Rurouni Kenshin Fan Fiction ❯ Reincarnated ❯ Chapter 6

Disclaimer: ::sigh:: Try as I might, RK still doesn't belong to me.

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REINCARNATED

Kenshin watched Kaoru drive away, then went inside to begin packing his things. Tomoe came in as he zipped his bag shut and went to the closet to get his wedding clothes. She watched him for a second then came in and perched on the bed.

"Honey, aren't you getting a little anxious?"

"Not really. Stay here." He zipped up the garment bag and went to get his toiletries from the bathroom. "Tomoe," he came back and tossed the lot onto the bed. "Do you know someone called Akira?"

"Akir---oh!" She gasped and turned beet red. "A little; why?"

"When was the last time you say him?"

"Uh . . .the day before we left." She smiled down at her hands. "He brought me flowers."

"Why?"

Tomoe frowned. "What exactly are you accusing me of?"

"Nothing, I'm just curious. What does he do for a living?"

She sighed. "He's a programmer; a computer geek. A cute computer geek, but still a geek. Why are you asking me these things?"

Kenshin came to sit by her, "I came to you last night. You know you talk in your sleep?" *God forgive me for lying.*

She gasped, paled and turned to throw her arms around Kenshin's neck. "I'm sorry! He just---just---" she started crying. "I'm really trying but you don't laugh at my jokes, you hate the thinks I love to do. You try, but I can see it in your eyes. But after we get married--- I promise never to mention it again. I'll be good."

*Good, she's still in love with him.* "Tomoe, I don't want you to try, I want you to be happy."

She searched his face as realization dawned. "But---my . . .parents---Master

Hiko---"

"They'll survive; I'm more worried about you."

Tomoe cried, brokenly relating to Kenshin how she met Akira and when she realized she was in love with one, she'd already said `yes' to the other.

"I was afraid you'd hate me if I broke it off. I prayed you'd never find out."

*And if I hadn't met Kaoru, I wouldn't have.* "Tomoe, if it will make you happy, I release you from our engagement. I'll stay in a hotel at least until Dad gets here, then we'll go to his old house."

"Really? You'd let me go?"

"If that's what you want. You can even keep the ring if you like." *I have something better in mind for Kaoru-dono anyway.*

She threw her arms around him once more then sat back and pulled the ring off. "Thank you, Kenshin."

The bell chimed. "Who's that?"

"Don't know. It's to soon to be my dad."

Tomoe slid off the bed and went to the window to see, then nearly tripped over herself to get out of the room.

"AKIRRRRRAAA!"

Kenshin looked down at the ring, abandoned on the floor. "Wow, I can't believe that worked." He glanced at his watch. "Five more hours, Kaoru-dono and I'm coming."

He stood and gathered his things, made his way down the stairs, and past he embracing couple in the foyer. In the car, Kenshin again looked at his watch and drove away.

*~*

"I hate Tomoe." Kaoru said suddenly as Misao paused in braiding her hair. They were doing an upside French braid, leaving the ends loose to frame her face.

"How come, she seems nice."

"Hmm. I'd love her forever if she'd let me have Kenshin. After all, Kenji will need both of his parents."

"Hu?! Wow! Either Kenshin is the flash or---"

"No!" Kaoru laughed. "It's not like that!"

"Then who the hell is Kenji?" Misao resumed braiding.

"He's our son."

"You know this . . . for sure?" Misao looked at Kaoru's stomach. "The Wolf's gonna kill him."

"Misao! I'm not pregnant yet, but I'm gonna be . . . soon."

"With Kenshin's baby? I think Tomoe's going to have a problem with that."

Kaoru sighed in exasperation. "Never mind. Are you done yet, my neck is killing me."

"Almost. Hand me that rubber band I told you to hold---okay done!"

Kaoru stood up gratefully and went to the glass. "Oh, Misao, I love it!"

The girls were doing mini-makeovers to kill time and hopefully wow the guys when they got to the restaurant.

"Great, now it's my turn." Misao handed Kaoru a pair of scissors and upbraided her hair. Loose, it fell in waves to her calves.

"I can't." Kaoru shook her head. "Aoshi loves your hair; he always has."

"He braided it for me once when he was like 12! I think I was like 7 or something."

"You were. Did you ever notice you had a short patch in the back after he braided it?"

Misao shook her hair, reaching around to look at her hair. "No."

"Well, you did. Before he braided it, Aoshi cut off about six inches of your hair. The piece was about an inch across. He tied a blue ribbon around it and put it ---"

"You saw him do that!?" Misao squealed, pleased and shocked at the same time.

"Yes. He saw me too. He told me if I ever told you, he'd put so much glue in my hair that Mommy and Daddy would have to shave me bald."

Misao shook her head. "What did he do with my hair?"

"It's in a lacquer box in his room. I know; I peeked. He also has a wallet of every school picture you ever took, your prom picture---"

Misao sighed happily. "He pouted because he had to be our date."

"No; he pouted because I was there. Why do you think I avoided you guys like plague all night?"

Misao giggled. "Okay, fine, but that still doesn't tell me what to do with my hair."

Kaoru spread the inky strands over Misao's shoulders. "Well, I'll bet he wants to see what this looks like spread over his pillow, so cutting is out."

Mesao blushed. "Kaoru, you read to many romance novels."

