Disclaimer : Rurouni Kenshin is the property of Nobuhiro Watsuki, Shonen Jump, Viz, and Sony Productions.

Possession

Donna8157

Chapter 12 : Red Wine

Kenshin walked over to the window and ran his hand through his short, red hair. He looked out and saw that the sky was a magnificent blend of purples and reds as the sun started to dip below the horizon. A small, almost unnoticeable tender smile appeared on his face as he crossed his arms, leaned back against the wall, and admired the view.

After a while, his throat began to feel parched. He wanted some water. Kenshin was about to ring the buzzer to call Kaoru inside, but decided against it. He would go down to the kitchen himself. As he walked down the stairs and arrived on the second floor, he heard noises coming in through his father's study. He stopped and walked over towards the door. Then the young man leaned over and placed his ear next to it.

"What were you thinking when you took her in, Hiko?" a shrilly female voice berated. "That boy has obviously got you wrapped up around his finger if you were willing to take back her father's debt just so that she could work for him."

A man's voice gruffly replied, but Kenshin could not hear what he said for the voice was too low.

"What?!?! I hope you didn't just ask me to be quiet!" the wife shrieked.

"Claire, please lower your voice! There are people in this house," Hiko replied back as his voice grew louder. Kenshin could tell that his father's patience was being tried. He stood back up and walked back to his room. His mother's voice replaying in his mind.

This was not the first time he had heard them fight.

The woman had never liked him ever since she had laid eyes on him. Ever since that day Hiko had taken him into their house. In fact, the only reason the woman had allowed him to stay was because Hiko had lied to her and told his wife that the seven-year-old boy was a son of a distant cousin of his that passed away. She begrudgingly agreed to keep him after hearing that he had some sort of blood relation to Hiko himself.

It seemed to be an open secret in the community that he was adopted.

In the beginning, rumors had spread about the little kid that the Seijuro family brought in and for a while, Kenshin had believed that the Seijuros had took him in only for publicity's sake. At least that was how his wife had presented the situation.

"Oh, you know my husband. He just has such a big heart. No one else would want to take in that boy, but he did."

Kenshin grimaced at the memories as he forgot about the water and walked up the stairs towards his room again. He shook his head so that he could clear his thoughts. But as he tried to . .only more images seemed to bombard his mind. His parents .. his biological dad . .his biological mom. Kenshin's hand that was holding onto the banister tightened and his knuckles turned white as he thought back to that night.

He grit his teeth as he took a deep breath and closed his eyes for a second.

He needed alcohol.

As he arrived onto the third floor, he saw Kaoru come out from Sanosuke's room. How dare she!

Earlier that day

THUD

Kaoru's head shot up as she heard the sudden noise. She quickly wiped off her tears with the back of her hand and put the picture of her family back into the drawer. Then she got out of bed and smoothed out the creases on her clothes as she walked towards her door. The sound seemed to have come from Sanosuke's room across the hall.

She walked out and without knocking, quickly rushed into the other's room.

The place was a mess. There were boxes, papers, and items thrown about the entire area. She looked at the scene a bit confused and found Sanosuke standing amidst it all with a similar expression on his face.

"Jou-chan . . what are you doing here?" he asked. His hands were holding a large cardboard box and he was in the middle of moving it towards the other side of the room.

Kaoru looked down a bit embarrassed by her sudden intrusion into the man's room. "Sir .. I .. I heard a noise and wanted to see if you were okay."

Sanosuke smiled broadly as he put down the box and walked over to her. He gently placed a hand on her shoulder. "Thanks jou-chan. But I'm doing just fine."

She nodded her head meekly and then looked around the room once more. "What are you doing, sir?"

Sano turned around and started to walk back towards the center of the room. "I found an apartment and I'm going to move out of here."

Kaoru's eyes widened a bit in surprise. "You're leaving?" she asked in wonder.

The man turned back towards her and grinned haphazardly. "That is . .unless you want me to stay." He meant to say it jokingly, but it came out in a rather serious tone. The girl had taken notice of that, but didn't know how to respond. She just avoided his eyes awkwardly as she let her gaze fall onto her feet.

