EDITED REPOST 09/05/05

Disclaimers: The regular. I don't own Kenshin and crew. I just manipulate them.

CHAPTER 10

"Nothing good on," Kenshin muttered to himself as he flipped through the channels.

"Garbage…garbage, and more gar—huh…?" He stopped at a news channel. His eyes scanned along the screen, easily keeping up with the flooded text. Another one..? He thought, Eight murders altogether, and they all happened to be females. Coincidence? I wonder who, and why. But do I really want to lend an expert hand to this? Do I want to get involved?

These thoughts barraged his mind whenever he turned on the television. It was pretty much unavoidable. The murderer had hit the media like a whirlwind. All he could think of was to try to stay away from getting involved. To him, the urge to jump in was about as dangerous as drinking a single drop of alcohol. But that's why he always carried a bottle of water, just in case.

Darkness filled his apartment as they quickly flashed a sketch of what they believed the suspect to look like.

"You've got to be kidding me. And that's supposed to be comprehendible?"

On the screen there was a dark figure, like a shadow. Perhaps someone dressed in all black, holding a black sheathe.

"Yeah, like that really helps," Kenshin angrily commented towards the TV. Tokyo was getting more unsafe by the minute. Having heard and seen enough, he shut it off, and stretched himself out on his futon. Stop thinking about that and get back to what you should be worrying about. Slowly but surely, the anger inside him stirred to life as his thoughts fell back around the one topic he had been trying to forget about these past few days. No matter what he did though, he couldn't stop thinking of Enishi and Kaoru together. That girl does not realize what she is getting herself into! Kenshin's instincts raged on for the billionth time.

Fist swinging downwards, Kenshin punched the floor and swore aloud.

And then there was his girlfriend, Tomoe, who didn't seem to care much about the whole situation. He knew for a fact that she knew of all the stories that went around about her little brother. Yet she still kept her head up high, ignorant as always. The male Yukishiro was the slut of their high school, and unfortunately the reputation carried on through university. No surprise there, Kenshin added. Being a guy himself, Kenshin knew that it was no secret what Enishi did with all his female companions. He was out for one thing and one thing only. Aside from that though, he was a shady character with many secrets that only Kenshin knew about.

"Helllooo?"

At the sound of a female's voice in his apartment, Kenshin jumped up swiftly from he sat. Oh God, I need to get a grip, he thought as he looked around to see the answering machine light flashing red. That's funny, Kenshin paused, I don't recall even hearing it ring. I must have seriously been somewhere else.

"Anyways," the voice of Tomoe continued, "If you're there Kenshin, pick up the phone… ok well I'm sorry for getting angry the other day. All you ever seem to be interested in is that Kamiya chick. I understand she's your friend, and that she is dating my brother but… arghh I'm sick of explaining this! My brother has honestly changed with her around. He's treating her well too, so you don't need to freak out about anything. Anyways the reason why I called was because I wanted to know if you wanted to double date tonight. We all have mid-terms coming up, so Enishi and I were thinking of having a study get-together. We can go to the movies after or something but let me know what you think, cause I know that Sano's big party is tomorrow, and that you might not feel like doing anything tonight. So yeah… lemme know! Call me back, sexy."

Maybe I'll just stop by without calling, Kenshin decided as he headed to his room to change. And then maybe I can get some time to talk to Enishi.

Privately.

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

"I'm glad you decided to come," Enishi grinned as he let Kenshin inside the Yukishiro residence.

"So am I," Kenshin replied stiffly. "You and I have to talk. Upstairs. Now."

"Sure buddy. Can I get you something to drink first? A beer maybe? How about some sake?" Enishi offered.

"You know I don't drink."

"How about a little bit of sake? For old times sake."

Enishi was mocking Kenshin. He knew the other had stopped drinking a long time back because he had been there with him, back in those days. Enishi watched Kenshin's reaction, the grin never leaving his lips. Even his smile couldn't conceal the malevolent look in his eyes.

"Get upstairs before Tomoe sees that I'm here," he ordered the younger man.

"What did you wanna talk bout?" Enishi asked as they entered his room.

"I wanted to know what you're… Kaoru?"

Seeing her stopped both his movements and his voice.

"Uhh… hi."

Lying across Enishi's bed, and wearing one of Enishi's t-shirts, Kaoru was flipping through a magazine. The t-shirt was much too big for her, and she looked absolutely adorable in it but Kenshin was too infuriated to think about that.

"What are you doing here?"

As much as he tried hiding the anger from entering his voice, he didn't manage to pull it off.

