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The Tale of A Proper Marriage : Chapter 10
by white seraph
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Kaoru was basically confined in her little room. Not that it was claustrophobic, in fact, it was quite nice, with a small table, a small shelve of books, and a nice big window that looked over half the city. But the fact that it was her only place of refuge, the only place she had absolutely no chance in seeing him, made her rather sick of it.
Ever since the first night here, Kaoru had been avoiding a certain young lad. Having had her utterly humiliated in front of his parents, and weather he had done it intentionally or not, Kaoru was definitely not going to have anything to do with that malicious, evil prick. No, not in this world.
However, despite her subtle protests, Lady Himura did not seem to understand Kaoru's reluctance, and had always tried to lure Kaoru out of her little room with that sweet, eloquently effusive voice of hers that Kaoru found hard to say no to.
And this, is one of the times when Kaoru wished the hostess would just leave her alone.
"Kaoru dear, I was just wondering if you could just come out for a moment, I want to have a word with you." She saw the lady's shadow grow darker and she approached the papered door.
Quickly the Kaoru tried to think quick, "I… I uh…" She pretended to choke and cough. "I'm not feeling very well", hoping she would let her off.
"It's alright, may I come in?"
"I..um" Kaoru didn't want to act all cautious and unwelcoming. "Yes, sure." She finally said, as she climbed down from the window sill and opened the door for her.
"What is it that you would like to speak too me of?" Kaoru asked as she poured tea for her. Over the past few days she had learnt through the hard way, to drop the effusive manner.
"I'm going off to Edo tomorrow morning with Kenshin's father, my nephew, Soujirou's mother just died, and he has to come to stay for a while until his father returns from business." She took the cup of tea and sipped from it.
Upon hearing of the good news, Kaoru's eyes glittered with hope and joy. "Really?! Does that mean I will have to go home now?!"
Lady Himura put her cup down, and flapped her hand "Oh, no, of course not! You can stay here during my leave. I'll just be gone for a couple of days."
"but..but" Kaoru sputtered, trying to protest
"No buts now. It's getting cold in here, you should come out, it's much warmer in the dining room." She cut in, not allowing Kaoru to say what she thought she would have. "Now come dear, we don't want to send you back home all pale and ill do we?"
Kaoru quickly pretended to cough, knowing whenever the lady asked her to come out, kenshin would always be there. "I'm sure I'd be fine if I have some rest here." She reassured the older lady by closing the bambooed cover that framed the view; blocking the wind.
"Alright then" Lady Himura seemed satisfied. "Make sure you don't over sleep like yesterday, and attend to dinner tonight alright? We're having some guests." She patted Kaoru on the shoulder motherly and left.
Damn, and Kaoru thought she could get away with the same excuse as yesterdays tonight! Oversleeping is the best, non offensive, non conspiring, innocent excuse. And the Lady had seen it through…or had she? But whatever the Lady thought, it meant she had to find a new plan to extricate herself from spending a whole evening with the stupid idiot.
Should she hide and pretend she lost her way? Kaoru bit her lip as she recalled herself doing that the second day of her arrival. It was a complete disaster. Not only was she found behind the bushes, she was also found by him. He was the one who burst her bubbles. As the memories unrolled in her mind, she fumed with anger. That jerk had to be momma's boy and hand her in! But besides from that, Kaoru had not spoken to him since her arrival.
Despite the silence between them, Kaoru had taken the hint that he did not like her stay anymore than she did. Little did she know that he was only equally reluctant in facing her not because he hated her…well alright that was one of the reasons, but in truth, he was rather embarrassed and regretful upon his actions a few nights ago. And of course, his parent's berate did not make him any better.
Kenshin had very vaguely remembered how he got drunk, how he got his gi the other way round, how his hair got all messy when he came back. The only distinctive memory embossed in his mind was attraction of a strong lavender smell and falling unconscious in his fiancé's arm. How could he have done such a thing? Fall like a weakling in that wench's arms! What would she think? Kenshin didn't even try to think what she would have thought.
