Chapter 14:
Rekindling

Kenshin's POV:

I look into her eyes seeing if she would accept this agreement. She didn't seem to move at all; what if she didn't accept me? my hands started to sweat as I hesitanly whispered, "Kaoru?"

Kaoru's POV:

I looked into his eyes, they're so beautiful. The eyes that every girl had wanted to attention from in highschool was now on me, looking into my own. I was so lost in his eyes alone that I forgot he was asking me a question. As soon as I heard my name, I snapped out of my day dream. Mou! What am I thinking? Breaking into a smile I held my hand out and said in a cheerful voice, "Hi, My name is Kamiya Kaoru. What's yours?"

The wall of ice finally melted.

"Good morning," says a girl with a name badge, smiling at us, as we entered the little boutique. "Can I help you with anything?"

"Actually, there is. We will be attending a dinner tonight and we need to look good. Could you please help me to choose a suit and a dress for the lady here?"

"No, wait," I said, putting my arm out to stop the girl. "You can help him choose a suit. I'll just look around for a dress myself."

I wandered off to the numerous racks of dresses while Kenshin settled down comfortably on one of the suede couches while the girl went around the shop gathering clothes for him. As I fingered all the lovely evening wear, one particular dress in the back stood out, demanding my attention. I parted all the other dresses so that I could get a better look at it and gasped softly at what I saw. It was an inky purple dress, with a low back and glittering straps. I fingered the smooth fabric lovingly, and then turned over the price tag.

My eyes widened in shock as I counted the numbers with my fingers. Oh my God. Although I was rich and could afford to buy anything my heart desired, I was careful about money. I didn't go around spending it on things that I didn't need. Why? Because we didn't get the money by simply resting on our laurels. Sure, our father had left most of his possessions to the both of us in his will, which amounted to a very large sum in money and assets, but we never took any of it for granted. Not even once. Aoshi worked awfully hard, managing the whole corporation with the help of Akira, and now, Soujiro, just to ensure that I was living comfortably.

Abruptly, I turned my back on the dress and made my way over to where Kenshin sat.

"Himura," I say in hushed tones, leaning in closer towards him. "Do you actually KNOW how much the outfits in here cost?"

He turned to look at me, frowning a little. "I'd have to say…about a thousand plus?"

"Not even close. There's this dress which costs about four thousand! Four whole thousand! Just for a dress! Who would be crazy enough to buy something that expensive?"

"Oh? Which dress is it?" he asks, suddenly interested.

"That one in th—" I stopped suddenly, and slanted my eyes at him. "Why do you want to know?"

"Umm…curious? I've never come across a four thousand dollar dress before, you know," he says, grinning at me.

"Right, Himura-san. Nice try. You nearly got me there," I say pinching him on the arm.

Frankly, I'm glad that I took the chance to start over with him. He is much more open now compared to when I first met him, and definitely less, less cold. In fact, he seemed to smile more often too…or maybe that was just me.

"How's this?" he asks, coming out of the dressing room and coming to stand in front of me.

I lifted my chin from my hands and looked up at him with a bored expression. "Himura," I whined, "You've tried on more than a hundred pairs of suits. Can't you just randomly pick one?"

"Of course not! We have to look our best tonight, Kaoru-dono. First impression is everything."

"I know, but still! Don't you think that trying on so many suits is overdoing it a little? Besides, they all look the same to me, so it doesn't really matter which one you pick. And hurry up while you're at it, okay? It's illegal to bore a person to death."

"If you're feeling bored, it means you're a boring person."

My jaw dropped open in disbelief. "Mou! You try sitting here and watch me change into a hundred different dresses. Then you can talk."

"Okay!" he replied, coming to sit down next to me. "Go ahead and pick your dress!"

I shot him a weird look. "What are you up to now?"

"Nothing! Honestly, woman. Why do you always see an ulterior motive in all my gestures?"

"Because you're always up to no good! Now, stop wasting my time and pick out a suit!" I say, pushing him away.

"Excuse me, I'd like to buy these," says Kenshin, handing over his items to the girl. As he waited while she rang up all his purchases, he stole a glance at Kaoru. He felt more at ease now, knowing that she didn't harbor any kind of hate towards him. And though he wouldn't admit it to anyone else, he was glad that he had finally managed to work up the courage to ask whether they could start over. Spending two weeks alone with her while they were on good terms suddenly seemed like the most perfect thing that could ever happen.

