Rurouni Kenshin Fan Fiction ❯ Second Chances ( for now...) ❯ The day after II ( Chapter 7 )

A/N: Okay… so it did turn into another month…sorry about that…

Moving on!!

 

 

~@#The day after, part II#@~

 

 

“Himura.”

 

Kenshin smiled and slowly turned around.

 

“Aoshi! It's so good to see you again, we were just coming to meet you!”

 

Kaoru stood somewhat behind Kenshin, feeling thoroughly uncomfortable under the ice-cold stare of the man who stood across from them. She used her position behind Kenshin to observe.

`He is actually really handsome. In a seemingly cold and heartless way that is...Kenshin must have gotten used to this...But I wonder what made him like this...Whatever is was must have been horrible...'

Kenshin must have felt the involuntary shiver she gave, because he suddenly stepped aside and took her hand.

 

“Ah! Kaoru, may I introduce to you, Shinomori Aoshi. This is my...ano...Kaoru...” As Kaoru took a step towards Aoshi, who was scrutinizing her to the point where every hair on her body stood on end, Kenshin scratched his head and made a note to himself to talk to her about their current status.

 

Kaoru bowed politely while she tried to relax the muscles in her jaw. On her way up something that seemed to have stuck itself in her brain suddenly popped into her mind and relaxing suddenly was a lot easier. `Oh My Kami! Shinomori???!!! This has to be THE Shinomori! How does Misao manage to always fall in love with the impossible guys??? But something about him must kind, because I know Misao, she probably just wants to pry him loose...That girl just can't ignore a challenge, ne?!'

When she finally was upright again, Aoshi was surprised, although no one would have guessed of course. This girl that just a minute ago seemed scared to death of him, was now genuinely smiling up at him. He made an exception and acknowledged her existence by nodding curtly.

Then he signalled at Okina and walked away, to a table by the window.

Kenshin followed him meekly and of course Kaoru followed him.

When they had sat down, Okina brought over a tray containing a pot of tea and several cups.

And then....nothing happened...

Kaoru had never ever experienced a silence this charged. She shot a glance at Kenshin who was staring at Aoshi. But even for him, used to Aoshi as he was, there was a breaking point.

“Aoshi! I had no hopes that you would have changed and suddenly become talkative, but I would at least like to know why we had to drag ourselves out of bed at 5 in the morning to watch you be silent!!!”

The temperature seemed to drop a couple of degrees from there. Aoshi was still just glaring at them, not saying a word.

Kenshin shook his head and sat back in his chair, but Kaoru remembered the horrid feeling she had had before Aoshi spoke. She just needed to know.

“Onegai, Aoshi-sama. Could you please tell me if you know where Misao is? She is my best friend, I need to know...!”

Aoshi's eyes widened the tiniest bit, but he still kept his mouth shut.

 

Okina glanced around the table.

“Oh move over!”

He shoved Aoshi, sat down and got away with it. Sitting in front of Kaoru now, he looked at his folded hands in front of him before speaking.

“Misao has been kidnapped.”

 

~@#$#@~

 

Bewildered Kaoru glanced around at the two men opposite her, Okina with his eyes cast down, and Aoshi still staring but not seeing her. Finally she looked at Kenshin who looked just as shocked as she felt. She looked at Okina again, tears streaming down her cheeks.

“B-but why?? Why Misao?!”

Kenshin reached out to her and pulled her against him.

When he looked up again he caught an almost apologetic look from Aoshi.

 

“Misao is one of my students,” he fell silent for a moment, “Himura, we have got to work fast with this. I'll come back to discuss the particulars tonight.”

And with that he got up and walked toward the door.

 

“But why of all your students did they take Misao-dono?” Kenshin needed to test his theory while he had the chance.

There was a silence. Of course in living with Aoshi for years, Kenshin had experienced plenty of these and had more or less come to understand their meaning.

But this was not the kind of silence he was used to from Aoshi. Somehow he seemed to hesitate. Even Kaoru picked up on the fleeting emotion that crossed over his face like a shadow. But it was over in a moment, Aoshi turned around again and walked out the door.

