A/N: Sorry for the late update. i had this ready and all but i couldn't get internet connection going and something wrong with the uploader. either way, sorry and i promise to get the next chappie before november.
Chapter 25:
The Beginning of the End
I woke up to the sunrays hitting my face, and rolled over onto my back. I glanced at the little clock sitting on my bedside table and wondered why Aoshi still hasn't jumped on me to get up yet. For the next few minutes, I lay in bed staring up at the ceiling, my mind going over yesterday's events...wondering if
Kenshin would have calmed down by now and if he was willing to listen to my reasons. Sighing and with much effort, I pulled myself out of bed, and began my morning routine.
"Aoshi!" I say in a singsong voice as I skipped down the stairs and into the kitchen.
"Morning, Kao-chan," he says, giving me a very strained smile which I failed to take notice of.
"Oooooooh…pancakes!" I yelped in delight, taking a seat opposite Aoshi.
"Here, you have to eat more," he says, piling pancakes onto my plate. "Don't think I don't know that you've been skipping meals."
"I have a valid reason for that!" I whined.
"And what's that?" he asks, raising an eyebrow.
"Ummm…I was busy with work," I say, pouring maple syrup over the pancakes
"Right. Anyway, hurry up and eat or you'll be late."
"Okay! Just let me go get a carton of orange juice," I say, getting up and heading over to the refrigerator. As I turned around to head back to my seat, I noticed Akira sitting on the newspaper. "Akira!" I say, laughing out loud. "Why are you sitting on the newspaper?"
"What newspaper?" he asks, looking blankly at me.
"This one!" I say, trying to pull it out from under him.
"Oh…well…just leave it there. No wonder the chair feels so comfortable today," he says quickly, avoiding my gaze.
"But, Akira, I want to read the news!"
"No, you don't. Now hurry up and eat."
"Yes, I do!" I say trying to yank it out. "What are you trying to hide from me?" I ask suddenly, narrowing my eyes at him.
"Nothing!" he says quickly, almost too quickly.
"Don't lie," I say, pulling harder at the paper. As soon as it came free, Aoshi grabbed it away from me. "Let me see…no…let me see!" I say, struggling to snatch the paper away from him. Finally getting hold of it, I unfolded the newspaper and I could feel my heart sink as I read the front-page heading.
"THE HIMURA's BEST KEPT SECRET, REVEALED"
Tokyo Japan:
Hiko Seijiro, founder of the successful Himura Corporations, is said to have an illegitimate daughter, the result of an affair with another woman, two years after the demise of his beloved wife. He first met the girl's mother at a formal dinner hosted by one of his business affiliates, and they bumped into each other on several other occasions, before embarking on a whirlwind romance. However, after giving birth, the girl's mother had eloped with another man, leaving Seijiro to raise the little girl all by himself. For the past nine years, both father and son had managed to keep this matter under wraps by raising the little girl in a little cottage on Hara Street. A source close to the Himura family says that Himura Kenshin, has accepted the little girl as part of the family. It is believed that he often visits her during his free time and has brought some of his friends over to meet her. Kogoro Katsura, President of Kogoro Corporations, who is said to be one of his closest friends could not be reached for any comments. The identity of the girl cannot be revealed as she is under age.
I felt numb with shock and disbelief after I had finished reading the whole article. I could feel all the blood drain from my face as realization finally dawned on me.
"Kao?" asks Aoshi softly. "Are you okay?"
"He's going to think I did it," I say shakily.
"Did what?" asks Aoshi, frowning a little.
"I've got to go look for Kenshin," I say, turning on my heel and running out the door.
"HIMURA KENSHIN!" boomed his father, slamming his door open.
"Hiko-sama?" asks Kenshin, sitting up in his bed and rubbing his eyes. "What's wrong?"
"WHAT'S WRONG? YOU DARE TO ASK ME WHAT'S WRONG?" yelled his father.
"Look," says Kenshin. "I've had a really rough day yesterday and I'm really not in the mood to play games with you, so cut me some slack, okay?"
