Disclaimer: I do not own the Kenshingumi; all you lawyers, please don't sue me. And all you readers, please take note: I don't own anything I quote.
General Notes: Hmm... we seem to have gotten a spiffy new ratings system. I will accept the assigned rating for now (it seems to be the new PG-13), but might have future chapters that get rated higher.
Other notes: AU, which means that OOCness will jump up and down and wave its arms on occasion (although I'm trying to keep it minimal). Also, there are going to be spoilers, in the sense of riffs on or references to things in the anime and manga.
Chapter Fourteen: Bow and Arrow
In order to understand the decoration scheme at Killer Bluez, all you really had to know was that it belonged to a friend of Misao's. In fact, converting the former warehouse into a three-story dance club and bar had been Misao's senior design project for her architecture degree.
Kaoru leaned against the railing on the third level and looked down at the masses of people milling about amidst the brightly colored lights of the dance floor. She was currently alternating between watching a couple whose attempts to incorporate swing dancing moves into a pop and techno music mix was bound to result in serious bodily injury to themselves or others, given the crowds, and a woman who seemed to be trying to juggle two different men, both on and off the dance floor.
"We are bringing you the drinks in Bavaria; yes, in Bavaria, where the sheep seldom wear spectacles!" Misao proclaimed cheerfully as she approached the table, carrying two very colorful-looking drinks with complicated garnishes involving fruit and little paper umbrellas.
"Speaking of spectacles, Misao, do you have to make one of yourself at every opportunity?" Kaoru shot back, blushing slightly as her friend's exuberance caused several stares in their direction.
"What?" Misao said, looking around. Then, switching topics with her usual speed and randomness, she continued "Hey, I think you're right about film noir hat trends... there was this guy downstairs in one of those fedora thingies... or possibly he's a leftover from the 1940s; he really didn't look like he had any idea what he was doing in a dance club."
"Well, maybe he can wander onto the floor and get attacked by the Swing People—did you see them?"
Misao leaned over the balcony and said, "No, but – HEY! SANO! MEGUMI! UP HERE!"
Kaoru began to wonder if hiding under the table was a viable option for the rest of the evening.
When their other friends arrived, they had both already gotten drinks—beer for Sano, and some kind of classic, elegant cocktail Kaoru couldn't remember the name of for Megumi.
'The day that Megumi gets a cocktail that's got little paper umbrellas and fruit in it is the day Dad asks me to prepare the family Thanksgiving dinner by myself... good grief, she even drinks it like she's in a black and white movie.. Sano's going to need to buy himself a hat...'
"Wow, Missy, that is a sharp outfit!" Sano said, admiringly.
Kaoru blushed, but Misao leapt in, "Isn't it great? Kaoru and I picked it out last week. Well, I picked it out and Kaoru protested. But it's great, and I don't know why she kept complaining and threatening to smuggle a burlap sack into the club with her."
"Because, Misao, the last time I let you pick my outfit for an evening out I ended up getting propositioned by a table of drunken senior citizens!" Kaoru said, taking a large sip of her drink to block out that particular memory.
"Oh, please, I refuse to be held responsible for the idiocies of others. Besides which, there are no senior citizens here tonight, you look fabulous, and there is a very cute guy over there who's just waiting to ask you to dance."
"Huh?" Kaoru spun sharply, her nerves on alert. She relaxed when she realized that the boy in question had mild blue eyes, cropped blonde hair, and a very nervous expression that rapidly turned into a blush when he caught her looking back at him.
"Don't stare! You'll scare him off!" Megumi teased laughingly. Kaoru rolled her eyes. No use in pointing out that she didn't want a guy who was going to run off the minute the object of his interest showed signs of being interested in return.
Besides which, she was looking for normal and harmless, right? If slightly nervous... possibly boring... were side effects, so be it.
"Go over there!" Misao hissed in an excited stage whisper. "See, this is your problem; you come to these places, and then you never make a move, and if you don't get in there and make a move, you're never going... to... find..."
Kaoru had already opened her mouth to acerbically comment that the only reason she came to these places was because her friends dragged her out to them, not because she was looking for a man... well, except for tonight, but that didn't count. Then she realized that Misao had trailed off mid-sentence, and was staring, mouth slightly agape, over towards one corner of the room.
