Tomoko-chan: Jeezus-pleezus! I don't like to insult, but Peach, are you
stupid? I mean, I post up this huge banner in my FIRST CHAPTER that says NO
FLAMES and here you are, flaming your baka (most likely blond) head off at
me! As I said in the first chapter, which you obviously didn't read, I
don't care what you have to say if it's in flames. If you wanted to make a
suggestion, you could've just told me and not made your self look like a
stupid bitch who yells. I will not use your idea, and most likely won't use
any of the ideas yet to come from you. Sorry you were such an idiot. No
offense. ^-^
*****
"Ungh, Mommy, this place smells like tinkle!"
Kaoru would have loved more than anything to agree, but this was as cheap as they got, and she would hate for an extra charge for rudeness. The manager just looked surely enough to do such a thing. She just tried to sooth him; he must have been exhausted. "Shh, Kenji."
"But Mommy," Kenji tried to protest, his hand wrapped around his nose in disgust. Kaoru patted his head, showing sympathy in her eyes.
"Be still."
"Okay." The manager resumed conversation. "It's twenty-five for the night, five bucks for anything else. You know, cable, breakfast, laundry. It all costs mucho dinero, you know."
"That will be fine," Kaoru fished through her purse, gasping from the stench. Retrieving a twenty and a five, she shoved the fistful of money into the manager's hands. "Here."
The manager walked away, a blank, unsettling expression on his face. Kaoru nearly slammed the door behind him, glad his sideburn-adorned face was out of her presence. Kenji was shivering in the corner, his hands still clamped over his face. Kaoru smiled calmly, hoping to smooth his features. "It's not so bad, Kenji. It's just for one-AAH!" As she bounced an over- night bag on the bed, a hiss and a blurred image of a cat fleeing from under the bed caught her by surprised. With a pathetic meow, the cat was gone out of the hole in the screen of the window. Kaoru could only pray nothing else was living under her bed.
"Alright," Kaoru looked about the shabby, filthy room she wouldn't look at under any other circumstance. "Since it's Friday, you can stay up a bit, Kenji." She opened her suitcase and grasped her black laptop, hoping to find another apartment by one. She glanced at her watch. It was about ten-thirty.
"I want to go to bed when you go to bed." Kenji protested, sounding a little weak. He was shaking, she noticed, and concern over took her being. She placed the lap top back upon the small mound of clothing and walked a few steps closer to him.
"That may be a while, Kenji. I would like it if you went to bed after two shows." She had glanced to the rusty-looking T.V. on one of the tables by the bed. "How about you watch some more Pokemon?"
He shook his head in agreement softly. "But I still want to sleep with you."
"We'll see." Kaoru pulled a blanket from the bed and wrapped it around Kenji's tiny, quivering frame. "Just sit for now. You look so sleepy, honey."
"No, not sleepy." He mumbled his eyelids half closed. "Just cold."
With a worried stare, Kaoru's eyes drifted from her shaking son to the run-down television. She pushed the power button, and praise Kami-sama! It started up, fuzzy, black and white blobs taking with static in their accents. Turning the dial, it jumped from channel to channel until she rested on the sight of Ash and Picachu, smiling their huge toothless anime grins. Kaoru sighed in relief, glad that they got this station because Kenji wouldn't fall asleep any other way. She walked from the creaky table, shooing the paint chips from around her feet, and picked up her laptop. She sat upon the bed, the springs moaning like a tired old woman, typing furiously upon the poor machine. Searching on the internet, she went to her home page, finding a few meaningless e-mails, but nothing more. Kaoru clicked back to the welcome page, which listed all of the possible options available on the site. She moved her cursor upon the 'Home' link, but her eyes flashed at the sight of the personals link. This temptation was quickly banished, but not entirely.
She gave up after twenty minutes, on that webpage anyway. One thousand a month for a one-bedroom apartment was just ludicrous. She could only pray in thanks within her mind to who ever created 'cheapapartments.com'. Quickly, she found a nearby apartment complex with a two-bedroom apartment ready for lease. She checked the hours, and realized she had five minutes before the office closed. She had her cell phone to her ear in record time, and she was soon connected to the manager.
"Hello?" A wheezy, tired voice croaked.
"Um, hi." She laughed bluntly. "My name is Kaoru Himura, and I was wondering if you still have that two-bedroom apartment for lease."
"Oh, yea. Are you interested in buying?" His voice suddenly brightened after the word 'lease'.
"Yes I am! I'm very interested. Does that mean it's still open?"
"Uh-huh. No one has even called about this apartment until you. You can come check it out tomorrow if you want. Our address is. . ."
