AN: Here I am, sitting at a computer in a cute beach city, willing myself to update, because deep down inside that this story has a HUGE amount of potential. Maybe it'll make me a bit more known in the RK fanfic community. I hope so! But only time will tell...I set my expectations too high though, I'll probably be plunged back to reality soon enough, won't I?
Thanks you guys for the amount of support you have given me this past year. For the future, I promise more updates for 2007 and maybe I'll be able to finish this grand little tale!
Happy New Years you guys!
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Disclaimer: I don't own Rurouni Kenshin...damn XD
Claimer: Kaiten and Hitaru I do own...so steal them and die!
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Worth Millions
Chapter 7: For My Best Interest
Hitaru...and Kaiten. There were two preteens standing out in front of Koji's...wearing cosplay costumes of Kaiten and Hitaru. Someone pinch me please, this has to be an illusion. In a couple of minutes I'll wake up in my nice cozy bed, swearing as I wake up because this whole encounter was a dream.
...Did the kid dye his hair white?
I should have been paying attention to Sanosuke, though I still am unsure whether or not I'm dreaming since the rooster was waving a giant wad of cash in my face, probably trying to get my attention. Yep, Sano with money...I must be dreaming. His string of loud curses assure me that no, I wasn't dreaming, this was real...all real. Even the kids in the costumes...damn their hypnotic costumes!
"Kaoru? $10,000...hey, is the signal getting through your thick skull? YOU HAVE MONEY!"
The light bulb simply refused to turn on in my mind.
Sanosuke's chocolate brown eyes followed my line of sight towards the two kids and whistled innocently as he nudged me in the ribs. An impish grin soon formed as he waved to the cosplayers, hoping to get their attention.
"Hey! Why are you cosplaying?!"
The two kids looked over at us; the girl stared at me in awe while the boy just...stared. They looked at each other and seemed to silently agree to take the few steps towards us.
"Because my girlfriend wanted me to?" The teenaged boy snapped back as he indicated the girl beside him. His brown eyes narrowed as he caught me still drooling at the sight of their costumes. "And what are you looking at...ugly?"
Ugly?
UGLY?!
I'm no beauty queen, but I know for a fact that I am not ugly...in fact, I'm beyond convinced that I'm far from it!
"Take that back you brat!" I commanded angrily as I struggled to push Sanosuke aside so I could strangle some sense into the moron, sadly for me, Sano was able to hold me back quite easily. Maybe if I joined a gym I'd be able to...nevermind that! That boy was mine to kill!
"Calm down Jou-chan! He's not worth it!!!"
"YES HE IS!"
"Kaoru? Kamiya Kaoru?!" The soft spoken brunette asked.
I turned my eyes away from the Kaiten brat to look towards the boy's girlfriend. Aside from the short hair and dark eyes, she was the perfect Hitaru cosplayer! I couldn't believe the attention to detail on her kimono, the way she styled her hair...oh...WHAT A PERFECT FAN!!!
"Yes?" I replied timidly.
"You really are Kamiya-sensei!" The girl exclaimed with delight as she shook her boyfriend's sleeve. "Yahiko, apologize to Kamiya-sensei!"
The boy named Yahiko snorted at his girlfriend's request and tore the white wig off of his head, revealing his full head of dark brown spiky hair. In my opinion, it appeared as if his hair hadn't been acquainted with a brush in several years...or maybe every brush on the face of the earth ran away in horror of possibly being the one to brush through his filthy, unwashed locks!
"I'm sorry Kamiya-sensei...sorry that you're so ugly" he grumbled under his breath as he tossed the white wig on the sidewalk.
That's it, I despise the little maggot.
"I'll kill you!" I screamed as I launched myself towards the brat, only to once again easily caught by Sanosuke.
"Calm down Kaoru" Sanosuke snickered. "Remember your newly acquired assets? Because if you don't…I'll keep them for myself!"
"Yahiko stop it! You said you would get Kamiya-sensei's autograph, not bombard her with insults!"
"But Tsubame, how was I supposed to know that she was just so raccoon-looking?" Yahiko protested.
Raccoon? Never in my life have I heard of such a retarded insult! Who the heck goes around calling people 'raccoon-looking'? Scratch that…halfway through that thought, I remembered Megumi's pet name for me, Tanuki. Those two have to be related…not the raccoon and Tanuki…but the Yahiko and Megumi. I swear they both seem to have the same brain…except one is groomed properly.
"You're the worst Kaiten cosplayer I've ever seen!"
Yahiko's widened considerably, the expression of horror on his face looked as if it belong to a deer standing in the middle of the road waiting to get hit by oncoming traffic. My words had obviously affected him the same way a slap in the face would have. Though…why the heck was he getting so upset? After all, wasn't he the one who was dressing up at the request of his girlfriend? And I should have that face; I was called a raccoon for crying out loud!
Once again, Sanosuke's laughter pierced through the silence that had fell over me and Yahiko, pointing his finger at us as if we were the most hilarious things on earth.
