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[series]: Rurouni Kenshin
[character]: Kaoru Kamiya
[character history / background]:
(Please note that this history is more in abridged form since she is one of the main characters and the series is rather long.)
Kaoru was born in June of 1862 to a kind mother and a father who was a master of Kamiya Kasshin-Ryū. When her mother died her father started teaching her his art. Due to the lack of a female influence and her desire to make her father proud, Kaoru grew up more like a young boy then a young girl. Her mind strongly focused on the art of fighting and keeping her family's dojo open then on cooking and cleaning and looking beautiful in order to attract a husband.
Due to all this however, she was physically prepared for when he father, a member of the sword bearing police, was killed in war.
Completely alone in the world now, she took up the upkeep of the dojo and began training in his stead. Meji era society was not one which empowered women however. Kaoru struggled greatly, working against society views in order to keep her father's dojo open. And it didn't take long at all for someone to find something to hold against her.
Not six months after her father's death a man began killing in their village. The killer claimed to be the infamous Hitokiri Battousai. He also claimed that he had been trained at her dojo. The implications that his actions were producing were enough to cause the loss of her remaining students.
Kaoru wasn't so soft as to leave things at that however. The young girl physically went out to find the Battousai and confront him for his lies. The killer she found however was Himura Kenshin. A harmless wanderer who saved her life when the Battousai almost took it. In return for his help she allowed him to stay at the dojo with her. Something that became mutually beneficial after he saved her life and (COULD COOK!) helped clear her dojo's name. Making it again safe for her students to return.
Soon after things had calmed down however, she discovered that her innocent lodger was in fact the REAL Hitokiri Battousai. A fact that was accentuated with her first kidnapping. Kenshin however rescued her and life went on. She didn't really care that her new lodger had once been the most violent of killers in the war. All that mattered was that he was a nice person now. Any trouble that would come from him being there would be handled. He was stuck there with her for good without really realizing it.
Due to his presence Kaoru gained a new lodger shortly after everything had started calming down. His name was Yahiko and he was a pickpocket due to need. His father was killed and he was forced to be a thief due to his debts and who was holding them.
Once everything was said and done Kaoru ended up taking Yahiko in and becoming a sort of older sister/mother figure to him. He became her first new student (not that he ever showed her respect as a teacher.)
The next major battle gave them the new friend and ex-gangster Sanosuke. While an amazing fighter, Sano became more of a big brother and freeloader then anything else to Kaoru. The two, though not really easy to see, became very close to one another. In fact, Kaoru was protective of everyone lodging in her dojo at this point. Yahiko, Kenshin and Sano.
Shortly following the battle with Sano, they met a woman named Megumi. She was a doctor with a very dark past of having dealt in opium and had also been saved by the ragtag dojo group. Now, while she didn't strictly stay at the dojo, she had become one of the close family and a sort of older sister to Kaoru. She would torture the girl for being more of a boy and for her unrealized feelings for the red headed man. Megumi was the sort of sister who seemed like she was really playing everyone like a group of puppets. Still, Kaoru loved and respected her.
Time, shenanigans and battles later Kenshin finally told Kaoru 'goodbye'. No matter the situation he had never said that to her, and the way he had done so was ... it was forever. Kaoru knew he was never returning to her side again. The impact of that and the realization that she felt something more for Kenshin then she had been willing to let herself realize simply broke the girl.
[character abilities]: She is a master and teacher of Kamiya Kasshin-Ryū style of fighting.
[character personality]:
Kaoru is a fiery girl and strong-willed girl, but a girl none the less. Some days it's like she has a split personality, swinging from one extreme to another. Other days she seems very stable and comfortable within her own skin. Really, this is all a part of her growing up process. She's still a young girl with a lot on her shoulders.
She wants to do the best that she can in everything that she does, and she wants to make her dead father proud of her. She also just wants to protect those she cares about. Something that is rather difficult in the Meji era when your friends bring trouble like the day's fresh tofu. Because of this she has a strong will and courage to back up her constant worry about her friends. She's an amazing fighter who, with the help of her friends, can defeat almost any obstacle.
This doesn't mean that she relies completely on her friends. In fact she probably tries to do too much for herself. She's very independent. Having been alone and having to take care of herself has made her very self sufficient. However it also has made her very possessive of the people in her life. When it comes to certain people (Kenshin) she can be possessive to the point of violence. (Kenshin usually bares the brunt of it.)
