At times like this, Kaoru wondered why she had ever agreed to help Tae and be a waitress at the Akabeko.
True, the older lady was a close friend and someone to lean on in times of trouble, but when she made Kaoru wander downtown on errands late at night, Kaoru had to consider just how much that friendship meant to her.
Pursing her lips, she looked down at the list Tae had given her to make deliveries to. Luckily, she had finished delivering everything on the accursed list. Unluckily, she had gotten lost more than a handful of times, and it was now currently a little later than Kaoru like to be out.
And she was in a less than decent part of town
Shivering, she wrapped her arms around herself, speeding up as she passed two men sitting on the ground smoking cigarettes and openly leering at her. "Ew, ew, ew." She muttered, stepping over a pile of something she was sure she didn't want to know.
Working with Tae was great, really, and Kaoru was glad for the experience and the chance to make a little extra money, but Kaoru was starting to wonder if Tae actually knew where some of her customers lived. She really should have taken Enishi up on his offer when he asked to accompany her on her errands.
Kaoru had laughed and shooed him away instead, thinking that if he went they would get distracted in the parking lot and never get any of the errands done. Kaoru was really, really regretting not having him here right now. At the very least, having an over protective boyfriend would have been able to scare away some of the men who had been making crude remarks in her direction all night.
Though maybe not having Enishi here was a good thing. This way, she wouldn't have to explain to the police why there were dead men lying around.
Kaoru sighed.
She had been dating Enishi for a little over a year now. Among the school crowd, they were known as the 'golden couple.' Enishi himself was dashing, with snow white hair that should have made him look like an old man but only ended up adding to his charm and exotic appearance. Enishi treated Kaoru like a queen, doting on her on any occasion and even sometimes following her around like the love-sick puppy that he was. Kaoru was convinced that she loved him.
Of course, Enishi did have his own faults. He was known to be somewhat of a bully, though Kaoru had never seen him picking on another student, with the exception of one.
Enishi's hatred for Himura Kenshin was much greater than his desire to keep Kaoru from seeing his uglier side.
When Kenshin and Tomoe had started dating, the entire school had been in an uproar. No one could believe that Tomoe, most likely the most beautiful and popular girl in the school would date a nobody like Kenshin. Furthermore, it was a well known fact that she had asked him out, and not the other way around. Enishi had been horrified that Tomoe would go out with such a lowlife, and to add salt to the wound, Kenshin had ended the relationship by breaking up with Tomoe, to the shock of everyone.
The one surefire way to boost your social standing in high school was to date someone who was higher on the social ladder than you. Most people never managed to have the chance to date someone much higher than were they were. Kenshin had probably made the biggest leap of social classes known to high school records. And that he had given it up…
Well, to say the least, no one could believe it.
Tomoe herself was still in love with Kenshin, despite now dating a man named Akira.
Kaoru shook her head. All this had happened before she started dating Enishi, but gossip had gone about and the whole school knew the story. Well, maybe not the part with Tomoe still being in love with Kenshin, but Tomoe had told Kaoru that herself.
Ever since Enishi had introduced the two most important women in his life to each other, they had been great friends, hitting it off right away. Tomoe was sweet, kind, graceful and everything Kaoru could never be. Despite their vastly different personalities, both girls found comfort in each other. To Enishi's bitterness, Kaoru had ditched her boyfriend to go talk with Tomoe on numerous occasions.
It was on one such instance that Kaoru had heard Tomoe admit her love for the tiny redhead her brother hated so much for 'ruining her honor.'
They had been sitting on a bench after school, both girls waiting for Enishi to give them a ride home. He had been detained after school to ask a teacher about an upcoming assignment. Kaoru absently munched a stick of pocky, while Tomoe talked in the flowing voice of hers about ideas for the upcoming dance.
"So, I was thinking that streamers hung from the roof of the gym would look pretty, but I'm not so sure we have the supplies. We could, of course, just make banners to put up, but streamers would look so much more professional. Food is no problem, but I'm still trying to decide between America styled snacks or Japanese. American would add an exotic taste, but not everybody likes that kind of---" Tomoe trailed off, instead staring at the front gates of the school. Curiously, Kaoru looked at the now much paler Tomoe before turning to follow her gaze.
Kaoru was met with the interesting sight of Himura Kenshin in a head lock, courtesy of one Sagara Sanosuke. Besides them, Macimachi Misao was laughing rather loudly at Kenshins predicament.
Sano was grinning widely while dragging a protesting Kenshin along, who was barely managing to hang onto his book bag. From where the girls were sitting, the trio's voices drifted easily down to their ears.
