T.Anjel: Finally done with chapter 5. Thank you all reviewers out there.
You know who you are!~ Also thanks to XenoMark and Kosume for pre-
reading.and that's all.
Standard Disclaimers Apply.
To Love the Hated - Chapter 5 - The Ballroom
Kaoru rubbed her temple in a continuous motion. Two weeks had sped faster than she thought was possible. The Ouji seemed one hundred percent blank on why Kaoru had exploded on him weeks ago in the dojo, so she allowed the one grudge of many to pass.
Their weekly meetings were quite serene, as they seemed to have both taken place in the library again. They had some small talk and enjoyed each other's company as they read unimaginably thick books they plucked from one of the shelves.
And suddenly, as if a curse was bestowed on her, Kaoru found herself shoved into a closet full of new, western dresses.
"I refuse for you to wear that rackety-tackety blue dress today!" Misao said stubbornly, crossing her arms and smiling wickedly.
Kaoru was suddenly feeling claustrophobic. The frills! The laces! The silk! They were all closing in on her.
"Maa maa, Kaoru-san!" Misao said cheerfully, swinging an arm around Kaoru's slouched shoulders. She waved around the feather duster she held in her other hand in large circles, indicating to Kaoru how the thousands of dresses were arranged in the different racks.
"It's just a stupid ball, Misao-chan," Kaoru complained, feeling dizzy from all the colors.
Misao slammed her fists into her hips. "You're also going as a representative of Ou-sama and the kingdom, Kaoru-san. And besides, it's only for one night!"
Misao features were scrunched up in a death glare, making Kaoru shrivel up inside. "Can't I at least wear a kimono?"
Misao seemed even more infuriated at the idea. "You wouldn't be able to dance in that thing!" She argued.
"Dance?!" Kaoru exploded and raised her hands in front of herself on the account of her defense. "No no no no no," she stuttered out. "I am not going to dance."
"That's the whole point of the ball, Kaoru-san! And I know you can dance!" Misao argued. "C'mon, it's getting late and I have to usher during the beginning of the ball." Kaoru clapped her hands together in a sarcastic motion. "Wonderful! You could go get ready to usher those big, important people and I'll pick out a dress myself."
Before Misao could have argued more with Kaoru, but there was a small wave of a hush heard outside of the large closet. Misao peered into the large bedroom to see no one other than the burly man who was called king.
"Ou-sama!" Misao exclaimed.
Before she could ask what he was doing there, he replied, "I was making sure that Kamiya was picking out an appropriate dress for the occasion."
Kaoru fumed from behind Misao's back.
"Did she pick one out?" Hiko asked Misao.
Misao shook her head in reply, and the beloved Seijuro Hiko made his large shoulders through the small doorway. Ignoring Kaoru's glares and the other women's stares, he scanned the racks quickly. With one swift motion, Hiko swiped a bright orange dress from its hook. It was complete with endless layers of frills and a very low neckline.
Kaoru unconsciously made a childish face as if she was forced to eat a plateful of liver. "I'm not wearing that!" she said in a rebellious manner.
Hiko put it back without a word and immediately picked out another dress. "Put this on," he ordered, flinging the green dress at her.
Kaoru caught with a frown and examined it as Hiko exited the room.
Much to Kaoru's dislike, the dress was actually beautiful and very much in taste. In the privacy of the empty closet, which Misao had left a second after Hiko, Kaoru slipped into the dress and found that it fit her perfectly. She examined her full figure using a large mirror pinned to one end of the wall.
The dress was a dark, sea green with a thick light green sash tied around the waist. It was an off-shoulder dress, but also had two thick pieces of fabric identical to the sash around the waist covering a decent amount of her shoulder atop. The dress itself wasn't as frilly with thousands of layers underneath like the other dresses the other women wore.
Kaoru smirked. "You've got taste, Ou-sama. You've got taste."
She looked around the enormous closet to find a small row of ribbons at the opposite end of the wall. Kaoru picked out a matching green one, and tied it around her ponytail as a finishing touch. She smiled to herself with satisfaction. Her curves were enunciated by the dress and she knew she would attract of the eyes many men that night.
Once Kaoru stepped out of the closet, Misao pounded her down.
"Misao-chan! I thought you left!" Kaoru yelled in surprise, and found herself being dragged over to her bed.
Misao shook her head in reply and examined Kaoru's figure. She nodded in satisfaction. "You're just gorgeous, Kaoru-san," Misao exclaimed and sat Kaoru down onto the plush bed. In swift movements, Misao managed to apply rouge to Kaoru's lips and some color onto her eyelids before the woman could reject the application.
