Lady Battousai456: Wow. I'm so glad that all of you keep coming back! Yay! I hate it when shuts down half the site to make updates but I guess it's for the best. Anyway, I guess that'll delay some reviews but I'll have to live. Lol
Vampire Demon666: I really have nothing to say.
Kaoru sobbed on her pillow but didn't move. She seemed to be in a state of shock. It all seemed so real. Her mind wasn't able to fully comprehend this dream, so for now, it was real. Seeing the man she trusted make her mom suffer like that had a strange effect on her. No, it wasn't strange. Everyone would react that way. Eventually, even while she was swimming through her thoughts, she drifted off to sleep. No more dreams plagued her that night. All the terror of one night was summed up in that one nightmare. That very hellish nightmare.
-
Kenshin lounged on the couch: Soujiro next to him. Kenshin stared off into space, and showed no sign of wanting to talk or have any sort of interaction at the time. Sou understood this without asking. Living with Kenshin for as long as he had, he'd learned when Kenshin was to be left alone.
He was staring at an invisible spot on the wall. Sou wondered what was going through his best friend's mind. Sadness? Anger? Denial? Betrayal? Sou settled on all of them. It was a tough thing to find out. He had never really met Kaoru, and he knew her father was a hunter, but what about her working for him?
Sou knew that Megumi was a trustworthy person; but she had her sights set on Kenshin for a very long time. She must still have feelings for him even though Kenshin obviously didn't share them. That didn't seem to bother her in the least though. Was this all some plan to make Kenshin hers? Sou somehow had a hard time believing she would stoop to that level, but one could never be to sure with her. She was as sly and cunning as a fox, which was how she earned her nickname.
Sou glanced at Kenshin again, who hadn't moved. He sighed.
"I'm going to sleep. You can do what you want." He paused a second. "I'm sorry Kenshin."
He got up without waiting for a reply, because he knew there wouldn't be one. Kenshin still didn't take his eyes off the wall. Sou rolled his eyes as he went upstairs. Kenshin wasn't supposed to be like this.
-
Kaoru peeled her eyes open. They felt crusted and her throat hurt. It didn't take long for her to remember the dream. It came rushing back so fast that she had to fight the tears from flowing again. Once she woke up more she could make sense of this.
She felt like a hot shower. It was an old habit to "rinse off" the bad dreams. She felt much cleaner afterwards. This all felt child-ish now but a hot shower was what she needed now anyway.
It was still her day off so she just put on some sweat pants and a huge soft shirt. This was her lounging outfit. She doubted she'd get anything but that done today. The sofa downstairs looked very inviting right now. No T.V though. She got her sketchbook out and sat down with her legs folded up underneath her. She started doodling absent mindedly. Her thoughts wandered, but not about last night. About small things like: did she have any homework she forgot to do?
The phone rang in the background. At first she didn't want to answer it, but eventually got up and picked up the phone. She wasn't talking. She heard breathing on the other line, and for a second got freaked out and almost hung up. As she started taking the receiver away from her ear a voice started talking.
"Kaoru? Are you there?"
"Hello?"
"Kaoru! What were you doing? You scared the hell outta me."
It was Misao's voice. She felt relieved to hear it and it felt like ages that she'd talked to her best friend in the world.
"Sorry. I was half asleep," she told a small lie.
"Umm, ok," she didn't seem to buy it but didn't ask anymore questions. Kaoru was glad about that. "So how are you?"
"Not to good. I had this really bad dream last night."
"Anything you want to talk about?"
"I don't think I can yet."
"That's okay. Talk to me about it when you can."
"Thanks Misao. You're so understanding."
Kaoru heard a quiet laugh on the other line.
"So, I called to see if you wanted to do something, but I guess you're aren't feeling up to it."
"Not today. Some other time though."
"Okay. I better go then. I'll talk to you later?"
"Yeah. Bye Misao."
"Bye Kaoru."
Kaoru waited for the click to be heard on the other line before she hung up. She never hung up first. It was a lingering habit from when she was a child. She realized that she had a lot of child- ish habits, but today she didn't really care.
She tried to keep her mind off of things that were happening to her right now. Misao's phone call had given her a very welcomed reality check. Somehow, she had forgotten that there was still a world out there and that life would go on. She had forgotten that she wasn't the only one in the world with problems.
