AN: I am sorry! So so so sorry this took so long. But I hope everyone will support me and continue reading my story~ I am glad that there were comments to criticize what I wrote last chapter. I hope this chapter will be much better than the last. I'm trying my best, I really am.
DISCLAIMER: I do not own these characters from Rurouni Kenshin. In fact, I do not own anything of Rurouni Kenshin... sadly...
Kaoru slowly blinked and rubbed her eyes to make sure she wasn't seeing things. No, she wasn't. The fact that there was a red-headed man in her kitchen making breakfast was no dream. "What" she said slowly "are you doing here?"
"Making breakfast obviously" he said. He turned and gave her a smirk.
"Well then, I advise you get out of my place before I start throwing my knives at you."
"How rude. Is this how you treat your house guests? No wonder Misao wanted out."
"You…"
"Be quiet and sit down. Its not like your company was so welcoming that I would want to stay here."
She sat down and closed her eyes. In her mind, she had taken her bokkon and slowly beat the life out of Kenshin Himura. She smiled at the image. Yes, it was quite amusing indeed. "What are you smiling about Thistle?"
Her eyes flashed open. "What did you call me?"
"I don't like to repeat myself." She was speechless and instead stabbed at the food her put in front of her. She paused for a second after putting it in her mouth. It was better than her cooking. But her eyes narrowed at him. He was smirking, seeing right through her act. "No need to thank me Thistle."
"Idiot" she muttered.
~A Few Days Later~
"Tell me again why I am out here with you?" Kenshin Himura had been staying at her house for three days already and Kaoru was very much annoyed. He left for work early and was back later than her when she worked. He enjoyed teasing her, saying how she was like a housewife waiting for his return. Then he cooked for both of them because he found out just how bad her cooking was. And just the other day, the neighbors were asking her if the 'red-haired man' was her boyfriend. Boyfriend! She quickly denied any attraction between them and hoped the women would not be spreading bad rumors like that around the building.
"Because I had to go to work and Misao told you to come out to meet her." He smoothly replied.
"Doesn't mean I had to come out here with you Idiot."
"Would you rather be lost in the city?"
"Actually, yes. I wouldn't mind being away from you and your hideous red hair."
He rolled his eyes. "Everyone loves my red hair. Stop lying to yourself."
The car stopped and Kenshin got out, handing the key to the valet. Kaoru stepped out and slammed the door closed behind her. "You are lucky I haven't beaten you to a pulp yet."
"Such violence is not fitting, Tanuki."
"Kitsune, what are you doing here?"
"I am here to take my boyfriend to work. And you? Taking your man to work too? Ohohoho. My, my, you only met him this week, didn't you?"
"You will do well to not say another word" Kenshin said. Kaoru was surprised. He was on her side.
"She is more than capable of taking care of herself." Megumi said.
"I do not want any unnecessary violence."
"You and I both know what you are capable of if anything happens."
Kaoru was standing there like a third wheel. She did not understand what this conversation was about. It only confused her and made her more irritable. "Now if you two would stop talking like I'm not here. I need to find Misao. Do either of you know where she is right now?"
"Right here" a high voice said. Kaoru turned to start yelling at Misao but the innocently happy look on her face stopped her. Kaoru pinched the bridge of her nose and turned away. "What do you want Misao? I need to go soon. I have classes to teach."
"Have lunch with me~ I have a lot to talk about."
"Let's do this another day."
"I already know you don't have class. Saturdays, Sundays and Wednesdays are your days off. It said it on your bulletin board. Besides, I don't really have much to do at work. Hiko won't mind. He'll just call me if he needs me."
Kaoru was muttering under her breath as she was once again dragged around by the overactive girl. They ended
Kaoru quickly learned that there were no such things as silence and privacy with Misao around. She was quick to say how she spent the night and how good it felt to finally be with her Aoshi-sama again. There was too much information and Kaoru just blushed and tried not to listen. "So, anything happen with Kenshin? You two seem to be getting along as usual."
"I would rather have you than Kenshin. I hate him" Kaoru said simply.
"No need to be shy with me Kaoru. You know I would love to help with anything you want."
"Surely you don't mean to imply that I like him?"
"Well why not? He is a pretty boy, especially with that red mane of his. Although he will never beat Aoshi-sama~"
"Look Misao, I-"
Kaoru was quickly cut off by the shattering of glass. There were some screams as footsteps landed on the floor. "The second in command of the Oniwabanshu, am I right?" A deep voice said. Kaoru was quick to turn and see what was going on. Three bulky looking men were staring at her. But when she looked at their eyes, she realized they were looking behind her. She quickly turned to Misao, who only sighed and stood. "What do you want?"
