Cat's Magic

"Kenshin is supper ready yet?" Kaoru yelled from Kenshin's room. After Megumi had left a day ago, Kenshin went all out body guard on her. She had tried to get up and help clean her room but Kenshin practically forbid her from leaving the room. What she could tell from Kenshin's motions, he had found a job and a hard working one at that too. This only means that her room wasn't nearly as clean as she would have liked. "Do you need help; I would be willing to do something."

"No Kaoru-dono. The rice is just starting to boil all is left is the fish. You just relax ok." She sighed and laid back down for a moment. Enough was enough. Her muscles ached from not being used in over a day or two. She slowly got up and walked over to the shoji. The wood rattled as she opened the door and snuck past it, her feet naturally going to the places that made the least amount of sound on the floor. After seeing no one around she snuck toward her room, stopping only once in front of the kitchen to look at Kenshin. His back was to her as he prepared the fish for tonight's dinner. She smiled gently thinking about what they had been through the past year. She began walking back to her room.

"Oh, what a mess in here!" She scanned her surroundings, surveying the damage that she would have to clean. She noticed that Kenshin had managed to take out her futon and mattress to be cleaned but the rest was filthy. She noticed Kenshin had left a bucket of water with a rag this morning. She took the rag and began wiping the dresser off, the mud had been left there to dry into the wood so she had to scrub harder then usual. She got to some more surfaces before wiping her forehead.

She looked up and saw that the mud reached all the way up to the woodwork. She placed the bucket onto the dresser then hauled both herself and the water up to the ceiling's woodworks. She sat on top of the dresser wiping away the mud. After she was finished she unconsciously got onto the support beams and started chipping away the flakes of mud. She stopped when she remembered about supper and Kenshin. She cursed mentally as she braced her self.

"Kaoru-dono?!" She sighed and like a cat, walked toward the end of the beam. But right before she could get to the end her foot gave way to some of the mud and she let out a scream of shock. Her body slid around the pole as her arms and legs attached themselves. She was stuck as she heard feet coming toward her room and the door slid open. Kenshin walked inside confused and looked around. Despite herself, she began to laugh at her mistake and Kenshin looked up. "Ughh. What are you doing up their, Kaoru-dono!?

"You look kind of weird upside down, has anyone ever told you that." Kenshin let out another exasperated sigh and climbed up to the beam to help Kaoru back up. After she got her feet firmly planted on the beam, Kenshin did something unlike him. He picked her up from behind the knees and jumped down to the floor. She had gasped when he grabbed her and wrapped her arms around his neck, her face in his soft hair. "I'm really sorry Kenshin. I didn't think I would fall off…"

"Kaoru dono, you must stop doing these kinds of things. If you had just swept or cleaned your dresser I wouldn't have minded. You could have really gotten hurt this time." He dropped her back onto her feet and gave her a stern almost irritated look of disappointment. She opened her mouth to start explaining but he put his hand up in objection. "What if you had fallen on your head, it would have caused more injury. You should start thinking before you act. I would be…."

"I was only trying to HELP, Kenshin!" Her faced twisted into a look of hurt as she turned and ran back to his room, leaving him stunned.

"Kaoru-dono, wait!" He stumbled out the door but kaoru had already rounded the corner. He slid his hand on his face then started walking back to his room.

Kaoru slammed the shoji open and paced around for a couple of minutes. Her body let off some steam as she thought of Kenshin, yet again. She hadn't wanted to make him mad, far from it. He was the only one she really cared about in the dojo. She wanted him to care but he was going over board with this protection situation. She stomped to the bed and got on her hands and knees and placed her head in his pillow. It smelled piney, like he had gone to the forest every night before going to bed. She squeezed her eyes shut as she heard him walk into the room. "Go away Kenshin."

"Kaoru-dono, can we at least…"

"I don't want to talk about it Kenshin."

"Well this is my appointed room. What would you like this one to do?"

