Chapter 20
Long Nights
"Aoshi," I say. "I'm coming home late today, so don't stay up for me, okay?"
"Why?" he demanded over the phone.
"Because I'm going to help Kenshin with his work."
"Ooooooooooooooh…are you sure you guys aren't going to do anything apart from work?" he teased.
"MOU! AOSHI!"
"Okay, okay! Just playing! Don't come home too late, okay? And please, do take care."
"I will, Aoshi. Tell Sou-chan and Akira I said hi." I flipped my phone shut and headed back into Kenshin's office, shutting the door softly behind me.
"Boo!" I say into his ear, as I crept up behind him while he stood, flipping through a thick folder.
"Oro?"
"Right, so what do I do?" I ask, as he turned around and flashed me a grin.
"For starters, you can look through this whole stack of files and jot down all the figures and also the year, which are highlighted in yellow. Would that be all right for you?" he asks, leading me to one of the couches.
"Yup," I say, nodding my head, as I settled down on the couch and picked up a file. "No problem."
Meanwhile…
"I'll get that!" yelled Soujiro, jumping over the coffee table in his rush to reach the door.
"WATCH OUT!" yelled Akira and Aoshi in unison, as Soujiro came close to knocking over a crystal vase, but at the very last moment he twisted to avoid sweeping it onto the floor.
"Got it!" yelled Soujiro triumphantly, throwing open the door. "Hey Sano, hey Yahiko. Come on in!" he says, beckoning to them.
"Hey!" says Akira, clearing the coffee table, which was littered with papers.
"Are we disturbing you?" asks Sano, frowning a little. "Because if we are, we can always come another time."
"No, no. It's all right," says Aoshi, brushing their comment off easily. "It's not important."
"Are you sure?" asks Yahiko with a doubtful face after taking a look at the mess of papers spread out everywhere.
"YES!" chorused Soujiro and Akira.
"Okay!" says Yahiko, raising his hands in front of him. "Just checking! Don't need to shout! You're all acting like that busu. Where is she anyways?"
Soujiro looked at Akira, who looked at Aoshi. Aoshi just shrugged, replying casually saying, "I don't know, I think she said something about spending the night with Kenshin."
"WHAT?" Soujiro jumped up into a kneeling position as Akira raised an eyebrow.
Silence took over this group of five guys as they digested what Aoshi had just said. Soujiro looked horrified, staring at the ceiling, Akira stared at Aoshi to see if he was lying, Yahiko and Sano stared at each other just looking dumb.
"Drinks, anyone?" Aoshi said cheerfully.
More silence.
"ah, she's a big girl, don't worry so much. So drinks anyone?"
"Anything will do," says Soujiro with a forced smile. "Thanks."
"Same here" Sano pitched in.
As Aoshi went off to get the drinks, both Sano and Yahiko sat themselves down on the carpet around the coffee table, forming a little circle, still starring at each other.
"So, what brings along this unexpected visit?" Akira tried to break the silence.
"Oh, we came to see how you guys were doing," Sano said.
"And?" Akira prodded.
"And…what?" asks Sano, looking at Akira innocently.
"Don't look at me like that, Sano. I know you're up to something," says Akira, wagging a finger at him.
"Akira! Why must you always think that I'm up to something? I went out of my way to see how you guys were doing and you accuse me of being up to something? I'm hurt," he says, pouting while Yahiko rolled his eyes.
"Right. I'm sure you're only planning to do just that," says Akira, laughing.
"So where is Kaoru, really?" Sano asked, as if he didn't believe Aoshi.
"HAH! See? I knew it! I knew you weren't here to visit us! You're here to look for Kaoru!" exclaims Akira.
"She really isn't home, and really is with Kenshin." Aoshi said when he walked in with a plate of drinks.
"Kenshin? You were serious?" asks Sano.
"Himura Kenshin, the boss of my company?" Yahiko said in surprise.
"Yeah. Didn't you hear? They're together now!" Soujiro said all too cheerfully.
