Chapter Seven

A trip to the grocery store

Going down from the bus, to opening the door of his apartment, to climbing the stairs towards Aoshi's bedroom was a very, very hard task. Especially when you're carrying a man weighing twice your own weight. "I am so going to add this up to my salary!" Kaoru irritatingly mumbled as she and Aoshi stumbled their way inside his room.

"Hmn…" Aoshi sleepily mumbled, putting almost all of his weight against Kaoru which caused the other to tumble completely on his bed with him lying heavily on top of her.

Kaoru gasped at the impact and winced as her chest was painfully pressed against his unconscious form. "Doc! Damn it—Aoshi!" she yelled, trying to push him off of her. But to no avail, Aoshi remained there, burying his head next to hers. Much to her horror, her boss finally succumbs to sleep and started softly snoring against her ear. "You can't be serious!" her eyes widely opened as she stared on the ceiling, mentally praying that this wasn't real. That it was just a dream with her lying underneath the man who's constantly flaring her nerves up. "This is NOT happening…" she whined, "Mou!" she tried to push again, but carrying a tall man like him fairly drew out all of the energy she could muster. Truth be told, she was tired as well. And the temptation of sleeping and leaving herself in this very awkward position was so strong; she could feel her eye lids fluttering over her eyes.

It won't hurt if you sleep… all you have to do is to wake up much earlier than him and then exit the room… these words sang like a lullaby inside her head. He'll never know that you slept in his bed. Trust me… go on, go to sleep… listening to her annoying inner voice, Kaoru finally closed her eyes and readied herself to succumb to sleep. She could feel his steady breathing and this lulled her more. I just wish he wouldn't press up too much on my chest… I can't breathe! As if hearing her thoughts, Aoshi shifted, only to lie next her, placing a leg over hers and an arm draped over her waist, securely trapping her.

Kaoru did not pay much attention to this since sleep immediately claimed her. And together they slept there on top of rumpled sheets, oblivious to the odds of sleeping together in tangled limbs.

Kaoru released a soft sigh as she snuggled closer to the unusual warmth surrounding her. Her eyes were still heavy and she knew her body would protest if she tries to get up. Granted, Kaoru threw an arm and leg over something beside her, which she believes to be a very, very warm pillow. Smiling, she moved closer and smelled the pleasant musk surrounding the cushion. Armani… her brows furrowed, getting quite confused on why her pillow has a Giorgio Armani perfume all over it. Much to her dismay, this smell bothered her and forced her to open her eyes.

But what she saw made her heart jump out of her chest. A pair of blue eyes stared at her own, both wide and filled with puzzlement. Both looked down and saw their tangled arms and how intimately they were cuddling each other in their sleep. Kaoru was the first one to jump away and shrieked. Aoshi followed and slowly sat up in the bed.

"Y-you pervert! What are you doing in MY room?" Kaoru cried, pointing at him as she shivered from the aftershock.

Aoshi freely observed the room and then looked back on the girl's shocked blue eyes, "This is my room." He calmly stated.

"Wh-what?" she looked around and noticed that there were stacks of medical books on the corner. The room was a lot colder and a lot wider than hers. "W-wait… this isn't my—oh… yeah…" realization came over her as she remembered how she struggled to get themselves home from Megumi's apartment and unfortunately ended up sleeping together in his bed.

Noticing that the girl's deeply absorbed with her thoughts, Aoshi took liberty of observing her. It's fairly noticeable that she had just gotten up from sleep. Some of her hair escaped the bounds of her bow and now lay carelessly around her heart-shaped face. Her eyes were still heavy and the vestiges of sleep still remained within them. Her clothes were rumpled, which by the way was the same clothes she wore last night at Sano's pa—at this point, Aoshi stopped his thoughts as he slightly remembered the events that had happened last night. Well… only the incidents that had happened before that liquor game Sano started. He can't really remember what happened next. We're sleeping in my bed… definitely we're at my place.

Upon seeing various emotions play around his housemaid's face, Aoshi asked her. "Kamiya." He called. Granted, she ignored her thoughts and focused her eyes on him. "Why are we in my room? In fact, why are we here?"

Kaoru stared at him. She knew her boss wasn't a morning person. So, she decided to tell him the truth than annoy him. "First of all, nothing happened—between us!" her cheeks started blushing as she pointed on the bed beneath them.

