Disclaimer: Rurouni Kenshin is not mine, but I'll take Enishi. ^_^  "Kuch Kuch Hota Hai" does not belong to me either, and Sharukh Khan is already happily married. Sigh. (Yes, I agree .. Sharukh Khan and Kajol are the BEST Bollywood couple ever!)

Author's Notes: I love Enishi in this one.

Special Thanks to Tsukasa Ryuu, kagome32 and CrismHeart for adding me to your Favorite Author's List!

Warning: Characters a bit OOC.

~ WHEN SOMETHING CHANGES ~

Chapter 8

The Answer

"Will you marry me, Kamiya Kaoru?"

Those words repeated in her head over and over again as she watched the man kneel on one of his knees before her. Her heartbeat quickened as her palms became sweaty. Her sapphire blue eyes were wide open in shock.

Images and emotions flooded her mind.

What do I say?, Kaoru thought with trepidation. She had known Enishi for two years. Two long years. She had begun dating him a little over a year ago after much persuasion from Dr. Genzai's sister and Enishi himself.

Kaoru looked at the man before her.

The silver-haired man with turquoise eyes.

Her heart ached a little. She had imagined this scenario so many times. So many, many times. The only problem was .. it wasn't him.

But Enishi .. he had been there for her and she found that she could love him even . .

That is . . when she forgot that she loved another.

Dr. Genzai's sister, Hana, had been very good to Kaoru for the past eight years. Like a grandmother and friend even. She had supported Kaoru through both thick and thin.  Her one wish was to see Kaoru get married. Hana was getting any younger and Kaoru was close to becoming thirty. After that it would be even harder to find a suitable husband.

She took a breath

And said . . .

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"Will you marry me, Kamiya Kaoru?"

As he was on knees, Enishi looked at the woman before him, his love, with hope and a bit of fear in his eyes. He was sweating all over and the pounding of his heart was so loud that he was afraid that it would overpower Kaoru's own voice. What if he wouldn't even able to hear her answer?, he thought with a feeling of dread.

He remembered back to the first time he had seen Kaoru. Although it was not a pleasant experience, he still was glad that it had happened. Back then, Enishi was in a depressed state for years. His favorite cousin, Tomoe, had died after giving birth to a baby girl. The fact alone had put Enishi into an almost crazed state. How could God take away someone that meant so much to him. He was even going to go visit Tomoe after she had her child. How could she . . how could she . .

Flashback – 2 Years Ago

"Yukishiro-san, are you paying attention to me?!" the girl said with narrowed auburn eyes. Enishi looked over towards the woman beside him with an air of indifference.

"Why should I have to give any attention to a worthless woman such as you?" he said without blinking behind his dark glasses. They continued to walk down the damp, dark street with only a few streetlights lighting up the area. The woman looked over at the man she was with and frowned lightly. She was sincerely turned off by his cold and standoffish nature, but she would deal with it because it was not the man she was attracted to, but his money.

She gave a fake smile towards the man and chuckled. "Oh Enishi . . you are such a joker," she said flirtatiously with a wave of her hand.

Enishi's mouth twitched into a small snarl. He didn't know why he had gone out with another woman. They only made him much more angry. No one could compare to her.

Tomoe.

Tomoe, whom he had spent a lot of time with when they were young. She was always so kind, so forgiving, so patient, so . . so many things that . . Enishi clenched his fists. It had already been six long years since her death. Even though time had gone on, the pain of it all didn't decrease. He hadn't brought himself to visit the man she had married or the child she had borne that day. He was afraid that he would break down once he would see them.

"YOU CAN'T HAVE HIM! LET GO!" Someone yelled in a high pitch around the alleyway.

Enishi's eyes registered alarm and looked towards where the voice had come from. He tried to shrug it off because . . because it was unlike him to help someone who was in distress. The woman that had accompanied him now clung desperately to his muscled arm. He looked at her with distaste. What a worthless woman, he thought as he roughly shrugged her away.

Muffled noises and struggling was now heard.

Enishi felt himself grimace at the noises and began running over to where the commotion was coming from.

