Disclaimer: Rurouni Kenshin is the property of Nobuhiro Watsuki and Sony Productions. Kuch Kuch Hota Hai is the property of Yash Raj Films.
Author's Notes: Sorry for the long delay before updating. Hope you guys enjoy this chapter.
WHEN SOMETHING CHANGES
Chapter 11
Meeting the White Tiger
Kenshin looked himself over in the mirror as he adjusted his maroon tie. He thought back to the conversation he had with his daughter earlier that day and felt guilty. It wasn't that she would not be able to handle kendo, it was because he didn't want her to leave him. He sighed sadly. He was too overprotective at times. But who could blame him? He was a father after all. With Tomoe gone, Kaoru was all he had left.
The man looked himself over in the mirror once more before bending down and picking up his briefcase. He smiled slightly as he straightened his jacket and walked out the bathroom door with a feeling of confidence. Kenshin walked down the hall and stopped at one of the wooden oak doors. He looked up and read the name on it ever so carefully.
Enishi Yukishiro.
He shrugged off any feeling of uncomfort and turned the gold-plated knob.
"Hi. May I help you?," the pretty secretary with glasses asked as she saw Kenshin come inside the room.
"Hi. I'm Himura Kenshin and I have an appointment with Yukishiro-san."
"Hai. You may see him in ten minutes," the secretary replied as she typed up the information onto her desktop computer.
Kenshin sat outside of the door as he waited for his appointment time with the man whom he was going to do business. It was the biggest venture yet for his company, Hiten Mitsurugi Corporation. When both his company and Yukishiro's company come together and jointly do this engineering project, China would have the bullet train as a means of transport from Beijing to Shanghai and other major cities. Because of the magnitude of this project, both companies could expect to make over a billion dollars.
"Excuse me, Himura-san," the secretary called. Kenshin looked up. "Yukishiro-san is ready to see you now."
"Thank you," the red-haired man said as he got up and brushed off any signs of lint on his suit. Holding his breath, he walked over and opened the door leading to the boss's office.
On the far side of the room, a man with darkened spectacles and silver hair sat in a large leather chair currently having a conversation on the phone. The man's sheer aura was intimidating to say the least. It was no surprise why Yukishiro was the head of the entire engineering dealings between China and Japan. Kenshin had heard that the man had been brought up and raised in Shanghai. He had also heard rumors that Yukishiro's father had once been the head of some major triad in China, but had died early on leaving only Enishi and his mother to fend for themselves. Kenshin sighed as he turned around gently closed the door making sure not to make a sound.
"Yes, Heishin. I understand. I don't care what the man says. Just get it done by the end of this week," the man said as he massaged his temples out of frustration. He then looked up and motioned for Kenshin to sit down in the chair across from him. The other man did as he was asked and began taking out papers from within his briefcase.
Click.
Kenshin looked up to see a pair of turquoise eyes looking at him from behind the glasses.
"You must be Himura Kenshin," he said.
"Hai. It's a pleasure to finally meet you in person, Yukishiro-san." The red-haired man was surprised to see that the head of the company was so young. The man looked like he was in his late twenties or early thirties.
Enishi nodded as he reached over and looked at the papers and folders that Kenshin had taken out from his briefcase. With a steady and concentrated look, the man scanned through all the information and legal documentation.
"I see. So you're having a few of the engineers stationed here in Japan move to China to teach them the mechanics and such," Enishi said as he pushed the bridge of his glasses up higher.
"Hai. We thought that would be the most cost efficient and most beneficial move in this venture."
Enishi nodded as he continued to flip through more papers.
"Excuse me, sir."
The secretary's voice broke through the serious air of the room. Kenshin turned around in his seat and Enishi looked up, a little annoyed by her sudden intrusion.
"I'm sorry, but I have a call for you from Kaoru," she said as she gently closed the door again.
Enishi and Kenshin both reached for the phone in the instant she had left. They stopped when they noticed that both of their hands rested on the phone.
"Excuse me, this will take just a minute," Kenshin said apologetically.
Enishi looked at him, a bit perplexed. "I believe she said that this person was calling for me."
"Oro? I thought she said that Kaoru was calling."
Enishi raised one of his eyebrows. "Yes, she did. My fianc's name is Kaoru."
Kenshin went wide-eyed and then smiled. "I see. I have a young daughter named Kaoru, too."
"What a coincidence. We shall see whose Kaoru this is then," Enishi said as he picked up the phone. "Hello?"
"Hi Enishi?"
The man's face relaxed as he heard his fianc's voice on the line and Kenshin could tell that the man was in love with her. Kenshin sat back in the chair and couldn't help but reminisce the times back then when he was with Tomoe. They were such sweet memories.
". . and take care of yourself," the man said as he hung up the phone. He then turned back to Kenshin and smiled slightly. Listening to Kaoru's voice had brightened his day. "Sorry for the delay. It turned out to be my Kaoru in the end."
"That's all right," Kenshin said as he chuckled lightly.
