Underneath It All

Chapter 16: I'll Tell You

Disclaimer: I don't own Rurouni Kenshin

Recap of the last chapter: Kenshin closed his eyes, allowing a sigh to escape his lips before the corners of his mouth tugged up into a smile. A man isn't supposed to apologize, hm? Then again, if he was able to make a woman realize that she was a lesbian, that wouldn't really quite make him a full man. That thought would have spooked him out had he been a year in the past. However, he was not one year in the past. That thought made him somewhat content.

He opened his eyes.

"I'm sorry, Tomoe."

She smiled back.

---

Grand, raven tresses blew slightly in the soft wind, brushing her face like a silky caress. Her sapphire blue eyes wandered aimlessly across the school ground, watching as the last small flood of students retired to the buses. Slowly, her eyes made their way back to the front doors; the place they were originally settled on.

Her back rested softly against the rough surface of a tree, making sure not to snag the fabric of her jacket. She let out a sigh.

Fifteen minutes passed by after the rush and she closed her eyes. A slight twitch made its way to her left eyebrow. Her patience had its boundaries and surely Kenshin already knew that. So why did he intend on provoking it so?

She repeated a small message in her head for the third time. However, she knew that if she had to repeat it a fourth time she would throw a tantrum at the annoying quote.

Patience is a virtue.

She had said that ten minutes ago when the first five minutes had passed. She had also said that five minutes ago when the first ten minutes had passed. She just said it again at that moment.

"I'll wait another five minutes. If he's not here by then, then I'm just going to have to knock some sense into him the next time I see him. Geez, he's already made me wait fifteen minutes," muttered Kaoru.

The sound of the front doors opening caught Kaoru's attention as she snapped her eyes open and looked in the direction of the sound. A familiar patch of red hair walked through the doors and down the front steps.

Kenshin had a small smile on his face, as though some small burden had left his mind after a long time. He kept his eyes closed as if he were embracing this newfound feeling.

As he felt his foot touch the final step he opened his eyes.

He was greeted by the heavy feel of Kaoru's backpack on his face. The weight of the textbooks and binders inside of the pack threw his balance off and the next thing he new his behind made contact with the hard cement.

"Kenshin no baka! Do you have any idea how long I waited? You know that I don't like to be kept waiting!" exclaimed Kaoru as she stomped over to him.

Kenshin rubbed his sore face as he sat up from his spot. "Sorry, I needed to talk to someone."

Kaoru rolled her eyes heavenward and gave a small pout. "Why didn't you tell me earlier then? That way I wouldn't have thrown my backpack at you," Kaoru said as she knelt down to look at his tender nose. Had she known her own strength she wouldn't have thrown it directly at the middle of his face. His nose was a little red and a small trail of blood was already beginning to flow down.

Taking out a tissue she began to dab at the blood. Kenshin let out a small grunt when she accidentally went at the wound a little too hard.

"Sorry," she replied as she continued to try and stop the blood flow. "We should get you to Megumi. She headed down to the clinic earlier after school so she should be able to help your wound."

"Yeah…" Kenshin said as he looked at Kaoru with his intriguing purple eyes. Kaoru paused from her movement when she felt his gaze and looked back at him. She moved her face closer slowly to avoid hitting his nose. Pressing her lips delicately onto his, she closed her eyes. Kenshin watched her the whole time before returning the kiss to her.

Backing away shortly after, Kaoru bowed her head and apologized again for his nose. Kenshin smiled and stroked her cheek to reassure her that he forgave her.

Meanwhile, Tomoe watched from inside the front doors of the school.

"Well done, Kenshin. Well done."

---

"It's a good thing that the clinic isn't too far away from the school, otherwise your nose would've bled a river by the time we'd get there," commented Kaoru

"Yeah… what do you have in that backpack anyway? It felt like more than the usual textbook and binder load," asked Kenshin as he smiled while they continued to make their way to the clinic.

A small flush appeared on Kaoru's cheeks as her expression turned into one of shock. Kenshin immediately noticed this and began to question.

"Kaoru? What is it? What's wrong?"

"N-nothing!" Kaoru stuttered, snapping out of her shocked state.

Kenshin quirked his eyebrow. Readying himself to plummet her with questions, Kenshin opened his mouth. However, before he could even inhale a breath, Kaoru blurted out, "Oh my gosh! Look! There's the clinic, let's go Kenshin!"