"Oh, common Kenshin! I know you want to. Gambling is loads of fun and I'll bet you would be great at it!" Sano said, looking down at his complaining victim.
"No Sano! I am not gambling with you. Now let me go!" With that statement, the tiny redhead renewed his efforts to escape.
Misao was laughing so hard she looked liked she was going to fall over. "Come on Kenshin. Stop being such a goody-good. Even I've been gambling." She gasped out. From his awkward position, Kenshin just glared at her. "I do not want to gamble! Stealing people's money is wrong!"
"Geez, Kenshin. It's not stealing if they freely give it up." Sano reasoned.
Still talking, or arguing, the three walked (or were dragged) past the two girls. Kaoru didn't even think that they were aware that they were there, until Kenshin raised his head to the best of his ability and got Tomoe's eye. It that second, he gave her a small kind smile which she returned. Just then Kenshin gave a yelp to something Sano said, turning his head away from Tomoe to look up at the other man.
The spell that seemed to have been cast between the two broke.
Kaoru glanced at Tomoe, who had closed her eyes shortly after Kenshin had looked away. Tomoe would have looked like she was sleeping peacefully if not for the shaking of her hands, Kaoru mused.
"Tomoe?" Kaoru asked uncertainly. "Are you okay?"
"Fine." The other girl's word was just whisper. "I'm just fine."
"Um, your hands are shaking." Kaoru pointed out. "So, I'm guessing that you're not 'just fine.'"
Kaoru's words seemed to be the feather that broke the camels back.
With a sob, Tomoe brought her hands up to cover her face. She lost her regal, straight back pose and slumped over, her salty tears leaking past her hands. She sounded like a broken woman.
Startled, Kaoru could only gape at her good friend for a second, before giving her an awkward pat on the back.
"I-I'm sorry Kaoru. I-I just m-miss him s-so much." Tomoe gasped out.
Kaoru blinked big azure eyes at Tomoe in confusion. "Kenshin?"
Tomoe nodded. Kaoru shifted, so she could wrap her arms around Tomoe in a comforting embrace. She had the feeling that her friend needed a good hug right about now.
Two boys walking out from the school gate looked at the girls and started giving wolf whistles at the hugging girls.
Kaoru flicked them off.
"I know I should stop thinking about him. I have Akira now, and I really, really do like him. But… I just like Kenshin more."
Kaoru gave Tomoe another comforting pat on the back. "Just get it all out, hon. I'm listening." She said in a soothing voice. Tomoe gave a weak nod and leaned her head on Kaoru's shoulder.
'You don't mind listening?" Her voice sounded scared and lost, like a small child's. Kaoru felt her heart break at the sound.
"Whenever you need to talk I'm here." She assured. Tomoe had probably been wanting to get this out for a long time, and seeing Kenshin had broken the dam.
"I… don't know what to do." Tomoe whispered against Kaoru's shoulder. "I'm still so very in love with him."
Kaoru froze. "Love is a very strong word, Tomoe." She said carefully.
"But I am in love with him." Tomoe said, pulling back to look at Kaoru fully in the eye. "I'm so in love with him, which is why… which is why I let him go." Her voice was miserable and cheerless. "I let him go, even though it broke my heart."
Kaoru felt her own heart shattering for her friend's pain.
"We… we were too different, and he didn't love me as a man loves a woman. More like just a friend. He tried though, oh he tried, Kaoru." Tomoe sighed softly, still trapped in Kaoru's hug. "He tried for me, because he knew I loved him so much. But something happened, and he couldn't pretend to love me anymore. So I had to let him go." Tomoe's voice was bitter.
Kaoru chose her words carefully. "I don't think he's worth your love, Tomoe. Any man who throws you away is a fool. You're way to good for him."
"Kenshin isn't a fool. He's amazing." Tomoe smiled now, a bittersweet smile, but a smile. She tugged out of Kaoru's embrace so she could sit up straight on her own. "He's the most wonderful, amazing person I have ever met."
Kaoru raised an eyebrow in disbelief.
Tomoe patter her hand, like one would to do a little child while saying "I'll explain it to you when you're older." Instead of saying that though, Tomoe instead whispered "When you're in love, truly in love, you'll know what I'm talking about." Tomoe gave a small, secretive smile to Kaoru, a smile only she could understand before straightening up. "Thank you so much for listening to my silly ramblings."
"I don't think they were sill—" Kaoru interjected, before getting interrupted by Tomoe herself.
