Warning! Warning! WAFFy fic! Very short, very WAFFy
fic!
Please, please C&C! (Or at least tell me if you read
it!)
Raye
=====
raye_j@yahoo.com
Member of the Shoujo Anime Proliferation Project Ynstitute
(SAPPY)
If your mind is pure,
perhaps your brain has been washed.
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-- Attached file included as plaintext by Listar --
-- File: Promise.txt
-- Desc: Promise.txt
Promise
by Raye Johnsen
raye_j@yahoo.com
***********************
Rurouni Kenshin is copyright a whole bunch of people, most
notably The Author and Sony. Lest they let Takani Megumi have me
for a scientific and business experimental subject, allow me to
assure you that I have no rights whatsoever, that this fic was
written solely for nonprofit entertainment, that I would
appreciate any comments whatsoever at raye_j@yahoo.com, and that
I'd also really appreciate it if Misao would stop aiming those
kunai at me now. Please?
***********************
The young samurai couldn't have been any older than fourteen, the
master of the dojo decided, looking out into the street from the
door of the dojo. He was standing alone, stirring neither hand
nor foot from his position at the gate of the house where the man
he had been escorting had told him to wait.
Obviously a bodyguard, and one trained to kill, the master
decided. That was a katana the boy-warrior was carrying, and his
stance clearly indicated his ability to use it. A hitokiri, so
the man he was guarding was obviously highly placed in political
circles. The master shook his head. To use the young so!
Returning to his class, the master of the dojo didn't see
his young daughter, chasing her errant ball, run out onto the
road, right into the path of a laden cart.
The redheaded hitokiri did.
The little girl, concentrating on her toy, felt a sudden
pressure around her waist and then, suddenly, the world tilted,
the sky spun sideways, and she was flying, over the road and
above the wagon, firmly held about the waist by the ponytailed
man flying beside her. Her eyes widened and she shouted,
"WHEEEEE!"
The world righted itself distressingly fast. The child found
herself settling gently onto her own feet, on the opposite side
of the road from her home, facing the pretty man who'd been
flying beside her.
"That was fun!" she declared, her glorious blue eyes
glowing. "I'm Kaoru," she added, as an afterthought. "I was five
yesterday!"
The hitokiri smiled back at the innocent child. "I'm
Kenshin," he replied. "I'm fifteen," /I think,/ he added in his
thoughts.
The ball which had nearly caused a tragedy finished its
journey across the road, rolling to bump against its small
mistress' ankle. "Want to play, Kenshin-san?" she asked, scooping
it up.
Kenshin smiled at her. "Sure, Kaoru-chan," he agreed, and
let his eyes widen in mock shock as Kaoru promptly threw the ball
straight at him, catching it neatly and tossing it back.
They played like that for a few minutes, playing catch and
toss. Kenshin found himself charmed by the little girl, her
constant smile and cheerful laughter, and found himself mimicking
fear as she took her turn at tossing, to induce the triumphant
giggle she always gave when he appeared to be afraid.
"Ne, Kenshin-san," she asked, after a few more tosses.
"Yes, Kaoru-chan?" Kenshin replied.
"Will you marry me when I grow up?"
This time the shock wasn't feigned, and Kenshin made no
attempt to catch the ball. It struck his chest, making him blink.
"...Oro?"
"Will you marry me when I grow up, Kenshin-san?" Kaoru asked
him again, a tad impatiently. "You only have to say 'yes' or
'no', you know!"
The young man stared at the little girl. "But - but I'll be
a lot older than you when you're grown up!" /If I'm not dead.../
"That doesn't matter!"
"It will, Kaoru-chan-"
"Not to me! Will you marry me, Kenshin-san, when I'm a
grown-up?"
He shook his head and sighed in acquiescence. "Yes, Kaoru-
chan. I'll marry you when you grow up."
She nodded once, decisively. "Yatta! Catch!"
They continued the game of catch and toss a few minutes
more, when a woman's voice called from the house across the
street, "Kaoru-CHAN! Where *are* you *this* time? Kaoru-CHAA~AN!"
