A/N: hmm...some more A/K?
Special thanks for Ardenilia, Hitoezakura, and Twilight Elf-maiden. The ending chapter for 1st part of this fic is dedicated for you! coming soon!
O yeah...Kaoru could cook! finally...wheew..
Disclaimer: Cotton candy anyone? nn...yea, Aoshi & Kaoru ain't mine, I'm just here to spoil their gums and teeth...heheheh
COTTON CANDY VII
Aoshi fell asleep in the guest room in Kamiya dojo after his short meditation routine. When he woke up, it was already quite late in the afternoon, although the sky's interesting hue of deep orange and dark blue indicated that the sun has not set just yet. He stretched his lean body languorously... He has never been one to take an afternoon nap ever…but this time, he just did…and he felt a lot fresher after it too..
He looked around for his host and found her in the dining room, fussing over the cutlery and table arrangement for tonight's dinner. Straight away he noticed one thing about her work. Messy. She tried to fold the napkins into a simple Western style fan, as taught by Jane, but it didn't seem to work out very well. He immediately offered his help as he noticed the cloudy outlook on her face.
"Let me help you a little.." he said, while at the same time swiftly folding the napkins into a rather elaborate swans instead of her pitiful fans. She pouted as she saw how easy it was for him to do such task. "Darn...is he showing off or something? heck, he's even more capable than me in doing this stuff...There must be a connection between ex-warriors and house chores...", she pondered inwardly, remembering how efficiently Kenshin worked around the house as well.
Kaoru went into the kitchen when Aoshi arranged the dining table. 'I never thought Shinomori was capable of all these things…keeping me company to the market…arranging plates for dinner table…and conversing rather normally too…' she shook her head, trying to shake off the picture of Misao's heart throb from her mind.
'Oh, by the way, where is Itachi?…how come she doesn't come with him this time around? I though she would come anytime now...
Unn..and come to think of it, Shinomori's response did sound kind of odd.. Is he hiding something?', she questioned herself.
"Is there anything else? Let me get those..", a deep velvety voice shattered her thoughts as she sheepishly handed him the tea cups.When it was all done, and she ran out of tasks to give to him, Kaoru was getting fidgety again'. Darn, what should I do now?' A lightbulb appeared in her head.
'Ah, yeah...bath! bath is a good idea...'
She looked up only to find Shinomori glanced out at the window, looking rather...contemplative? Before she knew it, she has approached him and tapped his shoulder, and couldn't help but to blush as she informed him of the bath house and the hot water already prepared for him.
"Eer...Shinomori-san...arigatou, for your help...we don't have anything else to do anymore..now...I've prepared some hot water at the bath house.." she motioned her hand to the direction of the bath house.
She stopped at that, and then she realized the implication of her sentence..
Aagh! What did I just say!
Aoshi hid his smirk pretty well. He waited patiently for her to continue.
"Err...I mean, that is if you'd like to take a bath now.." she continued, frowning as her words still didn't come out right..
"Nn...you're very welcome to do so... " , she finished her sentence with what she hoped was a casual tone.
But his acute observation skills told him the underlying nervousness beneath the casual composure of hers.
He thought it was rather cute…
Huh? Cute? Why did I even think of that?
"Thank you, Kamiya-san.. I'll do that"
Aoshi leisurely took a hot bath in the bathhouse. He observed his surrounding...
hmm..traditional brick walls, shoji screens, creaking wooden floor, lush greeneries in the backyard, and a sturdy wooden gate..
He quite like Kamiya dojo indeed…there is this air of serenity and comfort around this place, and it was quite well maintained, eventhough there were only Kamiya herself and the Myoujin kid. Come to think of it, there are somethings in this place that reminded him of Aoiya, his home. His analytical mind thought as it flew back to Kamiya, then switched to Misao.
He frowned, 'Kuso, Why do I start comparing them now?'
He tried to shake off the images in his mind.
7.00 p.m.
'Tadaima!', a loud voice penetrated the building.
No answer..
"Oy, Busu…we're here!" Yahiko loudly exclaimed once again,this time withthe usual rude remark.
Kaoru soon emerged from her room, looking more beautifully attired than her usual training clothes. She greeted the spiky haired boy with a saccharine sweet smile as she discreetly took out a wooden bokken from behind her.
