A/N: The authoress would just like to say…that this story is continuously being edited over and over from time to time, so if you would like to view the changes in the past chapters (which she thinks would be wonderful), please go right ahead. And now she will stop talking about herself in the third person and go on with the story.

Disclaimer: I doubt anyone writing in actually has any ownership rights to RK, but I think we all deliriously think we own Kenshin in our sick little minds…erm.

Chapter 10: Veritas

There were, Kaoru found, several things you could say if you were sitting in front of the woman whose fiancé you were now pretending to be romantically involved with. Instead, however, as her eyes examined the tall, poised woman, Kaoru heard the words from her mouth as if she were watching from far away.

"That's a beautiful necklace," she murmured, causing the other woman to smile faintly.

"Thank you, Kaoru-san. My brother gave it to me after…"She shook her head, still smiling. Kaoru noticed her fingering the rim of her coffee cup almost pensively. "Nevermind," Tomoe said, still smiling. She shifted her eyes to the tabloid Kaoru was still holding. "I see you just finished reading it." She took a sip of her beverage. "What do you think?"

Kaoru sifted through the myriad angry thoughts running about wildly in her head. "Well, I would really like to commend whoever wrote this crap, because at least the grammar is acceptable, and I'm flattered I've once again been given the privilege of being on the front page, although that doesn't necessarily mean that I don't want to disembowel the people who are behind this and then later on throw their remains into the bloody ocean where sharks can feed off them."

Her companion chuckled briefly before straightening. "Yes, I understand. That's how I felt about tabloids when I first entered the musical industry, too. But you'll get used to it, you'll see."

Kaoru sighed with a pout. "I'm afraid I don't see that happening anytime soon. Mou, it's so unfair how Kenshin can just breeze past all of it." She started to laugh, but stopped when she saw the sad smile on Tomoe's face.

"I know this is hard for you," The singer said quietly, taking Kaoru's hand in both of hers. "But I cannot express enough how glad I am that Kenshin has moved on. Kenshin…Kenshin has never really been a very happy person, and I'm afraid our break up didn't do much to help that fact. But I still care for him; I suppose I always will. I just want him to be happy, you know?"

Kaoru nodded, unable to look away from Tomoe's eyes as the other woman continued to talk. "Like I said, this must be hard for you, but please, please don't give up on whatever the two of you have. You seem like a very spirited person, and that's just what Kenshin needs in his life."

She squeezed Kaoru's hand just as she opened her mouth to interrupt. "I know we don't really know each other, but…but I feel that you can help, that you can do something…I just need to ask you…to…to please take care of him for me, Kaoru-san. Promise to love him and take care of him. Please?"

'Promise to love him and take care of him?'

Kaoru almost blanched. How could she do such a thing, when she and Kenshin were only pretending to be in love? Should she tell Tomoe the truth? On the other hand, Kenshin hadn't been too excited when he found out Misao knew about the set up…Then again surely Kenshin trusted Tomoe enough to keep something like this a secret. But was she the right person to tell Tomoe? Wouldn't it be better if Kenshin himself told her?

"I…"

Love him and take care of him?

"I know it will be hard…He has his faults, I know," Tomoe said gently, her face acquiring a look of fondness for the subject of their conversation.

'I'm sure if I reason enough with Kenshin, he'll understand and will be the one to explain to her…until then…'

"I promise…"

'Relax, Kaoru…love comes in many forms…you could still love him in the platonic sense, couldn't you? Maybe even like an older brother…? As for taking care of him…well he's practically your friend now, right? Friends take care of one another…'

Tomoe continued to smile and rose to leave. She turned to Kaoru before finally stepping out, however. "I appreciated the time, Kaoru-san. Please bear in mind what I said. I hope everything turns out well for you."

And with that, she left.

M.S.10.

Soujirou yawned.

