Jinxed

Chapter 1: Fate

By Garnet xoxo

Disclaimer: I do not own Rurouni Kenshin.

Warnings: None in this chapter, although this story will eventually live up to its M rating.

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"Ugh!"

The young woman shrieked in annoyance as she exploded into her meager apartment. She ignored the sizeable dent that her fist made in the shoddy wooden door as she stormed inside and flung everything from her arms—a faux leather purse, keys, several pens, and a tattered blue notebook that looked like it had been to hell and back. The discarded items scattered on the tired linoleum floor as she carelessly kicked well-worn tennis shoes off of her feet; they collided into the wall with a resounding thud. Not quite satisfied with her tantrum, next came her most comfortable black hoodie, amber-tinted sunglasses, and a watch that had stopped ticking hours ago after the batteries died again. All fell to the floor in disarray as she made a beeline for the small living room and collapsed upon the plush couch.

"Thank god it's Friday..."

She sighed gratefully and let her exhausted body sink into one of the large burgundy cushions. She groped around for the TV remote with a clumsy hand and, upon locating it, turned on the ancient TV. Ancient compared to the ones she saw for sale lately, anyway. The screen buzzed momentarily before flickering to life, revealing the evening news.

...this morning when he arrived at the courthouse. He was asked for his opinion on the matter but did not have a response at this time. In other news, local school children held a rabbit race this afternoon! The competition was fierce. Several children had the opportunity to raise and train their own bunnies and...

"Blah, blah, blah," she mumbled, rolling her eyes dramatically in response to the anchorman's boring report. She focused her anger on his obvious bald spot; she could swear that he was missing more hair every time she watched his segment and he always had the lamest assignments. Whatever happened to important news? She could not remember the last time she had arrived home after work to see him report on something that mattered. This guy was constantly babbling about baby animals, celebrities, or some other random topic that only mindless people loved to indulge in...

The phone rang from its spot on the end table next to the couch. She hastily grasped the cordless receiver and lifted it, anxious to focus her attention on something else.

"Hello?"

"Kaoru!"

Speaking of mindless people.

"Hey, Misao," Kaoru deadpanned. She loved the other girl--they were best friends, after all--but sometimes after a difficult day of work, Misao's perpetual excitement grated on her nerves a bit.

"Kaoru," the cheerful voice repeated, a little less-enthusiastic this time. "Aren't you glad it's Friday!? I swear this week went on forever; I thought it was never gonna end! How was work?"

"Well...," Kaoru began, sighing heavily. She hit the mute button on the TV remote in order to hear better. "Remember that annoying little brat of a kid I told you about? He didn't improve this whole week. I mean, he has no respect for me at all and--"

"--Didn't he call you ugly the other day!? The nerve! I mean, jeez. In front of all the other students and everything!" Misao huffed. "Maybe you should kick him out of your class! At least hit him on the head during a sparring session or something!"

"Yeah, maybe I should," Kaoru replied while half-heartedly attempting to cover a yawn. "But then again, I kinda feel bad for the kid. I don't think he has that great of a home life. That anger has to come from somewhere, you know, and I do think he has potential."

"Whatever you say... I think you're too nice!" Misao teased and stuck her tongue out at the phone. There was a sudden rare moment of silence and Kaoru knew that she was thoughtfully playing with the tail end of her long black braid. "Kaoru, I really need your opinion on something..."

"Misao, your tone totally changed! What's this about? It wouldn't happen to be--"

"No, don't say it! Don't you dare say his name! You'll make me all--"

"Make you all what? Hot and bothered?" Kaoru laughed, leaning back into the couch and releasing her long raven hair from the confines of her ponytail. "I swear, you're so ridiculous. Stop acting like a little kid and just ask him out already... Aoshi, that is."

"Nooooooo," Misao whined, immediately collapsing into a fit of giggles. Her cheeks burned bright red and she struggled to breathe as she pictured the object of her desire. "What should I do, Kaoru? He's just so sexy, dreamy, perfect, masculine, sexy--wait, did I mention that already? Hee hee..."

"You're hopeless," Kaoru chided, shaking her head. "Why can't you just approach this like a normal girl? Either ask him out yourself or wait for him to come to you. It's that easy."

"Oh, because you would know," Misao said matter-of-factly, chuckling. "Your last date was when? Elementary school?"

"Low blow, Misao. For your information--and I know you know this already--it was last year. So what if it only lasted for one week? I didn't really like the guy. I'm too busy for men, anyway."

"Yeah sure, Kaoru. I should set you up with one of Aoshi's friends. He just happens to have lots of cute--"

"Don't you even think about it! Really, things are great how they are right now. I have plenty of time to worry about stupid guys later. I'm only 20 for god's sake and--"

"--21 in a few months! Oh, I'm so excited, Kaoru! What are we gonna do to celebrate!?"

