Title: The Geas

Author: Dragon's Daughter

Fandom: Rurouni Kenshin

Disclaimer: I don't own Rurouni Kenshin. I am making no profit by writing this fan fiction. It is intended for recreation purposes only.

Pairing: K/K A/M

Rating: R / NC-17

Summary: Life hasn't been good for Kaoru since the day her father died and her evil witch of a stepmother turned her into a literal slave. A spell binds her every movement and hides her from the sight of the world until she happens across the path of Kenshin, a veteran of the Revolution who can not only see her, but is instantly smitten with her!

Archiving: Shattered Theories, Adult ,

Notes: The unedited version of this fic will be available at Adult and at my personal webpage, Shattered Theories.

Chapter Two: Defiance

Kaoru didn't stop running until she was very nearly home. The euphoria of triumph had flooded her veins with pure energy and she'd danced and laughed like a child all the way!

She'd defied the geas!

Keeping her name secret was one of the tightest strictures of the geas and she'd broken it! She blushed as she recalled what it had taken to force the defiance, but still it was something!

"I guess I owe Idiot-sama after that one!" she mused happily as she stepped into the back gate just at the spell-borders came crashing down. She felt herself propelled a few steps closer to the house, but she couldn't mind. Quickly she schooled her features into her normal downtrodden expression lest Yumi notice and look for ways to punish her. Inside she was singing and already formulating a lie for the origin of the fruit that Yumi would believe.

Yahiko was perched on the woodpile behind the stove as she entered the kitchen. He cast a disbelieving glance at the round and heavy globes as she entered, but didn't say anything as she set the basket on the table beside him and turned her back. Two of those oranges would be missing by the time she turned around, but if she didn't see it then the geas couldn't make her stop him.

Kaoru quickly stowed her purchases and made for her little room where her 'work clothes' waited. Soon it would be time to start dinner and she wanted to be in her apron and something sturdier before Yumi came to make her inspections.

She changed quickly and was wearing her drab brown and tan kimono with the grayed cotton smock and quietly chopping vegetables by the time her stepmother sauntered into the kitchen. Kaoru didn't look up, but kept her hands flying while pretending she hadn't noticed the intrusion. Yumi always liked to think she was watching Kaoru unawares. There was no point in enlightening the woman to the fact that she walked like a herd of oxen.

Yumi reached past Kaoru to pick up one of the precious oranges. Kaoru made sure to just in feigned surprise and spin to face her stepmother with an appropriate expression of fear. Kaoru held her breath as Yumi weighed the fruit in her hand. The woman cocked and elegantly arched brow at her. "This is good. I take it that the market was good to us today?"

A quick nod was all the answer Yumi wanted. "There was a smuggler at the docks." She murmured quickly. "I got there before he was reported."

Mercifully, Yumi accepted the story. She nodded and put the orange back. From there she continued her inspection of the kitchen. Yahiko had vanished when he heard her coming so he wasn't there to receive a dressing down for his grubby shirt and feet. Kaoru stood with her head bowed until her stepmother swept out of the kitchen without a parting word. Kaoru breathed a sigh of relief in the wake of her departure and turned back to her vegetables, letting the geas control her motions as her mind wandered.

It had been odd that Idiot-sama hadn't brushed her off immediately after picking her up off the streets. The geas should have distracted him. It worked on most people, although there were a few like her friend the Fruit Vendor who could focus on her after she got their attention. She didn't know what was different about them, but she knew there were people that Yumi just couldn't work magic on. She complained about them often enough to her oldest, Shura who was a little miniature of her mother although she hadn't shown any signs of magical talent. Kaoru overheard a great deal in the household since her 'family' considered her to be deaf, dumb, and blind.

Well, Misao wasn't as bad at the other two, Kaoru corrected herself. The youngest Kamiya had a genuinely good heart and often went out of her way to help Kaoru out. Because of that Kaoru made sure her dinners weren't nearly as foul as Yumi and Shura's. If there was good fruit in the house then Kaoru slipped it into Misao's bedroom since the geas wouldn't let her eat it herself unless Yahiko gave it to her.

