What I've been spending time on, aka the run-on-sentences of doom
Since I actually do have to write an essay in the near future to a prompt I joined 1sentence for a bit of practice and an excuse to write about my favorite pairing - Kenshin and Kaoru of Rurouni Kenshin. Granted I'm not taking the final OVA into account here, so it's my own version of events from here on out after the manga ends.
Fandom: Rurouni Kenshin
Pairing: Himura Kenshin/Kamiya Kaoru
Theme set: Delta
Rating: PG13 (insinuations, nothing explicit)
#01 - Air
It wasn’t so much that she’d been unable to breath the first time they kissed under the glow of the setting sun, rather the pure emotion of the scene had stolen the very air from her lungs.
#02 - Apples
Oftentimes when Kenshin went to do the shopping he would return with something he’d found by chance, though it was a mixed bag as far as quality went, as unforgettably a bag of apples at a bargain price had been full of worms upon closer inspection.
#03 - Beginning
Some days she found it hard to believe that her first action towards the man who one day would be her husband was to attack him - though even as a child she’d never thought that anything about her love life was going to be normal.
#04 - Bugs
One thing Kenshin loved about Tokyo was the fireflies - not just because they carried with them a memory of a bittersweet parting - with practice he was able to capture the bugs and chat well into the night illuminated by their light.
#05 - Coffee
When the first coffee shop opened in Tokyo they had delighted in the new, exotic drink from overseas - though in retrospect ordering 13 drinks altogether was not the best idea after a hard day of training at a neighboring dojo, when all they wanted to do was sleep off the exhaustion.
#06 - Dark
It was somewhat surprising to learn that despite his years as a wandering warrior Kenshin was afraid of the dark, and preferred to keep one light on during the new moon - just so he wouldn’t be completely unable to see.
#07 - Despair
She knew that despite the strong face he put on Kenshin was still very much a fragile person and his despair was not a wrenching agony that one might necessarily notice, so she had come to recognize it and in an equally subtle way wrap her arms around him and silently let him know that she understood.
#08 - Doors
For a long time after they’d been married Kenshin was still insistent about knocking whenever he’d enter the room, though Kaoru had made it quite clear that she didn’t mind being walked in on when in a state of undress - as a matter of fact, she found it to be quite a thrill.
#09 - Drink
Very few people knew just how much a lightweight Kenshin was, and Kaoru had taken great pleasure upon realizing that even she was able to hold her liquor better, though she found the expression on Kenshin’s face the next morning when he woke with a severe hangover even more amusing.
#10 - Duty
It had taken some time to wean Kenshin off of his habit of constantly doing all the housework; and Kaoru found it rather funny that the two of them were the very antithesis of tradition as far as domestic duties went.
#11 - Earth
Kenshin found something very soothing about gardening, almost as if the planting of seeds in the sun warmed earth was lifting the weigh of the lives he had taken from his shoulders.
#12 - End
Kenshin had heard once that an orgasm was considered in some cultures to be a “little death”, and despite the morbidity of the phrase Kenshin rather liked it, for he felt like it gave another chance at life to anyone experiencing it.
#13 - Fall
Although spring was by far still her favorite season, there was something nice about autumn and the slight chill in the air that made them cuddle just a little bit closer under the blankets.
#14 - Fire
For such a reserved and cautious man Kenshin was amazingly passionate, and when the moment was right his eyes almost seemed to glow with intensity that melted Kaoru where she stood.
#15 - Flexible
One good thing about being married to martial artist was that both of them were decently strong and not above doing something wild when the moment seemed right - to the point that they borrowed a copy of the Kama Sutra to see what they were capable of.
#16 - Flying
Once - just for fun - Kenshin lifted her bodily from the ground and leaped from the top of the bridge one particularly hot summer day, and by the time they had surfaced, spluttering and completely soaked through, both were laughing wildly from the thrill of it.
#17 - Food
No matter how terrible a cook Kaoru might have been, Kenshin seemed to enjoy anything she made, seemingly convinced that anything that was the product of her hard work was wonderful - even if it left with him indigestion afterwards.
#18 - Foot
One thing that set her on fire was the little smirk Kenshin would get whenever he discovered a sweet spot, and the bottom of her foot became a favorite area for his ministrations.
#19 - Grave
The grave was a special place for Kaoru, for it was there that she felt able to connect to the woman who had opened Kenshin’s heart, and Kaoru was thankful that was able to have a place to pay her respects to the person who through her brave sacrifice had enabled her to be with the man she loved.