Misao took a step back to examine her work and clapped her hands together with approval. "You'll be the belle of the ball," she said.
Kaoru smiled in thanks. "If I have to act all pretty tonight, I might as well do it all the way, ne?" Kaoru thought to herself.
"Now don't do anything to that dress, Kaoru-san. Like, oh say, ripping it!" Misao instructed as if speaking to a child. "I have to get going. Have fun tonight, Kaoru-san."
Kaoru nodded and shooed Misao off to do her usher duty. The other occupants of the room made their way out one by one, feeling giddy and childish as they made their way to the enormous ballroom Kaoru remembered cleaning days back.
Kaoru flopped on her bed, automatically sinking deep into it, wanting to make a fashionably late entrance. She'll show that egotistical king what a beauty she could be if she tried. Let's see him make any more cracks about her looks after tonight. Kaoru smirked to herself, feeling confident and ready to dominate the night.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Kenshin was never the most excited one when it came to balls or any form of dance. He usually stood at the sides, watching old women dance with their unfathomably rich husbands and small chat with those who weren't able to dance, such as he.
At the moment, Kenshin stood by the arching, gold doorway, greeting the guests as they entered one by one. He plastered on a goofy smile and adjusted the crisp western suit he was forced to wear. Nobles and men of high class made their usual late appearances and Kenshin shook their hands with his gloved ones as Hiko did the same next to him.
Most of the men were the same. They seemed to be in their mid- thirties or above with quickly graying hair and a figure that was either extremely stout and pot-bellied or very tall and bony. Some came with one of their wives and some did not, knowing perfectly well that there would be a whole line of them to dance with them that night. Specifically speaking, young and beautiful women.
Kenshin warily eyed a familiar noble who looked nothing of the rest. He was tall and lean with distinct, white hair which stood up at all ends possible. He wore small, tinted spectacles, which rested at the tip of his nose, and instead of making him look like a wise fool; it made him look menacing and threatening. Yukishiro Enishi; an extremely rich noble in Shanghai who took over companies one by one with timed contracts and, of course, some black mail here and there.
Hiko had ordered a foreign orchestra to play at the ball. They consisted of old men, but played fantastically well. Refreshments were lined at one end of the table consisting of every kind of cocktail, caviar, snack and champagne.
In barely a second's wait, the women entered the ballroom in a clustered line. Kenshin wouldn't deny all of their beauty and elegance they displayed as they entered, but he was looking for one woman in particular whom he knew would surprise him that night.
As he had thought, she was going to be late, if she planned to come at all.
Immediately, the women were being asked to dance by different nobles, and Kenshin watched from the corner of his eye that Yukishiro had asked a particularly beautiful woman to accompany him to a dance. She was none other than Takani Megumi, and if Sano wasn't outside on duty, he would have flared up with jealousy for sure.
The air of the ball was of a melancholy tone with nothing too interesting going on and about. Kenshin stood stiff as a board by the table and where he could get a good view of the doorway. He overheard nearby conversations consisting of politics and the latest revolution that was occurring far away.
Kenshin thought he would die of boredom until the room seemed to freeze. By the doorway, he saw the most beautiful woman he ever laid eyes on. Kenshin had always thought Kaoru was beautiful even with her scraggy blue dress, but seeing her face-to-face in the most dazzling one, he felt he was going to faint.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Kaoru couldn't help grinning inwardly. She didn't expect this much attention from just her mere appearance, but she suddenly felt glamorous and special. She noticed Kenshin's frozen stare and couldn't help but think how cute he looked with his mouth slightly hanging from its normal position. He probably didn't even know it too.
Kaoru scanned the room to see most eyes glued on her. With the walk of a goddess, Kaoru glided over to the opposite corner where she recognized the burly back of a certain king she loved to argue with as her newest pastime. He was engrossed in a conversation with some important looking man, drinking away at his sake. He had obviously not noticed Kaoru's stunning appearance.
Kaoru strode behind the man she called 'king' and gave an exaggerated cough, trying hard to make it sound womanly.
Hiko looked slightly annoyed at the intruder and turned around to see the woman none other than Kamiya. He managed to raise a perfectly shaped eyebrow in surprise. "What a surprise, Kamiya," Hiko said. "You're looking decent."
"Is that all?" Kaoru asked with a small pout, and fishing for a compliment or two.
"What do you want, Kamiya?" Hiko asked, not sounding as annoyed as he usually did with her.
