Chapter 6: Ex-boyfriend
Sano sat leaning against the pillows propped up against the metal bars at the back of Kenshin's bed, Kenshin sitting between his legs leaning back on his chest, snuggled up together under the bedcovers. It certainly hadn't taken a lot of convincing from Sano for Kenshin to stay home today, and as Sano had his arms wrapped around him, eyes closed resting his chin on top of Kenshin's head, Sano certainly had no intention of going anywhere .
"What are you going to do about your apartment?" Kenshin asked into the quiet air.
"Not much I can do." Sano replied, "My dad pays the money for that place straight into my bank account, so he doesn't have to know what happened. I can use that money to find somewhere else I guess." He sighed deliberately heavily, opening one eye and peering down at Kenshin hoping he would get the hint.
Kenshin smiled, having taken the hint, and turned round slightly to kiss him gently, "Yes, you can stay here if you want." He said, Sano's returning grin making Kenshin laugh.
It was then the doorbell rang throughout the apartment, so prying Sano's arms from around him and standing up, quickly throwing on a spare pair of jeans and loose t-shirt, Kenshin made his way to the front door.
Unlocking it, Kenshin opened it to find an old greying haired man standing the other side, a bright smile lighting up his wrinkled features.
"Ah, would you be Kenshin Himura?"
Kenshin blinked, "Err, yes?"
"Would you have a young man named Sanosuke Sagara here with you at the moment?"
"…yes?" Kenshin replied, wondering where this was going.
"Ah excellent!" the man cheered, reaching into his pocket, "Detective Okina!" he said, bringing out his badge to prove his identity, "Just wondering if I could have a word with the young man about the fire last night? Just the usual questioning, nothing more."
"Oh! Of course." Kenshin said, opening the door offering him to come inside.
"Thank you very much!" Okina grinned, taking a step inside.
Kenshin was about to close the door behind him, when it felt like there was someone pressing against it.. Frowning and opening it again to see if something had perhaps got stuck underneath the door, he felt his blood run cold when he saw a certain someone standing there, holding up another badge with the name 'Detective Seta' written underneath.
"Hello Kenshin."
Kenshin was frozen to the ground, looking back into a pair of deep blue eyes he hadn't looked upon for seven years.
Something very weird was going on. This old man seemed ok, asking him questions, where were you, did you see anything suspicious etc etc, but this other guy, the younger one…why did he keep looking at Kenshin?
Sano sat on the two-seater sofa next to Detective Okina, while Kenshin sat in the small arm chair to his left, all facing inwards towards the low glass table. This Detective Seta was being a little too close for comfort, very casually sitting one of the arm rests next to Kenshin, but Kenshin didn't look too impressed, trying to press closer to the other side towards Sano. Every now and then Okina would ask Kenshin something, and the thought crossed Sano's mind as to how they knew that he was staying here with Kenshin.
Sano tried to pay attention to the aging Detective, but keeping an eye on the seemingly distressed look on Kenshin's face was beginning to take precedence. The young detective suddenly moved his hand to Kenshin's shoulder, and before Sano even had a chance to say anything, Kenshin suddenly shot up out of his chair.
"W-would anyone like some tea?" he offered, a forced smile on his lips, and a slight nervousness to his voice.
"Oh yes thank you that would be lovely!" Okina chirped happily, scribbling down some notes in his notebook as he turned back to Sano.
Sano watched Kenshin walk to the kitchen, a frown on his face at this strange behaviour. He was about to turn back to Okina when he did a double take at Seta. Was this guy glaring back at him? No…it wasn't a glare but…it was an inquiring look, as if he was trying to work something out.
Suddenly the young detective stood up, "I'll just continue the questioning with Mr Himura." He said as he motioned towards the kitchen.
"Yes yes." Okina said, waving him off.
Sano watched him walk through the kitchen door, closing it behind him as Okina continued talking. Sano didn't like that guy, something was going on, and he didn't like how Kenshin was reacting.
Kenshin stood with his back to Soujirou at a counter, setting up a tray of tea cups, knowing full well that he was standing behind him. Now they were alone, Soujirou wasn't entirely sure what to say.
"You look well." He started, smiling, Kenshin ignoring him and placing the now water filled kettle back down to boil. Soujirou looked down at the floor for a moment, biting his bottom lip in thought before looking back up, "I see you kept the apartment then. I wasn't sure if you'd still be here. One of the ambulance men said he saw Sanosuke Sagara head off with you, so I thought I'd try here first."
