Disclaimer- Yeah...don't own Kenshin...if I did I wouldn't feel the need to write all of this absurd fanfiction, even though I do love this said absurd fanfiction.
A/n- I am SO sorry this died...because it's been over a year since I posted on it. I had this on my hard drive for a while...I just completely forgot about it. And I had a lot of Part Four done...but yeah, that got lost a while ago. Can't get it back. However I just sent Part Three to my beta.
Once again thanks to Janey-in-a-bottle for editing it, she does an amazing job with my huge chapter length.
--
Part Two
Kaoru woke up the next morning perfectly sleepy; hoping the whole incident in the club had been a bad dream. She yawned and stretched and finally opened her blue eyes and looked around the room to find a pair of amber eyes still watching over her. She squeaked, and thought, 'So much for that being a dream. DAMN! Why do I always get woken up in the worst ways possible?'
"What the hell are you doing in here?!"
"Watching you sleep." He had a mischievous look in his eyes and Kaoru knew he was up to no good. "You look absolutely adorable. And you made these cute little purring sounds whenever I petted you-"
"YOU WHAT?!"
"I petted you. Nothing to get upset about."
"Yes it is! You fucking pervert!"
"No I'm not! I didn't touch you there! Only on your head and cheek." He said, his arms raised in defense, but quickly got the mischievous sparkle back in his eyes, "Besides, it's no fun if you aren't awake."
"GET OUT!"
"I wasn't doing anythi-"
"KENSHIN HIMURA!!! Get the fuck out of my room!"
"Kaoru," he said his voice rough with arousal, "has anyone ever told you how enticing you look when you are angry?"
'That was your last straw asshole…' Kaoru thought as she sprung out of bed dodging his grabbing hands and grabbed her bokken on which conveniently sat on her desk. "I'm warning you Kenshin…" she growled, having completely lost her temper. As he took a step towards her, she gladly hit him over the head and tried to hit him on the ribs, but he caught the bokken and snatched it out of her fingers. His eyes were fiery amber as he advanced on her like she was prey. He took in her every move, backing her into a corner. He pushed up against her, her back to the wall and gave her a gentle kiss on her lips. He gently stroked her cheek while he buried his face into her neck and breathed in her clean jasmine scent. His hand dropped to her neck, once again tracing faint patterns on her skin, and that's when her legs began to turn to jelly and she felt herself give in to his touches.
"Kaoru," Megumi called, "What on earth is going on in here?!" Kaoru thanked Kami for her luck and scampered away from the slightly distracted Kenshin as her door slammed open. Kaoru now sat on her bed and Kenshin stood in the corner smirking.
"Kenshin, I didn't know you were still here." Megumi remarked as she looked at Kaoru whose face was flushed. Megumi looked at her carefully and felt her forehead. "But I really must ask you to leave, if you are going to disturb Kaoru. She wasn't feeling well last night."
"Yes, Megumi, make him leave, I'm getting another headache."
Kenshin chuckled at her comment and sent a scorching look at Kaoru but left with saying, "Of course, Megumi. I'm sorry to have disturbed everyone, I'll see you soon."
"Now get some rest Kaoru, and I'll bring you up some food later," Megumi told her and left the room.
When the door closed, Kaoru immediately looked at her wrists and then sprang out of bed to look in the mirror at her neck to see if he had marked her, and was thankful when she found nothing.
Kaoru had sat back down on her bed when she heard the tree rustle from outside and she looked through her window to see Kenshin sitting on a branch with a smirk on his face. "You know, kitten," he told her, "marking you when you were asleep would take all the fun out of it. We wouldn't want to do that now would we?" She flipped him off before slamming the window shut, pulling the curtains closed on both windows and spent the day muttering about stupid psychotic vampires with stalkerish tendencies.
--
The next week was filled with sales in the costume shop and working non-stop. Kenshin showed an up a few times but the shop had been busy and Kaoru ignored him. Kaoru knew that this wasn't the end of it, Kenshin was way too stubborn to just give up. But she would do what she could to ignore him for now. By the end of that week Misao was bursting with impatience for Kaoru to talk to her and let her know what was happening.
