Kendo no Go
In the Language of Kendo:
A Fanfic in 100 Chapters
by Akai Kitsune
02: Shadow
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Kaoru never did much like the dark.
dark adj. 1. kurai (partially or entirely without light) 2. koi (nearly
black)
Her mother was understanding, and she would often hold the sniffling child on
particularly frightening nights, but she would always leave with a goodnight
kiss and her sad, half-smile before she fell asleep. Her father disapproved,
even more so after Kioku's death; a kendo student needed to be brave and strong.
A weakness, such a fear of the unknown, was intolerable.
dark adj. 3. bonyari shita (difficult to understand; obscure) 4. usugurai
(dismal; gloomy; somber; hopeless) 5. ikari (angry or sullen).
Kenshin was never able to sleep when she lay awake, listening to the silence of
the shadows around her. He would often whisper to her, quietly ask what was
wrong, and if he could help in any way. She would always shake her head in
response, and simply lie in his arms, safe and protected from whatever it was
that haunted her.
dark adj. 6. warui (sinister; wicked; evil). 7. muchi (unenlightened;
ignorant).
"It's all right," he would tell her, although sometimes it
was hard to believe in his voice. "When I was young, I used to be afraid of the
dark."
'The key phrase being "used to", rurouni-chan,' she wanted to
reply testily, but she couldn't begrudge him for trying. Kindness was what he
thrived and existed on; she hated to make him feel guilty for failing to comfort
her.
dark. n. 1. kurai (the state of being in darkness; the absence of light). 2.
yoru (nightfall; night). 3. koi (a dark shade or colour).
She was amazingly grateful - not that it would have made her love him less -
that her son was born with his father's hair, at least in part. Instead of the
raven colouring she had earned from her parents, he had inherited a deep auburn
shade, similar to his father's ember hair yet still different. She couldn't help
but hate her own hair; it was so plain, so very natural for her country... but
when she looked at her husband, she always felt a smile touch her lips. He was
so different, it drew her in at every circumstance. His hair, his eyes, even his
spirit was something she'd never felt before. But most of all, she loved how no
matter what, he was always able to make her smile. Her husband; all hers. She
snuggled closer to him, and when she closed her eyes, she no longer saw the
darkness, and instead was comforted by a vision of his face.
~*~
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