 

Somehow, Kenshin, after all these years, still felt sure he wouldn't have been surprised if Aoshi had transformed into a bat and flew out, but the thought didn't seem as hilarious as it always had before. He wrapped his arms tighter around Kaoru and tried to calm her down by telling her that Misao would be fine, but it didn't seem to do the trick. He gently pried her loose from him and handed her a cup of steaming tea.

 

“Drink some tea, koi. It will help you calm down.” Kenshin got up, and then sat down again responding automatically to her sounds of dismay.

“I will be right back, I'm just going to ask Okina-san if it's possible for us to rent a room here for as long as we need to stay.”

He kissed her forehead and wiped away some tears before getting up and walking over to the counter where Okina was leafing through some book.

 

“Ano, Okina-san, would it be possible for Kaoru and me to rent a room here while we need it?”

 

“Himura, what do you think I am doing?”

 

“Oro? I don't know?”

 

“I'm registering you and your girl in my books...I put you in the honeymoon suite, enjoy!” Okina winked at Kenshin and quickly got lost...before something valuable got damaged.

 

Kenshin glared at the wall for a minute...”Oh that man!!! Seriously! We've got other things on our minds than...,' he furiously turned around and looked at Kaoru, she had calmed down some and though tears still stained her face, she was now re-doing her ponytail. From where he stood, Kenshin got a good view of the muscles in her back flexing to reach up, with her shirt hiking up due to the movement. `Ah, kami...She at least has other things on her mind...' He shook his head and walked back over to her, picking up their bags as he passed them.

 

Kaoru had sunk down again and had buried her face in her hands. As Kenshin came up to her, it struck him how the grief radiated off her, and how he would to anything to make it go away. Sinking to his knees beside where she was sitting he took her into his arms and just held her tightly. He himself wasn't even sure whether it was to comfort her or himself. After a while, he got up again, slung the luggage over his shoulder and extended a hand to her.

“Come, Okina gave us a good room, let's get some rest.”

 

~@#$#@~

 

 

As soon as they had entered the room, Kaoru turned around and flung herself at Kenshin, fresh tears and sobs making it hard for her to breathe. Kenshin gasped, dropped the bags, lifted her up in his arms and sat down on the bed, gently rocking her.

“It's okay, koi, we'll all be fine, trust me.”

Time passed and Kaoru calmed down, her breathing slowed.

Kenshin grinned when instead of letting go and getting up, she sighed contentedly and cuddled even closer.

“...Kenshin...”

“Hm?”

“I do...trust you...”

Kenshin stroked her hair and smiled. She was steadily drifting off into a peaceful sleep.

Carefully Kenshin moved over to the top of the bed, laying Kaoru down beside him. He rolled onto his side and watched her, placing a loving kiss on her forehead.

“Arigatou, koishii...”

In her sleep, Kaoru yawned and snatched a piece of his shirt in her hand, pulling herself closer to his warmth.

 

Kenshin grinned and loosely wrapped an arm around her. Even though he started with more pleasant thoughts, he soon drifted to Aoshi, and Misao who he didn't even know, but meant so much to him anyway.

`I doubt I'll ever get more information out of Aoshi, but something is going on, I can feel it. Kaoru knows Misao so she'll be able to help me with this a little, but I suspect...he likes, no loves her!' Trying his hardest to keep from bursting out, he could do nothing more, or less, than sniggering, clutching his stomach in one hand, and trying to avoid looking at Kaoru. If what he felt when he watched Kaoru, was similar in any way to what Aoshi felt around Misao... Kenshin could wish for no more. `Now I really will move heaven and earth to get her back. She's the only thing that can save us from hypothermia!'

The mini-shocks that went through the bed because of Kenshin's merriment, finally shook Kaoru from her dreams.

“Eh? Kenshin? What's going on?”

Kenshin looked at her with a mix of happiness, regret and love in his eyes. Kaoru was confused. She lifted herself up on one elbow and reached for his face.

Covering her hand on his cheek with his, he beamed at her.

“He loves her!”

Kaoru was still confused.

“Dare? Who are you talking about, anata?” Kenshin turned his head and kissed the palm of her hand. Looking at her over her hand, he mumbled against her skin.

“Aoshi! He loves her!” When Kaoru's sleepy mind had wrapped itself around the information, she grinned.

