Forever
Chapter 14: Jinchuu
A fanfiction by Kyo
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Hello! Chapter 14 is here so there's no need to kill me, right? I love you readers and especially reviewers (hint, hint) so much, I don't want you to wish me painful death for not updating.
For this chapter . . . I only tell you this is not the Jinchuu you are expecting.
To chibi-dragongrl, since you asked for my opinion about Battousai and I want you to keep reviewing ^_^ here is my opinion about him. Battousai is the sexiest anime character I have seen in my whole life. I just love his golden eyes! They are so . . . sexy. No other word to describe them. And I love long reviews, so keep them coming! ^_^
Glad you guys liked the Yahiko-Tsubame scene. I like it too.
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Kaoru stared in shock at the new visitor. "You are joking, right? You are that guy that keeps me asking out on dates and now you want to kill me? Are you stalking me? What are you doing with that sword in your hand? You should know I'm very good at kenjuutsu myself. In fact, I just won a tournament. Go away, I'm not in the mood for you." Kaoru rambled, feeling much like Misao.
Meanwhile, the man with dark glasses in the middle of the night stared at her with something akin to shock, mixed with irritation and annoyance.
"Your name is Enishi, right?" Kaoru asked irritably, not noticing the annoyance of her would-be killer. The man nodded, dumbstruck.
"Well, Enishi, keep moving, cuz I'm going away. If you keep stalking me I'll call the police. Don't take any step closer to me because I'll scream and I have a pretty good voice and a nice pair of lungs."
Enishi growled under his breath, this girl was not making it any easier for him, just like last time. "Look, girl, I came here to. . ." Enishi started, taking a step closer to her.
Kaoru, true to her promise, screamed to the top of her lungs.
"KEEEEEEEEEEEEEEENSHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINNNNNNNNNNN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Came her shrill scream, with the only word that came to her mind at the moment.
Scarcely a second later a very agitated golden-eyed redhead burst through the door. "Kaoru!!!" Kenshin screamed through ragged breathing, wondering what the hell had made her scream like that and imaging a thousand ways to torture the thing or person that had made her scream like that.
Meanwhile, Enishi smacked his face with his free hand in exasperation, then retreated to a corner where he curled in a little ball looking quite depressed and muttering, "this wasn't supposed to happen this way!!!" in a little whine.
Kenshin ignored him for the moment as he checked on Kaoru. No bumps or bruises. Check. No blood anywhere. Check. No torn dress anywhere. Check. No harm anywhere. Check. He looked at her looking quite confused.
"Kaoru, are you okay?" Kenshin asked, just to be sure. Kaoru nodded with a frown, not directed at him but at the figure behind him.
"Did anyone hurt you?" He asked taking one of her hands in his. Kaoru shook her head lightly, her frown disappearing as her eyes focused on their hands.
"Did anyone scare you?" Kenshin tried once more. Kaoru nodded and pointed at Enishi with her free hand. Kenshin's amber eyes focused on the figure, which was now uncurling and standing up.
"Battousai." He greeted with a crazy smile, but one could see that he was not quite pleased with the way this was going.
"What did you do to Kaoru, kisama?" Kenshin asked with so much venom, Kaoru was surprised. She curled her fingers on his shirt to keep him from advancing to his foe. He had already dropped his jacket inside.
Enishi rolled his eyes, exasperated. "I did nothing to your girlfriend, Battousai. She's just in hysterics."
Kenshin's glare turned a tad fiercer. But before he could open his mouth to speak or move a step closer, Tomoe came running outside, followed closely by her husband.
"Itouto! Kaoru-chan! Are you okay? I heard you screaming, Kaoru-chan. What happened?"
"Kisama scared her." Kenshin said in a low dangerous voice, his angry golden eyes focused on Enishi, who stared at Tomoe in shock. Kenshin wanted to attack him, kick him out of the street, but Kaoru's curled fingers on his shirt kept him from doing so.
"Itouto!" Tomoe reprimanded. "That's no way of talking to someone. He just scared her, it's not like he threatened her to death."
"Er . . ." Kaoru started hesitantly, making sure she had a safe grip on Kenshin's shirt who was growling to the man like an angry dog trying to get free from its leash. "Technically, Tomoe-san, he did that too." She explained. "He said something about Earthly Justice not being over till he took my life away."
"Kisama." Kenshin hissed, moving as if to grip his sword, which was not at his hip.
"Sou da ne?" Tomoe said calmly. "Then we must call the police." She told her husband who nodded immediately.
