Underneath It All

Chapter 11: Just a Toy

Disclaimer: I don't own Rurouni Kenshin

Recap of the last chapter:

"Ya, so, I'll pick you up at 8 o'clock?"

"Sounds good to me!"

"Alright, I'll see you then"

"Kay" Both hung up the phone. Kenshin flopped down onto his bed and stared up at the roof. He drew in a deep breath. Letting it out after a few seconds, Kenshin forced on a small happy smile.

"Kenshin, where are you taking me?" asked Kaoru as the wind blew in her face as they drove in Kenshin's black convertible on a long road outside of the city. Kenshin gave her a quick glance with a mischievous glint in his eyes. "If you try anything funny, I swear I won't hesitate to hurt you" she warned.

Kenshin let out a low chuckle to her warning. "Don't worry, I won't and besides, there's no way you could hurt me" he said arrogantly.

"Why you-"

"We're here" interrupted Kenshin as he slowed down and eventually came to a stop. Kaoru looks around in confusion before she noticed that Kenshin got out of the car and was sitting on the hood of the car. Kaoru got out and sat next to him.

"Some surprise, we're sitting here looking at a deserted countryside" snorted Kaoru. Kenshin smiled and reached his hand to her chin. He then directed her chin upwards. Kaoru gasped at what she was looking at. The sky coated in millions of stars! Kaoru just gapped. "It's so beautiful".

"I had a feeling that you would like it" said Kenshin.

"Like it? I love it! Wow! Kenshin, this so nice" awed Kaoru. Kenshin stared at Kaoru. She looked as though she was a child admiring a ginormous teddy bear.

He took this moment to slide his hand around her waist and pulled her towards him. He felt her body tense for a moment before relaxing. Kenshin felt his insides tingle when Kaoru rested her head against his neck.

The two sat there in the night watching the stars in each other's company.

A couple hours went bye and Kaoru felt slumber taking her over. Stifling a yawn that yearned to come out, Kaoru closed her eyes to keep it in. Glancing over at Kenshin to see if he noticed, she was surprised to see that he was looking directly at her. She quickly averted her gaze away and looked at the stars.

"We'd better go back. It's getting pretty late" said Kenshin. Kaoru faced him with those big blue eyes. She watched as he got up from the hood of the car and into the driver's seat. Soon after, Kaoru followed his lead.

Kaoru took one last gaze at the stars before Kenshin turned on the engine and they left the deserted area behind them.

-The Next Morning-

Kenshin stood outside in the courtyard smoking a cigarette. The intoxicating chemicals seemed to help his frazzled mind. Part of him wanted to forget about what Sanosuke said, while the other part wanted him to tell Kaoru the truth. The truth...

The truth that he really liked her.

The truth that he really liked her, but didn't want to ruin his reputation.

The truth that he really liked her, but didn't want to ruin his reputation by being seen with her.

The truth that he really liked her, but didn't want to ruin his reputation by being seen with her, so he'd always hide or choose a secluded place to meet.

He hated the guilt that was lingering over him like a dark cloud, he hated this weird feeling that he felt towards Kaoru, but most of all, he hated himself for everything that went wrong in his life. He wasn't supposed to feel compassion for anyone. Not after what Tomoe did to him. He remembered it like a movie playing over and over again in his head.

He met Tomoe in grade nine. The first day that she walked into the classroom, he couldn't take his eyes off her. She looked like a delicate doll with her milky white skin, deep brown eyes, and long ebony hair flowing freely around her torso. She was beautiful, with not a flaw at all. He had wanted to get to know her better so he did anything to grab her attention. She was new so he volunteered to show her around. As they walked around the school Tomoe told him about herself like where she was from, why she came here, and who she was staying with. Tomoe was the most intriguing thing to him.

As the days turned into weeks, weeks turned into months, and months eventually turned into years, Kenshin and Tomoe soon became close. Kenshin had introduced her to everyone that was worthy of being known. Tomoe became well known throughout the school by everyone. For Tomoe, this really meant a lot. Being raised in a torn apart family, things weren't always great. Her father was always constantly beating her mother and herself. When she turned 10 her mother commit suicide by stabbing herself with a large broken glass shard after her father had slammed her mother's head into a mirror. This had an everlasting affect on Tomoe, for she witnessed the whole thing.

Her father beat her after her mother died and blamed her for everything wrong in his life. He told her that she was ugly, that she had no further purpose in life, and that she was a worthless tramp with no value. Through all those years of being beaten, Tomoe vowed that she would prove him wrong.

When she was transferred into a new junior high she met Kenshin. After noticing that he was well-known throughout the school, she thought of a plan to prove to her father that she was not a 'worthless tramp with no value'.

After several months, Tomoe worked her way to supreme popularity. She didn't know a single person that did not love her. Kenshin was whipped good by her charm and beauty. She was like an angel that God had given to him. But this angel was not all loving and caring. This angel was corruptive and deceiving.

Kenshin was definitely convinced that he was in love with her by the last two months of school. When he built up the courage to confess his feelings to her, she told him that she did not return his feelings. His world had reached back and slapped him across the face. He remembered her last words before she turned her back on him forever.

"Kenshin. I want to let you know I don't love you back" her voice was as emotionless as the dead.

"I-I-I don't understand" quivered Kenshin as he felt a knife tearing up his heart.

Tomoe let out an annoyed sigh. "Don't you get it? You're like a toy, Kenshin. Once I've finished playing with you, you no longer have a purpose to me". Kenshin just stared at her with wide eyes. He could feel the hot tears burning in his eyes, but he blinked them back to wash them away.

"You are just my toy Kenshin. My toy that helped me prove my father wrong" Tomoe closed her eyes to relish the feeling of victory. Opening them after a brief moment she looked back at Kenshin.

"I never loved you. I never will. I could never love a toy"

Kenshin blinked those memories away. He did not want to remember them now, not later, not ever. Puffing up another breath of the cigarette, he closed his eyes. A gentle breeze brushed past him causing his long fiery-red hair to flow in the air. It was these calm and quiet moments that Kenshin cherished whenever he could.

Thinking about everyone and everything that had gone on in his life, Kenshin allowed his thoughts to drift back to a certain someone.

Kaoru.

He loved the way her name just rolled off his tongue. She gave him a reason to love every moment of life that was given to him. On the other hand, he remembered the dying guilt inside of him. He had to tell her the truth, but first he had to talk it over with someone else.

"Sano. I'll talk to Sano" said Kenshin to himself. He smeared his cigarette in the ash tray next to the smoking tree and headed back into the school.

Forgive me for the lack of action in this chapter, but I really wanted to get more "in-depth" with Kenshin and Tomoe's relationship, or what their relationship was. Also, please do not complain for the shortness of this chapter. I promise that I'll try to make the next chapter longer. Right now my brain is in lazy mode so if there is grammar errors please forgive me.

This chapter is probably the most angsty out of all the other chapters in this story.

I'll try to update before July 11th, because I'll be leaving for the Philippines on that day. Plus, I still need to pack. Ugh! I'm so bored right now and I don't feel like typing more.

Oh ya, if you guys have any ideas on what should happen next, please, please give them to me.

Until next time...

Ttyl, bibi

Dev