Finally on Saturday Misao and Kaoru went to their favorite café got a table and coffee and began to talk. After telling Misao everything, Kaoru was blushing and trying to keep up the sense that she hated him.
"So why do you hate him again?" Misao eyes wide with disbelief, "It seems like his intentions are true, even if he is pushing it a bit."
"A bit, Misao?!" Kaoru nearly screamed over the idle chatter of the café. "He fucking molested me in the middle of a fucking club, and we've only known each other for a week!"
"Kaoru! You can't tell me you don't enjoy his attentions even if he does force them. He is absolutely gorgeous! And if he saw you as prey you would be dead already."
Kaoru glared at her friend and broke off a big piece of her peanut butter cookie and drank some of her coffee before she answered, "That's comforting somewhat…but you're still not helping."
"What am I supposed to tell you? That he's absolutely gorgeous and you clearly like him, if not are already in love with him, but to kill him anyway?"
"Um…not exactly; I thought more along the lines of just killing him."
"How about this? If he changes you against your will, Megumi and I will be forced to kill him."
"Can you skip that and just kill him? I hate him. He's such an asshole."
"Ah, but an asshole you love."
"MISAO!!!"
"Whatever Kaoru, you can deny it or embrace it, either way you'll be his. And you will like it, but if you don't I guess I can kill him."
"Or I can do it myself; I have no problem with it."
"Yeah right, you wouldn't feel his burning touches anym-"
Misao was interrupted by Kaoru throwing a large chunk of cookie at her friend's face which landed on her nose and fell to the floor leaving crumbs all over her face.
"That was a perfect waste of a cookie," Kaoru said mournfully, "but necessary to shut your mouth."
Misao brushed the crumbs off her face and stuck her tongue out at her friend.
"Look Kaoru," she said, becoming serious, "you enjoyed his touches. Don't even try lying to me about that. The way you described it made it clear that you enjoyed it. And he made it obvious that it wasn't just a fling, right? He said he wanted to claim you and court you, it is the same difference. He honestly doesn't sound that bad." When Kaoru gave her a glare full of daggers, Misao hurriedly added, "From a vampire's point of view anyway. I just think that you don't like him because he made moves on you and you enjoyed them. Then there's the fact that he knows he's right."
Kaoru's eyes flashed with fury. "He is NOT right. I don't like him, and I certainly don't love him! Misao, you know I could never love anyone like him!"
"But you do, and he's not just anyone either. He's Kenshin."
Kaoru glared at her long time best friend, and anyone else would have run and ducked for cover, but Misao simply smiled and then started laughing. "I know you better than anyone else. And you can't lie to me, so stop lying to yourself. Have fun denying your true feelings. Talk to me when you're out of denial, I'm sure I have some interesting information you want and would find useful." Misao downed the rest of her coffee and stood up. "Aoshi said he was taking me out tonight, so I need to go. I'll talk to you later; hopefully you'll have more sense in you by then!" Misao walked behind her friend and bent over to hug Kaoru.
"Don't kill anyone, okay?"
Kaoru grimaced. "I can't promise that…"
Misao laughed and waved as she walked out of the café. Kaoru waved back and slammed her head repeatedly into the table. She was glad she no longer had to deal with her friend who was full of caffeine. 'That went perfectly! Absolutely perfectly! Now Misao thinks I'm in love with him. Which I most definitely am not!' Kaoru thought viciously, 'I can't believe she thinks I'm in denial. I hate when she's high on caffeine, she always jumps to insane conclusions and then the whole world knows them. And she was supposed to be on my side, not his! She was supposed to help me figure out a way to drive him off.'
A dark mischievous voice added, 'And ask her how the courting and mating takes place…'
'Oh shut up you. You haven't been helping either. We do not like Kenshin! In fact we hate him! I thought we just went over this.'
The voice laughed at her as it said, 'Kaoru, just give in. Stop lying to yourself and everyone else. You know you want him. You loved the way his touch brought fire to your skin and sent your blood racing. You know that no one else's touch can ever give you that same feeling.'
"Just SHUT UP will you? And I am NOT going to give in! Kami, you are going to drive me crazy," Kaoru told herself, but made the mistake of speaking out loud.
