Frozen Moonlight

In high school, Kaoru Kamiya escaped from a demon. Five years later, she meets a man who looks awfully familiar...

Frozen Moonlight by JaneDrew is a Modern Day AU Rurouni Kenshin fanfiction started in 2005, though it sadly hasn't been updated since 2007.

Our story stars Kaoru, trying to survive high school when in comes a transfer student called Battousai. A couple weeks later after school hours, she had the bad luck of walking in on him using a sword to cut down several of the popular kids faster and more effectively than any human could. After running, arming herself, and hiding in a closet, Battousai catches up to her. This is followed by Kaoru stabbing him to death, stealing his sword and setting the school on fire.

This concludes Chapter Three. Of Thirty-Four.

Five years later, Kaoru is moving into an apartment right after finishing high school. During the move, a friend of a friend named Kenshin shows up to help with the unpacking, forcing Kaoru to come face to face with a guy who has somehow come Back From the Dead. It doesn't help that he won't stop hitting on her, either...

Notably, the plot is told from the perspective of the person who would normally be the Love Interest, Lampshades are hung everywhere, and the characters run on being Genre Savvy.

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Tropes used in Frozen Moonlight include:

• Abandoned Warehouse: where the showdown between Kenshin and Jineh occurs.
• Action Girl: Kaoru and Misao.
• The Alleged Car: Kaoru's bike seems to fit this.

Sano: Somebody stole your bike? Why would anybody want to steal your bike? Not that there's anything wrong with your bike that would make people not want to steal... I mean, um...

• All Girls Like Ponies: "Misao had the gleeful shock of a child who'd suddenly gotten everything they'd ever wanted for Christmas, plus a pony."
• Already Met Everyone: See also One Degree of Separation.
• Alternate Universe Fic
• Amplifier Artifact: The demonic swords are variations of this, though they only increase the power of the person they were made for.
• Annoying Younger Sibling: Yahiko is Kaoru's younger brother. That they're
• Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking: “She would rather have faced theft, slander, and hats made out of assorted dead animals.”
• Back From the Dead: Demons are able to bounce back from little things like being killed.
• Bad Dreams: Kaoru has nightmares from some of her experiences, as would be expected from just about anyone, though one nightmare seems to indicate that she feels guilty about killing Kenshin.
• The Bechdel Test: More than one conversation allows the fic to pass this.
• Belligerent Sexual Tension: Sano and Megumi's relationship fell under this in the past, though they seemed to have worked out most of the kinks.
• Beware the Nice Ones: Kenshin acts quite friendly and considerate to those around him. He also slices up large groups of people as part of his job.
• Bill... Bill... Junk... Bill...:

Kaoru: Mail, mail, junk, take-out menu, take-out menu, take-out menu, take-out menu... if Yahiko's been putting take-out menus in my mailbox again, I'm gonna... junk, junk, bill.

• Buffy-Speak
• Cannot Spit It Out: Sano has a great deal of trouble admitting to Megumi about Kenshin being a demon and how they met, leaving her as the only person completely Locked Out of the Loop.
• Casual Danger Dialogue
• Cat Scare: When Kenshin, Saitoh, and Aoshi are going over a crime scene, they all jump when they hear something. And it was...Aoshi's cellphone. His girlfriend was calling. The ringtone was the Macarena.
• Chekhov's Boomerang: Early on, Kaoru is wearing a ribbon which Kenshin unties right before she kills him. After the time jump, she finds it tied around some flowers Kenshin left her. Even later, it comes up AGAIN when he tells her to carry it around for protection.
• Chekhov's Exhibit: A museum has a special exhibit displaying swords. Naturally, it was involved in the Xanatos Roulette, as one of the not-so-valuable swords was Shishio's Mugenjin. Predictably, it was quickly stolen.
• Combat Pragmatist: Kaoru, as she's quite willing to let her opponents think she's helpless while having a knife taped to her wrist.
• Combat Stilettos: When Misao and Aoshi are attacked on their first date, Misao arms herself with the high heel shoes she'd worn that night.
• Contrived Coincidence: The one where Saitoh is Kenshin and Kaoru's coworker for two completely different jobs? Or the one where Kenshin spent time at Kaoru and Sano's high schools' for work, two people who incidentally became friends years later? Or all the demon attacks that happen to people in the same group of friends, often for no discernible reason? Yeah, there's a lot of these.
• Conveniently Placed Sharp Thing: Luckily, the room Jineh oped to leave Kaoru in after kidnapping her had plenty of sharp objects to cut her ropes with.
• Crash Into Hello: The first direct interaction Kenshin and Kaoru have is when she's late for a test and runs right into him. Naturally, she yells at him for being in her way.
• Curb Stomp Battle: The first fight of Kenshin's that Kaoru witnesses is clearly one-side.
• Dead Fic: Just because it hasn't been updated since 2007 doesn't mean anything. Really. Denial? What denial? I have no idea what your talking about.
• Deal with the Devil: Kenshin's work has included getting rid of humans who have pulled this, such as the ones from Kaoru and Sano's high schools'.
• Death Is Cheap: Counts for half the cast (though there are methods of making it stick), and wholly averted for the rest.
• Delayed Reaction: Kenshin casually mentions that the local museum was robbed in a conversation. After he's left (several minutes and paragraphs later),-