Kenshin still said nothing, still faced away from him waiting for the water to boil.
Soujirou didn't know what to say. What was he doing here? What did he expect to happen? For so many years he had stayed away from Kenshin after he told him the truth. He never wanted to see him again, never, not after Kenshin had told him the secret he'd been keeping from him. Yet, a part of him wondered that what Kenshin had told him, if it really was everything? There had to be a reason why he did what he did, and a reason why he stopped as well, and Soujirou had never stayed long enough to find out.
So, Soujirou had gone through training and applied in the police force, to see if there were any records of what happened. When he was promoted to detective last year, the very first case he was put on was a follow up for a case that was dropped 10 years prior, having no evidence to prove any of the suspected Yakuza to have had any connection with the massacre at Ellisman Mansion. It was brought up again because one of the assassins working for the Kyoto Yakuza, who was known to have been at the mansion that night, had been spotted in Tokyo, an assassin that whenever seen, something was bound to happen, yet every time he would always have an alibi, and once again, no charges could be brought forward.
Hajime Saito was the name of the assassin in question, one of the bodyguards for the Kyoto Boss, but what was a Kyoto assassin doing wandering around Tokyo?
After some research on various people and locations, he'd found a very interesting piece of information about him and the Kyoto Clan…about what they were doing in secret, and had been doing for years, but then….another name cropped up.
Kenshin Himura.
Soujirou remembered when he had found out the 'real' truth behind Kenshin, some of the things Kenshin hadn't told him. Suddenly, the anger towards him, although still there from hiding this from him, didn't seem so strong. After years for never wanting to see him again, never wanting to look upon that face full of lies and deceit…Soujirou wanted to apologise.
So, after seven years of being apart, Soujirou stood in Kenshin's kitchen, wondering what to say, and wondering…
"Is he your boyfriend?"
Kenshin paused for a brief second, before pouring the water out into the cups, steam rising from within.
"What are you doing here Souji?" came Kenshin's quiet voice, still not turning to face him, and ignoring his question.
A slight spark of happiness shone through on Soujirou's face at Kenshin's use of his shortened nickname, the name he always used to call him when they were going out together.
"I…" Then the thought hit him. Kenshin didn't know that he now knew everything about him.
He thinks I only know what he told me that night I left. Should i tell him? Or should I stay quiet?
"I'm a detective now…I was just put on this case, that's all." He tried smiling again, "There was a family that died in that fire, and we…" Should I tell him? "…we think Hajime Saito may have something to do with it."
Kenshin nearly dropped the kettle he was holding, before stopping himself in time and placing it gently back down. "I don't know who that is." Kenshin said, still a quiet voice.
Soujirou thought he might deny knowing him. Kenshin hadn't told him about Saito, he's only something he found out about afterwards, so admitting he knew him would admit his guilt. Not that Soujirou would lock him away now, even if it meant losing his job, he wouldn't put Kenshin away for something he couldn't possibly have done anything about.
There was another awkward silence that echoed between the two of them, and Soujirou could see the tension he was causing Kenshin. Maybe that meant Kenshin still loved him, somewhere inside, and just didn't want to admit it…or maybe he was just trying to hold back an anger that he didn't want to release. Perhaps he should start by apologising for that night? The conversation wasn't going anywhere, so if he just came out and said it, he could see Kenshin's reaction. Soujirou opened his mouth to start his sentence, when Kenshin got there first.
"Please go…I don't want to see you."
Soujirou blinked. That wasn't an angry voice, it was a lost voice, a voice that held a strain of another emotion, like…like it was difficult for him to speak to him. Was it still love? Or was it because he thought he still hated him? Soujirou sighed. What was he thinking? That if he apologised Kenshin would just fling his arms around him and forgive him? Not a chance. It'd had been seven years, seven years Kenshin had thought Soujirou had hated him more than anything else on this planet. There was no way any amount of apologising could make up for that feeling.
Soujirou took another glace at Kenshin, his back covered by his flowing red hair, red hair that Soujirou remembered running his fingers through years ago, a sweet smile on those lips, an adoring gaze in those violet eyes.
"Please go away."
Kenshin's voice was almost pleading with him now, and that made Soujirou feel so sad. He'd done this to Kenshin, he'd made him recoil away from him, and there was no way, no way that he would ever be able to feel those arms around him again.