"Talking to yourself again?" a warm voice asked from behind her. She swiftly snapped her head around to find dancing amber eyes looking back at her.
"You again," Kaoru glared irritably as he moved to sit in Misao's now vacant seat.
He laughed and said, "Yes, me again. Feeling better?"
"You can't sit there," she told him, trying to make him go away. She couldn't deal with Misao and then him.
"And why not?"
"Because Misao's in the bathroom and she's coming back. We are having a nice chat, one that you do not need to be here for."
"I would believe you, except for the fact that I just saw Misao leave and tell me that you were in here – alone."
"I am going to kill her," Kaoru muttered under her breath, but Kenshin must have heard because he started laughing.
"If you do not stop laughing at me or if you don't leave me alone, you will soon know what it feels like to be beaten with a bokken," she snarled at him, completely forgetting the good feeling the coffee and cookie had given her.
"Damn her, damn her to hell," Kaoru muttered miserably. "And you! You're stalking me!"
"And what if I am…"
"You can't do that!"
"And why ever not?"
"Because…because I say so!"
"That doesn't give me much of a reason to stop."
"Why you-"
"No need to make a scene here," he said smiling innocently, "You needn't alert the humans to our true identities."
Kaoru glared at him, taking another sip of her coffee, and was at a loss of what to do. 'I know I want to pound him into the ground and beat him senseless; then he wouldn't be able to stalk me – he'd have no senses. But on the other hand, and it kills me to admit this, but Kenshin's right. We can't let the humans know of our true natures.' Kenshin simply smirked, and she knew he knew exactly what was going on in her head.
'The fucking nerve of him! How dare he fucking corner me like this! He knew this would happen. He knew that I would have this argument with myself. And for that, I should kill him here and now! But my friends…that would put them in danger…fucking bastard. This is another reason why I can't stand his arrogant ass!'
To make her point, Kaoru leaned forwards, her eyes snapping with fury. "Stay the fuck away from me Himura!" she hissed. Much to Kaoru's dismay even her raw fury had no effect on the vampire sitting across from her and did not disturb the smirk on his face. He leaned forwards as well and said, "Kaoru dear, we really have to do something about that temper of yours."
Kaoru stood up and slammed her hands on the table and yelled, "That's it! 'We' will not do anything! There is no 'we'! And you will not do a single thing about my temper you sonavabitch! Stay the hell away from me, Kenshin Himura!" And with that she turned on her heel, stomped her way out of the café, and slammed the door closed behind her.
Everyone stared at Kenshin and he sighed. He stood up and bowed slightly to the cashier and said, "Sumimasen. My girlfriend has quite the temper." He turned to pick up Kaoru's coffee and found a young man wrapping up the rest of her cookie in a napkin.
"What are you doing?" Kenshin asked trying to hide his anger.
"Giving her coffee and cookie to her. She's quite the catch."
"No you aren't," he said barely suppressing the urge to rip out the man's throat. "She is mine."
The young man laughed, "Man, did you hear her? She just broke up with you. Big time. She told you to stay away from her."
"She did not mean that."
"Yeah, whatever man," the young man laughed again.
"You cannot handle her temper or her," Kenshin said clenching his fist, trying to give the man another warning.
"You obviously can't either. So shut up and mind your own business," said the man, getting upset with Kenshin's interference. He turned to leave the café, coffee and cookie in hand. Kenshin clamped a hand on his shoulder and growled just loud enough for the man to hear, "I will only warn you once, stay away from her or I will kill you." The man smirked and pried Kenshin's hand off his shoulder and twisted it.
"And now it's my turn to warn you. Keep your hands off me."
Kenshin smirked and easily got out of the hold the man had him in and muttered, "Amateur," but turned away to get in line. The young man strutted out of the café looking extremely confident. Kenshin knew Kaoru would kill him because of her angered state and wasn't worried. He knew that he was the only one that would be able to seduce her now, now that she'd felt his touch, the way he made her blood rush and skin tingle. She could never go back to a mere human's touch now.
Now, to get himself back on Kaoru's good side…..save her from the asshole, buy her a chai latte and blueberry muffin, sounded like a plan that might just work. Misao and Megumi told him to get her that if she's ever pissed at him, because she couldn't resist them.
