Standard Disclaimers Apply
Bold, [letters]
//Italics//, [flashbacks]
Italics, [thoughts, otherwise denoted]
What Keeps Us Alive
Chapter Six: The Bath Towel Incident
It begins…
…once one has prepared for the worst.
Ryoko Mitsurugi, Samurai Girl Realbout High School
Haijime Tokio considered herself a very lucky woman. She had three beautiful daughters, all excellent students as well as athletes. Her girls were happy, healthy, and they never really let anything take them down. The proud mother had no doubt that whatever was bothering her eldest would be solved by the end of the week. Or that both Kaoru and Misao would return to their cheery selves in matter of time. She had a loving husband to his own right. He was wonderful with the family and as much as he hated to admit, he was a puppy dog. But outside their home, he was someone completely different. She had seen his arrogance and pride mixed with flares of furious reactions based on pure animalistic instincts. She could only image how true the stories she had been told by the wives of the cops under Saitou.
She smirked. He's such a bastard sometimes.
She walked through the garage door, her eyes widening at the sight of an open door. The door could only be opened for one of two reasons. The option of her girls would be out of the question, they only came home early rarely on school days. She took a deep breath and noted, His car was here. So that meant that---
Saitou was in a bad mood.
Tokio walked inside the house, gently placing her files and the groceries on top of the table.
It was quiet.
Her heart began to race and she willed herself not to panic. She spotted his jacket draped across the couch, a packet of cigarettes visible.
He must be really angry… The door was wide open, I can *see* his cigarettes… He knows how much the girls and I hate the goddamn things.
"Anata? Tadaima, daijoubu ka?"
She got no response, her voice sounding like an empty echo. This wasn't good at all. She made her way up the stairs.
The silence was nearly unbearable.
She finally reached her room, seeing that the door was wide open. Maybe she was hallucinating… Working too hard does that to a person.
There she saw Saitou standing, his eyes narrowed and his lips tightened into a frown. Tokio could practically feel the anger radiating from him. But who wouldn't?
At the-
…half-naked and dripping wet…
Well-chiseled…
…Eighteen year-old boy in a towel…
She shook her head, mentally scowling herself for going of on a tangent. She stepped forward, ready to get some answers and smack some sense into her husband. He looked like he was ready to break something.
"Anata," she spoke, reaching for his shoulder. He turned slightly, causing her to jump back. A strange sensation of déja vu crept into her mind. She felt as if she had been here before.
…faced with this along time ago…
"Woman, my sword."
**
She didn't know whether or not to think that the ice cream was a god or not. A small smirk came to her lips as she opened the kitchen door.
She'd be first in line to *worship* it.
I'm beginning to sound like Megumi-chan.
But she was undoubtedly female, so it really didn't hurt for her to drool over, well, Kenshin's gorgeous…
…magnificent…
And *pretty* damn hot body…
She could look at it again and again…
She felt the heat rise up to her cheeks, a faint sigh escaping her lips. She really didn't understand why she was getting like this besides the obvious…
Kenshin was hot and there was nothing else to it. But-
There's always a but.
There was something else to the connection that she and Kenshin shared. She glanced over at their stuff atop the kitchen table, failing to notice a that a new set of keys had joined. She walked over the small notebook she had found in the library amongst the books she had gotten for the project. Kaoru closed her eyes, letting image after image assault her.
…a red-haired man, with a comforting smile…
…amber then violet, violet then amber…
…laughter and tears…
…insanity…
She jolted back from the small book, breathing heavily. None of this made sense.
The letters…
The dreams…
None of iit seemed plausible.
The last couple days had shown her that the Kenshin she was starting to know was wonderful. He made her laugh, she could sit and enjoy his company without any restrictions, and most importantly she felt at home with him oddly enough.
Thump.
Kaoru turned to the stairs. "Kenshin?"