#20 - Green
Tomboy or not, Kaoru always was dressed to suit the season, and in spring especially she seemed to exude the green of the leaves as she walked to and from the market, catching the eyes of passerby as she moved like a new spring leaf blown by the wind.
#21 - Head
One of Kaoru’s fondest memories before they were married was of the time when Kenshin had fallen asleep with his head on her lap, and how his previously unseen vulnerability and softness had touched her heart in a way that was beyond description.
#22 - Hollow
In an attempt to keep the sakabato away from Kenji they had resorted to hiding in one of the large trees at the front of the dojo, though like everything else they had tried this proved to be a failure, as the toddler had it in his hands while he grinned in triumph by sunset that same day.
#23 - Honor
He knew that he was a relic - the days of the sword were gone, but in some ways that made Kaoru treasure him even more, to her he was a pillar of honor and goodness in a rapidly disintegrating world.
#24 - Hope
Even though Kenshin knew that his life for the most part was over, the hope that he may have created something that would last beyond his inevitable death made everything that had happened completely worth it.
#25 - Light
Before Kenji had been born they had picked out alternate names in case he had been a girl - most notably Hikari (light) after Kaoru’s long-deceased mother.
#26 - Lost
No matter how may times they would draw up a map of where they were going, Kenshin always seemed to get them lost in the twisting alleyways of Tokyo, though over time the thrill of trying to find their way out became more fun that any visit to a friend’s.
#27 - Metal
Kenshin caught himself staring at the ceremonial sword on the dojo alter every now and again despite his resolve that he would never again bear one such as it, since there was something so entrancing and dangerous about the way candlelight glinted off the metal that just seemed to dare him to grab it - just for kicks.
#28 - New
Despite Kenji’s extreme resemblance to his father, the little boy proved to be quite rambunctious and a far cry from his father’s reserved personality, though Kenshin himself seemed convinced that this was an improvement when it came to sticking up for himself.
#29 - Old
It was good to know that some things never changed, and even as Kenshin’s hair began to turn grey at the roots he never stopped referring to every woman he met as “dono” - with the exception of Kaoru, of course.
#30 - Peace
It was hard adjusting to life without the constant threat of violence for Kenshin, and it was actually something of a disappointment when he realized that peace itself hadn’t been achieved - rather it was a new way to make war that had come out of the Revolution that no longer held the pretense of a good cause.
#31 - Poison
When some old enemy had decided to hit Kaoru with a poison dart as revenge for something Kenshin had done during the Revolution it was not the week of high fevers and shivering that had been the most painful - rather it was the feeling of Kenshin’s cold hands clasped around hers until she finally opened her eyes.
#32 - Pretty
“Beautiful” was not a word Kenshin used liberally, and only a few things - the sakura in spring, a sunset, and of course Kaoru’s face upon awaking - were granted this divine description.
#33 - Rain
It had been quite amusing the time they had been caught in a sudden downpour and had run through the streets laughing hysterically, though by the time they got home they were more than happy to have a reason to take their clothes off.
#34 - Regret
Regardless of how he’d been told to feel about his life, Kenshin was never really one to wish that it had played out differently - even leaving Kaoru for Kyoto had been an important, if not crucial, moment despite the pain he had felt then.
#35 - Roses
They weren’t really a flower couple, since despite her name* Kaoru was not fond of flowers and how they stunk up the dojo, and every year for their anniversary Kenshin would leave a single red paper rose on the pillow when she woke up - and, as Kaoru was quick to point out, they lasted longer.
* The kanji of “Kaoru” literally means fragrance
#36 - Secret
Though certain things were not considered vital areas of discussion, Kenshin made an honest effort not to keep any secrets from her, as he painfully recalled the ache in his heart when he’d been anxious enough to hide the injuries to his body before he had left for Kyoto.
#37 - Snakes
One summer Kenshin leapt out the door, sword in hand, in response to a shriek from the yard - only to discover that it was merely a small grass snake that had curled into one of Kaoru’s baskets and startled her.
#38 - Snow
Few things were more welcome than the snow, for it gave them an excuse to huddle under the kotatsu* and simply sleep the day away.
* A low, wooden table frame covered by a futon or heavy blanket upon which a table top sits. Underneath is a heat source, often built into the table itself.
#39 - Solid
The first time she’d actually touched him in an intimate way and felt the warmth of his body and pulse it had been surprising, as given his almost ethereal presence she had half-expected him to simply vanish under her fingertips.
