Across the Hallway
A/N: Major WAFF. Major Drama. A little comedy. Not my usual style, but we got to get serious somewhere... no lemon yet, sorry... I believe there should be more gentlemen who WAIT in this world... ;D
Don't forget to R&R! :)
PS. I don't have any material yet for the next chapters, any suggestions will be greatly appreciated. Rated for adult thoughts and topics. A little swearing.
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Chapter 10
Revealing Secrets
Kenshin held Kaoru's stare for a long time. Then he began his story. "I have already told you that I was a Secret Service Agent, right?"
Kaoru nodded. She could sense something important, a feeling like Kenshin was about to jump off a 500 foot cliff. Now was not the time to break the mood.
"And I had already told you the incident where I had met Sano. What I didn't tell you is that he introduced me to Tomoe, my ex-wife."
Kaoru's blue eyes widened in shock. HE HAD A WIFE?!!!
Kenshin went on, knowing if he stopped he could never get the whole story out. "They were friends from college, and supposedly, she was an interior designer. What she really was didn't come out until after 2 years after we were married. Thank God, we didn't have any children, I don't know what I would have done if we did. What I found out was something terrible."
Kaoru suddenly noticed that Kenshin had unconsciously taken one of her hands in between his and was gently stroking it. She was comforted by the gesture, so even though she didn't want to listen anymore, she did. It was important.
"At the time we were married, I was in charge of the Personal Security Force of one of the US Senators. What his name was isn't relevant, ne?" Kenshin arched his eyebrow in a question. Client confidentiality was still his ingrained in his system.
Kaoru couldn't do anything but nod and inch closer to him on the bench, their teas forgotten.
"I referred her to do redecorate his house in the Hamptons, because I was proud of her designs and I knew it could be a huge stepping stone for her to have a prestigious client. I pushed for her… what happened after… it was a disaster… she wasn't a designer at all… she was CIA… she was profiling my boss because he was a traitor…selling defense secrets to Cuba and China… and I was the dumbass that got picked as the entry point." Kenshin said bitterly. It was Kaoru now who was stroking his hand. Her eyes were already glistening with tears.
"You know, you don't have to continue if it's too hard for you… I don't really care anymore…The past is not important…I can feel your pain." Kaoru wanted to just hug him and tell him over and over that it was alright, his ex wife a bloodless bitch who deserved to be given the lethal injection.
"I have to… some nights it gets so bad I want to howl with it all…" Kenshin needed to get it out of his system.
"Okay. If that's what you want. I'll just listen." Kaoru nodded in sympathy. This man needs to be loved…
"What she did not count on was falling for me. Three days before the shit hit the fan, pardon my French, she broke down and told me everything. How she manipulated Sano into setting us up, how she really set me up to fall for her, what my boss was, who SHE was, what was going to happen three days from then… I couldn't believe her. I wrecked half our home in my anger. I wouldn't, couldn't accept it. I called her a liar, crazy, God know what else.. She packed up and left after seeing that I was beyond reasoning. She was always the lady. Even her packing up was dignified. You remember when you saw my eyes change? Intense emotion turns it into amber. It was pure gold that day…"
Long red bangs hid his eyes from hers now. He was afraid of what Kaoru would see in them. He knew he should stop, but something in him just kept on rolling, like a wave that grows in intensity before it breaks on the shore. He stared at their intertwined hands instead. How did our hands end up…
"On the day itself, there was a raid. In loyalty to the one who was paying my bills, and because I had already thought of him as a friend, I had warned him a few hours before all hell broke lose. He grew crazy then. He fired me on the spot, but had no time to change the access codes of the system I had put up before CIA agents stormed all over his house. He was able to hold Tomoe hostage with a gun that I gave him for extra protection and used her as a bargaining tool. However, she was able to get away before he could do anything more than get close to the front door. I ran to her, everybody ran like headless chickens all over the place. There was chaos… My boss killed himself in front of our eyes by setting off a bomb that was strapped to him. My scar was the casualty of pieces of glass flying from a window that hit my face when I protected her from the blast. It healed in that form. I never wanted it to be covered; it reminds me of how stupid I had once been thinking that I had a handle on everything and that the world was my oyster." He sighed. "We parted ways after that and she ended up marrying one of the other agents. I quit the Secret Service and started up with Sano our little office. As for Tomoe, I even went to her wedding. We remain until now, distant friends. I think she moved back to Virginia to be near the Pentagon." He paused. "So now… would you still think of me the same way? I'm tarnished goods, Kaoru-dono. I am nothing but a Sessha. I will understand if you don't want to be in my company anymore." He raised uncertain eyes to her face, hoping for… he didn't know what he was hoping for. What he saw left him surprised, to say the least.
This man had been through so much… how can one not help but fall… Kaoru was looking at Kenshin with tears streaking her face, more of them ready to fall. "Ken…shin…no…baka… Wha-at do yo-u think ah-I am?! Sha—ah—low?!" She said in between sobs. "That has got to be the saddest thing I've ever heard! How could you think that I would look at you less for what you did?!" She whacked him on the head and started crying in earnest.
"Oro?!" How could she not look at me differently? Did I do something really good to deserve a miracle like her? How can one not help but fall… You not only got my heart, I'm beginning to think that you're an angel sent just for me even if I don't deserve one…
Battousai was decidedly silent on this one, he couldn't help but notice.
