Disclaimer: I don't own a yacht, I don't own a lemur, and I don't own Rurouni Kenshin. (Nor do I know anyone who does.)
Full Circle:
oo
Kaoru paused for a moment, squinting into the sun, before ducking under the awning on a nearby merchant's cart. The air hung thick with humidity and the ground begged for rain. It had been a bad idea to visit the market, even the unbearable heat couldn't prevent hordes of people from elbowing their way around. She had actually threatened a young man who accidentally pushed her. She was pretty surprised at herself. She was normally more tolerant of strangers; she had plenty of opportunities to let off steam at home. Then again, her nerves were still thin from her morning encounter with Kenshin.
oFlashbacko
Slowly, gradually, Kaoru was sure Kenshin was coming around. This morning she had entered the kitchen to find him preparing breakfast. He was humming a little and she had waited in the doorway listening.
She had forgotten he obviously knew she was there. For some reason the humming never stopped despite her presence.
Breaking out of her trance she walked in and stood next to him. He looked up from chopping carrots and smiled lightly.
Pleased with Kenshin's high spirits she tried to add humor by casting a look of mock terror in the opposite direction and saying, "Kenshin, look!" Once distracted, Kaoru attempted to sneak a carrot slice but only succeeded in knocking some pieces on the ground with her sleeve.
Kenshin by this time had turned back to her and scratched the back of his head uneasily.
"What is it, Kaoru-dono?"
"Uh- never mind."
She was a little embarrassed at her inability to pull off the oldest trick in the book. She stooped down to pick up some of the renegade carrots and Kenshin got down to help. They both went for the same piece and the contact between their hands caused her head to shoot up. Kaoru was met not with a sheepish grin, but calm purple eyes.
The seconds dragged by.
They drew closer together.
"AUGH!" Yahiko's yell, accompanied by the crash of the woodpile collapsing rang through the room from the yard. When Kaoru's head turned back from the direction of the noise Kenshin had already stood up.
"This one will start the laundry, that he will."
"You don't want to stay and eat with me?"
"Those clothes won't wash themselves," he said smiling his rurouni smile. Kaoru did not appreciate his attempt at humor.
He was pulling back again; she was so close. He was retreating behind a crooked smile.
oEnd Flashbacko
Consequently she had been forced to leave the house and was know overheating in a public forum.
A small squeak from below caused her to look down in time to see the owner of the cart bracing for a blow. So incensed by recalling the events she had whipped out her bokken and was seconds away from taking out her frustrations on the small man in front of her.
The man himself was less shocked at being attacked than how she had managed to seemingly procure the weapon from thin air.
She laughed nervously and apologized profusely before forgoing the shade in order to extricate herself from the awkward situation she had created. She focused on her task; her self control was obviously slipping. Threatening bodily harm to two innocent bystanders in less than an hour? She needed to get home and beat Yahiko.
She smiled weakly to herself. She actually didn't know where to get the best tofu, she usually sent Kenshin or even Yahiko out to get it.
Spotting a stand she hurried over, looking down to count out the money. She didn't take in the identity of the merchant until too late.
The man who, well, she believed her exact words were, "Touch me again and I'll make this bucket a permanent fixture of your face!"
Now that her vision wasn't clouded by anger- and heat exhaustion- she noticed he was actually quite handsome.
Odd, he was smiling at her. Maybe he didn't recognize her?
"So you're nice to me when you want something?" he joked. Noting her confused expression he motioned to the tofu.
Kaoru understood the comment; she was astonished that he was being civil.
"I'm sorry about earlier, I really- I don't know what-" but she was cut off.
"Really, don't worry about it. It's not often I get stopped by beautiful women in the street, even if it's to take a beating." He smiled again. She was about to start thinking he had some sort of mental deficiency when she caught on.
Oh.
Kaoru mentally scolded herself for being so clueless. It was obvious he was flirting with her.
Her first thought was of Kenshin.
Her second was of him hearing about the electric chemistry between Kaoru and a dashing young tofu vendor and oro-ing something awful.
Well then. Two can play at this game.
She accepted the full bucket, grazing her fingers over his for a moment before smiling demurely.
"This is an awful lot of tofu," she remarked, feigning weariness.
"Do you need a hand?" he responded, stepping out from behind the cart. Kaoru congratulated herself. Kenshin would be doing laundry and would certainly see the two of them walk up to the gate. She was particularly enjoying the mental vision of Kenshin keeling over into the wash basin out of pure shock.
Her reverie was interrupted when a tall man in a shabby overcoat drew the attention of the merchant.
"Hold on a moment," he said before jogging over to the shady character. They conversed briefly. At one point the merchant's shoulders markedly slumped and he stole a glance at Kaoru.
