Torn

Chapter Four: Another Chance Meeting

He watched how the blood rushed to her cheeks, coloring her face with a tint of rose. The depths of her sapphire eyes were as bright as ever from underneath her bangs. The orange and yellow of the streetlights illuminated the raven strands of her hair and her smooth skin.

Seeing how she was at a loss for words, Enishi was the first to speak. "Are you all right, Miss Kamiya?"

His suave voice brought her back from her daze. "I'm..." The realization struck her a few seconds later. "...how do you know my name?"

He chuckled. "I happen to read the newspaper."

Her cheeks reddened. How much longer was that fateful night at the Akabeko going to haunt her?

"I suppose you're going to tell me how unladylike I was?" She said, a slight edge to her voice. "Or how I shouldn't have been so violent?"

A slight smirk on his attractive face, Enishi shook his head. "No. I came here to apologize."

He enjoyed the sight of her eyes widening in surprise and her soft lips parting soundlessly.

"For what?"

"For the actions of my former employee."

Kaoru stepped back, dumbstruck. Her knees felt like they were going to give out from underneath her and cause her to fall on her face in front of this enigmatic stranger.

"...former...employee?"

It took all his willpower to keep himself from laughing at how comical the college girl's reactions were. "Yes. That man whose jaw you broke used to work for my company."

Kaoru felt her throat go dry as the words of the white-haired man sank into her.

"I'm Yukishiro Enishi," he stated, his voice embodying the pride of the confident person that he was. "President and CEO of the Yukishiro Corporation."

* * * *
Kaoru felt like the whole world was crashing down on her. She knew that the customer worked for some sort of business because of his suit, but she had no idea which one he worked for, the reason being that she didn't care at that particular moment.

But now...Kaoru would've never imagined meeting the boss of the drunken customer whom she had mercilessly smacked.

Taking another look at the man before her, Kaoru noted how young he appeared to be. She thought that only stout, balding men ran massive conglomerates. This Yukishiro Enishi looked like he was in his early twenties. And in addition to that, she noticed that his snow-white hair wasn't falling out of place, and that he had a lean, well-built figure underneath that long, black trench coat of his.

To put it simply, he was very handsome.

Quickly gathering her senses, Kaoru cleared her throat. "It's nice to meet you, Yukishiro-sama. I'm Kamiya Kaoru."

She bowed, her bangs spilling over her sapphire eyes as she did.

Another low chuckle rumbled through his chest. "It's very hard to believe that a young lady as frail as you could have it in you to strike a grown man down."

She stiffened at the comment. "Excuse me, but I'm not exactly 'frail'."

His turquoise eyes laughed at how defensive she was being. She obviously had a lot of spirit underneath that seemingly sweet appearance of hers. "Forgive me. I didn't mean to offend you."

Her shoulders slumped and she sighed heavily. Kaoru suddenly felt guilty at how snippy she was acting. It had been her first day of work, and even though she denied it to Sano and Yahiko, she was going through a bit of stress from college. She still had an assignment or two she had to complete when she got home. "No, I'm sorry for acting so rude. I'm just very tired—"

A small grumble from her stomach cut her off, and her cheeks immediately turned rosier.

However, Enishi was more amused than disgusted. "And hungry, apparently."

A sheepish smile graced her lovely features. "All the more reason to get home, I guess."

She bowed again, suddenly making Enishi feel uneasy.

"Sorry to go so soon, but I have to head home," she hastily explained, the thought of a warm bath and a comfortable bed appealing greatly to her. "Have a good night."

She walked briskly away, but as soon as she went past the white- haired man, a strong hand shot out and grabbed onto her small wrist and she was forced to stop.

She looked at him questioningly, but he ignored her. Instead, Enishi felt the pace of his heart quickening with each passing second. For some reason, watching her leave in such a hurry sent a shiver of panic down his spine.

He finally had this chance to meet her up close. He didn't have to watch her from afar at the schoolyard he passed or look at the picture of her that he had cut from the newspaper.

She was living and breathing right in front of him, ensnared by his own hand. And he didn't want her to leave. At least not yet.

"Don't go," he said, the harshness of his words shocking him.

She continued to gape at him, but she said nothing. Too surprised to do much of anything, Kaoru remained where she was.

Catching himself, Enishi reluctantly released her wrist. "It's just that I would like to treat you to dinner. It's the least I can do to make up for my former employee's brutish actions."

