I replaced the previous chapter four because I SPELT KAMATARI'S NAME WRONG?!?! and I changed all the he's and his for Kamatari because even though she's a man I think she would rather be acknowledged as a woman.
Disclaimer: I do NOT own Ruronui Kenshin or any of the characters however the story lines mine.
Sorry this took so long I was having big trouble with my computer, Please don't kill me T-T
B-l-o-o-d G-u-i-l-t
"Good morning!" Misao yelled brightly as she pushed open her office block door
"Morning Misao" Kaoru replied with one of her gorgeous smiles
"So what's on the agenda today Kao?" Misao asked "You don't mind my nickname do you?"
"Not at all, after all you are the boss and I wouldn't like to contradict you on my first day of work." She joked before continuing "At eleven you have a board meeting with a CEO about increasing the production and shipping of clothes and that's all."
"Oh no I have to face Kamatari" Misao moaned slamming her palm on her head "and I haven't completed any new sketches, she's gonna kill me. Oh well she'll get over it" Misao said lightly "please add at 12 'lunch with Kao' okay"
"Yes ma'am" Kaoru chirped releasing her fingers over her key board to add in the time.
"So I have..." Misao trailed off as she looked at her wrist watch to calculate the time "an hour before the meeting, I guess I'll do some work."
Misao strolled into her office dropping her hand bag onto her desk and neatly hung up her dark blue coat. Sitting in her gigantic chair she smoothed the wrinkles that had developed in the pale blue skirt and wriggled as she made herself comfortable, pulling her cheque book from her draw she opened it to the latest page where she neatly wrote in the name Naru Iijue.
With a quick scrawl for her signature she finished the cheque by filling in the last space with Naru's final pay and a bonus. Standing up she folded the check and placed it into an envelope with a little note and walked back to where Kaoru was typing.
Slipping the envelope in Kaoru's line of vision Misao asked "Can you please mail this to Miss Naru Iijue, thank you"
"Sure thing" Kaoru answered as she buzzed away at the keyboard.
Returned to her office, Misao sat down and stretched her tired muscles. Sighing she looked over her desk to find something for her to do. However due to the habit of completing every thing before hand she had nothing left to finish or start.
Slumping in her chair she closed her eyes and tried to think of excuses for Kamatari, however her thoughts soon began to stray to Aoshi he seemed so cold sitting in my office, I just wish I could warm him up and make him smile. Come to think of it during the whole time he never even cracked the tiniest grin. I want to make him smile for me envisioning his darkly handsome face. A sad frown appeared on her face as she felt her body ache to touch him, Aoshi, she longed to drag her fingers through his rich black hair Aoshi, to feel his lips against hers Aoshi to feel loved, Aoshi to be wanted.
"Urg! I must get him out of my head, this is ridiculous!" she whispered furiously knocking herself from her dream world
I can't believe myself, I'm beginning to obsess over a person I don't even know. I'm scared...
As Misao tried to figure her raging emotions out she was interrupted by a light knock on the door "Come in" she instructed, the door creaked slowly open so that Kaoru's head had enough room to just poke though.
"Your meeting starts in ten minutes; I just wanted to let you know"
"What!?!?! Where did all that time go?" she blushed I can't have just though of him for a whole hour smiling weakly she finished "Well then I'd best get going thanks for reminding me."
Smartly moving out the office she headed to the meeting room through the long airy corridors. By the time she had reached the heavy meeting room doors she was already ten minutes late and winced as her mind created a mental image of Kamatari hitting the roof at having no production sketches.
"Time for another invigorating meeting" she said dryly as she pushed the right hand door slowly open. Taking a deep breath she slowly slid through the small allowance and cringed when all the sombre looking men and woman in black, grey and brown suits turned her way. The silence was uncomfortable for Misao who resisted the urge to fidget. The only movement in the room was the occasional person pushing their glasses up their noses or coughing out the frogs that had developed in their throats.