#40 - Spring
Though every other season was a favorite Spring was not a season Kenshin looked forward to - the cherry blossoms that littered the ground still reminded him all too well of the many lives that had fallen just as silently years before and with as much recognition.
#41 - Stable
Kaoru liked to say that despite his short stature her husband was a sturdy man - though it seemed that he was rather vulnerable to being knocked down whenever Kenji was feeling playful.
#42 - Strange
When Kenji was born both of his parents were glad to see the red hairs that adorned their child’s head, for them it was a way to show the world what they had known all along: their child was special, despite what anyone else might think.
#43 - Summer
Tokyo summers were lazy, hot, humid, and seemed to drain the life out of anything that the sun touched, but there was something exhilarating about dumping an ice-cold bucket of water over your husband’s head to wake him that Kaoru was unable to find anyplace else.
#44 - Taboo
It became an unwritten rule that Kaoru would never ask him about three things unless he initiated the conversation: his life as an assassin, his very early life, and what he felt about the lives he had taken, since it simply wasn’t needed in a relationship that contined the sort of understanding that went beyond words.
#45 - Ugly
Kaoru knew that Yahiko really had matured when, on their wedding day, his assessment of Kaoru in her wedding kimono was a breathless “beautiful”.
#46 - War
Few things bothered Kenshin more than hearing of war made recklessly in other parts of the world, as he had and felt what really happened after the ideology and glory of battle had been replaced by a cold numbness that no amount of proselytizing could undo.
#47 - Water
A Chinese philosopher had once said that water was like the best man was capable of; benefiting all, flowing where others would not, and without contention, and this was a philosophy Kenshin held true to even in his later years.
#48 - Welcome
Few things defined their relationship as much as that one moment when Kaoru had welcomed him home, for in that moment he had truly begun to realize that what he wanted had been right in front of him the entire time.
#49 - Winter
Besides the cold that seemed to creep into every corner of the dojo despite their best efforts at insulation, Kenshin actually learned to love the cold mornings when the his first sight upon awakening was the steam from their combined breathing that almost seemed to confirm their existence in the early hour.
#50 - Wood
Like the lives of the people who had lived there the dojo seemed to take on a legendary quality even after those people were long gone, and even the children, who had no way of knowing its history ,found something intriguing about the house and spent long hours playing on the wooden floor where a school had been founded and the heart of one wanderer saved.
Fandom: Rurouni Kenshin
Pairing: Himura Kenshin/Kamiya Kaoru
Theme set: Delta
Rating: PG13 (insinuations, nothing explicit)
#01 - Air
It wasn’t so much that she’d been unable to breath the first time they kissed under the glow of the setting sun, rather the pure emotion of the scene had stolen the very air from her lungs.
#02 - Apples
Oftentimes when Kenshin went to do the shopping he would return with something he’d found by chance, though it was a mixed bag as far as quality went, as unforgettably a bag of apples at a bargain price had been full of worms upon closer inspection.
#03 - Beginning
Some days she found it hard to believe that her first action towards the man who one day would be her husband was to attack him - though even as a child she’d never thought that anything about her love life was going to be normal.
#04 - Bugs
One thing Kenshin loved about Tokyo was the fireflies - not just because they carried with them a memory of a bittersweet parting - with practice he was able to capture the bugs and chat well into the night illuminated by their light.
#05 - Coffee
When the first coffee shop opened in Tokyo they had delighted in the new, exotic drink from overseas - though in retrospect ordering 13 drinks altogether was not the best idea after a hard day of training at a neighboring dojo, when all they wanted to do was sleep off the exhaustion.
#06 - Dark
It was somewhat surprising to learn that despite his years as a wandering warrior Kenshin was afraid of the dark, and preferred to keep one light on during the new moon - just so he wouldn’t be completely unable to see.
#07 - Despair
She knew that despite the strong face he put on Kenshin was still very much a fragile person and his despair was not a wrenching agony that one might necessarily notice, so she had come to recognize it and in an equally subtle way wrap her arms around him and silently let him know that she understood.
#08 - Doors
For a long time after they’d been married Kenshin was still insistent about knocking whenever he’d enter the room, though Kaoru had made it quite clear that she didn’t mind being walked in on when in a state of undress - as a matter of fact, she found it to be quite a thrill.
#09 - Drink
Very few people knew just how much a lightweight Kenshin was, and Kaoru had taken great pleasure upon realizing that even she was able to hold her liquor better, though she found the expression on Kenshin’s face the next morning when he woke with a severe hangover even more amusing.
