Author:Bradybunch4529
Rating PG-13 to R
Disclaimers:Not mine in any way. Just borrowing them for awhile.
Summary:AU Modern Kaoru is considered a piano virtuoso and Battousai is a leading mob boss. What happens when the two worlds collide?
Reviewers:
Sally( ):All very good questions! I suppose I should clear that up but it does make for some interesting twists! I'm thrilled that the building tension came across. Me too!
Half-breed-demon-fox:I'm glad you approve. Hopefully this chapter will be as good!
Jbella: Welcome! Thanks so much! Color me flattered and flustered that you reviewed again. It was very sweet. Lots and Lots, I love connections within connections. You'll see soon. I hope that this chapter also meets with your approval.
Tif ( ):He is fun isn't he? I do love when he gets that way. Poor, poor Kenshin. Kaoru should be an interesting surprise.
PEACH( ):He was so cute and jealous. Which just makes it more fun! Thanks so much!
Apathetic Empath2:Sometimes I'm amazed that you are still hanging with me. Thanks again, though! I'm thrilled you've enjoyed the descriptions. I work really hard on them. I really want to play up all the relationships and interactions. I really think that those are my weak points. Subtle wouldn't have worked out as well, I don't think. I'll go deeper soon, but he's having trouble with his own feelings. It should become a bit clearer soon. Shishio is so versatile. You can play with him so much! I really hope that it works out here. So pray for me!
TinyTerry:He is so possessive! So so cute! As for Yahiko, he would wouldn't he?
Reignashii:I'm just terrible aren't I:P Thanks!
Iridescent Twilight:I know there weren't many K/K moments. It should start getting better soon. Not in this chapter though! So so sorry! I'll agree completely about the insomnia though. Sucks completely! Really don't want to try and take pills though.
Sims are awesome: Thanks! Isn't it fun!
Tameka-tanuki-jouchan:You are so welcome! I need my fix too! I'll try really hard. Thanks!
KatsunoCZ:Addictive? Too sweet you are! Thanks! I try really hard to make sure that the reader feels every emotion.
Flaming-amber:Yep, another chapter! Action coming, I promise.
Royal bluekitsune: Yep! Poor, poor Kenshin!
Aya45():Thanks! I'll do my best!
Minichi:Thanks!
Bloodiedwings: Yep a bad guy! How bad remains to be seen though! Thanks. Like the username by the wall.
Zai1985:Thanks so much. There will be. I promise!
Kaoru Gal: Glad that you enjoyed the story. I try and put in as much detail as possible.
BlackBelt:Okay! I hope that this is fast enough!
Openwindow: Thanks! Glad to know that you enjoyed the story. I know about the reach. I like to show some artistic license. Pretend with me that Kaoru could do it. Please?
Chapter 4: Report
Kaoru Kamiya snuggled deeper into the warmth that surrounded her. Her face nuzzled into her pillow, enjoying the feel of the smooth fabric against her cheek. Her lashes were dark against the whiteness of her cheek. Kaoru took a deep breath and let it out slowly, delighting in the familiar scents.
A delicious lassitude was spreading through her body. Her mind and body were slowly shutting down, the comforting warmth sinking deep into her soul. Kaoru could only sigh as sleep began to drift over her. Then a loud beeping filled her ears and her pillow shifted beneath her.
Kaoru clutched at her pillow, burying her face deeper into it as she struggled to hold onto sleep. Unfortunately her pillow began to shake her slightly, hands gentle as they brushed hair away from her face.
"Time to get up Miss Kaoru," Soujiro's voice was soft and affectionate in her ear.
"No," Kaoru pouted. She shook her head and rubbed her face against his chest.
"Come now," Soujiro chided gently. "We have follow up interviews today."
"I don't care," Kaoru told him. "I just want to sleep."
"I know," Soujiro soothed. "Did you get any last night?"
"Did you know that there are exactly 1,567 paint swirls on the ceiling?" Kaoru asked him casually.
"I'll take that as a no," Soujiro sighed and looked down at the woman currently using him as a pillow. "Maybe it is time to let the doctor's prescribe you some sleep aids."