Kaoru blinked, then followed the line of Misao's vision to where a tall, slim man in a black suit and pristine white trenchcoat was leaning against the wall with an air of utterly cool nonchalance. He seemed to occupy a completely different space from the noise of the music and chatter filling the club. Black bangs fell across his forehead, and eyes the color of light reflecting through glacial ice scanned the crowds, not seeming to notice the girl with the long braid who was staring at him.
'The phosphorescent wave on a tropical sea...' Kaoru thought as she looked at him.
"Wow, guys, check it out; the Weasel's gone speechless..." Sano said
"Please don't say that," Megumi implored, "I think I read somewhere that that's a sign of the impending Apocalypse."
Finally blinking and turning back to her friends, Misao said, "Um... I'm going to... I have to... bye, guys!" she finally finished, dashing off, her drink forgotten.
Sano laughed so hard he almost choked on his beer, and Megumi had to hit his back several times. Kaoru was pretty sure it wasn't her imagination that her cousin was pounding on him slightly harder than absolutely necessary.
When he finally recovered enough to speak, Sano said, "Twenty bucks on the Weasel Girl."
"To do what?" Kaoru said, giggling as she picked up her drink.
Sano looked puzzled. "Um... uh... well, twenty bucks that Trenchcoat Boy won't know what hit him."
"Oh, I think that we all know better than to take that bet," Megumi chuckled.
"Hear, hear!" Kaoru seconded, raising her glass. She paused after taking a drink and said, "What's she doing now?"
Sano looked over in the direction Misao had dashed and reported, "Well, she seems to have gotten over the being struck silent thing just fine... and the need to breathe... Wow, if he actually believes that that was really an accident, I don't think he's got the brains to keep up with our Misao..."
"What? What? What'd she do?" Kaoru said excitedly
"If you're that interested, why aren't you looking, Missy?"
"Don't be silly, Sano; it would be rude for me to turn around and stare at her."
"Oh, but having me do it is ok?"
"Of course; you're much ruder than I am," Kaoru replied casually, twirling the paper parasol from her drink between her fingers.
Sano opened his mouth indignantly, but before he could come up with a response, a quiet voice from behind Kaoru said, "Um? Miss? Hi? Um... I'm Roger. Er. I was wondering... that is... would you like to... I mean, er...Hi, I'm Roger."
Kaoru turned and blinked at the blond standing there, his hands at his sides as if he was holding them back from wringing them nervously.
'Well, if I was coming up to talk to a stranger who was wearing this outfit, I suppose that I would be nervous too!' she thought, 'Don't laugh at him, Kaoru, whatever you do; you'll not only stomp all over his fragile male ego, Sano will never let you forget it after that "ruder than I am" comment... serious thoughts, serious thoughts... nineteenth century Russian social conditions... destruction of the tropical rainforests... amnesiac puppies...'
Having composed her expression into something that she hoped was friendly but not too friendly, Kaoru said, "Hi, Roger. I'm Kaoru, This is Sano and Megumi."
"Hi... hi..." Roger said, nodding at the other two. "Um... Kaoru? Would you like to, er, dance? With me?"
"That sounds lovely!" Kaoru said. She realized that she was talking to him in the same calming tone she used for nervous students and winced internally. Less than ideal in terms of somebody she would want to be in a relationship with, even a distractionary one. On the other hand, she consoled herself, it was probably just nerves, and once he had relaxed, he would turn out to be be a perfectly charming conversationalist. She didn't know anybody who didn't at least occasionally get nervous and have trouble putting a sentence together, except for... well, actually, now she couldn't even say that about Misao.
Kaoru wasn't entirely certain that that made her feel much better as she put her drink down before Roger took her hand to lead her to the dance floor.
The music was fairly fast, and loud, so at least neither of them had to worry about a conversation.
'Right, so, the plan is, dance with him until he's more comfortable, then drag him off to get some drinks and have a conversation. Followed by either more dancing, if he's good at it when he's not busy being nervous, and then meeting back up with Sano and Megumi... if I think it won't traumatize him or me excessively."
Kaoru got lost in the feel of the beat, the glow of the lights on the dance floor. After a slightly shaky start, Roger seemed to be getting the hang of it, and Kaoru gave him an encouraging, possibly slightly flirtatious, look and spun so that she was facing the same direction while dancing in front of him as the song changed to something slower.
'I'm tired... of playing... Playing with this bow and arrow...Gonna give my heart away; Leave it to the other girls to play...For I've been a temptress too long...' she mentally sang to herself. 'If Misao is going to make me wear these pants, I might as well make the most of them... I can't believe I just thought that; Weasel Girl is wearing off on me...'
