By: O. Juice
::~::'Did Kenshin's walk seem a little faster than usual?' She frowned as she saw no sight of her red-haired best friend who had just left a few moments before them. ::~::
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Chapter 8
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Kaoru was bewildered. Shouldn't she be paying attention to Soujiro, the person she thought she had feelings for, like a starving hyena would to an ignorant, helpless animal? But why was couldn't her mind seem to focus clearly? It always seemed to rewind to other things involving Kenshin. From the time they were little children taunting each other to stay on their side of the sand box to seeing Kenshin only an hour ago, the scenes replayed in her mind with vivid details.
'Is this really just an infatuation?' Kaoru thought to herself, ignoring the observing Soujiro before her.
"Are you all right, Kaoru?" Soujiro spoke up, cutting through her thoughts like a machete.
Startled, Kaoru only nodded as she scratched for an excuse. "Oh, yes, I'm fine. I'm just tired, that's all."
But before she knew it, her smile turned weary and tired, and her eyes fixed itself on a distant object once more. Her mind couldn't seem to unstick itself from Kenshin, his hair, his eyes, and everything else about him.
Her eyes slightly widened as a thought had struck her like a bolt of lightning: had she fallen in love with Kenshin?
::~::
Kaoru rubbed her eyes as she let out a long yawn. She promised Soujiro a rain check since her mind was so occupied with thoughts of her best friend. New, strange thoughts she needed time for to analyze, she concluded before the night was over. And so far, all that thinking got her a migraine and yet another long day at work.
"Kaoru, go home." Riyo urged as she handed the tired woman a cup of coffee. "You've been here since six! I'm sure we can handle it from here."
Kaoru only shook her head as she continued to read through patient files and checked through test results she had received that day. The last thing she needed was a break, or a long walk home for that matter, to think some more about Kenshin.
Riyo sighed, "Suit your self. But all this work will still be here tomorrow, you know. It won't get up and run away from you."
"I know, I know," Kaoru said as she took a sip of the hot coffee, "but I've got to just do this."
The older woman shrugged as she left Kaoru to her own devices with one last "suit yourself" before leaving. Now alone in a dim room, Kaoru leaned back on her squeaky chair and closed her strained eyes for a moment.
"Kaoru-dono?" She could faintly hear a familiar voice say along with a soft knock.
Her eyes opened with a jolt as she turned to the door and saw Kenshin standing there with a smile on his face and two cups of coffee in his hands.
"I thought you could use something hot to drink, that I did." His smile wavered slightly noticing her hands already wound around a steamy cup.
"Thank you, Kenshin." She said as she got up and began to tidy the desk she sat at. "What are you doing here? You really didn't have to..."
Her voice trailed off as she glanced his way and found no Kenshin standing there, but instead, a very worried Megumi.
'I could have sworn...' Kaoru rubbed her eyes again only to be hit with the reality that Kenshin was never there to begin with. 'Ah, you're going crazy, Kaoru.'
"You should go home." She said flatly. "I'll do this work. Go home and rest."
For once, the stubborn Kamiya girl nodded in agreement.
::~::
If it weren't for proven scientific facts, people would have guessed that there were dinosaurs in front of apartment twenty-seven. But Kaoru's threats and attacks at the scratched up door did not seem to faze its brave tenant. One might even think the tenant was far too afraid of facing the one-woman army that is Kaoru Kamiya.
"Kenshin!" Kaoru huffed, "We are going to be late! We were supposed to be at the Akabeko an hour ago! Tokio is going to have a whole set of cows and a goat if we don't get there before their flight to France leaves!"
Through her screams and threat of blowing the door down, she could hear the faint patter of feet on the other side of the door. Just before Kaoru could deal the final blow before the hinges of the door fly off, Kenshin appeared clad only in a towel.
"Kenshin, I told you to--"
"I'm so sorry, Kaoru-dono, that I am. The shower broke and I had just come home from a particularly messy job at Hiko's. I promise I will be ready in five minutes, that I will." Kenshin began to frantically calm the angry woman down.
Kaoru's face grew hot and red as she noted the chiseled body Kenshin was so humble and shy about during the instances when they all went swimming. She shook off whatever thoughts she was so secretly keeping upon noticing Kenshin's worried expression.
"Are you all right, Kaoru?" Kenshin placed a hand on her shoulder, "Maybe you should sit down. All that yelling probably used up a lot of your energy, that it did."
Kaoru huffed once more, tearing her eyes away from Kenshin's damp chest and stomped her way inside.
"Hurry and get dressed, Kenshin!" Kaoru began to wail once more as she glanced at her watch. "We might make it in time if we hurry."
"I'll be out as quick as I can, that I will." Kenshin said before leaving Kaoru to wander about his living room.
With a sigh Kaoru shook her head at the particularly neat and tidy space Kenshin works so hard to keep clean. If it weren't for the fact that Kenshin had a hot cup of coffee brewing, she would have been able to smell the scent of Kenshin's detergent. She softly smiled to herself, sniffing the cuffs of her sweater that still smelled of Kenshin.
Her eyes wandered from magazine to magazine of cars and random things Kenshin was vaguely interested in until she landed on a set of picture frames by the window. There were quite a few of them alone and sometimes with some of their friends or his relatives. She picked up random frames until her attention eventually landed on a particularly ugly frame.
The picture itself looked proper and well cared for, Kaoru would expect no less from Kenshin, but the frame looked like it had survived far too many winters to count. It was made of mangled macaroni and falling pieces of glitter and random buttons. Kaoru smiled, remembering the story behind this shamefully ugly frame.
It was a slightly rainy February, but the young hyperactive Kaoru ignored her mother's protest for her to stay inside should the rain worsen. But she had worked far too hard and used up far too much of her favorite glitter to let all her hard work go down the drain. She had to get to Kenshin before the day was up because today was, after all, Valentine's Day.
She ran to the park where Kenshin would usually be meditating, or so he says, and even at times building an intricate castle out of sand in the sandbox they have claimed for their own many years before. And like the reliable sunrise and the sunset, Kenshin was sitting by the swings with half a bar of chocolate.
"I'm sorry I'm late, Kenshin!" She puffed as she gasped for air.
Kenshin instantly stood up to help his best friend as he shook his head, "It's all right, Kaoru-dono. But we can't stay out too long, that we can't. Uncle says it's going to rain."
The two carefully maneuvered through forgotten toys on the playground as they made their way to the sandbox for their special Valentine's Day snack. They had been curious about the holiday all their lives because of the delicious candies adorned with hearts and angels they sometimes find lying around the house. Whatever holiday it was that had something to do with candy and presents, the two concluded many months before, was something they absolutely had to celebrate as well.
Kenshin pulled out two juice boxes as they sat quietly in the sand.
"Oh! I made something for you!" Kaoru's eyes brightened as she pulled out the now mangled frame.
Kenshin grinned as he took the frame as if it were the most important and beautiful thing in the world.
"Wow!" Kenshin gasped in awe. "It's so beautiful. I have something for you too! But I'm afraid it isn't as pretty as this, Kaoru-dono."
Kenshin meekly handed her a small candy bar which Kaoru rejoiced in having and shared with Kenshin. The rest of the afternoon went by with laughter and childish questions like where chocolates come from and how long it will take before Kaoru's frame will turn into spaghetti. As they walked home, they puzzled as to why people kiss.
"Is it because they want to eat them?" Kenshin pondered.
Kaoru shrugged as a thought came into her mind, "Why don't we try it? Maybe we'll figure out why people kiss."
Kaoru smiled softly to her self as she recalled the feeling her first kiss gave her. Her face was hot as their lips lightly brushed, and in that second, she could feel an electricity spark between them.
"Are you ready to go, Kaoru?" Kenshin called from behind as he grabbed his coat.
Kaoru gently put down the frame and nodded. "Yeah, let's go."
::~::
Disclaimer: I do not own Rurouni Kenshin!
Author's Notes: If anything sounds a little off and confusing in this chapter, don't worry so much because things will be explained in chapter nine. I had to cut this chapter shorter than I had hoped because I didn't want to end in a cliffhanger then have you all wait eons for the next chapter. *hint hint* I'm so very sorry for the long wait...if you haven't caught on it takes me a while to write and get these babies posted up. But I'll try harder to finish chapter nine up as soon as I can. Don't worry; it'll be up before Christmas. -_^
Oh, and to answer the how many chapters question, there's going to be twelve or thirteen. I haven't decided yet. ;_; How sad, we're more than half way there.
Thank you so very much to those who have reviewed!
donna8157 (Thanks for the compliment and your review! I'm sorry for making you wait too long!)
gracianeko (Wow! You got it right! Haha, I hate complicated things too. Your poems are really quite good! Writing poems is hard, so cudos to you! Thank you so much for your review!)
Scarlet Rayne (Lol, don't worry about it. I don't really write for reviews, I write because I like to. Though reviews motivate me sometimes. Hehe. -_^ Don't worry about me losing inspiration, I have the basic idea all planned out. Thank you so much for your review!)
EbonyFox (Lol, thanks so much for your review! Sorry if I made you wait long.)
x_soukaoken_x (Thanks so much for your review and support and especially not for losing interest even when I haven't updated for a very long time! I hope this chapter isn't dissapointing!)
CurlsofSerenity (Wah, I'm sorry I made you wait long! I'm glad you like the way Kenshin acts. Haha, I'm all for K/K too! Thanks so much for your review!)
Ariel (Hi! I'm glad you like my story! Don't worry, Kaoru will definately end up with Kenshin! It's just going to take a little while. With Aoshi and Misao, I think I might be making a story just for them but of course, I'll add snippets of them in here once in a while. Thank you so much for your review!)
Califpinay3001 (I agree, poor Kenshin... Thank you so much for your review!)
Aino Saori (Don't worry about Kenshin, everything will work itself out in the end. Thank you so much for your review!)
Kitaru (Lol, yeah. I can't dissapoint, now can I? Don't worry, this is one hundred percent going to be Kenshin and Kaoru in the end. Thank you for your reveiw!)
Lady Anime4 (I'm sorry for making you wait long! Thank you for your encouragement and your review!)
She Who Walks In Shadow (Thanks so much! Thank you also for your review!)
SilverLightning177 (Lol, yeah, I was talking about Soujiro. I just got tired of writing his name out, I suppose. Ah, Kaoru will find the note, don't worry. Sorry for making you wait long and thank you so much for your review!)
Rinfirithiel (Lol, I'm glad you liked it! Thanks for the encouragement and the review!)
Kochou570 (Lol, thanks. Kaoru will find the note in a later chapter. Haha, I have one too! But I keep changing it... Haha. Thanks for your review!)
Korai Rumikashi (Lol, don't worry about it. I didn't get that much anyway. I'm so sorry for making you wait long! Thank you for your ecouragement and the review!)
CrismHeart (Haha, I think we all love that cute red headed swordsman. Thank you for understanding and for your review!)
Serenity (Haha, I reckon! Thank you so much for your review and I hope I didn't make you wait too long.)
Rurouni Kaoru Kenshin's Love (Thanks! Thanks also for your reviews! I'm glad you like it.)
SoujiroSeta_doris (Hi! The fic is going to be about twelve to thirteen chapters. It depends if I cut short the other chapters like this one. Thanks so much for your reviews!)
Papaya! (Haha, don't worry. I'm wracking my brain for a good story worthy enough to have Enishi as a semi-good/good guy. Haha, thanks so much for your review!)
Sanoshi (Hi, hi, Cey! I'm glad you like how this is turning out! Don't you worry though, I'm planning to redo the first version I made for you eons ago. Thanks for your review!)
Kaoru Himura2 (I'm happy you love my story! Of course I have to update! I can't just leave you all hanging, now can I? Thanks so much for your review!)
Review!