“Well, I'm pretty sure Misao loves him too...When I heard his last name, I recognized it... Misao has been talking about `Shinomori-san: the most handsome man in the world' for weeks!” Kenshin's happy face instantly turned into a mock- pout. “Ah! Gomen!” she giggled, “To Misao I mean ne?”

Kenshin leaned down and kissed her. Between their lips, Kaoru let out a sigh and wrapped an arm around his neck, letting him deepen the kiss.

As he did, she let out a soft moan and reached for the buttons of his shirt.

Fighting himself, Kenshin pulled away from her. “Koi, are you sure?...I mean...” Kaoru followed him and silenced him by putting her hand over his lips.

“Anata...I just want to feel you as close to me as possible right now, please...” She moved her hand to push some hair out of his face, so she could see his eyes.

Kenshin smiled down at her and traced her jaw line with his fingers. The tiny gesture sending thrills of anticipation through her nerves. She closed her eyes and arched her neck slightly. Kenshin marvelled again at how responsive she was, to him. He bent down to cover her mouth with his and this time didn't stop her when she reached for the buttons and started undoing them. Holding himself up on one hand he let his free hand wander down her side and under the hem of her shirt, pushing his hand flat against her stomach, feeling her breath underneath it.

Slowly he let his hand glide up, covering her stomach until her reached the valley between her breasts. Kaoru's breath came in gasps now, she was using all her energy to show her passion through her kisses. Finally she finished the last of the buttons on Kenshin's shirt. As she pushed it off his shoulders, Kenshin abandoned her mouth and pressed open mouthed kissed against the column of her neck. He licked her pulse point and desperately pushed her bra out of the way, his hand almost automatically gravitating towards her erect nipples. Kaoru felt as if she was going to overload, her breath growing more erratic as she dug her fingers into Kenshin's back. She gasped loudly as he continued his little venture and licked his way down to her collarbone, his fingers gently toying with her sensitive peak.

Tiny jolts of electricity were shooting from all over the place to her centre.

After placing a teasing kiss on bottom of her chin, Kenshin sat up on his haunches and looked at Kaoru's flushed face, he could hardly believe the satisfaction at knowing he could do that to her, but he wasn't going to hold back now.

He trailed his hand down to her waist again and yanked the top over her head. Kaoru grinned, there was nothing she liked better than being undressed by her lover. Well, obviously there were other things, but few…

As soon as she had helped him by removing her bra, Kenshin settled himself over her again.

Kaoru gasped into his mouth as he slowly let her take some of his bodyweight and she felt the proof he wanted her pressing hotly into her lower stomach. Kenshin felt the tiniest of shivers run through her and gave her a feral grin.

“Are you cold, koi?”

Without waiting for a reply, he slid himself down her body until he was looking at her flushed breasts. Kaoru looked down at him and watched as he studied her, licking his lips.

He trailed a single finger across her stomach and watched goosebumps follow his movement. “Goosebumps...”, he noted to himself. Next, he smoothed his hand over her thigh. “Shivering...” Kenshin got closer to her and tilted his head a bit. “And then...” he placed a hot kiss between her breasts before trailing kisses to her left breast, “...there's this...” Never breaking eye contact with her, he closed his mouth over the sensitized bud, suckling gently as he flicked his tongue across it.

Kaoru gasped and released every bit of sound she had been trying to keep in, her hands tightly grasping he sheets.

“Don't worry, koi. I know just how to get you nice and warm...”

Her mind was reeling. This playful/possessive side of Kenshin was definitely a turn-on. She could feel her panties slowly soaking through.

Kenshin looked a her, wanting to see how she would react to his words and actions and caught her just as she swallowed and closed her eyes, her bottom lip caught lightly between her teeth.

He let his hand slide down her side to her hip, where he somehow undid the zipper to her skirt. Slowly he pulled the skirt down her long legs, pulling her panties along as well. Quickly stripping himself of pants and underwear as she tossed her clothes aside.

Randomly placing tiny kisses along her legs and stomach as he passed, Kenshin thoroughly enjoyed his view. Gently, he urged her to open her legs for him. Kaoru was rapidly losing all coherent thought, she only knew what she was feeling and what she wanted. So she did as she was told.

Possessively, Kenshin let his hands glide up her inner thighs, softly massaging until he got where he wanted to be. Kaoru was on the verge of screaming in frustration when Kenshin's thumb finally grazed her centre, instead she loudly moaned his name.

