Disclaimer: I do not own Rurouni Kenshin. I'm just borrowing them for a little fun.
A Meeting of Minds
By Colleen
Part 5
Kenshin suspected, from the way that his head was attempting to split apart, that the rest of him thought that practicing with Kaoru was a VERY BAD IDEA.
TOO BAD was his answer to that.
I don't want her to be afraid of me was the reply that floated up from the depths of his mind.
Battousai sighed. He had long understood why the rurouni had avoided sparring with Kaoru despite her unhappiness over his continual, if polite refusals. If she believed that she could prevail against him physically then she would continue to be at ease in his presence. This was why the wanderer allowed the hits to connect and sometimes even provoked her wrath, using it to let her blow off steam and remind her that she was safe with him at the same time. So while intellectually she had to know that Kenshin could take her down without much effort, in her heart each physical triumph worked to let her ignore that fact.
Practicing with her would usually have been out of the question. If he let her win she would have been insulted, if they ended in a draw she wouldn't have believed it and if he did it for real she would've been on the ground in seconds.
Then the fear would start.
And that was why, even though he could avoid seriously damaging her body, he was afraid of what he would do to her spirit. But that was the rurouni.
And since the rurouni insisted that Battousai spend the day with Kaoru so she could get to know him he would make sure that she saw all of him. It was also the only way she would ever get to practice with him, because when she lost it would be Battousai that she would fear, not the rurouni.
And since he was certain she was already terrified of him it shouldn't change anything.
*******
The rurouni sat quietly by the stretch of river that curved and coiled its way across a landscape of old dreams and never forgotten memories. The emotions that the place usually invoked in him were overpowered by pure frustration as his hands clenched around his fishing pole in an attempt to symbolically throttle Battousai's neck. Sometimes his other self was such an idiot.
********
Kaoru was wary as she and Kenshin circled, the two of them remaining just outside the other's striking range. Once upon a time Kaoru would have leapt into the battle without a second thought. However, since meeting Kenshin she'd learned the patience and wisdom of taking the time to study her opponent, rather than just jumping in and bashing away indiscriminately at them.
Still, no matter how many times she'd seen him fight, she didn't think there would ever be enough time to figure out what Kenshin would do during a match.
What she did know was that she wanted to prove herself to him, even more than she wanted to give Kenshin his lumps for the anguish he'd recently put her through. She could never really tell if he believed in her abilities as a warrior. Especially given that the first time they'd met he'd had to save her from the fake Battousai. And anytime after that, when she'd really shone as a swordswoman, was when Kenshin had been somewhere else, fighting his own battles.
********
Surprised, Kenshin realized that Kaoru wasn't going to be the one to attack first. He had thought she would throw herself into battle against him, much the way she had attacked both him and then later Gohei on the night they'd first met.
He considered waiting her out but while careful consideration of an opponent's ability was one of his strong points he was sure of Kaoru's style. He would have no problems with it. Lifting his wooden sword a little higher he took the step that would take him into Kaoru's circle and bring her into his.
********
Kaoru grit her teeth as she blocked the first, deceptively lazy looking stroke that Kenshin aimed at her right shoulder. The gritting was because she had barely managed to hold her sword against his. He held the position for a moment before he released and stepped back, although not so far as to be outside of her striking range. He stood there waiting and Kaoru had to wonder how someone could appear to smirk and keep his face blank at the same time. She clenched her teeth a little harder, pain spiking along her jaw to her temple as she realized that he was playing with her. She came very close to tossing aside all reason. The thought of that imagined smirk appearing on his face for real stopped her before she could do something stupid. This was a sparring match and a practice at that so she would treat it as one. That way if anyone did something stupid it would probably be him. "Head," she called, warning her 'partner' of the strike she would be attempting. She brought her sword down towards his skull hard enough that the resulting gust of air blew both her and Kenshin's hair back from their faces. Kenshin solidly blocked the move. One handed.
Kaoru pushed harder against Kenshin's shinai but he didn't budge and inch. It was if he were a tree. A tree with deep roots and limbs so strong that Kaoru?s strike didn?t even rate as a light breeze. With a push Kenshin sent Kaoru flying. She landed on her rump and skidded down the length of the hall before coming to a stop.