"All right." Soujirou said back, almost a whisper, "But…let me just ask you one thing before I go?" Kenshin said nothing. "Have you told him?"
Soujirou waited for the answer, another silence, Kenshin pausing in stirring one of the cups.
"Souji?" Soujirou looked rather surprised when Kenshin started to turn around to face him, but was in for even more of a shock at the look in Kenshin's eyes. "If you tell him…" Soujirou felt his breath slow, fear at that look, those once wide eyes…narrow….glaring….
"…then I'll kill you."
In a typical movie fashion, normally someone would have burst in on them at that point, leaving an unstable air between them, a conversation they couldn't finish, but this time, there was no one. Soujirou stared back with shocked eyes, upon the eyes that bore daggers into his own. Eyes that he had never seen on Kenshin before, but knew where they had come from. His shocked look faded, and a faint smile broke out on his lips. A sad smile, for Kenshin.
"No you won't…" Kenshin's glaring eyes softened, "…not any more."
Whatever Kenshin was feeling seemed to subside. He now stood there, staring back at Soujirou, with an almost sad expression on his face. He turned around again and picked up the tray that held the tea cups, walking past Soujirou. He stopped though just as he walked past him, and said quietly,
"I don't know what you are really doing here, that I don't…but I love Sano now, if I want to tell him anything, then I'll do it by myself. If you say anything to him…" Kenshin paused. He hated given threats, not now, not any more, but if threatening to kill him wasn't putting him off, what could he possibly say?
"You can't do it can you?" Soujirou asked softly, "You can't back up what you say anymore."
Kenshin didn't look at him. Apart from glaring, Kenshin avoided eye contact. It was too painful to look at him. He frowned sadly to himself, unable to stand being with him any longer, and opened the door, walking back into his lounge, a bright smile on his face once again as Okina grinned back at him thanking him for the tea.
Soujirou stayed there for a moment as the door swung shut behind him. Kenshin threatening to kill him? He must love this Sano very much.
Sanosuke Sagara hmm? He thought to himself, Until you find out, you'll never feel more in love.
So treasure it while you can.
"Alright, what was that?" Sano said suspiciously as Kenshin closed the front door.
Okina had finished his questioning, and he and Soujirou had just left, Okina somewhere along the line managing to take home a small packet of biscuits too.
"What was what?" Kenshin asked, almost too innocently.
"That friction between you and him, that…Detective Seta guy, do you know him or something?" Sano frowned, suddenly feeling very overly protective.
Inside Kenshin was smiling at the look on Sano's face, frowning, arms crossed, sulking and jealous, but on the outside, Kenshin looked away, not really wanting to talk about 'Detective Seta'.
"Er, no it's…euh…he…um…" Kenshin stuttered along, Sano's frown becoming more questioning, before Kenshin smiled in defeat. "Yeah…" he finally gave in, "He's, I guess you could say my ex-boyfriend."
Sano blinked, "You have an ex?"
Kenshin chuckled lightly, "I'm 26 years old Sano, of course I have an ex."
"Oh." Sano blinked again, he hadn't expected that, but he smiled back, "So that's why it felt so awkward." He said relieved.
Kenshin smiled back too, but if only he knew the half of it. "Yes."
Sano smirked, "Heh, the guy must have been gutted when you dumped him, I sure would be if I lost you."
"Umm…actually," Kenshin said rather awkwardly, "It was him who dumped me."
Sano gaped at him, "That was something I wasn't expecting to hear." Sano walked around behind him and wrapped his arms around him, pressing his chest to Kenshin's back, "What could there possible be to hate about you?" he said, nuzzling against his hair.
Kenshin looked away sadly, before turning around and wrapping his arms around Sano, burying his head under his chin, "Hmm." Kenshin smiled.
That's something I'm never going to let you find out.
Being right next to the door, when the doorbell went off again, both Sano and Kenshin jumped in surprise at the loudness of the bell, pulling away from each other and laughing.
"What could they possible want now?" Sano said as Kenshin opened the door.
"HAPPY BIRTHDAY!"
"ORO?"
Kenshin stared wide eyed back at his brother and sister, Megumi having been the one to shout out happy birthday at him, while Aoshi seemed to be carrying a bag full of…Sake?
"W-what are you doing here?" Kenshin said, his heart rate still through the roof.
