Hi guys! I'm so sorry to keep you guys waiting, despite the promise that i would try to complete this story as fast as possible. But i had writer's block and when i'm finally freed, i have no time to write them out. So hence the wait.
The next two chapter would be written from Kaoru's and Kenshin's prespective respectively. I know the change of writing style isn't good for any story. But i'm in a 'trying' phrase. So please bear with me for the time being. I would try to make sure that it is consistant throughout from this chapter onwards.
So hope you enjoy this chapter and give me comments/reviews about it.. :) Looking forward to hear from you guys.
Until then, God Bless
Joyful-x
Kaoru smiled as she watched her last student exit the classroom before heading back to the desk and sat down. It was a joy to teach them. She thought as she rearranged her books and stacked them up neatly in a pile. Despite their hearing disability, it was rewarding to watch them absorb everything she was teaching them. And she was glad that they were willing to overcome the odds of their disability to learn like normal children.
Perhaps that was why she rather taught them than the able-bodied children. She rose and headed to the window to glance at the school garden that was outside her classroom. The sense of satisfaction totally outweigh the time and effort she took to learn sign language and find out effective ways of making lessons interesting for this special students.
She heard a knock and she turned, thinking it was a student who had left something behind, only to see a tall, intimidating man standing at the doorway. His tall frame effectively filled the entire entrance and his watchful eyes were studying her extremely closely.
Kaoru gave him a smile. She had seen him before. The tough part was trying to remember where. "Yes, how can I help you?"
"Kaoru-chan?" His voice was deep, and somewhat chilly. She thought as she nodded.
He stepped into the classroom and looked around before refocusing his attention back to her. "I'm Aoshi Shinimori."
Aoshi saw recognition dawned in her eyes before she tensed up. After much effort, he finally made it to Taiwan to find the elusive Kaoru, and he was determined to do some meddling on his own.
She was pretty though. The picture of her that Kenshin has was a small girl in a purple kimono with a ponytail, eyes filled with love, adoration and trust. The lady in front of him now was dressed in a black sleeveless dress that reached her knee, hair let down and was ready to bolt.
"I won't drag you back to Japan if that is what you are worried about. Kenshin doesn't know that I am here. He assumed that I am here for business." He shrugged as he leaned against the wall. He was watching her still, and noted that relief in her face, and how her shoulders relaxed. "However, Misao told me that she wish that you would turn up for our babies' shower party this weekend. It will be in Tokyo and Misao really hope that you will turn up."
Kaoru gave him a sad smile. "Sorry Aoshi. I have school on Saturday and I can't make a trip to Tokyo. I cannot afford to fly there twice within a month."
She saw his eyes hardened and his mouth formed a thin line. "Kaoru, don't tempt me to call you names. I spoke to the school principal. The school holiday is starting this Saturday and you have a week off."
"I already had something planned."
"You don't want to come to Tokyo is it?"
His voice went one notch softer. It effectively chilled the room, causing Kaoru to squirm a little. "It is not that. I cannot afford it."
"Fine, we will pay for your airfare then and the stay in the hotel is on us."
"NO!" Kaoru said vehemently. "I am not going to Tokyo. PERIOD!"
Aoshi's left eyebrow twitched. "You will. And I will tell you why. Kenshin hasn't been the same since you left. He blamed himself for abandoning you in the orphanage, and for not waiting for you longer before being engaged to Tomoe. He also blamed himself for giving you empty promises and let you down. He hasn't been eating well nor sleeping well and needed to see the psychiatrist in order not to slip into depression. When you came back to Tokyo a month ago, you caused Kenshin to get more depressed. Everyone in the family is worried sick!"
Kaoru turned and slammed her hands down at the nearest table. "WHAT THE HELL DO YOU WANT ME TO DO!"
"Get back to Tokyo and bring this issue to a close." Aoshi said as he pushed himself off the wall and walked towards Kaoru until he was five steps away from her. Kaoru had to tilt her head up before she could meet him eye to eye. "Convince him that you don't love him anymore and let him move on. By disappearing from the face of the earth, you are leaving things hanging."
He sighed as he shook his head. "You either come back to Tokyo to celebrate us a joyous occasion, or I will tell Kenshin where to find you and you will be unprepared for any confrontation." He said before deciding that he had said enough and headed out of the room.
Kaoru watched as he walked out of the room, willing himself to relax. However when he stopped half way across the room, she tensed up once more. "Kaoru-chan, I hope you have the guts to just end this chapter because you are not the only one suffering." He said before exiting the room, leaving her in her thoughts.
What am I doing? Kaoru asked herself as she alighted from the taxi and stood in front of the mansion that Misao and Aoshi stayed together. It reminded her of a palace. A tall iron gate served as a barrier that divided the outside world and the Shinimori's house. There was a long driveway that led to a white house that stood tall and proud in the midst of greenery and bright colourful flowers.
There was no point of her being here. She does not need to actually listen to Aoshi to bring her life in Tokyo to a close. In fact, she had nothing to prove to any of them. She does not need to tell them that she is happy in Taiwan- that she is living a better life there, and that she no longer love Kenshin.
Liar! Her words echoed through her mind. She loves Kenshin still, despite all the things he had done. The memory of Kenshin when she was young is still stuck in her mind till this very day. And no matter how ugly things were two years ago, it pale in comparison with the Kenshin from the past.
Some might say she was a coward, not wanting to face cold truth reality that perhaps Kenshin has changed. But she was definitely selfish enough to ignore everyone's thoughts and opinions and continue to run in order to preserve her childhood Kenshin. She doesn't want anyone or anything to taint it any further.
