co·op·er·a·tion | \ (ˌ)kō-ˌä-pə-ˈrā-shən:

1. an act or instance of working or acting together for a common purpose or benefit; joint action

2. the association of persons or businesses for common, usually economic, benefit

Chapter 8: Discussions

They returned to talking about mundane topics as they ate, but Kaoru felt odd, as if the balance of their relationship had fallen in favor of Himura. But she didn't know why she felt like there was a tenuous balance in the first place, or if this shift in power would affect their kendo relationship. She was still his sensei for as long as he was willing to pay for lessons, but out of the dojo, it seemed like a completely different story.

This was just another headache waiting to happen, and one Kaoru told herself to avoid by not interacting with him outside of the lessons. She could kick herself for forgetting her resolve so quickly, but the fact was that her one close friend was avoiding her, Hiko wouldn't be too interested in her problems, and there was really no one else in her life. I need new friends, she told herself on the way back to the dojo. So deep in her thoughts, Kaoru almost ran into a brown-haired man who grinned and waved away her hasty apology. Himura had left her at the restaurant to head back to his office, even though he offered to walk her back. She declined, wanting some time to think. Although lately, the silent dojo was all-too-conducive for thinking.

Kaoru resolved two things as she passed through the gate. One, she would not eat lunch with Himura Kenshin again. And two, she would make the time to look up a few old college friends and meet with them. There was more to life than the dojo, and if her current friends were leaving her, it was time to make new ones.

With all her confused thoughts, she looked forward to having no further interactions from anyone remotely connected to Himura in any way for the next two days, but her hopes were dashed. As soon as Kaoru stepped into the courtyard, she found Misao pacing outside the front door. "Uh, Misao-san?" she asked tentatively. "Are you waiting for Aoshi?"

As soon as she heard her voice, the petite lawyer perked up and whirled around to face her. "No! I was actually waiting for you, Kaoru-san. Please, is there somewhere private we can talk?"

"Er, how about my office?" she offered, still confused as to why Misao was here.

Misao shook her head. "I mean outside the dojo. I don't want Aoshi-sama to see us talking."

Sensing this was going to bring about another headache, Kaoru wistfully considered declining the request, but she knew she wouldn't. The only reason why Misao would want to talk without Aoshi seeing them was because it was about him. And who better to give advice than his best friend? Stifling a sigh and not sure if she quite succeeded, she gestured down the street. "There's a cafe around the corner. Aoshi doesn't go in there because he doesn't like their tea, so we should be safe."

Relief suffused Misao's face. Kaoru blinked as she realized the lawyer's eyes were sunken and red, as if she had been up all night crying. Despite the expertly applied makeup, it couldn't hide the distress or exhaustion written across her face. Foreboding crept up in her heart; Aoshi must have told Misao something.

Without another word, Kaoru turned and led the other woman to the cafe. Because of the odd hour, they were the only customers and the woman behind the counter seemed to realize their upcoming conversation had to do with a man. She hustled over and showed them to the most comfortable seat, taking their order and clucking in sympathy at Misao before giving them some privacy.

Kaoru took in a deep breath before focusing on the lawyer. "What's wrong?"

Misao's eyes shimmered as unshed tears instantly sprung up at the gentle question. Immediately she wiped them away with her hand. "I'm sorry, I just can't seem to stop crying," she said with a sniffle.

Her heart went out to the lawyer and Kaoru impulsively grasped her hands to give them a gentle squeeze. "It's all right, Misao-san. You can start talking when you're ready. I mean, I know it has to be about Aoshi, but I don't know exactly what it is you want to discuss."

Misao nodded and wiped her eyes again before fishing for something in her purse. She pulled out a crumpled tissue and wiped her nose with it. "I-it's about Aoshi-sama leaving. He announced it last week in class but I didn't believe him! This was before our first date and I thought I could get him to change his mind."

Sighing, Kaoru gave her hands another squeeze. "I see. So he told you he was serious about leaving?"

"Y-yes. B-but he won't explain why, he just said there was s-something he had to do. Do you know what that is, Kaoru-san?"

"I do," she admitted, "and I've tried to convince him to change his mind. But it seems like nothing worked."

