A Note From Sedjet: Many of you seemed to think that my last post was an ultimatum: Review or I quit. NO! I am not one of those authors who demands reviews before she will post another chapter. After reading my note from the last chapter, I see how it could be taken that way. I am very sorry that it came across sounding like it did. I was concerned that it wasn't doing well because of the whole idea of Kenshin having AIDS. I thought that, perhaps, I had offended people. Thinking about that now, I am sure I would have known if I had offended anyone. People are never reluctant to tell you what they don't like.
I'm not looking for praise. No, no, no! I want to know what people like. I want to know what people dislike. Constructive criticism is the main thing. I write fanfiction to help develop my skills for the bigger stuff. Just so ya know. I'm not review hungry…I feed on feedback. Anyhoo, I wanted to clear that up.
Thanks you's:
Knives— Rent is my favorite musical…EVER!!!! Oh,yeah! *high-five!*
Kaoru-chan— Hehe. I will keep writing chapters just for you!
Peppercorn (x2)— As you have seen, Kenshin is not stigmatized by his friends. We'll get to reasons later. There are lots of givens that haven't been revealed yet.
Synapse— I'm sorry that I came across like a review hound. I'm really not. In any case, I am glad that you like the story.
Jenice— Yeah. NYC on AFF.net. J It gets worse.
MZ.AMbER EYES— Ok. No. Kaoru is a stripper, not a whore. She doesn't have sex for cash or any other form of payment. And I never said that she LOOKED like Tomoe. I only said that she reminded Kenshin of Tomoe. Have you ever met someone who just reminded you of another person—not physically. Maybe it is in their expression, a look in their eyes, their smile or their compassion for other people. Know what I mean? That is along the lines of what I meant. Anyhoo, I'll have to go back and revise that if people are getting the wrong impression. Thank you for bringing it to my attention!
JIVARA— Misao is not a lesbian. *grin* I have fudged with it a bit. How fair would it be to totally rip off our dear Mr. Larson. Yeah. I have taken some liberties with it. I hope you don't hate it. But yeah, you guessed my Mimi and RogerJ
Isis— haha! Yeah, I have had to listen to the soundtrack on repeat since I started writing this. *sigh* I am hopeless.
Ariel Himura— I hope you are enjoying the rest of "Rent." Am I that predictable?
Koishii Sweet— I'm glad you like it!
Raine— Thanks! I'm glad you're diggin' itJ Stay tuned.
Xxna5xX— Danke!
BabyKaoru-Sama— Thank you, thank you!
Roku-chan— I thought that perhaps that was one of my problems. My summary sucked ass. Heh heh. I'm glad I changed it. I also thought it might be due to my wimpy ass first chapter! Hehe. Thanks for being so enthusiastic!
EnjeruJoshin (Isis)— I like you. You make me giggle. I'm glad you're diggin' it. Don't worry. I'm going to finish. My problem is that I have written a huge part of the middle, and I don't know how to get there from here! *sigh*
Also, I'm not familiar with NYC at all. Of course, I know Broadway and 42nd. However, I don't know where the bad parts of the city are. If someone could direct me to a map that I wouldn't have to buy, I would appreciate it. If anyone knows how the city is set up (as in where the poor sections are and where the strip joints would be) please e-mail me: shaeya_sedjet@yahoo.com
Now, on with the show!
Rent
Chapter Four:
It's Hard to Say 'I'm sorry'
Soon after her altercation with the gorgeous but oh-so-bastardass redhead, Kaoru stopped by her apartment to grab her spiffy, fluffy, fuzzy winter jacket (She always felt better when she put on her spiffy, fluffy, fuzzy winter jacket). She left her apartment and headed toward the Sex Kitten with a specific purpose in mind. Her dealer lurked around there the vast majority of the time. After her earlier confrontation, she needed a good fix to steady her nerves. She was getting antsy and the slightest bit paranoid.
It didn't take her long at all to find Marco. She didn't even have to leave Avenue B. Luck had it that he was lurking near Tompkins Square Park.
"Marco!" She called, waving vigorously.
The Italian drug-dealer glanced up at one of his favorite customers and smiled. "Kitty!"
