Disclaimer: No… do I look like a millionaire genius? No? Then I probably don't own Rurouni Kenshin, now do I?
HEHEHEHEHEHEHE… sorry about the late update… Um… but since it's summer now, I'm planning to work just a little faster… x
Things between Kenshin, Kaoru, and Tomoe are beginning to heat up! Keep reading, and please enjoy!
Misted Love
Chapter Three
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"What is Kenshin to me?" Kaoru needed to remind herself to breathe. Just breathe. It would all be ok… She turned around so that she was no longer facing the elegant woman and tried to steady her voice.
Pasting the brightest smile she could muster on her face, the tanuki girl laughed, "Oh. Kenshin is my best friend after all. But truly, I hope you don't hurt him any more. It's because he's my best friend that I can't let you hurt him and-"
A hand on her shoulder stopped her flow of words.
"Kamiya-san… please do not feel that there is a need to lie. As one woman to another… I can tell that your emotions for Kenshin run much deeper than that of friendship," Tomoe's black eyes looked intently at the other girl. "I would like to know… please…"
Kaoru sighed and turned around, meeting Kenshin's beloved eye to eye, "If you already know the answer, then there isn't much to ask… is there?"
"Yes. You're right," Tomoe folded her arms and stared back at her. "But you know, I love Kenshin too. Just because you've known him longer doesn't mean you love him more. I never intended to hurt him. I won't lose to you."
Watching her sadly, Kaoru resisted the urge to run away and sob. She had to stand strong. For Kenshin's sake. "I don't care whether you meant to hurt him or not… you hurt him. If you ever do that again, I will never forgive you. Besides, you won't lose to me in matters of his affection. He loves you more than anything. I've already lost. Please don't hurt him anymore."
"You should just leave him alone… why would you leave him in the first place… if you claim you still love him." Kaoru's hand balled into a fist. "How could you possibly call tearing his heart in two… loving him?"
"Because… of who I am," Tomoe sighed, causing Kaoru to look at her. "Because… this is what the world expects of me. I don't have a choice… do you think it's easy being perfect? Kenshin didn't fit the requirements for my lover… and so…"
Kaoru slapped her, cutting Tomoe's sentence off. "How dare you? Do you think love is something so mediocre… that a heart is so worthless that you can play with it? You're such a hypocrite."
"Hypocrite… you could never understand how I feel!" Tomoe cried. "If you think it's easy being me… why don't you try? It's not as if I asked to be this way! I do love Kenshin… more than anything else! I realize the mistake I made… yes, I'm not as perfect as people want me to be… but I'll never leave him again!"
Kaoru stared straight back at Tomoe, watching her reaction, but the perfect porcelain doll rarely showed her emotions. She was just too… perfect for that. Sighing, she moved to walk away, but stopped all of a sudden, an idea entering her mind.
"I must be crazy…" Kaoru whispered. "But it would make Kenshin so…"
"Kamiya-san? Is there something wrong?" the politeness in Tomoe's voice made her want to cringe, but instead, Kaoru frowned and glared at her. "Yukishiro-san, do you promise to not hurt Kenshin anymore? Are you confident enough of your… love for him that you would do more than your best to make him happy?"
Tomoe's deep, black eyes gazed at Kaoru for a moment before she nodded, "Yes… of course. Does this mean I have your… consent? You are, after all, his best friend."
She bit her lip, "Stay away from him… I don't ever want to see you hurting him again." Kaoru began walking away, "Well then, I don't suppose you'd like to come to his surprise birthday party… all you have to do is be there. Friday… my… his house, at around four. That's your last chance… if you don't prove to me that you can take care of him… then don't bother trying to make any contact with him… ever again. I'll kill you."
"Kamiya-san!" Tomoe called over to her, as Kaoru walked away. "… I understand… but… but why would you invite me…?"
"Because… it'll make Kenshin happy… and that's all that matters," Kaoru whispered, letting a single tear drop from her eyes. "Nothing else matters.
Kaoru felt, rather than saw Tomoe bow, and sensed rather than heard her quiet "thank you."
"You… you baka!" Kaoru cringed as spit from Sanosuke's mouth spewed out at her. "What the hell do you mean you invited her? Do you want to unhappy? Is that it?"
"Shut up… chicken boy," Yahiko said, leaning against the brick wall of Kaoru's home. "Let the stupid Tanuki girl do what she wants… though I'd never thought that even she could be quite this idiotic."
Kaoru winced as she felt glares from all her friends pierce into her. She put her hand up and laughed nervously, "Well, you see… I just thought that it would make Kenshin really happy if she was there… she told me herself that she never meant to hurt him… she promised that she wouldn't anymore… I told her to leave him alone after this one last time." She crossed her fingers as she told her little white lie at the end.
Megumi frowned, but said nothing regarding Kaoru's decision, "Well then, we can't exactly do anything to change it… Kenshin will be coming back soon, we ought to leave… see you all tomorrow."
"There is something we can do about it! I'll just go beat her up and!" Sanosuke stopped speaking, as Megumi dragged him by the ear off of Kaoru's property. Yahiko sighed and began walking towards his home, "Well… se you later then, old hag."
Kaoru didn't even have the strength to chase him down and whack him… she silently stepped into the dark house and closed the door. Almost immediately, she collapsed onto the floor, sobbing.
"Kenshin…" the tears wouldn't stop, and she had to drag herself over to the stairs, since her legs seemed to turn to stone. Her body felt heavy… and when she had barely reached the top of the steps, she lost her grip on the railing and rolled back to the bottom.
