Hello, everyone. Sorry for the long wait but this semester has proven to be very hectic for me. One wave of problems came after another, as well as more responsibilities. I'm doing my best to update but if it takes too long – such as this time – please do understand. Thanks and Happy Thanksgiving!

Vic

PS: the following chapter is an interlude, hence, it doesn't necessarily follow the time sequence from the previous chapter.

Rated for language, so beware!

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Disclaimer: Rurouni Kenshin belongs to Nobuhiro Watsuki. The characters are only used for the purpose of this story.

Interlude: Truths beneath lies

Falling in love with you was a mistake. Inevitably, I invited suffering into my life and now, I can't make it leave me.

One step at a time, but I always took half, just because I wanted to wait for you even if you would walk farther away from me.

I close my eyes and hope that my heart doesn't burst; I hope that my heart doesn't burn because of all the pain.

And I let you walk back, and I let you try to take my heart again. But this time everything is so different. I'm not my old self anymore, and you… you're not the same man I used to know. You're someone else. I'm someone else.

Can two perfect strangers fall in love again?

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Kenshin looked up from his desk and kept a straight face as he looked at the person in front of him.

"I told you not to come anymore." He said with a tone that didn't leave room for any arguments.

She cocked her head to the side and frowned. Then, she smirked before she moved to seat in one side of the room.

"Why? It's because of her? Come on, a few months ago and you didn't care if she found out."

Kenshin slammed his fist on his desk startling the woman before he stood up and hissed.

"I cared… I always cared. I… It was a terrible mistake. But before I could get out of this mess, you had to play the card hidden in your sleeve. You're the one who complicated everything."

The woman laughed and moved her fingers mockingly in front of him.

"You'll stay with me, Kenshin. Otherwise, she'll know."

Kenshin glared at her with hard eyes and slumped his shoulders in defeat.

"I despise you." He said as he moved back to his seat.

"My, my… you didn't say that when you first slept with me."

"I was drunk!" Kenshin defended himself with no avail.

The woman stood up and moved to the door. "You can't escape Kenshin. You leave me and your contract with my brother will be done. You know how much you need it… And as for your beloved girlfriend… Don't worry, she won't be on our way."

The door closed and Kenshin fisted his hands.

He was trapped between two walls. Maybe, maybe if he just played along with her and let her had her way until the contract was done, then he could just leave her like he should have done all those months ago.

But, what if she told Kaoru? Then, then his life would be even more miserable. He was afraid.

And he didn't know what to do.

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"Hello?"

One beat, two beats, and suddenly he was wondering if his heart would explode.

"Hello? If this is a jok…"

"Kaoru." He breathed her name and he had the knowing sensation that right now, her eyebrows were knitted in a deep frown.

He heard her sigh and he held his breath, waiting for her reply.

"I'm busy." She said harshly.

It was the same excuse she used the last time he had called her – the first time he had called her.

"I-I know… I mean, I'm sorry. I just wanted to talk to you."

"About?"

He knew she was still hurt, after all this time, he knew she couldn't forgive him. Yet again, who would?

"About us."

He heard her sigh again and a long silence followed.

"There's no us." Her tone was dry, so distant, so far away from him.

"Kaoru, you didn't give me the chance to…"

"You didn't need one. Listen, Kenshin. I'm tired. I'm tired of this. There's nothing between us, not anymore. You made a choice and I made mine. Go ahead with your life and enjoy the good times you were having behind my back. You don't need to hide it from me anymore, so what's the problem with that? Go ahead and leave me alone. Let me go on with my life."

"But Kaoru, I need…"

"You don't need me." She cut him off, knowing too well the next words that were going to come out from his mouth. They were the same words he had said the first time he had called her. They were the same words he had written on the four letters she had sent to her.

"You never did and you proved it yourself. Kenshin, leave me alone."

"No, I-I can't, I lo…"

"Goodbye Kenshin." Kaoru cut him off again, and before he could reply, she hung up the phone.

"I love you." Kenshin whispered as he listened to the dead line of the phone. "Too much to let you go."

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His eyes were narrowed and possessed a deadly glint as he entered through the door.

"How dare you!" He burst in anger, startling at the woman sitting behind a mahogany desk.

She ignored his outburst and smiled calmly.

"Oh, Kenshin, sweetheart, you left me yesterday. Why? You couldn't catch up with your little bird?" She said sweetly as she stood up and walked towards the enraged man.

