A/N: Whoo hoo! Faster update than last time! Man, I just got flamed for one of my stories. Kinda funny cause the person couldn't spell... just about anything right so I'm going to assume that their IQ is probably equivalent to that of a housefly. Hmm, right...! Anyway, I've got the next installment right here so please do enjoy. I will be off overdosing on some oreos. Have fun! Yippeeee!
DAY SEVEN
Kaoru POV:
Finally back from Megumi's. It's noon and I'm sitting quietly in my room, my futon a big heap on the floor. Kenshin must have brought it back from the night before when I saw him like that… Speaking of Kenshin, I really haven't seen him around…or heard from him yet, today. By now I'd bet he'd be playing with Ayame and Suzume out by the laundry line… But the most that I can hear now is the faint murmur of voices coming from the training hall. Must be Sanosuke. I had asked him to come…so that it may ease my uneasiness around Kenshin.
"Kenshin no baka…" I hear myself mutter unconsciously. Clenching my fists, I rise up to my feet and quietly slide open my door. Still no sound to be heard. Hmm, that's odd. Maybe Kenshin, Yahiko, and Sanosuke left for a bit. I don't know. Y'see, it's better to have Sanosuke here to train Yahiko. I don't know why but it really does take my mind off of what happened. And obviously for the better.
Still, I want to talk to Kenshin. I want him to talk to me. I am sure that whatever happened back there wasn't intentional…like Miss Megumi was saying to me right after in the bathhouse. Just because of this one thing, I don't want our friendship to go up in ruin. …That's just not worth it to me. Kenshin has been there for me, through thick and thin and just abandoning everything that we have shared together is wrong of me. Sure I know that. "Jeez, Kenshin. And I thought you were simple to figure out but apparently not." I walk out of my room, closing my shoji before promptly jogging lightly down the hallway so that no one might hear my footsteps. It was then that I was able to hear a monotonous voice coming from the kitchen. It must be Kenshin… I know it is… Swallowing hard, I exhale sharply and prepare to come face to face to face with him once again.
Kenshin POV:
Why? Why? Why, dammit? Kami-sama! Could I have been any STUPIDER! I mean, COME ON! I'm a man and I surely could have restrained myself back there! And I know for certain that Miss Kaoru had seen me completely naked. I shiver violently just thinking about it. Of course I would have wanted to witness her expression but surely, I wasn't able to… why, you ask? Because I was out of it in my sicko fantasy world, having passionate lovemaking sessions with the love of my life!
Wait, WHAT?
"You said it, you know…"
Battousai.
Kami-sama…as if my stress couldn't possibly get any worse, ne? Why does he have to flood my thoughts now of all times?
"I didn't mean to say it like that…" I bite back my blushing, afraid to act inferior toward my alter ego… A.K.A the dreaded conscience from hell.
"You can go ahead and deny this as much as you want but you know you enjoyed that little dream as much as I did. If you could go ahead and even call it a dream…" I grit my teeth, angry that I can't drown out that little voice inside my head. I wish that he'd just go crawl under a rock. Life would be so much easier, really. "You know that you can't deny what you felt. I can't either. And we both know that what you experienced was incredibly amazing. Face it, wuss. You'd do anything to make that pure reality."
"Only if Miss Kaoru doesn't mind it. Actually I would rather have her love me when I do it. It would prove to be much more meaningful…"
"Cut the rurouni bullshit, first of all. And second, quit putting everyone's needs before your own. It's tearing you apart. Ergo…you basically had a severe wet dream in front of her. Yeah, sounds reeeeal noble if you ask me." I can detect his sarcasm from a mile away, that I can. It's one of the traits that I possess. Call it a gift… orooo… "Himura Kenshin, you have been way too generous for the past fourteen months that you've known her. It is time to take her as your own. And what BETTER timing than now! That baka rooster head has finally proved useful for something. It is your obligation to follow up with his bet."
"I know that…" I study my hands for a brief moment before inhaling sharply. "But…"
"Yes?"
"How am I supposed to go through with it now that I've pushed her away from me? I am most certain that she would not want to even see my face anymore. She probably thinks that my value is equivalent to that of dirt." I ball up my right fist, still ashamed of what I had done prior to this morning. "Maybe I shouldn't even talk to her… I was planning on doing just that today when I got the chance but now I don't know."
"Spare me. If you know what's good for you, you'll go and try to fix things. Kaoru is not the type of woman to hold long-term grudges. Especially when they concern you."
"What?"
"You really are a naïve fool. Now go and try to think of something that will make her forgive you…"
Sighing heavily, I fixate my attention onto the floor. How am I supposed to have her forgive me? I suppose that it wouldn't hurt to try to mend my relationship with Miss Kaoru… but to do that…well, I don't know how I can win her heart after what happened. " I hope that you will forgive me," I mutter as I force myself to smile weakly, an idea slowly forming into my mind.
Kaoru gathered all of her womanly courage to stride forward into the kitchen…only to find that Kenshin was not there, but in his stead, was Sanosuke of all people. "Yo, Jou-chan. You make up with Kenshin yet or what?"
"Err… if you're asking if I talked to him since then, no."
"Well why the hell not? As far as I'm concerned, he's done nothing wrong." Kaoru knew better than to reply to a statement like that. Sanosuke merely raised an eyebrow in growing curiosity. "What, you think that him being a man is wrong?"
"I never said that!" Kaoru retorted angrily.