"It's a ball, Ou-sama," Kaoru stated. "I was wondering if you would like to honor yourself by giving me my first dance tonight," Kaoru said, her words dripping with feigned sarcasm. And honest to God, she was wondering if the big guy could actually dance. With his large figure, she highly doubted it, but curiosity was bugging the hell out of her.
"I think I will," he drawled, using the same hidden sarcasm as Kaoru had used on him a second ago. "Please excuse me," he said politely to the duke who was staring greedily at Kaoru's flawless figure.
The orchestra was playing a soothing song, which played at an easy tempo to dance to. Hiko had his enormous mantle off for the ball, making his shoulders a bit smaller than what they usually seemed; but they were still as broad as anything. Kaoru rested her hand on his shoulder, feeling that they were just a tad high, but something that wasn't of a nuisance to her. And her other hand was lightly gripped by Hiko's large ones. His other rested gently on her tiny waist.
Kaoru's guess was proven wrong as Hiko guided her gracefully across the dance floor. They swayed back and forth, and Kaoru couldn't help enjoying herself as she went for another round with the king. They chatted about small things, making sure to be mocking once in awhile, but other than that, they got along fine.
Being the belle of the ball, Kaoru was quickly whipped away from Hiko's arms into another man's. Then to another and then another until Kaoru could have sworn she danced with every guest attending the ball. Her feet felt slightly sore in the unusually high shoes and wobbled her way over to the refreshments table where she lightly sipped a small glass of champagne.
"You know, you've been standing there during the whole ball," Kaoru said to a figure in the corner. Her eyes twinkled as she watched the prince fidget in his rigid spot. "There are so many beautiful women you could dance with," Kaoru said.
Kenshin made no response to her comment.
Kaoru grinned. "You can't dance, can you?" Kaoru asked with nourished excitement.
Kenshin flushed at the oh-so-true statement.
Kaoru couldn't help smile even more. "It's nothing to be ashamed of," Kaoru said as if soothing a child to sleep.
"I'm not ashamed," Kenshin said quickly in his defense.
"Yeah, okay," Kaoru said, rolling her eyes and set down her glass of champagne. She grabbed Kenshin's hand and dragged him over to the center of the dance floor. She suddenly felt bad for the orchestra who've been playing nonstop for what may have already been hours.
Kenshin was feeling nervous. He had no skill at dancing, and to try to teach him how to would be a futile attempt.
"Calm down," Kaoru said. "Now, just relax."
Kenshin did as he was told as best he could.
Kaoru took his left hand and gently placed in on her waist. She placed her right hand on his shoulder, and held his other hand in her own.
Kenshin knew his heart was thumping twice as fast as it would normally beat. He swallowed hard and easily did as Kaoru told him to. He didn't know whether to be thankful that the music was extremely slow. It was simple to dance and lead to, but Kaoru seemed so close that even the light scent of her hair was intoxicating to his nose.
The orchestra was playing a song with the ability to lull a child to sleep. Kaoru gently rested her chin on Kenshin's shoulder and swung back and forth to the soothing melody. She felt Kenshin gradually relax and allow himself to be taken away by the music as well.
Kaoru snapped from a dreamy haze to reality when she felt fingers gently prod her back for attention. She turned around and loosened from Kenshin's grip, expecting to see another egotistical noble. Instead, she met up with a tall, lean man with shocking white hair. He stared down at her with keen interest and offered his gloved hand to her. His motions were smooth and flawless. "May I have this dance?" he asked. He eyed Kenshin warily, as if secretly telling him that he would dance with Kaoru whether he wanted to or not.
Kaoru gave Kenshin a heart-warming smile. "It was great dancing with you, Kenshin. You're a fast learner, and you didn't step on my feet once."
Kenshin stood there, stunned, Kaoru had been swept away by another man in the blink of an eye, and their song wasn't even done yet. With a befallen heart, Kenshin took his usual, stoned position by the refreshment table and engaged himself in a small conversation with a couple of ladies who were taking a break from the dance floor.
Kaoru quickly learned that the man she danced with was a man from Shanghai. His name was Yukishiro Enishi and he was obviously extremely rich. His movements were calm and smooth, yet Kaoru couldn't help getting the feeling that he also daring the other rich guests to try to interfere with their dance.
Kaoru didn't feel much like saying anything to Yukishiro Enishi, but he didn't seem to mind. "Would you like a little fresh air?" Enishi asked. "It's getting hot in here."
