A/N: Chapter three of Divorce, actually I started this chapter not too long after I finished chapter two. But we'll see if this gets out relatively soon now won't we? Anyway I am trying to keep being sociable so I might not have all the time in the world to write and yeah life gets more hectic as you get older I've noticed. Anyway in this chapter I hope that I bring in enough emotions and what not and that it's enjoyable.
Would it be sad if I mentioned that I'll probably finish this on Christmas Eve or Day? I thought so.
Disclaimer: Oh, you! I don't own Rurouni Kenshin. However I do own Hikaru and the plot.
Warnings: Cursing (like always), KenshinxTomoe kiss, Saito being Saito, Kenshin being kind of stupid, and Kenji being a teenager.
It was almost like the entire world was silent and hanging on a moment. Strange for a man who had spent his last five years training in a large metropolis. The city was not small by any means, but it could hold its breath and he got the feel that it often did just that. But he hadn't been sent to the city to go sight seeing. The woman walking up to her drive proved just that. Her dark hair, pulled high into a tail and bags in her arms. She was beautiful in a sense, but she also seemed very lonely.
The way she walked alone with the bags instead of with someone and the angle she held her head said more than enough that she was use to company. But when she opened her door a trio of people spilled out the each grabbed something from the woman and she laughed in return before heading into the house with out having to carry anything. It was somewhat sweet though it was also something he never expected outside of a movie.
"Don't eat all of it!" The woman called out. That seemed even more like some sort of movie he would catch his boss's wife watching. They were always sappy, romantic and completely uninteresting. He had never been quite a fan of anything on the television instead he preferred to train and do hard labor. So, with out much more of a thought on that area he settled further into his hiding place.
What was so special about this woman? He wondered not for the first time, she was beautiful from what he could see, but that wasn't what had probably enthralled the Battousai. Actually he highly doubted it was just her looks that had drawn the manslayer in. So, what did she have that made her special? He watched her begin to enter the house before stilling in the doorway. She looked out around her home, and he could feel her searching for a disturbance she was sure there had to be.
Ah, that was what made her special, he decided her instincts and protective nature would interest a man like the Battousai. She must have some sort of training too. This would make his assignment all the more interesting.
The door was taunting him, he would swear up and down that it was. His father had gone missing per se and the door was just that beckoning him to find the answers it held. Kenji tentatively stepped forward his eyes on the only obstacle he was sure that held him away from answers. Because where else could they be? Walking forward he pressed he door open and felt for a light switch. It took him about four minutes of fumbling over the walls before his hands brushed a knob and he gave a twist. Light flooded the room so quickly that Kenji had to squint for a few precious seconds. Glancing back at the rest of the darkened house Kenji took the plunge.
Inside the room it was neat, almost obsessively. Everything had its place, which he noticed, but soon his eyes were drawn to a picture on a desk. It was rather large, too large for it to be there for any other reason than to stare at. It was his mother, but not just her alone she was standing a graduation cap clenched in her hands, her robe unzipped and showcasing the sundress and her swollen belly. There were other people in the picture along with her, but the one person his eyes immediately traveled to was his father's grinning face. The young Kenshin was holding the diploma the very one that said Kaoru Kamiya on it.
To say it was a shock to see his parents together happy, was so very close to an understatement Kenji didn't know if he could breathe. They looked so young, and if he had honest with himself, he would find that he had never wanted to do the math between his age and his mother's. But she was only thirty-three, and she had had to have had him at seventeen. As he looked closer to the image he noted on her left ring finger there was a sparkling engagement ring. Breathing became even hard to do as his mind raced from conclusion to conclusion. He was a love child, his parents got married because his mother was pregnant with him! It made all the more sense they probably wouldn't have gotten married if he hadn't been on the way.