Sanosuke instantly wished he could take back the words that he had just spoken. He laughed uneasily as he scratched the back of his head. "I'm just playing with you, jou-chan. Don't take me seriously."

Kaoru nodded her head slowly as she looked back up at him. "Do you want me to help you pack, sir?"

Sano looked around the room and studied it for a moment. "Nah. I'm pretty much done here. Why don't you just go rest? You just started getting better now."

"Are you sure, sir?" she asked. From the boxes and junk on the floor, it looked like he was far from done with packing.

Sanosuke smiled at her reassuringly. "I'm sure, jou-chan. I've got it under control."

Kaoru nodded her head as she left the room. The brown-haired man watched as she closed the door. He shook his head. He couldn't believe he had said something that idiotic. What was he thinking? In fact, what was he doing? Actually, the main reason that Sanosuke was leaving was because of her. He didn't know why he felt the way he did when he looked at her and he thought that the best thing was just to leave. He didn't want a repeat of what happened the other night.

After Kaoru closed Sanosuke's door, she turned around to go back to her room. She flinched in shock as she saw Kenshin leaning against the wall.

"He . . he was packing . . sir. I just wanted to see if he needed any help," she said in a flurry.

". . ." Kenshin stared at Kaoru without replying to what she had said. After a while he opened his mouth as he was opening the door to his room. "Go get some liquor."

"Yes, sir." She went downstairs to the wine cellar after she heard his low voice. A few minutes later, she came back up with a bottle of red wine. It was the first thing she had seen down there. Kenshin took the bottle from her hands and poured it into a glass. He drank the entire thing without taking a breath. Afterwards, he refilled it and emptied the cup once again.

Kaoru watched with a bit of worry knit in her eyebrows. She looked over towards the bottle that she had brought him and found that there was only a quarter of the wine still left. When Kenshin reached over to pour some more wine in his glass, she found that his hands were shaking. Kaoru pushed the bottle to the side.

"You've had too much, sir."

"Bring it back!!" Kenshin widened his eyes and yelled at the young woman. She noticed that there was already an impediment in his speech as if he were already drunk.

"You should stop drinking, sir. You . ." she started as she looked at the red-haired man unwaveringly.

Kenshin narrowed his eyes. "You . . you should just obey my orders! That's your job! Don't even think about telling me what to do! You're just my toy!"

Kaoru's body stiffened from the impact of his harsh words. Kenshin, who was still roused up, breathed heavily as he glared fiercely at the woman in front of him. Between her hair, he could see her blue eyes. They looked hurt from what he had just said. He looked away from her and grabbed the bottle and poured another glass full of wine. He stared at the red wine for a moment and then unsteadily ambled towards Kaoru.

His lavender eyes focused and unfocused as he looked at her. He then slowly lifted his hand that was holding the glass of wine and brought it over her head. He tilted the glass over and the red liquid was poured onto the girl. The wine drenched her hair and dripped from her face, but the girl stood there emotionless and there seemed to be no movement in her eyes. Only her red lips were shut tightly as if she felt ashamed.

Kenshin brought his arm down after he poured all the wine out from the glass. He steadied his feet as he took a step back to look at her. The red wine flowed from her head to her feet. His eyes blurred and for a second the image of red wine turned to blood. His eyes widened in horror and he shook his head. He placed a hand over his forehead as he tried to steady his breathing.

It's wine. Not blood. Not blood.. , he reassured himself. He put down the glass and grasped onto the handle of his chair as he clumsily sat back down. Once he cleared his mind, he looked back up at the girl.

"Come here," he said in a husky voice.

Kaoru gradually walked over to him and he got up from his seat. He stared at her expressionless face and brought face closer to hers. He lightly touched her lips with his own. The young woman's eyes grew wide, but then her eyelids slowly started to flutter to a close. A small tear appeared on her cheek. The taste of the wine and salt flowing down from her face was sent to him through his tongue and he slowly separated his lips from hers.

Silence enveloped the room as the young man looked at her.