Fortunately, time on the dance floor seemed to have gotten Roger to stop being nervous. He was moving more smoothly, in time with the music instead of the way he'd always been slightly off-beat with the faster tune. It was easy to let herself synchronize her movements to his, to feel the warmth of his body behind hers as he moved.
'Give me a reason to love you... give me a reason to be...a woman...' Kaoru automatically sang under her breath along with the lyrics, even though she was finding it harder to concentrate on the words now that the dancing was...was... well, harder to ignore.
Swaying her body to the beat and the bass line, Kaoru slowly raised her arms up to briefly touch the hair at her temples with curved hands before lowering them again in time with the rhythm. As she moved, his hands came out to hold her waist briefly, staying there just long enough to let her feel the strength in his long fingers, the warmth of his palms. Then he moved slightly away from her skin and up over her ribs, ghosting upwards to trace the curve of her breasts. Kaoru was sure that her gasp was audible. He wasn't touching her, but his warmth, the sense of him being so close to her, was making her nerves shoot off sparks along the path his hands were taking. She was having a hard time keeping her thoughts collected, beyond a vague feeling of surprise that Roger had either gotten over his nervousness or was both too nervous to actually touch her and unaware of the havoc his almost-touching was capable of wreaking.
Then one of his his hands touched the side of her neck, tracing a pattern up to her ear and then moving her hair away before leaning in. She felt a puff of warm air before his lips brushed against the nape of her neck, slowly, not quite enough to be a kiss, but tracing patterns she couldn't begin to decipher, making the blood hum dizzily in her veins as he continued, one arm sliding to circle her waist and pull her against him. Forgetting further thought, Kaoru let herself lean back, her eyes falling closed as she ran one hand up his arm, feeling the way his muscles tensed under her touch as she traced lightly up to his shoulder, to where she could feel his hair trailing forward like warm silk as he leaned towards her...
Wait a minute.
Kaoru's eyes flew open, and she yanked, hard, on the strands between her fingers as she spun around, gritting her teeth and trying to calm the frantic racing of her heart, or at least blame it on her sudden shift to fury. Amber eyes, pupils slightly dilated, looked down at her from a face framed with long, red hair.
"You..." Kaoru spat out, then swallowed and tried again. She went to step away from Kenshin, but realized that he'd kept his arm around her waist as she spun, so that she could only retreat a few inches and give him a glare that by all rights should have incinerated him where he stood.
"What the hell are you doing here, you bastard? And... and what did you do with Roger?"
He quirked one eyebrow at her and showed no sign of letting go. "Roger?"
"The man—the gentleman— who very politely asked me to dance, and with whom I was having a perfectly nice time. What. Did. You. Do."
"Nothing! ... Permanent," Kenshin amended, no hint of repentance in his tone or expression.
"I swear, I am going to kick you so hard..."
"Ah, ah, ah, kitten; be careful; you're the one who pointed out that sort of thing only works if it's not announced in advance.
There was something both amused and covetous in his expression, and Kaoru couldn't resist an attempt to stomp on his foot in spite of knowing that he would be able to dodge it. Which he did.
"Let go of me!" she hissed, "What do you think you're doing, out on the dance floor, with the...the... dancing and the... the..."
"Nuzzling?" Kenshin supplied helpfully.
Her face was turning red because she was embarrassed and angry, she told herself, not because the fact that he'd said it was making the nerves along the nape of her neck tingle with the memory of how it had felt.
"We are in public, you idiot, where there are people, who aren't blind, and if that's your idea of subtlety, you need to have your brain removed!"
He shrugged. "Who on earth said I was trying to be subtle?"
Her hand was swinging towards him, nails curving, before she even realized it. He caught her wrist with a spark of wicked amusement in his eyes, holding her hand so that she was just out of reach of his face.
"Now, now, kitten. No scratching. Well," he corrected, "not in public."
"Let. Go." she hissed, aware that yelling would only draw attention to them. True, Kenshin had somehow managed to guide them both into a darker corner of the club when she was distracted, but making a fuss would alert Sano and Megumi and Misao, and there was no way that she was going to give them any hint whatsoever about Kenshin and his lack of subtlety.
"You know," Kenshin purred, "I don't know what you're complaining about. You were obviously enjoying yourself..." he was moving his thumb in slow circles along her wrist and then up to her palm as he continued, "... the way that you were leaning into me..." he brought her hand upwards, his eyes never leaving hers, amber sparks swirling lazily in their depths.
