Author's Note 2023: Whoof, this was difficult to fix. Took me a while but here it is!
Disclaimer: I don't own Rurouni Kenshin.
The Bargain
Do You Want To Know A Secret
Do you want to know a secret?
Do you promise not to tell?
January
Life... was getting better for him.
He had to admit that he owed most of it to Sanosuke for putting up with all the moping and negativity he had initially gone through, and he was also grateful for the group of friends that they were suddenly a big part of—even though they only started hanging out a couple of months ago. He found that it was easier to move forward with life if you have more than a little help sometimes.
He very much enjoyed the company of the people they were fast becoming very good friends with. Honestly, it wasn't that hard to get along with them since they were so welcoming and understanding of what he and Sano were like. Although some may find it odd since they all come from different majors and they all had very different personalities, the chemistry that they all shared was almost flawless. Some would even say that their group was perfectly balanced because of its diversity.
Megumi Takani, the woman that Sano had dated, turned out to be a no-nonsense type of person. Her decision to go out with the tall business major remained a mystery to them all, although Kenshin thinks it was really more about her curiosity—which fits because she's going to be an official med student soon. She plans on spending the rest of her life trying to find treatment plans for chronic diseases, which requires more than a little curiosity in itself.
Misao Makimachi, on the other hand, was the complete opposite of her friend. She was always so full of energy that sometimes, he found it hard to keep up with her. It was the perfect attitude for a ballerina who rehearses for almost ten hours a day.
She was obviously enamored with Aoshi Shinomori, a music prodigy turned international law student who mostly stayed silent and preferred to stand by the sidelines to watch his friends have fun, while making sure everyone around them kept themselves in line. Misao was obviously trying to keep her affections as discreet as possible and Kenshin believes that the petite woman was too scared to ruin the friendship that they all share because of her feelings.
If there was anyone whom Aoshi so evidently cared about, it was Kaoru—the talented violinist who remained a great mystery to him. From what Misao had explained to him before, the relationship that the two shared was strictly platonic and that they've known each other since they were children. He felt like there was more to that story, but he didn't feel comfortable enough to pry. At least, not yet.
It was amusing how Kenshin felt that he was suddenly seeing Kaoru everywhere. It wasn't odd for them to do so—they live in the same building after all. And their parking spaces are apparently right next to each other, so they're bound to run into each other often. But still, he was just perplexed at how he never even saw her before. Or perhaps he did, but he never paid any attention. He had spoken to Kaoru about it once before, and she just laughed it off and chalked it up to them running in very different circles. It made sense, of course, but it was still amusing, if not utterly mindboggling.
He still missed being with Tomoe every now and then—although not to the point of him being as disgustingly morose as he was before. It's been a relatively long time now since they have broken up, and he thinks about getting closure sometimes; but the more time that passes, the more distance he gets from those thoughts. He no longer feels the desperate need to fully understand why they broke up, which was a relief since it used to keep him up at night.
He never brought it up with anyone, but he thinks that they know what's going on in his head anyway—they were all very perceptive of each other's states of mind, and he found it both amusing and scary at times. He was so used to being close with just Sanosuke that suddenly being thrust into such a close relationship with three other people was a big change from his usual routine.
Sighing, the redhead packed his things when the monotonous droning of his professor finally ended and they were dismissed for the day. Really, he didn't understand how someone could make the Principles of Advertising so uninteresting. He finally found the one person who could make Superbowl ads sound like an abstract thesis.
He chuckled at the thought as he exited their assigned classroom and stepped into the crowded hallway of the Communication Arts building of his university. He had nothing major to do for the rest of the day so he was thinking about taking advantage of the extra time he had to prepare for the weekly dinner he had with his friends.
It was an adorable routine, and he found himself enjoying it a lot once he got used to them. They would take turns hosting in their respective apartments, and they would just hang out away from the hustle of the usual college haunts. The first one he attended was at Megumi's and Misao's, then Aoshi's, and Kaoru's. It was interesting to finally be a part of something bigger than what his world used to be.
This week was his turn and he was feeling a little nervous at having people around. His whole time in university, only two people ever really saw the inside of his apartment—Tomoe and Sanosuke. Still, it was also exciting for him since he loves being in the kitchen and now he finally has more than two people to share his freshly-cooked meals with.
"What are you grinning about, Red?" a familiar cheerful voice suddenly said beside him.
Grinning, he turned to see a pair of bright blue eyes looking up at him, her gentle smile lighting up her heart-shaped face. "You know, I think I'm never going to get used to you popping up like that. You're like a mushroom."
"A mushroom?" She laughed. "How original."
"And 'Red' isn't?"
"Touché." She acquiesced.
They had to stop to make room for a group of rowdy football players, wisely avoiding their muscled bodies from crashing into them. Once they've passed by, Kaoru and Kenshin continued their walk to get outside of the building.
"How was French?" He asked lightly.
She shrugged. "Same as always. Though I'm having trouble with conjugations. I've never been good with those. I was horrible at it when I was studying Spanish."
"I still don't understand why you're taking so many language courses." He mused. "Isn't music supposed to be a universal language?"
"Yes, but it'll be a bit hard for me to ask for directions to my hotel by playing my violin, won't it?" She replied amusedly.
"Ah. A bit ambitious there, aren't we? Already planning to be a worldwide sensation?"
"Of course! I can see it now, actually. Kaoru Kamiya: The Violin Superstar."
He grimaced. "Doesn't sound catchy enough. I don't think your fans would enjoy saying that."
She giggled. "Oh? It's a good thing I have a good hook-up then."
"Hook-up?"
"Yeah, a close friend of mine just so happens to be acing his Marketing classes and has a good ear for copywriting." Kaoru winked.
He flushed at hearing her refer to him as a close friend, and realized just how sad his college life has been so far if simple comments like those threw him off in a good way.
"Yeah?" he chuckled, trying to cover up his millisecond slip. "My services happen to be expensive. Think you can afford me?"
"I'm sure we can work something out." she fluttered.
They turned another corner and forewent the elevators to go down the three flights of stairs that would lead to the building's lobby. He knew Kaoru never used the elevators at their school. Once, he had asked her why, but she simply smiled and told him that she liked the exercise.
"Need any help with that?" He gestured towards the stack of books she was holding.
"Ever the gentleman, I see." She smiled. "But no, I can manage."
"It's all part of my charm. I know what makes girls swoon." He smiled down at her. "And as part of my everlasting chivalry, I'd like to offer you my skills as a wonderful tutor. I did pretty well when I took French back in my sophomore year."
"Oh? And what do you want in return for this gallantry?" She asked amusedly.
"What makes you think I want something in return? Am I not allowed to help a friend out of the goodness of my heart?"
"You're a guy, Kenshin Himura. And you literally just told me your services are expensive. I know how your mind works."
He laughed. "You know, one day, I might just prove you wrong." He looked down at her with bright violet eyes as they went down the last flight of stairs. "Sadly, today is not that day."
"I knew it." She chuckled. "Alright, what do you want?"
"Oh nothing too grand. I would appreciate the help with Taco Tuesday though." He sighed. "Too much to chop, so little time."
She rolled her eyes. "You know mostly we just order in and put them on paper plates, right?"
"So?" He asked as he pushed the glass doors open for her, which revealed a bright courtyard where students were busy going about their day. "It's my first time hosting. I'd like to make a good impression."
"Such a diva." She tsked. "But fine, that sounds good. Though to be honest, I think you're getting the short end of the stick here. I don't think you understand just how horrible I am with conjugations."
"I'm a good teacher. I'm sure we can work something out." he winked back at her.
"Do you need me to make a grocery run too? I'm done for the day, but I was planning on practicing in my apartment this afternoon."
He was fully intent on answering her question, but a familiar face caught his attention from the other end of the courtyard. It's been a while since he last saw his ex and his chest constricted at seeing her standing there with her friends. Seeing him must've shocked her as well based on the way she was looking at him.
"Go." Kaoru said from beside him when she noticed what caught his attention. "Talk to her. You haven't seen her for a while now, and I really think you should." She smiled gently before leaning into him to give him a conspiratorial whisper. "And I promise not to tell the others."