********
Yahiko stopped in mid dish wash when he heard the sound of two wooden swords as they clashed together. He dropped the plate he was washing back into the sudsy water and ran quickly out the kitchen door. As he crossed the compound to the practice hall his mind tried diligently to explain to him why doing this was a very bad idea. However, the thought of missing Kaoru and Kenshin as they squared off against each other held too much appeal to be ignored. Once at the dojo he crawled across the veranda until he could bring his eye up to the crack where the two slightly warped doors didn't quite meet. He almost pulled back when he saw his teacher sitting on the floor very close to him but her exclamation of pain clued him into the situation and he stayed where he was and continued to watch.
********
"Itai," Kaoru's pain clenched eyes opened, looking slightly shocked before regaining her normal steely glint of determination. Then she was up and across the dojo so quickly that Battousai had to repress a blink of surprise.
She came at him in a flurry of called strikes. Kenshin, continuing to block each of them one handed, backed up to allow Kaoru some movement as she attacked. He smiled at the sweaty, violent young woman. The smile was one of genuine admiration but Kaoru obviously didn't take it that way and it provoked an even faster round of hits. Kenshin's smile widened and he had to admit that she really was good.
Oh, he could still have beaten her blindfolded but she was strong, skilled and determined. In the slight gloom of the hall her ki shone brightly in Battousai's mind and he suspected, no, he knew that in a real battle it would burn with an almost blinding light. Unbidden the thought of what other activities would cause her to glow like that flowed through his mind and were quickly cut off at mid-point.
It was quite possibly the fastest he'd ever sliced anything in half.
********
Yahiko watched in breathless wonder as Kaoru's lightening fast attacks once again failed to do more than push Kenshin back as he blocked each strike. The young boy could tell that his teacher was tiring and it wouldn't be long before she collapsed in a puddle at Kenshin's feet. Kenshin would end up taking her without even having to land another shot.
********
Sanosuke let himself in at the dojo's gate and strolled over to the kitchen looking for some breakfast. With luck Kenshin would have saved him some leftovers, as Sano was his customary hour late for the meal.
Knowing the swordsman's usual schedule the young fighter had expected to find him either cleaning up from breakfast or doing some other household chore. So it was with some surprise that he found the house empty and the kitchen buried under the remains of a breakfast that made going hungry seem like a joy and privilege. Worried he called out Kenshin?s name and took his search back out to the dojo's yard. The sound of Kaoru no doubt beating Yahiko into a fine dry powder came to him from the training hall and he relaxed. If Jo chan was training the kid instead of fretting over Kenshin then he had to be somewhere close by.
Heading towards the hall he was once again surprised by something out of place. There, kneeling at the dojo's doors, was the brat who should have been getting walloped at the moment. With a slight frown on his face Sano headed over to find out what was going on. Whatever it was it must have been pretty fascinating because Sanosuke managed to get right up beside the kid and speak before he?d even noticed that someone was there.
Yo, Yahiko chan wha...
Sanosuke's question became quickly muffled as the boy leapt straight up, wrapped himself around Sano's head and slapped one of his hands over his mouth, stopping his question.
"Shhhh, they'll hear you."
Sano pealed Yahiko's hand from his mouth; "they'll hear a lot more then me if you don't get off."
********
Ahhhhh, he was still smirking and despite her best efforts he wasn't even breathing hard. Kaoru on the other hand was sweating profusely and didn't know how much longer she could last before she would have to give in to quivering muscles and panting breaths. She took some small comfort in the fact that she had managed to back him up against the far wall of the dojo and that he now had nowhere left to go. She raised her sword, ignoring the pain as her tired arms screamed at the movement. She held the shinai high and steady and putting all her remaining strength into it she tried once again to land a head shot.
Kenshin blocked the hit and pushed back. He twisted at the same time and Kaoru suddenly found herself turned and slammed up against the wall she had just backed Kenshin up against. She made an attempt to push him off but was unable to move. Kenshin had pinned her hands and shinai with his wooden sword and his body was too close to hers to allow kicking space. He leaned forward to whisper in her ear.
"Enjoying the practice?"
Kaoru growled low in her throat and started to struggle, bucking against him in an attempt to get loose so she could continue trying to beat him into the ground. His snarl stopped her and startled, she looked up into his eyes.
They smouldered hot and...hungry... and she, panting hard and fired through with adrenaline, felt an equal hunger stir within her and strive to answer it.
He was also, she was surprised to notice, finally breathing hard, although she didn't think that the recent exercise was the cause. Kenshin reached out with his free hand as if to caress her face and even as a twinge of fear, not of him but of the unknown, laced its way up her spine she leaned forward to met him half way.
AHHHHHHH!!
