship application."
For a second he seemed caught, but then his face cleared. "Oh! So it was you. Not to worry, Kaoru-dono, my secretary mailed off your acceptance letter yesterday. You should be receiving it quite soon."
Kaoru moaned, covering her face again. "Mr. O'Neill," she said, almost conversationally, "what would you do if you had...I don't know...beat up a guy and thrown up all over him, then realized he was, like, the Chancellor or something?"
She was startled when he took hold of her hands and actually lifted them away from her face. "Kaoru-dono," he said firmly. "Even if you had done such things to this one, which you didn't--" The corner of his mouth quirked as if he was suddenly amused. "--he would still be honored to have met you. And please - this one certainly is not the Chancellor, and would prefer that you addressed him by his name."
Kaoru, staring at him through a roil of emotions, found herself fixing on this last bit. "But you're-- You're Ken O'Neill! I can't just call you...what, Ken-san or something!"
He laughed more than her frustrated attempt at humor was worth. "That will do for now," he said finally said, still grinning. Then he settled her arm on his and gestured questioningly up at Himura Castle.
Kaoru sighed. "Oh well. This day can't get any worse. Lead on." She suddenly looked away. "And...thank you."
It was odd stepping into Himura Castle before business hours. The foyer stretched out, grand and empty, so that their footsteps echoed mightily. At the far end, a custodian was waxing the floor. He raised a hand when Kaoru entered with her companion, and Mr. O'Neill returned the silent greeting with a smile.
A woman in uniform came clicking up to the Information Booth in high heels, dumping down a stack of papers. She raised her eyes to Mr. O'Neill and opened her mouth to speak, but froze with an expression of astonishment at the sight of Kaoru.
"Megumi-dono," Mr. O'Neill said smoothly, and Kaoru glanced at him - he had used the odd honorific for this woman, as well. "Please allow this one to introduce Kamiya Kaoru. She will be a guest here this morning. Kaoru-dono, this is Sagara Megumi-dono, officially our medic, though she has proven indispensible in other capacities as well."
Kaoru's stomach had plunged. "I...I think there's been a mistake," she fumbled, trying to pull away. He kept hold of her arm and looked at her in puzzlement. "My name...." He must have mistaken her for someone else. He thought she was this 'Kamiya' person, and now there was going to be a horribly awkward moment when he realized she was just some random stranger--
"Ah!" He looked a little sheepish. "Forgive this one, Kaoru-dono. He, er, used to know someone very much like you, whose name was Kamiya."
The Megumi lady snorted with amusement, and Kaoru gave her a sulky look. She wasn't sure she liked her much.
"Arai Kaoru, that is," Mr. O'Neill was now saying. "Please make her feel welcome, Megumi-dono."
Megumi waved her arm dismissively. "Of course, but where did you find her?"
Kaoru was a little offended, but Mr. O'Neill laughed. "She threw a book bag at this one's head, actually."
The woman sniffed. "Figures. Some things will never change."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Kaoru demanded, hot with embarrassment.
"Nothing you need to trouble your head about at the moment. Anyway, Ken-san, Sae-san is out sick, and I will not play receptionist again, even for you."
Kaoru nearly choked. This woman had the boldness to call him Ken-san? Was she his girlfriend? Then Kaoru remembered Mr. O'Neill asking her to call him that, too, and was not sure what to think.
He was laughing. "Of course not, Megumi-dono. Let Saitô know, he'll find someone."
"All right," Megumi agreed. She made a movement as if she was about to leave, but then looked at Kaoru and hesitated. To Kaoru's surprise, she suddenly smiled and took her hands. "Kaoru-san, I am really glad to see you here."
"Um...thank you. It's good to meet you, too," Kaoru stammered.
Megumi stepped back. "Please enjoy your visit," she said, then walked away.
After a slightly awkward pause, Mr. O'Neill smiled. "Shall we continue, then?"
"Don't you have...I don't know, work to do or something?" Kaoru said hesitantly. Then, realizing how that must sound, "Oh! I mean, not that I'm not grateful, really; it's just that, you seem so important around here, and--"
"This one would much rather be spending the time with you," he answered, with such a lack of inhibition that Kaoru's face went scarlet and she couldn't think of anything to say except a subdued, "Oh."
"We are," Mr. O'Neill said in a tour guide's voice, as they began walking again, "currently in the main reception hall, where the old kings and queens would receive important visitors. There used to be a large outer courtyard, where merchants set up shop and commoners wishing audience with their sovereign were processed, but that property was lost over time and, as you can see, is now covered with roads and other businesses."
"You know a lot about this place," Kaoru said in surprise. "Didn't you just buy it fairly recently from the Himuras?"
He smiled. "This castle holds much interest for this one. Have you ever been here before, Kaoru-dono?"
"Once, on a school field trip," she admitted, looking at the paintings as they walked slowly by. "I guess I wasn't paying much attention, though. I never noticed how beautiful it is inside."
"That it is," he agreed. Kaoru wondered about the softness in his voice, but before she could look over at him, her interest was caught in the painted ceiling they had just walked under.
She paused, staring up at the colorful, violent scene. "It looks like a battle between fairies or something," she commented.
"The Victory of the Seelie Court, commissioned by Himura Kenji I," Mr. O'Neill said in amusement. He pointed. "That's him up there, the red-haired warrior near the center, beside the Faerie Queen."
Kaoru stared. "He looks...almost like you!" she said in surprise. "That cut on his face even looks like--!" She broke off hastily, not wanting to offend him.
"Ah." He suddenly seemed uncomfortable. "Perhaps there is a resemblance. Come, Kaoru-dono."
She let herself be led on, but just before they reached the next wing, they were stopped by a tall man whose spiky hair seemed out of place with his security officer's uniform. "Kenshin, there's--" He caught sight of Kaoru and openly gaped.
Kaoru stared back. Were all the employees of Himura Castle this weird? "Hi," she said pointedly.
"Sano, this is Kami-- Er, Arai Kaoru," Mr. O'Neill introduced her. "This one is taking her to have a look around before things get crowded. Kaoru-dono, allow this one to introduce Sagara Sanosuke, head of our security and this one's very good friend."
"Hi," Kaoru said again, warming up a little. She bowed, and the man nodded after a moment.
"Hi, Jouchan," he said cautiously, and for some reason, he was grinning like he'd struck gold - though luckily, it was more in a 'Sw33t, my team just won!' way than a 'Heheh, hot young girl' way. Yup, everyone in this castle was definitely weird.
"What were you going to report?" Mr. O'Neill reminded him.
Officer Sagara shook his head, keeping his eyes on Kaoru as he spoke. "Yahiko's just gotten back, says Sôjirô's back in place and Saitô's given us the all-clear. Tonight, Kenshin."
Mr. O'Neill nodded. "Understood. Thank you, Sano."
The man bowed deeply to them both, then strode on past them.
"What did he call you?" Kaoru said in puzzlement.
"Perhaps you might call it a nickname," he said slowly. "This one is more accustomed to that than to 'Mr. O'Neill.' Kaoru-dono...would it be too great a request for this one to ask of you, that you call him by that name?"
She blushed. "You're kind of forward, you know," she mumbled.
"Ah." He seemed disappointed, but not surprised.
