Wow. Quick response for the first chapter. I was surprised actually. I
apologize ahead of time for not updating too frequently. The consolation I
can offer is that I only devote myself to one fic at a time and I always
finish my projects. Cursed midterms made things difficult, hence the
complaining of Kaoru and Megumi in the last chapter. I swore a few things
to myself when I began this: no kidnapping, no rape scene or anything close
to it. At this point if I used either it would be a cop out as I've used
them in my other fics to create convenient emotional situations. Now I
actually have to get original. Ah well. On with the chapter. It isn't
really much longer than the first. sigh. At least I got in some character
motivation work. I got a little confused about what day it was in the
story, I hope it makes sense. The perils of writing at very interrupted
times I suppose.
Disclaimers: All standard disclaimers apply. See previous chapter if you really want to read more disclaimer, but I promise the story is more interesting than the disclaimer.I hope.
Chapter 2
Kenshin was, naturally, still surrounded by women and making quiet conversation. He did look adorable, with his red hair beginning to come out of its curls, and his violet eyes wide and innocent looking. The very sight of him helped Kaoru immensely. This was something she was familiar with. The same glowing warmth that filled her with a fondness dispelled the jolt she had just received from Enishi's company. Gently making some room beside Kenshin, she listened to him continue to describe his problems arranging a room for his thesis presentation. Even though it was not that interesting, somehow he made it comical with him in the center as a bumbling fool who somehow managed to make it all turn out all right. Kaoru knew what really went on, for behind Kenshin's easygoing exterior he really got things done. That's why he was one of the top in his class, destined for honors in his department, and had a good fellowship lined up for postgraduate work. She expected nothing less from the soft man with the sharp mind.
His very perfection filled Kaoru with despair even as she admired it. It just set him that much more out of her reach, no matter what Megumi said. He had everything going for him, and she was just a mediocre sophomore who didn't know where she was going in life. Something inside of her screamed to leave the party right then just so she could get away from everything. What she really wanted was to go and practice her sword katas. Martial arts were a soothing way to pass the time. Even that was not impressive compared to Kenshin, who had been fencing since he was in middle school. Nothing she could do would ever compare to what he'd already done. She got up to go.
"Where are you going Kaoru?" Kenshin gave her a brilliant smile. Always so nice and friendly. She sighed.
"I'm going to see what Megumi's doing." She felt like she should make up a better excuse, or at least elaborate on it, but she didn't feel like it. She had already driven herself into a nice blue funk.
"Oh, ok." He picked up his drink and continued talking amiably with the girls. Kaoru tried not to think of how easily he dismissed her. And she hadn't even drunk anything yet. Maybe she would now. She felt like she needed something. At the same time, the kitchen held Enishi most likely, and she wasn't sure she wanted to be drunk around him. It was a no win sort of moment. In the end she really did end up going to find Megumi. Megumi was in some sort of drinking game, where one person had to name all the parts of the brain, take a shot, name it again, take a shot, and so on until someone slipped up or passed out. It was amusing enough for a little while, but Megumi was clearly going to win as she was intense about her anatomy knowledge. Sano was cheering her on of course, as he was in favor of his buttoned down girlfriend engaging in any sort of irresponsible behavior. He looked fairly rosy cheeked himself. And they had only been there an hour or two. it couldn't have been later than 10:30 or so. With a sort of resignation, she walked into the kitchen. Bottles littered the place, and there was a sort of slurry of some sort in a tub. Opting to avoid both, Kaoru again went for water. She felt very boring.
"Not enjoying our hospitality?" She knew that voice. It was possible she would never forget that voice. A shiver went down her spine, the door to the kitchen must have opened.
"Well, I must say things are very lively and. erm. no not really. I never really know what to do at these sort of parties."
"Dance, get drunk, act stupid. Not in any particular order of course. You might as well, because when we're older we won't have any excuse for behavior like this except during the winter holidays." Enishi handed her an unopened wine cooler.
"Erm. I feel I ought to tell you, I'm a terrible lightweight. I think I'd be just as well with water." Normally she would have just taken the drink. Something about him just screamed sinister. Maybe her nervousness stemmed from an inherent distrust for lawyers. She smiled at her own internal joke. Enishi raised an eyebrow, and Kaoru realized he was just standing there in front of her waiting for her to speak again. "But thank you anyway."
"You're right though. This party is unappealing right now." He swept off his cape and threw it in a corner. "Come have some coffee with me. If we aren't going to drink like college students, we might as well do something pretentious."
Kaoru wondered if accepting this offer was such a good idea. On the one hand she didn't know him and hence had no idea if he was a decent person from the chain of gossip, on the other hand time spent with him alone seemed terribly appealing. For once she opted for danger, but she would make sure to temper it.
"Ok." She pulled off her wig, showing hair that was wrapped up in a bun. "But you let me go home first and change out of this grotesque outfit. I know a good place a few blocks away. It isn't even a chain yet." Familiar surroundings, more tame clothing, both were key to her feeling better about going out with a total stranger.
"I will await you at your leisure. I'm not exactly going anywhere." Something about what she just said made him smile. Unlike before, when it had seemed odd on him, this smile seemed to touch his eyes and make them narrow just a little bit. Kaoru gave him a cheerful look, mostly due to the fact that soon she wouldn't be so uncomfortable anymore, at least not from clothing. Enishi watched as she ran out the front door. Pushing at his glasses he saw Kenshin eye her as she ran out, an intent look on his face. Megumi and Sano were too far gone to be aware of anything, but he didn't really care about them anyway. The girl was the key. Tomoe would have her last say, with his help, and finally he'd have some peace.
