Disclaimer: We do not own Rurouni Kenshin.
Kaoru is an aspiring writer who notices a handsome, red-haired man comes in each day to the cafe where she works, but he is never alone. The man who she soon finds out is named Kenshin is always accompanied by a woman, but never the same woman twice. It is rumored that he lost his old love. A woman or surpassing elegance and beauty blessed with the name of Tomoe. Kaoru finds an inspiration that she needs in this mysterious man, and writes a book based on him. Soon she finds out that while she wrote the book she at the same time fell in love with him. How can Kenshin accept her with the memory of Tomoe still burned onto his memory, along with the fact she used his life for a story?
Based On You
By: CrypticMaidenRK CrismHeart
The Customer and the Writer
She had always watched him from across the room, asserting and assessing his attitude. He was breath-taking and beautiful, but that was only skin deep. He would always come at three to have coffee with women. Though she had never seen him with the same woman twice, people would often talk about one woman who surpassed all others in beauty, and humbleness, alike. They asserted, as they always did, never had they seen a more beautiful woman such as Tomoe- her name, of course. And as always, the waitress felt their stares as she walked back into her corner to write and to watch the way she normally did, once she had asked her questions.
Most of the time it was just him that she glazed at, but on other occasions that red haired man that she saw, came in with a tall man named Sano, a woman named Megumi, and two others named Misao and Aoshi. She was sure that they were his friends for they were the only people she ever saw him smiled at.
"Excuse me, Kaoru." Kaoru shook her head and turned over the journal that she had been writing in.
"Yes, Mr. Dalton, how may I help you?" The question came easily enough as she had been working at the cafe for nearly six months now, and this man was a regular, but she asked the question anyway hoping that he would order something new. Routines were a bore, she knew this because her own life was a routine, and act that replayed everyday.
"Umm, yes, I would like to have..." And, naturally, it was the same order.
She watched the routine oriented man when he read his newspaper and smiled at him when he left, as she took the time to brush off an invisible piece of lint from her red apron. An apron which was festooned with the cafe's logo: two chairs around a table. Sighing, she flipped her notebook over and picked up her pen and stared at the last sentence she had written in. As she always did, she had forgotten what she has been writing about, and thus she needed to stare at her lined paper in an attempt to remember what she had been trying to convey through her words.
She did not know how long she stayed looking at the same line in her notebook re-reading that same sentence that captured the three o'clock man's essence, the man who still has yet to come, so perfectly:
And he stays next to the sea never going in. His red mane caresses the breeze just as he had once done to the only women able to warm his heart. Still, reader, the question must be asked- Why does he not step into the endless, foaming blue?
She looked at her watch; it was just twelve in the afternoon on a fall San Francisco day.
The bell to the door rang but she didn't look up from her book until she heard the woman's voice. "What can I do for you" Kaoru said smiling as she looked up at the woman. The other held no smile, she looked to be a lawyer; snobbish, and sophisticated. A total bore.
"Yes I would like..."
"Hey, Soujiro, would you mind going and checking on Yahiko for me? I'm stuck here until seven tonight."
Kaoru said to her smiling friend. Why was he always smiling? He was a mystery to her, and she had always loved mysteries. She loved to evaluate human quirks and personalities finding them useful for her stories that she always sent out to publishing companies all over the country. They (we must take to mind, Reader, that our heroine is, indeed, not a bad writer. In truth, she is a most excellent one, though the world still has yet to discover this) had always written back with the same denial, 'Good, but not enough.'
"Okay Kaoru no problem." Soujiro, her co-worker was such a nice guy that is besides his eerie smile, said in response. Kaoru thanked him as his shift ended. He was a student at the nearby university. He was going to major in psychology.
Kaoru couldn't help but envy the smiling boy; he received the privilege for attending a college, something that had long been a broken dream for her ever since her parents death five years ago while they drove to her graduation. If it hadn't been for her they would still be alive.
(To go on with this story you, Reader, must understand the circumstances that our dear heroine has to go through, and I will explain them to you so that we might save time. For one, Kaoru's parents did indeed leave a will for her and her brother, Yahiko, but the document had certain obligations that Kaoru or her brother must have acquired prior to them receiving a single cent. You see my honest reader that our routine-hating- protaginst must have finished college before she could receive any money that her deceased parents left for her. Of course, the same goes for her brother. In explanation this is the reason why she, Kaoru, is working, and not attending college, while she sends Yahiko through high school and eventually college. Only when Yahiko revives his own diploma will Kaoru ever live her dream.)