--
Kaoru stomped her way over to the bus stop, livid with Kenshin and Misao. 'Ohhh, she is so going to get it when I get home. She knows how I feel about him! And Kenshin! Where does he get all these rights from?! He can't do shit about my temper! Stupid bastard! He just makes it worse every time he talks to me. So if he wanted to help me temper he would stay the fuck away from me!'
"Excuse me; you forgot your coffee and cookie."
Kaoru turned to face a young man with a smile on his face. He seemed extremely self-assured and had the air of someone who always got what he wanted. She immediately decided that if he tried anything she would kill him, as she was not in the mood to deal with any idiotic pick up lines, especially not from an overconfident prick like someone else she knew. 'No more fucking over confident idiots that can't take no for an answer. NO MORE! I can barely handle one guy…oh well; it looks like this unsuspecting male specimen is going to be the outlet of my temper this afternoon. Oh well, I won't have to murder Misao now, I'll only have to maim her. I'll still kill that goddamn vampire though. Hmmm, now that I think about Kenshin, this guy isn't as nearly as attractive as him. WAIT!!! HOLD IT!!! Where the hell did that thought come from?!' Kaoru quickly stomped and buried her last thought to erase it from her mind.
"Thank you for bringing them to me," she said and snatched the coffee and cookie from him while stuffing the cookie in her coat pocket. She frantically looked up and down the street wishing the bus would appear.
"Oh, no problem. You looked so upset when you left the place I thought you could use the rest of your coffee and cookie," he said, sliding closer.
Kaoru stepped back and forced a smile. "I wasn't that upset…I just overreacted. It was nothing really. No need to worry about me."
"But your boyfriend…"
"HE IS NOT MY BOYFRIEND!!!" Kaoru screamed, almost biting the man's head off.
He smiled again his white teeth flashing, "Oh, so you're single then?"
"Yes, but I'm not interested in any sort of relationship at the moment."
"You shouldn't assume that. I might be a really nice guy who wants to date a beautiful girl. Really, just give me a chance..."
Kaoru grimaced, 'He's really laying it on thick…and NOT taking my hints. Ugh, he really is disgusting…I would rather have that vampire than this guy and his way too strong cologne.'
"Really, it looked as though that guy doesn't respect you. That's not a healthy relationship. I can show you what a real mature adult relationship is like. I can respect you and treat you better than he ever will," he said taking another half step towards the disgusted Kaoru. At the end of spewing his revolting lies to Kaoru, he reached up and tried to touch her cheek.
Kaoru knocked his hand away and said, "Look, I'm in a really bad mood, I don't want any relationship and especially not with some over confident asshole who has cheap cologne and bad breath. Get lost."
The man's face quickly turned red with rage at Kaoru's harsh words. His eyes bulged and he fisted his hand until his knuckles turned white.
"You little bitch! How dare you…"
"How dare I what? Tell the truth? Just because you bring me my coffee and pay me a couple of compliments doesn't mean that I'm going to go out with you. I'm serious, today is not the day to fuck with me," she told him her blue eyes flashing with anger, "nor is any other day of the week for you. Now get lost and go find someone else to fuck."
"I refuse to take this disrespect from you, or any other woman," he said proudly, jutting his chin out.
"You disrespected me with your disgusting praise and idiotic assumptions. I will not allow for anyone to walk over me! Man or woman. You say you don't let yourself be disrespected, but you don't exactly defend yourself from my accusations. Perhaps because they are true?"
"It's not like you're giving me a chance-"
"So you're slow as well as everything else," Kaoru spat as she tapped her foot on the sidewalk impatiently, "You didn't take my hints, so I had to resort to cruelty and petty insults, and you don't defend yourself. It's obvious I wont give you change to defend yourself. Why would I?"
The man glared at her, silent.
Kaoru rolled her eyes. "I don't have time for this shit. Leave me alone, I really have no problem insulting you more; but it's getting pointless."
"You stupid bitch!"
"Is that all you can call me?! Is that the only insult you know?! Yes I'm a bitch; I've been standing here insulting the fuck out of you for almost five minutes now!"
