Rurouni Kenshin Fan Fiction ❯ When Stars Collide ❯ Conditions ( Chapter 4 )

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

A/N: Nothing lemony of the sort much here, sort of a chapter joiner... i hit a major writer's block so i deeply apologize for the one chapter update... This just illustrates how different they are...

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

When Stars Collide

Chapter 4 - Conditions

"You have to tell me where that voice comes from." Kenshin said in a quiet voice, still wary of something he could not see.

Kaoru wanted to disobey his order, but there was something in his voice that stopped her. She instinctively knew that he was not a man she could intimidate or dominate on any level. Surprisingly, the thought made her feel very warm and not at all frightened like it should have.

"Kaoru-dono?" Kenshin asked looking at her intently. Why is she blushing again?

Kaoru picked up the small transmitter off the ground from her now ruined space suit and handed it to him wordlessly. Kenshin took the chance to watch the dark yukata run up higher on her fair legs as she did, smiling as he did so.

"This was the thing that spoke?" He asked, stoic face firmly in place.

Before Kaoru could answer, Ashley's voice beat her to it. "You bet your cute little ass it is. Hi, my name's Ashley."

Kenshin nearly dropped the object and pressed a button by accident. Suddenly, a pin prick of blue light illuminated the clearing for a few seconds and he burned a branch on a nearby tree off. More birds flew up, but this time they were twittering their displeasure.

"ORO?!"

"Hey! Watch it! That's a weapon too, you know! You have to show him how to put on the safety, Kaoru." Ashley admonished. It didn't pass her notice that the red headed warrior couldn't take his eyes off a certain part of Kaoru's anatomy while she wasn't watching.

"Here, you have to press this. Better be careful with it, that's a phazor combo unit you're holding." Kaoru told him. Serves him right! But I wish he'd give it back. He might seriously hurt something, or worse, someone with it. Kaoru herself never used the phazor much; it wasn't one of her favorite weapons to use since it was extremely deadly. She pressed a big red button on the unit.

"This has to be destroyed." Kenshin said, a bit goggled eyed at the innocuous looking object.

"HEY! You can't destroy that!!!! Kaoru needs it…" Ashley started yelling before Kenshin skewered it to the ground with his sword. It gave an odd kind of electronic gurgle, emitted a few sparks before it finally went silent.

Kaoru got a grim sort of satisfaction from watching Kenshin destroy her transmitter. Serves Ash right, that interfering misbegotten tangle of wires… Suddenly, another transmitter appeared on his feet. Yelping in surprise, he nearly stepped on Kaoru's hand as she immediately tried to pick it up. His Gaze-ro, sensing his master's distress, moved uneasily at the sound and circled nearer the two people.

"I thought the first rule was no shocking…" she said sarcastically, raising a slim eyebrow up at the transmitter, now white, that she held in her hand.

"Babe, I'm a computer. Since when do I fall under the category of following humanoid rules?" Ashley replied.

"Give me that… that… whatever it is." Kenshin stretched his hand out, already getting very, very annoyed at whoever the grating tinny voice was. Of course, his face and body language wasn't about to give him away. He still had some dignity left.

"Look, why can't we just take her along?" Kaoru asked, very saccharinely, hoping against hope that it wouldn't come down to a face off between her computer and the warrior. A Neuro III, hers in particular, had enough actual intelligence to control anything in whole races in a single calculation. That it wasn't programmed for actual killing was a moot point. It could still be pretty violent if Ashley felt Kaoru was threatened, and no human or any other regular computer would be able to stop her.

Before Kenshin could answer, Ashley intruded again. "Look, buddy boy, I'm not stupid. You like Kaoru over there, but then you don't want other people to know that you have an off-worlder with you, fine with me. But I'm not about to separated from her, and that's that. If you'd like, I won't speak unless it's only me, you and Kaoru anywhere but you've got to let me be with her. I gave you a transmitter without a phazor, there, does that make you feel better?"

Kenshin paled a little at the very correct assessment of the voice, but collected himself so quickly that in the growing darkness, Kaoru did not notice it. He looked appraisingly at the white box and sighed, saying "All right. You can stay with us. But you're going to be with me, not her, so I can monitor what you do, that you are."

