Diary of a Manslayer
A sequel to Kendo no Go
by Akai Kitsune ::: 28.Mar.2004
Chapter 04: Two Wives
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There were few men in the world, Kenshin knew, that were so gifted to have not one, but two wives for whom he had such strong feelings.
The first was quiet, almost cold in her disposition - and what a pair they made then, he thought ruefully - and so very different from any women he had ever known. True, he hadn't known many women to begin with, but that was besides the point.
Yukishiro Tomoe was a hard woman to describe; his comrades in the revolution kept it simple - she was beautiful, a real treat to look at, with perfect manners and gentle hands. She was quiet, submissive, and such things mattered to men back then. Kenshin hadn't known what to think, exactly.
All he knew was that the woman who quietly spoke her assent when he asked her to marry him had been the most wonderful person in the world to him.
Even after her death, the memories stirred - when the rain fell, or when the first snowfall came. He would remember the day he met her, or the day they finally held each other in honest, heartbreaking love.
'That night... I never thought I would make another promise like that, after that.'
'Even more proof... such a fool I am.'
And then there was Kaoru, his Kaoru. His love, his life, his laughter.
"It takes a very foolish man," he'd commented once, to no on in particular, "To not realize what a gift a wife is."
It was true, he knew. He had lived that foolish existence for nearly a year before asking Kaoru to marry him. Unfortunately, the one that heard him was Yahiko, who was less inclined to appreciate the comment than Kaoru herself. He had of course replied with a jibe at her cooking, and... well, that was life at the Kamiya dojo. He and Kenshin had learned to take naps at inopportune times such as those.
Little quirks, he decided, was what made life worth living. Of course there were times when he didn't love her temper; of course there were times when they fought. Sometimes it was over small, trivial things - the daily meals, shopping, whose job it was to take care of the house when they had both worked all day - and sometimes it was more serious issues, like paying bills or Kenji's slow transition into more advanced schooling.
"The poor kid's only five," Yahiko grumbled one day, overhearing them discussing it with the child sitting on his shoulders. "Let him grow up a bit before you throw him out to be the next genius philosopher."
This had made them both stop and think. Out of all of them, Yahiko probably had the most difficult childhood memories; he and Kaoru had at least had a family during the earliest years.
'We try not to think of it,' he mused, 'But Yahiko was alone for a long time before he met us.'
And that was all the more reason for him to love the woman who had brought them all together - she was mother, sister, and friend to the little group that had formed in that one, brief year. She may have been his wife, but she was, first and foremost, the one he really counted on, when it came down to it.
'She's given so much... for me, of herself...'
'I can't help but feel selfish, but... really, I could never have it any other way.'
Two wives, he thought, a small smile on his face, at night when Kaoru was cuddled up against his side, one child sleeping down the hall, and another growing within his wife's body. Tomoe's farewell - the scar on his cheek - tingling with memory. The snowfall outside.
Two wives, two loves, yet how they had changed him. Two women, two very different people to compliment husbands of equally different times.
Two of them, and yet equally, infinitely precious.
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