Oh, what the heck. He was calling her 'Kaoru-dono,' after all. "Kenshin..." she winced, "...-san." Then her eyes widened. "Kenshin." The word on her lips...her mouth formed the syllables easily, much too easily, as if she had spoken this name a thousand times before. "Kenshin. Kenshin." He looked at her, concerned, and it was no wonder. She lifted shaking hands to her eyes and found her cheeks wet with tears.
"Oh, I'm such an idiot!" she choked, and then she was crying in earnest. 'What is wrong with me?' she thought, shocked at the swell of grief in her heart, simultaneously irritated with this horribly irrational fit. Luckily, the embarrassment was only a sullen glow, rather than the skin-crawling shame she had been afflicted with outside. She must be getting used to crying and acting like an idiot in front of this man.
She stiffened when he put his arms around her. He was gentle, barely touching her; even so, he was practically a stranger, he shouldn't be doing this. Yet it felt so.... She had to work very hard not to give in to the temptation to go limp against him and cry into his shoulder. She knew it would feel good. She wanted him to hug her close, but she was also repelled at this invasion of her boundaries. All this she thought while crying, as if she was calmly watching her body rather than engaged in the activity herself.
"Kaoru-dono," he said finally, sounding rather helpless, "please accept this one's sincere apologies. Feel free to call him whatever you wish."
She wiped her eyes. He silently held out that handkerchief of his again, and her face went hot. She took it without protest this time. "What am I supposed to do with this thing?" she asked in disgust when she had used it.
He smiled. "Keep it. Give it back. Throw it away. Whatever you like, Kaoru-dono."
A little defiantly, she handed it back, and was slightly disappointed when he took it without hesitation, folded it so all the grossness was contained, and slipped it back into his pocket. "Thanks, um--" She froze, caught. He raised an eyebrow, waiting. "Thanks, Mr. O'...." It sounded wrong now. Too formal for a man who had let her blow her nose on his sleeve and had watched her cry with sympathetic eyes. "Ken-san," she said uncomfortably, but that wasn't right, either. She closed her eyes. "Kenshin," she whispered, afraid she would start crying again.
She didn't. She opened her eyes. "Kenshin," she said testingly. He smiled. Again, the word came much too quickly to her lips, feeling like a part of her mouth rather than a foreign sound carried by her voice. But looking at him, at his smile, that strange unbidden grief seemed to recede, and she could say the name almost with a straight face. "Thank you, Kenshin."
"You're welcome," he whispered.
They continued on. Kenshin was silent for a while, but then seemed to rouse himself and spoke again in that tour guide's voice. "Apologies. This wing we're coming up on now is where the royal family had their private chambers." He suddenly paused, then turned to smile at her. "Would you like to see the suite of the king and queen, Kaoru-dono?"
"Sure," she agreed, curious despite everything. The castle really was impressive, and being able to see it without the distraction of crowds gave her admiration a more serious quality.
They turned into a set of open doors, where the furnishings of the front sitting-room were quietly cordoned off. 'Don't touch,' Kaoru thought with a regretful little smile. She went up as close as she could and slowly made the circuit, taking in every beautiful object at her leisure.
The paintings were quite interesting, though most of them seemed rather preoccupied with some sort of fantasy world. An image of a king sitting in council with his advisors depicted a couple of fairies flitting around his head; a queen smiled down at her infant as a winged cat looked on curiously; fantastic creatures mirrored the actions of warriors in the heat of battle, and the like. "Lots of fairies," she commented.
"The Himura line, particularly in its earliest-recorded years, had many legends linking them with Faerie - Fairyland," he clarified when he saw her uncomprehending expression. "There are many stories about princes and princesses consorting with the Faerie Queen, getting involved in fey battles, things like that. Of course, that was very early on, though even in more recent times when belief in such things was mostly dead, the Himura monarchs liked to retain at least a symbolic link with the fey realm. For example, the imagery in this painting here was meant to indicate that the king's actions had the blessing of Faerie."
"A lot of them have red hair," Kaoru observed, frowning.
He looked uncomfortable again. "Yes...again, that would be in the early years. Legend has it that the kings were descended from the Faerie Queen herself. Of course, the more likely explanation is that one of them was a foreigner, who would have inherited the throne if there were no brothers-in-law."
"Hm." Kaoru nodded, but she smiled a little as she looked back and forth between Kenshin and the portraits. "You still look an awfully lot like the guys in these pictures. You're not a king in disguise, are you?" she teased.
She was surprised at the intensity of his reaction, at the imploring expression in his eyes. "Kaoru-dono...."
"It's just a joke," she said quickly. "I'm sorry."
His smile was weak, but conciliatory. "Haha...no offense taken, not at all." His smile solidified suddenly. "Come, this one will show you the bedchamber."
"It's roped off," she pointed out.
The twinkle in his eyes was truly mischievous as he moved the little barrier aside and gestured invitingly.
"Mr.-- I mean, Kenshin!" she gasped. "You can't do that!"
"Yes, this one will get into a lot of trouble," he laughed. She shook her head, smiling, realizing that he had a point.
A bit nervously, she entered the room and looked around in awe. The place seemed so quiet, so old and secret. She felt like an intruder in her pleated skirt and baggy socks.
"Most of the furnishings are from different eras," he murmured, so quietly that the hush of the place seemed barely disturbed. "For example, these chairs are from the days of Himura Kenji III and the bureau is even more recent, but the bed belonged to the parents of Himura Kenji I."
"It's that old?" she whispered in shock.
"You are in a museum," he reminded her. He sat down on one side of the bed and patted the other. Gingerly, Kaoru lowered herself onto the edge of the bed and gently fingered the richly-embroidered coverlet. "It's so beautiful."
"Yes," he said softly.
"Royalty once slept here," Kaoru said in awe. Almost dreamlike, she slowly lay her head on the pillows and closed her eyes. Gradually, she felt her tense body relax, and her mind seemed to sink farther and farther into the past until she was dreaming that she was a queen, walking the empty halls of a castle and weeping. Lost, lost, all of them are lost....
She awoke with a start and quickly sat up, only to find tears on her face. Wiping them off angrily, she looked around for Kenshin and found him standing by the window almost all the way across the room, looking out onto the grounds.
Actually, he was doing that now. There had been an instant when she had turned to him and found him gazing at her, but he had quickly looked away when their eyes met. "How long was I asleep?!" she exclaimed in dismay.
"Not long," he said quietly, still staring out the window. "This one did not wish to disturb you."
Kaoru frowned, and as she slid back off the bed, she was aghast to find that the coverlet, delicate with age, had ripped in response to her movements. "Oh!" she gasped. "I...I...."
She cringed when he came over in concern, but when he saw the torn cloth, he only smiled and reached down idly to smooth the material flat. "Do not worry about it, Kaoru-dono. Come, it's past opening time. We had better get out of here before the tourists show up and want to know why they can't come crowding in as well."
"Right," Kaoru muttered, still red-faced.
When they came out again, they headed back for the entrance and met little groups of tourists leisurely making their way through the corridors. Kaoru looked at them curiously, feeling a little smug that she had been allowed special privileges. For the museum owner himself to have shown her around, allowing her into the exhibits themselves and writing off damage to them as nothing.... Well, actually, it was a little odd, come to think of it, seeing as they had only just met.