Confused, all she could do was wait: one hand on the bucket, one shielding her eyes. He walked back over looking uneasy.
"I apologize, I didn't know," he started, his hands fidgeting nervously.
"Didn't know what?" Kaoru asked, genuinely baffled.
"I- uh- didn't know, you know, were with him."
Kaoru's head shot to the messenger, "I have no idea who he is!"
"No, no, not him-"
"Who then?" she interrupted.
"You know- What does he go by now, Himura? Tell him I didn't mean anything by it. I didn't know, I just saw you and thought, 'Hey!' It'll never happen again!"
Towards the end of this speech his words got faster and he began to back behind the cart, partially because, again, unbeknownst to her, Kaoru was now gripping her bokken. His other cause for alarm was the truly unique mix of shock and fury that could be easily read in her bright blue eyes.
On her rampage back to the dojo she was not shoved once. Those too stupid to get out of her way got a tofu bucket in the shins.
oo
Kaoru burst through the gate truly amazed that she had enough patience to unlatch it. Before even stepping two feet into the yard she raised her bokken and readied herself before charging forward.
She lost a little bit of momentum when she determined Kenshin was nowhere in sight.
So he had lied about needing to do the laundry.
Her anger was once again intensified.
She burst into the kitchen and spotted Kenshin and Yahiko. They had probably been having a conversation but her explosive entrance had long since brought it to a close.
Yahiko, who - although small - has adequate instincts of self-preservation, backed behind the counter.
Kenshin, constantly overestimating other people's self control, held up his hands in a pacifying motion and inched towards Kaoru.
"Kaoru-dono?"
Wrong answer. If he wasn't going to make a move, but at the same time preemptively ruin any other relationships she could have the least he could do was drop the dono.
It seemed the only thing working in Kenshin's favor was the fact his expression caused him to resemble a confused puppy. Who could hit a sweet little puppy?
"KENSHIN NO BAKA!" Apparently Kaoru could. Hard.
o
Kaoru knew she was being unfair; she had no interest in the vendor, or anyone else in the city.
Also, she definitively knew that he had no idea why he was in trouble.
Nonetheless, beating him within an inch of his life was always so satisfying.
Had his hiding place allowed him a view, Yahiko would have seen an interesting assortment of emotions pass play across Kaoru's face it in the aftermath of her attack. This was because when the initial triumph wore off, Kaoru realized that she would have to explain herself. She also realized that was one task she was not up to at this point.
She began to panic but quickly resolved that the best thing she could do was put some distance between herself and the scene before her.
So, ignoring the faint "Oro" of Kenshin returning to consciousness she abruptly turned on her heel, left the kitchen, and gracefully withdrew into the yard.
All this was not accomplished without shooting Yahiko a death glance for good measure.
o
Notably calmer she now had ample time to reflect while walking back into town for the second time.
It wasn't long before she realized she would need the advice of a third party. Unfortunately, she had a limited number of choices and it soon became clear that there was only one possible candidate. Kaoru groaned. This was going to be humiliating.
She needed to get more friends.
o
She entered the clinic to find it empty but overheard a nearby conversation and paused to listen. She recognized both participants and, although neither voice belonged to Megumi, Kaoru found their conversation helpful nonetheless.
"No, she was hurt, I SWEAR."
"I think you've been had-"
"You think I can't tell when someone's hurt?"
"-I merely think Megumi is slyer than you accounted for-"
Kaoru's dismay at having apparently missed the lady doctor altogether was slightly undermined by the ample bit of admiration she felt for the individual who had obviously just pulled a fast one on Sano. She turned and exited the clinic without staying to greet anyone, endeavoring instead to try to locate Megumi herself.
After all, what else did she have to do?
It turned out taking it upon herself to find one woman in a large city wasn't as heinous a task as it should have been. In fact, no sooner had she exited the clinic when she heard a whisper to her left and saw a snatch of color. Upon further investigation she found Megumi pressed against the side of the building, breathing hard.
Kaoru was actually quite pleased that Megumi wasn't clever enough to plan her entire escape route and, drawing a parallel to her own situation, decided she didn't need an explanation.
However, when Megumi thrust a live rooster into her arms, commanded her to follow her, and broke into a run, Kaoru quickly changed her mind, deciding she definitely wanted to know where this was headed.
o
A/N:
4/8/06: REVAMPED. New chapter added.
I got semi-bored with proofreading this so it is quite a real possibility that blatant grammatical error exists. Should you decide pointing them out would somehow give your life direction, go right ahead.
Please R&R, who doesn't like to press buttons, and this one's blue!