Word Count: 1630
Reading Time: 5+ Minutes
Tagging: @acrispyapple , @masamunesmistress , @that-otome-potato, @ihavenotfallenyet
Day 5 in the Sengoku period. Kenshin finally took Katsumi out of the castle to have her explore Kasugayama.
Then and there, he finally bore witness to her curious side—her innocent side—as she was wide-eyed throughout their walk together. A sight he never thought would surface beneath her usually stoic expression.
As he watched her aimlessly walk around like a lost child, his mind wandered on a few things: how he ended up saving this woman, how he ended up telling her his bittersweet secret that is Ouka, and how he ended up having the most unusual agreement with her.
“Why do you come here again, woman?”
“You told me you’ll have me come again another day.”
“…I never said it had to be today.”
“Oh, you must be busy. I’ll excuse myself—”
“I’m going to finish soon. You’ll have to wait until later in the afternoon.”
She keeps appearing and saying the strangest things, and he finds himself being drawn to the peculiarity. And then somehow, when they met in that certain afternoon, it just happened like that.
“Let’s talk with no secrets.”
There was almost nothing more he could hide from her. But she said that with such eagerness in her expression where her lips were curved close to an actual real smile that he agreed without thinking.
Then she taught him this peculiar spell.
“Pinky swear?”
She nodded, “You hold out your pinky like this.”
His nose scrunched in confusion as he reluctantly mimicked her. Then she hooked her pinky on his and began saying something he didn’t bother listening to, except when he heard the words “their finger will be cut off”.
“What did you just say?”
“It’s a sacred vow usually done by children.” She removed her finger and a small giggle escaped her. “If you break the promise, your finger will be cut off.”
“Children offered to cut their fingers for a silly promise?” He said, an amused smile touching his lips. “That’s bold.”
“It’s not silly. It’s sacred.” She said it in a tone that seemed like she didn’t mean what she said, and she was smiling. “Even kids know how to honor a promise.”
“You think I don’t keep my promises?”
“Prove to me you don’t.”
Now he doesn’t know if he was doing it out of spite. For three afternoons, they were at the gardens, sitting beneath the shade of fleeting blossoms. Usually, she just babbled on and on, while he complains to her on what he usually complains about to Sasuke or Shingen or Yukimura.
And today, they were out here, for some reason he forgot.
“…The marketplace has a lot of things.”
“It wouldn’t be a marketplace if it did not have anything.” He retorted.
She sighed and frowned at him. “Of course. Of course it is.”
Katsumi pushed her hair back behind her ear, for the umpteenth time as he recalled. Today was quite windy, so her hair easily flew away. He heard her grumble about not borrowing a hairpin from the maids.
Something caught his eye. He stopped in his tracks and Katsumi didn’t even notice him as she continued to glance over at almost every stall. He came back at her side without any hassle.
“Kenshin,” she called, “can we stop over at that teahouse over there?”
“It’s about time you said you’re tired. We’ve been walking for hours.”
“But I didn’t say I was tired. I just wanted to go at a teahouse.”
They walked over the teahouse she pointed and the owner immediately recognized Kenshin, but the shock overwhelmed him quite a bit when he noticed Katsumi beside him.
“My lord! What a surprise!” the kind aged owner smiled eagerly. “What can I get for you and the lady?”
“I’ll get some of your best sake.” He glanced down at Katsumi who was eyeing the menu with such determination he was honestly baffled at what made her so eager. “…Woman, tell them what you are getting.”
“Mmm— do I get to decide?”
“…My lady, if you are fond of sweets, then I recommend some sweet dumplings.” The owner suggested.
She frantically waved her hands. “Oh, please. I’m not someone to be respected.”
The old man blinked innocently. “But you are with Lord Kenshin. Surely you are.”
“I’m really not—”
“We’ll be taking the sweet dumplings and some green tea.” Kenshin interrupted, grabbing her wrist and pulling her to the nearest seat. The owner watched them in confusion before moving to make their order.
She stared at him as he frowned. “Sorry, was I taking too much time?”
“Yes. Yes you were.”
“…Oh.”