Kaoru: Waitaminute... WHAT theft at the museum?

• Did Mom Just Have Tea with Cthulhu?: Kaoru has this reaction when she find out Sano's old friend Kenshin is actually that Battousai guy she killed in high school.
• Digging Yourself Deeper:

Kaoru: Sorry, Megumi. you are really hard to spot when you're dressed all...um...I mean, normally, you're so...er...um...pretzel?

• Distressed Damsel: Kaoru purposefully uses the perception that she's more helpless than she really is to get her opponents to underestimate her.
• Don't Touch It, You Idiot!: Kaoru, fully aware of this trope, picks up a demonic sword off a dead body all the while worrying about getting possessed or something, though in the end nothing happens. The alternative, though, was leaving it lying around where anyone could run across it. Kenshin does later ask her to not do it again, as it usually ends with him getting more work to do.
• Double-Speak: They're not talking about boots.

Kaoru: Good friends understand the importance of things like promises. And timing. For example, you might think it would be a good idea for me to go shopping right away, tomorrow, for, um, boots. But I know that I really don't need any boots, and even if I did need boots, this is really not the right time. Misao: Oh, Kaoru, you know that nowadays boots are appropriate for any time of year, and you can't keep putting off boot-shopping forever. Especially since you promised I could help out, way back when we were in... Kaoru: I admire your fashion sense, Misao, and you do have great taste in boots, especially recently, but every time you've tried to pick out a pair of boots... or other footware... for anybody else, the results have not been pretty. Disastrous, even. Like the boots you picked out for Tae last Christmas. That was not good. Misao: How was I supposed to know she already had some that she really liked? Speaking of 'liked," Kaoru, just the other day, I saw that pair of boots you were crazy about all... Kaoru: Oh, that was ages ago. And I was never really interested; they don't match anything I have. Sano:This is one of those conversations with subtext, isn't it?

• Double Entendre: Kaoru does this occasionally, but always by accident.
• Duct Tape for Everything: Kaoru uses this to tape a knife to her hand to be sure she could hold onto it better.
• Dumb Blonde: Several of the girls at Kaoru's high school fit this to a T. There may also be some overlap with The Vamp.
• Everything's Better with Chocolate
• Evil Lawyer Joke:

Kaoru: (inner monologue) Sano can't possibly know that he's a demon, and he's known Kenshin long enough to trust him, so... so he must know Kenshin as doing SOMETHING for a living, like being a doctor, or a teacher, or a lawyer—well, probably not a lawyer, some kind of reasonably non-demonic profession...