She grabbed his wrist and hurried toward the entrance of the clinic. The lady at the front desk looked up from her papers as Kaoru burst through the door with Kenshin still grasping his nose while she dragged him along.

"May I help yo-"

"Is Megumi around? I'm her best friend and I need her look at him," interrupted Kaoru as she nodded her head toward Kenshin. The lady turned her eyes from Kaoru to Kenshin, taking in his broken-nose appearance. She let out a sigh and rubbed her temples.

"I'm sorry, but Ms. Tanaka is busy looking after a young man right now. He came in ten minutes ago with a 'sore back'. I'm afraid you'll have to wait your turn. However, for now I'll just take your name and you can sit and wait your turn," replied the desk lady.

Sore back? Thought Kaoru. Something clicked in Kaoru's head.

"Excuse, but could we please have the name of the person with the sore back?" asked Kaoru. Both Kenshin and the lady looked at Kaoru with strange looks.

"Umm… and why would you need to know that?" asked the lady, a hint of suspicion in her expression.

Kaoru's eye twitched; the front desk lady was really starting to get on her nerves.

"I just would like know if the person is who I think it is, that's all," said Kaoru, forcing on a smile.

"I'm sorry, but I cannot give you that information. Such a request goes against policy," sneered the lady. "Now, if you please, sit down and wait your turn."

Kaoru glared at the woman as she turned her attention back to her paperwork.

"Fine!" Kaoru sneered back as she grabbed Kenshin's hand and led him away.

She turned her head back to look at the lady to find that her attention was on her paperwork. She tilted her head close to Kenshin.

"Follow me," she whispered as they turned into a different direction away from the seating area and down into a small hallway. They made their way to a room where the label on the door read: Tanaka.

"This is Megumi's room. Normally, there's a different woman at the front desk who usually lets me in without a schedule. It seems as though the clinic has been hiring some uptight old hags lately," muttered Kaoru.

Kenshin felt himself smile at her spunky attitude. Kaoru was always a girl who did things her way if she didn't like the way things were run.

Grabbing the door knob, Kaoru swung the door open. Her and Kenshin were greeted with the sight of a shirtless Sano sitting on the edge of the clinic bed kissing Megumi, who was standing up-close on her tippy-toes to reach his lips.

The intrusion caused both of them to break apart suddenly and snap their heads to the door. Their eyes widened at the sight of them and their mouths gaped open.

Unsure of what to do, Megumi opened and close her mouth, switched her eyes back and forth between the two at the door and Sanosuke. She did the only thing she could think of at the time.

She slapped him.

With a huff, she marched past the two at the door and down the hall, leaving a stunned Sano, a confused Kenshin, and a smirking Kaoru.

"I take you found out who she likes?" asked Kaoru. Sano flushed slightly before forming a dashing smile.

"Yeah… I didn't think that I was the 'dumb one' you were talking about," Sano laughed. "Guess I am pretty dumb after all."

Grabbing his shirt, Sano smiled to himself as he put it on. Kenshin opened his mouth, forming a small 'o', showing that he finally realized the situation.

By the time Sano finished adjusting his shirt, Megumi walked in between Kaoru and Kenshin, pulling on a pair of white, rubber gloves.

"Sit on the bed please, Kenshin," Megumi ordered professionally. "Sanosuke Sagara, you may leave now," she said toward Sano while never turning her gaze to him.

"I'll bet his back is feeling much better now," teased Kaoru as she stuck out her tongue. Both Sano and Megumi flushed. However, Sano gave an awkward grin while Megumi shot a death glare at Kaoru.

"You may wait outside as well, Kaoru, while I patch up Kenshin's nose," hissed Megumi. Kaoru shot a smile back at her.

"I'll just be waiting in the seating area, ok Kenshin?" said Kaoru. Kenshin gave a small grunt as Megumi began inspecting his nose.

Sano brushed past Kaoru and out into the hall. Kaoru took in one last sight of Kenshin before following the taller person out the door, not forgetting to close the door behind her.

She picked up her pace a bit until she was striding beside Sanosuke. They walked in silence down the hall until they came upon the seating area. Kaoru took a seat in the closest chair. Sano sat down in the seat next to her. A long minute passed by before Kaoru found that she didn't like the sound of nothing.

