Rurouni Kenshin is not mine, but the property of Watsuki Nobuhiro. I'm just borrowing it for a while.
This fic takes place post-Jinchuu arc in the manga. Knowledge of the events is useful, but not necessary. Many thanks goes to the TFME forum and Stefanie2 for all of their help and inspiration.
None.
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For This Dojo's Honor: Part 5


by DQBunny


Kenshin took the news pretty much the way Kaoru expected him to – extremely hard. Yahiko was upset as well. She spent the rest of the day consoling both husband and student. That night, after sending Yahiko back to the longhouse, she fled behind the bathhouse and treated herself to a good cry. When she emerged, it was to Kenshin's sad and guilty face, knowing she'd hidden his tears from him. So she cried again, in his arms, and felt much better afterwards.

Yahiko came back early the next morning. They had a week to prepare for the contest. Kaoru decided she wouldn't be surprised if Kenshin didn't choose to spar with her after all, so she was shocked when he appeared in the dojo dressed in the traditional light blue and white practice gear that students of the school wore.

They all sat in front of the shrine to her father, to meditate and prepare for the lesson. Kaoru did her best to blank her mind, to make sure none of her problems interfered with the practice. What counted right now was the forms of Kamiya Kasshin Ryu and the lesson ahead of her. One by one, they stood and bowed to the shrine, then moved to the dojo floor.

Kaoru called the warm-up, feeling weird that she was ordering Kenshin around when it came to kenjutsu. She performed her moves automatically, taking the chance to study him. He had the moves down as well as Yahiko, but with the same polish she was able to give them after years of practice. His knowledge of her school stunned her. He must had picked it up after watching us, she realized. Kaoru knew she shouldn't expect anything less from the Hitokiri Battousai. He had to study his enemy and know their style as well as his own, she thought. Otherwise, they would take him down.

When they finished, Kaoru started to face Yahiko, then hesitated. If Kenshin was simply another student, she'd simply have them spar each other. It was weird, being both teacher and student at the same time. But, as if Kenshin sensed her uneasiness, he took over.

"Go ahead and spar Yahiko and let this one see what you need work on."

"Okay." Kaoru nodded to Kenshin and turned back to Yahiko.

They bowed and immediately began to spar. Kaoru noticed Yahiko putting a little more effort into his moves than he normally did. She nearly smirked. It was because Kenshin was watching, it had to be. He nearly slammed her shoulder, but she ducked just in time, swinging her shinai around until it connected with his back. Yahiko kept his footing, using the momentum to pivot around and charge at her once more.

He's doing well, she thought with a small amount of pride. Maybe I should send Yahiko to the contest after all. He would honor this school well. Kaoru lifted her shinai to defend from an overhead swing, then immediately countered it with an attack to Yahiko's side, which he barely blocked. It would be so easy just to tell Yahiko to do it. She would never have to show up at the Maekawa dojo. Yahiko was more than eager to fight.

Her eyes flickered to Kenshin. He promised not to let me down, Kaoru remembered. I can't do the same to him.

"Got you!"

Kaoru noticed the attack, but didn't move fast enough. Yahiko's shinai plowed into her stomach, sending her into the air. She landed on her back a few feet away, the air knocked out of her. She wheezed and heard the rush of footsteps as Kenshin and Yahiko reached her side.

"Kaoru?"

"You okay, busu?"

"I'm fine," she gasped as Kenshin helped her to sit up. "Not bad, Yahiko."

"What was with you?" Yahiko slung his shinai over his shoulder and tried not to look too worried.

"You got distracted there for a moment." Kenshin told her.

"Yeah. It looked like you weren't even here. Didn't you tell me to keep focused at all times?"

Kaoru prided herself on not rolling her eyes at having the words she constantly drilled into Yahiko's head be tossed back at her. If her side didn't ache quite so much, she was sure she'd be chasing him by now. "You're right. I did get distracted. There's a lot on my mind."

She waited for Kenshin to give her an odd look. Instead, he helped her to her feet. "Do you want to take a break?" he asked in a tone low enough that Yahiko couldn't hear.

She shook her head. No way, no how was she going to let a little bruise keep her down.

-----

Kaoru winced at the large black, blue, brown and yellow painting that dotted her side. "I didn't think Yahiko hit me so hard," she said, sheepishly.

"You landed on your side pretty hard as well, Kaoru-chan," Dr. Gensai informed her, then started rubbing a salve over it. "You should probably take it easy the next few weeks. It looks like you did a number on your wrists as well."

"It's just a couple of scratches."

"Just a couple of scratches. Your father kept telling me that every time I had to sew him back together."

That made her smile a little. "Say, Gensai-sensei?"

"Hmm?" Dr. Gensai pulled several bandages out of his bag and began wrapping her wrists.

"Do you think my father would be proud of the school?"

He paused, considering the question for a moment. "I suppose he would be disheartened at the lack of students here right now," he said, resuming his task.

"So he would be disappointed?"

