RK: Cinderella Story

by: nyllemnev

Disclaimer's: They're not mine.

A/N: Sorry, sorry, sorry, I mean… SORRY… for the long wait! Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry… well… anyway, here goes nothing… enjoy!

Chapter 14: Plans

"WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS?!?"

Kaoru quickly pulled her hand away from Kenshin's grasp and turned to see her angry stepmother standing a few feet away from them. She instantly became aware of where she was now as she saw the huge Kamiya mansion nearby. "A-Aunt Megumi…"

"What's the meaning of this?!?" Megumi repeated while Kaoru took some steps towards her, leaving the redheaded man watching her with the same shock expression on his face. "Is this the reason why you turned him down, you stupid girl?!?" she quickly slapped Kaoru's face as soon as the younger lady was near her.

"Aunt Megumi… it's nothing like that. No… He's…" Kaoru stammered while Megumi walked passed her to look at the redheaded man behind Kaoru from head to toe. She gave him cold glare before looking back at Kaoru. "A rubbish thing just like you?" she added, raising her brows.

"Please… Aunt Megumi… it's nothing like that. Ken-…"

"Sorry? Did I hear you right?" Kenshin finally spoke, stepping in between the two. "Rubbish thing?"

"How dare you talk to me like that?!?" Megumi said looking insulted. "You commoner! You have no right to talk to me like that!"

"And you don't have to do that to Kaoru!" Kenshin said, amber eyes shining fiercely which made Megumi step back a little.

"Who are you?!? You are in my property! I can put you to jail in just one word, you know?" Megumi replied, frowning.

"Who am I?" Kenshin smirked. He was about to say something when Kaoru touched his arms to get his attention back to her.

"It's alright, Kenshin…" Kaoru said in a whisper, giving him a small smile. "It's alright…"

"But-…"

"C'mon here, you foolish girl!" Megumi took Kaoru painfully on her arm before pulling the younger woman to her. "And you… go home where you belong and leave us alone!" she added to Kenshin before dragging the poor Kaoru back to the Kamiya residence, leaving Kenshin fisting his hands in annoyance.

Megumi forcefully pushed Kaoru inside her so-called room, closing the door behind them with a loud bang. "How dare you… you stupid girl!!! You… you… bitch!"

Kaoru bit her lip as she tried to avoid her stepmother's blazing eyes. "To replace a fine man like Yukishiro-kun by that… that…" Megumi continued as she started pacing back and forth.

"I can't really understand what Yukishiro-kun had seen on you… you foolish girl. You must be thankful that a guy like him is actually giving some attention to a rubbish thing like you! And what did you do?!? You turned him down just because of a… a… no one like you?!?" Megumi stopped pacing to give a long cold glare at the still silent girl. "Don't you have anything to say?!? You- you…"

"I never asked for Yukishiro-san's attention." Kaoru replied quietly, still not wanting to meet her stepmother's eyes. "No… I didn't… I tried to pushed him away… yes. That's because I can't get myself to like him, just the way you all want me to do."

"How dare you speak to me like that?" Megumi lifted Kaoru's chin, making her stare back at her. "How dare you?!?"

"You can ask me to do everything… clean the house, do the laundry, make some errands for you, serve you like a slave… I'll do it… you'll hear no word from me, I'll just do it." Kaoru said in a shaking voice, trying to control herself. "But to dictate my heart… I guess, that's just… just… it's just… I think it's beyond the boundary."

"What are you implying, little bitch?" Megumi grabbed a fistful of Kaoru's hair and pulled it, making the younger woman winced in pain. "Are you initiating a challenge to me?"

"No… I didn't say that." Kaoru said in a calm voice, her eyes shining fiercely. "I'm just saying that you cannot order my heart."

Megumi gave Kaoru a long cold stare as she tried to absorb what Kaoru just said. "You are going to stay in this room… You are not going out, not until I say so." she said before hastily letting go of Kaoru and leaving the room. Making sure that she has locked Kaoru's door, so the younger girl wouldn't be able to go out.