"This is your job . . . you just have to obey my orders . . .just like you did right now," he said in a slightly hoarse voice as he broke the quiet atmosphere. As he looked at her with her head down, his pupils started to tremble.

"Go back!" Kenshin quickly took his eyes off of her and turned around.

Kaoru slowly opened her eyes at his loud voice. She bowed to him and went to her room. As Kenshin heard the door shut close, he threw the glass that was on the table onto the floor.

It shattered into a thousand pieces.

The moment Kaoru walked into her room, she fell onto her bed as if she was crumbling down. She lifted her hands and covered her face as a single tear flowed down her cheek.

Kaoru had fallen asleep that night without changing her clothes and in the morning when her alarm clock went off she found herself waking up to the stench of red wine. She made a face as she slowly started to get up from out of the bed and make her way towards the bathroom. As she stumbled over to the sink, she saw herself in the mirror.

The red stains on her clothes form the wine, the tangled hair, and her dull eyes were staring back at her. She remembered what Kenshin had said to her the last night.

"Don't even think about telling me what to do! You're just my toy!" Those words that had so easily spilled from his mouth had stung.

Badly.

Her sight seemed to sway as she mechanically slipped out of her clothes and turned on the shower. She shut her eyelids as she let the scalding hot drops of water beat down on her body. It was almost as if it was a cleansing for her. The strong scent of wine that had crusted itself to her skin was finally disappearing.

A throbbing pain in Kenshin's head finally forced him to wake up. His eyelids were so heavy and his head felt so groggy that he felt as if he couldn't open his eyes. Feeling thirsty, he reached his hand over towards his night stand hoping to grab a cup of water. But as he felt around the wooden table, he noticed that there was no cup. He weakly turned his head and opened his eyes.

In front of his face was a cup full of water. There was someone holding it. Kenshin's eyes traveled up and found Kaoru holding the cup towards him. He got up with some trouble and took the cup from her. While he was drinking the water, he raised his eyes and looked up at Kaoru. He couldn't see the expression on her face because it was covered by her long, dark hair even more so than other days. Her downcast eyes seemed to be avoiding his gaze. Kenshin took his eyes off of her and gulped down the water.

"I'll go and wake up Sagara-san and come back, sir." She walked out of the room. Kenshin's pupils followed her as he watched her close the door and frowned tightly. He tightened his grip on the cup.

KNOCK, KNOCK

Kaoru stepped into Sanosuke's room after knocking and hearing no response from within. She found him sprawled out on the bed unable to get up. She maneuvered her way through the maze of boxes and papers towards the window. She flung the curtain open and bright sunlight poured inside the room. Sanosuke grunted as he felt the blinding light hit his face and knit his brows together. He quickly shifted his body and covered the pillow over his head.

Kaoru smiled lightly at seeing his actions and went towards the table and filled the glass with water.

"Wake up, sir. Today's your first day of school. . . you shouldn't be late," she chided.

Sano, who had his head buried beneath the pillow, quickly got up when he heard Kaoru's voice. He seemed to have gotten up too quickly because he grabbed onto his head and cringed from the sudden movement.

"You must be thirsty. Here sir . ." Kaoru held a glass of water in front of him. The other man stared at the cup for awhile before reaching out to grab hold of it. But as he did, he felt Kaoru's fingers with the tip of his finger and instantly pulled back. The girl had also let go of the cup thinking that the other man had a hold of it already.

The glass fell to the floor and broke into pieces.

Kaoru widened her eyes as she quickly bent down and started picking up the shards. "I'm sorry, sir. I'll clean it right away." She took the pieces in her hand and threw them into the trash.

"No . .no .. it's my fault. I'll clean it. You might hurt your hand," he said once he was shaken from his stupor. He quickly bent down and started to help her.

"Ouch!!"

Because Sano had been in such a hurry and in such a perplexed state, he didn't notice the piece of glass that was near his foot. He let out a small cry and sat back onto the bed when he had accidentally stepped on it.

"Are you okay, sir?" Kaoru looked up in shock and made her way towards him as she examined his foot. There was quite a big piece of glass embedded within the heel of his foot. Her face paled ever so slightly.