The screaming interruption snapped their attention away from each other and towards a flying bundle of Yahiko. The boy hit the floor and slid along the well-worn boards, stopping just a few inches from their feet.
"I told you to get..." Sano's voice petered out as he took in Kenshin and Kaoru's positions and realized that he had interrupted something he was beginning to think would never happen. Them. Together. In an intimate situation.
And he had just screwed it up.
"...off," he finished lamely and wondered just how long the two of them would spend beating his head in.
Kenshin stepped back from Kaoru and handed her his shinai before turning to leave. He stalked down the length of the hall and collected his Sakabatou from the corner he had left it in, ignoring Yahiko and Sano as he did.
Her voice stopped him at the doors.
"Kenshin?" His name held all her worries, fears and wants and it froze him in place for a moment.
"Thank you for the practice session Kaoru." He walked out the door. He didn't look back.
********
Kenshin...no damn it...Battousai walked steadily towards the living quarters. Torn between the desire to either thank Sano and Yahiko for their timely interruption, or turn back and castrate the two of them before pinning them to a nice out of the way wall, he instead put all his concentration into getting to his room.
Just one more second...
He gritted his teeth against the thought and tried to bury it in the back of his mind.
Just one more second and he would have...
He slammed the sliding door to his room open and then slammed it shut even harder after entering.
Just one more second and he would have touched her...
He dropped to his knees breathing hard.
Just one more second and he would have touched her...
...and he wasn't sure that anything could have stopped him after that.
********
Sanosuke continued to stare in the direction that Kenshin had gone long after he had departed.
Damn but he was scary when he got like that.
Sano swallowed painfully and turned towards Kaoru as he tried to work up enough spit to actually talk to her, even though he wasn't sure what to say. He wasn't even certain if he had interrupted something or if he had just come to her rescue.
A moment later he was flat on his back and trying to piece together what had just happened. He was certain that Yahiko had been over by Kaoru and yet he was also certain that that was what had hit him. What he wasn't sure about was how the young boy had suddenly become a human missile. He pushed the groaning kid off of his face to find Kaoru towering over him.
Just how she had suddenly become over six feet tall and with flaming red eyes was also something he just knew he was never going to figure out. There was however something he did know for sure.
He had most definitely interrupted something.
********
Taking a nap just a short time after waking up and suffering physical and mental stress would be a difficult thing for most people to manage.
Battousai wasn't most people.
Although his current 'nap' was more a matter of self-hypnosis then sleep it still served the same purpose. It would let him root out the rurouni and return control to him.
Or at least it should have.
It wasn't difficult to find the path to the river and the walk, although longer than it should have been, was easy enough. Eventually he was able to push through whatever was attempting to delay him and the path he walked spilled out along the small strip of sand that ran the length of the river. His usual sitting log was there. A fishing pole and a bucket of bait sat beside it, abandoned. Battousai growled low in his throat at finding the rurouni gone. If the wanderer was hiding from him he would.... well he didn't know what he would do although he was certain that it wouldn't be pleasant. With such thoughts to keep him entertain he settled into a comfortable standing position to wait.
With little to do he found his thoughts drifting back to the fight with Kaoru. Trying to regain some of his icy composure where she was concerned he took a deep breath and mentally took the practice session apart. Without emotions to clutter his thoughts he would remember her passion for the sword, the strength of her blows, her skill, the power of her movements...
...the press of her body against his as she fought for leverage. Battousai hissed as he released the stale air from his lungs and considered throwing himself in the river in the hopes that the cold water would drive the memory from his mind and body.
"It won't help."
"What?" Startled Battousai turned towards the only other person that could possibly exist in this place, his mouth dropping open in surprise as he took in the sight of him.
"Cold water, it won't help."
Sopping wet did not begin to describe him. The rurouni's hair was glued to his face with water and it released a shower of drops with each breath he took. His clothing was likewise drenched and he sprayed liquid with even the smallest of movements. His gi was plastered to his skin and the white hakama he wore were so heavy with moisture that they threatened to fall and wrap themselves around his ankles.
Battousai briefly wondered why he wasn?t doubled over with laughter at the sight of him when he looked into the rurouni's eyes. Although they were still their normal violet colour there was nothing innocent in them at the moment. They burned with the same hunger and need that his did.
As one they sat down on the log and started out at the water.
"We're screwed, aren't we?"
It wasn't really a question, the rurouni answered it anyway.
"Yes, I believe we are."
End of Part 5
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