A/N: Greetings fellow Rurouni Kenshin fans! Nice to see that you're still reading this x

Please check out my oneshot titled "Musings"! It's a Harry Potter fanfic centered around McGonagall (check my pf for the link).

Disclaimer: I'm a girl, and proud of it. So the chances of my name being 'Nobuhiro' are slim to none. Which really rules out any chance of me being 'Nobuhiro' Watsuki and owning the Rurouni Kenshin series, really, doesn't it?

Chapter Six

"Kaoru…are you okay?" Kenshin paused a moment, watching Kaoru who had a dreamy expression on her face.

"Kaoru?" Kenshin poked her.

"Tofu…" Kaoru muttered inaudibly.

"What?"

"Tofu…is the greatest food…in the world." Kaoru sighed before taking another savory bite. Kenshin laughed.

"Well that's good. I was getting worried about whether you liked it or not."

"From now on, whenever I want tofu, I'm walking over to your house and demanding you to make it." Kenshin's smile dropped and Kaoru laughed.

It had been two weeks since the first time she ate supper at Kenshin's house. This was the second time she came over and he decided to make tofu – one of the most basic of Asian foods.

"I'll teach you to make your own." Kaoru shook her head.

"Kenshin, Kenshin, Kenshin. How many times must I tell you? I suck at cooking! I'll probably…I don't know…melt the tofu or something."

"How can you do that?"

"Well, if you teach me you'll find out."

"We should go. I'll give you some to take home." Kenshin laughed before going into the kitchen for a Tupperware.

"Here. Just put it in your fridge now so it doesn't go bad." Kaoru took it and make a salute.

"Yes captain." Kaoru said with a deep voice before marching out of the room. Kenshin laughed after her.

Kenshin really enjoyed Kaoru's company. She was very fresh – something that Kenshin needed after being with a lot of the same people during the school year.

When Kaoru came back she saw Kenshin staring at a spot in the wall. She joined his side and stared where he was staring.

"Mesmerizing indeed." Kenshin jumped when he saw Kaoru standing next to him.

"Sorry. Just spacing out."

"I figured. Mr. Seijuro was right – your head is in the clouds a lot."

"When did he say this?! I swear that man only lives to humiliate me."

"I think he's a nice guy."

"Of course he is around you! He likes you, ya know."

"Well that's good." Kaoru couldn't help but do a mental cheer at this.

"Let's go – Tae got annoyed at us for coming seven minutes late."

"Well we couldn't find a parking space! Honestly, those people are animals when it comes to finding a decent parking spot." Kaoru muttered as they walked out the door.

When Kaoru walked past her kitchen window two days later, she was surprised to see Kenshin walk out of his house and start to run. Puzzled, she looked at the oven clock and saw it was ten – shouldn't he have been at soccer?

Kaoru shrugged, assuming that he was probably skipping a day.

She decided to go the beach since it was an overcast day and there was no way she could get overly burned.

When she found a relatively empty space she took out Twilight, a book that Misao recommended to her that she found very interesting. What was not to like with a vampire as alluring as Edward Cullen?

She felt that she could relate to Bella a lot – the main character of Twilight. Her attraction to Edward was somewhat similar to Kaoru's with Kenshin. Kaoru couldn't help but be drawn to Kenshin's one eyebrow raise, his beautiful smile, and his musical laughs.

Kaoru ended up finishing the book by the time the sun was beginning to set, which meant that she had to get ready for work.

She actually looked forward to work now – it was four hours of being with Kenshin. It was fun working with him.

After Kaoru put on her blue Converse and walked out the door, she saw Kenshin's car in the driveway.

That's weird…I guess I'm not the only one running late…

Kaoru didn't think anymore of it as she rushed to work. When she found a parking spot, she was surprised to see Kenshin walking down the sidewalk toward the entrance of the Akabeko.

What…?

Kaoru got out of her car and gave him a questioning look.

"What the hell? You walked here?" Kaoru asked as she walked toward him.

"We're wearing the same shoes." Kenshin stated shortly. Kaoru nodded, looking at their identical shoes.

"We should go in." Kenshin continued. Kaoru followed him in, wondering why he was acting weird.

"I saw you running." She said later in the evening as she filled up glasses of water.

"Did you?" Kenshin asked absent mindedly.

"Did you skip soccer? I'm proud of you." Kenshin didn't answer her as he continued to stare off.

"Earth to Kenshin! Here, I filled your glasses for you." Kenshin snapped back to reality and took the glasses.

"Thank you." He replied, walking away. Kaoru stared after him for a moment before getting back to work.

Kenshin and Kaoru didn't talk for the rest of the night, given that Kenshin seemed to be on autopilot. Work seemed to have lasted longer than usual, and Kaoru was ready to smash a plate on her head when Tae gave them permission to go home.

"Finally." Kaoru muttered as she put away her apron and walked out to her car.

As she started driving she saw Kenshin walking on the sidewalk.

"Get in, I'll drive you." Kaoru offered. Kenshin shook his head quickly.

"No, I'm fine."

"I insist."

"I want to walk, it's okay." Kenshin began to look anxious all of a sudden.

"Kenshin, get in the damn car." Kenshin still stayed stubborn and refused.