"Ken-jiichan!" Two teenage girls were suddenly barreling towards them, shocking Kaoru when they flung their arms around Kenshin and screamed with laughter.
He laughed back and hugged them both. 'Well, you certainly have a way with women,' Kaoru thought in annoyance (though what was with the "jiichan" business?). "Aya-dono, Suzumi-dono, it is wonderful to see you. Have you brought your mother with you, as well?"
"She had to work today!" they cried, pouting. "But we came to see you, Ken-jiichan!"
He held them away and gave them a stern look, though a twinkle was still visible in his eyes. "Now, weren't you telling this one that you have a paper due Monday, Aya-dono, and that your science project needs to be done by Tuesday, Suzumi-dono?"
They glomped him again, begging playfully, "But we can do them tonight! Please, pleeeaaase let us stay?"
He shook his head, smiling again. "How about this one comes over later to help?"
"But then you'll make us work," Aya protested. "I wanted to put it off longer!"
"No, no, it's okay!" her companion assured her. "'Cause then Ken-jiichan can stay 'til Mom comes home, and we can have a party!"
"Not tonight, I'm afraid," he told her. "There are already plans. Aya-dono, Suzumi-dono, this one wishes you to meet someone." Kaoru immediately found herself the object of two intense, curious gazes. "Girls, this is...." He paused meaningfully. "...Kaoru-dono." The girls blinked, and then their eyes widened. "Kaoru-dono, these two are Aya-dono and Suzumi-dono, as you probably noted. They are twins, and they and their mother are very dear friends of this one."
"She's real! She's come!" Aya suddenly cried, and her sister shrieked in delight, "Kaoru-baachan!"
"Excuse me?!" Kaoru gasped, but then she was being enthusiastically hugged. "I...wait...!"
"Girls," Kenshin said warningly, and they reluctantly let go.
"Is it really her, Ken-jiichan?!"
"Aya-dono, Suzumi-dono," he said seriously, "please be kind to Kaoru-dono, and do not say anything she might find, er, insulting."
"Eh?" Suzumi said in puzzlement, cocking her head like a puppy, but her sister nodded and turned to Kaoru. "I'm sorry, Kaoru-neechan. We didn't mean to be rude, really!"
"It's okay," Kaoru mumbled. "Why do you call him 'jiichan,' anyway?" she asked, gesturing at Kenshin. "He's not that old."
The girls burst into giggles.
"Aya-dono, Suzumi-dono," Kenshin said hurriedly, "why don't you run along now and say hi to the others? This one would like to see Kaoru-dono off."
"All right," they agreed, and hugged him again. "See you later, Jiichan!" They ran off again, half-backwards as they tried to wave, and he waved back until they were out of sight.
"They really are good girls," he told Kaoru, a little anxiously.
"I know," she agreed readily enough, "I can tell." 'Very nice, but still weird.' "You don't have to walk me out or anything, I'm sure you've got a lot to do."
"It's no trouble," he assured her. "It was an honor to have you here, and you are welcome back at any time, free of charge. Perhaps you can bring your family next time." He offered her his arm, and Kaoru hesitantly took it.
"Thanks. Yeah, Mom and Dad would probably like it, I'll tell them. You're very generous."
"No trouble at all," he said again, and smiled. "It's a pleasure."
To be continued....
Author's Notes: Kaoru is adopted, I never got the chance to mention that.
"Jiichan" and "Baachan" are cute, informal ways of saying "Grandpa" and "Grandma." Aya & Suzumi are not Ayame & Suzume, but I tried to make their personalities as close as possible. Unfortunately, they just ended up like slightly more intelligent handmaids. :/
Gah, seems like creepy pedoness is just kind of inherently buried in the plot, no matter how much I try to edit it out. -.- Sorry, guys. I was younger when I wrote this.... :/
I realized belatedly that some of the subconscious inspiration for Immortality was probably Diana Wynne Jones's book The Crown of Dalemark.
Since I never got a chance to explain, what happened is that Tomoe's elixir de-ages the people who drink it. Kaoru accidentally drank too much and ended up as a baby. My notes are confusing, but I think Kenshin took her with him to the future and made sure she was safely adopted by the Arais.
Part 5: Immortality
Summary: Kaoru thinks she is a normal high school student who happens to have caught the attention of one the richest men in the city. Ken O'Neill, however, seems to know her much better than he should from merely a few days' acquaintance, as do his employees. Why is he so interested in her, and what is his link to the infamous Battousai, who is fighting against a government now headed by Shishio Makoto? *PERMANENTLY INCOMPLETE*
Prologue
"Dying isn't as bad as I thought it would be," Kaoru murmured thoughtfully.
"You're not dead yet," her husband grumbled. He lay beside her, propping his head on one hand, her body nestled against his. Their hands were clasped over her chest, his thumb idly caressing her knobby fingers.
"I'm almost a hundred years old," she pointed out. "I'm sick. I could go at any time."
"You've been saying that for months now."
"It's true."
He shifted his arm so he could lay his head down next to hers. "What is this one supposed to do when you're gone?" he whispered.
"Find some other girl," she suggested. "Someone who won't die on you this time. Have lots of red-haired kids and remember me with fondness." She was trying to tease, but her chest felt tight at the thought of her Kenshin with another woman. She didn't want to be selfish, but...well, she wasn't quite dead yet. "The sex'll finally be better again, anyway."
She smiled to feel his lips against her neck, soft kisses moving up to her ear, into which his voice finally breathed, "The sex has been fine."
"Only just 'fine'?" she teased.
He pulled himself up again, smiling, his face so close to hers that she felt his breath against her skin. "It's been wonderful."
"Liar," she murmured, and their lips met. When they parted, she took a moment to get her breath back and then said, "Well, you lie very well, I'll give you that much."
She reached up, as she had so often done, to trace the mark on his face, now thin and bright red. It had been almost invisible for so long, but its color had become more and more vivid in recent months. It was selfishly reassuring to see that, despite the contentment of their life together, he was distressed at the prospect of losing her.
It had been awful to watch herself growing older and older, wrinkles beginning to ravage her face, blue veins blossoming on her legs, the gray hairs becoming so numerous that she had given up plucking them out - as beside her, he remained handsome and ever-young, practically unchanged since their wedding day.
She had been upset and anxious at first, but his love had never wavered, patient through all the clinging and moodiness and jealousy, until finally she had given him her trust again and settled down into the way things had to be.
It had been painful.... For a while, she had refused to appear together with him in public, since she thought angrily that they looked like a young prince lovingly caring for an aging queen mother. Yet eventually, she gave up and stopped trying to hide it. It was a pitiful situation no matter what she did about it, and anyone whose opinion she cared about didn't bother them about it, anyway. The brain she used to co-govern, after all, had only grown sharper with the years.
What had been more pleasant was watching the children grow up - watching Kenji charm the hearts of the people and take on rulership with earnest grace, watching the girls grow into beautiful, passionate young women. Kenshin and Kaoru had been so reluctant to betroth their eldest daughter that she ended up falling in love with a young farm boy before they made a decision, and neither of them had had the heart to forbid such an outrageous marriage.
