:DISCLAIMER: I do not own Kenshin or any of the characters created by the amazing Nobuhiro Watsuki. I am only a crazy fan of the series and am borrowing them for the sake of my story.

Chapter 6: Rain, rain…

Enishi took off his glasses to wipe off the water on his damp sweater. His eyes were very dark and a bit cold at first glance, but they would soften every now and then as he looked out into the rain. He glanced at the drenched woman standing next to him while she was preoccupied with her now wet food. Despite the miserable state she appeared to be in, he could tell she was quite beautiful. He sighed. Why had he helped her?

Kaoru looked up from her bruised fruits and stared silently as he brushed his hand through his spiky hair, attempting to get rid of the excess water. Noticing her stare, he stopped to stare back. Kaoru quickly looked away.

"These aren't very good anymore," she heard him say. Kaoru looked down at the bruised fruit in her hand and frowned.

"Yeah, I guess," she reluctantly agreed. She would have to buy more. Turning around, she looked at the fruit being sold at the stand directly behind her. Thoughtfully she looked at a shiny red apple. Kaoru was about to pick it up when she heard the man's voice again.

"That's no good."

"Huh?" Kaoru was confused. "Why not?"

"It's too ripe. It'll get spoiled in a few days if you don't eat it right away." Enishi muttered as he put back on his glasses. He looked up at the elderly woman waiting for the two to buy something. "Can you hand a couple of those over there?" he asked, pointing to a group of apples in the far left corner of the crate. The lady happily complied.

Kaoru watched dumbfounded as he continued to pick out more fruit for the lady to bag, not stopping until he had three bags full of fruit for her. She gawked at the absurd amount he had picked out for her. The bags were not only full of the typical apples, oranges, and bananas, but also exotic fruits like pineapples, mangos, apricots, and kiwis! 'How in the world are you supposed to even cut a pineapple!" she thought.

"Th-that's too much!" Kaoru exclaimed to Enishi.

He shrugged.

"Ahem!" the lady coughed, telling them she was waiting to be paid in exchange for all the fruit. Kaoru looked at Enishi expectantly. He stared blankly down at her. Muttering in annoyance, she dug around her purse for her wallet. As she was counting out the money, she noticed that Enishi suddenly began to walk away from the stand and into the rain. Kaoru growled in frustration. The nerve of this guy! But Enishi's disappearance quickly vanished from her mind as she realized she did not have enough money for all the fruit. She looked at the lady sheepishly.

"Could I just put a few of these fruits back?" Kaoru smiled widely at the old woman.

"No! You touch! You BUY!" the lady scolded sourly. Kaoru's smile disappeared. But SHE hadn't TOUCHED ANYTHING!

"I don't think you understand," Kaoru tried to explain calmly. "I don't have enough-"

"I UNDERSTAND!" interrupted the lady. "You trying to rip old lady like me off! You rude!" spat the old lady. Kaoru looked at her bewildered! What had happened to the polite grandma that had been standing there only moments before? Suddenly a voice interjected.

"I'll pay for the fruit," Enishi said as he took out his wallet.

"NO!" Kaoru shouted. Enishi paused and stared down at her. "I don't want you to pay for me!" she said defiantly.

"Do you have the money?" he asked raising an eyebrow. Kaoru sighed and looked away. "Then I guess I'll have to pay instead."

"Come again!" the old lady exclaimed, finally happy now that she had the money. Kaoru felt pathetic. First the dropped fruit and then she had to let him pay for her! She was POOR and PATHETIC!

"You ok?" Enishi asked, sounding concerned. Kaoru frowned. 'I guess not,' he thought. He looked at her thoughtfully.

"Let's get going," he prompted as he picked up the bags of fruit he had just purchased.

"It's still raining!" Kaoru protested as he shoved something in her direction.

"Open this," he demanded. Kaoru stared down at the bright yellow umbrella. Is this what he had gone out in the rain to get? Once the umbrella was open, Kaoru picked up her remaining bag of groceries and she along with Enishi stepped out from under the shelter of the small stand. As the two of them left, the old lady waved her hand goodbye to them.

"What a nice looking couple," she said to herself, just loud enough for both of them to hear. Kaoru's face felt hot and picked up her pace.

"Hey!" Enishi shouted for her to wait as he caught up with her.

"Sorry," she muttered quickly. As the two of them walked side by side under the glow of the yellow umbrella, Kaoru could not help but notice how close in proximity they were to each other. His arm would occasionally brush up against her hand as she held the umbrella over their heads. When she would try and further the distance between them, he would end up getting hit with the rain and just lean in closer. Kaoru bit her lower lip in nervousness.

Enishi wasn't dense. He had noticed her attempts to draw away from him, but he enjoyed making her flustered. Realizing she was drifting from him again, he put his hand on her back, as if to guide her back into the shelter of the umbrella, and closer to him. He felt her go stiff.

"You're getting wet," he told her, his hand still resting in the same position. Kaoru nodded, looking away.

"Where are you headed anyway?" he asked. She had been very quiet the entire time. Kaoru suddenly took in their surroundings and realized that they were only a little bit away from Kenshin's studio. She stopped abruptly, causing Enishi to bump into her slightly. Turning around to face him, she looked down at her feet.

"Sorry," she mumbled apologetically. She seemed to be always apologizing to this guy! Why was she such a klutz!

"It's alright," he said, staring down at her patting her shoulder. He smiled slightly. She looked up. His eyes were colder than Kenshin's, and far more difficult to read. But his touch was much warmer and comforting than she expected.

"Umm, about the fruit…" Kaoru began sheepishly looking down at the bags in his other hand.

"You can pay me back next time Kamiya Kaoru," he interjected staring intently at her face.

