Constellation
MysticShadowWanderer

Disclaimer: Bad news... my toe is severely injured. Good news... I found our vacuum cleaner!

Chapter Six: Window To Your Soul

The drifting scent of cooking woke Kaoru at twelve fifty-nine in the afternoon. Last night had been a late one, and it didn't help that she had been unable to fall asleep for more than an hour at a time because of the horrifying dreams that threatened to push her into insanity. She yawned and stretched, allowing herself to awaken slowly. Somehow, her day always seemed to go better if she had the time to be lazy before getting out of bed.

Fifteen minutes later, she finally dragged herself up and into the bathroom for a quick shower. She discovered that she was famished when her stomach began to rumble incessantly. Grabbing the nearest clothes, which happened to be a pair of Battousai's pajama pants and her own white t-shirt, she shrugged into them and, wrapping a towel around her still-dripping hair, wandered out in the hall, heading for the kitchen.

"Mm, that smells wonderful," she said as she walked into the kitchen, sniffing the air appreciatively.

Battousai smiled at her; it really didn't take much to make her happy, despite all the privileges she'd had in life. Flipping the final pancake onto the plate, he set it down on the table next to a bowl of scrambled eggs.

"It's a little late for breakfast, technically," he said. "But it's never too late for pancakes and eggs."

"Absolutely," Kaoru agreed, her fork already halfway to her mouth.

Battousai watched as she eagerly dug into the food on her plate, ignoring his own hunger just to take pleasure in her happiness. He smiled before shaking his head slightly and turning to his own plate. They didn't speak as they ate, with Kaoru glancing up at Battousai every so often; he noted that she looked somewhat nervous. What could that be about? Was it some residue fear from the previous night? He had the strong feeling that he was on the right path with that answer.

"Listen," he said, setting down his silverware and running a hand through his bangs. "We need to talk, don't we?"

A look of utter panic crossed Kaoru's face, but she quelled it with a display of talent that amazed even the normally-expressionless Battousai. "We do?"

"Last night..." he began, "If that scared you, I'm infinitely sorry. But you have to realize that the man you saw out there, the cold, deadly assassin, and the man that you see before you now are both a part of me. I... honestly I don't know what to say. I can only promise to protect you to the best of my abilities."

"Why... why do you promise me that?" she asked, inwardly rejoicing that he hadn't wanted to talk about her feelings; she didn't know why she thought he might have guessed that she loved him, when she thought about it. Chalk that one up to paranoia.

"I," he was interrupted by the ringing of the phone. "Excuse me."

His face went from concerned to grave within seconds of answering the call. "Understood. Yes sir." And that was all from his end of the conversation. Kaoru glanced at him curiously.

"We'll talk more about this later," he assured her. "Right now I have some work to do."

He stalked out of the kitchen rather abruptly, leaving Kaoru at the table, sitting there completely stunned. What had gone on to cause such a change? His good mood had been quite effectively spoiled, and he was serious, if not almost angry.

Kaoru spent most of the day on the couch, idly flipping through the channels. For a while, she watched From Hell, unable to be disgusted at its contents in view of recent events simply because it featured Johnny Depp. About halfway through the movie, however, Battousai came out of his room and sat down next to her.

"What's this?" he asked absently.

"From Hell," she replied in the same semi-vacant tone.

"Hm."

He watched for a minute, then turned to look at her. "Jack the Ripper..." he mused aloud. She blinked and glanced at him. Had she not seen the movie before, she wouldn't have known that if she started watching in the middle. "Change the channel. Now."

Fumbling for the remote, she quickly followed his command. Settling for whatever cooking show it was that was currently on the Food Channel, she tore her gaze away from the screen to glare at him.

"What was that for?"

"I don't want you to watch that." He leveled a blank stare at her.

For a moment, she simply gaped at him. Then, she exploded. "What the HELL is your problem?! Who do you think you are, telling me what I can and cannot watch?! I think that I am quite old enough to be able to watch televison without you telling me to change the goddamn channel!"