"Where – where are you going?! You can't just leave me here alone!! I might get mugged, rap - - " the woman called in a shrilly voice from behind him.

Enishi ignored her as he continued to run towards the dark alleyway.

Two figures stood in the dark. One of the figures, the slimmer one, was grabbing, pulling, and kicking with all of her strength but to no avail. The big, burly man had held on with his hands grasped around her neck.

Enishi's turquoise eyes flared at the sight. How dare he hurt a woman! He ran over and punched the man square in the jaw. The attacker's eyes had gone wide with surprise for he had not heard the other man running towards him.

The girl crumbled onto the cement floor once the man's hands were released and had begun coughing violently as she struggled to breathe normally. Enishi's eyes narrowed as she strolled over to the man who had beaten the woman.

The attacker got up and snarled. "You'll pay for that you bastard!" he said as he cracked both of his knuckles.

Enishi laughed as he adjusted his glasses. Now anyone else would have cowered in fear if they had seen whom Enishi had been fighting. And to anyone else it would have seemed obvious that the attacker would win easily. The attacker was two times the size in muscle as Enishi and hairy all over. But this was Enishi and he was different.

With a yell, the attacker charged with his arms and fists ready to pummel the life out of the man who dared intrude on his work. Enishi smirked as he waited for the man to throw a punch.

The attacker's fist went for Enishi's face and without breaking a sweat, Enishi blocked it effortlessly. More punches were thrown, and the silver-haired man had dodged and blocked each and every one. The woman watched in awe at the sheer display of fluidity in each of the man's moves. It was captivating. The man had remained cool throughout the entire brawl and had not yet made an attempt to hit the attacker.

"This is going to fucking stop right here," the man said with a snarl as he stepped back and took out the small pistol that he had hid behind his belt.

The woman's eyes widened as she quickly got up. She couldn't have the person who had helped her die here. She stumbled over to get in front of the man who had come to save her.

Enishi's eyes widened at the woman's courage or rather, stupidity.

BANG

He quickly pushed her aside as the bullet slightly grazed his right cheek and swiftly ran over to the man holding the weapon. Before the attacker could blink, Enishi was by his side with his hand over the man's wrists. He widened his eyes as he heard a sickening crunch.

"AAAAHHH!!" the attacker screamed.

His wrist was now shattered. He crumbled to the floor from the pain. Enishi moved quickly and disarmed the gun from the man and pointed it at him directly in his face.

The attacker looked up with eyes full of fear. "P-please, don't shoot! Don't shoot! I don't want to die now," he pleaded, tears streaming down his face.

Enishi cocked the gun.

He aimed.

And . .

The woman moved in front of the line of fire in a flash.

His narrowed turquoise eyes looked at her in astonishment and awe. The little streams of light that poured from the streetlamps highlighted her face and for the first time he noticed just how beautiful she was. He ignored it as he tightened his grip around the gun and focused his eyes back on the man lying on the ground behind her. "Why are you protecting him?" he pointedly asked. "He was going to kill you. Let me kill him like the dog he is."

The woman shook her head. Her sapphire blue eyes staring at him with no fear, no hesitation, only a sense of determination. "I can't let you kill him. We don't have the right to judge who lives and who dies. Only God does," she said in a firm voice as she watched him steadily.

Enishi held the gun shakily, but didn't lower it. "But sometimes .. sometimes God takes away people who don't deserve to die and sometimes God leaves those people who have committed so many crimes alive. Where . . where is the justice in that?!?!" he asked crazily with his killing intent renewed. He straightened his stance as his finger continued to stay on the trigger.

The woman stood there with her arms outstretched unmoving, unflinching. "Maybe . . maybe God wants those who we love to be with him . .up there .. in heaven. That doesn't mean  .. that doesn't mean .. that they're not with us anymore. They watch over us. . up there." She said as she looked up at the twinkling stars in the night sky. She looked back down towards Enishi. "And those . . those people who have committed crimes . . maybe God wants them to find themselves again while on Earth, find a way to repent for their crimes."