It was Kaoru's dancing name. There was no way in hell she would let a man like Marco know her real name. He was a nice enough guy…outside of the drug-dealing getting kids hooked on narcotics thing, but she smart enough to realize that a young girl should never let her drug-dealer know who she is or where she lives. Bad things happened if you couldn't pay, or if you started going to someone else for your narcs.
Marco sauntered over to her, grinning from ear to ear, "Hey, Kitty Kat. I though you'd forgotten all about lil' ol' me."
She smiled her most charming smile, "How could I forget about you, Marco? I've just been broke lately. But, I finally got enough to get a couple grams."
Marco liked Kitty. She was a sweet kid and she was a total junkie. She hid it better than most. The gaunt model look worked for her. She had been a customer of his since she was sixteen, and she had been very loyal to him. He always cut her a deal, because she had stayed with him so long.
"A coupla grams? You must have come into some good money." Marco noticed a strange looking chick with long, red hair checking them out. "Kitty, you know that chick and the guy over there?"
Kaoru looked in the direction he was looking. It wasn't a chick. It was the asshole from the top floor of the warehouse and his friend that had come in just in time to save his ass from a horrible fucking death. "Shit!" she muttered.
***
Kenshin and Sano were headed to the empty lot at Avenue B and 10th, where Misao was going to be doing a performance art piece in protest of the lot that was being shut down. It would shut down the existing "tent city", but the real reason Misao was so pissed was that it was her stage. She performed hundreds of shows in protest of hundreds of things that she considered "unjust": the treatment of women in Afghanistan, AIDS, the oppression of artists, the plight of the homeless in NYC. In all actuality, she was a drama queen that wanted to get noticed for being "out there". The best way to do that was to protest…everything.
For tonight's protest, she had prepared an interpretive dance/narrative piece. It was sure to be highly dramatic and very amusing. Soujiro would be there filming it as always. Misao and Soujiro had dated once. Kenshin highly suspected that Sou was still in love with the tiny ball of angst and fire, because any time she needed a favor, the dumbass was always there to assist her in any way he could. The relationship had ended badly when Misao began to neglect him for her "art". It didn't help that she was an incorrigible flirt. Soujiro had been heart-broken and took to hiding behind his camera. He preferred to observe life rather than participate in it. In this way, he was much like Kenshin. Sou's case was worse, however, because he couldn't admit that he had a problem. Kenshin fully acknowledged his disdain for life and embrace—made love to it on a daily basis, even. Sou, however, was deluded into thinking that he wanted to observe the way people interacted and behaved. Bullshit.
Sano noticed that Kenshin was…well…characteristically stoic, "Oi! Stop being broody and talk to me, dammit!"
Kenshin pretended not to have heard him, "Huh? Did you say something?"
Sano rolled his eyes, "Jackass." Something caught his eye, and his inner ferret took over. "Hey, isn't that the girl you called a whore?"
"Yeah, that's her, and I didn't call her a whore."
"You might as well have. I think your exact words were 'You sell your body for a living.' That's perilously close to calling her a whore, dude."
"Did you learn a new word, Sano?" Kenshin said with a blank face and laughed when Sano glared at him.
"Dude. You just laughed. I think this chick really got to you."
"Shut up," Kenshin muttered. After a moment, "Should I go over there."
"What are you going to do? Just stare at her? If you open your mouth, you will probably insult her, and I wouldn't put it past that one to kick your ass if you did. She doesn't seem like the kind that puts up with that shit. She put you in your place earlier. Do you want to mess with that?"
Kenshin studied the figure in the fuzzy red and purple jacket. He was suddenly nervous. Now was his chance to apologize. But could he bring himself to do it? He didn't want to come off as a jackass…again. She was incurably cute bundled in fluff from mid-thigh up. She called to a deeply buried part of him that still wanted to participate in the world of the living. Something was breaking inside of him. He was feeling emotions that he hadn't felt in a little over a year, and he made his decision. He looked at Sano, "Yeah, I think I do."
