Disclaimer: I do not own Rurouni Kenshin

The Consequences of Falling in Love

Chapter three: Conquering her fear

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"Mooom!" Misao called in a singsong voice on her way down the stairs. She was practically bursting with the news that she and Kaoru were going to move in with her brother and his girlfriend.

'We're going to have so much fun together! At last I'm going to have a place of my own...err...well sort of anyway.' She thought happily.

"Mom!" She yelled sounding a tad irritated.

Misao was a little spoiled and when she wanted to tell anyone about anything she wanted immediate attention, especially when her mother was that 'anyone'. She never really cared if the person in question was busy. She rushed through the swing door leading to the kitchen.

"MOM!"

"Yes Misao, what is it honey?" Kanako enquired slightly exasperated.

"You'll never guess!"

Completely oblivious to the tone of her mother's voice she let the words bubble up through her throat and her face was practically glowing. She didn't really give her mother the chance to guess what was on her mind but instead cut right to the case.

"SanoandMegumiwantKaoruandmetomoveinwiththem" she blurted out in a smooth stream of words that Kanako had a hard time to interpret the meaning of.

"Isn't it great?"

She was bouncing on the spot now.

"Come again?" Came the astounded answer from the bouncing girl's mother.

"My brother wants Kaoru and me to move in with Megumi and him, so I'm moving out at last." Misao said in an almost too over-explicit manner.

"What? No!" Was the spontaneous reply from Kanako.

Kanako wasn't against the idea of her only daughter moving out of the house, oh no, quite the contrary. She was against the idea of her only daughter being under the influence of her eldest brother twenty four - seven without any supervision from any adults, meaning their mother. It was not that she didn't consider her eldest son an adult. It was just that he had a tendency to act in a childish way and sometimes that behaviour could be very contagious to his younger siblings. Sanosuke wasn't exactly known to be a responsible man.

But in the same time Kanako believed that her daughter was capable of taking care of herself in an apartment of her own, she deep down felt that she was loosing some amount of control over her daughter's life. Although she would never admit this to herself or anyone else for that matter but she liked having some sort of control over the lives of her children.

"You mean you're not letting me move out?" Misao asked incredulously.

"Well you can forget that! I'm 23 years old and you can't decide over me!" She continued defiantly.

"Misao…"

She didn't let her mother get a word in edgeways but just kept ranting on.

"You don't think I can't make it if I move out of the house is that it? I have a job you know and I will show you that I can take care of myself, I..."

"Misao!" Kanako raised her voice slightly and fastened a steely look upon her daughter. That was enough to make her quiet down.

"It's not that. You are free to move out whenever you like" Kanako said. "It's just that Sanosuke isn't precisely a responsible person and..."

"Ohh! Is it just that!" Misao exclaimed, her tantrum completely forgotten.

"Megumi and Kaoru will be living there too so I don't think you'll have to worry…that much." She added under her breath.

Kanako chose to ignore the last remark and instead asked. "Have you asked Kaoru about it, do you think she's willing to move in with Sano?"

"Nope, haven't asked yet but if she says no I'll make her move in!"

"Where is she anyway?"

"She's in the parlour talking on the phone, but you can go and see if she's all done."

It was unnecessary for Kanako to tell Misao the last part since she had already left the kitchen door swinging behind her.

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Kaoru hung up the phone. She had just talked to her grandmother and told her that she had arrived safely to Japan. Since her father was at her grandparents' house she had talked to him too and that spared her a phone call. But nevertheless she wanted to keep it short because she was eager to speak with her boyfriend, David. He had gotten a job in Germany and he had moved there a week ago. She had been occupied with packing and such the last week while he had been packing up his stuff and settling in Hamburg, so they hadn't spoken much in quite a while.

Sitting on a fluffy couch she dialled the number to his cell phone since he didn't have a regular phone in his apartment yet. She didn't notice Misao lurking in the doorway.

"Hello, this is David" A masculine voice answered groggily on the other side.