Ashley chuckled, not offended by his brusque protective manner. "I figured. My specialty is probabilities, you know. But I can live with that, as long as you don't leave her alone, got me?"

"Aaa… Hello?! Can anyone see me?! I'm still here!!! Quit talking as if I wasn't!!!!" Kaoru screeched, flapping her arms up and down in the air. She was really annoyed at the way things were going. She was lost in a world she had no idea about, her computer absolutely went over to the other side, she was a challenge loser of a cutie she's rather go out with than be a slave for, and to top it all off, IT WAS ALL HER FAULT. She was heading in the direction of a royal snit.

Kenshin, seeing another temper tantrum coming on, decided to take matters into his own hands. "Ah, I think we better look for the camp, it is already night time, that it is."

"Oh wow, you just noticed?" Kaoru snapped, forgetting her predicament and spoiling for a fight. Ashley was laughing very quietly in the transmitter, really entertained at the way the two people interacted. If she had any feelings, she'd think that she'd be tickled pink by now. Maybe a few wires were changing color already.

Kenshin just smiled enigmatically at Kaoru, automatically making her feel as if she was the biggest bitch in all the multiverse--- again. When he saw that she calmed down, he strode over to his Gaze-ro and hoisted himself up, then maneuvered it towards Kaoru. Then he saw that his future partner had her eyes closed and teeth clenched, fists at the side.

"What is the matter, Kaoru-dono?"

"Ahhh… Errr…" Fear froze her vocal chords. How could she explain to him that it was the first time she was ever near a living animal bigger than her and with very toothy, pointed jaws?

"Surely you're not afraid of a pushover like Mazer'ii? He's very tame."

"Yes. Very tame until he decides that he wants me for dinner."

Kenshin laughed. She will turn my life upside down. But for the first time in a long time, he was looking forward to having his routine changed. He held out his hand to her.

"Do you trust me?"

Kaoru's eyes snapped open at the soft spoken question. Since she didn't trust herself to speak, she took his hand. In one smooth motion, he had pulled her up on his lap. She turned this way and that, trying to find a good position and finally sat astride, and, much to her embarrassment, with her backside plastered all over Kenshin's thighs and the blue yukata barely reaching mid thigh.

The red headed warrior was very, very happy that her back was to him or else she would've have seen just how much all her wiggling was making his eyes cross in desire. He also prayed that she wouldn't notice that other part of him that was reacting too.

When finally both passengers had settled down, Kenshin gave Mazer'ii a friendly slap on the rump and he loped off in a steady, long stride gait. Whatever Kaoru's inhibitions were about the animal, it was relieved the moment that she sat on it and it didn't do anything close to life-threatening. Now that she was more confident of the creature, she burrowed her hands in its fur, giving a softly exclaimed 'oh!' when she rubbed its ears and it purred.

"I think he likes you, that he does." Kenshin said, observing the way she was stroking the head of the cat. Mazer'ii, you are one lucky cat… I wish that those hands were on me instead of you!!!

Surprised that Mr. Quiet and Gorgeous decided to speak up, Kaoru turned her head and tried to look at him from the corner of her eye. "Really? What makes you say that?"

"He is purring."

"That's what that rumbling noise is?"

"Haven't you ever been near any cats, Kaoru-dono?"

"Real ones, no. Simulated ones, yup, of course, especially in the Alternate Reality Arcades."

"Alternate Reality… Another one of your tall stories?" Kenshin said, a little stiffly. Her penchant for exaggerating was one he didn't like. He couldn't accept that she was from another place not familiar to him, and therefore nearly convinced himself that she was either a really good weaver of tales, or a consummate liar. However, a niggling part of him knew her for what she was. He didn't have to like it, though.

His tone brought back Kaoru to what exactly her situation was. A challenge loser who doesn't tell the truth, at least from his view. "Yeah, that was another story, why not? After all, I told you that I have a computer named Ashley who just demonstrated a small effect of what she REALLY can do, I had clothes that weren't even close to the ones you gave me, and I had a blue light that could shoot off the branches of your trees. Yeah, that was another lie alright." She replied scathingly, feeling her temper reach boiling again.

Kenshin had no comeback to that one so he just stayed silent for the rest of the ride, leaving her to stew in her temper.

