-Closing the Door-

"Last call for passengers boarding Flight A631 to Tokyo…"

Kaoru stood as rigid as a piece of rock; one hand holding her luggage while the other was clutching a flight ticket tightly. She was still clad in the same clothes she had wore the day before when she had had the talk with him. In a yellow T-shirt and light blue jeans, it was a contrast to her feelings. She looked out on the runway unseeingly as the planes prepared to take off. Her eyes were wide and thoughtful, with tiredness and hurt echoing in the depths of the sapphire gems.

'Maybe I should return this back to him…But for now, I can't bear to even face him.' The woman lifted her left hand and the engagement ring gleamed in the bright morning sunlight that was streaming in. It was a platinum ring, with a small round diamond, surrounded by smaller blue sapphires.

Kenshin had bought it to propose to her on her eighteenth birthday and it was just after a while since he had started his fashion-designing job. His pay was not enough to buy a bigger one, but Kaoru Kamiya knew that no matter what he had bought, she would love it all the same.

The very short flashback of the past made her eyes misty and everything became foggy and blurry. Eyes tight shut to stop the tears from coming; she leaned against the glass wall to support her weak trembling legs. 'Damn tears,' She thought vehemently, cursing the messed up hormones in her pregnancy as the cause. ' I've cried enough of them to last a lifetime, let over a guy.'

Inhaling deeply, she calmed herself down, not wanting to upset the fetus in her body, and straightened herself. Kaoru turned around and went to sit down on a hard plastic chair, disregarding the uncomfortable feeling. She set her bags on the chair beside her, loosened her tight grip on the white slip of paper that was crashed and stared at the word that was in bold letters, 'Tokyo'.

'Can I do this? Can I leave Kyoto, my hometown for my entire life, and start afresh somewhere else? Leave Misao? Aoshi?' Kaoru briefly closed her tired eyes and pondered silently, all the while trying to banish Kenshin Himura's face from popping up in her thoughts. Unmoving and irritated by the noise the people were making around her, she tried to concentrate…and concentrate some more.

"Fine! I give up! I knew I could never leave a country, where Kenshin is in. I still love him. Ha! Some kind of love! What a joke!" She burst out; causing everyone there to stop and stare at her like she had had an extra head. The silence was deafening and sudden. Leaping out of the chair, she quickly grabbed her bags and left the airport, her face flamed with embarrassment.

She quickly strolled out of the air-conditioned place, her midnight hair flying behind, and got out into the bright sunlight. She paused and stared ahead of her, then walked back in. The glass doors opened automatically as her high heels clicked on the floor…and the flight ticket was thrown into a nearby black bin.

'No matter what wrong you do, I can't find it in me to blame you. ' The thought was thrown into the whipping wind as a yellow cab stopped in front of her and she got in, wishing all the while that she had not wasted her money on the flight ticket.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Do you want the chicken with tomato or chili sauce?" The sweet voice interrupted the sounds of cooking that traveled from the kitchen.

"Chili." Kenshin replied absently, as he blinked at the TV screen. What was that that the news reporter had said?

'If it was Firefl – Kaoru, she would not have asked me such questions. She always knew.' The unbidden thought came, like a snake waiting for its chance to strike. Kenshin Himura forced himself not to think about her. He had a family to take care of now. The baby in Tomoe's stomach was his responsibility, even if he did not love the mother.

Yes, Kaoru might not know this, but the look of love on his face and the smile…it was all an act to persuade her to leave him. He had broken his promise not to hurt her forever, the woman whom he loved more than his life, but had no choice. The baby was his obligation. He was simply not worthy of her. Even as he thought this, his hands were frantically searching for his wallet.

Twenty-seven year old Tomoe walked into the dining room and placed the dishes of food on the table. She had insisted that she came over to cook for lunch for him. She simply did not understand that Kenshin needed some time alone to himself after Kaoru had left.

"Ken-" She started then stopped abruptly. His head was clutched in his hands, with his opened wallet on the table, and a photo of a beautiful lady with sapphire eyes smiled back at him from its position on the coffee table. He sighed wistfully then gently slipped the picture back into his wallet.