"Next time?" she asked perplexed. He flashed a grin, placed the bags of fruit at her feet, and then jogged off into the rain, his hands over his head as if to shield him from the rain. Kaoru watched as his broad shoulders and silver hair became smaller in the distance, his feet kicking up water in the process. The shoulder he had rested his hand on only moments before still felt warm. Kaoru smiled thoughtfully and bent down to pick up the bags of fruit.

----

Enishi ran faster. If he hadn't left then, he may have done something stupid. Laughing softly, he recalled Kaoru's flustered face. Enishi felt warm despite the cold weather. While he was unfamiliar with this feeling, he certainly did not hate it. Coming to a halt, Enishi bent over, breathing deeply in order to catch his breath. Water beat down on his back. He shook his head, causing water to fly out from his silver hair. He couldn't seem to get those big blue eyes out of his mind. Straightening up, he tilted his head up toward the sky and closed his eyes, allowing the droplets of water to caress his pale face. The rain felt good on his hot face. He didn't notice the shadow which had been following him ever since he had left the fruit stand with Kaoru. Oblivious to all else, he began walking again, with a small grin on his face.

----

Kaoru leaned against the elevator wall. The yellow umbrella stood up, propped against a corner. She thought of the man who had helped her out today. 'What had he meant by next time?' Kaoru tucked a lock of her dark blue hair behind her ear. 'Had he thought that she lived here? Or maybe he lived in the same neighborhood.' Kaoru gave a small smile as the elevator doors opened onto Kenshin's floor. Perhaps they would meet again. But Kaoru highly doubted that would happen. Still, she couldn't help but feel a little curious and hopeful that, maybe, she would run into him again someday. Just to say thank you. All thoughts of Enishi, however, disappeared as she knocked on Kenshin's door and a very clean and shaved red-head opened it.

Kaoru felt her heart beat faster as she looked into the violet eyes.

"Where have you been!" Kenshin asked grumpily. "You're all wet! Try and not to drip all over the place," he warned her as she slipped inside.

Truthfully, he had been worried about her when he realized that it had begun to rain outside. Unwilling to admit this truth to himself, he had kept himself preoccupied with cleaning up the studio even more. As he closed the door, he suddenly heard a loud WHUMP! and a slew of curses followed suit. Turning around he saw Kaoru sprawled out face down on the ground, apples and oranges lazily rolling about. He tried not to, but he couldn't help it.

Kaoru's face went hot as she heard a loud burst of laughter coming from behind her. Growling she looked around to see what had caused her to fall flat on her face so unattractively. Her eyes fell upon a sword lying haphazardly on the floor near her feet.

"WHY IN THE WORLD WOULD YOU HAVE A SWORD JUST LYING AROUND LIKE THAT! I COULD HAVE SERIOUSLY HURT MYSELF!" she exploded at the red-head. Kenshin looked at the sakobatou and stopped laughing.

"None of your business," he replied curtly, picking up the sword. He silently put the sheath back on and shoved it underneath his mattress.

Kaoru fumed as she stood back up, wincing as she rubbed her knees. She had fallen harder than she had thought. Grumbling, she looked around for the fallen fruit. Her eyes, however, were distracted by something else. The studio was CLEAN! She didn't mean a "oh it's pretty ok' kind of clean. The room was practically sparkling! Why had he cleaned so much? She looked at Kenshin with wide eyes. He simply nodded toward the rest of the fruit bags which had been spared in her fall.

"Why are there so many?" he asked her incredulously.

"I didn't pick them. Some guy did," she explained nonchalantly as she picked up the remaining fruit and headed toward his fridge.

"Guy?" Kenshin raised an eyebrow. What was a guy doing picking out fruit for her? He felt irked for some reason. "You can't possibly be so stupid that you can't even buy food on your own, now can you?"

Kaoru flashed him a look of annoyance.

"Shut it, will you? He was just a nice guy. And all of this is for you anyway," she muttered, restocking his fridge.

"You can't trust guys so easily Kamiya," Kenshin leaned against the kitchen counter. "You might get hurt. Then what will you do with that poor, broken, itty, bitty heart of yours?" He smiled cockily at her look of anger.

"That's only if I fall for jerks like you," she threw back, closing the fridge. Kenshin frowned.

"The feeling's mutual," Kenshin told her grimly. Kaoru stared back at him from across the table. The air was beginning to get tense. She felt a small flash of disappointment in her heart, but she quickly pushed it aside. There was no room for such feelings. No time. Kenshin looked away and Kaoru sighed in relief. Silently she pulled her tangled hair back into a high ponytail. She reminded herself of her original goal.

Kenshin stared at her from the corner of his eye and scratched his head. He had seen the hurt flicker through her eyes. Could she possibly feel something for him? His heart skipped a beat at the very idea. He pushed the thought out of his mind. He didn't have the time for such feelings. There were more important things to worry about.

"Himura.." Kenshin looked back at the girl. Blue eyes stared back him, full of determination. "I have a few questions I have to ask you."

Kenshin nodded slightly.

"It's about Seijuro Hiko," she continued. "I need you to tell me of your apprenticeship with him."

The rain beat down on the window panes harder.

Kenshin's eyes went an icy yellow.

Kaoru swallowed hard.

Maybe she should have bought some sake with all that fruit.

Author's Notes: ENISHIIIIII! ahaha he's so cute. i know.. he seems a bit OOC.

i hope you guys liked it anyways.

coolx: yeah. i know. i didn't review myself. that is just strange and weird. i'm sharing a computer with my sister and i guess she wanted to be supportive...anyhow i was still logged in and it was too late. i tried to delete it.. but i don't know how. mistakes happen. i can deal.

Jisusaken, Jaded Dawn, and angelbecca: thanks so much!

please read and review!