Disclaimer: I don't own Rurouni Kenshin.

Title: Chance for Love

Rated: PG-13

AN: This is my first attempt at writing a fanfic. Please bear with me as I get used to the process. I recommend criticism good or bad. The reviews are what tell me what you as a reader like or dislike. I won't change everything in the storyline, but I will try to add what you like.

Italics- Thoughts

BTW this is AU

AN: Been really busy. Sorry for the long update. Hope you like the chapter. Send feedback.

Chapter 9: Painful Feelings

It seemed sickening, disgusting, and repulsive. Kaoru knew she was going to cry. She had already felt the water rise up to her eyes. What did Kenshin think of her now? She had seen that disgusted look in his eyes.

Kenshin couldn't believe what he had just seen. Poor Kaoru was stuck under Akira and was trying her best to push him off of her. But it seemed as though he wouldn't budge at all. From anyone else's view, they would think that Akira was really just unconscious. But Kenshin knew better.

He knew him better than anyone would or even could. From the second Kenshin walked into the room and saw them, he knew that Akira wasn't unconscious. In fact, he was conscious alright, and seemed perfectly well-aware of the whole situation occurring. And he was enjoying it.

Kenshin clenched his fists. This was beyond disgusting. Akira had sunk too low. He stormed over to the pair on the floor, and with one swift hand motion, he lifted Akira off of Kaoru and slammed him into the nearby wall. The crash resulted in a thundering bang which shook the house.

Kenshin looked at Kaoru, his eyes flickering violet for a moment before turning back into a raging golden. He turned around just in time to see Akira get up.

"You fucking bastard stay the fuck away from her!" yelled Kenshin with an intense death glare.

Taking two of his fingers to wipe the blood that was dripping from a nasty scar now present on his right eyelid, he shot a death glare at Kenshin.

"Why you little-!" without waiting to finish speaking, he charged over to where Kenshin was and punched him square in the face, resulting in a sickening crunch.

Kenshin hardly felt the pain. He had gone through far worse. As Akira lifted his fist to strike yet again, he left a completely vulnerable area on his stomach. Kenshin smirked, seeing the perfect opportunity; he slammed his fist right into Akira's stomach.

Now the fight was on. Akira and Kenshin both threw punches in all direction, each hoping to gain the upper hand. But Kenshin, being skilled and living with Hiko for half his life, was used to dealing with these types of situations, and luckily had the upper hand.

The whole time Kaoru watched stunned in horror. In tears, she stood up weakly, leaning her body against the counter for support. She kept shouting, pleading for both the guys to stop. But it seemed as though all her attempts were useless. Both were engrossed in trying to kill the other.

No...No, No! Kaoru thought miserably. This is my entire fault! I need to stop this now!

Wiping fresh tears off her face, Kaoru in an instant was over at where the fight was occurring. Just as her hand was about to pull Kenshin away, a loud voice roared through the whole dismay.

"WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON IN HERE?!?!?" yelled Sanosuke, as he waked in with nothing but a pair of sweatpants. Aoshi followed seconds later, also dressed in the same attire as Sano.

Rubbing her tiresome eyes, Misao soon followed. Wearing a mini tank top with sweats, she yawned. "Yeah...What's going on? Don't you-" She instantly stopped as she took in the whole scene occurring in front of her.

Kenshin and Akira were too engrossed in a death match, both beating the living daylights out of each other.

Sanosuke and Aoshi didn't waste time. In a heartbeat, they both were over at where the fight was happening. Being pretty tall, they both had a clear advantage.

Sano grabbed Kenshin from the back of his shirt and lifted him up off of a bleeding Akira. Aoshi did the same, pulling away Akira who was shouting out threats and insults.

"You red-headed bastard dare try to touch me again and I'll mutilate you! I'll kill you, you bastard! You just watch and wait! Keep that fucking whore to your self! I'll get-"

Hearing enough of this, with one swift motion of the hand, Aoshi struck the back of Akira's neck rendering him completely knocked out.

Sanosuke let out a very tired yawn. "Look everyone, it's really pretty late. And I'm beat." His eyes shifted over to Kenshin. "But not as beat as others. ...We're all going to have a chat today morning. As for you Himura, we got some serious talking to do."

Grunting a reply, Kenshin shot a look at Kaoru before walking away. A few seconds later, everyone heard a door slam.

Misao placed her arm around a teary Kaoru. "Girl, we have some talking to do as well. And don't worry, everything will be fine. I promise." Nodding her head in Sanosuke's direction and shooting a flirty smile at Aoshi, she and Kaoru headed towards their room.

Both watched the girls disappear around the corner. Sighing, Sano looked over at Aoshi still holding the unconscious Akira.

"Aoshi-," Sano began, but was cut off by Aoshi.

"Already on it," Aoshi said as he left to go dispose of a certain body somewhere.

