Rain

By Kard of Dark

Standard disclaimers apply.

Um, someone told me to continue this fic very politely, and well, here's another chapter of it. I forgot your name, really bad, yeah, so review . and I'll make sure to add you in the next chapter, though that might take a while... yeah, anyway, here's the next chapter.

Kurama found her watching the flames of the fire once more; the food was as he left it, uneaten. He didn't understand this vampire; they were all the same weren't they? Why didn't she eat what she was given like all the others?

But deep down inside, he knew the reason why. She was one who drank blood, lived on blood. And for three weeks now she had been blood deprived. The youko was unable to bring her meat of any kind; Kenshin wouldn't hear anything about it. Kurama was sure that Kenshin wanted to starve the blue eyed vampire until the breaking point, where she would finally give in and accept his goals as all the others did.

In fact, the other vampires at the castle ate blood every new moon, which wasn't for another five days away.

Upon observing Kaoru he didn't know if she would last that long. She was pale, a sickening color of white, and her eyes stood out amongst the white skin like two beacons. It frightened him to look at her, yet at the same time it made him want to look at her even more. She was exotic, so different then all the other vampires that haunted the halls of the castle.

Normally, Kenshin would be in the room, watching Kaoru and making her eat something, but today he was gone. The red head was furious with the strong willed girl; she was just too stubborn and wouldn't listen to him. And it was all for her own good.

"You know Ku-chan," Kaoru started, glancing at her new friend for a moment before looking back at the flames, "He burned my home down all those years ago."

Kurama listened on with interest, the vampires rarely talking about their pasts and when one was willing to do so; you never wanted to miss the opportunity. Curling down in his fox form at her feet, he waited for her to continue.

"We lived in the mountains, along a wonderful trade route that went through out Japan. We were happy living there. Everyone knew one another, and all the children had friends to play with, and grandparents to hear stories from. It was a wonderful place to live," Kaoru paused, her voice had clenched just a bit in her speaking and she cleared her voice before continuing, "I was fifteen, just old enough to be married. And my parents were thinking about the right man for me when along came a new trading group through the village. Along with them was Kenshin.

"I remember seeing his hair first, and thinking that his head was on fire. Of course, what else would a few of the neighborhood boys do then drench him with a bucket of water to put the fire out. He reminded me of a drowned rat!" She laughed at the memory and Kurama imagined Kenshin as a "drowned rat" and managed a small bark of laughter himself. "I was the one who offered him a towel to dry his hair with, it happened to be clean, though I'm starting to wish it had been dirty before I handed it to him. We didn't make eye contact until he handed it back...

"He looked so different then than he does now. Kenshin looked so...innocent the first time I met him, with his wide violet eyes full of life and laughter. And I felt my heart take a dive into my stomach. This was a man who was nothing that I had ever seen before and it both bothered me and made me...well, it made me feel strange, giddy almost. Nonetheless, my grandmother knew what it was from the look on my face and she had pulled me aside sometime later when everyone was talking and trading with the new travelers and Kenshin. She told me...she told me...

"'Listen Kaoru and listen well, that man is not what you need, even when you think he is.' I told her that I did not know what she was talking about. And of course I did not, love was a new concept for me as I never experienced it before, not even a simple crush. To that my grandmother said only one thing, 'Time will tell when you fall in love him for real, but this is not real. Unfortunately to him, it will always be,'" Kaoru paused and glanced at the direction she had figured the door to be as the red head in question walked in, another book in hand.

"And what are you two discussing this lovely morning?" Kenshin asked as he settled down onto the ground next to the two other occupants, resting the book beside him. The other two did not give anything for a moment before Kaoru spoke up, her voice soft and regal.

"I was telling him about an adventure I had with a artist who wanted to paint my portrait," Kaoru said, not bothering to look at Kenshin as she rested her head in her arms. She didn't want to look him; she didn't want to talk him. She didn't want to do anything with the red head. All he brought with him was pain, and it was not something she wanted.

"Oh? Did he ever complete it?" Kenshin knew something was up, that this wasn't what they were talking about before he came into the room, but let it slide as he waited for her to continue.

"Yes, it was a lovely painting, but I could not accept it at the time. I was traveling and a painting would only hinder my movement." Kaoru was glad neither could see her face as she said that lie. The painting was...well, it wasn't what she had expected and had "accidentally" lost it in a crowd one day. More or less, she had allowed the painting to be stolen so she would never had to look upon it again. Yes, the painting was lovely, but it just scared her, this style of painting that the young man practiced.

The poor painter would've been crushed if he knew, but he had died ten years ago of an illness that had stretched across the region he had been living in. She felt sorry for him, many others greatly enjoyed his artwork and it was a shame that he had to die with out showing the world his wonderful talent.

"Is this young painter still alive?" Kurama asked, to keep the conversation going in anyway. It also kept up with the charade.

"No, he died of that outbreak ten years ago," Kaoru replied, looking at the plate of fruit with a watchful eye. Kenshin had also been eyeing it just a moment or two again. He was noticing that she wasn't eating. That wasn't good.