She shoved the stupid thought out of her head and paced around the living room. She felt very depressed. She didn't want to sit but she didn't want to do anything else either. She stopped at her fire place mantel. On it were pictures of her and her dad. Even one of her, Sano, Aoshi and Misao. They were all smiling. Kaoru couldn't imagine being happy again. That thought made her want to cry.
Was this what Kenshin had been looking at? The pictures? She bet he missed his family. Or maybe not. Maybe he really was an insensitive killer. This was driving her crazy, so she sat down at the kitchen table to try to make sense of her nightmare.
It was a dream wasn't it? Did people really dream about things that happened? She had only heard of that in movies and books. No one ever really talked about it. But that didn't mean it couldn't really happen. It was no use. How could she decipher a dream? What she needed was a therapist or something.
'Great,' she thought. 'Now I'm resorting to a shrink.'
It was better to know though. She didn't even know where to start looking for a therapist. That was a problem
-
Kenshin had to get out of the house. He had to forget about everything. The one place he could that was his motorcycle. When he was on it, all he concentrated on nothing but the road that was in front of him. He had been riding motorcycles so long, that he didn't even need to have his full mind on driving, but this time he did. He counted the white dashes dividing the lanes. He did anything to keep his mind off of Kaoru.
Kenshin's distracted mind even stopped him from throwing insults at a man that was yelling at him. He knew he was a reckless driver. He didn't need some dirt bag in a truck telling him that.
As hard as he tried, he really couldn't keep his thoughts from drifting back to Kaoru. He gave up and tried to figure her out. So, she was working for her father to try to kill Kenshin. Ok, he could believe that her dad would do that, but why Kaoru? She seemed sincere with her actions when she tried to befriend him. What was he talking about? He didn't know Kaoru that well. For all he knew, she really was plotting against him. Kenshin shook his head and gave a small sarcastic laugh. If only Kaoru knew...
-
After resorting to her best friend, Kaoru finally found a person she could talk to. Misao had talked to this lady when her dad died. According to Misao, she was pretty good, so Kaoru had made an appointment. She felt stupid; going there for just a dream, but the thought that she didn't know what it meant scared her. She wanted, actually needed an explanation. She wondered if the therapist would laugh at her. Why was she even going? This was ridiculous.
She took a deep breath. She told herself that she worried to much about what other people would think of her and made her decision was final: she was going.
Since her dad was gone, she either had to walk, call a cab, or take the bus. She didn't trust cab drivers, hated the "bus smell", so that left her with walking. She lived pretty close to downtown of her city, so it wasn't to bad. She grabbed a warm coat and walked outside. It was colder than she thought, but didn't want to bother with getting another jacket. She could tough it out.
Walking always relaxed her. There was something about it. The cold air helped also. When it was hot outside it was stressful, so she preferred this kind of weather. She was out of the neighborhood now and on the main road. Her hands were freezing and she stuffed them inside her jacket. She should have brought a hat and gloves. Maybe even a bigger coat. She kept telling herself that she was almost there and that when she got home she'd drink a big cup of hot chocolate and take a hot bath.
Finally she reached the big building where the therapist's office was. It didn't look to inviting. When the sliding doors opened, a rush of warm air greeted her. The person at the desk looked at her and pushed up her headset.
"Can I help you?"
"What? Oh, I'm looking for Dr. Hebert's office."
"12th floor honey. The elevator's over there."
Kaoru looked to where she was gesturing and looked back at her.
"Thanks."
She only smiled and looked back down at her paperwork while pushing her microphone back into place.
Kaoru walked around the large Victorian style column and pushed the 'up' arrow on the wall by the elevator doors. It didn't take long and no one was in there to come out. Was this place always so empty? She pushed the thought aside and hurried into the elevator as the doors started to close. She had waited to long.
What floor had that women said? Was it 12? Yes, it was. She pushed 12 and the button lit up. There were over 20 floors in this building. Why was the therapist here? Was this some small business center? If Misao hadn't been the one to refer her here, she'd be worried.
The doors opened and the elevator dinged. She looked around at her new surroundings. While the main floor may have had a cozy feel to it, this place reminded her of a hospital. It was all white and had no paintings or warm lamps. Just huge bright sterile lights in the ceiling. There was only one desk, so she walked over to it. She was glad when the women sitting at her computer spoke first.
