Disclaimer: Erm…not feeling too original today. I don't own Rurouni Kenshin. (Wow….that was easier than I thought. Maybe I don't have to be all sneaky and ….okay…shutting up now….)
-a rurouni kenshin fanfic-
Previously…
Midori addressed him with another quick nod, then leapt to her feet and scuffed away down the worn dirt path. Master Genzai looked at Ayame and Suzume with another slightly stronger smile. He studied the clearing that they occupied, noticing the near invisible wooden markers of several graves almost immediately. Somehow, he felt no malicious energy here.
"It's so peaceful here…"
Chapter 6:
Hitting Moles; Troubles That Pop Up Just Like Daisies
Kenshin stepped into the Akabeko. Never before, had he been filled with such purpose, been so solely focused upon one goal. All night, the young man had not been able to sleep, so pressing, this purpose. He could feel the waves of direction around him, all leading to that single target.
Kaoru.
He narrowed his eyes, and stepped forth. The room grew quiet. Kaoru turned and watched him curiously, slight apprehension within her orbs.
"Kenshin…" Kenshin's eyes glowed with an eerie blue. There was no need to acknowledge her acknowledgment.
"Why are you here four a.m. in the morning?"
"…oro…?"
"Come on out to the back and we'll talk. The Akabeko staff's up and about pretty early anyways to prepare for a busy day ahead, so you're of no bother to me!" Kaoru grinned widely as she led Kenshin to the courtyard behind Akabeko. Kenshin sheepishly winced. I am such an idiot…
"Himura? What did you want to talk about?" Kaoru's wide blue eyes focused on Kenshin's, every possible emotion easily transparent within them. Kenshin stared hard into her eyes, a grim look crossing his face.
"You were acting yesterday," he accused bluntly. Kaoru, surprisingly, merely lifted an eyebrow.
"What did you expect me to do?" she shot back, now on the defensive upon realizing the topic Kenshin wished to discuss. "Go 'Oh no, a guy saw me undressed! I'm not going to do anything about it since I'm a girl!'?" She mimiced in a high falsetto. Kenshin just glared at her.
"You know what I mean, Kamiya. Why are you helping Cobra?"
"Cobra?! Why would I help him?!" Kaoru exclaimed with disgust. "That horrid man has killed so many people! I've got my Kamiya Kasshin Ryu ideals here thanky you very much!" To further her point, Kaoru had produced her wooden sword seemingly out of nowhere, jabbing it a forcefully at Kenshin. The receiving end of the hard jabs narrowed his eyes until they were but malicious slits.
"Don't lie, Kamiya. Everything was intentionally performed to drive me away from Cobra. Now I want answers." Kenshin was near to drawing his sword, but he kept his right hand firmly clenched at his right side. The small part of his mind still unclouded by anger wondered why he was so easily provoked. Something about her countenance just seemed to tick him off, reminding him of a mosquito that he knew was there but couldn't see.
"Kaoru! We're going to open soon! You know some of our early regulars come by soon!" Tae's light voice rang out behind the Akabeko, filling the spacious backyard that Kenshin and Kaoru occupied.
"Okeday, Tae-san! I'll be right there!" Kaoru yelled back cheerfully. She turned to Kenshin and smiled gaily, bouncy strands of dark hair framing her round face
"I'm sorry, Himura-san. I have to go work now. Maybe we can talk later!" With that, Kaoru whirled around with a falsely joyful swing of her ponytail and turned to go. A firm grip on her wrist prevented her exit.
"Don't go," Kenshin said quietly, regretful of the harsh tone he had taken to earlier. "Please, I would really appreciate if you could help me track down Cobra. Your ki is one of a good person. I don't think your motives are similar to Cobra's, and you can help me." He forced these words from his mouth, being never one for pleading. But no one else he's talked to even seem to be able to gather their wits for a coherent sentence upon the mentioning of Cobra's name, nevertheless to tell him of information that he needed.