Smiling to himself, he let his eyes roam over the little boutique. As though being pulled by a magnetic force of some kind, his eyes sought out the purple dress that he had caught Kaoru staring at during intervals when she thought he wasn't looking. The four thousand dollar dress.

Suddenly, he felt like getting her a gift. Something that she wouldn't be expecting at all. Something that would make her face light up with happiness. Without hesitating, he leaned over the counter to speak to the girl.

"If it isn't too much trouble, could you please wrap that dress up for me? And matching shoes to go with it?"

"Himura-san, wake up!" I say, jostling his arm frantically.

"What is it?" he asks, rubbing his eyes and raising himself to rest on his elbows.

"It's almost 5 o'clock and I still haven't got a dress for the dinner! This is all your fault, you know,' I say, nudging him in the sides when I saw that his eyes was beginning to close again.

"MY fault? You were the one who overslept!"

"True, but if you hadn't insisted on coming back to the hotel to get some shuteye, none of this would have happened! Stop trying to go back to sleep! We have a crisis at hand here!"

He gave a sigh and plopped back down onto his bed. "Tell you what…go back to your room, take a shower and after that, apply your make up. As for your dress, I'll think of something, okay?"

"You're not going to dress me up in curtains or anything like that, are you?" I ask, looking at him suspiciously.

"What? You don't like it?" he asks, deadpan.

"Himura!"

"Okay! Okay! So, using the curtains is definitely not an option. What about the cleaner's uniform? Maybe we could pass it off as the latest fashion created by some eccentric designer." I whacked him on his forehead while he laughed.

"Look, don't worry about the dress. I'll come up with something. Just go and get ready, alright?"

The moment she closed the door to her bathroom, he leapt out of bed and rummaged through the carrier bags for the dress and the shoes that he had bought earlier. Finding the right box, he carried it across to her room, careful not to make any noise.

'It was a good thing I opted for adjoining rooms', he thought wryly, then chuckled softly as he thought of her request that they leave the doors open at all times unless either one of them was changing because she was scared of living in such a huge room all by herself.

He surveyed the room for a while, then finally decided to leave the box on top of her bedcovers, and the shoes, at the foot of the bed. He stood back and gazed at it one last time before walking back to his own room to get himself ready for the dinner.

I shuffled out of the bathroom, toweling my hair. Now, for the tricky part…to dry my hair and style it. As I headed over to the dresser, I stopped short. A pair of glittery dark purple heels stood proudly at the foot of my bed while a rectangular white box sat on top of my bedcovers. I turned the box over and over again in my hands. The logo engraved at the right hand corner of the box looked awfully familiar. Hesitating a little, I lifted the lid of the box and peered inside, gasping audibly at what I saw.

I ran over to Kenshin's room and was about to knock on his bathroom door when it opened, revealing a topless Kenshin.

"Aack!" I say, turning my back on him, my cheeks flaming hot.

"There's nothing to be embarrassed about, Kaoru-dono. I'm wearing pants. Plus, guys walk around without wearing a shirt all the time. It's pretty normal," he says, chuckling as he buttoned up a white dress shirt.

"It's not normal! It's indecent exposure!" I exclaimed.

"Right," he says, rolling his eyes in a comical manner. "Anyway, is there something that you wanted to see me about?"

"Yeah!" I say, whirling around to meet his gaze. "Why'd you buy the dress?"

"Why shouldn't I?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Himura!" I say, putting my hands on my hips.

"Must you ask?"

"Yes! I have a right to know!"

"Well…I noticed how you kept stealing glances at the dress, so I bought it for you."

"You bought it just because I kept looking at it?" I asked incredulously.

"No! I bought it for you because I wanted to. I really did. I thought you would be happy," he said, looking down at his shoes.

I bit the insides of my cheek and mentally kicked myself when I saw a flicker of sadness cross his features. I walked over to where he stood and gave him a warm hug. "I am happy, Himura. Thanks."

"Kaoru-dono?"

"Yes?"

"Just Kenshin, please, and don't bother with the horrific."

"Very well, then please, just Kaoru." I said and turned around backing into my room.

Minutes later, I heard Kenshin's impatient voice, "Are you going to come out on your own, or do I have to go in there and drag you out?"

