But Sano was already gone.

Chapter 5

Kenshin blinked twice and glanced his way to Genkai, his middle-aged butcher for almost five years, who was shrugging his shoulders. The old man pointed towards the guest bedroom with this disquieting look in his face. Kenshin bobbed his lips and then scampered towards where Kaoru was, which in fact is his room.

He opened the door and turned the lights on. He heaved a large sigh of relief and inched towards the bed. He sat down and appraised her with a strange feeling of concern and anger. Concern of what the guy he had just met might did with her and angry because she ran away.

He didn't know it yet. But the feeling was actually called worrying.

And then his surging thoughts were cut off by Genkai's rhetoric clearing-of-the-throat tactic. He turned around and gave him the 'what' look. Genkai sighed and whacked his own head and then pointed at Kaoru. But Kenshin did not get it.

"What!" the temperamental redhead snapped with a swift cock of his eyebrows.

"Sir" Genkai started, "She's wet"

Kenshin's eyes bulged wide and his face reddened in consternation. "What?"

Obviously, he didn't get it again.

Genkai's face took on a sudden change of panic. He raised his hands in surrender and in a persnickety voice explained himself, "The clothes, sir, I mean" Genkai shook his head when he turned to look at Kaoru again. Sometimes, he thought, rich men become stupid

"What should I do then?" constant shaking was evident in his voice.

"There are a number of things you could do, sir" Genkai answered, rather hesitantly. Then, he started to chew his thumb which irked Kenshin a lot more. There were only few and very rare times when Genkai chewed on his nails. Those times were the times when he really is worried about a circumstance, times when he thought he could do better with it than any other people could. And that includes his masters.

The redhead grimaced, "Like what?"

"Take them off, for example" Genkai's voice was puerile, "but if you don't want to, I'll gladly do it for you"

Kenshin paused for a while and then snarled, "Genkai, do you want to get fired right this very instant?" Sometimes, Genkai's kind offers unnerved him because the old man was had notoriety girl-wise during his times.

"That was only a joke, sir" he said apologetically but then added, "But seriously, if you want her to wake up tomorrow, you should take those wet clothes off her and after that, force her to eat"

The younger man blinked, unsure of what steps to take. Sure she had seen a lot of naked women before but Kaoru was different. But then again, how was she different? Was it because she was obviously fatter? Or was it because she possessed the guts to question his sanity and authority and morals? Yes, she was different from all the girls he had been with. And strangely, he found her difference quite attractive.

Kenshin looked at her again and then swayed his eyes to Genkai. "I'll handle this" and waved a dismissive sign. Genkai cleared his throat in a sort of don't-do-anything-rash way. Kenshin glared at him and the butcher disappeared through the door.

Now, he must concentrate on the matter at hand. Gently, he yanked off the covers and stared at her clothes in shock. They were see-through. Directly, it must have meant that the guy who brought her here and Genkai himself saw what he was seeing that very instant.

His face reddened at the thought. With anger, of course. Or was it jealousy? He shook the thoughts out of his head and freed a heavy breath. His reluctant hands reached Kaoru's forehead trembling and he flinched. She must have been hotter than the pancake that burned his tongue the other morning! His hands went down her face and they stayed there for a while, savoring its softness. He chuckled to himself as he cupped it, "I hate to admit it, but you're cute"

As if aware of what he was doing, Kaoru moaned and Kenshin immediately snatched his fingers off her. Her face was now becoming pale, almost indigo. He snapped his fingers, snapping them always helps him decide. "Alright" There is no other way. Why should he worry in the first place? Undressing women was always one of his specialties.

So with hands that still trembled, he carefully unbuttoned her halter top. "God" he murmured, catching sight of her breasts. They're small and he had not a mite of intention of doing whatsoever to them. He swallowed the building lump in his throat and cautiously and quietly forced her up. He pulled an auburn shirt from his drawers and started putting Kaoru in it. Gently, he succeeded pushing her head through the middle hole. Then, the arms. Slowly, gently quietly, and success. He wiped his beading perspiration and pulled the shirt closely down. His arms felt the dampness of her pants.

Yet another strenuous activity. It was the first time he felt uneasy shredding the clothes off women. He gulped once more as he repeated the same procedure until twenty minutes later, Kaoru was deeply asleep, wearing a dry-cleaned shirt.

It was eight in the morning but Kaoru had not awaken yet. Genkai had forced her to eat a bowl of porridge last night. Yes, she ate but her mind was still a blur. Didn't even remember where she was or what happened when she ran away. Food. It was the first word that came out of her. No doubt she was hungry because she consumed the bowl in minutes. And no doubt she didn't appreciate being fed with porridge because she vomited it all an hour later. Worse, the porridge with bile and hydrochloric acid accompanied by a fainting smell had all found shelter on his sheets in his very own room.

Had it been an ordinary girl puking on his bed in ordinary situations, even if she was on her deathbed, he'd have sent her out and made her clean her mess while she was it. Unfortunately, Kaoru was no ordinary girl in a definitely not ordinary situation. It was partly his fault, for dismissing her in the rain. But the other half was hers because she ran away. But her running away was also his fault…for shouting at her and insulting her…

Either way, nothing else can be done about it. She was sick and he had taken responsibility for it. She puked on his sheets and she would take responsibility for it when she gets well. That, he was sure of. What he was unsure of however was the reason of her very presence. It disgusted him but he didn't want her to disappear either. If she leaves the house, it would be in her own accord in her own free will. And that was where the idea struck him.

