Rurouni Kenshin Fan Fiction ❯ When Stars Collide ❯ Challenge Loss and Honor ( Chapter 3 )

Disclaimer: Rurouni Kenshin et al is owned by Watsuki Nobuhiro. And I never will. I'm just borrowing...*sniff*

A/N: Kaouru hates slavery, just in case it wasn't clear... and claiming women... well its sort of getting a possession, more explanation for it will come up in the future. For now, I put in 3 chapters... I normally update with 2 or 3 chapters... because I type it all down first at home and then I update ;) It's sliding slowly towards the R portion...

Warning: Slightly racier than the first two chapters...

Don't forget, Read and Review!!! :)

When Stars Collide

Chapter 3 - Challenge Loss and Honor

They stood facing each other, Kaoru trying to relax all her muscles, the way she was taught to. This man is different from any I have tangled with… I must be careful, cunning, and---

She attacked, shifting her full body weight to the front in order to ram him to the ground.

He was prepared this time. He moved. Too quickly for her sight, in 2 blinks, he was able to spin her, land her flat on her back, tangle their legs into a tight lock, and put his entire length on top of her. Of course, he still protected her head with his arm. He wanted to claim her, not knock her unconscious.

Kaoru's eyes were two huge blue pools of disbelief.

"MMMOOOOOOOOUUUUUUUU!!!!!!" her anguished cry scared a few brilliantly colored birds from their nests into the quickly darkening sky.

Kenshin untangled himself from her and stood up. "Now, do you acknowledge yourself a challenge loser?" he asked, still looking at the oh-so delectable woman still lying prone on the ground.

Honor tasted like bile in Kaoru's mouth. Why was she such a screw-up in this place? Her training mates would laugh if they ever saw the perfect girl of their trainers looking stupid like this. She closed her eyes in shame, but answered through gritted teeth. "Yes. So now what should I do for you to call the deal done?" Angry tears leaked from her scrunched up eyes. Never, never had she been beaten by any man in hand-to-hand combat before.

He dropped himself into a cross legged seat. He understood why she was crying, for some strange reason. There should never be any quarry for the losers, it was understood. But in his odd connectedness with this girl who seemed to have materialized out of a legend's dreams, he could feel the honor in her which held her bound to something which she issued, even if it was carelessly done so. His respect for her was raised some more, but not enough to call off the loss service. He tenderly wiped the tears away.

Her eyes flew open at the unfamiliar touch and she stood up, much too quickly and made her head spin. Kenshin was with her in a millisecond, and supported her standing up. She backed away.

"Why do you fly from my touch? That I don't understand, surely I don't." Kenshin remarked in a quiet tone.

"WHY?! YOU BEAT ME SOUNDLY IN SOMETHING I HAVE NEVER LOST BEFORE AND YOU ASK ME WHY?!!!! HOW STUPID CAN YOU GET?!" The moment the words were out of her mouth, she regretted it. Her pride made her sound like a sour old bitch.

Kenshin merely raised an eyebrow at the outraged declaration. I knew Father said women were strange but she is highly… His thoughts struggled with a polite word… unusual.

"I'm sorry. I did not mean to say that. I'm just--- well, hell, how do YOU expect me to react?!" Kaoru could feel her temper reach boiling again. She wanted a stick or something so she could physically vent it out instead of shouting but it seemed that her God had a sense of humor.

Kenshin smiled gently at her. He compared her to a spirited Gaze-ro, the most graceful, beautiful, mounts in their land. They had something in common. They both had to be treated gently to preserve their spirit… "It is all right, that it is. Feel free to pour insults on my head if that is the way you can cope with this. I am not a monster. I understand pride."

Kaoru's eyes widened. Maybe he won't hold me to the challenge loss service… "Understand well enough to release me from what you call challenge loss service?" all her fingers were twisted behind her back.

"No." The denial was said with the same cheerful smile.

Kaoru sighed in resignation. She seemed to be resigning herself to everything since the moment she got stuck here. She might as well get it over with. "So what do you want me to do? Cut grass, physical manual labor, what? Although you might have to teach me to do them, I never had much to do on my planet except fly, train, eat what my mechanical house keeper prepares for the day, read, argue with Ash, and sleep. And I never saw real grass or plants either until I came here." She thought to add that to her list. It was true, the Gardens of Sakura were forever closed to the public for fear of contamination. It was there that all their food was grown and cloned.

Kuso?! Did she say 'fly'? Is she a sky-flyer like that man that arrived mysteriously at the holding? I never believed his tales, but here's a woman in strange clothes and even stranger stories who says she can fly!!! Panic bells started to ring in Kenshin's head. If she really was a sky-flyer, like she said, she might leave and never come back. He did the only thing that his head could do to cope… ignore the warning bells and watch her every move.

Kaoru started tapping her foot on the ground, slowly beating a worn patch on the blue-green… blue? Wasn't grass always known as green? grass at her feet. She was trying to be patient for the red haired man who can beat her in fair fight and made her feel things she had never felt before.