Enishi stood there in awe at the woman with blue eyes before him. Tomoe.. could she still watch over me?, he thought. If . . that's true . . he lowered the gun as tears started to fill up in his eyes. If that's true . . she might not be happy with the way I've been living my life.

*CLANG

The gun was dropped onto the cold, hard cement as the man's hand lost its strength. The woman lowered her arms as she walked towards the white-haired man.

"Thank you," she said.

He looked up surprised. Her blue eyes reflected his own turquoise eyes.

"Thank you," she repeated, "for saving me . . and for not killing him." Enishi held his breath as he found that her sapphire blue eyes were captivating. And he continued to stare like that for a few moments more until he felt something brushing against his right cheek lightly.

Enishi flinched and backed away on instinct.

The woman narrowed her eyes. "You're bleeding," she said. Enishi's eyes widened as his hand went up to touch the thin line of blood streaming from his cheek. "Mou! Don't do that! You might get it infected!" she said with discontent while pulling his hand back down before he could touch his wound. As he felt the tissue touch his cheek, he felt his heart skip a beat. The warmth from her hand felt comforting and reassuring. Enishi looked at her in awe as she concentrated on cleaning the blood from off of his cheek with a tissue.

The way her blue eyes were narrowed in determination, the way her forehead crinkled up as she dabbed the tissue over his cheek, the way she would stand on her toes to clean the wound for him because he was much taller than her, and the way she would lick the corner of her lips when she finished the job. These were all things he had never taken notice of ever in his entire life.

That is, until now.

He watched her and for the first time in a long time, his heart warmed.

"Okay, done!" she said as she cleaned up the wound. Enishi found that he missed the warmth of her hand as it left his cheek. "Thank you again," she said as she gave a small bow. She turned around and started to walk back towards the street.

Enishi was speechless as she started to walk away. Something had told him to call out to her.

"WAIT!" he yelled out.

The woman turned around.

"What . . What is your name?" he asked.

"Kaoru .. Kamiya Kaoru," she said with a kind smile.

Enishi watched as her figure disappeared into the night and repeated in a whisper, "Kamiya Kaoru. I won't forget that name."

Afterwards, Enishi took the attacker to the police station. The attacker cried silently to himself as he was led away by the authorities. But Enishi realized that those tears were not of a man who was being led to prison, but of a man who had discovered how wrong a path he had led in his life and how he was going to change it. How he was going to redeem himself in this life once again.

The next week passed without much event. Enishi could not get his mind off of the woman and those words she had  said when he had "rescued" her that night. He laughed to himself. It feels good to laugh again, he thought. But that night .. it was more like Kaoru had rescued him. He smiled. He needed to find her once again. He had asked his secretary to find out where Kamiya Kaoru resided.

It was a surprise to him to learn that she was the shihondai of a dojo near the outskirts of the city.

That day when he went to visit her was one of the most nervous times Enishi had ever been in his life. He had walked to the gates of the dojo with his hands shoved into his pockets and his breathing irregular. Where was his cool? His calm demeanor?

They were all thrown out the window. Instead, he felt like a teenage boy going out on his first date. But, he laughed to himself, she doesn't even know my name yet. His palms felt sweaty as he rang the doorbell. After a few moments of waiting, the door opened up.

Inside was the woman he had met that other night. She was wearing, what seemed to be her training gi and hakama. Her hair was tied back in a high ponytail as she looked at him with recognition and shock.

"A . .ano . .," she started nervously.

Enishi's throat felt dry as he continued to watch her. What am I going to say?, he asked himself. After a couple more seconds of brainstorming about how he was going to explain for him being at her doorsteps, he said, "Umm ...I just wanted to see how you were doing. The man that . . the man from the other night .. well, he's locked away in jail."

Kaoru nodded her head as she smiled and bowed again. "Ano . .thank you again for the other night."

Enishi scratched the back of his head as he continued to look at her.

Kaoru looked down on the ground, a bit nervous from the attention she was getting from the man at her front door. Her cheeks began to feel warm and she knew that she was blushing. She looked back up at him with a start, "Oh! Where are my manners? Please come in!"