After that, they had been in some anxiousness about their younger daughter, but Suzume was perfectly willing to marry the nobleman who first asked for her hand. He was many years her senior and not too handsome, but he was very kind and very rich and treated her like the princess she was, so that by the time their first child was born, Suzume declared that she couldn't possibly be happier.
In the meantime, their old friends slept on, hidden in a room that was nevertheless well furnished and well cared-for ("Not that they'll ever notice," Kenji sometimes pointed out). Kenshin and Kaoru had been understandably upset to return, all those years ago, and discover what had happened, but the strange letter in Kenshin's familiar messy handwriting had been difficult to argue with.
"...This one begs your trust in this matter. Sano and the rest are sorely needed at this time, as you will one day come to understand...."
With it had come the uncanny pictures, flat and glossy like stolen moments of time, showing Sanosuke and the others in strange clothes, smiling. More ominous had been a thin paper printed in black and white, depicting a person who looked terribly, horrifically familiar.
Then something had happened a few years ago which convinced Kenshin that the letter spoke truth, and gave him dark thoughts of the future. He had told Kaoru, who began to nurse a secret hope. Yet if some strange adventure was to befall them, there had been no further sign of it, and now it seemed almost too late.
"This one will miss you so much," he whispered.
Her eyes filled with tears, and she squeezed his hand. "What do you think it will be like?" she whispered back. "Do you think it's like falling asleep?" He gazed at her silently, unable to answer.
The door burst open and Tomoe swept in, still spry despite her aged body; she had been luckier than Kaoru in the effects of her mortality. "Is Kaoru-san dead yet?"
Kenshin sat up to stare at her in astonishment, and Kaoru glared indignantly.
Akira came in then, laughing. "You're not supposed to ask it like that, love."
"Really!" Kaoru agreed. "You'll give someone around here a bad impression!"
"Good," Tomoe breathed out in relief, presumably in response to the fact of Kaoru's continued survival rather than what she had actually said. The enchantress turned to Kenshin. "Kenshin-kun, I need to have some time alone with Kaoru-san. Would you mind keeping Akira company for a little while?"
Kenshin and Kaoru glanced at each other. Then she nodded, and he brought her hand up to kiss it. "I love you," he said softly.
"Love you," she answered, returning his smile.
Outside the room, Kenshin leaned against the wall with folded arms to wait, and Akira paced slowly, looking restless. "So," Kenshin finally said. "How have you been?"
"Great," Akira said at once, and paused to smile at Kenshin. He seemed excited and nervous, though he offered no explanation.
After an awkward pause, Kenshin asked curiously, "How are the children?"
"They're running me ragged, I don't know how Tomoe keeps up with them," he said happily. "Sora started turning everything to ice last week, and it turns out that Rika's been so upset lately because she's growing wings. It's got to be from Tomoe's side of the family, since everyone in my line has kept their feet firmly on the ground."
Kenshin nodded, smiling at the thought of the little ones. "And Ena, how's she?"
"She's doing great, the baby came along fine." Then he smirked. "She swears she didn't keep us up 24/7 when she was a newborn, but of course her memory back then was just a tad sketchy. What about your own girls?"
It was not until the conversation had moved on to Chou's latest exploits that Tomoe finally came back out. "I'm sorry, love," she told Akira. "It looks like I'll be having to say good-bye sooner than I thought." She smiled wryly. "Kaoru-san doesn't quite trust me."
"What?" Kenshin said, startled.
Tomoe and Akira had wrapped their arms around each other and did not hear. She closed her eyes and rested her head against him, and he rocked her gently. "Will it take a long time?" he asked softly.
"I don't know," she sighed. "It might be only a few minutes, or it might be years. But Akira--" She pulled back and looked earnestly into his eyes. "I promise I will see you again."
"I'll be waiting," he said solemnly, stroking her silvery hair. "I love you."
She kissed him, then went back into Kaoru's room.
"What was that all about?" Kenshin asked suspiciously.
Akira shrugged. "You should ask your wife."
"Does this have something to do with Tomoe-dono's elixir?" Kenshin asked cautiously.
Akira smiled widely. "She did it. It works." Then he frowned. "At least, theoretically. Tomoe hasn't tried it yet, and we didn't have any mortals to test for alternate effects."
"Please tell me," Kenshin growled, "that Kaoru-dono is not going to be your test subject."
"Only if she chooses to," Akira said, shrugging.
Kenshin started toward the door, but Akira quickly laid a hand on his arm. "Kenshin, you know Tomoe. She wouldn't do anything to hurt your wife."
"Once," Kenshin said coldly, "she did something terrible to this one's son, though wishing to keep him from hurt." Akira's grip slackened helplessly, and Kenshin shoved the door open.
Tomoe still sat next to the bed, but she had leaned forward to pillow her head on her arms, and her eyes were closed. Kaoru also lay apparently asleep, the rose she had kept over so many years clutched in her withered fist; an empty vial rested in her other palm. Neither of the women moved, or responded when he called their names.
To be continued....
Author's Note: There was a reason why I'd had Tomoe with young kids even at an advanced age, but I never got a chance to fully deal with that. Also, I'm almost certain that I gave that one kid the name "Sora" before getting into Kingdom Hearts, so I might have had a different Sora in mind.
Ftr, Kaoru accidentally drank too much of the elixir, and Tomoe was already gone by the time Kaoru made her decision.
The Faerie Chronicles of Kenshin & Kaoru: Immortality, a Rurouni Kenshin fanfic by Raberba girl
Chapter 1 - A Fated Meeting
"Shut up," Arai Kaoru mumbled at...something. She wasn't sure what it was, just that it was loud and annoying, beating over and over at her head like an alarm clock--
Oh no!
Kaoru fell out of bed with a thunk, clawed at her clock until she finally killed the alarm, then crawled blindly around her room, searching for bits of her school uniform. By this time, her eyes were reasonably functional and she was able to locate her book bag and comb, so that she was fairly presentable by the time she stumbled downstairs. As usual, the rest of her family was already up and about, looking obscenely fresh and cheery for so early in the morning.
"Good morning, Kaoru-chan," her mother laughed. "Goodness, you're up early!"
"School, Mom!" Kaoru said in exasperation, pausing only to plant a kiss on her father's head before shoveling down a bowlful of rice.
"Piggy!" her little brother laughed, from his high chair where his mother was trying to feed him.
Kaoru glared indignantly. "I liked it better when you called me tanuki."
"Piggy tanuki!" little Iori said happily. Kaoru rolled her eyes and gulped down the rest of her breakfast.
The radio was going in the background, a soft stream of news reports. "...eagerly, and anticipation is high about Vice-Chancellor Shishio's new proposal about the issue. In other news, DNA analysis has confirmed that the deaths of Tsukasa Kei and Shuro were not, in fact, the work of the so-called 'Hitokiri Battousai,' but of the couple's son, Tsukasa Kagami, age 25, who confessed to the murders yesterday evening. Police believe...."
"Geez, Dad," Kaoru complained, "turn that stuff off in front of Iori."
"Oh!" Mr. Arai exclaimed, and reached to change it to a different station. "I forgot it was on."
Kaoru finished breakfast and brushed her teeth in a record seven seconds, then shot out the front door.