Still… it had almost been nice to be noticed for once, even if it had been His High-Handed Highness, Himura Kenshin. She snuck a glance at the oranges he'd bought for her. What kind of person bought those just to repay a debt? And not even a serious debt at that! Kaoru couldn't tell if he was being generous or showing off. She wanted to think he was just flashing cash, but the way he'd been looking at her portended something else. She shivered at the memory of that yellow-eyed expression of his. As if he could intimidate her into lifting her skirts for him! Some of her anger flowed back into her veins, banishing her shivers.

"Oi, busu!" Yahiko appeared at her elbow, eyeing the vegetables she was chopping with the avaricious eye of a boy just hitting his first growth spurt.

Kaoru ruffled his hair, ignoring his protests and distracted herself by running a whetstone over her cleaver while he pocketed some of the ends and tails. By the time she turned back he was back in the rear courtyard and she could hear the distinctive sounds of wood being chopped.

Yahiko had been something of a gift from on high for her. The young boy was one of the people who could see her without help. He started hanging around her yard a few months back, just watching her in the evenings as she secretly practiced her martial arts. The geas wasn't sure what to classify him as so he was ignored. Then one day, bold as brass he came up to her and demanded that she teach him. Kaoru hadn't known what to do so she gave him a condition: if he could get Yumi to hire him on as help then she would include him in her evening sessions. The next day Yumi introduced Kaoru to her new pot-boy.

Agreeing to teach him had been the best thing Kaoru ever did. Not only was he a natural with the shinai, the brat was unnaturally observant. She hadn't even had to try and explain the geas to him. He'd figured it out on his own. According to him, the Yakuza he'd once lived with had used them a great deal before the police chased him out of town. He knew the signs and had her limits figured out within a week.

As a former pickpocket, the boy was very good at making food disappear at exactly the moment Kaoru couldn't stop him. Yet he was equally good at filching enough for two and dividing the spoils at the end of the day to supplement the poor fare of rice and a few scanty vegetables, which was all Yumi would permit them. More than that, teaching him was the one thing, aside from market day, that Kaoru looked forward to in the evening.

When her father had been conscripted to fight in Satsuma Yumi had cancelled all his classes and closed the Dojo. If she could have, the evil woman would have burned the scrolls that he'd left behind in case he didn't return from war. Pity that she couldn't find them…

If the Kamiya Kasshin Ryu was to have a future, then it rested in Myogin Yahiko. Kaoru knew better than to think that she'd ever be able to marry, much less pass her teaching on to her children. As the last shihandai of her father's school, Kaoru knew it was her duty to ensure the school's survival. Of the two of them, Yahiko was able to escape and when he did, he would take the Kamiya Kasshin with him.

This was not to say that Kaoru wouldn't keep it in her own heart. It was just that she didn't have a teacher to spar with and had to make do with street thugs on… market… day…

Kaoru swore violently and dropped her cleaver. She'd forgotten her shinai! She must have dropped it when that buffoon had knocked her down! He certainly hadn't let her pick it up when he hauled her off! She felt a little sick. Yahiko would have to pilfer another one from the locked Dojo and there was no telling what kind of shape that equipment was in after nearly nine years of neglect. Going back for it was not an option. It wouldn't be there when she returned the next week, or if it was it would be in shards!

She scowled darkly. Idiot-sama was going to pay for that and not in the way he was accustomed to either!

On the other side of the city, in a modest town house Kenshin Himura contemplated a saucer of saké. He turned it this way and that, letting the candlelight sparkle across the clear fluid and wondered what it would taste like if he were to take a sip.

For fifteen years now the saké had tasted like blood.

