Disclaimer: I am not obsessed… (see chapter 8) lol

Chapter 10: Exposed Obsession

Yuri was crying again, and Kaoru could not find the heart to push her away. Ai and Shiori had said their goodbyes, but could not leave the shop. Kazumi and the youngest, Yuri, had decided to walk Kaoru and her companion to the outskirts of town. Once there, Yuri had latched onto her with the intention of never letting go.

"It's alright, sweetheart, you'll be fine. You have a wonderful home now, and your big sisters will never let anything bad happen to you."

"But… neesan… I want… you to stay…" Yuri's small face crumpled and shined with tears as she gasped and heaved for breath around her words. It was heartbreaking, but there was no help for it. Kaoru was afraid, though, that if the girl did not come to terms with her departure soon Himura was going to be angry. He was already showing impatience, and it was making Kaoru nervous.

"I did stay with you. We spent most of yesterday together, and all night. We had fun, didn't we?" Kaoru smiled at the little girl, and affectionately brushed stray hairs out of her face.

"Yeah… but…"

"No buts, Yuri-chan…"

"Come on, Yuri… it isn't that bad, ne?" Kazumi came up behind her and lightly placed a hand on her head. "At least we know Kaoru-san is ok now, and she can take care of herself. So don't worry about her."

"Ok…" Hesitantly Yuri finally let go, and she sniffled to fight back her tears. "Will you visit us again?" Hopeful dark eyes looked up at her, and Kaoru bit her lip as she darted a glance over her shoulder.

"If at all possible, I will. I promise."

"Yatta." The word was too sad to be genuinely excited.

"We must be leaving now." Firmly Himura's hand wrapped around her arm, and he tugged her roughly back towards him and the path he had chosen. "Is the child done?"

"Yes. No thanks to you." Cold and angry Kazumi glared once more at the demon, and her arms wrapped around her little sister.

"Goodbye, Kazumi." A hurried step place her between them, and Kaoru hugged the girl fiercely. "I'll miss you all. Stay safe."

"You as well."

Kaoru turned away quickly. It was surprising how easy it was to become reattached. With a sigh she knew that she did not belong with them anymore, though. Even without the debt she was required to pay, she would never have been anything more than a burden. She could not sew as they would need her to, and her skills in most other domestic things had always been lacking. No household would have ever wanted to adopt her.

The normal silence she was beginning to grow used to returned as they traveled further away from town, and as always her thoughts turned elsewhere. This time she wondered over the actions and reactions of everything that had happened to bring about the death of her village. Himura would never do anything if he did not think he would be gaining something in return. It was his way, she realized, and after her own few experiences she knew it to be the truth. Why then would he take such a large task upon himself if he did not obtain anything of true value? He did not eat any of the children. He did not rape any of the women. There was very little money to be had around the village. One little slave was hardly anything to show for his troubles.

"Himura-san?"

"Hmm?"

"Why did you spare the others?"

"Do you wish that I had not?" The teasing she had been without for nearly twenty-four hours was back.

"No, of course not…"

"Are you jealous then?" He stopped in his tracks, and turned to back her suddenly into a tree. White teeth flashed a smile at her as he braced himself on the bark with one lifted arm, and he clucked his tongue. "Afraid that you are not so special since you're not the only one left?"

"That's not it." Her teeth ground together as she glared up into his mocking features. "And stop dodging the question."

"What question, little bird?"

"Why did you spare the others when you had no reason to?"

"They paid for their freedom. I did nothing for free."

"And what did you require of them?"

"That, bluebird, is their business and not yours." Abruptly he left her standing there alone, and he didn't hesitate as he walked away down the path.

"And yet you have no qualms in telling everyone what my payment is."

"Maybe that is part of your payment. Maybe I want everyone to know that I own you and take pleasure in that knowledge."

Kaoru tripped in her haste to catch back up and continue their argument. "And why would that please you? What pleasure will you gain from owning me? I'm not pure and I have no practical skills that would be of use to you. I'm surprised that you're able to even eat my cooking."

His shoulders shrugged nonchalantly. "It is better than my own."

"Really?" Distracted for a moment, and indefinably cheered by the thought, she frowned at how easily he could sidetrack her. "Stop avoiding the question. I want to know why you would keep me when there were better women from the village to have."

"You, little bluebird, were the only one to ask for the death of your tormentors."

"And?"

"And what?" His voice was quickly becoming irritable, and it was a clear warning that she could not push him too much further.

"And you want me to believe that you kept me for that reason alone?"

"What reason is there that should matter? You are mine, and I will not give you up. It makes no difference how you argue."

"I'm not arguing!" Ready to rip her hair out, Kaoru closed her eyes and counted to ten.

"Then what are you asking?"

Both of her fists clenched at her sides and she rooted in place to glare at his back. "I want to know why you would ask the others about me?" A couple slow steps later and he came to a stop as well. "That was their payment, ne? To tell you everything they know about me. Why? For what purpose? Do you plan to torture me? To find out all my weaknesses and use them against me? And if so, why? Why me?"

"Are you afraid of being tortured, little bird? You did not seem to be our first day together." The words were dangerously quiet, and his exposed back seemed abruptly imposing.

"You're right. I'm not. So what do you have to gain from any of that knowledge now?" Stubbornly trying to ignore the way the hair on her arms raised, Kaoru brazenly pushed on.

