Near Misses

A Rurouni Kenshin Fanfiction by Sanity Escape

Disclaimer: Don't own, so you no sue.

She sat inside the brightly lit and noisy Café Lalo, facing the open windows while watching the people around her. People had always fascinated Kaoru, and one of her favorite things to do was to watch them as they passed her by, going through their lives, catching little snippets of conversation here in there.

New York was so much different than her home. It was dirty, crowded, and the pollution in the air made her eyes red and itchy. She had, in fact, used up most of her roommate Misao's eye drops to cure her constant problem since they had arrived in the city almost four days ago.

But there was a beauty and charm to the city. An old world ambiance she had never found outside of Europe. The skyscrapers towered over her like the Rocky Mountains did in her frequent excursions into the wilds of her home state.

It was pleasing that she could get the quaint little European breakfasts she so enjoyed so much in this city of constant light and noise. The city was alive, constantly moving along with the mass of humanity that lived within it.

It was funny though, when she thought about it, how much time she had spent traveling the world and taking photographs, seeing so many things, she had never once taken the time to visit the Big Apple before. She frowned momentarily, actually, she hadn't seen much outside of the Western States except for a small trip to Washington, D.C. for a class trip when she was thirteen and a week-long vacation in Florida when she was ten.

When she had been sixteen and a junior in high school, the opportunity to travel to France with a group of her fellow French students and she had immediately fallen in love with the ancient city of Paris. The questionable smells, the people, and the sights. She had made up her mind then that no matter what she choose to do with her life, it would involve travel.

She didn't know then just how blessed she would be. Bachelor's Degrees in both Art and History with a concentration on photography had led to the rather exciting career of travel photographer.

It helped that her friend and roommate Misao was a journalist. They traveled the world together, she wrote and Kaoru snapped pictures to her heart's content. And right now they were relaxing, enjoying the cool late morning air coming through the windows of the café. All the little café's and restaurants and bars in this city had their own unique personalities, Kaoru was beginning to find out, and was fast falling in love with their charm. The Café Lalo itself was relatively famous for the short scene featuring Meg Ryan waiting for Tom Hanks in the movie You've Got Mail, so it was a definite must-see, the excellent food was an added bonus.

"So what are we going to do today, Kaoru? The Met again? I know you were upset because you didn't get past the first floor, but it's not my fault that your love of history led you to become lost in the ancient history exhibits, or that really cool Egyptian temple…what was it called again? I don't think I could handle going to the Whitney again, the lady was right, you don't really need more than two hours to go through that thing and I wasn't too happy to be questioning the whole 'what makes art art'. Really, I thought I was open minded and everything, but some of that stuff…sheesh. Of course, I wouldn't mind going back to MoMA, that Edvard Munch show was absolutely astonishing and they would never get anything like that back home…."

"It's amazing how you can talk without breathing, Misao." Kaoru grinned "Although I should be envious, because I keep on having to inhale this awful air."

"That's not nice, you know!" grumbled the petite woman across from her before her green eyes lit up. "How about the Natural History Museum? I know you've been dying to go since you saw the Rose Center lit up last night when we were heading to the subway station. And it's only a few blocks away from here besides."

"I've heard that the Butterfly Conservatory was an absolute must visit. Apparently there is something that is called an Atlas moth and is nearly a foot large…. Although, I must admit I wouldn't mind going back to MoMA or the Met, either, I didn't get to linger as much as I wanted too."

"Oh, you lingered all right. You linger all too well, actually. It's not my fault you're so slow."

" Misao!"

"Well, it's true, you know. You get distracted by all the pretty old musty things and you forget that there's a ton of stuff to see."

"Well, there's no need to rush, we're going to be here for a month or so." Kaoru grinned mischievously. "Besides I'm not the one who got distracted by all the sharp and pointy weapons at the Met."

"Hey! They had real katanas there! Some even from the Edo period. And did you see all that cool samurai armor they had! Those face masks were so awesome!" Misao defended herself. "Besides, you were drooling over that choir screen in the medieval section."

Kaoru stuck her tongue out in retaliation, turning her attention back outside. It was almost a ritual, their seating arrangements. For as long as Kaoru and Misao had known each other, especially back to their fondly remembered days of drinking coffee at their favorite all night diner, her friends had always sat facing the door while she had sat facing the windows so that she could see what was going on outside. A woman walking her dog, although Kaoru couldn't figure out way the citizens of New York City insisted on having large dogs unsuitable for small apartments, a man and a little girl holding hands as they walked down the sidewalk. Glimpses into other's lives, wondering what made them tick. Did the woman have a lover? A husband? Were the man and the little girl going to see his wife, her mother? Stories were there that would never be told, only speculated upon.

Kaoru sighed and leaned her chin on her palm, half-listening to her friend's diatribe and watching the people walk up and down the sidewalk in front of the café and across the street. Enjoying the early spring breeze that was coming through the window.

A gentleman got out of an executive taxi across the street in front of one of the businesses there, and her attention was immediately drawn to him. Startlingly scarlet red hair tied into a high ponytail had caught her attention, more so than the expensive Armani suit she knew he was wearing. The man was short in statue, but his posture spoke of confidence and self-awareness. Almost as if he were sensing her gaze, he looked over his shoulder and Kaoru forgot to breathe.

Eyes the color of sunlight shining through a clear jar of honey looked straight back at her, and for that moment, time stopped.

"KAORU!"

The connection was broken as Kaoru started in her chair turning narrowed eyes onto her friend.

"What!"

"I've been calling to you for like five minutes, Kaoru! What are you looking at?"

Reminded of the handsome man she had witnessed across the street, Kaoru swung her gaze back outside, hopeful to catch another glimpse.

But the man was gone.