"Don't talk to me in that tone, KENSHIN," threatened his father. "Why don't you take a look at what I found in today's paper?" he asks, throwing the newspaper onto Kenshin's bed.
Taking one look at his father's grim expression, Kenshin unfolded the newspaper and his eyes widened in disbelief at what he saw. He scanned through the article quickly, all thoughts of sleep vanishing instantly from his mind.
"How did they find out?" he asks through clenched teeth.
"That was exactly what I wanted to ask you."
"But, Hiko, none of the guys would do it. You know they wouldn't," says Kenshin, frowning.
"Are you sure you didn't tell anyone else about it?" asks his father, looking sharply at him.
"I'm sure the—" he began, but stopped suddenly in mid-sentence. "Kamiya Kaoru," he whispered, so softly that his father couldn't catch what he had just said.
"So," says his father. "It is one of your friends after all."
"I'm not sure whether she did it or not, okay? Don't go around accusing others," snapped Kenshin irritably.
"Well, you're the one who got us into this mess, so you're going to get us out of it," says Kenshin's father cuttingly.
"Look who's talking. If you didn't go around having affairs with other women, we wouldn't even be in this mess in the first place."
"Hara Street, please," I say to cab driver, drumming my fingers nervously on my lap.
"Hara Street?" asks the driver. "Everyone seems to want to go there today. I just fetched a few reporters there earlier in the morning."
"Re-reporters?"
"Yeah. Didn't you read the papers today? The scandal involving Hiko Seijiro? All the reporters are trying to get a picture of the little girl."
"But the article didn't mention the house number or anything!" I say, exasperated.
"Someone tipped them off about it. I overheard the three of them talking," says the driver, looking into his rearview mirror at me. "All I can say is, the person who leaked the story out to the presses is one cruel person."
"Why do you say so?"
"A scandal like this would not only kill the reputation of Hiko Seijiro but would also affect the share prices of Himura Corporations. Apart from that, the little girl wouldn't be able to grow up properly. She would be hounded by reporters everywhere she go," he says, shaking his head slightly.
"Oh…" I trailed off.
"Sounds horrible, doesn't it? Whoever leaked the story out to the presses deserves to be whipped for making the girl's future so bleak. Anyway, miss, we're here."
"We are?" I ask, leaning forward in my seat to look out the window.
"Yup. See all the reporters crowding around that house? I bet they're waiting for her to come out. Stupid people. Trying to ruin other people's lives just for the sake of money and publicity. Oh, and that would be six dollars, miss."
I handed him a ten-dollar bill. "Keep the change," I say, getting out of the car. I ran towards the group of reporters and tried to push my way through them to get to the cottage.
"Hey, what do you think you're doing?" says a guy rudely, turning around to glare at me. "Hey! Aren't you Kamiya Kaoru, sister of Shinomori Aoshi?"
Suddenly, all the reporters turned to look at me, their cameras poised. Before I knew what was happening, flash bulbs began clicking in my face. Microphones were being shoved in front of me and questions were being asked, one after another.
"What are you doing here?"
"What is your relation with Himura Kenshin?"
"There are rumors going around that you're seeing each other. Is that true?"
"Do you know who is half-sister is?"
"What's her name?"
"Is it true that sh—"
I was too busy covering my eyes from those bright flashes that I didn't see anyone coming up from behind me until he yanked me away from those crazy reporters. I looked up gratefully at Kamatari and breathed a sigh of relief.
"Kamatari-san! How did you meet Kamiya-san?"
"Can we please see the little girl?"
"Is there anything special between you and Kamiya-san?"
"No comments," he says coldly, pulling me towards the cottage and slamming the door shut behind him.
"Stupid ostriches," he mumbled under his breath.
"Kaoru nii-san," says Sakura, running up to me, her eyes brimming with tears.
"Shhh," I say, trying to soothe her as I lifted her up into my arms. "Don't cry, Sakura." I walked towards the couch, where Shishio, Iizuka, Katsura and Kamatari all sat, with grim expressions. "Where's Kenshin?" I ask quietly.
"He's on the way," says Iizuka.
"Oh…do you know who did it?"