Kaoru was tempted to turn her back against the house and hailed the taxi to get her back to the airport and to Taiwan. But before she could take a first step, a middle age man stepped out from the guardhouse. "Good afternoon, may I have your name?"
Kaoru paused, then sighed. "Kamiya Kaoru." She said.
The guard nodded and smiled. "Misao-chan is expecting you." He said as he opened the side gate to let Kaoru in and took her luggage, silencing Kaoru's protest with a glance before starting to chat. "She has very beautiful twins. My wife had 3 children and she would throw me out of the house if I said this but none of them are as pretty as the two that Misao had." The guard smiled. "It is amazing how Misao-chan could handle two new born babies, her shop and being Mrs Shinimori."
"Is she well?" Kaoru asked, realizing how much responsibility Misao had shouldered herself with. "Is anyone helping her in the shop?"
The guard shrugged. "I guess so. I have seen her resting in the house during the last trimester of her pregnancy until now. But she occasionally pop by the shop. I suspect that Shinimori-san has curbed the amount of time she spent in the shop."
Kaoru smiled. If that is the case, Soujiro should still be there helping Misao. And she was glad because no matter what, no pregnant lady or a new mother should work. That is why there is such thing called maternity leave.
Kaoru soon arrived at the main entrance and gained insight of what sort of family Shinimori is- a happy family, a kind employer and modest individuals, despite having the wealth as one of the top 10 richest families in Japan.
"Hope you enjoy yourself." The guard said as the door opened, revealing a tall guy with spiky hair. "Good afternoon, Sano-san. This is Kayima Kaoru." He informed the guy in the house.
"Good afternoon Hikaru-san." The deep voice replied back as Kaoru stepped into the house together with Hikaru and stared at the interior of the house. It gave a warm feeling with the brown tiled floor and the yellow wallpaper with small flower patterns that lined the walls. In the middle of the hall stood a stairway that had wooden banisters and in the middle, it split into two different stairways that led up to the second floor.
She was so engrossed studying the house that she didn't know that Hikaru was leaving until he said very softly. "Good day, Kaoru-dono."
Kaoru-dono… It sounded so Kenshin just now. She thought, turning around in order to ask the guard why he said that. The only thing that met her eyes was the closed doors. Sighing, she turned back and caught the tall man staring at him.
She did not know whether he was a guest, a hired man or someone who is related to Misao. All Kaoru could do was to smile at him. "Hi, I'm Kaoru."
The man smirked at her, causing Kaoru to lose her smile. She did not know what warrant such a greeting. However she was not intending to get away with it. "It would be nice of you to show me my room."
Only his eyes moved as he gave her a scrutinizing stare at caused Kaoru's good mood to fly out of the window. Annoyed, she made a move to pick up her luggage, only to be beaten by the man. With a causal grace, he picked it up and headed towards the stairs.
Kaoru noticed that he did not even glance back once, to ensure that she was following him. It made her quite annoyed and she stopped walking. It would deflate his ego when he realized that she was not following him.
Five seconds later, he stopped walking. "I wouldn't want to get lost if I were you." He said before making a move again.
Kaoru could only growl in reply before catching up with him. It seems as though that he widened his stride. It was an effort to keep up with him. Every step he took requires her to take two steps to match his pace. By the time they reached her room, Kaoru was quite annoyed. But she kept her temper in check. "Thank you."
He put down her luggage. "I'm Sagara Sanosuke," The man spoke. "the third person to join the family." He faced Kaoru and stared down at her. "I have no idea why Aoshi decided to convince you to come. I believe that Kenshin would be better off without you. However, since you are Misao's guest, I would not resort to rudeness to convince you to go back where you came from. But if you do anything to upset Kenshin, you would answer to me." He said before he turned away and gave her an absent minded wave, as though he was waving her off.
Not resort to rudeness? Kaoru rolled her eyes as she turned the door knob. That man has manners of a boar. It was a warning, the second one from two of Kenshin's brothers. If they were so weary of her, why could they not just leave her alone? Instead, one of them traveled all the way to Taiwan, while another did what a good host would never do- threaten their guest.
But the room was gorgeous. She thought as the door opened, revealing a beige carpeted room with wall whitewashed. There was a painting of an orchard hung above a dressing table. Next to it was a bed, which was covered by a light brown comforter.
It was simple and nice, which reminded her of her room in the orphanage. But this one gave her much more privacy than her childhood bedroom. She thought as she wandered to the window that had matching beige as the floor carpet. It was as though the room was made for her. She smiled at that foolish thought. Perhaps Misao has the same taste as her, which explains how such a room could exist in this huge house.
She looked out of the window which happens to overlook the pool. She saw no one familiar in the pool except for Misao who Aoshi who were at the edge of the pool talking to each other. She scanned across the edge of the pool and found what she was unconsciously looking for.
Kenshin was there, sitting on the beach chair, sheltered by the beach umbrella, with a glass on the table next to him. Kaoru studied him again, this time in the daylight and it reaffirmed what she saw the night they met at the hospital. Thinner, tired and definitely worn out. A stir of sympathy rose in her, only to ruthless squash it. That's too bad. She thought.
Suddenly Kenshin looked up and they made eye contacts. Purple orbs with blue ones. Million of thoughts flew in Kaoru's mind as her mind screamed at her to turn away. At the end, Kenshin broke the stare. He took his glass and got up and headed into the main house.
Kaoru stepped away from the window. He knows that she is here. She hoped that he would not make his way up to the room. She was not prepared. The armour that she wore each time she meets him is not in place yet.
Don't come yet. Please. Give me time and space.
For the whole afternoon, no one disturbed her. Her prayers were answered. But she didn't know whether to be relieve or sad.
