The usual warning and disclaimer applies, see chapter one.
Chapter Six
Kenshin was standing by the fireplace a few days later, when Jean returned; he both looked and felt a little too calm. The atmosphere in the flat was also calm…to the point where it made Kaoru nervous; deadly silence was not something she'd want to encounter on a daily basis. So, she was in her room, having read that article in the paper after Kenshin had discarded it to lapse into a funk, where he glowered at the wall and snapped at the maids. From his eyes, it was probably that he would kill Jean upon his return. Kaoru didn't want to be around when the fireworks started, if they did, and Jean was due home any moment…
"Darling," speak not of the devil, Kaoru thought. "I'm home!"
Kenshin merely prodded the logs on the fire with the poker. "So I see."
"You aren't even looking, love!" Jean leaned against the doorway, smiling.
"How was your trip?"
"Horrid."
There was a long silence before Kenshin answered, his voice far too quiet. The calm sent up every red flag in Jean's mind. He knows something, he thought.
"Was it truly? And how did Madame Olivier enjoy herself?"
Jean blanched. "Wh…what are you talking about?"
Kenshin turned, poker still in hand, looking for all the world like a madman hell-bent on destruction. "Did you enjoy having her in the hotel room I financed for you?"
Shit, shit, shit, was all that ran through Jean's head. How had Kenshin found out about that? "Well…I don't remember having anyone in the room with me…"
"How very unfortunate." Kenshin took a few, menacing steps across the library towards the taller man. "I do hope she enjoyed herself. I hope you did as well. I hope it was magnificent."
"Love, why are you talking like this?"
Kenshin's voice dropped even farther, becoming cold. "I hope it was worth losing me." He held up the poker, pointing at Jean like an ember-coated rapier. "You see, I wanted very much to beat you within an inch of your life once you returned. You are fortunate, extremely fortunate, that Kaoru has a more level head than I do, although I'm fairly certain that, if it weren't for my sake, she would kill you without a second thought. I'll leave it at this: there is nothing in this flat that I have not purchased for you, so you'll take nothing with you. Leave. Now. If I ever see you here again, I will kill you."
Jean edged out of the parlor, eyes wide. He was gone in ten minutes, and Kenshin went to get a bottle our of the liquor cabinet, found a glass, and went to his room where he lay down and proceeded to drink himself into oblivion. Kaoru's thought were dark. Jean truly was far more lucky than he realized.
The next morning, Kaoru knocked on Kenshin's door with a tray that held his breakfast. He groaned, the knock setting his ear ringing, and his head aching. That was you get for drinking so much, she thought as she opened the door. Kenshin had a pillow over his head, the hangover wreaking havoc on his senses. Over the few weeks that she'd been here, she and Kenshin had come to be on rather good terms, to the point where she could tease him and he didn't mind…as long as she didn't do it too often. Upon seeing Kenshin, she smiled, and set the try on the side table before sitting on the edge of the bed. Kenshin lifted one corner of the pillow to look at her blearily. "If you're come to try to cheer me up, it won't work," and he went back into hiding, causing Kaoru to laugh quietly.
"Not unless you wish for me to try. I did, however, bring some tea and a scone."
Kenshin made a face, even though she couldn't see it. "The tea you can leave. The scone you can throw our the window."
At that she chuckled, and rolled her eyes. "All right, Mr. Bear."
"Hmph." Kaoru grinned, and lightly whacked the pillow over his head with another before standing and leaving to a muffled curse, even if it did sound good-natured. Kenshin watched her leave from a tiny peephole he'd created between the pillow and the sheets, bemused. She was a strange creature. He sat up and drank the tea when she was gone, and promptly fell asleep yet again, to be woken much later in the evening by a resounding chord struck on the piano. Sighing, he figured that it was time to get up, and forced himself to actually get out of bed, bathe, and dress before going to ring for dinner, feeling empty. Over the next few days, not much happened that could possibly make Kenshin's spirits lift. He took Kaoru to dinner and went to work, but the atmosphere in the flat was heavy, and he was constantly brooding. There were a few nights where he drank himself into a stupor time and time again, and missed work. Kaoru was more than ready to throttle Jean if she ever saw him again, and Kenshin had better hope that someone could restrain her if she did.
One morning, a couple of weeks after Jean has left, she woke up with a splitting headache, and just let out a miserable moan. Kenshin, passing by the room at that time, had a servant get some medicine, and took it to her, finding her leaning against the wall, a hand over her eyes. He sat beside her for a moment.
"Do you think you can get this down? I'm sorry I've not been good company recently."
"It's alright, you've had good reasons." She took the medicine, grimacing at the bitter taste, and closed her eyes.
"Why do you think he did it?"
"I think he'd been leading you on the entire time. That woman seemed awfully wealthy. Honestly, I think he just wanted your money."
"That hurts even more. It means he lied to me from the beginning."
She nodded, reaching out to take his hand. "I wish I knew what to say…or something to make you feel better…"
He shook his head. "I am surrounded by people who are with me only because I have money."
"That's because many people are selfish by nature. There aren't many who can see past wealth and power. And those who can are the ones who are repressed by those who have been blinded."
Kenshin stood, gently disengaging his hand from hers. "I'll let you rest." He was pondering what she'd said, and wondering if she was one of the blind or those who could see, and which he himself was. He closed the door as she lay down again, and went into the library to read. Kaoru, meanwhile, fell into a troubled sleep. Much would be changing in both of their lives in the next few months.