Disclaimer: I do not own Rurouni Kenshin.

Ahoy all the readers and reviewers out there! Thanks a bunch for all the reviews and I hope you all like this chapter! Please let me know what you think. Tell me what you don't like. Hate it or love it, please leave a review!

Healing by KatsunoCZ

Chapter 7

Kaoru begun unpacking to put her things into her new room. Misao came in, holding two cups of tea. "Tea?"

"Thank you, Misao." Kaoru said, grateful.

Misao smiled. "No problem."

Then, they sat in silence for a while.

Misao spoke again. "Are you sure you are going to be okay in class tomorrow?"

"Yeah."

"People are going to be nasty to you. Well, not all of them but it's enough to torture someone…and Suzukaze too."

"Ah, let them be nasty. If they go too far, they don't know who they are messing with. And Suzukaze…I don't give a damn."

Misao laughed.

"The thing I'm worried about is getting a job. I was thinking…is it possible for me to get a job as a waitress in The Iwasaki's?" Kaoru asked.

"Why do you want to work at The Iwasaki's? You're smart, I'm sure you can get a better job than that."

"Yeah but I want a part-time job, I can only work nights because I have classes during the day. Those jobs that pay well are usually full day and very hectic, too busy and time consuming for me anyway…."

"Oh. So you'll work as a waitress?"

"Yeah. It doesn't have to be The Iwasaki's, just any café or restaurant near this flat will do. I had experience as a waitress before, so I guess it won't be so bad…"

"We can go ask around."

"Yeah, that is the only job I can think of. Can't travel too far for work, can't afford a car anyway…"

"Wait, you know how to drive?"

"What? I didn't know!"

Kaoru laughed. "Now you do. I used to drive around these two brothers that I was living next door to in USA."

"Really? Isn't it dangerous to hang around guys alone?"

"Nope. These two are like brothers to me. Their names are Sanosuke and Yahiko. Both of them studied in Princeton as well."

"Does that mean they might know Soujiro?"

"I've never hear them mention before, Sanosuke should be graduating soon but Yahiko still have a few more years to go."

"Are they handsome?"

Kaoru laughed. "Sano is very tall and he has brown eyes and hair. Good-looking. Yahiko has black hair and eyes and their personalities are pretty much the same. Honest and generous. They just try to act tough, that's all…"

"It sounds like you guys are really close."

"We are. They are always the ones who make me feel better when I get dumped by guys."

"Oh. What? 'Always'?"

"Yeah. My boyfriends were always the ones breaking it off with me. The problem is, I'm always hopelessly in love with them …"

"Woah! I didn't know!"

"Yeah." Kaoru smiled.

"Don't you feel crappy when they dump you?"

"Sure I do. That is what Sano and Yahiko is there for, to bring me out of the darkness."

"I've never been dumped before."

"Trust me, it hurts like shit if you take the relationship seriously."

"I mean, I've never have a real relationship."

"You don't?"

"Yeah."

"Ah, you will soon."

Kaoru's hand phone begun to ring. It was an unknown number. Kaoru picked it up. "Hello?" she said cautiously.

"It's Dr.Yukishiro Enishi," a voice said.

"Oh hi, Yukishiro-san. How did you get my number?"

"Your father gave it to me."

"Oh, look, Yukishiro-san. I'm actually quite busy right now, so I'm going to hang up okay?"

"Wait!"

Kaoru stopped proceeding to press the button.

"I know that Kamiya-sama had told you about being engaged to me…" Enishi continued.

"Yukishiro-san, I'm not in the mood right now. What my father promised you is without my consent, so I-"

Enishi cut her short. "I know that and I'm sorry. I know that you're upset and I just want to let you know that I'm patient and I can wait…"

"Don't, Yukishiro-san. I'm already seeing someone else."

An awkward silence.

Enishi finally spoke again. His face was strained, trying very hard to sound cheerful. "It doesn't matter. How about let's just forget about the engagement thing and start over as friends?"

"hmmm…"

"Please, Kaoru…you know that I'm actually nice."

"Okay. But only as friends. As far as I'm concerned, the engagement never existed."

"As you wish."

"Okay."

"Friends?"

"Friends."

Enishi laughed. "That's good. Finally, now I can sleep! I've been worrying the past few days!"

Kaoru laughed as well. "Yeah, I'm glad that we solved this out as well. So, I'm going to hang up now, okay?"

"Okay."

"Bye, Yukishiro-san."

"Bye Kaoru."

Kaoru pressed the button and sighed, then she realized that Enishi had called her 'Kaoru' instead of 'Kamiya-san' as he usually did.

