Fanfic by Blueroseulan

October 30, 2005

Standard disclaimers apply! I don't own RK!

AN: Hey guys, an update! Enjoy reading!

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Today is a gloomy day.

Today is a really really gloomy day. Kaoru decided.

Gee… today's my birthday but…she stopped, throwing a glance to the set of baby clothes and toys Tae had given her as a birthday gift. It's a good thing tae-san hadn't forgotten about me… unlike someone who apparently had.

Kenshin.

She was of course, thinking about him.

She woke up that day fresh and cheerful, smiling and greeting herself a happy birthday. Happily, she checked on her phone for her messages; disappointment was quick to spread on her lips when she found none. But still, she managed a smile and decided that she would be happy today.

When the clock struck twelve in the noon and there were still no phone calls from Kenshin, happy thoughts were quickly filing away from her brain.

The clock chimed three and Kaoru sighed, reaching for the cup of cooked noodles and slowly starting to eat. Stop it Kaoru. Don't let him ruin your day. Besides, there's nothing else you can do. Don't ruin your birthday just because he hasn't called you or anything…AND DON'T CRY!

Kaoru sniffled, trying hard not to cry. It was more than unkind for him not to even call on her birthday. It was a mean hurtful thing to do. Kaoru decided as she tried to blink away the stinging tears in her eyes. Crying over her spilt birthday was mushy, corny, cheesy and all the words synonymous to the like. Only the younger kids do that and she was a kid no more.

That's right. She thought, finishing the last of her noodles away. I'm going out to the park and try to relax myself. I really need some fresh air.

Nodding to herself, she quickly exchanged her tee-shirt for a colorful sundress. It's my birthday today… I could just try to make myself a bit pretty. The woman rationalized. Tying her hair firmly onto its place and slipping on a pair of flat sandals, she grabbed her purse and house keys and locked her front door with a decisive 'click'.

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The streets were most empty, just a few cars whizzing by allowing Kaoru to slightly lower her guards down against racing-frenzied drivers. Everything would have been perfect, with the silence, the stillness, the wind and the breeze…

Had it not been for a loud honking at her back. It honked once, twice, and though Kaoru tried hard to ignore it, or the driver who seemed to enjoy annoying her, a few honkings later, it finally took the last of her straw.

"WHAT THE HELL IS YOUR PROBLEM!" She screeched, twisting around and receiving the shock of her life.

There standing in front of his car was none other than Kenshin, smiling sheepishly at her.

"Kenshin!" She gawked, face filled with surprise, shock and astonishment.

"Hai." he nodded, still not wiping off the stupid grin he had on his face and totally oblivious to her growing temper. "Tanjobi Omedetou Kaoru." he murmured, producing a large bouquet of fresh lilacs and roses and nearing her to give her a kiss.

. She immediately avoided him and ducked her head.

"YAMETE!"

He froze, "Kao—"

"WHAT THE HECK HAPPENED TO YOU!" She flustered, voice already a few decibels higher.

"What happened to me?" he asked more than dumbly, his tone all the more grating at her nerves.

"Yes! What happened to you Kenshin! You never called nor visited me ever since we last went to the beach. And that was what? Exactly a month ago! What happened to you!" Don't cry Kaoru… Don't cry or else it would ruin everything… Yes. She wouldn't cry for she was more furious than sad. Yes, crying in front of him is an improper thing to do.

"I…I…" he mumbled feebly.

"You what?" she questioned, obviously waiting for an answer.

"I… well… I can't say it… at least not yet. But if you come with me right now, I could tell you why." he stated, turning amethyst eyes towards her way and silently asking for her to understand and give him a chance.

For a moment she did not speak, for she was still slightly more than fuming. But after she saw the pleading guilty look in his eyes, she finally conceded and gave him a curt nod.

"Fine. But that doesn't mean I've forgiven you already."

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To Kaoru's surprise, he did not take her in a fancy restaurant or in the park. In fact, their car seemed to drive away from the miraculous stillness of the sleeping city. A small gasp escaped from her lips when she saw that they were now, headed for the beach.

"We're here. We'll have to walk to get there." he coaxed, grimacing slightly when he saw that she made no move to touch him or at least speak to him.

"Where are we going?" she suddenly asked, surprising him.

He then took her question as his cue to gently but firmly grasp her hand. "I won't tell you, but if you hold my hand, I'll make sure we'll get there."

"This better be good Kenshin. It's growing dark you know and I hate to be lost in this place when darkness settles." she fairly warned him, her tone still a bit angered.

He sighed. Oh well… I just hope her anger doesn't last for long…

Walking the sandy path in silence, Kaoru suddenly stopped short with the view that met her eyes.

