Disclaimer:I don't own RK.
THE MATCHMAKER
Chapter One
To: Kenshin Himura
Subject: Hi again!
Hello.
It's good that you're OK.
Anyway, you're right about how tough it is to decide on whether to sell it. But it's also hard for me to stay there.
The longer I stay, the longer I'd be reminded of how lonely my life is now.
I already told Aoshi about it. He tried to talk me out of selling it. But if you can't persuade me, then there is no way he can do otherwise.
The proceeds are quite big, so I've decided to donate all of it.
I'd be fine. I'm perfectly capable of managing myself, I guess.
I'm moving at Aoshi's place. NOT his place-place. Don't get any ideas. I meant I'll be renting one of his flats.
I got a hard time persuading him about it. I couldn't understand why he's being difficult. Can you talk to him? He's giving me a hard time.
And, surprise-surprise! He's starting to talk too much to me now… technically it's called scolding.
P.S. Please talk to him. Reprimand him. I know he would listen to you, and NEVER to me. He thinks I'm a child.
Well, I'm 25 years-old.
Tell him that too.
P.S. Don't over-work yourself!
Pls. reply.
- Kaoru
… SEND…
… Message sending…
… Message sent…
One morning, more than two weeks ago…
Kaoru peered from beneath the covers to check the alarm clock.
10:30 AM.
'Not bad,' she thought. Yesterday it took her until 2 PM before she felt the urge to off the bed. Two to four months ago were worst. She stayed on the whole day for every single day. The only times that she got out off bed were the times when Aoshi or Sano came to check up on her: three times a week for Aoshi, and twice for Sano.
More minutes passed with her staring at the ceiling, not a single thought in her head, she checked on the clock again.
10:53 AM.
Before she could avoid it, her eyes caught the picture beside the clock. It was a picture of her and her father's. It was taken in their garden, under one of their cherry blossoms trees. Her father was sitting on a chair and she was leaning behind him, with her arms around his neck; cheek to cheek. Both were beaming.
He was the only precious person left to her. Her mother died when she was two years old. She could not remember a thing about her – not one. (She wished she could). Her father posed as a father and a mother to her. (He decided not to remarry again, in respect to Kaoru's dead mother). He did not have a hard time in doing so, though.
For Kaoru, he was the kindest, most understanding, loving father in the whole world. No one can beat him to it. Not even Kenshin. (She feels like Kenshin is trying to hold something back from her, like he does not trust her at all.)
A little more than four months ago, Kaoru's father had a heart attack. He did not make it to the hospital. He died inside the ambulance. Kaoru could not stop the choking feeling as she recalled how her father's grip on her hand was slowly loosening – as life itself was starting to breakaway from his body. It was turmoil inside the ambulance. She could not stop from crying as the medics were trying to revive him. But it was hopeless when the machine beeped in a monotonous ding. Everything in the hospital happened so fast. Her father was taken to the hospital morgue, and in the next minute, she found herself crushed tightly in Aoshi's arms. And she did the only thing she can then. Cry. Not bothering if she soaked Aoshi's obviously expensive shirt.
Sounds of footsteps outside her room rushed her out of her reveries. And after a couple of seconds, she heard a knock on her door.
Aoshi.
(If it's Sano, he won't even bother to knock, would just barge in, unceremoniously of course. Aoshi and Sano see to it that her door knob did not a lock on it.)
As usual, she did not bother to answer him with a 'Come in' or even a 'Go away; she just threw back the covers over head.
Aoshi waited for several heartbeats, then finally decided to go inside her room. Mumbling a 'Get up' as he made his way to the bathroom to prepare her bath. "I've already made your breakfast downstairs," he said from the bathroom.
With the covers still thrown over her, she wiped her tears, and just sighed. 'Go away. Go-away- Go-away- Go-away- Go-away- Go-away- Go-away- Go-away- Go-away- Go-away-' she chanted with herself.
"Kaoru-"
"Why don't you just go away, Aoshi?"