"Who was that?"Misao asked.

"The man my father engaged me to."

"Oh. So I guess that you guys have sorted it out?"

"Yeah."

"That's good."

Kaoru smiled.

Monday morning…

Kaoru and Misao cycled to the university together. People begun whispering and pointing at her and it was getting onto Kaoru's nerves. Then, a big guy came up to Kaoru.

"So, is Suzukaze any good?"he sneered, a teasing smile on his face.

"I'm sorry?"Kaoru asked, trying to remain calm.

"Don't pretend anymore, Kamiya. Why did you even come back?"

"I'm not pretending."

The guy laughed nastily. Kaoru glared at him.

"So, is he that good for you to sacrifice your reputation? I never thought that he had it in him. Thought that he was gay, I guess I was wrong."

"I don't know what you've heard, but it's all not true and you better fuck off before I get pissed."

"What? Whatcha gonna do? So answer me, is he good in bed? Any special skills he used that you'd recommend?" the guy laughed, pushing her roughly at the shoulders. Misao was about to say something when Kaoru held up her hand to stop her.

"What you guys have you have made up is all not true. Only three days missing from class and you people are already making it such a big deal. You all should be proud of your imagination to cook up something like this." Kaoru said, her voice dangerously calm, her eyes looking straight into his, cold and hard. A wicked smile was playing on her lips. She paused for effect. "As for what I am going to do, I'm going to make you wish you were never born."

The big guy's face paled, then, it turned into embarrassment, his face a bright angry red. "What! You fucking bitch!" he growled.

"What? Whatcha gonna do?" Kaoru retorted, mimicking him.

By then, there were lots of people were crowding around them, watching the show.

"You fucking bitch!" the big guy shouted and threw a punch at Kaoru.

Misao closed her eyes. But the punch never touched Kaoru's face. There was a tensed a silence.

Misao opened her eyes slowly.

Kaoru's hand was over the guy's big fist, a smirk on her face. Misao wondered how Kaoru's small fragile hands had the strength to hold up against him and stopped his punch. Then, Kaoru's smiled widened and in a flash of a moment the guy was slammed onto the ground, behind her.

She looked down at him menacingly, "Don't you even touch me. You'll regret it."

For a moment no one could recognize Kaoru. She was not like the quiet or calm Kaoru they usually see. She was cold, ruthless and dangerous, a power radiating about her. Misao ran after her as she walked away from the big guy. The big guy was still on the ground, too shocked to move and the rest of the people just stared. They were surprised as well. Kaoru was so fast that they only saw a brief moment of what she did to him. They never thought that she could defend herself and was capable of something like this.

"Kaoru-chan!" Misao called, trying very hard to keep up with Kaoru's long and fast strides.

Kaoru turned, her face gloomy.

"Are you okay?" Misao asked worriedly.

Then, Kaoru's dark expression softened and she smiled. "You should be asking the big guy just now."

Misao laughed. "Yeah I should. What did you do to him?"

"I back lifted him and slammed him onto the ground."

"What? Where did you get all the strength?"

"That can be done by all people even if you don't have a lot of strength. Just by applying the correct amount of pressure and certain angles, you can lift a person over and slam him down behind you."

"Wow, where did you learn that?"

"My dad taught me. That is the only time I'm glad that he make decisions for me and made me learn how to fight."

"You should teach me sometime."

"Sure."

"And I'm sure they won't bother you now, those stupid people."

"I hope so."

"Definitely. You scared the hell out of them just now, Kaoru-chan. Even the big guy was hurting real bad."

"Really? I'm sorry."

"Don't be! He deserves it!"

In America…

Sayo was sitting in an Italian Restaurant with a group of friends. They were talking gesticulately with each other when they suddenly stopped and begun to gape at something. Sayo followed their gazes. It was the guy who had helped her a few days ago.

The spiky brown haired young man. He had just came in with a beautiful woman beside him. Her hair was black and her eyes a vivid blue colour. Could it be his girlfriend? Then, a shorter guy followed in, baring resemblance with the guy who helped her.

Her friends were staring at them unashamedly.

Sayo waved her hands in front of them. "Hello? What are you guys staring at?"

"Shhh!" they hissed.

Sayo sat back and let her friends continue to stare at the brown haired guy. Then, one of her friends, Tracy got up and went to talk to him.

"Who is that you guys are goggling at?" Sayo asked again, annoyed at being ignored.

"Sorry, Sayo. The tall guy Tracy is talking to is Sanosuke Sagara, the woman is Megmi Takani and the shorter guy is Sano's brother, Yahiko,"her friend, Anne replied.

