A/N: Thank you for your great reviews...I really want to finish writing my fics before I'm off for holiday..thus explains my daily updating..hope I don't bore you guys...! A long chapter this time..is it enough to appease you?heheh..Shouldn't be too far from finishing line..

Disclaimer: Kaoru & Yukishiro siblings are the property of Watsuki Sensei...

Chapter VI

'What had just happened', Kaoru asked herself.

She was in the bathroom still, immersing herself in a bathtub full of hot water, contemplating.

She still couldn't believe it. She was…kissed! And darn, it was her first kiss too! and by him too! She unconsciously brought her forefinger to touch her lips. Immediately, the breathtaking moments inside the store room flooded her mind once again. She blushed in embarassment and quickly dunked her head into the water…. 'just don't think anymore'….

As she looked up, she pondered "What would happen…this was only the second day. Kaa-san and Yukishiro-san would be back in two more days…"

'Aargh…this bath doesn't make me feel refreshed anyway'…She emerged out from the water, and wrapped herself with a large fluffy towel as she faced the mirror and made a funny face.

Taking a deep breath she said "Your mistake is to let your opponent kicked your ass"..she imitated, looking straight at her reflection.
'Ugh…I look so u-g-l-y!' she thought in frustration. Why did it all come out wrongly? I was meant to say…"Let's eat, then you should practice some more for your upcoming tournament" She clenched her teeth, feeling rather upset at herself.

She took her bathrobe and put it on, and was about to turn around to reach the doorknob, but out of the corner of her eyes, a dark shadow was formed on the door. She was flabbergasted. "E..Enishi?", she gasped in fear. She hoped it was him. Huh? what was I thinking? Him sneaking up on me?

She stepped back as quietly as she could, taking a loofah stick unconsciously as she eyed the door. 'What the..?'

The door knob turned and the door opened widely, revealing a rather burly figure of a stranger wearing a mask around his face.

She was way beyond startled as she screamed on top of her lungs, all while swinging her loofah stick around blindly. The stranger was also very surprised and tried to duck to avoid getting hit by her powerful swings.The adrenaline rush within her made her kept going, and the scream was, thankfully, loud enough to alert someone.

Enishi was in Tomoe's room and just about to tuck in the sleepy-looking Tomoe, as he heard the piercing scream. What was that? Kaoru?

He swiftly put Tomoe down as he ran toward the direction of her scream.

He gawked at the picture presented before him. Kaoru, clad in her bathrobe, was swinging…what is it? ... he narrowed his eyes. un..loofah stick! at a thief! A THIEF? The alarm in his head went off. He quickly grabbed both of her shoulders.

"Get away, Kaoru!"

"N..no! T..Thief..wait!", she marched off to the thief. She was obviously insane... Enishi's turquouise eyes blazed with a renewed intensity as he jerked off her movement, ruining her momentum. She yelped in surprise.

"Get away I said, you're a girl, for goodness' sake!", he shoved her away forcefully this time.

Kaoru just gaped at him, her hands still tightly gripping her ultimate weapon

The kick that Enishi sent the thief then was incredibly awesome.

Kaoru noted as the thief flew off to one corner of the room, rendered unconscious all of the sudden.

The conversation between the police officer and Yukishiro Enishi went unnoticed by Kaoru. She was sitting down in her bedroom, still clad in her bathrobe, with Tomoe next to her, holding a glass of drink. Tomoe decided to come down to check out on her step-sister instead of sleeping. The five-year old was holding her step-sister hand tightly as she made a fuss over the whole incident. Whatever the little girl said glided past her ears, for Kaoru's mind went blank..

"Yes, it's apparently one of those weird under-wear thiefs that have been wandering around the neighbourhood for a couple of weeks", the officer grinned amusedly. Enishi has to fight the urge to roll his eyes.

Soon after the thief was safely taken away by the police officer, he stepped into the house and carefully checked all the locks on the doors and the windows He then sighed. One of his hands went right into the mass of spiky hair as he finally entered Kaoru's room.

"Kaoru, Tomoe..", he called out.

Kaoru woke up from her stupor, stood up and came rushing to hug him tightly.

"Nii-san, you've saved me!", she slurred a little.

Now this was very, very un-Kaoruish.

Enishi's eyes widened quite considerably as he valiantly fought the surge of heat that rose on his face. Then, he observed her slightly flushed face and droopy eyes looking back at him. His eyes gazed into Tomoe's, noting an empty cup sat on the table.

He eyed it suspiciously "Tomoe-chan…what did you give to nee-san?", he asked carefully.

Tomoe pointed her finger toward a wooden cabinet. "That", she replied innocently, referring to a big black bottle of fine Brandy that their father drinks occassionally. Tomoe was definitely too smart for her age...

He sighed heavily, trying to peel Kaoru's lithe body off his, as he took Tomoe's hand and tucked her to bed. It wasn't an easy task. 'Damn..I much prefer to tackle that big oaf at the tournament rather than this...'

"Nii-san…where are you going?", a drunk Kaoru asked.

"I'll be back", he replied.

After tucking in Tomoe, he went back into his step sister's room, observing the blank look that the ebony-haired girl sported.

"Ah…there you are!", she chirped happily as she spotted her step brother.

"Yeah..yeah..", he replied, not knowing what to do with a drunk woman. 'Damn..and that was a cup full of pure brandy..'

"You know, you saved me….and that kick, that was an awesome kick", Kaoru smiled widely as she said it, breaking his thoughts into pieces.

Enishi was a little surprised. 'She's unaware that she's complimenting me..' the corners of his mouth turned up slightly.

"Yeah..I join Judo club, remember?", he said with a slight haughtiness in his voice.

"Uh..hum…and the best judoka in the state too…", she absently said, the wide smile never faltered.

"Hey, hey…it wasn't even a national tournament...do you know that you're complementing me?", he asked, trying to shift the topic. She didn't seem to notice what he just said.

"Mm….great…still young and already working toward a big dream..", she continued on. A certain spark in her eyes dimmed down.

"Kaoru…", he said warily, immediately noticing her saddened outlook.

"…I know…I know..though..People with those eyes will go…they will go away and forsake me, abandon me just like Tou-san did...", her wide smile faltered and turned into a litle frown.

"Kaoru…"

"…Just like Tou-san…", she said, now her azzure eyes were glistening with tears..She lowered her head as she hid her face from him.

Something inside him snapped at seeing her pained expression, "…..It's okay Kaoru…I will be here..I know you're strong and all..but I'll still be here by your side"..he softly chided.

She scoffed at that.."…Huh…I don't need your..pity..I am okay... by myself", she replied, eyes wiping the trickle of tears off her face. "…I'll be okay….always...I have been.." she looked up to see the clear turquoise eyes watching her intently, his expression inscrutable. Those eyes……

Her own mind whirled as it took her to reminiscence something she has buried long ago against her own will.

"Come Kaoru-chan!..", she heard the voice of her Tou-san and saw a sweet childhood image of herself, getting her pictures taken by him…"Kao-chan...Kaoru...smile for me..." the same voice echoed as the image of her Tou-san holding a camera to take her picture broke her walls of carefully built indifference.

After all those years of hiding her feelings, her fear and insecurity, it all crumbled down now. She finally broke down and cried, sobbing uncontrollably as she latched herself into the warm and safe coocoon offered to her.

He was there all the way, holding her in his warm embrace, his face expression mellowed a little, but he paid no heed. His turquoise gaze was focused intently on the figure curled up before him.

"Kaoru..."