"Please bear with the pain for a little bit." With her brows knitted in concentration, Kaoru took out the piece of glass with utmost care. Sanosuke grit his teeth as he bore with the pain. When the glass was finally removed, blood continuously poured forth from his foot. The girl got up and went to the drawers to take out some bandages and gauze. She then bent down on her knees and diligently wrapped the gauze around his feet.

"It's done now, sir," she said as she tied the knot. She looked up at him and her face seemed to be flushed with relief. Kaoru then went back and picked up the remaining pieces of glass.

"It's . . it's okay. Just leave it. I'll do it . ." the spiky-haired man said as he sat idly on the bed.

"No. You should get ready for school. Just wait a while. I'll help you." Kaoru picked up the remaining pieces of glass and threw them in the trash can. Sano just watched her helplessly. He wished that he could lessen her burden somehow.

By the time Kaoru had finished cleaning the room and walked back to Kenshin's room, she had found that he had already dressed himself and had finished getting ready.

"Is Sano not up yet?" The man put on his black uniform jacket without glancing at the girl who just came inside.

"No . . he's awake. He stepped on a piece of glass and hurt his foot."

"Hurt?" Kenshin's eyes widened with worry as he quickly turned to look at the girl.

Kaoru lowered her head and clenched her fingers together. "I'm sorry . . It was because I was careless. I dropped . ."

"No. I hurt myself because I was acting like an idiot." Sanosuke came into the room and interrupted the girl. As he came inside limping on one of his feet, Kaoru quickly went towards him to help. She put his arm around her neck to support him. The complexion on Kenshin's face darkened as he looked at the both of them.

"Are you okay?" Kenshin asked.

"Yeah. Jou-chan took care of it for me," Sano said gruffly as he limped towards his friend.

"That's . . good." Kenshin looked at himself at his full-size mirror and buttoned his jacket.

Sano watched him for awhile and then broke the silence. "I'm . .I'm moving tonight." Kaoru who had been holding onto Sano looked at him in surprise. She had no idea that he was going to move so early. Kenshin also looked over at him with widened eyes. "I went around yesterday to look for an apartment. Luckily there was an empty one near the school so I decided to move in today."

Kenshin looked away and answered pertly, "It's not too late if you move in a little later since you got your foot hurt."

"I've had worse before. This little scratch doesn't even hurt," he said as he let go of the girl and started walking towards his friend to prove it. He winced as he felt pressure put onto his foot and lost his balance, Kaoru saw this and put her hands around him to quickly steady him. Sanosuke looked over at the girl and laughed uneasily. "Thanks jou-chan."

Kenshin narrowed his eyes and looked away as heat started to fill his head.

Sano saw how his friend reacted and quickly looked back at him. "I . . but since I'm moving anyway, Kenshin . . I just thought that it would be better if I get it over with quickly."

"All right. Give me the directions to your place and I'll have Aoshi drop off your stuff," he said as he took one final look at himself and made his way towards the door.

"Thanks, Kenshin . ." Sano said as he looked at him walk out. Then Kaoru and him both made their way out the door and down the stairs to get ready to go to school.

"Roosterhead!" a voice shrieked. Kaoru and Sanosuke stopped in their steps as they looked off to the side.

A short girl with pigtails wearing a maid's black dress came bounding down the hall towards the both of them.

"Weasel-girl," the man stated. "What's gotten into you?"

Misao narrowed her eyes as she looked up at him. "I heard you're moving out!"

"Yeah, I've been wanting to get a place of my own."

"But . . but wouldn't you want to stay here with Himura?" she said her eyes filling with sadness. If Sanosuke were to leave, she knew that she wouldn't be able to see much of him and she considered him to be a dear friend since she had grown up near him.

Sano cocked a grin as he looked at her. "Hey . . why don't we throw a house warming party at my place tonight when I move in?"

Misao brightened up. "That's great! Aoshi-sama and I have tonight off."

The taller man frowned slightly. "You're gonna bring that iceberg to the party? He's gonna ruin it!"