"Where have you been!" came the annoyed voice of Kamatari as she crossed her arms under her flat chest and tapped her foot impatiently "Your late!" she barked flicking her shoulder length hair out of her perfectly maintained face.
Today Kamatari looked amazing as always in a pair of tan pencil straight pants, a white blouse and a contoured tan blazer, the stunning gold jewellery adorning her slender neck, arms and ears shining in the strong light. Misao looked down at her own outfit of a pastel blue skirt, a v necked blue jersey and a pair of white inch high shoes the only jewellery being a small ring, I look like a bloody prude next to her, its not fair!
Many people thought Kamatari as a woman because of how feminine she was but in actual fact she was a he who had unfortunatly been born in the body of a man, not that it had stopped her from being a woman spiritually and for that Misao admired her.
"Sorry?" Misao offered
"Lunch!!!" Misao squealed as she threw open the door of Kaoru's office for the second time that day "Thank god for lunch."
"Did the meeting suck?" Kaoru asked
"Arg don't remind me, Kamatari almost decapitated me with her scythe when I told her I hadn't done my homework and then the board droned on and on and on and on and on and on about stats and money. I need a nice hot beverage to bring my bored to death senses back to life."
"Kamatari?" Kaoru asked
"Yeah know her? The first time I met her I thought she was a model and gave her a new line of lingerie to try on for me, and the funny thing is she did!" she giggled
So Kamatari was re-born again...or was she? Kaoru didn't have long to think about it before Misao grabbed her by the wrist and dragged her into the glass clad elevator which they rode down to the public shopping floors heading in the direction of the exit.
"Isn't it nice to see all these shoppers in my store?" Misao said smiling as she saw a little girl drag her mother to the children's section "Its so nice to see they like my products, any way lets go, I'm starving" resuming with her hasty pace.
Making it to the cafe just across the street Misao opened the door. As soon as she walked in the coffee aroma that inhabited the place washed over her. The café was small but had a wonderfully normal atmosphere that Misao loved. The walls were decorated in toffee colours with highlights of warm red in the curtains and furniture. Selecting a small table in a corner Misao sat down on the vinyl covered seats and closed her eyes as she felt the warm sunlight from the window warm up her cool cheeks. Resting her elbows on the round Formica surface she opened her eyes to look at Kaoru. Kaoru sat opposite Misao, her blue eyes scanning the menu on the wall. Making their eventual decision when the waitress came round they ordered each a cup of tea and a slice of cake.
"So tell me a bit about you Misao?" Kaoru asked casually "Have you got a boyfriend?"
"Well no" Misao answered almost spluttering the tea in her mouth
She didn't know where this conversation was going but she was pretty sure that it involved the deliciously mysterious Aoshi. Does she want to know it I'm available to her to set up with that Aoshi guy? Misao felt her heart flutter but was brought back into reality when thoughts began to invade her mind about him getting hurt like they always didLooking sadly down at her hand she removed the gold ring from her index finger and slipped it onto her left ring finger. She almost wanted to cry, she really didn't want to do this but in order for Aoshi to stay away for his own safety it was necessary.
"I'm married" she finished watching Kaoru's reaction which was quiet dramatic.
The piece of chocolate cake that was intended for her mouth dropped off her fork onto the floor completely forgotten as Kaoru's deep blue eyes widened with shock "Your married?" she said weakly waiting in hope for her to say it was some kind of joke.
Misao forced a happy smile and raise her hand to show the gold ring with set in diamonds. Kaoru snatched her hand and pulled it over the table towards her face to examine it "You're married?" she asked again in disbelief.
"Yep" Misao reassured "Quite a while ago actually"
"But...but your name?"
"I didn't want to change it, its too much hassle with my business and all."
"So who's the lucky guy?" Kaoru asked trying to keep the bitterness from entering her voice
Misao paused oh crap, name, name "Uh...his name is Shido Li." Thinking about her ex-fiancé from years and years ago.
"Oh wow I can't wait to meet him!"
