Disclaimer: The characters of Karou, Kenshin, and others do not belong to me. I am using the solely for entertainment purposes only. So if ya plan to sue, your not going to get anything valuable from me. Up yours lawyers!
Dedication: To angelic1090, my oneechan. Hope I can widen your obsession with Kenshin as well! ^_~
/blah, blah/ ~ Karou's thoughts
/blah, blah/ ~ Misao's thoughts
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Conversations: Reasons Why
One: Just Because
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Love is friendship set on fire.
Jeremy Taylor
She knew the moment Misao had asked to tea that there was an ulterior motive behind the invitation. She shook her head, a gentle smile blooming onto her face. Not that she didn't like the girl or anything, she adored Misao, but it was the situation that they were in. Misao never ever used the words 'Girl Talk'. /Karou, you've been set up./
"Can I ask you a question, Karou-chan?"
She looked up from her teacup, meeting Misao's uneasy gaze. Yes, she had been set up. By Sano, Megumi, and Yahiko to be exact. And poor Misao had been their victim to come and ask her- /Oh god./ She sighed. /They want to know-/
"Hai, Misao," she responded cautiously. "Go right ahead."
Karou braced herself for the coming question. She hoped that she was wrong. She hoped that she was really wrong. /At least we're away from prying eyes…/
"Why do you love, Himura-san?"
She nearly choked on her tea. /Well, you have to give her props for being straight to the point./ Karou said nothing, instilling a calm silence in the room. She watched Misao wring her hands together with a tiny smile. The poor girl must have been threatened to come and talk to her. It was probably even worse that she hadn't even let out one of her epic overreactions. She placed her tea cup down with a soft clang and reached over to grasp Misao's hand. She had to do this. She owed it to herself to get it out to the open. /And to Kenshin…/
"Why do you want to live, Misao-chan?"
----
"What the hell kind of question is that?," Sano hissed.
"Shush!"
Megumi smacked him upside the head and continued to listen from her spot. Sano watched her with hungry eyes. His lips curled into a feral grin. It was too damn bad that Yahiko had gotten to go and listen from the back. He could have definitely taken advantage of this new partnership between him and-
"Oi kitsune! What the-"
He met Megumi's angry glare with a pout.
"You need to shut up, rooster-head! I can't hear, damn it. How am I supposed to get Ken-san and Karou into bed if you don't shut up!"
Yep, he couldn't wait until they got into bed together.
----
She could feel herself blush when she heard Karou chuckle. So she'd been caught, eh? She dropped her head down to her chest. She had told Megumi that this was a stupid idea.
"Well-well, I live for Jiya and my family of course," she paused her eyes taking on a more serious look. "For those who's lives were stolen from them unjustly. For you and the others. And I--I live for Aoshi-sama. But what does this have to do with-"
Karou chuckled and gave her a gentle smile. Misao watched her in confusion. There were so many different sides to Karou, it was almost as if she were a labyrinth and never-ending . /But she's been like a sister to me and our relationship keeps getting stronger. But I am curious… She must have a specific reason./
"My point Misao is pretty simple. Everything, every feeling has a basic reason. I live for family. I live for friends. I live for hope, for reason. I live for chance. But love is completely and utterly different. You love with reason and without reason. Love is chaos."
/What?/ Misao leaned forward with an fervent expression on her face. "I don't understand," she spoke. "With or without reason?"
----
"I'm with weasel-girl. You're not making any sense, busu.," Yahiko muttered, ear pressed to the open crack of the door.
"Yahiko, what are you doing?"
The boy whirled around to be greeted but the amused expression of Aoshi and the confused one of Kenshin.
He scratched his head nervously. "Ohayo Kenshin…"
----
Karou gave her a small smile. /I feel like a mother sometimes./ "Not everything is simple," she spoke gently. "With or without reason, logic, and simplicity. If we understood everything, life would be boring and love would not be love."
Misao rose a hand in protest, but Karou shook her head. She frowned, craning her neck towards the front sliding door. /I could have sworn I heard…/ She turned back to Misao.
"We may think we understand, but can we accept? Simplicity is acceptance. Complexity is acceptance. And without them, without acceptance, we cannot love nor do we have the right."
----
"Never knew that Jou-chan was so philosophical."
*WHACK!*
"Ooo, kitsune! Whatcha hafta go and do dat for?"
----
Misao watched nervously as Karou stood up, pulling her to her feet as well. She gave Misao a smile saying that she wasn't angry at all with her. She knew this portion of their talk was over, but it was something she'd like to continue. Preferably with the topic of Aoshi in mind… She shook her head. /The others are going to get their butts fried. Bakas…/ Karou walked to the front door with her eyes twinkling. Misao giggled. /If I had a sister, it would definitely have to be like Karou./
Karou pressed a finger to her lips and motioned for her to move towards the back of the room.. "So to answer your question…"
Misao grinned as Karou silently counted to three. The others were so going to get it. This was revenge for them cornering her and making her try to get something so personal out of Karou-chan. Not to say she wasn't curious as well… But she was Karou's friend too and that was more important.
One, two, three!
They simultaneously opened both doors, letting Yahiko, Megumi, and Sano tumble into the room. Karou rolled her eyes while Misao giggled. Kenshin and Aoshi also entered the room.
"You know you could have just asked me."
Sano groaned, rubbing his head. "I opted for that but kitsune over wanted to take this approach and Yahiko-CHAN over there agreed."
Protests from both of the co-conspirators rose as both Yahiko and Megumi lunged for the leering rooster-head, tumbling out the door. Misao shook her head. /Too damn nosy./ She felt a hand on her shoulder and turned to see Aoshi looking at her with a curious expression. She shook her head.
"It's nothing."
She watched as Kenshin crossed over to where Karou was standing and watching the others duke it out with an amused smile on her face.
"Karou-dono, dous-"
Karou cut him off, "Hai Kenshin. I was about to answer Misao's question."
/No way. She's gonna do it in front of him? Well, he has no idea what we're talking about, but still. I could never-/
She watched in awe as Kaoru gave Kenshin a tender smile. Kenshin gazed at her in confusion.
"The answer to your question Misao-chan is," Karou spoke meeting her eyes. Her smile went into full bloom.
"Just because."
**
Well, thus concludes my first RK fic. *shakes head* I never knew I had it in me to right something so WAFFY. *shrugs* That's what happens when you write too many Gundam Wing dramas. Anyhow, I hoped you enjoyed because I did have fun writing it.
Depending on the response I get, I'll write a second part to the story with Aoshi + Misao as the dominate theme. So let me know, I'm open to any form of comments!