These days it wasn't as bad as it had been once, but the alcohol still carried a coppery tang that made it unpalatable. For a brief time it had tasted of plum blossoms, but that too had been wrong. Kenshin wondered if the day would ever come when he took a sip and just tasted fermented rice.

He set the saucer down by its companion pitcher, which was almost completely full, and stared into the flickering flames of his hearth. He was alone in his parlor. His servants had retired long ago and he was alone. They knew when their Master was going to have another one of his sleepless nights.

Normally he'd stay up and reflect upon his sins, but tonight however he was thinking of oranges.

If he closed his eyes he could see her in his mind as vibrant and brazen as she'd been the moment she dared raise a hand to him. There was no doubt in his mind that he'd deserved it, but she'd called him on it. She'd called him on a great many things in the short time he'd had her. It had been habit to run her through his 'Three Tests', but he'd been delighted when she'd passed every single one! Not only was she educated enough to recognize the fallacies he'd fed her, but she was brave enough to correct him.

"… and observant enough to catch me at it," he mused. That had been glorious bonus. Staying ahead of her took a lot of skill, but he couldn't begrudge it. It would be difficult to begrudge her anything if he'd read his reactions aright. There was just something about the way that lower lip of hers jutted out when she got stubborn that made him want to spoil her… or lick it. Licking it was a good idea too.

Perhaps she was eating one of those oranges right that very minute. That full lower lip of hers would fold around it as she bit into the juicy fruit. He could see her little pink tongue dart out to catch the excess moisture. Maybe there'd be a little in the corner of her mouth that she missed. All of a sudden his mouth went dry.

'Down boy!' Kenshin squeezed his eyes shut and banished the enticing image from his mind. 'Bad!'

"You don't even know her, Himura." He told himself. "You saw her once in the market. Never mind the fact that most couples are lucky for that much time together before they're dragged up to the altar. She's a servant girl also ignoring the fact that you used to be a slave. She wouldn't know how to handle the kind of society you move in, although she already has a better start than you did."

The only arguments he could make for doing The Right Thing and leaving her alone were weak at best and circular at worst. If the insular little world of the Tokyo Elite could adjust to include him then it would easily accept her. Kenshin scowled. He hated arguing with himself and hated the fact that he had nothing else to do even more.

Perhaps that was why Sanosuke was so emphatic that he should get married.

Kenshin's scowl faded. It wasn't that he didn't think it was a good idea. A warm body in bed with him at night always banished the nightmares, but the women he consorted with never stayed long. Although with Kaoru he wasn't sure if he'd be sleeping with her much… maybe staying up late arguing. He chuckled and grinned. Arguing inevitably ended in making-up. There was an activity he could safely enjoy.

'… but then there's the issue of her current situation.' Kenshin frowned at himself. 'Getting ahead of ourselves aren't we, Himura?'

Indeed, he was putting the cart before the horse. At present he could safely say that she wanted nothing to do with him. If he went calling then the best he could hope for was that she didn't have a knife handy. It was just as well that she was so adorable when she got into a frothing rage.

Training that night didn't go so well. Yahiko hadn't minded stealing a new shinai, but Kaoru didn't like having to make him do it. They sparred a bit, but both combatants were so tired that they ended up going to bed early anyway.

Yahiko was curled up by the kitchen hearth when Kaoru returned from her abbreviated wash at the water pump. He had the remains of a quilt in lieu of a futon and substituted a thin summer blanket purloined from the linen chest where the quilt should have been. Kaoru eyed him for a long moment before fetching her own blanket, which wasn't much better than what he was sleeping on.

It was already getting cold at night so the water had been frigid. She made sure to dry herself well before laying down beside him. The young boy sat up immediately when he felt the heavier blanket settle over him. "What are you doing?" he demanded.

"It's too cold to sleep alone." She informed him. "Your virtue is safe with me. Now quit complaining and lay down."