"Have a good day at school!" Mrs. Arai called after her.
"Love you!" the seventeen-year-old called back, already rushing down the street.
Mr. Arai frowned and turned to his wife. "I thought this was an off-Saturday."
"I thought so, too," Mrs. Arai said in puzzlement. The conversation never progressed, since Iori chose that moment to dump his breakfast on the floor.
o.o.o.o.o
Kaoru pounded down the street, listening to the refrain in her head accompanying the sound of her feet on the pavement: 'I'm late, I'm late, I'm late, I'm late!'Of course she would reach the bus stop just as the bus was pulling away, traveling inexorably down the street no matter how loud she yelled at it or how crazily she waved her arms after it. She paced back and forth impatiently as she waited for the next bus, then finally plopped down on the bench and yanked out her battered school-issue copy of The Tempest. She had a vague idea that they were supposed to have a reading exam the next time her literature class met.
When the next bus finally pulled up five minutes later, Kaoru found a seat and kept her nose buried in the book, frantically speed-reading; she hadn't studied at all, and there was no time to enjoy the scenery.
Thou, my slave,As thou report'st thyself, wast then her servant;And, for thou wast a spirit too delicateTo act her earthy and abhorr'd commands,Refusing her grand hests, she did confine thee,By help of her more potent ministersAnd in her most unmitigable rage,Into a cloven pine; within which riftImprison'd thou didst painfully remainA dozen years; within which space she diedAnd left thee there; where thou didst vent thy groansAs fast as mill-wheels strike.
Kaoru thumbed through to later acts, and despite herself, her attention became so absorbed in Ariel's story that she would have missed her stop if someone else hadn't also needed to get off there. She sprang up at the realization and stumbled down the narrow aisle, shoving her way out of the bus's exit doors.Too rushed to even spare a glance at Himura Castle, which she liked to admire on slower days, Kaoru ran on down the street, wondering vaguely why she seemed to be the only one in a school uniform. Well, she was late; presumably all the students were now sitting in class, not on the street. Then she reached the school and came to a stop.
Why on earth were the gates locked? She stood there in confusion, looking at the padlock, wondering why the school was still closed at this hour of the morning. "Um, hello?" she said to it. "Late student here, trying to get to class...."
The campus looked deserted. Then, and only then, did it occur to Kaoru that today was a Saturday; perhaps-- "Arghhh!" Now that her brain had finally paused to think, she remembered that she had been at school last Saturday - which meant that this was an off-week. Which meant that she had woken up early and pelted down here for ABSOLUTELY NO REASON.
"Fine, then!" she shouted at the gates. "Be that way!" After delivering a jarring kick to the insensate entryway, she made her slow, depressed way back down the street. She could have slept in...she could have eaten a full breakfast for once...she could have put off studying for the Shakespeare exam some more....
"Argh!" Kaoru suddenly yelled. In that particular moment, there seemed to be no better way to express her feelings than to fling her book bag away as hard as she could - so she did so. Even as the strap was leaving her fingers, the thought crossed her mind that this was probably a bad idea, but by now it was too late.
"Oro?!"
Groaning in mortification, Kaoru turned apprehensively to look at whomever she had just assaulted. She was surprised at the sight of him - his bright red hair and blue eyes would have been enough to make him stand out in a crowd, so the long scars on his otherwise good-looking face seemed like overkill. He was somehow still upright, though he had been knocked against a wall and was now staring at her with huge eyes as he clutched her bag. He probably thought she was insane.
"I am so, so sorry," Kaoru gasped, hurrying over to him. "I shouldn't have done that, it was really stupid. Are you all right?"
"Y...Yes," he said faintly, his eyes glued to her face.
"I'm - not usually this, er, violent," Kaoru said awkwardly. "I was just...frustrated."
Then she waited, but he seemed to have no plans to speak or return her bag. Arching an eyebrow, Kaoru took hold of her bag and tried to pull it away. "You're here," he whispered.
Kaoru hesitated. "Do I...know you?" she asked slowly, suddenly a little dizzy. She thought, very strongly, that she should know him, but she couldn't recall ever seeing him before in her life.
"Do you...remember this one?" he returned cautiously.
Kaoru blinked, startled by the unusual pronoun. "Um...." Suddenly realizing that she was clutching the hand of a complete stranger, who was probably wondering whether he should be calling the police or the mental hospital first, Kaoru gasped and jerked away. "I'm sorry!" she said again, clutching her bag to her chest as she backed away, her face flaming. "I - I'm really sorry for throwing things at you and for, uh, acting so weird, I...um...bye!"
She turned to flee, but stumbled at the surprising note of desperation in his voice when he called after her to wait. "Ka-- I mean, ma'am, this one is not offended, and would, um...."
She glanced back at him in surprise. He sounded as flustered as she was. "What's wrong?" he finally asked her. Then he hurried to explain, with a stunningly cute sheepish smile, "People don't usually throw things at people unless they are upset, that they don't."
"Oh." Kaoru's face was past flaming now, but she supposed he deserved an explanation. "It's really stupid, actually...but I guess you already think I'm an idiot, so it can't hurt to tell you. It's just that I thought I was late for school, and I was in this huge rush, and it turns out there's not even any school today. Okay? Okay. I'm going to go home now and bash my head repeatedly against my bedroom wall." That last part hadn't been necessary. Wishing that the ground would open up and swallow her, Kaoru turned away, hoping she would never see this beautiful stranger again. The mortification was starting to make her sick.
"Wait, please."
What the heck! Kaoru spun, suddenly angry. "What do you want?! I apologized, didn't I? Leave me alone!"
He was giving her that wide-eyed stare again. "Oro, this one only meant...well, if you have no school today, then would you like, instead, to...well, this one would be pleased to show you around the castle, that he would."
Kaoru blinked. For the first time, she realized that the young man was wearing one of the Himura Castle pins on his shirt, as if he was either a tourist or affiliated with the place. Probably the former, since he looked to be foreign, despite the flawless Japanese accent. "Huh?"
He smiled sheepishly again. "Perhaps it is an odd request, but...to make up for such a bad start to the day, this one would like to treat you."
"Um, I don't have any money," Kaoru said uncomfortably.
He shook his head. "This one meant, he would like to offer you a free tour, compliments of the staff and managers of Himura Castle." He grinned. "There is another hour or so before the tourists will begin flocking."
"But you can't do that!" Kaoru protested. "I wouldn't like you to pay for me-- Or, wait...you don't work here, do you?"
"This one is the owner."
It took a minute for Kaoru to process this. "Mr....Ken...O'Neill...?" she whispered. Owner of Himura Castle. One of the richest men in the city. And she had just flung a bag of heavy books at his head and then acted like a complete and total idiot.
Kaoru put her head in her hands and burst into tears.
"Oro?!" He came close and hesitantly put a hand on her shoulder. "Kaoru-dono?"
'I'm such a moron,' she thought distractedly. She had completely humiliated herself, not just to a total stranger, but to Ken O'Neill. Cripes, he may even have reviewed the scholarship application she had sent in for college next year! Kaoru had never been more embarrassed in her life.
"It's all right, miss," he was saying soothingly. "This one had no right to ask such a thing. Deepest apologies." He paused. She was still crying, though the sobs had diminished somewhat.