"Then make it up to me by letting me take you out to dinner," he said trying to convince Kaoru, but still failing miserably.
"I don't owe you a god damn piece of shit, jackass," She took a deep breath trying to maintain her temper and then said in an overly sweet voice, "Now leave me the fuck alone." She turned around, not wanting to see his reaction. She looked up and down the street desperately searching for the bus. A strong hand clamped on her one of her arms and spun her around.
"Look here, all I want is a date," he said.
Kaoru pursed her lips and threw her coffee at him. It hit his chest and splattered all over him, making Kaoru want to laugh. "And all I want is for you to leave me alone," she said smirking. "Now do you understand? Leave me the fuck alone!"
His mouth fell open and he attempted to flick the coffee off his hands without much success. He tried to wring the coffee out of his shirt but failed miserably at that effort as well.
"You…"
"Bitch? Yeah, I know. You've said at least twenty times now."
He raised his hand to smack her but Kaoru moved faster. She blocked his hand and back fisted his ribs so he was gasping for breath and then punched his nose while he was distracted.
"Don't. Fuck with me," Kaoru said through clenched teeth. "I don't bother with idiots or fools."
The man held his bleeding nose with one hand while glaring at her. He lunged at Kaoru and she simply rolled her eyes. She tripped him and as he stumbled she elbowed him in the back, so he hit the concrete with a dull but satisfying thud. He picked himself up from the pavement and wiped the blood from his nose on the back of his hand. He stared at her as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a switchblade. Kaoru heaved a sigh and said, "That really doesn't scare me. So you pull a four-inch blade on me. Big deal."
He charged again, this time with the knife out in front, but before Kaoru could retaliate to his attack a warm, a hard…something wrapped around her waist and pulled her out of the way of the charge. The man stumbled and picked himself up again glaring at Kaoru and whoever had pulled her out of the way.
"It's time you left," Kenshin practically growled to the other man. He looked down at Kaoru in his arms and his amber eyes burned into her blue ones. "Are you alright?" he asked huskily, "Did you get hurt?"
She stared speechless into his amber eyes for a few seconds while her insides turned to mush before shaking her head and saying, "Kenshin, I'm fine! I can take care of myself! Let me go!" Kaoru pushed against Kenshin's chest trying to free herself from his iron like grip.
"Calm down my little kitten. Let me get rid of him for you."
"I was getting rid of him quite effectively before you showed up…NO! You were watching the whole time weren't you?!"
He smirked and said, "You catch on quickly my dear. Now, hold on while I get rid of this bother."
"You won't get rid of anything!" The man said angrily, "I'll kill you both!"
"In the middle of the sidewalk in broad daylight?! HA! You're dumber than I thought!" Kaoru said laughing, still in Kenshin's arms.
"Kaoru…let me deal with him. You did a remarkable job so far, but let me handle him now," he said looking down at Kaoru. She glared up at him but closed her mouth.
"Don't get involved," the man tried to warn Kenshin.
Kenshin laughed at the man who was trying to intimidate him. "As soon as you tried to take what belongs to me I was involved. You dared touch what is mine."
"I am NOT yours!" Kaoru yelled, infuriated at Kenshin for once again trying to claim her, however her comment went unnoticed by both men.
"Too bad she just dumped you. Get a grip, she isn't yours."
Kenshin's amber eyes suddenly turned furious and the man's conviction wavered in his pursuit to make Kaoru his. "I told you once that I would kill you if you touched her. But not only did you touch her, you tried to hurt her. Of course you did fail miserably in this attempt, but you did try. Furthermore, when you failed, you then pulled out a knife, which is why I stepped in. So now that I have told you my reasoning and the fact that I did warn you, I have no feelings of guilt about killing you."
Without taking his eyes off the man or letting go of Kaoru, he pulled his phone out of his pocket and dialed a number.
"I need you to pick up someone for me……..Yes, he needs to be dealt with…..No I want to do, I need the satisfaction……He tried to touch what is mine…….Yes come collect him and watch him until I find the time to……No, you cannot touch him, he is mine to kill…..Near the girl's favorite café." Kenshin smirked as he hung up the phone. "My friend is one this way to come collect you. I did warn you though."