"No!" Kaoru protested and moved away from him. Her dark hair created a curtain around her face as she slowly raised her head. "I will not rely on pills to help me sleep, wake up or keep moving," Kaoru told him shortly.
"Miss Kaoru," Soujiro started with a sigh, slowly sitting up. "You haven't slept more than a couple hours in the past couple of weeks."
"So?" Kaoru asked as she slipped from the bed. She stretched easily, arms raised over her head. Her white t-shirt hung past her hips and a pair of boxers ended mid thigh, showcasing her toned, slender thighs. "I'll sleep when the tour is over. You know it's hard for me to relax enough on tour."
"Of course Miss Kaoru," Soujiro assured her as he too slipped from bed. His chest was bare above the purple pajama bottoms he wore. "I'm just worried."
"And I love you for it," Kaoru assured him with an easy smile. "I know that it's difficult for you to let me use you for a pillow. Did you manage to get any sleep?"
"Don't worry about me," Soujiro told her easily.
"Oh no," Kaoru stared at him with stricken eyes. "You didn't get any sleep did you?" She didn't let him answer, just hurried on. "That's it. I'll tell dad that you need your own room for the rest of this tour. I won't have you getting tired or worn out."
"There is no need for that Miss Kaoru," Soujiro tried to calm her. His blue eyes glinting warmly at her but Kaoru wasn't going to be soothed.
"No!" Kaoru told him. "You could get killed if you are not 100. I won't allow that to happen. I'll just have to deal."
"You know that you have trouble sleeping away from the house without someone with you," Soujiro pointed out with a sigh.
"Well I'm not sleeping anyway," Kaoru pointed out as she headed for the shower. "So it really doesn't matter."
"Then I'll protest on the grounds that I am your bodyguard and I am going to remain with you 24/7 until we leave Japan," Soujiro told her with a smile.
"Then you can have the bed and I'll sleep on the couch!" Kaoru decided triumphantly. "That makes it much easier!" Her blue eyes glinted with satisfaction and a smile stretched across her mouth as she shut the door to the bathroom behind her.
"But Miss Kaoru," Soujiro tried to protest only to have the water turn on in the shower quickly followed by the radio blasting through the walls.
He sighed, shoulder slumping slightly as he considered Kaoru's latest plan. Whenever she decided something it was like trying to change the course of a tidal wave. She was definitely too stubborn for her own good. It had not been easy these past five years, trying to convince her that he was doing this for her own good. And the embarrassing situations that he got into.
Soujiro winced slightly, determined to ignore those memories. While Kaoru never meant to cause harm or embarrass people, there were times when her attitude created problems. As her voice drifted into the bedroom, singing along with the radio, Soujiro couldn't prevent the fond smile from curving his mouth. Kaoru had become the family that he had never had. She was like a sister to him, his anchor when the world began to slip away from him. And he would never let any harm come to her.
Which brought him back to the current situation. Battousai. Soujiro's cheerful blue eyes narrowed and a flash of anger began to burn within them. He was becoming a nuisance. Soujiro could understand why Battousai was so taken with Kaoru but he wasn't about to let Battousai claim her. The only problem was how does one make the Battousai lose interest?
Shishio Makoto smiled into the early dawn sky. It was too delicious that Soujiro Seta was back into town just when all of his other plans were coming together. He would teach the fair haired boy what happened to people that betrayed him. The fact that Soujiro had become attached to the girl he was currently protecting made it even easier. Add in the Battousai's fascination with the same girl and Shishio wasn thrilled.
His finger reached up to trace the scarring on his face. The fire had changed him. Burning away any illusion of respectability or sanity. Leaving behind a burning need for revenge and for everyone to suffer with him. Battousai had started the fire, Soujiro had betrayed him and the world had turned its back on him.
Shishio began to laugh, the sound crazed and loud in the early morning air. Behind him the covers on his bed moved and a husky voice called out to him.