Kaoru felt a feathery touch on her fingers, and parted them just enough to see that he was holding a piece of cloth in front of her face. She took it miserably, then realized what it was she was holding. "Is this a handkerchief?" she said in wobbly surprise.
"Yes. You may keep it if you wish."
Looking at the thing, admiring the beautiful rose embroidered in the castle logo at one corner, Kaoru gasped, "I can't blow my nose on this thing! I'll ruin it!"
"You have to blow your nose on something, that you do," he pointed out reasonably, and Kaoru wanted to dissolve as she realized that now she was standing in front of Ken O'Neill with a snot-covered face.
One hand shot up to cover the offensive material, the other groped helplessly at her bag. "I...I've got to have a tissue here somewhere...." She was determinedly avoiding looking at Mr. O'Neill again, so it was too late when she finally realized that he had pulled one of his long sleeves over his hand and was now reaching for her nose.
Kaoru would have shrieked in horror at the sight of him messing up his expensive clothes - but at his touch, she was suddenly frozen by a wave of blank memory. Someone...when she was little, someone had cleaned her face after she cried.... The feeling was so elusive that Kaoru finally gave up chasing it. When her eyes cleared, she realized that her face was dry, and Mr. O'Neill was now folding the soiled sleeve backwards, then the other sleeve to match.
"I cannot believe you did that," Kaoru said helplessly.
"I was happy to be of service," he answered, with no trace of irony in his smile. "Now, what will it be, Kaoru-dono? Shall this one escort you home, or around the castle?"
"Please," Kaoru begged. "Please please please don't tell me that you know my name from the scholarship application."
For a second he seemed caught, but then his face cleared. "Oh! So it was you. Not to worry, Kaoru-dono, my secretary mailed off your acceptance letter yesterday. You should be receiving it quite soon."
Kaoru moaned, covering her face again. "Mr. O'Neill," she said, almost conversationally, "what would you do if you had...I don't know...beat up a guy and thrown up all over him, then realized he was, like, the Chancellor or something?"
She was startled when he took hold of her hands and actually lifted them away from her face. "Kaoru-dono," he said firmly. "Even if you had done such things to this one, which you didn't--" The corner of his mouth quirked as if he was suddenly amused. "--he would still be honored to have met you. And please - this one certainly is not the Chancellor, and would prefer that you addressed him by his name."
Kaoru, staring at him through a roil of emotions, found herself fixing on this last bit. "But you're-- You're Ken O'Neill! I can't just call you...what, Ken-san or something!"
He laughed more than her frustrated attempt at humor was worth. "That will do for now," he said finally said, still grinning. Then he settled her arm on his and gestured questioningly up at Himura Castle.
Kaoru sighed. "Oh well. This day can't get any worse. Lead on." She suddenly looked away. "And...thank you."
It was odd stepping into Himura Castle before business hours. The foyer stretched out, grand and empty, so that their footsteps echoed mightily. At the far end, a custodian was waxing the floor. He raised a hand when Kaoru entered with her companion, and Mr. O'Neill returned the silent greeting with a smile.
A woman in uniform came clicking up to the Information Booth in high heels, dumping down a stack of papers. She raised her eyes to Mr. O'Neill and opened her mouth to speak, but froze with an expression of astonishment at the sight of Kaoru.
"Megumi-dono," Mr. O'Neill said smoothly, and Kaoru glanced at him - he had used the odd honorific for this woman, as well. "Please allow this one to introduce Kamiya Kaoru. She will be a guest here this morning. Kaoru-dono, this is Sagara Megumi-dono, officially our medic, though she has proven indispensible in other capacities as well."
Kaoru's stomach had plunged. "I...I think there's been a mistake," she fumbled, trying to pull away. He kept hold of her arm and looked at her in puzzlement. "My name...." He must have mistaken her for someone else. He thought she was this 'Kamiya' person, and now there was going to be a horribly awkward moment when he realized she was just some random stranger--
"Ah!" He looked a little sheepish. "Forgive this one, Kaoru-dono. He, er, used to know someone very much like you, whose name was Kamiya."
The Megumi lady snorted with amusement, and Kaoru gave her a sulky look. She wasn't sure she liked her much.
"Arai Kaoru, that is," Mr. O'Neill was now saying. "Please make her feel welcome, Megumi-dono."
Megumi waved her arm dismissively. "Of course, but where did you find her?"
Kaoru was a little offended, but Mr. O'Neill laughed. "She threw a book bag at this one's head, actually."
The woman sniffed. "Figures. Some things will never change."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Kaoru demanded, hot with embarrassment.
"Nothing you need to trouble your head about at the moment. Anyway, Ken-san, Sae-san is out sick, and I will not play receptionist again, even for you."
Kaoru nearly choked. This woman had the boldness to call him Ken-san? Was she his girlfriend? Then Kaoru remembered Mr. O'Neill asking her to call him that, too, and was not sure what to think.
He was laughing. "Of course not, Megumi-dono. Let Saitô know, he'll find someone."
"All right," Megumi agreed. She made a movement as if she was about to leave, but then looked at Kaoru and hesitated. To Kaoru's surprise, she suddenly smiled and took her hands. "Kaoru-san, I am really glad to see you here."
"Um...thank you. It's good to meet you, too," Kaoru stammered.
Megumi stepped back. "Please enjoy your visit," she said, then walked away.
After a slightly awkward pause, Mr. O'Neill smiled. "Shall we continue, then?"
"Don't you have...I don't know, work to do or something?" Kaoru said hesitantly. Then, realizing how that must sound, "Oh! I mean, not that I'm not grateful, really; it's just that, you seem so important around here, and--"
"This one would much rather be spending the time with you," he answered, with such a lack of inhibition that Kaoru's face went scarlet and she couldn't think of anything to say except a subdued, "Oh."
"We are," Mr. O'Neill said in a tour guide's voice, as they began walking again, "currently in the main reception hall, where the old kings and queens would receive important visitors. There used to be a large outer courtyard, where merchants set up shop and commoners wishing audience with their sovereign were processed, but that property was lost over time and, as you can see, is now covered with roads and other businesses."
"You know a lot about this place," Kaoru said in surprise. "Didn't you just buy it fairly recently from the Himuras?"
He smiled. "This castle holds much interest for this one. Have you ever been here before, Kaoru-dono?"
"Once, on a school field trip," she admitted, looking at the paintings as they walked slowly by. "I guess I wasn't paying much attention, though. I never noticed how beautiful it is inside."
"That it is," he agreed. Kaoru wondered about the softness in his voice, but before she could look over at him, her interest was caught in the painted ceiling they had just walked under.
She paused, staring up at the colorful, violent scene. "It looks like a battle between fairies or something," she commented.
"The Victory of the Seelie Court, commissioned by Himura Kenji I," Mr. O'Neill said in amusement. He pointed. "That's him up there, the red-haired warrior near the center, beside the Faerie Queen."
Kaoru stared. "He looks...almost like you!" she said in surprise. "That cut on his face even looks like--!" She broke off hastily, not wanting to offend him.
"Ah." He suddenly seemed uncomfortable. "Perhaps there is a resemblance. Come, Kaoru-dono."