"The way that your hand was clutching at me..." he gave her a wicked smirk that made her heart kick in her chest as he took her pinky into his mouth, enjoying the taste of her skin, the way that her eyes dilated as he nibbled gently and ran his tongue around her knuckle.
Kaoru couldn't move, could barely remember to breath as Kenshin proceeded to kiss a path along her ring finger before giving it the same treatment. "The way that you were moving with me..." he nibbled a path along the next finger and sucked on it gently, his eyes never leaving her face. "Oh, yes, kitten..." he murmured silkily, " I could feel how you were reacting to me... and I wasn't even touching you..." he kissed his way back around to her palm, down to her wrist and placed his mouth on it, so that she could feel the sharp points of his fangs barely pressing against where her pulse was leaping erratically.
Kenshin was seriously considering dragging Kaoru someplace more private, someplace where he could see how she would react to him if his hands were actually touching her directly, someplace he wouldn't have to worry about interruptions, or distractions, or noise levels. His other arm was holding her around her waist, automatically tightening as he felt her knees go weak.
'Oh, Kaoru, ´ he thought, 'you have no idea what you do to me; you're not even trying...and I had no idea what to expect, not really...'
He really was going to have to make some serious adjustments to his list if things kept going the way that they were.
Before he could find the quickest way through the shadows in the corner of the nightclub, his ears picked up the sounds of familiar steps. Sighing, he pulled back and looked at Kaoru's dazed expression with satisfaction. He leaned in and pressed a quick kiss to her forehead before she could recover and react, then moved to stand beside her, at a distance that made it clear that he was with her without making it look like he had, for example, just been nibbling on her wrist in a dark nightclub.
"Kaoru! How was... Kenshin? Hey, man, what are you doing here?" Sano said as he approached them, his arm around Megumi's shoulder.
Kaoru, slowly regaining control over her breathing and her thought processes, wasn't sure whether she was glad to see them or horrified that they were seeing her. With Kenshin. In what was not really a compromising position...well, not anymore, but considering the position that they had been in...
'Breath. Breath, breath, breath, breath... don't hyperventilate! Slooooooww breaths. Sano is saying something; probably not important...' Her thoughts were disorganized, spinning around in her mind, and she was looking for something to grasp onto.
'He...he... I TOLD him not to do that anymore... but I was dancing with him... but I didn't know it was him... but really, what were the odds that somebody like Roger would suddenly figure out... Roger! Why am I not more worried about what happened to... there was a demon nibbling my fingers... and my wrist... and again with the neck, what is it with him and my neck and why is he so good at it and what does he think he's DOING, and what am I going to do about it...'
It was that last point that had Kaoru seriously confused. And a confused Kaoru who couldn't see a way to immediately retreat someplace where she could think a situation through thoroughly, with the assistance of coffee and chocolate, tended to rapidly become a cranky Kaoru.
And the more serious and complicated the issue, the crankier Kaoru tended to be.
And, frankly, she couldn't possibly imagine a more serious and complicated issue than a demon who she'd killed once after seeing him massacre a wide selection of jocks and cheerleaders, and who was now back, for reasons that couldn't possibly be good, reasons she was fairly sure she was going to have to kill him for, and showing a disturbing tendency to back her into corners in hallways and kitchens and nightclubs...
And how the hell, now that she thought about it, had he known where she was going to be?
Oh, now she was really getting pissed. She gritted her teeth as she finally and fully realized that Kenshin was still standing far too close, in front of her FRIENDS, no less, who were now going to start assuming things.
The fact that Kaoru solidly stepped on Kenshin's foot while adjusting her position and moving away from him made her feel slightly better, but not much.
She was still trying to unobtrusively work her way back into the conversation and hoping that nobody had noticed her absence.
Sano said, "Well, I figured that if we all went to the movie, we could grab food afterwards. Hey, Kaoru; you still up for providing that beer and Chinese food?"
Kaoru blinked. When had she offered to provide...oh. Right. Leave it to Sano to assume an invitation was generally valid until proven otherwise, rather than tied to a specific occasion.
She said calmly, "You know, Sano, that I said that I would cook for you guys. Feel free to take up the invitation."
"Hmm... if I'd known that that was an open invitation, I would have already done so," Kenshin remarked.