"I slept over, and what's it to you?" Kaoru matched his heated tone. That was a lie; Enishi had told her to say it earlier. And seeing the look on Kenshin's face just hurt her even more. Trying to prepare before hand for his genuine reaction had been hard enough but actually seeing him face to face, it killed her.

"I was just wondering…" he trailed off innocently and looked away from her. So she had slept over here. That didn't sink well internally.

Clearing his throat, he turned back to Enishi, only to find that the other was staring back at him, arms crossed against the door attentively.

"I need to talk to you."

Kenshin tried to avoid looking at Kaoru again but failed. Her supple, long, legs spread out like that looked so wonderfully touchable. That bastard doesn't deserve to touch her. But before he could turn around, something that he saw made him stop completely. There on her neck, easy to see, were several faded marks.

Hickeys.

She was pulling her hair back when he noticed it, the love bites, and plenty of them. His eyes flickered across the bruised skin, only to be drawn back up to her face. Nothing harsh noticeable was reflected there, in fact she was more deadpan than ever. He abruptly turned around, and walked across the hall into a spare room. He faintly heard Enishi and Kaoru exchange some words before she called out saying, "Enishi hun, close the door behind you! I have to change!"

"I just wanted to say… that I'm happy for you and Kaoru. Treat her well because she deserves it." And that was all that Kenshin said to Enishi.

"Don't worry! I'll learn from the best. I'll treat her exactly how you treat oneesan," Enishi winked at Kenshin who stiffened noticeably from the comment. Something about the sinister look in Enishi's eyes bothered him. It was like he knew more than he was letting on, and was baiting Kenshin to say something.

But how would he? There's no way he could have found out, Kenshin concluded.

After a minute or two he smiled and replied back.

"Exactly."

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Their study session turned out to be somewhat tense. Kaoru chose to sit beside Enishi, of course, and Tomoe couldn't help but beam at a severely annoyed Kenshin when she pointed out that both of them had several, fading marks on their neck.

'See,' she began to write on a piece of paper, 'I told you they were really getting along with each other. My brother totally seems head-over-heels in love.'

Before replying back, Kenshin looked across the table to make sure neither of the so called 'lovebirds' were watching. Safely hidden from their eyes, he wrote back on the scrap paper that he was happy for the two of them. In reply to that, his girlfriend cuddled herself onto his arm and beamed generously.

Kaoru saw it from the corner of her eye, and she caught Kenshin's for a brief second before looking back down at her textbook.

"I've had enough," Enishi announced a couple hours later, slamming his heavy book shut.

"Yeah, me too. We've been studying for quite a while now," Tomoe added between a yawn.

"So what did you guys have in mind?" Enishi asked everyone around the table, but was looking directly at Kaoru. Shrugging, she turned her attention back over to Tomoe who was holding onto Kenshin as if he were going to disappear any second.

"Tomoe suggested to go out and watch a movie but I think it's too late for that now. How about we rent one instead?" Kenshin contributed an idea.

"That's fine with me," Tomoe replied, and tossed back her silky mass of hair with one hand. "What do you two think?"

"Sure but I don't want to stay up too late. I've got a big party to attend tomorrow. Gotta save my energy up for that," Enishi told his sister.

"We're all going, baka. We're the ones that are supposed to be hosting it. At his house," she added thoughtfully. "Oh yeah, Kaoru-chan, I've been meaning to tell you. The party is tomorrow and you're invited."

"Thanks," she smiled at Tomoe, "But I've actua—"

"Got nothing planned," Enishi cut in and pinched her leg from under the table.

Upon seeing Tomoe's face and having Enishi's hand resting on her thigh, Kaoru quickly fixed her words with reassurance.

"I'm sure I'll be able to schedule it for another day. Who's the party for, anyways?" Desperate to change the subject, she thanked god when Tomoe started going on about Kenshin's friend.

"Sagara Sanosuke's, a.k.a., Sano," she informed her.

"Who's that?"

"He's Kenshin's best friend, Kaoru-chan. He's coming back to Japan tomorrow from England. We're all throwing him a big welcome back party. It's at his house, but he doesn't know about it!"

"Ohhh…"

Shit! Kaoru thought miserably. I'll never get out of this.

"Aren't you so happy that he's coming back, Kenshin?" Tomoe directed her attention back to her boyfriend. He seemed to have been lost in his own little world, for when he looked up he didn't exactly meet her eyes but seemed to be looking past them.

"Yeah I am. I haven't seen Sano in a long time. We managed to keep in touch all throughout his trip—"

"And I want you to wear your finest party outfit," Enishi whispered into Kaoru's ear. Her eyes darted over to Kenshin, and Tomoe but they were engrossed in their own conversation.