"Are you here to see Dr. Hebert?"
"Yes."
"By appointment?"
"Yes."
"Can I have your name please?"
"Kaoru Kamiya."
She took a moment to flip to her appointments for today and scanned the names.
"Aha, yes here you are."
"There's actually someone in there right now, but I'll let her know you're here."
Kaoru gave a small smile.
"Thanks," she said, and then turned around to sit in one of the uninviting chairs. The backs were hard and she tried to lean forward without looking to look completely ridiculous. The woman was to busy typing and didn't notice Kaoru. She was grateful for that.
Her mind played through the session she was about to endure. What would she say?
'Well, I think that this guy I have a crush on is a vampire and I liked him until I had this dream where he killed my mom.'
For some reason, Kaoru didn't think that would work. So, what would?
She didn't know if she lost track of time, or if that she arrived right on time, but before she knew it, a young woman was walking out of the forbidden door with red eyes and a tissue in her hand.
Kaoru wondered if that was a sign that things were going to go wrong. Kaoru looked at the women that was still typing, who looked back at her.
"Oh, you can go on in now honey."
Kaoru just smiled and nodded and walked in. She pictured the lady inside to be turned around in her chair and when she entered, she would slowly turn around with her fingers laced together. But that wasn't the case.
Right when Kaoru walked in she felt a little better. Dr. Hebert was sitting in a lounge chair in front of a couch. In the corner was a little leather couch. The kind they always show in movies. There was even a fire going, giving the room a cozy glow.
"You're Kaoru right?"
"Yes."
"I'm Dr. Hebert."
Kaoru didn't know what to say next without sounding stupid. Instead of caring she walked over and shook the Dr.'s hand.
"It's nice to meet you Dr. Hebert."
"You too Kaoru," she replied while smiling. It was a practiced smile, but grief stricken patients just liked to see a smile, even if it wasn't exactly real.
"It's so cold outside. Do you like this kind of whether?" Dr. Hebert was trying to get Kaoru more comfortable.
"I like this kind of weather. I like it better when it snows though."
Dr. Hebert nodded.
"You can put your coat over there if you like. There's a closet."
Kaoru looked and thanked her while sliding out of her coat. She walked over to the closet and selected a hanger for her jacket. Once she walked back, Dr. Hebert was standing next to a microwave that was sitting on a cabinet.
"Would you like some hot chocolate Kaoru?"
Kaoru was taken aback by this at first, but quickly recovered.
"Yes please."
Kaoru sat down on the couch and found it to be quite comfy. She watched with interest as Dr. Hebert took two mugs out of a cabinet and filled them up with water. She put them in a small microwave and turned around to look at Kaoru.
"So, Kaoru. Is there something specific you'd like to talk about?"
Kaoru didn't answer at first.
'No, I just came here to drink hot chocolate and talk about weather,' she thought while mentally rolling her eyes. But she knew that it was a way to get someone to open up without sounding rude or nosy. Kaoru found that when she was cornered or sad, she became angry and snappy, but this wasn't anger management.
"Yes. I'm actually worried about a dream I had last night."
"Oh?"
"It was more of a nightmare actually." Kaoru kept her eyes on the floor.
Dr. Hebert didn't interrupt, but tilted her head slightly to the side to indicate she was listening.
Kaoru waited as she opened the microwave back up again and poured a small pouch oh chocolate powder into each of them. She placed a stirrer in them and walked back over to Kaoru. She sat in a chair across from Kaoru and handed her the cup.
"Thank you."
"Your welcome."
Kaoru liked how this woman wasn't rushing her, but hated how she wouldn't stop staring at her. Why couldn't she take a hint that Kaoru didn't want to be stared at like a caged animal. She glanced up to find her still looking and quickly looked back down. Kaoru decided it would be better if she started talking, so she put her cup on the small oak coffee table in front of her and leaned back in the sofa.
"This dream I had last night. I can't understand it."
"Would you like to tell me about it so I can help you try to figure it out?"
"Well, first I think I should tell you about what's been going on in my life because I think it's affecting my dream."
"Dreams often do that. You go ahead. I won't interrupt."
Strangely enough, Kaoru wasn't worried about it. She wanted to tell someone about this. It would make her feel better.
"Well, there's this guy that sometimes used to hang around our school."