A blush darkened her ivory cheeks. It wasn't everyday that a handsome stranger offered to take her out to dinner. In fact, Kaoru couldn't recall a time that she was offered a free meal by anyone of the opposite sex. Sano's reputation among other reasons kept her anti-social when it came to dating in high school.

"No, I can't let you do that," she hastily replied. "What happened at my old job wasn't your fault to begin with. So you—"

"I insist," he interjected. "What he did was disgraceful, to himself and to my company."

Kaoru smiled awkwardly and put her hands up in protest. "I'm not going to blame your company because of one man's actions—"

"But it's unforgivable that he did not even apologize for what he did to you," Enishi persisted. "Please Miss Kamiya, let me buy dinner for you."

Feeling like this man wasn't likely to take 'no' for an answer, Kaoru did her best to politely resist. "I'm sorry, but my brother and my cousin are waiting for me to get home," she explained, the image of an exhausted Sano keeping a nerve-wracked Yahiko from running into the city to search for her, with his bokken in hand, appeared in her mind.

"You mean the boy you were trying to drag out of your car last week?"

Kaoru was stunned after hearing those words. Her shock had kept her standing in front of that man, who obviously knew a lot more than he was letting on.

"...how do you know about that?" she questioned, not comfortable with the possibility that she might have been stalked.

The corners of his mouth lifted into a mysterious smile. "It's a secret."

There was nothing sinister about the way that his voice sounded, but Kaoru was irritated by how enigmatic he was being.

"You can't expect me to go home after giving me an answer like that," she said, half-pouting.

He grinned. "Then I guess you have no choice but to go to dinner with me, now do you?"

She sighed in response. Although she knew that she was defeated, Kaoru wasn't angry or afraid of the man. If anything, her curiosity was encouraging her to go with him.

It was hard to explain, but her instinct was telling her to trust him.

"Fine, you win. But I need to get to a payphone to call home—"

As if on cue, Enishi produced a cell phone from the inner pocket of his coat. Kaoru graciously took it from him and began dialing.

* * * *

Sano looked disapprovingly at his cousin. Mounds of rice and stir- fried vegetables were still present on the table. Usually, Yahiko would've wolfed down nearly half of the meal before him. But for some reason tonight, Sano could tell that he didn't have much of an appetite.

"What's wrong?" He finally spoke. "You're hardly eating anything."

"I'm not hungry." Was the sullen reply. Yahiko looked to the clock that was positioned on the wall that the refrigerator leaned against, and it was then that Sano knew what was troubling the boy.

"You shouldn't worry about her," the older Kamiya assured him. "She's probably just running late."

Yahiko suddenly came alive with concern. "I still think we should call that Shinomori guy that she works for."

Sano chewed on a cooked piece of broccoli. "Why?"

"Why else, Rooster-head? To check on Kaoru!"

"She called us at six like she told you she would, didn't she?"

Yahiko crossed his arms, but nodded.

"Then she'll come home soon," Sano concluded, gathering more vegetables with his chopsticks. "So stop worrying so damn much and eat."

The boy silently agreed and began to consume his meal. They both ate wordlessly, the munching of rice and vegetables the only sound that was heard. Usually, the room would be filled with the angry yells of Kaoru as she argued with either Sano or Yahiko. But on some nights, the dinner would be filled with her laughter while she listened to Sano telling her a joke. She would smile happily as Yahiko would tell her the latest events at his school or his progress on the baseball team. Whether she had a bad day or a good day, what mattered to her family was that she was always there. With this new job of hers, she had to work everyday of the week except Sunday, which meant that Kaoru would be spending less time at home.

Being a child and inexperienced in the subject of financial matters, a part of Yahiko didn't understand why Kaoru had to work so much. He kind of wished that she still worked at the Akabeko because Tae was kind enough to allow Kaoru to take two or three days off from work. Now that she was a secretary for a psychologist, Yahiko wasn't sure if her new boss would let her take a day other than Sunday off.

The sudden ringing of the phone interrupted the silence of their dinner. Yahiko nearly sprang onto his feet to reach it from the wall that it hung from, but Sano was closer.

"Hello?" he casually greeted, his younger cousin right next to him, straining to hear a response.

"Sano?"

"Hey, Jou-chan," he said, ignoring Yahiko who was tugging incessantly at the sleeve of his shirt.