Not waiting for Kaoru's answer, he pulled her along to an exquisite, gold balcony outside of the ballroom. Kaoru was about to argue, it wasn't hot in there at all, if anything, it was quite cool. With an annoyed sigh, Kaoru plopped herself onto a cold stone bench, staring off into the never- ending stretch of Earth.
After a minute of silence, Kaoru spoke up, "If you're not going to do anything, I'm going back in." Kaoru stood up to prove her point, but was pulled back into the bench next to Enishi.
"I just wanted a little time with you," he said, staring into Kaoru's eyes without blinking once. "Everyone seems to want to get their hands on you."
"Including you," Kaoru commented dryly.
"Can you blame me?" he asked, obviously trying to sound as suave as ever.
"No. I can't," Kaoru replied. "It's a pity such a brilliant and rich man such as yourself gets overtaken so easily by the mere power of your hormones."
The comment made him blink, but he quickly regained his composure. "No one ever said it was lust that made me attracted to you."
"You're no different from them," Kaoru said, looking over to the ballroom from the corner of her eye.
"That's where you're wrong," Enishi said, nearing Kaoru's face. "Are you saying I was right about the hormone thing?" Kaoru asked innocently.
Enishi backed away, suddenly feeling as if he was babysitting a child. But she was a beautiful child at that.
"Oh look!" Kaoru said, pouting. "The ball is just about over. Everyone's leaving!" Kaoru stood up and hustled over to the ballroom to greet the guests out. "It was nice talking to you," Kaoru shouted over her shoulder before being pummeled by guests and their sudden eagerness to hand her information about themselves quickly before they left; either being dragged by their wives or just being pushed out of the way by others.
Kaoru couldn't help smiling at every one of them. She bowed low to the entire bunch and paid all the respects she needed to pay.
Enishi, on the other hand, seemed persistent on catching Kaoru's attention and affection. He gave all the blushing women a suave kiss on their hands and purposely did it under Kaoru's nose. He offered to kiss Kaoru's hand when she snatched it away.
"I'd like to keep my hands clean, thank you," she said curtly. It was men such as he who an ego the size of Japan that grinded at her nerves.
"This will probably be the last time I get to see you," Enishi said, suave as hell, ignoring Kaoru's latter comment.
"That is a total relief," Kaoru said with an exaggerated motion of wiping sweat from her brow.
"Why don't you come to Shanghai with me?" Enishi offered, keeping his face impassive and ignoring Kaoru's sarcastic comments.
"I belong here," Kaoru replied, her voice as stern as ever. "In Japan."
Enishi was beginning to look pissed. "I'll offer this to you."
"Look," Kaoru said, interrupting Enishi's upcoming speech. "I have no attraction to you at all, Yukishiro-san!" Kaoru paused. "If you have any means of trying to wed me or anything of the sort, it won't happen! You'll need more of a personality to go with your good looks if you want to get even close!" Kaoru yelled. "But it was nice to meet you anyway," Kaoru's sneer melted into a smile.
Enishi didn't say anything for a few seconds before he turned his heel away from Kaoru, the ballroom and from a kingdom in Japan.
Kaoru gave a sigh and looked around the emptied ballroom. The high position of the moon told her it was late, and it seemed that everyone left for bed already. Kaoru was right about to go through the door when a familiar shadow in a familiar corner caught her eye.
"Ouji-sama?" Kaoru questioned, slowly nearing the man.
Kenshin came from his spot in the shadows, feeling as if he was a child caught stealing cookies in the middle of the night.
"What are you doing here?" Kaoru asked.
Kenshin shrugged. "Just standing."
Kaoru nodded, enduring a personal migraine of Kenshin's obvious ignorance and gloominess. "Did you dance after dancing with me?" Kaoru asked, trying hard to cheer up the prince.
"Hai," Kenshin replied, pasting on a smile Kaoru was able to see through too easily. "Thank you for teaching me how to dance, Kaoru-dono."
Kaoru shook her head. "I didn't," she said. "You knew how to all along."
'Mou!,' Kaoru thought irritably. 'The Ouji's acting so down. I could just kill him.' "Oro?" Kenshin felt Kaoru tug at his hand, roughly dragging him over to the center of the ballroom.
"We never finished our dance, Ouji-sama," Kaoru said, and held Kenshin's hand with one of hers and rested the other one on his shoulder. Kenshin quickly followed suit, and found his other shoulder supporting the light weight of Kaoru's head. Her harsh movements quickly dissolved into a liquid-like motions.
The two swayed back and forth; dancing to music only they could hear.
