I hope you guys hung on there! Geez! How long has it been? A month? I"M SORRY! But hey! At least congratulate me! I'm going for my semestral break! Yay! 2 weeks of relaxation and maybe I can write more chapters! I could probably write 5 chapters until nov.8 but I wouldn't be able to update so quick but at least not this slow. But after that, I hate to say this, I'll be so damn busy because I have to go training for this contest on November and edit articles. Pray for me!
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18 Three Shades of Blue
The next day, Kenshin was still upset. The food he prepared wasn't as good as before. In fact, it tasted exactly like his mood, sour. Everybody turned away in disgust at this sudden change. Yahiko went off to go help at Akabeko after telling Kenshin that Tae wanted to see him this afternoon.
The rurouni said yes without thinking. He quietly went away to wash the dishes without saying a word to anyone. Kaoru wondered if his change in mood had anything to do with last night. Somehow, she felt so uncomfortable and needed to excuse herself to her room.
Misao quickly turned her head towards her and was about to say something. But then, a thought suddenly stopped her. 'What am I thinking? Kaoru's returning to her old self.' Misao mused over for a minute. It was only after Kaoru asked her what the matter was that she asked her if she would like some company.
"No thank you, Misao. I'd rather be alone for a while." Kaoru felt her cold cheeks and wondered why she was nervous. 'Kenshin isn't exactly his cheery side today.'. She felt her cheeks grew hot and red at the remembrance of what's she'd done.
"I must be getting sick." then she laid on the floor for a while to catch a much needed sleep.
Misao was kicking a stone and was walking around, thinking. For the past few months she felt so invisible. They were all fussing around with the whole thing with Kaoru. She felt so tired and just wished that Aoshi was there. Why did he suddenly leave anyway?
Worse than that, Kaoru became silent again and very distant too. Even Kenshin was changing. She sighed and looked up at the sky. Blue. Great, just what she needed to remind her more of Aoshi.
She didn't even have anyone to argue with. Everybody was busy. Megumi's at the clinic. Sano finally got off his butt and started doing work. Yahiko's at the Akabeko and Kenshin was in too bad a mood. And of course there's Kaoru. She sighed for the nth time.
"I want all my friends back."
Yahiko jogged towards the Akabeko with the pail of water he was asked to get. Carefully so that he wouldn't spill anything. "Tae-san wouldn't like that." He set the pail on the floor and wiped off his sweat. A cloth was being shoved at his face. He put it away and looked at the person who gave it him.
"Hello, Tsubame!" he beamed. Tsubame instantly blushed and bowed. "Hello Yahiko!". Together, they trekked towards the Akabeko. Tae saw them and said that they could have a break for a while.
"It's been awfully slow ever since... oh don't mind me! Just rest!" Tae said and walked away, still murmuring.
"Ever since what?" Yahiko asked Tsubame. Her expression quickly saddened and her hands gripped at the tray she was holding. "What happened while we weren't here?" Yahiko asked again.
"Oh. While Kaoru-san was missing, there were a series of robbery. I wasn't here because I was with all of you of course. Well, these men suddenly attacked the restaurant and asked for money. Worse, they did it in front of everyone and all the customers were scared. They threatened that they would come again. People have been avoiding going here ever since. They were all afraid that those men would come back. "
"But it's been months now and no one has reported of them coming back." Yahiko said.
"I know, but it's still so slow here." Tsubame gripped the tray harder. "We've already lost some of the employees. They have already gone to other restaurants in other towns. Besides, Tae-san couldn't pay them anymore."
"Is that why she asked for Kenshin to come? To ask for help?" Yahiko asked, finally realizing why Tae wanted to see Kenshin.
Tsubame answered with a nod. "It's okay, right? Tae-san thought so because you told us yesterday that Kaoru-san and Kenshin-san were okay now? You know, that she's becoming nicer."
Yahiko bit his lip. He couldn't tell her about this morning. 'Kenshin probably just put too much vinegar. He's fine.' He nodded at Tsubame and said in a cheerful voice. "Don't worry, once Kenshin does the job everything would be okay!"