*
Kaoru sipped her tea and tried not to fidget. The smooth liquid was not likely to calm her nerves. He hadn't changed out of his suit, and also hadn't taken the teeth out and when she had arrived he met her outside the front door. Unconsciously, she hoped, she had chosen an outfit that matched him. A skirt in this weather was ridiculous. Especially a short skirt. What was she thinking? The scarf and thin jacket did not make up for much when her legs were freezing. As she watched Enishi order at the counter, she thought of how he had recognized her immediately even though she looked terribly different from her costume. Maybe he was just really observant. She sighed and took down her hair from the bun she had hurriedly assembled as she left the house. He was already coming over this way. Oh good lord. She felt like she had dropped about fifty IQ points. Something inside her prayed he wouldn't ask her a question because all she might do is drool. Not that he didn't deserve to be drooled over, but she wanted it to remain a figure or speech.
"This place is very, hmmm. I can't think of what to call it." Enishi poured some cream into his coffee and stirred it absently.
"Stereotypical?" Kaoru liked it here. There were people reading in one corner, and there was a guy with a laptop typing franticly a table away from them. The students serving the coffee looked appropriately bored and snotty. It almost screamed beatnik and yet upper middle class at the same time. She wouldn't have had it any other way.
"Now that you mention it." Enishi took off his coat and lounged in the chair in a way that made Kaoru's stiff and nervous posture all the more obvious. "You don't have to be afraid of me you know."
"What are you talking about?" Kaoru looked cross. "I'm not afraid of anything, I'll have you know. Just try me."
"Snakes?"
"Love them."
"Spiders, needles, heights, enclosed spaces, ducks, crowds, death, or sickness?"
"No, no. ducks?" Kaoru gave a little laugh, and took a sip of tea. It felt good. She relaxed her posture just a little. This was not an inquisition, it was just coffee. Her knee brushed the side of his leg, she stiffened again.
"How can I convince you that I am not out to molest you? Seriously, I'm not going to even get within a foot of you without your permission. I don't understand why you're so jumpy." Actually he had a pretty good idea. He was flattered that she found him so attractive, she was not so bad herself. In fact, the glimpse of leg and body he had gotten earlier thanks to her infamous dress was very appealing to him. Not that this would be the time to tell her that. He had to try and appear harmless. All he had to do was think like Himura. his eye twitched. No, thinking of him might not be a good idea.
"I just, I mean I'm not presuming this is a date, but you are an unfamiliar and attractive man and you did offer to spend time with me alone. I just don't have much frame of reference, I don't go out a lot unless it's with my friends." She hadn't meant to be that direct, damn.
He raised one eyebrow. "I would like it if you did consider this a date. Although I've already been remiss and let you pay for your drink. I'll make it up to you next time."
Now it was Kaoru's turn to raise an eyebrow. "Next time?"
"I was thinking tomorrow night, if you're not busy." Kaoru thought about all the nothing she usually did on weekend nights. A date with Enishi shot so far ahead of that she felt it would be best that she didn't gush in happiness.
"Sure. I have practice, but anytime after six or seven should be fine."
"Practice?"
"I'm a student of Kamiya Kasshin Ryu. I've been doing it since I was nine. I used to practice every day, but since college started I've cut down to every Sunday."
"I do a little sword work myself, maybe we could spar sometime." Something about Enishi just screamed that everything he did he did well. Kaoru wasn't about to leap on that offer unless she was in a mood for punishment. Not that she'd admit that to him.
The evening progressed much better after things were a little less ambiguous. Enishi knew so much about a lot of things that conversation never dulled. Kaoru had a battery of knowledge about film and media, because she was just in love with modern things. The only weakness in Enishi's knowledge base that Kaoru felt she could one up him in was all based in film and stage information and trivia. He never went to movies or plays, mostly because he didn't have time. Otherwise, talking to him was a daunting affair. It was just like when she tried to talk to Kenshin. and the name stabbed through her heart making it bleed like someone had slashed it with incredible speed and accuracy. The evening kind of mellowed once Kenshin had asserted his psychic presence in Kaoru's mind. She had spent so much time being in love with Kenshin, and this almost felt like she was cheating on him. It was a confusing moment.
Against her better judgment, Kaoru allowed Enishi to walk her home. It must have been 3 or 4 in the morning, but she barely felt tired. There was fog all over, and it only made her that much colder. Stupid skirt. Even though she was doing her best to hide her shivering, when Enishi's coat was suddenly thrown around her shoulders she wasn't all that surprised. What did a guy like this see in her? The stray question wandered through her brain and she tried to kill it viciously. So far as she was concerned, her house was much too close and the walk ended much too soon. As she stood in the doorway and got out her keys, they finished up their conversation. Silence, only broken by the jangle of keys, made them both pause. Kaoru's face got very red. Now would be the time if she were going to.
"I." was all she got out before Enishi's lips met hers. Or rather his mouth met hers as the action of forming a word had opened her up for more than just a chaste kiss. His hands were on either side of her face, warm in contrast to her cold skin. He had broken his word not to touch her without her permission, but as she was just about to give permission she was willing to let it slide. That's about where her mental faculties stopped.
He was just going to give her a kiss on the hand, or maybe a peck on the cheek, but some rogue impulse had led to this. The way he kissed her, he practically devoured her. It was new to feel this kind of passion outside of anger. It was intoxicating. His hands moved into her hair a little bit, and Kaoru groaned and pressed against him. The fog surrounded them giving the illusion of privacy and both reasonably reserved people let go and accepted this unexpected new passion. Enishi's mouth moved down to Kaoru's throat and she leaned back against the door to support her failing legs from collapsing out from under her.
Suddenly Enishi pulled away from her as if she had stung him. It took Kaoru a moment to recover and face him again with a semblance of wit. Her hand went to her throat on some sort of instinct and Enishi visibly winced as he noticed the growing red mark developing on her pale skin. He hoped she'd have the good sense to hide it. If things moved too fast it would mess everything up. The urge was almost irresistible to curse or walk away. or continue on where they had just left off, but he ignored the urgent protestations of his body and composed himself. The moment of danger passed and he faced Kaoru, hoping that she was not too put off by what just happened between them. Once he had discerned that she was fine, maybe even desirous of continuing, he knew he HAD to leave or else jeopardize everything.