Sano raised his eyebrow and pulled out his cellphone, "I have 911 on my one-touch program. I'll be ready if you need it," he chuckled. "Good luck, man, 'cause you are gonna need it after all the shitty things you said to her."
Kenshin shot the spiky-haired man a death glare and made his way over to the mystery girl in the fuzzy red and purple jacket.
***
"What's wrong? You fuckin' her guy, or something?" he chuckled at his own humor.
Kaoru rolled her eyes, "That's a guy, Marco. We live in the same building." She sighed, "Shit, shit, shit!"
"Well, they're talking about you. The red-head looks interested—"
"Well, I'm not," she bit out.
"Oo, touchy. What'd this guy do to get on your bad side? I thought my lil' kitten liked everyone." He grinned at her, and she rolled her eyes.
"There are just some people you can't like no matter how you try, Marco."
"Looks like you got a fan, Kitty," Marco grinned.
"Great," she moaned as she turned to see Kenshin approaching them.
"Put your money away, kitten. Find me later," Marco said in low tones.
"Marco…" she practically whined, "I need my—"
"Um, hi." The red-head mumbled.
Kaoru quickly tucked her money into her pocket and turned a wary stare on the man in front of her. "Hi." She said shortly.
"I couldn't decide if that was you or not, but I'm glad it was."
Kaoru studied him, with a guarded expression. She wrapped her arms around herself, feeling very uncomfortable in her current situation. She didn't want to have it out with this guy in the middle of the street in case his socially inept qualities kicked it at full blast again. As she studied him, Kaoru realized something: This didn't seem like the same guy from earlier. This guy seemed embarrassed, unsure, bashful even. His posture told her that he wasn't used to this kind of interaction. He was making himself very small. It made her want to reach out and pet him, but she knew that could have dire consequences. His current disposition was rather endearing. So, she decided to hear him out. She vaguely wondered if he had been on a bad trip earlier.
"Um, listen, I wanted to apologize for being such an asshole earlier. I didn't mean to attack your character like that. I just—you—" he sighed, and Kaoru tried to hid her smile of amusement, "IpanickedandfreakedoutandI'msorry," he said in a rush.
Kaoru laughed out loud at that, and felt horrible when he looked dejected and wounded. "No! I accept your apology. It's just that you were so cute." She smiled shyly. "I'm sorry if I hurt your feelings just now, really I am. I didn't mean to laugh at you."
Kenshin smiled a little and said, "It's ok. I would have deserved it if you had just laughed at me."
Kaoru shrugged, "Bygones," and smiled.
The smile was so genuine that Kenshin thought his heart would stop beating. It was beautiful. It was a contagious kind of smile that had him grinning like an idiot. Suddenly, a thought occurred to him, "Hey, umm, can I take you to dinner to make up for being such a bastard? One of my friends is performing in the lot at B and 10th, and we are all going to dinner afterwards."
Kaoru considered this for a minute. On the down side, it could turn out to be a horribly miserable event. On the other hand, it could be very nice…and it would be a free meal. If it was too terrible, she never had to see him again unless it was in passing. She made her decision, "Sure. I would love to go."
Kenshin smiled shyly. "Umm…Well…Ok. Let's go, then. We'd better hurry. Misao will flay us alive if we are late." He led the way over to Sanosuke and would have made introductions, but realized he didn't even know her name. He looked at her sheepishly, "I don't even know your name."
She gave another of her bright smiles and her bright laughter, "Kaoru Kamiya," she offered her hand, and he took it, noting that she had a firm handshake.
"I'm Kenshin Himura, and this spiky headed freak is Sanosuke Sagara."
Sanosuke held out his hand, "Just Sano. And don't listen to a word the girly-hermit says. He's just jealous that his hair can't do this," Sano said, stroking his free hand over his spikes.
Kaoru laughed genuinely and took his hand in a firm handshake. Sano smiled. Yes, indeed, this girl could be just what the doctor ordered for one Kenshin Himura. Indeed, indeed.
TBC…
Author's Note: Woohoo!!! I really had fun with this chapter. It went through about 800 revisions before I finally got something I wanted, but I am very pleased with the outcome. Thanks to everyone who reviewed. And ja ne, until next time!