~*~*~*~*~*~ T.Anjel: My mind's completely blank and I honestly have nothing to blubber on about at the moment. So please review.~ Thanks for reading!
Standard Disclaimers Apply.
To Love the Hated - Chapter 5 - The Ballroom
Kaoru rubbed her temple in a continuous motion. Two weeks had sped faster than she thought was possible. The Ouji seemed one hundred percent blank on why Kaoru had exploded on him weeks ago in the dojo, so she allowed the one grudge of many to pass.
Their weekly meetings were quite serene, as they seemed to have both taken place in the library again. They had some small talk and enjoyed each other's company as they read unimaginably thick books they plucked from one of the shelves.
And suddenly, as if a curse was bestowed on her, Kaoru found herself shoved into a closet full of new, western dresses.
"I refuse for you to wear that rackety-tackety blue dress today!" Misao said stubbornly, crossing her arms and smiling wickedly.
Kaoru was suddenly feeling claustrophobic. The frills! The laces! The silk! They were all closing in on her.
"Maa maa, Kaoru-san!" Misao said cheerfully, swinging an arm around Kaoru's slouched shoulders. She waved around the feather duster she held in her other hand in large circles, indicating to Kaoru how the thousands of dresses were arranged in the different racks.
"It's just a stupid ball, Misao-chan," Kaoru complained, feeling dizzy from all the colors.
Misao slammed her fists into her hips. "You're also going as a representative of Ou-sama and the kingdom, Kaoru-san. And besides, it's only for one night!"
Misao features were scrunched up in a death glare, making Kaoru shrivel up inside. "Can't I at least wear a kimono?"
Misao seemed even more infuriated at the idea. "You wouldn't be able to dance in that thing!" She argued.
"Dance?!" Kaoru exploded and raised her hands in front of herself on the account of her defense. "No no no no no," she stuttered out. "I am not going to dance."
"That's the whole point of the ball, Kaoru-san! And I know you can dance!" Misao argued. "C'mon, it's getting late and I have to usher during the beginning of the ball." Kaoru clapped her hands together in a sarcastic motion. "Wonderful! You could go get ready to usher those big, important people and I'll pick out a dress myself."
Before Misao could have argued more with Kaoru, but there was a small wave of a hush heard outside of the large closet. Misao peered into the large bedroom to see no one other than the burly man who was called king.
"Ou-sama!" Misao exclaimed.
Before she could ask what he was doing there, he replied, "I was making sure that Kamiya was picking out an appropriate dress for the occasion."
Kaoru fumed from behind Misao's back.
"Did she pick one out?" Hiko asked Misao.
Misao shook her head in reply, and the beloved Seijuro Hiko made his large shoulders through the small doorway. Ignoring Kaoru's glares and the other women's stares, he scanned the racks quickly. With one swift motion, Hiko swiped a bright orange dress from its hook. It was complete with endless layers of frills and a very low neckline.
Kaoru unconsciously made a childish face as if she was forced to eat a plateful of liver. "I'm not wearing that!" she said in a rebellious manner.
Hiko put it back without a word and immediately picked out another dress. "Put this on," he ordered, flinging the green dress at her.
Kaoru caught with a frown and examined it as Hiko exited the room.
Much to Kaoru's dislike, the dress was actually beautiful and very much in taste. In the privacy of the empty closet, which Misao had left a second after Hiko, Kaoru slipped into the dress and found that it fit her perfectly. She examined her full figure using a large mirror pinned to one end of the wall.
The dress was a dark, sea green with a thick light green sash tied around the waist. It was an off-shoulder dress, but also had two thick pieces of fabric identical to the sash around the waist covering a decent amount of her shoulder atop. The dress itself wasn't as frilly with thousands of layers underneath like the other dresses the other women wore.
Kaoru smirked. "You've got taste, Ou-sama. You've got taste."
She looked around the enormous closet to find a small row of ribbons at the opposite end of the wall. Kaoru picked out a matching green one, and tied it around her ponytail as a finishing touch. She smiled to herself with satisfaction. Her curves were enunciated by the dress and she knew she would attract of the eyes many men that night.
Once Kaoru stepped out of the closet, Misao pounded her down.
"Misao-chan! I thought you left!" Kaoru yelled in surprise, and found herself being dragged over to her bed.
Misao shook her head in reply and examined Kaoru's figure. She nodded in satisfaction. "You're just gorgeous, Kaoru-san," Misao exclaimed and sat Kaoru down onto the plush bed. In swift movements, Misao managed to apply rouge to Kaoru's lips and some color onto her eyelids before the woman could reject the application.