It was half-past midnight, his clock told him, but he just could not help but suddenly crave a cup of hot tea. Rising from under the covers, Soujirou made a mental note to be extra quiet so as not to wake Kaoru in the other room. His cousin was bound to be tired from all her work.

He was already halfway into the kitchen when he noticed the lights had already been turned on, and rubbing an eye he searched her face, his other hand reaching out to the refrigerator door, out of habit more than anything. "Kaoru? Is anything wrong? Why're you up so late? I thought you said your shoot was scheduled to end early tonight so it would give you a chance to hit the sack early."

Before she could answer, he pulled away from the fridge and moved to sit beside her around their kitchen table. She saw him eyeing the tea she had made for herself, and stood up to pour him a cup as well. Soujirou nodded her his thanks and reached for the cream.

"I just have a lot of things on my mind," his cousin told him, her voice bleary as she blew on the hot liquid before sipping it.

"Work?"

"I guess you could say that."

Soujirou finished adding cream to his tea, stirred it, and then looked up at her. "Is something bothering you? They're not working you too hard there, are they?" He smiled, but behind it he could feel suspicion seeping through his mind.

Kaoru shook her head, chuckling wryly. "No, no, it's nothing like that." There was a short pause, in which Soujirou could almost hear the cogs in her mind moving as she sat there, pondering whatever it was in the depths of her hot tea.

He gave her a patient smile, willing to wait until she was ready to tell him.

"How valid can a promise be?"

Soujirou set his cup of tea down and gave her a puzzled grin. How valid could a promise be? He scratched his head. "Um. Well, aren't all promises supposed to be valid, Kaoru? I mean, if they're not, they wouldn't be promises, would they? They'd be—"

"Lies, I know." Kaoru sighed. "But…what if the person who made the promise meant something else?"

"What do you mean?"

'I mean…let's say Person A made the promise to Person B upon Person B's persuasion…but Person A has a different understanding of this promise as compared to Person B. What then? Isn't that more of a misunderstanding then, rather than a valid promise?"

"Well did person A deliberately misunderstand the promise?"

Soujirou watched as his cousin's face darkened momentarily. "And if Person A did?"

"Well…" Soujirou sipped his tea before answering. "Well then I think Person A has some explaining to do. Person A, I think, is then obligated to clear things up with Person B, right? Let's not forget that the latter still thinks the promise is valid and therefore expects it to be fulfilled. I think our Person A better explain before it's too late."

"But what if explaining things to Person B would entail Person A to divulge certain things? Things that Person A is not entirely in the position to divulge?"

Soujirou poured himself another cup of tea. His cousin was mulling over more things than he thought she was. "Wouldn't it be possible for Person A to just ask Person B's forgiveness for deliberately misunderstanding this promise? Without divulging too much information as to why?"

"But wouldn't Person A be obligated to explain why the promise was deliberately misunderstood in the first place? I mean, merely apologizing wouldn't fix it…there should at least be a reason, right?"

Soujirou sighed and for the first time, really looked at Kaoru. Her hair was held together in a messy braid, her pajamas were wrinkled and her robe looked as if she had just carelessly thrown it about her shoulders. Her usually cheerful blue eyes were filled with worry.

"A reason…yes; I suppose you're right. But you know, perhaps Person A is forgetting something." Soujirou gave Kaoru a smile which he hoped looked helpful enough.

"I think Person A is forgetting that he, or even she is not alone in all this. She has friends that are willing to help her. As for this whole promise-to-Person-B, I'm sure Person A can't be the only one involved. There has to be at least another individual in the story for things to get so complicated. Why doesn't Person A just slow down and ask someone else equally involved to help her out? Why doesn't she ask this other individual to help her explain things to Person B? Perhaps this individual could really help smooth things over? Perhaps this individual could be someone who is in the position to divulge the information in order to help Person A out?"

His cousin gulped in a way that looked almost as if she had seen this answer coming along the whole time. "I just hope said individual will be up for it," She murmured. Then she smiled and stood up to hug Soujirou, who could only grin at her sudden change in attitude. "Thanks, Soujirou. You really helped me out!"

