Jerked Under

I do not own Rurouni Kenshin.

Start Scene Two: Kitsune

There were three things in this world that could piss Kenshin Himura off besides injustice. In order from least to most effective, here they are:

3. Telling him he looked like a girl.

Obvious. Despite that this was a fact and he knew it as well as everyone else on Earth, it still annoyed him, and it was best not mentioned.

2. Bringing up something about Tomoe or Akira.

Very reasonable. The hate he felt for Akira and Tomoe was frightening, despite how brief the relationship had been. Kenshin had pride, and anything or anyone standing in its way was in store for a major ass- whupping.

But the worst one, the only thing that could turn him blind with rage and attack the offender with teeth and nails (if need be), the one thing that made him so angry that it would give him a burst of strength at the end of his rope, was this:

1. Insulting Kaoru or degrading her in even the smallest way, as she was nothing less than a saint in his eyes.

This last and most sacred straw that always broke the camel's back was put down by Hoji, second in command of the Juppongattana, yet not the brightest crayon in the box. He had ended up in this prestigious position by alternately sucking up to Shishio and showering the gang with money from his parents. His services as a spy were also somewhat effective, yes (especially among adults – his appearance was more civilized than anyone else's on the streets), but these were the main two factors.

Hoji's house was closest to the borderline between Kenshin and Shishio's territory, so he was most often sent out to scout around the area, along with Chou. But, one fateful day, he ran into Kenshin making a simple patrol. Consequently, it was also the last time he considered doing anything of the sort.

Kenshin saw him first, coming around an alley corner littered with old cardboard boxes and rusty trash cans. The buildings that unintentionally created the alley gave it high, adobe-tinted walls as well as an Old West feel to any showdowns that occurred, with the clay dust colors.

Sliding back out of sight, he waited for a few seconds before stepping out into full view, not bothering to call out as he waited for Hoji to notice him. It didn't take long; Kenshin stood out like fire against snow.

"What are you doing here, Hoji?"

His tone wasn't hostile at the moment, almost amiable. Hoji relaxed from freezing up (he was terrified of being left alone with such a person without Chou, who had gone off in another direction).

"What does it look like? I'm just checking out the area for Shishio. We could take it at any time, you know." He tried to be authoritative, assertive, to protect himself with words long enough to run back to his master with the figurative tail between his legs.

"I really, really doubt that. Remember the last time you all cornered me? It didn't turn out so well. Get off my land, jackass."

Hoji turned his back and prepared to do just that, trying to ignore the shivering that was racing through his spine. But, as many of the slightly denser people of the population also feel, he just had to get the last word in this verbal battle before leaving. As it has been expressly stressed, not smart.

"Ah, go fuck your little raccoon."

And thus 'twas breached.

Chou and Kaoru, both at the perimeter of a three-block radius to where both Kenshin and Hoji were, heard the inhuman scream from their locations. Chou thought it was an animal being tortured; Kaoru somehow recognized it for who it was and headed straight for the source. She came to the scene and stopped, appalled, frightened, and thoroughly shocked at what she saw.

Kenshin had flipped, and was now attacking Hoji with his hands, knees, elbows, feet – any body part that came in use to hurt and generally cause damage. He was, really, almost an animal, wanting nothing more than to kill his prey and leave it to rot in the sun. Chou showed up a second later, immediately racing to pull Hoji away while Kaoru tried to work on Kenshin. United in a brief moment, they worked together to loosen Kenshin's death grip, until Chou was able to sling Hoji over his shoulder and hauled ass out of there, back in to their official territory.

Kaoru was left with the suddenly limp form of her best friend, who seemed to have fainted. She removed her bokken from her belt, which was getting to be uncomfortable in her current position. Placing his head in her lap, she checked him over, or at least what she could see. He didn't seem to be injured at all, which was a good sign. Around five minutes went by before he began to show signs of coming to. Resting her hand on his forehead, she leaned over so he would be able to see her. "Hey." She whispered softly.

His eyes opened slowly, confused for a second by where he was, but he still replied. "Hey. What happened?"

"I don't know. You tell me. When I got here, you were attacking some guy and another person helped me drag you two apart, and then you passed out."

"Really?" She felt his brows furrow underneath her palm for a second, then smooth out as he remembered. He sat up, and Kaoru noted that his knuckles were clenched tight. "Yeah. That bastard Hoji-"

"Calm down first, then tell me what happened."

Kenshin took a deep breath and counted to ten before letting it out, closing his eyes and trying to soothe his remaining anger. "Okay." He turned around so he was sitting cross-legged and facing her. "All better. Hoji was sniffing around the edges of my territory for Shishio, and I caught him in the act. I told him to get off, he said something really offensive about you, and you know what happened next."

Kaoru sighed, tugging him forward so their foreheads were touching, both depending on the other to keep their balance. It was an old pose that had been done many times before, and it showed their trust and faith in each other. "You guys are like packs of wolves, you know? Fighting over land that's technically all public property."

Kenshin grinned. "So that would make me a lone wolf?"

"Yeah."

"And what are you, then?"

She laughed, going along with him. "I'm the kindly human who takes care of the lone wolf. But aren't you more of a fox? I don't think there's a wolf with bright red hair."

"I'll be the first, then."

Kaoru propelled herself forward and tackled him, forcing him flat on his back. Kenshin didn't mind in the least, and he lay under her, making a satisfied sound deep in his throat when she kissed him underneath his chin and tucked her head there. Wrapping his arms around her, they both relaxed and closed their eyes, all worry from the earlier incident forgotten.

"Kaoru, you rox my sox."

She snorted in a very unladylike way, getting up and sitting on his stomach. Bending over until she was directly in front of his face, she hovered there, whispering in a sultry voice, just loud enough for him to hear. "Watashi ni kitsune."

At that, he inhaled sharply. He never knew what she was saying when she spoke in Japanese, and Kaoru's soft puffs of warm breath and body heat and weight were beginning to affect him in places he'd rather she didn't know about. He lifted her off, standing up and pulling her with him and also snatching up the bokken. "Why're you here, anyway?"

"I just felt like visiting. C'mon, let's go home."

Note: Kenshin's apartment is Kaoru's second home, and vice versa. They don't live together, or even have a definite romantic relationship. Yet.

End Scene Two

Ok, I am putting in here my thanks to Ally Bama for the title. When I was asking for alternate title suggestions for Sincerely, Untitled, Jerked Under was one of her suggestions. Domo arigatou!

Yay! I'm back! x. Jesus... that was the best two weeks I've ever had. Besides when Isabel got to come down to the Outer Banks with my family last summer. I'm going back next year... and there were so many anime fans! SESSHA LOVES UVA WRITING CAMP!!!

Ja for now!

matthias208