"None us here would have been so cruel to do it…unless…" trailed off Iizuka, looking at me sharply.
"No!" says Kamatari and Katsura almost at once. "Kaoru isn't the kind of person to do something like this," continues Hyesung.
"Even if she wanted to, she wouldn't be able to bring herself to actually put it into action. She cares too much about other people's feelings," says Kamatari.
"Right…I'm sorry, Kaoru-san," says Iizuka, smiling apologetically at me.
"No harm done, Iizuka," I say, returning the smile. "You were just looking out for Kenshin."
We all lapsed into another bout of silence, while Sakura rested her head on my shoulders. The only sounds that could be heard were our faint breathing and Sakura's quiet sniffling. Just then, Shishio spoke, causing all of us to jump at least a foot in the air.
"He's here."
As Kenshin stepped out of his car, the six bodyguards that he had brought along made sure the reporters were kept at bay, while me made his way towards the cottage.
"Himura-san, what do you have to say about the news?"
"How is your father taking it?"
"Are your share prices still holding up?"
"What do you have to say about the whole thing?"
"DAMN IT!" he yelled, slamming the door behind him.
"Katsura," chorused Iizuka, Shishio, and Kamatari all of them getting up from their sitting positions.
"Hey, Himura," says Katsura quietly.
"You wouldn't believe what those reporters are doing outside," he rambled to Katsura. "They've practically set up camp outside this place. How did they managed to find it anyway?"
"Why don't you calm down a little first?" says Katsura, patting him on the back.
I stood up slowly, still carrying Sakura, who had fallen asleep. "Kenshin," I say softly.
He turned to look at me, his face set, but I could see his eyes change from surprise, to relief, to hope, then, to blazing anger. "YOU!" he yelled, coming to stand in front of me. He grabbed Sakura roughly away from me, causing her to jerk awake. Once she saw Kenshin, she wrapped her arms around him tightly and sobbed.
"Otou-san!"
"It's all right, Sakura. Here, go upstairs and rest first, okay? I'll come up later to see you," he says, his eyes never leaving my face. Sakura nodded her head, causing her pigtails to bounce up and down on her shoulders. Then, when Kenshin had set her down on the floor, she scurried up the stairs, her black shoes clicking against the floor. When he was sure that she had entered her room by the bang of the door, he wasted no time in slamming me.
"What do you think you're doing here?" he asks, his voice cold and hard.
"I came to see how Sak—"
"She doesn't need you."
"But I was just tryi—"
"Don't you think you have done enough damage already?"
"Himura," began Kamatari.
"Kamatari, it's between the two of us." Slowly, Kamatari closed his mouth and shuffled out of the room, following the rest of the guys.
"So, KAMIYA Kaoru," he drawled, emphasizing on the word Kamiya.
I flinched but nevertheless, I kept my chin up. "Look, Kenshin, whether you believe me or not, I didn't do it."
"Really? Then tell me, who could be the culprit?"
"I—I have no idea."
"You do know, that apart from the guys, you are the only other person who knows about Sakura?"
"Yes," I say quietly.
"And I am willing to bet my life on it, that none of the guys did it. So, where does that leave you?"
"Like I said earlier," I began my voice wavering just a little. "I didn't do it."
"How do you expect me to believe you, Kaoru? After all, you did hide your true identity from me. And like a fool, I trusted you with my biggest secret," he said angrily, his eyes flashing.
"You know what? This is getting nowhere. I am so sick and tired of this whole thing. I'll just say this for the last time and I hope it gets into that thick skull of yours," I say. "I didn't do it. Why would I want to do something so mean and cruel in the first place? Sakura never did anything to hurt me. As for you, I can't really say much."
Turning on my heel. Just as I was about to walk out the door, I turned to face his back. "Just one word of advice Kenshin. When you finally realize that I didn't do it, let's just hope it isn't too late already."
A/N: uh oh, what does that mean? Is Kaoru suggesting they should break up? Oh no, worst than that… but you'll have to find out as I find some way to make it worse than just breaking up.
Next Chappie: Sano comes and saves the day... how? hm... i'll add something in.