Rurouni Kenshin Fan Fiction ❯ Coincidence ❯ Sleeping with the Enemy ( Chapter 7 )
[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]
By: Fire Kitten 
Anime/Manga: Rurouni Kenshin Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Suspense / Romance / Mystery / Drama / Adventure / Action | Type: Alternate Universe | Uploaded On: 11.23.2010 | Pages: 10 | Words: 11.0K | Visits: 386 | Status: Work In Progress
Anime/Manga: Rurouni Kenshin Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Suspense / Romance / Mystery / Drama / Adventure / Action | Type: Alternate Universe | Uploaded On: 11.23.2010 | Pages: 10 | Words: 11.0K | Visits: 386 | Status: Work In Progress
A/N: Hello. First and foremost I’d like to thank everyone who reviewed. sulou, Chronicle Sleeper (your comment about Kenshin slamming Enishi’s face into the wall was HILARIOUS, lol, good stuff), Saki-Hime, miniwoo, Cosmic-lover (I believe you’ve been reviewing from the very start, so a very special Thank You to you), and Reignashii. And I’d also like to thank those who added this story to favorites and to the story alerts. Thank You. I appreciate the support and input. ^_^
Secondly, I made a small change: Captain Makimachi to General Makimachi, it’s no biggie.
Lastly, there is some SEXUAL CONTENT in this chapter, so read at your own risk. If you’re offended by or if you don’t like smut, then don’t read. Enjoy ^_^
OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO
Sleeping with the Enemy
KAORU: HEY
HEY
KAORU: LONG TIME NO C
YEAH
KAORU: R WE STILL ON 4 2NITE?
YEAH
KAORU: R U OK?
YEAH
KAORU: U SURE? WE CAN GO OUT SOME OTHER TIME…
He sighed, sliding his cell phone closed.
How could he have not known? Why didn’t he see it? How could it have got passed him? She has been with him, right under his nose. This girl, this trained swordswoman, she’s one of Shishio’s warriors. She makes up part of the muscle that man will need in his plan. Isn’t that what Saitoh had referred to?
~*“Shishio Makoto. Heard of him?”
“Yes.”
“Top drug-lord. We have reasons to believe he’s planning on taking this city down.”*~
To makes matters worse, she’s Shishio’s only daughter.
He leaned by a window hiding under the shadow the frame provided, arms and legs crossed as violet eyes looked through the glass, not seeing anything in particular. His sight went over to the rectangular cell in his hand as he read and re-read her last message—thinking, debating, and going over and all the details, no matter how small. Clenching his jaw, tightening his fists, breathing out noisily, Kenshin tried to focus on what he was going to do about his current situation.
How had he managed to get himself into this situation to begin with?
She seemed fine in the beginning, completely normal. Her ki wasn’t like his or any others he had come across before. It wasn’t remorseful or tainted like his must be. It wasn’t dark, demented, or twisted like the hit-men who enjoyed killing. It wasn’t unreadable like that young assassin who attacked him before…
Soujiro. His was an odd ki.
He barely got away that night. The boy was fast, almost as fast as he, probably matching his speed, possibly surpassing him. Minding his own business, he walked down the dark alleys of the city, wanting to be alone and let the shadows consume him, feeling that heaviness of the after kill. He hadn’t felt someone follow him, didn’t feel the wanting of a fight from this unknown pursuer. As fast as lighting the experienced sword wielder made his move, the sudden shuffle of one footstep was the only warning red-head managed to make out in order to block the oncoming slash.
Kenshin hadn’t been assaulted in such a long time. Most fighters, even the more skilled ones, knew that it was in their best interest to stay away from him. Only the ones that wanted the ‘man-slayer’ title or needed to prove that they were the best fighter went futilely looking to finally beat him.
That boy, however, didn’t seem to want either.
He couldn’t read his kenki, his offensive aura. He wasn’t able to make out his motives. The young brunette didn’t seem to have emotions, even though he remained mostly gleefully grinning throughout their struggle. What’s worse, due to his lacking energy, Kenshin was unable to predict any of his moves. Most pro swordsmen were able to hold back their emotions in order to conceal their kis, but this kid was plainly lacking it.
In the end they both retreated mortally wounded.
He was left curious and concerned about the boy and the reasons behind his surprise attack.
Once he tended to his injuries and recovered, Kenshin didn’t waste any time and set off to find information on the young male. ‘Know thy enemy’, especially ones who posed a threat.
He discovered that he worked for some powerful ex-government operative turned crime-lord, Shishio Makoto, as a right-hand man. From what he dug up, Soujiro was usually seen with a partner, some ‘Angel of Death’ figure. However, it’s been a while since the accomplice was spotted. Soujiro was now the favored assassin.
So Kenshin figured that is was reasonable to assume that this Makoto guy was most likely a new enemy, a new foe to add to his shit list. Why else would his trusted subordinate attack? He was just lucky the other guy hadn’t been there.
The other guy? There was a probability that ~*she*~ was the accomplice.
Her body. Her taunt muscles, tight tummy, defined legs, and her solid arms were all evidence of hard sword training. He enjoyed her strong yet delicate form but it never crossed his mind that her athletic figure was actually a slender fighter’s build. His hands explored what he had considered, for a while now, was his. Violet eyes and greedy hands discovered the few faded scars on her skin. Like the cut by her belly-button, the one on her upper arm, and the scrape along her hip bone. Plus, the almost nonexistent, disappearing calluses down her slender fingers. But they weren’t profound enough wounds to alarm him so he never paid them enough mind.
Makoto. Kaoru Makoto. He still couldn’t wrap his head around it. How could he not have connected that name? He had never felt so stupid, so ignorant. It would be his luck that the one woman he’s found interesting, the one woman he’s treated himself to be with was possibly one of Shishio’s personal fighters. It would have probably been better if he stuck to promiscuous females and one night stands to forget about pains of the past instead of seeking her.
Was it just bad luck or was it that he was drawn to that type of women?
There was a time when he thought that Tomoe was an innocent. He believed that she was the ideal woman for him, believed that he truly found someone who loves him, someone he could blindly have faith in. It was all a lie. Her loyalties didn’t lie with him.
There were signs, so many signs and clues he chose to ignore. She was always so clandestine, so guarded and his affection for her had him look the other way. A mistake he assured himself will never happen again.
And with Kaoru… it didn’t seem that way. She didn’t seem to hold anything back. Her crystal like eyes reflected every emotion. He could swear he could see stars shinning within them. Blue like the darkening sky, illustrating her inner vigor and youth, yet when she thought he wasn’t looking, he could see the lived soul contained in her. Kaoru could be hiding something, especially when it concerned her family; she never mentioned anything about her kin.
Yet, there was still something not right. Some things simply didn’t add up.
Misao Makimachi is one of Kaoru’s best friends. The weasel girl is the daughter of General Makimachi, one of the nation’s Military leaders, an all around ‘good guy’. He has helped the city’s police department catch and sentence many of its criminals alongside Aoshi Shinomori. There was no doubt that they were probably itching to catch Shishio and finally put him behind bars. If not the General, then Aoshi must know whose blood runs through Kaoru’s veins and if that is true then how is it that the General’s daughter and the city’s top crime-lord’s daughter are close friends?
No, it doesn’t make any sense at all.
If she was a killer, then why hadn’t he seen a weapon on her? A girl raised in such a world Shishio belonged in had to know some basic self-defense and survival skills, or at least have a body-guard follow her around. Incidences like being followed and killing attempts were probably frequent.
Those couple times they were followed, she knew. Kaoru knew someone was hot on their trail.
He needed to get to the bottom of this dilemma. Kaoru, his Kaoru, although Shishio’s daughter could not be the cold, detached assassin Kanryu spoke of. However, he couldn’t allow her to be another blind-spot that could cost him his life.
He pushed himself off the wall as he ran his hands through his hair in frustration. He walked back and forth in the middle of his dojo with signs of an oncoming headache starting to brew from his chaotic, unorganized thinking. Kenshin rubbed his temple with the pulp of his fingers in attempt to soothe the palpating aching. He stopped his pacing, his eyes shut and brows knitted in concentration.
There were a few ways to figure out what his blue-eyed woman wanted with him, but there was one way he felt would be fittingly satisfying for him.
With a flick of his thumb, he slid his phone open.
NO BEEN DYING 2 C U
KAORU: LOL SURE U WERE. SO WHERE R WE GOING?
WHEREVER U WANT
KAORU: REALLY? ITLL BE A SURPRISE 4 U THEN. WHERE DO U WANNA MEET?
MY PLACE
KAORU: OK. TIME?
8ISH OK?
KAORU: SURE. DRESS IN SOMETHING A LIL FORMAL OK
YEAH
KAORU: C U THEN
YEAH C YA THEN
OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO
The silk, pearl-pink dress was soft against her skin, rubbing smoothly with every stride. She adjusted the glossy fabric, slightly twisting the garment around her till it felt comfortable. She then closed her black trench-coat, tying the belt and hugging it close to her as she walked toward his apartment, her step balanced even with her heels and bag full of books over her shoulder.
Admittedly, Kaoru had to say she had been looking forward to the date with her favorite red-head. She had roughly planned the night out. First, they’ll have a private dinner at the fancy little Mediterranean restaurant downtown she had been eyeing for weeks, possibly hit a few low-key bars afterward since she knew Kenshin wasn’t particularly fond of crowded areas, and followed by a walk to the city’s lighted garden with that romantic water fountain. Then once she couldn’t take any more of his whispering implications and heated caresses, they’ll head back to his place to finish what they started. That is, if his libido would allow a brief pause for them to make it to the more personal quarters his apartment provided.
After her long and jam-packed day, she wanted a nice night out on the town and actually feel like a normal, every-day girl.
That and forget about the ‘engagement’ her father had fixed with that white-haired, over-egotistical sociopath all because of his almost limitless power. After all, Enishi has the money, businesses, and warrior’s strength her father clearly admired and could exploit. Her father demonstrated such pride in the idea of adopting Enishi into the family—it was revolting.
She loves her father, she truly does, but she had long ago realized that her father’s ideals, motives, and methods are completely wrong and utterly twisted. He is a smart and crafty man, but he was also ruthless and cold-hearted. Kaoru, to a point, understood why. Her mother’s murder wasn’t easy for either one of them.
Blood is blood though, you can’t choose your family and she could never turn her back on the man, but she had disobeyed and stood up for the more significant issues she believes in. She had even gone as far as to foil his plans because she had seen the injustice. The punishment was never pleasant or pretty, but to Kaoru, it was well worth it.
The new unreasonable problem at hand was the marriage. There was no way in hell she was going to marry Enishi, even if went against her father’s wishes. She was going to find a way out of it even if it kills her. And if she did by some great misfortunate marry that lunatic, she will make damn well sure she takes him down to the living hell-hole of a marriage with her and irreversibly bitch-slap him financially and psychologically with the divorce.
Kaoru took a few deep breaths to soothe such vengeful thoughts.
Tonight she will not allow herself to think about her domestic troubles. No, tonight will be all about enjoying the present day and forgetting the morbid past and foreboding future. All she wanted was a nice, ordinary life.
Standing in front of his door, Kaoru knocked a few times on the hard wood. She quickly combed her fingers through her loose hair in an attempt to tidy up her windblown locks. Cupping her hand over her mouth, she huffed a couple times into it then sniffed, making sure there weren’t any signs of bad breath.
Satisfied with the lingering minty smell and thankful that the gum had taken care of the odor the onion rings she shared with Misao and the coffee from earlier that day had surely left, she continued to wait for an answer.
There was no response. Growing a bit impatient, she drew her knuckles upon the door knocking once more.
There was still no response.
Frowning, her hand went to the knob, turning it and discovering the door was unlocked.
Strange, he was always so precautious.
She let herself in, cautiously trekking into the shadowy apartment, “Kenshin?”
The full moon provided light in the otherwise dark place. Her eyes roamed his living room, everything neat and its place; the clocked ticked above his rarely used plasma, an assortment of ‘men’s’ magazines lay on the spotless coffee table, windows were left slightly open letting in the cool early spring air in. Fingers traced the back of one sofa as she continued to unhurriedly tread further, stopping briefly to swing her messenger bag on the seat.