"I've had a lovely time with you Kaoru, I'll come by tomorrow some time. Maybe seven?"
"Sounds fine." Kaoru would have been perfectly happy to end the evening at that moment, but fate had nothing so kind in mind for her.
"And I-I-I eeee ayyyeee, will always looove yoooouuuu." The off key and quite loud, obviously drunk voice of a happy Sano filtered through the fog.
"I said, shut up! Help me get this ass inside." Megumi sounded like she had the leading edge of a hangover, or at least was coming down from any buzz she had achieved.
"But he's really tall, Megumi, and I am most certainly not." That was Yahiko. The alarm that had triggered Kaoru to almost start running relaxed. It wasn't Kenshin, and so maybe he wasn't there with them. That's all she could hope for. While Kaoru was distracted Enishi stepped up, hugged her, and then looked as if he were about to kiss her when he shook his head as if to clear it.
"Tomorrow, then." he whispered into her ear before disappearing in the opposite direction of the voices. Megumi and Yahiko appeared not long after with Sano draped over them. Megumi raised an eyebrow at the fact that Kaoru was just getting in, but was more concerned with her nearly passed out boyfriend to do more than give her a look that screamed Kaoru would have some explaining to do about what happened when she left the party. Entering the house, Kaoru scrounged up a blanket and pillow for Yahiko who looked too tired to make his way back to his dorm room. By the time she got to sleep she was too tired to think about anything and simply changed and crashed down on her bed.
*
When Kaoru finally awoke she felt groggy and pasty. It was like something particularly foul had died in her mouth the night before, and then she realized it was because she hadn't brushed her teeth before going to bed previously. Looking at the clock, she realized it was noon or so and she felt a little guilty for not being up earlier. There was no reason to feel guilty about it, she just did. Getting dresses in a loose robe and pants and binding down her chest, she felt a sense of continuity. Her hair bound into a tight ponytail and streaming down her back, Kaoru grabbed her wooden practice sword and felt how it had been polished and then worn down as she had used it over the years. Not frayed exactly, but then again it was beginning to splinter just a little bit. It was as if she could have stepped out of a time long ago and still looked and felt exactly the same as she did now. That's why she loved Sunday.
The feel of the wood and the cloth just reinforced the need for stability she had suddenly sprung. Up until last night things had been very definite. There were classes, but she didn't have to be decided about them because she wouldn't have to declare a major for a while. School never really bothered her as a whole anyway. She got decent grades, although not stellar ones. Then there was her social life, and that was a little more complicated, but not too much more. She walked into the training facility in the gym, grateful as always that she went to a school large enough to warrant a pretty good gym complex. As she sat on the ground she began to stretch her stiff muscles and warm them up.
The whole issue of a social life had not been something she had actively sought. Megumi and she had been roommates in the dorms their freshman year and had become pretty good friends. The people Megumi knew became Kaoru's social group and they had taken a liking to her well enough to know that it wasn't just by Megumi that she had company when she needed it. Mainly there had been various science people at first, but Sano had added a new dimension to everything. The most dramatic addition, of course, had been Kenshin. Kenshin Himura was everything that Kaoru had idolized: smart, sweet, attentive, and caring. His temper was even and his performance in everything he did was exemplary. He's also darned attractive. Kaoru quieted the part of her mind that wanted to jump the gorgeous red haired man. Part of the problem was that Kenshin was so asexual in many ways. There was never any woman, or man, that he was interested in and he never participated in discussions on sexuality. It had taken almost the first three months of knowing him to be able to figure out if he was straight or not, and sometimes she still wondered. Maybe he was just not interested in anything like that, like he lacked hormones or some other chemical problem. Then it wouldn't be Kaoru's fault that he didn't like her. At that thought she felt she needed to thwack something, and jumped up to grab her wooden practice sword to do just that.
In some ways it was more comforting that he preferred no woman at all, because then Kaoru could assume it wasn't just her that he didn't want. If he ended up with no one, then it was fine by her. Yet, whenever she saw him laughing and smiling in his usual way with other girls she wanted to scratch their eyes out. Something inside of her had attached itself to him and wanted to make him hers like the basest territorial animal. She brought the sword down so hard on the side of the target that her hands jarred painfully. Keeping these feelings inside and hidden from the world was a very important goal for her. If Kenshin knew, and he was a sharp guy so she sometimes thought he might, and just chose to do nothing about it then she could live with that. Things on the surface were fine. The possibility that he didn't know and that by knowing it might cause him to consider her in that light was enough to be the real angst in her life. Pining for Kenshin was almost fun in its own way. It gave Kaoru something to focus her emotions on. If Kenshin weren't around then she probably wouldn't have any direction in which to focus her emotions and that combined with her directionless academic life would have been enough to depress her.
Now Enishi had appeared and everything was confused again. There was the unfulfilling and yet comfortable situation surrounding Kenshin, wherein she could admire him and wish for him but never had to face anything that was close to reality but nothing ever happened. Her relationship with Kenshin was static. Enishi represented everything Kenshin did not and promised so much more. The way he worked and talked, from the one day she had observed him in, gave her the idea that this man was not, well, wishy washy. It was an incomplete way to describe him, but he appeared to take whatever he wanted without much trouble. In some ways he reminded Kaoru of her father. Not that Enishi was like her father, but in that aspect of taking what he wanted aggressively there was definite similarity. Her father was cold, distant, and only vaguely concerned with what Kaoru did. Ever since her mother had died when Kaoru was seven he had withdrawn emotionally from their small family unit. Kaoru hoped that maybe somewhere in his heart he loved her, but she couldn't be entirely certain. For all intents and purposes her father's love had died with his wife.