Sano cracked his knuckles. "Damn, since those two girls have been here, everything's been hectic." Yawning, he started heading towards his room. "But hell, I love it."

Misao watched as Kaoru wiped the remaining tears from her face. Instructing for her to come sit next to her, Kaoru hesitantly came over.

"When ever you're ready, Kaoru." Misao said as she laid a comforting hand on Kaoru's shoulder.

Pausing for a full moment, Kaoru finally told Misao the whole story. From coming in late at night, to the stupid part about the apple, then to Akira crashing into her, then finally to the fight.

As Kaoru spoke, she continued saying it was her fault throughout the whole story. Misao comforted her, gave her some suggestions, advice, and helped her through it.

"Well...," Misao let out a low whistle when Kaoru had finally finished. "Today surely has been some day. I'm surprised that Tomoe didn't wake up. You know how she is." Glancing at Kaoru, she continued. "Well that's enough of that. We both need to get some rest. Tomorrow we're both going job hunting, remember?"

Kaoru blinked a few times. She had completely forgotten! Where was the place they were going to work again? "The Akabeko?"

Misao nodded. "Yeah. We will be leaving at 9 in the morning. Don't forget."

Glancing at her watch, Kaoru groaned. "You mean in less than 5 hours?"

Misao smirked. "Yeah, better if we both head to bed. Don't want to be all tired in the morning."

Nodding, Kaoru soon took her position on her twin bed, opposite of where Misao slept.

Than a thought struck her, getting up on her elbows she looked over at Misao. "Hey Misao?"

"Yeah?" replied a mumbled reply.

"I thought Sano didn't clean out our two rooms."

"True. He didn't clean the two rooms. He only cleaned one. While you were out with lover boy, I ordered him to clean out at least one of the rooms. And he just managed to get this cleaned. The other is still in progress."

"Sano actually listened to you?" Kaoru asked in disbelief.

"Not really. Aoshi helped." Misao said slyly.

"Oh, Aoshi? What exactly is going on between you two?"

Flushing a deep red, Misao looked away. "The same thing that's going on with you and Kenshin. Goodnight now, Kaoru."

"..Goodnight, Misao."

Lying down on the bed, Kaoru stared blankly at the ceiling. She just couldn't get Kenshin out of her mind. As hard as she tried, he kept coming back to her. She needed to talk to him. Now.

"Hey Misao," Kaoru said as she stepped out of bed. "I'm going to get a glass of water."

Hearing no reply from her, Kaoru looked over at her and saw that she was already fast asleep. Talk about fast sleepers, Kaoru thought.

She opened the door as quietly as she could and closed it gently. Tiptoeing down the hall, she finally stood in front of his door awhile later.

She hesitated for a moment. Finally taking a deep breath, she got enough courage and opened the door.

As she got inside, she silently closed the door behind her. Satisfied, Kaoru turned around smiling. But her smile quickly disappeared as she stood face-to-face with a glaring Kenshin.

Akira groaned in pain. His head hurt like hell and his whole body felt as though it were on fire. He tried to get up, but fell back down pathetically. Lying on the ground in defeat, he opened his eyes and blinked a few times as a sudden burst of light infiltrated his eyes. Shutting his eyes tightly, he tried to turn away from the light. But it seemed to be surrounding him all around. Grimacing, he tried to recollect his thoughts as to how he ended up here in this shape. A vivid picture of Kenshin flashed through his mind. The look of pain on his face suddenly shifted to a look of disgust, hatred, and displeasure.

"Ah, it seems as though you're finally awake."

Blinking, Akira opened his eyes once more and managed to adjust to the light this time. Looking for the source of the voice, his gaze shifted towards a figure lying on a bed. Getting up on his elbows with all the strength he could possess, he lifted himself up of the ground and looked around the room. Than realization hit him, he was in his room and the source of the voice belonged to Tomoe.

"What? Still dazed about your defeat in the fight?"

"Shut up!" Akira snarled.

"My, my, don't get testy. But I must applaud you on what you did." Tomoe said sweetly as she continued looking at her perfectly manicured nails.

"What do you want?"

Tearing her gaze from her nails, she looked at Akira. "The same thing as you."

Akira not saying anything, she decided to continue. "You want Kaoru, don't you? Also you want Kenshin out of the picture, am I correct?"

He smirked. "I get it. You want Kenshin. With Kaoru out of the picture that is."

"My, my. Don't you catch on so quickly." Standing up from the bed, she bent down and pulled a fancy briefcase out from under the bed. Opening it, she revealed the endless stacks of hundred dollar bills.

"All these with Kaoru will be yours."

"What's the catch?" Akira asked curiously.

"Something along the line called Operation: Break up, Permanent Break Up."

Done! What do you think? Feedback would be great! R&R ppl! I'll be updating more frequently now.

Until next time!