Misao took a step back to examine her work and clapped her hands together with approval. "You'll be the belle of the ball," she said.
Kaoru smiled in thanks. "If I have to act all pretty tonight, I might as well do it all the way, ne?" Kaoru thought to herself.
"Now don't do anything to that dress, Kaoru-san. Like, oh say, ripping it!" Misao instructed as if speaking to a child. "I have to get going. Have fun tonight, Kaoru-san."
Kaoru nodded and shooed Misao off to do her usher duty. The other occupants of the room made their way out one by one, feeling giddy and childish as they made their way to the enormous ballroom Kaoru remembered cleaning days back.
Kaoru flopped on her bed, automatically sinking deep into it, wanting to make a fashionably late entrance. She'll show that egotistical king what a beauty she could be if she tried. Let's see him make any more cracks about her looks after tonight. Kaoru smirked to herself, feeling confident and ready to dominate the night.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Kenshin was never the most excited one when it came to balls or any form of dance. He usually stood at the sides, watching old women dance with their unfathomably rich husbands and small chat with those who weren't able to dance, such as he.
At the moment, Kenshin stood by the arching, gold doorway, greeting the guests as they entered one by one. He plastered on a goofy smile and adjusted the crisp western suit he was forced to wear. Nobles and men of high class made their usual late appearances and Kenshin shook their hands with his gloved ones as Hiko did the same next to him.
Most of the men were the same. They seemed to be in their mid- thirties or above with quickly graying hair and a figure that was either extremely stout and pot-bellied or very tall and bony. Some came with one of their wives and some did not, knowing perfectly well that there would be a whole line of them to dance with them that night. Specifically speaking, young and beautiful women.
Kenshin warily eyed a familiar noble who looked nothing of the rest. He was tall and lean with distinct, white hair which stood up at all ends possible. He wore small, tinted spectacles, which rested at the tip of his nose, and instead of making him look like a wise fool; it made him look menacing and threatening. Yukishiro Enishi; an extremely rich noble in Shanghai who took over companies one by one with timed contracts and, of course, some black mail here and there.
Hiko had ordered a foreign orchestra to play at the ball. They consisted of old men, but played fantastically well. Refreshments were lined at one end of the table consisting of every kind of cocktail, caviar, snack and champagne.
In barely a second's wait, the women entered the ballroom in a clustered line. Kenshin wouldn't deny all of their beauty and elegance they displayed as they entered, but he was looking for one woman in particular whom he knew would surprise him that night.
As he had thought, she was going to be late, if she planned to come at all.
Immediately, the women were being asked to dance by different nobles, and Kenshin watched from the corner of his eye that Yukishiro had asked a particularly beautiful woman to accompany him to a dance. She was none other than Takani Megumi, and if Sano wasn't outside on duty, he would have flared up with jealousy for sure.
The air of the ball was of a melancholy tone with nothing too interesting going on and about. Kenshin stood stiff as a board by the table and where he could get a good view of the doorway. He overheard nearby conversations consisting of politics and the latest revolution that was occurring far away.
Kenshin thought he would die of boredom until the room seemed to freeze. By the doorway, he saw the most beautiful woman he ever laid eyes on. Kenshin had always thought Kaoru was beautiful even with her scraggy blue dress, but seeing her face-to-face in the most dazzling one, he felt he was going to faint.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Kaoru couldn't help grinning inwardly. She didn't expect this much attention from just her mere appearance, but she suddenly felt glamorous and special. She noticed Kenshin's frozen stare and couldn't help but think how cute he looked with his mouth slightly hanging from its normal position. He probably didn't even know it too.
Kaoru scanned the room to see most eyes glued on her. With the walk of a goddess, Kaoru glided over to the opposite corner where she recognized the burly back of a certain king she loved to argue with as her newest pastime. He was engrossed in a conversation with some important looking man, drinking away at his sake. He had obviously not noticed Kaoru's stunning appearance.
Kaoru strode behind the man she called 'king' and gave an exaggerated cough, trying hard to make it sound womanly.
Hiko looked slightly annoyed at the intruder and turned around to see the woman none other than Kamiya. He managed to raise a perfectly shaped eyebrow in surprise. "What a surprise, Kamiya," Hiko said. "You're looking decent."
"Is that all?" Kaoru asked with a small pout, and fishing for a compliment or two.
"What do you want, Kamiya?" Hiko asked, not sounding as annoyed as he usually did with her.
