From: selene chou TITLE: Until Next Time AUTHOR: Selene Chou FEEDBACK: I love getting comments and critics so send them all to selene@deathsdoor.com DISCLAIMER: Rurouni Kenshin and all characters in it belonged to Watsuki Nobuhiro therefore please don't sue me AUTHOR'S NOTES: this is just a short simple fic I made and it's my first finished RK fanfic so please forgive any mistakes :) ----------------------- Until Next Time ----------------------- Tokio glanced across the table towards where her husband was sitting, eating his soba. He made her so uneasy. She knew she shouldn't feel this way and that she should be getting used to him by now. But the part of getting used to him was very hard to do. Her husband had a lot of work to do and liked to stay away from their house for a long time. Just as she thought she was getting used to him, he went away again. She stole a glance at him again, still methodically eating his soba. Tokio sighed inwardly. Last time he went away for two months. He had come back just yesterday night, turning her world upside down again. She hated the uneasiness she felt whenever he was around but at the same time a part of her was glad that he was here. He WAS her husband, wasn't he? But a husband and wife ought to live together all the time; they ought to AT LEAST get along comfortably with each other. (Maybe he IS comfortable with this.) She picked up her glass of tea and sipped it slowly. Sometimes, when he was away from home, she lied alone awake, regretting ever agreeing to marry him. She would blame her father, her mother, and even her entire family for making her marry this cold unyielding man. She hadn't even know what he looked like until they were introduced, just a few days before the wedding. She had had some doubts afterwards, but everyone had assured her that he was a good man and so she married him. Not that he wasn't a good man, but she wished things weren't this difficult with him. He treated her like a mere stranger, barely talking or looking at her. He stayed away from home for a long time, saying that there was work to do, but she felt as if he couldn't stand being too long in her company. And she couldn't bring herself to do anything else. Tokio bit her lip, hating the feeling of helplessness. She just didn't know what to do. She was.... afraid. Afraid of him. Afraid that if she did something to change this situation, it would change into a much worse situation than this. Because he didn't seem to be as uncomfortable as she was. (He liked it the way it is now. He doesn't want to change anything between us.) She heard the sound of chopsticks being put down on the table and lifted her head. Saitou had finished his meal, his one hand holding his cup of tea to his mouth and the other hand was reaching for his box of cigarettes. "Please don't smoke in here," she said suddenly. His hand on his cigarette box, he put his cup down on the table and looked at her, his eyebrows raising slightly. She bit her lip again. (Too late to take that back.) "I do not like the smell of cigarettes. If...if you smoke in here, the smell will linger on and..." she stopped, not knowing what else to say, the feeling of uncertainty coming back to her. She dropped her gaze to his chest, not daring to look at him in the eyes again. He looked at her for what seemed like forever to her then he merely cocked his head towards her, rose from the floor, and went out bringing his cigarette box with him. She tensed, waiting expectantly for what would happen. A few seconds later she heard him opened the front door and went outside. Tokio breathed a sigh of relief. (I can't believe I just did that.) She smiled a little to herself, feeling satisfied for accomplishing something, however small it was. She rose up, gathered the plates and went to wash them. Saitou stood under a tree not very far from the house and inhaled his cigarette deeply. (Tokio hasn't changed a bit.) She was still the frightened timid girl he had married a year ago. He didn't mind much, as long as she was obedient and took care of the house. And she did do a good job on taking care of the house. He wondered briefly what were the things she did while he was away. He didn't think she would be unfaithful to him, though, she was too afraid of him to do such a thing. Something caught his eye and he turned to look at it. It was several children, walking the road towards the house. He waited, wanting to see what they wanted. The children had come within earshot now and they were talking to each other loudly. There were two boys, about 10 years old, punching at each other's arm playfully. And there were three girls, one older than the two smaller girls who looked like they were only 7 years old. The children went around the house to the back. He could hear them chattering then a moment later, he heard Tokio's faint voice, talking to them. After a few minutes, the children came back into view, the two small girls each holding Tokio's hands. He saw Tokio laughing at something one of the girls holding her hand said. One of the boys said something insulting to the other and they began yelling at each other fiercely. "Stop it, you two!" Tokio said. "Yoshi-chan, you should apologize to Ryo for saying that. It is not nice to call someone