Kenshin smiled and continued to stroke her folds, staring in disbelief at the moisture that was already gathered there. He slowly drew his fingers in circles around her clit, listening to her breaths mixed with her mewling sounds. To Kaoru it was like she was feeling everything for the first time, she wanted him now more than ever. Suddenly Kenshin circled around the other way, which was enough make stars sparkle on he insides of her eyelids and then moved away, slowly sliding them as deeply as possible inside her. Kaoru's eyes flew open as she gasped his name. Kenshin grinned.

“Well, it's warm down here, koi”

She screamed silently as he flexed his fingers inside of her, her muscles reflexively contracting around them. Her eyes closed tightly, Kaoru hardly knew what hit her when she suddenly felt his hot velvety tongue stroking her most sensitive spot in addition to his fingers rubbing and flexing inside. She quickly felt herself nearing her climax and managed to get a message through to him.

“Ah-nata, I-I want you - inside...now!”

Kenshin didn't make her wait. He pulled his fingers away and slid himself up her body, sliding himself inside her in one fluid move. That was all Kaoru needed. The feeling of her muscles contracting around him as she screamed his name was excellent, Kenshin couldn't hold in a deep moan. He held her tightly as she shivered through the last of her orgasm, forcing himself to stay still. Kaoru opened her eyes and sighed deeply, being rewarded instantly with a impassioned kiss. She wrapped her leg around his hip, pulling him closer and deeper to her.

Gently Kenshin started moving himself in and out of her, her internal muscles still tightly holding onto him.

Kaoru pulled herself away from his lips and buried her face in his hair, breathing heavily into his ear.

“Ken-shin...I'm not going to break...o-onegai”

She felt the vibrations of his moan reverberating against her chest and let herself drop back flat against the bed.

Kenshin looked at her flushed face and his heart jumped even more than it was already doing. The hazy look she was giving him carried every spark of desire she had in her and Kenshin could only give in to that look, and the corresponding fire within himself.

Passing his hands over her breasts he grabbed her hips and pulled them up higher, allowing him to go deeper and move freely. Kaoru wrapped her legs around him and let her hand glide from his shoulder to where his hand was resting on her hip. `Dai suki...'

Kenshin held on to her hips and slowly pulled out of her until only the tip of his erection rested inside her. Kaoru closed her eyes and grabbed his shoulder with the hand that was just there before, the anticipation nearly killing her.

He looked at her and finally gave in. Pushing deep inside her in one single thrust, relishing her screams, and then slowly pulling out again only to repeat his action. Ever so slowly, his hard thrusts sped up and got stronger. Every move he made now made her scream out his name. Kaoru couldn't believe herself, somewhere in her mind a thought spun around that this was a hotel, and Kenshin was a friend of the owner's but she was too far gone to give a damn.' All of her energy and feeling was coiling up inside her belly, and every touch of Kenshin's, inside and out was pushing her further towards her peak. And she was reaching out for it with all her might. Kenshin watched her face and body, this was the way he always wanted to see her, so free. Again he felt her womb contracting, telling him how close she was. With three more powerful thrusts, he brought them both to where they wanted to be., giving her a primal shout in return for her yell. With his last bit of energy he gathered her shaking form up into his arms and pulled the covers over them.

“I love you, Kaoru...”

She carefully opened her eyes, curling up closer into his arms for his warmth.

“Good... I love you too...”

She listened to his breathing and smiled when she noticed he was asleep. `Mou, I must really have worn him out, ne?!' She rested her head against his chest and let his heartbeat sing her to sleep.

 

 

~@#$#@~

 

 

 

Impatiently tapping his feet Okina stood at the door half an hour later.

“Oi, Himura-kun! Are you there?” he called, slapping his hand over his eyes at the same time and muttering, “Well, we all know you're in there...the question is more is you can still stand and face Aoshi, now isn't it...”

On the other side of the door, really close to the other side of the door that is, Kenshin stood, dyed in crimson from head to toe, and Kaoru beside him with the doorknob in hand. Her eyebrows were twitching just a little.

They heard Okina's footsteps moving away from the door.

“Ma, I'll be in the kitchen, jut so you know...Aoshi'll be here in five...”