"That won't be necessary." Kaoru interrupted. "I have the address, I am almost positive that I will be leasing. I was actually thinking in moving in tomorrow. The lease is five-hundred a month?"
"Oh, well, yes." The tone jumped in surprise. "Are you sure you don't want to check it out?"
"Yes, the web-site had pictures of what it looks like. We will be here tomorrow, and we will have all of our belongings, so if you have any hobos living in the apartment, please kick them out." She chuckled nervously. But no response came. A stunned silence stretched before them until a muffled cough emanated from the manager was heard. Kaoru decided to end this quickly.
"Well, see you tomorrow. Thank-you."
"Thank-you, ma'am." And with that, a click signifying the end of their connection was heard. Kaoru flipped the bottom of the cell phone up, and packed it away. She clicked 'back' on her laptop, and she was back to the homepage. That was easier than planned, she thought checking her watch and noticing it was just before eleven. The personals link seemed to glow brightly among all of the other links on the page, and Kaoru wanted more than ever to click on that link and type 'Hi, my husband was screwing someone on the side while I bought for everything and took care of our kid, so now I want a divorce, but I really need to get another person to screw me just to shove it in his face.' Oh, how tempting it was!
But instead, she wrote and e-mail to her lawyer saying that she did indeed want a divorce with Kenshin. She felt like she was obligated to do it, and that life would just be horrible otherwise. Of course, life would be close to horrible from now on, especially for Kenji. Kaoru looked over at him, and he seemed even worse. He was pale and shaking violently. "Kenji," She gasped, pressing her palm to his forehead, and withdrawing from the heated touch. "You're burning up! You need to get into your PJs now and brush your teeth so you can go to bed."
He obeyed, sliding down from the bed but stopping after he stood. He did not move, but he did swagger unsteadily a little. Kaoru's eyes grew harsh. Why wouldn't he listen? "Kenji!" She scolded him.
"Mama. . ." He uttered pathetically before a cascade of vomit flew from his mouth and pitter-pattered onto the wooden floor like sinister rain. Kaoru watched in horror as the bile heaved from her son, whose fingers were knitted together over his stomach. He finished and stared unhappily at the mess before him and down his chin and shirt, reeking of stomach fluids and filled with chunks of God-knows -what. With a squawk of frustration, Kaoru stood, and pointed at the mess.
"KENJI!" She screeched. Just as things started looking good, Kenji burst onto the scene and literally puked all over it.
"I'm sorry, Mommy. I didn't mean to." His violet eyes averted their gaze onto the bathroom door, and he made another sick sound.
"Go in the toilet if you need to do it again!" She pushed him towards the door, stepping disgusted over the puddles on the floor. His pace quickened as he was shoved into the cramped bathroom, where he threw-up in the toilet again. Kaoru grasped the tacky-yellow motel towels from the railing by her head and threw it over the contents of her son's stomach. She covered her hand in another towel, scooped up the pile, and heaved it into the waste basket. Using the last towel, she wiped up the remains and tossed that away as well. She pushed the stray hairs from her face back to join her other billions of strands of hair. Tears of frustration threatened her eyes, when Kenji emerged from the bathroom, a slide of thick vomit running down to the middle of his shirt. He looked helplessly up at her, his eyes wide in fear.
"I want Daddy." He murmured. Tears welded up in his amethyst eyes and began to slick don the sides of his cheek, a tint of redness already returning to them. "I want Daddy!" He repeated, louder with tears flowing along his face. Kaoru's tears misted her face as she stared desperately at him, not knowing what to say or do. Finally, she slunk down to her knees and brought her hands to her face, hiding it from the world. Covering her pain.
"I want Daddy, too, Kenji." She moaned thickly through her fingers as she wept. "I want Daddy too."
*****
Kenshin felt like he was a lions' den, coated in blood and hunks of meat. As if he weren't already in enough trouble in being a man, he was a man who had had sex with this woman, and was walking into her older brother's house. I'm not going to live through this, his terror-struck mind had concluded. I'm not going to survive to see another day. Of course, inside he knew he was exaggerating, but even deeper, there was a part that wasn't sure.
"Aoshi, we're home." Misao opened the door and left it ajar for Kenshin to walk through. He closed the door behind him, and leaned against it for support, not sure whether to get up and walk, or turn around and run. Misao disappeared from view, turning around a hall. The house was large, and pretty nice. It was well decorated and in a good part of town. Kenshin had noticed the neatly-kept lawn out front, but hadn't given it much thought until now. He was nervous about what to do until Misao's head bobbed back into his sight and said "You can sit down, if you want." She was gone behind the wall again, and Kenshin removed his coat, sat on the navy blue couch, and set it on his lap.