"Hi, it's me!" Kaoru responded cheerfully.

"Do you know what time it is!" David said in a brusque voice.

Not exactly the warm voice he usually had. The voice Kaoru had been expecting. Her heart sank a little but she ignored the feeling.

"Um... noo..." She said hesitantly.

"It's seven thirty in the morning and I'm sleeping. I just came home an hour ago. I was clubbing last night." He sputtered angrily.

"But I just wanted to tell you that I'm at my cousins' hou…"

"Yeah, fine, okay. I need to sleep. I'll call you later. Bye." He interrupted.

"But wait, you don't have the... 'Click' ...number..."

She placed the receiver back in its place and stared down in her lap. This wasn't what she had expected. True, she should have thought about the time difference but how was she supposed to know that he had been out the night before? They hadn't talked for several days and shouldn't he be glad that she had arrived safely? Her thoughts were interrupted by Misao's soft voice.

"Hey, are you okay?"

She had heard the conversation despite of her position in the doorway.

Kaoru looked up at her cousin.

"Yeah... err…I think so... no not really." Tears began to gleam in her eyes.

Misao immediately closed Kaoru in a hug and rocked her back and forth.

"It's okay. I'm sorry I didn't mean to eavesdrop but I heard your conversation. And let me tell you, he didn't sound lovingly at all."

So you don't think I'm overreacting?" Kaoru sniffed as a two teardrops found their way down her cheeks.

"Maybe I'm just being sensitive. I'm a little tired after all."

"No way! Why shouldn't you feel hurt when you've got such an insensitive boyfriend?" Misao growled.

And this made Kaoru smile. At least she had a cousin that really cared for her no matter what.

"You know what, I think I have an idea that will make you think of something else."

"Oh, what is that?" Kaoru inquired.

"You'll see. We'll just go grab some training outfits, come on!" Misao exclaimed and bounced off the couch and dragged Kaoru upstairs to her room.

They where soon dressed in sports pants and tank tops with built in bras. Kaoru had a navy top and light blue pants and Misao was clad in a heather coloured top and black pants. After a quick look in a full length mirror, Kaoru was again pulled by the hand, this time downstairs. In her other hand Misao held a small sports bag. On their way down Misao shouted.

"Moom! We're going to the gym; we'll be back by dinner!" And she continued towards the garage with Kaoru in tow. She took her mother's BMW M3 Cabriolet and drove out on the street.

"We're going to the gym?" Kaoru said asked. "Wow that will surely take my mind off things." she said sarcastically.

"Oh shut up, we're going to a special gym, you'll see" Misao retorted in an airily manner.

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After about 20 minutes or so she pulled up in a parking lot outside a building that strongly resembled a warehouse.

"Is this the gym?" Kaoru said with disdain in her voice.

"Yup, come on"

And Kaoru was once again being hauled behind Misao. They entered and Misao scurried up to the reception while Kaoru took a moment to look at the inside of the 'warehouse'.

'It's really fresh looking on the inside. And I can't see any bulky bodybuilders or super trimmed aerobic girls. That's a relief.' She mused

"Hi, two harnesses and one pair of shoes please."

'Harness?' Kaoru thought.

"That'll be $25 please." The woman behind the desk said.

Misao gave the woman the money and was given two harnesses.

"What shoe size do you require?" The lady asked.

"Kaoru come here." Misao spoke softly.

Kaoru obliged and told the lady her size. She then gave Kaoru a pair of shoes half a number too small. Kaoru stared at the shoes and was just beginning to question why she had been given too small shoes when the lady said;

"They're supposed to sit tight on the feet otherwise you won't get a good grip when you climb the wall.

Kaoru just stared with a puzzled look on the woman behind the desk. Then it hit her.

"Misao! There's no way in hell you are getting me to climb a wall, you know I'm afraid of heights!"

"Relax dear cousin, it won't feel so bad once you've started climbing. Think of it as therapy for your acrophobia. Besides, didn't I tell you I would get you to think of something else?" Misao smirked evilly.