Aoshi's eyes narrowed at her, "That's not what I'm asking."

She ignored his comment and started explaining the reason why they ended up in his bed. From the moment he drank all the tequila shot glasses assigned to her to the decision of leaving his car and taking the bus home.

"You left my Porsche?" his eyes dangerously narrowed towards her.

Kaoru released a nervous laugh, "I had no other choice! It's either I leave you there in your drunk state or take the bus. If you're in my position, what would you do?"

"I would have gone back and retrieved my coat!" he defiantly replied.

Her brows drew together, angrily glaring at him, "At least has the decency to thank me! I could have left you on the streets, but nooo, I have to carry you around until we reach this freakin' apartment of yours!" she winced a little as she felt the soreness on her shoulders. "Mou! Now my muscles are aching. This is your fault!" she accusingly spat.

"Who told you to carry me around?" Aoshi said feeling quite irritated on the fact that she just raised her voice on him. "You could have left me in stead."

"And what, receive an amount of lectures from you by the next day?"

"What makes you think I would do that?"

"Because you're doing it to me for almost a thousand times."

"Now you're exaggerating."

"I am not exaggerating!"

"Quit shouting, woman!"

"I-am-not-shouting!"

"Then what the fuck are you doing?"

"Ugh! So, now you're cursing at me?"

"I am not cursing at you!"

"Yes you are."

"Am not!"

"Am too!"

"Am not!"

"Am too!"

"Am—" Aoshi can't believe he's having this kind of argument with her. It was so childish, so immature that it really, really irritates him. Especially the fact that they're arguing in the morning annoys him more.

Kaoru heavily breathed, trying to soothe down her stressed nerves. Closing her eyes, she counted 1-10 to collect herself. She inwardly gasped as her eyes caught the clock on his bedside table. It read 9:15 a.m. I woke up late! Breakfast! I must prepare breakfast now! She scurried off of the bed and ran outside the room, closing the door in the process.

Aoshi watched her leave without as much of telling him she would. Did she just run off? Shaking his head, he winced at the aftereffects of all the tequilas he drank last night. It wouldn't hurt if I sleep more… I'll settle with that girl by breakfast… he buried himself on the pillows and decided to take a catnap.

She pulled the door close, closing her eyes as she tried as much of not to make any disturbing sounds. She leaned against the door, enclosing her arms around her as the image of them cuddling in his bed engulfed her mind. He's asleep… he's drunk… he doesn't know what he's doing. He's not aware of it… she chanted to herself, blushing as she could still feel the warmth of his embrace and how soothing his breathe fanning against her neck. Especially when she had the liberty to hug him back and smell his awfully, awfully sexy perfume

You're not supposed to think like this, Kaoru! You have nothing in common with the girls that can be easily swooned by his charms. You're not like that… Kaoru mentally slapped herself for even daring to think ludicrous thoughts like that. You don't like him, and obviously he doesn't like you… you like the types of Kenshin, right? Even she her self felt really confused. I just fancy him—maybe… who wouldn't? But I don't like him the way I like Kenshin. Kenshin's different… he's worth it… she then imagined Kenshin's face. The way he laughs, the way he smiles, the way he says "oro" all the time. And then her thoughts of Kenshin were immediately replaced by Aoshi's. Kaoru's brows furrowed.

Kenshin's not available anymore. How could you go on and follow him like a love sick puppy when you have a handsome doctor on the loose?

I told you he doesn't like me! She berated against her inner voice.

Then are you saying that you like the doctor?

I did NOT say that!

Then what are you trying to say?

I don't like him, okay?

Then why are you blushing?

Because you're irritating.

And you're a very, very stubborn girl.

To which side are you really?

I'm a freakin' conscience, dear. Of course I'm neutral. I just follow whatever your mind and heart says…

Upon hearing that, Kaoru fell silent and tried to ignore the fact of how stupid it was to fight with your own thoughts.

"Mou!" she moaned, frantically shaking her head, "Better prepare breakfast before I totally lose a screw!"