Out of the east hall, a dark figure loomed. Kenshin stared, paralyzed in fear. This new stare was like and icy dagger to his mind, making him shiver. A pair of emerald, yet amber tinted eyes emerged with a strong, muscular frame. A few wild strands of charcoal hair drifted in front of the nerve-rattling gaze, but by no means softened it. His mouth was a thin line of disappointment, and his whole being seemed to be judging Kenshin's paralyzed form.
After this moment of horror had passed, Kenshin could actually breathe, and realize this must be Misao's brother. He was clad in a green, furry and warm looking robe and blue slippers. The lenses gleamed in the lamp light within his black reading spectacles, and a thick book was held in his right hand. He removed the glasses, unleashing the true fury of his stare. Kenshin could not remember being so afraid for his well being.
"So," He began in a low, gruff, and dangerous voice. "You are the rest of the 'we' my baby sister announced. How do you know her?" His statement and question were rushed together by his articulate speech, making Kenshin sit in astonished fear, and allowing Kenshin to feel quite stupid. Kenshin cleared his throat.
"Um, she is a. . . well, we met today, and then we, um, met again in the street, and, um. . ."
"He needed a ride, but I couldn't give him one. I invited to spend the night." Misao interrupted, barely saving Kenshin's pitiful stutter of a sentence. Aoshi gave a small grunt, which seemed out of character for this man who had such intelligence. His slammed the book down upon the nearby coffee table.
"I suspect you wan a room to sleep in. You may use the guest room." He glanced up from the table, and within the next moment, this dark-haired man had Kenshin pinned by his neck against the wall. Kenshin was a strong man, but he felt helpless under this behemoth of unexpected strength upon him. "But if I hear so much as a footstep or any other clue leading to you wanting to visit my little sister in the hours of this night, this will not be the last time you are in this position."
"Aoshi, stop it!" Misao ran up to him, wearing only a small pink bra with matching panties, and clutched his arm. "Stop it! You're going to kill him!" She tugged on his arm, barely even budging him.
"I don't care." He spoke in a voice not quite a whisper, but not exactly a normal volume of speaking. For a second, his grip tightened, and Kenshin's eye closed with the strain upon his lungs. Then, a flood of relief washed over him as the hand slowly unwrapped around his throat, and he fell to the ground. Kenshin reached for his throat, praying it was not a crushed lump of flesh, and began a coughing fit. Misao ran to him, wrapping her gentle arms around his shoulders, tear coming to her eyes. She glared through them at her brother, who was turning away to enter the reading room.
"Aoshi, you bastard!" She screeched, but he didn't even flinch. Her eyes grew soft as she looked upon Kenshin, his coughs slowing. "I'm so sorry; he only does this when a guy comes over. I'm sorry, I didn't think he'd hurt you. I'm sorry. . ." She patted his mane of fire, soothing him and stroking his back. Kenshin's throat burned as if. . .
::As if the fires of Hades burns in my skin::
Where had he heard that before? Where had he felt this much pain?
::Fifteen minutes!::
Where was this coming from? His eye clouded with black, as Misao's pale face faded into darkness.
::Kenshin!::
He knew that voice. . . So familiar, yet so far. . .
::Kenshin!::
And then there had been tears. Tears falling from her face and matting her hair, which blended into that dark sky. He could only see them because of the fireflies.
And that was their last embrace.
::Kenshin!::
Fireflies. . .
Kenshin fell unconscious, tears falling from his indigo eyes.
*****
She really did miss him.
Kaoru had just realized how much she longed for him. She lay in the musty bed, struggling to keep herself and Kenji warm with the thin comforter. After her breakdown, she could think of nothing else to do but sleep. It was almost midnight when she stopped crying and regained herself, and Kenji was tottering on the edge of sleep and awake. She popped him into bed, and announced that there would be nothing but sleep tonight. It was funny how Kaoru found it hard to follow her own commands. It was nearly two o' clock now, and she was nowhere near sleep. She had laid there for almost two hours, thinking that she would fall into consciousness sooner or later, but the later side had got a hold of her. She remembered how, if she had not changed the sheets that night, she would be in her beautiful bed of roses, next to Kenshin's warm and loving frame. She had felt the care slipping from him, but the love had never truly gone.