Kenshin stepped inside his room quietly, deciding to avoid anyone on his way to avoid anyone questioning him. 'Damn… I should've just told that woman that I'm the prince. How I would love to see the look on her face when she finds out that she's calling the Prince a 'rubbish thing'." he felt a smirk on his face as he sat on a chair near his window.

"I should've have just told them… so that… so that… I could protect her." he said in a soft whisper as he gazed at nowhere. "I felt so… so… useless…" he sighed, as he buried his face on his hands. "I couldn't even protect her… I couldn't even do it because I'm such a coward."

"Hey… something wrong?" Sano who has just entered Kenshin's room quietly asked. "I was expecting a very happy after your little stroll out there…"

"I should've just told her."

"Why? Did she dump you?" Sano joked but seeing the seriousness on his friend's face he only scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "Sorry… I was just joking."

"It's just that… I felt as if I'm such a coward." Kenshin finally sighed as he looked back at space. "Why can't I tell her about who I really am… about how I really felt for her? Why is it that everytime that I've finally gotten the courage to tell her, there's always some interruptions that happening…"

"Just tell me what really happened, okay?" Sano said as he sat on a seat near Kenshin.

"That stupid girl!" Megumi growled, still frowning as she entered a room where her two daughters were talking about something.

"Is there something wrong, mother?" Tomoe asked, seeing the strange look on her mother's face.

"Is it that girl again?" Kamatari said, looking at her mother worriedly. The look on Megumi's face answered Kamatari's question. "That stupid Kaoru!"

"What happened this time?" Tomoe frowned as she let her mother take a seat.

"Should I take care of her now?" Kamatari raised an eyebrow and was about to make a move to leave the room when Megumi stopped her.

"Don't worry… I locked her up in her room. She'll be staying for some time." Megumi said. "She's not going out… not until I've gotten everything under my own grasp.

"What are you saying mother?" Tomoe asked.

"I'm going to move now. I'm not going to take care of her now." Megumi said with a little smile forming on her face.

Kaoru sighed as she hugged her knees closer to herself, leaning on the wall while staring at the moon from her window. 'Oh… mother, father… I know you're up there. I know you're watching me there, wherever you are right now… please give me some strength… please give me some strength to overcome everything. Please help me…' she silently prayed as she finally let the tears fell from her eyes.

'I feel so confused… so… so, weak… I don't know what to do…' she rested her chin on her knees. 'And I don't know what to feel, what to say… I don't know anymore…' she continued her silent prayers as she closed her eyes.

"Please don't leave me… not now… not now that I'm feeling alone… please don't…"

"What the hell?!? Did she really do that to you?!?" Sano frowned as he slammed his fist on anything near him. "You should've just told her who you are!"

"I know." Kenshin sighed. "I was such a coward… I couldn't even tell them to protect her… I feel so useless…"

"C'mon pal… it's not that they're going to kill her or anything." Sano said wisely, but not wise enough.

"You should have seen the look on that woman's eyes when she saw Kaoru." Kenshin said more to himself. "It's as if she's ready to kill Kaoru in front of me… I swear if she did something to Kaoru… to MY KAORU… Oh, Kami-sama, help me… I swear, I will kill them with my bare hands."

"A little possessive now, eh?" Sano joked trying to break the tension. "Well… sorry, I'm just kidding." he added, smiling sheepishly. Just then a knock from Kenshin's voice made them frown.

"Prince Kenshin… are you in there?" a voice from outside called.

"He's here." Sano answered for Kenshin, as the maid entered the room, bowing at them.

"It's just that the king wants to see him." the maid said again.

"Tell him that I'm coming." Kenshin sighed while the maid only bowed to him before leaving.

"There you are my son." King Okina smiled as Kenshin entered the room. "So… how did you find your little trip back in Yokohama?"

"It's fine…" Kenshin answered lazily as he took a seat across his father's desk. "It's a good place."