"Wait!" I hollered back. "I'm not done yet!"

"But you've been in there for almost twenty minutes. You don't need twenty minutes just to slip on a dress! I'm coming in!"

"If I come out, you have to promise not to laugh, okay?" I ask, poking my head around the door.

"Okay! Okay!"

I bit my bottom lip and stepped out from behind the door. The dress fit snugly, accentuating my curves to perfection, and stopping just above my ankles, which fed to my high-heeled strappy sequined sandals. My dark, brown hair had been pinned up into a bun, with little strands falling out, framing my face and only a smidgen of make-up had been applied onto my face.

"So?" I ask, twisting my fingers.

"…you… look… great." He managed to choke out.

I slipped my arm around the elbow that Kenshin offered as we swept down the stairs that led to the hall where the cocktail party was being held.

"There's so many people here!" I whispered to him through my smile.

"Just take things slowly. There's nothing to be afraid of," he whispered back, giving my arm an encouraging squeeze.

"Easy for you to say," I mumbled.

I gladly accepted the glass of champagne that a passing waiter offered to me and took a few generous sips to calm my nerves. The entire place was filled with men in expensive suits and women in beautiful dresses, all standing and chatting animatedly.

"Kenshin Himura," says a middle-aged man heartily, shaking Kenshin's hand. "Glad you could make it. And who's the lovely lady here?" he asks, giving me a warm smile.

"Mr. Ryan, I wouldn't miss this dinner for anything. This is Kamiya Kaoru. She will be in charge of the project to help market the new products," replies Kenshin.

"Hello, Miss Kamiya. It's a pleasure to meet you."

"Likewise, Mr. Ryan," I say, returning his smile.

Just then, the heavy double doors that led to the dining room opened and Mr. Ryan turned to face us. "Well, shall we proceed?"

He led us over to one of the tables situated at the front, made sure that we were comfortable, then left to see to his other guests.

"He's really nice," I commented to Kenshin.

"Yes, he is," he replied, agreeing with me.

"Where is h—" I began.

"Kenshin Himura."

I turned around in my seat to see who had interrupted me. A tall, thin guy, with blond hair, holding a glass filled with red wine stood behind my chair, grinning widely at Kenshin.

"Kogo Katsura!" says Kenshin, standing up and smiling warmly at the other guy, his whole face filled with happiness. "What are you doing here?"

"Attending a dinner. Just like you," he replies, lifting his glass, then taking a sip from it.

Slowly, but uncertainly, I stood up too. "Oh, Katsura-san, this is Kamiya Kaoru. Kaoru," he says, turning to face me, "meet Katsura."

I grasped his extended hand and shook it warmly. "Nice to meet you, Kogo Katsura-san."

"Aaack!" he says, wagging a finger at me. "Katsura. No 'san' please."

I giggled a little but immediately covered it up with a cough. "Right, Katsura."

"And how would you like me to address you?" he asks with a twinkle in his eyes.

"Kaoru," I replied.

"Hmm…Kaoru…Kamiya Kaoru …that name sounds awfully familiar…" he trailed off, thinking hard.

"That's it!" he exclaimed suddenly, snapping his fingers. "Kamiya Kaoru! You're the girl that Kens—"

"Katsura, why don't you take a seat?" cut in Kenshin, a little loudly.

I looked at the both of them curiously, first at Katsura, then at Kenshin. I could tell that they were hiding something from me. "What is it that you're not telling me?"

"It's a guy thing," answered Katsura, as he took a seat next to me.

"A guy thing?" I ask incredulously.

"What's so surprising about that? If girls can have girl things, then why can't guys have guy things?" he asked with annoying male logic.

At his words, I shook my head and laughed. "You are just so adorable."

"Come on, let's dance," says Katsura, pulling me to my feet after the waiters had cleared the tables.

"You guys go ahead," I say, pulling my hand out of his grasp. "I can't dance."

"Liar! You were dancing pretty well with Sano the other day," says Kenshin accusingly.

"That was different!"

"How is it different?" Katsura cut in with an eyebrow raised.

"He was teaching me how to dance!"

"Right," they said at the same time, rolling their eyes.

"Honest!"

