Veteren of Kyoto

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.

"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."

"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.

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..?

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.