Misao slipped her hands from her grasp and slammed them down on the table, startling Kaoru. "I knew it!" she exclaimed, eyes burning with fury. "He wouldn't tell me what he was going to do and he didn't say when he was returning either. I mean, I don't need an exact date, but Aoshi-sama refused to even give a guess. Why can't you tell me, Kaoru-san? What's so secretive that you can't?"

"It's not my story to tell," she told the lawyer gently. "I'm sorry."

The store owner arrived just then with their teapots and some tiny cakes. She set it before then and patted Misao on the shoulder before leaving them alone again.

Kaoru sighed again, wishing Aoshi hadn't put her in this position. Misao has deflated under her last sentence and now looked even more miserable with more tears running down her cheek. "You really like Aoshi, huh?" she commented softly.

Misao sniffled. "I was going to marry him. I mean, not right away. But after a year of dating if everything went well, which I expected it to, I was going to propose."

Despite herself, Kaoru couldn't help but chuckle at her unorthodox relationship views. "You don't do things the usual way, do you Misao-san?"

"What's the point in waiting for him to take the initiative when I can spare him the uncertainty and do it myself? I knew the kind of man Aoshi was when I first met him. I can't force him to do anything-"

"Except convince him to go on three dates with you," Kaoru murmured.

Misao didn't seem to have heard her. "- and if I let him take the first step, I'll be forty before we get anywhere! It's much easier if I make a move first so I can figure out how far I can go and what his limits are."

It struck Kaoru just then that Aoshi did need a woman like Misao by his side. He was, as the lawyer so astutely pinpointed, a man who couldn't be pushed to do anything but hesitated to do anything for his own happiness. Kaoru suspected that he felt unworthy to be happy ever again after the death of his friends. It was survivor's guilt made even worse because he had been in charge and should have died first. Even his excuse of finally giving in to Misao's persuasions was a flimsy cover; he had actually wanted to go out with her. Most likely, Kaoru thought, Aoshi hadn't wanted to start dating because of his plans, but he had finally given in to his desires. And now, he may have realized just how much he was going to hurt the woman he cared for, and did his best to end things cleanly. Only Misao wouldn't go quietly and Kaoru still thought she was the key to changing Aoshi's mind about going after Takeda.

So what should she do? Break Aoshi's confidence and tell Misao everything? Tell her as little as possible? Deny all knowledge and then find and pummel her childhood friend until he resembled a squashed banana? Taking a look at Misao's red-rimmed eyes, the last seemed the most appealing option.

"Kaoru-san, will he come back?"

That softly spoken question made her gut clench and she couldn't meet the other woman's eyes. "If anyone can, it would be Aoshi," she replied, hating how vague she sounded because it was so suspicious.

"Does this have to do with Takeda Kanryuu?"

Jerking her head up, Kaoru stared at Misao. "What?"

"So it does," she said, eyes narrowing. "Kenshin told me about the name so we searched the internet. The only thing notable was something about a drug cartel arrest, implicating Takeda as the ringleader. But there was no mention of Aoshi-sama in conjunction with the arrest. In fact, there was no mention of Aoshi-sama anywhere on the web, except your dojo."

Drat Himura and the internet, Kaoru thought as she fiddled with her teacup. He was far too handy searching it for information. And she'd forgotten how smart Misao was, being one of the very few who passed the yobi-shiken. "Aoshi is a very private person," she replied lamely when it was obvious the lawyer was waiting for a response.

Misao leaned forward. "Really? Because while that may be true, it seems more likely that he was involved in the arrest of Takeda in some secret capacity. And now that he's being released, Aoshi-sama has taken it upon himself to make sure Kanryuu doesn't live to see another day."

"Misao-san, I'm sorry, but I just can't really say," she told her, hating every word that came out of her mouth. Wondering if she should be shocked that Misao seemed to figure out Aoshi's so-called master plan, Kaoru added, "But don't worry, I'm going to kill Aoshi right after we leave here."

At that, a tremulous smile parted Misao's lips. "Is it bad that I don't want you to hurt him?" she remarked softly.