"You can start by taking off your indecent clothes, that you will." Kenshin would make sure to get rid of them later. The less evidence of her strangeness, the better.

"I CAN WHAT?! LISTEN YOU PERVERT…"

"You did say you would do anything, right? Would you take them off or do I have to do it for you?" Kenshin's hand started to find its way to his sword.

"YOU CAN STUFF YOUR CHALLENGE LOSS UP YOUR ASS IF YOU THINK THAT…" That was all she was able to say because Kenshin did good on his threat. He used his sword to slice away the fabric covering her in a few quick moves, and they fell in a soft silver swoosh to her feet.

He nearly lost his composure then and there. He was staring at possibly the most perfect woman's body he had ever come across in some time. Creamy smooth skin. Firm round breasts that were neither too big nor too small, a dip to a small waist, gently rounded hips, soft curly black hair covering her womanhood, long toned legs--- it was almost too much to take in. Not to mention that she had a blush that extended all the way to her toes.

Kaoru was scared and mortified to the very depths of her soul. As soon as she saw that sword coming her way, she froze and thought she was going to die. When she felt only her clothes slipping from her, she felt--- well, it was hard to tell if it was relief or embarrassment. She closed her eyes in shame because even with her ranting, she knew she really couldn't do anything about it because she lost. And for some strange reason, she knew that this man really wasn't going to harm her. But to stand naked in front of a man she just met possibly just an hour ago when no man had EVER even seen her in any way except as an opponent, student or friend was really, really, shameful. At least to her. It made her wish that she wore underwear of some kind today. But with only Ashley for company, she did away with undergarments a few months back.

She was so disturbed by her situation that it was a shock to her when she felt something being wrapped around her. She opened her eyes and saw Kenshin draping some loose dark blue material around her which nearly hung to her knees. What she saw next had her gaping in shock. A huge white cat was sitting docilely just behind Kenshin, yawning, showing its large fangs and blinking its gray eyes at her.

"You have to put your arms through the sleeves of my yukata, little miss. It is not a kimono but it will do for now. Then tie the belt around it so it will cover your front." Kenshin said after a long silence. It had not missed his eyes that the girl was embarrassed to the point of tears. You will learn how to trust me… And love me. I will have it no other way. His father always said that women should love their warriors; it was a feminine emotion unique to them. The men protect and the women love. It was that simple. Any man who confessed to loving was considered weak, but most were affectionate to the women of their joining, and never hurt them or betrayed them with other women. There was The One for each and every person. It was already ordained in destiny, and it was said that was the only time when warriors feel their almost super human control slip. It happened to his father when he met her mother, and it seemed like it was happening to him… He had had many women already but he was always in control of everything… He cleared his head of his musings and turned back to his prize Geza-ro, thanking the animal in a quiet voice and scratching it behind the ears. His mount started to purr loudly, making odd gulping sounds and leaning into his hand.

Kaoru jumped in the middle of tying on properly the outfit he gave her. That animal is huge! It looks like it can eat me in one bite and he handles it as if it was a pet! Her heart thumping, she wondered if her service was to take care of that animal that looked like it could take care of her better. She decided to focus instead on the robe he gave her, what did he call this? A yukata? It was simple in design, more like a bathrobe than anything else, and it was soft and warm. It also smelled of the man who owned it, a unique smell of the outdoors, man, and something else she could not identify.

"What is your name? I'm sorry, again, but things flew by so fast we had no time to introduce ourselves to each other." Kaoru asked hoarsely, her voice was somewhat trapped in her throat because of fear of the Gaze-ro.

"Himura Kenshin. You may call me Kenshin if you wish. What is yours?"

"Kamiya Kaoru. Ah, well, I'm the challenge loser, so I guess it's up to you to call me what you want."

Beautiful. Ethereal. Mine. "I will settle for Kaoru-dono." He said with a roguish smile.

Her heart skipped a beat. He really is good looking. Maybe I will enjoy being a loser for once… What am I thinking?! Baka Kaoru. "You never told me what you wanted me to do."

"I haven't thought of it yet. For now it will be enough that your future service is only to me. In which time you will be under my protection, meaning you have to obey everything I say when it comes to your safety. Agreed?"

"If you haven't decided yet what I am to do, how will I know when it has ended?" Kaoru's voice broke and tears started falling down her face from frustration. She really had landed herself into a pickle she couldn't get out of this time.

"Chin up, babe, that's not the girl I know." Ashley decided to speak now after being the placid observer for some time. She was very, very happy at the way it was turning out--- Warrior boy was treating her Warrior girl with far more courtesy and feeling than she could ever hope for. He couldn't fool her with that stoic face, his vital stats didn't drop a bit since the time he had been following Kaoru. He wants her all right, and my probabilities tell me that boy is just the thing she needs, even if she doesn't know it yet.

Kaoru and Kenshin both started. They had totally forgotten about Ashley.