Megumi snorted and said, "And if you knew anything about Kaoru's cooking, you would have run screaming in the other direction. Really; come by the clinic sometime; I've got the slides to prove it."
Sano, whose tolerance for any food, as long as it was free, was legend, said "Oh, come on, Meg; Kaoru may be fairly toxic in the kitchen, but I don't think she's ever actually killed anybody..."
"Oh, I don't know about that," Kenshin remarked absently.
Kaoru narrowed her eyes at him and said, in a tone sugary enough to cause tooth decay, "Well, I think it's just a question of practice, Megumi. I think that the important thing is to get something done right, because otherwise, it was a waste of time and effort, and you just have to do it again. More thoroughly. Which reminds me, Kenshin, here you've just moved, and I haven't brought you a casserole or anything to welcome you into my apartment complex."
"Don't worry, ki-... Kaoru. I feel very... welcomed."
"Oh, you have no idea how glad I am to hear that," Kaoru said, still in that same tone. "Megumi, I think I need another drink. Something large and brightly colored, possibly that blue drink that they have." 'Preferably something that will make a spectacular splash all over a certain idiot's red head...and possibly stain his hair bright blue..' "Do you want anything?"
Raising one eyebrow at the two who were clearly glaring daggers at each other behind their masks of civility, Megumi said, "Actually, I was just about to get another Gibson and catch up with the bartender; you stay here, Kaoru; I'll be right back."
Before Sano could do more than open his mouth to place his drink order, Megumi had spun on one immaculate heel and was making her way deftly towards the stairs leading up to the bar.
Kaoru said, "It's so nice to have friends you can trust with something like just going and getting you a drink, not to mention trusting them to help you take care of the more important things in life, don't you agree, Kenshin?"
"Absolutely!" Kenshin replied, "I was actually discussing something with a friend of mine here tonight; I'm not quite sure where he's gotten to."
"Well, then you should go and look for him. Soon. I suggest starting in the parking lot in case he's already left."
Kenshin, without turning to look at her, said, "No, no; no need; he can take care of..." Then he blinked. "Or not. Um... Isn't that..."
He trailed off as Misao came barreling towards the group, dragging the man in the trenchcoat, whose expression still remained somewhere between calm and frozen. Kaoru was impressed; most people, after only a small dosage of Misao, had graduated to bemused, happy, or panicked...sometimes all three.
"Everybody, and umm..," Misao stopped mid-sentence, tilting her head curiously as she looked at Kenshin.
"Kenshin," supplied Sano helpfully.
"Everybody, and Kenshin, this is Aoshi. Aoshi, this is Sano, and Kaoru, and Kenshin, and where's Megumi?"
"Getting drinks," Sano said, "Hi, nice to meet you, Aoshi."
Kaoru blinked. Had Kenshin just said... was he implying... "Aoshi, you're a friend of Kenshin's?"
Aoshi, without looking over at the red-headed man, nodded and said, "We've known each other for quite a while. I happened to be in town and thought I would catch up with him."
Kaoru couldn't find anything wrong with that answer—after all, Sano was also a friend of Kenshin's--- but... she wasn't quite sure that she trusted this man, with eyes that somehow reminded her of Kenshin back in high school, and an air of reserve even a determined and slightly tipsy Misao couldn't crack...
"So, what do you do?" she demanded "When you're not visiting... friends?"
"Well, I'm currently in charge of running the family business," Aoshi replied calmly. "It involves a lot of travel."
Misao had finally dragged her eyes away from Aoshi and was looking over at Kenshin and cocking her head, consideringly.
Kaoru suddenly realized that she had been asking Aoshi about himself when she should have been making sure that Misao and Kenshin weren't in the same room with each other. Ever. Ever, ever, ever. Because if the look on her face was anything to go by, she was two seconds away from remembering...
"Hey! Weren't you at..." Misao started excitedly, before Kaoru, working to head off disaster, leapt in with, "Sano! That reminds me! Megumi and Misao and I are going shopping next weekend! All day! They're going to re-do my wardrobe! Because, you know, Misao was so... helpful last week.." she finished in a rush, hoping that everybody else would be too startled that Kaoru was showing enthusiasm for clothes-shopping to remember what Misao had been starting to say.
'Come on, Weasel, take the nice bait... think about the shiny clothes, think about the possibilities of dragging me around in the mall all day, DON'T think back to high school, and popular boys, and your ridiculous suspicions that Kenshin might have been interested.. that I might have been...because I wasn't... and he... I mean, I don't think that... I mean...oh, hell, I really didn't need another complication to be thinking about...''
