By: O. Juice
::~::Kaoru smiled, 'Maybe Yun was right, The List might help me find Mr. Right.' ::~::
(Quick note! From now on, words that are bold and italicized are what Kaoru has written down! It all makes sense later on, promise!)
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Chapter 5
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Kaoru's brows furrowed for the hundredth time that night as she thought long and hard at that long forgotten list. So far, she barely remembered half of what she had written down many moons ago. She bit her lip as she pulled out a pen ready to write what she thought was number eight.
"What's the matter, Kaoru?" Kenshin asked as Kaoru quickly hid the tissue she had been writing on.
"Oh," She managed a sheepish smile, "it's nothing, really."
Kenshin just sent her a skeptical glance as the group around them continued with their chatter. Tokio was busy talking with Soujiro and Saitou was busy getting his wife something to drink. Misao and Aoshi were still nowhere to be found. But, for Kaoru, that was a wait well spent wracking her brain to figure out what was on The List.
'I know it had something to do with the color yellow.' Kaoru's brows only drew together and a frown began to coat her face as she continued to think.
'Was it to always wear the color yellow?' She mentally slapped herself, 'No way! I hate that color! It hurts my eyes.'
She nearly squealed with joy as the realization dawned on her. She quickly pulled out her tissue and began to scribble in number eight.
8. He'd protect me from the color yellow.
Kaoru felt a rupture of pride swell within her as she recalled that particularly tricky number. With her determination refreshed, she folded the crumpled tissue and continued to think. Just as she thought she had grasped it in her mind, Misao came skipping in, a grin on her face and Aoshi on her arm.
"Sorry we're late." Aoshi simply said. "Miss Tae wanted me to mop the floors too."
"Where's Sano? Didn't he say he'd come too?" Misao began to scan the area for the rooster-headed man.
"He said he was busy." Tokio released a sigh. "Now, should our plane crash, make sure that moocher gets nothing, all right?"
"You're too morbid, Tokio." Kenshin said with a smile.
Like a starving eagle, Kaoru's eyes instantly narrowed to observe his smile. It wasn't as a show stopper as Soujiro's trademark grin, that she concluded immediately. Kenshin had more of a simper, coy smile instead of a proud handsome one. But, much to Kaoru's surprise, she found it appealing. Kenshin's smile was endearing to her. It was handsome in the unconventional sense. It also makes you wonder, is Kenshin as ignorant as he seems to be?
"Kaoru, is there something on my face?" Kenshin turned to Kaoru who had been staring at him for quite some time.
She blinked and shook her head. "No, no. It's nothing. I just thought I saw something."
With a sheepish grin she continued to sip her drink.
'That was close, Kamiya!' Kaoru continued to mentally beat herself.
"Can we all move to the bar?" Misao pleaded as she began to tug Aoshi to the general direction of the bar. "It's so dark over here!"
Kaoru quietly pondered. It was dark at this side. Too dark to notice anything, all the more reason to move. She nodded wordlessly in agreement as everybody began to file out.
"Aren't you coming?" Tokio sent her a glance.
"Oh," Kaoru looked up from her tissue. "I will. Just give me a second. I'll meet you guys over there."
Everybody just shrugged and passed it off as a head ache, or possible just one of Kaoru's stranger moments. She had to be covert about these things, she deducted. Maybe she should tally up a score board. Kaoru's eyes lit up as she scavenged the table for more tissue, soon finding one and began to scribble down Kenshin and Soujiro's name.
'Maybe I should give points for extra things.' She silently pondered.
She grinned as she hurriedly wrote down five points under Soujiro. For his smile, of course. But how much for Kenshin's? She shrugged and scribbled down a five as well. She frowned noticing that they were tied.
'Now what?' Kaoru heaved a sigh as she followed everybody else to the bar, carrying along her drink.
It seemed like Kaoru would have them be at an eternal stand still with the way she was judging. She noticed Soujiro off by the dance floor already dragged by an enthusiastic Misao, of course. Kenshin was already situated in the bar. Kaoru grinned as she sat next to Kenshin, hoping one of them could tip the scales a little bit.
"How's class going, Kenshin?" Kaoru asked casually as she sat on the stool next to him.
Kenshin sent her a glance along with a small smile. "It's the same old, I suppose."
Kaoru frowned, if Kenshin was going to give her abrupt answers, she might as well give extra points for Soujiro right now. But, Kaoru sucked in a breath; she couldn't give up on Kenshin. They've known each other too long for Kaoru to give up on him.
"I haven't seen you in a while, have you been busy?" She asked, taking another sip of her drink.
Kenshin nodded, "Yeah, Shishou's been really demanding lately, that he has. Just the other day he made me run his errands because he was too busy drinking his sake."
