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The Tale of A Proper Marriage : Chapter 12
by white seraph
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"Get out of my room!" Kenshin yelled at the girl who was hugging herself in a ball under the blankets. Never in his life had he had to share his room with anyone, and this girl, by violating this rule angered him, the fact that she was soon to violate free, bachelor life did not make his mood any better. Even if the chances of her listening to his words were that small, Kenshin still, wouldn't let her stay so smoothly.
"Leave me alone!" Kaoru replied with annoyance. After a whole evening of running in and out, moving her things into this new room, she was, by now overly exhausted, and all she wanted was some peace so she could rest, and was that too much to ask? Was it? For some peace and quiet?
"Fine, fine!" He retorted with equal annoyance "But can you at least turn your face around so I can change? I know I'm attractive, and it's hard for you to keep your eyes off me, but please.."
"Oh get over yourself, I wouldn't want my eyes tarnished for life" She pulled a cover over herself, not wanting to listen to any of his arrogant come backs. "Blow the candles out when you're done" She added, her voice smothered under the blanket.
There was no reply, but Kaoru vaguely saw his shadow moving on the other side of the room and then the lights died out… Waiting until she was sure he was asleep, Kaoru poked her head out and gasped for some fresh air, and then, she herself fell asleep before she even knew it. Little did she know that while she drifted into unconsciousness, someone on the other side of the room was boiling with frustration.
Kenshin breathed heavily, as he rolled over again so he faced Kaoru's side of the room. The moonlight shone mercilessly over his face, making it impossible for him to sleep. Curse the girl! If she didn't have to move in to his room, he wouldn't have forced himself to move his futon to the other side, where the windows were.
Finally, Kenshin decided he could take it no more. Jumping out of the soft bed, he pulled the sheets away from the obstinate moonlight, and unfortunately, at the same time, closer to Kaoru; but Kenshin paid little attention to her sleeping figure, and moved his bed until the shadows took over the light and the moon could no longer extend its lights near him.
Laying back into his bed, he was satisfied that the light no longer shone onto him and perhaps he could have a good night's sleep after all. Kenshin adjusted himself and rolled to the other side. Suddenly, his eyes shot wide open and immediately broke away from his sleepy haze as he realized that his bed was practically side by side to Kaoru's now and her face was no more than two feet away. He quickly turned his head to the other side of the room where the light spread across the room, touching the edge of this sheets. So it was either try-to-sleep under the moonlight, or wake-to-Kaoru's-scream. After a brief thought, he finally decided the latter was a better choice.
So snuggling back under his blankets he laid and tried to relax, but he couldn't resist the temptation of staring at her fiancé's face, knowing she would never look back with angry eyes, never move away, never know. For the first time, he truly took his time to examine her appearance, and realized how delicate her features were; the dark arched brows, the thin straight nose and a small, gently oval face that framed it all, she laid there, peacefully like a finely painted porcelain doll. Even without any thick white makeup or red cherry lip coloring; he had to admit, she was a lot nicer to look at than the other women he had acquainted himself with down town.
Reaching out to touch a long strand of her dark ebony hair that splayed across the contrasting sheets of fabric like thin threads of shining black silk, Kenshin let the locks slide out of his grasp. "How can you be the peaceful angel when asleep, but the annoying devil when awake?" He breathed to himself, as his hand, unable to resist it, stroked her smooth cheek. She was so perfect, that Kenshin did wonder what had possessed him to say she was an annoying wench every time he saw her…awake. If only she could remain the peaceful angel for ever…of only he would know that when she wakes up, the devil won't jump back into her again…
Kenshin quickly withdrew his hand away, as if he just touched the hottest object when Kaoru stirred, as a response to his touch. Knowing he'd loose control of himself if he didn't stop now, Kenshin quite wisely, laid back down, turned away from her and forced his thoughts away from his sleeping fiancé.
* * * * * *
True to Kenshin's prophecy, he was indeed woken up by Kaoru's loud screams
....and kicks.
....and blows.
"Ouch! What's your problem?!" He yelled whilst blocking the blows with his forearms, obviously annoyed.
She stopped the hits and allowed herself to regain her posture, but the hard, penetrating stare of hers never left him. "You!" She suddenly yelled "You're my problem! What were you doing near my side of the room?!"
"Geez!
Quit the loud screams that make you like a witch!" He yelled equally loud
You don't own the room, in fact I own this
room! And for your information, I only moved to this side because the stupid
moonlight kept me awake till the latest hours!"
Kaoru bit her lip, and didn't say anything, she knew she had over reacted, and regretted making such a big fuss about it.
Kenshin was about to say more when his mother came in, without knocking the door, "What's with all the yelling?!" she demanded, not at all pleased at the fact that they were already fighting at such an early hour.