After taking a quick bath, Kaoru headed downstairs and started preparing breakfast. Good thing it was Sunday or she could have freaked out for waking up so late. She arrived on the kitchen and started searching out the things she needs. "What the—" she found the cupboard empty and then frantically started opening the other cupboards. She opened the pantry and refrigerator and found them all bare. Her eyes widened, gasping as she shrieked, "I'm supposed to go to the grocery yesterday!" she whipped her head and saw a small post-it note glued on the fridge. Groaning, she slapped a palm against her forehead and said to herself, "Stupid, stupid Kaoru! How are you supposed to prepare breakfast without the ingredients?"

"Is something wrong?"

She glanced over her shoulder and saw Aoshi standing on the door, arms crossed. It seems he himself took a quick bath as well since he's now wearing a new shirt and a pair of pants.

"Er…" she pulled a wry smile, "If I tell you, would you be mad at me?"

Exasperatedly, Aoshi sighed. What did she do this time? He had experienced a lot of her crazy antics and found himself quite immune to it after undergoing for two consecutive months. "It depends. Now talk."

She felt quite unsure with his answer though she did hesitantly replied, "I believe we won't be having breakfast today nor lunch and dinner, doc."

Ice blue eyes promptly narrowed towards her. "Why?"

"I forgot to do the grocery."

Aoshi gaped at her for a few seconds. And then looked away, pinching the bridge of his nose, wincing again at the pain his hang-over was causing. He fell silent, approached the kitchen table and sat there.

Kaoru watched him curiously, not speaking as well.

"Make me a cup of coffee!" he barked and this startled the poor girl.

"Ha-hai!" she immediately scurried on the cupboards and thanked the heavens above for finding an almost empty bottle of coffee in it. It didn't take time to make a cup of coffee and she immediately served the hot beverage on her temperamental employer.

Seeing the cup of coffee before him, Aoshi started drinking the beverage as Kaoru stood next to the table, carefully watching him. Her boss is so unpredictable that sometimes she's just afraid to even talk to him.

He placed the empty cup of coffee back on the table and then fixed a steady gaze towards Kaoru's direction. And this obviously made her feel very, very uncomfortable. "I'm hungry."

"But we don't have any—"

"I'm your employer, Kamiya. YOU must find a way to FEED Me." he stressed out the pronouns as he complacently leaned back against the chair.

Kaoru breathed in and defiantly raised her chin, "Fine! Get dressed, we're going out." She placed his cup on the kitchen sink and started towards the door.

Aoshi's brows furrowed and then he swiftly stood up to follow her. "To where exactly?"

Kaoru ceased her steps, causing the other to stop too. She turned to him and spoke, "I'm taking you to the grocery."

Opening the front door, Kaoru stepped out with a bright smile on her face, welcoming the wonderful sunshine of Sunday morning. Aoshi followed, looking at the garage and noticing the absence of his car. "Woman, my car's not here." He muttered, pointing over on the bare garage.

"No need to state the obvious." Kaoru sarcastically replied.

He incredulously turned to her, "How are we supposed to go to the grocery without my car?"

Kaoru teasingly laughed and patted his back, "For someone so smart like you, you can be so dumb sometimes." She received a glare from the taller man and quickly kicked herself mentally for trying to annoy him again, "We can take the bus again, silly."

"The bus?" Aoshi asked.

"Yes, and we're going to ride that bus so we can get to the grocery store." She said, with a tone as if she's explaining it to a five-year-old child.

"Are you serious?"

Kaoru fought the urge to roll her eyes. Instead she started walking towards the side walk. "Of course I am."

"We can't ride the bus." He said, following her in the process.

"And why not?"

"I'm not used to riding along with other people."

Kaoru stopped walking and faced him again, "That doesn't make any sense." She said, "For your information, you just rode a bus this morning."

"I was unconscious back then." He irritably replied.

"Aargh! Fine then!" she raised both of her hands and started walking away again, "Stay here and starve if that's what you want!"

Aoshi glared at her and then started following her, "I will not starve myself. I'm paying you to cook my meals and obviously you failed to do that today." Much to his annoyance, Kaoru still ignores him.

Worst was when they arrived on the bus stop as she pretended he's not there standing beside her. She did very well at ignoring him until the bus arrived in front of them. She climbed up and noticed that the doctor did not move a notch. With a roll of her eyes, Kaoru glanced back and exasperatedly asked, "Are you coming or not?" she glared down on him as he glared dangerously up to her. Out of annoyance, Kaoru stomped her feet irritably, "Oh, c'mon! Don't be such a prat! Climb the freakin' bus!"