She smiled at the old memory. That seemed so long ago.
"He didn't go there, but he sat in a tree next to it. I think he wanted to be inside those gates though and inside the school."
Kaoru had never thought that Kenshin might actually miss life. Existing forever sounded good, but she could imagine that it wasn't all it was cracked up to be. She glanced at Dr. Hebert. She was still listening and actually looked interested.
"One day though, I saw him in the park. He was all alone. I decided to go over and talk to him because he looked so mysterious. I just had to know about him. I know I was probably being nosy, but at the time I didn't care. Many people at my school tried to talk to him, but no one could get a word out of him and he would usually run away. My friend Sano got his name once though. Only his first. Nothing else."
Dr. Hebert shifts positions, but that's it and makes no sign of wanting to talk.
"Turns out Sano was right about his name. It was Kenshin. I started talking to him, and surprisingly he answered back. His last name was Himura and he said he was 18 years old. I tried to start a conversation with him about where he came from since his name sounded Japanese. He said it was and I asked him if he had some Irish in him."
Kaoru smiled a faint smile at the thought.
"I think it made him mad though, because he answered that he was full-blooded Japanese. I thought he was Irish because his hair is the reddest you've ever seen and it's natural. It's rare for someone from Japan to have a hair color other than black. I know why he's so defensive though. He probably gets that a lot. It doesn't help that he's really small either. From a distance, someone could mistake him for a woman."
Kaoru stopped briefly to take a sip of hot chocolate. It tasted really good. She smiled at the Dr., who smiled back.
"I became friends with him and he began to trust me. He doesn't trust many people so it was kinda hard. Later on I found out that he and my father actually had connections. I'm not sure how, but I know that my father hated him with a lot of passion."
Dr. Hebert looked very interested now.
"Now, in this dream I had last night, I saw myself too. Except I was very young. I was hiding in a corner and I couldn't move. I was watching myself. I looked around and saw there was more. On the other side of the room was my mom. She had a baby with her. There were two other people in the room, but I couldn't make them out at first. One of them came later, and took the baby away from her. She tried to go after the baby but the other person grabbed her arm."
Dr. Hebert handed Kaoru a box of tissues. She hadn't even realized she was crying, but she pulled one from the box and wiped her nose and dabbed her eyes. She continued though.
"The figure with the baby disappeared but the other one was still there. They were trying to get her to come with them, but she wouldn't go with him. Finally, they swung her over their shoulder and turned to leave, but I shouted something. I don't even know what it was."
Kaoru paused to think. What had she said when she yelled to him?
"I-I think I was speaking Japanese in my dream. I don't know Japanese. I don't know, but suddenly he came into focus. It was Kenshin."
She whispered her last sentence and hung her head like she had done something wrong. She grabbed another tissue and blew her nose. Dr. Hebert just watched her, like she had been the entire time Kaoru was talking. As if she could see the story when she looked at her.
"Kaoru, I'm glad you came to me to talk about this and not some fortune teller on the streets. Your dream is something we should talk about, but first. I feel like there's something you're hiding from me. Is there? Because I can't really help you unless you tell it all to me."
Kaoru kept her eyes on the floor and sniffed a couple times.
"I can't tell you."
"Why not? Has someone threatened you?"
"No."
Why did shrinks always have to assume the worst?
"Then why can't you tell me?"
"Because you'd think I was crazy."
"Do you think you're crazy?"
At first, Kaoru didn't answer. But her answer slightly surprised the Dr.
"Yes. Yes, I think I'm crazy."
"Why?"
"Because I thought I was in love."
-
Kenshin zipped between cars and trucks. He had been riding for awhile now. He didn't know exactly how long or where he was going, but old habits and instincts told him to keep going.
-
Soujiro was sitting at the kitchen table. He had the phone in his hand and he dialed Megumi's number. As usual, she picked up almost immediately.
"Hello?"
"Megumi, you need to tell me the truth."
"You know what Megumi. About Kaoru. Now just tell me."
"Why should I?"
"Because Kenshin is tearing himself to pieces over it Megumi that's why. You know there's no greater hurt than betrayal."
There was silence from Megumi's end of the line.
"Sou, I just didn't want him to get hurt."
"And you think this was supposed to help?"
"But her dad really is a hunter!"
This time it was Sou's turn for silence.
