Shattered Reminiscences
By Scarlet Rayne
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Chapter 5
Lying tiredly on her couch, she felt an enormous pain in her head greeting her "hello" as she slowly opened her eyes. The sunlight penetrating through the windows caused her hand to cover her eyes in reflex, as she let out a soft grumble.
She had stayed up the whole night thinking, with what seemed like endless refilling of alcohol joining her till the wee hours in the morning. But for some odd reason, the liquor could not discard her anxiety and fear like how it usually did. She was sane and cautious until four in the morning, and after one or two Panadols, she fell asleep in an awkward position on the couch.
And now, she stank greatly of stale alcohol, much to her discomfort. Feeling very much disgusted with herself, she let out another grumble as her migraine assaulted her once again. Hands rubbing sorely at her temples, she starred lethargically with half-opened eyes at her motionless ceiling. What she needed to do now was freshen up, eat something light, gulp down another two Panadols, and sleep.
With that pleasing thought in mind, she dragged her body out from the couch and readied herself for a nice lukewarm shower, when her doorbell rang. Eyes instantly darting to the clock, it read 12 noon.
She groaned.
She totally forgot that Kenshin usually picked her up for lunch on Saturdays.
For once, she was not looking forward to it. "He's going to go ballistic when he sees me like this." She cursed inwardly.
The doorbell rang again.
"C-Coming!" she shouted huskily, grabbing the once filled bottle of vodka, and flung it into the dustbin. Running her fingers through her thick raven hair, she stole a glance from the mirror.
She looked absolutely..
Awful.
The doorbell rang for the third time, and she heard Kenshin yell from the outside. "Kaoru, are you alright?"
Ah.
Screw.
Clumsily making her way towards the door, she unlocked it and weakly pulled it open. She was welcomed with a cheery face, and she could smell his aftershave that was lingering about. He looked very handsome (as always), with his hair pulled back neatly, and his black leather jacket in tact.
But his cheeriness didn't last for long.
"Why aren't you dressed?" he frowned.
"Ahh.. welll.. um….. you see, I was.. err.. heh … I .. uhm.. overslept. Totally forgot about the time, and well.. haha.. uhh.. ya, .. ahem." she laughed nervously.
He kept quite for a while as he gave her a knowing look, making her feel extremely uneasy. "Were you drinking?"
It wasn't a happy tone, but it wasn't angry either.
'But this is Kenshin', she reminded herself. And when it came to Kenshin and her drinking issues, there was only one solution: DENY.
"Uhh? ...D-Drunk? O-Of course not, Kenshin. T-That's… That's outrageous." She uttered agitatedly, as she tried twitching her face into a smile, at the same time fighting to keep her eyes open.
But the heavy smell of alcohol embraced her whole self, as she struggled to even stand straight.
He narrowed his eyes.
"You were drunk, weren't you?" he said deeply, firmly pushing her inside her house. Closing the door behind him, he advanced to her kitchen. "What have I told you about drinking, Kaoru?"
"I was not drinking!" she drawled, rubbing her right eye lazily.
"You are not allowed to drink unless I'm around, wasn't that what we agreed on?" he said sullenly, ignoring her petulant protest. He pulled out her water boiler from her cupboard, as he maneuvered himself around her kitchen. He then took out a bag of tea leaves as he turned on the faucet, letting the water pour down towards to opening of her small kettle. "You could have hurt yourself."
She remained silent as her eyes followed his figure, which was busily walking back and forth in her kitchen.
Her eyes softened as he continued to fuss about her, earning a slight smile from her lips. But his voice soon grew dimmer and dimmer in her mind, as her memory drifted back to Enishi.
"I love you, Kaoru. And I always will." He said monotonously, as he pulled her small form closer in his arms.
Playfully, she rolled her eyes as she pretended to pull away.
"That I know, since everyone does," she grinned, "And I didn't think you would be excluded."
He laughed.
It was a sweet and melodious tune to her ears, as she sunk deeper into his arms.
She sighed.
The sun was setting, and there they were, sitting and leaning against an oak tree, isolated from the outside world.
She had never felt happier.
Until now.
She had spent the whole night thinking about his words, his promises… thinking about him. Memories from the past, to the events occurring in the present. He had loved her, hurt her, kept her, threatened her... and now he was back.
With a new set of rules in the old game, in which he calls compromising.
But she calls it blackmail.