 

Kenshin sighed and opened the door a little, checked for any sign of Okina and turned to Kaoru. Carefully. He definitely remembered what happened to him when Kaoru got embarrassed. But to his surprise no furniture came flying to his head.

“Oro?!!” She was smiling...!

Kaoru came up to him and casually fixed something about his shirt that wasn't really important.

“Well, at least we won't have to explain our relation to anyone now, ne? I really think they got the point...” All this, said with a nervous giggle, and of course while avoiding eyecontact, overwhelmed Kenshin for a moment. He lifted her blushing face to his and shook his head at her.

“Shikashi...I can't tell our children this story...well I could, but I doubt they'd want to know this kind of stuff about their parents ne? Eheh” `Oh Kami, now I'm babbling!!'

Kaoru blinked at him. `Where is he going with this?' She noticed he looked really nervous all of a sudden.

“How many children were you thinking?”

Kenshin shook his head again and took a last breath. “Ten or twenty, but that's beside the point. When all of this is over...I want you to marry me, koi...”

Her eyes widened. “K-kenshin...”, she gasped. Kenshin had a mischievous sparkle in his eyes, but he seemed to be completely serious...and horribly nervous.

It took a while for the thought to register, but it did. Her inner-Kaoru was dancing and singing and celebrating, but the outer-one, she wasn't such a push-over.

“Well, yeah...but I don't think that turns this into a story that could be suitable for our kids...” She tilted her head, and watched him suffer.

Only...he didn't, he was smiling.

“Our children? So you'll do it?”

“Of course I will. Baka!” Kaoru giggled, and added with a more serious tone: “I'm yours Kenshin, I'll do anything...anything you want...”

Kenshin looked up for a moment thanking the gods before quickly closing the door behind his back again and taking her hands into his. Kaoru smiled lovingly when she felt his hands trembling. Walking towards him, she told him again. “I love you Kenshin.”

Suddenly he pulled her to him, instantly coming down on her with frantic, passionate kisses. Reversing their positions, he pushed her back against the door as he heatedly took her mouth with his own. The force of his feelings instantly stirring desire in Kaoru. The tiny shouts of pleasure that Kaoru let out got trapped between their lips, but Kenshin slowly realized what he was doing, and more importantly, what he was supposed to be doing. Kaoru gasped for air when Kenshin pulled away and hugged her tightly.

“God, Kaoru...I really don't want to ever let go...”

Kaoru giggle when her feet finally hit the ground again.

“Then don't anata!”

Kenshin laughed softly, the puffs of his breath gently stroking the skin on her neck. The soft laughter flawlessly lapsed into a deep sigh. “Remember Aoshi?”

Kaoru smiled.

“Hai, I know...You know, I think his image kind of changed in my mind. He seems kinder, now that I know about Misao-chan. He has to be a good man. And Misao will totally and completely annihilate his mental barriers....eventually...So we should hurry and find her!”

Kenshin straightened himself and kissed her forehead.

“Aa...let's go then...”

Kaoru took his outstretched hand and nodded happily.

 

 

As they were walking down the hallway, she remembered what she was thinking about before the Okina-scandal.

“Anata? Would you mind if I joined you a bit later?”

Kenshin frowned. “That depends...why?”

Kaoru smiled at his protective behaviour.

“Really Kenshin...I want to let Nee-san and Sano know about Misao-chan. They will want to know...too...”

He nodded at her and squeezed her hand gently.

“Ask Okina-san if you can use the phone in his office, that'll get you some privacy.”

Kaoru nodded, they had reached the end of the hall, and she could clearly see the table in the corner of the lobby where Aoshi had his own private patch of darkness. Kenshin sighed, “Well, the Icicle is waiting...” He kissed her hand and slowly let her go as she walked towards Okina's counter.

As he watched her being led into the kitchen by the old geezer, he sighed again, finally getting his legs to move him towards Aoshi.

 

“Sorry to have kept you waiting, Aoshi.” He sat down and looked over his shoulder to where Okina was returning to his post.

“Where is the girl?” Eyes widening in shock, Kenshin turned back to Aoshi, who was now looking in the direction he himself had been looking.

He smiled, `Ah, the power of Kaoru's smile...', “Kaoru went to make a phonecall. She wanted to let her family know about Misao. Misao has been a sort of surrogate sister, as I understand it.”