"Soujiro, I know you think I'm just a flirty woman who wants Kenshin, but you know I'd never purposely hurt him. You know that!"
"I know that Megumi. I'm sorry. It's just that- It's not right."
"I know. How could his family betray us like that?"
"It wasn't Her though. It was Him. Her husband. He was never really into it anyway. To him it wasn't right."
"But Megumi, why did you tell him that Kaoru was plotting against him? You're breaking the line here."
Megumi sighed.
"I didn't mean to do that. That wasn't intentional. We're going to have to fix it."
"Yes, we definitely are," Sou answered.
Lady Battousai654: Hehe, did you like it? I'm actually pretty proud of this chapter. Me and Vampire Demon worked a lot on it and spent a ton of time. These site updates have seen to that. Lol.
Vampire Demon666: Yeah, thanks to these read only modes, we had a lot of time to work on this. Okay, so. The phone conversation is supposed to be confusing, so unless you're psychic, you aren't gonna get it. Sorry. But don't worry. It'll become clear soon.
Jing-Jing: Well, I can't tell you if someone's gonna die or not or if they split up. But you'll find out okay? Promise! -Lady Battousai.
Rinoa-Heartilly-666: Thanks. I think the chapter's are getting easier to write, because it's starting to get interesting. Lol. I'm still reading Interview with the Vampire. Lately it seems I barely have any time to read what I want. During school I have to read assigned books and then there's the homework...and Vampire Demon's got a lot of homework too, so we're trying to update this story whenever we get time! -Lady Battousai
half-breed-demon-fox: I hope it gets more interesting now. Thanks for reviewing! -Lady Battousai
rain angst: Yes, things are gonna be tough on Kaoru for a little while...haha. But maybe they'll get better. evil laugh -Vampire Demon
legolasEstelstar: Lol, sorry about the heart attack. You're right about her dad. He's not going to accept Kenshin. Thanks for saying we're nice. It good to hear from reviewers like you. About the god thing, I'm not all that sure about it. No offense to you or any other Christians out there. School sucks because I hate my teachers, one of my friends is turning on me to hang with the "popular" kids. And this guy in my class keeps insulting me in front of my friends. Man I can't stand him! What a jerk. But I'm don't care. I'm ok, because I know I'm better than that. And Vampire Demon will kill him if he doesn't stop. Lol. I really have no clue about what I like to study. I like history a lot though, so maybe something along that line. Math: NO WAY. Hate it, suck at it. -Lady Battousai
I'm not laughing at you either. So, I guess that's good. Well, about god...same answer as Lady Battousai. I really don't know. Heh, I'm glad that I'm finally taller than someone. Even Lady Battousai is a little taller than me. And yes, you're older than me. I'm younger than a lot of kids in my grade and I look even younger. Yes, that's right Lady Battousai. Your personal body guard at your service. Just tell me who to beat! Yes, I love writing angst. You don't like it? So, how did you come across this fic and decide to check it out? Anyway, thanks for your review and we'll see ya next update. -Vampire Demon
Mironicka: Haha, yes. The dream scene was ok, but I think we could have done better. The next chapter is actually gonna be a flashback to Japan when Kenshin was still a hitokiri, or around that time. Thanks for reviewing. -Lady Battousai
Our Friend: Lol. I'm lovin the new name! Van Hellsing is such a good movie. I hate the ending though. Lol, I'm sorry to hear about your brush with death. Hopefully you've made a full recovery. I nearly choked on a lemon warhead when I was in 2nd grade. It was so bad. I really couldn't breath and being little I thought I was gonna die. It was awful. And the teacher didn't even really do anything. She was just like "Ok come on now. Let's go to the nurse." Teachers are no good. I bet she wanted me to die...and I wasn't even one of her students! glares at teacher
-Lady Battousai
racoongirl: Don't go insane yet! You have to finish the story! Lol, thanks for reviewing. Hope to see you next update! -Lady Battousai
Angeliz: Sorry about the shortness. We're trying to get them out at a decent time, but we've worked hard on this one and we're quite proud. Hopefully it's long enough!
And to all the reviewers that may have read the chapter but couldn't review because of the site updates, thanks to you too!
One more note: Next chapter will be a flashback, so don't get all confused when everything is different! I'll remind you at the top of the next chapter so you won't forget! Thanks again guys!