"I see." Okina nodded his head. "I heard you've become friends with the fair princess from Yokohama."

"You must be talking about Princess Sayo. Well, she's a nice girl." Kenshin said, tracing the arms of his seat with his fingers. "But she's just a friend of mine." he added quickly prediction where this conversation with his father was leading.

"Well, many good relationships starts with a good friendship, you know my son."

'Yeah… just like how I developed my feelings over a certain raven-haired beauty…' Kenshin thought with a smile. "I guess you are right." he voiced his thoughts aloud not knowingly.

'At last… it's finally happening.' Okina, thinking that Kenshin was talking about a certain princess was overjoyed. 'Now… I can see a better future for our kingdom.'

"Father… can I ask you a question?" Kenshin sighed as he finally looked up at his father.

"Of course son… anything." Okina nodded with a happy smile.

"Well… it's just that… there's something bothering me these last few days." Kenshin said.

"Go on."

"Father, is love really worth risking something so precious to you?"

'Well, well… I could say that my little boy is finally in love. About time…' Okina smirked inwardly. "Something precious like what son… enlighten me."

"Something… er… say friendship." Kenshin replied in a low voice. "Okay… I'll just give you a situation. There is a man, and he has a friend. As time goes by, the man was starting to feel something for his friend… it's like he's starting to fall for the girl. But the thing is… he can't tell him about his secrets, because he's afraid that when he finally confessed everything to her… she'll turn her back away and he will lose her forever…" he paused for a moment to let out a sigh. "Should the man take the risk… of ruining the very good friendship he had with the girl… of losing the girl forever… just to tell her that his secrets?"

"It is always better to have the courage to tell someone that you love them even if this meant losing that someone very special to you. It is better than just standing there, smiling at her, acting as if you were just okay but you're not. It is better than just standing there losing your chance for love merely because you're afraid of taking the risks." Okina said making his son turn to look back at him. "Who knows… maybe you'll get the same response from her… whoever was that girl…"

"But what if she doesn't felt the same?" Kenshin asked.

"A good friendship will never be broken by something like that." Okina smiled. "Maybe she'll avoid you for a while, not talk to you for some time… it's just that… she'll need some time to think everything over. Give her time."

Kenshin finally smiled. "Thank you father." he gave his father a small bow. "I better get going to my room now, I guess…" he said before excusing to his father.

"Good night too, my son." Okina smiled as he watched his son left the room. "I guess I better start preparing… I can see a wedding coming up so soon…" he added with a proud grin on his face.

"What?" Tomoe and Kamatari both voiced out their shock. "Mother are you sure?"

"There's no other way." Megumi said with a determined voice. "There's no other way but to marry her off to Yukishiro-kun right away… I can't let this chance to slip from my grasp. One of you are going to marry the prince and if marrying Kaoru off to Yukishiro-kun is the only way… well, the only way I take!"

Tomoe and Kamatari both exchanged looks, before grinning widely to their mother. "Of course… I'll surely be the one marrying the prince." Tomoe added.

"No way! The prince will never marry and old maid like you." Kamatari replied. "He'll marry someone younger and sexier."

"Sorry… did I hear sexier?" Tomoe smirked. "With a thick waist like that… you call yourself sexy… get lost."

Up in the attic, a certain girl was sleeping quietly… unaware of everything that was happening in her house… her supposedly home. Unaware of the plans that will soon to take into action…

TBC…

Notes: Haha! I'm still alive! Haha! Here's another chapter! Haha! At last I finally got the time to update! Haha! Just leave a review, ne?

Another notes: I just want to thank everyone who patiently waited for this chapter, who kept on encouraging me to continue. Your reviews really inspire me to continue (I'm not going to mention your names one by one… you know who you are… Thank You! Thank you!). I'm really sorry for the long wait, though… really do. Well… I guess this chapter will just be my Christmas gift to you, ne? Merry Xmas everyone and I do wish you all a Happy New Year. God Bless. See you next chapter. :)