Stumbling backwards he rammed into the weapons rack. A pain shot up through his back and skull, but Kenji couldn't think instead he whirled around and stared. Most of the swords looked incredibly old. As if they had been centuries old, but there was one it seem to be new. Stepping forward he picked the item from it's place on the rack and unsheathed it. The metal rang out against the sheath almost as if it were singing, but all Kenji could do was stare at the shining metal enthralled. It had been used before there were a few nicks on the blade, but other than that it was in pristine condition. What was his father doing with such a new sword? It didn't fit the rest of the collection that had to be from the Edo era and when the Bakumatsu war was fought.
The sound of the back door opening and shutting caused Kenji to jump a near foot in the air. He fumbled with the sword and sheath for a few seconds before he jammed it back onto the rack. There was no way he could walk out of his father's room now, not with him probably heading past the living room to his own room. But! If he was lucky his father would assume that he had gone to the rest room and just pass him by. For the moment though all he could do was wait and hope, his father wouldn't walk into the room. Snagging his bottom lip Kenji waited and was rewarded with silence. After he was pretty sure no one was going to walk into the room he began to look around a little more. Yet, he kept his eyes adverted from the picture on the desk, instead he looked at another picture frame, this one however was on top of a dresser. Why would he need a second dresser? Kenji wondered stepping up to the furniture as well as the picture frame, this time he hoped looking at an image wouldn't make him feel as if he had asthma. Touching the frame, Kenji felt as if someone had punched him in the gut. He had always accused his father of not caring and of preferring to ignore the fact he had a family, but the pictures, not picture, proved him all the more wrong. He had been born by the time each of them had been taken, but Kenji started with the first one that had him wrapped in a bright blue blanket and being held by a nervous Kenshin. The way his father's violet eyes were widened in the picture showed his fear more than his stiff pose did, of course his mother with her twinkling eyes and far more relaxed stance touching his father's shoulder did more than balance the picture.
The next picture he was two, holding a sippy cup in one hand and a fry in the other. He was also all but naked except for the diaper that covered his lower half. Definitely a picture he would beg never to be shown to any future girlfriend. He also had apparently dribbled a little bit of the grape juice on his little chest as well as wearing it as a mustache. Kenji didn't dwell to much on the rest of the pictures as most held pictures of him and his mother was sometimes like a guest star, his father even less. But the last picture he stared at Kenji knew it had to be briefly before the fall out. He couldn't be less than five as he was tucked under his father's arm dressed in a suit. Kenji was pretty sure they both were dressed in matching suits, but he was squirming and his father was trying to get him to cooperate. Behind both of them his mother was walking up a smile on her face but the humor slightly lost in her eyes, his father suffered from that as well. Kenshin also looked tired and drained as he looked at the camera obviously not happy at whoever was taking the picture.
"That was the last image of all three of us together," his father's voice was spoken so closely to his ear Kenji nearly jumped out of his skin before whirling around. Part of him, a very small part, felt ashamed being caught snooping in his father's obvious private room. Tomoe probably wouldn't be happy seeing his mother, Kaoru plastered all over the place. But the larger part of him was very angry, but when wasn't it, for some reason, he wasn't quite sure what right then but he would be soon. With nostrils flared and eyes narrowed Kenji readied himself for a tirade. But his father's look was cold and the anger he held in his eyes was much terrifying than any anger he could of drudged up. Kenji almost gulped at the cold look. "But what I want to know is why are you in here, Kenji?" There was an edge to his voice that Kenji had never heard before.
Kenshin watched his son's face morph from the teenage rage to something akin to a frightened bunny. He didn't feel particularly happy about either expression, but right then he didn't know if he could hold back completely and not yell at his son for barging to a room he was definitely not suppose to be in. It was his room and one that he could stay in for hours at a time just wishing he could go back in time and stop Kaoru from seeing that letter or perhaps manning up and telling her the complete and utter truth. Kenshin didn't know which one would have worked but, but right then all he wanted to do was to get his son out of the room.
He watched as it took Kenji a few moments to process things before the well known anger reappeared. And like a light bulb he watched his son's face morph into one of a sulky and pissed off teenager. Well, if they were going to have it out it had best be then. Kenshin waited for his son to reply, but what he got he could honestly say he was never expecting.