The lights suddenly flicked on, and Kaoru gasped, her eyes trying to see who it was… but too filled with tears to be able to see clearly.
"Kaoru-dono!" Kenshin rushed over to her, cradling her body in his arms. "What happened? What's wrong?"
She merely shook her head and buried her face into his neck, sobbing.
"Kaoru-dono…" Kenshin frowned, holding her tightly. He carried her up the stairs and into her room, laying her on the bed and staying with her until she fell asleep. "What happened to you?"
"…hm…?" groggily, Kaoru sat up, rubbing her swollen eyes.
… had she been crying?
She tried to push herself up, but found that there was something heavy strewn across her stomach. Kaoru looked down, and her eyes widened, slowly remembering everything that had happened.
Kenshin…
He moved a bit, and a blush appeared on her cheeks as he sleepily stared at her, before pulling her into a hug. "You're okay now?"
She nodded the pink stain still not leaving her face.
Kenshin got up and poured her a cup of water, "So… are you going to tell me what happened? Kaoru-dono… you haven't been quite yourself lately."
"It's nothing, Kenshin. You don't have to worry… I've just been kind of tired," she grinned at him. "Hm…. How about we go out for some ice cream? I feel like… mint chocolate chip!"
His eyes followed her every movement as she pushed herself up off the bed with much effort and limped all the way to the door. Kaoru shivered, not accustomed to feeling Kenshin's eyes so focused on her… staring straight through her.
"What happened to your leg?"
"I… tripped," Kaoru scratched her head, laughing innocently.
He glared at her, before walking to her side and lifting her up, holding her bridal style. Ignoring her protests, he carried her all the way downstairs and out the door, striding casually down the street… with a screaming Kaoru in his arms.
A couple of people looked over at them and giggled, others smiled dreamily as the two of them passed by, but Kenshin didn't seem to care. He just smiled happily and carried her all the way to… the ice cream shop.
"Sit here," he gently let her down at one of the tables before going to wait in line. "Mint chip, right?"
"Yeah…" Kaoru blushed. They must look like such a happy couple…
A wave of sadness fell over her. Unfortunately… that would never happen.
Her eyes glazed over as she reflected on her… relationship with Kenshin. They were best friends, and that's all they would probably ever be. At that moment, though, her job, as a friend, was to help him recover from the scars Tomoe had left upon him and to teach him to move on… or at least try to make him happy again.
"Thanks," she grinned up at Kenshin as he handed her the ice cream. "Yum… I love mint chip!"
The red-head smiled back at her and sat down, licking away at his own ice cream cone, "You know, Kaoru-dono… you never where very good at lying."
She wished she could just choke on her ice cream and die. "You know… I have to go shopping." Kaoru stood. "Thanks for the ice cream Kenshin, but I really got to go now."
He looked at her for a full minute, causing beads of sweat to slowly roll down her neck; his stare almost piercing through her.
Without saying a word, Kenshin nodded his consent, and Kaoru let out a sigh of relief. Hurriedly, she turned and sprinted out of the area.
Kenshin frowned and tossed his half-eaten cone of ice cream into the trashcan. Stuffing his hands into his pockets and trudging slowly back to his home, he whispered quietly to himself, "Why won't you tell me what happened… Kaoru-dono…"
Suddenly, he did something very non-Kenshin-like. He strode over to the side of the street and placed his hands on the brick wall, banging his forehead onto it furiously. "Agh! Kaoru-dono! Sometimes you just make me so confused!"
"Oh… shoot… you cannot be serious… why exactly do the heavens hate me again?" Kaoru cursed under her breath, backing away from the gang of boys closing in on her.
A man with a scar across his nose sneered at her, "Don't worry… we won't bite… much. Just as long as you hand us your money and come along quietly." The dark faces in the crowd smirked and a few of them licked their lips.
Kaoru bit back a scream as a large, rough hand from behind grabbed her arm. Flipping her hair around fiercely, she delivered her assaulter a painful slap to the face using the ends of her long, black tresses. "Disgusting," she spat in his face.
Quickly dropping down to the ground and grabbing his bulky arm, she threw him over her shoulder. "I'll have you guys know," she brushed her pants off and stretched. "I'm the captain of the kendo club in my school… weak and defenseless really aren't in my vocabulary."
"Sorry princess," a voice came from behind the swarm of men around her. Through the crowd stepped a tall, lean man. His eyes were an eerie shade of blue, and there was a crazed look on his face that sent shivers down Kaoru's spine. His bony hands gripped her chin, forcing her to stare up at him. "Kendo isn't going to do you much good out here."
"Let… let me go… who the hell are you?" she hissed, glaring at him defiantly. "You've got a lot of nerve."
Kaoru jumped up from the ground, throwing her legs forward and kicking his stomach. She succeeded in causing him to back away from her a few steps, but the frightening smile on his face never disappeared. Gulping, Kaoru braced herself for a counterattack, and was caught off balance when she felt her body unable to move. "Wha… what… is… this…" she gasped for breath.
"My name is Udou Jineh, pleasure to meet you. This is called the One-Sided Heart technique… you're a bit of a fighter. I can feel it in you. You know what ki is, correct?" his face loomed dangerously near hers. "I used my ki to… overpower and freeze yours. How does it feel? To be weak and defenseless?"
"Y-You…" Kaoru winced.
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To be Continued…
Review! Sorry for the late update… XP
Ooh… can anyone guess what's going to happen?