Misao blinked at Kaoru's statement, and opened her mouth to say something before closing it again abruptly.
There was a look in her eyes that Kaoru really, really didn't like.
"That's true," she said, "Kaoru promised that she'd go shopping with us... and I know that Kaoru always keeps promises, even if they go back for a long, long time. Years, even."
"That's because we're such good friends, Misao," Kaoru replied, "And good friends understand the importance of things like promises. And timing. For example, you might think it would be a good idea for me to go shopping right away, tomorrow, for, um, boots. But I know that I really don't need any boots, and even if I did need boots, this is really not the right time."
"Oh, Kaoru, you know that nowadays boots are appropriate for any time of year, and you can't keep putting off boot-shopping forever. Especially since you promised I could help out, way back when we were in..."
"I admire your fashion sense, Misao, and you do have great taste in boots, especially recently, but every time you've tried to pick out a pair of boots... or other footware... for anybody else, the results have not been pretty. Disastrous, even. Like the boots you picked out for Tae last Christmas. That was not good."
"How was I supposed to know she already had some that she really liked? Speaking of 'liked," Kaoru, just the other day, I saw that pair of boots you were crazy about all..."
"Oh, that was ages ago," Kaoru said, "And I was never really interested; they don't match anything I have."
Sano looked at each of the two of them in turn and then said, "This is one of those conversations with subtext, isn't it?"
"Don't be silly, Sano," Kaoru snapped, her eyes never leaving her staring contest with Misao.
"We're just talking about fashion," Misao said, "Just because it bores you, Rooster Boy, doesn't mean you should complain. You can always talk about something unrelated."
"I, for example," Kaoru piped up, "am now going to ask where Megumi is with my giant blue drink, and then I may go and look for her, if I feel like it by the time I finish the question. Here goes. Good heavens, where on earth could Megumi be with that giant blue drink I asked her to get? And, indeed, I am going to go look for her. And that drink. 'Bye, guys; I'll be right back!"
And with that, she turned and headed towards the bar, ignoring the prickling on the back of her neck that told her that if she turned around, there would be a pair of amber-sparked eyes watching her appreciatively.
After several minutes had passed, during which Sano and Kenshin had chatted and Aoshi had occasionally contributed a syllable or two, Sano turned to Misao and said, "Bathroom window?"
Misao nodded, "Oh, I expect so. It's what she usually does, but since she can't manage to change her phone number over the weekend, let alone move, I'm not really worried that she's going to escape."
Kenshin looked puzzled for a brief moment, then said, "You mean that Kaoru's gone out the window? In the bathroom? How did she manage that?"
"These windows in the women's bathrooms were designed for easy escapes," Sano said wryly.
"Hey! You say that like it's a bad thing!" Misao complained.
Kaoru muttered under her breath as she headed back home. This was why she had made a mental vow never to let Misao, and Misao alone, be responsible for transportation home whenever she got dragged out dancing.
Well, maybe not exactly this, with the bad high school memories and the demons and the bad shoe metaphors, but close enough, darn it!
As she stomped down the street, Kaoru was at least glad that her feet didn't hurt after a night of dancing and, well, stomping. She supposed that she could at least be thankful that Misao had good taste in boots. Actual boots, she amended. Like the ones she was wearing. Not... hypothetical, nonexistent boots. Which she didn't need.
'This darned top, on the other hand... at least I can be glad it's not actually raining. Yet... tut, tut, it looks like rain... that would be the perfect ending to a perfect evening, now wouldn't it... At least the neighborhood isn't dangerous and I don't have to worry about...'
"You know, kitten, it's a little bit cold for you to be running around like that..." Kenshin drawled from where he was leaning against a streetlamp, the light shining on the highlights in his dark red hair and the black leather of his jacket.
Kaoru managed not to jump or scream or bolt, although she kind of regretted that last one. Bolting would have been good, and she was fairly sure her new boots could put up with the workout.
"I'm perfectly fine. Thank you for your concern; now go away. I'm going home, and there's no reason for you to..."
"Forget that I live in the same complex, kitten?"
'Err... Curses, foiled again.' "Oh, but you shouldn't just abandon your friend, who made a special trip just to see..."
"Aoshi can take care of himself," he interrupted smoothly. "And I don't think that your friend... Misao, right? That Misao would appreciate my interruption."