For a moment he did not answer.
'Let me be. Let-me-be- Let-me-be-Let-me-be- Let-me-be-Let-me-be-Let-me-be-Let-me-Let-me-be-Let-me-be-Let-me-be-Let-me-be-Let-me-be-Let-me-be-Let-me-be-' she chanted again, underneath the covers.
"No," finally yanking the covers off her.
Kaoru was about to protest, when the look he gave her stopped her. She stared dumbly.
"Your office is desperate to reach you. When they couldn't reach you through phone, they went all the way here to your house." He looked like he's not stopping at any moment. "Unfortunately for them, you didn't even bother to open the gates."
They both waited for each other.
"Get up."
Kaoru, who has been staring at the wall, shifted her gaze to him, menacingly. "Look, you're standing here inside my house. Do you think you can push me around just like that?"
She noticed a couple of throb along his jaw. He's mad. She didn't care.
"I said get up." He managed calmly.
Impressing.
But she can still manage a bite. "Who died and made you King?"
He wanted to laugh at the pun in her statement, yet he refrained himself.
Since he did not even flinched, she resigned to the idea that Aoshi does not feel anything – not at all. "Let me be. Let me do things that I want to do."
"Let you do what? This?" he smirked. Finally. A reaction from him. "You don't get off on that goddamn bed. You don't eat. You don't even bother to take a bath, or brush your teeth. You practically did nothing, Kaoru. You spent the last four months doing nothing than curling up in that bed of yours."
She never heard him say so many words before, shout, or explicitly curse. If he wasn't enraged, she might have joked about it. So she answered him with a dull stare.
"Please get up, Kaoru." She answered by lying back in her bed, and throwing the covers over her.
He waited for her, then took the covers off her, gently this time.
"I'm so alone, Aoshi." Kaoru crying.
"You still have me." He answered quietly.
What he said was quite unexpected. It made her sniff.
He made sure that his gaze was devoid with emotions, before he could not stop himself from being drawn to her marvelously wet eyes and lashes.
"So as Sano and Kenshin." He added before he forgot.
"How long have you been planning this?" She asked, clearly crossed.
"It's Sano's idea." He answered, his focus not faltering from the road.
That morning, she thought she was only pushed on having a breakfast and taking a bath, but Aoshi managed to drag her out her house. (He said they were just going out to buy groceries.)
They were on their way to Aoshi's apartment to meet the others. It seemed like Sano got a brilliant idea (sarcastically speaking) of throwing a party for her: her comeback party.
When they arrived, Megumi and Sano were at the lobby to meet them.
When Sano spotted the two, he put a big grin on his face, and about to hug Kaoru. "Jou-chan-"
"Why can't you be guileless for a second?" She said with a big frown, tapping his arms away.
"For heaven's sake, Kaoru, just wrung it off." It was Megumi. Sano smiled sheepishly.
Before she could respond, Megumi grabbed her by the arm. They were heading outside.
"We'll be back in two hours." Megumi said sophisticatedly.
"Hey, where are you taking me?" Kaoru tried freeing her arm off Megumi's grip.
Megumi did not even slow down her steps. "Nowhere you hate."
"What? Stop!" She tugged at her arm. "I said st-"
"Stop whining. We're going shopping." Megumi gritted.
"I can't believe I fell for this."
It was already 9 PM. Kaoru found herself in a pair of jeans, sparkly top, and a pair of heels (All have been Megumi's choice), holding a glass of champagne, sitting in one corner of somebody else's flat.
She looked around the room. It's not big enough. The living room (which includes a mini bar) has a partition separating it from the kitchen and the dining place. Plus there is also a loft, indicating a bedroom. The place managed to hold more than thirty people, drinking, laughing and chatting. She could only recognize her friends: Sano, was talking to Megumi and to an unfamiliar lady; while Aoshi – well, she couldn't find Aoshi inside the room.
If she wasn't feeling jaded, she could have enjoyed the evening.