'So, that was Kaoru Kamiya,' Tomoe thought haughtily, a frown on her porcelain face. 'I don't believe she's better than me. Never mind, I'll just make sure that Kenshin forgets about her in no time. I can't let him get away from me! No matter what…"

The woman who was older then Kenshin Himura by two years was going to make sure nothing went wrong with her baby. It was the only connection between Kenshin and herself.

She walked over to the couch, her face peaceful as before, and wrapped her smooth arms around Kenshin's neck. "Kenshin…" She purred alluringly, her eyes staring holes at his wallet where she knew his ex-fiancée's photo was. "Lunch's ready. Do you want the miso soup to be served now or later?"

'Man…not another question. Toleration, one of the most essential thing a human just has to have.'

"Later, please. Thank you."

'Kaoru would never have asked such questions. She always knew…'

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The green trees zoomed past as she looked out of the small window. Her hands were gripping the hem of her T-shirt, as sweat dotted her forehead.

Kaoru caught a reflection of herself on the glass and saw her pale face. Her grasp tightened and she knew that she could bear it no more. Her stomach churned even more violently, as though rejoicing at this very thought.

"Stop!" Kaoru snapped, not intending for her voice to be so fierce.

Brakes screeched as the driver tried to swerve to the side of the road. The door was opened and slammed shut within a fraction of a second, as she threw herself onto the grey cement ground…and proceeded to vomit.

'Always knew that there just had to be some weird attachments that follow a pregnancy.'

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Misao Makimachi, a hyper and always smiling woman of eighteen years, just a girl when forced to marry the leader of a clan and finding love afterward, was not happy after picking up a call by her best friend who was hurting…And she wished she could use her kuanis to pin the person who had hurt her to a wall, and oh so slowly, torture him.

Being the wife of the leader of an ex-ninja clan did have some benefits after all (besides the passionate loving from her husband)…like the ability to use her kunais, her most favorite and trusted weapon, to immobilize someone to a wall…even with her hands tied.

Aoshi Shinormori, nicknamed as the human living ice-cube, looked up from his evening newspaper and questioned his wife of four years silently.

"Kenshin got another woman pregnant and Kaoru just called to say that she was leaving for Tokyo tomorrow morning. She asked us not to look for her and not to tell Kenshin her whereabouts," Misao explained, as she set her petite body beside him. "Kaoru has been crying. Her voice was hoarse and she kept sniffing. Ooh, I'm going to kill Kenshin someday, but Kaoru had made me promise her not to hurt Kenshin and that it was not his fault."

"And?" His voice was soft as he placed his arms around his wife's lithe frame to comfort her.

"And I'm…I'm…going to keep my promise. I just hope Kaoru can start afresh there in Tokyo, even though I want my best friend to be here, in Kyoto."

They went silent for a moment, and they could hear the rain starting to pour outside. Misao suddenly jumped up and exclaimed, "What about their baby? Kaoru's pregnant with his child too! Oh no…" She slumped back onto the couch. "This is such a mess."

Her tall husband stood up and carried her bridal style across their apartment and to their bedroom.  He placed her on their queen-sized bed, and laid a long finger over her lips.

"Don't worry about her. Kaoru's a grown up. She can take care of herself. We can help her along the way," He slowly blanketed her body with his bigger one. "Now, let's try to relax. And I know of a good way…

It was a lucky thing their bedroom door was soundproof and thus, the neighbours were able to sleep without having to hear the pleasure filled screams.

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Thanks to : fox_girl, tanukichan, blue jeans, Crimson Kaoru, Alli, Emumoon, unimportant, Silent Tears of Agony, dewey, donna8157, t, nobody, cosmiccastway, not logged, lalala, Mono unknown, Lolly, kenshin's grl, Aryana 1, Ginny-cry, Koishii Sweet, noner_89!!!!!!!!

Thanks guys! Thank you for spending time to read and review mi story!! And please, tell me what you think of this chappie! Haha, *distributes candies* love ya'all!! *Muackz*

And no worries, I'm not deleting this fic! Smilez, always!

-Astgal-