But before anyone could do any movement, Enishi asked. "Are you happy?"
Everyone looked at him in confusion, wondering to whom that question was directed. It was directed to Tomoe.
At first Tomoe just looked at him, probably wondering if he was serious in his question. But upon seeing his eyes, she answered without hesitation."It is my wedding day, and I'm marrying the man of my dreams. What do you think, young man?" Tomoe asked with a gentle smile. Akira blushed a little but smiled too.
Enishi seemed dumbstruck by her answer. His eyes turned gentle, and the crazy smile disappeared from his lips. He shrugged. "Then there is no need for Jinchuu." He turned around and walked away.
The four stared at him with their mouths agape for a while till he disappeared.
Kenshin, finally reacting, tried to pry himself off Kaoru's fingers. "Kisama!!!" He screamed at the top of his longs, his hand instinctively went to his hip to grasp his sword. But Kaoru did not let him go and held tighter to his shirt. He struggled for a second, but after realizing it was Kaoru who had holding him back with a strength he didn't think she was capable of, he stopped. By that time he was panting like a bull.
Tomoe raised a delicate eyebrow, seeing her brother behave in such a violent way. Kenshin was never violent, but now she was starting to think her impression of her little brother was wrong. His eyes were completely golden, evidence that he was out of his wits with anger. His lips were curled up in an involuntary snarl, and he was ready to spring in search of his opponent. He would have done so a lot time ago if it wasn't for Kaoru's firm grip on his shirt. Like a dog on a leash, Tomoe thought with amusement.
She was snapped out of her reverie by Akira's hand on hers. She looked up and found him smiling. He made a movement with his head indicating they should go inside, in silence. Tomoe agreed wholeheartedly in a moment. They left the couple without making any sound.
Kenshin, trying to control his breathing, inhaled and exhaled slowly. The growl disappeared from his face and he blinked repeatedly in an effort to make the anger go away. He had been mad with rage when he had learned he had threatened her in such a way. That moment, he was willing to kill him if he came any closer and hurt him very badly even if he didn't. But Kaoru had stopped him.
Her hand was still on his back, resting lightly on it as she felt how he regained control of himself.
"I'm sorry." Kenshin said lightly, in a tiny ashamed voice. Kaoru sighed and took a step forward to rest her forehead on his back. She shook her head and Kenshin felt her movement like a tickle.
"Why are you apologizing? It's not like you did something wrong."
Kenshin turned around slowly, his head bowed. "It's just that whenever you are in danger, I loose control." He said softly, taking her hands in his, refusing to meet her eyes. "That time with Zou, that time with Gohei. Every single time something happens to you or seems to happen . . . I can't bear it."
"You are such a silly redhead." Kaoru said lightly, taking one of her hands away from his to touch his birthmark, forcing him to look at her.
Kenshin made a face at her comment that made her giggle. "You should stop worrying so much about me. I can take care of myself, you know." Kaoru said with a mock-frown.
Kenshin had to smile at her face. They were so close to each other their foreheads touched. "Really? Then why you called me liked that? I mean, you can take care of yourself so you don't need me."
"Mou!" Kaoru whispered. "You are such a tease."
Kenshin smiled broader. He leaned forward and touched his nose to hers in an Eskimo kiss.
"I was scared and I had right to be." Kaoru continued, making as if she wasn't in cloud nine due to his gentle gesture. "A man with a sword threatened me to death. You wanted me to tell him 'Oh yes, come here and kill me'?" Kaoru continued babbling.
Kenshin's eyes swirled amber at the mere thought and a frown appeared on his brow.
"Kenshin! You are not listening to me! Mou!" Kaoru said after five seconds of his spacing out, thinking of a thousand ways of causing pain to the man that had scared her.
"Gomen de gozaru." Kenshin apologized immediately. Kaoru rolled her eyes and rested her head on his shoulder.
"Just forget about that man, he didn't do anything to me, after all." Kaoru said with a sigh, knowing perfectly well what her best friend had been thinking the moment he spaced out.
Sometimes he was amazed at how well she knew him, to the point of knowing exactly what had been crossing his mind.
"Yes, ma'am."
"We should go back to the party. Your sister must be wondering where are we." Kaoru muttered, not wanting the moment to end but knowing it would.
"Tomoe-onee-chan won't miss me for a while. She's too busy with her Akira-chan." Kenshin said with an impish smile.
Kaoru raised her head from his shoulder and looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "What are you planning?" She knew that tone in his voice and the mischievous glint of amber on his eyes.