Slowly, deliberately, he twisted so that he was facing her, and the dark shadows of his hooded cloak cast strange shapes across his golden irises. Something perilous flitted through that gaze of his, and her stance finally wavered indecisively. Not a second later and he took a step towards her. Each movement was calculated, each step light, and he tilted his head to the side to contemplate her as a hawk does a mouse. "My motives then, little Kaoru? What would attract a demon such as myself to that cesspool of a village in the first place?" Her head barely nodded. It was just a vague twitch of her tight muscles, but he continued in his voice dark. "It was a strange happening that night. I had planned to pass by that place without stopping. Even I had heard rumors of its filth. But as I made my way down the beach, I came across a sight I will never forget." The heavy weight of his eyes fell briefly from hers to follow the trail of his finger on her cheek.

"What?" The urging was barely a breathless whisper, and she swallowed as his proximity seemed to draw even closer to her. The dark bronze sheen of his eyes snapped back to hers, and she stared into them as if mesmerized.

"A woman was playing in the waters, laughing as the waves broke over her body. She did not see me, though I did little to hide my presence under the full moon, but I could not pretend I did not see her. She was beautiful, like a water temptress…" Amber eyes dropped to follow her figure suggestively before returning to her face. "…but it was not until she turned blue eyes to the shore that I truly decide that I wanted her." The fingers against her cheek roughened, and they slid across her jaw to dig themselves deep into her hair. With the thick locks held captive in her grip, he demanded that she look at him and only him. "They made me wish for day, for the spring sky, even as I have truly only lived at night. I coveted those eyes. I wanted them."

"Why?" The word pulled from her lips, because she couldn't believe that such a small thing could make anyone want someone like her.

Impatience crossed his features, and his hand jerked her closer. "I don't know, little bird. I just needed them to see me. To look into my own and know who and what I am."

"And… now that… they have?"

A slow smirk tugged at his lips, and he leaned closer to press his nose to the smooth skin of her cheek. Lingeringly he breathed her in. "Now I find that I like the way they look at me. I like knowing they follow me. And until the day I find that I no longer like them, you are mine, little bluebird."

"What about my payment?"

"It still stands. I don't do anything for free." Playfully his other hand ran up her side, and he stopped at her shoulder to pinch the bruise on her neck. "Is there anything else you wished to say before we continue? We cannot waste much more daylight." As if to prove a point, small snowflakes drifted through the air around them and speckled her dark hair with glints of moisture as they melted.

"No."

"Very well."

Kaoru bit her lip as she watched him walk away. She was still processing his words and his confession. No, his obsession. Before he could get too far away, her body shivered in the slightly colder air and she hurried to catch up. There was something else she wanted to say to him. "Wait, Himura-san." Briefly he paused, and he glanced over his shoulder irritably.

"What is it now?"

"I… I have something for you." One hand dug into her opposite sleeve, and she pulled out a long piece of cloth. Its texture was soft and supple, and it seemed shapeless. As it pooled into her hands, its deep red color even looked like blood instead of cloth slipping through her fingers. Positioned in front of him, she held the ends carefully before sneaking her hands between the flaps of his cloak. "Payment, for my books." The sudden assault caused him to twitch and step back, but his curiosity overcame him. Instead of pushing her away like she imagined he wanted to do, he watched instead as she slid the length around his neck several times. A few small adjustments later and the material also covered his exposed chest. Amber eyes blinked at her curiously, and she fussed with the scarf one last time before dropping her hands back to her sides.

"It's not much, but it will keep you from getting cold." A dark blush dusted her cheeks when he easily caught one of her hands in his, and she ducked her head to avoid the question in his eyes.

"Always worried about me, little Kaoru." Her blush darkened in irritation because she could tell that he was laughing at her, and she tugged harshly to dislodge herself from his grip. It didn't work, but she had hardly expected it to. "I told you to be careful of such actions." Hot air ghosted against her neck, and he twisted her arm behind her back instead so that they were even closer. "One of these days I might mistake it for affection."

Frustrated by his teasing, she lashed back. "Don't be so hopeful. I was merely forestalling any more of your payment choices."

Instead of amusement as she was used to, a deep growl shook his chest and rumbled inside her veins. Before she could react he had thrown her harshly to the side, and her pinned arm throbbed from where he had used his strength to propel her away from him. An upraised root tripped her as she tried to keep her feet under her, and she landed ungracefully on the ground. Shocked and confused, she leveled wide eyes up at him.

"Why would I wish for something so distasteful from you? I do not need your affection, nor would I hope for it."

The words spit from his mouth as if they tasted disgusting on his tongue, and his features were so twisted it frightened her. The scarf she had so preciously gifted him was ripped from his neck and thrown to the dirt next to her, and without another look her departed with a harsh grind of his heel. Sore muscles quivered in protest as Kaoru crawled over to the discarded scarf. With shaking fingers she picked bits of mud and leaves from its once beautiful silk. Heart aching over the rejection of her gift, she carefully pushed herself up and limped after him. Protectively she cradled her bruised arm to her chest.

X

A/N: Well, someone's touchy. XD I wonder why he's so angry all of a sudden.? Sheesh. -grin- I guess we'll find out later. As always, please pay attention closely. Kenshin's a hard man to read. Or should I say demon. lol Kaoru's emotions are becoming entangled, and with this little outburst, I wonder what she'll do next.