"So… what happened?" started Kaoru.

"Hm?" asked Sano, not hearing her the first time.

"What did you do? I mean, how did you…?" Kaoru trailed off.

"Oh! Well… you see, after you told me that she was interested in someone, I wanted to try and find someway for Megumi to be interested in me instead. Or at least, I wanted to tell her how I felt so that way she'd somehow see something in me that the other person didn't have," he broke off to chuckle to himself, "well, that was before I found out that I was 'that person'. Anyway, I came here to tell her – faking a sore back so that I could get past the lady in the front desk.

"Ah… Megumi seemed a little shocked in the beginning and at first I thought that she was disgusted that someone like me would even try to go after something exquisite like her. I felt discouraged after seeing her expression so I grabbed my shirt and I was about to get off the bed, but then she pushed me back and kissed me.

"It was even better than what I imagined it would be like… But then you and Kenshin walked through the door and spoiled the moment," Sano paused to shoot a playful glare at Kaoru.

"I'm sorry about that, Sano. Kenshin's nose was bleeding and I'm pretty sure something was broken. It really needed some good help and the only person I would trust with something like that would me Megumi," said Kaoru with an apologetic look on her face.

Sano gave a little pout at her before shrugging it off. "Yeah… well, don't do that again, alright?"

Kaoru giggled and nodded her head. Sano smiled back.

"Oh yeah, what happened to Kenshin's nose anyway?"

Kaoru's cheeks tinged pink a little.

"I... my backpack... you see..." she tried to explain, but drifted off in embarrassment. Sano gave asmall grunt to tell her that he understood what she was trying to say. Kaoru bowed her head slightly at him before turning her head to the front of her. Her head tilted downward and she stared at her hands in her lap.

The two sat in silence.

---

A half an hour later, Kenshin and Kaoru were walking out of the clinic. Kenshin's nose was bandaged heavily and Kaoru couldn't help but laugh mentally at the site of his face. After a minute, she found that she couldn't hold it in any longer and burst out laughing.

Kenshin shot a glare at her and Kaoru laughed even harder at his expression. With the big, white bandage plastered over the center of his face, the glare did not possess it's usual threatening effect. Thus, he looked absolutely hilarious.

Seeing Kaoru laugh even harder, Kenshin decided to stop glaring at her. He was intelligent enough to know that his glare was not working.

"You know, it's your fault I'm like this," muttered Kenshin, turning his attention to the road ahead. Kaoru's laughter died down gradually and a smile took its place.

"Well, if you hadn't taken so long I wouldn't have thrown my backpack at you. You know that I'm impatient," said Kaoru with a little twinkle in her eye.

Noticing that Kenshin wasn't really paying attention to her comment, Kaoru turned her face toward him. She took in his aloof expression and creased her brows in concern.

"What took you so long anyway?" asked Kaoru in a more casual tone, so as to not make the situation seem as serious as she hoped it would not be. She peered from the corner of her eye at his face and noticed no change. He did not answer her question. She fought the urge to pry it out of him; she knew that her question was one that Kenshin wanted to answer thoroughly, otherwise, he would have blurted out his reason right away.That thought made hereyebrows wrinkle slightly; he was about to tell her something serious.

They continued walking in silence for a couple blocks before Kenshin made any sign of his confession.

He suddenly halted on a spot underneath a landpost next to a park. That move jerked Kaoru out of her small daze caused by the repetitive action of walking down the street. Since she had walked a couple steps after Kenshin had stopped, she had to turn around to face him.

"Kenshin?" asked Kaoru, not moving from her spot.

She watched as Kenshin stared at the ground, his purple eyes partially hidden under the fall of his bangs. She said his name again. This time he inhaled a deep breath. However, instead of letting it out right away, he kept it in as he looked up at her. Something in his eyes shot a pang inside her, it hurt.

"That girl..." Kenshin started. Kaoru gave a confused expression at his words. "the one who was my first love..."

Suddenly Kaoru's eyes widened and she felt herself grow short of breath, but she did not express it openly; it just looked as though she just stiffened from a sudden chill in the air. However, inside, her heart was beating erratically that it was thumping in her ear.

"I talked with her after school," continued Kenshin as he watched Kaoru. He could see her chest move as she tried to manage to breath properly.

"How did you see her? Does she go to our school? Who is she?" Kaoru blurted and choked out at the same time.

