𝓡 𝓲 𝓷

Prompt: picture

Fandom: Rurouni Kenshin

Setting: CANON after series

Characters: Kaoru Kamiya, Kenshin Himura

Word count: 992

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WARNINGS: NSFW 

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”…peaceful.” Kaoru remarked, looking at the blooming cherry blossom tree from the shadow of the doorway. It was a very nice evening, made even better by the fact that Kenji was at Hiko’s and Tsubame had been insisting on looking after their youngest.

Even Kenshin was unusually relaxed. He was sitting on the porch, leaning against the pillar, enjoying the last rays of the sun.

Good – he could use some rest, Kaoru frowned. Kenshin’s back was slightly slumped and he was unconsciously rubbing his left shoulder on the exact spot where the ugly old bite wound still tended to cause him pain.

Has he been overworking himself again?

No, that’s not it – he is not even trying to hide it from me, Kaoru bit her lip in though. Maybe it’s just an old pain flaring up?

Well, I think I can help with that. Smiling, she stepped forward and moved to kneel behind him.

“Oro?”

Kaoru was a very kind woman.

- Ache, Chapter 18 by @mamoro2202

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I actually made a doujin *gasspppp*!!

This took far longer than I anticipated, but I thoroughly enjoyed the process. I have newfound respect for mangakas, because truly every panel is a work of art made with every bit of love and care as deserving of standalone pieces. 

Done in Photoshop, almost entirely by hand (tablet), with only two custom brushes. If I’d known better I would have used something like MediBang Paint which actually has screen tones. Maybe next time.

Many thanks to Mamoro for the gift of her beautiful writing, for allowing me to illustrate one of her fic’s chapters, and giving input/guidance during the production process.

Fandom: RK

Kaoru tasted of salt, and felt like silk. Kenshin couldn’t get enough, pressing kisses along her collarbone, his breathing still labored, his body still overheated. He mouthed at her skin, any of her that he could reach without moving, relaxation thrumming through him. He let his eyes drift closed. Her hands were feather light on his back as he rested against her. She stroked along old scars, ridges of skin raised in stark relief from the muscles there.

“Kenshin?” Her voice was quiet, like drops in a silent pool.

“Hmmm?”

“So many.” Her fingers found a particularly large scar, the one that Saito had left. and she traced it several times.

“Mmm, this one is one of the lucky ones.”

“You survived.”

“…That too,” he laid his hand over her heart, and delighted in the feel of it, the steady beat of her life under his palm.

Her fingers drifted to the wound that Jineh had made, that had barely and miraculously missed his liver, ghosting over it, again and again, and then traveled to the bite mark on his shoulder. Her heart rate rose, and Kenshin shifted so that he was able to see her face through his bangs. She was upset. He was awash in peaceful lethargy and his wife was distressed. He frowned.

“Kenshin-” her voice caught, and her fingers kept mapping that scar, with it’s terrible, twisted lines. He knew what it looked like, and it was anything but reassuring or pretty. “Kenshin, you could have- so many times, Kenshin you could have-”

“But this one did not,” he interrupted gently, and caught her wrist, pulling her away from old pain. He brought her hand to his mouth, kissing her callused fingers before laying them over his own heart. “This one is here, with you.”

Her eyes were shining in the dark.

“Kaoru, this is more than this one ever thought to have. To lie here with you.”

Kaoru licked her lips. “Then always come home after. No matter what happens, always come home.”

illusion of comfort

Kakashi reading IchaIcha: (try to act nonchalant)