She tried to smile as another customer came in, but while she began taking their order, she was once again pulled into her memories.
Kaoru grinned as she glanced at her reflection in the mirror. She was impeccably dressed in a deep blue gown and cap. No one would have guessed that she was the tomboy with a bad temper from childhood. Even if her annoying younger brother Yahiko teased her today, she would not allow him to anger her. Today was a day filled with so many emotions both happy and sad; today was the day she would graduate from high school.
"Kaoru?" Her mother called from outside Kaoru's room.
Kaoru turned her head towards the doorway and watched as her mother ambled into her bedroom
"Oh, there you are." She gasped, "You look stunning, dear."
Kaoru laughed lightly."Thanks, mom."
Her mother actually had tears in her eyes as she looked at her daughter. It was apparent that she had always been the sentimental one of the family.
Fortunately for Kaoru, her mother tried to restrain herself from crying. She knew that if her mother began to cry, she would begin to also.
"Kaoru, we have to go or else we'll be late." A deep voice drifted into the room. Both pairs of eyes followed the direction the voice had come in, recognizing that it was Kaoru's father.
A scowl formed on Kaoru's face as she walked down the stairs to the living room. Her father was already armed with a camera.
"Dad! I thought you said we were running late?" Kaoru exclaimed. She had never enjoyed having her picture taken
Her father chuckled in response,"Yes, but it's never too late to take a few pictures, right?" He then whispered in a scheming tone. "After all, your mom would kill me if I didn't take any."
Kaoru smiled, knowing that her father spoke the truth.
After her father had used up the entire roll on his lovely daughter, the family realized that they really did not have any more time to waste.
Kaoru stared at the clock and screamed."Mom! Dad! I was supposed to be there early and now it's two twenty!"
The graduation was to start at two thirty in the afternoon. It took fifteen minutes from the Kamiya residence to the high school field. Kaoru's father calculated that if he went fifty miles per hour in twenty-five mile per hour zones, he would make it to the school with a few minutes to spare.
The family members, minus, Kaoru's little brother, all rushed out of the house and scrambled into the car.
Kaoru and her parents reached the school out of breath. Kaoru's father took a few seconds to relax, he was thankful that no members of law enforcement had stopped him on the way. From a distance, it appeared that time had stopped and the three people were standing still. In reality, they had just come to the sudden awareness that they had forgotten something on this very important day that was impossible to spoil.
"Yahiko!" Kaoru's mother shouted, "I- I can't believe we forgot to bring Yahiko!"
Kaoru sighed. Her brother had to ruin everything, didn't he?
Kaoru's father noticed his daughter's downcast expression and told her. "You don't have to come with us, honey. We can just go back and pick him up ourselves."
"Really?" Kaoru asked, her countenance now shifted to one of utmost pleasure. "Thank you so much, Daddy!" She hugged her father tightly, not caring if anyone else saw her.
Kaoru watched briefly as her parents filed back into the car and drove off. The small car turned around a bend and vanished.
That was the last time Kaoru saw the two people she loved most in the world. How could she have known when she woke up that morning that the day of her graduation would be the worst day of her life?
Kaoru closed her eyes to the world with a bitter smile. "I was so naive then." Smiling at the bitter memory of it all she picked up a near by pen and starting writing from where she left off.
And his memories of the day when she breathe her last breath stayed with him for all eternity never letting him go. Her smile…that perfect smile would always show in his nightmares until the day he would finally bath in the sea.
But as always the question remained. Did he want to forget the nightmares?
A slap on her back startled Kaoru making her pen slide across the paper. "Ouch" She rubbed the offended spot turning to look at the offender.
"Mr. Lovelace, why did you do that?" Her boss just smiled looking at she when she closed her book and put it into her purse.
"Always with the writing, Kamiya." He smiled. "You have quite a future not letting anyone see those stories of yours."
"I'm rather self conscious about them." She hung her head lowly, too embarrassed that she is always writing, knowing that to people like him writing might just be another head for her. Her boss, with a wink, walked away leaving her be, as much as she could be content, by herself with only her pen and paper.