"Thank you for listening." She said firmly, before easing the harsh bite of her words with a small grin "You're the best friend a girl could have, but I think I see Enishi heading towards us." Not even waiting for Kaoru to respond, Tomoe eased herself gracefully off the bench and headed towards the gates, leaving poor Kaoru sitting on the bench alone and blinking in mystification.
Since then, Kaoru had been studying Himura Kenshin a little closer. Nothing too grand, just small glimpses in the hallways or lingering a bit after class to watch him interact with his seemingly two only friends. What could be so special about the tiny man to attract a woman like Tomoe? And capture her love?
Kaoru had yet to find out.
Muttering to herself about stupid redheads who hurt her best friends, Kaoru didn't see the men sneaking up behind her until she felt the hard hit to the back of her head.
By then, it was to late, and everything went black.
Kenshin rubbed a hand against his sore cheek and winced absent mindedly.
About two hours ago Misao had come storming into the gangs 'hideout', slash club, thoroughly disrupting the peace and looking for all the world like an angry sister who had just found out where her idiotic brother had run off too.
"You—you bastard." She had hissed, tears welling up in his eyes, finger shaking and pointing to a corner of the club where the tables were located.
By this time, the entire club had gone silent and stopped of all movement to watch the drama unfolding. Someone had even had the foresight to turn off the blasting music.
Misao was pointing right at Kenshin, who was staring at her like a rabbit just caught by a wolf—or a weasel.
"You left me all alone with that alcoholic jerk just to come join some gang. It took me forever to track you down," She snarled, her finger jabbing the air with each word. "What made you think I would stand for that, Shinta?"
For a few seconds, Kenshin just blinked at her before his eyes turned stormy. In one fluid motion he had stood up and crossed over to wear the enraged girl was, catching her hand in his own. Leaning down so he was closer to her ear, but still far enough away so the eagerly listening eavesdroppers could still hear, Kenshin hissed, "You knew I was unhappy, you knew I was going to do this, so why the hell did you follow me?"
Without waiting a beat, Misao pulled her hand out of his and slapped him.
Audible gasps echoed through the room. 'Shinta' had already earned himself a reputation even though he had only been with the gang for a week. He was dark, mysterious, and drew the members of the gang to himself like flies to sugar. Everyone knew he was dangerous, and for a little girl to slap him?
With a growl, Kenshin grabbed Misao's elbow, pulling her out of the room. His voice echoed like a phantom in the new deathly quiet room. "You are a fool, little sister."
The entire room was silent as the door slowly swung closed. When it creaked to a stop, the occupants of the room burst into loud chatter. Behind the door, Kenshin released Misao and took a step back, a hand on his cheek and look like a wounded puppy on his face.
"Did you have to slap me so hard?" He wined.
Misao rolled her eyes. "You are so a wimp, Himura."
Kenshin grinned at her. "Maybe, but I do have to admit that that was a pretty good show you put on."
Misao puffed her chest out in pride. "Wasn't it? I spend the entire ride over here debating on what I was going to say to make it the most dramatic."
"How come I'm not surprised?" Kenshin muttered under his breath. Louder, he said, "You can be such a drama queen."
Misao punched his arm playfully. "What's that suppose to mean?"
"Nothing." Kenshin paused, head cocked to this side. "Actually, I think someone's coming."
It had been Takeo, coming to make sure that they two siblings didn't kill each other. In a fight, he wasn't sure which one would have won and he wasn't willing to find out. He found the two 'siblings' heavily debating in the hallways, complete with waving arms and threatening gestures.
Apparently, Misao as he found out was Shinta's sister and wanted to stay wit her big brother. Shinta wasn't agreeing to it, wanting Misao to go back home, thus the huge argument. Takeo shivered, glad he wasn't Misao. The look that Shinta was giving her could melt the polar ice caps. In the end though, the argument ended.
Shinta lost.
So through a short interview process, Misao joined the gang. She was practically welcomed with open arms; after all, everyone wanted to meet the girl who had the guts to slap Shinta.
That had been about two hours ago, and now Kenshin surveyed the dancers with narrowed eyes. The gang looked like just a normal, everyday gang, but they were vastly different from the others. Vastly different, and vastly dangerous.
The reason, Kenshin mused, that made this gang so unique and so important to shut down quickly was because almost no one knew who the leader was. Everyone knew there was a leader, it was just nobody knew what he looked like, how old he was, nothing. The one person who was in control of this gang was hiding in the shadows away from danger.
It certainly kept the members on their toes and loyal. You could literally trust nobody. That person who you confided your secrets to in the corner? He was just as likely as being the secret leader you served under as the bartender.
