Disclaimer: I do not own Rurouni Kenshin. This fic is entirely fictional and Japan did not have a Project Messiah nor a Mission Messiah as far as I know.
To the readers…Thanks to all the people who reviewed! Your reviews were really inspiring and gave me confidence. If not, I would have believed long ago that this fic stinks because of the low amount of reviews it's receiving.
Dementedchris: I was actually debating on whether to use affection or intimacy; I think my former school actually chose the word intimacy.
Gypsy-chan: Maybe you wouldn't have to wait for a long time after all. (Was this vague or what? I don't want to spoil it to the other readers.)
Sync*in: I didn't mean to make Ryo sound like Mikagami. Did he? And sorry for making Ryo talk too much (yup, I knew that). Harhar..I was hoping no one would notice that. Obviously, someone did, so I made a conscious effort to give him fewer lines. I hope it fits his description better.
Selene: I'm happy to know that you enjoyed Misao and Sano's teasing, I was afraid it kind of sounded "shounen-ai-sh."
Inuki and all the other readers: As much as I would love to update faster, I just can't do that right now. This is the fastest rate I could go until the finals are over. I'm hoping to get a 4.0 GPA this semester and I just can't screw up on the last minute. So the earliest I can post the next chapter will be next Wednesday. Sorry for the slow updates. I promise that it'll pick up once school is over. Thanks!
Other Side of the Moon
Enjoyment Chapter 6
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Love is two solitudes reaching out to greet each other.
---Rilke
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*Ding Dong*
'Great he's here and I'm running late! How could I've forgotten to set my alarm clock?!!?'
Kaoru was one of those people who just can't wake up early without the aid of an alarm clock. Forget to set it and it is guaranteed that she will not be opening her eyes as long as her bladder is willing to control. Being Ryo didn't help dressing up in high speed a tiny bit.
'Mou…my body is reluctant to move an inch so much to get out of bed.'
Meanwhile, Kenshin who has been waiting patiently for 5 minutes decided to ring the doorbell once more.
'I'm sure it rang the first time, but better try again.'
*ding dong*
'Mou..I guess I should try and wake these muscles up.' Kaoru thought as she attempted to roll out of bed.
'Hmm... Wonder what's taking him so long?' Kenshin's thoughts were suddenly interrupted when he heard a loud thump, which sounded much like a very heavy thing or rather someone falling, and the sound came from the back part of the house. Being a concerned worry-wart as he is, he decided to make sure that everything's alright so he rushed towards the back of the apartment.
"Itai, my side hurts. Mou, my shoulder feels weird too," Kaoru complained aloud.
Kenshin, who had just reached the back window, spoke and asked, "Is everything alright Ryo? I heard a loud crash. You ok…th..there?" Kenshin barely managed to finish his question as he heard the person speak as he looked through the window.
"Ah, I'm alright. I'll be there in a sec!" Ryo shouted hoping Kenshin would hear it.
"Ok," Kenshin managed to release.
Kenshin settled as he reached the front door again.
After another couple of minutes, Ryo finally made it to the front door at last.
"Hey Kenshin! Sorry about that, I lost track of time sleeping," Ryo said sheepishly while scratching the back of his head.
"That's alright. I'm early anyway and Sano and Misao are probably still in their houses anyway. I tend to be a bit early most of the time. So, you ready to go?"
"Yes." Ryo locked the door behind them then walked towards the parking area of the complex.
"Here's my car," Kenshin said while approaching a metallic blue sports car.
"Nice car. So when did you get this?" Ryo inquired as they were getting inside the car.
"I just got this a year ago. I bought it with the help of my Uncle. I'm living with him, sort of like my guardian. I also work for his company part time so I managed to save enough money to buy this."
"For just working part time? You should introduce me to your uncle sometime, there might be an opening or something," Ryo said jokingly. "What's the company anyway?"
"Real estate"
"Oh, so I'm guessing you had a huge commission in one of the projects the previous year."
"You can say that."
"That's great!"
"It is," Kenshin replied in a not-so-enthusiastic voice with a tinge of amber circling his eyes.
Ryo noticed the change in Kenshin's voice, but ignored it anyway. 'It probably has nothing to do with my questions. He probably was just thinking about something or getting bored.' His thoughts were diverted when Kenshin suddenly stepped on the brakes causing Ryo to lean forward.
"Damn. That moron, cutting people like that, without even using directionals," Kenshin muttered to himself. "Sorry about that, you ok?"
"I'm fine. Why'd you become all fiery all of a sudden?"
"Idiots should not be allowed on the streets," Kenshin replied coldly not addressing anyone in particular.
'Now he's definitely acting weird.'
"Can I open the radio?" Ryo asked.
"Yes."
"Thanks."
They arrived the mall a while later without talking much at all after the little braking incident. Ryo decided to keep his mouth shut for a moment until Kenshin cools down. His gaze was intense and almost glaring the whole time he was driving, which Ryo felt without any difficulty.
