Rurouni Kenshin Fan Fiction ❯ Her ❯ Floating Feelings ( Chapter 15 )

Tenshi: And I'm back with yet another Her chapter! ^^

Sakura: She's only been in the mood for Her lately, so if you're reading this on mediaminer, and you're looking forward to a choose your own adventure, you gotta wait, she doesn't feel in the mood for them right now.

Tenshi: Thank you Sakura. Disclaimer please! ^^

Sakura: Tenshi doesn't own Rurouni Kenshin, just Masako/Rini.

Tenshi: Pretty soon I'll start to refer to Masako as Rini, you'll probably see why.

Sakura: Alright, just write the stupid thing.

Tenshi: Ok!

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Her

Ch 15: Floating Feelings

Masako stared into the white and brown mound on her plate as her eyes began to glaze over. Her hair fell just in front of her face, but not enough to where it got into her food. Her face was shadowed, refusing to reveal the redness of her face. She'd been able to pass it off as a fever, but she knew that eventually everyone would become suspicious, especially if they made the connection that her face only lit up like a Christmas tree when Sanosuke was anywhere near.

Sano watched her cautiously. Her face was blank; unreadable. He'd been told many times that she was just ill, that she had a fever, but there was something odd about her. He didn't believe it too well, but she was always red when he saw her. Other than that, she showed no other signs of a fever. But still, he was a bit worried about her, she'd refused any help offered to her by Megumi and she'd been like that for half a week. If she really was ill… this couldn't be any good. Sano took a few more bites of fish and resumed watching Masako as she pushed around the bits of rice floating in a small pool of soy sauce, trying her best to act natural. But she soon found that a difficult feat, with Sano sitting opposite her.

There was an uncomfortable silence between the two, whilst all around them, a fierce argument transpired. Kenshin was in the middle of trying to quiet Kaoru and Yahiko when he looked over just long enough to notice that silent pair. By pure luck, Sano had been watching his food as he decided which piece to eat. When Kenshin looked away, Sano looked back up again, carefully eating his prearranged pieces.

"C'mon, Ugly," Yahiko taunted as Kaoru rolled up her sleeves, "hit me with all ya got!"

"You have no idea how long I've been waiting for the invitation!" Kaoru screeched, lunging at Yahiko from the other side of the table.

"Miss Kaoru!" Kenshin shouted, trying to interfere with Kaoru's shot. In their movements, the both of them bumped the rice pot, causing it to fly in Masako's direction. Looking up, she smacked the pot away with her left hand, knowing that catching it would lead to a pair of burnt hands. Rice flew everywhere as Masako opened her eyes, as she'd closed them when she'd hit the pot. For a brief second Masako's and Sano's eyes met. With a small amount of hesitation, they both hastily redirected their eyes to their plates.

"Masako!" Kaoru gasped, "Are you alright? I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to, I-" Masako held up her hand signaling to Kaoru that she could stop.

"Miss Masako, are you alright?" Kenshin repeated.

"Yes, I'm fine… Shitsuree shimasu," Masako muttered, standing up and taking her plate in her hands, her face still shadowed by her hair.

"Oh, Miss Masako," Kenshin stood up, walking over and taking her almost-full plate from her, "Let me, it's the least I can do after almost hitting you with a pot of rice." Kenshin gave her a smile as Masako looked up. She nodded.

"Arigatou," Masako muttered, turning to the hallway leading to her room. Slowly, she made her way down the dim hall, her eyes dilating, allowing her to see in the half-dark.

Sano sighed, he'd let his chance slip again. She was right there and he still couldn't work up the nerve to tell her. He was finding this a harder task than it seemed. He looked up, took a few more bites, picked up his plate and tossed it into the washing bin.

"Could you get that for me, Kenshin?" he asked, not even waiting for an answer and walking away as Kenshin bent over Masako's, and now Sano's plate. Sano held up a hand in a backward waving motion, "Thanks."

"Ummm… sure Sano…" Kenshin watched Sano retreat, sighed and began to scrub his plate as well, figuring Sano might be too tired, or too lazy.

In truth, Sano wanted to get to Masako's hall before she disappeared for good. He had to tell her. Maybe this would turn out to be an opportune time? Hurrying through the dinning room, Sano failed to notice both Megumi's and Kaoru's absences. He scurried down the hall to Masako's room, finding the door shut and three voices talking in hushed tones, all of which he recognized.

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Tenshi: Yep, I stopped it there.

Sakura: She didn't want to start the downhill run too soon.

Tenshi: Correct. As soon as I finish the next chapter, there's only gonna be a few more.

Sakura: So this'll have, what… three, four more chapters?

Tenshi: More or less, yep.

Sakura: They're gonna hate you for the ending.

Tenshi: Shhh! Don't give it away!

Sakura: Oh, right. Review everyone!

Heaven Sent Tenshi