As though on cue, the emcee's voice boomed throughout the entire hall. "Ladies and gentlemen, please proceed on to the dance floor. Anyone caught not dancing will have to sing all of us a song!"
My jaw dropped open in disbelief as both Kenshin and Katsura looked at me with wide grins. What kind of an emcee is he? I fumed.

"May I?" asks Kenshin, his eyes twinkling as he extended his hand towards me.

I pushed my hair out of my face and placed my hand in his as he led me to the dance floor.

Katsura stood in a corner, sipping his wine and observed the both of them dancing together. He noticed the happy glow on his best mate's face. It had been such a long, long time since he last saw Kenshin so happy and at ease with himself. A smile spread across his face. A lot of people had always assumed that Kenshin was a cold person, earning him very few friends. But he knew better. Deep inside, he was insecure, just like everyone else. Past experiences had turned him into a bitter person. But all that was going to change now, he thought, as he shifted his gaze to look at Kaoru, the girl who Kenshin had been hopelessly in love with for the past four years.

Over the next few days, we existed on a diet of late nights and coffees. Every morning, we had to wake up early to attend meetings with Mr. Ryan's team to discuss about things. Our schedule was hectic. We barely had time to eat, but somehow, we had managed to cram in a few hours of sightseeing.

We had built on the fragile trust we'd begun by sharing our thoughts, opening ourselves to each other, and exposing vulnerabilities, guardedly testing the limits of our delicate new bond. Although I was surprised at the sudden change in him, I couldn't say I wasn't pleased. He was much more easy to be with and definitely much nicer.

His smile and the twinkle in his eyes came more readily now. His laugh was awfully contagious and his presence always brought a smile to my face. I appreciated all the little things that he did, like waking up early to pick up all my wake up calls so that I didn't have to wake up so early, going out in the middle of the night just to buy me food because he knew I was hungry, and making sure that I was asleep before him. And in these two weeks, bit by bit, I fell for him.

The past two weeks had to be one the best times of his life. Although they were constantly laden with work, it gave them a chance to get to know each other better. While working, they often talked to pass the time and it was through this, that he got to know the many facets of her life, and her, his. He regretted deeply for not taking this step earlier. After spending so much time together with her and seeing what she really was inside, the feelings he had for her for the past four years came stampeding back with twice the force. He was powerless to do anything to stop it from happening and neither could he deny the truth any longer. He had fallen for her again, and fallen hard.

"Kenshin!" I say, skipping into his room, feeling refreshed after my hot shower.

"I'm in the shower! Just take a seat first, alright?" came his muffled voice.

"Oh, okay! Take your time! There's no rush!" I say, making myself comfortable on one of the plushy chairs.

I picked up a magazine on the coffee table nearby and flipped through it absently. Feeling bored, I put it back down and sighed, looking around his room. With a start, I sat up straight. I never really noticed how neat his room always is. Sure, it was cleaned daily by the housekeeping team, but still, I've never seen any of his things out of place before. His clothes was always hung up in the cupboards provided, magazines, newspapers and files always stacked neatly on the coffee table, shoes placed in one corner of the room, and the sorts. Compare to his, my room looks as though it has been hit by a tornado.

"Kenshin, you're such a neat freak," I say to him as he came out, toweling his hair.

"Oro?" that simple word made butterflies in my stomach.

"It's true! Everything in your room is so…proper! Look at my room. It's more natural, more comfortable!" I say, standing up and deliberately messing up his neatly stacked magazines.

"I like to be clean," he says, raising an eyebrow at my actions.

"Are you trying to imply something?" I ask grabbing the nearest stick, holding it like a bokkon and glared at him.

"Oro! No! Not at all," he replies, looking at me innocently, his eyes twinkling. "So, what did you want to see me about?"

"Must it always be something? You're beginning to sound like my brother!"

"Well, what else am I supposed to say?"

"Hmmm…good question. I don't know either," I say, giggling a little.

"So…what do you want to do, seeing as this is our last day here in New York?"

"Sightseeing is out of the question as it's probably too dark out to see anything at all. Shopping is not an option either as I'm sure all the shops are closed by now. Ummm…why don't we just sit down and talk, or something?" I ask.

I look up and meet his eyes, and a tingle travels down my spine at his intense gaze. Slowly he walks towards me, until he's standing just in front of me. I can smell the scent of his aftershave, and hear the crisp cotton rustle of his shirt as he moves.