With no small amount of grumbling, Yahiko eventually settled down. After he nodded off, Kaoru felt safe to put an arm around his waist and draw him closer. The ten year old instinctively sought her warmth and she had to smile. No matter how mature he seemed, Yahiko was still just a boy. He wasn't much older than she'd been when her father died and Kaoru remembered the many lonely nights when she wished she could still go crawl into her father's futon. She still had nights like that, but it wasn't her father that she wanted anymore. It wasn't Yahiko either. Kaoru sighed and curled an arm beneath her ear as she watched the younger boy sleep.

She found her mind wandering back to the events of the afternoon. As before a pair of predatory yellow eyes gazed out at her from the depths of her memory, only this time she wasn't angry.

It didn't take a genius to guess what he had wanted from her. If he'd reappeared exactly at that moment, Kaoru might have actually given it to him just to feel warm hands on her and to forget for an hour or two that she'd been condemned to hell without even having died.

'Luckily the chances of you ever seeing him again are slim to none.' She comforted herself. 'They're only marginally better than chances of him remembering you should you meet him again.' So maybe it would safe to dream… just a little.

"You must be kidding, Okashira."

Aoshi didn't respond right away. Instead he swept the room and his assembled Oniwabanshuu with his cold blue gaze. They fidgeted under his attention, but none of them looked away. These were the men he'd been responsible for since the advent of his thirteenth birthday. Of the nine onmitsu under his command, the four men before him represented the best the Oniwabanshuu had to offer: Hanya, Beshimi, Hyottoko, and Shikijou.

"I am not in the habit of 'kidding'." Aoshi said darkly with a dark glance at Shikijou, who had been responsible for the outburst. "This is your new assignment on behalf of our Benefactor, Himura-san. The girl has captured his interest." He paused to let them absorb the layers of meaning in that statement.

'Yes, boys', he thought fondly. 'We've finally got a chance to marry the eccentric bastard off and get him out of our hair.'

It had been Hanya's idea to toss Kenshin into the Marriage Market. They all had respect for the man and hated to see him drowning in retirement, not that anyone wanted him to leave it. He just needed some company. A wife meant that they could force him into a steady schedule, making it far easier on whoever was assigned to guard him that day. No-one of the Oniwabanshuu was getting any younger and it was getting harder to keep up with Kenshin every day. A woman would settle him and help him redirect all that damn energy.

To that end they'd been covertly directing suitable candidates into the man's path, but none of them had managed to defeat his short attention span. Until Kaoru that was. The only downside was that they knew nothing about her, but that would soon change.

"Command us, Okashira." Hanya said simply and his comrades-in-arms nodded in agreement.

"I want twenty-four hour surveillance on the Central Shopping District, especially the poorer areas." He withdrew a sheaf of papers from one of the drawers in the enormous desk that housed all the paperwork generated by their day-to-day maneuvers. He tossed it desktop. "That represents everything I know about the girl and includes an accurate artistic depiction. I would advise all of you to look through the packet."

The packet however did not include his reservations about the dark magical film that seemed to coat the girl's aura. None of them were mage enough to notice it except him or perhaps Okina. Hanya might have noticed if he met the girl personally and spent several hours examining her. They didn't know what to look for.

A shinai awaited Aoshi in his Working room where he'd use it to cast a scrying spell in order to narrow down his search. The object indeed knew where it lived, but it could hardly give him directions. The spell would give him a general idea of where to start, but after that he faced the onerous task of going from house to house waiting for the shinai to say 'Here it is! I live here!'

Hopefully one of his onmitsu would spot her in the market and follow her home before that happened. Still, the spell on the girl was so subtle that it might completely disguise her even from his ninjas' expert eyes.

Still, one way or another the girl would be found and stuffed into a wedding kimono. If Aoshi had to walk her down the aisle at sword point then so be it.

Days passed.

As Market Day drew near once more, Kaoru found that Idiot-sama still hadn't left her thoughts. More than once she found herself idly wondering if she might run into him again before she caught the thought and stamped the life out it.