Puzzled to his whereabouts, she felt around for any nearby auras, finding that he was indeed still at home. In fact, he was upstairs, waiting, his strong energy flickering with an emotion she couldn’t quite pinpoint.
“Kenshin?” she inquired louder.
Following his ki, she made her way toward the stairs, stopping as she looked up at the dark entrance. She tightened her lips in uneasiness. Taking one careful step at a time, she leisurely made her way up.
She walked into the dojo, her heals clacking on the hardwood floor as her eyes traveled about the rectangular room. She noticed the windows along two joining walls where there were folded chairs, dressers, and a few tables along it. And hung on the long, windowless wall were a multitude of different katanas. The place looked like it hadn’t been used in a while, seeming to be a temporary storage space.
There Kenshin stood, looking out the large windows, arms crossed before him showered in the full moon light.
Blue irises took in his form, seeing he wasn’t dressed to go out, wearing torn jeans and a striped blue shirt left unbuttoned. Her sight stopped at the sheathed katana by his side.
Her eyes narrowed in trepidation, “Kenshin, what’s going on? You’re not dressed yet.”
“I’m aware of that, but first, I’d like to take you up on your suggestion.” his voice was low, getting straight to the point.
Her brows came down in confusion, “What suggestion?”
“Challenging you to a fight.” he turned to face her.
Taken back from the intensity in his heated gaze, she had to, for a split second, collect herself before replying, “You mean now?”
He nodded.
With a slight tilt of her head, she eyed him suspiciously, “Kenshin, if you didn’t want to go out tonight you could’ve just told me before I took the time to get all dolled-up.”
He arched an eyebrow, “A minor inconvenience.”
“I say it’s more than just a ~*minor*~ inconvenience.”
Kenshin headed toward the hanging katanas on the adjacent wall. He took one, holding it in both hands as if weighting the fine steel. “You’ll have to forgive me. I’m just curious to the ‘thing or two’…” he threw the sheathed blade to her and she easily caught it in one hand. His eyes flashed in keen observation, “…you said you know about sword fighting.”
She shot him a wary look, feeling the unsteady waves of his energy although his demeanor remained polite and composed, “Kenshin, I can’t spar in these heels.”
“There’s a pair of slippers by the door.”
She took a quick glimpse back at the said slippers and turned back to meet him again, “You can’t be serious.”
His focused gaze narrowed calculatingly, “Why wouldn’t I be?”
“Look, for starters, I’m not dressed to spar. I’m wearing a dress for crying out loud.” she pointed out.
Kenshin inspected her from where he stood, feeling her emotions flutter in uneasy cautiousness. There was no doubt that she was reading his energy as well. He understood such hesitant fluctuation in her ki and knew just how to provoke her in a way that would effortlessly rile her up and give him definite answers to the ever present questions whirling in his mind.
“Oh, I see.” he grinned as he made his way to her.
Kaoru was suddenly very aware of his opened shirt and naked chest as her eyes hungrily ate up the lean, muscular man. Rippling abs and the indenting vee along his hipbones and toward his lower region looked utterly lick-able. Her sight traveled up to his sharp, delicate features, meeting his violet gaze as he grinned all the more.
Inwardly cursing herself for her gutter brain, she composed her unconcealed gawking by straightening her spine and creasing her brows.
With her heels on, she was about his height. They very well stood at eye level yet he still seemed much taller to her. He was certainly not a large man but his presence, his vigor was so imposing it was hard not to notice him.
“Kaoru, tell me something.”
“Yes?”
“Are you worried I’ll defeat you?”
Her mouth slightly dropped open incredulously, “Excuse you?”
“I can understand if you’re too scared to go one-on-one with me.” he goaded, brushing a mid-night lock behind her ear.
She lightly slapped his hand away, “You ~*really*~ want to spar, don’t you?”
“What do you think?” it was entirely way too easy to provoke the young female.
Sapphire eyes glared at him, “I’m going to make you eat your words, Himura.” she turned and headed toward a nearby dresser.
‘For your sake I hope so.’ he thought as he sternly stared at her back.
His watchful eye surveyed her as she quickly took off her heels and slipped on the house shoes he had pointed out. She untied her coat, sliding it off and placing it over her shoes. He could tell just by looking at the dress she wore that she had her ideal night planned out. She was absolutely mesmerizing in that pink dress that snuggly embraced her form.
A feeling of guilt washed over him knowing he was going to ruin her plans, but he pushed it aside. There was a matter more pressing than her girly fancies. He had to know, had to make sure, had to put her up to his test. Good Kami he hoped he was wrong.
Kaoru quickly tied her hair in a low, loose pony tail as she walked toward the center of his dojo. She stopped before him, the katana he had tossed her in hand.
He gave her a quick once-over, “Aren’t you going to change?”
“Nope. I wanna get this over with. Besides, I can beat you wearing a dress.” she taunted, flashing a confident smile. Although to be honest, she was somewhat nervous. Kenshin was unusually not himself and his energy was palpating with withheld… something. Possibly frustration, maybe aggression—it was unclear. Her curiosity fueled her acceptance to dual.
Violet stared into blue as blue stared into violet. They waited unmoving for either to make the first move, both reading the mix of emotions their auras gave off.
Slowly, Kenshin crouched down in his fighting stance, his sword close to his side, one hand hovering over the hilt. Subsequently, Kaoru mimicked his movement, crouching low as well, perfectly reflecting his stance as she held her borrowed blade to her side, her hand floating over the weapon ready to strike when needed.
His eyes narrowed. She was obviously well versed in Battojutsu, his technique style. The beginning of his anger started to simmer deep within his being. He didn’t like being made a fool.
She, in return, creased her brow in worry, seeing flecks of gold appearing in his usually tranquil amethyst gaze. The only occasions she had seen that amber hue swirling in his eyes were during their intimate, passion filled times spent together. Thoughts of the intense tawny looks alone were enough to make her blush. However, that moment, his eyes didn’t nearly resemble the lustful glow she had seen before. She hoped that whatever was bothering him could be easily forgotten with some physical exertion.
‘Men.’ she inwardly scoffed.
Kaoru registered a slight twitch of his finger before he was instantaneously dashing toward her. In a split second she reacted as she swiftly clutched the hilt of the katana, darting over to him in the very same manner.
Steel clashed against steel, sparks flying in its collision. He used much more speed and force than what she predicted he would use, the weight of his sword on hers was surprising. Kaoru had to quickly push his blade to the side and retreat back.
Scowling at her clearly agitated boy-friend, Kaoru eyed him cautiously. “You’re upset with me.” she voiced matter-in-factly. Of course that’s the emotion he was withholding, but why? Why was he so angry with her?
Red-head didn’t answer as he matched her scowl. She was much faster than what he expected. Kaoru nearly matched his speed. Kenshin wanted to trek further. He wanted to read her intentions in battle.
Without a second thought, he lunged at her again with the execution of a lethal blow in mind.
In a blink of an eye, Kenshin was diving in for another attack. If it wasn’t his strong offensive aura, she would have suffered a great injury. However, Kaoru blocked his attack just in time, even with his elevated velocity.
Grunting, she pushed his katana to the side again using her legs for extra strength. “Kenshin, what’s wro-” she tried to ask, but before she knew it he had crouched to the ground when she deflected his blow and delivered a low kick, having her feet come off the ground as she fell loudly on the hardwood floor.
She had to admit she didn’t see that coming, but mid-night haired woman wasn’t given much time to ponder about the rare occurrence as she saw the flash of the reflecting blade coming down toward her. Blue eyes widened in alarm but she quickly rolled away to dodge the onslaught and flipped to her feet right after.
She saw an opportunity, an unprotected spot while Kenshin came back for another attack. Using her agility and fisting her hands, she swung her right fist at the golden eyed man. He easily caught her smaller hand in his, but her left, katana fisted punch followed. Her left upper-punch made a solid connection with his face, sending him flying back.
Breathing a bit heavily, she didn’t have to wait for him to compose himself. Like a feline, he had spun mid-air and landed on all fours. He seemed unaffected by the blow except for the now split-lip she adorned him with.
Adrenaline now started to emerge and run through her veins. She wanted to believe that their fight was going to be playful and good-natured, but it didn’t seem to be turning out that way. Kaoru was initially willing to talk about what had him so disturbed, but now, now with her woken temper and warrior’s survival instinct she wanted to brawl as much as he.
Kenshin was shocked with the powerful punch she landed. He ran his tongue along his bottom lip to wipe the bit of blood, noticing her fury engulfed orbs follow the movement, more out of scrutiny than fascination. So Kanryu was right—she is a foe assassin. Regretfully, there was only one thing to do in such a predicament; finish her off before she finishes him.
With that in mind, he took off toward her again.
Feeling his aggressive energy directed at her, she raced to him as well.
Katanas clashed on impact immediately followed with swift slashes and jabs as both fighters fought without reserve. As if coming to an unspoken agreement to give it their all, they used their strength and speed to try to at least one-up their opponent.
Kenshin wasn’t surprised to see her use the Tenken technique he had recognized as Soujiro’s, as well as the shukichi technique that enabled her to move at such powerful speeds. After all, she and that brunette boy were on the same side, it was natural that they shared the same fighting style. Yet, she also used a few moves of another technique that Soujiro hadn’t. Watojutsu, a style he knew to be a type of Chinese sword fighting that was solely offensive based. It was beyond interesting to see the combination of those forms, and all the more seeing ~*her*~ execute the moves with preciseness.
However, although it seemed they were equally matched as they dodged, blocked, struck, and used their environment to run and jump not just along the floor, but the walls and ceiling as well in a seemingly equivalent unnatural speed, one swordsman was gradually attaining the upper hand.
Kaoru was starting to tire. She was seeing first hand why Kenshin is the legendary swordsman. It didn’t help that she trained alongside Soujiro that morning, causing the soreness in her muscles, but she was usually able to push past that. Kenshin was at completely different fighting level than her. He was at her father’s level… she was never able to beat her father.
The livid red-head was predicting her every move. She could, to a point, calculate his as well, but not in time to land another solid hit. Besides, she didn’t want to inflict any wounds. The last thing she wanted to do was injure him.
For Kenshin, on the other hand, that didn’t seem to be an issue—he wasn’t about to let another woman ruin his life. He wasn’t about to die in the hands of a conniving female. Seething with white, hot rage he didn’t stop the assault. This was going to end tonight and on his terms.
She paused as she neared a wall. Crouching low again, she positioned one foot against the hard surface, ready to lunge herself toward him if he chose to dash toward her again. Sweat dripped over her brow, along her cheek, and down her chin. The drop hung there as she momentarily stood still, waiting for him to turn around for the attack.
He did. His gilded eyes glowed in menace, his features contorted in evident displeasure; thick brows furrowed, jaw clenching, lips tightened, nostrils flaring as he exhaled.
Blue, crystalline orbs widened as she felt her heart involuntarily jump. If looks could kill, she was sure she’d be dead by now. But, although their battle was hostile and vicious, Kenshin wouldn’t intentionally hurt her, would he?
Gulping silently with the question in mind, Kaoru kicked off the wall for extra momentum as she swiftly sprang into action, running rapidly in his direction, the single drop of sweat on her chin free falling in her wake.
Kenshin blocked the attack, pushing her katana aside with his and holding that stance. He then turned the hilt, the blade turning to face the opposite direction and he swung his sword back.
She let out a yell as the sharp edge made contact and slashed across the right side of her chest, cutting through her dress’ strap, barely missing her key-charmed necklace.
The drop of sweat landed on the floor.
He didn’t stop there. Taking advantage of her surprised state, he stooped low for another attack. Pouncing forward, he held his katana horizontally at his side to carry out a slashing move across her torso. Relentlessly, Kenshin spun with the steel in hand, still squat low, for a combo move.
Kaoru saw this and managed to slightly move away in order to prevent the totality of the fatal blows. Nonetheless, a cry escaped her as the blade made contact with her flesh once again as it cut through fabric, slicing across her waist-line with the first move and then her upper thigh with the his spinning final move, causing superficial wounds.