"Together?" repeated Sano, his face dropping a little.
"When did it happen?" asks Yahiko, eyeing his friend out of the corners of his eyes.
"At the dinner that you hosted!" says Soujiro. "Unexpected, huh? Didn't Kao-chan tell you about it?"
"No…she didn't mention anything about it to me," says Sano, absently.
"well, then, aren't moving along fast?" Akira tired to lighten the mood, yet it came out wrong, so wrong.
Aoshi took one look at Sano's forlorn figure and shook his head slightly, then turned on his heel and headed back towards the kitchen. He opened the refrigerator and swapped the cans of cola that he had taken earlier for beer instead. Somehow, he had a feeling that Sano was going to need it tonight.
After a few hours of looking at figures after figures, my eyelids seemed to be getting heavier and heavier by the second. I rubbed my eyes to try to stay awake and took a few sips of my already cold cup of coffee, which did absolutely nothing to help matters. Kenshin sat next to me on the couch, busy scrawling down figures and punching numbers into the calculator. Unable to bear the drowsiness any longer, I closed my eyes and laid my head gently on Kenshin's shoulder, and drifted off to sleep.
Kenshin felt a light weight being pressed upon his shoulder and turned his head sideways to see what had caused it. He quickly glanced at his watch and mentally kicked himself when he saw how late he had kept her up into the night, completing his work for him. As he looked down at her sleeping figure, he was filled with a sense of protectiveness and tenderness. A feeling that he thought had long vanished from his heart. Carefully, so as not to wake her, he laid her down on the couch. He held his breath when he felt her stir a little, then let it out, when he felt her relax again. He grabbed his jacket, which was slung over the arm of the couch and covered her with it, so that she would not feel cold. Feeling satisfied with what he had done, he bent over her and kissed her gently on the forehead.
"Good night, Kaori-dono. Sweet dreams," he whispered.
I woke up and groaned as I felt a little kink at the back of my neck. As I moved my neck sideways cautiously, I caught sight of Kenshin, sleeping peacefully, with his head on top of the coffee table. I couldn't help but smile at how adorable he looked. Sitting up, I took his jacket off me and wrapped it around his shoulders. Then, I reached down to tuck his fire read hair behind his ear. Just as I pulled my hand back, his eyes fluttered open and he blinked a few times at me.
"Oops," I say, giggling a little. "I didn't mean to wake you up. Good morning anyway."
"Morning," he says, reaching for my hand, and holding it tightly in his.
"What time is it?" I ask.
"About…" he trailed off, checking his watch. "8.15."
"Aoshi must still be asleep," I murmured to myself. "Kenshin, can you please send me home?" I ask, smiling down at him.
"Sure thing," he says, returning my smile, then getting up and tugging me by my hand.
I slipped the key into the lock and pushed open the door as quietly as I could so as not to wake the entire household.
"Tae-san!" I say, giving a little start as my hand automatically came up to cover my heart. "You gave me a fright! What are you doing, standing behind the door anyway?"
"I heard the key, dear. And please lower your voice. The boys are still sleeping," she says, putting a finger to her lips. "And how come you're only coming home at this hour?"
"Umm…that would be my fault," says Kenshin, poking his head in.
Tae's face immediately turned red as she thought she just interrupted a private matter. Seeing so, Kenshin rushed to explain.
"I made her do some work for me and I guess I didn't know how time flew. She fell asleep on the couch, and I didn't feel like waking her up…so…I let her sleep. I'm sorry," he says, rubbing the back of his head and looking down at his shoes.
"It's all right," says the Tae, smiling up at him. "Come in and wash your face. I'll send some clothes up for you to change after you've taken your shower."
"Oh, no, that's really not necessary. Honestly," says Kenshin.
"I insist. Treat it as a token of appreciation from me for taking care of Kaoru-chan and bringing her home. And you will, of course, be having breakfast with us."
"Yeah," I say, grinning. "Come on, Kenshin."
He looked, first at me, then at the Tae, blushing a little, he said, "All right then. Thanks."