"Nah, I'm just an old married lady." As she said that the scissors dropped from her suddenly bloodless fingers. Karou doubled over, as the pain in her head which had receded to a tolerable thumping became a thousand times worse, exploding from behind her eyes and into her whole head.

"OH!" She fell to her knees, head on the floor. "Help me!"

"KAORU! Are you alright?!" Misao knelt beside her friend. Kaoru put her head in her lap, head still throbbing as bright, confusing but strangely understandable images filled her mind. After a few minutes. Mesao's gentle massaging of her temples became unnecessary. The pair slowly receded and faded away. Kaoru slowly sat up. Everything looked the same, but brighter. She turned to look at Misao.

"Thank you, I'm okay now. And I know why I don't like Tomoe." She stood slowly, Mesao giving her an odd look. "I'm not crazy, Misao. Truly I'm not. Come one, we'll find something to do with your hair."

*Kenshin, I remember now! I remember everything. No wonder you were shocked about Daddy. Who said God doesn't have a sense of humour.*

*~*

Aoshi came to get Misao and his sister at five. He had gone to workout, trying to release some tension, but it hadn't helped, he was still tense, nervous and embarrassed that Kaoru could read him so easily. He stopped at home, thankful and suspicious that his father wasn't there, to get clean clothes and came back, telling himself he would take Misao aside that night and tell her to find someone else to be stuck on. He rehearsed what he would say in his mind, though thinking about it was making his stomach hurt.

The girls were waiting for him in the living room, their hair up, dressed like they were going on a date.

"Let's go," Aoshi tried not to notice that with her hair up, Misao looked older, more mature. It showed her eyes, bright blue and full of questions to the world. It made his blood boil. He should be the one to answer her questions. Misao put her hand on his arm as they stepped outside, then twirled away. He felt like her hand had been burned into his flesh.

"So . . . how do we look?"

He barely glanced at them. "Fine."

Misao laughed and hopped in front of him. The top she was wearing looked tight, like it was just holding her breasts in and it stopped just above her belly button. Her jeans were cut low, starting at the small of her back and ending at her calves. The sandals she had on gave her at least an inch in height and she had painted the kanji for `pretty' on her right big toe and the kanji for `cool' on her left one. No fine was the wrong word, she looked stunning.

Aoshi didn't want other people to see her like this. She was all dressed up, but not for him. He forgot what he was going to say to push her away as the temptation to throw a blanket over her and hide her from the prying eyes of the world was nearly overwhelming. He glanced at his sister. Kaoru was dressed in black and camouflage; tight, chest hugging blouse, huge green and black camouflage carpenter pants, big chunky boots.

"You look like Tank Girl, Kaoru."

She laughed. "Thank you. Doesn't Misao look so cute? She's gonna have so many guys hitting on her. Come on , Misao."

Aoshi's face turned wooden, his brain screaming in frustrated rage. <<No-one is hitting on her, she's mine!>>

*~*

Akabeko wasn't hard to find, just follow the line of people waiting to get in. They were given cuts when they arrived because they had a reservation. Kenshin was waiting in a private room when they got there. He stood and embraced Kaoru as soon as she got to the table. He could see in her eyes that she remembered their old life. He smiled and she tilted her head back and he kissed her throat.

"Hey, hey, hey, hands off!" Aoshi shooed him off of his sister, then sat and gave the guys in the next booth the `these are my women' look and shut the door. It was going to be a long evening.

They sat in silence waiting for the waitress. She finally arrived and took their orders and when she departed, Kaoru threw up her hands in irritation.

"Aoshi, you remember Kenshin from last night, right?"

"Yeah, I remember `im. Where's Tomoe?"

"With Akira I would imagine."

"Who?"

"The man she really loves. This morning, I came to a realization and I asked Tomoe for the truth. She told he that I wasn't her first choice."

"Baka," Kaoru muttered. Kenshin smiled and kissed her hand.

"She was in love with someone else and he came to the house today in a last, desperate attempt to make her follow her heart. I know it sounds melodramatic, but I speak the truth."

Aoshi still looked doubtful. "So she's with the other guy and you're here, hitting on my sister?"

"No, I've known Kaoru all my life. I was just waiting for her to grow up."

"You nearly slipped away from me," she murmured.

"But I didn't. And I have every intention of breaking Enishi's pencil neck."

Aoshi smirked. "Good luck; the line starts behind my dad."

"Yeah, about him . . ."

"Don't bring him in here." Kaoru begged. "Please, Kenshin."

"Whatever the lady wants."

Misao giggled and hugged Aoshi's arm. "Aren't they cute together?"

"No, I'm going to be sick. Kenshin, what do you do for a living?"

He was interpreted by the arrival of the food. Once they started eating, the atmosphere relaxed a bit, although the sake probably helped a little too. As they ate, they began bantering and shooting one liner back and forth like old friends.

Aoshi decided he liked Kenshin, although he still could see why he wanted Kaoru. But he could see that her genuinely cared for his sister; the flame in his eyes would have burn them all, and Kaoru was lit from the inside. He hadn't ever seen her look this happy.

*There hasn't been this kind of joy or peace in our home for so long,* he thought, smirking at Misao. She was telling Kenshin off. *I won't take this away from her, and I will stop anyone that tries, but if he hurts her---*

Their evening was interrupted suddenly by the arrival of two persons: first, Enishi, hoping to get back a now thoroughly disinterested Kaoru. . .

*~*