He stood and held his katana up, swinging down with full force.
This time she blocked the attack as the more sparks flew in the collision. The force of his strength against hers had her sliding back. Kaoru ground her feet down to slow down the impact but wasn’t enough. She sunk the katana on the wooden floor to stop before her body crashed against the wall.
Holding the hilt of the embedded sword, breathing exhaustedly as she stared up at him from her bend-down form, Kaoru couldn’t believe Kenshin had ~*actually*~ physically wounded her. Her muscles were aching with agony and the wounds stung sharply even as she remained unmoving. Was he trying to kill her?
‘No. It couldn’t be. Could it?’ she thought, her vision glued on him.
Her eyes narrowed. She couldn’t allow that. She wasn’t ready for that, not now, not for a very long while.
He had to be as wore-out as she by now. If his sweat glistening body, ragged breathing, and rapidly expanding and deflating chest were any indication, then he must be as well. Besides, if he weren’t, he wouldn’t take that long of a pause amidst their combat. He was taking a quick moment to rest… and she will take full advantage of the time.
She dipped her head down and closed her eyes. Her mind focused on blocking out her surroundings, concentrating on her beating heart. The rapid palpating was strong in her ears. Her breathing was as ragged as his.
~*“Kaoru, start controlling that beating you feel.”*~
Soujiro’s voice rung clear in her mind.
~*“Control that beating and make it stop.”*~
Kenshin tilted his head in curiosity. She was… doing something… odd. He knew that she was tired, knew that now she was just as out of breath as he. It was impressive and worrying that she pushed beyond her weary state, but as he observed her sunk-down form, holding onto that katana, her head bowed low as her breathing became a bit steadier, he felt the current in her ki unusually change—it started to die down till it ultimately… disappeared.
Taken back with the new occurrence, his amber eyes didn’t let her out of his sight. He saw her lift her head, her hovering raven bangs unveiling her face. He was met with dull, darkly hollow ocean-blue eyes.
She pulled the katana from the floor and stood astutely staring at him. Her elegant pink dress now tore due to his actions, her crimson-red blood inking most of the right side.
He waited for any sign of her energy, any at all. There was nothing. Too late he realized that Kaoru was just like the boy. Before his very eyes she vanished.
‘Damn it.’ he thought. He was barely able to see a couple of her steps before she stood in front of him, her blade swinging down in attack. But those viewed steps were enough warning for him to bring his weapon up in defense, blocking such a silent oncoming slash.
She had the upper hand this time. Her lacking aura made it impossible for him to read her next move. It was as if playing a complex game of Marco Polo. It was frustrating.
They again went for another round of un-rested battle, except she was the one attacking as he tried to keep up with dodging and blocking her strikes. He was sure he’d be dead by the end, but he wasn’t about to go without a fight.
He pushed further and further, using more energy then he knew he had. He was aware of the times he had left his vitals unprotected and was lucky that she hadn’t seen them. But… that didn’t seem right.
Kaoru was obviously an experienced fighter. She had to have seen that there were moments of vulnerability while they fought. Just because she had closed up all emotion didn’t mean she was incapable of keen observation and cognitive thinking. She had been attacking him with such force, but she never tried to perform any deadly strikes. Blue-eyed woman had all the opportunities to put an end to him, but she never took them. Kaoru wasn’t trying to kill him…
He heard the shuffle of the slipper against the floor behind him, so he turned around. Kaoru was rapidly lunging toward him, the katana she was holding coming down at him.
He took another approach. Instead of bringing his blade up, he held on to his sheath waiting for the right moment to strike. Right when she was swinging down, he swung up, hitting her fingers and causing her hand to open, the katana falling from her grasp.
It clunk noisily on the floor. Before she had a chance to pass him, he grasped her wrist and pulled her roughly toward him. She let out an airy noise as she collided against his chest. He wrapped one arm around her as the other brought his blade under her chin, not giving her the slimmest chance to struggle.
He had her, had her in his hold; her back against his chest as he gripped the heavy sharp steel against her neck in warning. Kenshin shoved her along one of the drawers, releasing the arm around her and momentarily placing his katana down. He quickly grasped a plentiful handful of her hair and violently pushed her down, slamming the side of her face against the furniture’s hard surface.
Kaoru grunted in displeasure, her head aching.
Breathing heavily he looked down at her bend-over figure—confusion whir-pooled annoyingly in his mind, clouding any fair or logical judgment.
Mid-night locks still in his grasp, he pulled, drawing her near him again, her body pressed along his.
His hard, ragged breathing was hot against her skin. It tickled her neck, sending shivers down her spine.
“Why didn’t you tell me Shishio Makoto is your father?” he madly murmured in her ear. His nose close to her skin, unconsciously taking in her smell; her sweat, the metallic scent of blood, and… jasmine.
“Wha-”
She wasn’t given time for a complete response as her face was slammed against the hard wood again, a louder grunt escaping in reaction.
Smoldering amber gaze raked her appearance, his earlier retribution thoughts slowly being replaced with lustful ones. One hand rested on her back, feeling her drumming heart. It traveled down, following the dipping of her waist and rounding of her bottom. Journeying south, fingers grazed the hem of her dress, sliding under the pink garment, his thumb stroking the inside of her thigh right beneath the edge of her lace panties.
Kaoru about jumped with recognition of his intentions and of his wandering hand.
“Stop.” he raucously said, quickly bringing the katana over her neck threateningly.
The cold razor of the blade on her skin was enough to make her cease.
Amber-eyed man continued satisfying his unpredicted whim.
He pushed her ankles apart with a kick of his foot, making her spread her legs and somewhat come off the balls of her feet. Taking the edge of her dress he pulled it up, revealing the pink panties.
His hand went to hover over her delicate area, her profile perfectly seen from where he was positioned over her.
Icy-blue eyes glared crossly at him.
Fingers feathered over rose panties, tickling Kaoru, making her slightly squirm. His lips curved into a dangerously wolfish grin. He pressed his katana on her neck a little further to ensure no escape as he went about his explorations.
He rubbed over the lace delicately, feeling her shift under him.
She yelped when calloused hand suddenly grasped her underwear and roughly pulled, tearing the fabric as he freed her of them.
Now there was nothing in the way, nothing between them. Softly at first, he rubbed on her tender and sensitive nub.
Her eyes shut closed, her fingertips dug on the hard surface with the sensation.
Not stopping, he added more pressure gradually building up the wetness in her sweet pocket. On and on he went, till he heard a quiet little moan issuing from her and her energy starting to reappear. The affirmation was all the more motive for him. He plunged one finger into her and she hummed a slightly louder moan.
He played with her to his heart delight, finding another mean of satisfaction.
Kenshin’s arousal was rising along with hers. He couldn’t help but rub himself on her. Feeling her awaking energy, he flung his blade to the side and it landed on the furthest wall, its point deeply embedded. Now with a free hand, he went to unbutton and unzip his jeans.
Hearing this, Kaoru snapped out of her emotionless state of mind. Her once dull eyes widened as she saw from the corner of her eyes what Kenshin was up to.
She felt his tip resting on her entry and her brow creased.
“Kenshin?”
He looked at her—he was still furious.
His golden eyes, seeming to border a red-ish hue locked on to hers. Sadistically slow, he slid into her lips, deliberately holding onto her gaze as he did so. He groaned when he was sunk to the hilt, filling her.
She shut her yes and bit her lips at the invasion.
Placing his hand at the middle of her back to keep her down, he withdrew and then roughly thrust right back, wanting to somehow punish her. He continued, gradually picking up pace. Looking down, he watched as his staff came in and out of her, her round ass taking his thrusting. His hands held onto her hips as he quickened his thrust, hearing her panting and softly mewling. They roamed over her cheeks, kneeing the flesh and then spreading them apart to plunge in deeper.
But that wasn’t a good enough punishment. No, he wanted to inflict a little pain.
One hand went to hold on to her hip as the other went over her plump bottom, fingers spreading and caressing her fondly. Blood traveling hotly like lava through his veins, shooting toward his groin. He brought his hand up, momentarily pausing in the air. And then, he swung down.
She cried out when his palm slapped against her flesh, it wasn’t so much from the stinging as it was out of surprise.
His hand came up again, spanking her rump continuously making her moan and cry out over and over again, leaving a light pink imprint of his hand.
He grasped her hair once more, yanking her not too delicately toward him.
Kaoru wrinkled her nose and hissed in reaction.
Hot breathing breezed over her neck. She turned her head to the right, seeking where it was issuing from.
He tilted his head down meeting her lips, kissing her fiercely, making her whimper into his mouth when he bit down on her pouty bottom. His hand traveled up her right side, feeling the soaked condition of her dress. Kenshin parted from the kiss to look at the crimson on his hand.
She did the same, frowning at the redness, knowing that blood is hers.
Kenshin hurt her. She knew this yet didn’t process the thought till that moment.
Acting on pure, unreadable impulse, she swiftly brought her arm up, elbowing him on the face making him grunt and release his hold on her. She slightly ducked down and spun, her hand going to the back of his pants to take the handgun she knew he always carried.
Stepping back, she pointed the firearm at him, pulling her dress down as she watched him shake his head.
He tilted his head to look at her, adjusting and tucking himself in, leaving his pants undone as he saw his own weapon pointed at him. He had been right from the beginning… she was a challenge. Although he thought it was going to be more from the chase then actual physical combat.
Gilded eyed raked her form. Kami help him she looked utterly ravishing—holding the gun and standing defiantly with her feet slightly apart, her hair ruffled in a dark mane around her, glaring angrily, showered in the blue moonlight, and her focused eyes sparkling heatedly.
His fingers slightly moved.
“Don’t.” she firmly warned.
His eyes narrowed. In a split second Kenshin set about moving, aiming to lunge at her. However, with a powerful, ear-numbing blast, she fired at him. The bullet went through a sleeve and grazed his bicep, slashing against his flesh, the force of the shot shoving his arm back.
Holding on to the cut, he growled as he turned to look at her.
“I didn’t miss.” she informed him.
Without taking her eyes off of him, she went to take a chair. She unfolded it and placed it near the center of the dojo.
“Sit.” she ordered.
Red-head disobediently stood for a while before doing as told. He walked toward her and grudgingly took a seat.
Kaoru paced around him, examining the red-head, still aiming his gun at him. She went to stand behind him. Her hand grasped a handful of his crimson hair, yanking his head back viciously.
He tightened his lips and clenched his jaw at the aching.
She brought her mouth over his ear, “It doesn’t feel that good, does it?” she roughly shoved his head back and continued to walk around him as his amber glower carefully followed her.
“Have you ever heard of the golden rule?” she asked as she came to stand before him, watching and giving him time to answer.
He didn’t speak a word.
Seeing this, Kaoru came closer to him. Cautiously, she sat on his lap, straddling him; one leg on either side of him. She placed the gun under his chin as she brought her face close to his, inspecting him very closely.
“Come on.” she egged, “A man with golden eyes like yours has to know about the golden rule. Right?”
Kenshin remained unresponsive, his hard stare directed at her.
“Well, I’ll just go ahead and tell you.” she leaned closer to whisper in his ear. “Treat others the way you want to be treated.” came her soft comment.
The low words brought a tickling sensation, making his hair stand on end.
“So…” her free hand went to his pants, rubbing him over his boxers, “…is this how you want to be treated?”
He closed his eyes shut.
“Is it?” her breath floated over his. Her small hand still stroked him going up and down, up and down, till he was hard and throbbing in her grasp. She pulled him out and positioned herself over him, rubbing his head along her swollen lips.
“Look at me.” she commanded.
He did, slowly opening his amber eyes.
Kaoru boldly locked her gaze to his. She leisurely dug her hips low, sliding him into her, feeling his stiff heat inside of her.
A delicious, unexpected moan rumbled from him.
“You like that, huh?” she murmured sensuously, rotating her hips on his, causing another throaty moan to escape.
She gradually picked up a rhythm; grinding on him, thrusting her hips firmly on him, building up their arousal. One hand was tangled in his hair, keeping his head up while she nibbled and bit along his neck, occasionally coming up to kiss him as she punishingly sunk her teeth into his lips exactly the way he had with her.
