Disclaimer: I do not own the Rurouni Kenshin series or any of its creations. However, I do own Mina, Chanelle, Kenka and Toya. ^-^x
Code Catfight – Chapter 8 – By Cherry Chibi
'Dealing with Situations'
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Kenshin. Battousai. Kenshin. Battousai.
Kenshin paced in his office room of the warehouse. He tried to figure out a way to tell or at least get Kaoru to understand how he felt but for a guy who was always confident, it seemed hopeless.
The Battousai side of him told him to just get her to a secluded place and 'talk' to her. Unusually, that side of him was also feeling extremely unstable.
Kenshin wanted to help her through her unspoken pain.
Battousai wanted to stop her pain.
'I'm going to go insane!!!'
* * * *
Kaoru skipped through the halls. She had said goodbye to her gang as they all left to get to their destinations all around Japan. It was a good thing that she came from a rich family.
She left the building. 'Sleepy heads, its 10 o'clock and everyone is still asleep.' She shrugged the thought off and walked towards her motorbike that was parked near the trees, near the area where she fought last night. Strangely, someone had cleaned the area up.
Kaoru hopped on her motorbike and strapped on her helmet.
"Where do you think you're going?"
Kaoru turned to see Sanosuke standing behind her with his arms crossed. "To go to an appointment."
"The boys and I are coming." Sanosuke said.
Kaoru gave a nervous laugh. "I don't think so."
"And why not?" Sanosuke glared at her. "If you're hogging all the fun then…"
"No, no, no, you see, I'm going to have a chat with Black Hearts and Oniwabanshuu." Kaoru said. She started her motorbike, "I've organised a meeting with them this morning and they're going to be waiting for me. And no, there's gonna be no violence" Kaoru added quickly.
Sano balled his hands into tight fists, "you're gonna talk with Oniwabanshuu?!" He looked like he was going to curse every word he knew.
"Not to worry, I'll be back by afternoon and if you stop bugging me now, I'll also bring take-away." Kaoru said. She took as a yes when Sanosuke rushed back inside the warehouse. 'He could be really childish at times,' She started to leave when noises of more vehicles started.
"You're not going to leave without protection!!!" Sanosuke shouted.
Kaoru's right eye twitched seeing her older brother, Tsukioka and Yahiko on their motorbikes. She was her hands started to sweat from inside her leather gloves. "You guys don't need to come…"
"I'm not coming with you Ugly! I'm gonna go and find Tsubame, I said that I would come with her since she's going to be leading a group by herself!" Yahiko said. He sped off.
"Yahiko! Wait up!" A group of Dark Blood followed Yahiko.
Kaoru shook her head. A hand was placed on her shoulder. She turned her head. 'What now?' She felt her cheeks burn. 'Good thing I've got my helmet on.' She felt her face deform and turn into a ten shades of red and pink.
Kenshin was standing there, wearing black leather clothing and in his left arm he held his helmet. "Shall I drive?" The coolness of Kenshin's tone aroused suspicion from Sano and Tsukioka but Kaoru didn't realise. She slid off the motorbike and Kenshin got on.
Kenshin turned to Kaoru, "Well, I guess that the four of us should go."
"Jou-chan, if you're not gonna ride your motorbike, you might as well hop on mine," Sano said, he gave a quick warning look at Kenshin while Kaoru was removing her helmet. Kenshin just looked at him innocently.
"Um, may I ask what the hell do you three think you're doing?!" Kaoru questioned with a slight tinge of burning anger. "I'm running late now thanks to you three." She shook her head. "Alright, then this might as well be…" She stopped talking when Kenshin pulled her onto her motorbike and drove. "KENSHIN!"
She pushed on her helmet, strapped it and then grabbed around Kenshin's waist for support. Sano and Tsukioka were driving closely behind. Sano sped up and was soon driving beside them.
"You bastard! What do you think that you're doing? You could've killed her!" Sano cursed at Kenshin.
"She said that she was running late." Kenshin glanced at Sano, "Why should she run any later?"
Sano growled. 'That damn guy is a predator. I'm not going to let Jou-chan be his prey like that…' He caught a glance at Kaoru. She was sitting on the bike correctly. She was on it sideways and unbalanced.
Kaoru gripped on tightly. 'I'm gonna fall if I don't move soon…' She felt the material of Kenshin's jacket slide out of her hands. 'Shit!' She closed her eyes shut as she felt the air rush pass her neck.
"Bastard…" Sano cursed again.
"You'd think that I would let you fall," Kenshin said. Kaoru opened her eyes, she was sitting in front of Kenshin but he was still driving. He sped ahead and soon Sano and Tsukioka were a fair distance behind.
