Eclipse

Chapter 1: City to Country

Kaoru was beginning to realise that no amount of cleverness or expertise could erase her lecherous boss from making sexual innuendos every time he was in her vicinity. Her resignation was swift, unexpected and as she hightailed out of there she realised that the people she worked with were shallow and petty. Who wanted to be in such a negative environment? It was about time she did this though, she thought as she looked at the beautiful country cottage set in the middle of, well no where in particular and that suited her brilliantly. No one bothers me, I don't bother anyone and life remains serene.

The whole concept of taking time off, going on a holiday or resting every now and then had never occurred to Kaoru. Brokering had drained her completely and now here she was in…what was it called again? Little Valley or something.

Sighing to herself Kaoru dragged her suitcase to the cottage door and into the main living room. Glancing around she found the interior was designed with modern touch. There were fresh flowers, in both the rooms in the cottage and upon further investigation she found an en-suite as well as air conditioning. Thank the lord for air conditioning, she thought, because if this weather became any hotter she would melt.

A quick glance into the fridge showed that the owner had left her some food for the next few days. Crouching in front of the fridge she couldn't resist having a little taste of the chicken pie, and damn was it good! Ah, she wished she could cook like this…

'Kaoru what is this?' Muttered her father.

'Its an omelette you silly! Try it! It'll be great!' she replied brightly.

He eyed the charred remains on his plate uneasily, and asked 'If it's an omelette, then why is there an orange in it?'

Well she couldn't help it the cook books pages had stuck together and instead of making an omelette, it was an hybrid choc-orange cake omelette. But her father had eaten it, and even said that he liked it. But the years had been hard on him and he wasn't around anymore to make her feel like his special little princess no matter how bad her culinary skills were. She really had to thank whoever left this meal.

Settling down for the night Kaoru wondered what kind of lady the owner was. Was she old or young? Did she have a big family? What was she like? Who knows, maybe tomorrow I'll pay her a visit she thought sleepily…

Kaoru was gripping the phone so tightly in her hand her knuckles had gone white. If the phone were alive it would most definitely be dead. Why in gods name was it plugged into the wall with the air of being workable when it so didn't work at all. I am calm, I am Zen, I am completely free from negativity she thought, breathing in and out slowly. Her therapist had taught her this method of relaxation to calm her self in moments of great anger and right now she was really pissed off.

Upon hearing a sound she turned and found a man, a hands length taller than her with red hair, standing on the threshold of the living room. Dropping the phone and quickly grabbing the long sword like ornament hanging on the wall she dropped into a fighting stance.

'I don't who you think you are but this is private property! And I am really pissed off right now so if you don't have a good reason for being here and you value your good health, you'd best turn right around and walk out of here' she stated in her best i-am-really-pissed-off voice.

Upon hearing her little tirade, the man smiled slightly and looked her up and down. Who the fuck does he think he is? she thought.

'You must be Miss Kamiya Kaoru' he stated simply.

'Says who?' she replied quickly

'Well, that's the name of the person who has paid me rent for the next 3 months on this particular cottage. Or are you someone else?' he inquired politely. Unsure now, Kaoru lowered the sword thingy and looked at him properly this time. He was not much taller than her with long red hair tied up in a high ponytail. His eyes were the strangest violet blue colour it was truly mesmerising.

'Um, okay then, uh this is…really embarrassing…' glancing away she fiddled with the sword before stepping forward to offer an explanation for her strange behaviour.

'Its okay' the man said smiling 'Though if you really want to protect yourself you should really lock the front door' he stated winking at her. Taking the sword from her, he placed it back in its ornamental position and turned towards her.

'My name's Kenshin, and I'm the owner of this cottage. I just came over to make sure that you've settled in okay. Maybe show you around the valley…you know the main amenities etc etc. If you haven't got any plans that is.'

Damn, thought Kenshin. Who knew his new tenant would be a beautiful, fiery tempered woman, who from her defensive stance, obviously practised sword fighting of some style. Think man, what other things can she need your help for? His brain was fuddled after he got a closer look. Her Long Black hair was in a ponytail, and her blue eyes which had flashed angrily at him were now reflecting acute embarrassment. Her skin was pearly pale and her rosy lips were perfect. Ah the gods were truly shining down on him today.

After his brief conversation with the tenant, also known as 'the most beautiful creature to ever grace the earth, or my rented cottage', Kenshin headed home to devise ways in which he could 'accidentally' meet his new tenant.

"I know how you can get with her!" exclaimed Sano

Looking over at his childhood friend, Kenshin raised his eyebrows questioningly. Any plan concocted by Sano was bound to be stupid, but it always made him laugh to hear them anyway. Ah high brow plans INDEED.

"You could go over to her house and say that your house had burned down and that you needed to stay with her!" he said grinning so widely at his brilliant plan.

"Mmmm. And what would happen to my actual house which, hadn't really burnt down which is still standing here or the fire which no one has heard of in a town with a population of 300 where people live in each others pockets."

"Oh…I forgot about that" said Sano sheepishly running his hand through his hair. "Okay okay I got it! What about it if you say that the government will take away your children if you don't marry within 2 weeks, and so you want to marry her!"

"Soooo I want to marry her to save my non-existent children, from a government that doesn't really want them because they don't exist?"

"Geez Kenshin, I'm trying to help you here and you're making it really hard you know" said Sano with a hurt look on his face.

"I know you're trying to help, Sano, and I thank you for your support"

"damn straight"

I'm trying different themes people - tell me what you think ;-)

cheers,

Iuvenalis