The two remained silent.
"Forget it." She rolled her eyes "come on out, and get yourselves ready for breakfast." And with that, she turned and went back to the dining room where Soujirou was waiting. The two were just helpless when put together, and Lady Himura was starting to wonder if it was a wrong decision to arrange a marriage for her son so soon.
But it was pointless to say anything now, she had no power to do what she wanted in this house, no matter how powerful she acted; truth was, without her husband's approval, Lady Himura would not dare to do anything that involved their son.
Soon, everyone turned up, and the girls started serving, but despite the clattering sound of wooden plates and chopsticks, there was stiff tension around and no one talked. Kaoru sat at the farthest corner from her fiancé, though it was only a small table for six, but she couldn't help but move away from the man she so despised. She tried to move, quite clumsily behind Soujirou so she wouldn't even have to see his face.
The quiet lad flinched back as he felt something..or rather, someone, brush again the side of his arm. It was indeed, the queer girl he talked to yesterday again. "What's wrong?" He asked, still having that smile on. He had over heard the argument his cousin had with the girl this morning, and felt rather guilty that his arrival had displaced Kaoru from the guest room, and subsequently forced her to stay in his cousins room, which he empirically understood, that it was a torture to be with Kenshin if he had it openly obvious that he didn't like them.
Kaoru only smiled meekly, not wanting his person she barely knew to think that she was the pickiest, snobbiest girl on the entire earth, that she didn't like the guts of the person's cousin…
So that was breakfast. Thankfully, after that, Lady Himura and Kenshin had to go for some errands to run, and that meant Kaoru didn't have to face the jerk around. The house was suddenly a lot quieter than usual, but to Kaoru's relieve, boredom never got to her, for Soujirou actually stayed and had a nice friendly chat with her. He was in fact, a lot friendly and easy to approach than she had thought, despite the fact that he was always apologizing for displacing her place in the guestroom, though she had rather he didn't not bring the subject up.
And then, suddenly, as if out of the blue, Soujirou suggested that they should have a walk around the streets nearby. "I've been here for two days and I've still not had a good look around the area!" He laughed, as they walked to the gates.
Kaoru glared at the guard who had humiliated her in front of the jerk the other day, "I don't know if these guards would suddenly think that we're not good enough to leave the premise on our own will." She said sarcastically, and loud enough for the people at the gates to hear.
"What do you mean?" Sousjirou asked, not understanding his new friend at all, as he walked past the gates, without getting a word from the men who stood there like stones, proving to her that they could indeed go out.
Kaoru rolled her eyes, ignoring his question, and walked through, deliberately stepping on the guard's foot. "Oh, I'm SO sorry" She turned and said fakely, before running off to catch up with Soujirou. There, her revenge was done. [haha yeah kaoru's such a bitch xD]
"Where do you want to go?" Kaoru said from behind, she didn't have anything on her, besides a piece of handkerchief, so he'd better not tell her that he was planning to go to other towns in Kyoto.
"It doesn't matter where, I guess, just walking around would be fine" he said with a ^^" expression. They walked around the outer walls of the house, and for the first time, Kaoru actually realized how wealthy the Himuras were; not only did they own the whole highland area stretching from the end of the quiet street to the other side, they're land were basically on the peak of the hill and looked all over Kyoto. Just by standing on the side of the wooden rails.. [wait..are rails metal? Crap] that barred them from the side slope of the hill, Kaoru and Soujirou were already able to see a magnificent site; the Heien Temple in the south, stretching to the centre of Kyoto, to the Kamigamo Shrine at the west. [YES I FIRGGIN DID THE RESEARCH SO SHUT IT BITCH! =P]
"It's a beautiful sight isn't it?" Soujirou said, still having his eyes glued to the view, being brought up in Edo, and used to the small shabby fisher-cottages around, these tall temples and big houses were something Soujirou found new and interesting.
And Kaoru found it rather amusing how this lad was so easily impressed by such mundane things as temples. Suddenly, at that thought, she came up with a marvelous idea. "Hey! Since you are so awed by the temples, how about we go visit the Heien Temple in the City centre some time?!"
"You think it's alright for us to go? Shouldn't we ask Aunt Himura first?" Soujirou was excited about Kaoru's idea but he was still not over with the fact that he was a burden to the family, and could not possibly do such things without the permission of their host.
"Oh, don't you worry! I'm sure Lady Himura would be nice enough to let us go! We should go during the weekends, it's the only time when the temples aren't' creepily deserted." She pulled away from the sidewalk and made her way to the meandering road where there was barely anyone, excepted for some private carriages parked at the side.
Seeing his companion's leave, Soujirou followed her. "Where are you going?"
"Oh, it was just getting a bit cold up there, with the wind" She replied with a smile.
