Disclaimer: I own neither the characters in this ficlet, nor the title, which is probably copyrighted to Edgar Allan Poe.

Hey guys…ever read the 'Cask of Amontillado'? Teehee…..

Cask of Amontillado


Kaoru glanced at her watch hurriedly, and frowned at the time. It was already seven o'clock and Enishi had yet to arrive back at their home for her special dinner. Kaoru measured the correct amount of chicken broth and poured it all into her stew of ingredients simmering on the stove. She shook her head and laughed cruelly. "I bet I know where he is," she said aloud with a cruel lint, then lifted her wooden cooking spoon to her lips. Tasting the liquid, Kaoru screwed her face up and thought to identify what was missing.

"Mistress, Enishi-san called from his car; he will home within a matter of ten minutes." The housemaid entered the kitchen and delivered the message. "Also, madam, I brought up the bottle of Amontillado you requested."

Kaoru took the bottle gratefully. "Thank you, Yuki!" Hurriedly making a plate for the woman, she smiled. "Yukishiro-san and I will not require your services anymore tonight. You may eat this, and then do whatever you like."

The maid voiced her thanks and then disappeared out of the kitchen once again; Kaoru heard no more of her that evening. Kaoru turned back to her simmering stew and began to prepare both her and her husband's plates. Gently dribbling the sauce over her own meat, Kaoru looked at it and smirked in complete satisfaction. "Perfect." Setting that plate on her side of the table, she waltzed back into the kitchen and glared at Enishi's plate. "Damn you, Enishi, always requesting such special dishes." She twisted her mouth into an unpleasant frown and open the bottle of Amontillado, Enishi's favorite Italian drink, and poured a considerable amount into what was left of the stew.

Kaoru began to stir the pan and its contents, an uncharacteristic smile tugging at her lips. Her smile widened when she heard a car roll into the driveway. Kaoru quickly finished his plate, pouring his special mix onto his steak. "Hello, Kaoru."

Kaoru turned to her husband with her trademark sunny smile. "Hi husband!" she leaned over and gave a quick peck on the lips before picking up his plate and walking into the dining room, well aware that Enishi would follow her. "You're right on time."

Enishi grinned as his wife set the steaming plate of food in front of him. "Kaoru, the things you do for me…"

Kaoru snorted and rolled her eyes. "Yeah, I know, right?"

Enishi chuckled. "I had such a tiring day at the office." Enishi took a bite of his steak and his face seemed to melt in happiness. "God, I needed that, Kao."

"Your welcome," she replied, digging into her dish with gusto. "So, what happened at the office today?"

Enishi looked across the table and sighed. "What didn't happen today!" he exclaimed, then took a few more bites of his steak. "My new secretary, some American intern, totally messed up my entire filing system. Then, one of my clients went into cardiac arrest while we were in the middle of contract negotiations."

Kaoru raised an eyebrow. "Sounds like a very stressful day, honey." She immediately perked up, though. "Aren't you glad, though, that you have such a wonderful wife?"

Enishi shot her a half-hearted smile, but his face suddenly seemed to close up, and he began choking. He glared across the table and unbuttoned the top button of his shirt, gasping desperately for air he simply was not receiving.

Kaoru watched all of this happen with a very blank look on her face. She sat back in her chair and folded her arms across her chest and watched in quiet bemusement as Enishi struggled to stand from his seat. "What----wha---di…"

Kaoru brought a slender finger to her lips and shook her head. "Shhh, darling. I don't want you to strain yourself. What did I do? Absolutely nothing. Oh, and I added some Amontillado to yours because I know how much you love it."

Enishi's eyes bulged as he came closer to his wife….

"By the way…" Kaoru walked over to the sofa in the next room, and returned within seconds, something purple clutched in her fist. "I do believe your friend…oh, what's her name?"

"Ach…a…" Enishi could literally feel his throat closing up with vigor.

"Akane! Thanks for that, so you DO remember! Anyway, as I was saying; your friend Akane left these here last week," she threw the cloth onto the floor in front of him. "Somewhere between fucking you on our couch and then in our bed."

Enishi picked up the lacy pair of panties and turned tearing eyes back upwards to his wife. Kaoru's face was completely smug. She simply stared down at him, then turned sharply on her heel and walked out the room, her heels clicking sharply on the hardwood floors.

The last thing Enishi ever saw, was the dripping Amontillado he had knocked over in his struggle.


HAHA! I love that one! GO Kaoru! She may very well go to prison, but…um, just a little background on this ficlet: Kaoru is an excellent chef, Enishi is a…something…. he owns several vineyards. And as you can tell, Kaoru caught him cheating on her. Therefore, she killed him. Sorry about my Enishi bashing…I just had to do it. Believe me, though…as you can tell from my previous chapter, I will be doing a little bit of 'everyone-bashing' as not to be partial to any one character throughout the entire fic. Kenshin was nowhere to be found in this particular chapter. It was actually just Kaoru and Enishi…. and his little mistress, mentioned only by name, though. I almost made Megumi his mistress…. I am horrible, aren't I? Anyway, review so I can have a n excuse to continue writing this little series. I LOVE WRITING IT!