• Evil Gloating: Jineh likes to monologue. A LOT.
• Eye Scream: When Kaoru attacks Jineh, he loses an eye, which then stitches itself back together...
• Eyes of Gold: Kenshin's eyes are violet when he's relaxed and/or happy, but will switch to amber, typically when he's angry and/or upset.
• Face Death with Dignity: Kaoru states as much and refuses to look away while Jineh tries to cut her in half. It also applies to Sano when he calmly asks Kenshin if he's going to kill him after the masquerade breaks, and what makes him decide to spare him.
• Fainting: Kaoru passes out when she finds out that Battousai wasn't as dead as she thought he was (five years after the fact, no less).
• Fangs Are Evil: Not necessarily due to Our Demons Are Different. They seem to appear and disappear due to their emotional state, mainly showing up when they're pissed off.
• Fire-Forged Friends: Kenshin and Sano.
• Foreshadowing:
  • In one chapter, Kaoru thinks to herself that it would be bad in Kenshin just knocked on her family door asking for his sword back. Kenshin later gets his sword back by...knocking on the door and asking to look for it. To add irony, his success in finding it helps to save her life.
  • A couple times, characters notice and point out that there are a lot of people seem to be wearing fedora's around town. Turns out they had been seeing a fedora-wearing Jineh, who was stalking Kaoru.
  • Sano acts particularly stressed when Kaoru starts insisting he explain to Megumi what's going on. The main reason for this is he's planning a proposal.
• Genre Blindness: With the way Kaoru practically runs on being Genre Savvy, it sticks out that she can't pin down Saitoh's involvement, especially when he starts bailing on work to go to “conferences.”
• Genre Savvy: Just about every character shows this to some degree, though Kaoru displays it most extensively (being the main character helps). It's practically a driving force of the story all by itself.
• Giggling Villain: Jineh.
• Girl with Psycho Weapon: Kaoru notes that she probably looked like a raging, murderous psycho with the whole knife-taped-to-the-wrist incident.
• Go Mad From the Revelation: Kenshin sites this as one of the reasons he lets Sano live despite him finding out about the Masquerade and going through something potentially traumatizing; specifically, realizing that he wouldn't go mad and could be trusted to handle it.
• Guys Are Slobs: Played straight with Sano. Averted with Kenshin.
• Healing Factor: Kenshin and Jineh are shown to have this, and presumably other demons have it as well.
• Hell: Though the exact nature of it is unknown, what little we hear of it indicates it's quite unpleasant.
• High School AU: It's a rather odd variation. It starts out with Kaoru, Misao, and Battousai in high school. After the first three chapters, there's a five year time jump, in which Yahiko and Yutaro are in high school while Kaoru and Saitoh work as teachers.
• Hoist by His Own Petard: Lampshaded while Kaoru's trying to find a seat away from Kenshin.

Kaoru: (sees a chair he brought up earlier) Hah! Perfect! Hoisted by his own.. um.. hoisting of things!

• House Amnesia: When Kaoru yells at Kenshin for following her home from a bar they were just at, he points out that they live in the same apartment complex.
• Human Sacrifice: Sano almost ended up as this back in high school. See also Virgin Sacrifice.
• Identification by Dental Records: According to a newspaper, the group of students killed from Sano's school were identified by dental records.
• I Love You Because I Can't Control You: Kenshin's affection for Kaoru has shades of this. Even though he is shown as able to easily to get the attentions of popular students, the person he actually likes is the one who insults him without reservation and defeats him in battle.
• Improvised Weapon:
  • Kaoru's kitchen knife.
  • Kaoru's sock filled with sharp, pointy things.
  • Misao's Combat Stilettos
  • Kaoru's pipe (used like a sword).
  • Yahiko's tree branch (also used like a sword).
• I Need a Freaking Drink: In anticipation of this trope, Kaoru gets Sano a beer while she laughs hysterically in the other room over his admittance of his Virgin Sacrifice incident from high school. By the time she gets back, he's taken it upon himself to get a second one.
• Insecurity Camera: Despite half the cast having magical powers, several security cameras were taken care of in a mundane way. Which makes it all the sadder.

Aoshi: So you think that [the security cameras] were in fact turned on at the time and deactivated later as part of the theft? Or that one of the guards was bribed not to activate them afterwards? Saitoh: I thought we had concluded that the guards were merely stupid...

• In with the In Crowd: Kenshin purposefully appeals to the popular students since they were his targets. Years later, his love interest and best friend are the same people who were the outcasts in high school.
• I Take Offense to That Last One: Played with.

Kaoru: I don't care if it is Halloween, nobody is going to believe that it's an evil demon's fault they are lacking snack food! Kenshin: (huffs) M'not evil...