Strangely, red-head had never been so turned on. He loved the way she took charge and got rough with him. It was so instinctive and it felt so damn good.
He watched as he placed the handgun down and slide it far away from them. His Kaoru hadn’t let him touch her once since she took charge, but now she couldn’t stop him. He leaned his head on her shoulder, grinning.
Looping his arms under her legs, he stood up. Walking to the nearest wall, he slammed her against it, continuing their adult game as he roughly thrust into her. Their grunts and moans voiced all throughout the night.
OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO
The setting sun shone through the sheer, opened curtains—the warm hues giving the room a lazy, cozy vibe.
He lay in bed, looking up at the ceiling with his hands behind his head, between masses of white cotton sheets blotched with crimson blood, unsure of how to feel about his present predicament. It’s not like him to make matters worse.
Midnight-haired woman rested her head on his chest as she played with a red lock, looping and twirling it within her fingers, entranced with the silky texture of the flame-like tress. She could hear the hardy, steady beat of his heart, drumming avidly. The pumping rhythm was calming, even with the thick tension radiating from the man next to her.
Kaoru knew he was still upset, furious even, but she couldn’t quite understand why. She hadn’t lied to him about her father, hadn’t tried to conceal her identity, and hadn’t tried to dodge the subject. She had warned him from the very beginning, had told him he wasn’t going to like her once he got to know her.
Plus, they had steamy, raw, angry sex all night. It should have been more than enough to let off some steam, but alas, it wasn’t.
So, now there they laid—their foolish dispute unfinished, all due to her family ties. It was the same story as always. The same issue between her and whoever she dated.
Nonetheless, she tried to fix the problem at hand, to placate is ever petulant mood.
She nuzzled his neck, inhaling deeply as she did so, taking in the clean, musky smell with a hint of sweat. She distinguished a forest-pine smell and vaguely wondered what kind of bar-soap or body-wash he used.
Lips traced kisses from his clavicle all along his neck, nibbling at his earlobe right before lightly sucking on it.
He clenched his jaw at this, slowly closing his eyes as he felt the sweet, arousing sensation of her soft, warm mouth on his neck. Soon afterwards, a warningly callous growl emitted from deep within his chest.
Scowling at the difficult male for the snarl, she stopped her affectionate gesture, feeling his anger start to transmit itself onto her—his current indifferent attitude beginning to grave on her nerves.
She sighed, “I thought you knew.”
“Humph.”
Still frowning, Kaoru sat up leaning on one arm as the other held the blankets close to her. “Do you mind telling me what’s wrong?”
Red-head didn’t turn to her, “Nothing’s wrong.” he listlessly answered.
“That’s a load of bull-shit. No one fights the way we did without there being something wrong.”
He turned, dark amethyst eyes intensely looked at her, spiking with flecks of gold, “You never told me he is your father.”
“What’s it matter?”
“What’s it matter?” he reiterated giving her a disbelieving look. He sighed in frustration, running a hand through his hair, “His supposed right-hand assassin ambushed me out of the blue. I presumed that it was a declaration of rivalry and now you, his only offspring, have been spending time with me. Do you honestly think I’d believe this is all just a coincidence?”
“You’re being paranoid.”
“Am I?”
Sea-like orbs locked onto his dual-colored eyes, knowing and understanding exactly what he was referring to, openly reading his expression through his dark eyes.
“So, what now? Are you going to end this?”
He didn’t respond, letting the silence answer her question.
Turning away, she looked at the door, going over the event that had just happened between them, assessing all of what he said and how he had reacted.
“Well, that’s just great.” she bitterly said, throwing the sheets off of her.
Uncaring of her nude form, she looked about his room trying to find her clothing.
He didn’t take his sight off of her, continuing to follow her every move, watching her struggle with her still aching body, feeling her frustrated and stressed aura flaring restlessly. Her fiery temper igniting his ever potent interest in her.
Catching a glimpse of pearl-pink from the corner of her eye, she found her dress in a forgotten pile on the floor. Picking it up, she saw the damage of their battle; the ripped strap, the giant tear along the waistline, the torn edges along the bottom, and the multiple hanging threads throughout the whole garb and the now dried brownish blood. She really liked the dress and now there was no possible way to fix it.
She looked back to the red-head, shooting him a glare for her lack of suitable clothing.
He raised an eye-brow in response, his uncaring façade still etched on his sharp features.
Sighing, she was thankful that at least her bra wasn’t shredded—too bad she couldn’t say the same for the matching panties.
“I thought you were different.” she started while clipping her bra on. “Turns out your just like the rest of them.”
His eyes narrowed.
“Guys I’ve dated in the past always ran the other direction once they’ve found out about my dad. When they’d look at me, all they’d see is him. I didn’t think you were one of them.” she went to his drawers, opening them noisily, taking out a shirt and sweat pants, “I would have fought for you if you fought for me, Kenshin. You know that right?”
She paused to see if he was affected by anything she had said, but he remained calm and unmoving.
Quickly putting on his clothing, dark-haired woman made her way to the door. However, she stopped right before exiting, turning her head to the side. “About last night… I forgive you. I understand why you did what you did, even if it was irrational. Then again, I shouldn’t have added more fuel to the fire.” she spoke over her shoulder, “And for the record, my father doesn’t know that we’ve been seeing each other. So, to answer any suspicions… no, he didn’t have me get close to you.”
She made her way out, her soft steps becoming less and less audible the further she went, leaving a pensive Kenshin to re-play what she had said in his mind.
Could it be that she was telling the truth? Her ki didn’t waver once with any sign of deceit. She hadn’t blocked out any emotions the way she had in their earlier combat. No, she was being honest, and if that was truly the case… he had more questions for her.
He quickly got up and put some dirty, old jeans on, moving fast before she left.
She was turning the door handle, managing to slimly open the door before it was roughly shut closed before her, a hand to her right pressed firmly on the exit, prevent her from leaving.
“Yes, Kenshin?” she patiently inquired, turning around to face him, the book-filled messenger bag on her shoulder having her slightly slant.
“What do you mean your father doesn’t know?”
“Exactly what it sounds like.”
“What would happen if he were to find out?”
“I don’t know. He might not care, or he might, as Misao puts it, ‘flip-out’.”
“What if it’s the later?”
She lightly frowned and tightened her lips uneasily, “There’s no telling what he’d do. Dad can be pretty unpredictable at times.”
He apprehensively looked down at her, not wanting to fathom what Shishio is capable of. She is his only daughter and he raised and trained her to be a killer. Why the hell would any parent want that for their child? Why would anyone bring their kid up in that kind of life?
If he has gone as far as raising her to be a cold-blooded killer, to put her in harm’s way, to damage her psyche to a point where she had to bottle up her emotions in battle; then he’s capable of much more… possibly even kill her. No, he couldn’t live with himself knowing that he was at fault for any harm done to her, whether it was from her father or not. It would be best if he protected her from afar. He couldn’t down-right go after the man, he was, after-all, still her only family, and he couldn’t take that away from her.
Was she even aware of how treacherous her father truly is?
“Kaoru, we might not have any other choice.”
“What do you mean?” she blinked in confusion at him.
His hand came up to her cheek, stroking the warm skin with his thumb.
Involuntarily closing her eyes, she nuzzled into his hand—his touch still as stimulating as ever.
“Koishii…”
Her eyes shot open at the endearment, searching his violet.
“…we need to end this for your own good.”
She frowned, bemused at his words.
As delicately as possible, he brought her closer to him as he wrapped both arms around her form. He felt her hands on his back as she hugged him back.
“I don’t want anything to happen to you.” Kenshin whispered into the shell of her ear.
Kaoru felt her heart start pounding at the sound of his voice.
“It’s best if we part before things get too out of hand.”
Her air hitched.
Kenshin held onto her for a while longer, as if he was sketching the moment in his mind, carefully imprinting it to his memory. Slowly, he withdrew, turning around to head back to his room.
Sapphire eyes watched him as her vision blurred. One single tear fell gingerly down her cheek. Surprised, she brought her fingers to the wet trail it left, touching the moistened path. When was the last time she cried?
Frowning down at her tear soaked fingers she realized she didn’t want him out of her life. She actually and truly has feelings for this man.
“No.” she firmly said.
Red-head abruptly stopped and turned to her, “What?”
Blue irises traveled up to look at him, “I said no. It doesn’t have to be this way.”
He slightly tilted his head in puzzlement.
“Why are you letting my father break us up?”
He sighed, “I’d rather you stay alive and well. I won’t risk your life.”
“I’m not a child. It’s ~*my*~ life and I’ll do whatever I want with it.”
“Even end it? Kaoru, it’s not worth it.” he turned to leave again.
“Damn it, Battousai!” she exasperatedly yelled, annoyed at his stubbornness.
He quickly turned, shocked, his loose hair whipping around as he faced her. She has never called him that before.
“It shouldn’t be complicated.” she continued. “I like you and you like me, right? Then that should be enough for us to stay together.”
Kenshin stood quiet.
“That is unless… you don’t like me anymore. Do you?” she questioned as she arched an eyebrow.
He tightened his lips, “Yes.”
“So, what’s the problem?”
He narrowed his eyes in annoyance, “What ~*don’t*~ you understand about this? You could get killed!”
“Kenshin, I could get killed whether I’m dating you or not!”
“Then why add more foes to the list?! I’m sure you have enough with your father’s enemies alone!”
“I don’t care about that! I lo…” she paused, taking in a deep breath, “… I like you, Kenshin. Why are you ignoring that? When I’m with you I feel… like I can take on the whole world. I want to be with you.”
Silence. Kenshin didn’t know what to say to that. She seemed so sincere, so hopeful.
Kaoru glared at him knowingly, “I can’t change your mind, can I?”
“I’m not the kind of man for that kind of relationship.”
“What makes you so different from me?”
He contemplated his next words carefully, “People like…us. We don’t deserve to be loved.”
“It’s not what I’ve been told. I deserve redemption and I deserve to be happy.”
“Our circumstances are different then.”
She searched his eyes for any sign of weakness, any sign that he’ll give in. She sighed and turned her head defeated. “Look, do you have any beef with my dad? Any history with him I don’t know about?”
His brow creased with the change of subject, “Other than Soujiro’s attack, no.”
“Ok.” she turned back to meet his gaze again, “It’ll be fairly easy then. I’ll make sure my father and whoever he’s associated with him won’t bother you. You have my word.”
He was amazed at the passionate determination swirling in her sea-storm eyes. They zealously sparkled in a way that moved him inside. She truly cared for him.
She dropped her bag carefully on the floor. Taking a few steps, she made her way to him stopping before him. Getting on her tippy-toes, she leaned in and sweetly laid a kiss on his cheek.
His lids unconsciously drifted closed.
Her breath feathered against his skin as her lips hovered over his ear. “Maybe in another life time.” she whispered before moving away.
Unsatisfied. Unfulfilled.—His hand shot up to gently grasp her arm, preventing her from leaving.
Puzzled, she looked up to meet his amethyst gaze.
Kenshin studied her, taking in her features how he had done many times before. He brushed her bangs away from her eyes, following the lock over her ear, coming down to cup her neck. His thumb stroked over a pale cheek and nude lips aware of her blood loss.
He leaned his forehead on hers, feeling guilty about initiating the fight, inwardly promising he won’t allow that to happen again.
Red-head bowed his head lower, closing the small gap between them as he placed his lips on hers, kissing her slowly. He felt the softness of her lips on his, tasted the hot, sweetness of her mouth.
He threw away any and all thoughts of the unseen events and consequences their being together might bring, any new enemies it might evoke, Kenshin didn’t care about any new dangers aimed at his physical being, for he knew and decided then that wherever this woman was, it’s where he wanted to be.
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A/N: Ka-pow!! Yes, Kaoru is give-or-take Kenshin’s equal when it comes to sword skill. I think it’s pretty bad-ass and a little bit sexy, even if the fighting part was too lengthy. And pretty lame (and for that matter this whole story too). *sigh* I tried.