Kaoru is the sort of person who is fiercely loyal and strongly opinionated. She isn't the sort to refuse to be wrong however. One simply has to shove that wrongness into her face before she fully admits it to herself. Even then she may never actually admit it to you.
One of her more prominent flaws is her incredible lack of self esteem on so many points. She feels very un-ladylike due to her abilities and the fact that she is more like a boy then she is a girl. She's violent and rough and is more apt to be found practicing fighting then anything else. She can't cook to save anyone's life (In fact if you want to save lives don't let her cook) she's not good at laundry and she's pretty useless when it comes to make up.
Because of how she was left alone by her father's death Kaoru is very lonely. This is one of the unconscious reasons that she keeps picking up strangers who have nowhere else to go. She's also just a good person. She can't just watch as someone else is in trouble.
There is a compassionate side to Kaoru too. She just can't help but see, or try to see the good in everyone. This is why she has so many strays who were previously involved in things that were seedy and underhanded. Because no matter what, she believes in the good inside them. She is their second chance without realizing that she is.
[point in timeline you're picking your character from]: The very start of the Kyoto arc. When Kenshin says goodbye to Kaoru.
(Because of the fact that Kaoru is generally a very strong girl with the ability to face almost anything with a smile, I've added a clip of the exact moment she is being taken from for Poly. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nFjJEFBxcZg )
[journal post]:
[Accidental voice post]
[A very loud crunch and a high pitched beeping accentuates the start of the post.]
K-kenshin? Whe ... [There is the sound of her admonishing herself to trying to rely on Kenshin.] He's not here anymore. You're on your own. [She doesn't even know where she is, she's on her own isn't she?
There's another crunch and a slight squeak before the voice gets louder.] It's blinking ... what is it blinking for? [There's another high pitched noise and a young girl with long black hair pulled up in a pink ribbon can be seen very close to the screen. Her eyes are screwed up shut and her hands are over her ears.]
[third person / log sample]:
In all the time that they had been together. The many battles that had been won and lost among them. This was what everything came to. It was just Kaoru and the 'washing machine'.
Wife
wife
wife.
The words resounded in her head in the same way a shanai snapped when it was stopped in mid air. Kenshin's wife. Kaoru was Kenshin's wife. That was what the blond had said. She wanted something to clench. Something she could crush and scream and flail at. Of course Kenshin was nowhere to be found. Instead she had a metal box with tubes and buttons and knobs and .... and it looked like something was going to come out of the box and try to eat her!
She needed to stop thinking about this. She'd already started seeing what these creatures would look like. Small versions of Yahiko (could he GET much smaller?) and Sano with funny little balls on their heads and big eyes. Reflexively she backed up from the thing and reached for her shinai.
There was a rumble. She thought she heard a rumble.
No. She wasn't giving up. This was something that Kenshin could do. She could do it too. Till she was able to open her dojo she wasn't going to be useless and lay around. She would help with the household chores and take care of things. She bit the handle of the shinai with her mouth and tied up her sleeves, the rumbling still apparent to her ears. demons were going to come out. Little demons that she would have to beat and throw back into the 'dryer'. Then she'd have to explain why the room was worse then when she'd gotten here.
This situation wasn't a good thing at all. She liked it better when Kenshin was staying at her dojo instead of her staying in his house. It made her feel less nervous. Kenshin staying at the dojo was a natural thing. It was how things were meant to be. If Yahiko were to arrive in the City then she would expect him to live with her. That was how it was supposed to be.
Of course there was also the addition of .... marriage, as well. She was his wife .... no, he said she was his wife.
A wife was supposed to do certain ... things. Did that mean she was supposed to do certain things with ..... Kenshin? Certain things ..... naked .... with Kenshin ....
She'd just realized her feelings for him! She'd just admitted to herself that she loved him. That she would fall to pieces without him, couldn't move without knowing that he was going to be there. Now he wanted to .... to .... with .... her!
She swallowed hard, trying not to think about it. Not to think about what Kenshin would look like without .... without ....
Her cheeks kept flushing a brighter red with every attempt not to think about Kenshin. How could she not though? With Kenshin telling her that they were married, that they were supposed to be doing these things, how could she not think about these things? The more she tried not to think about it all the more she did think about it. Her brain dwelling on it until she was starting to feel faint.
It wasn't long before she heard the apartment door open and close. Kenshin, the very man she was trying not to think about offered a gentle greeting. She could feel her face grow impossibly hot. A few moments later everything began to grow fuzzy and her head felt terribly light. Everything went white.