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Disclaimer: I do not own Kenshin. Scratches out the word 'not'
Your Azure Eyes
Chapter 2: Photographs
Kenshin felt something grab him by the back of his sweater and hoist him up until the tips of his feet barely brushed the ground. The unseen force turned him around, and Kenshin found himself face to face with Sagara Sanoske, famed fighter for hire and bodyguard to Kamiya Kaoru.
Sano raised Kenshin until their noses almost touched. His brown eyes bore deep into the shorter man's purple gaze.
"What do you want, shorty?" The gruff voice asked, his breath heating Kenshin's face.
"I… I'm sorry." Kenshin gasped, "I didn't mean to run into her."
"Sure you didn't…" Sano said in reply, letting go of his grip on the man's sweater and letting him fall into a crumpled heap on the ground.
Kaoru remained crouched on the ground, watching the whole scene. Her mouth moved, forming words that she could not get out. Suddenly, she found her voice as well as her motor skills, and scrambled to her feet.
"Sano!" She yelled, walking over to the much taller man and glaring at him. Despite the obvious size difference, Sano's face went pale as he stepped back a pace or two.
Kaoru bent down to help the red headed man up. Taking his arm, she hoisted him back to standing. "Sorry about that," She said softly, brushing the dust off of Kenshin's sweater, "He's a little over protective." She shot another glare at Sano, who blushed as he scratched the back of his neck uncomfortably.
Kenshin's senses finally returned to him as he realized that Kamiya Kaoru, super model, was brushing the dirt off of him. Bringing his hand up, he gently took one of her hands to stop her. A faint blush rose to Kaoru's cheeks.
"It's alright," Kenshin said, letting go of her hand, "It's not everyday I meet someone as famous as you, Miss Kaoru."
Kaoru smiled at this. Quickly, she realized that she still held two of the photographs.
"These are really beautiful," She commented as she handed them to Kenshin, "Can I ask your name?"
"Himura Kenshin," He replied.
"Well then, Mr. Himura. Would you care to join us for lunch? I'd love to talk about how you took those pictures," She turned around and beckoned towards Sano, "I promise he won't do anything like that again. Isn't that right, Sanoske?"
Sanoske nodded, causing both Kaoru and Kenshin to chuckle at him.
"I'd love to," Kenshin replied.
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"Hey Ramone, have you seen Kaoru?" The photographer looked up from the pictures he had been sifting through as he heard his name called across the studio. His eyes met a man standing by the door.
"Ah, Enishi! You just missed her, I'm afraid. She went out to lunch with Sanosuke again." Ramone watched as the man at the door lowered his head a bit. With a sudden feeling of pity washing over him, the photographer called back to him. "Want to see some of the pictures we recently took of her? These will be the best yet, I think!"
Enishi smiled and walked over to the short table in the corner of the studio. "Are these the ones that will be going into Vicky's magazine next month? She told me about how much she was being paid for—"
His voice seemed to fail him as his eyes flitted across the pictures spread out in front of him.
Shiny black hair flowed all around her perfect frame, masking her face from view. Her skin shined as well, accenting every part of her body, as the tight red bikini barely hid the necessary.
Enishi mouthed a few words, but found that his voice was still caught. Slowly, his trembling fingers reached out to pick one up. He brought it close to his face, staring at it with wide eyes as a tumult of emotions washed through him. The most overpowering of which, being greed.
Ramone, who had been getting some coffee from the breakfast table on the other side of the room, turned around quickly when he heard the sound of paper ripping. The sound echoed across the studio, causing everyone in the room to turn towards the source. The photographer's face paled as he watched Enishi rip a second photograph in half. His coffee slipped out of his hand, the cup falling to the ground with a hollow thump as the contents spilled out onto the floor.
"Enishi! What are you doing?!" Ramone yelled at him, stepping over the spilled coffee and rushing towards the seemingly insane man. Enishi ignored him as he continued making his way down the table, ripping every photograph he could get his hands on.
A few more people rushed towards the man. Ramone yanked the photos out of his hands and pushed him onto the floor as the rest of the workers scrambled to save the ones still intact.
The photographer turned on a very dazed and rage shocked Enishi sprawled on the concrete floor.
"What is wrong with you?!" He demanded, holding up the ruined photographs for the man to see, "You destroyed them! Why??"