It was surely the most beautiful and breath taking sight she had ever seen in her own life. So picturesque it was that she forgot to breathe there and then.

It was a house that Kaoru had always dreamt of. With white washed walls and small picketed fence surrounding the small garden in which different colors bloomed. Even form afar, she could see the flutter of silken curtains as it gently danced with the soft caresses of the winds that blew from the sea. A little bit further, sapphire eyes caught sight of a small wooden dock which leads to the lips of the waters itself. Even the ocean seemed mindful not to destroy the beautiful picture for her waves were gentle and soft, its surfaces calm and placid. The sun which was about setting and it casted soft orange glows on everything its gentle rays touched.

The house, the beach, the sun… everything was perfect.

"Kenshin…"

"Yes… it's beautiful isn't it?" he murmured against the shell of her ear making tingles involuntarily race up her spine. "It's all yours koishii." he added as an afterthought.

With his sentence, Kaoru's mouth literally dropped open.

"That?... Mine?..." she mumbled stupidly, her brain not being able the sudden information he was giving her.

"Yes Kaoru. That house is yours… And for the baby too." he declared, leading her towards the house.

"Bu-but Kenshin! This is just too much! I certainly cannot accept it…" she trailed off, still awed with the enormity of things.

"No buts Kaoru. This is for you. You have to accept it…" the red head persuaded her.

"But it's so big…. and so beautiful… and so much like a dream…" she whispered, sapphire orbs scanning the vast expanse of her new home.

"Do you like it?" he murmured, wrapping his arm once again in her waist and pressing his chin atop her shoulder just like a child who wanted to be praised by its own mother.

"Are you kidding me Kenshin? I love it! But are you sure this isn't too much?" she was far too much in awe to notice that he was indeed holding her once again.

"No. It's not too much… and… Kaoru?"

"Hmmm?"

"Does that mean I'm forgiven?"

She then allowed a smile to grace her lips. "I'll think about it." she stated, though it was rather clear for the man who now held her that she was anything but angered and annoyed.

"I'm sorry for being such a jerk by not calling you… but you see, I wanted to surprise you… I was away for a month because I focused on having this house built before your birthday… before today. And I barely had a month you know." he explained, tone a bit regretful and apologetic. "I hope…"

She suddenly cut him off, suddenly pulled towards him and suddenly silenced all his words.

"Quit that blabbering and just kiss me." she murmured as she pressed her lips against his.

He groaned, hand grasping her nape as to pull her closer to him, though they were already at an impossible distance.

" I miss you…" he confessed, breath somehow escaping like ragged pants as he took her lips once again and delved his tongue deeper inside. Pressing her form closer to his, he would have ravaged her there and then had she not gently pulled herself away from him and tugged at his arm.

"Kaoru…" there was confusion in his voice and his face held a worried look with the thought that she pulled away.

She gave him a small smile of reassurance. "We can do the kissing later… for now…" she trailed off, clearly indicating that she wanted to have a closer look at the beach house.

Understanding lit his face coupled with relief. "Hai. Come, I'll lead you there. Just be careful koi."

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From afar, the house looked beautiful, for someone who was standing right in front of it, the structure was towering, majestic and grand in its own deed. Kenshin had to support his companion when she almost lost here balance when she retraced her steps.

"Kenshin…" for the second time that day, Kamiya Kaoru was rendered speechless.

"I know… she's beautiful ne? Beautiful like you…" he grinned mischievously, knowing that he had the upperhand and that he could most talk her into anything…

She could only nod stupidly as he gently led her towards the interior of the house.

It was already mostly furnished. And Kaoru could tell that the one responsible for it really had good taste. From the country-airy style ambience that wafted through the whole house to the impressive designs of art, be it painting or statue, Kaoru knew that a lot of effort and of course, a considerably large amount of money had to be put in to achieve Kenshin's desired style of the house.

Which was, so to say, a fact that Kaoru could still not digest even up to now.

"Do you like the way things are arranged?" he mused, wanting to have her approval.

"Of course Kenshin! The scene is perfect and well… practically everything is!" she gushed. "Oh… and by the way, who helped you design this?" she asked, sapphire orbs gazing directly in his amethyst ones.

"No one did." he answered non chalantly.

"NANI!"

"I said no one did." he answered coolly. "I designed the whole place. I just hired men to move the things for me. Like where to put it and how it should look." he finished, his breath suddenly knocked off when he all of a sudden felt her wrap her arms around him as she turned to hug him tightly.

"A-arigatou Kenshin…" she whispered.

