The Feeling is Mutual

by nyllemnev

Disclaimer: They are not mine.

Chapter 1: The Beginning

It was a very bright and beautiful Sunday morning. Everybody is now up and starting to get ready with the whole day ahead. Several families were already up, preparing themselves for today's Sunday mass while a couple of shop-owners were already starting to open up for the day. Everyone is peacefully starting to prepare for the whole day ahead.

Well… there might be a little exception…

"MOU! YOU STUPID… PATHETIC… CAR! MOVE!" a young woman, no older than twenty, growled angrily as she slammed her fist on car wheels, trying to get the engine started. "ARGH… THIS IS SOOOO STUPID! GRRR!" she hopped out of her car… her old rusting car… and opened the hood to try see what's wrong with her car.

"Mou! If I could only buy a new car… I swear…" she angrily muttered under her breath, frowning. "Not today… I don't wanna be late for work again or my boss will surely kill me… skin me alive!" she said as she kicked her car in frustration.

Kamiya Kaoru, a young writer, cursed darkly under her breath after several minutes of trying to get her car to start working again. She angrily took off her fatigue jacket and cap and threw it inside her car. 'I am soooo dead!' she thought, kicking her car again. As if a miracle had happened her car engine started working again.

"Whoa!" she jumped, lifting a rather dusty hand to wipe the sweat off her forehead. "Good!" she sighed before hopping inside her car again, hitting the gas and speeding up.

"Hmmm… 8:00… good I'm still early… haha! Being pathetic… shoulda have checked on my watch before I started cursing everybody! Haha!" she laughed after glancing at her wristwatch.

"Whew! So hot!" she said more to herself as she began fanning herself with the cap that she had thrown inside her car earlier, never minding how her long raven-black hair have been tangled and unruly now.

After some more time of driving Kaoru finally reached her destination – 'The Leader' – a journal published monthly. She parked her car before entering the small building running towards her editor's room.

"Kao-chan… what took you so long… he's sooo… well… Nagasaki-san isn't in his brightest mood…" a pretty woman, the secretary, said – looking a little scared. Kaoru only shrugged her shoulder off before pushing the door to her editor's room open without knocking.

"WHAT TIME IS IT… YOU… YOU…" Nagasaki Tetsuma, a rather small and balding man, angrily turned to Kaoru the time she entered the room.

"Er…" Kaoru took a glance at her watch and her face paled. The clock still read - 8 o'clock. 'Mou! How could I've missed it?' she thought, flashing her sweetest smile to her employer.

"Don't YOU give me that SMILE!" Tetsuma glared at Kaoru before taking a seat. "And don't TELL me that YOU left your ARTICLE again or… so help me… I'LL KILL YOU!"

"Hehe… actually nope!" Kaoru smiled, as she sank on a seat across her employer's table. She reached on her pocket – her jacket's pocket – when she realized. "Oh, damn! I left it in my car!" she cursed loudly, jumping up from her seat. She threw a side-glance at her fuming boss. "I'll get it… hehe…" she said, putting on a sheepish grin.

"GET IT IN FIVE MINUTES… YOUR TIME STARTS NOW!"

Without further ado, Kaoru run out of the room, straight to the parking area, kicking her car door open, grabbing her fatigue jacket – plus her article – and straight back to her employer's room, with a speed that she never knew she possessed.

Kaoru threw her article, rather rudely, to Tetsuma-san, as she tried to catch her breath.

"WHY YOU --?" Tetsuma glared at Kaoru as the brown envelope that held Kaoru's article hit him squarely on his face.

"Hehe… pant So pant rry gulfs of air 'bout a small pause… took a deep breath that…" Kaoru said sheepishly.

"GET OUT OF HERE!" Tetsuma yelled angrily, pointing at the door.

"But-…"

"No buts! I've had enough! YOU'RE FIRED!"

Kaoru gaped at her employer for a couple of seconds before starting to laugh. "Haha! That's a good one! Haha! Nice joke! You got me there! Haha! Haha!" she sank on the chair, still laughing.