'I have to stop my feelings from rushing.' *takes a deep breath*
Kenshin turned to Ryo and said, "We're supposed to meet them in front of the coffee shop just about this time," with the usual smile plastered on his face.
Ryo replied with a casual nod and walked towards the shop with Kenshin leading the way. Misao spotted the two a few meters away from the coffee shop and perkily waved at them.
"You're late," Sano said.
"Since when did you get so time conscious?" Kenshin asked.
"Since 10 minutes ago which I recall was the time we agreed to meet."
"Sorry, it was my fault. Kenshin came early and I was just getting out of bed when he came."
"Don't worry about it. Let's just have fun already, ok?"
"Where do you want to go first?" Kenshin asked.
"I want to buy a new CD so why don't we go to that first? "
"Yes ma'am!" Sano said and the whole group proceeded to the record store.
**
'This is boring. I'm quite sure they're not going to touch her in a public place.' Soujiro quickly glanced at his back when he sensed someone.
"It's you. You're not supposed to be here as I recall. I gave Saito-sama my word that you will not appear here," Soujiro whispered.
"Then I am not here."
"Stubborn."
Aoshi remained silent while keeping an eye on the four teenagers.
"You don't think I can handle this?" 'Jeez… this is what I'm supposed to do. It's what I'm hired to do! But there's no use telling Aoshi that again. I've tried to convince him a million times to leave the tailing to me… but noooo. At least, it has become less over time, he just pops out once in a while.' "This is carelessness. You are not allowed to be seen wandering around the mall. What if one of your students recognize you?"
"Teachers go to the mall."
"Useless," Soujiro murmured. "This can't continue anymore."
"Do what you want."
*Sigh* 'What an asshole.' Soujiro thought as he gave the topic up.
**
"The movie was great!" exclaimed Misao.
"It was," agreed Kenshin.
"Yo, are you people hungry? 'Coz I am. The mall's almost closing so, let's just grab a pizza then we can eat it somewhere. You guys ok with that?"
"Sure!"
"So any volunteers?"
"Can we stay at your place Ryo? Kenshin's the only one who've seen it."
"Dad's not home so it will be alright."
"Yeah! That sounds great."
**
"They're on the way to the apartment. The three's staying for pizza. Check the database for Himura Kenshin, Sanosuke Sagara and Makimachi Misao. Now."
"Yes sir."
*Click*
A few minutes later
"Got it. Their files are clean sir."
"Good."
*Click*
**
"Come in people."
"Hey, this place's neat!" Sano complimented.
"What drinks do you want?"
"Sprite here!"
"Pepsi!"
"Water's fine. I'll help you," Kenshin offered.
"You're dad's always out?" Misao asked.
"Most of the time. He's really busy. So the apartment's pretty much to myself."
"Let's start eating!" Sano said as he got the first slice of pizza.
"Can I use your phone for a minute? I have to tell Gramps that I might be home a bit late," Misao said as she glanced at the clock, which said it was almost nine.
"Sure go ahead. The phone's at the kitchen counter."
"Thanks."
The four finished the pizza and chatted their way through the night. It might have lasted even later if Misao didn't start yawning. And you know how yawns tend to be contagious, one yawns, everybody yawns.
"We better get going," Misao suggested.
"Guess we should. It's really late and we're all tired but I had a great time today," agreed Kenshin.
"Me too. We should do this more often."
"Yeah!" Sano exclaimed.
"Well, see you in school on Monday Ryo."
"Ok. Goodnight. Bye."
"Bye."
**
*Phone rings*
"It is about time!"
"I'm sorry Soujiro. I didn't realize it was this late already."
"It's ok, I'm just kidding. I watch the house until one anyway, with friends over or not. Did you have fun?"
"Yes I did. I really did. These people are fun to be with. I've never really blended with people at school as much as I am right now."
"That's good to hear. You should never overlook happiness."
"I'll keep that in mind. Did Aoshi give you a hard time today?"
"What's new anyway?"
"Did you tell Dad already?"
"I don't have the heart to."
"All right then, you just have to bear with the consequence of being too nice. Do me a favor and tell Aoshi that it's been quite awhile since I left the age 10."
"That's no problem, I can tell him that, the problem if he'll listen to me."
"You better go home and rest now Sou-chan. You've been on the job since this afternoon, I bet you're exhausted."
"I will not leave till your 'Dad' is here, orders are orders."
"Yes, yes, I'm just worried about you."
"Don't worry about me. Now fix the place up before he arrives."
"Ok, goodnight."
"Goodnight."
*Hangs up*
a/n: hello again! Oh yes I think this chapter stinks. I wrote the first draft 30 minutes before I went to bed. I had this idea that if I don't continuously write, my inspiration will go away just like what happened months ago, which left my other fics unfinished. Anyway, I tried my best to edit it but I can't think of anything to improve it.
Review please! I would really appreciate it if you would. If you're really shy or just can't think of anything you say, can you just post "I read it and or I liked it?"