Enishi nodded as he walked into the dojo. His heart fluttered when he remembered the way she had blushed while he watched her. She looked adorable.

When they came towards the couch, Kaoru motioned for him to sit down while she went to get some tea for the both of them. The first couple of minutes between them passed by rather awkwardly. The both of them couldn't seem to find a place to start the conversation.

Enishi looked up from the tea and asked, "Who was the man that had attacked you that night?"

Kaoru looked down and began to fiddle with the cup and replied, "Well, he works for a local gang around this area. A week ago there was this young boy who used to work with them by pick-pocketing for them to pay back a so-called loan. They would beat him when he didn't steal any money." She paused and took a breath to calm down her anger at the memory and then began again, "I ended up going over there to help him. I couldn't just stand by." As she said this she grasped her cup more tightly and her eyes had narrowed.

Enishi watched with interest at the emotions playing around the woman's face. Then the woman continued, "The man that you saw yesterday . . he came because he wanted Yahiko back. But . .but they can't have him," she said with determination.

"Yahiko?" Enishi asked.

Kaoru nodded. "He was the young boy that was working for them. He's only ten."

"Where is the boy now?"

"He's living with me," she said.

"He's what?" he asked with surprise.

"He's living with me," she stated again.

"Hey busu! I thought we were going to do some more training!" someone yelled from within. Enishi looked startled as he looked for where the voice had come from as he put the tea down onto the table.

A young boy with spiky hair wearing a yellow and green gi and hakama trudged into the area carrying a bokken in one of his hands.

"I have a guest. We'll practice later," Kaoru said as she shot Yahiko a dirty look.

"Yahiko?" Enishi asked while pointing to the young boy. Kaoru nodded. Enishi was confused. How can that boy show so little respect to the woman who had rescued him?

"I'm going back," he said with a huff as he turned around to walk back towards the practice room.

"One hundred strokes, Yahiko-CHAN for calling me names in front of guests!" Kaoru added as he left.

Yahiko turned back and shot a look. "I'm not a kid!" he cried out with frustration. Kaoru laughed jubilantly. Enishi looked at the two and finally understood why the little kid teased the woman so much. He was treating her like an older sister. The man smiled wistfully.

"I'm sorry," Kaoru started as the man turned to face her once again. "I don't know your name."

The white-haired man smiled, "Yukishiro Enishi."

Kaoru nodded and smiled. "I'm sorry about the disturbance, Yukishiro-san. That's Yahiko for you though. He's always so loud and doesn't have the least of manners," she said with a gentle smile.

"Enishi. Just call me Enishi," he said firmly as he looked into her deep blue orbs.

"Enishi?" she said as she tested saying his name. Enishi smiled. He liked the way she said his name. "Okay," she said, "Then just call me Kaoru."

"Kaoru . ." he started. "Kaoru .. thank you for that night. If it wasn't for you . ." Enishi clasped his hands in front of him tightly as he bowed his head down out of shame, "I would have killed that man."

The woman looked at him with compassion and placed a hand over his. "Well, it was a good thing you were there, too," she added with a smile and a wink.

The man looked up and found her smiling face. His heart warmed at the sight.

"Mou! The tea is getting cold and you haven't even taken a sip yet!" Kaoru said while pointing to the full cup of tea on the table. Enishi nodded as he took hold of the cup and raised it to his mouth.

He took a sip.

"It tastes bad."

End Flashback

It had been two years since that day. There before him was the same woman who had pulled him out of his depressed and crazed state since Tomoe's death. Kaoru was his answer.

Enishi drew in his breath as he saw her pink lips move slightly.

Time stopped.

"Yes," Kaoru said. "Yes," she repeated this time in a voice lower than a whisper. It was time to forget him.

Kenshin.

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- To be continued (Sigh . .Enishi .. )

Author's Notes:

Please read and review! Thanks much. I always like getting comments and feedback from my readers. Thank you to those who have taken the time to review. I really appreciate them!