Misao couldn't take it anymore. She wanted to go out. She stretched and yawned and started relaxing her muscles first the begun to jog a little. In a booming voice she told Kenshin what she was going to do.
"HIMURA! I'm going to go run around town for a while! I'll be back by lunchtime!"
Kenshin heard her and nodded. But while Misao was running, she suddenly remembered about this morning and came back. "You know what? I don't think I'll be back this afternoon!" then she sped off. Kenshin tried to say something but she was already too far away. "B-But Misao-dono, I'll be -" Kenshin just gave up.
'I guess I'll just have to take her with me.' he looked towards Kaoru's room and went towards it. He put his hand up as if to open it but changed his mind and went off to prepare lunch.
Megumi was scanning through pages and pages of medical records. She was looking for another case of amnesia. But no one else has had it. She wanted so much to know how it could be remedied. Was there some kind of medication to be made? Are therapies included. She put away the documents and wiped the soot and dust off her hair.
Were they going to simply wait? She groaned in frustration and pounded her fist on the table. She got up and went towards her clinic. She was surprised to see a flower in there. She looked around to see who could've left it but there was no one. She picked it up. It was a yellow rose. Love for Eternity that's what it meant. She smiled and it was only then that she noticed the note along with it. She excitedly read it to know who this mystery man is.
You've been working too hard.
Sano
She smiled and smelled the flower again. 'He called me Megumi...I wonder if he knew what this flower meant?'. She almost jumped when Dr. Gensai entered the room.
"Sorry to barge into you like this. But, what would you like for lunch? I couldn't think."
"Rooster head..." she said dreamily.
"Sorry?"
Megumi finally snapped from her dreamlike state. "Roasted fish sounds yummy to me, Doctor." Then she tried to cam herself, 'What's wrong with me? A flower and calling me by my name gets me acting like a love-crazed teenager.'
"Uh, Megumi-chan?" Dr. Gensai asked her again.
"Sorry about that, I was just thinking about something. Um... is it okay if I invite someone for lunch?"
"Sure it is. The more the merrier." and with that Megumi sped to the construction she knows Sano worked in.
Kaoru wiped some of the tears away and asked herself why she was crying in the first place. She heard a knock and knew who it was.
"Kaoru-dono, lunch is ready." said Kenshin from the other side. Kaoru thought for a while and decided to answer.
"I'm not hungry. I just want to sleep for a while." she said, looking down at the floor.
Kenshin was pretty sure that Kaoru didn't eat much this morning and decided to say something.
"But-" he was cut off when Kaoru answered.
"Please? I'm okay. I just wanna stay here." she answered in a sad voice.
Kaoru heard Kenshin leave and decided to lie down again. A few minutes later she heard footsteps again. It was Kenshin, he set down a tray in front of her room.
"In case you get hungry later."
Kaoru decided to say thank you anyway but Kenshin was talking again. "We're going to the Akabeko later, so eat up." Kaoru wanted to say something, anything. But she only heard Kenshin's footsteps away from her room. She lied down again, letting her tears flow and for sleep to take over.
Misao was walking around town for a while. She enjoyed the beautiful kimonos that she saw. 'It would've been nice if I had company.' she thought. She felt hungry after seeing some dumplings and decided to buy some. A man was in front of her and was buying dumplings too.
"And how much are those sweets?" she heard the man ask. She giggled as she thought that he was like an innocent child excited for sweets. When it was her turn, she decided she wanted to buy sweets as well. But she was disappointed when the vendor told her that all the sweets were sold out. She sighed and proceeded to eating her dumplings anyway.
On her way, she bumped into the man who was buying sweets earlier. She looked up to him and saw that he had cobalt blue eyes. 'Blue... why is everything reminding me of you, Aoshi.'. The man in front of her smiled and offered her some sweets. "I'm sorry, I got carried away and bought them all. I understand that you want some as well?"
She took his offer and wanted to say thank you but when she looked up, he was gone.
"That was fast."
2 hours later...
Kenshin was walking towards Kaoru's room and saw that some of the food was eaten. But it was still a smaller amount than he thought she would eat. He took it to put it away and came back and knocked. No answer. His heart drummed in his chest. Was he afraid? He told himself to relax.