Enishi took a few deep breaths. Slowly, he rose from the ground, brushing the dust off of his suit.
"Forgive me," He said with a slight smile, "Just a little overwhelmed, I suppose."
The photographer eyed him suspiciously, noticing that the man's hands still shook and his eyes still danced wildly. "Overwhelmed?" He asked.
Enishi nodded. Turning around, he began to walk towards the door, as he called back, "She's not wearing enough. You guys can't publish photos of her in a magazine when she's wearing practically nothing."
The people in the studio stared in shock as the man walked out the door and was gone. Ramone stared for a moment, eyes wide with disbelief. Suddenly, he threw the torn photos in his hand to the floor with a groan.
"I hope she thinks twice about that one."
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"So, Mr. Himura, when did you start as a photographer?" Kaoru eyed the strange man in front of her thoughtfully, taking a sip of her coffee.
"Kenshin, please," His smile was charming, "I guess about three years ago when I got my first job as photo developer at Merryman's Photo Shop."
Kaoru smiled, "And you worked your way up and took over the place, right?"
Kenshin chuckled uneasily and rubbed the back of his neck, "Not exactly…" Kaoru couldn't help but notice how damn cute he was. That red hair… How it simply shined in the sunlight. Kenshin met her gaze, noticing that she was staring at him.
And those intense violet eyes…
"I must say, Miss Kaoru, you have very pretty, blue eyes." He said with another one of his melting smiles.
Kaoru shook herself out of the daze he had put her in. "I'm flattered, Mr. Himura, but—"
"Kenshin," he corrected again.
"You seem to be dodging my question, Kenshin." She emphasized his name out of spite. She watched as he became uncomfortable all over again.
"Well, you see…" He picked up his napkin and began rolling the edges with his fingers, "I was still the photo developer when I was fired today." He looked up with an embarrassed smile across his red face.
"Oh…" Kaoru said, sorry that she had brought it up. She looked over at Sanosuke, who sat next to her. His mind was obviously elsewhere as he blatantly stared at the woman across the café with the short skirt and low cut top. Kaoru elbowed him in the ribs.
"Ow, Missy! Why'd you have to go and do that?" He jumped, almost tipping over his coffee.
"You're distracted, Sano," She grumbled at him, "Remember what happened last time you ignored my well being to stare at some floozy."
Sano laughed and looked at Kenshin, "Want to hear an embarrassing model story? Oh, that was defiantly the one! I was staring at this hot chick at the movie theater we were at, and this guy comes over and pukes right in Kaoru's lap! Oh, I laughed so hard I almost sprayed cola out of my nose!"
Kenshin chuckled, but stopped as he noticed Kaoru's face turning red. Not with embarrassment, as Sanosuke must have thought, but out of rage. Angrily, she smacked him aside the head.
"Well, I didn't find it very funny!" She growled, smacking his head again. Sano stopped laughing in an instant. He cleared his throat and mumbled an apology to the angry girl, but as soon as she turned her head, he smiled and winked at Kenshin.
"So, you're an excellent photographer out of a job," Kaoru said, sifting through Kenshin's photos on the table and out right ignoring her giggling bodyguard.
Kenshin nodded, "Except for the 'excellent' part. My boss always told me that my work was mediocre."
Koaru smiled at him with a pitying look on her face, "Oh, you poor thing. These are wonderful, and don't let anyone tell you otherwise. In fact, if I didn't already have a photographer, I would—"
She trailed off as a tall, dark haired man stormed into the café calling her name. Kenshin expected Sano to jump up and drag the man out, but the bodyguard didn't even so much as twitch when the man stormed right over to Kaoru.
"He did it again! I can't take this anymore!" The man yelled so close he practically spat in the young woman's face.
"But Ramone…" She tried, but he would have nothing of it.
"I QUIT!" He yelled, throwing some little bits of torn paper into the air. He turned on heal and left the café without a backward glance. Kenshin watched as the bits of paper rained down onto the table like snow. He picked a piece up, noticing that they were actually pieces of a torn up photograph. Startled, Kenshin looked up the model. Her face was flushed red with anger that welled inside her. Slowly, she took some deep breaths to calm herself down. Kenshin watched as her chest rose and fell with each breath she took…
"Well, Mr. Himura, it seems that I have an opening."
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