"Well, we could go somewhere . . ." Kenshin said shyly, looking away from her.
"Okay."
"Okay?" Kenshin was surprised by her easy response.
"Yeah, okay. Take me somewhere. You lived here when you were a kid so you should know some cool places. Like where you and Sano used to hang out and stuff." Kaoru said, pulling him toward his car, which was not very far from there.
"I don't think you would like the places where Sano and I used to hang out. He took me to the worst places . . ." Kenshin said with a slow shake of his head, no doubt remembering those places.
Kaoru giggled, turning to look at him. "Yeah, knowing him, that's true. But there must be someplace you like from this city that you can take me to."
Kenshin looked at the night sky, thinking of a suitable place to take her. He didn't want to ruin it, not now that she was talking to him. He wanted to take her somewhere special, where they could talk in peace.
"Weeeeeeeeell, I can take you that place." He said mysteriously, taking out his car keys and shutting down the alarm.
Kaoru titled her head cutely. "What place?"
Kenshin smiled at her. "It's a secret."
"Mou!"
"Don't open you eyes."
"They are closed."
"You are peeking, I know. Close them."
"I tell you I have them closed."
"That's not true."
"Are you calling me a liar?" Kaoru said, irritation clear in her voice.
Kenshin chuckled. "Of course not."
"Kenshin, we better already be there because these high heels are killing me." Kaoru complained, gripping his hands tighter when she almost tripped with a rock.
"We are almost there. You can take off your shoes I you want to. There's grass here."
"No, because I would have to carry them and I don't want to."
Kenshin chuckled again. They walked a few meters more before Kenshin finally allowed her to open her eyes. By that time, she was not stepping over grass, but over sand.
Kaoru opened her eyes and was amazed by the sight before her eyes. A beautiful crystalline lake was in front of her; it's waters reflecting the full moon. Surrounding it was white sand, allowing her to take off her shoes without problem.
"Sugoi! This place is awesome, Kenshin!" Kaoru said excitedly, the sight taking her breath away. "How did you find it?"
Kenshin scratched the back of his head and laughed nervously. "I don't remember."
"Baka." Kaoru said automatically, taking her high heels and throwing them away. "Ah!" She sighed in relief as her feet touched the cool sand.
"You take off your shoes too. I don't want to be the only barefoot here." Kaoru said, crouching and lifting his foot. "But, hey!" Kenshin protested before falling back first on the sand. "I'll have to send this to the laundry . . ." Kenshin muttered as he watched the starry night with swirling eyes.
"Baka." Kaoru said with an impish smile and then lied next to him.
"You call me 'baka' more times you call my name, you know?" Kenshin asked, taking off the other shoe and throwing it in the general direction of the other ones. He then rolled on his side to look at her.
"Well, that's because it's true." Kaoru said turning her face from the stars to his violet eyes. She said it with such seriousness he almost winced. Instead of wincing, Kenshin pouted.
Kaoru laughed openly at his cute pout. "I'm kidding! Of course you are not a baka." Kenshin's pout continued. "It's just that everybody says I'm one, and I'm starting to believe it's true!" He protested, looking away from her.
"Oh c'mon! You know it isn't. And besides," she moved closer to him. "It's my pet name for you." Kaoru said with a glint in her eyes.
"Yeah, like Hiko's 'baka deshi'"
Kaoru laughed out loud.
"It's not funny!" Kenshin whined.
Kaoru couldn't stop laughing. "Yes, it is." Kenshin continued to pout. "Stop being a baby." Kaoru said in response to his cute pout.
"I'm not being a baby."
"Yeah, whatever."
"I'm not."
"And what did I say?"
"'Yeah, whatever'"
"And so what?"
". . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ."
Thought so."
". . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ."
"Don't do that."
". . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ."
"C'mon, talk to me."
". . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ."
"I you don't talk I'm leaving." She said as she poked his ribs. Kenshin winced but smiled.
"What are you smiling about?"
"You don't know the way back~" He sing-sang.
Kaoru frowned. Point for him. "Well, you are talking again, so I don't mind."
". . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ."
"Kenshin!!!"
He chuckled. "Okay, I'll talk if you tell me what to talk about."
"Tell me if what you said me that day in the park is true."
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Ooooooooooooooohhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!! Another cliffhanger! I think I have a thing for those. Hope you don't mind, I'll try to get the next chapter fast (hey! This was fast!). My amount of inspiration is directly proportional to the number I of reviews I receive (hint, hint) ^_^ You guys go type reviews if you want a real fast chappie.