As we walked past the living room I caught sight of five huge lumps, all lying sprawled out on the living room carpet, beer cans littered all over the place. "Tae-san," I say, frowning a little. "Who stayed for the night?"
"Oh, that would be Sano and Yahiko. They drank quite a lot yesterday night and I guess they all passed out on the floor."
Shaking my head a little, I made my way over to the linen closet in one of the guest rooms and pulled out five thick blankets, as tae-san led Kenshin to one of the bathrooms. Walking back to where they lay, I covered each and every one of them with a blanket, making sure it covered them from head to toe.
As I bent over Sano, I noticed that he had dried streaks of tears running down his face. I bit the insides of my cheek, feeling awful, knowing that he had probably come over to talk to me about what was bothering him, only to find out that I wasn't home. Pulling the blanket around him tightly, I quickly wet a tissue and wiped his face gently with it. When I was done, I ruffled his hair slightly and smiled to myself. I stood up, took one last glance at the five of them, then headed back to my room to wash my face and to take me shower…not realizing that Sano had already woken up and was staring at my retreating back in silence.
Sano sat alone in the living room quietly, staring off into space. Everyone had already woken up and had gone to take their showers. The Kamiya's place was so huge that they had more than enough toilets for every one of them. He, however, had decided to stay put. Just then, out of the corners of his eyes, he saw a shadow flit past.
"Kenshin," he called out.
"Hey," says Kenshin, coming to sit down next to him. "I didn't mean to disturb your…musings."
"Nah, don't worry about it. Anyway, congratulations! I heard the good news about you and Kenshin getting together," he says, smiling warmly at Kenshin.
"Oh, thanks," says Kenshin, returning the smile. "Ummm…no hard feelings or anything right? I mean…you…you know…" he trailed off.
"No hard feelings, Kenshin. No hard feelings," replies Sano after a slight hesitation. There was an awkward silence before he spoke up again. "You sure changed a lot, Kenshin."
"Hmmm? How so?" Kenshin asked, turning in his seat to face him.
"Back in high school, you were such a jerk. A big, fat, meanie is what Kaoru-chan always called you. And now, look at you…totally transformed. Successful, rich and famous. You were always blessed with good looks, so it doesn't really count. But what stands out the most is that you've undergone a whole personality makeover from the last time I saw you. Not that I'm complaining or anything, mind you."
Kenshin gave a little chuckle. "I guess I do have to thank a special someone for it."
"About last night…" Sano trailed off.
"Oh, sorry, I heard you came here to look for Kaoru-dono, but I had to borrow her for the evening to help out with work but we ended up working too late and she fell asleep in the office."
"Eh? So nothing happened between you and her?"
"… oro?"
Sano breathed out wit relief, at least Kenshin wasn't taking advantages.
"Which reminds me…there are a few certain things that you have to know about Kaoru. First," says Sano, holding up a finger as if giving a lecture. "When someone has said something hurtful to her or when she has a fight with someone, she cries wither it's out crying, or just inside. Although she'll never show it to anyone, it's pretty obvious after a while. Second, she cares more about other people than herself. She can't bear to see other people in pain and she would try to do everything in her power to make that person happy again. Third, she loves anything to do with strawberries. From smoothies, to ice-cream, to lollipops…to whatever you can think of which has strawberries in it. Got all that, Kenshin?"
"Yeah…but I still don't get one thing. Why are you telling me all this?" asks Kenshin.
"Because she's your girlfriend now," says Sano, matter-of-factly.
"Thanks, Sano," he says, after a pause. "I really appreciate it."
"Anytime, Kenshin. Anytime. Just promise me one thing, okay?"
"Sure. What is it?"
"Treat her well and don't hurt her in anyway. You can do that, right?"
"Yeah, I will," says Kenshin sincerely. "Don't worry."
"It's important that you keep this promise, Kenshin…because you're her first."
Next Chappie: Kenshin hasa daughter? Tomoe's lucky news.