A/N sorry i went skiing yesterday and when i got back i was just too tired to update, so i updated asap this morning. I GOT MY FIRST 100 REVIEWS i'm sooo happy..

Chapter 7
Women's battle

I woke up early the next morning and smiled, remembering yesterday's events. I ate a light breakfast, and left a note addressed to the guys telling them of my whereabouts. Getting into my new car, I drove to the nearest florist to buy a bouquet of white jasmine before heading to the cemetery.

I came to a stop in front of a pair of familiar headstones, placing the bouquet of white jasmin down in front of the headstone bearing the name, Kamiya Koshijiro. I sat down hugging my knees, then turning my face up to look at the clear blue sky.

"Hey mom, hey dad. It's been a while."

The whole place was quiet except for the occasional chirping of the birds and the trees in the light breeze, and my voice, talking—telling them everything that had happened to me in the past few days.

Ever since they died in a car accident, Aoshi was the only person that I could talk to about it. In fact, I still ask him all kinds of questions about them. There were moments when I felt guilty about my parents dying. If I had not insisted that they rush home on that rainy night, none of this would have happened.

So I had asked Aoshi, "Aoshi, was it my fault that they died?"

He smiled, and said, "You're crazy."

He explained that our parents dying was no one's fault – that things happen for reasons that we do not understand. And if there was one thing that I had learnt from him, it was to never look back because what is done, is done and there is nothing else that you can do to change it.

Sometimes, I would have dreams about them that felt so real. I still remember in one nightmare, I had opened both their caskets and saw that they were still alive. I think that happened because I always wondered if there was anything else that we could have done to save them.

Then one day, Aoshi said to me, "Kaoru-chan, every time you speak to them, they are listening to you from up there. You may not know it, but they really are."

From that day onwards, I find myself in my room telling them what was going on with me. I visit them at the cemetery during their birthdays, during Christmas, and whenever else I feel like it.

The pain definitely gets easier with time and I still think of them a lot. I always picture them giving me hugs or smiling at me. Once in a while, I still cry about what happened. But I have also tried to move on. I've been coping with everything, taking it in my stride for the past seven years now.

I want to make my parents proud of me, because I believe that they are watching over me.

I entered the office, feeling refreshed after my visit to the cemetery. Call me weird, but that's what I always feel after visiting my parents.

"Kaoru!" hissed Yahiko. "Did you finish your assignment yesterday? The one that you had to work overtime for?"

"No. But I had a reason. Why?" I asked, alarmed at his expression.

"You didn't finish it?" asked Misao, grimacing.

"Why? What's wrong?"

"I hate to be the one to tell you this, Kaoru, but I think you're in deep trouble. Tomoe came out of her office a while ago to tell us of your inability to complete work that is given to you. I think she's going to fire you," answered Misao, putting an arm around me, consolingly.

I felt my heart sink to the floor.

"Fire me? But…but she can't do that! Kenshin…I mean, Mr. Himura said he'd explain everything to her!" I looked around the office, noticing all their sympathetic expressions. After a slight pause, I asked in a very small voice, "He didn't come in here at all, did he?"

As everyone shook their heads, realization finally dawned on me. That idiot redhead. How could I have been so stupid? He probably thought it would be fun to get me in trouble with Tomoe. In fact, I bet they had planned this all out together. I slumped down into a chair nearby. Why wasn't I on my guard? What made me think that they had changed for the better? Because, obviously, they hadn't. They were still as cruel and sly as they were back in high school. Now, I regret helping Kenshin clean his wound yesterday night. If anything, I should have pushed the shard deeper into his flesh. And to think that I actually used my favorite scarf to bandage his hand! Stupid! Stupid!

"Kamiya Kaoru. In my office. Now." Tomoe's voice echoed throughout the silent floor.

I flinched inwardly at her voice. Nevertheless, I got up from the chair, straightened my clothes and walked towards her office, my chin held high. There was no way I was going to enter her office with my tail tucked between my legs. I rapped sharply on her door and waited. Although I knew I was calm and composed on the appearance, but I was feel beads of sweat developing on my neck and hands.

"Come in."

I crossed my fingers behind my back then pushed her door open. She stood leaning against the table, her arms folded across her chest.

"Aren't you going to greet me?"

I bit the insides of my cheek to keep myself from spitting an awful remark at her. "Good morning, Ms. Yukishiro," I said, bowing slightly.

"That's better. Anyway, you do know why I called you in here right?"

"Yes. About my inability to complete my work."

"It doesn't come as a surprise to me, Kaoru. I've always expected you to do something irresponsible like this. I did mention once, that I didn't need to see your work to judge you. You're incapable of doing anything right. Why don't you give me a valid reason as to why I shouldn't give you the sack after what you failed to do?" she sneered.

I met her gaze head-on. "Why don't you ask Kenshin?"

"That's Mr. Himura to you. And what's he got to do with everything at hand here?"