"Ask her where she is!" he hissed.

"Did you guys eat?"

"Yeah, we're in the middle of dinner—"

"Ask her, damn it!!!"

"Calm down, brat!" Sano shouted at him. "Where are you now?" He finally asked to appease the boy.

"I'm outside Dr. Shinomori's office. I'm calling to let you know that I'm coming home later tonight."

He cocked an eyebrow. "Why?"

"I decided to get something to eat while I'm here. All I've had to eat since lunch was candy."

"What is she saying?" Yahiko demanded to know, pulling on the man's sleeve again. "C'mon, tell me!"

"Will you quit it?" An irritated Sano snapped. "Hey Jou-chan, before the brat drives me crazy, talk to him."

He shoved the phone to Yahiko who eagerly pressed it against his ear. "Kaoru?"

"Hi, Yahiko," she greeted, but her cheerful voice did little to pacify him.

"Why aren't you home, busu?!" he shouted into the phone. "You said that you would be here by now!"

"Settle down! I'm just going to get something to eat."

His hand gripped tighter on the phone. "We could save you some dinner, y'know."

"It's okay. I want you guys to eat as much as you want."

"Are you more stupid than I thought you were?" his voice escalating to a yell. "You're in the city, and in case you haven't noticed, it's dark! It isn't safe—"

"Yahiko, don't worry about me." Kaoru attempted to soothe her cousin. "I'll be fine."

The boy began to say something, but his thoughts came out in stammers.

"I'll be fine." She asserted once more.

Yahiko's shoulders slumped. After living for so long with Kaoru, he knew that once her mind was made up that it was impossible to argue with her. It was a battle that he had yet to win.

"Did you do your homework?" She asked.

"...not all of it..." The boy confessed.

An aggravated sigh came from the receiver. "Finish it before 9:30, got it? And then it's straight to bed. I'm not going to be happy if I see Sano and you staying up and watching horror movies again."

"Yeah, yeah. Don't you do anything else but nag?" Yahiko retorted, giving up his efforts to make Kaoru come home.

"I wouldn't have to if you listened to me more!"

Before Yahiko could say anything else, Sano snatched the phone from his hands. A heated argument between his little sister and their cousin would only pile up the phone bill.

* * * *

It had only been a fifteen-minute drive, and Enishi was even more confounded by Kaoru than he had been when she first spoke. Normally because of his position as the wealthy president of an international corporation, it was only common for him to expect women in his company to want to dine in a classy and utterly expensive restaurant. The women that he had been with in the past wanted candlelit dinners and luxurious tables decorated with fresh-cut flowers. They only wanted to eat the finest cuisine and drink the most aged, and coincidentally the priciest, brand name wines that was in the restaurant's stock.

Kaoru was as sure as hell different than the others.

He eyed the establishment curiously, taking note of the small, yet decent, sized building with windows overlooking the city streets. He had seen the cracks that began to form at one side of the building, and the faded paint was beginning to peel slightly.

"...you actually want to eat in there?" he asked the girl next to him, feeling that he shouldn't have allowed her to choose where they would eat.

She nodded, smiling. "Yep! It's been a while since I've eaten here. Plus, you said that you would treat me to dinner at any place that I wanted to go to."

"I didn't expect you to choose somewhere as...unrefined as this, for lack of a better word."

Kaoru rolled her eyes. "Hey, you said that I could choose, so I choose this place!" She began to walk across, but to Enishi's surprise, she stopped in the middle of the street.

"Well?" she asked him. "Aren't you coming with me?"

As much as he didn't want to, Enishi went to her side and they both crossed the street together. If he kept her waiting, it would be most likely that she would've been killed by a speeding car if her starvation didn't get to her first.

They entered the building, and Kaoru felt a small happiness swelling inside of her once the scent of warm food filled her nostrils. A woman in her mid-thirties immediately greeted them as the door closed behind them.

"How many in your party?"

Enishi thought the answer was obvious, but Kaoru politely answered, "Two, please."

The woman led them to a booth that was further down away from the entrance. Enishi took a seat across from his raven-haired companion. After she notified them of the daily specials and took down their orders for drinks, the waitress left the pair alone.

Kaoru flipped through the pages of her menu enthusiastically. "I wonder if they still have it..."

Enishi watched her in amusement while waiting for his coffee to arrive.

She suppressed a squeal of happiness, but a joyous smile beamed on her lips. "They do!" With that, she closed her menu and faced Enishi once again.

"Aren't you going to look at the menu? You are planning to eat, right?" Kaoru asked, a trace of worry in her voice.

"Since I've never been here before, I'll just eat whatever you're getting." He rationalized.

His confidence did not entirely comfort her. "Are you sure? What I like might be completely different than what you like."

He grinned at her genuine concern for him. "It's fine."

Within another minute their drinks arrived, and Kaoru ordered for the both of them. The waitress then disappeared into the kitchen, and the college girl began to sip her glass of soda from her straw.

She observed Enishi drinking his coffee without the addition of sugar and cream, and she made a disgusted face. He caught this and his attention was focused on her once again.

"What?"

"Aren't you going to put any sugar into that?"

He drank more from his mug. "No, I prefer it black."

Kaoru stuck out her tongue in distaste. "How can you drink that stuff?"

Intrigued by her brazenness, Enishi set the mug down onto the table. He didn't say answer, watching her drain the soda through her plastic straw.

"My brother takes his coffee strong, too," she continued. "It drives me crazy, how he can stand to like something that tastes so bitter..."

The thought of Sano instantly made something in her mind click. Immediately remembering that this stranger knew about the incident with Yahiko last week in addition to her name, she became intent on getting some information.

Enishi noticed the serious expression on her face and the sudden quietness of her manners. "What is it?"

"Well, here we are," she said matter-of-factly like she was one of his business clients. "I agreed to go to dinner with you. Now that we're waiting for it, do you mind giving me some answers?"

He knew what she was implying and thought that it would only be fair to tell her. "What would you like to know?"

"For starters, you can tell me how you knew about my cousin." she stated, ignoring her soda.

He thought that the slight trace of paranoia in her voice was somewhat humorous. Enishi could already tell that Kaoru was a person who cared deeply about her family. "It's simple, really. I had to get to work and was unable to go the route that I normally did because of some construction. I decided to drive another way, which happened to take me past a schoolyard. While I was waiting at the traffic light, I heard someone screaming."

Kaoru's cheeks flushed at his last sentence, suddenly recalling that she was indeed screaming herself hoarse while she attempted to get Yahiko out of the car. At the time, she didn't realize all the attention she was attracting. Getting Yahiko to school was more important than worrying about how she appeared in the eyes of the public.

"Naturally, I looked. And there you were, looking as if you were going to murder the boy in your car."

Her lips were set in a straight line. "I wasn't going to MURDER him."

Enishi scoffed. "You could've fooled me by the way you were destroying your car window."

"I had no choice!" She protested exasperatedly, earning another sneer from Enishi. "Yahiko could be such a brat! Sometimes he can be so stubborn that he won't listen to anyone!"

The ice in her soda began to melt slowly as Enishi allowed her to vent. He pushed his empty mug aside and listened to the raging college girl.

"He can be so...impossible!" she finally finished.

Silence answered her and Kaoru immediately remembered where she was. Her eyes then looked to Enishi, whose chin was propped on his palm, the smirk still present on his face.

"Done yet?"

She suddenly looked down. "Sorry," she mumbled, "I didn't mean to rant like that."

"It seems like you rather dislike your cousin," he remarked.

The anger drained out of her at the comment. Her lips lifted into a small smile and she shook her head, stray strands of raven hair slipping past her shoulder. "No, it's not that I dislike him. It's just that...I wish he wasn't so argumentative at times."

Her fingers unconsciously brushed back her bangs. "He can get so angry over little things, and he never thinks before he acts."

Enishi listened intently, absorbed by the serenity that just seemed to glow from her.

"He's always doing mean things, too, like pulling pranks on me or calling me 'busu'. But I think that that's his way of hiding his feelings. I think that he would rather die than tell me what's going on inside that thick head of his."

She then concentrated on Enishi, a lighthearted smile playing on rosy lips. "You were a little boy once yourself. What do you think?"

His back stiffened at the question and his chin left the palm of his hand. "I was different."

"In what sense?" she asked naively, unaware of the pain that the simple question stirred within him.

He ran a hand through his platinum white hair. He wanted to avoid the question, but there was something about this girl that made him want to give her an answer. He took a moment to study her as she waited patiently for him to answer.

It was uncharacteristic of Enishi to look directly into women's faces. On the rare occasion that he did, he would only see lust and greed present in their eyes. Words would purr from their lips, painted with crimson, as they would attempt to seduce him, and the potent fumes of their perfume would dizzy him.

But she wasn't like that. When he looked into her eyes, he could only see innocence in the blue depths, something that he thought he would never see again. Her face was not tainted with rouge or lipstick, and the scent of heady perfume was nonexistent. She was simple, but Enishi had to admit that she was lovely.

And more surprisingly, what she wanted from him wasn't money or precious jewelry like so many women had wanted. All she wanted was an answer.

"I wasn't one to play tricks on others," he finally admitted. "I was quiet and kept to myself. I didn't socialize with other children or anyone else for that matter. In fact, the only person I could ever talk to was..."

He trailed off abruptly, the uneasy silence returning. Sadness gripped his heart upon remembering a pair of mahogany eyes and a pale, beautiful face framed with long, black hair. His heart ached at the memory of the warm, understanding smile that always lifted his spirits, even when he was wallowing in misery.

"...my sister." He ended. The poise in his voice was gone as nostalgia got the better of him.

She stared at him, concern spread across her features. Kaoru had sensed the dramatic change in his behavior. One moment he was smirking and teasing her, the next he was staring off into space with his hands lying limply on the surface of the table. The confident businessman that had insisted that he treated to dinner seemed to be gone. In his place was a quiet man who was engulfed with a deep sorrow that she couldn't even try to explain.

It was all very sad. And that was enough for Kaoru to feel sympathy for him.

"Here you are," the waitress interrupted the heavy silence and placed two large bowls in front of each of them. Thick slices of beef were covered in simmering stew and rice. Normally, Kaoru would've began consuming the warm meal and be done with it in a few minutes. However, her appetite was the least of her problems.

Her eyes stayed on him even after the waitress left. Even though she didn't know him very well, Kaoru knew that something was seriously bothering him. She couldn't read minds, but she could read people. The sudden change in the way he acted and the distant look in his turquoise eyes was all the proof she needed.

Enishi was in pain, and knowing that saddened her.

"...Enishi?"

She thought that he didn't hear her because she failed to get an answer from him. More worried than she was before, her hand left her side and gently placed itself on top of his.

Enishi's thoughts were broken by the simple touch. The softness of her flesh kissing his hand had excited every nerve in his body. But at the same time, a sense of tranquility was settling within him. The warmth of her skin was comforting, and he didn't want it to leave him.

"Are you all right?" she asked him, her genuine concern for him dampening the vivacity of her voice.

Snapping out of his stupor, Enishi collected himself. "Yes."

One look at her confirmed that she didn't believe him. Kaoru was worried about him, and knowing that made him feel better.

It was as if she cared for him.

"So, is this as good as you make it out to be?" He asked referring to the stew, steering the conversation elsewhere.

She knew he was changing the subject, but she didn't say anything. If Enishi wanted to talk about something else, she wasn't going to object. Even if she was still concerned, she didn't want to say anything else that would hurt him.

"You're just going to have to taste it," she said, grinning.

Enishi silently thanked her for dropping the topic, and they both began eating.

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

Whew, that was really hard. I tried writing this chapter without making it ultra-sappy and making sure the characters were in check.

Anyway, I'd like to say a few things. First of all, thanks for giving me the criticism guys. I'm sorry for some of the errors, but alas, I am only human. I apologize for any inconveniences you ran into while reading this.

Speaking of which, I'd like to make a correction. I completely forgot that Yahiko would actually be in elementary school rather than middle school according to the Japanese school system. I'll be making that change soon ^_^

Secondly, I want to say that I'm fairly new to the Rurouni Kenshin fanfiction world. Because of that, I can't be aware of ALL the kinds of stories there are, and I can't help it if something in my story is similar to someone else's. There is no such thing as the original fanfiction idea, hence the word "fanfiction". However, I DO NOT take other people's stories and make them my own.

Thirdly, I bet you guys are wondering about Kenshin. Keep reading and you'll find out ^_~ Oh, and I don't intend to have a triangle involving Aoshi. Don't get me wrong, there will be a triangle, but poor Aoshi is going to have to sit out.

Thanks again for your support! I'm glad that there's people who actually enjoy reading my work!