Rurouni Kenshin Fan Fiction ❯ Benefits ❯ Chapter 5

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

 

That Thursday Kaoru was trying to decide what kind of frozen pizza to have for dinner when someone knocked on her door. Closing the freezer, she answer it to find Kenshin on her doorstep bearing take-out.

 

She let him in, somewhat relieved to see him. Despite their conversation on the weekend, she hadn't talked with him since then. She just couldn't phone him and say `Hi, this is a booty call'. They had agreed to meet each others sexual needs, but she hadn't figured out how to bring those needs to his attention.

 

“Really, Kenshin there was no need to bring food over,” Kaoru said, exasperated.

 

“Why, have you eaten already?”

 

Kaoru flushed. “No. But I'm not the kind of girl that sleeps with a guy just because he bought her dinner.”

 

Kenshin grinned. “In that case, you owe me ten bucks. I hope you like Indian.”

 

Kaoru licked her lips and went to get plates. She hadn't had Indian since Misao left. “When you put it that way, how can I refuse. The place Misao and I used to go to closed down a while back and I haven't found a nearby place to order from since then.”

 

“Well this place is one of my favorites, but it's not near by. I was in uptown today helping at a soup kitchen and this place is on the way from there.”

 

Serving her self some rice, she opened once of the cartons he had brought.

“That's saag paneer,” Kenshin informed her. “A mildly spiced spinach dish with cubes of Indian cheese.”

 

Kaoru grinned and spooned some on her plate. “Nothing with cheese can ever be bad. What else did you get?”

 

“Chicken Vindaloo, some somosas, and rice pudding for dessert.” Kenshin replied.

 

“Mmm, yum! This is so much better than the frozen pizza I was about to make for dinner,” Kaoru commented. “Hey, wait a minute…”

 

“Yes?” inquired Kenshin

 

“Shouldn't you be working?” Kaoru asked. “It's dinner time and you're a chef…”

 

“I have today off,” Kenshin smiled.

 

“Lucky you. How did you managed to get a day off in the middle of the week?” Kaoru asked.

 

While they ate, Kenshin explained the peculiarities of his job. He was a chef at an exclusive bistro in the entertainment district. The owner ran the place as a way of networking with important people, not to make money. As a result, their hours were often erratic and they generally only served people with reservations. Apparently the owner felt that having limited hours made the customers feel more privileged to eat there. While Kenshin wasn't a fan of the snobbery that sometimes pervaded the atmosphere, the reasonable hours and decent pay allowed him to pursue his hobbies and volunteer activities more fully. And the specialty nature of the bistro meant he wasn't cooking the same thing each day.

 

After discussing his job, they talked about his afternoon, mutual friends, and other things as they finished dinner. Packing up the leftovers, Kenshin asked “Did you want to have cocoa?”

 

“No thanks, I couldn't fit another bite,” Kaoru replied, not catching the implications of the question.

 

“Well in that case, I have something for you.” Kenshin pulled a piece of paper out of his wallet and handed it to her. “The test results came back from my doctor today, and as you can see everything is normal.”

 

Kaoru blinked, trying to process what he just handed her. “Oh, that was fast.”

 

Kenshin shrugged, “Went in on Monday. Figured I might as well get it done with.”

 

“Right.”

 

“So what were you're plans for tonight, before I showed up to offer sex?” he inquired, smiling.

 

Kaoru bit her lip. “Eat dinner. Maybe watch some TV. Then go to the gym.” She shrugged. “I didn't have much planned.”

 

“Well, I'm happy to be your gym partner for this evening. And you bed partner later if you so desire.”

 

Kaoru grinned. “You're on.”

 

&&&&&&&&&&&&& &&&&

 

Kenshin proved to a good gym partner as well as a bed partner. Over the next few weeks, they established a semi-routine of meeting at the gym, working out, having dinner, and then a bedroom work out. By semi-routine Kaoru meant, they did it once a week, but the night changed from week to week depending on Kenshin's erratic schedule.

 

However, she often saw him two or three times a week. His appearance on her doorstop with take out was not completely out of place. And as much as she might like to complain about it, his taste in restaurants was excellent. He'd take her ten dollars if she offered, but never seemed to care if she forgot to pay him. Some nights he brought leftovers from the restaurant instead and she could appreciate just how fine a chef he was.

 

On the nights he showed up with food, Kenshin often seemed to have a movie in hand. At first Kaoru wondered what he was up to. But his responses to her cocoa interrogations were satisfactory -- watching a movie with a friend seems like a reasonable way to pass time, since he assumed she didn't want to go straight to bed? The next movie he brought over was a bit more explicit that his first few. He made a comment about getting her thoughts moving in the right direction. She laughed and enjoyed the evening, but let him know that she enjoyed action movies as well.

 

The movie nights were counter pointed with weekend activities. Kenshin casually invited her to go jogging in the park, shopping at the farmer's market, art exhibits, and other free social activities. Sometimes their friends joined them, but often it was just the two of them. The afternoons always ended at her place with a romp in the bedroom.

 

Kaoru wouldn't call them dates - they were just friends doing friendly activities - but that didn't stop Misao from commenting in her emails. Kaoru hadn't told her friend about the benefits arrangement she and Kenshin had worked out. But the occasional comments of “went to the museum with Kenshin” and such had peaked Misao suspicions. She thought Kaoru should try and snag him, since it seem to her that Kenshin was not only interested but also a good catch for Kaoru.

 

Kaoru, some what guiltily, told Misao that they were `friends' and that she and Kenshin had even talked and agreed that theirs was a `friends' relationship. She felt slightly bad deceiving Misao. She hadn't told her initially about the benefits arrangement, because if things didn't work out she didn't want Misao harping on her to go find a man. And now she certainly didn't want Misao to know she was sleeping with Kenshin as that would only further encourage Misao's matchmaking schemes. While Kenshin was a great guy, she didn't want a boyfriend right now.