Chapter 22

Past, Present, Future

Kaoru sat next to Kenshin on the plush love seat in the sitting room. She was very nervous of what the conversation would be like with Kenshin's father, but was also excited to finally get a chance to talk to the elusive man.

Kenshin squeezed her hand and she looked up at him. He looked noticeably disturbed and anxious. This time she tried to comfort him, "Don't worry…" she whispered.

"I'm not worried I just want to get this over with already. I don't know what his problem is anyhow. He's never been interested in much of anything I do."

She thought about his words and how a father would be able to survive without knowing what was going on his son's life. "But then again, I shouldn't be the one to talk. My father probably doesn't even know what grade I'm in!"

Just then Mr. Himura walked in wearing a comfortable pair of slacks and sweater. He sat down in a chair just adjacent to where they sat on the love seat and the butler started to make their teas.

Kaoru looked up and smiled at him and he smiled back.

"So Kaoru tell me a little bit about yourself."

"Typical parent question…" she smirked. "Ah well me and Kenshin…"

"She lives with her parents. She has a younger brother. We go to the same school, and yes, that's where we met. She wants to become a doctor and has already applied to college."

Kaoru looked in shock towards the red-head at her side. She was at a loss for words, because he'd seemingly said everything there was to say and his tone remained rather harsh towards his father. "Okay, in a nutshell I guess" she thought completely bewildered.

The man didn't seem to take his son's comments to heart, and just kept on speaking to her as if she'd just answered him in the first place. "A doctor! How wonderful! And which college did you apply to?"

She answered before being cut off again, "Aichi Medical School".

"Very nice! So you're not only beautiful, but also smart. I'm glad to hear that."

Kaoru blushed slightly at the compliment.

"Okay, well this has been fun but…" Kenshin started but his cell phones' ringing stopped him. He quickly yanked it out of his pocket and answered, "Hello?"

Kaoru looked over at his father once more who was quietly sipping on his tea.

"Oh Kaoru, please have some tea and snacks."

"Thank you…" she reached over to get a cup of tea for herself.

"Sano, didn't I tell you not to push it with the car? I can't believe you man!" Kenshin was upset and looked towards his girlfriend, "Gimme' a sec okay? This kid just blew up his engine."

She nodded at him and smiled and he walked out of the room into the hallway. "Great! Alone with his dad!"

She sipped at her tea as silence hung between them.

"He's always been very head strong you know" the man suddenly started.

Kaoru was shaken from her thoughts and clumsily responded, "Oh? Uh…"

"He's much more level-headed now. I'm proud to say he's gotten his past behind him."

"What do you mean?"

"Oh" he chuckled to himself. "It's really nothing, like father like son I guess you could say. He's very stubborn and temperamental at times."

"I've noticed" she joked.

"I remember when he was just in elementary school. His mother and I would constantly get called to school regarding another fight he was in. We eventually enrolled him into martial arts to cool that anger and it really helped. He was very good, and very strong."

"Really? He never told me!" Kaoru was already miffed after hearing about his past and realizing that Kenshin hadn't told her so.

"Yes, he stopped shortly after his mother passed away though. Well, stopped competing anyway. I think he still does some practicing here and there."

"Competing? He competed and didn't even tell me all this…gees Kenshin! What else are you hiding?"

The man continued, "So Kaoru, what do your parents do?"

"Ah they…well my mom is a manager at a restaurant near the house. She's been there for years and they adore her. And my dad…um, he used to teach Kendo, but is sick a lot so he's home most of the time." She'd reverted back to the same comfortable lie she'd been relying on for years.

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that. But Kendo huh? I'm sure he and Kenshin will get along well?"

Kaoru nearly toppled over at the statement. "Ah…well, you see" she chuckled nervously. "My mom really likes him, it's just that my dad is um a bit more traditional minded and all. So…you know…"

"I see. He doesn't approve?"

She sighed, "Not exactly."

"Well I don't blame him entirely."

She was shocked at the statement. "Oh my god, this is where he tells me that he doesn't think Kenshin and me should be together…"

"He's a father after all. So he's just probably very protective over his one and only daughter. It's to be expected. Did he and Kenshin meet?"

She cleared her throat, "Yes."

