Kenshin glanced at the chit who was reviewing the contract like she smells something amiss.
He snorted. Now that he has asked Aoshi to leave so he can talk to the hysterical-Kamiya, he wasn't sure what to say. Though he has a lot to tell her regarding the responsibility she took, he doesn't want to talk about it. At least not right now. But then again, he can't just insert the topic of yesterday to her.
She turned the next page before she looked at him instinctively knowing she was being watched. He gestured her to go on and she did.
When she finished, she crossed her hand to her chest and seated comfortably on the revolving chair looking bored at Kenshin.
"Did you find anything?" he asked.
"Nothing unusual." She said sounding deprived. Did she really expect something horrible on the contract?
He knew exactly what was going on inside that head of hers. She was thinking that this may be a plot for revenge. On the contrary, he was doing exactly the opposite. He was acquitting himself through the offer. Moreover, the offer can actually make or break him because the offer entails a freer reigns on her behalf to do exactly what she wants. Though she was only a second-in-command, he knows that Aoshi wouldn't even lift a finger if she set her mind onto something. For all he know, she can sabotage or boycott the project if she'll want to. He's prepared for that though.
Kenshin went around her and settled on his desk and rummage through the stacks on his left. If there is something that can divert him from Kaoru's disposition at the moment, it would be work details.
"I want you to look this over and study the best course of action."
Kaoru received it and drew her brows together.
"Isn't the exhibit party due next week?"
"Supposedly, but it was moved four days from now. Do you think we can finish everything by then?"
It was not an impossible task but Kaoru believes that it would take more than the usual working hours if they want to finish it.
She asked for a notepad and started sketching and erasing a plan. She was good at that --- Planning and marketing. In all honestly, this was what she thinks as one of the most exhilarating part of her career, to plot a very good plan for an urgent deadline. If her plan works, it'll be the most rewarding thing next to working in SNS.
Kenshin looked at her and smiled inwardly. She was enthralled with this and he knew it. She was like the same girl years ago who was trying to look uninterested with the lollipop he gave her yet when she thought no one's watching, she took it savagely.
But now this girl has turned to a blooming lady who confidently took a responsibility and eagerly plunged to the chore. She's learning quite fast but still, she needs to learn a whole lot more.
He scowled remembering the elevator scene. That is one of the things she still needs to learn, he thought.
Kaoru spotted Kenshin's face and her face fell.
"Is something wrong with my plan?" she asked.
He was still in deep contemplation when she asked this so he abruptly rummaged for an answer. He found one.
"Over time?" He asked. Truth be told, he wasn't even sure what or why he was asking that. It was just the first word he read on her paper and decided to use it.
Kaoru bit the tip of the pen and evaluated her plan.
"Well, I can ask for Aoshi to ask the employees, at least two, to take overtime. "
He reread the paper and noticed that she has scribbled five target employees to take an over time.
"But you need five, right?"
She drew five arrows, two of which are drawn with question marks while three are placed with underlines.
She explained her train of thoughts while sketching.
"I am willing to take an overtime and even if I'm not, I am compelled to since I am the assistant and this is my plan so I have to make sure it'll work as I thought it will."
She placed her name above the first line then she continued her explanation.
"The next one would be Aoshi. He wouldn't say no, simply because he is a man of responsibility and is very much bound by it, I know. But I didn't choose him because of that, it is because he is the head of this project and I need to learn a lot more before he could pass anything to me. I still need his guidance, you see."
He nodded at this. It was a brilliant approach and though he has anticipated Aoshi's presence on the plan he wasn't comfortable leaving them alone in three nights straight. The next thing to do would be none other than what he thought was a fine excuse to keep tabs on her and Aoshi.
"You still have one slot left, can I suggest someone?"
She was shocked by this. Not because he wanted to suggest someone specifically but because he was participating and proving to be interested.
"Of course." She answered.
"Please write down my name, Kenshin Himura, for the next."
She blinked once, then twice.
"I beg your pardon?"
"You heard me Kao."
Her mouth formed an "O".
"Okay. Are you sure? I mean you don't necessarily have to do the overtime."
He shot a brow at her. Though he understood very well what she was trying to explain, he pretended not to.
She waved her hand to negate him.
" Of course you are significant but taking an over time is beyond reasonable. You're a client. "
He grinned at her effort to appease him so he obliged to save her from the tension mounting on her.
"I am a client and that is exactly why I want full cooperation and support. I also need to be reassured of every process."
"Sure."