"Oh, nothing, only that Mr. Himura was the one who exempted me from completing my work."

The sneer began to disappear from her face and she flashed me an icy glare. "Oh really? Funny how he never mentioned anything to me."

"Well, that's just too bad. Why don't you go and ask him about it?" I returned her glare.

Just then, she threw her head back and laughed, a mean and cruel laugh. One that sent shivers down my spine. And just as abruptly as she had started, she stopped, smiling icily at me.

"I'm sorry Kaoru, but I won't be able to do that. You see, Mr. Himura left early in the morning to attend an important meeting and I'm afraid he won't be back till later in the afternoon, which means that he will not be able to certify whether what you are saying is the truth or not."

"Haven't you ever heard of a telephone? You could always give him a call to certify it. But you know what? There's no use for that. It's obvious that you don't believe me and you've made it pretty clear that you don't want me working here. So you can sod off, because I'm resigning."

I cleared all my possessions and carefully placed them into a small cardboard box. With a heavy heart, I bid farewell to all the people with whom I've become quite attached to while I've been working here.

"Hey, cheer up! It's not like I'll be leaving to someplace far away or anything. We could always meet up during lunch hours," I said, trying my best to smile. "Anyway, I'd like to thank all of you guys for being so nice to me while I was here. To Omasu, for always being there, Misao, for always sticking up for me, Yahiko-CHAN—

"Hey don't call me that!"

"—for being your wacky self and the countless chocolate bars that you always gave me, and to Megumi, for being the first person to befriend me here and get me acquainted with everyone. Thank you very, very much."

There was a slight pause around the office after I had finished my mini speech. Then, chairs scraped backwards on the floor as everyone got out of their seats to circle around me.

"Remember to call!" says Omasu, squeezing me so tight I couldn't breathe.

"If you ever need any help, you know where to look for me," said Misao, putting an arm around me, even at times like this, her bright green eyes looked at me filled with hope, smiling in the worst of the times.

"Always keep your head up high," smiled Yahiko, tilting my chin up.

"All the best, Kaoru. Take good care of yourself," says Megumi, giving me a hug.

I wandered slowly towards the doors of the building and go out onto the street, heaving the cardboard box slightly, and smiling at the security guard standing there. And then I stop. What am I supposed to do now? I didn't really want to tell Aoshi and the guys what happened to me. They'd be so disappointed! I blew my hair out of my face. I can't stand still on the pavement outside Mitsurugi Ryu Corporations all day either. People will start to think I'm a piece of installation art or something. So eventually I begin walking down the street, where my car was parked just round the corner, thinking hard to myself.

After taking a few steps, a black sports car screeched to a stop right beside me. The driver got out of the car, and to my surprise, it was Kenshin. What was he doing here anyway? He was supposed to be at some bloody important meeting till late afternoon. I ducked my head so that the cardboard box covered most of my face, hoping against hope that he had not seen me. I did not feel like confronting him. All the energy I had earlier was drained out of me already. I continued walking, pretending I had not spotted him.

"Where do you think you're going?

I kept my head bowed down, increasing my pace, totally ignoring him. Suddenly, he grabbed my arm from behind, and turned me around roughly to face him. As a result, the cardboard box fell out of my arms, littering the pavement with all of my belongings.

"Where do you think you're going?" he asked icily, whipping his sunglasses off with one hand.

I bent down to pick up the strewn items. "It's none of your business."

"Answer me," he said, jerking me up by my arm to face him again.

"Look, I just resigned, okay? So I'm leaving."

Suddenly, I feel awfully tired. My arm was sore from all his grabbing and I was beginning to suspect that a bruise was already forming there. I turned away from him and once again, bent down to pick up my things again.

"You can't resign. You've already signed a one year contract with us. If you resign, you don't get any pay." Kenshin argued.

"So? I don't care. You can keep the money. It's not like I'm desperate for it anyway."

"You're also not allowed to work for any other company for the next six months. You do know that, don't you? It's in the contract."

I was silent for a while. What? Nobody mentioned anything like that! I leaned my head against the brick wall and closed my eyes. What am I going to do now? In the first place, what can I do? Suddenly, all the hurt and anger resurfaced within me. If it weren't for him, none of this would have happened. If he had told Tomoe about what happened yesterday night, I wouldn't be stuck in this predicament. I opened my eyes and glared at him.

"It's all your fault I'm stuck in this mess! If you had told Tomoe that you had exempted me from completing the assignment this morning, I wouldn't be here arguing with you! I would be sitting back at my desk doing something!" My voice rises to a shriek. "But I suppose that you're so huge and important that you couldn't even find two minutes to tell her that little bit of information, huh? Or maybe you just find some sort of sick pleasure getting someone in trouble. Either one, I'm not bothered. I'm sick and tired of the both of you treating me like trash."

I closed my eyes again, and rubbed my face with my hands. "You know what? Just…just leave me al—Aargh! Let go!"