Anyways…the last part of this chapter was based on the time when Kenshin leaves Tokyo to Kyoto and comes by to tell Kaoru good-bye. You know that sad fire-fly scene. Well, I’ve always wanted to see Kaoru holding her ground and tell Kenshin that she likes him and that she won’t give up on him instead of freezing up and going through the depression. But, of course, my versions of Kenshin and Kaoru are OOC so it was played out differently. :P
I roughly know where I want this story to go (I have mini chapter outlines done—I know, I’m a nerd), but I’m curious to see what readers would like to see happen. So… ahem… What would you write or like to see in this fanfic?
Again, I apologize if this chapter didn’t flow nicely and if I’m slaughtering the manga/anime… oh and for how lengthy this turned out. Don’t kill me. XP
Secondly, I made a small change: Captain Makimachi to General Makimachi, it’s no biggie.
Lastly, there is some SEXUAL CONTENT in this chapter, so read at your own risk. If you’re offended by or if you don’t like smut, then don’t read. Enjoy ^_^
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Sleeping with the Enemy
KAORU: HEY
HEY
KAORU: LONG TIME NO C
YEAH
KAORU: R WE STILL ON 4 2NITE?
YEAH
KAORU: R U OK?
YEAH
KAORU: U SURE? WE CAN GO OUT SOME OTHER TIME…
He sighed, sliding his cell phone closed.
How could he have not known? Why didn’t he see it? How could it have got passed him? She has been with him, right under his nose. This girl, this trained swordswoman, she’s one of Shishio’s warriors. She makes up part of the muscle that man will need in his plan. Isn’t that what Saitoh had referred to?
~*“Shishio Makoto. Heard of him?”
“Yes.”
“Top drug-lord. We have reasons to believe he’s planning on taking this city down.”*~
To makes matters worse, she’s Shishio’s only daughter.
He leaned by a window hiding under the shadow the frame provided, arms and legs crossed as violet eyes looked through the glass, not seeing anything in particular. His sight went over to the rectangular cell in his hand as he read and re-read her last message—thinking, debating, and going over and all the details, no matter how small. Clenching his jaw, tightening his fists, breathing out noisily, Kenshin tried to focus on what he was going to do about his current situation.
How had he managed to get himself into this situation to begin with?
She seemed fine in the beginning, completely normal. Her ki wasn’t like his or any others he had come across before. It wasn’t remorseful or tainted like his must be. It wasn’t dark, demented, or twisted like the hit-men who enjoyed killing. It wasn’t unreadable like that young assassin who attacked him before…
Soujiro. His was an odd ki.
He barely got away that night. The boy was fast, almost as fast as he, probably matching his speed, possibly surpassing him. Minding his own business, he walked down the dark alleys of the city, wanting to be alone and let the shadows consume him, feeling that heaviness of the after kill. He hadn’t felt someone follow him, didn’t feel the wanting of a fight from this unknown pursuer. As fast as lighting the experienced sword wielder made his move, the sudden shuffle of one footstep was the only warning red-head managed to make out in order to block the oncoming slash.
Kenshin hadn’t been assaulted in such a long time. Most fighters, even the more skilled ones, knew that it was in their best interest to stay away from him. Only the ones that wanted the ‘man-slayer’ title or needed to prove that they were the best fighter went futilely looking to finally beat him.
That boy, however, didn’t seem to want either.
He couldn’t read his kenki, his offensive aura. He wasn’t able to make out his motives. The young brunette didn’t seem to have emotions, even though he remained mostly gleefully grinning throughout their struggle. What’s worse, due to his lacking energy, Kenshin was unable to predict any of his moves. Most pro swordsmen were able to hold back their emotions in order to conceal their kis, but this kid was plainly lacking it.
In the end they both retreated mortally wounded.
He was left curious and concerned about the boy and the reasons behind his surprise attack.
Once he tended to his injuries and recovered, Kenshin didn’t waste any time and set off to find information on the young male. ‘Know thy enemy’, especially ones who posed a threat.
He discovered that he worked for some powerful ex-government operative turned crime-lord, Shishio Makoto, as a right-hand man. From what he dug up, Soujiro was usually seen with a partner, some ‘Angel of Death’ figure. However, it’s been a while since the accomplice was spotted. Soujiro was now the favored assassin.
So Kenshin figured that is was reasonable to assume that this Makoto guy was most likely a new enemy, a new foe to add to his shit list. Why else would his trusted subordinate attack? He was just lucky the other guy hadn’t been there.
The other guy? There was a probability that ~*she*~ was the accomplice.
Her body. Her taunt muscles, tight tummy, defined legs, and her solid arms were all evidence of hard sword training. He enjoyed her strong yet delicate form but it never crossed his mind that her athletic figure was actually a slender fighter’s build. His hands explored what he had considered, for a while now, was his. Violet eyes and greedy hands discovered the few faded scars on her skin. Like the cut by her belly-button, the one on her upper arm, and the scrape along her hip bone. Plus, the almost nonexistent, disappearing calluses down her slender fingers. But they weren’t profound enough wounds to alarm him so he never paid them enough mind.
Makoto. Kaoru Makoto. He still couldn’t wrap his head around it. How could he not have connected that name? He had never felt so stupid, so ignorant. It would be his luck that the one woman he’s found interesting, the one woman he’s treated himself to be with was possibly one of Shishio’s personal fighters. It would have probably been better if he stuck to promiscuous females and one night stands to forget about pains of the past instead of seeking her.
Was it just bad luck or was it that he was drawn to that type of women?
There was a time when he thought that Tomoe was an innocent. He believed that she was the ideal woman for him, believed that he truly found someone who loves him, someone he could blindly have faith in. It was all a lie. Her loyalties didn’t lie with him.
There were signs, so many signs and clues he chose to ignore. She was always so clandestine, so guarded and his affection for her had him look the other way. A mistake he assured himself will never happen again.
And with Kaoru… it didn’t seem that way. She didn’t seem to hold anything back. Her crystal like eyes reflected every emotion. He could swear he could see stars shinning within them. Blue like the darkening sky, illustrating her inner vigor and youth, yet when she thought he wasn’t looking, he could see the lived soul contained in her. Kaoru could be hiding something, especially when it concerned her family; she never mentioned anything about her kin.
Yet, there was still something not right. Some things simply didn’t add up.
Misao Makimachi is one of Kaoru’s best friends. The weasel girl is the daughter of General Makimachi, one of the nation’s Military leaders, an all around ‘good guy’. He has helped the city’s police department catch and sentence many of its criminals alongside Aoshi Shinomori. There was no doubt that they were probably itching to catch Shishio and finally put him behind bars. If not the General, then Aoshi must know whose blood runs through Kaoru’s veins and if that is true then how is it that the General’s daughter and the city’s top crime-lord’s daughter are close friends?
No, it doesn’t make any sense at all.
If she was a killer, then why hadn’t he seen a weapon on her? A girl raised in such a world Shishio belonged in had to know some basic self-defense and survival skills, or at least have a body-guard follow her around. Incidences like being followed and killing attempts were probably frequent.
Those couple times they were followed, she knew. Kaoru knew someone was hot on their trail.
He needed to get to the bottom of this dilemma. Kaoru, his Kaoru, although Shishio’s daughter could not be the cold, detached assassin Kanryu spoke of. However, he couldn’t allow her to be another blind-spot that could cost him his life.
He pushed himself off the wall as he ran his hands through his hair in frustration. He walked back and forth in the middle of his dojo with signs of an oncoming headache starting to brew from his chaotic, unorganized thinking. Kenshin rubbed his temple with the pulp of his fingers in attempt to soothe the palpating aching. He stopped his pacing, his eyes shut and brows knitted in concentration.
There were a few ways to figure out what his blue-eyed woman wanted with him, but there was one way he felt would be fittingly satisfying for him.
With a flick of his thumb, he slid his phone open.
NO BEEN DYING 2 C U
KAORU: LOL SURE U WERE. SO WHERE R WE GOING?
WHEREVER U WANT
KAORU: REALLY? ITLL BE A SURPRISE 4 U THEN. WHERE DO U WANNA MEET?
MY PLACE
KAORU: OK. TIME?
8ISH OK?
KAORU: SURE. DRESS IN SOMETHING A LIL FORMAL OK
YEAH
KAORU: C U THEN
YEAH C YA THEN
OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO
The silk, pearl-pink dress was soft against her skin, rubbing smoothly with every stride. She adjusted the glossy fabric, slightly twisting the garment around her till it felt comfortable. She then closed her black trench-coat, tying the belt and hugging it close to her as she walked toward his apartment, her step balanced even with her heels and bag full of books over her shoulder.
Admittedly, Kaoru had to say she had been looking forward to the date with her favorite red-head. She had roughly planned the night out. First, they’ll have a private dinner at the fancy little Mediterranean restaurant downtown she had been eyeing for weeks, possibly hit a few low-key bars afterward since she knew Kenshin wasn’t particularly fond of crowded areas, and followed by a walk to the city’s lighted garden with that romantic water fountain. Then once she couldn’t take any more of his whispering implications and heated caresses, they’ll head back to his place to finish what they started. That is, if his libido would allow a brief pause for them to make it to the more personal quarters his apartment provided.
After her long and jam-packed day, she wanted a nice night out on the town and actually feel like a normal, every-day girl.
That and forget about the ‘engagement’ her father had fixed with that white-haired, over-egotistical sociopath all because of his almost limitless power. After all, Enishi has the money, businesses, and warrior’s strength her father clearly admired and could exploit. Her father demonstrated such pride in the idea of adopting Enishi into the family—it was revolting.
She loves her father, she truly does, but she had long ago realized that her father’s ideals, motives, and methods are completely wrong and utterly twisted. He is a smart and crafty man, but he was also ruthless and cold-hearted. Kaoru, to a point, understood why. Her mother’s murder wasn’t easy for either one of them.
Blood is blood though, you can’t choose your family and she could never turn her back on the man, but she had disobeyed and stood up for the more significant issues she believes in. She had even gone as far as to foil his plans because she had seen the injustice. The punishment was never pleasant or pretty, but to Kaoru, it was well worth it.
The new unreasonable problem at hand was the marriage. There was no way in hell she was going to marry Enishi, even if went against her father’s wishes. She was going to find a way out of it even if it kills her. And if she did by some great misfortunate marry that lunatic, she will make damn well sure she takes him down to the living hell-hole of a marriage with her and irreversibly bitch-slap him financially and psychologically with the divorce.
Kaoru took a few deep breaths to soothe such vengeful thoughts.
Tonight she will not allow herself to think about her domestic troubles. No, tonight will be all about enjoying the present day and forgetting the morbid past and foreboding future. All she wanted was a nice, ordinary life.
Standing in front of his door, Kaoru knocked a few times on the hard wood. She quickly combed her fingers through her loose hair in an attempt to tidy up her windblown locks. Cupping her hand over her mouth, she huffed a couple times into it then sniffed, making sure there weren’t any signs of bad breath.
Satisfied with the lingering minty smell and thankful that the gum had taken care of the odor the onion rings she shared with Misao and the coffee from earlier that day had surely left, she continued to wait for an answer.
There was no response. Growing a bit impatient, she drew her knuckles upon the door knocking once more.
There was still no response.
Frowning, her hand went to the knob, turning it and discovering the door was unlocked.
Strange, he was always so precautious.
She let herself in, cautiously trekking into the shadowy apartment, “Kenshin?”
The full moon provided light in the otherwise dark place. Her eyes roamed his living room, everything neat and its place; the clocked ticked above his rarely used plasma, an assortment of ‘men’s’ magazines lay on the spotless coffee table, windows were left slightly open letting in the cool early spring air in. Fingers traced the back of one sofa as she continued to unhurriedly tread further, stopping briefly to swing her messenger bag on the seat.
Puzzled to his whereabouts, she felt around for any nearby auras, finding that he was indeed still at home. In fact, he was upstairs, waiting, his strong energy flickering with an emotion she couldn’t quite pinpoint.
“Kenshin?” she inquired louder.
Following his ki, she made her way toward the stairs, stopping as she looked up at the dark entrance. She tightened her lips in uneasiness. Taking one careful step at a time, she leisurely made her way up.