• It Came From the Fridge: Kenshin refused to use the milk out of Kaoru's fridge and was rather dumbfounded as to how it was so bad since it couldn't be more than a few weeks old. Meanwhile, Megumi won't eat anything whatsoever that resided in Sano's fridge. Since he thinks it's normal to take ice cream from god knows when, chip off the ice crystals, and add alcohol, she has good reasons for this stance.
• I Was Beaten by a Girl: Subverted. Kenshin really doesn't mind that Kaoru killed him. It makes her all the more attractive, actually. But he would appreciate it if everyone would stop rubbing it in (making this more of a case of "You Were Beaten By A Girl").
• Just in Time: Kenshin just manages to block the strike Jineh made that would have killed Kaoru.
• Kill It with Fire: Kaoru remembers this rule after killing Kenshin, and trying to burn the body. It doesn't work as well as she would have liked and he admits it's not a very effective method and should be abandoned.
• The Klutz: Kaoru is notorious for being clumsy with anything except a bokkan. Her reputation helps her to get away with dumping soda on Kenshin.
• Least-Common Pizza Topping: Sano likes anchovies. Everyone hates him for it.
• Leave No Witnesses: Kenshin says that this is one the of the rules he's supposed to follow, though Kaoru and Sano are proof that he'll ignore it sometimes.
• Lethal Chef: Despite the wonders of modern technology, Kaoru still can't cook for shit.
• Locking MacGyver in the Store Cupboard: The room Kaoru is locked in by Jineh has glass which she cuts her ropes with. And wire to pick the lock on the door. And sharp bits of trash that she puts in her sock and uses to rip off half his face.
• Love At First Punch: Kenshin starts to like Kaoru when she yells at him after she runs into him in a hallway. He REALLY falls for her after she stabs him to death, steals his sword, and sets the building on fire.
• Love At First Sight: Unlike everyone they hang out with, Aoshi and Misao hit it off right away.
• Love Epiphany: Kaoru is stunned, STUNNED, when she realizes she might actually like Kenshin back. Maybe. Possibly.
• The Masquerade Will Kill Your Dating Life: Aoshi attempts to break things off with Misao when they are attacked on their first date, but she refuses to accept that as reason.
• Master of Disguise: Aoshi.

Miseo: This way he gets to show off his great disg—I mean, costume skills!

• Master of Unlocking: Kaoru learned to pick locks from Sano and how to escape handcuffs from Misao.
• The Matchmaker: Misao begs Kaoru to let her be this for her, but she keeps telling her no.
• Mayfly-December Romance: Though not directly discussed, most of the pairings have a demon (who are shown to live for centuries at least) and a human.
• Missing Mom: Kaoru and Yahiko's mother died some years ago.
• Moment Killer: People interrupting such moments include (but is not limited to) Sano, Yahiko, Hiko, a waiter and a waffle iron.
• Motor Mouth: Misao in a big way. Often Lampshaded as well.

Misao: Just seeing you struck me completely speechless, which, by the way, shocked my friends more than finding out that you're a demon would. Well, probably.

Misao: Listen... do you have anything planned for this afternoon? Cause I have a date, and I need a new dress... and some new lingerie... and possibly really high heels... Anyway, um, Megumi and I are going shopping, and I really, really, really want you to come along, because I really want your opinion, and it would be a chance to come shopping with us and be the one who gets to make all the comments and criticize whatever I pick, you know, to make up for all the other times when we've dragged you shopping... Kaoru: You just don't need the amount of oxygen that normal humans require, do you?

• Mundane Utility: Kenshin utilized magic to improve his bathroom. Aoshi uses his skills for a Halloween costume.
• Must Have Caffeine: Kaoru isn't a morning person. Kenshin also discovered that bringing her coffee was a good way to placate her.
• My Eyes Are Up Here: Invoked with a particularly revealing dress Kaoru is forced to wear to a party.
• Nature Abhors a Virgin: After Sano was nearly sacrificed...

Kaoru: So... after that, what did you do? Sano: What the hell do you think I did? I went out and got myself laid so that situations like that damn well couldn't happen again! Kaoru: Ah... that... um... makes sense.

• Nerds Are Virgins: Kaoru is the only virgin in the group and it's noted that she's been single because of being too busy with school.
• New Transfer Student: Kenshin was the new guy at Kaoru and Sano's high schools'.
• Noodle Incident:

Kaoru: Remember that time with Misao's friend Shiro and that nurse at the hospital?