"Kaoru…he's the only Kaiten cosplayer you've ever seen!" He cackled as he stuffed a huge wad of cash into my messenger bag.
I blinked in confusion at the money; it was the first time that I actually registered its presence.
"What's all that for?"
"Your manga."
"WHAT?!"
Sanosuke tried to suppress his laughter, at least long enough to give me a coherent answer, but apparently my reply had caused him to laugh to the point of tears.
"Ah….let me catch my breath! Okay, phew. Well, word has gotten around about you, as you can tell from Yahiko and Tsubame. You've caught the eye of many people Missy. And so…more places like Koji want your crap."
Yahiko's look of horror was replaced with one of amazement.
"That means that Kaoru has a reputation?! That means that you might get the attention of some big company really soon Kaoru! Isn't that great?!"
The look on my face must've given Yahiko the hint of how disturbed I was by his sudden enthusiasm, because in a matter of moments the smile on his face had been quickly replaced with the usual scowl.
"Great for a moron on wheels of course…"
"Yahiko!"
Wah?
More manga? A reputation? How did all this happen?! More importantly, when! Nothing particularly life-changing had occurred recently…I haven't sold any manga to any big shot other than Koji…and Koji only acted like a big shot. But who am I to complain about good fortune? If my luck keeps heading in this direction, I'll be able to pay the bills and furnish my apartment, not to mention that Kisa will get that new dog bowl she had been eyeing at the pet store!
"But your stuff is still crap."
Ah, I love being showered in compliments by Sanosuke. They just make me feel so good. Insert sarcasm here.
Tsubame's eyes narrowed in a frown at the comment, though I had to sadly agree with Sano that my manga was still at the borderline of crappy.
"Kamiya-sensei's stories are not crap!"
"Compared to Yuu Watase's manga it is" I sighed.
"Kamiya-san!"
I looked up expectantly to find Yutaro hurrying towards me out of Koji's. He smiled politely at Tsubame, a little too long for Yahiko apparently.
"What do you want you goldfish freak!"
Yahiko's insults seem to revolve around animals…what a freak.
Yutaro snorted in disdain as he turned his attention away from Yahiko and back towards me.
"How do you know the monkey boy Kamiya-san?"
How I love this kid.
"I don't. He just showed up with Tsubame-chan, cosplaying as Kaiten and Hitaru."
Yutaro nodded in understanding before casting Yahiko yet another death glare, who happily returned one of his own. These two must've had some interesting history together. I wouldn't have been very surprised if they just started going for each other's throats.
"Anyway, I just wanted to let you know that some weird old guy came in and bought some of your manga…as well as some of the rooster's-
Now this had caught Sano's attention as he roughly pushed me aside. He was shaking with delight, an action that only seemed to occur when he was able to make a rare sale…or of course when he was pissed drunk.
"Someone bought my hentai?!"
Yutaro slowly turned his attention back towards me, ignoring Sanosuke's attempt to get details of how the sale occurred. Really, sometimes being with the guy is the most embarrassing thing that one would hope to deal with.
"He kept asking if you were going to be appearing at any comic parties this summer, so I casually mentioned that you were going to go enjoy yourself at the one in Kyoto…not as a guest speaker or anything…but he was REALLY creepy looking."
Children and perverts read my manga. Is this the rep that is supposed to help me?
"Thanks Yutaro-kun, but why the warning?"
"Because ugly, he'd probably try to kidnap you! For crying out loud look at the messed up world we live in!"
"…It would be rather difficult to kidnap her in broad daylight when she's surrounded by at least 10,000 screaming manga freaks" Sanosuke pointed out.
I slapped my forehead lightly. Great, now someone was planning to kidnap me…probably for ransom…or it could be that Yutaro is simply over reacting again, like that hasn't happened before. I remember him screaming about how Tetris was the most retarded game ever, merely because he couldn't get past level one.
"Not to worry, I'll protect Kaoru-dono from any impending kidnapping attempts!"
I inwardly winced. I knew that voice. That voice seemed to be following me everywhere these days, though I'm not complaining. Who wouldn't want the owner of such a 'hot' voice following a girl around?...Not that Kenshin's is hot or anything…because its not!
God, how I hate that voice. It annoyed me almost to the point of tears.
…No, not because I hate the guy! Mainly because…whenever I hear his voice, my heart starts racing and I really don't want it to.
Looking over my shoulder, I spotted Kenshin walking towards our little group of loiterers, a plastic bag from Koji's held securely in his arms.
"What's in the bag?" I asked softly, already beginning the start of a blush coming to my face. Damn him!
Kenshin looked at me with a happy little smile as he raised the bag up. His amethysts-colored eyes went from me to the bag, his smile slowly growing with each glance. Feeling that he had annoyed me enough, he pulled out a small, plastic-wrapped book.
"I just came to pick up the latest volume. I wanted to find out if Kaiten returns to being a human! And I was simply wondering why you couldn't turn Shu into a dog."
