Long Vacation
-disclaimer-
Standard disclaimer applies in every of my chapters. I do not own the RK gang.
-author's notes-
Here's chapter four guys! Hehe, once again, sorry for the long update. It was faster than the last one though! Hah! So I kept my promise! Lol anyways, thank you soo much for the reviews guys! They were amazing! Uhm, I've decided to add another author's notes on the bottom, so that I can talk about the story without spoiling it to you guys! Lol... anyways, enjoy the story! And - oh my god - thank you soooo much for the beautiful reviews! I'm so happy when I read them! And guess what? Tomorrow's my birhtday! February 10th! So review as for my birthday present, ne? Thanks sooo much! Have a happy Valentine's Day!
Remember to review!
Chapter Four: The Reunions
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When you left me on that stormy night,
Half of my breath flew together with you,
So I need you to come back to me,
Return to me the other half of my breath.
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Kaoru's door slammed open and out came the girl, bringing a bulky bag with her. She stared angrily at Kenshin as she spat,
"I'll send someone to pick up the rest of my things as soon as possible."
Then she made a beeline for the door.
Kenshin immediately stood up and shouted,
"I'm sorry! I didn't know!" This caused Kaoru to stop on her tracks for a second before she continued on walking.
"What on earth are you talking about?"
Kenshin wasted no time talking about it. Instead, he just said,
"You were waiting for Yukishiro-san's phone call, right? To let him be the first one to say happy birthday…"
Kaoru stopped dead from opening the door. After a few second she shouted, her voice an octave too high,
"Isn't that none of your business?" she screeched, as she banged open the door and ran straight to the stair way, leaving Kenshin feeling very stupid… and guilty.
The young man stared at the door, thinking what he should do. He never did like feeling guilty. Made him feel like he was a jerk, a bastard. He had a feeling that he had indeed been one just a few minutes ago. He sighed as he let himself fell lazily on his couch. His eyes wandered around his small house… and that was when the idea hit him. He quickly opened his windows, hoping his plan would work.
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-looong vacatiooon-
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Kaoru panted as she reached the end of what seemed like an endless flight of stairs. She took a glance at the door she had just slammed a few seconds ago and scowled.
She was hurt when Kenshin said those words. She couldn't believe someone as kind and nice as him would have the heart to say such things… and just because of telephone calls too. Wait, maybe it's because of that Megumi girl… aargh, who cares about that right now. The problem at hand was to find a place to stay. That's easy enough for tonight: Misao's house.
The raven-haired girl shifted the heavy bag on her right hand as she started for the exit. The last chilly winds of winter greeted her, but she paid no heed to it.
She was so angry at Kenshin… no, she was angry at everyone. As she walked the few steps around the corner, she wondered how her wonderful, beautiful life had all turned upside down in the last couple of weeks.
How?
How did it all happened?
… that was when she heard something that made her stopped thinking. It was… the sound of a piano… playing softly the tune of…
Happy birthday to you…
Happy birthday to you…
Kaoru stopped walking as she slowly looked up at her old apartment. She realized someone… Kenshin obviously… had opened the windows, causing the music to flow clearly out to the road.
Happy birthday, happy birthday…
She gave a painful smile as she leaned over the wall behind her, looking up at the stars. All ideas of leaving shattered in the back of her mind.
Happy birthday to you…
Kaoru remained like that when the song stopped. But to her surprise, Kenshin played it all over again, as if he knew that she was listening to its beautiful melody.
Then she realized something she never realized before.
Her eyes hurt.
It hurt from being forcefully used to be a dam, a dam of tears that had threatened to fall ever since her life went upside down.
It hurt from being forcefully used to show fake happiness, fake contentment that had never existed since she figured out Enishi was no longer by her side.
It hurt from being forcefully used to see the reality that she so want to deny, seeing how people were constantly making fun of her.
It hurts… it hurts so damn much…
But she won't give in to the pain. She would never give in to the pain. She was Kaoru Kamiya. She'll live through this and strive for the future. She won't let this get to her.
Trying to smile to make herself believe what she just said, she took a deep breath and she walk back to the old apartment.
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-looong vacatiooon-
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Kenshin smiled to himself as he continued on to play 'Happy Birthday to You' on the piano. Ask him why he kept on playing; he wouldn't even know the answer. He just had a feeling that someone, somewhere was listening to his music. That someone was Kaoru.
He poured all his guilty feelings in each note he played. He hoped Kaoru would forgive him for what he said. He knew that the girl was on the verge of breaking up. He knew for a fact that if he was in her condition, he would have probably landed up as a madman.
Being dumped by her fiancé on her wedding day, being rejected by her family because of some stupid superstition, her friends making fun of her because of what happened… all just seemed too unbearable.