With a grunt, Aoshi followed her inside and climbed the bus much to his dismay. It angers him more when she saw that triumphant smile radiating his housemaid's face. Never in his entire life had he felt such anger towards the opposite sex before. And to think that he's the employer and she's the servant. She's supposed to serve him, not to boss him around.

Kaoru happily paid the bus fare and walked her way towards the far end seat of the bus. Noticing that she already paid his fare, Aoshi followed her and seated himself away from her. As she noticed this, a frown crossed her face. "Fine, if that's what you want." She snorted, propping her chin on her hand as she stared out of the window. He's getting on my nerves! I never met any man with terrible mood swings just like his. With this thought caused her to furtively glance at him. She can see the back of his head, turned to the window as well, pretty much ignoring all the girls passing by who keeps on ogling at his pretty boy face.

Involuntarily she scowled and snorted again, trying to stare again outside the window. Unfortunately, she caught something disturbing from the corner of her eyes which made her look over to Aoshi again. She saw some girl sit next to him and tried to start a conversation with him. Kaoru felt an unusual flare of emotions swirl around her. The temptation of going towards them and wring the girl's neck was so strong, she could almost feel herself rising from her own seat. But something stopped her. She could see how pretty much Aoshi's trying to pay no heed to whatever the girl was saying. Funny. Just this morning I saw him making-out with someone and now he's totally rejecting this girl. God, you're so unpredictable… she thought, and then tried to extract her eyes away from them. Granted, she was again absorbed with watching the streets outside. Fifteen minutes or so, she noticed the girl stood up from her seat and assumed that this would be her stop. She left not before sending a flying kiss towards Aoshi's direction, which by the way seems to be quite oblivious. Maybe he's sleeping… she thought, smiling at the way the girl's face contorted in pure embarrassment from the rejection. Furiously blushing, she speedily exited the bus.

Kaoru was about to go sit next to Aoshi when she saw another one, this time a high school girl take the empty next to him. With a sigh, she sat back, crossing her arms as she glared at their direction. Realizing that she had been staring at them for so long, she gave up and turned her head again towards the window. Fifteen minutes more and they arrived at the commercial area. This was their stop. She stood up and approached to where her boss' sat. Her eyes widened at what she saw. Aoshi's actually having a civil conversation with the high school girl and she could hear the girl's continuous giggling as she told a story about her getting lost in an unusual hospital or something like that. "Ehrm." She coughed, getting both of their attention. She looked at the girl and then returned her gaze on the doctor. "We're here. Unless you want to stay and flirt around." She coldly addressed him which suddenly made the doctor quite confused. She turned on her heels and left not before glaring at the school girl.

Aoshi stood up, not planning on getting left in the bus all by him self. He glanced at the girl and said, "It is nice to chat with a smart girl like you. I assure you, you'll be a good doctor someday." He complimented, causing the girl to blush and giggle.

"Of course! I'll try my best." She bowed, "Thank you very much for the advice, mister."

He nodded and then stepped out of the bus. He looked around and saw his housemaid standing there, arms crossed her foot tapping on the pavement as her lips pursed out in annoyance. He inwardly smirked, realizing that she looks awfully adorable whenever she's annoyed

Adorable? Geez, I must be really, really desperate… he can't believe he's thinking Kaoru in that way again. The moment in the couch and in his bed engulfed his thoughts again. He immediately shook them away and approached her.

"About time you show up!" she exclaimed, "I was starting to think you really took my advice of not leaving."

He inwardly smirked, "And what would you do if I did?"

"Eh?" Kaoru asked, not exactly expecting him to ask that question, "Then I'd eat breakfast and shop alone."

"Right." He teased, enjoying each passing minute of seeing her face contort from confusion to anger. He smugly glared at her and then started walking away. A smile spread on his cold features as she could sense the girl's anger flaring up. Now, who's carrying the triumphant smile?

Kaoru scoffed and glared at him. As much as she wants to reply with a smart comeback, she couldn't come up with any. She was so lost in her thoughts that she didn't notice him almost disappearing from her sight. "Hey! Wait up!" she yelled and started running next to him.

