D/C: I don't own RK...or Aspirin or Panadol…if I did I'd lend Kaoru some…I'm not a miser!!
Hey! It's me again! I'm glad u liked my last chapter, and…um…about the song part, I know it seemed a bit odd that Kenshin should sing it, I imagined how it would be and it was weird alright…but I couldn't find any other song that would fit!
Anyway, that's history now, and here's my sixth chapter.
Happy reading, folks!
Chapter 6: Blood
Kaoru pulled the blankets up to her face in attempt of blocking the bright sunlight out of her eyes.
Her head was throbbing painfully, and her stomach was churning horribly, and she felt like she was going to be sick.
Results of too much Sake. She was hung-over now.
She finally pushed the blankets away, and scrambled out of bed. She pulled on her robes, slipped her feet into the slippers Megumi had lent her, and she wadded out of the room.
That's when she noticed that the house was unusually quiet.
Frowning slightly, and clutching her head, she made her way to the kitchen. A bright yellow sticky note on the fridge's door caught her attention.
'Gone to pick Aoshi from the airport, u were dead asleep and I didn' wanna wake u up. Won't be long gone. Misao.' was written in Misao's scrawl handwriting.
Kaoru sighed. She might as well freshen up before those lot returned.
She went into the bathroom, splashed some water onto her face and hastily brushed her teeth.
Dabbing a tissue against her wet complexion, she returned to the kitchen to fetch for some aspirin, in hopes of relieving herself from the terrible headache she was suffering from.
She gave up after going through the whole kitchen cabinets without finding anything…not even Panadol.
Sighing in exasperation, she slumped down on a stool, folding her arms before her on the table.
She started recalling the conversation she had had with her friends the other night, before retiring to bed.
'I won't bother you any longer…' she had said.
'No, you're not bothering us' Megumi had insisted. 'I love having you around'
Kaoru smiled weakly. 'That's really sweet of you, but I can't possibly force myself on you like this' she said. 'I'll move out first chance I get'
'And go where?' Megumi demanded.
'Hey, maybe you could stay at my place! My house's much bigger' Misao exclaimed.
Kaoru shook her head. 'No, I want to find my own place…I'll start looking for an apartment with good rental prices first thing in the morning' she replied.
'And stay alone?' Sano said. He shook his head. 'Na-ah, over my dead body'
'Good, this'll give me reason enough to kill you' she cracked. Sano didn't smile. 'Really, guys…I mean, I want to move on, okay? Staying with you will only remind me of why I'm here in the first place'
'Oh, and living alone wouldn't?' Megumi remarked.
Kaoru was snagged. Megumi did have a point there.
'Let me tell you the difference between staying with us and staying alone, Kaoru' Megumi said. 'By staying with us, you'll always be kept busy, you won't have time to think of Kenshin, and it means you'll have friends to support you if you ever did…but staying alone means your thoughts will be in your face 24/7, okay? Nothing to distract you, na na, zilch, zero… get it? It'll be just you and your thoughts of Kenshin…you won't be escaping, Kaoru, you'll be locking yourself up…and I can't bear to see you all messed up like that'
'I'm not messed up' Kaoru fumed.
'Could've fooled me' Megumi replied. 'You're always crying over Kenshin…don't tell me that isn't messed up'
That's when Kaoru finally stood up, said, 'I'm feeling tired…I think I'll go to bed…goodnight'
When Kaoru thought about it again and again, she felt a slight pang of guilt…all her friends were trying to do is help her, and all she does is push them away…that wasn't her definition of being a good friends.
She messaged her temple, and when it didn't seem to make her headache go any better, she decided to go to the Chemist to get some aspirin. Good thing there was one across the street from them.
She quickly pulled on a pair of jeans, a sweater and a long jacket, pulled her hair into a quick note, slipped her cell phone into her jeans' pocket, and left the apartment.
She took the lift down to the lobby, and uttered a low gasp when she saw who was standing there.
Kenshin.
He looked up when he saw her stepping out of the elevator, and he smiled at her.
'Kaoru' he said happily.
Kaoru steeled herself. Looking straight ahead, she walked right past him without giving him a second glance.
'No, Kaoru, wait, please…give me another chance' he pleaded.
Trying hard to ignore him, she stepped outside the building.
She paused a little on the pavement, looking left and right before starting to cross the road.
Kenshin was right behind her.
'Kaoru, please, listen to me' he said.
Kaoru crossed the road, with Kenshin right on her track.
Even as she walked into the Chemist's, he followed her inside.
'Hi' she said to the Chemist.