"What the hell were you doing with Aoshi?" Kenji demanded. "Why were you talking to him?" Kenshin stilled for a moment wondered how his son knew Aoshi Shinomori when he hadn't actually seen the man's face until that day. His confusion must have been evident because Kenji for more than a few seconds looked unsure of himself before he painted the antagonistic teenager glare back on. Kenshin was about to open his mouth and ask what he meant by it, but Kenji once more proved that he was the son of the Battousai by ducking under him and running out of the room. "Never mind," he called back. Kenshin watched slightly bemused, though the anger the festered in his stomach was still very much there, as his son vaulted over the back of the couch. The look that flashed over Kenji's face right before he ducked behind Kenshin's line of sight was that of apprehension and worry. But worry from what? What ever it was it was bothering him son. He was about to walk out of the room, his hand even reached for the knob when Tomoe her eyes though went past him. Right to the picture of himself and Kaoru at the graduation. Of course at the distance she wouldn't see that Kaoru was pregnant with Kenji during the photo, but that hardly matter didn't it? What was really the tipping measure was the fact he had pictures of Kaoru all over his room.
He could see the ache in her eyes before she walked up to him and cupped his cheeks. "Oh Kenshin," she breathed, her voice never breaking but the emotion in her eyes did. That was the final straw. Stroking his cheekbones she pressed a brief kiss on his lips. "I was blind."
"Tomoe," he too breathed out. But she wasn't about to let him finish instead she shook her head and closed her soft eyes. It was too much even for her, he knew. This was the end of it all. Kenshin wished that his insides were tearing apart at the idea of her leaving, and felt sickened that he didn't want to cry out and reel her back in. Instead he let her leave. Tomoe just untangled herself from what little hold he had of her before turning around to walk out of the room. "I am going to my brother's Kenshin, I'll be back for my things tomorrow"
Kenji peaked over once more to watch the exchange between his father and Tomoe. There had to be something sad about the fact that he just began to respect her when she broke up with his father. Actually he probably respected the fact she didn't shed a tear or even call his father a ton of name, though she had every right on the latter, when he didn't even move to stop her. Instead she held her head high as she walked out with only her purse and coat in tow.
Catching his father's eyes Kenji almost ducked behind the shield that was the back of the couch instead he allowed his father too look at him before walking away to his room. They didn't speak at all though his father's eyes said more than enough. He was hurting, but it was more for hurting Tomoe than anything else. Settling back into the couch Kenji stared at the ceiling wondering what he would've done if that had happened to him. And by that he meant his girlfriend getting pregnant, then him getting married and eventually divorced, to finally letting go a woman who was probably a comfort more than anything. As he wondered that, Kenji realized he sounded like a super dick for keeping a woman like Tomoe around like that, but when he rolled over and tried to get his mind on something else he immediately thought of Hikaru. Of her slight smile and her sad eyes, and everything else that made her: her. Kenji didn't really realize it but he fell asleep with the girl on his mind and in his thoughts.
He awoke to see Enishi, walking through the house and for a few seconds he thought he was transported three years prior when he was thirteen and his mother had dated Enishi briefly. But then he realized that he was sixteen and he was in his father's house. That just made things all the more confusing, but when the white haired man glanced over at him he just gave a quick wave before hoisting up a box and walking out the front door. Kenji scrambled off the couch intent of getting out of Wonderland when he ran into the Kitchen and saw his father and Tomoe talking. They didn't look like they were having a heartfelt conversation about how he didn't want her to leave or that she thought they could still work it out. Instead Tomoe was handing him a small item that they obviously kept concealed from him. His father gave her an 'are you sure' look before pocketing it or maybe he hid it. But once he did they both looked at him expectantly.
"What the hell is Enishi doing here?" he jerked his thumb back at the door way as he heard the front door open again. This time his father didn't seem surprised instead he looked at Tomoe who looked at him briefly before looking at Enishi whom was hovering over his shoulder.