Doing the grocery with Aoshi wasn't as annoying as what Kaoru expected it would be. In fact, she's thankful that he was there to accompany her. At least he's there to carry the grocery bags for her. By the time they were finished, both Kaoru and Aoshi's stomach protested in hunger. Aoshi, being the rich-boy as he was, suggested that they eat on the nearest bistro. But Kaoru refused and said it'll prolong the suffering more if they take the bus again. It didn't take long for her to convince the doctor to eat on the food court.

"You call this breakfast?" Aoshi sneered, sticking a fork on the sloppy looking bacon and pointed it towards his female companion.

Kaoru glanced on the bacon and then frowned, "its bacon and eggs."

Aoshi's eyes narrowed towards her, "I know what it is. All I'm saying is, this-is-not-healthy."

Here we go again. She bitterly thought, realizing that she's up to another up-coming bicker. "What are you trying to pull at, doc? You're eating the same meal for the last two months!"

"Look at this piece of flab, Kamiya." He thrust the bacon again towards her and Kaoru involuntarily grimaced, leaning away from it. "I'm a cardiac doctor and you're feeding me this nasty piece of meat?"

Kaoru rolled her eyes, "And this coming from a Cardiac doctor who smokes." She sarcastically spoke.

"That's not the point." He angrily hissed and then dropped his fork on his plate with a clank. "I'm not going to eat that."

"Fine! Then don't eat. Starve for all I care!" she sent him a very, hard, cold glare before digging on her own breakfast meal. She ate one of the bacons and inwardly grimaced at the awful salty taste of it. She looked up and saw him intently watching her. As if not wanting to lose this battle of wits, Kaoru pretended to like the food and consumed the other two. Fast foods are meant to be unhealthy, what do you expect? She continued eating her bacon, noticing that it took her some time to consume only a half of it. She looked up again and noticed that he didn't even move a notch to touch his food. "Eat now or you'll faint. I don't want to drag you back to the apartment again. Dear lord, spare me!" she dramatically looked up and clutched her chest.

"Get me something else." He ordered, crossing his arms as he stared down at her.

"No. You're going to eat that whether you like it or not."

"You can't force me to eat it." He muttered, staring disgustingly on the oil-filled meal.

That's what you think. She mischievously smirked and once again applied the silent treatment. She continued eating her food, making sure that she's leisurely dragging it towards her mouth. She looked at him and inwardly smiled in triumph. Aoshi's eyes were now gaping at her. That's right. Watch me eat. Starve yourself.

Unfortunately, that's not what exactly Aoshi's watching right now. It wasn't the food that attracted his attention. It was no other than Kaoru herself and the way she's moving that mouth of hers as she ate the eggs in a slow pace. She may have been planning on seducing him into eating his food. But it appears he's being seduced to her instead. He practically stopped breathing just as when she raised her eyes to look at his own. Stop. He mentally said, not liking this slow torture of seduction.

Kaoru noticed something odd about him yet she couldn't point which it was. Instead, she finished her food and victoriously grinned up at him. "C'mon! I know you're hungry. Eat your breakfast."

Hungry? Oh no, no—I'm Famished… he shook his head and replied, "No." Aoshi's quite thankful his voice was low enough to disguise his current state of daze.

All Kaoru could do was frown at him. "You're san ass, do you know that?"

"Honestly?" he shook his head, "No. As a matter of fact, you're the only one who thinks I'm an ass." He casually replied.

"Really?"

"Every girl, much to my annoyance, is fawning over me. Except you." He accusingly gaped at her.

Kaoru laughed, loud and hard. "Sorry, Adonis, but I'm not interested with men of your kind." With a smile she shook her head and continued eating.

"Really?" he mockingly said, leaning against the table and staring directly onto her eyes. "Do explain why."

She found herself glued on those pair of ice-blue eyes. You don't want me to compliment you, are you? Geez, like you'd need more considering how big that head of yours already! She mused and then spoke, "Because you're egocentric, big-headed, rude… oh the list could go on and on for all I care!"

Somehow, Aoshi felt insulted at this despite of the tone of humor within them. You want her to compliment you, do you? His inner voice asked as he silently watched her eat. "You're saying that because you don't fancy me." He said, inwardly smirking as he saw her shot up her head and appallingly gaped at him.