Countless Saturdays had passed before without her catching so much as a glimpse of him. There was absolutely no chance that she would meet him again. Kaoru reassured herself of this fact several times as she went through the usual ritual of Market Day. This week she had to make due with her second best kimono, which barely passed inspection. As usual she retrieved her shinai, the new one, from behind the house and made her way to the Shopping district in an uncharacteristic huff.

Kaoru didn't pause to appreciate the ambience of the Shopping District, but instead plunged straight in and made for her rounds. She had last week to make up for and if she was going to get her fights in then she had to hustle.

Rice, vegetables, miso, books, and salt were easy, but when Kaoru approached her very favorite fruit stall she found her steps slowing as she saw a certain red-head perched on a stool behind the display and chatting avidly with the vendor.

Oh someone had it in for her! Kaoru squeezed her eyes shut and opened them again, hoping against hope that her mind was playing tricks on her. It wasn't and now the vendor had noticed her. The little man grinned and waved to her like her always did and slowly Himura turned to face in her direction.

Kaoru's heart leapt into her throat. It was That Look.

Time faltered and suddenly he was directly in front of her and looking as stern as a school teacher. Somehow he'd managed to cross the distance between them without her seeing how and stood frowning down at her.

"It's been six days." He said quietly. "You left me to wait for nearly a week."

"So you can count! I was wondering if you'd make the connection." As soon as it was out of her mouth Kaoru blushed. Even if it was Idiot-sama, that had been just unconscionably rude! Still in for sen, in for yen. "I don't recall cross-verifying my schedule with you. Good day, sir."

Like last time he was in her way almost before she had a way to be in. That stern look had faded and his violet eyes danced with merriment. He held a hand to his head and fluttered his lashes at her. "Oh, you wound me, fair maiden. I was left to yearn! I yearned for six long days! Have pity on me, my sweet for I only wished to bask in the warm light of your regard."

Kaoru stared at him. "How long did it take you to think that up?"

"About four days." He confessed.

She should have been angry, but the fine effervescence of rage that had been boiling in her chest since she'd laid eyes on him once more went flat all of a sudden. It was as though her capacity for anger was a tub of water and someone had pulled the plug. "Well, at least you're honest." She sighed and stepped around him. This time he let her. It came as no surprise that he followed her to the Fruit stand, but amazingly he didn't interfere when she made her purchases. He must have had a talk with her friend.

After packing her grocery basket (with apples this week) and deciding to forgo another watermelon she said her good-byes to the fruit merchant and made for the Docks. Idiot-sama predictably followed in her wake. Kaoru wondered if he'd get bored and wander off, but he didn't. For once he was silent even as she accepted the paper-wrapped parcel that represented her next foray into culinary catastrophe and confirmed the usual deliveries.

"So that's why it took you so long." Himura observed as he followed her away from the fishmonger. Kaoru continued to ignore him, but silently cursed herself for not remembering that he'd be present. Hopefully the geas was working well enough to keep him from realizing that he could get her address from the fishmonger.

If he'd made the connection then he gave no sign. Rather, Kaoru felt his hand curl around her elbow as he stepped intimately close. "You're finished with your shopping, yes?" Without waiting for an answer, he pulled her off in the direction of the Storefronts once more. Kaoru stifled a squawk of affront as she knew she'd need all her breath for navigating the crowd.

Heaven help Himura Kenshin when they arrived though.

The crowd disgorged them in front of a modest little boutique that, despite its unassuming demeanor, housed the leading Modiste in Tokyo. Inside the door, Kaoru could see bolts and bolts of vibrant silks, delicate muslins, and other fabrics that she didn't even have names for. She stood frozen on the threshold as Himura did his best to usher her inside.