"Nothing too exciting, okay? If we celebrate too much you guys will probably be loud and get me evicted. My landlord isn't exactly the nicest guy, y'know..."

"Fine, fine. But we have to drink, we just have to, and... OH MY GOD!" Misao suddenly shouted, nearly causing Kaoru to tumble from her spot on the couch.

"Damn Misao, what the hell!? What's going on?" Kaoru demanded.

"Kaoru, the news!" Misao yelled again, her voice urgent. "Don't you live, like, 5 miles from that jail!?"

"What?" Kaoru questioned, dumbfounded. "Hold on." She quickly fumbled for the remote and hit the mute button again, causing sound to abruptly burst from the TV's small built-in speakers. Her sapphire eyes widened and her mouth fell open in a silent gasp.

"BREAKING NEWS" was in large red block letters at the bottom of the screen, while Kaoru's 'favorite' anchorman was promptly spitting out the details of the perilous situation. He looked flustered, although strangely thrilled at the same time, and his bulbous face was red with effort. In the back of her head, Kaoru wondered if he thought this was his big chance to prove himself.

...again, for those of you that are just joining us. The infamous Kenshin Himura, who was incarcerated about ten years ago after committing various savage murders, has escaped from Boshin Prison. The authorities say that it is possible he escaped as long as three hours ago, as that was the last time he specifically was accounted for. He is considered extremely dangerous and we advise everyone in the surrounding county to lock their doors and refrain from giving rides to hitchhikers. Be on the lookout for a man of petite stature with long red hair and a cross-shaped scar on his left cheek...

A picture of the jail in question, along with several mug shots of the felon, flashed on the screen.

"Wow Misao, that is the jail that's near my apartment complex! I can't believe those idiots let a convicted criminal escape, can you? Jeez, you'd think they'd be more careful with someone who killed so many people. He looks so dangerous and--"

"Kaoru, you heard the man! Lock your damned door already! Knowing you, you left it wide open!" Misao screamed frantically, jumping up and down as she clutched her phone to the side of her face. "Maybe I should come over and protect you! Better yet, I'll bring Aoshi! He'd know what to--"

"Misao," Kaoru said calmly, blue eyes rolling skyward.

"--do, you know, him being such a great fighter and all. I bet he could show that Himura guy who's boss in about 10 seconds flat! That red-headed freak wouldn't even know what hit him--"

"Misao," Kaoru repeated, stressing her friend's name this time. Her dark eyebrows furrowed.

"--and boy would it hit him hard! And then we could throw Aoshi a huge party for being such a brave, strong, wonderful man. Aoshi would probably fall in love with me at the party and we'd dance, and maybe kiss! Oh my god, and... and... and--"

"MISAO!"

"...Yes?" Misao squeaked, finally paying attention.

"Sorry, but that's not going to happen, okay? Now get your head out of the clouds and listen to me! I'll be fine by myself. I wasn't planning on going out tonight anyway."

"You better not, Kaoru! Promise you'll stay inside and lock your front door?"

"Yeah, I promise," Kaoru sighed, rising from the couch and glancing around for her keys. She knew she had thrown them on the floor when she got home but she didn't see them now. "As soon as I can find my keys, anyway..," she whispered quietly to herself.

"Um, excuse me, but... Did you just say that you can't find your keys!?"

"You weren't supposed to hear that."

"Kaoru!"

"Chill. I bet they're right here underneath my... AHA!" Kaoru exclaimed, pulling the jingling mess of random keys and key chains from underneath her hoodie. "Hear that? I found them, and I'll lock my door right now. Okay?"

"Fine! Just hurry the hell up already," the ever-excitable Misao pleaded.

"Oh, come on, Misao. You really think that of all places, he would come to this average little apartment complex? And of all the doors to choose from, that he'd come to mine? Besides, I'm a freaking kendo teacher. I can defend myself!"

"You know, you probably just jinxed yourself! You really shouldn't say things like that!" Misao scolded.

"You know I don't believe in that stuff," Kaoru responded evenly.

She sifted through her keys without haste. They jingled musically as she located the correct one and walked toward the front door, which swung open and slammed into the adjacent wall with a deafening bang.

"Kaoru, what was that? Kaoru!?" Misao's voice shouted hysterically from the phone.

But Kaoru was too shocked to hear her, much less respond. The phone slipped from her now limp hand and clattered to the floor, knocking the batteries out and disconnecting the call.

She was staring directly into the face of the man whose picture was plastered all over the TV screen.

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Author's Note: What do you think? Please review and let me know! I haven't written RK fanfiction in a very, very long time (we're talking years) and obviously I haven't posted anything under this pen name before. Honestly I don't even remember what my old pen name was! Anyway, I started watching my RK DVDs again recently and for whatever reason, this just came to me. I have a lot planned for this, and of course, your reviews will make me want to work faster... I will respond to all of them, too. ;)