"It's a ball, Ou-sama," Kaoru stated. "I was wondering if you would like to honor yourself by giving me my first dance tonight," Kaoru said, her words dripping with feigned sarcasm. And honest to God, she was wondering if the big guy could actually dance. With his large figure, she highly doubted it, but curiosity was bugging the hell out of her.
"I think I will," he drawled, using the same hidden sarcasm as Kaoru had used on him a second ago. "Please excuse me," he said politely to the duke who was staring greedily at Kaoru's flawless figure.
The orchestra was playing a soothing song, which played at an easy tempo to dance to. Hiko had his enormous mantle off for the ball, making his shoulders a bit smaller than what they usually seemed; but they were still as broad as anything. Kaoru rested her hand on his shoulder, feeling that they were just a tad high, but something that wasn't of a nuisance to her. And her other hand was lightly gripped by Hiko's large ones. His other rested gently on her tiny waist.
Kaoru's guess was proven wrong as Hiko guided her gracefully across the dance floor. They swayed back and forth, and Kaoru couldn't help enjoying herself as she went for another round with the king. They chatted about small things, making sure to be mocking once in awhile, but other than that, they got along fine.
Being the belle of the ball, Kaoru was quickly whipped away from Hiko's arms into another man's. Then to another and then another until Kaoru could have sworn she danced with every guest attending the ball. Her feet felt slightly sore in the unusually high shoes and wobbled her way over to the refreshments table where she lightly sipped a small glass of champagne.
"You know, you've been standing there during the whole ball," Kaoru said to a figure in the corner. Her eyes twinkled as she watched the prince fidget in his rigid spot. "There are so many beautiful women you could dance with," Kaoru said.
Kenshin made no response to her comment.
Kaoru grinned. "You can't dance, can you?" Kaoru asked with nourished excitement.
Kenshin flushed at the oh-so-true statement.
Kaoru couldn't help smile even more. "It's nothing to be ashamed of," Kaoru said as if soothing a child to sleep.
"I'm not ashamed," Kenshin said quickly in his defense.
"Yeah, okay," Kaoru said, rolling her eyes and set down her glass of champagne. She grabbed Kenshin's hand and dragged him over to the center of the dance floor. She suddenly felt bad for the orchestra who've been playing nonstop for what may have already been hours.
Kenshin was feeling nervous. He had no skill at dancing, and to try to teach him how to would be a futile attempt.
"Calm down," Kaoru said. "Now, just relax."
Kenshin did as he was told as best he could.
Kaoru took his left hand and gently placed in on her waist. She placed her right hand on his shoulder, and held his other hand in her own.
Kenshin knew his heart was thumping twice as fast as it would normally beat. He swallowed hard and easily did as Kaoru told him to. He didn't know whether to be thankful that the music was extremely slow. It was simple to dance and lead to, but Kaoru seemed so close that even the light scent of her hair was intoxicating to his nose.
The orchestra was playing a song with the ability to lull a child to sleep. Kaoru gently rested her chin on Kenshin's shoulder and swung back and forth to the soothing melody. She felt Kenshin gradually relax and allow himself to be taken away by the music as well.
Kaoru snapped from a dreamy haze to reality when she felt fingers gently prod her back for attention. She turned around and loosened from Kenshin's grip, expecting to see another egotistical noble. Instead, she met up with a tall, lean man with shocking white hair. He stared down at her with keen interest and offered his gloved hand to her. His motions were smooth and flawless. "May I have this dance?" he asked. He eyed Kenshin warily, as if secretly telling him that he would dance with Kaoru whether he wanted to or not.
Kaoru gave Kenshin a heart-warming smile. "It was great dancing with you, Kenshin. You're a fast learner, and you didn't step on my feet once."
Kenshin stood there, stunned, Kaoru had been swept away by another man in the blink of an eye, and their song wasn't even done yet. With a befallen heart, Kenshin took his usual, stoned position by the refreshment table and engaged himself in a small conversation with a couple of ladies who were taking a break from the dance floor.
Kaoru quickly learned that the man she danced with was a man from Shanghai. His name was Yukishiro Enishi and he was obviously extremely rich. His movements were calm and smooth, yet Kaoru couldn't help getting the feeling that he also daring the other rich guests to try to interfere with their dance.
Kaoru didn't feel much like saying anything to Yukishiro Enishi, but he didn't seem to mind. "Would you like a little fresh air?" Enishi asked. "It's getting hot in here."
Not waiting for Kaoru's answer, he pulled her along to an exquisite, gold balcony outside of the ballroom. Kaoru was about to argue, it wasn't hot in there at all, if anything, it was quite cool. With an annoyed sigh, Kaoru plopped herself onto a cold stone bench, staring off into the never- ending stretch of Earth.