I remained silent. How could I respond to that without sounding like a bitch?
"Ano…Kenshin…I'm still trying to comprehend why my manga has mysteriously started selling in bookstores all over the city! Pondering why I didn't turn Shu into a dog in that chapter is the least of my worries at the mom-
"But Sano paid you, did he not?" Kenshin asked seriously, interrupting my rant. He seemed more serious that usual…and that in itself was slightly creepy. Kinda reminded me of that one time his eyes were amber.
I raised my eyebrow in suspicion. How did he know about the money? Kenshin had just come out of Koji's so there's no way he could have heard our discussion. Sensing my suspicion, Kenshin quickly plastered his innocent smile back on his face and scratched his head…yet again another tactic to try to ease my worry, not falling for it buddy!
"Ermm…Sano told me about the money yesterday!" He laughed as he shot a glare at the taller man, who merely replied with an unsure nod.
"Yeah…Kenshin…"
"So why didn't he tell me yesterday?" I drawled.
"Kaoru-dono, you of all people should how much of a retard Sano is about these things" Kenshin smiled.
Sanosuke grumbled under his breath, something about strangling red-heads.
Turning his attention away from me, Kenshin smiled in delight when he spotted Yahiko and Tsubame in their costumes.
"Tsubame-dono makes a very pretty Hitaru" he commented politely with a kind smile.
Great, he's changing the subject.
Tsubame blushed slightly and at least was able to squeak out a small thank you, Yahiko grumbling slightly at the sight of his girlfriend blushing.
"Who cares about Hitaru? Kaoru's going to be famous…I'm sure of it!"
"Yahiko, I already told you to stop it!" I grumbled as I whacked his arm lightly, hoping the small gesture would silence his overactive imagination. I mean really, I have a better chance of being struck by lighting five billion times!
Kenshin looked back at me, a weird smile on his face as his mouth opened to begin to say something, but then he came; the boy with the ever-constant smile.
"Aiming for Hiten Mitsuriugi Ryu Press is quite honorable Kamiya-san. But you should belong to a publisher that truly cares about your best interest…and the best interests of Kaiten and Hitaru as well."
No, it was a forced smile used as a shield. The black-haired boy with blue eyes had to be no older than I was…but something felt off about him.
"Shishio-sama has been watching you for quite some time and has seen your potential for greatness. He has sent me to extend an offer for you."
"An offer?" I repeated slowly. I looked over at Kenshin, though I wasn't sure why. He wasn't a mangaka, he wouldn't have any worthwhile advice for me, but why did I want him to so desperately denounce this offer and send the smiling boy off?
"Who are you?"
Kenshin's eyes were narrowed, the same amber eyes that I had seen before had returned. His mouth remained set in a scowl and for every second that I stared at him the more I thought Kenshin wouldn't be afraid to strangle the boy in the baggy grey shirt and blue jeans.
"I am Seta Soujiro, top representative from Juppongatana-
"The magazine?! The second most powerful and influential manga publishing magazine?!"
Yahiko is such an embarrassment, I swear.
Soujiro laughed slightly in embarrassment.
"Yes, but if Kamiya-san agrees to work for us not only will she be famous but quite wealth as well! No doubt Kamiya-san will boost up our popularity to number one" he smiled, his eyes set on Kenshin. "…Beating Hiten Mitsuriugi, Himura-san."
Awkward! You'd think the way the two looked at each other that they would give anything to claw out the other's eyes.
"But Soujiro-kun" Kenshin spat, his words seeming to drip with malice as he fisted his hands. "Juppongatana caters to shounen, not to the shoujo that is Kaoru's manga. All the boys will think that you've become sissies!"
"Isn't Hiten Mitsuriugi shounen as well?!"
"Half our clientele are girls! Hitaru and Kaiten don't belong in your gore-filled publication!"
"Battousai's manga is gory, there are flying heads!"
"People get impaled in Chou's manga!"
"People are naked in Katsu's manga!"
"It's called fanservice you smiling freak!"
"It's called hentai! H-E-N-T-A-I! Hire Sagara, we want Kamiya!"
"I saw Kamiya first, her manga is mine!"
This was a side that I never thought Kenshin had. Screaming his head off in an argument with Soujiro over who was to publish me? This wasn't my Kenshin. My eyes widened considerably. This was not the Kenshin I had allowed to kiss me. My Kenshin wouldn't have lied about being a mangaka.
"No…my manga doesn't belong to you Himura Kenshin! My manga will never belong to either of you!"
I ran off leaving everyone to scream at each other.
And that's how I shot my dreams of anime to hell. I just hoped that I wouldn't regret yelling at the most amazing mangaka that Japan had ever seen. After all, I felt that this was for my best interest.
To be continued…
AN: Sorry for the delay you guys .
This chapter was supposed to come out in December but I didn't finish in time! Please forgive the delay, I'll try to update every other month. So please keep your reviews coming in, they'll motivate me to write chapter 8 faster!
And all you people who have me on their alert list...please review