Suddenly, she felt a presence behind where she. It was Aoshi.
"Enjoying?" He offered a warm smile.
"No." She focus her gaze on the crowd in front of her. "I just wished you haven't betrayed me into doing this, Aoshi."
He gave her his signature look again: the can't-read-what's-in-Aoshi's-mind look.
He shrugged, "I somehow agreed with Sano that you needed something like this."
"But I don't know these people." She could not help but shout her words, exasperatedly.
Sano interrupted Aoshi's response, by introducing the woman he and Megumi was talking to. Sayo Amakusa, Kaoru observed, was very beautiful: long brown hair, gentle almond-shaped eyes, smooth skin. Clearly, Sano was smitten.
The pair excused themselves, then Aoshi whispered to Kaoru, "What do you think about the two of them?"
Finally, she let herself laugh. "Well, did you see him? His eyes are shaped into hearts; poor Sano. Do you know her?"
"I do. Her company and I have an agreement. All their employees rent here for a 10 discount."
She looked again at Sayo and Sano, who were in corner, sharing a drink, sharing an intimate laugh.
Too sweet, Kaoru thought.
Sano ran his eyes on Sayo's face; Sayo smiled back at him; a fleeting contact of their hands – purposely done or not, she was not sure.
Then a brilliant idea struck her.
"They look quite good together," she commented.
"You think so?" was Aoshi's reply before they dropped the Sayo-Sano topic completely.
After another month.
"I still can't believe what you've done," Megumi ranted on.
Kaoru was taking some of her stuffs out of the box. "Yeah, me too," was all she can say.
It was the day she moved into her new home – at Aoshi's apartment building: 4B.
Aoshi purposely gave her the flat which is next to his and near Megumi's 4D.
Kaoru did not find Aoshi's move appealing though. "You're worse than my father," she told him. He shrugged and answered, "Well, that's what you need."
After they settled everything – the bed, the couch, the TV, and so on, with the help of Sano – Kaoru took out some pack from the grocery bags.
"You're cooking?"
"You're joking."
Megumi and Sano said simultaneously.
Kaoru's busy hands abruptly stopped. "Sayo's living in 4C, right? I'm preparing welcome dinner for tonight."
Sano cleared his throat. "You're joking. Right?" When Kaoru made a face at him, he said quickly, "Just asking."
"Actually, Megumi will cook for us," Kaoru said, guilelessly.
"What?" Megumi squinted. "Oh, no, I don't have time for this."
"Well, you know how my cooking is -" Kaoru smiled brightly, while Sano was nodding vehemently. "And it would embarrass all of us, since I'm your friend, if Sayo choked on my food," she continued, hitting Sano in the head.
"I said no. I need to get back at the hospital for my shift –"
"What's this doing outside?" Interrupted Aoshi, a box of wine on his arms.
"Oh, so you're half Brazilian," Sano and Aoshi heard Kaoru's voice from the living room.
Popping some raisins in his mouth, Sano turned to Aoshi, "Do you mind?" He asked apologetically.
Sano was referring to the cooking chores that somehow fell upon Aoshi right after he stepped inside Kaoru's flat. Actually, he was bullied (by Megumi) and bribed (by Kaoru) into cooking – which the stoic, yet gentleman could not refused. "No, I don't mind," was the curt reply. If he was being sarcastic, Sano could not actually tell.
After an hour, dinner was ready. Kaoru helped in preparing everything, whispering 'I'm sorry. I promise I'll make it up to you' to Aoshi. Naturally he stared back.
The four of them were already seated on the table, and started eating, when Kaoru started dropping her scheme.
"So, Sayo, what do you like look for a guy? You told me about your ex–" she trailed off, as she frowned towards the choking Sano; Sayo quickly offered him with a glass of water while stroking his back. Aoshi fixed Kaoru with a glare, which she answered, defensively, by mouthing a silent, and confused 'What?'