Kenshin sighed. He had been part of the gang for a week and was still no closer to finding the leader than before. So, Misao had been sent in. She had the plus of being a girl on her side. To successfully bring down the gang, they had to first catch the leader or it would all be for naught. Hopefully, Misao would be able to get closer to the guy members than Kenshin.
Growling under his breath, Kenshin weaved through the dance floor. Personally, he hated how the new trend was to have mobs use clubs as their headquarters. It made everything much more frustrating that it had to be in terms of chaos and order. It was ridiculously hard to fire shots without hitting an innocent.
On the plus side, Kenshin was a great dancer and had many a time seduced information out of girls on the dance floor. He wasn't exactly proud of that certain talent, but Sano found it hilarious and he had to admit that it was slightly useful. He really didn't get Sano having to laugh and take pictures every time, though.
Sitting down on a bar stool, he waved the bartender over, giving an appreciative sigh as the cold water ran down his throat. Because his cover story was that his uncle was an alcoholic, which was actually partially true, Shinta/Kenshin refused to drink alcohol.
Looking around, Kenshin caught sight of Misao dancing with two different men, looking for the entire world like she was having the time of her life. Kenshin felt his lips twitch into something of a smirk. In real life, Misao hated dancing with these kids of men who couldn't keep their hands of girls.
Kenshin himself was slightly surprised that Misao managed to attract such men. She wasn't exactly the most developed of woman.
"She's a pretty little thing, isn't she?"
Kenshin turned to the man now sitting next to him, who was giving Misao an appreciative look. "Very pretty," Kenshin replied, "And if you or anyone else touches her in an indecent manner, I'll have to kill you."
The man just threw back his head and laughed.
"I doubt you could hold up that promise, kid." The man murmured almost thoughtfully to himself.
Kenshin raised an eyebrow, letting a slow grim curl up on his face. "Of course." He said, the tone of his voice suggesting the exact opposite of agreeing with the man.
Smiling instead of replying, his companion raised his hand, the invitation clear. After staring for a few seconds at the appendage, Kenshin grasped the hand and gave it a firm shake. "Himura Shinta." He greeted.
"Shibumi." The other man greeted back, grinning. "And you don't have to worry about me touching your sister. Have one myself, so I know how you feel. Unlike yours though, mine has no idea I'm living this life."
Kenshin gave a shrug. "Misao and I share the same ideals. I'm not surprised she followed me, not really." Frowning suddenly, he looked closely at the other man. "Actually, you look kind of familiar. Have I seen you before?"
Shibumi gave a shrug. "I get that a lot. Probably look like a famous politician or something.
Kenshin gave him another hard look, but let it drop. Throwing another glance at Misao to make sure she was alright, he wasn't really surprised to see her dancing with two new guys. Sighing, he dipped a hand in his water, sucking on his finger as he looked around the club. It was rather boring right now, but at least he wasn't home like Sano doing nothing. Though maybe if he was home he could have worked on studying for that upcoming test…
"Don't worry, kid. Things will get more interesting soon. I hear some of the guys found a surprise." Shibumi's eyes were twinkling in a way Kenshin didn't like. "Personally, I'm looking forward to it."
"What kind of surprise?" Kenshin answered cautiously.
Before Shibumi could reply, the doors banged open and five men emerged, dragging a struggling girl.
"There she is." Shibumi crowed in delight. "We're going to have some fun with this one!"
Kenshin shuddered, knowing what he was talking about. The poor girl, she had probably been just innocently walking when she was kidnapped by these thugs… And now to have this fate. He shifted, wondering what he could do to help her. Maybe Misao would have a plan…
Everything froze as pale blue eyes looked up to meet harsh amber.
Kenshin stopped, realizing with horror just who the thugs had captured.
A/N: Wanted to make this longer, but it just didn't work out, and I thought this would be a good place to stop.
Thank you so much to everyone who reviewed! I'm always so startled to get even one, and it really means a lot to me!
I had another friend who reads this over for basic mistakes, you know, huge misspelling errors and the like. Sadly, neither of us is very good at grammar, so there's bound to be huge leaps and bounds of mistakes in that area. Because I wanted to get this out earlier, and I actually meant to have this up last week, she hasn't read over it yet. So, until I can get myself a real beta, please just pass your eyes over the mistakes… And of course, if anyone wants to beta this, please please contact me!
And for those of you who don't remember, Shibumi is the guy in book seven who hires Saitoh to fight Kenshin and kill him. Of course, he gets siskabobed in the end….