"He's my brother, and he's helping me move," she said softly, in her Tomoe way. Kenji's jaw dropped it was way too weird that his mother's ex from three years ago, was his father's ex's brother, and that his father was talking to his mother's boyfriend but had no idea! He felt almost as if he had fallen into the Twilight Zone or something.
"Oh, well, that's kind of weird, but uh, Dad are we going?" he asked. Sundays were always traveling back to his mom's. His dad nodded and motioned for him to get his stuff.
"I'll get my keys."
There was a big problem, at least in Sanosuke's opinion. He had come back from Kaoru's house content and well fed only, just only to realize that due to him not going shopping for a whole week he had no beer. That was bad because by five o'clock he and his gambling buddies would be sitting around his card table⦠sober. That was not okay! Rubbing his face he decided he'd visit his younger sister Kaoru and see if she could spare some change or beer. Though he doubted she'd have any beer. She hated the stuff and it was much harder for Kenji to sneak a few sips if there wasn't any in the house. It made sense if one had a curious fifteen or sixteen year old, but sucked when your bested bud/brother wanted to snag some.
Still he wasn't about to go to the Fox's, she'd bitch him out about worrying more about booze than taking care of himself, and the Weasel well she'd probably talk his ear off before he could even get two steps towards her fridge (he knew Misao had beer). Though just in case he was going to take a while at Kaoru's Sano decided he'd take his car, in preparation for when he'd have to break the sound barrier to get back to his place before the guys came over. So, he piled into the car and drove over to the relatively small, but decent house. When the divorce had been settled Kaoru had refused any money except some child support. Even then she didn't even come close to bleeding Kenshin dry to take care of his son, though everyone knew that Kenshin would have forked up just about anything for Kaoru which was why it was so confusing as to why eleven years later why they were still separated. Though that was between Kenshin and the little Missy.
Stepping out of his car, Sano noticed something Kaoru had a new neighbor, one that was very friendly as he leaned over his fence to talk to the gardening woman. To normal people the short guy didn't seem all that odd he was smiling and seemed to be easy going, but there was something about him that Sano really, really didn't like. Maybe it was just because he was talking to Kaoru or maybe it was something more, but Sano just wanted to loom over the guy for a good few moments to scare him. Unfortunately, he didn't get the chance as the man said his good-byes before heading back in. Kaoru of course didn't notice anything wrong, which Sano was sure there was something wrong, and smiled at him.
"Let me guess you are out of booze and you want to know if you can have some of my leftovers?" she asked a teasing smile on her face. Sano was about to correct her about it only being the first part, but hey Kaoru was offering free food and who was he to pass it up? So, he just nodded and followed her into the house. It probably came with the territory of knowing Kaoru since they were in middle school, but sometimes she could read him like a book. Kenshin had never been like that, while he could read people other people could never read him.
"So who was that?" he asked, jerking his thumb towards the other house. Kaoru beamed apparently excited about the prospect of a new neighbor.
"Oh! That's Soujiro Seta he just moved in, but he said it was more of an impulse so he didn't have much to move in," Kaoru explained. Sano highly doubted anything about that guy was impulsive but he kept that particular notion to himself and maybe Kenshin. It wasn't that he was spying on Kaoru for Kenshin it was more that he thought Kenshin should know that the Aoshi Shinomori was sniffing around as well as another interesting person. It was all he could do seeing as his foster brother was still head over heels with the Missy even if he wouldn't get his head out of his ass to actually see it. Well the Missy was pretty stubborn but there were more than enough moments when Sano thought she had a reason to drag her heels with Kenshin. Number one, Kenshin was still keeping is job a secret and even before they got engaged and Kaoru got knocked up with Kenji, Sano had been trying to get him to see the light and tell her. He never had and the secret had been the very thing that had torn them apart. But Sano wasn't the type to tell him I told you so. Nope not at all, okay yeah after a few beers he would loudly proclaim that his foster brother was a fucking moron, but other than that he kept his mouth shut.
"That's a man for you," Sano just said. Kaoru shook her head before making a beeline for the fridge there she picked out a six pack and a few containers of food before popping the containers in the microwave and setting the beer on the counter. Sano's eyes were huge.