She let herself be led on, but just before they reached the next wing, they were stopped by a tall man whose spiky hair seemed out of place with his security officer's uniform. "Kenshin, there's--" He caught sight of Kaoru and openly gaped.
Kaoru stared back. Were all the employees of Himura Castle this weird? "Hi," she said pointedly.
"Sano, this is Kami-- Er, Arai Kaoru," Mr. O'Neill introduced her. "This one is taking her to have a look around before things get crowded. Kaoru-dono, allow this one to introduce Sagara Sanosuke, head of our security and this one's very good friend."
"Hi," Kaoru said again, warming up a little. She bowed, and the man nodded after a moment.
"Hi, Jouchan," he said cautiously, and for some reason, he was grinning like he'd struck gold - though luckily, it was more in a 'Sw33t, my team just won!' way than a 'Heheh, hot young girl' way. Yup, everyone in this castle was definitely weird.
"What were you going to report?" Mr. O'Neill reminded him.
Officer Sagara shook his head, keeping his eyes on Kaoru as he spoke. "Yahiko's just gotten back, says Sôjirô's back in place and Saitô's given us the all-clear. Tonight, Kenshin."
Mr. O'Neill nodded. "Understood. Thank you, Sano."
The man bowed deeply to them both, then strode on past them.
"What did he call you?" Kaoru said in puzzlement.
"Perhaps you might call it a nickname," he said slowly. "This one is more accustomed to that than to 'Mr. O'Neill.' Kaoru-dono...would it be too great a request for this one to ask of you, that you call him by that name?"
She blushed. "You're kind of forward, you know," she mumbled.
"Ah." He seemed disappointed, but not surprised.
Oh, what the heck. He was calling her 'Kaoru-dono,' after all. "Kenshin..." she winced, "...-san." Then her eyes widened. "Kenshin." The word on her lips...her mouth formed the syllables easily, much too easily, as if she had spoken this name a thousand times before. "Kenshin. Kenshin." He looked at her, concerned, and it was no wonder. She lifted shaking hands to her eyes and found her cheeks wet with tears.
"Oh, I'm such an idiot!" she choked, and then she was crying in earnest. 'What is wrong with me?' she thought, shocked at the swell of grief in her heart, simultaneously irritated with this horribly irrational fit. Luckily, the embarrassment was only a sullen glow, rather than the skin-crawling shame she had been afflicted with outside. She must be getting used to crying and acting like an idiot in front of this man.
She stiffened when he put his arms around her. He was gentle, barely touching her; even so, he was practically a stranger, he shouldn't be doing this. Yet it felt so.... She had to work very hard not to give in to the temptation to go limp against him and cry into his shoulder. She knew it would feel good. She wanted him to hug her close, but she was also repelled at this invasion of her boundaries. All this she thought while crying, as if she was calmly watching her body rather than engaged in the activity herself.
"Kaoru-dono," he said finally, sounding rather helpless, "please accept this one's sincere apologies. Feel free to call him whatever you wish."
She wiped her eyes. He silently held out that handkerchief of his again, and her face went hot. She took it without protest this time. "What am I supposed to do with this thing?" she asked in disgust when she had used it.
He smiled. "Keep it. Give it back. Throw it away. Whatever you like, Kaoru-dono."
A little defiantly, she handed it back, and was slightly disappointed when he took it without hesitation, folded it so all the grossness was contained, and slipped it back into his pocket. "Thanks, um--" She froze, caught. He raised an eyebrow, waiting. "Thanks, Mr. O'...." It sounded wrong now. Too formal for a man who had let her blow her nose on his sleeve and had watched her cry with sympathetic eyes. "Ken-san," she said uncomfortably, but that wasn't right, either. She closed her eyes. "Kenshin," she whispered, afraid she would start crying again.
She didn't. She opened her eyes. "Kenshin," she said testingly. He smiled. Again, the word came much too quickly to her lips, feeling like a part of her mouth rather than a foreign sound carried by her voice. But looking at him, at his smile, that strange unbidden grief seemed to recede, and she could say the name almost with a straight face. "Thank you, Kenshin."
"You're welcome," he whispered.
They continued on. Kenshin was silent for a while, but then seemed to rouse himself and spoke again in that tour guide's voice. "Apologies. This wing we're coming up on now is where the royal family had their private chambers." He suddenly paused, then turned to smile at her. "Would you like to see the suite of the king and queen, Kaoru-dono?"
"Sure," she agreed, curious despite everything. The castle really was impressive, and being able to see it without the distraction of crowds gave her admiration a more serious quality.
They turned into a set of open doors, where the furnishings of the front sitting-room were quietly cordoned off. 'Don't touch,' Kaoru thought with a regretful little smile. She went up as close as she could and slowly made the circuit, taking in every beautiful object at her leisure.
The paintings were quite interesting, though most of them seemed rather preoccupied with some sort of fantasy world. An image of a king sitting in council with his advisors depicted a couple of fairies flitting around his head; a queen smiled down at her infant as a winged cat looked on curiously; fantastic creatures mirrored the actions of warriors in the heat of battle, and the like. "Lots of fairies," she commented.
"The Himura line, particularly in its earliest-recorded years, had many legends linking them with Faerie - Fairyland," he clarified when he saw her uncomprehending expression. "There are many stories about princes and princesses consorting with the Faerie Queen, getting involved in fey battles, things like that. Of course, that was very early on, though even in more recent times when belief in such things was mostly dead, the Himura monarchs liked to retain at least a symbolic link with the fey realm. For example, the imagery in this painting here was meant to indicate that the king's actions had the blessing of Faerie."
"A lot of them have red hair," Kaoru observed, frowning.
He looked uncomfortable again. "Yes...again, that would be in the early years. Legend has it that the kings were descended from the Faerie Queen herself. Of course, the more likely explanation is that one of them was a foreigner, who would have inherited the throne if there were no brothers-in-law."
"Hm." Kaoru nodded, but she smiled a little as she looked back and forth between Kenshin and the portraits. "You still look an awfully lot like the guys in these pictures. You're not a king in disguise, are you?" she teased.
She was surprised at the intensity of his reaction, at the imploring expression in his eyes. "Kaoru-dono...."
"It's just a joke," she said quickly. "I'm sorry."
His smile was weak, but conciliatory. "Haha...no offense taken, not at all." His smile solidified suddenly. "Come, this one will show you the bedchamber."
"It's roped off," she pointed out.
The twinkle in his eyes was truly mischievous as he moved the little barrier aside and gestured invitingly.
"Mr.-- I mean, Kenshin!" she gasped. "You can't do that!"
"Yes, this one will get into a lot of trouble," he laughed. She shook her head, smiling, realizing that he had a point.
A bit nervously, she entered the room and looked around in awe. The place seemed so quiet, so old and secret. She felt like an intruder in her pleated skirt and baggy socks.
"Most of the furnishings are from different eras," he murmured, so quietly that the hush of the place seemed barely disturbed. "For example, these chairs are from the days of Himura Kenji III and the bureau is even more recent, but the bed belonged to the parents of Himura Kenji I."
"It's that old?" she whispered in shock.
"You are in a museum," he reminded her. He sat down on one side of the bed and patted the other. Gingerly, Kaoru lowered herself onto the edge of the bed and gently fingered the richly-embroidered coverlet. "It's so beautiful."