Soujirou rolled his eyes. "You could have told me!" He said while taking his jacket off and put it on Kaoru's shoulder, despite the fact that it was oversized and unfitting.
"I think we should go back now" She told him, and put the jacket on properly. This guy was so much nicer than Kenshin, so much more caring, so much more understanding. She sighed inwardly. If only he was the man she had to marry…if only… Why did fortune always have to be so cruel to her?!?!
"Ka..Kaoru? Are you alright?" Soujirou asked with concern, as he watched the girl's expression change from anxiety, to yearn and then to anger.
"Oh..Oh yes, I'm fine!" She laughed, trying to portray a cheerful happy face. She was about to say more when suddenly, a carriage flew right past them, causing Kaoru to loose her balance. But thankfully, Soujirou was there to catch hold of her, saving her from another humiliation.
Before Kaoru could even regain her posture and thank her friend, she spotted Lady Himura stepping out of the carriage that had just run past them, followed by her fiancé.
He saw them.
And at the sight of his cousin, holding on to Kaoru's arm, and Kaoru herself wearing his jacket, Kenshin suddenly felt as if his heart clenched uncontrollably, against his will. Taking deep breaths, he tried to calm himself down. It's only the stupid wench, not some elegant beauty. He told himself. Yet as if glued to the sight, he found it hard to tear his eyes away from the two's intimacy.
"What's the matter, Kenshin? His mother asked, as she followed her son's gaze, and answered her own question. "Oh, it's Soujirou and Kaoru!" She said stupidly, stating the obvious. "What are you two doing out here?" No wonder his mind seemed to be elsewhere when she had called him several times before, Lady Himura thought. He's jealous. She found it hard to suppress a smile at that thought.
"We were just walking around the area, Soujirou wanted to look around the place." Kaoru explained to the older woman, and never once did she look to Kenshin's direction. She didn't feel the need to give him her attention.
"Oh, well lets get back in, you don't know how hot it can get after noon up here." Lady Himura told them, as she starting making her way back into the house, expecting the rest to follow.
Kaoru didn't really want to go back to her …well it's now both her and Kenshin's room, and she didn't want to even be anywhere near his presence. But there really wasn't a choice when Lady Himura presented her with two beautiful hair ornaments, put in elegant wooden boxes. Kaoru had to go back to their room and put with the rest of her possessions that she could take back when, she hoped, she could finally leave.
The first thing she heard, even before she had slid the door half open was Kenshin's loud harsh voice, lamenting her for her "actions".
"What the hell do you think you're doing? I don't care if you flirt with any beggar or prince, in fact, I don't think anyone would care. But at least have the decency to keep it between you two. What's the first thing I see when I come back? You two chatting like love birds on the street? What will people think when they see you two?! That I, Himura Kenshin couldn't even keep his fiancé in? Where will my reputation be?!" He could have went on and on chastising her for publicly flirting with his cousin when it didn't even occur to him that they were not flirting at all, or that the whole street just outside of the estate was practically owned by his family anyway.
But, despite his fiery, Kaoru was very calm and cold to it. "Well, it's not 'people think you couldn't even keep me', it's just "You can't keep me". She replied when Kenshin paused to catch his breath, knowing if she didn't take her chance to say what she wanted, he could have gone on and on for hours. Kaoru didn't mind if he accused her or flirting or not. It just allowed her to know how stupid and ignorant he really was, and even if she did try to defend herself, by experience, she knew he'd never believe her, and will just try to bend her every word to hit his own premise.
However, all that was filtered away in Kaoru's mind, and Kenshin knew nothing that was going on in her mind. In fact, he wondered why she didn't defend herself of the accusation…did that mean it was true? That she was really flirting with his cousin? [sorry I cab't find a better word than flirt just for now]. Her reply had shocked him, not only did it make him feel powerless and inferior, thre was also this foreign feeling, this sense of anxiety, but not really anxiety… "You can't keep me"
Kaoru, at his silent response, sighed and reminded herself of her sole purpose here. Moving past her fiancé without even looking at him in the eye, she went to the small cupboard at the corner most of her things were, and gently, placed the two boxes on the neatly folded kimonos, and went back out.
"You can't keep me"
MWAHAHA I'm so evil!
NEXT TIME! Kenshin thought he didn't like Soujirou and his fiancé flirting out doors because it threatened his reputation. But when their friendship continues to grow in the little guest room, the same feeling comes back…and what will he do? What evil little plans lie ahead? :D
A/N Sorry dudes and dudettes, I will not be uploading new chapters for the next week, because I'm rereading, and revising the story to try and improve it :D
Oohh and I'm working on this picture..not really a fanart, but yeah :D check it out if you want :P and do give some advices on improvement if you see it :D
http:// www . Geocities . com/issa_babee/coloursmall. JPG