Kaoru said nothing, still facing away from Kenshin. She simply leaned away from him, his grip the only thing keeping her from falling forward. Just as the redhead was about to release her wrist, Kaoru finally replied.
"The person that is Cobra was the one that killed my father," she whispered. Kenshin watched as the back of her head dipped down a small fraction.
"I can't possibly defeat him by ways of combat, but I intend to bring him down by other means. Cobra has his own motives, and I have mine, and as do you." Suddenly, her muscles tensed up, anger fueling the energy that had been absent shortly before. She whirled to face him, her face now vividly defiant.
"I fully intend to bring him down and no one can stop me!" she growled, wrenching her wrist from Kenshin's grasp to proudly point down the sky, the other hand at her waist.
"It's noble that you're willing to face Cobra just for his violations of the moral code, but it's personal for me. It's something I have to do by myself," Kaoru continued. "I cannot help you. If you want to wallow further in this mess, however, I can't stop you." Her dark blue eyes pinned him with a challenge. Kenshin nodded lightly, understanding her reasons.
"I understand, Kaoru-san. May the best man succeed." The two sword weilders grinned at each other and informally bowed with a quick dip of their heads to seal the unspoken agreement.
"KAORU!!! YOU DO REALIZE IT'S SATURDAY?!!!!" came Tae's angry voice, echoing with eerie freakiness.
"Eek! I forgot all about that!" Kaoru squeaked. Kenshin blinked at her. "Saturday is always the busiest day of the week!" She grabbed Kenshin's hand and dragged him back into the Akabeko.
"Tae won't be so mad if you volunteered to help!" Kaoru told the redhead with no room for disagreement.
"Oro!"
"Phew! My calves are so sore now!" Kaoru blew her bangs out of her eyes as she plopped into an empty chair and massaged her worn muscles. Kenshin sat across from her with a little more grace, through the limp red bangs that stuck to his sweaty forehead belied the morning's exertions. He had never realized just what kind of work went into the restaurant.
From about four in the morning, preparations in the kitchens began for the different dishes so upon order they could be served with speed once ordered. The eating level was scoured from top to bottom to clean up yesterday's mess, and then the staff ate a quick breakfast in the kitchen before customers and boarders poured into the area for food. From then on, everyone was keep running in endless circles to service the customers. Finally, after lunch, with the boarders old and new were settled and the townspeople lazing about outside, there was a blessed lull in traffic. No wonder everyone in the Akabeko staff were all in such good shape.
Kaoru set a large cup of cool tea in front of Kenshin as she poured her own. She greedily downed hers in a few gulps and then turned to see Kenshin studying her.
"What?! I'm thirsty!" Kaoru exclaimed. Kenshin stared at her some more before shaking his head and taking a sip of his tea.
"Never mind, it's nothing important," he dismissed. After all, he could hardly tell her the truth. Still, even as he looked away, Kenshin couldn't stop marveling at how Kaoru managed to look cute despite being sweaty and tired, her hair a complete mess and cheeks smudged with soot and dirty.
It's the eyes, he finally decided. Her beautiful sapphire eyes glowed with the satisfaction of a good day's work, sparkling from the exhilaration of life she found in every simple little thing that day. Earlier, her exotic blues had even glowed like gems when a small child gave her a weed, wilted from being grasped in chubby hands too long.
"Kenshin, tell me," Kaoru persisted, reaching over the table they sat at to tug annoyingly at a lock of Kenshin's hair. Feeling cornered, Kenshin mentioned the first thing that came to his mind.
"I was just wondering, why did you never go in the kitchen to help cook?" Kaoru's eyebrow twitched, the hand around Kenshin's bangs tightening until he yelped in pain.
"I can't cook to save my own life," she finally gritted out, ignoring the redhead's frantic attempts to pry open her grip on his sensitive roots. Upon finally realizing that she was hurting the small swordsman, Kaoru immediately released him to apologize profusely.
"It's true," Kaoru continued as she let her arms give out to set her chin on the table in front of her. "I even manage to burn the soup that Tsubame learned to make when she was 6. Tea and juo [wine] are about the only things I can make safely."