* * * * * *
Kaoru had watched the sun set behind the hills, her hope sank as the excuses she had in stock one by one were eliminated for one reason on another. Sighing, she officially announced to herself that there was no way in getting herself out of tonight's dinner, but to hope it would end as soon as possible.
There was a knock on her door.
"Who is it?" Kaoru asked, though she already knew it was Lady Himura. No one else ever knocked like her: three soft knocks, very feminine and lady like, just like the well mannered gentlewoman she is.
True to her assumptions, it was indeed her. "It's just me, dear. Dinner is to be served soon, would you like to come out and say hello to a few of our acquaintances?"
Though she asked as if Kaoru didn't have to, it was expected that she would say yes, and she knew how impolite and rude it was to decline the offer without a reason. So Kaoru slid the door open "Alright." She told Lady Himura, before closing the door shut and letting herself be lead.
Indeed the diner was more crowded that usual, with the presence of a few more people, mostly at the age of her parents, except for a certain girl with dark brown hair, who looked only a little younger than herself, but already acted like she was as old and authoritive as the Lady Himura. Kaoru simply assumed that she was the daughter of one of the couples.
It wasn't as intimidating as Kaoru had initially thought, she had barely noticed Kenshin's presence at the far corner of the room with Lady Himura busy introducing her as "my-future-daughter-in-law" to her friends.
"Oooh what an adorable girl!" One would say
"Oooh, so you're a Kamiya, I know your mother!" another would add
But then the conversation would turn into a subject Kaoru would not like to talk about, and wished she could just get herself away from them.
"If my daughter was a bit older I'd have wanted to ask your son to marry her!" Another woman would tell Lady Himura, as if Kaoru wasn't standing right there listening to them talk. "Oh, you've not met my daughter yet, have you?" The woman asked, not once turning to Kaoru.
Lady Himura smiled, not noticing any of the tension arousing between Kaoru and the woman. "No, but I'd love to."
"Michiko!" The woman called across the room. Kaoru swung her head around to see who she was calling, but was met by the sight of the girl she had noticed earlier, chatting away with her fiancé.
He gave Kaoru a quick glance, making sure he had her full attention, before resuming back to the conversation with this girl whose name he already forgot. He had to win back the status and good image he lost the other night. He wanted her jealousy, wanted her sadness, wanted her anger, wanted her attention. That was the sole reason why he had himself engaged in a conversation with this girl. Not that he had shown any particular interest toward her, it was just that she was only one around.
"I'm so sorry, Kenshin-san. My mother is calling me. I'll talk to you later." The brunette very politely ended the conversation. But inside, she was silently fuming at her mother for tearing her away from her conversation with this man. Though she knew he was engaged, and would be a married man soon, she simply couldn't resist the temptation to have a good flirt with him.
"I'll be waiting" He replied flirtatiously, before kissing her hand. [I dunno if that's an orthodox tradition in japan. Oh crap who cares haha] Kenshin gave a quick glance to Kaoru's direction, and couldn't help but smirk triumphantly, as he locked his eyes onto hers, thinking he had successfully made her jealous.
However, little did he know how wrong he was. Kaoru couldn't care any less. She had long ago accepted the fact that she was to marry this man who was an arrogant, self centered playboy, and this was the reason why she so resented him and the marriage. The scene just played in front of her was just another example that proved her right, and the only feelings she felt was resentment and self pity. If only she had been able to get herself out of this mess, then she wouldn't have to spend the rest of her life with this jerk.
Kaoru watched as the girl pulled her hand away and approached her….well, her and Lady Himura. So she was the daughter of this snobbish lady, no wonder they acted so alike. Kaoru silently thought to herself.