"Well actually he's in Hong Kong at the moment supervising his own business and I have no idea when he'll come back but he phones me practically every night, I miss him so much." Misao said almost in a whisper and to add even more influence she made her eyes water as if to cry.
Misao felt extremely guilty about spouting one lie after another, she really liked Kaoru she was like the sister she never had that made it even harder.
"Oh I'm sorry" Kaoru said sympathetically forgetting her previous anger when she saw her friend get emotional
"No that's okay" Misao reassured using a serviette on the table to dab her eyes "So are you married?"
"No I'm not but I have..." Kaoru trailed off as she thought of a proper word to use. She couldn't say mate "a boyfriend" she finished
"What's he like?" Misao asked
"Well his name is Kenshin Himura and he's amazing. He has these violet eyes that hold love only for me. There's no possible way I can describe him except that he's the only one that can make me melt, the only one who makes me burn when he kisses." Kaoru answered her eyes glazing over before snapping back to reality "Am I making sense? Oh well you know what I mean."
Misao nodded but had absolutely no clue, she'd been with men before but she'd never felt awestruck like Kaoru was describing and felt a ping of jealousy.
Kaoru saw her nodding you don't know what I'm talking about you haven't experienced true love, Aoshi's your true love not 'Shido'. How am I going to tell Aoshi this news?
Misao took another sip from her tea "So is Sano and Megumi married?"
"No" Kaoru answered "They are at the same stage in their relationship as me"
"They argue a lot, do they always do that?" Misao asked curiously
"Pretty much, but underneath it all they love each other. That's just their way of showing affection"
Misao giggled "they must have some interesting arguments"
"Mmm they do, you should meet some of my friends."
Misao decided to change the subject, if she met Kaoru's friends she might see Aoshi again "Crap look at the time, we'd best get back to work."
Draining the rest of the cup she slipped her coat on and grabbed her handbag. Paying the bill at the counter she and Kaoru left crossing the street back to Chikara.
Retracing their steps back to the office Kaoru sighed. She felt Misao opening up then all of a sudden she snapped back closed again.
"I'd best be getting on with some new design sketches otherwise all those snobs in suits and Katamari will be on my tail" Misao said over her shoulder and closed the door to her office
As soon as the door was closed she briskly paced to her desk and slid in her mammoth chair. Deliberately wasting her time, she began swirl childishly around releasing a couple of crazy giggles in an attempt to block the serious part of her mind. Refocusing on the work that needed to be completed Misao grabbed her drawing pad from her draw and found a new blank page. Running her hand over its smooth white surface Misao smelt its crisp new scent. Tilting her head to look at the sheet at different angles she waited for the usual ping of inspiration, yet after ten minutes of just staring she tapped her pencil impatiently on its surface and sighed in irritation.
Lightly doodling her pencil across the paper she roughly sketched out the basic shape of a face. Leaning her head closer at the sketch she noted how similar the face shape was to Aoshi's, slender and elegant. Before she knew it she threw all her energy in completing it. She didn't know how much time had passed before she finally satisfied with the drawing. Misao grinned happily at her achievement, she wasn't usually one to draw portraits because they were usually tedious and boring to do, but this had to be the best portrait picture she had ever done.
Lifting her hands she traced the soft tips of her fingers across his full sketched lips Aoshi I wish this were real. Suddenly Misao's reverie of thought was shattered when the door was opened and Kaoru strolled in. Misao acted on pure reflex seizing the pad and shoving it into a draw which she thumped closed.
"Sorry to interrupt" Kaoru said looking inquisitive at Misao's secrecy "But its three o'clock and I thought you would like to go home."
"Uh no I can't" Misao sighed "I haven't completed all the business work." Thinking of the non-existent sketches she was meant to complete, hopefully the designers next door had completed some so she could at least give the producing team some things to work on.
"Oh" Kaoru looked disappointed
"But you can go now, your shifts over." Misao said quickly
"Are you sure you'll be okay by yourself?"
