Fanfic by Blueroseulan

August 14, 2004

It was the point of no return.

It almost felt like a dream… a nightmare he wanted to shake himself awake.

But it was worst than a nightmare.

The truth was shocking… suffocating. The thought of fathering a child was so foreign, the idea that soon, he would become a father all but crashing to his subconscious mind.

And yet shocked as he was, he still wanted to keep his child. Tomoe had suggested abortion, a notion that had earned her a hard penetrating stare that proved enough to shut her up. For while it was true that he was disappointed and fearful for the next events to come, he wouldn't deny the warm feeling that had spread on his chest when the doctor announced the news.

Guilt.

He was guilty.

Shame.

That was what he had dealt to Tomoe.

Tomoe, the woman who had loved him and had given him her all. She had sacrificed most of her time, her career and herself on a single bastard like him. She was hurt, he knew that, but she still loved him no matter the consequences of his actions are. Though teetering on the edge was their relationship, both of them had agreed to stay strong and both were decided to keep their mutualism still intact.

He sat on his bed, mind still running frenzied over the sudden distraction on his life. He was scared, and for a good reason.

His parents had died on a car crash when he was still young. He was then left to the care of an uncle. Hiko Seijuro. Though the man was a good provider, he was gruff and strict. The disciplinarian type whom he felt inclined to fear, hate and love. He was grateful… very grateful for what his uncle had done and yet, he was afraid he would turn out to be as brusque and curt as the man who had raised him.

The rings coming from his cell phone was enough to distract him away from his thoughts.

"Moshi moshi."

"Hai…Moshi moshi…Himura-san, Kaoru Kamiya desu."

With the name, he felt his heart beat a lot faster and wilder than before.

"Yes Kamiya-san?"

"Do you have anything to do this lunch? I have something important to show you and I was hoping we could meet." Her voice was shaky, and he thought he heard sobs from the end of the line.

"Aa. Where will we meet?"

"At the Akabakeo. Will that be okay?"

"Hai. I'll meet you there."

K

N

K

The Akabeko was unusually quiet. Normally, at this time it would have been bustling with people wanting to eat a hot lunch. All the booths and chairs would have been occupied by now.

He easily spotted her seated beside the window. Weaving his way through the rows of canteen chairs, she let out a small gasp of surprise when he suddenly sat on the vacant seat across her.

"Himura-san!"

He nodded, a smile managing to escape his lips.

'Aa. I'm sorry if I surprised you. Have you eaten Kamiya-san?"

He watched as she shook her head. And then there was this sudden impulse for him to react. She hasn't eaten lunch…she isn't only starving herself…the baby may also get affected!

Wait a minute… did he really react as violently as that? I'm paranoid...

She was a bit shy… he noticed that when she blushed a bright red when he ordered her lunch. Gratefully bowing her head, she produced a small folder from her bag when he asked her the reason she suddenly asked for them to meet.

Trembling hands pushed the thin portfolio into his. He was about to open it when the waitress came with the tray of food on her hand. All of a sudden she gagged, the aroma of the pork tonkatsu seemingly presenting itself like the stench of rotten garbage. At once, he was on her side, his hand rubbing soothing motions on her back. It was a good thing she was able to contain her breakfast that threatened to come out, or the sight would have attracted more stares than both of them wanted. And though it took her awhile before she could compose herself, the hand on her back never ceased rubbing circular motions on it.

"A-arigatou…" she murmured, accepting the tissue he offered. "I'm fine now." And as if trying to convince him, she managed a weak smile to graze her lips.

An eyebrow rose, a sign that he was still skeptical. "Are you sure? You still look too pale for my liking. I better take you home." His tone was soft, but firm. Leaving her no choice but to obey. And besides she felt far too dizzy…

The ride back home was quiet, filled with a tension somewhat filling the small space between them. Amusing herself with observing the sleek features of his benz she was a bit reluctant for him to drive her home. She wanted less contact as possible. It was enough that she had intruded his life just as abruptly as he had intruded hers, it was only their child that connected them to the other. Their child and nothing more.

She sighed. No matter which way she turned it, her life had suddenly twisted an angle of 360 degrees. A baby was the least she wanted… it wasn't as if she hated the child… no. Her life was already complicated and hard. Her job as a waitress in the Akabeko was nowhere near providing. If she barely earned for herself, how the hell could she earn for her unborn child?