"I was going to give those to you yesterday but you ate all my dumplings so I decided to hoard them," she said. The cheeky smile she gave him, reminded him of the very young Kaoru he use to know. Okay so maybe Aoshi was good for her because she was smiling like normal and all. Sano gave her a grin back.
"Well, damn you know me all too well Missy," he said. The microwave beeped a few minutes later and the food Megumi had made the night before when they were all hanging out. Sano chowed down as quickly as he could with out choking on it. He was just about to ask Kaoru if he could borrow a few bucks when she laid down two twenties and smiled.
"I know a measly six pack won't hold you over, and you can pay me back with yard work and probably some repair work. How is that?" Kaoru said. She was pretty damn selfless sometimes, Sano sighed before pocketing the money and promising to pay her back by maybe saving her a couple hundred on repair work.
When Kenshin and Kenji arrived at the Kamiya household Sano was just leaving, and so Kenshin only go a small wave from his foster brother before he locked eyes with his blue eyed ex-wife. She gave him a pained smiled before turning to their son. Kenji was the only thing they had in common anymore. Turning his gaze to Kenji he was about to say something when the boy walked past both of them and into the house. Kenshin blinked confused for a few beats before turning to look at Kaoru. She too was confused.
"Did something happen?" she asked. Kenshin shook his head. Nothing that would really bother Kenji had happened, well except for the fact he had talked to Aoshi Shinomori and his son somehow knew the man. Kenshin was about to ask Kaoru who Aoshi was to her when the first few lines of a relatively old song came blaring out of the house along with the singer nearly screaming his head off. Kenshin's eyes widened and Kaoru gave a growl. "Kenji!" She yelled stomping back towards the house, he couldn't hear what she said to their son over the bellowing of the lead singer, but what ever it had been Kenji turned down the sound. For a brief moment Kenshin wondered if all teenagers were enigmas. He didn't remember being one but maybe all younger generations were. If movies were anything to go off of they were suppose to brood continuously until the matter was resolved but it almost seemed as if Kenji would take time from brooding and act like a semi happy teenager if not a little angry at times. Some switch had been flipped, and right then Kenji was sulking.
Kaoru came back outside and glanced over to the house that was next to her, the one Kenshin remembered not being occupied. However, that was no longer the case as a young man stepped out and looked at her. Kenshin could hear Kaoru perfectly as she apologized for the loud music and promised she'd try to never have it happen again, and the young man just shook his head and told her that it was fine. Her new neighbor seemed, off. There was definitely something more to him than he let on. But before he could allow himself to do anything reckless, Kenshin said good-bye to Kaoru, and like the coward he knew he was, he ran back to his car.
Kenji decided immediately when he sat down to the lunch table that he'd have to tell the trio what he had come to believe. Of course, that was before Yahiko and Tsubame skipped out on them because they had open lunch. Staring at Hikaru, Kenji wondered for more than a few moments if she noticed that it was just the two of them. If she did she didn't act affected as she began to pour ketchup on her hashbrown. She must have felt his eyes because she looked up at him with a curious gaze.
"What?" she asked, and Kenji felt like a moron. Of course she didn't notice anything different! He didn't even know why he felt like them being the only two members at the table meant anything. The silence still stretched as Kenji realized he needed to come up with a excuse as to why he was watching her.
"Uh, I just still can't believe you eat that greasy crap," he finished lamely, and Hikaru just blinked at him before going about her business. Kenji decided to follow her lead and looked down at his plate. He didn't know what had compelled him to pick up the pizza that looked like it should've been made out of plastic when they had two other meals that had actually been decent. Poking at the shiny cheese, Kenji felt a tingle at his spine and he looked up. Hikaru was watching him, her green eyes curious. "What?" he mimicked her from earlier. However, Hikaru was ready for her response and hadn't left a chasm of silence between.
"You seemed like you really wanted to say something until you realized Yahiko and Tsubame actually choose to take their open lunch," she said. His eyes lightened up, so she did noticed that they were alone (but that wasn't important he reminded himself).