The girl furrowed her brows as she glared at her friend. "What did you call Aoshi-sama?"

Sanosuke laughed as he patted her back in a friendly gesture. "I was just playing, weasel girl. Anyway, I have school to go to. I'll see you later at the party. Aoshi should have the directions."

"Okay," Misao replied and then looked over at the girl next to him. "Kaoru-san, you're also going right?"

Kaoru nodded her head. The smile on Misao's face grew wider as she clapped her hands together. "Great! This will be so much fun! I can't wait! But . ." Her face suddenly grew serious as she bit her bottom lip in concentration. "But . .what should I wear tonight? Aoshi-sama is going to be there and . . this is almost like a date. I have to find something nice . . like . ."

Sano chuckled as he shook his head and motioned for the both of them to start going. "Some things never change," he said with a smile as he thought of Misao's obsession with Aoshi. Kaoru smiled gently when she too thought of the energetic little maid.

When they were out of sight, Misao suddenly remembered something. "What happened to rooster-head's foot?" she muttered underneath her breath.

"Hi. I'm Sagara Sanosuke and thank you for having me in your class." Sano bowed a bit awkwardly after his short introduction towards the students. When he lifted his head back up, he noticed Soujiro waving at him from the middle of the room.

Soujiro's in this class?, Sano thought. He looked elsewhere around the room and found Shishio, Yumi, Anji, Usui, Houji, and Iwanbou also in the same class.

"Why don't you sit over there, Sagara-san?" the teacher advised as he pointed towards the empty seat next to Iwanbou. The heavy kid turned and gave him a toothy smile.

Sanosuke shuddered as he started to walk with a slight limp towards the seat.

"Sensei, there's an empty seat here." Soujiro had jumped up from his seat and pointed to the seat next to him.

"Oh Seta-san . .you must know the new student already. Okay Sagara-san, please go sit next to him." Sanosuke let out a sigh of relief as he changed his direction and walked to his new seat.

After Sano sat down, Soujiro looked at him suspiciously.

"Okay, let's have our break." After the announcement, the teacher gathered his books and walked out of the classroom.

Soujiro turned towards his friend once he found that the teacher had left. "Sagara-san, why are you limping?"

"Che .. I got cut by a piece of glass this morning."

Soujiro widened his eyes at the severity of the situation. "Glass? Are you okay?"

Sano smirked. "Of course I'm okay! It's nothing! By the way, where is Kenshin's class?"

"Himura-san's class is at the other end of the hall. We'll see him during lunch."

Sanosuke nodded and found himself wondering about Kaoru. He wondered if she was okay. He definitely did not want to see a repeat of what happened the other day. He rubbed his forehead as he realized that he had seemed to faze out while thinking about the girl. He then looked over at Soujiro and remembered to ask him something.

"Oi Soujiro. I'm having a party at my apartment tonight. You coming?"

"You're moving?" The boy had a dubious look on his face. He had assumed that the man would live with Himura-san.

Sano nodded his head. "Yeah . . I wanted to get a place of my own."

"I see . well, I'll definitely be there, Sagara-san."

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- To be continued

Author's Notes :

Please leave a review! Thanks very much! Hope you enjoyed the chapter.

A note about the Contract:

This is the contract that Kaoru had made with Hiko. In order to repay the debt, Kaoru had in essence practically signed her life away to Kenshin.

Special thanks to Ryoga, HitokiriSky, Dragon Master271, Oni Tokage, Vic'chonn, Eternal-Senshi-S, nobody, Tenshi-no-Hana-chan, kirie-kun, Himura-chan, Coodle, Katana Midori, plex, chibi frog, Piper, InuLimbo, kimi.the.water.spirit, Reignashii, rkfan246, Chibi Kiki, Jin, cyjj, cutiechanXD3, S3R3nity, Mz.Amber Eyes, spike-Faye, Miaka, rain angst, saotome, anna, Baby Kaoru-sama, andy, Britty ), and Fuu for reviewing! – hands out Sano cookies to everyone. Hehe.