"Yeah I'll be fine" waving her hand to the door "Just go home"
"Okay bye Misao"
"Bye bye" Misao said as the door closed
Groaning Misao massaged her forehead "I've got to get these rough sketches done"
Opening the draw she took one more look at Aoshi's sketch and felt some thing familiar, like adrenalin pumping into her brain full of creative energy; inspiration.
Pulling out some fresh paper Misao held her pencil between her tingling fingers and began to swiftly draw out lines of different concepts before they left her mind. Between drinking lots of tea she worked rapidly to complete the rough outlines, she didn't even realize haw much time was crawling by. The shadows cast by the sun in her office began to lengthen as the dusk changed to night.
"There!" she exclaimed triumphantly as she piled numerous sketches neatly on her desk.
Stifling a yawn she grabbed her bag and slung her coat over her shoulders as she left the office. As soon as she closed the door a sudden thought occurred to her, darting back she wrenched open the draw and extracted the sketch of Aoshi which she carefully placed it into her hand bag.
When she arrived back to her apartment she felt like a zombie, throwing her coat and bag onto the couch she grabbed a plum from her fruit basket and munched it while she grabbed her night clothes and headed to the bathroom. Savouring the last bite of the sweet flesh she dropped the hard stone of the fruit into the rubbish.
Running a bath she poured an extravagant amount of bubble bath into the churning hot water. The bubbles almost formed immediately and only stopped right at the rim of the bath when she turned the hot tap off.
Slipping her clothes off she tentatively checked the temperature with her toes and beamed when it was at the exact heat she liked. Stepping in she sank into the bubbles moaning and gurgling in delight as the water worked wonders on her body. For half an hour she relaxed in total bliss before wrapping a towel around herself and changing into her night wear.
Dabbing her wet hair with a towel she returned to her bedroom where she operated on the knots that had developed in her tresses. Just as she was about to go to bed she slowly moved to close her curtains when she had a sudden impulse to have a breath of fresh air. Frowning at the sudden pull she opened the glass double doors and walked slowly out onto the balcony. The cold shiny tiles underfoot burned at her soles nevertheless she continued to the end. Looking around she saw the millions of lights all over city winking like stars in the black night. Shivering as the cold wind passed though the thin material she wrapped her arms around her waist and continued to watch the beautiful sight.
Unknown to her Misao was being watched. Aoshi watched from the shadows as she left her bedroom and walk across the balcony, wearing only a white spaghetti strap chemise that barely reached her mid thighs. Resting her hands on the barrier she looked at the town until a cold wind passed, causing her to visually shiver and wrapped her arms around herself. Aoshi wished he could hold her in his arms and defend her from the severe winds buffeting the building. Restraining himself he watched her tilt her head towards the sky and close her eyes in total serenity. Aoshi gasped as her perfect alabaster throat and swell of her breasts was revealed to him sending him crazy, he could feel his canines extend in lust for her sweet blood.
Aoshi couldn't believe the change in her, when she was 16 she was square and as flat as a board. Now as a woman she had bloomed into a beautiful rose, she still had a slender athletic look but it had become softened with curving hips and a full bust.
What happened next was totally unexpected.
Her head snapped in the direction where he stood on the side of the building, the soft green blue pools of tranquillity changing into solid chips of suspicion.
"Who's there!" she hissed angrily "Show yourself!"
Aoshi frowned but showed no other emotion as he crouched behind a pillar avoiding her eyes as she scanned the building. Never letting his gaze upon her waver he listened as she continued.
"I know your there." She paused again her voice dangerously low "Fine!" she snapped angrily when no one answered "Lets play cat and mouse then." She snarled her voice loud and dangerous "I'm the cat and I always get my prey!"
Misao leapt fluidly onto the railing of her balcony and stepped bare footed onto the decorative ridges that jutted off the building. Moving stealthily with a cat like grace she made it to her neighbour's balcony where she jumped lightly into a stoop and instantly sniffed the air. She could detect a faint masculine scent of a man, reducing her eyes to slits she examined the dark corners of the apartment and growled in frustration. The person spying on her had gone damn.