The white-haired man nodded and then went back and picked up the papers scanning through the areas from where he had left off.
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"Aww. Come on Uncle Hiko. You have to do it!" Kaoru-chan whined as she tugged on the sleeve of his arm. "Please. Pretty please!"
He looked at her, a little perplexed at the current situation. "Why can't you get . . what's that guy's name. Kama. Kama-something."
"Kamatari?"
"Yes, that guy."
"But he works with otousan and otousan would be suspicious if Kamatari suddenly missed work and left for a month."
Hiko ground his teeth as he tried to think of another excuse. "Well, the 13th successor of Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu is definitely not going to wear any of those girlish undergarment contraptions."
Kaoru looked at him slyly as she stepped back and looked at his physique. "Hmm," she said as she rubbed the bottom of her chin with one of her hands. "I don't think you need one. You look like a size C to me."
Hiko's jaw almost dropped to the floor. "A. . a what?"
Kaoru giggled as she pointed to Hiko's chest. "You know . . . your breasts."
The man looked down at his brea-, correction, chest and was aghast. He lifted up a finger and pointed at his chest adamantly, trying to justify his manliness. "These . . these are not breasts! They're muscles girl! Muscles!"
The little girl looked up and laughed. "It's okay. They won't be able to tell."
"Girl . ." Hiko sneered through his lips as he narrowed his eyes.
"Please Uncle Hiko," she said with the most innocent look she could use on him. The man was about to say something else, but stopped and looked at her. He looked away again and opened his mouth. There was no way he would sacrifice his manhood for some matchmaking plan. Absolutely not.
"N . ."
He turned back and couldn't help but notice how wide and sad her purple hues were. He sighed. If only I didn't care for Kaoru so much.
"All right, but don't you dare mention this to another soul," he warned in a whisper. "Especially not to my baka deshi."
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Kenshin came back and sighed happily as he took out his house keys and began to unlock the door. The meeting was a success and the project would start as soon as next month. The past week had been incredibly busy with meeting after meeting with people that would become enlisted to do the work in Beijing. He did not see much of Enishi Yukishiro after the first meeting because the man had to go back to China to deal with some other business.
He breathed in deeply and closed his eyes happily as he stepped inside the house as he put down his suitcase near the front door. Kenshin felt relaxed and refreshed when he breathed in that scent of home. His opened his eyes and his heart beat happily at the thought of seeing his precious daughter again.
"Kaoru!" Kenshin called.
"Kaoru! I'm home!"
Silence.
Kenshin grew worried as he quickened his steps and moved towards Kaoru's bedroom upstairs. "Kaoru? Your otousan's home." He reached the front of the bedroom door and opened it. It was all empty except for a note left on the counter of the girl's desk.
To Otousan.
Kenshin's eyes widened as he rushed to pick up the paper. He read through the letter word by word, his eyes becoming a bit watery.
I decided to go to the Kendo summer camp with Uncle Hiko. I hope you'll understand. I'll miss you otousan. Don't be too lonely without me, okay? I love you.
He should have known that this would happen especially with his shishou looking after the girl. Kenshin sighed. Actually, it was probably his shishou's idea to take her there in the first place and leave the note. There was nothing that he could do about it now. He shouldn't have been so hard on her in the beginning he thought to himself as he read over the note again. After all, the summer camp would be good for Kaoru. She always had an interest in the art of kendo and also the girl could make new friends when she is there.
"Oh, Kaoru-chan. I miss you so much already," he said to himself as he looked around the empty room with the letter clutched within his hands.
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Vroom
Hiko grumbled something inaudible underneath his breath as he looked out the window. It was the middle of the night and little Kaoru had fallen asleep on his shoulder. He didn't know how he had gotten into this mess in the first place. They were now traveling by rickety old bus and had already gone a hundred miles away from Tokyo.
"Hi purty lady," a masculine voice said in a suggestive tone from behind him.
Not to mention, Hiko Seijuuro, the thirteenth successor of Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu was now wearing a long, flowery dress.
Hiko twitched his eyes. Without waking up Kaoru, he turned around halfway in his seat and using nothing more than a finger, flicked the man hard on the forehead causing the poor man to lose consciousness. Hiko then turned back around and went back to the business of staring out the window.
He scratched his neck. The frills on the neckline of the dress were irritating his skin.
"Damn, how do women deal with this?" Hiko cursed.
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- To be continued
Author's Notes:
Please read and review! Thanks much. Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Hopefully I'll be able to update this story again soon along with "A Memory Forgotten" and the final chapter of "Saitou's Adventures in Babysitting." By the way, if you enjoy samurai-type anime series, there's a new one out called "Shura no Toki." It's about a man named Mutsu Yakumo who practices a non-weapon based martial art. In the series currently, he's fighting to protect a girl,who coincidentally looks almost exactly like Kaoru. ;P Hehehe. It's interesting so far and I think it has a lot of potential. You can download it off of www.animesuki.com with bittorrent.