Martial arts had filled the void at first in her need for people and interaction, but then slowly Kaoru had begun to rely on herself. She felt complete enough to be comfortable with the idea of living alone and being alone someday soon. That's part of why there was no real urgency in her adoration of Kenshin. Kenshin's warmth, a very different attitude than the one she had grown up knowing from her father, was a large part of his attraction. It was a complex issue. She decided not to think about it any more. It was better to look ahead and be happy with what the day presented. She had a date in a few hours and she wanted to be feeling good. Sweat formed on her brow as her thinking ceased having direction and she concentrated on her movements.
*
Enishi only slept five or six hours. It was about how much he ever slept. There was no real point, since sleep was wasted time anyway. Often he had lamented about how weak the body was for needing so much rest. He listed in his head the things he had to do before he saw Kaoru. Maybe making reservations for a restaurant would be wise; if he wanted to go anywhere nice at night then it was necessary. The thought of going out with this Kaoru Kamiya girl pleased him a lot but also worried him. It was almost as if he wished things were different somehow. But that was ridiculous, he had spent years nurturing his need for revenge and Kaoru was the perfect tool for it.
It had been three years ago or so since he had lost Tomoe to Himura. That foul assassin had murdered her, and now she was gone. his beautiful gentle sister.
His father, a corporate lawyer, and his mother, a well to do society blueblood, had both encouraged Tomoe not to attend a no name college when she had graduated high school. But Tomoe didn't want the sort of life that she had been brought up with anymore and she wanted to try to branch out on her own. Enishi had not been surprised and even encouraged what his sister wanted because it would make her happy. Escaping home and her family's powerful influence is what was really on her mind. Between their father's harsh demanding nature, coupled with his violent temper and cold need for efficiency and a perfect outward image, and their mother's calm and benevolent indifference life had been something like hell both for Tomoe and for Enishi. At least Enishi received some preferential treatment based on the fact that he was expected to follow in his father's path. Everything was ready already, as the spot in the firm was guaranteed. The connections had been laid out years ago and Enishi knew what sort of circles to circulate in. He had been all set for the Ivy League until Tomoe died.
It didn't matter that it was an accident. Words like car crash, and terrible tragedy did not bring Tomoe back. It was when he had learned it was her boyfriend who had been driving that night, who crashed the car on their snow camping trip, and who allowed her to freeze to death that he had been filled with a new goal other than what his father had groomed him for. Tomoe had been the only one to love him and show him the kind of compassion and warmth that was entirely missing from all other parts of his life. His heart had died along with her. There was nothing left. He had refused to go to school for two weeks after the accident. In that time he did a lot of thinking. The first week he had sunk into a deep depression. Barely eating, hardly sleeping, he wandered through the house in a haze of sadness. No one approached him after a butler sent by his father to make Enishi go to school was severely beaten by the mentally and emotionally unstable young man. The second week was when the hatred had set in for her killer. In that moment he decided that he would track down this man and then destroy him. He would gain control of every part of Himura's life and then squish him like a bug. It was a glorious feeling, this icy burning hatred, and Enishi laughed in pure happiness when he decided on this goal. That night he ate a big dinner and then the next week he proceeded to not only make up all the work in his classes but rise to be the premier student in his elite and competitive high school. He kept it up until he had to graduate and preceded to shock people by telling them he was going to the same school his sister was.
His father had forbade him to, of course, but then Enishi made it very clear that he would graduate a year and a half early this way and then could go to whatever graduate program his father wanted if he could just do this his way. Still leery of his son's decision, his father approved it once Enishi also made it clear that anything else would result in Enishi walking away and not coming back to the family. So here he was, and already it had been a year and he had not had the opportunity to enact his revenge. Then he had been struck with an idea. To use Himura's friends was ideal. He was so sappy and big hearted that he would come to save them in a second if something was wrong. That was weakness. More important, it was useable.
Kaoru was perfect. He seemed to have some sort of attachment to her, but who knows how deep it was. Kaoru herself made the job that much more fun by being such an attractive package. She was interesting enough and fairly carefree. There was less ambition in her than the other girls he had gone out with, and her laid back attitude was a bit of an anomaly to him. Usually he thought people like that would simply not be effective and hence were of no use to him, but in Kaoru it just seemed to soften edges in her that would otherwise he too hard and unbending. Nothing about her could really be considered soft. maybe firm was about right.
It was a bad way for his thoughts to go. He hadn't really planned to do more than use her for his purposes, but he found himself actually looking forward to seeing her. Part of it was because she was amusing and new, but a part of it was because he was curious as to how someone like her could make him lose control. He'd been out with prettier women, sexier and more sensual women who knew what they wanted and how to get it. They played games, just as he did, and he was ready for that. On many levels he found it fun to try to outmaneuver them. Kaoru threw off his rhythm somehow. There was no guile; there was no calm deceit. She wanted what she said she did and there was no hidden meaning. Anything she didn't say he felt he could guess from her expressive way of thinking to herself. Her eyes especially gave her away, and the way she bit the corner of her lip when she was thinking about something to say he felt was quite. adorable? The word had just popped into his mind. He shoved it aside and forgot about it.
A vague uncertainty flowed through him as he tried to pin down what it was that made his body react to her in a way that no woman had ever managed before to extract from him. She radiated health and life, and the love she had for her friends seemed to be so transparently displayed. He had been observing her for a little while now, planning out what exactly he should do to trap Kenshin using her. The party had been a convenient time to introduce himself, but he was going to do so soon anyway. Sometimes he thought a little bit about his sister when he saw her, and not in the usual manner that led to his hate of Himura. These thoughts were soft, likening a gesture of Kaoru's to one of Tomoe's. When Kaoru was still and reposed she really resembled the tranquil Tomoe, but then she would start arguing with Sano or submitting to Megumi's schemes and the resemblance would fade.