In spite of her general annoyance, Kaoru managed a small prayer of thanks that Kenshin had apparently been too popular in his brief time at their school to notice Misao—or at least that he wasn't remembering her.
"And how, exactly, do you know Aoshi?" she demanded, jumping back to the issue that had been nagging her.
Kenshin pushed himself away from the lamppost and started walking towards her with his usual calm, stalking pace.
"As he said... we're old friends..."
She glared at him and snorted. "And what exactly do you mean by "friends"?"
"The usual sort of thing that people mean. Why do you find that so hard to believe?"
"What do you think?" she shot back, eyes flashing blue fire.
"I think," Kenshin said, "that you look cold, kitten." He took of his jacket with an easy swinging motion as he walked towards her.
Kaoru crossed her arms over her stomach, refusing to acknowledge that he was in any way right, and raised her chin as she replied, "I'm fine. I don't need your jacket. I don't want..."
And then her words were cut off as a pair of arms went around her like iron bands, and her breath caught in her throat as she was assaulted by a smell like something long dead and buried and dug up again to walk the earth...
...and her ears were filled with a cacaphony of insane laughter and a voice crying out, "I see! I see that this girl is your woman, Battousai!"
Kaoru struggled, kicking and trying to get leverage to claw, but she was being held several feet off the ground, so tightly she could hardly pull air into her lungs.
"Jineh!" Kenshin snarled, his eyes blazing, his lips curled back so that the light glinted off the sharpness of fangs.
"Get angry!" the madman demanded, "I want to see you get angry, Battousai!"
If she hadn't been pinned and struggling to free herself, Kaoru would have rolled her eyes. What did he think Kenshin was now, gleeful and chipper?
But whatever response Kenshin made, or would have made, was lost to her as she felt a sharp pain in the back of her head, and then the world went black.
Next Chapter: Kenshin sits down with Jineh over a nice cup of tea and some scones and politely explains why kidnapping young women in dark alleys is Not the Done Thing. On an entirely unrelated note, the next chapter or two will probably have a higher rating.
In this chapter I do not own: A.A. Milne's "Winnie the Pooh," Rush's fabulous song "Cold Fire," the amazing and sexy "Glory Box," by Portishead, and a Monty Python reference so obscure I will be shocked if anybody gets it and may feel compelled to give out prizes.
Author's Note: Whee! The long-awaited club scene! And many other things! Trenchcoats! Fedoras! Giant blue drinks! This is a longer chapter between two shorter chapters... or else next week will be a shorter chapter between two longer chapters, take your pick. AND in other news—more fabulous fanart! Dragonsdaughter has really outdone herself with not only the "Kaoru in a towel" picture I mentioned last week, but some AMAZING images of Kenshin and Kaoru from this chapter—first, a picture of Kenshin sneak-dancing with Kaoru at the club (this picture is actually the inspiration for my expanding the description of Kaoru's top... and shrinking the actual top...), and second some great pictures of Kenshin leaning against that streetlamp. She continues to be great and drawing outfits, and the facial expressions in these pictures are wonderful. Absolutely perfect! They're at: http/dragondee(dot)deviantart(dot)com/
Reviewer Responses: Thank you to everybody who has been reading and reviewing! I really appreciate the feedback and so on! It makes me very, very happy to know that folks are reading, and enjoying. I hope that folks were happy with the club scene! And, for everybody who was wondering or who was positive, yes, indeed, it was Kenshin who was watching Kaoru through her window when she was running around in her towel. Hee. In other news, Quick Edit apparently has something against asterisks, because whenever I tried to use them to express something like "grins" or "laughs" it took them out and it ended up looking rather odd. Ah well. And now, some individual responses!
Anne Novemberly: Hmm.. I hadn't thought of it like that. Perhaps the food will become a leitmotiv, like the way Brad Pitt is always eating whenever you see him in "Ocean's Eleven"... That is very funny, that you had to write on "The Goblin Market".. it is certainly a poem with a lot of symbolism and so on. Although you're right that Kenshin is preferable to goblins. In terms of the picture in the bar.. well, the picture is in the VERY typically messy Sano-type display on a corkboard, all the pictures and old receipts and all sorts of things put up, overlapping. Kenshin had to poke around a bit before he found it. Besides which, he usually doesn't go back to the office when he's at the bar; he and Sano are usually having a drink. Kenshin just figured that if Kaoru was the cousin of Sano's girlfriend, there would have to be a picture back there, especially since he'd heard Sano talk about that trip before. Hmm... freak marching band accidents.. tubas of DOOM! There's a thought...