"Come back to bed my lord," Yumi entreated. She sat up slowly, the sheets slipping to her waist and exposing her naked breasts to his lustfull gaze. Shishio let another smile cross his lips as he stalked towards his currently lover. While he knew that Yumi had plans of her own, he was only concerned with how good she was flat on her back.
His robe gaped open as he sat down beside her on the bed. Her hands reached for him and her lips parted for him but Shishio bypassed her lips and took a nipple into his mouth. Yumi moaned, hands threading through his hair as she arched her chest forward. Shishio chuckled internally as one of his hands threaded through her hair, tugging her head backwards as he pushed her onto the pillows again.
The sheets tangled around her legs before Shishio stripped it away. His mouth left her nipple and claimed hers. As she moaned in pleasure, Shishio couldn't help but wonder what the Battousai's woman would be like beneath him. The sudden lust that shot through him had nothing to do with the woman currently twining her hand around him and everything to do with the sapphire eyes of Kaoru Kamiya.
Kaoru relaxed, head tilted into the spray of water. The heat from the water soothed tired and weary muscles, cloaking her in steam. The water pounded over her, breath hissing from her open mouth as she braced her hands on the tiled wall in front of her. Kaoru sighed as the water pounded down on her shoulders and head, streaming down her body. Her white skin was turning rosy from the heat of the water, the music from the radio echoed around the huge bathroom.
Kaoru closed her eyes, enjoying the way the music and steam seemed to enclose her, shutting out the rest of the world. She rolled her head carefully; letting the water wash away her tiredness and the tension of the past couple days. As the water washed away everything, a pair of sparkling violet eyes with gleaming amber eyes suddenly appeared behind her closed eyelids.
Her eyes snapped open and Kaoru hissed a curse out between clenched teeth. An unfamiliar warmth pooled in her stomach as she remembered how his body had felt against hers. She cursed again, shaking her head and reaching for her puff and body wash. She began to scrub her skin, trying to wash away the feel of him on her skin.
This was just great, Kaoru mused. First she couldn't sleep and now a man who couldn't even decide what color of eyes he had was annoying her! Soujiro had been strangely silent on the whole incident last night. Kaoru's blue eyes narrowed as she remembered what had happened last night.
"Soujiro," Kaoru hissed. She pulled at his sleeve, eyes glancing back at her father and Battousai. "We can't just leave dad there!"
"Don't worry Miss Kaoru," Soujiro assured her with a smile. His hand still holding onto her arm, as he guided her through the crowd. "Your father will be fine."
"But you guys keep saying that this Battousai's dangerous!" Kaoru protested again, blue eyes darkening with worry. She looked back again, but the shifting crowd only allowed glimpses of the two men standing in the center of the dance floor. Kaoru could tell that her father was upset, a vein throbbing in his temple.
"But not to your father," Soujiro assure her. "Now we must hurry and find your mother."
"What do you mean 'not to my father'?" Kaoru questioned suspiciously. She turned her blue gaze towards Soujiro, tracing his familiar features. She could see the worry and tension in the way he was holding himself, and the forced cheerfulness of his smile. "Sou what in the hell is going on?"
"It's late Miss Kaoru," Soujiro sighed and pulled her closer to him. Hand now settling around her waist, tucking her into the curve of his body. "We have to be up early in the morning. Your father wanted to speak with Mr. Himura."
"And that's another thing," Kaoru told him huffily, her own arm wrapping around his waist. "You told me he was the Battousai and dangerous but he's welcomed here as Kenshin Himura!"
"Things can get very confusing," Soujiro told her easily, eyes scanning for any possible danger. For a moment he thought that he saw an old acquaintance but then the crowd shifted and he was gone. Soujiro shrugged off the possibility and continued to scan the crowd.
"Hey guys! Where's the fire?" Yahiko asked as he appeared out of the crowd surrounding them. His smiled down at Kaoru, a teasing expression lighting his dark eyes. "You know you are getting shorter ugly."
"Don't call me Ugly!" Kaoru told him shortly, fist slamming into his chest. "Besides you'll always be my little brother." Kaoru taunted with a smug expression.
