Yoko's Mirai no Yakusoku
part Four: Memories II
Disclaimer: All rights and privileges to Rurouni Kenshin belong to NobuhiroWatsuki, Shuiesha, Sony Music Entertainment, and associated parties. The characters of this series are used without his permission for the purpose of entertainment only. This work of fiction is not meant for sale or profit. This is my first attempt at the art of fanfiction. Please be gentle. Comments are greatly appreciated!!!
The title means "Future's Promise" in Japanese. . . . . All the characters I create belong to me.
Japanese Notes:
Yuukiko= Brave Child
Kakushin= Core/Heart
Minna= Everyone, everybody.
Warning: It is not all that happy to begin with!! ^_^
Kenshin turned around and quietly started towards the main part of the dojo as soon as he caught sight of Megumi and Sanosuke in each other's arms. Not that stealth mattered. The pair was totally engrossed with each other.
Sano and Megumi. . . .
He smiled at that. Megumi deserved to find happiness. Though the pair seemed mismatched, they sparked off each other like fireworks. The arguing, he had reasoned long ago, was just a cover, a way for them to deny the attraction. Of course, he never confronted Sano with that fact. Sano just would have pointed out that Megumi had been pursuing him since the beginning.
Whatever Megumi felt for him, Kenshin blithely ignored. He did not want to hurt her if she was serious, but he half thought that she did it to tease Kaoru. Kaoru's reactions were, in a word, extreme.
Sano had been watching him carefully these past weeks. Kenshin really did not blame him. If Sano and the others were not around, he really did not know what would have happened. Those first days, it was touch and go. It was hard for him to take that Kaoru was gone. It was hard for him to accept that he could not have saved her.
"I love you, too. So much. . . . I love you, minna. Take care of each other."
Kaoru. . . . .
Kenshin had found happiness with her. And he had appreciated it when he had it. He only wished he had been more open with her about his feelings. He hoped she knew just how much he loved her. After losing Tomoe, he had learned that losing someone you love hurt more than any battle wound, but it was still important to feel it. Love made him human, kept him sane.
For 10 years, he did not let anyone that close to him again. Not until a slip of a girl confronted him in the streets of Tokyo. He loved her then, for her courage and spirit. It was a different kind of love than the one he felt for Tomoe, but it was deep.
It was Kaoru's words kept him from going over the edge, her final request. Grief had burned at him, ate at him, but when he looked up and saw Megumi and Yahiko, tears streaming down their faces, he fought for control. He had been helpless. Fate seemed to conspire against him each time he found someone he wanted to spend the rest of his life with. Maybe it's divine punishment....
He shook off those dark thoughts. If he kept thinking that way, he might spiral even deeper into depression. Just focus on everyone else. You aren't the only one suffering.
Then he stepped up to the doors that led into the interior of the dojo's practice room. He could hear the muffled voices of Yahiko and Tsubame. Kenshin's eyebrows rose at the words coming from the normally timid Tsubame's mouth.
"Yahiko! Listen to me. I need this. Don't be so DAMN STUBBORN!"
"Tsubame. I can't teach you. I'm not a master! You don't understand! I'm still learning my-"
"Oh, SHUT UP!"
Kenshin opened the doors just a bit to peek. Just in case.
Tears were streaming down Tsubame's face. Her eyes looked fierce as she faced off with Yahiko. Yahiko looked a bit surprised and anxious. Tsubame was definitely not acting like herself. She suddenly looked mad enough to actually hit Yahiko.
"Yahiko." Her voice trembled as she spoke. "Of all people, you should know how it is to feel like you are powerless, without any control of your life. Kenshin and Kaoru helped you, gave you the power to break free from the nightmare you were living." Yahiko reached over to wipe the tears away from her face. She held it to her cheek.
"Tsubame-chan . . ."
"I need this. Kaoru-san was . . . . I was thinking about her life. This made me realized that she lived the way she wanted. No one else told her what to do or how to live. She was happy. Yahiko, I want to be able to choose, the way that she had been doing."
Yahiko stared at her. She wanted to be stronger. She wanted to able to live as she wanted. Yahiko had no idea that she had felt like that. Yahiko remembered the first time they had met. Tsubame had been afraid and he fought to save her. Now she wanted to be able to fight for herself.
"I-I think I understand." Maybe we both need this..."
"Good. Yahiko. Help me be stronger. I-"
The door opened with a thud and a redheaded eavesdropper rolled onto the floor of the dojo.
"Oro-ro-ro~!"
"Kenshin!"
"Ano. . . I was just walking by to check to see if you were okay. . . ."
"Oh. We're fine. Um, Tsu-tsubame has decided to start training in Kamiya Kasshin-Ryu."
1999
Sagara Yuukiko wanted to close her eyes and get some sleep. It had been a long day. She was sick and tired of waking up in the middle of the night because of those stupid dreams. Sick and tired and a little scared. She had awaken last night with tears streaming down her face. She didnžt know that anyone could cry in their sleep, but she had been.
Yuukiko hardly remembered what happened in her sleep. Images flashed in her mind of a handsome man with flowing red hair and a scar on the left side of his face. His voice speaking gravely to her. His arms around her. . . .
This had been going on way too long. I don't care how unforgettable that guy is; I have to stop having them. Reality, Yuuki, is a wonderful thing. He does not exist. He does not exist. He does not exist. And even if he did, hežs been dead for more than hundred years. She sighed in frustration. She was not going to dream of him!
No more. No more. No more.
Maybe I should just talk to someone about them.
But the dreams seemed so private, personal. She did not want to tell anyone else about them. She did not want to have to share what she felt. The warmth. The love. Even the sadness. What am I doing? I'm acting like don't even want them to stop .
Yuukiko sighed again. She was going to go to sleep. If she was going to dream or not was up to whatever god or angel watched over her. Deep down, she acknowledged, the dreams were comforting, even if she felt so emotionally drained afterwards.
As she slipped into sleep, her last clear thought was, The promise. It is time for it to be fulfilled. It is time. Then the night took hold.
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