He was dragging me by my arm, back towards the building. "What…are…you…doing?"

I asked, struggling to get out of his grasp. His fists were clamped so tightly around my arm that I gave up after a while.

"Clear the things on the pavement," he says to the same security guard that I had seen earlier.

We both entered the elevator, and he pressed the button for the 26th floor. The Marketing Department. We rode in silence. His face was a mask of coldness and determination. As the elevator door pings open, he drags me towards Tomoe's office. I could see everyone's mouth drop open in surprise at the sight of the both of us. That's not surprising. I mean, if I were one of them, my mouth would probably drop open too seeing the boss drag one of his workers across the floor. Without even bothering to knock, he entered her room and slammed it shut behind us.

"Mr. Himura! Aren't you supposed to be at a meeting?" says Tomoe, standing up in surprise and giving him a slight bow.

He pulled me to the front of her desk, and I could see Tomoe begin to pale visibly. "I was the one who told her that she did not need to complete her work," he said, staring straight at Tomoe. "Any questions about it?"

"No, sir."

"Good. Then Kaoru can get back to her work, am I right?"

I opened my mouth to say something, but Tomoe beat me to it.

"She already resigned, sir."

That cow. Okay, I admit it. I do want to continue working here. I wasn't thinking properly when I said I was leaving. It was just a rash decision. But I think Tomoe just ruined any chances I had of getting my job back.

"Oh really? Can I see her resignation letter?"

She looked up at him, her jaw dropping. "She…she didn't hand in one. She…um...said that she was resigning."

"Verbally?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. "Tomoe, you should know better. Verbal resignations do not count. She has to send in a resignation letter to make it official. And it has to be sent in a month before she can actually leave. I thought you knew all these. If there is nothing else, Kaoru," he said, turning to me, "You can go back to your desk now."

At his words, I felt like jumping for joy. Yes! Yes! Instead, I kept my composure.

"But…my things are…"

"I'll have someone send it up to you later."

I bowed to the both of them before exiting the room. The moment I came out, everyone rushed towards me, bombarding me with questions. I raised my hands to silence them.

"The thing is, I got my job back. And right now, I need to go do my work. I'll tell you guys what happened over lunch, okay?"

"Tomoe, I told you not to mess with her," said Kenshin, his dark eyes cold and grave.

"Whether you believe me or not, I didn't do anything to her," replied Tomoe, looking him in the eye. "She resigned on her own free will. I didn't make her do it."

"I'm sure she tried to tell you why she didn't finish her work. If you had believed her, she wouldn't have done it."

"How was I supposed to know she was telling the truth? She could always make up some story to lie her way out of getting sacked, right? You can never tell. She just might stoop to that level."

He glared at Tomoe icily. "If I were you, Yukishiro Tomoe, I'd watch what I say. Oh, by the way, when I was in your room yesterday, I accidentally knocked your glass plaque to the floor."

With that, he turned on his heel and made his way towards the door.

"Wait. Aren't you supposed to be at a meeting? What are you doing back here?"

"Simple. I left the meeting to come back and explain things to you."

"You just upped and left? Pretty irresponsible of you, Kenshin."

"If I didn't do that, Kaoru wouldn't even be working here anymore, right? Of course, I'm pretty sure that you were hoping I would've stayed at the meeting."

"You would sacrifice almost everything for her, won't you, Kenshin" sneered Tomoe.

Without answering her, he turned the knob and left himself out, slamming the door shut behind him. Tomoe stared after him, her eyes slanted. She walked over to the glass windows and parted the blinds, looking down at the city below her.

Kamiya Kaoru. You'd better watch out. Kenshin can't even save you from my wrath, he served in the revolution but he knows nothing how dangerous a women's battle can be. And guess what? Kaoru, my dear, this is a battle you won't win.

A/N: Aren't I nice, I didn't leave a cliffie this time, ok maybe not a big one at least. This one is also kinda/sorta short because it was originally linked to chapter 6, but as you can tell, bdays and fight with tomoe the next day is two different things.

I love making Kaoru go through all this trouble and Kenshin in between. I hope my readers don't mind, I am wicked and cruel and I admit I love making kaoru get in all these trouble and making her suffer ;; but it's my fic. So hehe u'll just have to live with it. It'll be a long time before I make things go smooth for her.

Next chapter's a longer one. Kaoru's misfortune number two, Tomoe's plan to fire her didn't work, so what next? Frame her and make kenshin hate her.

General explanation: most of you said you prefer me to not reply to reviews because it gives the false impression that the story's long and all, but I do want to clear some things up.

Kenshin, even as battousai, would never hit a girl, more or less, his ex girlfriend he's dated for what? 5-8 years? And he still does care for her, just not in the guy-girl way anymore.

Some of you asked why hasn't some important people, like sano, come out yet. He'll come out, and he's going to take some big parts to defend Kaoru, against … well someone you'll never expect.