He was giving her a dead end, because he knows that she loves Kenshin enough for her to abide by his guidelines.
He knew that she would never want to see him hurt, or for him to suffer in any form of physical pain.
And after glasses after glasses of vodka, she then knew.
She had no choice.
The longer she took to make her move, the harder it was to leave him. The more she procrastinated, the more painful it was to turn her heart cold.
But suddenly, despite her killer migraine, something started clicking as a plan went off in her head.
Her eyes flew open.
Should she do it?
"I don't know," he said derisively. "I wonder how a SWAT member would react if he lost the chance to walk or run ever again?"
She starred at him horrified.
"Tell me, Kaoru. How would he feel?" he asked evilly, a grin looming at the corners of his mouth.
"Y-You can't do that," she said angrily, tears threatening to flow. "I'll tell the cops."
"And what would you say? My ex-lover came back to paralyze my fiancée?" he said bemusedly. "And surely you would have something to fortify that bold statement," he chuckled. "Wouldn't you?"
Her eyes hardened.
Inhaling deeply for strength, she exhaled heavily for courage.
She needed to do this.
"Why can't I just drink on my own?" she challenged suddenly, out of the blue. "You're not the boss of me."
Switching the button on, electricity flowed through the wire and into the kettle. Giving her a ridicule look, he stated –"No I am not. But I am your fiancée."
"Well, damn that. I can drink whatever I want to, whenever I want to. For your information, I can take care of myself thank you very much. I certainly don't need a nanny fussing me about all the time, and I surely do not need your permission to drink alcohol." She said sourly.
"I thought we've been over this, Kaoru." He retorted dryly.
"I.. I don't think we have." She lied, feeling even more foolish when he raised an eyebrow. "You cannot control whatever I can drink, and what I cannot! I am not some... bloody kid that you own. It's ridiculous."
"I am not contr-"
"Yes you are!" she cut in abruptly, "And the next thing I know, you're going to control who I can see, and who I cannot, it's just so-"
"What is the matter with you?" he asked crossly, temper rising.
"I just do not need you to nag me about! I hate it when you do this, I hate it, and I don't need it. I do not need you coming up to check on me in the morning, as if I'm some kind of, o-of .. juvenile or something!" she cried, ignoring the growing pain kicking in her head. "It's bloody down right annoying,"
"You're being juvenile right now." He snapped, feeling annoyed himself.
She glared at him.
"And I was not 'checking up' on you, for your information." He said patiently.
She rolled her eyes up to heaven.
"Kaoru," he sighed. "This is a waste of time. Why are we even fighting ove-"
"No, it is not a waste of time. It is a waste of time for you, because you're having the advantage here. You don't see me telling you, 'oh Kenshin, I hate it that you're in the SWAT team, so quit it.' Now do you?" she snapped.
"You NEVER had a problem with me being the team before, and I don't think you have one now." he hissed, temper breaking. "My God, Kaoru, what the HELL is your problem?! You're just picking up a damn fight!" he said angrily, voice painted with frustration.
"Well, that's just the way I am. If you don't like it, you can leave." She said irritably, glaring into his eyes.
With annoyance running over the top, he replied coldly without thinking. "Fine."
He turned around and tightened his jacket, but before he left, he said in a bitter voice. "Dammit, Kaoru. I don't know what the fuck your problem is, but I hope you get over it soon. You'll just piss everyone off."
And with that, his hands reached for the door knob, and with a rough grip, he swung it open, got out, and slammed it shut.
She jumped at the loud impact, but a few seconds after he left, she dropped resignedly into her couch. Tears streamed down her eyes, as the sound of the kettle went off, signaling that it had reached 100 degrees celsius. Burying half her face into the palm of her hand, she sobbed wearily. "I'm sorry Kenshin,"
Eyeing the very-much-emptied bottle of vodka that was laying sadly in her rubbish bin, she whispered. "But I've made up my mind."
AN: An update! I know, surprising, isn't it? I'm shocked myself.
I have piles of homework, assignments, and presentations stacked up on my desk (more like the dining table). It's so stressful! But it's stressful enough to make me want to write more, something like a "distraction" from school. So I guess it's good in a way (that I'm feeling so tensed) :P
More like a kick in the butt to update.
"Inspiration" sure works in weird ways. (grins)
I had received lovely reviews, they are all very, very much appreciated :)
So now, back to the end-of-the-author's-note-routine,
Let's cut it short.
Review please!