Her job was taken from her. Her money was taken from her. And worst of all, her love was also taken from her, and was lost forever…
The sound of a door creaking open caused Kenshin to stop playing and looked at her.
Kaoru stared at him as she stood there, as if asking him for permission to come in. Kenshin realized this as he stood up and said,
"What are you doing over there, standing like a stupid person?"
The ex-model beamed when she heard this and went in inside the house, dropping the heavy bag in front of her. Silence loomed over the two them, only to be broken by Kenshin when he said,
"I'm sorry for what I said before."
Kaoru looked up at him when she heard the sincerity his voice held. She laughed.
"Don't worry about it. What you were saying was all the truth anyway. What can I say? By the way, that was the first time I actually heard you play the piano!" she said, trying desperately to change the topic. Kenshin gave a small smile.
"Well, I don't usually play in front of people." He mumbled. Kaoru cocked her eyebrows.
"And why not? You're really good! And besides, you played for me just now." She said as she took off her sandals.
"Christmas and birthdays are special occasions…" the pianist mumbled. Kaoru laughed again as she walked over to the living room.
"Well, you have to learn to play in front of me, at least. Cause I have a feeling I'm going to stay here for quite some time." She said, winking her right eye as she opened her bedroom door and threw the bag inside. Kenshin chuckled.
"Yeah, I guess." But then his laughter disappeared as he went over to take a seat on the sofa.
"You were waiting for his phone call, weren't you?" he said, turning serious. Kaoru's bright smile diminished instantly as she closed her eyes and nodded slowly. From the looks of it, Kenshin wouldn't let her avoid the issue. She took a seat beside her roommate.
"It was just that… if he were to ever call again… it would be today…"
Kenshin didn't need to look at her to feel her grief. It was so strong that it filled the whole room with sadness.
"I should have known that he would never call. I knew that in the back of my head, but I refused to believe it. I don't want to believe that five years of our memories together could just be erased because of a new girl."
Kaoru stopped there, clearly noticing the breaking of her voice. She didn't want to say anything more… she couldn't say anything more, for fear of the dam in her eyes would break.
Sad silence loomed over the two of them for a few seconds. Finally, Kenshin took a deep breath and broke it.
"Hey, don't act so blue. It's only nine. There's still three hours remaining of February 26th, right? Let's celebrate!"
He said this as he stood up and grabbed a bottle of wine from one of the boxes. Kaoru stared at him for a few seconds before a smile began to form on her rosy lips. She laughed.
"Okay! Sure! I love parties!"
Kenshin smirked.
"I am quite aware of that…" he mumbled.
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-looong vacatiooon-
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"Soooooooo… you know basically the whole details of my love life. Don't you think it's a little bit unfair that I know so little of yours?" Kaoru asked, her eyes twinkled as she twirled the fragile glass of wine on her hands. The two of them were fairly intoxicated. One could tell easily from the amount of bottles lying around the floor.
Kenshin coughed when he heard this and blushed cutely (his face was already red from drinking too much alcohol anyway).
"What do you mean?" he asked. Kaoru's eyes twinkled mischievously as she elbowed the pianist playfully.
"Aaw, Genshin's embarrassed." She teased the pianist with her newly-made nickname. "You know I'm talking about that Megumi girl. So, who is she? What does she look like? Is she pretty? Or is she more like the cute type? Does she know you like her? Or are you guys going out already? How did you guys know each other? How come she never called before? Oh, and you also failed to mention her name before! Why is that?"
Kaoru bombarded the younger man with these questions in a rush. Kenshin chuckled when he heard her.
"Megumi Takani… she's a really beautiful woman. We met when we were both in college. She's always calm and subtle. The polite type of girl. She's a year younger than me, and she's really talented with the piano. She doesn't know that I like her. And I met her today when I visited my professor at my university."
"Oh, that's interesting. I want to meet this girl sometimes!" Kaoru chirped happily. Kenshin chuckled and both of them continued on talking about random things until both fell asleep in the living room.
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-looong vacatiooon-
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Kenshin yawned heavily as he walked out off the musical school he was teaching, Aoshi walking beside him.
"So you're planning on asking Takani out?" the taller man asked. Kenshin nodded and gave his friend a glance.
"Do you have any suggestions as how for me to do that?"
Aoshi gave him a look that clearly stated, 'you're-asking-me?' Kenshin shrugged.
"Well, you did manage to get yourself a fiancé." The red head mumbled. Aoshi smiled at the thought of his love.
"Speaking of your fiancé," Kenshin started, "when are you going to introduce me to her?"
Aoshi shrugged as they rounded up a corner.
"She's pretty busy lately; she said something about helping her 'unfortunate friend'. So maybe around next week?"
Kenshin nodded as he secretly wondered who could have fallen in love with his stoic friend. But then Aoshi broke his thoughts with the words,
"I don't know, Kenshin. I am not that close with Takani." The icy man answered the unanswered question. Kenshin sighed, his thoughts back to his crush.