It had been a fairy tale wedding, almost too good to be true. Kenshin stood at the alter, blushing shyly in his traditional black wedding kimono as Kaoru approached him slowly, a bouquet of sakuras, nadeshikos, and more in her quivering hand. She had been filled to the brim with nervousness, but confidence had overwhelmed it. She had wanted this for so long, and knew that she would never be happy again without this. As her mother stood weeping in pride beside her, Kaoru and Kenshin exchanged their vows, and the split second before their lips locked the promise, Kenshin had whispered, "I love you." And nothing meant more. That night, he had taken her for the first time, and through her tears, he whispered that death was a myth and time was a lie, and there was nothing real except for them, and love. She had believed him. She believed him with every fiber of her being.
Now, she shivered in the cold, her back facing the life she and Kenshin had made that night. She cupped her breasts in her hands, imagining it was his warm touch caressing her gently. Her hand drifted below her flat tummy, and she felt the curly hair of her womanhood. She wanted him, more than anything. Kenji's breath, still smelling of vomit, drifted over to her, filling her with intoxicated sorrow.
"Kenshin. . ." She murmured, her eyes filling with tears again. "Kenshin. . ."
*****
When Kenshin finally regained consciousness, he was in another well- dressed room, with a familiar, Japanese theme. He sat up, uncomfortable with the sudden surroundings. It's not that they weren't nice, on the contrary, but Kenshin didn't like to be in one place one second, and in a totally different area the next. A hand stopped his sitting motion, and pushed him back down. After noticing someone had put pajamas on him, he looked up and saw Aoshi.
"Oh my G-" Kenshin started to cringe, but before he could finish his sentence, a spoon popped into his mouth, filling it with a warm delicious liquid. He raised an eyebrow. Aoshi sighed.
"Just be quiet and eat. My little sister would never forgive me if I just left you there, so she ordered me to nurse you." He let out the faintest hint of a smile. "Ironic, eh? The little sister is controlling the elder brother for once."
Kenshin swallowed, allowing the soup into his stomach. He fingered the clothing around his chest, and a new, almost frightened inquisitive looked graced his face. Aoshi almost blushed. "My sister undressed you. She said she already 'knew' you."
"Right." Kenshin sank into the pillow, feeling weak. Aoshi refilled the spoon and stuck it back into his mouth, averting his gaze.
"I am very aware of my sister's occupation, but you must understand my standing on it." Kenshin could only nod; he was an only child. "So, when she brings people like you here, it angers me. It disgusts me to realize that the world is like this. I saw your wedding ring." He paused, and looked at him. "That's why you're here isn't it?"
"Yes," Kenshin nodded again, almost ashamed. Almost.
"I mean no offence, but I don't think you deserve her."
"I did, a few years ago."
"But that was a few years ago. This is now." Aoshi refilled the spoon again, but did not bring it to Kenshin's lips. "I once read a book. It said 'Be sure to live this moment, for this moment is your life.' And I figured out that that is all life is: a series of moments. Once it passes, it's gone. It will never, ever come back and there is nothing you can do to stop it. Right now, that second, is gone forever. I try to fill my mind with knowledge, my body with strength, my heart with compassion, and my memory with light. That is how I plan to live these moments, and as long as I have that, I am some-what happy."
Kenshin blinked. "You are very wise." He concluded with a smile.
"Am I? Am I really? There is a fine line on what we humans divide as wise and insane, but perhaps they are just different ways of understanding. Notice how when a wise man speaks calmly, he is a genies, but when a 'crazy' man screams it, he must need medication. It is quite. . . confusing, I guess. My theory is that if I fail my ways of living, as I spoke of before, I am crazy and just a rambling idiot. But if I do live my life fully, I will know myself as wise."
Aoshi paused again, his eye half-closed and glowing with some kind of starry magic. He placed the bowl on the night stand and stood. "I don't think you need me to feed you anymore. Try and finish the soup, but please get to bed soon. It is rather late." He turned to leave, but let his eyes to freeze his spine once more. "Despite our friendly conversation, everything I have said to you is still in affect. If I hear you with my baby sister, I most likely will kill you." With that, he turned his head, and left.
Kenshin sat frozen, and gazed into the steamy mixture next to him. He saw a brown, almost chunky reflection of him, and almost found it disturbing. It was if he was staring into the gatherings of the universe. It was so real and frightening, Kenshin could eat no more that night. He slept a dreamless, yet bothering sleep, with Aoshi's philosophies ringing in his head the entire night.