Kaoru sighed. With Misao's relatively easy acceptance of the situation, she must have had a couple of days to figure everything out. "It's not bad at all. It just means that you care deeply for him, and I'm grateful for that. I just wish Aoshi wasn't willing to throw away this relationship for some idea he's set upon. In fact, I had hoped you'd be able to stop him from carrying out his stupid plans."

"Thanks, Kaoru-san," Misao whispered. "That means a lot to me." She breathed in deeply, visibly gathering herself. "He told me that he was planning on leaving in a few weeks, and since we had our third date, he'd say goodbye to me now. I couldn't accept it, which is why I came running to you. I hope I didn't make you uncomfortable, forcing you to choose between me and Aoshi-sama."

"No, you didn't," Kaoru assured her. "I'm kind of flattered you came to me, I guess. But I'm sorry I couldn't help you anymore."

Misao smiled again, and this time it was firmer. "You did help. Even if you couldn't tell me what's going on, I have enough of an idea to try to figure out how to stop him from throwing his life away. I'm not going to lose him when I just found him."

Aoshi didn't deserve a woman like Misao, Kaoru thought darkly. Only the best kind of people wouldn't give up on someone as stubborn as the kempo master. Even she had, in some aspects, stopped trying to persuade him from leaving Takeda alone. Sitting up straight, Kaoru stared at Misao right in the eyes. "If you need any help, Misao-san, you let me know. I'll do whatever I can to make sure you succeed."

At that, a real smile blossomed on the lawyer's lips. "Thank you, Kaoru-san. If anything, I'm glad to get to know you a little better through this."

And Kaoru realized she had just made her first new friend in over four years. The feeling of being understood and understanding someone else was amazing. Endorphins coursed through her and she felt happy for the first time in weeks. "Me too, Misao-san," she replied, hoping her voice didn't break from emotions.

"Okay, enough about me and Aoshi-sama for the moment," Misao declared suddenly. "I need some time to think of a plan. Let's talk about you and Kenshin instead."

Instantly, the endorphins were replaced by panic, or something close to that feeling. "W-what do you mean?" she stammered. "Himura-san is just my student."

"Uh huh." Misao scanned her with a blatantly skeptical expression. "I should let you know that Kenshin has never once taken a lunch break outside the office ever since he started his business, and that was nine years ago. He's a complete workaholic and nothing has ever drawn him away from the company. That is, until he met you."

"Those lunch breaks were actually evil plans to interrogate me about Aoshi on your behalf," Kaoru muttered.

Instead of being outraged as Kaoru expected, Misao smiled. "Is that what he said?"

She thought back on their previous conversations. "Yes! Well, he said that was one of the reasons. But that was probably just to throw me off. I mean, what other reason could there be?"

Misao chuckled and shook her head. "Kenshin is pretty straightforward. If he said that, he meant it. Which means he wanted to get to know you better too. Trust him to be so scarily efficient by getting two things done at once."

Kaoru sighed, wondering why Misao was so amused by this entire situation. "In any case, we're not even friends, really. I'm his teacher and he's my student. And that's all it's going to be. My reputation will be ruined if it gets out that I'm dating a client of mine."

Raising an eyebrow, Misao replied, "No one would think badly of two adults getting into a consensual relationship. At his age, Kenshin isn't taking lessons for some kendo dream he has. And he's already been thoroughly trained by Hiko-san. Everyone in the kendo scene here probably knows that."

"So everyone thinks he's taking lessons from me because he's interested in me?" Kaoru wasn't sure if she was horrified by the thought or insulted that she'd been wasting her time teaching her family's philosophy to someone who wasn't interested in it. Possibly both.

"No, no," Misao said hastily. "I don't know why Kenshin decided to start taking lessons from you. All I'm saying is that it's not as weird or illicit as you think. Are you interested in him?"

Kaoru flushed and squirmed uncomfortably, wishing Misao wasn't so direct with her questioning. "What? No, of course not!"

The lawyer giggled. "Then why are you so red? It's okay to be interested, Kaoru-san! Kenshin is a good guy and you deserve a good guy." Just then, something beeped and Misao looked down, fumbling through her purse again. "Excuse me, that's my cell phone. I'll probably need to take the call."