"But why don't you just try asking her now?" Aoshi said suddenly. Kenshin gave him a confused look. Aoshi jerked his head to their left, and when Kenshin followed his gaze, his vision landed on the familiar figure of Megumi.
Aoshi mumbled his goodbye and good luck to his best friend as he left him alone. Kenshin slowly made his way and greeted her.
"Ohayo, Megumi." He said, feeling a little nervous. Megumi immediately turned her head to look at who had called her. She smiled when she saw that it was Kenshin.
"Oh, Kenshin, ohayo."
"What are you doing here?" Kenshin asked casually, as they started walking together.
"Oh, I just got back from a friend's house." Megumi answered, smiling. The two of them walked in uncomfortable silence.
'Ask her out, stupid moron.' Kenshin said inside his head. 'She's right there. Ask her out.'
"A… Anoo, Megumi. Do you have time now?" The beautiful girl looked at Kenshin, and then smiled.
"Yes, I actually do. Are you planning to go somewhere?" she asked.
"How about lunch together? It's about noon…" the pianist mumbled. Megumi smiled and nodded her head. So the two of them headed out for lunch.
They settled themselves on a traditional Japanese restaurant and ordered their food as silence started to conquer over them once again.
"So, what have you been up to lately, Megumi?" Kenshin asked, hoping to start a conversation.
"Nothing much, really. Just have been obsessed with the piano." She said, smiling a bit.
"Oh… is that so…"
Silence once again.
"What were you doing yesterday at the university, anyway?" started Kenshin again.
"Oh you know, just practicing. I find it harder sometimes to practice at home." The girl said, taking a sip of her water.
Silence once again.
"You know, I haven't seen you around lately." This time it was Megumi who started the conversation.
"Ah yes. You mentioned that a few days ago." Kenshin said, noting how stupid his remark was.
Silence once again.
'Oh come on. Think of something to say!' Kenshin screamed inside his head. He looked around him, then at his 'date'. 'Oh god, this is going nowhere.'
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-looong vacatiooon-
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"Thank you very much, Kenshin. I had a great time today." Megumi said. Kenshin knew she didn't mean half of what she had said.
The young man frowned inside his head at the mistakes he had made that day in front of his crush. He sighed as he returned her smile and mumbled his goodbyes as they both walked different directions.
'That was a nightmare. What was wrong with me? I couldn't even think of anything to talk about when I'm with Megumi. My mind just went blank. And it's not like she's trying any better too... '
Kenshin sighed once again as he absent-mindedly kicked a stone in front of him.
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-looong vacatiooon-
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Megumi sighed as she walked back to her apartment. That lunch date was… interesting. She couldn't deny that her senpai was really hot and cute, but somehow he seemed to have some trouble communicating. She wondered if he possibly had taken a liking on her. Boy, that would be quite confusing…
So caught up with her thinking that she didn't realize a young man was coming up her direction. They bumped into each other in full force. She let out a soft scream but never felt the impact she expected. Instead, she felt a pair of strong arms caught her before she fell.
Her dark blue eyes met his dark brown eyes. She immediately blushed as the young man put her back on her feet.
"I'm very sorry, missy. I wasn't watching where I was going. But hey, they say it takes two to make an accident. So I take it you're not paying attention to where you're going too." The young man with spiky brown hair (guess who?) laughed heartily. Something about his laughter made her insides jolt.
"Aah, gomenasai! True, I wasn't paying attention to where I was going. I'm so sorry that I…"
"Don't worry about it, missy. I was just kidding. Anyway, I have to go now. Got a lot of things to do. Nice to meet ya!"
Megumi was so transfixed at his deep, easy-going voice that she didn't realize that he had walked past her.
"Ah, wait!" she said. She turned around, but only to find that he was gone.
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-looong vacatiooon-
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Kaoru sighed as she went through the pile of letters from various types of cooperation and offices that she had tried to get a job from, but all she got were rejections. She mumbled a few curse words when the door suddenly flew open to reveal her roommate.
'Oh wow, he's not in a good mood.' Kaoru stated immediately.
"Welcome home, Kenshin!" she said, getting rid of the tons of papers in front of her. Kenshin replied her back as he went straight to his room, saying that he was really tired. Kaoru shrugged as she started to stack the papers neatly to save space in the trashcan.
Again, the house was flooded with silence as if there had been no interruption at all. When Kaoru had finally cleaned up her mess, took a shower, read a few magazines, when something suddenly happened.
Someone was knocking noisily at the door. Immediately, Kenshin's door opened to reveal a confused red head. He looked at Kaoru for some explanation, which the ex-model replied with a shrug. She quietly stood up from her position and went for the door.