Rage flashed through his amber eyes, but he tampered it quickly. "You will not raise your voice at me, woman," he hissed through his clenched teeth.

"And who will stop me? You?" her tone was quieter now after her initial outburst.

"Yes, the gods help you, me."

A cynical laugh escaped her, causing him to grind his teeth. "The gods help me? What will you do to me? Don't give me orders."

At first, she didn't know what it was that caused her cheek to sting, he moved so quickly. When she realized that he had slapped her, and hard, she jumped to her feet, standing akimbo and staring down at him. Only for a moment, though, was she looking down on him before he too was on his feet, with his arms crossed over his chest. She glared defiantly at him, leaning closer so that her face was near his.

"If you ever hit me again, I swear to God..."

The threat was broken off when he struck her, much more gently, across the face again. Her hand flew instinctively to her offended cheek, tears of anger and maybe just a bit of hurt welling in her eyes. After a brief period of standing and staring at each other, Battousai started to walk off, determined to stop this before it went too far. He was too tense, too upset from the phone call earlier, to be around this woman. She got under his skin, caused his emotions to spike where usually he wouldn't have any feeling whatsoever. It was unnerving. Before he could get around the couch to make for the relative safety of his room, a huge force hit him in the side and he crumpled, half on and half off the couch.

Groaning, he looked up at Kaoru who was standing above him threateningly. There was nowhere for him to move, he realized. He was trapped between the couch and her body, which she'd just proved could be used skillfully in ways to injure him. The last thing he needed was to be hurt before tonight. Suddenly, as if in a flash of recognition, he thought of how ridiculous this situation was. Slowly, unable to help himself, a grin spread across his face, which gave way to quiet chuckling, and then to an outburst of laughter.

Kaoru tried to give him a hard glare, but found herself smiling as well. Battousai reached up and tugged on her hand, pulling her down in his lap. She stiffened, as was almost ritualistic now, but allowed it. Before she could get a grasp on what was happening, he was nuzzling his nose through her hair.

"We are insane," he finally declared. "This is stupid." He sighed and rested his head on her shoulder.

"Why didn't you want me to watch the movie?" she asked the question that she should have originally posed instead of shouting at him.

He sighed against her neck. "It reminds me too much of myself. I have to kill tonight."

Her eyes widened. "I'm sorry," she whispered. "I shouldn't have yelled."

"It's alright."

"Tonight... is it dangerous?"

There was no reply. She took that to mean 'yes.'

She paced the wall of her room, then moved to the hall, then the kitchen, and then the television room, and soon she was walking the entire perimeter of the apartment, save Kenshin's room and the hall bathroom. This was entirely too nerve-wracking for her.

"Stay here," he'd said. "Don't even think of leaving the apartment. I'll be back later, I'm not sure exactly when. Don't wait up for me. Don't answer the phone or the door, although I highly doubt that you'll be getting any calls. I'm leaving you my cell phone, in case of an emergency. If it rings, only answer if the screen on the front says 'Katsura.' He should be the only one who knows the number anyhow. I'm trusting you."

She'd followed all his instructions besides "don't wait up for me." That one seemed to be impossible. After a quick stop in the kitchen to grab a bag of chips in a futile attempt to occupy herself, she resumed her pacing.

'Oh goddamn it,' was the only thought that passed through Battousai's mind.

He felt himself stumbling after the bullet hit him, and he knew he was too close to the edge, but he couldn't get his footing, couldn't regain his balance. The ground gave way to air as he slipped and dropped two stories to the ground. And then there was nothing but black.

The cell phone rang, startling Kaoru to the point where she was sure that she had just lost ten years of her life, at the very least. Tentatively, she reached out her hand and looked at the screen.

"Katsura." She chewed on her lip for a moment, wondering whether she should answer it. Battousai told her that she should.

"H-hello?"

"Kamiya-san?"

"Yes, this is she."

"Be in the front lobby of the apartment building in no more than five minutes."

"Why, sir?"

"We're taking you to the hospital."

"What? Why?"

"There's no time to explain it now, but you need to see Battousai."