"Of course," Kaoru assured her, grateful for the sudden reprieve from the uncomfortable interrogation. She might have to rethink being Misao's friend if the petite woman kept asking such intrusive questions. The last thing she wanted to do was to think about Himura in any other way except as her student. Her extremely talented student who might or might not be interested in the Sword that Gives Life ideal. But as long as she had a chance to continue teaching her family's philosophy, she would do so. It was her legacy, her responsibility.

Misao picked up the phone and turned away politely before murmuring into the receiver so Kaoru finally poured herself some tea. It was fast on its way to lukewarm but she drank it anyway and chose one of the little cakes to nibble on. A minute later, Misao ended her call and smiled apologetically at her. "I'm sorry, but a work issue came up so I need to get back to the office. Thank you for taking the time to listen to me, Kaoru-san. Let's meet up again soon, okay? I'll pay for the tea so please stay and enjoy it."

Kaoru opened her mouth to say something but the lawyer had already risen and made her way to pay for the drinks. She spoke to the owner warmly, making the other lady laugh before accepting the credit card. Within twenty seconds, Misao waved and left the cafe with hurried steps.

Left on her own again, Kaoru let out a long breath and stared down at her tray. The mini desserts were single bites that just begged to be eaten. One by one, Kaoru popped the tiny cakes into her mouth and drank the tea before she left. She didn't want to be rude and the food was pretty tasty, which meant she definitely needed some exercise herself this weekend.

That chance appeared sooner than she expected. As Kaoru unlocked the dojo doors, she passed through the threshold and immediately felt an intrusive presence behind her. Kaoru started to turn and the interloper shouted as a weapon hurled towards her at breakneck speed. She dodged the expertly timed attack, which would have knocked her out had it connected, and spun on her left heel to face her assailant, hands up in a defensive posture.

Only a very familiar faces grinned at her, setting the shinai back onto his right shoulder. "Haven't lost your touch yet, Busu."

Kaoru stared at the young man in front of her. In just seven weeks since school started, it seemed as though he had grown another inch. His dark hair was cropped close to his face to reveal less child-like features and a more mature structure that emphasized his deep brown eyes. He was dressed in jeans and a t-shirt with his familiar nylon kendo bag strapped to his back. "Yahiko, what are you doing here?" she exclaimed as soon as she found her voice.

"What, not happy to see me?" he demanded with a fake sniff of displeasure.

She smirked and retorted, "Nope, I thought I'd have at least two more months before I had to suffer seeing your face again." Without waiting for a response, Kaoru grabbed him and squeezed him tightly to bely her words. He was too old for such a demonstration but he hugged her back anyway. "But really, what are you doing here?" she asked when she finally let go. "The semester just started. You're not due for a break until December."

"I wanted to surprise you," Yahiko explained. "I got an internship and a modeling job so the university is allowing me to stay for two weeks in Tokyo, as long as I make up the class work I miss."

"An internship and a modeling job?" she repeated. Yahiko was a fine looking young man but she couldn't picture him as a model.

"Yeah, for Red Dragon Corp. I'll be following around the CEO learning the business side of the company. They're also going to ask me to model some of their newest kendo equipment for them for their website. They specifically targeted kendo students so I thought I'd apply. And since I'm majoring in business, I'd get some hands-on experience about that too."

Kaoru's excitement and surprise faded away as Yahiko mentioned the name of the company. "R-Red Dragon Corp?" she stuttered. "You're interning with them?"

"Yeah." Yahiko frowned at her. "Why do you look so pale, Busu? I thought you'd be happy for me for taking the initiative on stuff like this. And rumors are abounding in the kendo world that you're teaching the CEO of the company. Is that true?"

She was going to murder Himura Kenshin, never mind that it flew in the face of everything that she believed in. Kaoru clenched her fists, fuming at the audacity of her new student somehow entangling himself further into her life. Was it mere coincidence that Yahiko had been chosen for the internship? It was possible, but it seemed highly unlikely given that her number one pupil-turned-college-student was now suddenly working for the bane of her existence.

"Uh, Kaoru? You okay? Now you look like your head is going to pop right off. Why are you so mad?"