"Yes, you did, but I never thought you would sink this low. By the way I don't have acrophobia; I'm just a little scared of heights, that's all."

"See! It's getting better already!"

The lady behind the desk just smiled and directed them to the changing-room.

"Don't you need shoes too?"

"Nope, I have a pair of my own." Said Misao and waved with the sports bag as they entered the changing-room.

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Kenshin dangled in one arm while he secured the rope in a snap-hook. He was making his way over a sharp overhang on the wall. Sōjirō was standing below on the ground functioning as a lifeline keeping the rope straight if Kenshin contrary to expectation would fall. Kenshin climbed the wall fast and ringed the bell at the ceiling.

"Looking good Himura!" A female voice called from below.

Kenshin looked down and caught sight of Okon and Aoshi. Kenshin smiled and nodded in their direction. Aoshi nodded back and they turned to one of the walls to get their gear in order. Kenshin then called down to Sōjirō that he was ready and started bouncing from the wall with his feet as he was lowered to the floor. He unhooked the snap-hook from his harness and turned to Sōjirō.

"Your tu..."

The words died in his throat. Two pretty girls were just coming inside the big hall. But it was the one with raven hair and sapphire blue eyes that caught his attention. He didn't know why, but it was something about her aura that intrigued him. She looked a little scared; she had probably never climbed before and he wanted to make the fear in her eyes disappear. He wanted…

Sōjirō smirked at Kenshin and snapped his fingers in front of him. He was immediately taken out of his stupor.

"Like something you see?" Sōjirō smiled and proceeded to fasten the rope to his harness.

Kenshin merely growled as a response as the smiling boy started climbing.

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Kaoru looked around anxiously. The walls were donned with different trails, each in a different degree of difficulty. Some of the trails had already secured ropes, these were the easy ones, while others only had snap-hooks where you had to secure the rope your self. There were not many people around. In fact there were only two other couples there; a tall man with ice blue eyes, black hair and broad shoulders, He was accompanied by a tall woman with brown hair. They were just getting their gear together. Then there were two men already in the task of conquering one of the trails. Kaoru saw a redheaded man holding the rope for an agile man who was quickly climbing the wall and ringing the bell.

'That couldn't have taken more than 10 seconds at the most.' An astounded expression adorned her face.

"Misao! Kaoru breathed and elbowed her in the ribs. "Did you see how fast he was taking the wall?"

"Huh?"

"The guy with brown hair, did you see him?"

"Umm…"

Kaoru turned to Misao only to find her staring and practically drooling over the tall man with the icy eyes. She shrugged her shoulders and rolled her eyes. Then she returned her gaze toward the other two men. She was taken aback when she found herself looking into a couple of violet eyes. They belonged to the man with red hair she noticed, and they were captivating. She couldn't take her eyes from his and she didn't want to either. It felt like they were reaching out to each other through their eyes. He held her gaze a moment longer and then he gave her a smile. She loved that smile.

'Wait, what am I doing! I have a boyfriend and here you stand completely stupefied drooling just like Misao over some stranger.'

The thoughts passed through her mind in the speed of lightning and she quickly pulled herself out of the trance. She felt embarrassed of being under such scrutiny and didn't feel like being watch any further, especially not when climbing a wall for the first time.

"There's no way I'm climbing the wall now! Not with these pro's hanging around. Misao I'm leaving." A flustered Kaoru declared.

At last Misao was out of her own daze and quickly grabbed Kaoru's ponytail.

"Oh no your not, not when I've gotten you this far. We'll take it slow and start with the easiest trail."

"But..."

"No buts! Come along now!"

Misao thereby shoved Kaoru to one of the walls. The grips had different colours and some of them were shaped as animals. Kaoru wondered at this but didn't ask.

"Now, you see that each trail has different colours and some even have two colours that follow the same trail."

"Yeah"

"That's to distinguish them from each other so that if you decide to follow say, a red trail, you're not supposed to touch a different coloured grip even if that grip seems easier to reach."