*****
Tomoko-chan: Aharrrr, me hardies! It be me, completing another baffling and confusing chapter of Incubus. Now, kiddies, let me remind you, NO FLAMES! You don't want to look like a ninny, as little miss Peach demonstrated, now would you? Of course not! Damn, I'm a busy little girl. School work, three fanfics, friends, and even my beloved Perro-chan! Too much work! Need. . . help. . . writing. . . stories! I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO FROM HERE! Please assist! Ouch, I have an ear infection. . . -_-
*****
"Ungh, Mommy, this place smells like tinkle!"
Kaoru would have loved more than anything to agree, but this was as cheap as they got, and she would hate for an extra charge for rudeness. The manager just looked surely enough to do such a thing. She just tried to sooth him; he must have been exhausted. "Shh, Kenji."
"But Mommy," Kenji tried to protest, his hand wrapped around his nose in disgust. Kaoru patted his head, showing sympathy in her eyes.
"Be still."
"Okay." The manager resumed conversation. "It's twenty-five for the night, five bucks for anything else. You know, cable, breakfast, laundry. It all costs mucho dinero, you know."
"That will be fine," Kaoru fished through her purse, gasping from the stench. Retrieving a twenty and a five, she shoved the fistful of money into the manager's hands. "Here."
The manager walked away, a blank, unsettling expression on his face. Kaoru nearly slammed the door behind him, glad his sideburn-adorned face was out of her presence. Kenji was shivering in the corner, his hands still clamped over his face. Kaoru smiled calmly, hoping to smooth his features. "It's not so bad, Kenji. It's just for one-AAH!" As she bounced an over- night bag on the bed, a hiss and a blurred image of a cat fleeing from under the bed caught her by surprised. With a pathetic meow, the cat was gone out of the hole in the screen of the window. Kaoru could only pray nothing else was living under her bed.
"Alright," Kaoru looked about the shabby, filthy room she wouldn't look at under any other circumstance. "Since it's Friday, you can stay up a bit, Kenji." She opened her suitcase and grasped her black laptop, hoping to find another apartment by one. She glanced at her watch. It was about ten-thirty.
"I want to go to bed when you go to bed." Kenji protested, sounding a little weak. He was shaking, she noticed, and concern over took her being. She placed the lap top back upon the small mound of clothing and walked a few steps closer to him.
"That may be a while, Kenji. I would like it if you went to bed after two shows." She had glanced to the rusty-looking T.V. on one of the tables by the bed. "How about you watch some more Pokemon?"
He shook his head in agreement softly. "But I still want to sleep with you."
"We'll see." Kaoru pulled a blanket from the bed and wrapped it around Kenji's tiny, quivering frame. "Just sit for now. You look so sleepy, honey."
"No, not sleepy." He mumbled his eyelids half closed. "Just cold."
With a worried stare, Kaoru's eyes drifted from her shaking son to the run-down television. She pushed the power button, and praise Kami-sama! It started up, fuzzy, black and white blobs taking with static in their accents. Turning the dial, it jumped from channel to channel until she rested on the sight of Ash and Picachu, smiling their huge toothless anime grins. Kaoru sighed in relief, glad that they got this station because Kenji wouldn't fall asleep any other way. She walked from the creaky table, shooing the paint chips from around her feet, and picked up her laptop. She sat upon the bed, the springs moaning like a tired old woman, typing furiously upon the poor machine. Searching on the internet, she went to her home page, finding a few meaningless e-mails, but nothing more. Kaoru clicked back to the welcome page, which listed all of the possible options available on the site. She moved her cursor upon the 'Home' link, but her eyes flashed at the sight of the personals link. This temptation was quickly banished, but not entirely.
She gave up after twenty minutes, on that webpage anyway. One thousand a month for a one-bedroom apartment was just ludicrous. She could only pray in thanks within her mind to who ever created 'cheapapartments.com'. Quickly, she found a nearby apartment complex with a two-bedroom apartment ready for lease. She checked the hours, and realized she had five minutes before the office closed. She had her cell phone to her ear in record time, and she was soon connected to the manager.
"Hello?" A wheezy, tired voice croaked.
"Um, hi." She laughed bluntly. "My name is Kaoru Himura, and I was wondering if you still have that two-bedroom apartment for lease."
"Oh, yea. Are you interested in buying?" His voice suddenly brightened after the word 'lease'.
"Yes I am! I'm very interested. Does that mean it's still open?"
"Uh-huh. No one has even called about this apartment until you. You can come check it out tomorrow if you want. Our address is. . ."
"That won't be necessary." Kaoru interrupted. "I have the address, I am almost positive that I will be leasing. I was actually thinking in moving in tomorrow. The lease is five-hundred a month?"
"Oh, well, yes." The tone jumped in surprise. "Are you sure you don't want to check it out?"