"Ken, is that anyway to talk to your older sister? It's your birthday, and as you didn't turn up at college today, 1) I want to know why, and 2) Because I know you won't tell me we brought lots of alcohol to get you drunk so you'll end up telling me anyway."
Kenshin glanced across as Aoshi for help, "Don't look at me," he said, "This is entirely her idea." He said tetchily.
"Umm…well I don't think you're going to need to get me drunk to find out why I didn't come in today, that you won't." Kenshin said nervously.
"Oh?" Megumi blinked, "Why's that?"
Kenshin let the door swing open more to reveal Sano standing beside him, and with the mischievous smile that spread across Megumi's lip's, Kenshin knew he was in for a night of a lot more questioning.
Kenshin stood leaning by the window in the lounge, and while Aoshi sat opening the Sake bottles, he found himself watching Sano opening cupboards and draws in his kitchen through the door, trying to find where Kenshin kept his Sake glasses. He thought he should perhaps go over and show him, but it was cute watching him looking for them.
"You've got that look again."
Kenshin glanced to his right to see Megumi smiling sweetly at him, having caught him staring at Sano. She had seen that look before, a gentle expression, the same look she used to catch on him when he was going out with Soujirou all those years ago.
Kenshin smiled at her, before looking back at Sano.
"So?" she said.
Kenshin turned to her again, "…so?"
Megumi smiled, "This has started a lot quicker than with Soujirou, it took you a long to time to trust him, don't you think this is going a little fast?"
Kenshin smiled again, looking back at Sano, "Perhaps…" He said idly, "But it's nice."
Soujirou had been the first person to 'like' him, well, perhaps that wasn't true. There had been plenty of girls when growing up in high school who had asked him out, but back then, he was still recovering. Memories were too sharp, he didn't feel like he deserved their attention, and had unwittingly become the heartbreaker of the class.
Soon girls stopped asking him, they become friends, but knew there was no point in trying for anything else.
It had been around that time when Soujirou had transferred in from another school, his parents moving from Hiroshima to Tokyo. Soujirou had taken an instant liking to Kenshin, the only male in the class his same small height and therefore didn't pick on him for being short. They become quick friends, but Kenshin still didn't trust him too much. The only people he ever trusted were his brother and sister, they had been the only ones to prove their trust for him. But with Soujirou's constant smile and cheerful attitude, Kenshin found himself smiling more and more with him. They'd go round each other's houses for study sessions, meet outside school heading to the arcades, copy each others notes in class if one of them wasn't paying attention, and eventually, Kenshin admitted to himself that yes, he'd found a best friend.
But as another year went by, and their 16th birthdays were coming up, suddenly out of the blue Soujirou had asked him a very strange question…
((( "Hey Kenshin?"
"Mm?" Kenshin replied, as they sat on metal railing in the local park over looking the city. They were waiting for Soujirou's mum to come by and pick them up after seeing a movie straight after school, and this was their usual pick up place.
"If someone said they loved you, I mean, other than family, what do you think you'd say?"
Kenshin peered over at him, his legs swinging as he sat on the bar. "I don't know." He said, wondering where this had come from, "What would you say?"
Soujirou stared up at the starlit sky, "Depends who it was." He replied, "I think if it had been one of the girls that follow you around all the time, if that was me, and they said they loved me, I would have refused them too. They're all so fake." Kenshin frowned a little, this was a very odd conversation, "But if it was…" Soujirou paused, glancing at Kenshin before looking back up at the sky, "If it was you who said you loved me, I think I'd probably say I loved you bac-…Kenshin?" Soujirou blinked when he realised Kenshin wasn't sitting next to him, and looked behind him to see he'd fallen backwards off the bar.
Soujirou laughed and jumped down, "Are you okay?" he said, reaching out with his hand to help him up.
Kenshin however just stared at him, his black school uniform splattered with mud from the earlier rains, and very confused expression on his face. "What…what do you mean you'd say you love me?"
Soujirou blinked at him, "If you said you loved me, I'd say I love you back too." He smiled.
"But…" Kenshin began, an agitated look at Soujirou, "…but, we're…"
"It doesn't matter that we're both boys," he said, deciding what the hey and sitting down next to Kenshin in the mud too, "It's nice to hear someone say they love you, don't you think?"