Oh…so that is his name...Sanosuke Sagara.

"Then why are you guys still goggling at him? He is obviously very attached."

"Don't be silly Sayo. They are not together. They are close friends, that's all. Megumi is together with another guy. Aoshi Shinomori. And it's a shame that he's taken. Aoshi is such a hunk."

Sayo nodded. "But where did you guys come to know them? I don't see them around the campus."

"We went on the summer camping trip that you couldn't go, and it turned out that other Universities participated in that trip as well. We met them there."

"Oh." Sayo said. She looked at Sanosuke and decided that he was actually quite handsome. She liked his lazy smile and his good natured laughs. He was laughing heartily at something that Tracy was saying when he noticed her looking at him.

Sayo gave a small smile.

He walked over to their table and rumpled her hair playfully again. "Run into any trouble lately?" he asked, his brown eyes kind.

Sayo shook her head. "Nope. I want to thank you again for helping me out the other say."

"No problem."

"Wait, you two know each other?" Tracy asked, confused.

"Yeah, Sagara-san helped me to retrieve my bag when some guy tried to steal it from me." Sayo explained.

Sano nodded, smiling.

So all of them were introduced to Sayo formally. Then, they wnet back to their tables to their meals. But Sayo couldn't help glancing at Sanosuke. He was tall, kind and good looking.

"Sayo!" Tracy said, smiling.

"Hmm?"

"You lucky! Where did you meet Sano?"

"You know, the street where we usually meet for our shopping sprees?"

"Oh…" Tracy said, then she leaned in confidentially. "You know, Sano is quite a catch."

"Oh?"

"Christ, of course!"

"well, I just know him so of course I don't know anything about him."

"Well, he is studying law in Princeton. He doesn't fool around with women and he is rich. He doesn't spent money unwisely as well, but he is a nice guy, always helping people out and being generous."

"Wow, and he doesn't have a girlfriend?"

"He used to like Megumi..but…"

"But she refused him and got together with Aoshi instead." Anne said, cutting into the conversation.

"Oh." Sayo said, then she went back to look at her food, deep in thought.

We probably won't meet again…our universities are so far from each other…

Kaoru was in the lecture theatre, listening to Professor Suzukaze. People were still pointing at whispering but Kaoru just ignored them. At least no one dared come up and mock at her again. Professor Suzukaze gave a surprise test that day. Kaoru knew that he did it on purpose. It was a test based on the topics which were covered when she was not present in class. That stupid bastard really hated her.

When the class was over, Professor Suzukaze asked Kaoru to stayed behind while the rest of the class sniggered and shift out of the theatre as slowly as she could.

"Ms. Kamiya." Professor Suzukaze said.

"Yes, sir?" Kaoru said as calmly as she could, wondering what he wanted to say to her.

"You been absent from class for three days last week. And your father said that you ran away…and are you aware of what you've done is causing what kind of rumors been spread around?"

"Yes, I am. But I did not run away like what my father had said. I was sick, that's all. And the rumors that the others are spreading is not because of anything I said. They made it up, and I don't see why any of this is my fault at all."

"Right, so you are saying that you are not wrong at all?"

"Yes, sir. I've done no wrong. I am an adult, I can take care of myself and you don't always have to believe whatever my father tells you."

Professor Suzukaze stared hard at her and Kaoru stared bravely back.

Finally, Professor Suzukaze sighed, "You can go now."

Kaoru nodded and walked away. She didn't even bother to explain anything to him. It was not necessary; it would only make things more complicated.

Now, she had to look for Shougo.

Shougo was painting in the studio. He looked up briefly when Kaoru came in but went back to his work immediately. Silent.

He was probably angry.

Kaoru put down her bag and went to him. "Shougo?"

Shougo continued to ignore her.

Kaoru touched his shoulder, "I'm sorry, for not showing up or letting you know that I was sick."

Shougo nodded stiffly, he stood up and tore a piece of paper out from a notebook. "Give me your handphone number so that I can contact you."

Kaoru nodded, smiling. She scribbled her number on the paper hastily and as she handed him the paper, she pecked Shougo on the cheek.

Shougo was surprised and he actually blushed! Kaoru laughed. "So, we cool now?"

Shougo nodded uncertainly, "Let's paint."

So they sat down and begun painting. Kaoru begun to hum happily to herself, she had not touch the paintbrush for a while. Shougo turned to look at her.

"Why are you so happy?" he asked, frowning.

Kaoru turned towards him, confused. "What?"