"You know what our master wants."
"So its him again? Tell him that having his men breaking into places will never make me help him. Nor will I ever betray Hiko. Now go away before I have to ruin my outfit."
His eyes narrowed. "You know better than to talk like that to me."
"You know better than to think I will take this crap."
The air was tense. Kaoru didn't want to move, in case something would happen. There were terrified eyes everywhere. Kaoru noticed a woman behind the counter make a move towards the phone. Apparently she was not the only one who saw. One guy was in front of the woman in an instant, back handing her onto the floor. There was a red mark on her cheek but no cut.
No matter, it infuriated Kaoru. She was seized with a flare of anger and charged at the man. She was caught by his comrade and her arm was twisted around to her back. In an instant reaction, she jumped and pulled the man forward onto the floor when he was off balance from her sudden movement. He groaned.
She turned to the man who hit the woman. If only she had a bokkon. This would be a perfect substitute for training. Instead she would have to work on the hands-on part of her family's style. She slid into her stance, relieved that she wore comfortable pants today. The man charged first. She smirked, they were all the same. Thinking they could take her on just like that. She waited until he got close enough to dodge and used the spin from her dodge to finish the circle and hit his back, knocking him to the floor too.
She quickly stepped in front of the other man, no fear on her face. "You will hurt no other innocent here." She said, quoting the words she heard once from her father when he stopped a burglary in the Akabeko, the beef pot restaurant. "Your business is not with any one of them."
He watched her, unaffected by her words or her show of strength on his comrades. His face was kept blank. "A new recruit? How pathetic." He turned to his companions. "We will leave now. It seems the Oniwabanshu will not be cooperating again today." The two got up and the three quickly exited.
There was silence and Misao quickly broke it by sighing. "Well it seems I will pay for the damage done here today. If you will email me the amount to this email address, I will be sure to send the money to your account." She laid some money and a card on the table. "This will be for our bill today. Please keep the change." Kaoru was taken by the arm and led out as many eyes watched them.
~Half An Hour Later~
"Misao-"
"Ohhh look at these shoes! They are on sale too! We must go in and see!"
"Misao-"
"I love this color! Come Kaoru, we must go in now!"
"Misao! Will you listen to me darn it!"
Misao paused in her pulling. "Later, when everyone is ready, we will tell you" she whispered. "Not now."
"But Misao, you can't just leave me in the dark! I don't need anyone else to explain what that was, because they weren't there. You were and you know exactly what happened. You know what I want to know so just tell me!"
"I said later Kaoru!" Kaoru was stunned silent by Misao's sudden burst of anger. "Just be patient." She visibly took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Now lets go look at those shoes before someone buys them before me."
AN: I feel like the fight sounded so corny! I feel ashamed now. And I was a bad author and didn't update as promised. Since there were already two comments on the slow plot, I hope this sped things up a little bit. I had to rethink how I wanted this story to go and fix whatever I had originally written for this chapter. So from now on, I cannot promise it will be perfect but I will certainly try my best.
WeepingRain: I'm glad you are still supporting me and I hope my future chapters will be easier for you to understand. I know my writing gets so out of place sometimes. I'm glad you gave me much needed advice. I will certainly work on moving my plot along.
Boohoo: Yes, Kaoru is really easily influenced by everyone else. And yes, Megumi and Misao are quite bossy. However, they are her friends and that is why she can't say no to them in the end. She really cares for her friends, even though she doesn't show it often. The things they do are mainly to help her benefit in the end, even if she does not know it. These are the reasons why they are the way they are, not simply because Megumi and Misao are "bitches" and Kaoru is a "pushover."
Melay: I'm also glad you told me how the plot is too slow for you. Now that you have pointed out Megumi to me, I realized that she really is unprofessional. And she does seem to be giving Kaoru much "shock therapy" XD I will have to rethink Megumi's actions and make sure she is more professional, but in my mind she is only trying to keep things light between them. Although they fight often and Megumi may not seem to care for Kaoru's feelings, she is also helping her get over some painful memories by pushing her. Like Kaoru's dislike for red and Kenshin's red hair. Although it seems mean, I hope you sort of understand Megumi's side now?(well...actually its my side of Megumi's side? or... Megumi's side in my mind...? yes, that makes more sense now. XD)
Kokoronagomu: I wanted to ask you if you thought the plot was too slow to understand too? I realize all my readers are different and I want to adjust my writings so that everyone can understand the nonsense that spouts from me.