Aoshi nodded slightly and started looking through Kenshin again.

“Do you want to wait until she gets back to talk or are there things you don't want her to hear?”

“I don't care.”

“Then just talk to me please...” Kenshin had lost his training. In the years he had spent away from Aoshi, he seemed to have lost the power of waiting for Aoshi to get there in his own time.

“Fine...” Aoshi waved at Okina for tea and let out something similar to a sigh.

“You remember what happened before I joined you and Hiko of course?”

Kenshin leaned back in his seat and closed his eyes, nodding for Aoshi to continue.

“What you don-“

“Sorry to have kept you waiting, Shinomori-san, I tried to be as quick as I could.” Kaoru slipped into the seat next to Kenshin as she put down the tray of tea she had picked up from Okina.

Kenshin observed in silence how Aoshi, though still not friendly, nodded to her, accepting her apology and presence. `Much more than he would do for any other person he'd only known for such a short time. It's either just the power of her warmth, or Misao-dono has already started to break through his walls...”

“Himura, I have no intention of starting my story all over again, tell her what you know.”

To Kaoru it seemed as if Kenshin was stifling a chuckle, but he nodded and started explaining all the same.

“Aoshi is the son of a wealthy politician. Due to his profession, his father had a lot of enemies. As I understand it, one night several assassins entered the house and murdered everyone inside...except Aoshi...” He glanced at the man he was speaking about, checking to see if his information was accurate. “After that, Aoshi moved in with me and Shishou...” Kaoru shook her head and looked at Aoshi. `No wonder he won't let people in...'

“Yes. That is what the police gave out. But there is a lot more to it.” Without lifting his gaze, Aoshi took a sip of his tea and started talking.

“I killed the assassin.”

Kenshin's eyes widened and he sat up straight again.

“What?!”

“There was only one assassin, the other was an observer. I was in my bedroom, when I heard the noises downstairs, so I went to look. I will never forget the sight. The entire livingroom was smeared with my father's blood. Just as I looked through the door, a man dressed in black put a knife to my mother's throat and killed her. “ Kaoru grabbed hold of Kenshin's hand, who was gripping the side of the table so hard it was shaking. “I must have made a sound because the observer turned around and faced me. He was leisurely smoking a cigarette as he watched me, and he was laughing.

I don't remember exactly what he said, but something inside me snapped. I ran to the katana that hung over the fireplace, pulled it down and ran it through the man who was hunched over my mother's dead body.”

 

Kaoru held her hand over her mouth as Kenshin closed his eyes as his head dropped. `Not Aoshi too...'

She could hardly believe what she was hearing, but she had to. Aoshi didn't exactly strike her as the kind of guy that would lie, and definitely not about something like this. But why he was telling them this, at this moment...She couldn't quite wrap herself around it.

Kenshin seemed to be having a harder time of it. He was gripping the tabletop so tightly his hand was turning white, and his mood seemed to get darker by the moment, his eyes fixed on his hands, remembering the bloodstains that were engraved on his soul. She pried his hand loose from the table and tugged on it. “Anata...Dame...It won't do anyone any good...”

Finally she looked towards Aoshi, he was looking at his hands too, pointedly avoiding eyecontact.

“Shinomori-san, thank you for telling us, but please explain how this connects with Misao-chan?” She spoke softly, trying to soothe the pain that was radiating of both of her companions.

When he looked up, she was sure there was something akin to surprise in his looks, but that might as well have been her imagination so she just ignored it, kindly smiling at him. Kenshin sighed. `She's right, somehow, when there are other people that need help, Kaoru-chan is very good at handling crises I believe. And at handling broken souls...'

Aoshi sipped his tea.

“The man that I saw, his name is Takeda, Takeda Kanryuu... He is now the leader of the most powerful Kyoto yakuza. He may have become more powerful, but he is still the sick bastard he was then.” Aoshi wasn't used to letting his emotions break free, he took another sip of his tea and continued.

“Takeda is the one who took the girl.”

Kaoru gasped. “Then it's personal, not just random?!”

He nodded and diverted hid attention to his tea once again. Kaoru took to gazing out of the window while Kenshin was weighing the consequences that were implied by Takeda's involvement.

