Author: Phoebe Otaku

Title: College Life

Chapter 6: just because...

Disclaimer: insert creative way of saying 'Rurouni Kenshin does not belong to me' here

Author's notes: Well, here we are again. Phoebe is utterly shocked to be updating. I really am going to try an update one of my other stories before continuing further on this one...but for some reason this one is easier....

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Kaoru sat at her computer, basking in the glow of the screen, her long hair swishing in its high ponytail as she typed. She still wore her kendo gear, her shinai propped against the bag that she had tossed on the floor when she was distracted by the flashing messages that were waiting for her.

Some of them were from her sisters, congratulating her for the victory in her latest match. Misao had her typical anecdote about seeing Aoishi on campus, bringing a smile to Kaoru's face. The man seemed almost painfully observant most of the time, but seemed oblivious to Misao's obsession. This was exceedingly frustrating for Misao, but her own intuition, as well as hints from Kenshin, told her that Shinomori would not have missed something so obvious. He also wasn't one to put up with things that wasted his time or annoyed him, so the fact that Aoishi did speak to Misao and spend time with her was a very good sign. But, at the same time, he seemed to have other reasons for keeping his distance from Misao. Kaoru was almost sure that eventually the genki freshman would do something rash...or simply explode. Kaoru almost giggled at the thought, and she would have, had it not reminded her so much of the way she felt around Kenshin.

Kaoru worried that he thought of her as a little girl sometimes. Other times, there was something in his eyes that she was sure he was trying to hide when he looked at her. She would have believed that he was oblivious to the way she felt, except she knew that his clueless bumbling was a façade...that his insight was so profound most of the time that he would have known her feelings even if she was trying to hide them, which she wasn't. He had already claimed the title of 'best friend' and a large piece of her heart. 'and you'll let him claim anything else he wants while he's at it...' she mused, bringing forth an intense blush. Kaoru was beginning to think that she was spending too much time with Megumi, especially if she was hearing her fox-laugh even when said kitsune-onna was not present. As if thinking like the older woman had summoned her, another message popped up on her screen.

"You had better go shower...no one likes a sweaty tanuki girl." Megumi prodded. "And even if Ken-san likes Tanuki girls, he surely would not appreciate a smelly one...."

Kaoru felt her eyebrow twitch as she growled at the computer; she wouldn't even grace that with a response. She had, however, finished reading her messages, so she would go and shower before Kenshin got back. But, apparently, her luck wasn't with her. Kenshin opened the door just as she passed the front hallway on the way to her bedroom. 'Darn it.' she sighed.

Kenshin smiled at seeing Kaoru dressed for kendo, though it occurred to him that he would have smiled no matter what she was wearing. 'Or not wearing...' Kenshin's thoughts betrayed him once again. 'Sanosuke will get a beating next time he comes near me, that he will.' He told himself, forcing his thoughts back to the beautiful kendo instructor.

"How did the match go today?" he asked scrounging for the will to keep himself from sweeping her up in his arms and....Kenshin sought furiously to concentrate on her answer.

"It was really good." Kaoru said her grin lighting up her features in a way that forced him to hold his breath for a moment. "Some guys there thought that I couldn't fight, but my opponent took me seriously." Kenshin knew that while she gloated somewhat over flattening, usually within ten seconds, the men who underestimated her, she preferred to win on her own merit rather than her opponent's stupidity. "I won and then his instructor gave us both some pointers..." she paused as she realized she was babbling and smiled shyly up at him. "Um, anyway...I was just off to take a shower...after all, no one likes a sweaty tanuki girl..." his eyebrow quirked at the last line delivered in a 'sing-songy' voice as she turned to walk away.

"Kaoru..." he waited until she turned around again "What did you want for dinner?" he asked, not really able to think of anything more intelligent to say.

"It doesn't matter...everything you make tastes great." She said as she smiled and slipped into her room. "Surprise me!" she said as she shut the door.

As Kenshin set to work slicing vegetables, he mused about the passionate girl who he had grown so close to. He wondered for a moment if he had thought about anything else in the past month before he sighed and gave up on the notion of getting her out of his head. She was so excited about Kendo; he knew that he had been at one point. In fact, if he could ignore that he had used his training in ways he regretted, it still held that kind of passion for him as well. He hadn't actively practiced for a few years, so it had shocked him out of his mind when Kaoru had asked him if he wanted to spar sometime. He hadn't told her it had been a hobby of his and hadn't expected her to notice. But in this sense he supposed he was also guilty of underestimating her skill. She had noticed the calluses on his hands and the way he stood. She had also pointed out that some of the stretches he did almost unconsciously screamed of a background in martial arts.

Kenshin sighed as he remembered her laughter at his apparent shock. She was an assistant master of her family's style and owned her own dojo; with her having been raised around swordsmen he should have known she would figure it out. Kenshin wasn't sure if her skills were a sign of some kind, but he was not disappointed that she knew how to protect herself. Tomoe hadn't really been trained in any type of self-defense and she had been anachronistically meek...Kenshin slowed his hands in preparing their food. Why did his mind insist on making the comparisons between the two? It was never about who was better or worse, just how different they were. 'It doesn't really matter.' Kenshin thought. He had let himself get involved with one woman and what had happened still gave him nightmares. Given she had been a spy slated to kill him...which 'complicated' matters...he supposed that falling in love with him had been her fatal mistake. Kaoru was young and innocent and he was too tainted for her, she deserved better.

He felt her presence a mere second before she slid her arms around his chest from behind. "What are you making?" she asked hugging him and nuzzling his shoulder. He answered slowly trying to ignore how good her body felt, the smell of her jasmine shampoo overwhelming. "Mmmm...sounds good. I'll go set the table?" she said sliding away from him toward the cabinets. Kenshin let out a subdued whoosh of air, just because he knew that she was too good for him didn't mean he could banish her from his thoughts and just because he wanted to protect her from the danger that he represented didn't mean that he could.

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Ending notes: please review. When you review, It makes me feel loved. When I feel loved, I feel like writing. Complete the syllogism: Therefore, when you review, I feel like writing...

Working on other stories as well, ttfn.

Phoebe-chan