Her eyes wandered to the clock on the wall, and she let out a small cry. "Oh look how late it is! I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to keep you up so long!"

Soujirou grinned and started to collect their teacups. "It's all right, Kaoru. We're both going to have to wake up earlier than usual this time, remember? I guess that makes us even, right? I'm just really sorry about this change in schedule."

Kaoru laughed and put an arm around him. "It's fine! I'm just glad to have you around. Now, we better get to bed. I'm dead tired!"

He shook his head as they both headed for their own rooms. Whatever her problem was, he sure hoped it would get fixed soon enough.

M.S.10.

The next day, Kenshin found himself walking around the set again, quite bored this time. It seemed as though taking an early morning walk around the studio would not entertain him this time as it usually would.

He walked past a plastic chair and was just about to take a turn before he realized who was sitting on it.

"Kaoru…?"

At the mention of her name, said person looked up, the once-annoyed and dare Kenshin think it—confused expression on her face replaced by a look of surprise.

"Kenshin! What are you doing here?" He raised his eyebrows before grabbing another chair and sitting next to her, the early morning sunshine showering them both in a yellow glow.

Why in the world was she staring at him like that? Like she half expected him to explode and turn into Tolkien's Sauron? "I could ask you that, too. You're not usually this early…save the time when you brought Misao here. May I ask why?"

Kaoru shrugged, arranging the pile of papers on her lap, which Kenshin recognized as the script. "Well Soujirou usually drops me off on time, but he realized he had an important meeting with some new client this morning and it wouldn't be finished by the time I need to get here, so I just asked him to drop me off earlier than usual." She grinned. "I'd drive myself, but we share a car and all, so…"

Kenshin smiled. "So you've settled for going through the script to pass the time?" "I guess you could say that." Suddenly her blue eyes widened, and almost reluctantly, she handed the script to him. "Erm. Would you like to help me? After all, it's part of our deal, right?"

Puzzled by her sudden shyness but not willing to show it, he nodded and took a look at the script. "Oro? Er, all right then. Which scene is this…?"

"The scene where my character breaks down because it's her father's death anniversary. She's kind of in a mess at this point, because her brother's not talking to her for some reason she doesn't know; also, she can't figure out what she feels for your character, and she's been failing some tests here and there. On top of that some girls in class were hinting that Rei only wants to get into her pants."

Kenshin listened to the all-too bland way she had told him all this and gave her a little smirk. "You don't sound pleased with your character. May I ask why?"

His companion sighed and tugged the end of her ponytail quite irritably. "Well…it's just that I guess this is where I'm really starting to see the difference between Sana and myself." She paused for a moment, her eyes examining the sky overhead.

"I lost my father too, you know, and sometimes I still feel depressed about it. I feel like I can't go on…or…I just feel like there's nothing to live for, you know? And then I get up, and I see my cousin…I see my friends and all that a new day has to offer, and…I pick myself up. It's not really easy, but I just hate having to portray a character who will be totally depressed for the next, oh I don't know…four scenes in a row. She doesn't even appreciate the fact that your character shows up and starts comforting her. She doesn't really know what's going on with herself—and neither do I! I have no idea how to portray this side of her. I mean, I've had to portray depressed people before…but…nothing like this."

Kenshin followed her gaze to the ever-brightening sky before speaking. "You know, one of the best parts about acting is that you get to be someone else for a little while. You have an excuse not to be yourself and to feel what it's like to be someone completely different. It's difficult at some point, but that's part of the challenge. I understand you, of course. I know how it feels to have to portray someone you don't really understand." Kaoru snorted, making Kenshin laugh.

For a moment she looked at him, and there was a short, almost uncomfortable pause before she shook her head. "Oh please…you've won awards and such…Don't tell me you ever had to struggle this much with a character."