Aoshi watched her little tantrum from a nearby building. Her long unbound hair swirled in the icy wind and her short night gown flared. After a minute she stormed back to her apartment where she slammed the door closed after she sent one more scrutinizing glare out into the darkness.
He grinned that was the Misao he knew back in the past but he found it unnerving that she knew he was there and her cold little speech she said before she went to look for him. The reason he left, was not because he was afraid of being discovered, but because he was afraid that Misao would continue looking for him and accidentally fall, he didn't know if he could live if that happened.
Pulling his flip phone from his long black coat he quickly dialled Kaoru's number
Ring...Ring...Ring
"Hello," came a feminine voice
"Meet me at the Akabeko" He said getting to the point
"Why you jackass I was..."
Rolling his eyes at the raccoons antics he snapped his phone closed cutting her off. Leaning over the railing he jumped from balcony to balcony like an elegant panther never once faltering, his black trench coat flaring as he went. Landing on the pavement he resumed a brisk pace as if he hadn't been building jumping a moment ago. Stopping by a sleek black car he slipped into the leather interior where he started the engine and drove to the meeting place.
"...planning to spend the night with Kenshin!" Kaoru yelled into the phone even though he'd cut her off.
Kaoru dropped the phone back onto the cradle and fumed. Kenshin, Sano, Megumi and Yahiko had all gone on a hunt but Kaoru had opted to stay behind so that she could prepare a nice surprise for Kenshin. She was wearing a short black chemise with an empire waist especially for the evening and she had to admit even though it was pretty lacy she looked incredibly sexy in it. Growling angrily to herself she tramped to her bedroom and flung her large cupboard open.
Grabbing the first things she saw she reluctantly stripped the chemise off and wrenched on the faded blue jeans, followed by a tight button up blouse and her knee length tan coloured coat. Twisting her thick hair she stabbed the coil to her head with a blue biro pen.
Its only Aoshi I'm seeing he won't care about what I wear snatching her keys from her hand bag she irritably locked the apartment and travelled down the stairs to her car.
As Kaoru drove out the parking she groaned as she remembered she didn't have her cell phone and she hadn't left a message for Kenshin explaining where she had gone this had better be good Aoshi gritting her teeth.
Aoshi looked at his watch and irritably scowled how long does it take that woman to get down here? He knew she would defiantly come but why did she take so long. After five more minutes of waiting he eventually saw Kaoru's small frame come though the door.
Plonking herself opposite him she glared daggers at Aoshi "What do you want!"
Aoshi found her hostility amusing she's finally getting a taste of her own medicine he smirked
"Well?" she prompted
"I went to Misao's apartment" he replied softly
"Tae!" Kaoru yelled as the young vampire waitress in a traditional kimono uniform walked by.
"Hiya Kaoru, how's Kenshin?" She asked
"Fine, can I have some tea? My nerves are totally shot."
"Sure thing" Tae said as she bustled off
"You went to Misao's apartment. So what! I can do that too!" she said sarcastically resuming the conversation.
"She knew I was there watching her in the darkness and I was entirely hidden" he finished.
"Well if you were hiding how did she know you were there?" Kaoru asked feeling confused.
Aoshi didn't respond he had no answer.
"Hummp don't answer then" Kaoru mumbled as she crossed her arms and began to think "maybe she has some psychic abilities?"
"Here you are Kaoru" Tae beamed as she slid the tray onto the low table.
Offering some to Aoshi knowing he would decline (which he did), she poured some for herself "Is that all you called me for?" She said in hope.
"No, I wanted to know how your day went."
"More like you want to know what I found out about Misao" Kaoru corrected grumpily.
Aoshi said nothing in reply.
"Well I'm going to be truthful; you're not going to like it." Aoshi's face remained passive as Kaoru decided how to break the news to him.
