The Rose Of The Meiji Era • Rurouni Kenshin

Back To Reality - The End | Chapter 14

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"Kenshin, wake up!"

"Hey! It's already the afternoon, damn it!"

"Come on, man. The missie's been tryin' to wake ya for hours..."

A number of voices with different tones and textures were heard, and the red knew exactly who they belonged to. However, all Kenshin saw was blackness, and a certain brunette who went by the name of-

"Yuki-Dono!" Kenshin sharply sat up, his eyes opening to the figures around him. Kaoru gasped in relief and immediately wrapped her arms around his neck and brought him in for a hug. "Oh, Kenshin! You got me worried sick!" She exclaimed.

The red head stifled in his coughing state due to the tight embrace, "Oro...! K-Kaoru-Dono, I'm choking, that I am..!" He exclaimed coarsely.

Yahiko snorted, "Let him go, ya ugly hag! He obviously had a dream that made him a lunatic for a moment!" He stated thoughtfully.

Sanosuke snickered, "Isn't he always a lunatic?"

Kaoru smacked the spiky haired brunette's head, "Shut up! Kenshin just had a bad dream, and it's okay to be a little mixed up from a dream!" She reasoned.

Suddenly, Kenshin gasped. "A...dream, that is?" He asked, frowning deeply.

Kaoru nodded, "Yeah. And you were talking about that- Wait, WHO'S YUKI?!?!" Kaoru interrupted herself as a great amount of steam escaped her ears.

Kenshin grimaced in fear, "O-Oro?!"

Sanosuke facepalmed, "Damn it, missie! You were just gonna say that he was dreaming about that woman that took him in 6 years ago! Remember, we bumped into her the other day?" He asked.

Kaoru snapped her fingers in remembrance, "Right! Yuki-"

"-Yoshida, that she is." Kenshin interrupted, a look of realisation evident on his face. Kaoru noticed this and immediately spoke her mind, "Kenshin, what's wrong?" She asks.

"Why is this one dreaming about her, that is?" He asked, meeting Kaoru's gaze, seeming desperate for an answer.

Kaoru, Sanosuke and Yahiko all suddenly frowned. "Oh, uh..." Sanosuke scratched his head gauchely.

"Maybe because...she passed away recently due to old age." Kaoru replied, and Kenshin immediately shot his gaze towards her.

"That's impossible, that it is! Yuki-Dono was only 18, that she was!" He exclaimed.

Kaoru furrowed her brows, "Kenshin..." She began, "Yuki Yoshida was 73 years old when you met her." She looked at him, slightly confused.

Sanosuke and Yahiko raise their brows at their comrades' confusion, and a silence soon ensues.

"...Remember we saw her walking near the markets, and she recognised you?" Kaoru asked, hoping to spark his memory.

And once he came to think of it, he did remember something of the sort...

FLASHBACK