"We could just talk, or something," he echoes, and slowly lifts his hands until they cup my face. "We could just talk…or something else, I'll go with the second one."

As he leaned in closer, I pulled back from him, my eyes wide. "W--we shouldn't be doing this, Kenshin."

Kenshin bit his lip and looked down at his shoes. He knew he shouldn't be doing this. He tried hard to remind himself of who he was and what he was doing, but it was useless. His heart was calling all the shots now.

"Just once," he whispered, reaching out for me. "Just once."

And then he kisses me.

His mouth was on hers, gently parting her lips as his hands encircled her small waist, pulling her tightly to him. She was so small, and her curves fit so perfectly in his arms, emphasizing his masculinity. For both of them, it's like tasting a piece of heaven.

The careful brush of his mouth caught me off guard. Surprisingly, there was nothing lustful about his caress. Instead, it was a mingling of quiet breath, a tentative exploration. I tasted uncertainty, a mute questioning, as if all his defenses were down and he were lying bare a vulnerable and lonely soul. I let myself give in to my own temptation. I feel his breath on my lips as he tries to break between my lips, as if on command my lips parted giving him access. Instantly I felt his tongue intrude into my mouth, inviting me to join him. before long I found my own reaction as our tongue danced to the tango rhythm. My knees melted as I fell back onto his bed, he followed my suit as I rolled on top of him, devouring his taste, melting into his embrace.

Just then, I snapped back to my senses and broke away, placing both my hands on his chest to push him back.

"You know, Kenshin, we should forget about whatever just happened. There…there was probably some kind of…attraction between the both of us during that split second due to…due to the stress that we had undergone for the past few days. Yes…that must be it. Stress," I say, focusing on the buttons of his shirt.

"Is that what you think?" he asks, his voice awfully quiet.

"I don't know. I don't know, okay? I don't know what to think anymore!" I say, rubbing my face.

"Hey," he says, grasping my chin lightly and bringing it up until I had nowhere else to look but into his eyes. "I know this is probably not the right time to say this, and that you probably don't even want to hear this right now, but I need to tell you about it. I need to get it out into the open." He took a deep breath. "I love you."

I froze at his words. "What?"

"I love you. All right? I love you," he says, now grasping both my shoulders firmly and shaking me lightly.

When I didn't speak, he continued. "Ever since that day I gave you that punch to the jaw, I felt an instant attraction for you. Sounds weird, but that's exactly what happened. I guess over time I just loved you from a distance, admiring your own inner strength. How you were yourself and not like the rest of the school trying to fit in and acting like an idiot. You had self respect and respected others and even a warm heart, to everyone. I love you, I can't describe my mind any more than that but all I know is my heart yearns for you and no one else."

Silence enfolded us as my brain worked overtime, trying to interpret what Kenshin was saying.

"I want us to have something more than just friendship. I can give you all the love and laughter you can handle, but there are other things that I can also give you. I'll listen if you want to talk, I'll be your wall if you just want to lean on me…whatever you want, whatever you need, I'll always be here for you," he said, looking deeply into my eyes so that I wouldn't miss the seriousness of his point.

I looked down at my feet and squeezed my eyes shut, tightly. Reopening them, I braced myself to look straight into his eyes. "Kenshin, I don--"

"Look, before you come to any decision, just…just think about it, okay? Please?" he asks, pleading with his eyes. "You can take all the time you want to make up your mind. I won't pressure you or rush you or anything like that. I promise. But please, please think about it."

I bit my bottom lip, and then slowly, I nodded my head.

"All right. I'll think about it," I say softly.

As I trudged back towards my room, deep in thought, what Kenshin said next made me stop short in my tracks.

"If I had one wish, Kaoru, I would wish for me not to have fallen in love with you, so that I wouldn't have to go through so much pain and torture every day. You don't know this, but I die a little bit each time I see you smile at another guy, your whole being radiating with happiness…knowing that you would never smile at me like that, knowing that you'd probably never be mine."

Next Chapter: sigh, Paradise is over now returning back to Japan, will Kenshin say this nice or will is return to ice boy and go back to Tomoe? Will Kaoru accept his proposition?

A/N: Sorry if some things don't make sense, i was doing this chapter after getting my wisdom teeth pull and am a lil out of it. and also sorry for the such long of a delay