Quickly taking in the fact that everyone was there, she only thwacked him once (very hard, though) on his head.
Yahiko winced and grumbled as the bump on his head swelled up quite badly. 'In one of these days, I swear I would wear one of thoseWestern helmets...', he vowed quietly.
Tsubame smiled shyly at her host, fussing over Yahiko swelling head, making the teenage boy blushed slightly due to her attention, all while Tae greeted her with a warm hug,and Dr. Genzai followed behind them, …alone..
"Eh, where is Ayame-chan and Suzume-chan, Doctor?" Kaoru asked politely. Shelooks radiant inher dark blue yukata with pretty silver sakura leaves embroidered on the hem of the sleeves.
"Oh, my sister came to visit me a few days ago, and the girls are in her care tonight", he replied, smiling.
Aoshi made an appearance soon after, clad in his crisp blue and white hakama. He nodded at the crowd.
Kaoru had to force herself not to stare at her guest 'Damn...Itachi sure knows how to pick a guy to drool over'...Kaoru mused, then blushed at her own musing.
A gasp from Yahiko was heard as soon as the black-haired guest made an appearance, which causes Kaoru to hastily explain about his arrival.
" Minna, Shinomori-san has some business he has to take care in Tokyo, so for the time being, he'll stay here...ne, Shinomori-san, you've met them before, right? She turned her head to face the tall guy.
"Hai..I've met them before", he answered simply, quietly admiring the beauty presented before him.
Yahiko eyed him rather suspiciously still, but he said nothing about it.
"Ne…Minna-san…let's have something to eat", she cordially motioned everyone to sit around the dinner table, quickly stirring the point of conversation elsewhere..
At Kaoru's request, each of them obedientlysitaround the wooden table in the middle of the traditional tatami floored room.
Kaoru went into the kitchen to get the condiments.
Finding opportunity, Yahiko, in a hushed tone said to Tsubame "Here we go…eat the raw stuff, Tsubame…it has the least chance of being spoiled by Kaoru's cooking skill"
"Oh, better yet, look for condiments...they usually do the trick to cover burnt flavour...", he added.
Tsubame giggled at his comment.
Kaoru stepped into the dining room, but did nothing this time, eventhough she heard the blatant whispered insult thrown by her pupil, aside from giving him a glare that holds a promise of his doom later.
Actually, she felt it would be childish to thwack Yahiko's head now.
Especially in front of Shinomori Aoshi.
Aoshi grinned inwardly…realizing the girl's holding her temper in control..
The table was decorated simply with freshly picked flowers, but it looked quite nicely contrasted with the plain coloured earthenware and Kaoru's cooking that night. Yahiko and everyone else went wide-eyed as they observe Kaoru's cooking.
Western food? Is she nuts? Yahiko thought…she can't even cook Miso soup, and now she's cooking…Western food?
…but they look deceptively nice….and the smell…not too bad too…
They swallowed their fear of food poisoning and each took a fairly small portion of what Kaoru offered on the dinner table.
Kaoru just sat still with her bowl in front of her, herslender frametensed as she waited for the guests to try her cooking. She held her breath as Tsubame took a bite of a teeny tiny piece of beef ribs nervously.
"A…O..oishii..", Tsubame said innocently, chewing on the tender beef ribs that Kaoru has put considerable amount of time to perfect.
Yahiko's eyes bulged hearing her remark. 'Hontou? Did she put something in it to make it nice?', he eyed the food in front of him with renewed feeling of suspicion.
Tae chose to try the soup.. Perhaps it won't be that bad...It was light in texture but quite hearty in taste...She loved it right away. "Kaoru-chan…this is delicious", she said, tucking yet another spoonful of the soup into her mouth. Now this is different from her normal home-cooked food.
Yahiko gulped. 'Two positive response...from Busu's cooking? is this some cruel joke?'
Yahiko only wanted the steamed vegetables, as he thought, as bad as Kaoru was at cooking, steamed vegetable was quite hard to ruin…He took a piece of long bean and carrot…with brown coloured sauce… 'Hmm...where are the condiments? ', he eyed the table, ready to grab some sauce as his chopstick met his lips.
It tasted…."….Umai!" he exclaimed unexpectedly. The vegetables were actually nicely cooked, not raw and crunchy or too soft. He proceeded to eat everything else on the table with gusto. And without condiments too.