"Oh! So you're Michiko, what an adorable girl!" Kaoru heard Lady HImura say effusively knowing it was a superficial statement she said to any girl she met. "I'm sure you'd be well acquainted with Kaoru by the end of the evening, since both of you are about the same age." She turned to Kaoru as if waiting for her approval, but quickly turned back to the woman. "Well lets just let the two off from our boring old gossips." She told, totally understanding Kaoru's boredom and frustration.
Soon after the two women had left, the Michiko girl's sweet smiling face turned cold and icy, as if she had transformed into another person.
"I'm telling you, don't you think you can win him just by a stupid arranged marriage his parents force him into." She hissed just loud enough for Kaoru to hear. "He told me himself, he thinks you're an ugly, stupid wench, and he likes me a lot more than YOU" The girl was smart enough to whirl off back to Kenshin before Kaoru could bite her head off.
Kaoru sighed, not bothering to chase across the room for her. The words had stung terribly. Not only was he bad mouthing about her in front of some girl he hardly knew, he also compared her with the girl, and concluded that the girl he had met in less than one evening was better than her? This finally gave her a fuller, grimmer picture of her standing in his mind.
She hadn't expected herself to be hated so immensely by anyone, not to mention that this person was the person she was to spend the rest of her life with. Suddenly, Kaoru felt rather vulnerable. However it had not occurred to her once that the michiko's words were not even half true, nor did it occur to her that even if it were true, that Kenshin was perhaps lying.
But whatever it was, Kaoru's anger immediately died away once dinner was served and people slowly sorted themselves and sat into their seats.
It was indeed a lavish meal, not that the food served here was bad, but today, the food was just better, and Kaoru was no way going to let herself down by those silly comments made of her. No not in a lifetime. Food was first, anything else came second.
* * * * * *
The sunlight spilled across the room, wakening Kaoru slowly. Snuggling into the blankets she let herself indulge into five more minutes sleep, whilst she tried to think of the things she had to do today, though she doubted there were any of much importance anyway. Suddenly, she popped up at the thought of Lady Himura. If she was leaving with her husband today to Edo, then that meant….
Wahoo! Kaoru jumped out of bed with joy and enthusiasm.
After a week of confinement, she had gotten quick sick of this new place, and had longed to see something new. And as if it were a hobby tattooed to her, rebel was still the first thing she thought of at the absence of her parents..or in this case, her parents in law.
Kaoru quickly dressed herself up and got a water basin to cleanse up, preparing for a day out. Happy and excited, the girl skipped out of her room and down the wooden porch, and went straight to the main gates. Having only stayed for less than a week, it was quite an achievement for Kaoru to learn all the places in this estate, especially when she spent half her time confined in the her guest room.
"Where are you going?!" A voice demanded from behind.
Kaoru sighed with annoyance as her brain told her who the voice belonged to. "Are you blind? I'm doing what you see I'm doing" She said in a haughty, snobbish voice, deliberately used to get rid of him.
Kenshin gritted his teeth, trying to suppress the anger rising within. How dare the girl mock him like that? He'll show her who's got the power under the roof. "I see you trying to go out." He replied trying to save his pride. "But I know it won't happen" Then he smiled evilly "Because I strictly forbid you to step out of this premises."
Kaoru only rolled her eyes skeptically. "Whatever", she replied with her back turned and started to head for the entrance.
"Kaitou" Kenshin called, referring to one of the men who stood guarding the main entrance. "Make sure the girl does not leave the premises without my direct permission." He called loud enough for both Kaoru and the other guard to hear. He really didn't know why he'd suddenly do such a thing, but in a way, he wanted to prove to the girl that he was superior here, and that for whatever reason she would have to live her life the way he wants her to and that's that.
But Kaoru only snorted, and attempted to walk through. Suddenly and quite unexpectedly, an arm extended horizontally, blocking her way. "I'm sorry Miss, but you heard what our master said." She dropped her jaw in disbelief, and turned back in astonishment to see a triumphantly grinning Kenshin.