• Not a Date: Kaoru insists this to be the case. Everyone (including her not-date) smiles and nods.
• Nothing Exciting Ever Happens Here: If not the demonic attacks and tenants, the town would be perfectly normal.
• Off with His Head: Kenshin and Jineh's fight ends with Kenshin beheading him. Also, Kaoru regrets not trying this against Kenshin (along with the Kill It with Fire plan), though it's implied demons can come back even from that.
• One Degree of Separation: Most of the cast has met before, or at least become involved with everything happening due to completely independent events. If everyone was honest, every introduction would be followed by "Hey! I remember you from...".
• Only Mostly Dead: Kenshin really was dead. For all of thirty minutes. He even lampshades it by name while they were watching The Princess Bride.
• Ordinary High School Student: Kaoru before the Time Skip.
• Our Demons Are Different
• Overshadowed by Awesome: When half of the cast consist of people who are deadly swordsmen, indestructible, ultrafast, and to whom death is a minor inconvenience, any human will be stuck with some degree of this.
• Parental Abandonment: Sano and Misao were orphaned when they were younger.
• Precision F-Strike: The f-bomb is dropped twice- by Kenshin when Kaoru is kidnapped and by Kaoru when Kenshin gets everyone to think they're an item.
• Pressure Point: Used on Kaoru when she's kidnapped by Jineh.
• Really Seven Hundred Years Old: Several of the character's ages are unknown, but it's save to say they are significant.
• Real Men Wear Pink: When he ends up needing a change of clothes, Kaoru gives Kenshin a very, very pink sweatshirt to wear. He puts it on without a word of complaint and a month later is still using it.
• Red Baron: Unlike the series, Kenshin doesn't have any particular aversion to his alias 'Battousai,' and actually uses it while he's going to Kaoru's high school. If any of the students knew what it meant, though, they probably would have had a different reaction to it.
• Scars Are Forever: After Kaoru kills him, Kenshin gets up and walks it off half an hour later...but the slash she made on his face scars over despite the Healing Factor, helping to form the cross shaped one seen in the series. None of the other wounds leave marks for reasons unknown.
• Sealed Evil in a Can: Shishio was trapped in Hell some time ago. The heroes are worried since, well, he kinda got out.
• Selective Obliviousness: Kaoru manages to ignore her feelings for Kenshin, despite the fact that not only can everyone see it, but they won't shut up about it either.
• Self-Defenseless: Averted. The pepper spray Misao uses does work (on beings that aren't human, no less).
• He Is Not My Boyfriend: Kaoru often tries to tell people this, but the tension is so obvious that no one really listens to her. This reaction is so ingrained that it's one of the first things she thinks about after being kidnapped.

Jineh: I see! I see that this girl is your woman, Battousai! Kaoru: His WHAT? That... that... maniac thought... thinks...he took me because he thinks that I'm...Oh, I'm going to absolutely KILL him...

• Slap Slap Kiss: Sano and Megumi.
• Sleep Cute: At one point, Kaoru and Kenshin fall asleep together on her couch. And it's adorable.
• Spared by the Adaptation: Kaoru's father is still alive (Yahiko's father was someone else in the series, so this doesn't count for him).
• Stealth Hi Bye: Kenshin pulls this on Kaoru quite often (much to her annoyance).
• Stern Teacher: Despite striking fear in everyone around him, Saitoh's not unreasonable in what he expects from his students and co-workers, and avoids falling into the more expected Sadist Teacher category.
• Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: Kenshin and Saitoh clearly don't like each other, but they work together fairly well anyway.
• Time Skip: A five year jump occurs near the beginning of the story.
• Through His Stomach: Through hers, actually- for as much as she claims to not trust Kenshin, Kaoru is quick to accept whatever food/coffee he makes/brings her.
• Thwarted Escape: Kaoru gets caught again while escaping from Jineh.
• Trademark Favorite Food: Kaoru's is chocolate and coffee.
• Virgin Sacrifice: Sano was kidnapped by his classmates to be sacrificed to settle a debt.
• Wacky Marriage Proposal: Sano opts to propose to Megumi during his bar's Halloween party on stage while she's dresses as a street urchin. But not before going over with the audience how exactly they met.
• Wake Up, Go to School, Save the World: Inverted by Saitoh by being a teacher instead of a student. Later in the story, as the enemy becomes more of a threat, he begins to have Kaoru run the class herself while he goes to "emergency teacher conferences." Weirdly, she buys this.
• With This Herring: Kaoru ends up in the position of having to fight Battousai, someone she has just seen cut down about three dozen people without breaking a sweat. Her arsenal? A kitchen knife she grabs out of the Home Economics classroom. Yep. The best part? It WORKS.
• Xanatos Roulette: The bad guys implement a plan to steal back Shishio's sword which took decades of waiting, predicting exactly how a shrine will react in that time due to their financial difficulties, and killing two people in a staged car crash which all lead to the sword being in a museum in a different country, and thus easier to swipe. One of the heroes gets sent to the other side of the planet just to figure out how they did it.
• You Need to Get Laid: Misao tells this to Kaoru, and everyone seems to be in agreement.