"Yes, the web-site had pictures of what it looks like. We will be here tomorrow, and we will have all of our belongings, so if you have any hobos living in the apartment, please kick them out." She chuckled nervously. But no response came. A stunned silence stretched before them until a muffled cough emanated from the manager was heard. Kaoru decided to end this quickly.
"Well, see you tomorrow. Thank-you."
"Thank-you, ma'am." And with that, a click signifying the end of their connection was heard. Kaoru flipped the bottom of the cell phone up, and packed it away. She clicked 'back' on her laptop, and she was back to the homepage. That was easier than planned, she thought checking her watch and noticing it was just before eleven. The personals link seemed to glow brightly among all of the other links on the page, and Kaoru wanted more than ever to click on that link and type 'Hi, my husband was screwing someone on the side while I bought for everything and took care of our kid, so now I want a divorce, but I really need to get another person to screw me just to shove it in his face.' Oh, how tempting it was!
But instead, she wrote and e-mail to her lawyer saying that she did indeed want a divorce with Kenshin. She felt like she was obligated to do it, and that life would just be horrible otherwise. Of course, life would be close to horrible from now on, especially for Kenji. Kaoru looked over at him, and he seemed even worse. He was pale and shaking violently. "Kenji," She gasped, pressing her palm to his forehead, and withdrawing from the heated touch. "You're burning up! You need to get into your PJs now and brush your teeth so you can go to bed."
He obeyed, sliding down from the bed but stopping after he stood. He did not move, but he did swagger unsteadily a little. Kaoru's eyes grew harsh. Why wouldn't he listen? "Kenji!" She scolded him.
"Mama. . ." He uttered pathetically before a cascade of vomit flew from his mouth and pitter-pattered onto the wooden floor like sinister rain. Kaoru watched in horror as the bile heaved from her son, whose fingers were knitted together over his stomach. He finished and stared unhappily at the mess before him and down his chin and shirt, reeking of stomach fluids and filled with chunks of God-knows -what. With a squawk of frustration, Kaoru stood, and pointed at the mess.
"KENJI!" She screeched. Just as things started looking good, Kenji burst onto the scene and literally puked all over it.
"I'm sorry, Mommy. I didn't mean to." His violet eyes averted their gaze onto the bathroom door, and he made another sick sound.
"Go in the toilet if you need to do it again!" She pushed him towards the door, stepping disgusted over the puddles on the floor. His pace quickened as he was shoved into the cramped bathroom, where he threw-up in the toilet again. Kaoru grasped the tacky-yellow motel towels from the railing by her head and threw it over the contents of her son's stomach. She covered her hand in another towel, scooped up the pile, and heaved it into the waste basket. Using the last towel, she wiped up the remains and tossed that away as well. She pushed the stray hairs from her face back to join her other billions of strands of hair. Tears of frustration threatened her eyes, when Kenji emerged from the bathroom, a slide of thick vomit running down to the middle of his shirt. He looked helplessly up at her, his eyes wide in fear.
"I want Daddy." He murmured. Tears welded up in his amethyst eyes and began to slick don the sides of his cheek, a tint of redness already returning to them. "I want Daddy!" He repeated, louder with tears flowing along his face. Kaoru's tears misted her face as she stared desperately at him, not knowing what to say or do. Finally, she slunk down to her knees and brought her hands to her face, hiding it from the world. Covering her pain.
"I want Daddy, too, Kenji." She moaned thickly through her fingers as she wept. "I want Daddy too."
*****
Kenshin felt like he was a lions' den, coated in blood and hunks of meat. As if he weren't already in enough trouble in being a man, he was a man who had had sex with this woman, and was walking into her older brother's house. I'm not going to live through this, his terror-struck mind had concluded. I'm not going to survive to see another day. Of course, inside he knew he was exaggerating, but even deeper, there was a part that wasn't sure.
"Aoshi, we're home." Misao opened the door and left it ajar for Kenshin to walk through. He closed the door behind him, and leaned against it for support, not sure whether to get up and walk, or turn around and run. Misao disappeared from view, turning around a hall. The house was large, and pretty nice. It was well decorated and in a good part of town. Kenshin had noticed the neatly-kept lawn out front, but hadn't given it much thought until now. He was nervous about what to do until Misao's head bobbed back into his sight and said "You can sit down, if you want." She was gone behind the wall again, and Kenshin removed his coat, sat on the navy blue couch, and set it on his lap.