"Okay"

"This is the easiest trail." Misao pointed at the trail with grips shaped like animals.

"It has regular grips and grips shaped like animals. That means you can either choose to use all the grips or only the animal shaped grips or you can be nice to the animals and don't step on them by using the regular grips. Don't ask why they're shaped like animals I think it's silly but I guess it's somewhat pedagogical to be "nice" to the animals."

"Since it's your first time I suggest that you just grab the grips that you find convenient to reach. And when you climb, remember to keep your body as close to the wall as possible. And use your legs, don't pull yourself up with your arms and keep the rope between your arms."

"Alright" Kaoru said plainly.

She was almost feeling dizzy by all the information Misao was giving her but it might as well be the feeling of being watched by a certain redhead. She had just stolen a quick glance in his direction and found that he seemed to be amusingly watching her.

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Kenshin was amused when he saw the raven haired girl avert her eyes and declare that she was leaving. You may think of him as extremely self-conceited. But judging by the way she hastily averted her eyes from his and looked really flustered, he somehow felt that it wasn't because there were other more experienced climbers in the hall that made her want to leave, but the fact that they had had a profound connection merely by looking into each others eyes. He had never felt such a thing with anyone before and they hadn't even talked yet. He was feeling elated by this fact. Kenshin was an attractive man but he didn't find much interest in the women swooning over him whether it was on work or at clubs or wherever. He had never before met a woman that radiated such brilliance.

He watched with a smile on his face as the sapphire eyed girl was instructed by her friend. He was considering going over and giving a few pointers if needed but decided to wait until she was up on the wall.

"Sōjirō, we'll take a brake for awhile."

"Oh, okay…I can see why." He muttered under his breath

Kenshin gave him a quick scowl but nevertheless started to move slowly in the direction of the dark haired girls. Sōjirō instead moved toward Aoshi and Okon.

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Kaoru had gotten about two meters up the wall but there was still four more to go. It was going pretty well and she even tried as much as possible to not use the animal shaped grips.

"You're looking good Kaoru, keep going!" Misao cheered from below.

Kaoru felt boosted by this and kept climbing slowly but suddenly she found that she couldn't go any further. She had put her right foot on a grip that made her out of reach from grips with her left foot. She was unable to go further up.

"I'm stuck!" Anxiety on the border of panic inching its way in her voice.

"Take it easy, you just have to go down a few grips again."

"Or you can switch your feet." Came a masculine voice from below.

Kaoru looked down. It was the redhead.

"What!"

Kaoru felt stupid and flustered. Stupid because she didn't understand what he meant and flustered because the man she just had a strange moment with actually was talking to her. And not only talking, he was helping her out of a dilemma. She felt her cheeks warm and was certain she was blushing now.

"Try to put both your feet on the same grip and then you can move your right foot to grip further up." He explained and pointed to a grip a little further up on the wall to her right.

"No I can't, I'll fall down." More panic in the voice.

"Of course you can and you won't fall down." He encouraged calmly. "I believe in you."

'He believes in me…Yes, I can do this!'

She took a better hold on the grips she held onto and tentatively moved her left foot towards the right. It was a little hard for the feet to fit on the same grip but she quickly put the right foot on the new grip. Sighing of relief she started climbing again and soon reached the top.

"Great! Now ring the bell!" The red haired man called.

Kaoru ringed the bell. She felt strangely euphoric. She had defied her fear.

"I knew you could do it!" Misao chirped.

"Now what, Misao?"

"You put your hands on the rope and lean slightly backwards and take your feet from the wall, I'll lower you down."

As soon as Kaoru was on the ground she turned towards the man with violet eyes.

"Thank you for the help, I, I really appreciate it." She blushed

"You're welcome. If it's not too much to ask may I know the name of the lady I so graciously helped." He asked with a look full of mirth. 'She's really cute when she's blushing.'

"Kaoru"

She extended her hand and he took it.