It all pointed to the fact that there was something about Kaoru. He didn't know what exactly, but there was something special. He went to go find a phone book to make that reservation.
Disclaimers: All standard disclaimers apply. See previous chapter if you really want to read more disclaimer, but I promise the story is more interesting than the disclaimer.I hope.
Chapter 2
Kenshin was, naturally, still surrounded by women and making quiet conversation. He did look adorable, with his red hair beginning to come out of its curls, and his violet eyes wide and innocent looking. The very sight of him helped Kaoru immensely. This was something she was familiar with. The same glowing warmth that filled her with a fondness dispelled the jolt she had just received from Enishi's company. Gently making some room beside Kenshin, she listened to him continue to describe his problems arranging a room for his thesis presentation. Even though it was not that interesting, somehow he made it comical with him in the center as a bumbling fool who somehow managed to make it all turn out all right. Kaoru knew what really went on, for behind Kenshin's easygoing exterior he really got things done. That's why he was one of the top in his class, destined for honors in his department, and had a good fellowship lined up for postgraduate work. She expected nothing less from the soft man with the sharp mind.
His very perfection filled Kaoru with despair even as she admired it. It just set him that much more out of her reach, no matter what Megumi said. He had everything going for him, and she was just a mediocre sophomore who didn't know where she was going in life. Something inside of her screamed to leave the party right then just so she could get away from everything. What she really wanted was to go and practice her sword katas. Martial arts were a soothing way to pass the time. Even that was not impressive compared to Kenshin, who had been fencing since he was in middle school. Nothing she could do would ever compare to what he'd already done. She got up to go.
"Where are you going Kaoru?" Kenshin gave her a brilliant smile. Always so nice and friendly. She sighed.
"I'm going to see what Megumi's doing." She felt like she should make up a better excuse, or at least elaborate on it, but she didn't feel like it. She had already driven herself into a nice blue funk.
"Oh, ok." He picked up his drink and continued talking amiably with the girls. Kaoru tried not to think of how easily he dismissed her. And she hadn't even drunk anything yet. Maybe she would now. She felt like she needed something. At the same time, the kitchen held Enishi most likely, and she wasn't sure she wanted to be drunk around him. It was a no win sort of moment. In the end she really did end up going to find Megumi. Megumi was in some sort of drinking game, where one person had to name all the parts of the brain, take a shot, name it again, take a shot, and so on until someone slipped up or passed out. It was amusing enough for a little while, but Megumi was clearly going to win as she was intense about her anatomy knowledge. Sano was cheering her on of course, as he was in favor of his buttoned down girlfriend engaging in any sort of irresponsible behavior. He looked fairly rosy cheeked himself. And they had only been there an hour or two. it couldn't have been later than 10:30 or so. With a sort of resignation, she walked into the kitchen. Bottles littered the place, and there was a sort of slurry of some sort in a tub. Opting to avoid both, Kaoru again went for water. She felt very boring.
"Not enjoying our hospitality?" She knew that voice. It was possible she would never forget that voice. A shiver went down her spine, the door to the kitchen must have opened.
"Well, I must say things are very lively and. erm. no not really. I never really know what to do at these sort of parties."
"Dance, get drunk, act stupid. Not in any particular order of course. You might as well, because when we're older we won't have any excuse for behavior like this except during the winter holidays." Enishi handed her an unopened wine cooler.
"Erm. I feel I ought to tell you, I'm a terrible lightweight. I think I'd be just as well with water." Normally she would have just taken the drink. Something about him just screamed sinister. Maybe her nervousness stemmed from an inherent distrust for lawyers. She smiled at her own internal joke. Enishi raised an eyebrow, and Kaoru realized he was just standing there in front of her waiting for her to speak again. "But thank you anyway."
"You're right though. This party is unappealing right now." He swept off his cape and threw it in a corner. "Come have some coffee with me. If we aren't going to drink like college students, we might as well do something pretentious."
Kaoru wondered if accepting this offer was such a good idea. On the one hand she didn't know him and hence had no idea if he was a decent person from the chain of gossip, on the other hand time spent with him alone seemed terribly appealing. For once she opted for danger, but she would make sure to temper it.
"Ok." She pulled off her wig, showing hair that was wrapped up in a bun. "But you let me go home first and change out of this grotesque outfit. I know a good place a few blocks away. It isn't even a chain yet." Familiar surroundings, more tame clothing, both were key to her feeling better about going out with a total stranger.
"I will await you at your leisure. I'm not exactly going anywhere." Something about what she just said made him smile. Unlike before, when it had seemed odd on him, this smile seemed to touch his eyes and make them narrow just a little bit. Kaoru gave him a cheerful look, mostly due to the fact that soon she wouldn't be so uncomfortable anymore, at least not from clothing. Enishi watched as she ran out the front door. Pushing at his glasses he saw Kenshin eye her as she ran out, an intent look on his face. Megumi and Sano were too far gone to be aware of anything, but he didn't really care about them anyway. The girl was the key. Tomoe would have her last say, with his help, and finally he'd have some peace.
*
Kaoru sipped her tea and tried not to fidget. The smooth liquid was not likely to calm her nerves. He hadn't changed out of his suit, and also hadn't taken the teeth out and when she had arrived he met her outside the front door. Unconsciously, she hoped, she had chosen an outfit that matched him. A skirt in this weather was ridiculous. Especially a short skirt. What was she thinking? The scarf and thin jacket did not make up for much when her legs were freezing. As she watched Enishi order at the counter, she thought of how he had recognized her immediately even though she looked terribly different from her costume. Maybe he was just really observant. She sighed and took down her hair from the bun she had hurriedly assembled as she left the house. He was already coming over this way. Oh good lord. She felt like she had dropped about fifty IQ points. Something inside her prayed he wouldn't ask her a question because all she might do is drool. Not that he didn't deserve to be drooled over, but she wanted it to remain a figure or speech.