'Good afternoon, how may I help you?' the man asked.
'Kaoru, please…' Kenshin murmured in her ear.
Kaoru gritted her teeth, and smiled sweetly at the man. 'Um…I have a headache…y'know, from drinking too much' she murmured.
'Kaoru…' Kenshin pleaded again.
The Chemist frowned at Kenshin, but Kaoru kept acting as if he weren't even there.
'Okay…would you take aspirin?' he said.
'I'll take anything which will relieve me from this headache' Kaoru replied.
'Alright, wait here, I'll get you one' he told her, still staring at Kenshin.
'Kaoru…just let me explain' Kenshin whispered, moving in so close to her she had no space to move. 'Please'
Kaoru shrugged him away uncomfortably. She really didn't want to create a scene now…here.
The chemist handed her the packet of aspirin. 'Take one pill every six hours, and if the pain doesn't go away, come back so I could give you another medicine' he told her.
'Thanks' she replied. 'How much does it cost?'
'Seven bucks' he told her, before leaning closer to her. 'Er…miss, is that man bothering you? I'll send him away if you want'
Kaoru smiled and stuffed the cash into his hand. 'Thanks…I'll handle him on my own' she assured him.
She stuffed the aspirin in her purse, grabbed Kenshin's hand and pulled him outside.
'What were you thinking?!' she snarled.
'I was trying to win you back, that's what' he replied.
'Oh, so now I'm some kind of trophy?!' she snapped. 'You really embarrassed me in there, Kenshin!'
'Well, I figured you weren't going to push me away in front of people' he said simply.
'You know, Kenshin, you're not making the situation any better' she pointed out.
'Okay, you tell me how I can make it better' he told her.
'It's not going to become better, okay? You and I are over, Kenshin, why don't you just get it?'
'Because we are not over, Kaoru' Kenshin told her. 'We love each other, remember?'
Kaoru opened her mouth, closed it, and then opened it again. 'Liar' she hissed. 'You're only saying that to trick me'
'Kaoru…well, can't I at least know why you're so mad at me?' he demanded.
'Don't act all bright-eyed and innocent in front of me, Kenshin…you perfectly know what you've done' she snapped.
'But, Kaoru, I swear I don't! I don't know why this is happening! And besides, I'd die a thousand deaths before even thinking of hurting you' he cried, collecting a few stares from passer-bys. His eyes watered, and he leaned closer to her. 'I really need you, Kaoru' he choked.
Kaoru stood, transfixed, as Kenshin cupped her face between his hands and pressed his lips against hers in a soft, gentle kiss. It sent a tingling sensation which seemed to warm her to the tips of her fingers, and lifted her headache for a brief moment.
When Kenshin finally withdrew, Kaoru only stared at him, as if he had never kissed her before in his life.
Yes, he was her husband, yes, he had kissed her a million times before in more passionate situations, but yet, this kiss, it was…
Kenshin smiled hopefully at her. She knew he would love to hear her saying that she'll willingly come back and throw all this behind her back, but no…she wouldn't give him the privilege, not after he had hurt her so much.
She pushed him away from her. 'What do you think you're doing?!' she screamed.
'I…' he said, looking baffled, the smile vanishing from his face.
'I don't want to see you ever again, Kenshin! Just get out of my life!' she cried, tears forming at the corners of her eyes.
'Kaoru…' he whispered.
Kaoru burst into tears and rushed away from him, running onto the road.
She ran without looking sideways, ran without noticing the quickly approaching speeding car…
'KAORU!!!' Kenshin yelled.
Kaoru paused, looked around and saw the car. She screamed as she noticed the car.
But before the painful impact came, Kaoru felt herself being pushed out of the way. She was thrown back to the safety of the concrete pavement.
She heard the screech of tyres against the road, the horrible sound of something…or someone… being hit, and then…silence.
Dreading what she was going to see, Kaoru slowly lifted herself up from the pavement, and turned around.
Her eyes traced the pool of blood beginning to form, to the arm which lay on the road, followed the arm up to the face of its owner…the bloodied face of Kenshin.
Kaoru gasped in horror, nearly choking on her emotions.
'Kenshin…no' she choked. 'NO!!'
A/N: (No! Ouch! Stop chucking stuff at me! Double ouch! Hey! Who just threw that shoe?!) Yeah, I know u all want to kill me after this, but let me remind u of something; u won't know what'll happen next in the story if u do kill me! He he! Anyway, there are some things…ok, it's a one thing…revealed in the next chapter, be sure not to miss it! Until then, a review would be nice…unless, of course, it has curses or something…
-ZEN.