Rurouni Kenshin Fan Fiction ❯ Closed Doors ❯ Chapter 7

Standard disclaimers apply.

"Closed Doors"

Chapter VII:

"I thought you wouldn't come," was Sanosuke's greeting to Kaoru she met him at an expensive restaurant.

"Could I ever do that to you?", she answered while sitting at a table Sano reserved for them.

"You look beautiful, Jou-chan," he impressingly said.

"I know what you've been waiting for me to say. You look as dashing as ever, Sagara," she said smiling.

"Of course. As always. Does it always have to be you who must be praised, huh, Jou-chan? I think you should learn to compliment others too," grinned Sano. "Wait, why didn't you want me to fetch you from the dojo anyway?"

"Nan demo nai… its just that I thought it would be convenient for us to be in separate carriages."

"The ever-practical Kamiya Kaoru," Sano shook his head. "So, how are you?"

"Later with the questions, onegai. Let's order. I'm starving!" she said.

"I already ordered for us. Just a while ago."

"Mou! Chauvinist!" she jokingly blurted.

Sano only winked at her.

"So, you haven't given up your dreams for the Dojo, neh? And I see its growing really big!"

"Hai. And I'm happy because of it. Mine and Yahiko's work really paid off very well. And the enrollees are coming in big numbers next year."

He nodded his head in response. Then turned his attention to her left hand.

"I take it, you're still not married?"

"Hai."

"Naze?" he asked. "I'm sure you never lacked suitors."

"And you? Why are you still single?" Kaoru asked back.

"I don't have suitors," he answered.

"Could you be a little serious, Sano?" she said feeling slightly irritated.

"But I'm serious. You're not getting younger, Jou-chan. Don't you have plans on getting married?"

"Modernization is eating up Japan alive, and I guess I can live on being single. "

"Is that the reason or you're just scared?"

"Scared from what?"

"You know very well what I'm talking about."

Kaoru avoided Sano's eyes.

"That's over, Kaoru. Up to when will you still wallow over a thing that's already a part of the past?"

"When I agreed to meet you, I thought we were going to talk about good times. Seems the rooster has gone to be a priest, neh? You still go with your sermons," Kaoru said with a hurting voice.

Sanosuke sighed. Afterwards, Kaoru spoke again.

"Anyway, you're wrong. Its not over yet. He's here, Sano. Kenshin is here in Tokyo. And he's a client of my dojo. I can't avoid not to meet him over business meetings. I just know he's up to no good. Why? Just yesterday he sent me roses and…"

"Look at you, you're blabbering! Is that really what Kenshin does to you like as if you've met a movie star?" he said angrily.

Kaoru suddenly felt embarrassed about herself. She shook her head. Sano saw what Kaoru did and held her hands.

"Sumanu… I just hate to see you all worked for nothing. And so what if he's your client? Treat him as one, that's it!"

"You know him, Sano. Its not that easy."

Sano stared at Kaoru. He studied the emotions playing on her face.

"Tell me, Jou-chan. Do you still love him?"

"Iie!" she replied. She responded so soon to his question. Too soon, Sano thought.

He stared at her long before he spoke again.

"Then you have nothing to be afraid of. If you do not love him, he can't hurt you," he said seriously. "But if you suddenly feel like you need me, Jou-chan, you know I'll be there for you."

"Arigatou gozaimasu, Sano. I know you're really a friend."

Sano only smiled at her. In his heart was not but a small pain. But he tries to shrug it off.

~õ~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~

Kaoru came late in her office in the dojo the next day. Hers and Sano's conversation really went too far up to the morning.

She know too well in herself that she is indeed lucky to have a friend like Sano. And that she'll miss him when the time comes that he has to go back to France to continue his travel.

"Ohayou, Kamiya-sensei," greeted Kakuya.

"Ohayou, Kakuya-dono. You look happy today," she greeted back to her assistant.

"I think its you who is happy, Kamiya-san," she answered. "Whomever sends you those flowers must really love you very much."

Kaoru confusingly slid the shoji of her office. She decided not to react with what Kakuya had said. It was then that she found out what she had probably meant when she saw dozens and dozens of roses inside. They were in different colors. There's red, white, yellow and pink…

Kaoru slowly closed the shoji behind her. She walked towards the table and got the card within the white ones. She carefully read what's written in it.

'I wish you could see the beauty of these roses before they soon wilt. -Kenshin.'

She became confused all the more. Is he trying to insult me? Kenshin no baka! My office looks like a flower shop with all these!

But no matter how she prevented herself, she felt a slight joy in his perseverance to somehow make her happy. And she asked herself. Is that his purpose in the first place?

A knock on the door was heard.

"H-hai?"

"Kamiya-sensei, Himura-san wants to speak to you."

"N-nani? Aaa. Wait…" She thought for a second. "Tell him to wait in the receiving room."

"Hai, Kamiya-san."

Kaoru wasted no time fixing herself. She fixed her ponytail and applied thin powder on her face. When done, she stood up and walked to the room adjacent to hers.

A Kenshin in a white training hakama and blue gi came in front of her. Kaoru was startled upon seeing him like that and almost forgot the cold greeting she was mentally practicing a while ago.

"Why are you dressed like that?"

Kenshin gazed down at his clothes.

"Sumanu, neh? I was about to have a sparring session at the Nihendai dojo with a friend but he backed out that's why I thought I could invite you…"

"Are you kidding? Its too hot inside, you want me to spar with you? Sumimasen, its office hours, in case you've forgotten."

Kenshin only shrugged his shoulders.

"We can always talk about business while sparring."

"Ussou…"

"I see you got the roses."

"Obviously. But I don't have any plans of putting up a flower shop nor a funeral parlor here, neh?"