"Anyway," Kenshin said suddenly, startling the other two with his out burst. Both would've backed away, but neither dared to do so in front of him. "I brought you a book I thought you would enjoy." he held up the thick novel, motioning to her to come and get it. Kaoru didn't move to fetch the book, she was no one's slave. She was her own master. If he wanted an obedient vampire he should've just gone and found himself a masochist.

His eyes burned with flame as he watched her deliberately ignore him. The first week she had been there she allowed him to touch her, to feel the way her body brushed against his own; half way into the second week she would walk all the way across the room to the farthest corner from where he stood. The beginning of the third week she screamed at him for simply resting his hand on her shoulder. He felt something snap as he glanced at the food on the ground beside her once more--she wasn't eating either.

"Kurama, could you please leave us for a moment? I wish to speak to my dear for a moment in private," Kenshin hissed between clenched teeth, his fangs sharp and deadly with the fire reflecting off them. The fox moved quickly, after Kaoru nodded her head slowly in a way to show everything would be okay. The red head waited a few minuets after Kurama was gone before he started speaking again, taking deep calming breaths before he did so. "Why aren't you eating?"

"I'm not hungry," Kaoru replied, lifting her head and gazing at the fire.

"But it's very go--"

"I know, its good fruit but I don't want--need--fruit!" Her voice rose just slightly in volume, but her focus was on the fire. She did not want to look at him and he knew it. And it only made the fire in him boil even more.

"You need the nutrients. You won't survive if you don't eat something."

"Something? How about a someone instead?" Kaoru looked at him then, letting her words seek in, along with her blue eyes. She was hungry, hungry for blood. Not fruit, not any other type of food. She didn't know what Kenshin and the rest of his clan did to survive with out blood, but she wouldn't. She would get blood, one way or another.

"And how do you want me to do that, Kaoru? Travel half a day's distance to the closet town and find you some diseased infested homeless person who wants to die?"

"That would do, for starters. If only you didn't say it with out that look on your face."

Kenshin was disgusted by this; how could the sweet girl he once knew turn into such an emotionless killer? And he didn't hide the fact that he was. "You want blood? Then wait five more days, Kaoru. We here feed on the new moon, you'll just have to live with it."

"Live with it? Kenshin, I did not want to be this. I did not want to come back to you. I just want you to leave me alone!" She glared at him from where she sat, not intimidated by the furious man, or the dangerous aura he gave off. After spending years on the run traveling the world, she no longer found him scary; compared to some of the things she had seen, he was a kitten. Was then, and still is.

"Kaoru, you would have died if I hadn't intervened," Kenshin was pleading and he realized it too late. The words were already out, and Kaoru smiled in a satisfied way.

"You say you cared for me Kenshin, but if you really cared, you would have let me die in those flames like everyone else did." And with those final words, Kaoru turned from him, facing the fire fully, the plate of fruit on her lap.

Kenshin stood there, frozen. The servant told off the master. And he was in shock.

"Now, I would like to eat my...fruit, in peace." Kaoru spared him a glance over her shoulder, glaring at him with all she could. Kenshin still just stood there. Sighing, Kaoru stood, her body moving in a soft seductive way that caught some of Kenshin's attention, but the man stayed where he was.

Nearing him she pressed her palms onto his chest, and kissed him ever so softly on the lips once, twice, before deepening. This brought him out of his stupor and he proceeded to wrap his own arms around her, responding to the kiss.

They kissed for a long while, neither really cared how long they did so; only enjoying the feeling of each other's body. Kenshin wanted more, and his hand slipped from around her waist to hip, slowly moving across when pain erupted in his chest.

Kaoru had taken her chance and dug her nails of her left hand into his skin, the blood dripping down onto her hand. He hissed, his eyes saying he was ready to fight when Kaoru shoved him across the room to land rather hard on the bed, his head hitting the headboard with a crack.

Licking her hand clean she watched him look at her, blood dripping slowly from the wound in his head. "Now, you be a good boy and either stay there and rest or leave Kao-chan alone, okay baby?"

The pet name rolled off her tongue nicely and Kenshin groaned, turning his head away from her as he snuggled into the blankets. There was a soft "good boy, I'll give you a treat in a little while."

With that said, Kaoru went back to her fruit.

Well, yeah, this is the end of it all. Strange turn of events, huh? The servant outdid the master here, and Kenshin being the master is probably going to get revenge later on...don't know when though. I don't even know how long this is going to be...in fact, the only thing I know for sure is that I want to go to bed...

Before I leave, thank you MoMo-ChAn for proofreading this for me. And thank you to those who reviewed, I don't really feel like answering them at the moment. Lets just say I have an evil step mother who needs to go jump off a cliff and safe the rest of humanity from her vile existence.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter and remember to review.

Finally, before I actually leave and finish writing the next chapter, the words of my dear MoMo-ChAn:
Wow, Kaoru-chan is MEAN. Finally; you're always so mean to Kao-chan.

Life is simply wonderful .