After Sano regained himself, Sayo answered, laughingly, "You know Miss Kaoru, as long as he's honest, understanding, and a pure gentleman, I don't really care who he is, or where he came from" she said, blushing, as if she was addressing someone in particular.
"Yes, but girls like you: beautiful, intelligent, kind – the perfect package – usually end up with a guy, with same status as yours, but have less appealing attitudes than those commoners who actually know the meaning of honesty, understanding, and have deeper sense of life."
"Well, I don't really see myself as a perfect package–"
"You think. But whatever you say, you're still one. Sometimes guys would be intimidated by your perfectness, so what will you do, if a guy – who is in a lower stature than yours, but is honest, understanding, and very gentleman – comes along your way? Of course he'd be intimidated, so he can't really approach you directly, even with all the good intention he have."
Sayo pondered her answer with a serious look on her face.
The two men, completely forgotten.
"If he's truly serious about me, about us, he would only do the best thing about the situation."
"And what is it?" Kaoru asked, almost triumphantly.
"Screw the class status and me being the perfect package, and swept me off my feet."
The women shared a hearty laugh.
"What the hell was that?" Sano hissed, holding back the urge to shake Kaoru onto her senses. He excused himself and Kaoru to kitchen to 'fetch the desert'.
"Why are you so affected?" Sano stopped, but nonetheless glared back. "Pay back time for all the pranks you've done to me before." She smirked.
"Kaoru." He was seriously warning her. Poor Sano.
"Swept her off her feet." She knew that he feigned the confusion that was etched on his face at what she said. "You heard her. I've done my job: set you up. Promise me to do yours," she started opening the drawer for spoons.
"You'll thank me for it."
After sharing a good wine, and several conversations, Sayo politely asked her leave, explaining that she have to finish some papers for the next day's work. Already on the door, Kaoru pushed the stunned Sano, almost knocking himself to woman who's leaving.
"Er, I guess I'm leaving too," he announced, almost automatically, flustering at the confused look on Sayo's face. "Well, I don't really want to stay with these two and be the third wheel, especially when they begin to be cuddly, and kissy, and stuffs." A hand hit his head. "Ow."
After Sayo said her gratitude, Sano escorted Sayo to her front door. "You don't have to escort me here,"
Sayo's smile was so beautiful, Sano was utterly mesmerized. "You're right, but I want to stay with you just for a few minutes –" That did not came out right, he thought. "Er, well, to say sorry about the way Kaoru acted during dinner. She's not always like that –" He felt nervous in front of this woman. Oh, hell.
"Don't apologize for that, because that's what I like about her. Opinionated, bold, sassy," she stopped when he started laughing. "What?"
"Nothing. I'm amazed that you like her for that."
She answered with another mesmerizing smile. "Thank you and good night to you, Sano."
He looked at her longingly. "Same to you," he answered as casually as he can.
He stayed for more seconds after she shut her door, and when he was about to turn his back, she opened the door, surprising him.
"Here's my card. If you have time to have coffee or lunch, don't hesitate to call. I'm usually free at 12 to 1."
He did nothing but nod.
This time, she waited for him to reach the stairs before she closed the door.
After the two left, Kaoru and Aoshi were silent.
They were silently clearing the dinner table, silently washing the dinner wares, and silently wiping the washed dishes.
Kaoru understood the tension between them would snap at any minute.
"So speak up." It was her.
"What do you think you were doing?" He turned toward her, dropping the wipe and the dish from his hands.
"Obviously, I was setting them up."
"What for?"
"Are you jealous?" When Aoshi frowned, confused, "Well, you can say that you like her, and tell me you should be the one I'd set up with her instead of Sano," she answered defensively.
"That's not it. Stop being tactless on things like this. It's for them to decide, not yours."
She ignored his last statement. "If it's not jealousy, then what is it?"
Before she could stop him, he started gathering his things and then headed for the front door.
Kaoru was left, very confused.
Author's Notes
Finally. The first chapter. Such a drag in such a hard and depressing week.
Second chapter, boiling up. Grins
- Jessie Katz