He chuckled at her silliness but he still felt slightly guilty for getting distracted from their conversation. "No, come on. I—"
"Just talk to the woman, Kenshin." She grinned. "Let me know when you need me to come to yours!" She called out as she walked away from him, her ponytail swinging with every step that she took.
He looked away from the petite woman and swung his messenger bag further up on his right shoulder, steeling himself for what he was going to say to the woman who, unfortunately, still held a piece of his heart.
Fortunately though, seeing her wasn't as painful as before. He still had feelings for her, but he was finally starting to move on from the relationship that they shared.
Tomoe was walking towards him with a gentle smile on her face, moving with the same grace and poise she's always had, her hair hanging loosely off of her shoulders. The sight was so familiar and he strongly believed that out of the two of them, it was him who had changed so much from the last time they had met.
Lately, he found himself feeling more relaxed and more free to move as he wanted. Back when he was with Tomoe, he remembered how he always second-guessed his every move to make sure that his actions would be at par with how his partner behaved. It was unnerving at times, but he didn't mind it then because of how he felt towards her. Getting some distance, no matter how forced it was in the beginning, was making him see things that he didn't see before.
"Hey." She greeted softly once they were close enough to each other.
"Hey." He replied nervously.
They were bathed in awkward silence for a while, both of them not knowing how to react or what to say next in a situation such as this. "So, uh-how've you been?" He asked.
"I've been really good." She smiled. "Same old classes and all." She paused and gave him a quick once-over before continuing. "And you? You look great! I didn't know wearing your hair like that would look so much better on you. You used to always tie it up really high on your head." She pointed out, referring to the low ponytail that his hair was gathered into.
"Yeah, uh—" he stammered as he touched the soft hair tie that was holding his red locks together. "It was Kaoru's suggestion." He chuckled. "Actually, it was more of her forcing me into this. She threatened to cut my hair if I didn't stop wearing it like hers."
Tomoe's eyes dulled a bit, but her smile remained plastered on her face. "You two seem to be getting pretty close. She's very good friends with my brother. She's a great person."
"Yeah, she is." He agreed. "She told me about her and Enishi before and I've heard them practice together once or twice. Their stage chemistry's incredible."
"It really is." She paused. "Do you spend time with her often, then?"
"Yeah, I guess. We apparently live in the same building and we didn't even know until about a month ago." He chuckled. "And her friends are great too. Sano and I got somehow got dragged into their circle. It's a huge change, but I can't say I don't like it."
"You do seem like you've changed a lot from when I last saw you." She mused. "Not that it's a bad thing. It suits you."
"Thanks." He replied. "It feels better too. I didn't think being part of such a big group would be a good thing, although they do have a tendency to be loud. It drives me crazy sometimes."
"I can imagine." She smiled. "For a second there I thought you and Kaoru were together. I've been hearing things around campus."
Feeling like he had done something wrong, Kenshin cocked his head to one side and tried to figure out where the conversation was heading towards. "Uh, no, we're just really good friends."
Tomoe laughed. "Stop looking guilty, love, it's totally fine."
Eyes widening upon realizing what she had just said, Tomoe's face started to flush—something Kenshin had never seen before as she always made an effort to look composed.
"I'm sorry—I don't—" she chuckled nervously.
"Don't worry about it. It's fine." He said calmly, trying to not look too affected by it. Looking around at the busy square, he opted to just step away from the situation while it was still salvageable. "I guess I should go, though. They're coming over to my place tonight."
She gave him a curious glance and suddenly what Kenshin thought was a salvageable situation became almost unbearable. Thankfully, Tomoe heard one of her friends calling her and saw them gesturing that they had to leave.
She looked back up at Kenshin. "Yeah, me too, I guess."
"I'll see you around."
"Yeah. And Kenshin?" She called as she stepped away from him. He looked back at her curiously. "Don't be a stranger, okay? Just because we broke up doesn't mean that we couldn't be friends."
The godforsaken thing about this is that he felt torn about what she had just said. "Got it." He said simply.
She gave him one last smile and he watched her go, feeling as though he just ran a marathon. Once she was out of sight, he faced the other direction and walked towards their building's parking lot, forcing himself to not overthink what just happened especially since it was their first relatively good conversation since they broke up.
He didn't need to turn on the radio on his drive back to his apartment building since he was too busy replaying what happened again and again in his head. And the usual traffic on his way home gave him ample time to process it.
If he was being completely honest with himself… he felt like he had accomplished something today. Of all the emotions that he had expected to feel from seeing her walk away, relief was not one of them. He didn't really realize it until he was already halfway home, but his body tensed up so much during the brief conversation. He felt like he was holding his breath, and that he was hyper-aware of how he was standing and how he looked.
A bigger part of it was that he realized that he always felt like that whenever Tomoe was around—especially when they were together. He had originally thought of it as her bringing out the best version of himself. After all, she never said anything. Just looked. And he fell in love with the idea that they were maybe on the same wavelength in terms of who he should be.
The sudden realization made him dizzy though, so he pushed it into a tiny little ball in his head—only to be opened on sleepless nights.
Since most of the students still had classes for the day, there was no line for the elevator and he found himself in his own two-bedroom apartment in no time. He lazily dropped his bag onto his couch and went straight to the kitchen to start setting up what they would need for the night, all of which were still conveniently placed in two brown shopping bags on his kitchen counter.
Satisfied at the neatness of his surroundings, he decided to fetch Kaoru himself instead of just texting or calling her. That girl is horrible with her phone—especially when she's in the middle of practice.
He went down a couple of floors and knocked on her door, waiting patiently for her to grant him entrance. After about five minutes of standing there, he shook his head and tried to open the door himself—and was not at all surprised that it was unlocked.
'Seriously', he sighed, 'this girl could be murdered and not even realize she'd been killed'.
Kenshin led himself into the spacious living room of his friend's apartment unit. He saw Kaoru's back as she happily played her instrument in a pair of loose jeans and a black, cropped, one-shouldered knitted sweater, her hair tied messily into a bun so it wouldn't get in her way. Her tiny feet were also bare, giving off a warm feeling of relaxation.
"You know, leaving your door unlocked like that is a perfect invitation for trouble."
Startled at his sudden presence, Kaoru jumped and turned to look at the intruder. She smiled at the sight of him and replied. "I've been here nearly four years now and nothing bad has happened so far." Curious at his presence, she asked. "What's up, boo?"
"I came to get you, boo." He mocked playfully, nodding his head towards the door. "Let's hustle."
Sighing, she started working on placing her instrument back in its case. "You could have just called, you know."
Kenshin rolled his eyes. "We've been through this before, Kaoru. You are horrible with that thing."
She scoffed. "Oh please. I always text back."
"Yeah, five hours later." He smirked. "Or better yet, you forget you contacted me at all. Remember when you forgot that you asked me to pick you up from the auditorium?"
"That was a one-time thing. I had just pulled an all-nighter." The violin case clicked shut and she looked up at him. "Mind if I bring this? I'm feeling a bit blocked. Maybe playing at a new place will help inspire me."
"Not at all." He smiled.
Kaoru grinned and led him out, grabbing her laptop bag as well and locking her door pointedly on the way out. "Thanks. We have this new assignment, and I need all the practice I can get before next week."
"What's next week?"
She shrugged. "Just another practical. Nothing big. It's fun, actually, but there's one part that just doesn't feel right yet."
Kenshin looked down at the girl he was with, speaking a little seriously. "Hey, you know I was kidding about the thing earlier. I can manage today if you're busy."
"Nah," she smiled reassuringly. "I need to be around people too, I think. My brain's going nuts. I would appreciate a glass of wine though."
Chuckling, he replied. "Yeah I have a bottle I managed to hide from Sano under my bed. It's good Pinot my uncle sent me. Don't tell the others though. Sanosuke's supposed to bring the booze tonight." Sighing, he continued. "Apparently, he discovered something called cerveza. He wants us to taste it and shower him with glory afterwards."
"He does know that cerveza's just the Spanish word for beer, right?"
"Yeah, but let's not ruin it for him. He's been looking forward to this since Saturday and you know how he gets when he's disappointed over something."