She walked into the dojo, her heals clacking on the hardwood floor as her eyes traveled about the rectangular room. She noticed the windows along two joining walls where there were folded chairs, dressers, and a few tables along it. And hung on the long, windowless wall were a multitude of different katanas. The place looked like it hadn’t been used in a while, seeming to be a temporary storage space.
There Kenshin stood, looking out the large windows, arms crossed before him showered in the full moon light.
Blue irises took in his form, seeing he wasn’t dressed to go out, wearing torn jeans and a striped blue shirt left unbuttoned. Her sight stopped at the sheathed katana by his side.
Her eyes narrowed in trepidation, “Kenshin, what’s going on? You’re not dressed yet.”
“I’m aware of that, but first, I’d like to take you up on your suggestion.” his voice was low, getting straight to the point.
Her brows came down in confusion, “What suggestion?”
“Challenging you to a fight.” he turned to face her.
Taken back from the intensity in his heated gaze, she had to, for a split second, collect herself before replying, “You mean now?”
He nodded.
With a slight tilt of her head, she eyed him suspiciously, “Kenshin, if you didn’t want to go out tonight you could’ve just told me before I took the time to get all dolled-up.”
He arched an eyebrow, “A minor inconvenience.”
“I say it’s more than just a ~*minor*~ inconvenience.”
Kenshin headed toward the hanging katanas on the adjacent wall. He took one, holding it in both hands as if weighting the fine steel. “You’ll have to forgive me. I’m just curious to the ‘thing or two’…” he threw the sheathed blade to her and she easily caught it in one hand. His eyes flashed in keen observation, “…you said you know about sword fighting.”
She shot him a wary look, feeling the unsteady waves of his energy although his demeanor remained polite and composed, “Kenshin, I can’t spar in these heels.”
“There’s a pair of slippers by the door.”
She took a quick glimpse back at the said slippers and turned back to meet him again, “You can’t be serious.”
His focused gaze narrowed calculatingly, “Why wouldn’t I be?”
“Look, for starters, I’m not dressed to spar. I’m wearing a dress for crying out loud.” she pointed out.
Kenshin inspected her from where he stood, feeling her emotions flutter in uneasy cautiousness. There was no doubt that she was reading his energy as well. He understood such hesitant fluctuation in her ki and knew just how to provoke her in a way that would effortlessly rile her up and give him definite answers to the ever present questions whirling in his mind.
“Oh, I see.” he grinned as he made his way to her.
Kaoru was suddenly very aware of his opened shirt and naked chest as her eyes hungrily ate up the lean, muscular man. Rippling abs and the indenting vee along his hipbones and toward his lower region looked utterly lick-able. Her sight traveled up to his sharp, delicate features, meeting his violet gaze as he grinned all the more.
Inwardly cursing herself for her gutter brain, she composed her unconcealed gawking by straightening her spine and creasing her brows.
With her heels on, she was about his height. They very well stood at eye level yet he still seemed much taller to her. He was certainly not a large man but his presence, his vigor was so imposing it was hard not to notice him.
“Kaoru, tell me something.”
“Yes?”
“Are you worried I’ll defeat you?”
Her mouth slightly dropped open incredulously, “Excuse you?”
“I can understand if you’re too scared to go one-on-one with me.” he goaded, brushing a mid-night lock behind her ear.
She lightly slapped his hand away, “You ~*really*~ want to spar, don’t you?”
“What do you think?” it was entirely way too easy to provoke the young female.
Sapphire eyes glared at him, “I’m going to make you eat your words, Himura.” she turned and headed toward a nearby dresser.
‘For your sake I hope so.’ he thought as he sternly stared at her back.
His watchful eye surveyed her as she quickly took off her heels and slipped on the house shoes he had pointed out. She untied her coat, sliding it off and placing it over her shoes. He could tell just by looking at the dress she wore that she had her ideal night planned out. She was absolutely mesmerizing in that pink dress that snuggly embraced her form.
A feeling of guilt washed over him knowing he was going to ruin her plans, but he pushed it aside. There was a matter more pressing than her girly fancies. He had to know, had to make sure, had to put her up to his test. Good Kami he hoped he was wrong.
Kaoru quickly tied her hair in a low, loose pony tail as she walked toward the center of his dojo. She stopped before him, the katana he had tossed her in hand.
He gave her a quick once-over, “Aren’t you going to change?”
“Nope. I wanna get this over with. Besides, I can beat you wearing a dress.” she taunted, flashing a confident smile. Although to be honest, she was somewhat nervous. Kenshin was unusually not himself and his energy was palpating with withheld… something. Possibly frustration, maybe aggression—it was unclear. Her curiosity fueled her acceptance to dual.
Violet stared into blue as blue stared into violet. They waited unmoving for either to make the first move, both reading the mix of emotions their auras gave off.
Slowly, Kenshin crouched down in his fighting stance, his sword close to his side, one hand hovering over the hilt. Subsequently, Kaoru mimicked his movement, crouching low as well, perfectly reflecting his stance as she held her borrowed blade to her side, her hand floating over the weapon ready to strike when needed.
His eyes narrowed. She was obviously well versed in Battojutsu, his technique style. The beginning of his anger started to simmer deep within his being. He didn’t like being made a fool.
She, in return, creased her brow in worry, seeing flecks of gold appearing in his usually tranquil amethyst gaze. The only occasions she had seen that amber hue swirling in his eyes were during their intimate, passion filled times spent together. Thoughts of the intense tawny looks alone were enough to make her blush. However, that moment, his eyes didn’t nearly resemble the lustful glow she had seen before. She hoped that whatever was bothering him could be easily forgotten with some physical exertion.
‘Men.’ she inwardly scoffed.
Kaoru registered a slight twitch of his finger before he was instantaneously dashing toward her. In a split second she reacted as she swiftly clutched the hilt of the katana, darting over to him in the very same manner.
Steel clashed against steel, sparks flying in its collision. He used much more speed and force than what she predicted he would use, the weight of his sword on hers was surprising. Kaoru had to quickly push his blade to the side and retreat back.
Scowling at her clearly agitated boy-friend, Kaoru eyed him cautiously. “You’re upset with me.” she voiced matter-in-factly. Of course that’s the emotion he was withholding, but why? Why was he so angry with her?
Red-head didn’t answer as he matched her scowl. She was much faster than what he expected. Kaoru nearly matched his speed. Kenshin wanted to trek further. He wanted to read her intentions in battle.
Without a second thought, he lunged at her again with the execution of a lethal blow in mind.
In a blink of an eye, Kenshin was diving in for another attack. If it wasn’t his strong offensive aura, she would have suffered a great injury. However, Kaoru blocked his attack just in time, even with his elevated velocity.
Grunting, she pushed his katana to the side again using her legs for extra strength. “Kenshin, what’s wro-” she tried to ask, but before she knew it he had crouched to the ground when she deflected his blow and delivered a low kick, having her feet come off the ground as she fell loudly on the hardwood floor.
She had to admit she didn’t see that coming, but mid-night haired woman wasn’t given much time to ponder about the rare occurrence as she saw the flash of the reflecting blade coming down toward her. Blue eyes widened in alarm but she quickly rolled away to dodge the onslaught and flipped to her feet right after.
She saw an opportunity, an unprotected spot while Kenshin came back for another attack. Using her agility and fisting her hands, she swung her right fist at the golden eyed man. He easily caught her smaller hand in his, but her left, katana fisted punch followed. Her left upper-punch made a solid connection with his face, sending him flying back.
Breathing a bit heavily, she didn’t have to wait for him to compose himself. Like a feline, he had spun mid-air and landed on all fours. He seemed unaffected by the blow except for the now split-lip she adorned him with.
Adrenaline now started to emerge and run through her veins. She wanted to believe that their fight was going to be playful and good-natured, but it didn’t seem to be turning out that way. Kaoru was initially willing to talk about what had him so disturbed, but now, now with her woken temper and warrior’s survival instinct she wanted to brawl as much as he.
Kenshin was shocked with the powerful punch she landed. He ran his tongue along his bottom lip to wipe the bit of blood, noticing her fury engulfed orbs follow the movement, more out of scrutiny than fascination. So Kanryu was right—she is a foe assassin. Regretfully, there was only one thing to do in such a predicament; finish her off before she finishes him.
With that in mind, he took off toward her again.
Feeling his aggressive energy directed at her, she raced to him as well.
Katanas clashed on impact immediately followed with swift slashes and jabs as both fighters fought without reserve. As if coming to an unspoken agreement to give it their all, they used their strength and speed to try to at least one-up their opponent.
Kenshin wasn’t surprised to see her use the Tenken technique he had recognized as Soujiro’s, as well as the shukichi technique that enabled her to move at such powerful speeds. After all, she and that brunette boy were on the same side, it was natural that they shared the same fighting style. Yet, she also used a few moves of another technique that Soujiro hadn’t. Watojutsu, a style he knew to be a type of Chinese sword fighting that was solely offensive based. It was beyond interesting to see the combination of those forms, and all the more seeing ~*her*~ execute the moves with preciseness.
However, although it seemed they were equally matched as they dodged, blocked, struck, and used their environment to run and jump not just along the floor, but the walls and ceiling as well in a seemingly equivalent unnatural speed, one swordsman was gradually attaining the upper hand.
Kaoru was starting to tire. She was seeing first hand why Kenshin is the legendary swordsman. It didn’t help that she trained alongside Soujiro that morning, causing the soreness in her muscles, but she was usually able to push past that. Kenshin was at completely different fighting level than her. He was at her father’s level… she was never able to beat her father.
The livid red-head was predicting her every move. She could, to a point, calculate his as well, but not in time to land another solid hit. Besides, she didn’t want to inflict any wounds. The last thing she wanted to do was injure him.
For Kenshin, on the other hand, that didn’t seem to be an issue—he wasn’t about to let another woman ruin his life. He wasn’t about to die in the hands of a conniving female. Seething with white, hot rage he didn’t stop the assault. This was going to end tonight and on his terms.
She paused as she neared a wall. Crouching low again, she positioned one foot against the hard surface, ready to lunge herself toward him if he chose to dash toward her again. Sweat dripped over her brow, along her cheek, and down her chin. The drop hung there as she momentarily stood still, waiting for him to turn around for the attack.
He did. His gilded eyes glowed in menace, his features contorted in evident displeasure; thick brows furrowed, jaw clenching, lips tightened, nostrils flaring as he exhaled.
Blue, crystalline orbs widened as she felt her heart involuntarily jump. If looks could kill, she was sure she’d be dead by now. But, although their battle was hostile and vicious, Kenshin wouldn’t intentionally hurt her, would he?
Gulping silently with the question in mind, Kaoru kicked off the wall for extra momentum as she swiftly sprang into action, running rapidly in his direction, the single drop of sweat on her chin free falling in her wake.
Kenshin blocked the attack, pushing her katana aside with his and holding that stance. He then turned the hilt, the blade turning to face the opposite direction and he swung his sword back.
She let out a yell as the sharp edge made contact and slashed across the right side of her chest, cutting through her dress’ strap, barely missing her key-charmed necklace.
The drop of sweat landed on the floor.
He didn’t stop there. Taking advantage of her surprised state, he stooped low for another attack. Pouncing forward, he held his katana horizontally at his side to carry out a slashing move across her torso. Relentlessly, Kenshin spun with the steel in hand, still squat low, for a combo move.
Kaoru saw this and managed to slightly move away in order to prevent the totality of the fatal blows. Nonetheless, a cry escaped her as the blade made contact with her flesh once again as it cut through fabric, slicing across her waist-line with the first move and then her upper thigh with the his spinning final move, causing superficial wounds.
He stood and held his katana up, swinging down with full force.
This time she blocked the attack as the more sparks flew in the collision. The force of his strength against hers had her sliding back. Kaoru ground her feet down to slow down the impact but wasn’t enough. She sunk the katana on the wooden floor to stop before her body crashed against the wall.
Holding the hilt of the embedded sword, breathing exhaustedly as she stared up at him from her bend-down form, Kaoru couldn’t believe Kenshin had ~*actually*~ physically wounded her. Her muscles were aching with agony and the wounds stung sharply even as she remained unmoving. Was he trying to kill her?
‘No. It couldn’t be. Could it?’ she thought, her vision glued on him.