"Uh, yeah. I was going to tell you guys the theory I came up with," he muttered still a little irritated at the two older people of their group. Kenji watched as Hikaru mulled over what he could be wanting to tell them as she chewed on her ketchup drowned hashbrown.
"You mean what ever it was that got you in a bad mood today?" she asked. Kenji wanted to say that she was one to talk with her going on days of mopey sighing and staring out windows, but he didn't want to fight with Hikaru right then.
"Yeah, basically," he agreed. She seemed to let the subject go for the moment.
"So, what was it or is it something you have to tell all of us?" she asked, eyes bright. Kenji for a split second hated to take the joy away from her, but he didn't know if he could tell Hikaru he thought he was a love child, when he had been friends with Yahiko since they had been in diapers. Actually Yahiko had been like a brother to him, and while the older boy didn't remember the days of Kaoru and Kenshin any better than he did, he still knew the family.
"I'd prefer to tell Yahiko first. He's like my brother," Kenji admitted. Hikaru looked chest fallen, but she quickly recovered. Or at least she tried to with a fake, happy smile plastered over her face.
"Oh, of course, yeah!" she agreed, her voice a little tinny still. Kenji felt his face soften at the sound and fought with himself. Maybe telling her would be something they could bond a little more over. Yahiko and Tsubame had been his friends longer than Hikaru. Actually he had met the black haired girl during their seventh grade year. "Sorry to pry." That had sealed the deal, with a deep breath he decided he'd trust her.
"I think that I might be a love child. That my parents had gotten together because my mom was pregnant," he admitted. It felt strange to let it out to Hikaru she was dealing with a divorce and who knew why her parents had gotten together. His words might have made it worse, but the light in her eyes said something more. It was as if they had something in common?
"You too?" she asked. Kenji felt floored.
The smoke curled around his face lazily until the wind blew it off to the far right. He was awaiting for Tokio, he almost felt like he was almost always waiting on the fiery woman. She had promised some money and while he usually just told them not to bother with giving him it in person, probably due to his old job, he hadn't even gotten the words out of his mouth before Tokio set a time and date. Why he hadn't called her back and told her not to bother, was not lost on him. Saito wasn't a dolt, he knew that he was very much attracted to the woman, but he also knew the fact that she was far more dangerous than she looked.
Tokio had said he looked remember and she thought she had seen his face from somewhere. He too had noted she looked familiar, but it wasn't until she saw her hair done in a slightly more intricate bun rather than the messy one she had worn before, that he remember. A princess of their world and one who had disappeared years before he had gotten out of the game. If he remembered correctly from some of his sources the precious princess had yet to be found again. Of course his mind had ticked away the reasons why he should've given her back to her ailing, yet still dangerous father. But, Saito had seen that Tokio wasn't some delicate flower to be jostled around. Instead she looked at him straight in the eye and called him the Wolf of Mibu.
She hadn't said his title with fear, no it had been more in awe and admiration. She had admired him and had not shied away from the fact that she knew he had killed. Dropping his cigarette back onto the ground he stamped it out before getting a new one out and lighting it. No, if he were to start a relationship with her, which was tempting despite the fact that he'd have to deal with a bratty and obnoxious teenaged girl, all of their cards were all ready out on the table. Nothing to duck behind, but then again the Wolf of Mibu didn't do much hiding.
"Hajime," she said his first name smoothly. He looked up, she always did. Ever since they had remembered each other she had been focused on learning his name and keeping in touch with him.
"Ma'am," he replied, mostly to be contrary. Tokio disliked being called anything other than Ms and her first name. The way she scrunched her nose was more than enough of a way to tell he'd hit the right spot. But she didn't say anything, it seemed she had realized the game he liked to play.