"Well, c'mon. Cut the guy a break."
Kaoru bit her lip hard. "That's why I wanted to talk to him, Sanosuke. I was hoping that he would be in here and that's why I came out of my room. I wanted to try and fix whatever misunderstandings there were. And even if there weren't misunderstandings to fix, I still wanted to talk with him…because, I don't know… this is Kenshin we're talking about." Sanosuke's features softened as he saw Kaoru look down. It was apparent to him that she really did love and care for him.
"Aaa, Jou-chan. Don't sweat it. I'm sure that you two will be back on track in no time at all! I mean, hey! Look at the bright side! Kenshin can either be straight or bisexual now!"
If there were a record playing, it would most definitely have screeched to a halt by that point. Of all things, Sanosuke just had to ruin the moment, didn't he? "Excuse me…?" Kaoru muttered, skeptically eying the ex-gangster in distaste.
Sanosuke slapped his face with his hand, knowing he had said something that he wasn't supposed to. But there was no backing out of it now. "Err…well, what I meant to say was… since Kenshin had that little dream about…you and everything…well, at least we know that he as a bit of an interest in women now… meaning…heh… y'know… yeah I should just leave now, shouldn't I?" Kaoru nodded slowly. "Anyways, yeah I think I should kinda…get out of here and-"
"Excuse me…" came a small voice nearest the kitchen exit.
Kaoru had known the owner of that voice! Twirling around to see if she was correct, she locked eyes with bright and shining amethyst ones. "K-Kenshin…" Kaoru murmured, loud enough so that only Sanosuke could hear.
"Err, ya… I said that I was leaving just about now… sooo, good luck to the two of ya!" Sanosuke punched a fist into the air before taking it upon himself to vamoose as quickly as he could. "Damn, Kenshin you're gonna need it," he muttered just before he left, jabbing a fishbone into his mouth.
"Miss Kaoru…may I speak with you outside? If you don't min-"
"Sure Kenshin," Kaoru said, forcing a smile as he walked toward her. She couldn't help but tense up as he closed the distance between them from fifty feet to five. "A…ano…I had wanted to talk to you also… about yesterday… I know…what happened. And I know how you felt about it… Megumi told me your side of the story…"
"Did she?" Kenshin inquired, breaking their temporary eye contact and studying nothing in particular. "I was hoping that I could tell it to you myself, but I guess I'm out of luck, aren't I?" He laughed silently. Kaoru knew he was hurting even more so than before.
Placing a hand onto his shoulder, she gave him a stern look. "Let's go outside."
"So you see, Miss Kaoru… I hadn't intended for that to happen." Kaoru nodded slightly. "I know that you must be furious with me… and I am sure that this explanation of mine is for naught. But still, I wanted to try and tell you face to face, without having my side of the story warped by anyone. It's because this is an important situation. And I wouldn't have left anything up to chance."
"Kenshin…I… I…don't want you to be upset about this… I'm sure that you wished for nothing more than to go back and erase what really happened. It probably is a misunderstanding, you know. So… yeah…" Kaoru muttered, pausing for a moment only to let the cool and gentle breeze to caress her face. "Um, Kenshin…maybe we should totally forget about what happened. It might be for the better if we did that. That way, we could continue to be as close as we are now…and we won't have to feel as uncomfortable around each other."
"Miss Kaoru… these are for you…" Kenshin said abruptly, handing her a beautiful bouquet of flowers from behind his back. The colors brilliantly stood out in comparison with each other and Kaoru's eyes widened at the mere sight of nature's beauty. He handed them gently to her and for the first time in hours, smiled genuinely as he watched her face light up. "I am very sorry… sorrier than I have ever been in my entire life. And that is the truth, that it is…"
"It's…it's all right…" she whispered. She was reluctant, but took his hand in hers for a few moments, studying the masculinity of his hand. She was instantly reminded of how safe she felt whenever he was near her. That feeling surely had not faded from her heart. And she knew that it never really would. He was a man after all, and he was Kenshin… the comfort that she experienced when he was next to her was too indescribable for words alone. "Believe me…"
"There…is…something that I would like to say to you though, Miss Kaoru. If that is all right with you."
"Yes, of course. What is it?"
"Would you…join me tonight to watch the fireflies?" Kaoru raised an eyebrow. "There is…something that I must tell you and I feel as though that place is very fitting for it." She nodded slowly. "Thank you very much… I really appreciate it…" Kenshin smiled in gratitude before slowly walking back inside,emmiting a heavy sigh. The wave of relief that crashed into him at that moment almost seemed to be too good to be real.
He strode into the kitchen, his worries completely left behind. "Hey, Kenshin! This is your last day!" Sanosuke suddenly squeaked, walking up and tapping the poor rurouni on the shoulder. Oh sure, as if he didn't have enough problems to deal with already. "Sooo? Did ya make peace with Jou-chan so you can do the dirty later tonight?"
Kenshin only sputtered, as he felt a nosebleed coming on. "W-well…err, I had asked her to meet me underneath the fireflies as soon as it got dark… which shouldn't be in more than three hours. I believe that this is for the best…"
"Wait…what's for the best?" Sanosuke inquired, dumbly scratching his head.
"…That I tell Miss Kaoru that I love her…with my every being…"
A/N: Yet another cliffhanger! Hahah! Oh and by the way, day seven is going to be split up into TWO CHAPTERS, capice? Well, then I bid you adieu until next time! Ciao!
Son Christine
