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Kenshin, if Kaoru ever asked you who was prettier between her and Megumi, what would you say?

"this one knows a trap when he sees one."

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Judging by your answer, it probably has crossed your mind that Saito is a very handsome and attractive man. <3

"Saitou is very aesthetically pleasing yes. I'm sure his wife also thinks so."

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Rurouni Kenshin

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Kenshin, on a scale of 1-10, how would you rate Saito in terms of attractiveness ~ 😌

"Oro?"

Who is this? And why are they asking about this of all things?

"Saitou is married!" nice deflect, Kenshin.

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@theunknownmasks said: "Why are you helping me?" - from wolfie 💙

Kenshin settled into his seat by the man. The night was still young, moon not yet reached its peak.

"Nice? This one just brought over some sake, that I did." He deflects, opening the bottle. "But, there are few left who understand it. Were there at the war. Even if we were on opposite sides then."

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Kenshin, you know it isn't your fault Tomoe died that night, right?

There it was. The same thing everyone seemed to say when it all finally came out. He had heard 'it wasn't your fault' more times than he could count. So much so that it seemed hollow, like it was simply the expected response to the tale. Kenshin hates to admit it, but he had started to feel disgusted with this response. As if those words could do anything. How willing everyone around him was to brush off this event. Brush off his whole past like it didn't matter. Like the weight he shouldered from it all was redundant.

He too, was not immune to those thoughts. There was some quiet but persistent part of his brain that at times shout.

YOU. WERE. A. CHILD.

But it's the same thing isn't it? Does the admittance of any of these things absolve him? Who's fault is it, if not that if the boy holding the weapon coated in her blood? That night was so different. He was not killing for ideals or the people, he had been angry. Seeking vengeance. And Tomoe paid the price of his inability to stay his hand.

Is it better if the event is faultless? What are they then? Victims of fate or circumstance? Is that not as equally as painful as shouldering the heavy guilt? To have been powerless in the entire ordeal? Or does one blame the hitokiri, the battousai as if that was not still somehow Kenshin? They had been one being at some point.

Even if this one sin is cleansed, forgiven or absolved what then? Tomoe was the biggest example but she was not the only one. What if the hundreds of men slain by his hand before and after? Of their wives, partners, mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, children and friends? Those are certainly not faultless deaths.

YOU. WERE. A. CHILD.

Age does not absolve him. He made his choice despite the warnings. "If you join them you'll become a murderer". He knew. He knew and he did it anyway. Kenshin, boy or man it doesn't matter, held a tool solely for the purpose of killing and used it on men. The harm he caused is immeasurable.

Yet people are so concerned with telling him it's not his fault. Trying to scramble for excuses to explain it all away.

Debating fault doesn't bring back the dead. Debating fault doesn't magically heal the wounds his calloused hands have ripped into so many families.

Debating fault does not suddenly make a man innocent.

Kenshin's hands will always stink of blood. It will follow him like a ghost tainting the very ground he walks on.

Absolving Kenshin of one killing in particular, because it hurt him, does not fix the hundreds of families still affected by the choices of someone who so carelessly allowed himself to become a tool of assassination.

"Why is this always a debate? Why do people uninvolved and unaffected by this ones sins insist they can make that call? Only those hurt can pass blame. It is my right to blame myself." There's a bit of a pause at the end there.

"Is the past only palatable of those responsible were not at fault? What is the point of atonement if one denies responsibility for the harm caused? Tomoe is dead. Arguing blame changes nothing. At least shouldering the guilt means that hopefully one day, this one can stand at her grave and tell her he's become better."

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i learned nothing from RK i am now a patriot participating in war

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@knifvd asked:    ۟. ♡               ៶          " good! you're awake. i was beginning to worry… "  [   from  sage  or  katarina  ,  your  choice  ♥  ]  !

"Oro?...." the man stirs and straightens his posture. "Sorry. Sorry this one can move-" he starts instinctively. after nearly a decade he had come to learn most people did not appreciate someone sleeping in an alley, on a bench, or even on the bus.

He finally gets a good look at them, a woman with long pink hair who seemed... concerned?

"You do not need to worry. This one was just resting their eyes." he raises a hand and tries to wave away her worry, despite his messy hair, dirty clothing, and skinny frame spelling out the visage of someone who was unhoused.

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"𝘪𝘯 𝘢𝘯 𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥" 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘵𝘴.

i'm a sucker for that scene where one person is injured and alone and ends up knocking on another person's door in their hour of need, and i'm an even bigger sucker for the tending to the injuries and the quiet emotional content that follows, and i'm here to make it everyone else's problem! as always, to reverse the actions, just add "+ REVERSE" to the end!

from the injured.

" i didn't know where else to go... "

" whatever you've been told about me, whatever you've heard or seen or listened to... none of it's true. "

" at least i have you to look after me, eh? "

" would you believe me if i said i got all these injuries by slipping in the rain? "

" i'm sorry... i know this isn't what you signed up for. "

" you're the only one i can trust. "

" do you believe what they're saying about me? "

" aren't you going to say i told you so? "

" i am grateful, you know. for everything you've ever done for me... i notice. and i see you. and i've never thanked you properly before, so... thank you. "

" i know i must be the last person you expected to see tonight, but... i'm afraid i have nowhere else to turn to. "

" thank you for not asking questions. "

" i know you have no reason to believe me, much less to trust me, but... i promise you. i swear to you, i am being set up. "

" you know, you'd make a nice profit if you turned this place into a safehouse. "

" why are you helping me? "

" why the hell did you open your door for me if you're so angry at me?! "

to the injured.

" quickly, get in before anyone sees you... "

" you came to the right place. hurry, get in... "

" what the hell happened to you!? "

" are you going to tell me what happened to you tonight? "

" i assume that the rumors surrounding you are all false and unrelated to why you're bleeding out on my sofa? "

" do you honestly expect me to just forget about the past so i can bandage you up? "

" you don't need to thank me. you'd fix me up if i came to your door with this much trouble, too. "

" regardless of everything you've said and done in the past, there isn't a single part of me that wouldn't open the door when you're knocking on it. "

" we can talk in the morning. for now, you need to rest. "

" i found you unconscious on my doorstep. "

" oh, i get it. i can stitch you up and let you get blood all over my bed sheets until the cows come home, but heaven forbid i start to ask questions about why you're bleeding in the first place. "

" things must be really bad if you're trying to say i was your best chance at being helped. "

" don't be stupid. you're not going anywhere. come on, back into bed... "

" i called in sick. we have the whole day to figure out what your next moves are going to be. "

" good! you're awake. i was beginning to worry... "

" you're not allowed to die in my bedroom. the rumours would never stop... "

" perhaps we ought to let bygones be bygones. until i'm confident that you're not going to die on my sofa, that is. "

" it's a bit late to worry about dragging me into your mess, don't you think? "

" you know why i opened that door... "

ACTIONS.

[ BANDAGE ]: sender gently begins to bandage receiver's wounds.

[ BED ]: sender guides receiver into bed, tucking them in and taking a seat by their bedside.

[ FEVER ]: having noticed the receiver beginning to spike a fever, sender presses a cool cloth to their forehead to try and bring it down.

[ CLOTHES ]: after tending to the receiver's wounds, sender brings them fresh clean clothes to change into.

[ FOOD ]: after ensuring the receiver is safe and stable, sender brings them out a plate of food.

[ BATH ]: sender runs the recently-cared-for receiver a hot bath.

[ WAIT ]: aftering tending to the receiver's injuries, sender takes a seat across for them, and patiently waits for them to start explaining what happened.

[ CATCH ]: noticing the receiver beginning to collapse on their doorstep, sender hastily catches them and brings them inside.

[ KISS ]: sender, after being cared for by the receiver, breaks the tension that's been building since they walked through the door, and pulls them in for a kiss.

[ HOLD ]: having been bandaged and cared for by the receiver, sender unexpectedly reaches out to take their hand and hold it in a quiet, sincere gesture of gratitude.

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"zzzzz....."

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"The snow? It does have that effect, that it does." he will leave it at that. We need not go down the rabbit hole of what happened in the snow, not for him.

"That's why it's important for us to be here. Help each other through it, yes?" he sits, legs cross as he pulls how own bowl close to him. "Keep each other company in the most lonely of times."

"I guess I am..." he said softly, moving the haori around his shoulders. The silence of winter seemed to do that to him. Kenshin's question made him blink, and he shook his head. "No. Of course not," he chuckled. "I think the snow makes me.... think of them."

Of his family... of the people he's lost... who he couldn't protect because he was too busy dying... and then not dying. Guilt? Maybe. He shook his head and turned to Kenshin. "You are not making me nervous. I'm glad you're here."

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How long had he been walking in this most recent stretch of time? It was hard to tell, so often the days and nights seemed to run together when it was just Kenshin and the road. Pace and direction set by his own two feet most days.

An hour or two ago he had passed from the outskirts into a proper town. The wide streets and row houses were indicative of that. Edo. Or, as it seemed to have been renamed as of recently, Tokyo.

while he wasn't sure how long it had been it had to have been decently long. His clothing had seen better days, despite him doing his best to wash it in the river, and well, he over all seemed scrawny and skinny.

Kenshin never ate well in his years wandering.

"Ah-... maybe enough for two nights if this one can find work." he says to himself as he stuffs his wallet back into the breast pocket sewn into his top. Just a few days, to reset, help where he could before he moved on again. Large cities like this never seemed like a good place to stay after the end of the war. Something about being in alleyways at night-

Kenshin is walking without paying much attention and last minute has to step to the side to avoid a carriage, it's driver shouting at him as he did so. It was when the carriage fully moved on he sees it.

Across the street. Tall. Black hair, those eyes, staring with the deceptively blank expression he knew often hid a storm of emotion.

"To....mo..."

His feet move on their own, pulling him across the wide street. Sandals scraping earth as he fought against himself to move. Eyes locked on that face, but head in a fog of disassociation. When he makes it to the other side a hand reaches out, just barley brushing her kimono.

He expected her to vanish. To waver under his touch like she had so many times when his mind conjured her image. But she doesn't. Soft fabric again his fingers. A smell hitting his nostrils.

He moves again without meaning too. One step back before the small rurouni had thrown himself to the ground. His knee's hit the packed dirt rough and he catches himself with his hands before bringing them in front of him, forming a triangle, to which his forehead is pressed. A bow. Deep. Apologetic.

Rigid.

"Tomoe... This one does not deserve to ask for forgiveness." his voice is dry, wavering dangerously as shoulders tremble. To Kenshin they were in a vacuum, just rurouni and the reminder of his heavy sin.

But he was actually making quite the scene.

Tomoe was exhausted--mentally, physically and emotionally. Yet even so, she had to return to Edo.

She had no idea where Kenshin had gone. Was he alright? She did not know, but she certainly hoped so.

She remembered making him cry..

When she had awakened, their home was gone and shrubbery grew in its place. Tomoe could not fathom the amount of time that had passed..but she had known she could not remain in Otsu. While Kenshin's whereabouts were unknown, she still had Enishi. Baffled by what she remembered and the present circumstance, Tomoe had opted to focus on what she knew.

Traversing from Otsu to Tokyo had proven more difficult ..more horrible than she anticipated. Her clothes had been torn and dirty from some harrowing ordeals. She simply had one misfortune after another..It was disgusting. She felt wretched and dirtied.

However, if Enishi asked, Tomoe would lie.

Thankfully, before arriving to Tokyo, Tomoe had met a wonderful old couple that allowed her to freshen up and provided her with clean clothes. Tomoe did not have any money to offer--but she did promise to return and thank them properly.

"...Is this truly Edo?"

Tomoe could not believe her eyes as she watched the chaos and noise of the bustling streets. It looked significantly different from her memories. She knew things had changed..from what she discerned from conversations on her way here but..it was quite different to see it with her eyes.

If all of this had changed..was her family still in the same place? Anxiety quietly gnawed at the pit of her stomach as she looked around, scrutinizing the environment and understandably tense.

Out of the corner of her eye, she caught a flash of familiar red. Instinctively, her head turned. Was that..?

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@akumanoken

"Are you sure you are feeling alright Okita? You seem to be spacing out a lot, that you do." Kenshin observes as he dishes the curry into a bowl for the other man, carefully passing it over. "Does having this one living here make you nervous?"

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Hey. Im back after while away. Looking to get back into the swing. How about giving this a like / Reblog if you want to see an Indie Himura Kenshin rp blog. Ill check you guy out in the coming days.