Kaoru gave Kenshin a sympathetic smile as he continued. "How about you, Kaoru? Has Megumi-dono been hard on you lately?"
Kaoru's shoulders slumped a little just at the mention of work. She worked in the local clinic under the keen supervising and critical eye of Megumi Takani. Nothing Kaoru would do seemed right, even the smallest of things looked so very wrong to her boss.
"It's been the same." Kaoru's smile waved a little. "But I've learned to steer clear of her when she comes around."
"You can't run away from your problems forever, that you can't." He reminded with a smile as he took a sip of his drink.
Kaoru released a sigh, wordlessly nodding in agreement.
"Would you like to dance, Kaoru?" Kenshin stood and offered a hand to the startled Kaoru.
"Dance?" She blinked then took his hand, "Sure thing!"
::~::
About four songs later, Kenshin was winning by three points. But none of them seemed to be steering in the general direction of even one of the numbers on the list, which Kaoru had agreed was worth ten points. Just as the fifth song had started, Kaoru felt the throbbing ache only her new shoes could inflict upon her.
"I'm going to go sit down!" Kaoru yelled over the pulsating music to Kenshin who just nodded.
Kaoru weaved through the people and eventually landed on to where the bar was, not noticing two eyes watching her every move. She just sat down, a new drink in hand watching all her friends dance around resembling retarded carrots. Kaoru would laugh aloud once in a while when Kenshin would hit some random person with his strange moves. She glanced at Soujiro who seemed fine on his own and quickly jotted down a point for him.
'They seem to be having a lot of fun without me.' Kaoru strained at the thought as two terribly gorgeous women started to dance with Kenshin and Soujiro.
With one last wave at Tokio who was having a ball, she turned her attention to the bartender to possibly ask for another drink.
"Is that you, Kaoru?!" A foreign male voice said with a guffaw.
With furrowed brows, she turned to face the tall, silver-haired man with the small shades and the big grin.
'He looks so familiar...' Kaoru tried desperately to remember how she knew this man who was standing in front of her.
"Not the scraggly Kamiya girl anymore, eh?" He laughed as he came over with his beer.
"What?" Kaoru seemed to snap armed and ready to slap the man for calling her scraggly.
"Don't you remember me?" The man said with a slight frown.
"No, I'm sorry." Kaoru sent the man a sympathetic smile.
The next words that came out of his mouth nearly sent Kaoru passed out on the floor at the unexpected reunion. Her eyes grew large and the grip on her drink grew lax as she honestly believed her past was coming to haunt her.
"It's me! Enishi Yukishiro from high school!"
Her mind began to stumble with all the possible curses she knew in all the languages she could think of and others that she made her. Suddenly, what she had thought to be issues of the past, that is the sudden inferiority complex she had mysteriously acquired, had swiftly become issues of the present.
"Oh." Kaoru said with a wavering voice.
'What's wrong with you, Kaoru?! I thought you were over this! Her mind screamed at her as she scratched for a way out of this, 'Didn't you dream of a million ways to tell him off and a hundred moves to render him in pain for weeks? Where are they now? It was in the past, Kaoru! Suck it up!'
But then, an unwanted thought lingered in her head like a fly that won't exactly buzz off.
'History tends to repeat itself.' A resounding notion seemed to push past all her staggering thoughts.
"It seems I got tired too, Kaoru, that I have." Kenshin came over, worry and apprehension in his voice.
"Kenshin? It's been five years!" Enishi continued, pretending to forget that had broken Kaoru's heart with the force to break a hundred way back when.
"Enishi?" Kenshin blinked in surprise, then his calm amethyst eyes flickered amber for a moment. "I think you should leave us alone, that you should."
"How come? I want to catch up!" Enishi's grin didn't waver as he took another swig at his beer.
"If you hadn't done what you did, I might actually be happy to see you." Kenshin's eyes narrowed at him as he stood between Kaoru and Enishi.
"That was a long time ago! Besides, I paid for that dent I put, didn't I?" He said with a laugh.
Kaoru's eye twitched in annoyance, and her sadness suddenly turned into anger. Did he just so happen to forget that he had ended a four year relationship because of the new girl? Or maybe, Kaoru's mind hoped, it was something he had to put in the back of his mind because the guilt was eating him up alive. Kaoru hoped it was the latter.
Kenshin shook his head, "It isn't that. Besides, even it was, it wouldn't bother me half as much as this bothers me now."
Enishi stopped to think of anything he had done to make Kenshin even remotely mad. Then his eyes lit up.
"Oh! It's because of that, huh?" He said no grin this time. He then leaned on the bar counter to be able to see Kaoru. "You still aren't over it, are you, Kaoru?" He laughed, "I didn't think I was that memorable."