He opened the shoji door and found Kaoru sleeping. He took a closer look at her face and asked in a soft voice. "Why were you crying, Kaoru?" he sighed and stroked her cheek, tracing the tears. "Are those tears for me?".
Kaoru moved against his touch and he quickly withdrew his hand. Slowly, she began to wake up. She got up and asked in a groggy voice.
"Is it time to go?"
"No..." She looked at Kenshin angrily.
"But, it's time for you to change."
Kaoru looked at her form and saw that she was far from ready. She's also guessing about the many tangles in her hair. She pushed Kenshin out of the room and started to change. Kenshin walked away shaking his head and muttering about women.
Finally the two of them arrived at the Akabeko. They could tell that Tae was anxious to see them. She offered them first a table. Kaoru wanted to ask for tea but when she remembered Kenshin, she decided to ask for something else.
She looked around and saw that there were scarcely any people. She looked at Kenshin and saw that he looked just as confused.
"Well, I won't waste time, Kenshin. Simply by looking around you can tell that there's something wrong he-"
There was a crash from the kitchen. Then came Tsubame who was running towards them .
"Tae-san! They're here!"
Yahiko saw everything as a blur. First, Kenshin got up and draw his sword, just sensing that something was wrong, not even knowing why he was fighting. He saw Kaoru sitting clueless, a cup in her hands ready to drink and looking at Kenshin as if he was crazy.
Yahiko decided it was time to come. "Kenshin! They're robbers. They've been threatening the Akabeko for months now." Kenshin nodded and put on his stance. One by one the robbers came, their faces covered by masks.
The few customers Tae had all ran towards the exit. Kaoru looked bored and continued drinking. Soon, Kenshin and Yahiko were being attacked by the men.
"Yahiko! Protect the others. I'll take care of this." Kenshin dashed towards the men and begun fighting by himself. Yahiko ran towards Kaoru, Tae and Tsubame. Kaoru, the only one who seemed relax with the situation, sat drinking and uncaring.
Yahiko grabbed their hands and begun leading them away. Kaoru didn't budge. "Come on! Move!" Yahiko shouted. he absolutely had no time for this.
"No, you move." Kaoru answered in a monotone. With one hand she grabbed Yahiko's arm and moved him aside. A split second later she caught in her own hands a dagger, thrown by one of the men. Tsubame was shocked at what happened. Yahiko was almost killed and now Kaoru was holding a dagger in her hands.
Kaoru winced a little as blood gushed out from her palms. She took her cup and threw it square in the face of the man who attacked Yahiko earlier. She stood up and put one foot on top of the table and yelled in a loud voice.
"Listen up you filthy bastards!" everybody stopped fighting and looked at Kaoru. Kenshin was confused at the look on her face.
"I challenge whoever is a man enough to beat me!" with that, Kaoru used the dagger in her hand to cut through her kimono so she could move more easily. All the men were looking at her creamy white legs and Kenshin, out of anger hit one of them.
"Stop gawking, you idiots!"
Kaoru smirked at the effect of her actions to everybody, especially to Kenshin. She walked towards Yahiko who was rubbing his back and took his bokken.
"I think I'll use this. I've been looking for something to vent my frustrations on."
Yahiko and Tsubame looked at Tae and asked, "What was she drinking earlier, Tae-san?"
Tae answered in an embarrassed voice, "Um... sake." Yahiko groaned.
Kaoru ran to Kenshin's side and was poised to fight already.
"Kaoru-dono, this is not the right time for your games."
"My games, Kenshin?" she laughed, "I was thinking more on the lines of team work." then she smiled then hit one of the guys in the stomach.
"Alright then, but I better see you after all this fuss is over."
Kaoru dodged one attack and said, "You'll see..."
QUESTION:
Who do you think would appear on the next chapter?
A.) Saito with a report
B.) Aoshi to fetch Misao
C.) Soujiro just to show up
D.) Reiji to kidnap Kaoru... again
put your answer and email address at the end of your review (hehe) and if you answer correctly, I'll email you a juicy preview! (Christmas is near and I feel the spirit! So good luck!)