Kenshin smiled lopsidedly and gathered Kaoru in his arms, trying to comfort her. "Maa, maa, I didn't mean to make you cry for me… As you said, the past is not important… and besides, what would Yahiko think, seeing that I made his favorite sensei cry?" Kaoru laughed in the middle of crying on his shirt and ended up in a hiccupping fit instead.
"Some date this is, I made a beautiful girl cry…" Kenshin said, smiling gently, when Kaoru finally had composed herself from hicupping. Her face was cupped in Kenshin's hands… his thumbs slowly wiping away the few tears left behind. Her sadness immediately transformed into awareness of HIM. She suddenly found herself wondering what it would feel like to kiss him…
Kenshin's thumbs stopped moving, but his hands did not leave her face. Kaoru saw the color of his eyes turn into some deep shade, not knowing that hers had transformed into a deeper hue as well. Golden lines suddenly radiated from the purple… Their faces were drawing nearer to each other as if pulled by some magnet… He could see every detail of her still-soaked lashes… Their lips met…
Fireworks.
Both pulled away after the longest time, as if partners in a dance. Both were breathing raggedly, with identical looks of wonder.
Oh wow, I don't think I've ever experienced something like that before!!! I must find a way to have some more… Kaoru's mind was still running a mile a minute. She didn't even realize that THAT kind of chemistry even existed!
Battousai just kept on laughing. Do we have great taste in women or what?! I mean, Tomoe was wonderful, don't get me wrong, but when had she ever made you feel like somebody just set you on fire?!
For once Kenshin had no snappy comeback to his alter-ego.
"Wow" Kaoru mouthed the word almost silently.
Kenshin just blinked, still not trusting himself to speak. His eyes were still infused with amber.
"Um… was it just me, or did you feel the same thing I did?" she asked, her voice trembling. Kaoru felt a little vulnerable now, thinking that she probably just dreamed up the whole sensation.
"Wha… It wasn't just you, Kaoru-dono, that it wasn't." He finally found his voice. He still couldn't let go of her.
"Oh! I'm glad…" Kaoru grinned. Then, she had an insane urge to giggle. They were adults, for heaven's sake! Why in the world were they talking as if they had only shared their first kiss… She couldn't take it anymore, and burst out in uncontrollable giggles.
Kenshin sweat dropped and his ego took a couple of steps down. What in hell is she giggling about… it wasn't funny… not at all… but the giggles were infectious. Pretty soon, they were both laughing until they got stitches in their sides.
It took some time for them to calm down. When they finally reached a comfortable silence, Kenshin broke it. "Kaoru?"
Omigod. No dono attached to it. Hurray! "Yes, Kenshin?"
"Where do we go from here?"
Kaoru repositioned herself in his arms so she could get a good view of his face. "Everything just happened so fast, didn't it?" She didn't realize that her position was giving him a good view of cleavage and put herself right on his lap.
"Yes." He said through gritted teeth. I am a gentleman… I am a gentleman… I will not be a sex starved jerk… I will NOT let my hormones push through tonight…
Aww, what are you, a man or a mouse?
Fuck you.
From my view, you need it more than I do.
"Did I say something wrong?" Kaoru asked, puzzled at his reaction.
"Ahh… no, Kaoru, its just that… its just that… if we keep at this longer… I…I-don't-think-that-I-can-hold-on-much-longer-and-I-will-forget-to-take-it-slow-and-will-take-you-to-bed…" He talked all his thoughts in one breath hoping he wouldn't get slapped.
Kaoru's eyes widened and she squirmed uncomfortably on his lap.
"Ple---ase… STOP MOVING." Beads of sweat were traveling down his face.
"I, uh, OH!" She finally understood what he was driving at. She stood up quickly, overturning her tea cup in the process.
Kenshin felt strangely bereft. She felt just right to him, as always, and didn't realize that he had grown comfortable with her weight the past moments, so much so that he didn't feel that his leg was numb until now. He fell of the bench.
"Omigod, are you alright?!" Kaoru was on him again in an instant. Her hair fell around his head, mingling with his red ones, giving them a small world for their faces.
Kenshin couldn't help it, tonight was really a night of errors. He chuckled. "Yes, I'm fine, I'm fine. But really, I should escort you home now… We take it slower, ne? We have all the time to get together… I really don't think you're the kind of girl, correction, lady, who likes to be rushed, that I don't."
Kaoru blushed at his words. Yes, it was true she was the old fashioned type. She had so many dates that ended badly because of it. How Kenshin knew it after the way she acted around him, it was a wonder.
"Okay. But you can come over any time, ok?" She smiled shyly at him. Every word he seemed to say made her fall inches more for him.
"Okay. Same goes for you. Just ignore Yahiko's protests and Sano's jokes and we'll be fine, that we will."
They smiled goofily at each other for some more seconds before they stood up. After gathering the cups and other items, they went back to their floor, and Kenshin, as promised, escorted her to her door.
"Kenshin?"
"Yes, Kaoru?"
"Thank you for tonight."
"No. Thank YOU." Kenshin set down the tray and kissed her passionately with all his heart.
"Good night, Angel." Kenshin whispered in her ear before he let her go.
She had a dazed expression on her face before she murmured goodnight and closed the door.
Who's the man?
We're the man!
Those were the cheery thoughts of the two in Kenshin's head as he headed back to his own apartment.