-o-

There was a light growing steadily brighter in the distance as the two traveled back to Kenshin's camp where he had left his companions. As Mazer'ii brought them closer to the light, Kaoru unconsciously started backing up until she collided into something solid, namely, Kenshin's chest. He expelled air in a hard 'oof' as he felt her backside come into contact with his most sensitive part. He started counting backwards from one hundred and placed his hand on her waist to steady her. Oddly enough, his touch seemed to calm her down.

Ashley, from her little portal on Kenshin's waist, was the one about ready to purr this time. She was so entertained by the proceedings that she just had to have a connection with someone, and since she pretty much couldn't speak, she settled for hotwiring the Space Rover's engine and sending little surges of electric current running through her, her little happy way of celebrating.

Kenshin and Kaoru entered a small circle of what seemed to be low square tents, with a bright white fire that was crackling merrily. There were a group of men who stopped talking and stared at the pair in surprise the minute that they were noticed. One of them, a tall, lean fellow with brown spiky hair was the first to break the stunned silence.

"Really interesting rabbit you have there, my friend." He smirked at Kaoru, looking her up and down rather unabashedly.

"Relax Sano, I actually did hunt. You will not starve tonight." Kenshin replied good-naturedly, and dismounted, removing several grey furry things hanging from the side of his gaze-ro.

"And what is she, a side dish?" Sano commented, still leering at Kaoru.

All the men laughed, except for Kenshin, who remained stoically and methodically fixing things. Kaoru's infamous temper rose indignantly to the fore.

"Really funny rooster-head, but I'd rather be raped by rabid gaze-ros than to be anywhere near you!!!" Kaoru shouted, dismounting awkwardly. Her bravado was ruined as she stepped on the ground, because the numbness in her legs she suddenly felt after their long ride sent her tumbling to the ground in an undignified heap.

The group was again stunned into silence, and Kenshin looked at Kaoru with faint disapproval as he helped her up. However, Sanosuke Segara, the feared Zanza of the Hitsen Royal Army famous for being able to pulverize rocks with a punch, merely put his head back and laughed.

"So! The Jou-chan has teeth! I congratulate you, Kenshin, for this little spitfire… Man, you should have told us the traveling slave trader was around!" Sano said, assuming that she was a slave. Kaoru muttered nasty words under her breath and Kenshin forcefully directed her to one of the tents to stew in peace. In a second they heard sounds of ripping fabric.

Kenshin sighed and rubbed his nose. He started skinning the rabbits he brought. The men gathered around him then, eager to hear news of the strange woman he had brought with him.

"So, obviously, you bought her for your bed, because I doubt that you bought her for cleaning the palace… In that case, can we share her? I'd be willing to pay for half…" Sano continued.

"She is not a slave. And I doubt Megumi-san would like it if you chose to sleep with another slave girl instead of coming to claim her. Remember what happened to Magdaria?" Kenshin said quietly, handing a pair of skinned rabbits to another man to cook. Sano had the grace to blush.

"Then who is her protector?" This question came from another man, one with short black hair and ice blue eyes.

"Me." Kenshin said simply, but staring down Aoshi Shinomori. He knew that the girls tended to like him better physically, and he was not giving up his Silver Girl without a fight.

There were collective sounds of surprise and disappointment at the statement.

"You better believe it pinheads, or you will answer to me!" Ashley growled, not liking the level of testosterone building up. It seemed her humanoid had cause quite a stir in everybody's libido. She liked the red head, but still, it was up to her to protect Kaoru.

Together as a group, everyone except Kenshin went into defense battle mode. Kenshin frowned in mild annoyance as he realized that Ashley, whatever the hell she was, wasn't keeping the promise she made to be quiet. Kuso! Couldn't she have just stayed quiet for just a little while?!

Ki's were ready to explode when Kenshin explained. "Maa, maa, please calm down. I will try to explain everything but for the moment, there is nothing to fear." His friends and comrades put their weapons down carefully, not daring to disobey the order of their prince, but still edgy from the unfamiliar. They took their seats around the fire again, eyes expectant of their leader.

"That was Ashley." Kenshin said by way of explaining. He wasn't sure what she was yet. Kaoru had said she was a computer, but just what was a computer, after all?