A/N: Holiday greetings all!! Yes I am back from the Land of Part-Time-Job and Too-Much-Housework! Whee. Here's Chapter 5 in all it's short and sweet glory. Do not despair too much as I am deep into Chapter 6. - Read on and enjoy!
Chapter Five:
The rain was sudden and unexpected, forcing the two to take cover in the shelter of nearby shrine. Breathless from their mad dash, Kaoru couldn't help but laugh at the sight of a very wet, very unhappy Kenshin. His auburn red hair was a sodden mess, hanging bedraggled around his face. He favored her with a none-to-happy glare as he drew his hair back from him face and into a high ponytail.
"I'm sorry, but you look like a drown cat." She said the laughter dying swiftly as the cross-shaped scar was thrown into sharp contrast.
"Why on earth didn't one of us check the weather?" He demanded, shaking out his leather jacket, seemingly unaware of her reaction.
Karou shook her head, in part to respond to him, but also to draw her eyes away from that wicked looking scar. There were rumors, almost hundreds of rumors as to how the Hittokiri had gotten it. She had the insane desire to reach out and touch it, to see if it was real, but she stayed her hand.
"Karou." He spoke her name sharply. "I asked you about going back to the penthouse when it stops."
She blushed, embarrassed at being caught wool-gathering. "I'm sorry, no I suppose I don't mind."
"Good, then we'll head back as soon as it stops." He was so serious, eyes scanning the park around them.
A thought struck her, and she couldn't resist. "You could always go shopping with me."
He raised a single eyebrow.
"No, I didn't think so." She grinned pleased that she could come up with a comeback after being caught off guard.
Kaoru decided she would chance the cold marble steps and tried to find a comfortable position or least a spot that didn't poke her too badly. Sighing to herself she settled for a spot on the step beneath him. As the rain fell steady from the sky, Kaoru let her mind drift. Tomorrow it was back to work, and she found herself almost glad for the distraction. Her emotions were too raw, too new to be explored the way her mind kept trying to. She let out a slow breath and rested her head on her knees.
"I have never heard anyone sigh so much as you do." Was the comment from above her.
She cocked her head back to look up into his amused gaze. "I will try to breath more quietly in the future."
He laughed softly. "You do that."
"Humph." It was hard not to smile listening to the very masculine laughter as it drifted down over her. Battousai/ Kenshin, he was so many different layers, she wondered if anyone could truly know him.
"The rain's stopped. We need to get back." His voice once again interrupted her introspection.
"Okay." Karou made to push herself up and was startled to see his hand held out to her. She looked up at him, at the trace of violet swirling through his eyes.
Kenshin wasn't sure why he had held out his hand to her. He wasn't normally the gentlemanly type, but it may have been just an excuse to touch her. He watched as she stared at his outstretched hand and an almost unrecognizable emotion flooded through him. He was nervous. He, the Slayer, was afraid that this petite young woman who had crashed recklessly though all his walls would not take his hand, and all that was not and maybe would never be said with it. The unguarded smile that bloomed across her face brought with it a greater sense of relief and joy than he had felt in so very many years. Karou was so slight it took very little effort to bring her to her feet and for a moment they simply stood by each other.
There was such poignencey in that moment, the heiress and the hitokiri, standing so close yet so far. Words trembled in the air and for a moment it seemed as if they would be spoken, but Fate had other ideas. A gunshot echoed across the lake, shattering the moment of closeness. Karou had barely registered the sound, when she felt Kenshin shove her to down to the ground. Unprepared as she was the impact drove the air from her lungs and she lay crushed between the cold, wet ground and the Slayer above her. She could feel the tension in the lines of his body as he scanned the area around them, looking for the threat, looking for where the gunshot had come from. Out of the corner of her eye she spied a little boy crying desperately over the remains of a colorful balloon hanging tattered in a nearby tree. Unable to help herself, she began chuckling.
"It was just a balloon." She said with relief in her voice.
Just as quickly as he had driven her to the ground Battousai was standing next to her, this time with no hand outstretched to help her up. With a quite frown, Karou stood up and brushed herself off. He hadn't responded to her comment and stood scowling at the balloon. Slightly behind him, she wanted to reach out to touch him, to soothe the tension in that slight, but deadly frame; she didn't.
"What's wrong? Are you angry that you overreacted?"
"You don't understand." The voice was a low growl. "I was not aware of our surroundings. I should have known that child was there. Should have known his balloon escaped and blew into the trees. I should have known that it was going to make such a spectacular explosion."
And suddenly Karou realized why he was so hesitant to let anyone within his walls, why for two hundred odd years he had kept everyone at arms length. To him, allowing himself to feel and possibly care about someone was to lower all of his defenses.
"I allowed you in, no." He corrected himself and unconsciously echoing her thoughts. "You came crashing through my walls, with your indigo eyes, and your stubbornness, and your courage. I am responsible for your safety! I cannot allow myself to be distracted by anything not even by you!"
"I… I am sorry Kenshin, or should I go back to calling you Battousai?" Her voice was quiet.
He shook his head. Dammit! Why couldn't he just put these feelings back behind their walls? How could he reconcile them with the need to protect her? Could they coexist? He didn't have the luxury of time to explore this with her. Her safety had to come first. Almost dreading her reaction, he turned to face her. The sorrow and understanding in her eyes were almost his undoing, but he clamped down on that side of himself with an iron fist.
"Kenshin is fine, but your protection must come first. I am responsible for your life and nothing else can interfere with that." He could not say it, could not admit that what he was experiencing could be more than just a physical attraction. "Perhaps when this is all over."