Apathetic Empath2: Glad that you survived the Attack of the Killer Slipper! Umm... happy that you are enjoying this fic to a distracing degree? Sorry that it caused, um, difficulties? "grins" I don't know if finger-nibbling and neck-nuzzling counts as lime, but hope that you enjoyed it.
Cobaltsky: Yes.. Kaoru's plans did not work out the way that she expected. Hope that you weren't disappointed that Kenshin made such short work of the potential competition... Not really the type to sit around and stew and be jealous, is he?
Desanera: Glad that you love the way Kaoru is being written; I like writing her as strong and resourceful and independent, even when faced with confusing situations.
Fairy Tail Fairie: Thank you! Oh, yes, Kenshin was definitely at the club. He might have been a little jealous.. .but he took care of the problem rather quickly.
Fantasy Angel Victoria; Yes.. is occasionally full of wackiness. Glad that the computer is working again! Technical difficulties are not fun. Indeed, Kenshin was very happy to see Kaoru in the living room. Hmm.. Hiko and Saitoh.. now that would be a frightening team. Although possibly not quite as frightening as Misao with a mission and a make-up case...
Iridescent Twilight: "giggles" I hope that this chapter was long enough to make up for the previous chapter and appease readers!
Jbella: Caffeine is good! I am a big fan of caffeine! Hope that the club scene was up to expectations!
Kat Morning: Sano seemed to approve of Roger... although I suspect he approves of Kenshin more. Notice how he didn't ask where blond boy had run off to?
misaoshiru: Thank you! I am always happy to hear that folks who normally avoid Aus are enjoying this one. I'm certainly having fun writing it.
MZ AMbER EYES: Well.. Roger wasn't exactly.. amazing... although I'm sure Kenshin felt jealous.. maybe.. or else went straight to "amused"...
Nekotsuki: Oh, yes, Kenshin-shaped doom indeed... and various other dooms! Bwa ha ha! Thank you so much!
Ookami-Hitomi: Kenshin appreciated Kaoru's clubbing outfit, that's for sure.
Omasu: That is indeed much easier to type! "grins" Naming the Kamiya family cat Schroedinger was inspired by the cat of a friend; a lazy furball who naps so intensely that sometimes it is impossible to tell if he's alive or dead. Check out Dragonsdaughter's picture; as I said, it was the inspiration for a re-write of the top description, and the reason why Misao brought over temporary haircolor. Gives a good idea of what she looked like once Misao was finished with her.
Pia Bartolini: Thank you! Glad that you appreciated the summary!
pruningshears: Do you mean by Misao? Kaoru likes Misao and appreciates her, usually, and doesn't let herself get pushed around unless it doesn't bother her too much (in this chapter, for example, she did not let herself get pushed around). Remember, Kaoru had already decided on a bunch of useful reasons for going to the club, and even for flirting and drinking and dancing.
Sally: Hope that this chapter answered questions! And, thank you; I like writing Kaoru, and am glad that she comes across as three-dimensional.
Shattered Immortality: Look! More Kenshin! And in more than just a watching-from-a-distance kind of way!
Showty Jennie: Hmm... I think that Kaoru was kind of letting Misao boss her into going to the club, since she was planning on taking advantage of the opportunity to find a temporary boyfriend-type person. Not that it worked, but it was a good plan. I hope that the way I right isn't too confusing!
SRoze: Oh! If you haven't ever seen the start of the Kyoto Arc, you definitely should! It's awesome! Some of my favorite episodes. Misao is actually younger than Kaoru... she's just put more effort into. um.. certain aspects of her life than Kaoru has (I don't know why; I'm not doing it that way on purpose)
Strawberry'd: Hmm... Kaoru hasn't really thought about looking out her window to spy.. although she doesn't know that he lives there yet, so she has no reason to.
Triste1: Always glad to make readers laugh! Thank you! Glad that you appreciated the reference to Paulaner.. it seemed like a good beer to have Sano provide. He's traveled the world and would have picked up ideas about what he wanted in the bar. He might be running a dive, but it WILL have good drinks. In terms of finding "The Devil's Cub"... the various permutations of Amazon have it online, I know that. And many bookstores will order things for you if you go and ask at the information desk.