"Oh? Did it go well?"

"Um, well not good but not bad either…sort of…uh…it's complicated!"

He laughed, "Yes I can imagine it is. Don't worry though, I'm sure if you two have your hearts in the right place, everything will work itself out."

Kaoru was taken by the man's support. "Wait, he's supporting us? Huh? Where's the cold-hearted jerk that I've gotten the impression of? He understands where I'm coming from and understands where my parents are coming from? He supports his son who barely even talks to him!"

"Um sir? Can I ask you something?"

"Sure"

"Why…um…when…well why are you and Kenshin so…it's like he doesn't really get along too well with you, but you…you know…you're very relaxed it seems." She wanted to beat herself over the head for being so forward, but was dying to know.

"Well," he paused for a moment and reminisced, "I guess it all really started when his mother fell ill. It was a rough couple of years for him, and I imagine it can't be easy for a child to see their parent like that."

"No Mr. Himura it isn't!" Kaoru thought as the memories of seeing her father in the hospital flashed back.

"He thought I didn't do enough, and I really don't blame him for his anger. I just wanted to run away the entire time. I mean I loved my wife and son very much, still do, but at that point, I guess that's how I dealt with it. I threw myself into my work and regret it everyday. We just stopped talking at some point, and it's gone on like that."

"Oh. I…I'm sorry Mr. Himura" she responded.

"That's alright Kaoru. That was way before he met you. I think you'll do good for Kenshin. He seems a lot happier these days, and now I finally know why."

She blushed at the compliment. "I just wish he'd tell me some of this himself."

"I…" she started.

"Hey Kaoru, we gotta go!" Kenshin walked quickly back into the room while shoving his cell phone into his jacket pocket.

"Um, o-okay" she hastily rose from her seat and placed her tea cup down on the table.

"Sano blew his engine and I'm going there after I drop you home to help him out" he explained after seeing the confused expression on her face.

"Oh" she turned to his father who was pouring himself another cup of tea, "It was nice meeting you Mr. Himura. Thank you for tea" she added.

"It was my pleasure Kaoru, maybe we can have dinner together some time?"

She smiled, "That sounds great! Ken…"

"Kaoru! Come on, we've gottta rush!" Kenshin interrupted as he practically dragged her out of the room.

"Bye Mr. Himura!" she repeated behind her.

"Good bye dear" was the response she heard.

Kenshin quickly walked out of the house with Kaoru in toe and hurried to his car. They sat inside for a few minutes and she waited for him to turn the engine on, but he didn't. He only sat there in silence staring out the front windshield.

"Kenshin, what's wrong?"

He remained quiet and she asked again, "Kenshin?"

"He just pisses me off so much damnit!" he finally replied.

"It wasn't so bad you know. He was actually pretty nice and even said that he supports our decision to be together."

"Keh. He just said that because he's full of bull! He doesn't care. I could bring home someone else tonight and he'd repeat the same exact phrase!"

That hurt her more than anything he could've said. "Bring home someone else tonight…"

"Oh so that's what you think of this? You think that just because you brought home 50 girls a night in the past, that he thinks the same of me?" she asked furiously.

"What? Did I say that?" he raised his voice.

"Why are you yelling at me? And YES, you did say that! For your information, your dad was really nice. He said that he hasn't seen you this happy in years and it's because…argh…never mind!"

"Right, like he'd know my happy days from the bad ones."

"Actually he would. And apparently you don't think enough of me to tell me a few key things about yourself. You practiced martial arts and NEVER told me! And the only reason you got into it was because of your anger and fighting at school. When will you learn to open up to me?"

He didn't answer her and refused to make eye contact.

"Argh!" she was frustrated and angered by him, "See this is what I mean! You're so stubborn and insistent on me telling you everything that happens in my life, my past, everything! But now when I ask about you, I get nothing! What is it? You don't trust me? You don't want to tell me because you think I won't understand? Or I'm not important enough in your life to know that stuff?"

At this point, he'd had quite enough, he turned the key in the ignition and the car's tires ripped through the driveway as he rushed onto the street.

"Kenshin! Slow down! What the hell?" Kaoru squealed, gripping the handle of the door tight.