Her eyes narrowed. She couldn’t allow that. She wasn’t ready for that, not now, not for a very long while.
He had to be as wore-out as she by now. If his sweat glistening body, ragged breathing, and rapidly expanding and deflating chest were any indication, then he must be as well. Besides, if he weren’t, he wouldn’t take that long of a pause amidst their combat. He was taking a quick moment to rest… and she will take full advantage of the time.
She dipped her head down and closed her eyes. Her mind focused on blocking out her surroundings, concentrating on her beating heart. The rapid palpating was strong in her ears. Her breathing was as ragged as his.
~*“Kaoru, start controlling that beating you feel.”*~
Soujiro’s voice rung clear in her mind.
~*“Control that beating and make it stop.”*~
Kenshin tilted his head in curiosity. She was… doing something… odd. He knew that she was tired, knew that now she was just as out of breath as he. It was impressive and worrying that she pushed beyond her weary state, but as he observed her sunk-down form, holding onto that katana, her head bowed low as her breathing became a bit steadier, he felt the current in her ki unusually change—it started to die down till it ultimately… disappeared.
Taken back with the new occurrence, his amber eyes didn’t let her out of his sight. He saw her lift her head, her hovering raven bangs unveiling her face. He was met with dull, darkly hollow ocean-blue eyes.
She pulled the katana from the floor and stood astutely staring at him. Her elegant pink dress now tore due to his actions, her crimson-red blood inking most of the right side.
He waited for any sign of her energy, any at all. There was nothing. Too late he realized that Kaoru was just like the boy. Before his very eyes she vanished.
‘Damn it.’ he thought. He was barely able to see a couple of her steps before she stood in front of him, her blade swinging down in attack. But those viewed steps were enough warning for him to bring his weapon up in defense, blocking such a silent oncoming slash.
She had the upper hand this time. Her lacking aura made it impossible for him to read her next move. It was as if playing a complex game of Marco Polo. It was frustrating.
They again went for another round of un-rested battle, except she was the one attacking as he tried to keep up with dodging and blocking her strikes. He was sure he’d be dead by the end, but he wasn’t about to go without a fight.
He pushed further and further, using more energy then he knew he had. He was aware of the times he had left his vitals unprotected and was lucky that she hadn’t seen them. But… that didn’t seem right.
Kaoru was obviously an experienced fighter. She had to have seen that there were moments of vulnerability while they fought. Just because she had closed up all emotion didn’t mean she was incapable of keen observation and cognitive thinking. She had been attacking him with such force, but she never tried to perform any deadly strikes. Blue-eyed woman had all the opportunities to put an end to him, but she never took them. Kaoru wasn’t trying to kill him…
He heard the shuffle of the slipper against the floor behind him, so he turned around. Kaoru was rapidly lunging toward him, the katana she was holding coming down at him.
He took another approach. Instead of bringing his blade up, he held on to his sheath waiting for the right moment to strike. Right when she was swinging down, he swung up, hitting her fingers and causing her hand to open, the katana falling from her grasp.
It clunk noisily on the floor. Before she had a chance to pass him, he grasped her wrist and pulled her roughly toward him. She let out an airy noise as she collided against his chest. He wrapped one arm around her as the other brought his blade under her chin, not giving her the slimmest chance to struggle.
He had her, had her in his hold; her back against his chest as he gripped the heavy sharp steel against her neck in warning. Kenshin shoved her along one of the drawers, releasing the arm around her and momentarily placing his katana down. He quickly grasped a plentiful handful of her hair and violently pushed her down, slamming the side of her face against the furniture’s hard surface.
Kaoru grunted in displeasure, her head aching.
Breathing heavily he looked down at her bend-over figure—confusion whir-pooled annoyingly in his mind, clouding any fair or logical judgment.
Mid-night locks still in his grasp, he pulled, drawing her near him again, her body pressed along his.
His hard, ragged breathing was hot against her skin. It tickled her neck, sending shivers down her spine.
“Why didn’t you tell me Shishio Makoto is your father?” he madly murmured in her ear. His nose close to her skin, unconsciously taking in her smell; her sweat, the metallic scent of blood, and… jasmine.
“Wha-”
She wasn’t given time for a complete response as her face was slammed against the hard wood again, a louder grunt escaping in reaction.
Smoldering amber gaze raked her appearance, his earlier retribution thoughts slowly being replaced with lustful ones. One hand rested on her back, feeling her drumming heart. It traveled down, following the dipping of her waist and rounding of her bottom. Journeying south, fingers grazed the hem of her dress, sliding under the pink garment, his thumb stroking the inside of her thigh right beneath the edge of her lace panties.
Kaoru about jumped with recognition of his intentions and of his wandering hand.
“Stop.” he raucously said, quickly bringing the katana over her neck threateningly.
The cold razor of the blade on her skin was enough to make her cease.
Amber-eyed man continued satisfying his unpredicted whim.
He pushed her ankles apart with a kick of his foot, making her spread her legs and somewhat come off the balls of her feet. Taking the edge of her dress he pulled it up, revealing the pink panties.
His hand went to hover over her delicate area, her profile perfectly seen from where he was positioned over her.
Icy-blue eyes glared crossly at him.
Fingers feathered over rose panties, tickling Kaoru, making her slightly squirm. His lips curved into a dangerously wolfish grin. He pressed his katana on her neck a little further to ensure no escape as he went about his explorations.
He rubbed over the lace delicately, feeling her shift under him.
She yelped when calloused hand suddenly grasped her underwear and roughly pulled, tearing the fabric as he freed her of them.
Now there was nothing in the way, nothing between them. Softly at first, he rubbed on her tender and sensitive nub.
Her eyes shut closed, her fingertips dug on the hard surface with the sensation.
Not stopping, he added more pressure gradually building up the wetness in her sweet pocket. On and on he went, till he heard a quiet little moan issuing from her and her energy starting to reappear. The affirmation was all the more motive for him. He plunged one finger into her and she hummed a slightly louder moan.
He played with her to his heart delight, finding another mean of satisfaction.
Kenshin’s arousal was rising along with hers. He couldn’t help but rub himself on her. Feeling her awaking energy, he flung his blade to the side and it landed on the furthest wall, its point deeply embedded. Now with a free hand, he went to unbutton and unzip his jeans.
Hearing this, Kaoru snapped out of her emotionless state of mind. Her once dull eyes widened as she saw from the corner of her eyes what Kenshin was up to.
She felt his tip resting on her entry and her brow creased.
“Kenshin?”
He looked at her—he was still furious.
His golden eyes, seeming to border a red-ish hue locked on to hers. Sadistically slow, he slid into her lips, deliberately holding onto her gaze as he did so. He groaned when he was sunk to the hilt, filling her.
She shut her yes and bit her lips at the invasion.
Placing his hand at the middle of her back to keep her down, he withdrew and then roughly thrust right back, wanting to somehow punish her. He continued, gradually picking up pace. Looking down, he watched as his staff came in and out of her, her round ass taking his thrusting. His hands held onto her hips as he quickened his thrust, hearing her panting and softly mewling. They roamed over her cheeks, kneeing the flesh and then spreading them apart to plunge in deeper.
But that wasn’t a good enough punishment. No, he wanted to inflict a little pain.
One hand went to hold on to her hip as the other went over her plump bottom, fingers spreading and caressing her fondly. Blood traveling hotly like lava through his veins, shooting toward his groin. He brought his hand up, momentarily pausing in the air. And then, he swung down.
She cried out when his palm slapped against her flesh, it wasn’t so much from the stinging as it was out of surprise.
His hand came up again, spanking her rump continuously making her moan and cry out over and over again, leaving a light pink imprint of his hand.
He grasped her hair once more, yanking her not too delicately toward him.
Kaoru wrinkled her nose and hissed in reaction.
Hot breathing breezed over her neck. She turned her head to the right, seeking where it was issuing from.
He tilted his head down meeting her lips, kissing her fiercely, making her whimper into his mouth when he bit down on her pouty bottom. His hand traveled up her right side, feeling the soaked condition of her dress. Kenshin parted from the kiss to look at the crimson on his hand.
She did the same, frowning at the redness, knowing that blood is hers.
Kenshin hurt her. She knew this yet didn’t process the thought till that moment.
Acting on pure, unreadable impulse, she swiftly brought her arm up, elbowing him on the face making him grunt and release his hold on her. She slightly ducked down and spun, her hand going to the back of his pants to take the handgun she knew he always carried.
Stepping back, she pointed the firearm at him, pulling her dress down as she watched him shake his head.
He tilted his head to look at her, adjusting and tucking himself in, leaving his pants undone as he saw his own weapon pointed at him. He had been right from the beginning… she was a challenge. Although he thought it was going to be more from the chase then actual physical combat.
Gilded eyed raked her form. Kami help him she looked utterly ravishing—holding the gun and standing defiantly with her feet slightly apart, her hair ruffled in a dark mane around her, glaring angrily, showered in the blue moonlight, and her focused eyes sparkling heatedly.
His fingers slightly moved.
“Don’t.” she firmly warned.
His eyes narrowed. In a split second Kenshin set about moving, aiming to lunge at her. However, with a powerful, ear-numbing blast, she fired at him. The bullet went through a sleeve and grazed his bicep, slashing against his flesh, the force of the shot shoving his arm back.
Holding on to the cut, he growled as he turned to look at her.
“I didn’t miss.” she informed him.
Without taking her eyes off of him, she went to take a chair. She unfolded it and placed it near the center of the dojo.
“Sit.” she ordered.
Red-head disobediently stood for a while before doing as told. He walked toward her and grudgingly took a seat.
Kaoru paced around him, examining the red-head, still aiming his gun at him. She went to stand behind him. Her hand grasped a handful of his crimson hair, yanking his head back viciously.
He tightened his lips and clenched his jaw at the aching.
She brought her mouth over his ear, “It doesn’t feel that good, does it?” she roughly shoved his head back and continued to walk around him as his amber glower carefully followed her.
“Have you ever heard of the golden rule?” she asked as she came to stand before him, watching and giving him time to answer.
He didn’t speak a word.
Seeing this, Kaoru came closer to him. Cautiously, she sat on his lap, straddling him; one leg on either side of him. She placed the gun under his chin as she brought her face close to his, inspecting him very closely.
“Come on.” she egged, “A man with golden eyes like yours has to know about the golden rule. Right?”
Kenshin remained unresponsive, his hard stare directed at her.
“Well, I’ll just go ahead and tell you.” she leaned closer to whisper in his ear. “Treat others the way you want to be treated.” came her soft comment.
The low words brought a tickling sensation, making his hair stand on end.
“So…” her free hand went to his pants, rubbing him over his boxers, “…is this how you want to be treated?”
He closed his eyes shut.
“Is it?” her breath floated over his. Her small hand still stroked him going up and down, up and down, till he was hard and throbbing in her grasp. She pulled him out and positioned herself over him, rubbing his head along her swollen lips.
“Look at me.” she commanded.
He did, slowly opening his amber eyes.
Kaoru boldly locked her gaze to his. She leisurely dug her hips low, sliding him into her, feeling his stiff heat inside of her.
A delicious, unexpected moan rumbled from him.
“You like that, huh?” she murmured sensuously, rotating her hips on his, causing another throaty moan to escape.
She gradually picked up a rhythm; grinding on him, thrusting her hips firmly on him, building up their arousal. One hand was tangled in his hair, keeping his head up while she nibbled and bit along his neck, occasionally coming up to kiss him as she punishingly sunk her teeth into his lips exactly the way he had with her.
Strangely, red-head had never been so turned on. He loved the way she took charge and got rough with him. It was so instinctive and it felt so damn good.
He watched as he placed the handgun down and slide it far away from them. His Kaoru hadn’t let him touch her once since she took charge, but now she couldn’t stop him. He leaned his head on her shoulder, grinning.
Looping his arms under her legs, he stood up. Walking to the nearest wall, he slammed her against it, continuing their adult game as he roughly thrust into her. Their grunts and moans voiced all throughout the night.
OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO
The setting sun shone through the sheer, opened curtains—the warm hues giving the room a lazy, cozy vibe.