"Actually, I remember a particular time when I just thought I wouldn't be able to rise up to the challenge, considering the fact that I knew nothing about what it would feel like, being the character. I was only a starter then. It was actually just a fifteen-minute long scene for a play. I'd really, really wanted to quit after getting the part I hadn't even auditioned for. The only reason why I even auditioned in the first place was because Hiko thought I had better get exposed to a live audience first. On the other hand, if I'd quit, I wouldn't have learned a valuable lesson. Fortunately, Hiko wouldn't let me back out, and I ended up playing the part."

"And pray tell who was this character you had to play?"

"A horny homosexual whose god was Angel from Rent."

He shook his head at the bubble of laughter that escaped her lips, looking away as he felt himself smiling as well. "Oh, I wish I could've seen it!" Kaoru exclaimed. Kenshin sighed. "I resent that." His eyes wandered to the script again, and he examined the lines carefully.

"If it helps, I have a difficult time understanding my character Rei sometimes as well. The script doesn't really expound on him; all we know is that he's been hiding his love for Sana since time immemorial and that he's a gifted musician. Half the time I'm not exactly sure whether he despises Sano's character because he is protective of Sana or because he hates all that Saezuri Mitoko's band stands for. He says he is close to his sister, Megumi's character, but he never really confides in her or anything."

Kenshin turned and noticed how Kaoru sat attentively in her seat, drinking in everything he was saying. "So then how do you do it?" She asked, suddenly leaning back on her chair as if she was trying to keep herself from sitting on the edge of her seat though Kenshin could see her eagerness to find out the answer.

Strange. She usually showed her knack for learning new things no matter what…

"Well for starters…I examine Rei's character closely. I try to see something in him that I think I need or want—something, a trait, even, that I think I can certainly use. In this case, it's his musical talent. I imagine all the things I'd do if I was not Kenshin Himura—and not Miyazawa Rei, either…just a completely new person…a stranger without a face, perhaps, with Rei's musical talent. And then, bit by bit, I input all of Rei's traits as the script describes him. In my mind, I'm molding him with me, the me who's the faceless person. Kenshin Himura, in this case, does not exist at all. The person who does exist, however, is the person who wants to do all these wonderful things with Rei's talents who is suddenly given a chance to be Rei, you see? And then…I am Miyazawa Rei…do you understand?"

She chewed her lip carefully, and Kenshin found himself entranced with how pink her lower lip became as she finished biting it. "I think I do…but I guess in this case I still need to find something in Sana that I like…" She looked up and he did as well, both of them suddenly noticing how more people had arrived and how much of the set had now been put up.

"Ah. I've finally found the two of you."

They both looked behind them to find Aoshi standing there, his expression hard to read as usual. "We have a cast meeting. Now. Same place as last time."

M.S.10.

As they entered the dining room, Kenshin noted that everyone else was already there. In fact, he thought the scene looked exactly as it did the last time, save the seating arrangements were a little different. That and the folders set out in front of everyone.

As soon as they reached the table, he took a seat and so did Kaoru, who for some reason did not seem too happy with the fact that she had to sit beside him. The only other empty seat had been the one at the head of the table, opposite Hiko, but that place had obviously been reserved for Aoshi. The director, however, remained standing.

"The folders that you see before each one of you," Aoshi said, his voice firm, "Is a contract—"

Sano groaned and started hitting the back of his head lightly on the top of the backrest. "Man, Aoshi! You know I hate signing these things! Besides, didn't we already go through all the paperwork for this movie? What's this for, then?"

"Maybe we'd actually figure that out if you hadn't interrupted him, Roosterhead." Megumi rolled her eyes before turning to Aoshi. "You were saying?"

"Thank you, Megumi. I was saying that the documents inside those folders actually form a contract—one that involves some… 'romantic' issues…" His eyes strayed to Kenshin and Kaoru, and though Kenshin felt surprised and confused, he knew better than to show it. Kaoru, on the other hand, almost fell off her chair.