"Do itoshimashite koishii…" he murmured before tilting his head and descending his lips atop hers for a gentle kiss. "I should lead you to your room and maybe…" he trailed off, a wicked grin spreading on his lips.

"You're an evil man." she laughed, playfully swatting him in the arm before suddenly shrieking when he pulled her off her feet and carried her bridal style towards her room.

"KENSHINN!"

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Yukishiro Tomoe waited anxiously on her living room all the while pacing nervously on her polished marble floors. Anytime now…

The doorbell suddenly rang, half scaring the woman to death as she rushed towards the door.

"Konbanwa Yukishiro-san." the man greeted seriously.

"Hai. Shinomori-san, do you have the information I've wanted and paid you for?" Gone was the sweet caring and respectful tone in her voice. This time, her desperation and exasperation was evident. Aoshi quickly decided that there was more to Tomoe Yukishiro than to her sweet looks, studded pearls and diamond earrings… she was a scheming woman for him.

"Yes I have them." He replied with no suggestive tone in his voice. Scheming or not, she paid my services dutifully. I have to do my work, want it or not. He thought silently while producing papers from his briefcase.

"May I come in?"

In her haste and desperation, Tomoe had forgotten to invite the man inside her house. With Aoshi's sudden query, her face quickly reddened.

"Um… hai… Douzo…"

Shinomori Aoshi was a stoic man, the woman noted as she led him to her extravagantly furnished living room. His face bore no expression and his tone was even and unmatching. Ushering him to take a seat, she offered him something to eat, in which he politely declined, making it known to her that he was there for business and not of something else.

"What did you find Shinomori-san?" she asked, a bit hopeful for the information he was just about to give her.

The man took a deep breath before handing her the photos and the documents he was able to produce in a short span of time. From the way she flipped through his files, he could see that the woman was clearly impressed.

"You asked me to follow Himura Kenshin wherever he goes. You wanted to know about his whereabouts and the things that kept him busy. Even from only the pictures, you would be able to tell what's been keeping this man occupied lately."

Eyes with the color of jade and emerald grew wide when the pictures she held showed a magnificent house, though not quite finished, but magnificent still, with Kenshin supervising the whole process. Seeing that the man clearly put much effort on it, Tomoe demanded to know to whom it was for.

"He was planning to give it to a woman named Kamiya Kaoru on her birthday which is exactly today." Aoshi shrugged then handed Tomoe a sheet of paper, "I have the address written down." he said suggestively.

Taking the paper from him, she asked him a few more questions before thanking him and escorting him to her porch where she watched him speed away on his car. Already, feelings of despair, jealousy and anger were weighing her down, her body trembling and shaking with the waves of emotions crashing onto her chest. She tried to calm herself by brewing a cup of tea to soothe her grated nerves but it did no such thing as to take her mind off the sudden information she received from the detective-slash-spy she had hired.

Finally, she went back to her room, grabbed her coat and bag and locked the house. Clutching the precious sheet of paper that Aoshi had given her as if her life depended on it; she clambered on her white convertible and sped away, unmindful of the darkness that was slowly starting to blanket the sky.

I swear Kenshin... you haven't seen the last of me… If I can't have you… no one else will…

TBC…

AN: AAAAAAARRRRGGH! I hate this one! It's sooo hard describing the house and the beach and the… EVERYTHING! Well if you had a hard time envisioning it, just try to imagine your dream house by the sea… I'm sure most of us have one (dream house by the sea at that) and that's the house I'm trying to picture. Actually, I'm really sick right now. There's a storm in my country and I caught fever in it. But since I know you guys are waiting for an update, I trudged on to my PC and typed this whole freaking thing out. I'm sorry if it sucked… I really am. Blame it on the weather, blame it on my mugged up mind TT… I just hope you guys would understand and keep on reading and reviewing. Hopefully, I'd get better come the next few days. And oh, before I forget, there's going to be a lot of action happenin' on the next chappie… (wink wink) so you guys better watch out for that.

Another thing, for those who are Aoshi lovers put there, please don't get mad at me. I like Aoshi too. But since he's the leader of the Oniwabanshuu clan in RK, I decided he would have to be the best person to do some spying and stuff… please don't get mad! I really like him too( esp. his hair… and his eyes!) I just had to put him there… sorry…

Really, I'm blabbering and I'm already hallucinating a naked chibi Kenshin dancing on top of my keyboard singing "She Bangs" on top of his lungs… Geez! What the hells happening to me! I swear… (Mumbles off and collapses on the floor)

(Stands up again) Oh and before I go, don't forget to review…(collapses on a heap again)

Geez!