His driving was aggressive, the fastest she'd ever experienced, and it scared her. He tore through quiet blocks and rounded corners while barely tapping the brakes. As if angry at the car, he shifted gears roughly even though it was an automatic.

"Kenshin! Stop driving like a madman!"

He didn't listen and entered onto the highway merging in and out of traffic. Kaoru was angry and felt scared all the same time. "He doesn't even care that I'm terrified and won't even talk to me! Damnit Kenshin…"

After a few more heart racing moments on the road, he braked abruptly in front of her house. She sat still for a few moments trying to peel her hand off of the handle on the door.

"What the hell is he thinking?"

"Kenshin, you have to talk to me!"

She was met with silence as he continued to look out straight ahead to road. She could see that his eyes were filled with anger. He didn't even seem to remotely notice her words and just waited for her to exit the car.

"Kenshin, talk to me!" she repeated more sternly.

"Kaoru, just…just leave right now. I'll call you later okay?" he replied. His voice was shaky.

She was shocked to hear his words and even more saddened. It then all turned to anger, "FINE!" She quickly exited the car and slammed the door shut.

He didn't wait for her make it through the front door and in stead peeled away from the curb and down the street. She looked out behind him as he drove away, her eyes filling with tears.

"A while ago, you were holding me in your arms telling me how much I mean to you. And now…" Tears slowly slid down her cheeks as she continued to stare after the long-gone car.

----------------- KENSHIN'S POV -----------------

Kenshin stopped the car a few blocks from her house. With a hard grip, he held the steering wheel in both hands and stared out the window.

He'd been so angry at his father for bringing Kaoru into their drama and couldn't even think straight. Then she got angry at him for keeping secrets that were so long ago, and he just didn't want her to know about his troubles. And now, she was even angrier and scared after what he just did to her.

All he wanted to do was live his life with her in as much peace and bliss as possible. All he needed as for her to be by his side and he knew everything else would be fine. It was hard enough to have to deal with her father and the fact that he'd gone back to the bottle, but now Kenshin was dealing with his own father again.

"Why is he so interested in my life all of a sudden? Fuck!" His anger grew deeper; at himself and at his father. He rested his forehead on the steering wheel and continued to fume. All the pain in the world couldn't match what he was feeling right now in his heart.

Thinking about his father and then Kaoru once more he grew angrier at himself. "I did again damnit! I hurt you Kaoru, I'm just like him aren't I? I'm…so sorry love."

Finally all the tension exploded and he violently thrust a fist towards the windshield of the car and screamed, "DAMNIT!"

He punched it with full force and instantly web-shaped cracks formed in the glass. Bringing his bruised and swollen fist back down, he slumped back into the seat.

"I'm a fucking idiot!" he muttered to himself.

After several more moments of sitting in the car with his eyes closed, he finally decided on paying his friend a visit. As it was, Sano was expecting him to help fix his car, but now it seemed that Kenshin needed a new windshield and to blow off some steam before he would call Kaoru and apologize.

The silver BMW pulled off again and he drove straight to Sano's house. He pulled up and saw him working in his regular dirty blue jeans and discolored wife beater over the smoking engine of his car.

"Yo Kenshin, I thought you were coming right over?" Sano sounded aggravated.

"Yea, I got caught up" Kenshin replied. He kept his fist balled up tightly, as small cuts and scratches now complimented the slight bruising.

"I bet you were. Just got late dropping off Missy huh?" he joked.

But Kenshin was in no mood. "What's the problem with the car?"

Sano raised an eyebrow at his friend's sudden change of topic, but didn't pursue the matter knowing that Kenshin had a habit of keeping personal matters hushed. He turned to look towards Kenshin who had made his way to his car already, when he spotted the cracked windshield on the Beemer.

"Oi Kenshin! What the hell happened to your glass there?"

"Stupid shit. I gotta get it fixed later. Don't worry about it. Now tell me what the hell you did to blow this engine?"

Sano shrugged it off for now and walked towards his own red Eclipse in the driveway. The car was practically like a part of the family and Kenshin had started helping out soon after arriving. It was a hobby for both and a way for them to blow off steam besides the sparring they would find time for.