"Unfortunately, I do." She replied. "Anyway, isn't it a bit early to start getting ready for dinner? I would've thought you'd spend your time somewhere else 'til around 6 or so."
"Are you blowing me off, Kaoru?" He asked with a feigned look of hurt on his face.
She scrunched her nose. "A little bit, yeah. You never know when some hunk could call me for a booty call."
He grinned. "Who says this isn't a booty call?"
"You're so full of it." She laughed as they both stepped into his apartment.
"Seriously, though. If you need some time to practice, we can do this a bit later. I have a term paper I need to fix anyway."
"God, you tell me this when we're already here?" she sighed, feigning annoyance.
"It's a dead offer, don't worry." He chuckled. "It's more for my benefit than yours, really. I felt like company too."
Smiling, Kaoru turned to look at him. "I just love how I'm the only one who gets fake chivalry from you. I feel so special."
"You should." He nodded. "It's a big effort from my end, but you're really worth it."
"I always am." She winked.
Kenshin saw his friend canvassing the room for a good place to settle in, ultimately deciding to set up in a rather empty corner of his living room, right by the door that was built into the floor-to-ceiling window which led to a narrow balcony. "Cool if I set up camp here?"
"Feel free." He shrugged. "Mind if I take the couch?"
"Your place, your rules. Gotta say though, this display looks like you just can't stay away from me." She joked.
"Maybe it's 'cause I don't want to stay away from you." He winked.
Shaking her head amusedly, Kaoru started unpacking her violin as Kenshin watched, and immediately noticed that she was going to need some sort of surface she can put her things on. Remembering a portable slim desk that he got for Tomoe right before they broke up, the redhead went in to his guest room-slash-study room and pulled the box out from under the bed, bringing it next to Kaoru who was looking at him curiously.
"A desk?" she asked. "What, did you plan this whole 'I need company' thing all along?"
He shrugged. "I just remembered I had this, and I think it'd look good in this corner." Eyes twinkling, he looked up at her. "Isn't this your lucky day?"
Disbelievingly, she pressed him a bit more. "Today? Right now? You just remembered it right now?"
"Like I said, it's your lucky day."
Kaoru rolled her eyes. "Luck my ass." Nodding, she bent down and gently grabbed one of his hands which was busy tearing up the box. "Thank you though, Kenshin."
The sudden change in her tone made the redhead look at his guest, not used to the gentle lilt of her voice and the sincerity in her eyes. "Er… it's nothing. Just figured you could use it, if you want."
The blue-eyed girl smiled and nodded as she let go of his hand to help him unwrap and start to set up the desk. "Okay, let's see what we have here." Her eyes turning playful again, he caught his gaze and teased. "Wanna let me do this so your dainty little hands don't need to do any work?"
'There she is', he grinned. "What does a spoiled brat like you know about screwdrivers?"
It didn't take long for them to finish setting up the desk. The adjustable stand was a happy little surprise for the pair since it meant that Kaoru wouldn't have to worry about crouching down too much whenever she had to peek at her music sheet. Eventually, they had settled down into the rhythm of their own work—filling little breaks here and there with playful banter.
It was a nice change for Kenshin, who usually did things in solitude. Truth be told, he doesn't really remember why or when he decided to ask for Kaoru's presence so early in the day, but he was glad he did. Watching and listening to her play so casually was like watching a behind-the-scenes video of a movie set. It was mesmerizing—something that his friend called him out on numerous times, telling him that he should focus on his own work or to just "take a damn picture already".
He laughed every time she caught him watching, but not once did he deny that he was looking at her.
There was something about the way she moved that was hypnotic. And the way the warm sunlight was hitting her really did make it damn near impossible for him to look away. She had such grace when she moved with her violin, and she gets so immersed in the middle of her practice that she looks like she's in her own world.
And by the gods, when she comes out of her trance? That small, brief moment when she stops playing and sees him watching? It all happens in a millisecond but just for a little bit, he feels like he connects with her and everything melts away for him too.
The twinkle of those eyes could bring him to his knees.
The moment he hears himself think that, he feels like he could breathe again. Because all of a sudden, there was a rush of 'I want more of her'.
He wants to know more about her, spend more time with her, be closer to her. It's all batshit crazy and he knows now is not the time, and he's not ready for anything else yet, and he barely knows her as it is aside from their daily banter and occasional playful flirting, but all of those reasons just melt away as he watches her.
He feels more alive and present now than in the last few months, and he isn't even with her—he wants more, but he's not sure what more is.
He blinks and looks back down at his laptop, forcing himself to continue working on his own assignment as she adjusted more notes every now and then.
It was a lovely tune. Their class was doing a tribute to The Beatles as part of their practical exam, which was interesting since he didn't think music majors were ever assigned anything aside from classical music. Kaoru couldn't choose between Here Comes the Sun or Blackbird, so she said that she was trying to do a medley instead. Apparently, that was difficult because A, it was hard enough translating music from the entire band down to just one instrument, and B, she had to find the right flow to connect the two songs.
He saw her jump at some point and do a little dance as she typed some notes and adjusted her music sheet. Then she turned to look at him with such excitement that he couldn't help but return the warm smile.
"Did you hear that?" she asked giddily, still dancing to a tune he couldn't hear. "I got it right!"
"Was anything ever wrong?" he jokes.
Rolling her eyes, she walks over and pushes his leg off the couch so she could sit beside him. He could see the giddiness being replaced by the exhaustion she had been staving off. "I somehow hate that you don't get this." Tiredly, she puts her violin down on the coffee table in front of them and leans back with her eyes closed. "I'm done, though. How's your paper going?"
"I just have to put the references in," he lies. "Won't take long."
"Thirty minutes long?"
Kenshin chuckles at the girl beside him. "If you want to take a nap, you can. We have time."
His friend smiles gratefully and snuggles deeper into the corner of the couch. "I'd love that. Wake me up when you're done?"
"Sure," he shrugs. "You can nap in my room if you want. Blanket for the other room's at the cleaners, but mine's all set."
"I'm good right here, if that's okay." She yawns. "I'm not a fan of quiet rooms."
The redhead cocks his head curiously and wants to ask her about it, but the probability of her not answering is 110 to 1. So he hums instead and adjusts himself so he sits just a little bit closer to her without bothering her cozy, curled up self. He brings his attention back to his term paper, taking his time and not bothering to squash the warmth that was starting to grow in his chest.
"The man of the hour has arrived!" a booming voice busted into the apartment.
Chuckling, the pair glanced at each other from where they were in the kitchen as they finished getting things ready. Kenshin had messaged the group that he was leaving his door unlocked so they should just come right in, which is better than him and Kaoru having to open the door as each one of their friends arrived.
Like all of the other apartments in their building, the space between the kitchen and the open dining/living room had a marble countertop that served as a bar to connect the two spaces. The excellent use of space was something Kaoru and Kenshin appreciated about the building, but they also acknowledged that quality is directly proportional to the cost.
They had talked about Easton once when they shared a ride to school—how it was a little farther away and more expensive than other student housing options, but that they valued the privacy and security the building offered. For Kenshin, it wasn't really his choice as his Uncle was the one who set everything up the moment he passed the entrance exam. For Kaoru… she just grinned and changed the topic.
Surprised at seeing the violinist walking towards the table carrying a big bowl of chopped lettuce, Sano asked. "Missy? I thought I was gonna be the first one here. Ya been here long?"
"A bit. Red here needed my help with all this. Heard from the others?"
"Ice man's coming up. He was parking when I arrived." He replied nonchalantly, opening the fridge to busy himself with putting in the bottles of beer he got for the occasion.
Kenshin walked over to where Kaoru was, carefully placing the bowl of hot spiced ground beef beside the taco shells they had toasted earlier. "Sanosuke." He greeted.
The tall man grunted as he finished up, leaving the earlier pair to smile proudly at themselves for being able to prepare such a beautiful spread.
True enough, Aoshi arrived a few minutes later. Like clockwork, Kaoru smiled happily and walked to where her friend was carefully toeing off his shoes. She took his messenger bag and hung it on Kenshin's coat rack, before turning to hug him and giving him a warm kiss on the cheek.