Yahiko's puzzled expression deflated some of her anger. No matter what Himura was scheming, it wasn't the teen's fault and she should be happy for him. And console him after losing the internship because she murdered the CEO and dumped his body in a river full of piranhas. Since he was still waiting for a reply, Kaoru tried to smile. "Congratulations, Yahiko, that's very impressive. I'm so proud of you."

The young man flushed red at the praise. "Che, it's probably because only like three people applied and I was the only one with kendo experience," he muttered, glancing away.

"Not true, Red Dragon Corp. is well known in all sorts of sports disciplines and I'm sure they were flooded with applications. Come on, you can tell me all about it in my office. I'm assuming you start Monday?"

"Yeah. Hey, where is everybody? It's like a ghost town around here." Following Kaoru through the silent dojo, Yahiko glanced around, peering through the empty classrooms. "I thought Aoshi-san and Hiko-san practically lived here like you do."

Kaoru sighed as she flicked on the lights to her office and settled behind her desk as usual. "There's been a lot going on here," she said wearily. "Basically, Aoshi and Hiko-san are leaving the dojo."

"What?" Yahiko sank down on one of the cushions in shock as he stared at her. "They're both leaving? At the same time? What are you going to do?"

Looking down at the notes she took from both interviews, Kaoru tried for a casual shrug. She didn't want to show Yahiko how upset she was, even if he could guess it. "Well, Aoshi set up two interviews with some extremely qualified candidates as his replacement so I'll have to make a decision. And while I appreciate the idea of a women's self-defense class, it seems a little redundant with the other disciplines here. I'm toying with the idea of just giving up offering those lessons, even if the enrollment rate goes down."

"Wow," he breathed. "A lot's happened since I've been gone. You should have called me!"

She scoffed. "What could you do while attending your classes? Your priority is university, Yahiko. I already told you I won't hire you without a degree and I mean it."

The teen scowled and leaned forward. "You can't do this all yourself, Busu. I can take a break from school and help out here. And why is Aoshi-san leaving? I thought he was going to stay forever and his spirit would haunt the dojo for generations to come, right alongside yours."

"You're not taking a break from school! You just started your second semester of your first year!" Kaoru paused and took a deep breath to stop from yelling. Yahiko was sometimes so stubborn he wouldn't listen to reasonable arguments so she had to appeal to his emotions instead. "You know my father would be deeply disappointed if you stopped. Education was very important to him, which is why I didn't drop out myself when it would have been a lot easier. He considered it an opportunity, not a burden."

"Fine, fine," Yahiko grumbled in concession. "Anyway, what about Aoshi-san?"

Kaoru had almost forgotten how much her prized student was so tenacious; usually a good quality, but dangerous when it came to trying to keep Aoshi's secrets. Sighing, she replied, "He has some unfinished business to take care of and decided to take a leave of absence. It might take a while to complete and he didn't want to leave the dojo in a lurch."

Yahiko didn't look like he swallowed that excuse but his phone rang, interrupting whatever he was going to say. "Oh, it's the internship people. I gotta take this, Busu."

Relieved at the break in the interrogation, Kaoru waved him away and turned her attention to finish planning the weekend lessons. She taught nine classes, almost back-to-back, on Saturday and seven on Sunday which didn't leave her a lot of time to get other things done so she preferred to do as much as possible before the end of the week.

The nice thing was, Yahiko was back so he could help take some of the teaching burden from her shoulders. All the younger students adored him as he was the most decorated kendoka to ever come from the dojo, so he was a bit of a legend. And Yahiko loved the sport so much he never said no to helping out. He had told Kaoru his goal was to graduate from university and be hired as a second instructor for the dojo, as the assistant master. It was a dream she was willing to make happen, and she had three years to expand the business to accommodate another full time kendo instructor before he graduated.

Yahiko wandered back into her office some minutes later, a bemused expression on his face. She glanced at him and frowned. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing. I think."

Kaoru opened her mouth to demand an explanation but before she could, her own phone began to jingle.

"You should probably get that."

She shot the teen a suspicious glare before looking down at her caller ID. It was Himura Kenshin.

It was the last person she wanted to talk to, especially since they literally just saw each other two hours ago. What could he possibly want to talk to her about? She sighed. Debating whether or not to answer it, Kaoru finally jabbed the 'talk' button harder than necessary and put the phone up to her ear. "Yes?" she asked sweetly.