He saw as Kenshin reached down towards the turbo of the engine, and spotted his hand.

"Kenshin, man if you were in a fight lemme know! You're late, your windshield is cracked, and look at your hand."

"I wasn't in a fight Sano. I broke the damn thing myself…" he muttered still hunched over the engine.

Sano finally put two and two together and assumed it was a personal matter between him and Kaoru. He decided not to interfere and knew that Kenshin just probably wanted to work on the car in peace. Both people were his friends, and so he would never take any sides.

After a few hours of bustling about over a blown turbo and getting as much fixed as possible, the two sat on the hood of the car and kicked back. The conversation kept up as long as they spoke about the car and what to do next.

Kenshin looked down at his watch. "Damnit, it's almost 9 pm. Hopefully we're both cooled down enough to talk now."

"Everything okay? You seem a bit unfocused today" Sano started.

"Yea, you know how it is sometimes…I…should probably get going" he hopped off the car.

"Oh I see…marital problems…" he chuckled.

Kenshin gave him a disapproving look and eventually cracked a smile. "Yea, yea, yea! Don't start with me on that. I'll see you tomorrow."

They said their goodbyes and Kenshin pulled out of the driveway. He decided to ring Kaoru before it got any later.

After a few rings on the new cell phone he'd gotten her, she answered.

"Hello?"

"It's me."

"Mhmmm."

"Damn she's still mad" he thought. "Hey listen, you wanna talk for a second? I'll be in front of your house in like 15 minutes."

He was met with silence.

"Hello?"

"I'm here. Yea, mom's already at work, and dad's passed out as usual. Call me when you're outside."

And without waiting for a response, she hung up.

"Yep, definitely still pissed" he continued towards her house.

-------------- KAORU'S POV ---------------

She sat in silence, looking out her bedroom window for any signs of his car.

"Damnit I can't believe we argued like this. When did it turn so ugly?"

The night sky was clear and she continued to look out for several more minutes and pondered the argument they'd had. "Argh, where are you?" She looked at the time and it'd been about half an hour since he'd called.

She looked at her cell phone and reluctantly dialed his number. It rang several times and eventually went to the voice mail. She decided not leave a message and hung up.

"Damnit!" she fumed. "First you yell at me and now you're keeping me waiting on you!"

She went about the room to comb out her hair and hopefully take her focus off of Kenshin. After finishing that, she returned to the window sill and looked down at her cell phone once more.

"No missed calls, no messages, its freakin' 9:47, what the hell?"

Deciding to give him another ten minutes before calling back, she settled down on her bed to rest for a while.

Ten minutes turned into an hour and when she finally awoke and looked around. Her clock read 10:53 pm and she noticed that the red-head still hadn't come or called. Furious over being stood up, she got up to change into her pajamas and try him on the phone one last time.

After a couple of rings there was finally an answer.

"Hello?" came a frantic voice.

"This isn't Kenshin…" she looked down at the phone to make sure she hadn't dialed the wrong number out the phone book.

"Ah, is Kenshin there?" she asked.

"Kaoru is that you?" came a familiar, masculine voice.

"Mr. Himura?" she was surprised that he would answer Kenshin's phone.

"Yes Kaoru its Kenshin's father" his voice sounded erratic and noticeably stressed.

Kaoru's heart raced, "Where's Kenshin?" She could barely hear his response because his voice was being drowned out by sirens in the back ground.

"What was that? Where's Kenshin?" she repeated.

"I said I'm at the hospital right now waiting to see him. He was in a car crash earlier on the highway."

Kaoru didn't hear anything after that. She stood in stunned silence with the phone still on her ear. Her mouth hung open and her eyes were glazed over in shock and fright. All she could see was the silver BMW tearing away from her earlier in the evening, and then his face.

Tumbling to the floor, she broke down into a sob with the phone will in her hand.

Mr. Himura tried to get her attention after hearing her sobs.

"Hello? HELLO? Kaoru!…" his own voice started to crack under the pressure, "…Hello?"

Kaoru was far from hearing anything at the moment as she continued to cry and pound her free hand repeatedly into the floor.

"KENSHIN!" she managed to scream as another rush of agonizing tears overwhelmed her. "NO…."

END CHAPTER 22

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