"It's my dojo you know. Just get out Kenshin, Out!" She sniffed back threatening tears and laid there for a couple of minutes. She heard Kenshin walk out of the room in silence. After what seemed like an eternity, Kaoru lifted her head and looked around. Her senses seem strangely sharper as she realized something didn't feel right. She walked around the dojo looking around for Kenshin. She noticed the sakabato was gone as well. After a half an hour of not finding him in or around the premises she started hyperventilating from trying to hold back tears and stress. She walked into the kitchen to see two places set down, the food already stone cold. She walked over to her usual cushion to find a note sitting there. She grabbed it and read it with shaking hands. She started crying as she realized the colossal mistake she had made. It read:

"Sessha is sorry for upsetting you so much. Apparently this one has become too comfortable and you don't want me here any longer. If you are in any serious trouble, this one will always be willing to help. This one will be staying at the ruffian row.

Kenshin."

The paper ripped from the stress as she bawled her hands up. She crumpled the paper violently into a ball and threw it out the door. She looked out in to the darkness that had settled and screamed as if that would rewind the day. She felt her head throbbing around the general area. She felt a drastic change in herself twist her reason. She cocked her head a little when she heard someone come barging through the front gate drunk. Sano came stumbling through the door a few minutes after.

"Hey Jo-chan. I just saws Kenshin walkin away from the dojo. Whats you twos been doin. He looks like you punched him in the face." She had been turned away from him but at the mention of Kenshin's name she turned around to face him.

"Go home Sano. I don't want your drunken state in this house anymore. I've asked you nicely before but…"

"Aww come on Jo-chan. I'm just havin a bit of fun. You need to get a fuckin life…" He stopped short as she ripped around with the angriest expression he had seen on her yet. But it was different then all the rest. Her eyes glowed with a surreal glean, the pupils had become slits. Before he could react in his drunken demeanor, she had floored him with a couple of punches, her foot landing atop of his chest heavily. After a few minutes of silence, she smirked almost evilly. She leaned in so close that her mouth was right next to his ear, her breath tickled his neck. He looked at her startled and confused at the new reaction he was getting from his friend. Something had happened that he had no knowledge of.

"Do you hear that Sano? It's called having a bit of peace and quiet. From now on, that's what I expect to have in my dojo when you decide to go get drunk out of your mind. Now get out." She lifted her foot off Sano and walked towards her room. She heard him get up pick up the paper after finding it, half stumble, half run toward the door. She gave out a sigh, almost strangled cry. "I lost Kenshin, again. I need to get out of here."

She opened her closet and started throwing her clothes over the ground. She stopped short as she found pieces of Oniwa banshuu's "parting present". She smirked at herself and began to change into the pieces. She put the dress that Okon had given to her. It looked exactly like Okon's except it was colored black. She took off her top and walked over to the mirror. She rewrapped her bandages over her chest, except now the bandages where black. She grabbed the black Ribbon Misao had given her and started wrapping her sandals to her feet like the Oniwa banshuu had done. She ripped the pink hair ribbon from hair and rewrapped her ponytail with the black ribbon. She re stood up in front of the mirror and smirked at her new look. Kenshin would have been surprised at the least. She added the last of it, a simple black mask she had gotten at the flower festival.

"I think it's about time to get the respect back I some how lost over these last few months. Plus, I really want to see Kenshin." She darted out of her room, her hand quickly grabbing her bokken. She climbed with ease onto the roof and look out to the city. She quickly spotted the ruffian row to the west. She ran and jumped to the walls roof then down into the road, not bothering to unlock the front gate. She didn't need to anymore; she felt the power surge within her as she darted towards the ruffian row. The wind wrapped around her newly exposed skin and she felt refreshed. She felt as if this new freedom lifted her spirits away from the depression of Kenshin leaving.

She climbed up a pipe with ease and started walking agilely over the roof tops as she got closer to the ruffian row. The area she was entering had many a thug living in the area and she didn't need to be seen by one of them, though it mattered little. With her powers she could easily get away from them. She dropped down from the closest house onto the ruffian row shacks. She scurried along, getting past a couple of women hurrying back into their house, unseen. She dropped in front of Sano's door. She hurried over to the window and opened the window a bit, looking into the room.

Sano and Kenshin sat still in the middle of the room. Kenshin's torn note was sitting still sitting beside him as when he had first gotten it from Sano. Sano looked over at Kenshin, who seemed to either be lost in his own thoughts or was so interested in the tea that he wasn't removing his eyes from the cup. He shifted uncomfortably and looked at the note.