Dr. Genzai complimented the beef as well and scoffed everything on his plate until nothing was left, literally.
Kaoru's tense expression was actually becoming more smug by the second. 'Thank you, Jane!' Her gaze was now directed to the crystal-eyedguest who ate quietly. 'Hmm…this is quite nice', he thought, relishing the flavor of spices that she used for cooking. What Misao said was obviously incorrect...Kamiya surelyknows a thing or two about cooking..
Kaoru nervously waited for his comment. She even fidgeted a little.
After a lifetime of waiting...
"Kamiya-san, this is delicious.." he said sincerely as his crystal orbs met her deep blue ones.
Kaoru felt her heart swelled in joy and pride. She almost burst into tears as she displayed the biggest slice of smile on her face, as wide of a grin as she could muster. She proceeded to eat from her own bowl with satisfaction.
Tonight before sleep, she'd reward herself with a bit more cotton candy then, she made a mental note.
As her guests bid their goodbye one by one, and Yahiko went out to walk the guests home,she was once again being offered some help from the ex Okashira of Oniwabanshuu. He helped her washing the dishes, and after Yahiko returned and retired to bed, soon he bid her goodnight. Kaoru sighed and went into her room, making her way straight to her wardrobe shelves and taking out a big piece of pink cotton candy that Jim supplied for her on a daily basis. As she was about to unwrap the plastic, she suddenly felt like getting a bit of fresh air, so she stepped out of her room, quietly tip-toeing past Yahiko's room.
'O yeah...I've won that dare with Yahiko...don't think that I've forgotten that...now he has to submit to everything I say...', she smirked evilly thinking about the previous dare that her pupil so confidently agreed to take up.
She didn't need to worry about Aoshi since his room is on the other side of hers and Yahiko's. Sheapproachedtheporch and sat down on the wooden stairs, ready to pounce on her beloved cotton candy, but heard a familiar voice.
"Can't sleep, Kamiya?", a male voice questioned.
Kaoru felt her heart leapt out of its socket…and promptly loosened her grip on the cotton candy stick, sending it plumetting to the ground. Her reflexes were immobile, as she simply eyed her precious treat falling down in a slow motion.
'Iyaa...my cotton candy!' her inner self screamed dramatically.
Aoshi was faster, and he leapt to catch it before it reached the ground.
"I believe this is yours", he remarked, handing the huge cotton candy back to her with a little smirk pasted on his face.
Kaoru blushed as she could see his smirk. 'Oh no...eating cotton candy in front of him…how embarassing'…especially when she realized how huge the spun sweet really was.
Oh well…too late…
"Would you like some?" she cheerfully offered, her voice bellied her sudden nervousness for being at a close proximity with the tall Oniwaban ex-Okashira.
He twitched his eyebrows then, "..No thanks…I'm not into sweets so much", he declined.
Kaoru frowned, remembering something when she heard him said that.
"..This is not just some kind of sweets...it's a stress-relieving sweet", she winked at him mischievously.
"Eh?" he asked, looking puzzled at hearing her explanation.
She scoffed, "You heard me, Shinomori-san...", she said levelly.
He looked down at the cotton candy in her hand, then looking back on her face.
'How is it possible? She must be joking'…. He eyed her skeptically..
"No…I'm serious..here, have a try", she said, knowing full well that he's doubting her. 'Gee, I was like him before'..she thought..
It felt like a déjà vu
His eyes narrowed at her, refusing her offer.
She was impatient at his skepticism.
She tried another tactic
... 'very well, you skeptic man...try this!'
"Oh, Shinomori-san, won't you look at that!", she feigned a surprised look as she motioned her handtoward the direction of the night sky.
"Huh?" he followed her gaze, trying to figure out what she was getting at..
His mouth gaping open ever so slightly... only to be swiftly fed a pinch of the pink cotton candy by her. as she grinned naughtily.
He was so surprised that Kamiya Kaoru dared to use such a childish trick on him.
'But you were tricked anyway, right'…his conscience butted in to annoy him.
As soon as he clenched his teeth, he felt a soft trickle of sugary liquid melted in his mouth, and going down his throat, leaving a rather nice sweet after-taste…