Sitting next to each other, when Kenshin turned to look at him he found their faces barely inches apart. A sudden blush appeared on Soujirou's cheeks, a nervousness seemed to descend upon them, "Have you ever kissed anyone Kenshin?" Kenshin wondered how to answer that, wondering how Soujirou would react, but quietly shook his head anyway, "Can I…can I kiss you then?"
Kenshin's eyes went wide for a moment, an unsure feeling washing through him, but a slight curiosity as well. He nodded his head slowly, and let Soujirou be the one to close the distance between them. This would be his first kiss, his very first kiss, with his best friend at that, a boy, just like him. Kenshin closed his eyes as he felt their lips touch, an unfamiliar tingling sensation washing through him. The kiss only lasted for a few seconds, but as Soujirou pulled gently away, he asked, "What would you say if it was me who said I love you?"
Pain. Terror. Torture. Screams. Blood. Hate.
Guilt.
Kenshin smiled sweetly, "I'd say I love you too.")))
"I love him Megumi." Kenshin said, "I don't know everything about him, but then, he doesn't know everything about me. It doesn't matter, because it's nice to be loved, it's always nice to hear someone loves you." He suppressed a giggle when Sano stood up too fast and banged his head on an open cupboard, a distant swear word floating out the kitchen, "It may have started faster than with Souji, that it has…" Kenshin turned and looked at Megumi straight in the eyes, a kindly smile on his lips, "…but I don't intend for it to end as quickly as it did with him either."
Megumi found her smile turning into a sad smile, the memory of that night one she'd rather not remember. In this very apartment 7 years ago, that very kitchen where Sano was now wondering around getting frustrated, was that same kitchen she had held Kenshin so tightly as he cried onto her shoulder. Despite the depression Kenshin had gone through, she wished he had told Soujirou about his past earlier, before they had become so serious, before they bought this flat together, and of all days…
…not to have told him on the night Soujirou had asked if Kenshin would marry him.
"Don't look so sad." Kenshin laughed at the look on Megumi's face, but Megumi couldn't seem to bring that smile back.
"Ah! Found them!" came a voice from the kitchen, as Sano walked out with a small wooden box, the Sake glasses inside.
"I could have got them you know." Kenshin smiled, "You didn't have to offer."
"Yeah well, if I'm staying here I'm gonna have to find where everything is anyway." He said, putting them on the table.
Megumi and Aoshi both turned to stare at Kenshin. Kenshin stared back, before he realised why they were staring at him so unbelievingly, "Oh, yes you didn't know that did you?" Both siblings shook their heads, eyes still wide, "Would you believe me when I say his apartment burnt down in the middle of the night?" Again, two shaking heads.
"Oh well."
Three hours, and many a bottle of Sake later, the occupants of Kenshin's apartment had almost become entirely different people. Megumi sat on the edge of the sofa, determined to regal everyone in embarrassing tales of things that happened to Kenshin when he was younger, and occasionally slipping off the sofa very undignified and crawling back up again.
Aoshi, who had taken nearly an hour of convincing to have any Sake in the first place, lay curled up next to Megumi fast asleep. It seemed drinking didn't affect Aoshi in the 'getting drunk' stage, but just skipped straight from drinking, to immense tiredness. Kenshin sat in Sano's lap in the one armchair, Sano seemingly deliriously happy, either forgetting or not caring that his company were teachers from his college, and kept on, strangely enough, trying to plait Kenshin's hair, and with the lack of eye co-ordination at this moment, not doing a very good job of it.
Kenshin was in the middle of giggling fit for no apparent reason, and only being interrupted by a series of hic cups every now and then which just brought forward another round of giggling.
"Of course, (hic cup), you can stay here." Kenshin was attempting to say.
"Oh good!" Megumi smiled, swaying slightly, "I don't think either of us could possibly drive back now." She said, poking Aoshi in the shoulder receiving no response.
"As long as you don't mind sleeping in heeere…" Kenshin slurred as he slid of Sano's lap, giggling to himself as he tried to steady himself standing up, getting his balance, and err, 'walking', over to his bedroom to find some extra blankets.
"And you," Megumi said, pointing at Sano, who blinked in surprise at the mention of his name, "You had better start behaving yourself at college, now you live here I can have Ken check up on you!" she said very motherly like.
Sano stared at her for a minute, before asking out of the blue "How old are you?", completely unaware of the lack of respect that went with that question.
"31." was her reply, completely unaware that she wouldn't normally answer that question.