'You'd think they were a married couple,' thought Kenshin as he watched the interaction.
Aoshi caught his eye and nodded at him, then briefly looked around as Kaoru tugged him over to where her music sheets were scattered around.
About half an hour later, the group was settled at the table, happily enjoying the food and drinks that were prepared. The apartment was filled with chatter, plus the 'ambient music' Misao had insisted that they play while they ate. Kenshin doesn't think his apartment had ever been this noisy before—another thing he didn't think he would ever welcome considering his previously quiet and solitary lifestyle.
Since all of them had classes the next day, they all wanted to make sure that no one drank too much and that they got home at a decent time. Misao and Megumi insisted on taking care of the dirty dishes while Kenshin and Sano lounged in the living room.
"Oi, Kenshin." Sano called. "What're ya doin' for lunch tomorrow?"
"I don't know yet. Why? Need money to pay for your meal again?"
The tall man scoffed. "No. There's this new bistro that opened up off-campus. Wanna go there for lunch or something?"
"Yeah, I heard about that." Megumi interrupted, sitting on the floor beside the coffee table. "Mind if I join you? I was planning on going anyway. Might as well go there with you two idiots."
"Anything for the foxy lady." Sano winked, laughing when the long-haired girl rolled her eyes snootily at his behavior. "Want us to pick you up?
"No, that's alright. I might end up staying if their coffee's any good."
Kenshin looked around to see if Kaoru would like to join them, but he realized that she and Aoshi were out on the balcony, standing next to each other as they leaned on the railing together. Neither of them were smiling, which obviously meant they were talking about something serious—an observation he knew was right when he noticed neither of them wearing their coats despite the freezing weather.
He turned to Misao who walked over and sat down on the armrest next to him. "Hey." He called softly. The petite woman looked at him and he gestured towards the balcony. "What do you think they're talking about?"
She shrugged and looked around the room. "Hell if I know. Those two have a world of their own." Curious, she bent down and smirked, "Why? Jealous?"
Kenshin's eyes widened and he stammered. "No, I—I was just curious. They seem to be together often these days."
"That's just the way they are, silly. They've been friends for so long it's kind of hard to think of them without the other." She explained. "They've been through a lot."
"Oh?"
"Yeah, but I'm not about to tell you anything 'cause even I don't know the whole story. We just know bits and pieces."
He nodded and gave the couple outside one last curious look before focusing on Misao. "Anyway, would you like to join us for lunch tomorrow at that new bistro outside of campus? I can pick you up, if you want."
"Nah." She shook her head. "Thanks, but I need to rehearse. Just let me know if it's any good and I'll go there myself some other time."
After about another hour of just hanging out in Kenshin's apartment, his guests decided that it was time for them to leave so they could all get some rest. Sano and Megumi left first, followed by Aoshi who left with Misao since he was going to drop her off at her place.
With everyone gone, Kaoru gathered her things as well and got ready to leave, making sure that everything was as it was before she came over. Smiling, she gave him a gentle hug and a kiss on the cheek.
"Thanks for today, Red. I had fun."
"Come over anytime, yeah?" he said sincerely. "I'll text you my door code."
She laughed. "Wow, giving me a key already? Are you that easy?"
"It's more for you than me," he shot back playfully. "I've seen your kitchen. You have nothing but milk and coffee."
"Breakfast of champions," she grinned. Seeing that he wasn't budging though, she continued. "We always eat out and I don't want to waste food, dick."
"It won't be wasted if you eat it." He explained, looking at her as though she were a naughty child. "Look, I make breakfast every day and I always end up cooking for more than one. Why don't you come up, eat with me, and we can carpool to school? Our schedules match, and it saves gas money."
"Since when did a prince like you have to worry about gas money?" she snickered.
"I'll make anything you want me to, Kaoru."
"Oh you will, will you?" she said seductively. Man, this girl can change gears in a heartbeat. "What if I want a nice—" she stepped closer, "hot—" he could smell her perfume now, and she went on her tiptoes to whisper in his ear, "plate of bacon and eggs?"
For once, he wasn't going to back down and let her win the game. He grinned as he suddenly pulled her closer and heard her gasp, intentionally slipping his hand under her knitted sweater and placing it right at the waistband of her jeans—his thumb pressing down on the tiny sliver of skin that he could touch. "Like I said, darling." He muttered deeply, feeling her shiver at the feel of his breath on her neck. "Anything you want."
There was a pause as he waited for her shock to fade. He had never done anything like this with her before, always opting to back down and just laugh things off when the flirting would start to feel heavy. He had a sense that she wanted to keep testing his limits and pushing him out of his comfort zone, so for once, he wanted to give her a taste of her own medicine and show him that he can give as good as he gets.
Kenshin didn't know what got into him. It could be liquid courage from the beers Sanosuke brought over, or it could just be how he had felt the whole day. Whatever it was, it was fun. The breakfast idea really came out of the blue though—it was clearly half-assed and had no forethought. Ordinarily, he would have thought about things a million times before doing them, but a big part of him just decided to fuck it for once and just go for it.
He felt Kaoru start to chuckle and push herself away from him, so he dropped his hand and looked at her as if he won something big.
"Damn, Kenshin," she started. "Where'd that come from?"
Shrugging, he replied, "Where do you think it did?"
The musician shook her head at him, amusement all over her face. "Fine, Red. If you're this desperate for my company, call me at 6:30 and do not stop until I pick up."
"You know, I could come down there and wake you up instead." He smirked.
"You're the easy one, not me."
Deciding to let the girl go now that he got what he didn't even know he wanted, he nodded happily and caught her head between his hands so he could kiss her forehead with a loud smack. "Good girl." He mocked. "I'll call you tomorrow, then."
He felt, rather than saw, her expression change—but again, only for a second, before it was back to its usual playful grin. "Ah sorry, bud. I can't tomorrow."
"Why? What's with tomorrow?"
Stepping back and moving towards the door again, Kaoru shot back at him – "I have a hot date. What can I say?"
He followed her out of his door curiously, "At 6 in the morning?"
"Yep!" she called back as she got on the elevator. "Goodnight, darling."
Sighing, the redhead went back into his now quiet apartment and leaned against the door.
'What the hell happened today?', he thought, looking back at everything that happened that day. He walked towards his bedroom, fully intent on taking a hot shower and going straight to bed, when he saw one of Kaoru's music sheets laying forgotten under what he now feels is her desk. 'Whatever did happen… I hope it keeps happening'.
He woke up in a good mood the next morning, though still feeling a little tired from the day before. It just ended on such a good note that he was actually looking forward to the day ahead despite the freezing temperature.
It was a Wednesday, which meant he only had two classes in the morning and nothing for the rest of the day. Most of the long classes were scheduled on Mondays, Thursdays, and Fridays, which he thought was perfect because his mid-weeks would give him a chance to complete whatever he needed without feeling too stretched for time.
Going through his morning routine, the redhead smiled and thought of the blue-eyed girl he now kept close company with. She said she had plans early in the morning, but maybe the evening was free game? He never did get to give her that glass of wine she asked for yesterday.
It was cloudy and snowing outside, so Kenshin geared up for what would be a below-zero day. His weather app said it was going to be bad in the afternoon, and it was already negative five degrees at that point. Grabbing his bag off of the coat rack, he made his way down to the basement with a tune in his head. He was thinking of calling Kaoru while waiting for his car to warm up, but the familiar ponytail he saw bobbing around by the car next to his made that unnecessary.
"Thought you had a hot date?" he called out as he walked over to her black Camry.
Kaoru jumped and turned to look at him. "God, you have to stop doing that."
He chuckled, but noticing that she still looked a bit flushed, he turned sheepish and his free hand came up to rub the back of his neck. "Sorry, didn't mean to startle you."
Kaoru visibly tried to calm herself down and sighed. "It's alright—I should've known it was you."
There was something off with her. Looking closely, he noticed how her eyes looked a bit swollen, her hair seemed strangely unkempt, and she was definitely not dressed for the weather—wearing only a flimsy shirt under her leather jacket, and what looked like summer jeans tucked into her boots.
