Disclaimer - I don't own Rurouni Kenshin.

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Toy Store

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His Living Room II

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"Kaoru?" Kenshin asked hesitantly.

"Hmm?"

"I think we need to talk about Elaine." His voice was soft.

"Now?"

"I don't want tension between us because of her."

"What tension?"

"You tensed up as soon as I said 'Elaine'."

"I didn't." She fought against the necessity of the discussion.

"Kaoru, you're tense."

"I'm not."

"I just gave you a ten minute massage. You were relaxed. Now you're tense."

He wasn't going to leave her alone. "Fine." Kaoru sat up. He was forcing her to confront this issue that they should have worked out weeks ago. She'd go into it swinging then. "Why don't you tell me the specifics of your relationship with my sister? This isn't easy for me, you know, her being with you first."

Kenshin looked surprised at the aggressive quality her words and voice had taken. He blinked blue–violet eyes at her and held up a hand in mock-defense. "I know this is hard on you, but it's hard on me too. Now why do you need to know exactly what happened? We only went out for two months."

"It only takes four days by my sister's dating philosophy to have an affair."

"What?" he asked in confusion. Apparently Elaine hadn't told him then, which didn't mean much. Elaine kept secrets from every man in the world, including and especially her father.

"Meet, greet, head, bed," Kaoru chanted in a singsong voice. She was surprised at the bitterness with which she spoke those words, but she continued anyway. "And disturbingly, I've seen her in action."

"Are you saying you'd dump me if I slept with her before I knew you?" Kenshin asked incredulously. The color was rising in his cheeks.

Kaoru closed her eyes. She needed to concentrate.

"I didn't think you'd still be upset over this," Kenshin said quietly. His voice shook a little. He didn't know what to make of her silence.

"I wouldn't end it with you," she said, the words blurting from her mouth. "But you didn't think I'd be upset?" she asked, opening her eyes to meet his. "I'm always going to be upset! She's not just some woman I never knew, some woman I can forget about, she's my sister! This is going to follow me for the rest of my life. You could at least do me the courtesy of informing me of the dynamic of the relationship in which I am involved!"

"You weren't involved in the relationship between me and Elaine." Kenshin said coldly.

"But I am now. To fully understand the present, I have to learn from the past. That's why they teach history," she finished sarcastically.

"Fine," the word escaped from Kenshin's mouth in clipped tones. He was looking at her as if he'd been betrayed. "I met Elaine through a mutual friend. I liked her, so I asked her out. We dated occasionally for a month, then we decided we wanted to deepen the relationship. She said she had a family barbeque coming up and she wanted to bring me. So I went and I met her sister, Kaoru. Kaoru talked about this art history book she'd just finished reading. She said it was written for kids, but that she knew almost nothing about art, so it was perfect for her. I fell for her and things cooled off with Elaine before they'd even started-"

"What things?" Kaoru interrupted.

He shrugged, watching her, his fact stony. "Kissing. Almost sex the night after the barbeque, but I couldn't after I'd met you. I strung Elaine along to keep in touch with you. I think she'd never been played before. It confused her until you saw Megumi at that party and took things the wrong way. I know you remember the argument we had in front of that toy store. I didn't even know what we were arguing about half the time. Then I made up the story about Megumi after I went to Elaine's and found her cheating on me. You know the rest."

Relief flooded her eyes.

"I still don't understand why you felt you had to know." He was visibly upset, a muddled frown across his lips.

"She's my sister, Kenshin. It's hard enough her having kissed you. She'll hold it over my head forever, I know it. I just need to know how much she's got to hold over me. I can't keep taking knocks from her that I'm not ready for and be happy with you."

"Keep taking?" He'd sorted out the two most important words she'd said almost before the sentence was out of her lips. "What has she been saying to you?"

Kaoru shook her head. "It's between me and her. We're sisters and she's older. She'll always tease me, always be able to get me upset, because she was there before I could talk." Kaoru bit her lip. "Elaine doesn't always know when she's hurting me because she loves me blindly. Anything I say to her can't hurt her, and she thinks that's true vice versa." Kaoru shrugged. "I don't have the heart to tell her it doesn't. That's the only way I could hurt her." She couldn't read the expression in Kenshin's eyes.

"She didn't tell you where our relationship stopped, did she?" he asked.

"She might've lied," Kaoru said simply. "Sometimes she keeps things from me until it benefits her for me to know them. So I had to hear it from you. But I didn't want to, because I knew whatever you said would be the truth, and I was afraid."

His eyes finally softened a little. "I don't want you to be afraid of me, Kaoru."

"I'm not." Kaoru was both too scared and thrilled to think what that meant. "Kenshin, how'd you know her house so well when we went to drive Tom away?"

He shrugged. "I've developed a good memory from necessity. I got a drink once from the kitchen when I was about to take her out to dinner. Then she showed me where the bathroom was. That was the only time I went inside."

Kaoru sighed and pushed her body back into the plush of his couch, staring up at him as he sat down next to her.

"Two months with Elaine," Kenshin said. "You and I have done more in two and a half weeks than I ever did with her."

Kaoru blushed and leaned forward to wrap her arms around him in a hug. "I was so scared, Kenshin." He pulled her closer. "I thought I wouldn't be able to deal with it, and I wanted to be able to. Don't you ever have an affair!"

He laughed and the sound was so welcome that she smiled and kept still just to listen and feel the way his body moved in laughter. It was still fascinating, the sheer lack of control he had over himself while laughing. Kenshin didn't often laugh, not for real anyway. She knew things wouldn't always be like this.

He stood, his laughter too soon faded away, and drew them both to their feet, encircling her waist with one arm. "Can I ask you a question?" His voice was affecting her that way again, making her feel like they were in bed together. It happened more and more often lately.

"Yes."

"Misao said you took a striptease class in college." The laughter had never really stopped in his eyes. She was going to kill Misao the next time she saw her. Misao had been the one to blackmail her into taking that class in the first place. "So will you put on a private show for me?"

She wasn't going through that embarrassment for anyone, not even Kenshin. Her best option was to bluff. "I'm not wasting those skills on you."

Kenshin raised an eyebrow. "Who are you saving them for? You just said I'm not allowed to have an affair, so you aren't either."

Kaoru continued recklessly-merrily on with her bluff. "I'm saving them for when I go bankrupt and need to perform on the street for quick cash." It was too bad Kenshin knew her well enough to know she'd die of mortification first.

"Bankrupt? I'll give you money. You might as well do the striptease for me now," he said, releasing her and stepping back as he watched her expectantly.

"Nope." Kaoru shook her head. "Even my parents encourage me to use my curves to my advantage, but safely. You know they can be dangerous."

"You're full of yourself, you know that?"

She burst out laughing.