Kenshin paused a moment before answering.

"The girl I used to love... is Tomoe."

Kaoru's eyes widened in shock. The feeling of worry that Kenshin was going to leave her for his first love dissipitated and was instead replaced with outrage.

"Tomoe? She... she was the one who... who broke your heart? Don't tell me she wants to get back with you now!" exclaimed Kaoru. She cursed at herself when she heard her voice crack.

"No," was all Kenshin said. Kenshin looked him in the eye with anger.

"No? Then what? What were you talking about? What did she tell you?" spat Kaoru.

Kenshin's brows raised as he watched as she grew upset by the second. He let out a breath and strode over to her. He opened his arms to hold her, but she backed away.

"Tell me!What did she want with you!"

Kenshin reached for her again, and again she tried to back away, but he wouldn't let her. She began to push at his chest and hissed at him to let her go, but he wouldn't.

"Don't worry, nothing is going to happen between me and Tomoe. She's a lesbian, Kaoru," hushed Kenshin. Kaoru stopped struggling and froze. After a couple of seconds of letting the information sink in, Kaoru pulled her head back to look him in the face.

"She's a what?" breathed Kaoru.

"A lesbian, Kaoru, a lesbian. Tomoe is a lesbian," repeated Kenshin. Kaoru stared at him in disbelief with eyes as big as saucers.

"No way..."

"It's true. You see, that's why she broke my heart the way she did. She didn't want to hurt my pride by telling everyone that she realized she was a lesbian while she dated me. She found that she liked my feminine characteristics more appealing than my masculine ones..." explained Kenshin. Kaoru stared at him with those sapphire eyes in shock.

As she connected the dots, she found herself becoming amused with what Kenshin just told her. She had to admit it was pretty funny.

Kenshin groaned internally as he watched Kaoru's expression turn from shock to amusement. He closed his eyes while letting out a sigh and Kaoru burst out giggling.

He waited patiently for her giggles to subside for the next minute. Once they died down, Kaoru took him by surprise and embraced him tightly.

"Oh... Kenshin. Take me home," sighed Kaoru with a hint of laughter.

Kenshin gave a weird expression; Kaoru never ceased toconfuse him.


Alright, there'schapter sixteen. Ugh... I am absolutely the worst updater ever. Although I do have an excuse! I actually had this chapter all typed up and ready to be posted a month and a half ago.

The thing is, the week I finished typing the chapter,the internet connection started going haywire and absolutely refused to cooperate. The week after that, it still wasn't working so we sent it in for repairs. Halfway through that week,our computer started acting funny; I would be in the middle of doing something and it would just crash and crash and crash! My mom sent it in as well to get repairs at Futureshop. They said that it would be finished by the end of the week!

Those bastards lied! When we came by after a week to pick it up, they hadn't even started on it! So we left and came back a week later. They still hadn't started on it! Ugh... so... my mom began bitching and complaining at them for not living up to their word. They apologized and said that many people had been coming in with broken computers as well so they werebeen busy trying to repair all of them. After they said that, I was a bit more understanding.

So anyway, after two more weeks, our computer was finally repaired. It turned out that my computer had TWENTY VIRUSES! The reason behind that is because my mom tried to install another Norton Antivirus program into the computer while it already had one in it. The thing is, my mom knows nothing about computers, so... the two Norton Antivirus programs kind of cancelled each other out. I don't quite understand the situation myself, but that's what my sister learned from this guy. So... when she did that the computer wound up being absolutely weak against viruses.

So a valuable lesson learnt: DO NOT LET YOUR COMPUTER-INCOMPETENT MOTHER NEAR THE COMPUTER!

Well... since I'm done my explanation, here's news about my stories:

The next chapter of Underneath It All will be the last chapter!Kenshin's struggle was finally been resolved so now I just need to conclude the story. I'm sad to say that I will miss this story, but at the same time I'm happy to be finally finished it. It's been such a long timesince I've startedthis story.

Also, I will be trying to update Sweet Seduction next and then Waves of Love after that. I'm not sure when I'll be able to since I have threesubjects this semester and a job I have to juggleon the other side. So... yeah!But I will try to update as soon as I have somefree time to actually compose agood enough chapter for you guys.

That'spretty much it!

Toodles! DON'T FORGET TO REVIEW!