"Kenshin"

They held hands longer than necessary and Misao felt that she was missing out on something. Something private. It wasn't hard for Misao to notice that they had connected. At last they loosened their hands from each other.

"Well, I'm Misao" she chirped.

Kenshin shook her hand also. At this point Sōjirō had tired of watching the other couple and came towards them.

"Hello" he said.

"Oh, this is Sōjirō"

"Sōjirō, this is Kaoru and Misao"

"Nice to meet you both"

"You too" the girls replied in unison.

"Umm Kenshin? Shall we continue climbing or shall we wrap it up?"

"What? He had just been gazing at Kaoru again, she was yet again blushing. "Oh yes of course, I think we can climb a little more or do you girls need any more help?"

"Noo, we're fine..." Kaoru started but Misao interrupted.

"Well actually, I think it would be good if you supervised Kaoru when I'm climbing. You know just make sure she can handle the brake and everything. If it's not too much to ask that is." She gave him a charming smile.

How could he say no to that? He was given an opportunity to be close to the girl that somehow had intrigued him with her aura.

"Sure! Err…that is if it's okay with you Sō?"

"Sure, I'll wait."

'Great this is just the kind of distraction she need's' Misao mentally rubbed her hands together and smiled a mischievous smile under her bangs.

She fastened the snap-hook at the end of the rope to her harness and Kenshin fastened the hook in the other end of the rope to Kaoru's harness. Then he instructed her how she was supposed to hold the brake and continuously keep the rope tight. This was essential because if Misao would fall and the rope was slack she would fall more then necessary. And that could result in bad accidents.

As a fairly experienced climber and given that it was the easiest trail, Misao was quickly up at the ceiling ringing the bell. Kenshin then instructed Kaoru how to lower Misao down and she was soon safely down on the floor again.

Kenshin and Sōjirōreturned to their piece of the wall and continued to climb, as did Misao and Kaoru. She felt a little more confident now, knowing that she had already conquered the wall once and she would do it again.

When she was holding the rope for Misao for the second time she watched Kenshin at the same time. He was fast. Faster than Sōjirōand she admired his agility.

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After an hour of climbing Misao realised they should get home in order to make it to dinner as promised. So they took off their harnesses and shoes and headed for the changing-room. They were stopped by Kenshin's voice;

"Are you leaving already?"

"Yeah I don't want to wear my cousin out on the first try." Misao answered.

"So there will be a second try?"

"Most definitely." Kaoru said with a sparkle in her blue eyes.

"Then I hope I'll see next time you come here."

"Me too." She said. 'Where did that come from?' Then she turned and left, once again blushing, with Misao.

"Bye!" The girls chorused.

"Bye!" He answered. 'She's so adorable'

"Hey Kenshin, are we leaving now to, now that the object of your attention has left? Besides I'm feeling quite hungry."

"Yeah, you're right Sōjirō, let's go."

Sōjirō was surprised he didn't get an irritated look from Kenshin. He had deliberately said that to tease him. But he shrugged it off as they started to assemble their gear and then left. This girl seemed special and he was going to find out exactly how special Kenshin thought she was. Hopefully this girl could help Kenshin move on with his life. Yes, it finally seemed like Kenshin could move on with his life… he had after all been down far too long since that dreadful relationship a few years ago.

They came out on the parking lot and decided to buy pizza and then head back to Kenshin's flat. They drove in their respective cars in cortège towards their designated destinations.


A/N: I'm sorry that I have taken such a long time to update. But I have had a lot to do and haven't really felt inspired to write. I failed my last exam in June so now I have to do it again so I really should e studying right now instead of writing on this story. But I found that I like this pretty much and besides, I always find other things to do when I ought to be studying. Anyway I'll try to update more often from now on, but I will definitely update more often if I get reviews

Review responses

starry night blue: I really appreciated the constructive criticism you gave me and I hope I'm doing better.

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Mini-MoonStar: No I understand that you couldn't say much about my first chapter. I think it really sucks but I hope the others are little better. Thank's anyway.

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