What are you talking about? She gasped and her cheeks flushed pink as she realized on how close Aoshi's observing her.

"Tell me, Kamiya." Aoshi drawled, noticing that she already dropped her fork, a sign that he got all of her attention to him. "Do you fancy anyone in particular?" he secretly smirked again when she saw her cheeks turned from rosy to beet red.

Kaoru's eyes bulged and then huffed as she looked away, avoiding any eye contact from the persistent doctor. "That's none of your business!"

Aoshi leaned back on his chair and crossed his arms, "None of my business? Then what are you doing last night nosing with my own affairs?"

"I wasn't nosing! It was an accident." She defended. "And for you information, I wouldn't waste my time nosing over to whom you're snogging with!"

Hmm… now where did that come from? He thoughtfully asked, "Alright." He said, "I'll make a deal with you."

"What kind of deal?" she skeptically asked, her brows furrowing.

"I'll eat this flab you call breakfast," he pointed on the untouched meal, "if you tell me the name of the person you fancy."

Kaoru eyed him, "And you think I'm going to fall for that?"

"If I pass out, I'm going to cut 10 percent off from your salary." He smoothly replied.

"That's unfair!" she cried.

Aoshi's stomach suddenly protested. "Decide now, woman. I'm starving."

Damn! All he had to do is eat. Why is he making it so hard? With a sigh, she raised her hands, "Fine. I'll tell you."

"Go on." He said, smirking as he looked over to her.

"…"

"Kamiya." He warningly called, his stomach protesting.

"…"

"…"

Kaoru looked thoughtful for a moment and then finally said, "Jude Law."

Aoshi frowned at her, "That's a movie star. I'm talking about real people here."

"What? Jude Law's real! FYI, he's human."

"Quit provoking me and answer the damn question."

"Nope." Kaoru had a teasing grin plastered on her face as she shook her head, "You said you'd eat that flab I call breakfast if I tell you the name of the person I fancy." With a triumphant smile she declared, "And that person would be Jude Law…"

Aoshi glared hard at her, "Cheat." He muttered.

"Is it my fault that you asked the wrong question, doc? Now go and eat that. A deal's a deal!"

He continued glaring at her until he leaned on the table and started eating the food. Just as what he had expected, the food was really exceptional. It was like eating cooking oil served on a plate. Why did I even let her buy my breakfast?

Smirking, Kaoru started eating too. "All this trouble to feed you." She mentally laughed and consumed the remaining food on her plate.

"Mou!" Kaoru dejectedly sat on the bench, a couple of bags held on both of her hands. "We missed the bus!" she turned her head towards her boss who seems to be enjoying her distress. He just stood casually there, looking nonchalant as usual, "This is your fault!"

"Kamiya, it's rude to put blame on other people." He unflappably replied.

Kaoru glared at him, "If you had just eaten that breakfast the exact time it's served forth you, we couldn't have missed the bus!"

Aoshi shook his head and sat next to her, dropping the bags he carry on the pavement, "Relax." He reached over to his breast pocket and drew out a cigarette, "We'll just have to wait for the next one."

"Yeah, like we'll really wait here for that long." She sarcastically spoke, "The next bus will be here in the next three hours." She saw his movement from the corner of her eyes and immediately took the cigar pressed between his lips. "And how many times do I have to tell you not to smoke this thing in front of me?" she threw the cigar to the trashcan next to the bench.

"Get away from me if you don't want to smell the cancer-stick." He was disappointed that she took his cigarette away again. So, he reaches on his pocket and drew out another one.

This time, Kaoru didn't stop him. She wouldn't risk on losing her remaining salary. Instead she glared at him, pinched her nose between her fingers and looked away.

For the next few minutes, they remained silent. Aoshi consuming his cigarette while Kaoru continuously hoping for the bus to stop in front of them. Finally she gave up and spoke, "We can' wai' 'ere foreve'" she said with her nose still pinched by her fingers.

"I'm sorry, did you say something?" Aoshi glanced at her, blowing the smoke right into her direction.

Kaoru winced and started coughing, waving a hand to get rid of off the smoke. "I said," coughing she continued, "I said, we can't wait here forever!"

Aoshi felt sorry for her and decided to crush his cigarette to end her torment. "What do you suggest?"