He lay in bed, looking up at the ceiling with his hands behind his head, between masses of white cotton sheets blotched with crimson blood, unsure of how to feel about his present predicament. It’s not like him to make matters worse.
Midnight-haired woman rested her head on his chest as she played with a red lock, looping and twirling it within her fingers, entranced with the silky texture of the flame-like tress. She could hear the hardy, steady beat of his heart, drumming avidly. The pumping rhythm was calming, even with the thick tension radiating from the man next to her.
Kaoru knew he was still upset, furious even, but she couldn’t quite understand why. She hadn’t lied to him about her father, hadn’t tried to conceal her identity, and hadn’t tried to dodge the subject. She had warned him from the very beginning, had told him he wasn’t going to like her once he got to know her.
Plus, they had steamy, raw, angry sex all night. It should have been more than enough to let off some steam, but alas, it wasn’t.
So, now there they laid—their foolish dispute unfinished, all due to her family ties. It was the same story as always. The same issue between her and whoever she dated.
Nonetheless, she tried to fix the problem at hand, to placate is ever petulant mood.
She nuzzled his neck, inhaling deeply as she did so, taking in the clean, musky smell with a hint of sweat. She distinguished a forest-pine smell and vaguely wondered what kind of bar-soap or body-wash he used.
Lips traced kisses from his clavicle all along his neck, nibbling at his earlobe right before lightly sucking on it.
He clenched his jaw at this, slowly closing his eyes as he felt the sweet, arousing sensation of her soft, warm mouth on his neck. Soon afterwards, a warningly callous growl emitted from deep within his chest.
Scowling at the difficult male for the snarl, she stopped her affectionate gesture, feeling his anger start to transmit itself onto her—his current indifferent attitude beginning to grave on her nerves.
She sighed, “I thought you knew.”
“Humph.”
Still frowning, Kaoru sat up leaning on one arm as the other held the blankets close to her. “Do you mind telling me what’s wrong?”
Red-head didn’t turn to her, “Nothing’s wrong.” he listlessly answered.
“That’s a load of bull-shit. No one fights the way we did without there being something wrong.”
He turned, dark amethyst eyes intensely looked at her, spiking with flecks of gold, “You never told me he is your father.”
“What’s it matter?”
“What’s it matter?” he reiterated giving her a disbelieving look. He sighed in frustration, running a hand through his hair, “His supposed right-hand assassin ambushed me out of the blue. I presumed that it was a declaration of rivalry and now you, his only offspring, have been spending time with me. Do you honestly think I’d believe this is all just a coincidence?”
“You’re being paranoid.”
“Am I?”
Sea-like orbs locked onto his dual-colored eyes, knowing and understanding exactly what he was referring to, openly reading his expression through his dark eyes.
“So, what now? Are you going to end this?”
He didn’t respond, letting the silence answer her question.
Turning away, she looked at the door, going over the event that had just happened between them, assessing all of what he said and how he had reacted.
“Well, that’s just great.” she bitterly said, throwing the sheets off of her.
Uncaring of her nude form, she looked about his room trying to find her clothing.
He didn’t take his sight off of her, continuing to follow her every move, watching her struggle with her still aching body, feeling her frustrated and stressed aura flaring restlessly. Her fiery temper igniting his ever potent interest in her.
Catching a glimpse of pearl-pink from the corner of her eye, she found her dress in a forgotten pile on the floor. Picking it up, she saw the damage of their battle; the ripped strap, the giant tear along the waistline, the torn edges along the bottom, and the multiple hanging threads throughout the whole garb and the now dried brownish blood. She really liked the dress and now there was no possible way to fix it.
She looked back to the red-head, shooting him a glare for her lack of suitable clothing.
He raised an eye-brow in response, his uncaring façade still etched on his sharp features.
Sighing, she was thankful that at least her bra wasn’t shredded—too bad she couldn’t say the same for the matching panties.
“I thought you were different.” she started while clipping her bra on. “Turns out your just like the rest of them.”
His eyes narrowed.
“Guys I’ve dated in the past always ran the other direction once they’ve found out about my dad. When they’d look at me, all they’d see is him. I didn’t think you were one of them.” she went to his drawers, opening them noisily, taking out a shirt and sweat pants, “I would have fought for you if you fought for me, Kenshin. You know that right?”
She paused to see if he was affected by anything she had said, but he remained calm and unmoving.
Quickly putting on his clothing, dark-haired woman made her way to the door. However, she stopped right before exiting, turning her head to the side. “About last night… I forgive you. I understand why you did what you did, even if it was irrational. Then again, I shouldn’t have added more fuel to the fire.” she spoke over her shoulder, “And for the record, my father doesn’t know that we’ve been seeing each other. So, to answer any suspicions… no, he didn’t have me get close to you.”
She made her way out, her soft steps becoming less and less audible the further she went, leaving a pensive Kenshin to re-play what she had said in his mind.
Could it be that she was telling the truth? Her ki didn’t waver once with any sign of deceit. She hadn’t blocked out any emotions the way she had in their earlier combat. No, she was being honest, and if that was truly the case… he had more questions for her.
He quickly got up and put some dirty, old jeans on, moving fast before she left.
She was turning the door handle, managing to slimly open the door before it was roughly shut closed before her, a hand to her right pressed firmly on the exit, prevent her from leaving.
“Yes, Kenshin?” she patiently inquired, turning around to face him, the book-filled messenger bag on her shoulder having her slightly slant.
“What do you mean your father doesn’t know?”
“Exactly what it sounds like.”
“What would happen if he were to find out?”
“I don’t know. He might not care, or he might, as Misao puts it, ‘flip-out’.”
“What if it’s the later?”
She lightly frowned and tightened her lips uneasily, “There’s no telling what he’d do. Dad can be pretty unpredictable at times.”
He apprehensively looked down at her, not wanting to fathom what Shishio is capable of. She is his only daughter and he raised and trained her to be a killer. Why the hell would any parent want that for their child? Why would anyone bring their kid up in that kind of life?
If he has gone as far as raising her to be a cold-blooded killer, to put her in harm’s way, to damage her psyche to a point where she had to bottle up her emotions in battle; then he’s capable of much more… possibly even kill her. No, he couldn’t live with himself knowing that he was at fault for any harm done to her, whether it was from her father or not. It would be best if he protected her from afar. He couldn’t down-right go after the man, he was, after-all, still her only family, and he couldn’t take that away from her.
Was she even aware of how treacherous her father truly is?
“Kaoru, we might not have any other choice.”
“What do you mean?” she blinked in confusion at him.
His hand came up to her cheek, stroking the warm skin with his thumb.
Involuntarily closing her eyes, she nuzzled into his hand—his touch still as stimulating as ever.
“Koishii…”
Her eyes shot open at the endearment, searching his violet.
“…we need to end this for your own good.”
She frowned, bemused at his words.
As delicately as possible, he brought her closer to him as he wrapped both arms around her form. He felt her hands on his back as she hugged him back.
“I don’t want anything to happen to you.” Kenshin whispered into the shell of her ear.
Kaoru felt her heart start pounding at the sound of his voice.
“It’s best if we part before things get too out of hand.”
Her air hitched.
Kenshin held onto her for a while longer, as if he was sketching the moment in his mind, carefully imprinting it to his memory. Slowly, he withdrew, turning around to head back to his room.
Sapphire eyes watched him as her vision blurred. One single tear fell gingerly down her cheek. Surprised, she brought her fingers to the wet trail it left, touching the moistened path. When was the last time she cried?
Frowning down at her tear soaked fingers she realized she didn’t want him out of her life. She actually and truly has feelings for this man.
“No.” she firmly said.
Red-head abruptly stopped and turned to her, “What?”
Blue irises traveled up to look at him, “I said no. It doesn’t have to be this way.”
He slightly tilted his head in puzzlement.
“Why are you letting my father break us up?”
He sighed, “I’d rather you stay alive and well. I won’t risk your life.”
“I’m not a child. It’s ~*my*~ life and I’ll do whatever I want with it.”
“Even end it? Kaoru, it’s not worth it.” he turned to leave again.
“Damn it, Battousai!” she exasperatedly yelled, annoyed at his stubbornness.
He quickly turned, shocked, his loose hair whipping around as he faced her. She has never called him that before.
“It shouldn’t be complicated.” she continued. “I like you and you like me, right? Then that should be enough for us to stay together.”
Kenshin stood quiet.
“That is unless… you don’t like me anymore. Do you?” she questioned as she arched an eyebrow.
He tightened his lips, “Yes.”
“So, what’s the problem?”
He narrowed his eyes in annoyance, “What ~*don’t*~ you understand about this? You could get killed!”
“Kenshin, I could get killed whether I’m dating you or not!”
“Then why add more foes to the list?! I’m sure you have enough with your father’s enemies alone!”
“I don’t care about that! I lo…” she paused, taking in a deep breath, “… I like you, Kenshin. Why are you ignoring that? When I’m with you I feel… like I can take on the whole world. I want to be with you.”
Silence. Kenshin didn’t know what to say to that. She seemed so sincere, so hopeful.
Kaoru glared at him knowingly, “I can’t change your mind, can I?”
“I’m not the kind of man for that kind of relationship.”
“What makes you so different from me?”
He contemplated his next words carefully, “People like…us. We don’t deserve to be loved.”
“It’s not what I’ve been told. I deserve redemption and I deserve to be happy.”
“Our circumstances are different then.”
She searched his eyes for any sign of weakness, any sign that he’ll give in. She sighed and turned her head defeated. “Look, do you have any beef with my dad? Any history with him I don’t know about?”
His brow creased with the change of subject, “Other than Soujiro’s attack, no.”
“Ok.” she turned back to meet his gaze again, “It’ll be fairly easy then. I’ll make sure my father and whoever he’s associated with him won’t bother you. You have my word.”
He was amazed at the passionate determination swirling in her sea-storm eyes. They zealously sparkled in a way that moved him inside. She truly cared for him.
She dropped her bag carefully on the floor. Taking a few steps, she made her way to him stopping before him. Getting on her tippy-toes, she leaned in and sweetly laid a kiss on his cheek.
His lids unconsciously drifted closed.
Her breath feathered against his skin as her lips hovered over his ear. “Maybe in another life time.” she whispered before moving away.
Unsatisfied. Unfulfilled.—His hand shot up to gently grasp her arm, preventing her from leaving.
Puzzled, she looked up to meet his amethyst gaze.
Kenshin studied her, taking in her features how he had done many times before. He brushed her bangs away from her eyes, following the lock over her ear, coming down to cup her neck. His thumb stroked over a pale cheek and nude lips aware of her blood loss.
He leaned his forehead on hers, feeling guilty about initiating the fight, inwardly promising he won’t allow that to happen again.
Red-head bowed his head lower, closing the small gap between them as he placed his lips on hers, kissing her slowly. He felt the softness of her lips on his, tasted the hot, sweetness of her mouth.
He threw away any and all thoughts of the unseen events and consequences their being together might bring, any new enemies it might evoke, Kenshin didn’t care about any new dangers aimed at his physical being, for he knew and decided then that wherever this woman was, it’s where he wanted to be.
OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO
A/N: Ka-pow!! Yes, Kaoru is give-or-take Kenshin’s equal when it comes to sword skill. I think it’s pretty bad-ass and a little bit sexy, even if the fighting part was too lengthy. And pretty lame (and for that matter this whole story too). *sigh* I tried.
Anyways…the last part of this chapter was based on the time when Kenshin leaves Tokyo to Kyoto and comes by to tell Kaoru good-bye. You know that sad fire-fly scene. Well, I’ve always wanted to see Kaoru holding her ground and tell Kenshin that she likes him and that she won’t give up on him instead of freezing up and going through the depression. But, of course, my versions of Kenshin and Kaoru are OOC so it was played out differently. :P
I roughly know where I want this story to go (I have mini chapter outlines done—I know, I’m a nerd), but I’m curious to see what readers would like to see happen. So… ahem… What would you write or like to see in this fanfic?
Again, I apologize if this chapter didn’t flow nicely and if I’m slaughtering the manga/anime… oh and for how lengthy this turned out. Don’t kill me. XP