"This place is very, hmmm. I can't think of what to call it." Enishi poured some cream into his coffee and stirred it absently.
"Stereotypical?" Kaoru liked it here. There were people reading in one corner, and there was a guy with a laptop typing franticly a table away from them. The students serving the coffee looked appropriately bored and snotty. It almost screamed beatnik and yet upper middle class at the same time. She wouldn't have had it any other way.
"Now that you mention it." Enishi took off his coat and lounged in the chair in a way that made Kaoru's stiff and nervous posture all the more obvious. "You don't have to be afraid of me you know."
"What are you talking about?" Kaoru looked cross. "I'm not afraid of anything, I'll have you know. Just try me."
"Snakes?"
"Love them."
"Spiders, needles, heights, enclosed spaces, ducks, crowds, death, or sickness?"
"No, no. ducks?" Kaoru gave a little laugh, and took a sip of tea. It felt good. She relaxed her posture just a little. This was not an inquisition, it was just coffee. Her knee brushed the side of his leg, she stiffened again.
"How can I convince you that I am not out to molest you? Seriously, I'm not going to even get within a foot of you without your permission. I don't understand why you're so jumpy." Actually he had a pretty good idea. He was flattered that she found him so attractive, she was not so bad herself. In fact, the glimpse of leg and body he had gotten earlier thanks to her infamous dress was very appealing to him. Not that this would be the time to tell her that. He had to try and appear harmless. All he had to do was think like Himura. his eye twitched. No, thinking of him might not be a good idea.
"I just, I mean I'm not presuming this is a date, but you are an unfamiliar and attractive man and you did offer to spend time with me alone. I just don't have much frame of reference, I don't go out a lot unless it's with my friends." She hadn't meant to be that direct, damn.
He raised one eyebrow. "I would like it if you did consider this a date. Although I've already been remiss and let you pay for your drink. I'll make it up to you next time."
Now it was Kaoru's turn to raise an eyebrow. "Next time?"
"I was thinking tomorrow night, if you're not busy." Kaoru thought about all the nothing she usually did on weekend nights. A date with Enishi shot so far ahead of that she felt it would be best that she didn't gush in happiness.
"Sure. I have practice, but anytime after six or seven should be fine."
"Practice?"
"I'm a student of Kamiya Kasshin Ryu. I've been doing it since I was nine. I used to practice every day, but since college started I've cut down to every Sunday."
"I do a little sword work myself, maybe we could spar sometime." Something about Enishi just screamed that everything he did he did well. Kaoru wasn't about to leap on that offer unless she was in a mood for punishment. Not that she'd admit that to him.
The evening progressed much better after things were a little less ambiguous. Enishi knew so much about a lot of things that conversation never dulled. Kaoru had a battery of knowledge about film and media, because she was just in love with modern things. The only weakness in Enishi's knowledge base that Kaoru felt she could one up him in was all based in film and stage information and trivia. He never went to movies or plays, mostly because he didn't have time. Otherwise, talking to him was a daunting affair. It was just like when she tried to talk to Kenshin. and the name stabbed through her heart making it bleed like someone had slashed it with incredible speed and accuracy. The evening kind of mellowed once Kenshin had asserted his psychic presence in Kaoru's mind. She had spent so much time being in love with Kenshin, and this almost felt like she was cheating on him. It was a confusing moment.
Against her better judgment, Kaoru allowed Enishi to walk her home. It must have been 3 or 4 in the morning, but she barely felt tired. There was fog all over, and it only made her that much colder. Stupid skirt. Even though she was doing her best to hide her shivering, when Enishi's coat was suddenly thrown around her shoulders she wasn't all that surprised. What did a guy like this see in her? The stray question wandered through her brain and she tried to kill it viciously. So far as she was concerned, her house was much too close and the walk ended much too soon. As she stood in the doorway and got out her keys, they finished up their conversation. Silence, only broken by the jangle of keys, made them both pause. Kaoru's face got very red. Now would be the time if she were going to.
"I." was all she got out before Enishi's lips met hers. Or rather his mouth met hers as the action of forming a word had opened her up for more than just a chaste kiss. His hands were on either side of her face, warm in contrast to her cold skin. He had broken his word not to touch her without her permission, but as she was just about to give permission she was willing to let it slide. That's about where her mental faculties stopped.
He was just going to give her a kiss on the hand, or maybe a peck on the cheek, but some rogue impulse had led to this. The way he kissed her, he practically devoured her. It was new to feel this kind of passion outside of anger. It was intoxicating. His hands moved into her hair a little bit, and Kaoru groaned and pressed against him. The fog surrounded them giving the illusion of privacy and both reasonably reserved people let go and accepted this unexpected new passion. Enishi's mouth moved down to Kaoru's throat and she leaned back against the door to support her failing legs from collapsing out from under her.
Suddenly Enishi pulled away from her as if she had stung him. It took Kaoru a moment to recover and face him again with a semblance of wit. Her hand went to her throat on some sort of instinct and Enishi visibly winced as he noticed the growing red mark developing on her pale skin. He hoped she'd have the good sense to hide it. If things moved too fast it would mess everything up. The urge was almost irresistible to curse or walk away. or continue on where they had just left off, but he ignored the urgent protestations of his body and composed himself. The moment of danger passed and he faced Kaoru, hoping that she was not too put off by what just happened between them. Once he had discerned that she was fine, maybe even desirous of continuing, he knew he HAD to leave or else jeopardize everything.