"So you were…" Sano stopped for a minute to try and do the maths in his clouded mind, "16 when your family adopted Kenshin?"
"Yes, but we found him first."
Sano frowned, "Found him?"
"Mmm," she said, as Aoshi stirred in his sleep, "We found him on our doorstep after coming home one evening, nothing but him and a sword, the very one in his office at college actually." She smiled, taking another sip of Sake.
Sano frowned again, but followed her example and gulped down another mouthful of Sake, his mind drifting with this new information, but none of it really sinking in for the moment. A thought wondering how Kenshin got there in the first place floated across his mind, but with the free Sake that was being given to him at the moment, his brain couldn't handle anything else.
With Megumi and Aoshi camped out in the lounge, Aoshi still passed out on the sofa, Sano was trying to act sober enough to be able to lock Kenshin's bedroom door.
He found himself grinning, because now the guests were out of the way, he had Kenshin all to himself, and as an added bonus, they were both drunk, and drunk, meant fiery passion…although as he turned around in hopes of pouncing on his love, ready to let loose this unbridled passion, he found his fiery redhead…not so fiery, lying half passed out on the bed.
He stared at him for a moment, and with one hand still on the door handle steadying himself , Sano smiled softly. Kenshin was so cute. When some people get drunk you'd get to see their nasty side, but with Kenshin, it just made him even more adorable. With his loveable little drunken giggles, gorgeous smile, heck even his hic cups were cute.
-We found him on our doorstep after coming home one evening, nothing but him and a sword-
Sano frowned, what Megumi had unwittingly told him coming to the surface. What happened to him? Found him? But he was 11 years old right? Where had he been until then? And a sword? That was weird. But still…there was one thing that was bothering him even more…
Stumbling over and falling onto the bed, Sano crawled up behind Kenshin under the covers and held his back to his chest, one arm draped over Kenshin's chest keeping him close. Snuggling up to him, the fiery heat he had a moment ago gently subsiding at the peaceful and tired look on Kenshin's face, Sano yawned.
"Hey Kenshin?" he said softly.
"Mm?" came the barely audible response.
"Who's this Saito guy?"
Kenshin slowly opened his eyes, seeing nothing but darkness and the red digits on his digital clock. "What?" he frowned, not sure if he'd heard that correctly.
Sano yawned again, finding now that he'd laid down, a tiredness was quickly sweeping over him, "It's just while you were in the kitchen when those detectives were round, Okina asked me if I knew Hajime Saito. Why'd they ask me that?"
Kenshin blinked, suddenly feeling very much awake. "Saito…?" Soujirou had mentioned him too…but why would Saito…?
"Yeah, I met him in college," Sano continued, "Man he's a grouch, telling me to stay away from you, what's his problem anyway?"
Kenshin was suddenly very sober, eyes wide in the darkness, heart beat quickening. Saito had spoken to Sano? About him? But then…
"….what did he tell you?" Kenshin whispered, "…..Sano?"
"Mm?" Sano said, already half asleep.
"What did he tell you?" Kenshin repeated, more concern in his voice.
"Oh, that he'd hurt me if I stayed with you…" he trailed off, his mind finally giving up on the conscious world, and happy to be lulled to sleep by Kenshin's warmth, holding such a wonderful person so close.
Kenshin however suddenly felt as though he hadn't drunk a single drop of that Sake. He'd been made sober and wide awake at the simple mention of Saito. How did he know Sano had been seeing him? How? But…but even so, why would he care? He never blinked once when he went out with Soujirou, why would he suddenly want to stop him being with Sano?
That fire… Kenshin suddenly thought, heart racing at what he was about to say to himself, That fire had to have been him…he was trying to get rid of Sano…
For the first time in his life, he prayed that he'd run into Saito tomorrow at college, because if he did, Saito was going to have a lot of explaining to do, and as Kenshin's eyes narrowed at the thought, glaring into nothingness with an image of Saito in his mind, Saito may find regretting trying to kill someone he loved.
Waking up with such a huge hangover on a college day wasn't funny. Waking up to find you needed to wash and dry your previous day's clothes in about 10 minutes because you had no others made that day even worse. To find of course you had even more work to do over the weekend now because you'd missed a day of college made that day just…not even funny anymore.
"Sano?"