Exactly why she wanted to talk with him.

They reached a sharp curb in the street and she directed him to stop the car. Noticing the mild look of confusion in his eyes, she gave him a weak smile.

"The street is far too narrow and I'm afraid your car wouldn't pass through. It's best for you to drop me here. I can walk all the way home."

With her words, the man rolled down the window and took a peek of the dirty dark alley. One look was enough for him to open his door and open hers as well.

"Himura-san, I told you… I could walk alone. I've been walking on this alley for almost all the years of my life!"

Not to be dissuaded, he shook his head and in a stubborn manner he said, "I know you can. I'm concerned for the baby… if you must know."

With his words, she was almost taken aback… For once I thought… Cutting off the idea, she knew it was absurd. Kenshin was only concerned for the safety of his own child. His child. There was nothing else.

"Fine." She muttered and started to walk towards her small place. "My house is a bit dirty. Don't tell you I didn't warn you."

"WHEW! Yep… you told me your house was dirty… but you didn't tell me it would be on the eighth floor and the elevator was broken."

She shot him a glance, unsure whether to take his words as a sarcastic remark or not. Deciding to choose the latter when she saw that beads of sweat had formed on his forehead, she let out a weak giggle before bowing slightly.

"Himura-san…"

"Kenshin Kamiya-san." He reminded her. Both seemed to blush with his words though, having realized that the formalities had once again been raised between the two of them. It was both uncomfortable and uncompromising as so to speak.

"H-hai… Ke-Kenshin… there's just something I wanted to discuss with you… would you mind if I asked you to go inside?"

Of course he didn't mind. After all, if this was the woman he was most likely to spend the next eight months with, might as well get acquainted right?

Her place was indeed small. Simple and containing no sort of amusement. By heck, she didn't even have a TV! But it was a far cry from dirty. He could tell from the way she had things organized that she was some sort of a neat freak. The floors were well swept and polished, dust absent from any type of surface and everything was in proper place. It also gave him a warm feeling in his chest that he found indescribable. Must be the country-style ambience…he rationalized. Flowers of different kinds decorated the whole area, filling the air with the distinct scent of jasmine and lilacs. Briefly, he wondered who was responsible for the whole flower thing. Subconsciously, he felt a bit jealous …irritated … because she was carrying his child and it wasn't appropriate for her to go out with some kind of a man who might harm her any moment.

"I see, you love flowers." He declared, a bit amused as he followed her towards the kitchen.

"Hai. Please take your seat Himura-san." She replied as she busied herself with rummaging for at least a bottle of coke in her almost empty fridge. When she found none, she slumped herself dejectedly on the seat across him and produced the small folder from her bag.

"Please… please read this." She said, pushing the portfolio in his hands.

Amethyst eyes widened when he saw the contents of the folder.

"I've made an agreement… between the two of us… regarding the baby…" she trailed of, watching with nervousness and anticipation for his reaction.

Wanting to persuade him further, she added: "You could see that I'm not a well-off person. I find it hard to feed myself. What more if the baby comes? All I'm asking Kenshin, is your financial help for your child. I don't care if you don't ever want to see him again. That's for you to decide… but I'm telling you now, I won't be able to give him the ideal life you know I want him to have. Financial assistance. That's all I'm asking…you can go start your own family, but please… at least help me raise him."

There. She had said it. Point blanc and direct. Many a night she had lain awake and thinking, crying and depressed over the future of her unborn child. She didn't know what to do. This was the least she expected and now…

For awhile he was silent. So quiet that she was almost sure he would hear the loud pounding of her heartbeat against her chest. Finally, he spoke.

"I understand what you mean Kaoru. And I want you to know that I'm most willing to help. Not only financially… It's not only your fault. It was mine also. The child is ours. Not mine or yours. Ours. Right now, I still haven't recovered from my initial shock… I'm going to be a father… It's going to take awhile I guess. But please believe me that I would protect our child and would love him no matter what the given circumstances are."

His words were enough to cause tears to fall from her sapphire irises. Suddenly alarmed, he asked her whatever the cause of her tears was and she could only answer feebly:

"It's just that… that I felt so scared before… afraid and alone… but now, after what you've said… it's like I felt a big weight lifted off my shoulders… It's going to be hard… but it's a lot easier when there's somebody willing to help."