At first she only opened the door a small distance, but in less than a second, she opened it at its full length, her eyes widened and her mouth hanged open.
Kenshin stared at her, confused. He started to walk to the door to see what was going on when his eyes landed at something he didn't expect. It was a man with spiky brown hair, deep chocolate-brown eyes, and he had the look of a gangster. His eyes were twinkling with delight at the sight of Kaoru. It seemed that he didn't realize Kenshin was there.
"Yo, Jou-chan! What's snakin'?" he asked, snickering at the girl in front of him.
"Sanosuke! Why the hell are you standing in front of my door?" Kaoru screeched.
"That's all you say when you see me? Boy, Jou-chan, you're harsh. We haven't seen each other for years!" the man asked, still snickering. Suddenly, Kaoru whacked him in the head.
"Oouw, what's that for?" Sanosuke mumbled, rubbing his head. Kaoru looked at him.
"You're real!" she stated stupidly. The spiky haired man snickered.
"Yeh, sorry to disappoint you, Jou-chan." He said. Just then, Kaoru hugged him tightly.
"God, I should beat you up until you're nothing but a pool of 'goo' later on, but for the time being, I'm just happy you're still alive and right in front of me!" Kaoru said happily. Sanosuke chuckled when he heard this as he returned the girl's hug.
"Sorry for not writing or anything. Life was pretty hectic in an isolated village." He snickered. Kaoru let go of him as she heard this and pouted.
"So that's why there's no news from you for four long years?" she asked, her hands on her hips. Sanosuke's eyes gleam as he nodded.
"So did you miss me?" he asked, looking straight at Kaoru's eyes. Kaoru rolled her eyes before replying,
"Miss you? Hell no. Someone as important as you just disappeared out of my life without a single news and I don't miss him. Suuure…" she said sarcastically. The tall man laughed as he whacked Kaoru on the head.
"So how did you find me?" the raven haired woman asked, curious. Sano laughed.
"I have my sources…" he said mysteriously.
Kaoru was about to reply when a voice behind her interrupted her.
"Kaoru… who is he?"
Kaoru closed her eyes. One thought entered her mind,
'Crap. I forgot about Kenshin.'
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-to be continued-
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-author's notes-
Aaaand... the plot thickens with Sano's appearance! Well, I gotta make him appear sooner or later, right? And oops! What's his relationship with Kaoru? Any guesses? A BIG Kenshin beanie will be given to those who got it right! Haha, well... and did anybody guessed who's the guy that crashed with Megumi? Hmm? You won't get anything if you guessed THAT! It was sooo obvious! Lol, yeah... okay... I'll shut up! Next... to my beautiful reviewers!
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-to the reviewers-
Enchantedsleeper – aaw, I'm sorry for the argument part. But look! I made them together again! Yay for me! Lol… XD!
MZ. Amber Eyes – Lol, thank you for the review, dear!
E.B. – Yuep, I made Kenshin feel REALLY guilty for shouting like that to our poor Kaoru-chan, ne?
Brittanie Love – Lol, thanks so much for the review! And for adding me to ur favorite list too :)!
Reignashii – Sadly, yes, this story's plot is to make Kenshin fell for Megumi for the beginning… at least. Lol, and no… 24 is not that old, but I have to exaggerate things in this story, that's the only way it'll work. Sorry XD!
Pego – Aaaw, thanks so much for the review! It was soo inspiring. Yes, English is my second language. Hehehe, I was pretty scared for my grammar, so thanks so much for assuring me :)!
Battoussaifriends – I know, Enishi is evil, isn't he? Lol, and it's just sad since I kind'a liked him in the anime and manga! Oh well… lol XD!
Kik-ting - yay! Thanks for the review! Uhm… Kenshin's age? He's like… 2 years younger than Kaoru. So do the math. Lol… well, if u like surprises, this story will have tons of 'em! XD
TimeWarper – it's cool how people actually liked the cliff-hanger! Lol, here, I updated!
Tauna the tundra wolf – thanks for the review! Here's an update:)
DeathDealerX501 – Oh don't worry. Especially for you, I put a LITTLE Megumi and … ? (mysterious guy) moment in this chapter… so can u guess where the story is going? Lol!
Lendra-chan – Aaaw, you reviewed twice! I updated this chapter for you, especially! You know what? I love your stories too! Haha, anyways, thanks for the review! Aaw, you don't like Megumi? Lol, don't worry, she won't be with Kenshin by the end of the story! XD
DBZ Goddess – Aaw, geez. I'm so happy when I read your review. It was really inspiring. Thank you very much! Here's an update! Hope you liked it as much as the other ones… it was a bit short uu;
Scythe195 – hehe, thanks for the review!
Kira toa of Blade - Gee, thanks for the review! Here's an update for you! I hope you liked it!
Please review so I'll update soon:)
Thanks for reading!
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