"Booty call gone bad?" he tried joking lightly.
She chuckled. "You could say that." She raised a hand, wanting to run it through her hair, but forgetting it was tied into a ponytail. Gently, she pulled off the ribbon she had tied it with and let the raven strands fall around her face as she played with her keys.
Now definitely knowing that something was wrong, Kenshin moved closer to her and gently raised her head, his thumbs rubbing her cheeks affectionately. "Hey, what's wrong?"
Kaoru blinked up at him tiredly, smiled, and pushed back with a sigh. She jumped lightly a couple times, as if waking herself up. "No, no, nothing like that." She chuckled—though to him, it sounded forced. "Coffee just hasn't kicked in yet."
"Oh?"
"Yeah," she replied simply, unlocking her car with a button and moving to open the driver's side. "I'm good, Kenshin, don't worry."
Being a little closer than she was to the handle, he grabbed her hand and tried to get her to look at him again. "Hey, why don't I drive you today?"
"I'm not going to school, Red," she chided.
"It's fine." He insisted, still a bit thrown at her strange behavior.
Shaking her head, she shook his hand away and opened the door. "You have classes this morning, no? I'm good, Kenshin. Really." She tossed her phone over to the passenger seat and smiled at him teasingly. "Why are you being so clingy?"
Despite the lighter tone, he still couldn't help but feel like it all seemed forced. "You don't look so good, is all."
Kaoru chuckled, "Wow, is that how you say good morning?"
"Where are you off to?"
Brushing him off again, she sat down on the driver's seat. "Playing hooky."
"Kaoru—"
"Relax, Kenshin." She smiled. "I'm not drunk, drugged, or anything. I just need to run an errand." She saw him studying her more, a wrinkle forming between his brows. "You need to run. You don't wanna be late."
That wasn't strictly true, but he knew he wouldn't be getting answers out of her right then and there. Sighing, he stepped around the door that was now standing between them and pulled his knitted maroon hat off his head and placed it snugly on hers. "Well if you're going to be Miss Mysterious today at least make sure you're warm." He said pointedly, looking straight into her tired blue eyes. "Try not to be allergic to your phone today and call me if you need anything, yeah?"
She giggled and pushed him away gently, rolling her eyes as she did so. "Yeah, yeah. God, sometimes you and Sano sound just like Aoshi." She put the keys in the ignition and he heard the tell-tale starting of her engine. "I'm off. Go learn something."
Nodding, Kenshin closed the door for her and stepped back to walk over to his own car. He saw her drive off as he was getting settled and just sat there for a bit as he thought about the strange encounter he had with his usually energetic neighbor.
He highly doubted that Kaoru would contact him at all that day, but he decided he'd check on her that evening. He didn't see her violin in the backseat of her car where it usually was, which was extremely odd in itself since she always had it with her. That, and she just felt off.
He thought that if he tried immensely hard, he'd be able to forget about her peculiarity this morning. But alas, the mind goes where it wants to no matter how hard we try.
Was she really sleeping with someone?
He didn't think it was possible because he'd seen neither hide or hair of another guy sniffing around his friend in the last few months. And she never mentioned that she was dating someone, nor did anyone from their group. So that didn't seem like the possible scenario.
Could someone have turned her down?
He mentally scoffed at that thought. Who in their right mind wouldn't want to be with someone like Kaoru? Enigmatic, smart, talented, and beautiful as she is.
He didn't really notice how pretty she was before. Most likely, he simply wasn't paying attention. But now that he's not being blinded by the collapse of his previous relationship, he was starting to see that.
The first thing everyone, including him, noticed about her was her smile—and there were many versions of it too, he thought. She smiles differently when she's around her friends, when she's feeling playful and riling him up, when she finishes even the tiniest of tasks; but his favorite would be the one she wears when she's playing her violin.
She's the type of girl who doesn't even know she's smiling, he thinks, and that's incredibly heartwarming. He loves that he's close enough to her now that he gets to see every type of smile—not just the ones she puts on when she's around other people.
She was never over-the-top or overwhelming when it comes to how she presents herself, though she never looked uncoordinated either. It was always just the right balance between charming and graceful—warm, he thinks, is the perfect word to describe her.
He doesn't think she could ever lie, too; not with those expressive bright blue eyes of hers. Though that's not to say that she couldn't keep a secret—he knows, and his friends have implied, that she has many. There would always seem to be gaps and knowing glances between Misao and Megumi whenever the discussion would float over to Kaoru when she wasn't around.
Which brings him back to this morning's odd interaction. This is perhaps the first time he's ever seen her so unnerved. The only person who could tell him what's going on would be Aoshi, but he doubts that he'd ever be able to ask him about it firsthand. On the contrary, if he told Aoshi something was wrong, the guy would probably close in around Kaoru and shield her from sight.
Shaking his stubborn thoughts away, he tried his damndest to focus on what his professor was saying. He consoled himself with the thought that he'll know what he needs to know when he needs to know it, and not sooner than that.
"Oi!" He heard someone yell from behind him. He rolled his eyes at his friend's rambunctious behavior and the way he ran towards him in the relatively quiet hallway.
"Sanosuke." He greeted.
"'Ya can't be bothered to sound a bit happier than that? Whenever you say my name 'ya sound like someone died or something."
"If you don't stop behaving the way you do, eventually someone will die."
Sano scoffed. "Whatever. Anyway, 'ya headin' for the bistro, right? Mind if I roll with?"
"Do I even have a choice?" He sighed.
"Guess 'ya know me too well, eh?" The tall man grinned. "We pickin' Missy up?"
"No. She didn't go to school today; said she had an errand to run." He explained as they made their way to the parking lot.
"What?! The little nerd?! Has the world ended or something?"
"You're overreacting, Sanosuke. As always." Kenshin muttered. "She's allowed to not come to school if she doesn't want to. You always do it."
"Yeah, but that's me and I don't give a shit about this. Missy does." He turned to his friend. "What errand?"
Kenshin shrugged. "She didn't say. It's none of my business anyway"
"None of your business?" Sano scoffed again. "I think you have a right to make it your business. Seriously, you should just start dating her. I mean, the way you two've been hanging around lately, it seems like you already are anyway."
"We're just friends, Sano." The redhead responded patiently.
"For now."
"You're insufferable." Kenshin pushed back, unlocking the car so they could get out of the cold and start moving to the restaurant.
They both threw their bags onto the backseat of the car so they could be more comfortable, and the redhead turned up his radio in the hopes that his friend would get the hint and stay quiet during the drive. Thankfully, Sano chose to just scroll through his phone while he drove, even when they got stuck in a little traffic.
It took them half an hour to navigate their way out of campus and into the city to find the restaurant. Since it had just opened recently, there weren't a lot of customers scrambling around and only a few tables were occupied. It was also warmer than the ones within their university campus, which was a nice surprise.
The booth they selected was by the window, giving them a clear view of the snowy ground outside. They were immediately approached by a cheerful waiter who gave them a couple of menus and asked what they would like to drink. Sano, as per usual, asked for a bottle of beer; while Kenshin opted to go for a hot cup of tea to ward off the chill.
"Where's Megumi?" the redhead asked once they had their drinks.
"Said she'd be a few minutes late. The woman's probably busy conning someone out of getting their dead bodies or something."
Kenshin cringed. "We're about to have lunch, Sanosuke. Is that really an appropriate topic to bring up?"
"What? Just 'cause you've been acting like a pansy the past couple of months means you're turning squeamish now too?" He sneered. "'Ya might as well grow yourself a vagina and save us all the trouble."
"You know, I'm really getting tired of your insults."
"Well you're gonna keep gettin' 'em until you man up, so I suggest you do it soon."
"And for once, just this one time, I fully support his decision." Megumi said, coming out of the blue and placing her bag on the table as she sat down beside Sano.
Startled, Sano choked on his beer. "And 'ya wonder why we call you fox? 'Ya keep comin' outta nowhere like you're stalking your prey or something."
"Don't blame your ignorance on me, rooster head. Besides, that hair of yours gets all the nourishment your brain needs-which makes it impossible for you to notice what's going on around you."