"Do I have to go?"

"Of course. I want to show off my beautiful girlfriend. What's with the face?"

"Nothing."

"You do have something extremely sexy to wear, don't you?"

"You mean slutty, don't you?" She retorted right back.

"Same thing," Enishi replied with a cocky smile.

"Yeah, I guess I have something…" she trailed off. Her head was swimming through her wardrobe. Something that would keep this bastard happy…

"'I guess' isn't good enough." Enishi paused, and reached into his back pocket.

"What are you doing?"

"Here," he reached inside his wallet, and put a credit card on her lap.

"She's my best friend! She's a great girl, and she looks even better with Sano!" Tomoe raised her voice angrily, managing to startle Kaoru who grabbed onto her lap only to find Enishi's hand resting there.

"I didn't say they didn't look good, Tomoe-dono. I just said that she wasn't his type. He doesn't care for girls right now."

"How do you know? All guys need a girl in their life!"

Kaoru turned back stiffly to Enishi once she was sure that the other two across from her weren't looking. "I don't want it. I don't want your filthy money. You can take it and sho—j"

At that precise moment Tomoe screeched, covering up whatever Kaoru was about to say next.

"YOU DON'T HAVE TO GET INVOLVED!"

"What were you saying, princess?" Enishi leaned closer towards her. With one arm draped over her chair, he gathered her skin between his fingers and pinched forcefully. To keep from crying out and gaining unwanted attention, she bit her tongue. Copper tasting blood seeped around till she was forced to swallow it back. When she didn't reply, Enishi tenderly kissed her cheek.

"That's right princess. Buy yourself something nice for both you, and me."

Then he suddenly straightened up and pulled away from her.

"HEY YOU TWO! Let's rent a movie."

Tomoe jumped up then, announcing that she had to take a quick shower. She pulled on Kenshin's arm, and he looked up at her with his bright lavender eyes.

"What?"

"I think there's something up with my shower head. Can you take a look at it for me?" she asked him so seductively in a smitten kind of tone. Both Kaoru and Enishi were not the four year olds that Tomoe was pretending them to be. Both knew exactly what she really meant. Kenshin lazily smiled at her, and stood up. She took his arm, and draped it over her shoulder, leading him upstairs.

Perhaps a nice, hot shower with Tomoe would relieve him of a lot of the stress he'd been feeling the past few weeks. He had offered his help to Kaoru several times, and each time she had pushed him away. It was time for him to continue on with his life, and stop worrying about others if they didn't care to bother with their own.

"That leaves us to get the movie," Enishi told Kaoru. He laughed when she put the credit card in her pant pocket. With his arm wrapped around her, he waited till they were safely outside before rubbing everything it in her face.

"If Kenshin really cared about you he would have had second thoughts about doing what he's doing right now, upstairs in Tomoe's bathtub." Pushing her up against the garage door, he held here by his compelling eyes alone. Her sharp breathing indicated to him how roughly her emotions were running at the moment. Cupping her face within his hands, he bent down and kissed her once.

"Face it, Kaoru. He's up there fucking Tomoe like she's never been fucked before, pinned up against the bathroom wall, the hot water spraying all over their naked bodies."

It hit her exactly like he was hoping. Kaoru jerked her head and tried to escape, to run away from everything but Enishi had her back fully braced against the solid wood.

I don't want to feel like this. I want to forget about him. Forever.

Taking in just how defenseless his woman was, Enishi smiled when she looked away. He had truly been blessed for having Kumi as a cousin, and for her to trust him so much. She had given him something extremely fun to play around with. He moved closer to his prized possession, so that they were touching and Kaoru could feel his whole body against hers through his cotton t-shirt and light joggers.

"I'll make the pain go away," he whispered as he bent his head. But before their lips actually met, he paused in mid-tilt.

"If you'll let me."

Kaoru stood up on her toes and finished what he was about to do. Her answer turned him on like fire pouring through his body. Not giving a damn about who in the neighborhood was staring out their window, he rocked his body against hers, bringing one of her legs up around his waist as they grinded to the music playing in their ears only.

Hearing her gasp each time he thrust up against her was enough to almost make himtear both their clothes off.

I knew she'd give in soon enough. They all like to chase around but eventually there's a time to give in…

Thank you to: K14princess-ROCK, kirie-kun, karou-ken, Sapphire Priestess, crest fallen212, Pixel-the-evil-fairy, Reignashii, scythe195, Immortal-Blood, erica6060, Momo Adachis Peach (for chapter 8, and 9 ), Jezz (your entitled to your own opinion; to each their own), and kenshinlover2002, for the reviews : )