He pushed her away as she tried to encircle him with her arms. Her own eyes narrowed in annoyance and she raised an eyebrow.

"How dare you, bitch! You told her, you fucking told her. Who do you think you are!" He said as his hands fisted. He was trying to control himself, he was trying but it was not working. He wanted nothing more than to strangle her, slap her… He had never been violent to the opposite sex, but that scoundrel in front of him had ruined his life.

How much he hated her.

"I told you, Kenshin. One way or the other, you are going to be mine. You managed to get rid off me but I don't lose, sweetheart. I never lose." The woman said arrogantly as she sat on her desk again.

Kenshin's hands trembled in fury and he took deep breaths before speaking.

"You bitch. You manipulated me to get into your pants. You took advantage of the situation. You knew I needed the deal with your brother… I was so stupid. I should have just let it go. If I knew it would cost me so much, I would have never made the deal… you filthy whore."

"Tsk, tsk… you wound me with your hard words, Kenshin." She spoke in fainted pain. "But I like you. Come on, your little bird isn't on the way anymore. Forget about her."

The sudden sound of two hands hitting against her desk brought some fear in her expression. When she raised her head and look at deep amber eyes, she knew she had crossed her limit.

"Listen here, I don't fucking care about you. I never did. I only accepted that date with you because you said we could discuss how to convince your brother to accept the deal with my company. But instead, you whore, you got me drunk and things got fucked up. You threatened me to keep me and it worked for a while. But your own brother knew of the games you were playing, bitch, and that was my escape…" Kenshin's eyes blazed in the afternoon light and this time he greeted his teeth as he spoke. "But you didn't like to lose and you had to go and tell Kaoru… You dared to show up in my office and try to seduce me. You made her go there and watch… You bitch!"

His words were sinking slowly but that wasn't the reason she was still. She had never seen a man that enraged before. His eyes frightened her.

"You fucked me up… She's leaving me because of you… I don't care what you'll do next, but be warned, show your fucking face again, play another one of your tricks, and you'll regret it, bitch."

And with that, he left slamming the door shut.

She stared at her front and brought a hand to her racing heart. And almost immediately, she knew it.

She had lost, but in this instance, she didn't care. She knew if she tried something else, she'd regret it big time.

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Kaoru thought she knew him but she had been wrong. She had been so blind.

Of course he had never wanted her. He had been acting bizarrely a couple of months ago, and she had started to doubt him. However, it seemed that her love had gotten the best of her. How stupid.

She should have never accepted his proposal of marriage. She should have never accepted and bring her hopes high. He had betrayed her, lied to her… and yet, and yet she was still in love with him.

"Agh!" She cried in frustration as she sat among the crowd waiting for the next flight.

She scanned at the ticket in her hands. It didn't matter anymore. She was going away for a while, perhaps that would help her heal… and forget him.

She was glad the company had offered her this opportunity. Somehow, it seemed as if it was fate asking her for forgiveness for bringing to her someone like him.

It owned her, fate owned her the tears she had shed uncontrollably in the last couple of days. It owned her the pain that still existed in her heart, and it owned her the years she had spent blindly caring for him, dreaming for him to give her something he had never been able to give.

A voice called for the passengers and she stood up slowly. She looked outside through the tall glassy windows and smiled bitterly.

She would miss Japan, but it was for the best. She needed to get away.

She needed to forget the lies he had hidden underneath his seeming truths.

She crossed a door and then it shut. A couple of minutes later, she was already in the air, flying far away.

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He drank in the darkness of his room, his hand clutching crystal glass.

She had left when he was gone, she had left… and he couldn't do anything to bring her back.

He hadn't had the chance to talk to her after that night in her apartment, he hadn't been able to tell her the truths beneath all the lies he had made.

He deserved it, he knew it, but on the other hand, he was also a victim.

That whore had threatened him, lied to him and make him betray the love of his life. He had never intended to hurt her, cause her so much pain.

He couldn't turn back time and he couldn't fix anything now. He was left alone without her; he was left alone with his dreams and fantasies of a life together with her.

He sank to his knees as he left the glass to one side, and holding a photograph to his chest, he let himself weep for what he had lost.

"Kaoru, love…" His voice cried, calling her name as if she would reappear again.

But he was alone.

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Ew, so cheesy-ish to me, but I couldn't write it in another way. LOL, I'm portraying Kenshin as weak-y when it comes to Kaoru… sigh.

Till next time,

Vic