Anyway, sigh . .I love Enishi. =P It'll probably be awhile until I update again. =) Hiko .. eheheh

Reader Responses:

Jacky – Hi. Lol .. I liked your review. "3 more chapters until I start whining for another update!" Lol . ^_^ Thanks

Tenshi no Sin – Hihi! =D Hehe .. thanks for the review! 

Nigihayami Haruko  - Thanks for the comments. I hope you enjoyed this chapter as well.

Tsukasa Ryuu – I'm glad you like the story. It's difficult when you fall in love with one of your best friends cuz on one hand, you want to take the relationship further and on the other hand, you don't want to ruin the relationship that you already have. But it's good that you had told her your feelings .. at least you know that you told her how you felt which is better than keeping it bottled up. =) if you wanted to read another friendship love fic you should read dementedchris's fic.. "defying gravity". Warning: it's a real tearjerker.

MissBehavin – Thanks =D Hehe. .I play the word association game with my roommates and boyfriend all the time whenever there's nothing to do .. and for some reason .. our game always turns .. quite .. explicit .lol..

OniTokage – Thanks for the comments. As for your question about your fic, yeah .. at first chapter 13 wasn't showing up . .but it is now. =D And as for the other question :yes, I mentioned before that I always liked fics where Kenshin and Kaoru meet up again. =) Sigh .. I'm such a romantic sometimes. Hehe. .

Tenkuno Meiou – Thanks for reviewing! I'm glad you enjoy the story so far.

Koishii Sweet – Hi. Thanks for the comments. I hope you enjoyed this chapter.

Gaby(hyatt – Thanks for reviewing! I love Kaoru and Enishi pairings too. ^_^ hehe. I think he's such a cool character. I love him in deleria's fic "Catharsis". Have you read that?

Wistful-Eyes – Hello. Yeah, I'm Chinese too. I can speak and write some (thanks to Chinese school and my grandma) hehe .. Anyway, I know what you mean about Enishi and how he had acted during Jinchuu. Eek. I think I got this idea of Enishi from some other fics .. some by Gracey and such.

Clemen – I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I was going to update yesterday, but ff.net was down. Ack .. Hehe .. =)

CrismHeart – I'm glad you enjoy reading the stories I have up on ff.net =) *author blushes. Good luck with ur exams. I have a Biochem exam coming up =D .. it'll be cute when Kaoru finds Kaoru again. =D Hehe.

Rurounimadness – you were right on the dot. Of course Kaoru will have to say yes to the engagement. =D Hehe.

CurlsofSerenity – Hello. Thanks for the review! Yup yup .. chibi Kaoru has a big mission laid out for her. She'll get help from someone though .. whom you'll meet up in the next chapter.

JulesV – Thanks for the comments and reviewing all the chapters. I really appreciated it.

Serenity Blossom – I'm glad you liked the "proposal" part. I thought it would be like Kaoru (kinda) to do something like that. Anyway, whether or not it'll stay E/K .. you'll have to find out in later chapters.

Rekka's Angel – Hehe . .things will start to heat up once Kenshin returns to the picture! =D you can be sure of it.

Chibi frog – thanks

Issina – Hihi! Yay .. I'm glad you're gonna go look for the movie. =D It's such a great movie! Lol . . I'm a big fan .. I'm sure noticed already. The movie was a big cryfest for me too in the beginning .. sniff sniff .. I still tear up when I watch it now. =D I'm sure you'll love it after watching it. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. =D

Oyuki – Ooh . .so you live in LA too? Cool .. I haven't gone to the "stinking rose" to eat yet .. are the prices decent or incredibly expensive like $50 a dish? Haha . .I don't know . .=/ .. Hmm .. the names he makes up for these restaurants are incredibly unappealing =x .. =D but anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter as well.

Moderndaybattousai – Hello. Thanks for reviewing! I'm glad you like the both of my stories! I can't wait to read your own!

Anime_Freakness – Hi. Thanks for reviewing! =D I'm glad you like this fic so far. I hope you enjoyed this chapter as well.

Peorthkitty – thanks for the comments. I hope you enjoy the rest of the story!