"Yes," he said softly.
"Royalty once slept here," Kaoru said in awe. Almost dreamlike, she slowly lay her head on the pillows and closed her eyes. Gradually, she felt her tense body relax, and her mind seemed to sink farther and farther into the past until she was dreaming that she was a queen, walking the empty halls of a castle and weeping. Lost, lost, all of them are lost....
She awoke with a start and quickly sat up, only to find tears on her face. Wiping them off angrily, she looked around for Kenshin and found him standing by the window almost all the way across the room, looking out onto the grounds.
Actually, he was doing that now. There had been an instant when she had turned to him and found him gazing at her, but he had quickly looked away when their eyes met. "How long was I asleep?!" she exclaimed in dismay.
"Not long," he said quietly, still staring out the window. "This one did not wish to disturb you."
Kaoru frowned, and as she slid back off the bed, she was aghast to find that the coverlet, delicate with age, had ripped in response to her movements. "Oh!" she gasped. "I...I...."
She cringed when he came over in concern, but when he saw the torn cloth, he only smiled and reached down idly to smooth the material flat. "Do not worry about it, Kaoru-dono. Come, it's past opening time. We had better get out of here before the tourists show up and want to know why they can't come crowding in as well."
"Right," Kaoru muttered, still red-faced.
When they came out again, they headed back for the entrance and met little groups of tourists leisurely making their way through the corridors. Kaoru looked at them curiously, feeling a little smug that she had been allowed special privileges. For the museum owner himself to have shown her around, allowing her into the exhibits themselves and writing off damage to them as nothing.... Well, actually, it was a little odd, come to think of it, seeing as they had only just met.
"Ken-jiichan!" Two teenage girls were suddenly barreling towards them, shocking Kaoru when they flung their arms around Kenshin and screamed with laughter.
He laughed back and hugged them both. 'Well, you certainly have a way with women,' Kaoru thought in annoyance (though what was with the "jiichan" business?). "Aya-dono, Suzumi-dono, it is wonderful to see you. Have you brought your mother with you, as well?"
"She had to work today!" they cried, pouting. "But we came to see you, Ken-jiichan!"
He held them away and gave them a stern look, though a twinkle was still visible in his eyes. "Now, weren't you telling this one that you have a paper due Monday, Aya-dono, and that your science project needs to be done by Tuesday, Suzumi-dono?"
They glomped him again, begging playfully, "But we can do them tonight! Please, pleeeaaase let us stay?"
He shook his head, smiling again. "How about this one comes over later to help?"
"But then you'll make us work," Aya protested. "I wanted to put it off longer!"
"No, no, it's okay!" her companion assured her. "'Cause then Ken-jiichan can stay 'til Mom comes home, and we can have a party!"
"Not tonight, I'm afraid," he told her. "There are already plans. Aya-dono, Suzumi-dono, this one wishes you to meet someone." Kaoru immediately found herself the object of two intense, curious gazes. "Girls, this is...." He paused meaningfully. "...Kaoru-dono." The girls blinked, and then their eyes widened. "Kaoru-dono, these two are Aya-dono and Suzumi-dono, as you probably noted. They are twins, and they and their mother are very dear friends of this one."
"She's real! She's come!" Aya suddenly cried, and her sister shrieked in delight, "Kaoru-baachan!"
"Excuse me?!" Kaoru gasped, but then she was being enthusiastically hugged. "I...wait...!"
"Girls," Kenshin said warningly, and they reluctantly let go.
"Is it really her, Ken-jiichan?!"
"Aya-dono, Suzumi-dono," he said seriously, "please be kind to Kaoru-dono, and do not say anything she might find, er, insulting."
"Eh?" Suzumi said in puzzlement, cocking her head like a puppy, but her sister nodded and turned to Kaoru. "I'm sorry, Kaoru-neechan. We didn't mean to be rude, really!"
"It's okay," Kaoru mumbled. "Why do you call him 'jiichan,' anyway?" she asked, gesturing at Kenshin. "He's not that old."
The girls burst into giggles.
"Aya-dono, Suzumi-dono," Kenshin said hurriedly, "why don't you run along now and say hi to the others? This one would like to see Kaoru-dono off."
"All right," they agreed, and hugged him again. "See you later, Jiichan!" They ran off again, half-backwards as they tried to wave, and he waved back until they were out of sight.
"They really are good girls," he told Kaoru, a little anxiously.
"I know," she agreed readily enough, "I can tell." 'Very nice, but still weird.' "You don't have to walk me out or anything, I'm sure you've got a lot to do."
"It's no trouble," he assured her. "It was an honor to have you here, and you are welcome back at any time, free of charge. Perhaps you can bring your family next time." He offered her his arm, and Kaoru hesitantly took it.
"Thanks. Yeah, Mom and Dad would probably like it, I'll tell them. You're very generous."
"No trouble at all," he said again, and smiled. "It's a pleasure."
To be continued....
Author's Notes: Kaoru is adopted, I never got the chance to mention that.
"Jiichan" and "Baachan" are cute, informal ways of saying "Grandpa" and "Grandma." Aya & Suzumi are not Ayame & Suzume, but I tried to make their personalities as close as possible. Unfortunately, they just ended up like slightly more intelligent handmaids. :/
Gah, seems like creepy pedoness is just kind of inherently buried in the plot, no matter how much I try to edit it out. -.- Sorry, guys. I was younger when I wrote this.... :/
I realized belatedly that some of the subconscious inspiration for Immortality was probably Diana Wynne Jones's book The Crown of Dalemark.
Since I never got a chance to explain, what happened is that Tomoe's elixir de-ages the people who drink it. Kaoru accidentally drank too much and ended up as a baby. My notes are confusing, but I think Kenshin took her with him to the future and made sure she was safely adopted by the Arais.
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![[KH] Okaeri, bro](https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/17a7185c-be23-4f2d-8f36-18435ba2af1a/d6ev9qj-6964bd32-ee86-4bca-abaa-b7c16dcbcb52.png/v1/crop/w_92,h_92,x_0,y_1,scl_0.054470100651273/_kh__okaeri__bro_by_raberbagirl_d6ev9qj-92s.png?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOjdlMGQxODg5ODIyNjQzNzNhNWYwZDQxNWVhMGQyNmUwIiwiaXNzIjoidXJuOmFwcDo3ZTBkMTg4OTgyMjY0MzczYTVmMGQ0MTVlYTBkMjZlMCIsIm9iaiI6W1t7ImhlaWdodCI6Ijw9MTc2NiIsInBhdGgiOiJcL2ZcLzE3YTcxODVjLWJlMjMtNGYyZC04ZjM2LTE4NDM1YmEyYWYxYVwvZDZldjlxai02OTY0YmQzMi1lZTg2LTRiY2EtYWJhYS1iN2MxNmRjYmNiNTIucG5nIiwid2lkdGgiOiI8PTE2ODkifV1dLCJhdWQiOlsidXJuOnNlcnZpY2U6aW1hZ2Uub3BlcmF0aW9ucyJdfQ.RDlhzvGt1Un_pE1SA3EATdNj2GH_T8MSvlBDN7djPIQ)
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