Waving one of the servers over, Megumi quickly ordered her drink and took it upon herself to order three of the bistro's bestselling dishes without bothering to look at the menu.
"So we can't even pick what we're going eat now, fox?"
She scoffed. "Not when you're getting something completely mundane and common like steak and potatoes or something."
"Hey! There's nothing wrong with a good plate of steak!"
"This is a new bistro and we're here to see if they're any good, so it's only reasonable that we order their best dish. Clearly your hair has once again impaired your common sense."
"What the hell do you got against my hair, woman? You're always on about it." He stopped and grinned mischievously, leaning closer to her. "Oh I get it. You're doing the whole kindergarten kind of thing where you tease me on and on but you're really secretly in love with me."
"Oh please. It just annoys me so much. That amount of hair is so completely abnormal."
"You take that back you—"
"Megumi has a point, Sanosuke." Kenshin interrupted calmly before the two could pounce on each other again as they usually did. "Their best dish would determine if this really is a good place or not."
Sano scoffed. "Whatever. Go ahead and take her side, you pathetic people-pleaser."
The redhead rolled his eyes at his friend's childish behavior and pinched the bridge of his nose to try and stop the headache that was starting to build. Sometimes he really just wished that the two could get along. Perhaps it was divine intervention that made the two of them survive dating each other for three months.
Their table was bathed in tense silence as they waited for their food, and they all breathed a sigh of relief when the waiter brought three plates of Chicken Française along with a few other side dishes. The smell of the food was intoxicating and made their mouths water, and the first bite they took did not disappoint.
"So, how did your anatomy class go, Megumi?" Kenshin asked politely after a few bites, deciding to create a bit of small talk so the three of them could actually enjoy their lunch.
She sighed. "Same-old, same-old. Though I was glad the corpse I got today lived a relatively healthy lifestyle. I think it's the first time I ever did. Usually I get ones with rotting intestines or something." She continued nonchalantly, "This chicken's good, no?"
Kenshin nodded slowly, balking at the way she could talk about corpses and chickens in one breath. Instead of asking her to go into detail about how her exploration of the human body went, he wisely decided to stay quiet for fear of hearing more graphic explanations of what she saw.
The conversation flowed easily after Sano had calmed down, and the three found themselves relaxing more and more as they ate. Once done with their main course, Megumi asked for the waiter's recommended dessert and black coffee for herself and Kenshin, while Sano asked for another beer.
"Hey." Megumi called their attention once their cheesecake slices arrived. "Where's Kaoru? Aren't you two supposed to be attached at the hip?" She asked Kenshin curiously.
"We do live in the same building, Megumi. It's natural for us to be seen together a lot." He explained, realizing that saying those words had became something like muscle memory for him at this point.
"Yeah. Friends." Sano muttered. "I still don't understand why you won't just ask her out already. You're wasting your time, you know. Neither of you are getting any younger."
"You talk as though we're both in our forties." He rolled his eyes. "Anyway, she said she had an errand to run this morning."
"An errand?" thinking for a moment, she gasped and started rummaging in her bag for her phone. Glancing at the screen, she groaned. "Fuck, I completely forgot.
"Forgot what?" Sano asked.
Megumi ignored him and hastily sent a message to someone, running a hand down her frustrated face and dropping her phone on the table afterwards.
The two men looked at each other at the woman's sudden change of disposition, waiting for her to tell them what was happening. Seeing that she was spiraling, Sano asked again. "What did you forget?"
"Megumi?" Kenshin called gently.
She sighed and looked out the window with completely morose eyes, but the way her hands were clenched was a clear indication of her still growing frustration. The two just watched her and waited patiently, not wanting to push too hard.
It took a few minutes, but she calmed herself down. "Alright." She breathed. "Alright."
Looking at her companions seriously, she started. "Okay," she said. "Since you two are obviously going to be hanging around us more often now, I guess you should know a little bit more about Kaoru." Her eyes flashed. "But you have to swear you won't act any different around her, or I swear to all the gods that I will personally cut your testicles off with a very large knife—not a scalpel, a knife. Without anesthesia." She warned seriously.
They nodded and sat up a bit straighter, wanting her to know that they were paying attention. Apart from that, they were both curious about the violinist themselves. Kaoru had, maybe unknowingly, charmed her way into their hearts—one at a deeper level than the other. But they both know that there was a lot they didn't know about the blue-eyed woman, and they didn't ask because they didn't want to overstep their bounds.
"Alright." Megumi sighed once more. "Today is Kaoru's father's 15th death anniversary. She's probably over at the cemetery by herself right now." Angrily, she gestured outside. "And because of the fucking weather, she's probably going to end up killing herself."
Kenshin's and Sano's eyes both widened at the woman's admission and they were both silent as they took in what they heard.
"Fifteenth? Then that would mean—"
"Yeah. She lost him when she was seven. Since then she's been going there every year. The problem is that it's a public cemetery, so it's outdoors; but she doesn't want to move him, and she insists on staying the entire day." She said sadly. "She doesn't like telling people. Hell, even we weren't supposed to know. And the only reason we do is because we followed her a couple years back."
Seeing the frown on the redhead's face, she doubled-back. "Nothing like that. We weren't being nosy," she said defensively. "We saw her car in the city and thought she was meeting up with Aoshi. When she went into the slums, we got concerned—thought her GPS was screwing her over. I kept calling her but she wasn't picking up, so we called Aoshi."
Megumi ran her hands through her hair—a rare action as everyone knew she was close to anal when it came to keeping it neat. "He told us to let her be, but we couldn't. So we followed her in. When she saw us, she freaked out." She closed her eyes as if reliving what happened. "I have never seen anyone that angry before. She slammed on her breaks and came running over to us—didn't even close the door. Screamed like hell at us to mind our own fucking business and get the fuck out of there."
Kenshin was beyond shocked. He didn't think his neighbor was even capable of cursing at someone, let alone screaming at them like a banshee. Glancing at Sano, he knew he was thinking the same thing.
There was a pregnant pause before she continued. "So we did. She didn't talk to us for weeks after that, and Aoshi sort of disappeared too. But one evening, she just came over with Aoshi. It was awkward, but she apologized and told us everything. Aoshi held her hand the entire time. Then it was over and… we moved on."
"How can she even just sit there? The weather's shit at this time of the year." Sano said slowly, still surprised at what he heard.
"I don't know, but somehow… somehow, she manages." Megumi explained. "Last year though she got so sick we had to bring her to the hospital. We stayed for the first few days—when she was unconscious; but when she woke up she told everyone to leave. After that even the doctors barred us from visiting." She sighed sadly. "I don't know. She would just have these… days—you know? When she'd shove everyone away and just disappear."
Kenshin gulped. "And her mom?"
"Died when she was born." She said simply. "She's only ever had her Dad. Aoshi and his family were really close with them, which explains why they're so tight. He looks at her like a kid sister, though he never says it because… well, he's Aoshi."
Another pause filled their table as the two men tried to comprehend how Kaoru, at such a young age, managed to be the way she is now.
"How was she even able to—I mean, did she get adopted or something?" Sano asked quietly.
The biology major shook her head sadly. "As far as we know, she's been passed around from one orphanage and foster family to another. Even Aoshi doesn't know what happened to her for some years when she got transferred somewhere that was too far from his family. He said his parents wanted to adopt her after her father died, but I think there were some legal issues so they had no choice but to let her go."
"She's a foster kid?" the usually crass man gasped. "But—but, I mean…"
"Apparently, her Mom's pretty famous in France for playing the violin and all that. And her Dad—well, we don't really know what her Dad used to do." Megumi answered. "But anyway, she got her inheritance when she turned seventeen so the moment she was able to, she left the orphanage and started a life of her own."
"Damn." Sano sighed. "I mean—well… damn. That's pretty heavy."
"I know." Megumi commented. "We couldn't really digest it at first. And when she was telling us… it was like she was a different person. We think Aoshi was the one who convinced her to come talk to us." Looking outside again, her voice got softer as she told them, "The thing with Kaoru, though? She shuts down on us and disappears, but she always comes back."