"Neh, nani?" he asked tauntingly.

Before she could say anything, they heard a continuous knock at the door. Yahiko came in straightly after.

"Oops, gomen. I see you have a visitor," Yahiko said. When he recognized Kenshin, he came closer to him. "Oi Himura-san. Its you. Do we have a meeting today? Why are you dressed like that?"

"Gomen, Myoujin-san," he began.

"Onegai, I've told you already. Call me Yahiko."

"Yahiko-san, gomen neh? I was just inviting Kaoru here to spar, but I guess she doesn't like."

"Why don't you go spar with him, Kaoru? So you can practice your skills. Aaa, its been a long time since I've sparred with my sensei." Yahiko told Kaoru. Before she could say something, he turned to Kenshin again.

"You know, Himura-san… I've been very busy with the students lately and that I haven't got time to practice with Kaoru. And much more her, since I don't like her teaching Kamiya Kasshin manually now. I wanted her to sit back and enjoy a little."

Turning to Kaoru again, "Right, sensei? Go with Kenshin. You can talk about the meeting with his students we've been discussing while you're at it."

Kaoru couldn't say anything more. She hesitantly stood up.

"I have to go to my apartments and change. Let's just meet at the Nihendai dojo," she coldly said to Kenshin.

"I think I should go with you so you might not have to use your carriage. I'll take you home afterwards," Kenshin said.

"Iie. I can…" she started to talk.

"Hai. I think that's a good idea, Kaoru. So you wouldn't be in different carriages anymore. You can discuss things more easily that way," Yahiko interrupted.

Kaoru bit her tongue to prevent herself from saying anything more. Mou! If you only know, Yahiko-CHAN! She whispered to herself.

She went out of the room first. She heard Yahiko's voice from behind her, noticing the flowers just then from her private office.

"Kaoru, where are all these flowers from? They're beautiful!"

"From the devil," she murmured.

~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~

As they came to her apartment at the back of the dojo, Kenshin seemed to be observing the place.

"So, a big part of the dojo has really changed, neh?"

"I don't need your comments. My place looks fine to me." she blatantly said.

Kenshin decided to keep his observation to his self after. When they came inside, Kaoru can't avoid not to invite him inside. She led him to the wide living room where colorful mattresses from different countries Sano gave her, lay for him to sit at.

"Take a seat," she said before he could sit down. "Would you like to have anything? Tea, for example?"

"Cold water would be fine, arigatou de gozaru," Kenshin answered.

After she had given him the water, she excused herself so she can change. Kenshin was left alone still standing and looking around the wide room.

A few moments later, Kaoru came back, now in her training gi and hakama. She had in her left hand a small bag containing her shinai and other things.

She was surprised not to see Kenshin where she had left him. Her heart skipped a beat.

She straightly went inside a concealed room near behind a Chinese divider. There she saw him looking intently at a big oil painting of a little boy that looks like that had just learned how to walk.

The child was in a white hakama like Kenshin's combined with a purple gi. The portrait was painted beautifully. The joy in the boy's face was clearly visible.

At every corner of the room were toys of different kind. There were many toys from Western and Asian countries arrayed at one side. Others looked like it was never used.

There were sketches at the table. Kenshin was about to get near when he heard Kaoru's voice.

"What are you doing here?"

Kenshin almost jumped from the low but hard voice from her. He quickly asked sorry.

"Sumanu, Kaoru. The door was open. I saw the big painting so I decided to come in and take a closer look."

Kaoru did not spoke. Did she really forgot to close the door after she had visited it that morning?

She couldn't remember.

She opened the shoji wide, signaling that she wanted him out of there. Kenshin went out quietly. Kaoru looked at the portrait before closing the room again. She felt something piercing her heart but she did not mind it. This feeling was not new to her. She swallowed hard then spoke.

"Let's go, that is, if you still have plans."

"I was thinking, we should have lunch first before heading to the dojo. You might not like the food there," Kenshin told her.

"If you insist," she said coldly.

Halfway as they reached the gates when Kenshin held her hand.

"I said I'm sorry. I didn't mean to enter that room. I don't know, there was something that tried to force me inside. Please believe me, Kaoru."

She just returned his stares and said nothing.

When they were in Kenshin's carriage, he cannot refrain himself from asking.

"Who was he, Kaoru? Who was the child in the painting?"

"You really couldn't stop your self from asking, neh?" she bitterly said. "You're trying but still you can't. Maybe you're thinking, 'is he Kaoru's child'? 'I thought she didn't marry'?"

"Onegai, Kaoru. I don't think of that," he pleaded. "If you don't like to answer my question, that's alright. No problem. That's your life."

"Hai, you're right. This is my life. My life before, and my life now. You have no right to ask. You have no right to know."

"If before you have every right to ask, forgive me, but the times have taken that right away from you now."

"Doushite de gozaru ka?"

Kaoru gazed long from the other direction. She thought if this is the right time, the right chance to relate him the events and get from this person enough grief for all the time that passed laid to waste and passed on meaningless. After a moment, she answered Kenshin's question.

"You will not understand me now, Kenshin. Time will come, I'll explain it to you."

Kenshin thought of not forcing Kaoru to explain any more. He doesn't want to spoil their day any further. He wants to make Kaoru happy. If what kind of sadness that the portrait that he had seen had brought them, he doesn't know but he managed to let himself wait. Or maybe it would be better that that sadness remain inside that room.

As much as possible.

~õ~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~

Chapter VII finished! Thank you, thank you for the reviews. It kept me going. Please post more reviews if you wanted Kaoru and Kenshin to get together in the end or not. Thank you! Please R&R!!! Thanks! Ciao!!!