A hand crept down to touch the worn cotton skirt of the kimono she currently wore. Kaoru cast a glance down at herself to verify that the patches and darns still marked her as a permanently second-class citizen. For a second she'd almost forgotten. The lure of those beautiful fabrics appealed to something inside her that was still feminine and entranced by pretty objects despite everything she'd gone through. No, she was still Kaoru the scullion not Kaoru the Princess. Somehow that lent her strength and even when Himura pushed a little more insistently than was strictly polite she managed to hold fast.

"No." she said it firmly, flatly, in the voice she used when teaching Yahiko. It affected Himura just a little by making him stand a bit straighter, but she hadn't won yet.

"I still owe you a new dress." He pointed out reasonably. "You won't give me your measurements, so I'll have to have them fitted especially. They hardly make ready-to-wear kimonos. So if you'll just step inside and let the nice lady take your…"

"NO!" Kaoru screamed it.

To add insult to injury, not a single head turned on the street. Kaoru's eyes burned with unshed tears that she refused to acknowledge. Himura stared at her with confusion etched into every line of his face. The ignorant fool had no idea what he was dangling in front of her. "You don't even understand what you're doing." She spat and turned on her heel. As always he was blocking her before she even started walking, but this time she balled a fist a punched him in the chest.

It wasn't a hard punch, but it did knock him back on his heels as he absorbed the damage. She didn't remove her fist, but instead bowed her head so that her bangs would hide the tears of defeat that were brimming in her eyes.

For no reason that Kenshin was comfortable facing, the sight of crystalline tears sparkling from behind the shield of her black hair hit him harder than she had. It was like Sanosuke had delivered his trademark 'Futae no Kiwami' straight into the pit of his stomach. Those weren't tears of gratitude or joy… no those were tears that he was all too familiar with. Frustration, anger, and sheer helplessness streamed down her face and he found himself cupping her cheeks and desperately trying to erase those marks with his thumbs.

"I've hurt you." He said softly as he watched her waver between leaning into his hands and swatting them away. "That was the last thing I wanted."

Those brilliant sapphire eyes (really his memory hadn't done them justice) snapped with indignation and that luscious lower lip reset into the stubborn angle that had been haunting his thoughts since last Saturday. "Let me go, Himura." She growled although the effect was ruined when she hiccoughed halfway though.

Kenshin had to laugh. She looked so much like an angry kitten that he could help it. If he'd thought for a moment that she meant it his hands would have been off her so fast the displaced air might have damaged her hearing, but that little hesitation when she tried to pull away let him know that she just in the habit of denying herself the things she wanted.

Any fool could have seen the naked longing in her eyes when he pushed her into the doorway of the dress shop. For a second he'd been so sure that he'd found the perfect leverage, but then… then she'd started screaming followed by the tears.

He closed his fingers around the fist she still had planted in the center of his chest. Her punch hadn't exactly hurt per-se, but he'd definitely felt it. This made twice that she'd hit him, but now more than ever he had the niggling suspicion that he wasn't the one she was striking out at. No, he was only the target she could reach. Moving slowly and never letting his eyes leave hers, he brought her palm up to his mouth and laid a soft kiss in the center of her palm.

Kaoru's vivid blue eyes widened with surprise, but he could detect no traces of disgust or fear. Instead there was a sort of pained wistfulness in her eyes, the same expression that had replaced the desire when she'd turned away from the clothes Shoppe; as if she were looking at something she wanted badly, but could never ever have.

If it was the last thing he ever did, Kenshin Himura was going to prove to her that she could have the world if she wanted it.

The skin beneath his lips was hard and cracked. It looked painful and if he'd had any hope at all that she'd accept it, he'd have taken her to get some kind of lotion to soothe it. His own hands had looked like that once and he remembered all too well how good it had felt when he'd finally gotten his skin supple enough that it didn't crack open when the weather turned dry. Unfortunately he was having enough trouble getting her to accept repayment. Getting to accept a gift would be like convincing her to drink hemlock!

"I wish I knew what it would take for you to trust me?" He sighed and nuzzled her palm. There was no harm in making his intentions clear, but he'd go no further than this until she gave him clear sign that she'd be open to it.