Out of the east hall, a dark figure loomed. Kenshin stared, paralyzed in fear. This new stare was like and icy dagger to his mind, making him shiver. A pair of emerald, yet amber tinted eyes emerged with a strong, muscular frame. A few wild strands of charcoal hair drifted in front of the nerve-rattling gaze, but by no means softened it. His mouth was a thin line of disappointment, and his whole being seemed to be judging Kenshin's paralyzed form.
After this moment of horror had passed, Kenshin could actually breathe, and realize this must be Misao's brother. He was clad in a green, furry and warm looking robe and blue slippers. The lenses gleamed in the lamp light within his black reading spectacles, and a thick book was held in his right hand. He removed the glasses, unleashing the true fury of his stare. Kenshin could not remember being so afraid for his well being.
"So," He began in a low, gruff, and dangerous voice. "You are the rest of the 'we' my baby sister announced. How do you know her?" His statement and question were rushed together by his articulate speech, making Kenshin sit in astonished fear, and allowing Kenshin to feel quite stupid. Kenshin cleared his throat.
"Um, she is a. . . well, we met today, and then we, um, met again in the street, and, um. . ."
"He needed a ride, but I couldn't give him one. I invited to spend the night." Misao interrupted, barely saving Kenshin's pitiful stutter of a sentence. Aoshi gave a small grunt, which seemed out of character for this man who had such intelligence. His slammed the book down upon the nearby coffee table.
"I suspect you wan a room to sleep in. You may use the guest room." He glanced up from the table, and within the next moment, this dark-haired man had Kenshin pinned by his neck against the wall. Kenshin was a strong man, but he felt helpless under this behemoth of unexpected strength upon him. "But if I hear so much as a footstep or any other clue leading to you wanting to visit my little sister in the hours of this night, this will not be the last time you are in this position."
"Aoshi, stop it!" Misao ran up to him, wearing only a small pink bra with matching panties, and clutched his arm. "Stop it! You're going to kill him!" She tugged on his arm, barely even budging him.
"I don't care." He spoke in a voice not quite a whisper, but not exactly a normal volume of speaking. For a second, his grip tightened, and Kenshin's eye closed with the strain upon his lungs. Then, a flood of relief washed over him as the hand slowly unwrapped around his throat, and he fell to the ground. Kenshin reached for his throat, praying it was not a crushed lump of flesh, and began a coughing fit. Misao ran to him, wrapping her gentle arms around his shoulders, tear coming to her eyes. She glared through them at her brother, who was turning away to enter the reading room.
"Aoshi, you bastard!" She screeched, but he didn't even flinch. Her eyes grew soft as she looked upon Kenshin, his coughs slowing. "I'm so sorry; he only does this when a guy comes over. I'm sorry, I didn't think he'd hurt you. I'm sorry. . ." She patted his mane of fire, soothing him and stroking his back. Kenshin's throat burned as if. . .
::As if the fires of Hades burns in my skin::
Where had he heard that before? Where had he felt this much pain?
::Fifteen minutes!::
Where was this coming from? His eye clouded with black, as Misao's pale face faded into darkness.
::Kenshin!::
He knew that voice. . . So familiar, yet so far. . .
::Kenshin!::
And then there had been tears. Tears falling from her face and matting her hair, which blended into that dark sky. He could only see them because of the fireflies.
And that was their last embrace.
::Kenshin!::
Fireflies. . .
Kenshin fell unconscious, tears falling from his indigo eyes.
*****
She really did miss him.
Kaoru had just realized how much she longed for him. She lay in the musty bed, struggling to keep herself and Kenji warm with the thin comforter. After her breakdown, she could think of nothing else to do but sleep. It was almost midnight when she stopped crying and regained herself, and Kenji was tottering on the edge of sleep and awake. She popped him into bed, and announced that there would be nothing but sleep tonight. It was funny how Kaoru found it hard to follow her own commands. It was nearly two o' clock now, and she was nowhere near sleep. She had laid there for almost two hours, thinking that she would fall into consciousness sooner or later, but the later side had got a hold of her. She remembered how, if she had not changed the sheets that night, she would be in her beautiful bed of roses, next to Kenshin's warm and loving frame. She had felt the care slipping from him, but the love had never truly gone.
It had been a fairy tale wedding, almost too good to be true. Kenshin stood at the alter, blushing shyly in his traditional black wedding kimono as Kaoru approached him slowly, a bouquet of sakuras, nadeshikos, and more in her quivering hand. She had been filled to the brim with nervousness, but confidence had overwhelmed it. She had wanted this for so long, and knew that she would never be happy again without this. As her mother stood weeping in pride beside her, Kaoru and Kenshin exchanged their vows, and the split second before their lips locked the promise, Kenshin had whispered, "I love you." And nothing meant more. That night, he had taken her for the first time, and through her tears, he whispered that death was a myth and time was a lie, and there was nothing real except for them, and love. She had believed him. She believed him with every fiber of her being.