"I've had a lovely time with you Kaoru, I'll come by tomorrow some time. Maybe seven?"
"Sounds fine." Kaoru would have been perfectly happy to end the evening at that moment, but fate had nothing so kind in mind for her.
"And I-I-I eeee ayyyeee, will always looove yoooouuuu." The off key and quite loud, obviously drunk voice of a happy Sano filtered through the fog.
"I said, shut up! Help me get this ass inside." Megumi sounded like she had the leading edge of a hangover, or at least was coming down from any buzz she had achieved.
"But he's really tall, Megumi, and I am most certainly not." That was Yahiko. The alarm that had triggered Kaoru to almost start running relaxed. It wasn't Kenshin, and so maybe he wasn't there with them. That's all she could hope for. While Kaoru was distracted Enishi stepped up, hugged her, and then looked as if he were about to kiss her when he shook his head as if to clear it.
"Tomorrow, then." he whispered into her ear before disappearing in the opposite direction of the voices. Megumi and Yahiko appeared not long after with Sano draped over them. Megumi raised an eyebrow at the fact that Kaoru was just getting in, but was more concerned with her nearly passed out boyfriend to do more than give her a look that screamed Kaoru would have some explaining to do about what happened when she left the party. Entering the house, Kaoru scrounged up a blanket and pillow for Yahiko who looked too tired to make his way back to his dorm room. By the time she got to sleep she was too tired to think about anything and simply changed and crashed down on her bed.
*
When Kaoru finally awoke she felt groggy and pasty. It was like something particularly foul had died in her mouth the night before, and then she realized it was because she hadn't brushed her teeth before going to bed previously. Looking at the clock, she realized it was noon or so and she felt a little guilty for not being up earlier. There was no reason to feel guilty about it, she just did. Getting dresses in a loose robe and pants and binding down her chest, she felt a sense of continuity. Her hair bound into a tight ponytail and streaming down her back, Kaoru grabbed her wooden practice sword and felt how it had been polished and then worn down as she had used it over the years. Not frayed exactly, but then again it was beginning to splinter just a little bit. It was as if she could have stepped out of a time long ago and still looked and felt exactly the same as she did now. That's why she loved Sunday.
The feel of the wood and the cloth just reinforced the need for stability she had suddenly sprung. Up until last night things had been very definite. There were classes, but she didn't have to be decided about them because she wouldn't have to declare a major for a while. School never really bothered her as a whole anyway. She got decent grades, although not stellar ones. Then there was her social life, and that was a little more complicated, but not too much more. She walked into the training facility in the gym, grateful as always that she went to a school large enough to warrant a pretty good gym complex. As she sat on the ground she began to stretch her stiff muscles and warm them up.
The whole issue of a social life had not been something she had actively sought. Megumi and she had been roommates in the dorms their freshman year and had become pretty good friends. The people Megumi knew became Kaoru's social group and they had taken a liking to her well enough to know that it wasn't just by Megumi that she had company when she needed it. Mainly there had been various science people at first, but Sano had added a new dimension to everything. The most dramatic addition, of course, had been Kenshin. Kenshin Himura was everything that Kaoru had idolized: smart, sweet, attentive, and caring. His temper was even and his performance in everything he did was exemplary. He's also darned attractive. Kaoru quieted the part of her mind that wanted to jump the gorgeous red haired man. Part of the problem was that Kenshin was so asexual in many ways. There was never any woman, or man, that he was interested in and he never participated in discussions on sexuality. It had taken almost the first three months of knowing him to be able to figure out if he was straight or not, and sometimes she still wondered. Maybe he was just not interested in anything like that, like he lacked hormones or some other chemical problem. Then it wouldn't be Kaoru's fault that he didn't like her. At that thought she felt she needed to thwack something, and jumped up to grab her wooden practice sword to do just that.
In some ways it was more comforting that he preferred no woman at all, because then Kaoru could assume it wasn't just her that he didn't want. If he ended up with no one, then it was fine by her. Yet, whenever she saw him laughing and smiling in his usual way with other girls she wanted to scratch their eyes out. Something inside of her had attached itself to him and wanted to make him hers like the basest territorial animal. She brought the sword down so hard on the side of the target that her hands jarred painfully. Keeping these feelings inside and hidden from the world was a very important goal for her. If Kenshin knew, and he was a sharp guy so she sometimes thought he might, and just chose to do nothing about it then she could live with that. Things on the surface were fine. The possibility that he didn't know and that by knowing it might cause him to consider her in that light was enough to be the real angst in her life. Pining for Kenshin was almost fun in its own way. It gave Kaoru something to focus her emotions on. If Kenshin weren't around then she probably wouldn't have any direction in which to focus her emotions and that combined with her directionless academic life would have been enough to depress her.
Now Enishi had appeared and everything was confused again. There was the unfulfilling and yet comfortable situation surrounding Kenshin, wherein she could admire him and wish for him but never had to face anything that was close to reality but nothing ever happened. Her relationship with Kenshin was static. Enishi represented everything Kenshin did not and promised so much more. The way he worked and talked, from the one day she had observed him in, gave her the idea that this man was not, well, wishy washy. It was an incomplete way to describe him, but he appeared to take whatever he wanted without much trouble. In some ways he reminded Kaoru of her father. Not that Enishi was like her father, but in that aspect of taking what he wanted aggressively there was definite similarity. Her father was cold, distant, and only vaguely concerned with what Kaoru did. Ever since her mother had died when Kaoru was seven he had withdrawn emotionally from their small family unit. Kaoru hoped that maybe somewhere in his heart he loved her, but she couldn't be entirely certain. For all intents and purposes her father's love had died with his wife.