"Nobody's perfect," Kenshin assured her. "If everyone was as good a cook as Tae-san, then what is the use for restaurants?" Kaoru looked at him for a few moments. Then she burst into a full laughter, her ponytail bouncing gaily as the sound came unrestrained.
"That," she said as her eyes twinkled merrily, "is one that I haven't heard before." Kenshin's pale cheeks colored, as he had a sneaky suspicion that he was the butt of a joke that he didn't get.
"Heard what?" Kenshin grumbled. But he couldn't keep off the small smile that graced his on face. Good humor, after all, was contagious.
--
Tae grinned as she watched her employee and her redheaded friend from behind then check-in counter near the entrance. It was about time that Kaoru befriended a nice boy her age; she was a healthy 17-year-old now, and a beautiful one at that. Kenshin had been with her ever since the very break of dawn, even helping out for the day at the busy restaurant inn. The two had quickly become friends, by the time afternoon had rolled around, Kaoru was joking and laughing with him like any other of her staff friends at the Akabeko.
Heh heh heh heh heh…. Tae cackled silently, a strange glint appearing in her browneyes. This was going to be interesting… She quickly wiped her smirk off her face and turned back to her paperwork when she saw Kaoru glance at her direction. When she was sure Kaoru was no longer looking in her direction, Tae focused again on the pair through the corner of her eyes.
Hm…they're sitting across from each other, so I can't tell if their legs are crossed towards or away…arms are crossed…that's a good thing…Himura-san is leaning towards Kaoru-chan…
"Excuse me?"
"Wha-?" Tae jumped, knocking stacks of paper askew when she flailed reflexively in surprise. She fumbled and managed to keep them from falling far, breathing a small sigh of relief despite her haphazard position sprawled over the tall counter. A pair of serious silver eyes stared up at her.
"Excuse me, ma'm," the serious little boy began again. "I have a message for Kamiya-san." Tae stared at him. The little boy couldn't have been more than 6, yet he held himself with the countenance of a stately noble well into his years.
"Would you be so kind as to give this to Kamiya-san?" he asked, holding out a letter into front of Tae's face. She blinked, then turned on her hostess smile full force as she took the letter.
"Of course! Shall I tell her who it's from?" The little boy suddenly grinned widely, now looking like a properly innocent 6-year-old with his strange silver eyes hidden by his smile.
"It's from Auntie Naoko! Thank you, Onna-san!" he chirped in a high voice.
"Bye-bye!" the little boy called over his shoulder as he turned and disappeared into the crowd. Tae just stared.
"Tae-san? Are you all right?" Kaoru walked over to Tae's said from her place at the table. She worriedly shook Tae's shoulder. Tae blinked, then shook her head.
"Kaoru-chan, I'm fine! I just have a message for you, delivered by a strange little boy with gray eyes, and he said it was from 'Auntie Naoko'," Tae rattled off, curiosity in her eyes as she studied Kaoru for a clue on just who these people were.
"Auntie Naoko?!" Kaoru squealed as she grabbed the letter from Tae's hand and jumped about with false glee. "It's been such a while since the last time she wrote. I wonder how she's doing!"
"Naoko-chan's my father's baby sister, only eight years older than me," Kaoru offered as an explanation as she ripped open the letter. Tae seemed satisfied with this story, as she clapped her hands happily for Kaoru.
"Kenshin can cover for you for a little while you read your letter! I'm sure you have plenty to catch up on!" Tae grinned as she skipped away and grabbed poor Kenshin by the arm.
"Let's see how you are in the kitchen, Himura-san!" she chirped as she dragged the Oro-ing Kenshin away. Kenshin watched Kaoru unfold a single piece of paper by the doorway as he was led stumbling away by Tae's forceful direction, his "Oro"s hiding his true mood. His long red bangs hid the frown that marred his face.
Kaoru had turned deathly pale.
-end chapter 6-
AN:
-Just a nice little chapter that illustrates the beginnings of Kenshin's and Kaoru's relationship.