She heard soft footsteps walk down the hallway to her parents bedroom. She raised an eyebrow, turning to gather Kenshin's now ice cream free clothing. She noticed her mother's keys on the table. Strange, she mused. I was gone for awhile, so Kenshin must be out of the shower. And even if 'kaasan had seem him, she wouldn't be the type to react. Unless…
She reached the stairs, eyes widening at the sight of her father's jacket draped across the banister.
Uh-oh…
**
Mine.
He stared at the man.
Mine.
He would claim her.
Mine.
Haijime Saitou's eyes narrowed as he slowly slid into a ridged fighting stance. It was as if the two men were allowing whatever chilling presence that occupied the room, which even Kaoru and Tokio seemed powerless to stop. A low growl escaped Saitou's lips.
"I won't let you have the girl, Battousai."
Kenshin chuckled. "It isn't your place to decide. She belongs to me."
Even if it takes me lifetimes, I will have you. Just as much as I belong to you, Kaoru, you undoubtedly belong to me. I will have you.
"It'll be the same story, Battousai. You'll hurt her and she'll die. History repeats itself, or are you in so much denial that you refuse to accept that the girl isn't going to come to you," Tokio hissed, stepping forward to join her husband. She placed a hand on his shoulder, handing him a clothed object.
"I won't stand in the way of my husband if he decides to kill you."
They will not take you away from me. We will have our chance. I will make sure of it.
Kenshin's eyes flashed a brilliant amber as he took a defensive stance. He had no choice, being there with no means of defending himself.
Except his speed.
"Okaasan?"
His eyes narrowed. So, his woman was here. He watched as Saitou lowered himself into the all too familiar position of his gatotsu.
The Battousai would take back what was his.
**
Misao watched Aoshi quietly from the corner of her eye. She didn't know what was worse, her near-panic in front of the hentai old man or sudden nervousness around the senior. It was stirring a lot of emotions she didn't know how to deal with.
All of this is so strange. I feel like I'm supposed to understand this and to embrace it without questioning. But there is this part of me, deep inside, longing for answers and for whatever is plaguing my mind to be finish. I feel like I should know what's going on…
"Aoshi-senpai?"
He turned to look at her, eyes softening from the blank look he wore ever since they had left the history shop downtown. "Hai?"
She suddenly felt like a small child seeking comfort from someone who was unwilling to give it. I'm a fool, she mused bitterly. I'm a fool for thinking that he'd understand me. "Never mind."
Misao felt Aoshi grabbed her arm, an overwhelming sense of ease coming over her. He wanted to know what was wrong with her. She shivered.
Didn't he care?
**
AN: Hello everybody. Before my head gets severely decapitated, I would like to tell you all why I'm splitting this chapter up into two parts. The first reason being that this is the last humor based chapter that you shall be seeing. It's not the end of the humor, [^_^;;] but I will be taking one of my infamous dark turns. That wonderful turn will include why Enishi still holds a grudge after all these years and why everyone in the cast, 'specially the women where so brutally murdered.
Reason two has to do with me wanting to perfect the art of *cough* stripping a bath towel. I just need to perfect the big scene…
I'd also like to take this time to tell Jason-chan that he and my mother must share the same brain. I'm not mad about the review you gave me for Man'yoshu, I actually thought it was funny that someone really pointed out that I had made a bad typo at the same time my mother was telling me that I need to get some sleep otherwise *whatever* I was writing would make seem dyslexic. Oddly, enough thank you Jason-chan for allowing me to make a very strange parallel with my mother. ^_^;;; Me thinks I've been watching too much General Hospital…
Thank Yous
Jason-chan *chuckles then giggles*, Vesca, Seychella, sync*in, Pneumatic Angel *another chuckle*, dementedchris, Hana Himura, Linay, Messi, Nim, Chibigreenwizardmon, Kori Suketchi, macy, l.k., Battousai angel, omochi, Zackire, Smabbi-chan *giggles mysteriously*, Miriel Jewel-maid, *kawaii* Mako-chan, and my wonderful not to mention awesome editor chibi-angel who's in the dark about my evil plans as the rest of you. Merci!