Now, she shivered in the cold, her back facing the life she and Kenshin had made that night. She cupped her breasts in her hands, imagining it was his warm touch caressing her gently. Her hand drifted below her flat tummy, and she felt the curly hair of her womanhood. She wanted him, more than anything. Kenji's breath, still smelling of vomit, drifted over to her, filling her with intoxicated sorrow.
"Kenshin. . ." She murmured, her eyes filling with tears again. "Kenshin. . ."
*****
When Kenshin finally regained consciousness, he was in another well- dressed room, with a familiar, Japanese theme. He sat up, uncomfortable with the sudden surroundings. It's not that they weren't nice, on the contrary, but Kenshin didn't like to be in one place one second, and in a totally different area the next. A hand stopped his sitting motion, and pushed him back down. After noticing someone had put pajamas on him, he looked up and saw Aoshi.
"Oh my G-" Kenshin started to cringe, but before he could finish his sentence, a spoon popped into his mouth, filling it with a warm delicious liquid. He raised an eyebrow. Aoshi sighed.
"Just be quiet and eat. My little sister would never forgive me if I just left you there, so she ordered me to nurse you." He let out the faintest hint of a smile. "Ironic, eh? The little sister is controlling the elder brother for once."
Kenshin swallowed, allowing the soup into his stomach. He fingered the clothing around his chest, and a new, almost frightened inquisitive looked graced his face. Aoshi almost blushed. "My sister undressed you. She said she already 'knew' you."
"Right." Kenshin sank into the pillow, feeling weak. Aoshi refilled the spoon and stuck it back into his mouth, averting his gaze.
"I am very aware of my sister's occupation, but you must understand my standing on it." Kenshin could only nod; he was an only child. "So, when she brings people like you here, it angers me. It disgusts me to realize that the world is like this. I saw your wedding ring." He paused, and looked at him. "That's why you're here isn't it?"
"Yes," Kenshin nodded again, almost ashamed. Almost.
"I mean no offence, but I don't think you deserve her."
"I did, a few years ago."
"But that was a few years ago. This is now." Aoshi refilled the spoon again, but did not bring it to Kenshin's lips. "I once read a book. It said 'Be sure to live this moment, for this moment is your life.' And I figured out that that is all life is: a series of moments. Once it passes, it's gone. It will never, ever come back and there is nothing you can do to stop it. Right now, that second, is gone forever. I try to fill my mind with knowledge, my body with strength, my heart with compassion, and my memory with light. That is how I plan to live these moments, and as long as I have that, I am some-what happy."
Kenshin blinked. "You are very wise." He concluded with a smile.
"Am I? Am I really? There is a fine line on what we humans divide as wise and insane, but perhaps they are just different ways of understanding. Notice how when a wise man speaks calmly, he is a genies, but when a 'crazy' man screams it, he must need medication. It is quite. . . confusing, I guess. My theory is that if I fail my ways of living, as I spoke of before, I am crazy and just a rambling idiot. But if I do live my life fully, I will know myself as wise."
Aoshi paused again, his eye half-closed and glowing with some kind of starry magic. He placed the bowl on the night stand and stood. "I don't think you need me to feed you anymore. Try and finish the soup, but please get to bed soon. It is rather late." He turned to leave, but let his eyes to freeze his spine once more. "Despite our friendly conversation, everything I have said to you is still in affect. If I hear you with my baby sister, I most likely will kill you." With that, he turned his head, and left.
Kenshin sat frozen, and gazed into the steamy mixture next to him. He saw a brown, almost chunky reflection of him, and almost found it disturbing. It was if he was staring into the gatherings of the universe. It was so real and frightening, Kenshin could eat no more that night. He slept a dreamless, yet bothering sleep, with Aoshi's philosophies ringing in his head the entire night.
*****
Tomoko-chan: Aharrrr, me hardies! It be me, completing another baffling and confusing chapter of Incubus. Now, kiddies, let me remind you, NO FLAMES! You don't want to look like a ninny, as little miss Peach demonstrated, now would you? Of course not! Damn, I'm a busy little girl. School work, three fanfics, friends, and even my beloved Perro-chan! Too much work! Need. . . help. . . writing. . . stories! I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO FROM HERE! Please assist! Ouch, I have an ear infection. . . -_-