“Aoshi, what does this man want from you? I presume he won't be asking for money...”

All these questions and the fact that he had to share his answers were starting to annoy Aoshi, but he knew very well there was no escape at this point.

“No. He wants me on his side. He knows I have connections and in that one moment, he saw my strength and my weakness in the same act. He will use anything he can find to toy with me.”

Kaoru shifted uncomfortably in her seat, she was glad she knew exactly what Aoshi knew right now, on one hand. But on the other, ignorance was bliss, she now found herself thinking of all the things that could have happened to her best friend, and the images her mind was providing were too painful.

Kenshin opened his mouth to ask another question when a scream and the rattling of pots and pans was heard from the kitchen.

In a thought, both Kenshin and Aoshi were at the kitchen doors, sharing a look and opening the doors simultaneously. They didn't exactly know what to make of the scene they encountered, Kenshin didn't in any case. Okina was bewilderedly staring through the open door of his office in a corner of the kitchen, a loud roaring could be heard from inside it. The entire kitchen-staff were whispering among themselves, pots and pans scattered over the floor. Aoshi huffed and walked back out of the kitchen, to his awaiting tea as Kenshin slowly and carefully made his way towards Okina.

The man was trembling slightly and Kenshin couldn't get a decent answer out of him. That is until Kaoru appeared behind him.

“Anata? Dou ka shita no? What's happened?”

Okina's head swiftly turned to her, his hand shooting up to point into his office.

“K-Kamiya!”

Kaoru walked up to the office, trying her best to figure out what the old man meant, when the roar from the small room began to sound somewhat familiar.

“Kya!” She slapped herself on the forehead and turned around to face the men that were anxiously watching her. “Ah...excuse me for a bit please....”

 

She stepped into the office and gingerly closed the door behind her. The phone was hanging of the side of the desk and making a hell of a lot of noise.

She sighed and picked it up, gathering her breath for the following:

“BAKA! HAVE YOU COMPLETELY LOST YOUR MIND? WAIT YES YOU HAVE! FOR AS LONG AS I'VE KNOWN YOU BAKA TORI-ATAMA!”

The people in the kitchen looked at each other, smiles forming on some of their faces. Kenshin himself was having the hardest time keeping his laughter in check. At least he understood what was going on now.

To Kaoru's delight, very little sound came from the other side of the line. She could finally talk...

“Sano...you can't do things like that now, these people here are doing their best to help, and their scared enough as it is, without you screeching at them!”

“I do not screech, Jou-chan...I swear.”

She giggled.

“Kaoru...who's the bastard who did this? I'll kill him...” She could clearly hear the pained anger in his voice. The tall guy may seem tough, but he was ever so soft on the inside, and fiercely protective of his family.

“No you won't...Aoshi just told us...apparently a man named Takeda is behind it...”

Suddenly she heard nothing from her brother.

“Sanosuke?”

“N-No...don't tell me it was Takeda Kanryuu...please...” His voice had turned softer, more vulnerably than she could remember.

“Why? Sano, do you know that man?!” All sorts of wild thoughts were spiralling her brain.

“Jou-chan, do not move, don't do anything. I'm coming to Kyoto.”

“No...No Sano, you can't! You know, you know what will happen! Please don't!”

From Tokyo, she heard Sano's deep laughter, an attempt to comfort her.

“I have to...Daijoubu, I promise, kay?” She heard him put down the phone.

“No Sano, wait! “ But he had already hung up.

Kaoru noticed stray tears slowly tracing paths down her face and frantically wiped at them. `No time for this nonsense, I have to think of something. I can't let him do this!

She stood straight and noticed Kenshin in the doorway.

“That was Sanosuke, was it not?”

She nodded guiltily. “Un. Please tell Okina I'm sorry for the trouble?” Kenshin smiled tenderly. “I've already explained. He understands completely. But what is wrong with you, koishii?”

She looked up at his face as he took her hand in his, her eyes already brimming with tears again.

“Anata....Sano is coming here... But...But there's something you need to know about him. Something you and Aoshi both need to know...”

 

TBC!

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A/N: Not gonna apologize anymore...But, as you have seen, I hope, I've kinda found myself again...*blush!* Hopefully you've enjoyed it. If you see anything that looks, sounds or just feels stupid, please let me know ne?

Suki!