He would make her life a living hell.

"Sir…"it was Genkai, jerking his thumb over his shoulders. His eyes spotted Kaoru, stirring. He smirked to himself, filling a thrill crawl down beneath his skin. He neared her and sat on the bed.

With a pretentious smile, he reached for her forehead and whispered, "Kaoru" his hand went down to her cheeks, "are you alright?"

There was a little movement and then Kaoru fluttered her eyes open. Her face darkened with fury, feeling his hands on her face. With an acidic voice, "Take your pervert hands off me, you maniac"

Kenshin was taken back and he instantly took his hands away from her face. He grumbled to himself for her sudden rebellion and ingratitude. He frowned. But he calmed himself, something which he wasn't really good at but nonetheless succeeded. He sighed before speaking a gentlemanly voice, "I'll take that as a thank you. You know Kaoru, if you don't mind me telling you, if I hadn't found you, you would have been raped by an edgy rooster head. If I hadn't fed you, you would have died from hunger. If I hadn't undressed you, you would have woken up with pneumonia and if I—"

"You undressed me?"

Oops.

The redhead turned to look at Genkai but he had already headed for the kitchen. Uh. Oh. Kenshin swallowed hard and faced Kaoru. "So what? As if I liked what I saw"

Oops. That didn't come out right.

Kaoru gasped out loud, her eyes wide and her hands clenched tight into a fist. Her blood soared to her head and her teeth rattled in her mouth. She thougt for awhile but then decided he deserved what he was about to get. A thump, a sound if impact on a certain redhead's face. It was but her second slap.

The guy's reaction was oddly immediate. "What was that for?" he demanded, his hand kneading the swelling red spot on his face. Coincidentally, she had slapped him where the cross-mark was located and it hurt.

"What for!" he hissed, "How dare you even ask! Well buddy" she slapped him again, this time on the head. "Find out for yourself! I'm leaving" With that, she managed to get up and snatched her bag that was lying on the side table. Ah, her bag. She missed it so. Then, she headed towards the door.

Kenshin's crisp laugh lolled her to a stop. "Wearing that?"

With a blank look, she looked down and gasped in horror. She was wearing an auburn shirt, big enough to fit her blast stepfather, Hiko! She stomped indignantly and angrily walked towards Kenshin. With flashing eyes, she poked on the chest. "Give me back my clothes"

If there was anything Kenshin hated, it was being poked and ordered around. "You did just not poke me"

"Yeah?" she challenged, "I did! Here" and she poked him again and again.

With each poke, Kenshin's blood rose a millimeter higher. He shut his eyes and tried to control himself. Alas. She was too much for him to hold anymore. He flickered his eyes open and saw Kaoru give a look of surprise. His finger rose chest-level to Kaoru and was about to poke her when…

"Poke me and I won't hesitate to slap you again" it sounded more like a threat than a warning.

He freed a breath and pointed his finger to the door instead. "Fine" he said, "Leave. See if I care if you faint and die all of a sudden on the road. See if I rescue you if some pervert should dare rape you, although I think it's absurd for someone to take interest in your—"

Hands on both hips, she arched her eyebrows. "My what?"

"Nevermind" he scoffed and then continued, "The point is, the moment you step out of my house, you are no longer my concern. You got that?"

"Puh-lease!" her voice was dubious, "I can take care of myself and I'd rather die in the streets than stay here all day and watch your sorry ugly face!" Her finger attempted to poke him again but then she withdrew. She heaved a sigh. "Goodbye, Himura"

"Wait" the tone neither begged nor implied any sort of kindness. In fact, it sounded more like it was a pre-sentence to a threat. She was correct, "How about your inheritance?"

It wasn't exactly a threat but it could be considered in the threat department. Kaoru paused. She'd forgotten all about that. Her heart raced. She thought about the children and she closed her eyes shut. A little sacrifice Kaoru, she told herself, a little sacrifice.

"All right" her tone was final. "I'll stay in one condition"

"How dare you" he snapped, "You can leave right now! I don't want you here anyway!"

Her eyes averted to the ceiling and roamed around the room. "Listen, let's have a deal. I will clean your house, help you with chores and all that stuff if, listen" –when he started to whistle—"you cooperate with me in this search-for-your-wife nonsense"

He toyed with his hands and eyes her. "If you think it's nonsense, why go through with it"

"Whatever reasons I have is none of your business"

"Okay"

"So, are we cool." And she extended her pinky to him.

He rolled his eyes. But he thought it was a good idea. She had initiated her own hell herself! He gave her a grin and locked his pinky in hers, "Deal"

Author's Notes: Sorry if the previous chapter was sort of short, I was feeling lazy when I wrote it then. Thanks for all those who reviewed. And this chapter, well I got lots of inspiration that's why it's sort of long. By the way, please don't hesitate to suggest anything for the improvement of the story. I'd appreciate it a lot.