"OUTTTTT!"

XXX

Himura Kenshin frowned as he stared at the bunch of papers that he'll need to examine. As the only inheritor of 'Hiten Mitsu Company', his father had insisted that Kenshin should be very well familiarized himself with how the things are being run here in the office.

'This is crazy! I can't believe shishuo is making me do this!' he thought, frowning at another document showing the graphs describing the profit sales and expenses of their automobile division for the last three years.

"Sir… Himura-sama is on the phone." his secretary's voice came from his phone.

"Okay…" pressing the button to answer his secretary. "I'll take it…"

"Line 4, sir." the secretary said again.

"Thanks." Kenshin said before pressing another button. "It's me… why?" he said.

"What are you doing there? Didn't I just told you that you're to meet a new investor?" the angry voice of Himura Hiko Seijurou, Kenshin's father said from the other line. "You're to meet them at 10:00 sharp! What are doing there?"

"You told me to examine this papers!" Kenshin rolled his eyes. "And you never mentioned to me that I am to meet some people!"

"Now you know! Go!"

Kenshin was about to answer back when the line ended. 'Guess I don't have any choice…' he thought with a sigh. He pushed another button on the phone. "I'm going out for a while. Take care of the papers, okay?" he said to his secretary who only replied 'Yes, sir.'

XXX

'Mou! I was just kidding…' Kaoru pouted as she kicked her car door open. "ARGHHH! This is soooo UNFAIR!" she suddenly yelled angrily, slamming her fists on her wheels.

"It's soo unfair… It's an accident… I didn't mean to throw that damned article on his face…" Kaoru pouted again, ruffling her hair in frustration before starting the engine of her car. "What the heck! I'll get a new job! I'll SHOW YOU!" she yelled, waving her hand in air before hitting on the gas.

XXX

Kenshin cursed darkly under his breath as he glance at his watch that now read '9:30'. "Nice! I'm gonna be late for this so-called meeting! Thanks to my shishuo… for telling me just now!" he said in frustration as he hit on the gas to gain some speed.

'Where should I meet them again?' he frowned trying to remember. Then as if a huge meteorite just landed straight on his head, he cursed again. "Damn! Shishuo never told me where to meet them! Grrr!" he rolled his eyes, putting on the headset of his cell phone.

"Answer it… c'mon…" Kenshin turned the wheels while waiting for someone to answer on the other line of the phone. "The stupid…" he rolled his eyes and tried to contact his father again. After his fifth unlucky try, he gave up.

"Fine! Don't answer the phone! It's not my fault anymore!" Kenshin said, waving his hands in frustration. "Another waste of time!" he growled under his breath. He was about to turn to his right when…

BOOM

Something collided hard on the back of his car. Frowning, he glanced at the rearview mirror and cursed at the sight. "What the hell?"

XXX

"WOOO!" Kaoru yelled loudly as she continued to hit on the gas, speeding up. "WOOOO! WHO CARES ABOUT BEING FIRED! I DON'T! YEAH… I DOOOONNNN'TTTTT!"

"Yeah… I don't…" she suddenly sniffed as tears started to form on her eyes. "I don't CARE!" she shouted again as tears started to fall from her eyes.

'Now what… I don't have a job… I don't have money…' she thought. 'What will I do? I have to pay for my room rent… then the electric bill… then water bill…'

She lifted a rather dusty fist to wipe the tears from her eyes, creating a faint black spot on it. She was deep in her thoughts that she only realized that there was a car in front of her own. As she continued to accelerate, she never realize that…

BOOM

"OH DAMN!" Kaoru cursed, rubbing the sore spot on her head. "JUST MY LUCK!" she yelled, making wild gestures with her hands. "ARGHHHH! When will this chain of bad lucks stop?" she sighed as she watched the driver of the car that she had just bumped step out.

'I am sooo dead!' she thought as she hastily got out of her own car.

"WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING? LOOK WHAT YOU DID WITH MY CAR!" the redheaded man from the other car yelled angrily at Kaoru, pointing at the mess. "AND IT'S MY BRAND NEW CAR! ARGH!"

'Yeah… I am SO DEAD!' Kaoru gulped nervously.

"What will YOU do with it, huh?" the man marched towards Kaoru. "Do YOU know HOW MUCH this car COST?" he added while Kaoru flinched at his every word.

"A fortune, I guess?" she tried.

"YOU PAY FOR THAT!" the man yelled again. "OR I'LL PUT YOU TO JAIL… FOR RECKLESS DRIVING!"

Kaoru gaped at the man. "Put me to jail?" she repeated, as if not believing every word. She stared wide-eyed at the man, still gaping. "You're kidding, right?" she said, looking incredulous.

"Yeah! I'm kidding!" the man said sarcastically.

That was all Kaoru needed to hear. Swallowing her own pride, she fell on her knees and bowed at the man. "SORRY, SORRY, SORRY, SORRY, SORRY… I'm very, very, very, very, VERY sorry…" she said again and again.

"What are YOU doing?" she heard the man said angrily.

"Please…" she crawled and, literally, attached herself on the man's left leg. "I'm sorry… don't put me in jail…"

"What?" the man said, sounding a little embarrassed as they started to catch a couple of crowd. "You stop it…" he said trying to get Kaoru off him. "Get off! Stop making a scene!" he added hurriedly.

"Not until you said you're going to let me off."

"You see…" the man kicked Kaoru away from him. She winced as she landed painfully on her back. "You see… it's not too good to see a man doing something like that, ne?" he added, bending so as he was eye-level with Kaoru.

'…a man… NANI?' Kaoru's eyes widened as his words finally sink in. "NANIIIIII?" she yelled in a high-pitched voice. "WHAT DID YOU JUST CALL ME?"

The man blinked, looking confused. "What are you saying?" he asked, standing up straight.

"I'M NOT A MANNNN!" Kaoru stood up, pointing an accusing finger at the redhead. "Grrrrr… YOU'RE DEAD!" she added, waving a fist at his face.

"What?" the man frowned. "You're a gay, then?" he added uncertainly.

"WHAT?" Kaoru gaped at the man. Face reddening in anger, embarrassment and everything as she heard some of the people around them starting to laugh. She turned and gave them a death glare, silencing them (the crowd), before turning back to her prey.

The man stared at her from up and down, then down and up. "You're a lesbian, then."

Kaoru closed her eyes, trying to control herself. Her hands already tightly fisted on her sides, as if ready to punch someone. Her breathing uneven as she tried to keep calm. 'Argh! I've had enough of this!' her mind screamed as she lifted and fist and have it landed on the man's scarred face.

"WHA-?" she heard the man said in shock after she had given him the knock-out punch of the century.

"GRRRRR… Mou! I am SOOOO angry NOWWW!" she turned her back on the man, gave the crowd another glare that sent them away, then kicked her car door open, stepped inside her own car and drove off.

XXX

Kenshin watched in disbelief, his hand on the sore spot on his cheek, as the woman glared at the crowd (sending them away in the process), kicked her car door open… then… off she go. He was so shocked that a so-called woman had just punched him straight on his face with him doing nothing that…

"WAIT a MINUTE!" he yelled as he realized that the woman is starting to escape. "Argh! She escaped!" he frowned in disbelief.

"She got away! Within my grasp!" he gaped. "Grrrr… I'll never forget that face! I swear… next time I see her… I'll get her for this…"

XXX

"That man… Grrrr… I swear… I'll never forget his face!" she growled angrily, "I'll KILL him next time we MEET!" she added, making wild killing gestures with her hands. "YEAH! I'll do THAT!" she nodded, as she continued to drive off (carefully, this time).

TBC…

A/N: Another story from me… hehe… what do think? Give me your reviews, okay? 'Till next chapter… :-)