There was a click and then the sound of dead air, in which the information began to sink in. Battousai was in the hospital? Oh God.

Apparently the doorman knew the man who came to get Kaoru, because he had no problem releasing her to the man. She was led quickly to a car and urged inside, all without a single word. Once inside and sitting with her seatbelt buckled, she looked at the man.

"Kamiya Kaoru," he said, extending his hand. "I'm the man that Battousai undoubtedly refers to as Katsura-san."

"It's... a pleasure to meet you, sir," she replied, instantly falling back onto her ingrained manners.

"That's refreshing," he said with a smile. "I don't get much politeness in my line of work." His eyes scanned her quickly. "I only wish the circumstances of our meeting were better."

"What's wrong, sir? What happened?" Her polite tone dropped away and panic slowly began to edge back into her voice.

He sighed. "Battousai was on a particularly dangerous assignment, as you may already have known. He was shot, but he was lucky and the wound was not fatal, though it's complicated. However, he fell two stories, and is in critical condition at the moment."

Kaoru's eyes were wide and expressive, showing Katsura all her fear. He merely patted her hand and let her have her silence in which to think and prepare herself.

They rushed into the hospital, only to be stopped by a nurse who told them they didn't have permission to see Battousai. He was in an unstable condition, and also was about to go into surgery to have the bullet removed and bones set, so they would have to wait.

Kaoru's foot tapped in time with her drumming fingers. She couldn't remember ever being this nervous in her life. It was unsure whether Battousai would live or die, and, having just recently discovered the depths of her feelings toward him, she didn't know if she could handle this type of pressure much longer.

"Why don't you try to get some sleep?" Katsura said from where he sat beside her. "It's two in the morning and I doubt you'll get a chance to rest tomorrow."

She ignored the urge to shoot him a withering glance. "I couldn't even attempt to think about it."

"You must be hungry, at least." That she could agree to. "Wait here a minute, and I'll bring you something."

A few minutes later and he was returning with a pint of ice cream. Not bothering to ask him where he'd obtained the treat, she thanked him and began to eat. After she'd eaten a little more than half the carton, she began to feel slightly more relaxed than she was earlier. Food always had that affect on her. By the time she'd finished eating, she was downright tired. Leaning back, she closed her eyes, unaware of the fact that she would almost immediately fall asleep.

Katsura smiled and took the carton from her limp hand. 'Medication always does the trick.' Generally he wouldn't have done something like that, but the poor girl had looked ragged as it was, and he knew that she needed sleep, even if she didn't. If Battousai made it through the night, he had a lot of things he knew needed to be discussed with the girl, although she was unaware of that fact. Life was about to get harder for her, whether Battousai lived or died.

A/N: Oh my gods. I just realized that this chapter has been sitting on my hard drive for... however long it's been since I last updated. My apologies! I actually wrote up another chapter because I thought I'd posted this one already! Yikes. Where has my brain been?

Really old A/N: Ouch. That chapter sucked. I had a hard time transitioning... Seems like I'm putting everyone in the hospital in my stories these days. No particular reason. :shrugs: However, I do have a plan for this fic, and with this lousy chapter, I'm going to be catapulting it to bigger and better things. I hope. On a completely different note... I watched some of the Reagan funeral, the end of it actually. I have to say, I did cry. That moment there, when Nancy Reagan was up at the coffin, that was one of the most poignant and beautiful things I've ever seen. Was I the only one who saw it that way? I don't even know how to express what I felt, which is a big deal for me, because words are sort of my... thing... I guess... and I'm just totally blown away. It's one of those moments you remember in color and emotion, if you follow me. I don't think most people do. Ah well. I usually hate politicians, but I want to take a moment to say that Reagan was a great man, and I don't just say that out of respect for his death. So what if I'm only 16, I still know a good person when I see them. It's intuition, you know. And Reagan... well... he was one of the greatest people to live in a long time. I've been touched, which is difficult to do. I don't know why I'm rambling... That's all, I've said my piece. Come back for the next chapter, which, hopefully, won't suck :grin: