Summary: Darkfic. Kaoru feels an inexplicable dread and nervousness whenever she meets her best friend's fiancée. She warns Tomoe about him only to get caught in his sinister game of lust and desire. The stage is set and the game begins. BK.

Disclaimer: I do not own Rurouni Kenshin. It is the creation of Watsuki Nobuhiro.

Rating: M. Rated for adult situations

Warning: MATURE. This is a MATURE fic; it has adult themes running through the course of it. If your parents would not approve of you reading something like this, don't read it.

Special Thanks to all my reviewers!!

Iluvchocks, sapphireraccoongirl, OpalBean, happyloveygirl, and Kono Mayottero Hoshi who were the first five to review this story – Thank you sooooo much for encouraging me to keep writing this.

Losttoday and Ohagi-chan, GogoPenguin – Thanks for the enthusiasm. It's like one of those energizer pills in games. 

Gabyhyatt – You will find out why she left him soon enough. Like next chapter. Promise.

Sulou – I didn't make you wait long, did I?

Free Hero – Thanks. I try to make it as good as I can. It can be better since my beta-reader has no more time to read through my stuff, so I'm editing on my own, which isn't always a good idea.

Skenshingumi – I'm happy you're here for the ride. And don't worry; I am not going to be assassinating characters to lend steam to the story.

Natlane – You got it!

Andy and Joanna – You're totally right. Everyone loves a possessive Kenshin. And by the way, are you sharing an account? That's pretty cool.

Anime.fushigi – I know the last chapter was confusing, but I think everything is pretty much clear now, if it isn't, you can always message me, and I'll make it simpler. Thanks for the feedback.

A Game of Chess

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Chapter 1: The Second Move

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"Kaoru, I want you to meet Kenshin, my fiancée!" Tomoe hugged Kenshin tightly, gazing up at him with adoring eyes. Kenshin smiled at her before looking up. His eyes widened in shock and recognition as they landed on Kaoru.

Kaoru.

"Kenshin…."

Amethyst met cobalt blue and time stopped.

His jaw tightened. He clenched his teeth as he looked at her in disbelief. He pulled Tomoe closer to his body and did what he had dreamt of doing for a very long time. He stared at Kaoru's face once more. His eyes ran over her face and down the length of her body with a hunger he hadn't felt for three years. Three years that he had spent without her. Three years where every moment had been as bitter as death. Three years since she had left. She had gone.

Fate was not without a sense of irony. Here she was. Standing in front of him, her eyes wide with shock. She quickly looked down. She didn't want to meet his eyes. Kenshin's eyes bore into her accusingly. The pain and anger in his eyes was out in plain sight and obvious to whomever cared to look. Kaoru glanced at Tomoe, who miraculously hadn't noticed the clouded expression on his face. Tomoe was smiling and talking. Kaoru blinked. She realized that her friend was talking to her.

"Well, now that you've finally met him, what do you think?"

"Finally?" Kenshin asked mockingly, his eyes glued to Kaoru. Tomoe looked at him in confusion, before turning back towards Kaoru.

"Do you know each other?" She asked in puzzlement.

"No!" Kaoru blurted out. She looked at Tomoe and firmly shook her head. Kenshin's eyes grew wide and his lips parted. Something cold wrapped itself around his heart and squeezed. "I've never met him before. How could we possibly know each other?" She laughed flippantly. She faced Kenshin, daring him to refute her statement. He bent his head and looked away. Glancing back at Tomoe, he realized she hadn't noticed anything wrong in his silence or Kaoru's affected cheerfulness.

"I was attempting a pull a joke Tomoe, but it seems your friend wasn't interested in playing along. What a pity."

He moved his hand from Tomoe's waist to her shoulder. He smiled but his eyes looked like they were carved of stone. Kaoru took a tiny step back, not enough to be noticed by Tomoe by just enough to reassure herself. Kenshin was in a dangerous mood now. She didn't want to be anywhere near him at this moment. His eyes were glinting with more than just annoyance. No, annoyance didn't even come close to what he was telling her through his eyes. He was livid. He had probably never been this furious in his life, except the day when she had left him. Kaoru prayed to every deity she knew of, for Kenshin to stay quiet, and not blurt out anything about their past.

But it seemed as though she needn't worry about it at all. Kenshin paid her no heed after those initial few minutes. He turned away from her and pulled Tomoe down on the sofa beside him. Kaoru took a seat across them, putting in a word once or twice as Tomoe carried the conversation forward. She was blissfully unaware of the icy atmosphere around her. She talked for all three of them, recounting episodes from their daily lives, telling Kenshin how amazing Kaoru was, how fun, how unpredictable she was.

Kenshin glanced up once or twice but didn't allow his eyes to linger on her for more than a second.

Tomoe sipped her daiquiri delicately. Placing the glass on the table, she looked at Kenshin. "Kenshin, Kaoru's an artist. She's very talented."

"An artist? Really?"

"Yes! She's marvelous!" Tomoe nodded enthusiastically. Kenshin regarded her coolly.

"C'mon Tomoe, knock it off. I'm not that great." Kaoru nervously rubbed the back of her neck with her fingers.

"But you are! Trust me; she's got the most amazing imagination ever. I get goose bumps just by looking at her paintings." Tomoe sat up, raising her voice slightly to make her point. Kaoru was talented, and Tomoe had made it her business to make everyone acknowledge that fact.

Kenshin was watching her with a small smile playing on his lips. Kaoru nervously bit her lip. When she looked up again, his smile had grown wider. She blinked. He lifted his fingers to his neck and gently mirrored her actions, rubbing small circles on the back of his neck, just as she was doing. Her mouth fell open.

He remembered! After all this time, he had remembered! She used to rub her neck whenever she was nervous or unsure of herself. She had never told him, she had never needed to tell him anything. Kenshin instinctively understood all her little quirks, her silly habits. He knew them and it looked as though he hadn't forgotten anything. She blinked again. He was smiling triumphantly. And then, the smile disappeared from his lips as readily as it had appeared. He stared back at her darkly.

She looked at him warily. He ignored her once more, and lavished his attention on Tomoe. Kaoru forced a smile on her face and quietly watched as he whispered into her ear, his lips grazing the sensitive skin of her ear. He stroked Tomoe's hair and playfully wrapped his fingers in it. It was distracting. She drew a long breath into her lungs. That used to be me. It used to me whose ears you kissed, on the pretense of whispering something. It used to be my hair you played with, it was my back that you stroked. She knew that he was tracing circles in the small of Tomoe's back right now. The circles would grow and diminish until her skin tingled and she would no longer be able to contain the sweet sensations exploding all over her body by merely fidgeting and shifting in her seat.

Just when she thought she couldn't take anymore and tried to move away, he would place his palm flat on her back. The gentle warmth from his hand would wash over her and calm the miniscule lightning bolts running through her body. She would relax and lean back against him. He would wait for a few minutes and then start stroking once more.

Tomoe leaned into his side, settling her head on his shoulder, gazing drunkenly into his eyes. Something snapped deep inside her. Kaoru looked away as though the sight of Tomoe resting on him was painful, physically painful for her to see. She stood up. Tomoe looked startled.

"Kaoru, where are you going?"

"I need a drink."

Tomoe nodded. Kenshin raised an eyebrow and gave her a knowing smile. He watched her make her way to the bar, every head in the club turning just to stare after her. The soft curves of her body were complimented by the simple black dress she wore. The dress had a modest boat-shaped neck line that showed off her collarbones to perfection and at the back, it fell away in folds to expose her back till her waist. She wore no jewellery except the two drops of pearls on her ears. Her arms were bare. Kenshin admired the milky expanse of her back. He bit his lip gently as his eyes roved over her figure.

Within minutes, there was a small circle of admirers surrounding her, trying to gather the courage to talk to her. Surprisingly, Kaoru seemed completely unaffected by it. She hadn't changed one bit. She was still as unaware of the effect she had on men as she had been then. He frowned as one brave soul broke away from the pack and stalked towards her, but he lost his nerve at the last minute and ended up making a fool out of himself by stuttering some incomprehensible mumbo-jumbo when he reached her.

Kaoru blinked and tried to help him out by prompting him. But the poor fellow apparently had no idea what to do and he mumbled some excuse and melted away from the bar to wallow in some corner of the club. Kenshin smiled as he watched Kaoru sigh and turn to the bartender to order her drink. This was becoming interesting.

He felt a tug on his arm. Tomoe was holding on to his sleeve and tugging repeatedly.

"Kenshin! It's not polite to drift off in space when your girlfriend wants to talk to you."

"I'm sorry. I just spaced out."