Wiping the last of her tears away, she gave a weak laugh, glad that the final air of tension had faded away. She stood up to try and find him something to drink when a nauseous feeling seem to wash over her like a wave and she ran towards the sink, wanting to release her vomit.

Alarmed, all he could do was rub her back gently and soothe her while she barfed her breakfast on the sink. She was as white as sheet and though she tried hard to recompose herself and assure him that she was fine, the man was unconvinced and firmly planted his hands on her hips and carried her towards the worn old sofa, much to the woman's surprise and bewilderment.

"You stay there. I'll go find you some type of medicine. A pain reliever or something. Just don't move. Rest okay? Just tell me where your medicine cabinet is." Before she could react though, he had exited back to the kitchen.

"I don't have a medicine kit. The pills are somewhere on the second cupboard if I'm not mistaken." She called back from the living room.

His hands wandered from one cupboard to another. Frowning, he noticed how bare her cabinets were. No food, no supplies…. Geesh… is she starving herself?

"Kaoru, it's not here"

Silence.

Then he heard a faint slap. He assumed she had remembered something.

"Oh now I recall! You won't find anything there! I gave them to Maeba-san the other day!"

"Nani?" he asked coming out to the kitchen from his unsuccessful quest.

"Maeba-san is my neighbor. She's a bit old and sickly. Last week, she was ill, so I gave her my last set of pain relievers.—Ugh my head hurts." She muttered while hugging a pillow closer to herself not noticing the way he was looking at her.

Wow… she's really generous… "Kaoru, if you don't mind me asking, what do you do for a living?" he asked.

"I work as a waitress in the Akabeko."

A WAITRESS! No way! This woman's a saint! Careful not to hide his disbelief, her answer all but stopped him from admiring her determination and hard-working nature.

"So you see why I had to ask you for help?" she trailed off, unsure if he would take her words as a joke or an insult. He took is as a joke of course, good naturedly offering her a generous smile.

"Kenshin…"

"Hai?"

"Arigatou."

"For what?"

"For being my friend… You're my friend right?"

"Of course."

They were friends. Not just mere acquaintances but friends. For Kaoru, it meant a whole lot of things.

It didn't take long for her to fall asleep. With the different changes occurring in her body, he was sure she was already feeling burnt out. Making sure she felt comfortable in her position, it gave him the opportunity to study her features.

Her looks were not bad. Not bad at all. Her pale skin deeply contrasted with her jet-black hair, darker than any shade of midnight he had seen. Her sapphire eyes haunting and expressive were perhaps, the best of all her features… Kirei…

From his pocket, he felt his phone vibrate. Walking towards the kitchen, he answered it as his eyes trailed over the blankets that hung on her small veranda to dry.

"Moshi moshi."

"Kenshin it's me… Tomoe… where are you?"

Hesitation filled his mind, should I tell her I'm here?

"I…I'm out… I'm not in the office right now…"

Silence. And then…

"Kenshin, you told me you'd meet me in my gallery at exactly two o clock. What time is it?"

Uh-oh I've completely forgotten about it!… she's mad… and it's already a quarter past three…

"I'm sorry Tomoe… I just had something important to do… yes… yes… would you wait for me? Yes I'm on my way now. Yeah. Bye."

Shaking his head, he felt guilty for having forgotten about his own girlfriend. So much interested was he with his new… friend that he had completely forgotten about the time. Clicking his tongue, he thought it would be best if he left now, considering that Tomoe had miraculously agreed to wait for him.

Making his way towards the door, he retraced his steps, his gaze directed towards the blanket. In quick light steps, he had the material in his hands as he gently neared her slumbering form to cover her shivering body with the thick comforter. Incoherent words escaped her lips as she hugged the blanket close to herself. He couldn't help but wonder… Is the child in her womb sleeping too? Sleeping as peacefully as its mother?

A slight smile tugged at his rigid lips. I hope you're fine in there little koneko…

TBC…

Okay… everybody say… AAWW… fluff on the last part! Maybe you'd get the tone of the story from here… (Wink wink) anyways… DON'T FROGET TO REVIEW!