She wrote down his name and smiled. At least that was one less employee to think about. Her first thought was to drag down Misao with her over those three nights but since Kenshin volunteered, it wasn't necessary to bother her friend anymore.
There planning went on for hours proofing, creating contingency and making sure everything is well organized by tomorrow.
They were both tired that they actually forgot that they were supposed to be at each other's throats and not the other way around. Maybe not forgot, they were just too tired to act the part of raging adversary at the moment.
At the gate Kaoru patiently waited for the cab she called few minutes ago. If she had known that she'll be going home at the wee hours of the night, she should have not left her car. Though she could have called Enishi and take him on the offer of car ride, she didn't need to disturb him in his sleep. The cab agency is trustworthy anyway.
Her phone vibrated and she dug her bag and answered. It was Kenshin.
"Kao, get in the car. I'll drop you."
Kaoru craned her neck and looked for Kenshin's car. She did see it but the driver was nowhere. Where was he anyway? Too tired to think, she walked towards the car and got herself in.
It was open. Maybe he was too tired, his mind had addled. Didn't he think that there could be carnappers just waiting for foolish car owners, similar to the likes of him?
She settled herself on the passenger seat and placed her bag on the floor underneath her. She looked at his car; it was blue and red in interiors. It confused her though because first, blue is contrast to red and second, she knew that his favorite color is red so why then did he indulge his car with some blues? Though confusing, the blue and red miraculously complement each other. She didn't know how but it just did.
After scanning his car, she looked for the button to lock the car. His car was fully automated so she couldn't just press the lock. She found it settled near the wheel. She stretched herself to reach the button when a picture clipped on the mirror fell. She pressed the button first before picking up the photo.
She gasped at the sight. It poked somewhere inside her or similar to that effect and somehow she understood him a little more, his ways, his actions. She looked at it again and smiled appreciatively.
The photo was taken years ago when Kenshin and Tomoe were still schoolmates. She was still thirteen or fourteen in the picture. She was holding a lollipop looking ungrateful sandwiched by Kenshin and Tomoe. Tomoe was smiling at the camera while Kenshin was wooing her to smile as well.
He kept it. That simple fact softened her.
He could have kept a picture of him and Tomoe but caringly he chose the one that has her in it. It may not mean the same to him but to her, it was rather kind and thoughtful of him. Maybe he really has treated her like a real sister more than he wanted to. At least she was enlightened why he did the things he did yesterday.
She clipped the picture back in place then sighed. An idea popped into her mind and hurriedly sought for her camera phone. When she had it in hand, she took a photo of the picture and saved it. She didn't have a copy of it so might as well have one for herself. She giggled like the fourteen-year old she used to be.
Kenshin pressed the button on his car keys to automatically open the locks of his car. He could have knocked at the door so Kaoru could open but apparently, Kaoru has dozed off and he didn't have the heart to wake her since it was him that caused her to go home so late.
He idly put the food he ordered for both of them then took out his camera and captured the sleeping Kao. He could laugh at the picture later. Imagine the raging-hysterical Kaoru Kamiya could actually be the serene-innocent angel resting on his passenger seat right now.
He went over the back and got his blanket to cover her. Then he drove quietly to her house.
Kaoru woke up on Kenshin's car. She looked around and saw Kenshin on the trunk. It appeared that they stopped on the road near her house. The same spot they walked the night before. She took a glimpse of the picture on the mirror, smiled and removed the blanket around her. She stole a sniff before putting it back. It smelled like him nothing commercial though, just the natural smell he usually carried.
She walked out of the car and headed towards Kenshin.
"Hey! You should have shaken me when we got here." She said softly trying not to disturb the sleeping world.
He held out the softdrinks to her. He was settled at the trunk of the car like some college-boy on a road trip. She sat on the trunk as well and let her back glide on the dashboard and look beyond the trees, beyond the light, beyond the dark. She just sipped the Sprite offered to her.
"I'm sorry about yesterday." He whispered then pretended to be busy peeling the wrapper of the sandwich.
She looked at him while sipping the drink before her shoulders started quaking trying hard not to laugh. She knew he was serious and she knew how hard it was for him to ask for apology but with the light playing on his features plus the reaction he was wearing, he looked like a desperate college-boy.
He noticed the quaking body beside him and squinted his eyes at her.
"I'm serious so stop laughing already."
"I'm sorry Ken-san, it's just that it's not like you saying sorry. Whatever are you sorry for anyway? Just curious if you're being sorry for the right thing."
He munched on his burger and poured on ketchup before answering.
"I was so out of line with my questions." He stated flatly.
She bit the sandwich as well and tipped her head higher looking at the night sky.
"Yep. You two were. What else?" She prompted him.
"What do you mean what else? That was the only sin I committed so help me God if you added and gravened it."
She didn't look at him but just sighed to the skies. Men! They are never going to admit what they did without a debate.
"Himura ---", she started. He noticed the change in the name and found it amusing. Ken-san was used if she feels respectful or cordial to him on the other hand, she calls him Himura if she feels challenged by him or angered. Tonight, she was merely challenged and that's not bad.
"--- you and Akira were intrusive yesterday and competing cruelly over who gets the best question that a protective brother-in-law to be could make. It was childish and callous of you to do that with my guest and to me."
He looked at her in disbelief. A part of him was competing with Akira, yes, but a bigger piece was really trying to protect Kaoru from Aoshi.
"I won't say sorry for that. God knows it wasn't a ruthless interrogation just for the male pride you think Akira and I engaged in."
It was her turn to look at him.
"It wasn't?"
He snorted and almost rolled his eyes.
"Of course it wasn't. I don't know about Akira but I was trying to protect you from Aoshi."
"Early in the afternoon? What did you think we were going to do anyway?"
He inched closer challenging her claims.
"Not because it was early in the afternoon you can justify that nothing is going to happen, Kao and besides, Aoshi, how saintly you have imagined him to be, is still a man."
She laughed at that, hard. Was he serious?
"What's funny?"
"Now I know why I opted for you for Tomoe." Then she laughed again.
He didn't understand her last line but he didn't want to ask as well. The name of Tomoe surfacing into their conversation isn't what he wanted. He would deal with Tomoe in his own way. The last time he asked her to help him was bad enough not because it didn't went the way he planned it to but they, Tomoe and him, have constantly used Kaoru in their favor. It was time to grow out of the notion that this used-to-be-little-girl-turned-lady will always be the sister Tomoe has placed in the tasks that should have been theirs, alone.
They let the silence grow and used it to eat their overdue dinner. The streetlight flickered off and instantly darkness filled them with only moonlight illuminating them.
She noticed and so did he.
They looked at each other then settled lazily looking at the moon.
"Do you really like Aoshi?"
Kaoru grunted. She realized that he used the darkness to his advantage.
"Well, there is nothing not to like about him."
He placed his hands beneath his head and closed his eyes.
"Don't you think his too old?"
Kaoru closed her eyes as well. Now it is pitch black and there was nothing to worry about. No facial reaction to see, no body language to interpret. It was just his words and tones against hers.
"I'm turning 20 and he is 24. That's not really a big age gap."
He shrugged but she didn't see. She just continued her explanation.
"He could be a year younger or two and people might still see him too old while some older people could see him too young."
She twined her foot and shifted to make herself more comfortable.
"That's probably right."
She nodded. He didn't see but he knew.
"Why are you so defensive of him anyway?" He continued to ask.
"He is nice and he is not doing anything to disprove that." She said quite flatly.
Unconsciously, Kenshin opened his eyes to observe the now-woman beside him and let himself memorize her features. He doesn't know why but if there was a little artistic blood in his veins, he could have drawn Kaoru under the moonlight. She was divine and innocent in her own rights.
He closed his eyes again.
"If I were to court you, wouldn't I seem too old?"
She breathed and snapped her brows. She knew he was not trying to endear himself to her. That'll be foolish. He was just trying to confuse her and maybe in the end he can insist that Aoshi is too old. Honest to god, it was a difficult question with a rather difficult answer to boot but the answer could only be one despite of it all.
"Yes. But ---"
He curiously opened his eyes to see how her face would express what she says.
"--- you are a different matter altogether. If you are not you, not Kenshin Kimura, the man Tomoe loves at least I think until now, the man who has protected me like I was his ward or something all those years, the man I have grown so accustomed to, with, then the answer could have probably been a 'No'."
He stared at her. Her answer staggered him. It was honest, too honest for his liking, though.
"Meaning if someone came to you six years your senior or more you wouldn't see him too old as long as it wasn't me?"
"Exactly."
That one word of confirmation offended him. Maybe now it is male pride or maybe it is something else but he did really felt offended, deprived and rejected.
He didn't like it or the feeling growing inside him so he nudged her and asked her to get inside.
Inside his car, he looked at the trunk, visualizing himself and Kaoru a while ago and glared. He turned the engine on, plucked the picture from the mirror and stocked it away.
He sped on and cursed.