Sano showed up a few minutes later walking down the street like he didn't have a worry in the world.
"Hiya Jou-chan, Kenshin."
"Stop fucking around, get him to where he needs to be," Kenshin told him, his anger finally starting to show.
"Of course. Come on man, we'll go together," Sano said while clamping a hand around the man's arm, and started dragging him away.
"Oh, wait Sano; I have one more thing to say to our friend."
Sano stopped immediately and Kenshin walked over, Kaoru still clamped to his side.
"You made this mistake of challenging a vampire's claim on a woman. And not just any vampire. I am Battousai," Kenshin hissed in the man's ear; and the man's eyes filled with fear. "You dared challenge Battousai and his claim on a mate. For that, you will die." He nodded to Sano, and Sano towed the man away, shocked.
Kenshin looked at a disgruntled looking Kaoru who was still in his arms. "Are you sure you're alright?"
Kaoru glared at him. "I could have taken care of him myself."
"I know. But he pulled a knife you. When he did that he crossed the line of your safety, and involved me in the fight. And I couldn't risk you getting hurt."
"I don't care what your reasons were. I could take care of myself before you got here, and I still can take care of myself. Now, LET ME GO!"
Kenshin smirked at the blue eyed woman in his arms. "Dear Kaoru, please calm down." He steered her over one of the café tables and sat her down in one of the chairs at the table and said, "I'm going to go inside…can I trust you not to run off?"
Kaoru glared at him but stiffly nodded and watched him walk back into the café. 'Where do guys get this confidence from? I know that I told both of them to fuck off way too many times…but no, they just can't stay away. If I'm such a bitch, you would think it would be easy…but apparently not. This of course makes no sense to me. That just goes to show how stupid most guys are, or simple minded. Either way, I can't stand them anymore. I don't even know why I told Kenshin I would stay.' Kaoru looked around at her surroundings, seeing nothing worth observing or spending her time on. She turned back to her thoughts. 'I can't believe he saved me either…especially when he knew I could take that asshole without his help, and I was having fun with it too. I needed something to take my anger out on, and since he took away my first play toy, now it gets to be Kenshin.' Kaoru smiled impishly, 'Of course, bothering Kenshin will be much more fun…I just can't use force, definitely no force, he could kill me in a second, fangs or not. It most likely will be more word games and name calling. I'm sure I can find some new insult to call him. Stupid asshole.'
Kenshin had just gotten to the register when he saw that it had come to blows between Kaoru and the man who had been bothering her, so he had immediately left to look after her. So now he stood in line once again to get Kaoru her chai tea and blueberry muffin. He watched her through the window chuckling at the scowl that fit her mouth so well and her crossed arms. She was clearly sulking that she had been saved. He had never met anyone quite like her.
"Can I help you?" the clerk asked politely.
"Medium chai latte and a blueberry muffin."
"Is that all, sir?"
"Yes."
"700 yen."
Kenshin handed over the money and went to the counter to wait for Kaoru's drinks. He watched her as he waited, positive she was thinking of how she could get back at him for interfering. Good, it would make it interesting for him. He was tired of trying to seduce women that didn't present any challenge. Of course, Kaoru wasn't just any woman; he wanted her for a mate, not just a play toy and then a meal. And if he didn't get her, he would raise hell and drop heaven to accomplish it.
Kenshin walked towards Kaoru, a muffin in one hand and a cup in the other. He smiled cheerfully at her and she narrowed her eyes in suspicion.
"What's that?"
"I can't replace your drink and food that was ruined by that asshole?"
"Which asshole? There are two so far today that have ruined a nice trip to a café."
"I'm talking about the one that pulled a knife on you."
"Not the one who has fangs and is an over protective and possessive ass fuck. Jeez, I thought you meant that one. Because if that one had never approached me I would still be happily sitting in the café with my coffee and cookie, and the second asshole would have never pulled a knife on me."
"Ah yes, but this first asshole you talk about wants to make up for approaching you which is why he has brought you these gifts of peace."
Kaoru looked at him suspiciously. "And why would you want to do such a thing? I'm a crazy bitch, are you sure you want peace with me?"