"Don't call me little!" Yahiko demanded and smacked her arm.
"Don't create a scene," Soujiro pleaded as he pulled Kaoru along.
"I'll call you whatever I want!" Kaoru told him easily, glaring at him. "That's what big sisters do."
"And you would know what a Big sister would do," Yahiko told her in a soto voice.
"Please guys," Soujiro tried again even though he knew it was in vain. Yahiko had pushed the one button that always set off Kaoru. Soujiro could only hope that he could get them out of the ballroom before Kaoru exploded.
"Are you implying that I'm fat brat?" Kaoru asked quietly. Her blue eyes sparkled dangerously as they glared up at Yahiko.
"You heard me," Yahiko told her simply, his brown eyes daring her to do something.
"You little…" Kaoru started only to stop as Soujiro pulled her through a door and closed it in Yahiko's face. "I wasn't done with him Sou," Kaoru told him quietly.
"Forgive me Miss Kaoru but I found your mother," Soujiro tried to divert her attention desperately.
"What was that for?" Yahiko demanded as he yanked open the door. His face was red with annoyance, his entire body humming with tension as he glared at Soujiro.
"Why would he open the door for a little boy?" Kaoru tossed over her shoulder as she headed for her mother.
"Don't call me little!" Yahiko screamed and hurried after her. "Mom, Kaoru is being mean again!"
"I am not. I'm only telling the truth."
"Yea, like your fat!"
"Don't call me fat!"
"Miss Kaoru?" Soujiro called as he knocked on the bathroom door. "Are you almost done? We don't have too much longer before we need to leave."
"I'm coming!" Kaoru called back. "Just need to finish washing my hair. Do me a favor Sou?"
"What do you need Miss Kaoru?" Soujiro questioned, hand resting on the door and head tilted to the side as he listened for her response.
"Pick out my outfit please," Kaoru shouted over the water. "I forgot to lay something out last night. "Besides you have a better eye for colors than I do."
"Of course Miss Kaoru," Soujiro told her and moved away from the bathroom door. He hummed slightly under his breath as he pulled open the closet door, trying to decide what would best suit Kaoru.
Kenshin settled into his chair at the head of the table, impatiently waiting as the others slowly trickled in. He paid no attention to the greetings tossed his way or of the view outside the windows. Tension held him stiff though he appeared calm to everyone else. Kenshin barely kept himself from drumming his fingers on the table in annoyance as Sano dawdled in the doorway talking to Megumi.
Instead he straightened his tie, its crisp silk fabric cool against his hands. The blue and gold design reminded him of the sapphire brilliance of Kaoru's eyes. A smile touched his mouth as he remembered how those blue eyes had heated with annoyance. He couldn't wait to find out what they looked like while they were making love. He shifted uncomfortably as his body reacted to his mental picture, relief filling him as Aoshi cleared his throat at the foot of the table.
"Report Aoshi," Kenshin commanded.
"Lights," Aoshi commanded as he nodded at his boss. The lights dimmed and Aoshi hit the button and started the video unit. A picture of Kaoru filled the screen and Kenshin sighed softly. Her brilliant blue eyes sparkled despite the demure expression on her face or the sedate black dress she was wearing. "Kaoru Kamiya lost her parents just before her fourth birthday. She was discovered by the Wolf shortly thereafter. Since then she has been trained as a classical pianist. The only odd thing about her upbringing is the fact that she is a skilled at Kendo. Her birth father owned a dojo and apparently started training her in the arts before his death."
"How is that possible?" Megumi asked, a frown on her face. "Wouldn't she have been too young?"
"Miss Kamiya explains that she was a 'daddy's girl' and constantly followed him around. Apparently her father started teaching her at she smacked herself in the head with his bokken."
"So she's stubborn," Kenshin observed with a smile.