"Oh. Is everything alright?" She placed a hand on his arm, her eyes narrowing slightly. Kenshin nodded. He listened to her halfheartedly. He plastered a smile on his face and tuned Tomoe's voice out. He wanted to go to Kaoru and demand an answer from her. He wanted to know why she had left, why she hadn't even bothered to tell him why she was leaving him. And more than anything else, he wanted to find out why she still affected him like this?

He glanced at Tomoe. She was saying something but no matter how hard he tried to concentrate, his eyes and his mind kept wandering through the crowd to stop at the bar where Kaoru was perched on one of the stools, tapping her fingers lightly on the bar, waiting for her drink. He frowned. Tomoe didn't deserve this. He should take care of his problem right now and put his mind at ease so that he could focus on Tomoe, and not linger after Kaoru.

Tomoe's drink was placed directly in front of her. It was a tall flute. Kenshin observed it carefully and measured the distance from the flute to where Tomoe was sitting. He smiled. It was possible. He just needed to move fast.

Nonchalantly, he pulled his phone out of his pocket and placed it on the table. Keeping his eyes on Tomoe, he stretched his hand out towards the phone and slightly bent his elbow. The flute, containing Tomoe's drink toppled over. The clear liquid split over the table and some splashed onto Tomoe.

Tomoe cried out in surprise and shook her skirt frantically.

"Oh shit! Tomoe, I'm so sorry." Kenshin jumped up and started to apologize profusely. Tomoe rolld her eyes and gave him an exasperated look.

"It's alright. Don't worry about it. I'm going to go clean up."

Tomoe picked up her purse and walked away. Kenshin watched closely till she disappeared. He let loose the breath he'd been holding for a while. He straightened and jerked his head slightly to shake his bangs away from his eyes. Not that it made much difference, the bangs simply slid back into place a few seconds later.

He strode over to the bar. He made short work of a man who was aiming to seat himself next to Kaoru. Kenshin held him by the elbow and unceremoniously pushed him out of the way. He slid into the stool next to her and propped his elbow on the bar. Kaoru was staring into her glass. His throat tightened. He felt a shiver run down his spine as the familiar scent of jasmine floated around him. He remembered burying his head in her hair after making love. He remembered those long, slow showers just before they returned to the bed and collapsed; he remembered massaging her neck when she used to sit up late, mixing paints. He remembered every single moment he had spent with her.

He had relived each one of those moments of pleasure in every moment of agony of despair and loneliness while he waited for her to come back. He didn't care when, why or how, he just wanted her to come back. But she didn't.

Here they were again. Just one whiff of her scent drove him back, into the past. The past that he had buried, vowing never to think about it, to never think about her, to forgive, to forget. And after all these years, Kenshin found out something new about himself.

He wasn't a saint.

Kaoru felt him before any other sense alerted her to his presence. She turned her head slightly. His eyes were fixed on her. They glimmered with anger and frustration.

She knew why he was here. She had to convince him that there was nothing worth asking anymore. Kenshin wasn't a fool but angry as he was right now, anything she said would hold true. All she had to do was act the part for a while and he would leave.

She tossed her hair back and turned to face him with a coy smile on her lips.

"Kenshin, that look won't score you any points with Tomoe. She likes her men sweet."

"What makes you think I'm trying to score points with Tomoe?"

"Past that stage, are we? Congratulations. She doesn't normally let anyone past her ten feet wall of protection."

"What about you, how many feet had I crossed, before you decided to quit?" The cold fury in his voice ate away at her courage. She swallowed. She looked away before answering.

"This isn't about me, Kenshin."

"Wrong! This is about you. It's always about you, dammit, everything related to me is about you! " He hissed. He had crossed the distance between them so slyly, that she didn't even notice until she felt the warmth of his knee touching her own.

Kaoru leaned away from him. She stared into her drink.

"I don't know what you're talking about." She replied softly.

"Why did you leave?" The question bore into her like a nail driven in by a hammer.

"I don't have to answer that."

"You will."

Kaoru snapped her head up and glared at him. Her eyes were burning with fire.

"What is your problem Kenshin? Can't you just forget it? It was three years ago. Forget about it!"

"Have you forgotten about it?"

"Of course I have."

"Don't lie to me! Kaoru, don't lie."

She smirked. "I don't know what you're getting so worked up about. It was just sex Kenshin. Nothing more, nothing less."

Author's Notes

Thanks so much for all the lovely reviews!!! You people make it all worthwhile. I got some reviews saying that it was pretty confusing; well I'm really sorry about that. I hope this chapter was a little less confusing.

Well it has to be since we're still in the flashback.

Keep the reviews coming in!