#10 - Duty
It had taken some time to wean Kenshin off of his habit of constantly doing all the housework; and Kaoru found it rather funny that the two of them were the very antithesis of tradition as far as domestic duties went.
#11 - Earth
Kenshin found something very soothing about gardening, almost as if the planting of seeds in the sun warmed earth was lifting the weigh of the lives he had taken from his shoulders.
#12 - End
Kenshin had heard once that an orgasm was considered in some cultures to be a “little death”, and despite the morbidity of the phrase Kenshin rather liked it, for he felt like it gave another chance at life to anyone experiencing it.
#13 - Fall
Although spring was by far still her favorite season, there was something nice about autumn and the slight chill in the air that made them cuddle just a little bit closer under the blankets.
#14 - Fire
For such a reserved and cautious man Kenshin was amazingly passionate, and when the moment was right his eyes almost seemed to glow with intensity that melted Kaoru where she stood.
#15 - Flexible
One good thing about being married to martial artist was that both of them were decently strong and not above doing something wild when the moment seemed right - to the point that they borrowed a copy of the Kama Sutra to see what they were capable of.
#16 - Flying
Once - just for fun - Kenshin lifted her bodily from the ground and leaped from the top of the bridge one particularly hot summer day, and by the time they had surfaced, spluttering and completely soaked through, both were laughing wildly from the thrill of it.
#17 - Food
No matter how terrible a cook Kaoru might have been, Kenshin seemed to enjoy anything she made, seemingly convinced that anything that was the product of her hard work was wonderful - even if it left with him indigestion afterwards.
#18 - Foot
One thing that set her on fire was the little smirk Kenshin would get whenever he discovered a sweet spot, and the bottom of her foot became a favorite area for his ministrations.
#19 - Grave
The grave was a special place for Kaoru, for it was there that she felt able to connect to the woman who had opened Kenshin’s heart, and Kaoru was thankful that was able to have a place to pay her respects to the person who through her brave sacrifice had enabled her to be with the man she loved.
#20 - Green
Tomboy or not, Kaoru always was dressed to suit the season, and in spring especially she seemed to exude the green of the leaves as she walked to and from the market, catching the eyes of passerby as she moved like a new spring leaf blown by the wind.
#21 - Head
One of Kaoru’s fondest memories before they were married was of the time when Kenshin had fallen asleep with his head on her lap, and how his previously unseen vulnerability and softness had touched her heart in a way that was beyond description.
#22 - Hollow
In an attempt to keep the sakabato away from Kenji they had resorted to hiding in one of the large trees at the front of the dojo, though like everything else they had tried this proved to be a failure, as the toddler had it in his hands while he grinned in triumph by sunset that same day.
#23 - Honor
He knew that he was a relic - the days of the sword were gone, but in some ways that made Kaoru treasure him even more, to her he was a pillar of honor and goodness in a rapidly disintegrating world.
#24 - Hope
Even though Kenshin knew that his life for the most part was over, the hope that he may have created something that would last beyond his inevitable death made everything that had happened completely worth it.
#25 - Light
Before Kenji had been born they had picked out alternate names in case he had been a girl - most notably Hikari (light) after Kaoru’s long-deceased mother.
#26 - Lost
No matter how may times they would draw up a map of where they were going, Kenshin always seemed to get them lost in the twisting alleyways of Tokyo, though over time the thrill of trying to find their way out became more fun that any visit to a friend’s.
#27 - Metal
Kenshin caught himself staring at the ceremonial sword on the dojo alter every now and again despite his resolve that he would never again bear one such as it, since there was something so entrancing and dangerous about the way candlelight glinted off the metal that just seemed to dare him to grab it - just for kicks.
#28 - New
Despite Kenji’s extreme resemblance to his father, the little boy proved to be quite rambunctious and a far cry from his father’s reserved personality, though Kenshin himself seemed convinced that this was an improvement when it came to sticking up for himself.
#29 - Old
It was good to know that some things never changed, and even as Kenshin’s hair began to turn grey at the roots he never stopped referring to every woman he met as “dono” - with the exception of Kaoru, of course.
#30 - Peace
It was hard adjusting to life without the constant threat of violence for Kenshin, and it was actually something of a disappointment when he realized that peace itself hadn’t been achieved - rather it was a new way to make war that had come out of the Revolution that no longer held the pretense of a good cause.