"Saitou helped you right?"

"How did you know?"

"I called him and he told me."

"Oh, but that is not why I am happy."

"He didn't touch you, did he?" Shougo asked, his eyes looking intensively into her eyes. Kaoru stared back uncertainly. How did he know? Did Saitou tell him? Kaoru looked away, blushing slightly.

"It's all right, I know…" Shougo said dully, his voice gloomy. "Just…"

"Just what?" Kaoru asked.

"Just be careful, he is not the commitment type."

Kaoru nodded. She thought about what Shougo had just said. But actually, she knew that Saitou was not the commitment type as well. Unexpected things happened and she wasn't able to resist the intense attraction.

She went back to painting, ignoring Shougo's constant glances. She wouldn't worry yet, she need not be careful yet as well. Saitou had not even called her yet. He might have forgotten everything that happened between them already….which may be a good thing for her…so that she won't fall so deep…

Misao was already there waiting for her.

"What took you so long?" she asked.

"Sorry, I got caught up with painting."

"It's all right. We are heading over to The Iwasaki's to see if there is a job opening for you right?"

"Yeah."

"I guess we can give you a try…you are hired." Tae said.

"Really? Arigato!" Kaoru exclaimed.

Tae laughed. "So here is your uniform," she handed her a package. "And you'll need to be here by five and work ends around eleven. Is that okay?"

"Yeah."

"Besides from the pay from the restaurant, you'll get tips from customers as well."

Kaoru nodded eagerly.

"So, I'll see you tomorrow?" Tae asked.

"Of course!"

Kaoru took a look at the uniform she was going to wear.

A white apron, with frills at the sides and a tight A-line skirt which just end above her knees. A pinstriped long sleeved button-up shirt. Not too bad…

She tried it on and walked to Misao's room.

"So what do you think?" Kaoru asked, turling around.

Misao smiled. "You look great. I never thought that anyone could look good in uniforms, but you sure do."

Kaoru looked pleased. "Thank you."

The Next Day…

Kaoru rushed from the campus to The Iwasaki's. She changed into her uniform and came out of the changing room. Tae took a look at her and nodded approvingly.

"Come, let me tie your hair up into a bun." Tae said.

"Why?" Kaoru asked, she like her high ponytail.

"It's a dress code for the Iwasaki waitresses, except for the ones with short hair. But the others all have to have their hair tied up into a bun."

"Oh…" Kaoru replied and followed Tae.

She learned what she was suppose to do and got to know all the other waitresses and and waiter's as well. She made good friends with Tae, the woman who ran the restaurant and she enjoyed company of the chefs inside.

Kaoru liked her work and she found herself giving her all in the job. The customers who sat at the tables assigned to her adored her and left her quite good tips. And Kaoru appreciated them for it.

She liked earning her own money and not depending on anyone, it almost reminded her of her life in America.

Okita Souji had been watching her for days. He had always enjoyed coming to the Iwasaki's ever since his good friend Enishi introduced it to him. But Enishi he himself did not have that much time to come here always so Okita always came alone.

It was obvious that she was new around here; he had never seen her here before. He took care to always sit at the tables she didn't serve so that he could watch her from far. It was not that she was clumsy or anything, she was swift and sharp with her movements but she was different. There was a glow about her, her blue eyes always sparkling. She did her job with enthusiasm and he liked that. She was slender, her uniform fitting her perfectly and her rich raven hair was tied up in a bun. He could never study her features up close but he knew that she had creamy, milky skin and that whenever she walked by the tables with the trays or plates, the men would always turn to stare. But she never seemed to notice it at all. Either she really didn't notice or she just didn't care.

Could she be a student? He noticed that she only worked nights and from her the way she looked at people; she looked very naïve and innocent. She could only be eighteen or nineteen…

Okita decided that he was ready to sit at the tables she served the next day. He couldn't wait to find out more about her.

A/N: This chapter is done! People, people, Please review to let me know what you guys think. Feedback is always appreciated!

Okay, here is a survey:

Who do you all think Kaoru should end up with? Saitou, Okita, Shougo or Enishi?

Who is the favourite male character you all like the most here?

What do you all think about the parts on Sayo and Sanosuke?

Okies! Thanks a bunch if you would let me know!

Kaori-Angel: Gomen ne for the grammar and for not updating sooner! Thanks for all the compliments and I hope you like this chapter! I enjoy receiving ur reviews!

tooqiE: Hahaha…sorry for not updating sooner! Thank you for all your nice compliments! Katsuno blushes Thanks! Really…! I hope you like this chapter, review again!

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