by that word." Tokio and the children talked for a while in front of the house until the older girl suggested they went to the creek nearby and asked Tokio to teach them how to fish. He saw her hesitated. She looked around, as if looking for him. He was hidden nicely behind the bushes from where she was standing and was standing under the shadows. Not able to find him, Tokio finally nodded and went to the creek with the children. Tokio went running home. She had lost rack of time and she forgot that she was supposed to prepare dinner for Hajime. She also felt bad for making the children come home late. They would surely got scolded by their parents. Breathing heavily, she went into the house. Her heart was pounding from the running and the anxiousness of having her husband being angry with her. "Hajime, what are you doing?" she asked half in panic, finding him in the kitchen. He was standing in front of the stove and the fire was on. (He's....COOKING??) Without turning to her, he said, "You're late and I'm hungry so I cooked." "I, I'm sorry. I lost track of time and I didn't realized it was time to make dinner," she said. He said nothing and she could see the motions of his hand stirring the pot. She moved forward, and saw that he was indeed cooking and it was....(SOBA?? But we just had that for lunch...can it be it's the only thing he can cook?) "I can make you something else, if you like, " she offered, worriedly. "No. I like soba. It's my favorite food," he said, still not looking at her. She stood there beside him, not knowing what to do. She was still expecting him to say something else or get angry with her. Confused, she waited tensely. "Did you catch anything?" he asked suddenly, startling her. "Wh-what?" "Fish, did you catch a fish?" "Oh, um, yes. A few." "Well, where are they?" "The children brought them home to show them to their parents. They...they come from poor families so I thought it could help them." He nodded. Tokio shifted her weight uneasily. "I..I'll just... set the table..." She turned around and went out hastily. (He knows what I have been doing....and he's not angry, is he?) She fervently hoped he wasn't angry with her. Moments later, Saitou appeared, carrying a tray with two bowls of soba. They ate together with silence. Saitou studied the woman in front of him. He had learned a few things about her today. She probably spent a lot of time with those poor children. (That's probably what she does every day.) He had checked on her down at the creek when she was late, checking whether something might have happened to her. When he saw she was still busy with the children, he left her there and decided to cook himself because he was hungry. (She's very good with children.) He chewed thoughtfully. There were maybe a lot of things he didn't know about his wife. It would probably take some more time to know exactly what kind of woman Tokio was. She was even probably not as timid as he thought. Tokio was also lost in thought. Today she found that her husband wasn't as frightening as he looked. He wasn't even angry with her for being late. He didn't say a word about it. He didn't disagree with what she had been doing either. She smiled down at her bowl of soba. (And he likes soba!) "I'm leaving tomorrow," Saitou said suddenly. Tokio lifted her head quickly, but said nothing. "There's something I have to take care of as soon as possible." "I see," she said, bowing her head again. The next day, early in the morning, she woke up and prepared breakfast. She felt a bit disappointed for him leaving so soon. (How long will he be gone this time?) She was angry with him all of a sudden. Just as she felt she was getting to know him better, he had to leave again. She felt cheated of a husband somehow. But she knew there was nothing she could do. Breakfast was finished as soon as possible. Saitou was anxious to leave as fast as he could. He felt that the matter couldn't be handled by anyone else other than himself. (Those ahous will surely ruin everything.) Tokio accompanied him to the front door. "How long will you be gone this time?" she made herself ask the question. "I don't know. As soon as I can, I'll be back." She nodded, she had expected such an answer. "Take care," she said. He nodded. They looked at each other for a long time. Just as she was going to bow her head, feeling uncomfortable, he said quietly, "Next time, I'll stay longer." She looked at him uncertainly, her eyes widened in surprise. He never said such a thing before. In fact, usually after she asked him to take care, he would just turned away and left. When she saw he was serious, she nodded and smiled. He turned and started walking away. She stood in front of the house, waiting until he disappeared from view. She turned and walked back into the house. And Tokio smiled happily to herself. (Next time, next time!) ------------------------ Selene selene@deathsdoor.com --------------------------- ONElist Sponsor ---------------------------- GRAB THE GATOR! FREE SOFTWARE DOES ALL THE TYPING FOR YOU! Tired of filling out forms and remembering passwords? Gator fills in forms and passwords with just one click! Comes with $50 in free coupons! Click Here ------------------------------------------------------------------------