Their desserts lay forgotten as they all digested what was shared, the two men in complete awe of the blue-eyed woman that they are proud to call their friend. Given the sensitivity of the topic, they were both certain that they wouldn't dare to broach the topic with her ever. All they could do now is to support her and offer her help whenever she'd feel too down.
A lot of people who have the same background end up drunk, drugged, or worse. God knows they would've ended up in trash bins or something if they had that kind of past.
Seeing her the way they knew her now was inspiring. Despite all of the things that have happened to her, she's always been bright and warm, and the knowledge they were given proved that aside from all of those things, Kaoru was also incredibly strong. To have survived a life like that and still have the grace and optimism she possesses now? A miracle.
The somber mood that the conversation brought them remained with Sano and Kenshin. Sano bid him goodbye as soon as they got back to campus and told him that he'd walk home instead of staying at the redhead's apartment like he usually did on Wednesdays, and Kenshin didn't think much of that, feeling like he needed a little more time to process what he had just heard as well.
He knew he wanted more of Kaoru, but he wasn't expecting that to be anywhere near this.
Feeling restless, he decided to leave campus again and go to a nearby abandoned hiking trail he had found a few miles away from their university—a place he'd often visit whenever he felt overwhelmed.
Megumi's voice played over and over in his head, and he just couldn't connect what he had heard to the woman he now knew. Kaoru was only twenty-three, which meant that it hasn't been long at all since she managed to get herself settled; well, relatively, that is. He won't really be able to tell unless she tells him, would he? And he doubted that it's a subject she would ever be willing to approach with him.
This knowledge, he realized, didn't affect how he was starting to feel about her now though. If anything, it made it stronger; made him appreciate her all the more, and made him want to really be there for her, and let her know that she has someone who will always be on her side.
He understands now why Aoshi acts the way he does around her, but he doubts that the way he feels is in any way similar to that. One thing needs to be clear—he wasn't feeling this way because of what he heard earlier. This isn't a Messiah complex, and he didn't want to be closer to her—with her, even—because he wanted to save her. She had survived far worse than anyone he ever knew, and he doubted that she needed rescuing from anyone.
Her story didn't make him pity her. It made him want to help build her up. Before hearing what Megumi shared with him and Sano, he knew he was already dangerously close to wanting to cross the line between friends and more-than-friends. Now, he mentally took one step further in that direction.
He didn't know how long he spent walking around aimlessly in the small patch of woods. But once it started getting dark, he knew it was time to head back. He had originally planned on spending the day with his steadily increasing pile of schoolwork, and it was time to be a responsible student again.
Heading into his apartment building's basement parking, he was surprised to see a familiar car coming in behind him. Their vehicles now in their assigned spaces, Kenshin took a breath before stepping out of his vehicle and heading over to Kaoru's— the exact same spot he was in that morning.
Kaoru smiled at him from inside and he gave her a soft smile back. He opened the door for her and immediately noticed her damp hair and clothes, and how pale she looked.
Still, deciding to keep things light, he joked. "Stalking me now, Kaoru?"
She chuckled. "What can I say? My heart longs for you."
He hummed in response and tried to gauge how she was as she stepped out of her car, and he took a risk by putting his arm around her freezing shoulders and leading her towards the elevators. Amazingly, she didn't push him away. She was either too tired to even think about it (which was likely, considering that she looked like she'd gone to hell and back), or she was just used to affectionate gestures from her friends. Maybe even a mix of both.
"You know you can just tell me if you want to see me, right?" he replied, still feigning nonchalance. "How'd your errand go?"
"It was fine." She said softly. "How were your classes?"
"Coursework's going to kill me this weekend."
She sighed. "You know, for someone who's going to inherit a big shot company, you sound awfully pained at the idea of work."
"Not my fault," Kenshin shrugged. "Can't help it since professors sound like they're dead or dying."
"That's just mean."
Their conversation stayed light and he felt like there was nothing wrong at all, and to be honest, he didn't expect that. She sniffled and he took it as an opportunity to voice out his main concern. "You look like you're about to catch a cold."
He felt her tense at the comment. "Yeah, shit weather."
The elevator dinged and she got off on her floor, kissing his cheek goodbye with ice-cold lips. Shivering, he watched her walk over to her door as the doors closed and took him up to his floor.
Kenshin sighed as he entered his apartment and shook himself out of the mild stupor he'd been in ever since Megumi's revelation. He resolved to take a short nap before he started working on his projects and assignments so he could, hopefully, get some focus when he wakes up.
His phone's buzzing woke him up three hours later, and he realized that he still felt as tired as he was before he napped. He most certainly did not intend to be in bed for three hours, but he must have been pushing himself more than he thought in the last few days. Checking to see the message he received, he sighed as he read about classes being cancelled the next day due to zero-visibility warnings.
He went into his study room and started organizing the things he would need to do one of the term papers due that week. For some reason though, he just kept feeling more and more annoyed and very much frustrated as every second passed. He couldn't focus on what he was doing. Ultimately, he decided to just put off his schoolwork 'til the next day and to try to sweat his negative energy away now.
He had so many questions he wanted to ask Kaoru, but he didn't want to be intrusive. So for now, his best bet was to try to forget and distract himself—and nothing distracted him more than the sport that he was so dedicated to.
He changed into clothes that were more suitable for his planned workout and grabbed his bokken, training bag, and keys and quickly drove to their university's sports building, where the entire second floor was designed as a dojo to accommodate all of the school's martial artists. As captain of the kendo team, he had a copy of the building's keys in case his team's training would take longer than usual. For security reasons, only official team captains were given a copy, so he was pretty sure that there would be no one else in the building given the late time and the weather outside.
Whoosh. Thud. Grunt. Whoosh.
"Damn it." he muttered to himself when he heard someone moving as he came up the stairs and seeing the dim light from the far end of he gym.
Slowly, he made his way towards the back and tried to catch a glimpse of whoever was training inside, walking close to the wall to not break the athlete's concentration. As a courtesy, he needed to ask him if he didn't mind sharing the space so he wouldn't have to set up another set of lights.
He was surprised to find that it was a woman who was training, and even more so when he saw the bokken in her hands. There were no female members in this year's kendo team, or any other martial arts group, in fact. And he knew everyone who worked out on this floor, even those who weren't part of the university teams and were just casually exploring different sports.
It was hard to catch a glimpse of her face because of the fast movements that the katas she was doing required. Kenshin thought the woman was good—hell, he'd even go so far as to say that she was better than most of the members of his team. He didn't recognize the style she was practicing though. While his was built around speed and strength, hers was more about the flow between one form to another.
The girl paused for a moment to take a breath before moving into her next set of katas, and that moment was all he needed to see who the mystery woman was.
Stunned, he took a sharp intake of breath and watched her carefully. Her movements were strong, but controlled; she was fast on her feet and her arms swung harshly through the air, but everything was done with grace. He was watching her so much that he didn't realize when he put his bag down.
Deciding his next course of action, he took a deep, calming breath as he waited for the perfect moment to make his presence known. His muscles were tense in anticipation, and the moment that she stopped to take another breath, he ran over and struck her bokken—letting her know that a challenger was on the floor.
She gasped when he appeared from seemingly nowhere and she felt fear course through her body at seeing him. Still, when the redhead moved to strike her right shoulder, instinct took over and she blocked his bokken and pushed against him to try to hit him back.
The two danced around the dojo, their bokkens blocking each strike that was meant for the other, neither of them willing to give up the fight and lose to the other. Kaoru's stamina was amazing, and Kenshin never expected her to have so much physical strength. He had always known her as the gentle violinist, and to be with her here—sparring with her and finding that she was a hard opponent to beat, was more than surprising for him. This was a whole other Kaoru, and he didn't know if anyone was aware that this side existed.
They took a short break to take a few sips of water. Kaoru hastily taking off the shirt that was now heavy with her sweat, before grabbing her bokken again with only her sports bra and a pair of training pants on. He took his shirt off as well, but neither of them cared about how they looked now—not when there was a huge challenge hanging over their heads and the silent question of who was better was still unanswered.
