55. Ill Mannered

Interrogating your best friend's ex as if he was a convict was fine. Accidentally suggesting that his current date is becoming a pain in the behind was actually more than fine—well, this one was justified since she was indeed a biatch. Giving him some spicy sauce instead of ketchup by "mistake" was okay, if not a bit cruel, but okay nonetheless. However, flaunting a non-existent romantic relationship with your soon-to-be former best friend just to spite her ex was disconcerting and frustrating to say the least.

Very frustrating. Especially for soon-to-be former best friend.

As result, Kaoru Kamiya had a mission. A very important one: how to stop Kamatari from making Kenshin believe that they were in a very close, passionate, disgustingly happy relationship.

She appreciated Kamatari's efforts to make Kenshin feel guilty, jealous even, if she wasn't wrong in her assumptions. But the man was creating more trouble than necessary. She would be lying if she didn't want Kenshin to feel bad for his behavior. But that didn't mean Kamatari had to pretend that he was about to marry her or something like that!

She and her best friend were close, yes, but not like that. At least, after the impromptu make-out session a couple of days ago, she didn't think they could be together like that in the future—or ever.

So now, what to do, what to do…

In the last forty-two minutes. Correction. In forty-three minutes and twenty-two seconds, Kamatari had basically been glued to her side. After he introduced himself to Kenshin and his companion, Mizumi, Kamatari didn't only attempt to feed her part of her salad. But also, he was all sweet and touchy. At some point, Kaoru thought that he would kiss her like he did the other day. She almost hurled at the thought.

That Mizumi woman was also acting weird. She would look at her from time to time, as if she was expecting something from her. But then again, she used to date Kenshin…

Kaoru sighed. Her poor head would implode (not explode) anytime soon.

"Are you, okay, love?" Kamatari's voice interrupted her musings. Cool fingers touched her temple and Kaoru closed her eyes.

"You're giving me a headache, Kam." She said honestly, not caring if she made sense or not to others. She knew, however, that Kamatari knew what she was talking about.

"Come on, love. It's not that bad." He whispered to her ears, motioning Kaoru to lay her head against his shoulders as he made himself comfortable at the bench she had decided to sit on.

Kaoru did so, tired of trying to fight against her best friend. He could be exhausting when he was stubborn—just like someone she knew.

Kamatari sat and looked at Kaoru. He knew that he was a bit overzealous with the whole situation, but he couldn't help but feel satisfied at the results. Even if he didn't want to make it apparent, Kamatari had noticed Kenshin's sporadic glances at them, more specifically, at Kaoru. The redhead might have brought a date, but he surely wasn't paying too much attention to her—at least, not since he and Kaoru had come.

And speaking of Kenshin's date, Misao had been right. While she was smart or spoke with a certain degree of intelligence, she came across as a spoiled brat who thought the world was better because of her. It almost seemed as if she was trying to make herself look better now that Kaoru was present.

For example, she didn't need to point out that she had graduated top five at law school, the same Kaoru had graduated from with decent grades. Nor did she need to tell Kaoru that being a law professor (associate, mind you, but at her age, it was praise worthy!) was not as good and lucrative as working for a law firm (like she did), and many other things that nobody really cared about. Of course, all of this was mentioned with much subtlety at any chance during a conversation. Sneaky, ill-mannered biatch.

It didn't matter. His target was the redhead, not the witch he came with.

Kamatari saw Misao approaching them with a smile on her face; however, it rapidly changed as she noticed Kaoru state.

"Is she alright?" The petite woman asked concerned, her voice a bit louder than intended. Almost immediately, Kenshin, who had been trying to teach Mizumi how to play Frisbee (Kamatari had to roll his eyes), turned to look at them as well. "I wanted to know if you guys wanted to play Frisbee with us, but it seems Kao is not fine?"

Kaoru simply waved a hand as she continued to lay her head on Kamatari's shoulder. "I'm fine. I'm just a bit tired. Let me rest a little and I should be fine." She opened her eyes and smiled at her petite friend for good measure.

"Are you sure?"

"Do as she says, Misao-chan. I'll take care of her." Kamatari suggested. Without even thinking about it, he put his arm around Kaoru and rubbed his cheek against her hair. It was a comforting gesture between the two friends. If people interpreted it differently, it was their problem.

Misao nodded and left the pair.

"I'm still slightly mad at you, Kam." Kaoru's voice reached his ears when Misao was far enough not to hear them.

"Hm…" He hummed as the hand around her was playing with the ends of her hair. "Okay."

"So stop pretending we're more than friends, Kam. Even if he gets jealous, his girlfriend is still here."

Lifting his head, Kam carefully changed his sitting position so Kaoru could fully lay her body on the bench, her head on his lap.

"Whatever, love, whatever."

Inwardly, however, he was grinning like a maniac. Kenshin was certainly throwing daggers at him, even if he was pretending not to care—and was the man good at it!

He figured Misao was already well aware of his intentions. Heck, even spiky-haired Sano had picked up on it, if the secret smile he had shown him upon his arrival had meant anything.

Boy, who would have thought that coming back could be so darn entertaining.