There was a long pause before Himura spoke. "Kamiya-san?"

"Speaking," she replied in the same cloying tone, mainly because it seemed to throw him off-balance.

"Do you always sound like that on the phone?" Instead of projecting uncertainty, Himura sounded incredulous - and amused.

Deflating because she just couldn't seem to win against the red-headed menace, Kaoru dropped the syrupy voice and growled, "What do you want?" Vaguely, she was aware that her rudeness would appall her parents if they were alive, but she couldn't seem to bring herself to care. This manipulative CEO seemed like he was slowly trying to take over her life and she resented it.

Unfortunately, it seemed as though Himura was even further amused. "Ahh, there's the Kamiya-san I've come to know and expect. Are you free tomorrow?"

Kaoru glanced at Yahiko who was studying her intently, though a hint of a smirk seemed to linger at the corners of his mouth. "Actually, I'm not," she answered crisply, shooting her student a pointed glare. Yahiko simply grinned back which irritated her further. "The weekends are my busiest teaching days."

"Even early? Say seven-thirty for breakfast. I'd like to meet with both you and Yahiko-kun. Or we could always stick to our usual lunch meetings, since I know you hungry kendo instructors have to eat."

She pulled the phone away from her ear and glared at it before shifting the scowl towards her student. Putting a hand over the receiver, Kaoru hissed, "Why does Himura Kenshin want to meet with us together? He should be talking to your dad or mom about this internship business!"

Yahiko tried an innocent shrug, but it came off too quickly and far too casual. "I don't know. He just asked me if you knew I was back in Tokyo and I said yes. I didn't know you didn't want him to know."

Hissing in exasperation and ignoring the chuckles coming from the phone - she should have muted the call - Kaoru took in several deep breaths before returning the phone to her ear. "You should really talk to Yahiko's parents regarding his internship, Himura-san."

"I will. But tomorrow's meeting actually has to do with you too. So, will it be breakfast or lunch?"

Finding herself painted into a corner and not to mention her curiosity was piqued, she gave up. "Breakfast."

"Mm, excellent choice. Let's meet at the Hoppin Cafe in Shibuya. Reservations will be under my name. Seven-thirty, Kamiya-san. Don't be late." And without waiting for a response, Himura hung up the phone.

Kaoru set the device down a bit harder than necessary. She didn't appreciate it either when Yahiko started laughing at her. "What?" she growled.

"I've never seen you so flustered before!" he exclaimed in between bouts of snickers. "Usually you're the one leaving all the guys speechless but Himura-san has really turned the tables on you."

"He has not! He's just insufferable and he thinks food is the answer to everything." Her scowl deepened as she realized just how true her words were. Apart from Himura's lessons, they always met over food.

Yahiko snorted. "I don't know how to break this to you, Busu, but you think food is the answer to everything. Maybe he always meets with you over food because he knows you like it so much." Then he furrowed his brows in sudden suspicion. "Exactly how many times have you met him over a meal, anyway?"

She ignored the impertinent question, concentrating instead on his previous comment. Did Himura always ask her to lunch because he knew she liked food that much? Well, she was always hungry after their lessons! It wasn't like she was begging him to take her out to eat afterwards. That was all on him.

But the idea that he accommodated her startled Kaoru, simply because no one had ever been so thoughtful to her. Sure, most of the time he was trying to pump her for information, but at least he offered to pay for the meal now and again. And he always took her somewhere delicious and different.

She shook her head, partially to clear it and partially in confusion. Looking up at her former apprentice, she informed him, "Seven-thirty at the Hoppin Cafe in Shibuya. Are you going to ask your parents to come?"

Yahiko shook his head. "We're actually meeting him Sunday night for dinner to discuss the internship in greater detail. So I'm guessing this meeting is just for us."

She couldn't imagine why Himura would want her there, but Kaoru supposed she would find out soon enough.

AN: Thanks for all the kind and understanding comments! I loved hearing what you all had to say - let me know what you think about this latest chapter!

Next Chapter: Kaoru confronts Kenshin. Naturally, unexpected results ensue.