They were both fast, and their movements were both precise as they tried to find the other's weak points. It was while Kaoru was busy aiming for his head that Kenshin saw his opening, moving his bokken quickly to slash her right hip, but stopping right before it hit her skin.
"I win." He gasped out heavily.
She looked at him fiercely, glaring at his now amber eyes. Grunting, she dropped onto to the ground with her legs outstretched, leaning back with her arms and facing the ceiling. Still getting her breathing under control, she muttered, "Seems like it."
Kenshin walked over to his bag and grabbed a couple of water bottles and towels. His breathing still a bit labored as well because of the intense workout, he went back to where Kaoru was sitting and handed her a bottle of water and a towel. She accepted both with a quiet "thanks", but the wariness in her eyes remained as she watched him sit a few feet away from her.
It took them a few more minutes before their heartbeats were significantly slower than they were while they were sparring, silently sizing each other up and not quite knowing how to move forward from this.
"I didn't know you practiced kendo." Kenshin remarked.
Kaoru looked at him with guarded eyes. "Nobody knows."
"Why?"
Silence.
Curious, he raised a brow at her. "Why? You're obviously good at it." He remarked, watching her look away from his intense gaze and staring at the wall instead. "You know, sparring with someone can make you better. You won't get that if you don't tell people about what you do."
More silence.
He paused and took in her tense stance. The intensity of their practice still hung heavy in the air, and he knew his tone wasn't exactly being friendly right now. He took a deep breath to recalibrate, and came back lightly. "How long have you been doing this?"
Sighing, she finally looked at him again. "This?"
"Kendo. And, you know, sneaking around at ungodly hours of the night to train." Realizing something after hearing what he said, he asked. "Speaking of, how did you even manage to get a key to this place? There are less than ten people who have them, and I know them all. You can't be here without one of us around."
Kaoru grinned halfheartedly and answered him simply. "I nicked Soujirou's."
"Seta? The karate team's captain?"
"Who else?" she muttered. "I took it when Enishi and I hung out with him a year ago. It was pretty easy since he was piss ass drunk."
Another tense silence bathed the two of them before Kenshin decided to bring up the huge elephant in the room. "Kaoru?"
"Yeah?"
"Why are you keeping this a secret?"
"I have my reasons."
"Are you going to share them?"
True to form, she shut down again and he had to look up at her to see if she was still paying attention to him. Her head was bowed, but he knew that she was still listening—she was just choosing to not answer his question.
"Are you training for a competition?" he asked.
She shook her head.
"Then why—"
"Look, Kenshin, I have my reasons, okay?" she whispered harshly. "You can go tell everyone now if you want to. Hell, you can even tell the world. But I'm telling you now that I'm not someone you'd like to fuck with."
He got caught off-guard with her tone, and remembered what Megumi had said about the blue-eyed girl's anger earlier. Not wanting to push her over the edge, but also not knowing how to deal with her viciousness, he rolled the dice and grinned. "You're quite threatening, did you know that?"
She scoffed. "What is it that you want, Himura?"
He smiled. "Nothing. I guess I was just surprised when I saw you here. I won't tell anyone, don't worry; and I'll even let you keep the key you stole from Seta. Just don't murder anyone here, okay? It's my ass on the line."
Kaoru watched him go over to his bag again and start fixing his things. He put on the clean shirt he brought and re-tied his hair. Satisfied that everything was in place, he slung his bag over his shoulder and turned back to look at her still form.
"You're not going home yet?"
The violinist shook herself out of her stupor and started gathering all of her things into her own training bag, placed at the other end of the dojo. She moved with haste as she put on a fresh shirt and sweater before covering herself with her coat and scarf. It was then that Kenshin remembered that he didn't see another vehicle when he parked his car in front of the building.
"Where's your car?" he asked curiously.
She shrugged. "Back at Easton. I always leave it there when I come here. Parking a car in front of the sports building in the middle of the night isn't exactly subtle."
"So you walked here?" he said, his voice raising in surprise.
She looked up at him and nodded, not seeing what the problem was since she did this all the time.
Dumbfounded, he asked, "You do know there's a blizzard outside?"
"I can take care of myself, Kenshin." She replied calmly.
He scoffed, his control finally breaking as he snapped. "You have a fucked up way of 'taking care of yourself' if you're out walking in this weather. It's freezing out there!"
"I'm perfectly aware of that, thanks." She said with annoyance.
Kenshin took a deep breath in an effort to calm himself down. "I'm sorry. I overreacted. It was a long day."
"It's alright. I understand." She smiled, but the strain was still evident in her voice and in her eyes and he could tell that she did not know how to navigate this either.
"You're riding with me." He stated, still a little roughly. "You can say whatever you want, or you can not say anything, but you're getting in that car."
Kenshin could see her weighing her options. Honestly, he didn't know why this was even a discussion. But he told himself that she's going through something he can't even imagine so he needs to have a little patience.
Seeing that she wasn't moving, he walked over to her and slowly reached for her hand. "Come on, let's go."
The violinist sighed and squeezed his hand silently, and he took that as a sign of… well, something. So he started leading her out and into his car.
Once inside, he started the engine and waited for it to warm up.
"My father owned a dojo." She said quietly.
Controlling himself, he pretended to be busy with checking the dash. "Yeah?"
"Yeah. He took in students when I was younger. I used to help him around a lot, and he used to tell me I'd get my turn to be sensei one day." She turned to look at him, "I'm trying to remember the succession katas, but I can't. And I can't find anyone who does know it because it was a family style. So I'm making it up as I go."
He didn't know what to say—not without revealing that he knows what happened to her parents now.
"I told Megumi it was okay that she told you." She said suddenly.
Now that, made his head snap to face her, and his hands clenched the wheel.
Kaoru ran a hand down her face, and fixed her gaze on her lap as she continued, "My therapist told me to tell you, but I wasn't ready to do it yet." She sighed, "Megumi texted me that she told you over your lunch thing earlier though, and I figured it was all for the best. My shrink told me that maybe it's time to open up to people more, like Aoshi's been bugging me to do for so long now. But I didn't know how to do it… I'm sorry it got dumped on you and Sano like that."
"You're… sorry?"
Kaoru nodded. "I know it's heavy. Too heavy for some people. But you don't have to deal with it. I'm not asking you for anything. I should be mad at Megumi, but honestly I'm just relieved it's out in the open now. No matter how this plays out, at least I'm taking a chance at letting more people in." Slowly, she looked into his purple eyes. "I want you around. I want Sano around. I know we haven't known each other very long, but I trust you."
He held his breath as he watched her hastily wipe away a tear that rolled down her cheek.
"I'm shit scared, Kenshin, but I trust you."
He must have been a saint in his past life for him to deserve what she said. His heart was pounding in his chest and he felt like he was outside of his body, watching as his hand came up to wipe the rest of her tears away—which were now flowing down freely no matter how hard she tried to stop it.
He knew that what she said was huge for her, and he could see how much it took for her to say those words. They didn't have a lot of serious conversations or interactions over the last couple of months, mostly because she had been so evasive. Having it all come down in one day was a lot, but he didn't feel burdened by everything he was made aware of.
Slowly, he pulled her in closer, not caring about the awkward way that they had to twist in order to hold each other. He let her cry into his gym shirt, holding her tighter and letting her know that he was here for her.
In a weird way, it was a heartwarming twist of events.
She eventually calmed down and gave him a tight squeeze before letting go of the embrace. Chuckling as she leaned back, she said, "My shrink wasn't kidding about the burst of emotions."
"It's alright," he reassured her. Kaoru's cheeks were flushed and her nose shone bright red, her eyes now fraught with exhaustion.
Nodding, she gave him a relieved smile. "Thanks, Red."
"Back to 'Red' already?"
Kaoru chuckled. "Have to go back to it sometime. I bit the bullet and got it over with. We can move on now."
'Move on to what?' he mused silently as he pulled out of the parking lot and drove them home.
Author's Note 2023: So I realized that I basically rewrote the whole chapter. A lot of it made me cringe and the holes in the story were so huge I could walk through them. I kept maybe 20% of what was originally written. Hope this one's better!