"Fine!" Kaoru exclaimed as she made an illegal U-turn back into the diner parking lot. Kenshin looked after her with a puzzled expression and was shocked to see her park her car and run up to him.

"If you're going to walk then so will I." Kaoru stated as she took out her cell phone.

"Mom? I'm walking home with Kenshin so I'll be home late." Kaoru said. She paused a moment, listening to her mother.

"Yes, mom. Okay, bye." Kaoru put her cell phone in her bag and started walking with Kenshin. "Just to tell you, you're going to drive me to work tomorrow." Kenshin kept his mouth closed and didn't look at her.

"So what's up with you?" Kaoru asked a moment later as she looked at her and Kenshin's shoes on the concrete. Kenshin continued not to say anything for a while.

"It's the anniversary of my parents' death today." Kenshin said softly. Kaoru gasped and bit the bottom of her lip. That wasn't what she was expecting.

"Oh. I'm sorry…I mean it." Kaoru replied quietly. She knew how annoying it got when people constantly said "I'm sorry" whenever they learn you've lost a loved one. It was as if they couldn't think of anything else to try and comfort you.

"Can I ask when they died?"

"Eleven years ago. I know it's not nearly as recent as the…passing of your dad, but…"

"No, I know, it hurts still." They were silent once more as they continued walking at a slow pace.

"They actually died in Japan. In a car crash." Kenshin divulged. Kaoru winced – that wasn't the most peaceful way to die. With this information, she immediately understood why he refused to let her drive him home.

"Were you…?"

"Yeah. I was." Kaoru winced once more. That's probably one of the most traumatic things, thought Kaoru. Kenshin suddenly stopped and faced Kaoru.

"That's how I got this." Kenshin said, as he rubbed his left cheek to reveal the very faded cross-shaped scar. He held out his hand to reveal skin-colored powder that he rubbed off his face.

"I put foundation on to make it virtually invisible." He confirmed.

"I'd always put scar ointment on my face growing up until it became how it is now…but I don't want people to notice it like you did two weeks ago." Kaoru didn't say anything; she was trying to digest everything he was saying. They started walking once more.

"So…what happened? I mean, you were stuck in a foreign country where your parents were…well…" Kaoru trailed off. Kenshin pondered for a moment.

"I had no other living relatives back in America, so it naturally became a mess. All I can really remember is people moving me from building to building and people talking about all these legal terms that didn't make any sense." Kaoru swallowed and bit her lip once more.

"That's so horrible." Kaoru whispered.

"Thank God Hiko came in within a few weeks of their death. He was doing business in the area and he heard about me."

"That was really nice of him." Kenshin didn't say anything. Kaoru boldly looped her arm through his, trying to comfort him and tell him that he wasn't alone.

The two of them didn't make it home until past midnight. They stopped in front of Kenshin's house and stared at each other for a moment.

"Well, I'll see you tomorrow." Kaoru said. As she turned around, she felt Kenshin's hand grasp her arm lightly. She turned around to meet his amethyst eyes with a puzzled expression. He seemed to have a mental battle for a moment before he let her arm go.

Kaoru meekly waved at him before running across the street to her house.

The next morning Kaoru laid in bed for a long time, thinking about Kenshin. She thought about how hard it must've been for him growing up, trying to live life normally without parents. But, he was lucky that someone like Hiko took him in.

"Poor Kenshin…" was the first thing she said that day.

At around five in the afternoon, the doorbell rang. Kaoru, however, didn't hear it as she was blasting music in her room.

"Kaoru! Kaoru!" Kaoru's mother yelled as she entered her room. Kaoru reached over and lowered the volume.

"What?" Kaoru asked, annoyed.

"Kenshin's downstairs." Kaoru jumped out of bed and ran past her mother.

"Don't you dare listen." Kaoru hissed, turning around to look at her mother.

"I won't! Now go on." Kaoru gave her mother another look before running down the stairs.

"Hey, what are you doing here?" She asked as she found Kenshin standing by the front door. Kaoru took a peak at the stairs and thankfully didn't find her mother there.

Kenshin shifted his weight from foot to foot for a moment before walking up to Kaoru and giving her a hug.

Kaoru couldn't help but think that Kenshin gave the best hugs in the entire world.

"Thank you." He said simply. Kaoru swallowed and reciprocated the hug fully.

"Hey, no problemo."

They broke away from a moment later and smiled at each other.

"Do you want tofu?" Kenshin asked. Kaoru's face brightened, making Kenshin laugh.

"Hell yeah! Tofu, here I come!" Kaoru exclaimed. Kenshin's eyes twinkled for a moment.

"But first, I'm going to put on my Converse." Kaoru accentuated the last word.

"Well, that wasn't really a conversation." Kenshin replied, thinking quickly.

"Okay, I see. So we still have two strikes left?"

"Naturally."

"I have a feeling we're always going to have two strikes left if we keep bending the rules!"

A/N: Kaoru's reaction to tofu was basically mine - tofu is wicked :) Anyway, I hope this chapter wasn't utter crap - this week was bloody awful for me schoolwise and...yeah. I promise next chapter will be good - it's all about the football boys ;) (meaning soccer for those non-British folks haha)

Of course, I won't know what you think unless you…you've guessed it…REVIEW!

Again, please check my oneshot! I would love to hear your feedback.

MissGoalie