"We take the train."

"But the train station's four blocks away from my place."

"We have legs, doc. We can walk from the station to your apartment." She sardonically replied.

Aoshi narrowed his eyes, "You really enjoy torturing me…"

"Tell me about it!" she laughed, seeing the annoyance fill the doctor's calm countenance. First she dragged him into riding the bus, next forced him to eat unhealthy food, and now she's asking him to ride the train. He's experiencing all these stuff in one day.

Aoshi stood up and then started walking, "Get up or we'll miss the train too."

Kaoru sighed and nodded. She took the plastic bags and followed him towards the train station.

All the benches were occupied when they climbed the train. The train was so crowded that Kaoru had no other choice but to stand and stay close to the doctor. In fact too close that she had her whole form pressed against his tall structure. Aoshi grabbed the remaining handhold leaving Kaoru completely leaning against him for support.

Aoshi could see the girl's distress and being the gentleman as he was, spoke, "Hang onto me."

She looked up to him questioningly.

"Put your arms around my waist." He ordered.

"Wh-what? I can't. I-I got plastic bags on my hands." She suddenly felt really flustered with the suggestion. She was already standing too close to him and now he wants her to put her arms around his waist. That means much more contact and that thought makes her blush.

"Drop them next to mine."

She looked down and saw the bags he carries placed between them. She did as what she was told and dropped the plastic bags next to his. She looked up and saw him looking down at her as if waiting for her to hang onto him. He raised a fine brow and this forced Kaoru to wrap her arms around his waist.

Aoshi had to close his eyes when his nose brushed the top of her head. The smell of her shampoo once again engulfed him. He suddenly remembered the incident that happened on his couch a few nights ago. He could feel her whole form pressed against his as his other arm snaked its way around her and placed a hand on the small of her back to keep her from jostling around.

Kaoru immediately flushed when she felt his hand on her back, urging her closer. Warmth suddenly coursed through her body, her face almost pressed against his chest as his Armani perfume mixed with his own scent wafted on her nostrils again. Misao would kill me if she sees me now. She can't believe she's actually doing this. She's standing here, being held by the handsome doctor in public. She's afraid that Misao would suddenly jump out of nowhere and strangle her neck until she chokes out of death. Granted, she received a lot of odd looks from the women surrounding them. Two old women on the corner were talking in hushed tones as they both sent them a disapproving look. A bunch of women on the other side glared at her. Some seemed to envy her as they stared imploringly on the handsome doctor holding her.

She involuntarily moaned on this embarrassing situation.

Aoshi heard this and looked down, "What's wrong?"

"This is embarrassing." Kaoru muttered, not daring to look at his eyes. "Everyone's staring at us."

"So?"

"So?" Kaoru looked up and unbelievably gaped at him, "Women around here fancy you. They're all glaring at me. It's really unnerving."

Aoshi sighed, "Which do you prefer? Standing there with no support or standing there with my support?"

"But still—"

"Ignore them." He said, looking around to see more women gaping at him. He noticed some men as well were staring at his housemaid and then gradually glaring at him in the process. He inwardly smirked and held her much closer to him earning an 'eep' from the other.

She questioningly looked at him but he avoided her gaze. Doing as what she was told, Kaoru lowered her head and tried to ignore the angry, envious glares sent to her.

Aoshi felt a surge of pride as he saw more men stare daggers at him. Well, what do you know? He mused, looking down on her; you're attracting too much attention too…

Kaoru debated with herself whether to lay her head on his chest or not. Unfortunately she was growing too tired from all the walking and standing and found herself slowly leaning against him, dropping her shoulders as she rest her head against his chest. Closing her eyes, she leaned and let his heartbeat soothe her,

He was surprised yet he felt much more comfortable with her leaning against him like this. But then, he too felt exhausted and hesitantly laid his cheek on top of her head.

Not long enough, the train stopped to Gatsubuno Station and almost half of the passengers disembarked the train.

Next stop, Furin Station. Next stop, Furin Station. Next sto—

Noticing that the people had gone, Kaoru quickly disengaged herself away from him. Blushing, she went straight to the bench and muttered a soft thank you. Aoshi took the plastic bags and sat next to her.

The ride towards home was a silent one.

TBC