"What do you think you're doing?" Kaoru questioned feeling her insides rot when Kenshin moved one of her hands to the handle and then the other.
"I thought that you wanted to drive before." Kenshin replied slyly. Kaoru didn't retaliate; she didn't want to get into an accident so she concentrated on driving.
Meanwhile, Kenshin leaned back and closed his eyes for a few moments. 'I'm gonna have to deal with Zanza after this…' But he didn't really care, Kaoru wasn't afraid of him. That was the main thing that he wanted to find out.
* * * *
"Here we are," Kaoru entered a hotel-like building with a relaxed look. "So this is the Aoiya." She was greeted by an old man. "Long time I haven't seen you Okina."
"Ah, you've grown a lot." Okina said with a chuckle.
"I didn't know that you had anything to do with the Oniwabanshuu." Kaoru added, "I was supposed to meet Akumu and Okashira today."
"Oh that's right, head straight that way and turn to your left and you should reach a room. They've been waiting for the past ten minutes." Okina said.
"Thank you." Kaoru went ahead. Sanosuke, Tsukioka and Kenshin followed. Kaoru slid open the shouji door and entered the meeting room.
"You've finally arrived," Misao said. "Along with Zanza and Battousai." She frowned. Aoshi was sitting beside her, emitted a rising ki.
"No need to worry, Zanza is my brother and Tsukioka is only tagging along. Battousai is coming along to see this meeting as well since he has a partnership with me." Kaoru said calmly, she took her seat opposite of Aoshi.
"You wanted to discuss about forming an alliance," Aoshi stated.
"Yes. I've given you my offer, what have you decided?" Kaoru questioned.
"You guarantee that no matter what, you'll discharge Misao from the code, then it will be accepted." Aoshi said. "I'll send my men to the chosen destinations."
"Until then, Misao, you'll be alright?" Kaoru asked.
Misao nodded. "And I thank you." She smiled at Kaoru.
Kaoru smiled in return. "Okashira, you have Dark Blood's and Street Fighters' alliance as well." She glanced back questioningly at Sano and Kenshin. They nodded after a pause.
"Who would have ever thought that the three worst enemies would form an alliance on neutral ground?" Tsukioka said with a nervous laugh.
"Does that mean that we could become… friends?" Misao asked Kaoru.
Kaoru laughed. "Of course, maybe we can have a drink at Dragon's Flame. It's safe there." She stood and bid farewell to Aoshi and Misao before leaving.
* * * *
"Who would have thought that we would all form a huge network ourselves?" Sano muttered as he and Kaoru walked along the pathway.
"It's not that hard," Kaoru said quietly.
"Jou-chan, what do you think of Battousai?" Sano asked cautiously.
Kaoru darted a glance at him, "Why you ask?"
"Because." Sano replied. He placed his hands behind his head and flexed his shoulders.
"Because why?" Kaoru asked.
Sano sighed. "I'm just watching my little sister's back. That's all." He tucked
his hands into his pockets. "Let me know when you've got an answer."
Kaoru raised an eyebrow. "Well… I can tell you now if you'd like."
"You would?!" Sano exclaimed a little too quickly. He quickly composed himself. "I mean, I didn't expect you to reply so quickly."
Kaoru smiled. She looked straight ahead. A moment of silence passed, Sano guessed that Kaoru was searching for words to say it out right. "I think… that… Kenshin is a nice guy, when he's not Battousai of course." Kaoru added a small laugh to lighten the seriousness. "Although, I do sometimes wonder why he wants to kill, when I see anger in his eyes, I realise that even I share that reason…" She stopped. 'I kill because I believed that I can protect the happiness of others.'
"What reason would that be Jou-chan?" Sano asked. It was rarely that Kaoru and he would be able to talk like this without any interruptions.
"That doesn't matter. I suppose what I'm trying to say is that; I believe that Kenshin and I are closer friends that others think." Kaoru said, "You know Sano, I think that when this is over, I'm gonna leave to go to some place quieter."
Sano smiled at her. "Why not now?"
"Because Rising Sun is my responsibility and my goal is their goal. I can't leave them until it is over." Kaoru replied. She looked at her watch and frowned. "Rooster-head, you're going to be late, aren't you and the other guys going out for a drink in two minutes?"
"Yikes, see ya Jou-chan!" Sano sprinted the opposite direction.
"Bye!" Kaoru sighed, 'What do I really think of Kenshin? I think that he's an extremely devoted, passionate, kind, caring man who deserves a good person in his life to help him see through all obstacles. That's what I think.' She continued walking. 'Wait, why was it that Rooster-head mentioning his name made me feel… oh no…'
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A/N: Another chapter completed! ^-^x Thanks for the reviews! You guys rule! See ya next week!
~ Cherry Chibi