"Oh for crying out loud," Sano mumbled to himself, trying to get some work done during lunch as he wanted to spend as much time with Kenshin over the weekend rather than sitting do coursework, "What?" he demanded at Karou, in a foul mood at everyone's constant question's over how come he and Kenshin were off on the same day, to which of course, he denied everything. Teacher and student relationships were never shined on, so the two of them had agreed to keep things quiet at college.
"Umm…" she said, looking rather strangely at him, "What is that on your neck?" she pointed.
Sano blinked, "My neck?"
Placing his pen on the table and putting his hand at the side of his neck, he felt a small bump there. Feeling it for a moment wondering what on earth he could have done, his eyes suddenly went wide when he realised what it was…just as a shocked Karou did too.
"Is that a love bite?" she said horrified, coming to the conclusion that with him and Kenshin being off together that love bite could only have come from one person.
"Errr…man, I totally forgot about that." Sano said, rather nervous looking at Karou who suddenly glowered at him, her fists clenched, "Umm, look, Kenshin and I, don't-"
"DID MY KENSHIN DO THAT? NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" she screamed, bursting into tears, most of the lunch hall turning to face them, other nearer girls who'd been half listening to the conversation turning to see this love bite, then they too bursting into tears.
"Oh boy…" Sano sighed, giving up before he'd even started on an explanation, knowing full well he was in for a lot of jealous girls coming his way for information/gossip/general torture.
Kenshin hurried from the small teachers meeting during the first part of lunch back to his office. He walked quicker through the halls, a darker look on his face, heading to his office where he hoped that Saito would be waiting for him. If he was going to show up any when during the day, it would be during lunch, and this would the one time he'd really want to see him.
Coming up to the door, Kenshin opened it to see the very person he'd been hoping to see.
Saito sat in Kenshin's chair behind his desk, polishing the sheath of the sword he'd taken down from above the window. He glanced up when Kenshin walked in, and continued polishing for a moment.
"You look angry." he commented, as he picked up the sheathed sword and stood up.
"Did you start that fire?" Kenshin demanded, closing and locking the door.
"Fire? What fire?" Saito asked, eyes smirking.
Something in Kenshin's own eyes seemed to snap for a moment, and in lightening fast speed, Saito suddenly found the tip of an un-sheathed sword pointing at his neck, the sheath he was holding feeling light now empty.
"Did you, or did you not, start that fire?" Kenshin growled, his eyes piercing into Saito's.
Saito kept his head back a little at the closeness of the metal tip at his throat, and smirked, "Yes…I started the fire."
Almost unconsciously Kenshin's arm moved the sword an inch closer to Saito's neck, a burning anger inside as the tip touched his skin.
"Why?" he demanded.
Saito watched him, in a stance he hadn't seen in a long long time. The way he held the sword, the stillness and perfect balance of the blade, and those eyes…eyes that had never accompanied such a young child, and eyes that hadn't been seen since. To the untrained eye, nothing had changed about Kenshin, but there was one thing that made Saito want to laugh.
"What are you doing?" he asked, not a falter in Kenshin's eyes, "Why are you threatening me with this? You know very well you wouldn't do it…you wouldn't kill me, you can't anymore, remember?"
The sword lowered a small fraction as a conflict began in Kenshin's eyes. He wanted to be angry, he wanted to hurt Saito so much for trying to kill Sano, he wanted to…to….
"You're no threat anymore," Saito continued, as Kenshin struggled within himself to come to some sort of a conclusion about what he should do, "Years ago if you had done this to me, I would have been generally afraid, but now…you're just like this sword." Saito raised one hand, wrapping it around the sword, squeezing gently letting blood seep from his hand, but it shouldn't have been from where it came from. "You're just like this reverse blade sword that I gave you…" he smirked as Kenshin's eyes seemed to soften, a more worried expression as the sword slipped from his hand, letting Saito take its weight and take it from him, placing it back into its sheath.
Putting in back on his desk and walking up to him, Saito took Kenshin's chin in his hand and stared down at him, "…pathetic." He said, letting go sharply and unlocking the door, walking out leaving Kenshin alone.
As the door swung shut, Kenshin stood there staring at the sword on his desk with wide eyes, eyes that couldn't believe the thought that had ran through his mind. For a brief second, he would have done the one thing that he had sworn never, never to let himself do again. For a split second, he would have returned to that time, a time that he had spent so long running away from.
For one small moment, Kenshin had wanted to kill him.
To Be Continued…