By: O. Juice
::~::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?" ::~::
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Chapter 6
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Kaoru blinked several times before comprehending what had happened. She snuggled in her sheets a little more, as the detergent scent of her fresh pajamas reminded her of Kenshin. She was told to go back home when Misao and Tokio had come into the scene.
Kaoru wasn't that broken up over what Enishi had told her. But some of his words had cut very deep. She knew very well not to take to heart what lies he had said, but what if it was true? What if she really isn't that special to anybody? Kaoru shook her head and rubbed her eyes.
'Of course it isn't true!' She frowned at herself.
But she couldn't just shake it off no matter how many people would tell her otherwise. If it wasn't true, Kaoru concluded, then wouldn't she be married like Tokio? Wouldn't she be planning surprise romantic weekend getaways? But most importantly, if she really was indeed special, why did seeing Enishi again, the scum who had broken her heart, make her so sad?
"Kaoru?" Misao knocked as she came into the room with a pint of ice cream. She grinned as she handed her a spoon, "Aoshi snuck some for us from the Akabeko."
Kaoru only managed a faulty smile since all these thoughts seemed to weigh her down.
"Come on, don't even think what that jerk said is true!" Misao began scold.
"I know. It just reminded me of things, that's all." Kaoru shrugged as she made room for Misao on her bed.
"That was a good punch Soujiro did, don't you think?" Misao teased with a giggle. "Who knew my scrawny cousin could do so much damage?"
Kaoru began to eat, "But I wished I was able to at least kick him."
"You know, Kenshin looked like he was about to kill him." Misao hinted as she took a spoon full of ice cream.
"I'm sure he would have been able to, too. But what was that you said about Kenshin before we left to go to the bar?" Kaoru reminded her.
"Oh!" Misao's eyes lit up. "He told me, quite seriously too, and he wasn't drunk or under the influence or some kind of drug, that he--"
Just then, the door bell had rung cutting Misao off for what seemed to be the millionth time. Misao sighed and promised she'd be back as she headed for the door.
'Something tells me that somebody doesn't want me to know.' Kaoru sighed as she continued to eat the ice cream.
"Kenshin!" Misao said in a surprised tone.
"Is she sleeping already?" Kenshin began quietly.
She shook her head, "Nope. We're eating ice cream. You're welcome to join."
"No, that's all right. Tell her I came by." Kenshin smiled, "I'll just come see her tomorrow, that I will."
Misao nodded. "Okay then, I'll tell her."
Then the door closed, and just as Misao had stepped one foot in Kaoru's room, the door bell had rung again. With a shrug she headed back to the door.
"Hey," Soujiro greeted solemnly as he made his way in the apartment. "Is she all right?"
Misao nodded. "Of course she is. We're just eating some ice cream."
"That's good to hear." Soujiro said then stopped abruptly. "Do you think I can talk to her? Will she be all right with it?"
Misao didn't reply for a moment or two as she studied his face but then shrugged and pointed to Kaoru's room.
"Oh, all right." She said in a deflated tone.
Soujiro smiled, "Thanks."
Upon hearing that Soujiro would be coming in, she began to clean and hide all the embarrassing things she hadn't quite put away yet. Just as she had shut the closet door, there was a knock on her door, and then Soujiro came in with a smile.
'I think he's winning.' Kaoru thought as all her worries seemed to melt away.
"I'm getting tired." Misao said with a yawn as she snatched the ice cream back. "G'nite! And Kenshin said he'll be coming by tomorrow."
And with that, she left, closing the door behind her.
Kaoru smiled as she sat on her bed, "Do you need something?"
"Not really," Soujiro confessed. "I was just checking up on you."
He said down next to her as Kaoru nervously fidgeted. "Oh? Thanks, but I'm fine now."
"Are you sure?" Soujiro wrapped an arm around her shoulders and gave it a reassuring squeeze.
"Yeah," Kaoru couldn't help but smile uncontrollably as she rested her head on his shoulder.
It was pure bliss as they fell asleep like that.
::~::
Kaoru woke up; surprised to see Soujiro still beside her with his arm around her like it was last night. His shoes were kicked off, and the top buttons of his shirt undone. Her head lay comfortably on him as she listened to the soft snores he emitted.
She heard the shuffling of feet outside, thinking it was just Misao getting ready for class, she ignored it. Then, the doors opened, and there stood Kenshin. Kaoru froze, unable to move as her eyes grew large. A flash of deep hurt and pain struck him for a moment before washing into an expression of regret.
"Oro!" Kenshin quickly said as he closed the door before Kaoru could even react.
"Kenshin!" She called out, struggling to get up as Soujiro stirred in the process.
Just as she stumbled to put on her slippers, she was already out of her room, praying to Kami that Kenshin was still here.
"Kenshin! Wait!" Kaoru called out as Kenshin stopped mid way from closing the door behind him.
"Is there something you need, Kaoru?" His head peeked in, "It seems I have come at a bad time, that I have."
"No, no. It's fine. Soujiro just came by last night and we fell asleep like that. Nothing happened, I swear it." She explained as she made her way to Kenshin.
His brows were slightly drawn together in slight confusion as she answered. "You don't have to explain, that you don't. It isn't any of my business."
Kenshin tried to say it in a way where Kaoru wouldn't be even the least bit hurt by it, but it still stung to her. Even if he had managed to use his warmest and gentlest tone anybody could ever possibly muster, to Kaoru, it would still feel like ten million arrows piercing through her heart.
Her features softened a little as she tried to make sense of what he meant but before she could say anything, he cut her off with a small smile, "I'll see you later at Art Class, right?"
Kaoru forced a grin, but it only came out as a strangled smile, "You bet."
As he closed the door, Kaoru couldn't help but feel her heart sink lower and lower into the dark abyss it sinks into. Her strangled smile quickly turned upside down into a heavy frown.
'If Soujiro was honestly winning, why do I feel so bad?' Kaoru sighed as she made her way back to her room.
::~::
Kaoru sat down quietly in Art Class, waiting patiently for Kenshin to arrive and make her feel a little bit better because of what had happened this morning. Soujiro, a few minutes after Kenshin came by, finally woke up and headed back to his own place. He left Kaoru quite confused with a kiss to her cheek. What was she supposed to do with that?
She looked at the many interesting and unique items that adorned the professor's many takes and thought of which one she should draw when she had felt a soft tap on her shoulder.
"Oh, hi, Kenshin!" Kaoru grinned, moving one chair down for him.
"Are you feeling better now, Kaoru?" Kenshin asked as he sat down next to her.
"Yeah, thanks." She answered with a smile as she took her newly sharpened pencil.
There was an awkward pause. This was highly unlikely between the two since they've known each other for quite a while. Kaoru scratched through her mind to think of something to fill in the growing silence gap between them.
'I've got it!' She inwardly beamed, remembering that they usually go out for food after class.
"So," Kaoru began with a smile, "where do you want to go after class?"
"I was thinking we could just work on our project. It's due next week, that it is." Kenshin said with a smile.
"It is?" Kaoru's eyes seemed to widen, she was so preoccupied with thinking of The List and with all of the past events she hadn't been studying very hard lately.
Kenshin nodded with a slight laugh. "You can come over to work on it, if you want. If you need a canvas I have an extra one, that I do."
Kaoru smiled, and thanked Kenshin.
::~::
Kaoru was never really an artist, and neither was Kenshin, but they did have lots of coloring materials. From crayons to markers, Kenshin's once neat and tidy living room looked like an artist's studio. The only thing missing now was the artist. Kenshin frowned heavily as he erased his work over and over again, claiming that it was impossible to create the perfect circle without assistance.
Kaoru, on the other hand, was almost done and just needed to paint in a few things. She scavenged bin after bin looking for her colors. Just as she was about to turn over the crayon bin, she turned to Kenshin with a helpless sigh.
"Kenshin, don't you have any yellow?" She frowned, "At all?"
He looked at her, bewildered and confused before going back to drawing his circle. "You told me a while back that the color made your head ache, so I tossed it all."
As Kaoru pondered on what Kenshin had just told her, the realization dawned on her like a heavenly ray of light in the middle of a moonless night. Kenshin had just hit one of the numbers on The List.
::~::
Disclaimer: I do not own Rurouni Kenshin!
Author's Notes: Dun, dun, dun! Haha, looks like somebody finally hit a number on the list! Well, I hope you liked this chapter. It made my head hurt a few times, but I think it came out all right. Gah! For some unknown reason, this was the hardest chapter for me to write! Maybe it's because I keep thinking about school! It's tomorrow, Monday. My updates would be far apart again! -_-; Oh well. And I know you guys probably wanted to know what happened right after the punch, maybe I'll put it as an extra thing in future chapters. While I started to write it, my head began to ache so I just followed what was in my draft... Chapter seven coming out soon, hopefully!
Many thanks to those who have reviewed!
Sasami9876 (Lol. Drat! I made a mistake and I was hoping nobody would have caught it, but you seemed to notice. Haha. No, Kenshin doesn't work for Shishio, he works for Hiko. I have no idea why I put that there, I was probably tired. Oh well. I'm glad you like my story! Thank you for your review!)
SilverLightning177 (Really?? Wow, I never thought this could happen in real life! I'm glad that you're rooting for Kenshin and that you like my story! Thanks so much for your review!)
thunder sister (I'm sorry! No more cliffhangers! ...I think. *grin* But I didn't leave you hanging for too long, did I? Lol, I AM a complex type! Haha. Thanks for your review!)
Califpinay3001 (Lol, yeah, go Soujiro! Thanks so much for your review!)
l3al3yanime (Oh, I know, he is super mean. I hope this is quick enough for you! Thanks so much for your review!)
bob (Hm, I'm still trying to figure out what you mean... but I'll get it eventually! I can get really slow sometimes. Thanks so much for your review and the encouragement!)
gracianeko (Lol, wow, I think you may be the first person to try to analyze my story! Hm, that's a good try! And it sounds totally believeable! But I hope it makes much more sense now. Thanks so much for your review! I'm glad you like the story!)
x_soukaoken_x (You know, I was thinking of picking up right after the punch, but that totally would have made this appear slower. I hope it's fine if I just cut to Kaoru back at home. Thanks for your review!)
seri-chan (Lol, I'm glad you like the way he is in my fic! I got Enishi pretty close? Really? Wow, that's a lucky shot! Lol. And unfortunately, the test doesn't exist. -_-; If I find something remotely like it, you'll be the first to know! Thanks for your review!)
SoujiroSeta_doris (Hm, I don't know why I'm not making this into a S/K, to be honest. Maybe because I'm already too far into it to change my mind? Hm. But maybe one day I'll write a whole other story just for everybody askin' for a S/K fic. Aw, shucks, it looks like you just reminded everybody about Sano! He'll be popping up in the next chapter since he seems to have dropped off the face of my story. I'll see if I can squeeze Sayo in there too. Thanks so much for your review!)
Review!