“I was convinced that you can’t decide for yourself.” He glanced at her with narrowed eyes. “Why haven’t you told me you wanted those in the first place?”
“But I didn’t bring any money with me. I can’t pay.”
Seriously?
“You told me you wanted to come here.”
“Yes. To see what they had.”
“…and leave just like that?”
She nodded. He couldn’t believe it. Does he have to spell it out for her every single time?
“I invited you to come with me. I could pay for the both of us.”
“But—”
“I wasn’t asking for your opinion. You don’t get to say anything.” He concluded the conversation. She pressed her lips together, unable to think of any response that would neutralize his seemingly sour mood.
When their order arrived, she was hesitant to take a skewer. Her eyes keep going back from Kenshin to the tempting sweet dumplings in front of her. The sake he was drinking was leaving a bad taste on his mouth the longer he ignored her, so he sighed.
“I don’t like sweets.”
“Oh?” It was an innocent reaction to say at least. “…can I really have some?”
“Well, I didn’t order this for me.” He sipped from his cup, ending the conversation once again. At long last, she picked up one skewer and took a bite.
He swore he saw her eyes sparkle.
“It tastes like the dumplings I ate once during lunch.” She was looking admirably at the half-eaten dumpling.
“…Shingen comes here frequently.” He commented. “Given that he tends to spoil women, that utter fool must have sneaked in his favorite sweets into your meals to have a way with you.”
He noticed that she tensed ever so slightly. He quickly realized his wrong choice of words. “He isn’t so desperate to use force.”
“…I know that. He’s been really kind to me.”
He would have doubted her if only he didn’t understand the fact that it was instinct that made her tense and not herself. The body tends to react rather inconveniently after experiencing trauma.
Her troubled expression was soon replaced with slight frustration as her hair slapped her across the face after a gust passed by them. She breathed out a groan and attempted to tuck her hair in her collar but it tickled.
Kenshin couldn’t bear watching. With a sleight of hand, her hair was gathered and pinned with a hair ornament that had the shape of a moon. Her eyes widened a fraction as she was enveloped between his arms for a moment after he attached the ornament he bought a while ago.
Having him that close to her, she couldn’t help but have an intake of his scent. He didn’t smell like war and death. Rather, it was more like a blizzard in the night; a whirling storm underneath a calming song of the evening.
“…Kenshin?”
“Keep it.” he said, almost like an order, as he sat back down the bench. “Since you don’t speak for yourself, I took it upon myself to get you something for your hair. You’ve been complaining to yourself nonstop.”
“That’s not it,” she shook her head, “may I fix it?”
A few strands started to fall at his rather clumsy attachment. He closed his eyes and served himself another cup while she removed the ornament and adored the handiwork.
“How lovely.” She said with a smile. “Thank you, Kenshin.”
He didn’t answer. He had forgotten how to respond to gratitude, so he just downed the last cup he’d drink. Katsumi fixed her hair while humming a tune, seemingly happy.
“You seem too happy after receiving just one object.”
“It’s the first time I got to see a hair ornament from here, so I was curious… and happy.” She lowered her hands after tying her hair.
Curious. She’s been interested on everything since they were out. “Are you saying you are sheltered? Isolated from the outside of your home?”
“I think I remember telling you that I performed for the people as a job, but… well…” She frowned, reluctant to continue her sentence. But she remembered that they were to say everything with no lie nor secret, so she told him the truth. “I was curious about everything because… I’m not from this time. I’m from 500 years in the future.”
Kenshin stared at her, eyes narrowed. She felt insecure at his gaze, but she couldn’t look away. His eyes held her captive and it felt like years.
Then he placed the empty cup of sake he was holding back on the tray left to them. “I see.”
She blinked. “What?”
“What?” he repeated. “What do you mean ‘what’?”
“No, I mean— you believe me?”
“Why shouldn’t I?” his brows were almost knitted together as his forehead creased in confusion. “You were the one who told me to speak with each other with no secrets.”
The surprise never left her expression. “Wow. The power of a pinky swear is unbelievable.”
Kenshin ignored her mumbled statement as a nearly amused smile touched his lips. “Now I’m intrigued. Tell me about it… your era.”
Well, the day is still young.
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