"Spit it out" he snapped
"Misao's married" Kaoru whispered wincing as his eyes widened in shock and his mouth dropped, the most emotion she'd ever seen in him
"To whom" he demanded dangerously recovering himself.
"I don't want to say, I'm afraid of what you might do to him." Kaoru replied blanching as he stood up slamming his balled fists on the low table.
"Tell me NOW!" He roared causing all the chatter around the Akabeko to cease "I don't want to hurt you but I will if I have to!"
"Ummm Aoshi please calm down" asked Tae tentatively as she nervously backed up.
"Leave this to me Tae" Kaoru said to her before standing up and returning her eyes to Aoshi "Look you can't bully me! If you want to beat the information out of me, be my guest" she taunted "but I'm not going down without a good fight!"
Aoshi kept the turmoil of emotions from his face as he squeezed his fists by his sides. Sending a final glare at Kaoru he spun around and stormed out of the restaurant. Kaoru exhaled slowly and dropped back into her chair. Grabbing her tea she slugged it down in one shot. Noticing the alien silence throughout the Akabeko she looked around and found every one staring at her.
"What?!" she yelled exasperatedly causing everyone to suddenly jolt back into their own conversations.
Even though the people weren't staring at her sensitive hearing detected the gossip going around the tables ...she must have been having an affair, poor man...bitch...Man what a slut to cheat on that gorgeous man...Well no wonder she cheated on him, he's a control freak...slut...ooh he's a hottie...women these days, can't keep commitments...
Kaoru abruptly stood up knocking her chair down with a clatter "STOP!" she yelled "I am NOT his girlfriend or his wife or his lover! Got that people?!" Dropping a couple bills on the table she stormed out stomping her heels on the wooden floors.
"Asshole people, can't keep their noses out of things" she cursed
Kenshin silently closed the door of his apartment and instantly sensed that Kaoru was not there. Looking on the table he scanned the room to find a note explaining her absence, but when he discovered none he moved into their bedroom.
Even though it was dark in the large room he could still see the rich red of the silk bed sheets and the contrasting black fabric lying scrunched as if quickly thrown there. Picking it up he sniffed the article of clothing and detected Kaoru's distinctive jasmine scent on it.
Eyeing the delicate and extremely sheer garment he grinned and decided to wait for Kaoru in the lounge.
Kaoru stormed up to her apartment and just about kicked the door in when her key decided to give her trouble, how dare he! After everything I've done for him he has the nerve to humiliate me, I don't think Tae will ever allow me into the Akabeko again after that.
Kaoru was so absorbed in her thoughts she didn't notice Kenshin standing behind her until she felt a pair of warm hands encircle her abdomen.
"Where have you been?" He whispered slowly into her ear.
"With Aoshi" she replied
Kenshins eyes became hard with jealousy "Why?"
"To discuss Misao" Kaoru said
"Then why are you so angry?" Kenshin asked his voice hard that Aoshi had obviously destroyed the night of 'fun' she had been planning for them.
"Cause he humiliated me!" Kaoru just about yelled "We had this argument at the Akabeko because I told him Misao is married and he threw a cow!" she sulked
Kenshin chuckled at her heated mood "So what's this I found?" Lifting up the slinky black garment
Kaoru blushed but didn't say anything.
"I like it, but I'd like it even better if I see you in it" leading her into their bedroom slamming the door closed with a feral growl followed by a feminine giggle..
B-l-o-o-d G-u-i-l-t
That's all for now, I just want to thank these people for reviewing
Paleah, Kimi, M.S Arashi Sumeragi, erica6060, becky, len, legolasEStelstar, momijigirl's twin. I'm sorry if I've missed anyone
And thanks to Black wolf girl for editing this latest chapter
IMPORTANT: Misao is NOT a vampire...send me an e-mail or you can tell me in a review if you have a guess about what she is ;P.
-Lady Isis
-Iona
© 2004-10-04 Lady Isis