"Not necessarily." Gensai tied off the bandages and sat back to admire his work. "He would be proud of you, Kaoru-chan. You're alive, happy and well. You're using the school the best way you know how. You went to Kyoto to fight for Kenshin and did your best to protect him during Enishi's Jinchuu."

"But no one saw me doing that!" Kaoru stared at her bandaged hands.

Gensai cupped her chin in his hand, tilting her face up until her eyes were leveled with his. "The ones you sought to protect saw how well you used this school. In the end, aren't they the ones who matter?"

"But does it bring the school honor?"

"Am I good doctor whether or not 100 people come to see me, or 10? If I've helped to save one person's life, then I am a good doctor. I have conducted my business with honor. Does it matter how many students that Kamiya Kasshin dojo has or that you are able to perform the duties of that school to the best of your abilities? If you can do the latter, then I believe you're bringing honor to your school. For that, your father would be proud."

Gensai reached up and brushed away the tears that trickled down Kaoru's cheeks. She grabbed his hands and squeezed them tightly.

-----

Kaoru insisted on facing Kenshin next. She ignored the pain that throbbed during the night. She had herself convinced that the pain had lessened by the time she scarfed down breakfast and gone through her warm-up. She refused to take no for an answer, so now she stood six feet away from her husband, shinais braced in both their hands.

Did you ever think you would face the Hitokiri Battousai like this, a small voice in the back of her mind wondered. Kaoru smirked. Then again, she never expected to wed and bed Battousai either, but stranger things have happened.

Still, the thought of raising a sword against him scared her even worse than the moment she realized they were husband and wife.

Kaoru did her best to push it out of her mind. She couldn't think of Kenshin as the legendary swordsman he was. She couldn't think of him as her husband. He was her enemy and she had to overcome him.

She faced him. "Let's go."

Kenshin simply waited for her.

Think like the enemy, Kaoru, she thought. Kenshin read chi. He would wait for her to attack so he could sense where she was coming from and immediately respond.

Still, years of narrating battles from the sideline didn't prepare Kaoru for the real thing. Before she could move, Kenshin blurred and disappeared. She did her best not to gawk. Remember, she thought, he really didn't disappear. He's just moving very fast. She tensed and tried to remember what he normally did when he performed that move.

"Kaoru, behind you!" Yahiko yelled.

Too late! Kaoru lifted her shinai to block the attack, but received a slam to the wrists instead. The shinai shot out of her hands and across the dojo floor.

She bent over and grimaced with pain. Kenshin dropped his own shinai and knelt beside her. "Kaoru-dono! Are you all right? This one didn't mean to hurt you like that. Damn it, I knew this wasn't a good idea. Kaoru-dono!"

She managed a smile. "How many times do I have to remind you not to call me Kaoru-dono?"

"Oro?"

She didn't really mind. His use of the formal term, as well as his cussing, let her know how worried he was. She flexed her fingers and was relieved to see that nothing was broken. Kenshin really was holding back, she thought. Kenshin helped her to her feet and she sighed.

"You're too easily distracted, Kaoru." Kenshin's soft voice cut through her thoughts. "It's like during the spar with Yahiko yesterday. Something keeps distracting you to the point of where you break your concentration."

"I've never had that problem before."

"You've never been challenged like this before. Maekawa-dono called you the Kenjutsu Princess. But, you've not been in battle very much."

"But, I fought Kamatari."

"With Misao-dono's help, if I recall right."

Kaoru scowled at him. "If you're trying to remind me that this will be my first major public fight on my own, don't bother. I've been thinking about nothing else the past few days."

"This one is just trying to help you, Kaoru-dono."

"Don't you –dono me!"

"When one acts like a child, one deserves to be treated like a child."

Kaoru growled and swung her fist. Kenshin neatly caught it. She blinked and stared at it, her small, white hand encased in his callused one. Her anger drained away. "You've...you've never caught it before. You always could thought."

"This one needed some sense pounded into him before. You're the one who needs it now. But, I would never hit you, Kaoru." He rubbed his thumb across her fist.

Guilt flooded her for every time she'd taken him forgranted. She'd taken a lot forgranted. Her relationship with Kenshin and her status as Tokyo's "kenjutsu princess." She often yelled at Yahiko to not let his head get swelled with praise, but wasn't she doing the same thing? Did she really deserve to inherit the ougi and rebuild the school?

What else would they do if she couldn't?

"I can't give you the training that you need, Kaoru." Kenshin slipped an arm around her shoulders. "But, after you were hurt yesterday, I...I went ahead and sent a telegram to someone that I felt could. I heard back about it this morning and, surprisingly enough, he agreed to do it. Today only proved that I'm right, though. I can't teach you." I love you too much to turn that part of me off when we spar, he thought.

"He?"

"This one's surprised about it, but knowing him, it's a good reason to make fun of me."

"Which he are you talking about?"

"Shisho. Hiko Seijuro."

I know, you’re thinking the same thing – how on Earth was Kenshin able to drag Hiko off his mountain? What could he teach Kaoru that Kenshin can’t? Thank you for having the patience to wait this long for this chapter and I hope that part six will be out a lot quicker.
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