After a minute of silence, Kaoru spoke up, "If you're not going to do anything, I'm going back in." Kaoru stood up to prove her point, but was pulled back into the bench next to Enishi.
"I just wanted a little time with you," he said, staring into Kaoru's eyes without blinking once. "Everyone seems to want to get their hands on you."
"Including you," Kaoru commented dryly.
"Can you blame me?" he asked, obviously trying to sound as suave as ever.
"No. I can't," Kaoru replied. "It's a pity such a brilliant and rich man such as yourself gets overtaken so easily by the mere power of your hormones."
The comment made him blink, but he quickly regained his composure. "No one ever said it was lust that made me attracted to you."
"You're no different from them," Kaoru said, looking over to the ballroom from the corner of her eye.
"That's where you're wrong," Enishi said, nearing Kaoru's face. "Are you saying I was right about the hormone thing?" Kaoru asked innocently.
Enishi backed away, suddenly feeling as if he was babysitting a child. But she was a beautiful child at that.
"Oh look!" Kaoru said, pouting. "The ball is just about over. Everyone's leaving!" Kaoru stood up and hustled over to the ballroom to greet the guests out. "It was nice talking to you," Kaoru shouted over her shoulder before being pummeled by guests and their sudden eagerness to hand her information about themselves quickly before they left; either being dragged by their wives or just being pushed out of the way by others.
Kaoru couldn't help smiling at every one of them. She bowed low to the entire bunch and paid all the respects she needed to pay.
Enishi, on the other hand, seemed persistent on catching Kaoru's attention and affection. He gave all the blushing women a suave kiss on their hands and purposely did it under Kaoru's nose. He offered to kiss Kaoru's hand when she snatched it away.
"I'd like to keep my hands clean, thank you," she said curtly. It was men such as he who an ego the size of Japan that grinded at her nerves.
"This will probably be the last time I get to see you," Enishi said, suave as hell, ignoring Kaoru's latter comment.
"That is a total relief," Kaoru said with an exaggerated motion of wiping sweat from her brow.
"Why don't you come to Shanghai with me?" Enishi offered, keeping his face impassive and ignoring Kaoru's sarcastic comments.
"I belong here," Kaoru replied, her voice as stern as ever. "In Japan."
Enishi was beginning to look pissed. "I'll offer this to you."
"Look," Kaoru said, interrupting Enishi's upcoming speech. "I have no attraction to you at all, Yukishiro-san!" Kaoru paused. "If you have any means of trying to wed me or anything of the sort, it won't happen! You'll need more of a personality to go with your good looks if you want to get even close!" Kaoru yelled. "But it was nice to meet you anyway," Kaoru's sneer melted into a smile.
Enishi didn't say anything for a few seconds before he turned his heel away from Kaoru, the ballroom and from a kingdom in Japan.
Kaoru gave a sigh and looked around the emptied ballroom. The high position of the moon told her it was late, and it seemed that everyone left for bed already. Kaoru was right about to go through the door when a familiar shadow in a familiar corner caught her eye.
"Ouji-sama?" Kaoru questioned, slowly nearing the man.
Kenshin came from his spot in the shadows, feeling as if he was a child caught stealing cookies in the middle of the night.
"What are you doing here?" Kaoru asked.
Kenshin shrugged. "Just standing."
Kaoru nodded, enduring a personal migraine of Kenshin's obvious ignorance and gloominess. "Did you dance after dancing with me?" Kaoru asked, trying hard to cheer up the prince.
"Hai," Kenshin replied, pasting on a smile Kaoru was able to see through too easily. "Thank you for teaching me how to dance, Kaoru-dono."
Kaoru shook her head. "I didn't," she said. "You knew how to all along."
'Mou!,' Kaoru thought irritably. 'The Ouji's acting so down. I could just kill him.' "Oro?" Kenshin felt Kaoru tug at his hand, roughly dragging him over to the center of the ballroom.
"We never finished our dance, Ouji-sama," Kaoru said, and held Kenshin's hand with one of hers and rested the other one on his shoulder. Kenshin quickly followed suit, and found his other shoulder supporting the light weight of Kaoru's head. Her harsh movements quickly dissolved into a liquid-like motions.
The two swayed back and forth; dancing to music only they could hear.
~*~*~*~*~*~ T.Anjel: My mind's completely blank and I honestly have nothing to blubber on about at the moment. So please review.~ Thanks for reading!