Kaoru could feel the anger Kenshin emitted, and she was willing to bet he could feel hers. Kenshin seemed to snap as his eyes flickered amber some more.
"Are you really that full of yourself?" He snapped, causing Enishi to glance up at him. "She's over that already; she was over you a very long time ago! But you know, I still think she deserves a little revenge after all this time."
Kaoru sucked in a deep breath as she stood up and reached for Kenshin's shoulder. "Kenshin, just let it go, please? I'm just shocked to see him, that's all."
Her sudden touch seemed to cool the anger Kenshin had as he turned to her, "Are you sure?"
Kaoru nodded with a smile. "I'm going to go home, if that's okay."
"Aw," Enishi started up again, "It's that sweet?" He laughed. "You know, Kaoru, you won't ever find a guy half as good as I am because they'd be crazy to even consider you. You're lucky you got to go out with me when I was too stupid and too blind to see that you're nothing special."
Kaoru wanted to scratch his eyes out, or even smash his beer bottle over his head. Kenshin wanted to punch him square in the face to wipe that silly grin off, but somebody else did that before Kenshin could even utter a single threat.
Kaoru gasped as she suddenly saw the tall man fumble backward, his lip already split open. She looked at Kenshin who seemed surprised as well. For a moment, Kaoru wondered if she was really telekinetic and did that to him without touching him. But then, she glanced to the side at the man who was also fuming with anger and had a fisted hand to prove it.
Kaoru blinked, "Soujiro?"
::~::
Disclaimer: I do not own Rurouni Kenshin!
Author's Notes: ;_; My internet was funky so I wasn't able to update as soon as I finished. One minute, I'm online, the next, I'm not. It's really annoying. I was itching to post up this chapter ages ago! My computer just has all sorts of problems, it seems. -_-; It's kind of a short chapter, and I know you guys probably want to know what happens next... but you'd just have to wait! ^_^ Don't worry though, I won't develop a case of writers block and not update for a millennia or two. I intend to finish this story! School is slowly creeping up on me! Ah! But my goal is to put up one more chapter before school starts. So, the next one will hopefully be up before August 25th! *crosses fingers*
I know Soujiro was almost non-existent this chapter, but I felt that Kenshin needed to come back a little. ^_^
I also know that Enishi might have come out as OOC, but please bear with me. I haven't seen any episodes with him in it, only in the Samurai X Reflections movie, and I desperately needed a villain. If you're really ticked about it, blame the beer he was drinking. -_-;
I've got some bad news for those who want an S/K fic... This is going to be a K/K fic, but there are going to be gobs of S/K moments up ahead! I hope that'll be good enough for all of the S/K fans out there! ^_^
A big thank you to those who have reviewed!
donna8157 (Thanks for your review! I'm super glad you like my story!)
chibi (-_-; Sorry, but this is a K/K fic... but there's going to be tons of S/K moments up ahead! I hope that's going to be enough! Thanks for your review!)
INU INU (^_^ I'm glad you like Aoshi in my fic! Thanks for your review! And, er, this is going to be a K/K fic. But as I said before, there's going to be gobs of S/K moments up ahead!)
Moonlight ladies (Thanks for your review! I really appreciate it!)
ANAme-chan (Tee-hee! I'm glad you love the story! Thanks for your review!)
***** / Phoenix//08 (I'm assuming this is the same person... but if it's not, then my apologies! Thanks for your reviews! And there's going to be more S/K scenes up ahead! I hope that'd be enough.)
Kaoru-dono Himura (I'm glad you like the story! Thank you so much for your review!)
Ducki1 (Thanks for sticking around! I really do appreciate it! Thank you for your review!)
Kyoku-Ryu-Akurei (Lol. I love Kenshin too! Thanks for your review!)
x_soukaoken_x (-_-; It has been a long time. And yup, at least I was able to update! Thanks for your review!)
Sora Himura (I agree! How could Kaoru do that! Lol. But I suppose only I know the answer, right? I'm glad you like the story! Thank you for your review!)
Kitaru (Ah, I feel bad for Kenshin too, and I realized I was kind of leaving him out so Soujiro would look good. This is a chapter with next to no Soujiro and more Kenshin. ^_^ I hope it evens it out. Thank you for your review!)
Sanoshi (AH! CEY! Haha. Sorry I couldn't go to the mall with you. -_-; I'm super duper happy that you like how this is comming out. But you already know what happens next, right? =P Thanks a million for your review!!)
Serenity59 (;_; Ok, ok. I posted it up now. I hope you like how it turned out. Thanks for your review and for the needed kick in the head to get me typing up faster! Hehe. ^_^)
Review!