"She acted so weird when I arrived at the dojo, Kenshin. I mean, she's been violent in the past, but this was so different then normal." Kaoru smirked at the past thoughts of her hitting them with her bokken. "I think she was affected by your departure. I can't believe you told her through a note. After all that you two have been through."

"I just wanted her to learn from this. I didn't know she would react this badly. I'm sorry she gave you that." Kenshin looked back up to Sano; his face had started turning black from the couple of punches Kaoru had landed on his face. Kaoru winced when she saw the black marks, noting to try and restrain her power a bit when she got too mad. Sano waved it off as his strong point.

"So why did you leave in the first place Kenshin? I mean, everyone knows you two like each other." Kenshin took a sip of his tea before answering.

"Like I said before, I left the dojo to give Kaoru some time alone to think about her life. She seems to be emanating this new ki that I can't seem to figure out." Kenshin looked at his tea when he thought of the strange ki. He hadn't felt anything like that before, even in his hitokiri days.

"So what is Jo-chan suppose to do about money? You said you had started paying so she wouldn't have to do kendo, like Megumi told her."

"I'm going to be leaving the money by the door, I don't need it but she does. I still care for her; even if she thinks differently now." Kaoru licked her lips and held her hands together. She looked up into the sky. He just admitted to liking her. She heard it herself from his lips. After seeing that Kenshin was ok, she snuck back onto the roof and looked about.

"Now what am I going to do. I can't just waltz into Sano's apartment. Kenshin would probably think I was there for him, which wouldn't be a false accusation." She walked gracefully over the very tops of the tiled roofs thinking. She could go back home but she didn't have anyone there now. Yahiko had just moved out yesterday. Said he had grown old enough to try and live on his own. "What a brat."

She walked over the roofs to the edge of the main road. She knelt down on the edge of the roofs, her hands grasping the edge as she leaned over to see the empty streets. It was dead silent, as to be expected. Suddenly a loud bang got her attention through the darkness. She lifted an eyebrow and slinked over the roof tops to where two men, yakuza probably, were robbing a bank exchange unit. She dropped down and stood in front of the store. She felt her prowess growing as she looked and saw a whole bunch of glittering jewels.

"You boys think you can just steal those precious items?" They whipped around pulling out their knives. One of them snorted and jerked his head in her direction as if to laugh at her more. "That's sounds brilliant to me."

"Hey chickadee, you should be leaving this place. Ain't no place for women." They snickered and stepped towards her a bit. She raised her eyebrow and smiley slyly. She took a couple of steps forward as well, her steps well defined. The guys stopped smiling as they realized she was serious. "You must be stupid."

The guys ran towards her and attacked her with the knives. She dodged them not even trying. She didn't even pull out her bokken from behind her. She moved indiscreetly as their blades kept missing inches from her. She started playing with them once she got bored of their feeble attempts. She grabbed one of them from behind and threw him into a wall as the other guy fell forward behind her. She twisted around down on her hands and knees, bring her leg up in front of the man. He tripped over her leg and fell onto his face. The other guy had gotten up and pulled a gun on her. She laughed and before the guy could see where she was, she was hitting the guns direction away from her and grabbed his throat. She spun around and threw the guy into the other men. She put her hand up as though it was a paw and meowed.

The guys were both freaked by this point and the other guy got his gun as well. She laughed and jumped up into the rafters away from harm. They began trying to shoot her but she just did acrobatics on the poles to get away. Soon she was on top of them again as they looked up. The guy's gun clicked as he tried to shoot it with no bullets. She dropped down onto the two men and knocked their head together, knocking them out.

She grabbed one of the bags on the ground the mean had dropped and began looking the jewels one at a time. She grabbed the bigger ones because they were the shined the most under the night sky. Then something picked her interest. She walked over to see a cat mask. It wasn't too great of value but the mask itself was a work of art. The mask was golden in the very middle but faded into black at the edges. It had a bunch of stones on the bottom edge of the mask making the mask glow to a certain extent.

She picked up the mask gently and removed her mask in the process. She walked over to one of the mirrors they had and put it up to her face. She liked it though her skin tone around the eyes irritated her. Other then that, she fell madly in love with it. She placed her old worthless black mask where the cat one was to be, putting the cat mask on her face. She looked the men once again before slipping out into the night laughing.