#31 - Poison
When some old enemy had decided to hit Kaoru with a poison dart as revenge for something Kenshin had done during the Revolution it was not the week of high fevers and shivering that had been the most painful - rather it was the feeling of Kenshin’s cold hands clasped around hers until she finally opened her eyes.
#32 - Pretty
“Beautiful” was not a word Kenshin used liberally, and only a few things - the sakura in spring, a sunset, and of course Kaoru’s face upon awaking - were granted this divine description.
#33 - Rain
It had been quite amusing the time they had been caught in a sudden downpour and had run through the streets laughing hysterically, though by the time they got home they were more than happy to have a reason to take their clothes off.
#34 - Regret
Regardless of how he’d been told to feel about his life, Kenshin was never really one to wish that it had played out differently - even leaving Kaoru for Kyoto had been an important, if not crucial, moment despite the pain he had felt then.
#35 - Roses
They weren’t really a flower couple, since despite her name* Kaoru was not fond of flowers and how they stunk up the dojo, and every year for their anniversary Kenshin would leave a single red paper rose on the pillow when she woke up - and, as Kaoru was quick to point out, they lasted longer.
* The kanji of “Kaoru” literally means fragrance
#36 - Secret
Though certain things were not considered vital areas of discussion, Kenshin made an honest effort not to keep any secrets from her, as he painfully recalled the ache in his heart when he’d been anxious enough to hide the injuries to his body before he had left for Kyoto.
#37 - Snakes
One summer Kenshin leapt out the door, sword in hand, in response to a shriek from the yard - only to discover that it was merely a small grass snake that had curled into one of Kaoru’s baskets and startled her.
#38 - Snow
Few things were more welcome than the snow, for it gave them an excuse to huddle under the kotatsu* and simply sleep the day away.
* A low, wooden table frame covered by a futon or heavy blanket upon which a table top sits. Underneath is a heat source, often built into the table itself.
#39 - Solid
The first time she’d actually touched him in an intimate way and felt the warmth of his body and pulse it had been surprising, as given his almost ethereal presence she had half-expected him to simply vanish under her fingertips.
#40 - Spring
Though every other season was a favorite Spring was not a season Kenshin looked forward to - the cherry blossoms that littered the ground still reminded him all too well of the many lives that had fallen just as silently years before and with as much recognition.
#41 - Stable
Kaoru liked to say that despite his short stature her husband was a sturdy man - though it seemed that he was rather vulnerable to being knocked down whenever Kenji was feeling playful.
#42 - Strange
When Kenji was born both of his parents were glad to see the red hairs that adorned their child’s head, for them it was a way to show the world what they had known all along: their child was special, despite what anyone else might think.
#43 - Summer
Tokyo summers were lazy, hot, humid, and seemed to drain the life out of anything that the sun touched, but there was something exhilarating about dumping an ice-cold bucket of water over your husband’s head to wake him that Kaoru was unable to find anyplace else.
#44 - Taboo
It became an unwritten rule that Kaoru would never ask him about three things unless he initiated the conversation: his life as an assassin, his very early life, and what he felt about the lives he had taken, since it simply wasn’t needed in a relationship that contined the sort of understanding that went beyond words.
#45 - Ugly
Kaoru knew that Yahiko really had matured when, on their wedding day, his assessment of Kaoru in her wedding kimono was a breathless “beautiful”.
#46 - War
Few things bothered Kenshin more than hearing of war made recklessly in other parts of the world, as he had and felt what really happened after the ideology and glory of battle had been replaced by a cold numbness that no amount of proselytizing could undo.
#47 - Water
A Chinese philosopher had once said that water was like the best man was capable of; benefiting all, flowing where others would not, and without contention, and this was a philosophy Kenshin held true to even in his later years.
#48 - Welcome
Few things defined their relationship as much as that one moment when Kaoru had welcomed him home, for in that moment he had truly begun to realize that what he wanted had been right in front of him the entire time.
#49 - Winter
Besides the cold that seemed to creep into every corner of the dojo despite their best efforts at insulation, Kenshin actually learned to love the cold mornings when the his first sight upon awakening was the steam from their combined breathing that almost seemed to confirm their existence in the early hour.
#50 - Wood
Like the lives of the people who had lived there the dojo seemed to take on a legendary quality even after those people were long gone, and even the children, who had no way of knowing its history ,found something intriguing about the house and spent long hours playing on the wooden floor where a school had been founded and the heart of one wanderer saved.