"Apparently," Aoshi nodded and pushed another button. This time the picture showed Kaoru sitting at a piano. "She made her debut on the circuit when she was 8 years old. It is also believed that her first composition was created at this time. Though she did not attempt to publish it until she was 10 years old. She was accepted to Julliard around the same time, though records are fuzzy due to the fact that she was quite young and Julliard didn't want to broadcast it." Aoshi shrugged and turned back to the screen. "I don't have as much information on her as I would like. I know that she has been touring for the past several months. And that she has been suffering from severe insomnia. It's rumored that she could be on the verge of burn out."
"And the man she was with last night?" Kenshin asked calmly.
Aoshi pushed a button and a picture of Kaoru and the young man that she had been dancing with filled the screen. "This is Yahiko Myojin, age 19. The Wolf adopted him when he was 8 years old. He is currently enrolled at Oxford in England. He flew over here last night as a surprise for his sister Kaoru. They are said to be exceptionally close." Aoshi clicked the button and another picture filled the screen and Yahiko image along with all relevant information listed. "He is majoring in business. His teachers and fellow students agree that he is exceptionally gifted when it comes to management issues."
"So they are brother and sister," Kenshin mused softly. His violet eyes gleaming with satisfaction but this meant that he couldn't harm the boy without upseting Kaoru. However it did give him a bargaining chip. Kaoru was the type of person that would do anything for family.
"Yes," Aoshi agreed shortly and hit another button. This time a picture of Soujiro Seta filled the screen. "Soujiro became Kaoru's bodyguard just after he left Shishio's organization." Aoshi pushed another button and a picture of Soujiro and Kaoru filled the screen. "They are said to be very close. He accompanies her everywhere. Stays in the same room with her when they are on tour. He also has the room next to hers when they are home. Miss Kamiya was recently a teacher in a very private all girls school just over a year ago. Soujiro stayed with her on campus. Created quite a stir with the administration."
"Any hints of romantic involvement?" Kenshin asked suddenly. He could feel his temper rising and knew there was more amber in his eyes than violet. He wasn't going to allow any other man to touch what he had claimed as his. Right now Kenshin was not happy about how close Kaoru and Soujiro were.
"None that I could find," Aoshi admitted. "They are close. But that can be explained by the situation. They have spent the past five years in constant contact."
"But Soujiro's emotions are real around her. Actually amusement, anger and contentment," Megumi pointed out. "We all know that Soujiro locked all of his emotions down along time ago.
"True," Aoshi nodded and pushed another button. There was a brief moment of silence then a small click as the screen filled. Instead of pictures, this time a video began to play on screen. "Miss Kamiya had a stalker not too long ago. The police confiscated hundreds of videos. I think this one will explain why Soujiro remains with Kaoru."
The blackness on the screen was absolute. Then a flutter of a curtain let in the moonlight and highlighted two people sitting on the floor. The silence was so loud that it seemed to buzz in their ears and just as Kenshin was getting ready to demand that Aoshi explain, a sob suddenly echoed around the room. The picture zoomed in and the moonlight gleamed on pale blond hair.
Kaoru and Soujiro's figures became apparent, Soujiro head buried in Kaoru's lap as she ran her fingers through his hair. Soujiro's shoulders were shaking, his arms wrapped tight around Kaoru's waist. Kaoru was sitting on the floor, back braced against the wall in the empty room. The curtains fluttered around them, teasing them with glimpses of them.
Soujiro's sobs suddenly filled the air, face rubbing against Kaoru as he cried. It was the sound of someone who had lost everything, echoing in the large room. Kaoru made no attempt to stop him, simply rubbing his back and shoulders. Soon a humming could be heard and Kaoru began to rock back and forth. Still Soujiro cried, sobs and cries filling the air.
Kaoru's expression was sad and drawn, tears beginning to drip down her cheeks. But still she soothed him as he cried. Her black hair became a curtain as she bent over him, shielding them both from view. The sound of a kiss filled the air and then a whisper drifted to them. "It's alright Sou. I won't ever let anything hurt you like that again." A pause and the sound of a hiccupping sob, "you'll never be alone again. I promise."
A/N:Well there's another chapter. I hope that this fills in a few blanks for everyone. I promise that there will be a Kaoru/Kenshin moment in the next chapter. Remember to review. And if you don't, thanks for stopping by.