"I'm sorry…?" His co-star's voice came out small and squeaky.

"Relax, Miss Kamiya." Aoshi said. "This is a contract of confidentiality. I want everyone in this room to sign it, with the understanding that absolutely no one else is to know that Miss Kamiya and Himura are only pretending to be lovers. We are going to sign all this together once I give the signal. I have no need to stress to you how important this is. If I find out that any one of you told an outsider about this…that person will immediately lose his or her part in the movie and will find himself or herself in a lawsuit."

Beside him, Kenshin sensed Kaoru tense.

Calmly, as with everyone else, Kenshin began to open the folder in front of him. "Relax," he murmured. "Misao was before the contract."

If anything, however, his words did not seem to have an effect on her. Still, she signed the contract just like everyone else after Aoshi gave them the signal.

Kenshin started to stand, making to follow the others who were on their way out when he noticed Kaoru calling after Aoshi before the man could take a step out of the room. Feeling curious, he felt himself walking towards them, frowning as he approached them.

"Listen…um. Shinomori-san," Kaoru said, giving him a small smile and showing no signs that she knew Kenshin had crept up beside her. "I…I kind of…told someone already about…"

"About us, Aoshi… Pretending to be lovers, that is," Kenshin finished for her and choosing to ignore the glare she sent his way. "I believe this person was your friend. Right, Kaoru?"

Kenshin stared at Aoshi directly in the eyes and mentally begged his friend to let Kaoru explain. The poor girl was obviously stressing lately. However, for a moment, Kenshin thought his friend was going to ignore his warning, but then the tall, seemingly cold man remained in their presence instead of walking away like Kenshin thought he would.

Kaoru nodded and gave Kenshin a sidelong glance. "That's right…she's my friend. And look, you don't know her, but…well you can trust her completely…I swear! Look, I didn't know you would issue a contract, and honestly if I'd known I wouldn't have said a word—"

"I understand."

"You have to believe me on this, I—" Kaoru stopped talking. "You what…?"

"I said I understand, Miss Kamiya. There really isn't anything we can do, is there? Bring your friend over tomorrow. I see that she, too, will now have to sign the contract as well. However, I expect not a single soul will ever know about it after her, is that understood?"

"Y-yes, of course…" She watched, transfixed as the director left the room. She turned to Kenshin with a wince.

"I guess you'll be seeing Misao again tomorrow…"

He gave her a small nod. She was acting differently today. Completely different. "I suppose so. I just hope she and Aoshi get along." "Mm. I guess…it'll be their first and last meeting anyway…it's not like she'll ever need to see him again, right?" She laughed nervously.

It took her approximately ten seconds to realize they had been standing there in complete silence after that.

Kenshin shrugged mentally. He still had tons of work to do. He was just about to walk away when—

"We need to tell Tomoe-san, Kenshin. We just have to!"

He turned around, his eyes wide as he watched Kaoru cover her mouth as if she, too, could not believe what she had just said.

'Tell Tomoe…? What in the world is going on?'

A/N:

Damn. You know…this chapter came piecemeal…as in PIECE, BY PIECE, BY FREAKING PIECE. First, I wrote the Tomoe scene. Then, I stopped because I kind of got writer's block so I wrote The Open Door instead (A big thank you to all who reviewed), and then I wrote the second to the last scene with K and K…but before finishing it, I stopped again. Then, I decided to add the finishing touches to the Tomoe scene. Then I decided to squeeze Soujirou in. Then I had to finish the second to the last K and K scene before I did the cast meeting scene…I think I just died back there. Thank God I'm done…now it's time for me to be a Reader again, eagerly waiting for other people's fanfics to be updated…. Anyway, I am dead tired. Seriously. Won't you guys leave me a review…? And is anyone else wondering why Misao never told Kaoru about her grocery store meeting with Aoshi? I am…