"I came here not only to exchange payment, but to also," she trailed off, and Hajime liked to imagine for a few seconds all the things she could've said, "to ask you of another favor. Right now my job isn't particularly as stable as I need it to be, and my ex's well lets just say he's been able to hold a job even when a company is near bottoming out. It must be his skill as a bottom feeder scum, but that's not the point. The point is that the judge I swear is seeming to lean in his favor. I want you to keep some time open just incase I find something I need you to investigate a little further." If it had been anyone else, Saito knew for sure he would've said hell no and given them the bird. But, Tokio was different. She knew it and he knew it, though neither of them said anything. It was an unspoken agreement that they wouldn't do anything until everything was settled.
Though once Tokio had her daughter and would finally suck her husband dry of all of his monetary value would she see the need to keep him around? It wasn't that he cared too much, he wasn't stupid a relationship with Tokio could be disastrous, but he did care some and wouldn't mind having something more with the Princess.
Computers didn't lie. Actually they did when someone had actually made them lie but other than that computers didn't maliciously try to lead someone astray. Aoshi for a second couldn't believe what he was looking at. Kenji Himura had been born when Kaoru was only seventeen and Kenshin was eighteen. But Aoshi felt slightly ashamed for not looking a little further into Kaoru's past then he wouldn't have been so shocked when the Battousai opened the back door and he nearly tripped over himself recognizing Kenji's face, hair, and eyes. Kaoru had stamped so little of herself on her son, it shouldn't have been a shock that Kenji's father held the honor. Except for the fact that Kaoru had been married to Battousai the manslayer. So much for a normal woman, he sighed looking at the screen again. Still Kaoru seemed innocent, and as if the undercurrent had yet to sweep her off her feet.
It came to Aoshi then. Kaoru Kamiya had no idea who her husband had been.
Kaoru first felt the hand hovering over her shoulder before she glance over and saw her new neighbor a smile ever present on his face. It had been a few days since he had moved in and Kenji had come home. And during those days, Kaoru had found a confidant in her neighbor. He was always attentive to what she said and rarely asked too many questions though the topic she often found him straying to was a mix between her son and her ex. Though she couldn't blame him for wondering about Kenji, he son had been making scenes often as he'd get home.
His moods were also magnetic as he got somber and snappy even with her. Of course Soujiro never mentioned her son's bad attitude. He more asked what it had been like being a single mother and how'd she had handled taking care of her son alone. Kaoru didn't want to mention that early on in their divorce Kenshin nearly refused to let her do most of the raising alone, something she didn't blame him for. But she knew that since Kenji was to live with her she'd have to learn how to handle their child. Instead she told Soujiro of Kenji's antics and the help her friends had demanded she take.
The topics focusing Kenshin made her wary like how often did he swing by, and were they close. It would be a good question if Soujiro was Aoshi and her boyfriend. But maybe he wanted to know if Kenshin would park in front of his house or if he should not hang out with her when her husband was around. So, she answered him as best she could. Sometimes what Kenshin did was still a puzzle to her.
Soujiro could hardly believe that she would open her mouth so easily and that Aoshi had, well he had placed him in such a good spot. He never doubted his employer and mentor but it had to be a sign of the world showing that the strong were finally going to destroy the weak. Why else would it find to place him so close to a woman who was not only Battousai's ex but also Shinomori's girl. That information had nearly knocked him from his perch when he had heard her speaking of the Aoshi Shinomori as if he was some harmless paper pusher. What was it about Kaoru Kamiya that brought strong men to her, they seemed to flock her.
A/N: Yeah, it's late. I know. And it wasn't because I didn't finish it. It's because I totally haven't finished or even started on chapter four. I know I am a bad, bad person but for a moment I felt so meh and I didn't want to give you guys meh chapters. It's really sad how I can't crank out the rewrites just so you guys can you know read those until the new ones come up but I fail and I am aware of that!
Still thank you to my reviewers, the people who favorite this and watch me because of my stories! It means a lot to me actually I get all warm and fuzzy when I read reviews. I hope you guys enjoy this story and thank you!
Also check out the NEW forum I put up. There you can tell me what you miss from the original, what you like from the remake and what you'd like to see make it into the remake as well. Also suggestions for new stories/scenes are always welcome! Just click on the link to the forums from my profile and have a blast!