Her tender mouth tightened and her eyes went hard. "If you have to ask then you probably won't manage it." She said with a sigh. "Maybe if you'd tried the 'white knight' act on me five years ago you'd have found a better reception."

Kenshin chuckled. "You would have been how old then; fourteen? Fifteen? You make me feel like a dirty old man."

She snorted and almost (almost!) smiled, but she hid it valiantly. "I was twelve, actually. Still, I'm too old to be deceived by a few cheap trinkets. Save it for someone who's been waiting their whole life for someone like you. I'm not what you want."

"So jaded," Kenshin mused. "So young…still it sounds like you're challenging me. I never could resist a dare." Her eyes widened and her delicate nostrils flared as his hand shot out to capture one of the dragon locks that framed her face and twisted it around his finger. Her breathing falter as her lowered his lips to the glossy stuff and looked impudently up at her. "You're going to trust me before all others." It wasn't a question or even a prediction. It was fact.

"Don't get your hopes up!" She snatched her hands away and darted around him.

It was too easy to use his speed to block her off and it had gotten to be a bit of a game really. Kaoru scowled and tried to fight past him, but between her clothing, basket, and the crowd she had no chance.

Laughter burbled up in his chest, but he kept his face straight with an effort. Letting it go would just get him slapped again and he had plans for something else. An adorable flush of anger gathered on her cheeks as she dodged from side to side, trying to find an opening of opportunity. He let himself hesitate just long enough that she almost made it past him before she found an arm around her middle.

She shrieked as he literally swept her off her feet and cradled her against his chest. Kenshin grinned as she cursed him and while her mouth was open and saying horrible things about his mother, he kissed her. She froze underneath him as his tongue darted into her mouth to flick against hers, just enough to let her know he could have done more. He withdrew fully prepared for the storm of abuse about to descend upon him, but the woman in his arms was silent.

Kaoru was absolutely rigid. Her beautiful eyes were completely blank and her mouth was still open and moist from his kiss. She was white as a sheet and didn't move except for the telltale rise and fall of her chest, which indicated that she was breathing at least.

"Kaoru?" Kenshin shook her a little, but she didn't respond. "Kaoru! Speak to me!"

Then all at once, the lights came back on in her eyes and Kenshin had about two minutes to be relieved before her small hand went over her shoulder for the shinai strapped to her back.

Ten minutes later Kaoru stalked away from Himura's broken and bleeding body as the geas reminded her that she was on borrowed time.

Her lips tingled rebelliously and she could taste that faint hint of citrus that had lingered on his tongue. If she closed her eyes then there he was painted on the insides of her lids, smiling down at her with that smug and satiated smile. Her cheeks reddened and she contemplated darting back to deal him another blow.

The sheer cheek! How dare he? Of all the unmitigated gall!

That had represented Kaoru's very first kiss and it had been stolen.

One more dream tossed down the gutters. She felt sick. Had it really been too much to hope for that at least that one little thing might have gone according to plan? She hadn't asked for much: just a quiet moment with someone she cared about. He didn't have to be handsome or rich, just kind…

Instead she'd gotten handsome, rich, and fickle. She knew the type and had been dodging them since the day she's sprouted breasts. Wealthy men were always looking for a cheap mistress of low enough rank that she would be completely dependant on him and couldn't complain when he cast her off. Sometimes they could see through the geas, like Himura and several times Kaoru had barely escaped with her virtue intact.

More tears streaked down her face; useless tears for a hopeless woman. She couldn't even get her first kiss right!

'Well, there's an upside to all this,' she thought as she made her way back. 'At least I won't see him again after this. He'd be insane to come after me again.'

As she left the marketplace, it occurred to Kaoru that once again she'd forgot to get her practice in.

Well… damn.

End Chapter Two

Seiyuu: New update! Once again, no edited bits but there will be next chapter!