A/n Tiny little ditty. . Yes I'm still trying to get to 100 shorts.
Kenshin/Kaoru
Words 1,557
Comedy/Romance
Rating G
The Lover's Moon.
The sky was dove gray from the brilliant white light of the full moon as it danced across the rooftops. It was so bright that not even the brightest stars could be seen. The moon had the sky all to herself. Kaoru sighed and let the lace curtain fall from her hand to swing back to cover the window. She turned back to her room and sat on the well-worn quilt that covered her bed.
"Go away moon." She said to herself. "All you do is remind me that I'm alone. What good is a Lovers moon without a lover?" Kaoru grumbled. Pity parties was not Kaoru's thing. Nor was feeling sorry for herself. But she let it slip just this once. She dropped her guard and forgot her discipline and allowed herself to pout.
There had to be a man out there for her. Perhaps he was looking up at the moon right this moment. Maybe he was wishing for someone to share the moon with like she was.
Kaoru scoffed. "Bet not." She muttered. She reached for her hair brush on the bedside table and yanked it though her ebony hair. Where were all the men anyways? Yeah she met enough of them at the dojo, but none were what she was looking for. Most of them were jerks anyways, or too young. Last year she made an effort to make some friends and go where the men might be. She took a cooking class and although her horrible cooking improved, she didn't meet anyone. She volunteered, cleaned up parks, helped in fund-raisers. She had lots of fun and made a handful of friends, but didn't meet a single eligible man. Maybe she had too high standards?
Setting the brush away, Kaoru started to braid her thick hair. She glanced at herself in the mirror. She was a pretty girl wasn't she? She had tried changing her hair style and hair color. Though she quickly went back to her normal look. Changing herself didn't feel right. But she did lose fifteen pounds doing all that volunteer work. But even so she still had no one to walk in the moonlight with.
Kaoru gave her head a shake and she glared at her reflection as she finished her braid. That was enough! Feeling sorry for herself wasn't going to fix anything.
… . . …
Kaoru was in a much better mood the next morning. It was her day off and she had all morning to do whatever she wanted. A big breakfast was in order. She was planning on hitting the parks that morning before her dentist appointment in the afternoon. So she figured she had better eat now.
Suddenly the pot she had been heating to poach her eggs had started to over boil, and the stove hissed loudly as the water poured over the side of the pot. Kaoru jerked out of her thoughts and turned quickly to turn the heat off but the cupboard door was wide open and her face smacked right into the corner of it.
"Arg!" Kaoru covered her face with one hand as she slapped the cupboard door closed and turned off the boiling water. Her face throbbed and taking her hand away confirmed to Kaoru that her cheek was slightly cut. There was only a little blood, so it didn't look like it was going to be bad. Still, her face hurt!
With breakfast fished and the dishes done Kaoru dressed for the park. In the bathroom Kaoru paused with her toothbrush almost to her mouth. The reflection showed just why her face was hurting so bad. She gave herself a black eye! It was already starting to swell.
"Oh, just perfect!" Kaoru sighed. Stupid cupboard. Well there went her plans for the park. She couldn't very well go out looking like she had been in a brawl. True she received mush worse in the dojo, but people tend to understand that when they see you in training gi and all sweaty. Less so if you're dressed up trying to attract a guy. Kaoru hung her head and jammed her toothbrush into her mouth.
… . . …
"Nice shiner."
Kaoru glanced up from her prone position in the dentist chair. She had spent the rest of the morning with a bag of frozen carrots pressed against her eye but it seemed to do little. Her eye kept swelling and swelling until her eye was nearly shut and the bruise was deep. By the next day Kaoru could guarantee that it would be purple.
"Thanks." She flashed the dentist what she hoped wasn't too fake a smile.
"Hope you punched him back." the dentist said as he gathered his tools onto a rolling tray.
"It was a cupboard door…but I did slam it shut really, really hard." Kaoru returned and smiled when the older gentleman laughed.
"Alright, open up and lest see what we're dealing with."
… . . …
Kaoru paused outside the supermarket. She heaved a sigh. Her dentist uncovered a cavity that had gone on for a bit too long and a root canal was in order. Now not only did she have a black eye, but now she had a swollen jaw that was completely numb. It was a good thing Kaoru had her pity party the night before, because she would be in tears by now. She wasn't sure if she should be in public, but Kaoru was feeling desperate. She needed some comfort food.
Basket in hand, she wandered down the ice cream section of the frozen foods. With shelf after shelf of pint ice cream, Kaoru found herself a bit overwhelmed.
"Have you tried the triple chocolate?" a man said, stepping up to her and pointing at a pint through the glass door.
"No." Kaoru answered, looking over at him. She was blinded by bright crimson hair, lots of it, held back by a tie at the base of his neck. The hair continued down to nearly his hips. "Is it good?" She asked, yanking her eyes to his face and was surprised to see large lavender eyes.
"If you like chocolate." He said with a shrug. "Personally, I like butter pecan." He pointed at another ice cream. "What's your favorite?"
Kaoru looked at him closer from the corner of her eye. He was good looking, with delicate features. Seemed closed to her age. Another quick glance showed he wore no ring. Was it possible, after all her work she would find a nice guy in the frozen food section?
"Maybe I'll try it." Kaoru finally answered, turning to face him fully to get a better look. She winced as she saw his eyes widen and a small gasp escape him.
"Oh! Were you in an accident?" he turned to face her.
She had forgotten about her massive black eye and swollen jaw. Now they throbbed painfully. She gave a weird lopsided smile because half her face was still numb. "I've had a bad day." She wanted to kick herself, and then crawl into the freezer and hide.
"Well, I hope your day gets better, that I do." He offered her a smile, nodded his head in goodbye and continued down the aisle.
Kaoru fought the urge to watch him leave and instead yanked the freezer door open and snatched a pint of triple chocolate off the shelf. She quickly gathered the rest of her groceries and got in line to check out. It was thankfully uneventful and she hurried to leave. But just as she was just about to leave the store she saw the red-head from the frozen section again. He walked up to her.
"You said you were having a bad day so I thought you might need this." He handed her a white plastic bag. "Soup, from the deli. Thought it might be hard to eat with…" he pointed at his jaw, indicating her swollen one. "…that."
"That's so nice." Kaoru said with another lopsided smile. "I got into a fight with a cupboard door and then had to get a root canal an hour ago." She placed her hand on her face. "I never had such a nice looking man talk to me and here I found one in the frozen food section and I look like a disaster." More like a hot mess.
He blushed slightly at her comment. It was charming.
"I better get this home before it gets cold." Kaoru said. But she was more anxious to get an ice pack back on her throbbing eye.
"It's chicken noodle, that it is." He offered. "It's supposed to make you feel better no matter the problem." His cheeks turned a deeper shade of blush ." You can let me know if it works on black eyes and root canals? Wrote my name and number on the lid."
Wide eyes, Kaoru glanced inside the bag. "Himura Kenshin." She stated, looking back up at him and smiling softly. "I'll definitely let you know. But first, can I ask a question?"
"Sure."
"Do you ever look up at the moon?"
Kenshin tipped his head in thought. "Yes, I love the moonlight. I was looking at it last night in fact, it was full."
That cemented it. She smiled brightly "I'll be calling you."
A/N cheesy as all Hell, but reviews are loved :)