Karou had known what he was going to say; yet it wasn't as devastating as she thought it would be. She had been braced for him to say that there could never be anything between them, but that's not what he said. She tried to keep her heart from soaring in her chest.
"I think that's the right thing to do." Her voice was a little more hesitant than she would have liked. "We need to resolve this 'situation' first."
It was still hard to imagine someone actually wanting her dead.
Kenshin gently touched her cheek and marveled at the softness of her skin and the courage of her words. "Thank you."
She reached up to touch his hand and smiled up at him. "Well, I suppose we should head back to your penthouse."
The violet slowly bled from his eyes and he nodded briskly. He motioned for her to proceed and she stepped out onto the smooth stone pathway. The transition between Kenshin and the Hittokiri was so subtle as to be almost invisible, but she could feel the coiled tension radiating from him. It would take a great deal of time for him to reconcile the possibility that he could be more than just the assassin. Another thought struck her and she nearly stumbled. He had all the time in the world didn't he? He was immortal after all. She almost whimpered in despair, but swallowed the sound within her. That was a black hole she did not want to get sucked into and forced the thought away.
As they walked a flash of bright yellow to their left caught her eye. A little off the paved pathway, partially obscured by a grouping of shrubbery, a group of young Yakuza toughs were pushing a much younger boy around.
"Of all the ignorant." She growled. Whether it was among children or adults, she hated it with a passion when the bigger ones picked on the littler ones.
"Hey you!!" She yelled out as she strode over to where the toughs stood. "You leave him alone!"
The six young men turned as one to face her and Kaoru wished fervently for her bokken, for a moment forgetting she had the world most deadly assassin behind her. She came to an abrupt halt in front of the one that looked to be the leader and glared up at him.
"You leave him alone. He's a lot smaller than you and you look like idiots if he's as big a threat as you can handle." She exclaimed, jabbing her finger in the air to emphasize her point.
"Oh yea?" He snarled. "And are you gonna stop us little lady?"
"Yes I am." She wasn't about to back down despite the fact that the punk was twice her size.
There was an unobtrusive cough behind her, and the punk finally realized who stood behind her.
"O-o-okay lady... whatever you say." He stuttered as he came face to face with a pair of very lethal amber eyes.
Kaoru watched as the six young men beat a hasty retreat.
"I could have handled that." She said turning around to face him. Cold amber eyes clashed with warm, passionate blue one and the amber thawed to a molten gold. She suddenly found it hard to breath.
"I know." He said with a small smile.
"Wow!! You're Himura Battousai." A young voice declared urgently from behind them. "What are you doing with this ugly girl?"
Kaoru spun around in shock. The young boy she and Kenshin had rescued was rail thin, with an enormous shock of black hair sticking up every which way. His yellow t-shirt was filthy and his khakis shorts had definitely seen better days.
"Who are you calling ugly!?" She demanded. "I just saved your scrawny butt."
The young boy snorted. "Hardly, Battousai-san's ki is what ran those thugs off." He stuck out his hand. "I'm Myojin Yahiko."
" Myojin… an old samurai name, yes?" Kenshin shook the young boy's hand, amused by his youthful confidence.
"Don't know I never knew my parents." The young boy said with a shrug. "So, who is this ugly..." was all he got out before Kaoru's hand clipped him up the side of his head.
"My name is Kamiya Kaoru and I am NOT ugly." She stated coldly, her coldness thawing just as quickly as she saw him shiver suddenly from the cold autumn wind. "Don't you have any warmer clothing?"
Yahiko's eyes narrowed. "I don't need any charity from you lady, so don't even think about it. I owe you a favor and I'll find a way to repay it."
Before she could annoy the young boy any further. Kenshin flipped his business card into the air. "I can always use informants on the street. Kaoru's life is being threatened, if you hear anything in regards to her, let me know."
Yahiko snatched it easily. "You got it, tho why anyone would bother with this old hag I'll never know."
"Oooo! You little…!" She didn't know whether to smack him again or drag him back to her penthouse for a good meal and some new clothes.
A restraining hand on her arm took the decision out of her hands and she watched him run off in the opposite direction they were going. Kaoru let her breath out in a sigh.
"There you go again." He chuckled, and she had to laugh.
"I know. I'm sorry. It's just I hate to see that."
He frowned. "See what?"
She looked askance at him. "That boy, Yahiko, it's pretty obvious he's living on the streets. What's wrong with our society that we allow our children to grow up in such poverty?"
It was truly something he had never contemplated. "That's the way of life. There will always be those who have and those who have not."
"Well it's not right. Those of us who have should be trying to help those who haven't. Otherwise what good are we as human beings?" Kaoru demanded, her blue eyes snapping.
"It's a harsh world, Kaoru." He shrugged. "I wish you luck in trying to change it."
She frowned, wanting to argue, wanting him to see her point, but she remembered their conversation at the shrine and held her tongue. She couldn't add to his struggle.
End Note: As I said earlier.. short and sweet. I was debating whether to keep it on the short side or get bogged down in a heavy emotional scene between K/K. As you can see I decided to keep it short. I may go back at some point and flesh it out, but for now I continue to plow throught Chapter 6. - Barring any unforseen events, I'm should be finished it sometime after the holidays.
Remember.. reviews make me want to keep writing, wheee! Oh and I have to thank the two fans who actually took the time to e-mail me a short note. Sorry.. old age has struck again and I can't remember your names, but Thank you!! Made me realize that people are enjoying my little fanfic and that I should keep writing it. -
Here's to lots of fun times with family & friends, to many presents under the Christmas tree and to complete peace for at least one day out of 365! Merry Christmas!!
