THREE
Chapter Two
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DISCLAIMER: If you're still reading this story, you're probably already jaded enough
to be aware that I don't own Rurouni Kenshin or any of the characters created
by Nobuhiro Watsuki.
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"Please..." Kaoru rasped, unable to force out more than a rough
whisper. "Please don't smoke that thing in here."
Please don't smoke that thing in here? Am I completely crazy? But at the
moment, it was easier to object to Saitou smoking than to the fact that she'd
just caught him kissing Kenshin. I'm such a coward.
Saitou put the cigarette back into his uniform pocket, amber eyes alight with
amusement. He was wearing nothing but a fundoshi. Kaoru realized she was
staring but she couldn't look away: his body was so different from Kenshin's.
Where Kenshin was slender and wiry -- almost delicate -- Saitou's lean frame
was solidly muscled. His chest was wider than Kenshin's, his shoulders broader,
his arms and legs more powerfully built. Usually when Kaoru was around Saitou
-- when he's wearing clothes -- she was aware of how small her own body
was. But now there was a part of her that was wondering what it would be like
to touch the tight muscles of his stomach, how those long, tapered fingers
would feel resting on her waist.
Great. I'm not just crazy, I'm a pervert too.
Saitou raised one eyebrow and smirked at her, but said nothing. He knows I
was staring. Kaoru hastily averted her eyes. Is it possible to die of
embarrassment? She shifted her weight from one foot to the other, then back
again. And is there any chance I could manage to do it right now?
No such luck.
Kenshin was staring too, but not at Saitou. "Kaoru-dono..." he began.
Seeing Kenshin kissing someone else had been awful. That this someone else had
been Saitou was even worse. But to see Kenshin like this... so heart-sick...
Say something, Kenshin. Say "I'm sorry," or "It's over,"
or even "Oops." Say something so I can get mad at you.
"Battousai." Kaoru started at the sound of Saitou's voice. "Your
woman is still afraid of me." The tall man sighed, and for a moment Kaoru
thought he looked disappointed.
Why is he disappointed with me? Outrage finally freed her
from her state of paralysis, and she glared at Saitou. I don't know why I'm
not mad at Kenshin, but I have no problem being mad at you.
"You...! I... I'm not afraid of you!" Kaoru pulled her hands up into
the full sleeves of her yukata, hiding them so that Saitou wouldn't notice they
were shaking. "How... how dare you! And... aren't you married?"
Saito shrugged. "Tokio has her own amusements."
"Amusements?" Kaoru choked on the word. "I didn't even know that
Kenshin was... that he... liked men."
Kenshin moaned and fell to his knees, covering his face with his hands. Kaoru
saw him drop out of the corner of her eye, but strangely, she felt safer
railing at Saitou than confronting Kenshin right now.
Saitou folded his arms over his chest, drawing Kaoru's attention once again to
the fact that he wasn't wearing much more than a smirk. "Did you ever
ask?"
No, of course she hadn't. Why would I?
"Think about it, Tanuki Girl. The Battousai hasn't exactly had a lot of
luck with women."
Kaoru blinked, suddenly confused. "What do you mean?"
Kenshin, still kneeling on the floor, groaned. "Saitou..."
Saitou glanced down at Kenshin, and his smirk took on an affectionate quality.
"From the age of five, he lived alone with Hiko, you know. Not a lot of
women living that far away from Kyoto." Saitou shrugged again, and the
fluid movement of his shoulders sent a distracting flutter through Kaoru's
belly. "Kenshin probably didn't even see a woman again until he was fifteen,
when he left Hiko to join the Ishin Shishi."
"Saitou..." Kenshin twined his fingers into his hair and pushed it
back away from his face. "Kaoru-dono doesn't--"
"And in Kyoto -- well, for men like us, even if we'd had the time and
money to court a decent woman, most of them wouldn't have had anything to do
with a man whose life was soaked in so much blood. Even the prostitutes--"
"Prostitutes?" Kaoru felt the heaviness settle back into her chest. Keep
breathing.
Kenshin shot to his feet, scowling. "All right, Saitou, I think..."
"--they could be risky. Aside from the question of whether or not the
woman was clean, you also had to worry whether she might be spying for the
other side."
"Saitou. That's en--"
Prostitutes? "But Kenshin was married," Kaoru protested.
"Tomoe--"
"Tomoe only agreed to marry him as a cover for their real identities. And
most of the time they were together, she was plotting to betray him."
"I didn't care," Kenshin broke in. He began to pace, back and forth
across the polished wooden floor. "I loved her anyway. She would
have--"
"And then there's you, Tanuki Girl -- he seems to just about worship
you." Saitou leaned forward a little, looming over her. When Kaoru didn't
flinch, he took a step closer and smiled wickedly. "I have no idea
why."
"Saitou!" Kenshin roared, his narrowed eyes flashing amber. He was
breathing heavily, his chest slick with sweat, and he'd moved into a half
crouch -- a fighting stance, Kaoru realized. The fingers of his right
hand were flexing, as if they ached to wrap themselves around the hilt of a
sakabatou that wasn't there.
"You're. Not. Helping."
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Help me out, y'all -- review and clue me in:
a) Are Kenshin, Kaoru, or Saitou OOC at any point in this scene? Let me know
where, so I can learn from my mistakes.
b) What part of this scene did you like best? Tell me what I'm doing right, so
I can do more of it in chapter three. :)