Kaoru looked up, and then apologetically at Kenshin. "I'm
sorry," she said, "but Kaasan's calling me. I've had fun! Byeee!"
And with that, she fled across the road, into the gates of
the dojo across the road.
Kenshin straightened and stood at the gate of the house
where the minor leader he'd been sent with was meeting a minor
official of the government. He couldn't let his contempt for the
party politics show; he had to take the duties he was given. He
was a blade for the Issun Shishi, after all, and it was not his
duty to think. It was his duty to be the blade in the dark, the
shield for those more important than he.
/And no-one,/ he thought, remembering a pair of clear, happy
blue eyes, /is more important than the children./
He remembered those beautiful blue eyes and clear laughter
all the way back to Kyoto, and a little time after, until the
memory, like so many of the other happy memories he'd earned so
painfully, was washed away in the crimson flood of the Bakumatsu.
*******************
Kamiya Kenshin looked down at his sleeping wife. Stroking her
long black hair that he still couldn't believe he had the right
to touch, breathing in her sweet scent, he relaxed in the predawn
air.
There was an air of unreality about the scene before him; he
had dreamt of it so many times that he had to touch, just to make
sure it *was* real. Of course his lightheadedness could be
attributed to the fact that he had had absolutely no sleep the
previous night. Kenshin chuckled softly; he didn't want to wake
Kaoru, who had gained very little sleep either.
"I'll always keep all my promises to you," he whispered.
For some reason he couldn't quite remember, he thought of
children playing with a ball as he drifted into sleep.
*******************
Author's Note:
Or, Why I Think Kenshin Will Change His Name
I know most people believe that when Kenshin and Kaoru *finally*
tie the knot, Kaoru will become Himura Kaoru, but I don't believe
that's so; I think Kenshin will become Kamiya Kenshin.
In pre-Meiji Japan, there were four castes:
Samurai/nobility, who had the right to surnames and to move
around Japan, the farmers, the craftspeople and the merchant
class. Intermarriage between the castes was extremely rare, but
when it happened the spouse of the lower caste always took the
name of the spouse of the higher caste. So what, this is Meiji, I
hear you say: but it still counts today. With the establishment
of Meiji, castes were supposed to be discounted, but people know
what castes their ancestors belonged to and which ones *they'd*
belong to. (For example: the shoujo manga/anime "Hana Yori Dango"
is about the experiences of a girl from the craftsman caste who
wins a scholarship to a school for children of the samurai caste,
and her problems coping with the attitudes she encounters.) Kaoru
belongs to the samurai caste, and Kenshin belongs to the farmer
caste. When he marries Kaoru, Kenshin's marrying up.
When a couple from the same caste marry, it also appears to
be tradition that, unless arranged otherwise, the spouse who
brings less to the marriage will assume the name of the wealthier
family. Kenshin brings to his marriage: 1 Rurouni (slightly
shopworn), 1 change of clothes (4th hand [we think]), 1 Sakaba-
tou (with a shaky handle), 1 Hitokiri Battousai (also slightly
shopworn) and a whole passel of trouble (asset/deficit status
still pending at this time). Kaoru, on the other hand, brings: 1
young lady (of blameless reputation, which is harder to keep than
you might think), 1 place of residence (her house may be old but
its hers and it's sound), 1 livelihood (just because we never
*see* her teaching doesn't mean she doesn't have students), the
resources to keep herself and her family clothed (wonderful
storeroom she's got) and peace and quiet (until Battousai's
enemies come visit). She's definitely got the money in this
house.
And finally: Kaoru is the last of her line. If her husband
doesn't take her name, the Kamiya Clan effectively ceases to
exist. Kenshin got given his name by Hiko Seijuuro at the age of
eight, mainly because Hiko didn't like the name Shinta. He didn't
have a surname before then and I consider it highly unlikely he
has any real sentimental attachment to it. There's no Himura Clan
heritage for the children to claim; but there is a Kamiya Clan
heritage for them to inherit.