Martial arts had filled the void at first in her need for people and interaction, but then slowly Kaoru had begun to rely on herself. She felt complete enough to be comfortable with the idea of living alone and being alone someday soon. That's part of why there was no real urgency in her adoration of Kenshin. Kenshin's warmth, a very different attitude than the one she had grown up knowing from her father, was a large part of his attraction. It was a complex issue. She decided not to think about it any more. It was better to look ahead and be happy with what the day presented. She had a date in a few hours and she wanted to be feeling good. Sweat formed on her brow as her thinking ceased having direction and she concentrated on her movements.
*
Enishi only slept five or six hours. It was about how much he ever slept. There was no real point, since sleep was wasted time anyway. Often he had lamented about how weak the body was for needing so much rest. He listed in his head the things he had to do before he saw Kaoru. Maybe making reservations for a restaurant would be wise; if he wanted to go anywhere nice at night then it was necessary. The thought of going out with this Kaoru Kamiya girl pleased him a lot but also worried him. It was almost as if he wished things were different somehow. But that was ridiculous, he had spent years nurturing his need for revenge and Kaoru was the perfect tool for it.
It had been three years ago or so since he had lost Tomoe to Himura. That foul assassin had murdered her, and now she was gone. his beautiful gentle sister.
His father, a corporate lawyer, and his mother, a well to do society blueblood, had both encouraged Tomoe not to attend a no name college when she had graduated high school. But Tomoe didn't want the sort of life that she had been brought up with anymore and she wanted to try to branch out on her own. Enishi had not been surprised and even encouraged what his sister wanted because it would make her happy. Escaping home and her family's powerful influence is what was really on her mind. Between their father's harsh demanding nature, coupled with his violent temper and cold need for efficiency and a perfect outward image, and their mother's calm and benevolent indifference life had been something like hell both for Tomoe and for Enishi. At least Enishi received some preferential treatment based on the fact that he was expected to follow in his father's path. Everything was ready already, as the spot in the firm was guaranteed. The connections had been laid out years ago and Enishi knew what sort of circles to circulate in. He had been all set for the Ivy League until Tomoe died.
It didn't matter that it was an accident. Words like car crash, and terrible tragedy did not bring Tomoe back. It was when he had learned it was her boyfriend who had been driving that night, who crashed the car on their snow camping trip, and who allowed her to freeze to death that he had been filled with a new goal other than what his father had groomed him for. Tomoe had been the only one to love him and show him the kind of compassion and warmth that was entirely missing from all other parts of his life. His heart had died along with her. There was nothing left. He had refused to go to school for two weeks after the accident. In that time he did a lot of thinking. The first week he had sunk into a deep depression. Barely eating, hardly sleeping, he wandered through the house in a haze of sadness. No one approached him after a butler sent by his father to make Enishi go to school was severely beaten by the mentally and emotionally unstable young man. The second week was when the hatred had set in for her killer. In that moment he decided that he would track down this man and then destroy him. He would gain control of every part of Himura's life and then squish him like a bug. It was a glorious feeling, this icy burning hatred, and Enishi laughed in pure happiness when he decided on this goal. That night he ate a big dinner and then the next week he proceeded to not only make up all the work in his classes but rise to be the premier student in his elite and competitive high school. He kept it up until he had to graduate and preceded to shock people by telling them he was going to the same school his sister was.
His father had forbade him to, of course, but then Enishi made it very clear that he would graduate a year and a half early this way and then could go to whatever graduate program his father wanted if he could just do this his way. Still leery of his son's decision, his father approved it once Enishi also made it clear that anything else would result in Enishi walking away and not coming back to the family. So here he was, and already it had been a year and he had not had the opportunity to enact his revenge. Then he had been struck with an idea. To use Himura's friends was ideal. He was so sappy and big hearted that he would come to save them in a second if something was wrong. That was weakness. More important, it was useable.
Kaoru was perfect. He seemed to have some sort of attachment to her, but who knows how deep it was. Kaoru herself made the job that much more fun by being such an attractive package. She was interesting enough and fairly carefree. There was less ambition in her than the other girls he had gone out with, and her laid back attitude was a bit of an anomaly to him. Usually he thought people like that would simply not be effective and hence were of no use to him, but in Kaoru it just seemed to soften edges in her that would otherwise he too hard and unbending. Nothing about her could really be considered soft. maybe firm was about right.
It was a bad way for his thoughts to go. He hadn't really planned to do more than use her for his purposes, but he found himself actually looking forward to seeing her. Part of it was because she was amusing and new, but a part of it was because he was curious as to how someone like her could make him lose control. He'd been out with prettier women, sexier and more sensual women who knew what they wanted and how to get it. They played games, just as he did, and he was ready for that. On many levels he found it fun to try to outmaneuver them. Kaoru threw off his rhythm somehow. There was no guile; there was no calm deceit. She wanted what she said she did and there was no hidden meaning. Anything she didn't say he felt he could guess from her expressive way of thinking to herself. Her eyes especially gave her away, and the way she bit the corner of her lip when she was thinking about something to say he felt was quite. adorable? The word had just popped into his mind. He shoved it aside and forgot about it.
A vague uncertainty flowed through him as he tried to pin down what it was that made his body react to her in a way that no woman had ever managed before to extract from him. She radiated health and life, and the love she had for her friends seemed to be so transparently displayed. He had been observing her for a little while now, planning out what exactly he should do to trap Kenshin using her. The party had been a convenient time to introduce himself, but he was going to do so soon anyway. Sometimes he thought a little bit about his sister when he saw her, and not in the usual manner that led to his hate of Himura. These thoughts were soft, likening a gesture of Kaoru's to one of Tomoe's. When Kaoru was still and reposed she really resembled the tranquil Tomoe, but then she would start arguing with Sano or submitting to Megumi's schemes and the resemblance would fade.
It all pointed to the fact that there was something about Kaoru. He didn't know what exactly, but there was something special. He went to go find a phone book to make that reservation.