Chapter 15:- Akane is Mary?!
[Back at Akane's apartment]
Akane was lying in bed thinking about all that had happened between her and her brother. "He's not normal. The way he thinks, almost like he knows everything, it's not normal. I should probably put this in the diary." Saying this, Akane took out her diary and wrote all the events of that day in it, in the language of her homeland in her past life. She had written something of an autobiography of her past life in this very diary and since the shinobi in this life don't know this language, or at least they shouldn't, it's a simple way to keep this secret. "All right, I should probably take a bath now. Kenshin should be coming back soon." She stripped out of her shinobi outfit and went to the bathroom.
Sometime after, Kenshin came back. "I'm back, nee-san." He looked around the empty apartment and saw her clothes scattered across the floor. "Goodness! She's so sloppy!" He murmured as he picked up the clothes and put them aside. "For a girl her age, she sure does wear hot underwear. A lesser man would've been hard already." But..... he couldn't resist the temptation of sniffing it. But just as he was about to do so, he noticed the diary on her bed.
[Fifteen minutes later]
Akane came out of the bathroom, a towel wrapped around her hair but otherwise completely naked. It was her habit since she lived alone. Kenshin looked up from the diary and when he laid his eyes on her, he was speechless. Her slim yet muscular body, neatly trimmed pubic region, and her modest breasts, not to mention her beautiful face that was now blushing furiously, all giving her an appearance that would be enough to make any man become enchanted.
Akane, although initially flustered after realizing she was completely naked, got annoyed when she saw him staring at her without saying anything. "What?! I know they're small but you don't have to stare that hard! They can still grow!"
Slowly, quietly, Kenshin got up and kissed her. Akane was taken aback by his sudden display of affection but she leaned into the kiss. "You're perfect. You're so beautiful that I couldn't help staring... Mary." He said, hugging her tighter.
"What?" She couldn't believe what she was hearing. "Why did you call me by that name? Who.... who are you really?" She asked, her voice trembling with emotion.
"It's me, Tom. I was reborn, same as you." He replied, finally letting go, his eyes welling up with tears. "It's been so.... so long. I'm sorry for not being there for you in the other life. I'm sorry for not seeing your pain. I love you, Mary."
Akane cupped his face, wiping his tears with her thumbs. "It's okay, we can start over now. And I'm not Mary anymore, not the sad, mentally abused girl from the middle of nowhere. I'm Akane Uchiha, daughter of Ichiro Uchiha and Kana Uzumaki, kunoichi of the hidden leaf village and..... your sister. So.... let go of the regrets from that life, I have. And I promise that this time, I won't give up on life. I'll be strong, just like you. I love you too, Kenshin Uzumaki, my precious little brother." And with that promise, she kissed him. Kenshin's heart skipped a beat and he cupped her face, leaning into the kiss himself.
The world around them faded away, and time seemed to freeze in the middle of their love. A love that had gone beyond death and reignited by destiny itself.
It wasn't until the cold winter breeze coming from the open window hit them did they come back to reality. "You should probably get dressed before you catch a cold or something." Kenshin said awkwardly, blushing softly but with a warm smile before closing the window.
"Yeah." Akane said, shivering in cold. "It's your fault for getting all emotional before I even had a chance to get dressed!" Suddenly, Akane's stomach rumbled and her face flushed in embarrassment.
Kenshin chucked at her embarrassment but he could feel his own hunger as well. "I guess I'll cook something. You have any meat, vegetables and perhaps roux?" He asked, thinking of making some cream stew. Kana wanted to have some proper food really badly and since the stew would be easy to digest and Kana loved it, he decided to make it.
"I have meat and vegetables but I don't think I have roux. I'm broke." Akane sighed. Being a genin was hard. After covering the basics, she usually didn't have much money for something like roux, which is usually used for stuff like curry or stew.
"It's fine. I'll go out and try to find some. It takes too long to make it at home." Kenshin said before heading out. About half an hour later, he came back. "I couldn't find an open shop. But I happened to bump into Shizune-san and she gave me some."
"So.... what are you going to make?" Akane asked, curious about the culinary skills of her little brother.
"I'm gonna make cream stew. Mom loves it. She's been dying to have meat. So I thought I'd make something easy to digest and delicious for her. And mom likes it more if it's not fresh, apparently it has a different flavor when it's not fresh. And I'm thinking of using chicken." Kenshin explained while taking out the meat and vegetables from Akane's small refrigerator.
"How long is it going to take?"
"Probably half an hour or something. It would've taken longer if I didn't have the readymade roux." Kenshin said as he began.
----------------------
Everyone, thanks for your support with the previous chapter. As always, please give me your power stones if you want to support me and let me know if you have any helpful suggestions/criticisms.