Looking at the clock she sighed. It was only five-thirty, and that meant, ultimately, that she was stuck behind the counter for another two, long, boring hours...well almost. The cafe was not a bad place you understand, actually it was quite comfortable. The front of the store was covered by windows looking out to the bay, and a sloping street covered by other such novelty stores. The inside of the cafe though, despite the windows, was minor dark. Plush red cushions, and sofas decorated the wall and the dark hardwood floor always shined-thanks in part to her. Navy and gold drapes covered cheap paintings bought from local artists, and though they were good paintings, they were cheap.
Closing her spiral Kaoru pushed it away in disgust and dropped her head into her hands. She could not write at all today (Readers, we may very well now be aware that Kaoru, like all great master's of words, is have a slight muse problem), but she did not have the slightest clue as to why she could not write.
Clasping her hands together, and setting her head upon them she prayed to have some inspiration to come...mostly thinking of the red-haired regular. Flushing, she would have to admit that he, Kenshin, is her muse; something that she is not proud of. Though he would make any artist's hands itch to paint, sculpt, etc...him.
The little chiming bell rang in her ears. Kaoru, though hearing it, did not lift her head. From the corner of her eye she could barely make out the clock that hung so wonderfully on the wall.
6:45
It was him. She knew because he always came at this exact time; he was a man of routine just like every other regular who stepped foot in the cafe. Kaoru smiled, the cafe, she sometimes thought, was a shrine for the lost; those who seek routine in everything they did. Routine made a person feel like they have power over there lives, for in routine nothing changes, one knows what going to happen and they take comfort it that. In contrast, Kaoru was a creature (understand that our dear heroine does not like her daily routine.) of new experiences; she craved for that what- will-happen-next. Unfortunately, for her, she does not have that convince, instead she has the adequate lifestyle of a routine.
How comfortable of a situation.
Her ears perk up as she hears his footsteps come closer. Panicking, she looks up and spots him, and the almost instantly she looks down at her green spiral, which of course she stanches and puts it under the counter where she keeps recites and other such things.
She smiles at him when he finally reaches the counter, and polity, coldly he smiles back. She looks around and spots a woman, a gorgeous woman, sitting at his usual spot by the open window. How many gorgeous women can this man get, Kaoru can not help but wonder, like she has so many times in the past.
"Hello, Mr. Himura." Kaoru greets when he puts his arm onto the counter and leans to the side a bit. "What may I do for you today?"
God, the man was beautiful, and not even in a womanly way. (He is wearing sunglass too, and Kaoru would have told you this, but she is too...busy at the moment.)
"Yes, Kaoru, I would like a coffee, and my friend would like a cappuccino." Kaoru smiles while punching the correct numbers and button on the register.
"Black as usual, Mr. Himura?" He looks annoyed, but Kaoru is not fazed by his attitude. Nope, not her, she actually enjoys it. After a moment of silence he nods, and waits patiently for Kaoru to get his order. While Kaoru is doing this, she turns and speaks to him, depressing one eye lid slightly.
"This one a gorgeous one, Mr. Himura." Kaoru beams when she sees his face narrow knowing full well that he one: does not like to speak to her, for some reason, and two: he does like people talking about his life, no matter how impersonal it may be.
"Is my order almost ready?" He sounds slight perturbed to Kaoru's ears, and she smiles and nods when she hears the beeping of the coffee machine, which her boss just bought yesterday. Machinelike she grabs up both orders and puts them right in front of him smiling politely.
He turned his back about to go over to his friend when Kaoru can not help but say" Be careful, Mr. Himura, it's hot." He stops his walk and raises an eyebrow at her, his eyes flashing gold for a brief moment, then turns away.
"What was that?" Kaoru mumbles underneath her breath hoping that he did not hear her, but luck is of course not at any time with her, and she sees Kenshin, yes its his first name, look at her then back at his date. Deciding that it will be a wise choice not to speak anymore than she has to Kaoru reaches for her spiral, flips it open looking once more at the cynical, cold man before she picks up her pen and starts writing.
Well, who can blame her if inspiration just fell onto her by the way of flashing golden eyes? Thank you, God.
A/N: Well what do you people think? Is it good or bad? CrismHeart, and I love to her anything for you, so please do us a favor and review...please!
Thank You!
Respectfully Yours,
CrypticMaidenRK and CrismHeart