"I want to beg your forgiveness not only because you are a "crazy bitch", as you so nicely put it, but because I would like to start over."
Kaoru narrowed her eyes, and eyed him and the items in question in his hands. He sat down and placed the drink and food in front of her, waiting for her approval that he knew would come. She carefully looked over the muffin first; trying to make sure nothing was drugged or poisoned. She then picked up the drink carefully and sniffed it to try and figure out what it was.
"If I accept these, does that mean I have to make peace with you?"
He chuckled and smiled his amber eyes clearly amused. "Of course not, I won't force you into anything you don't want; but I do ask that you have them. I did buy them for you and I don't want them to go to waste."
"What did you put in them?" Kaoru asked automatically, now that she knew he wanted her to have them.
"Nothing, nothing. If I really wanted you…I wouldn't have to drug you. That's true, is it not?"
"You arrogant fool." She said, hatred dripping off her every word.
"Yes, I am a fool. I ask for peace and then I say things like that. I apologize." He inclined his head the tiniest bit as he apologized to her, but kept his amber eyes fixated on hers.
Kaoru said nothing, hatred still quite clear in her gaze.
"Well, if we are to start over, I feel I must apologize for my actions on All Hollow's Eve. My behavior was inappropriate, so I'm sorry. I truly am. And all my actions from now on will have honorable intentions, they did in the first place…but I will behave honorably now. And I will not touch you like that again, unless you ask me to."
"I never will."
"Please, let me finish. You do not know what my honorable intentions are. I know that if I wanted to play games with you, I would have to face Aoshi, Megumi, Misao, and yourself. And I know that Sano wouldn't be too happy with me either. However, I do not want to play games. I want to…marry you, for lack of a better vampire term. And I feel that I must make up for my behavior so I will court you as a proper young human being. With dates and everything. No straying fangs either. This is the peace I want."
Kaoru eyed him speculatively. Her blue eyes were heavily guarded while she spoke carefully. "What if I don't want peace? What if I don't want to be "courted honorably"? What happens if I want you out of my life forever?"
Kenshin smiled wickedly, and then returned to his good-natured grin. "That decision would be much more fun for me. I would go back to the vampire I am. As in, I would continue my actions in the club. You do not get to escape from me, because I will try my hardest to win you over, to have you. And if I have to, I will raise hell and drop heaven to get you."
Kaoru glared malevolently at him. "So I get to be seduced nicely or forcefully?"
"Yeah, pretty much."
"What if I don't want to be seduced?"
"Well, I'm sorry. But that's too bad for you…" Kenshin took a deep breath trying to control himself. "I'm trying to be nice here, for you information."
"Well you're an asshole so it's obviously not working!"
Kenshin looked away exasperated. "Kaoru. This is extremely difficult for me. I usually get what I want without question, but you are being rather difficult. Usually the girls are throwing themselves on me."
"Psht, you think that's an excuse. It's not. Nothing excuses your behavior of molesting anyone. You are a pompous asshole."
"Kaoru, I'm a vampire."
"Oh really?! Gee, I haven't noticed," Kaoru, said sarcastically.
"I'm also Battousai."
"So I've been informed."
"As in Lord of Darkness."
"What is the point of this?"
"If I really wanted to, I could take you away right now, change you, and keep you by my side forever, even if you didn't want to. But the point is that I want you to be happy with me, because I care about you. So I want to try to win you over the correct way…does that count for anything?"
Kaoru looked away taking a sip of tea. "Can you take me home?"
"Do you mind finishing talking first? I promise I'll take you home after."
"Kenshin…just take me home."
"Kaoru…"
"I want to go home, Kenshin."
Kenshin looked at her pleading blue eyes and sighed, he wanted to make her understand how he felt, how he craved her mind and body. But he could not keep her here, where she did not want to be.
"I'll go get the car. Will you wait here?"
Kaoru nodded, relief washing over her eyes and face.
'Does she really hate me that much? Can she not stand to be around me? Is there anyway I can change that? There must be, there has to be a way to make her happy, to make her love me as I love her,' Kenshin thought desperately as he walked to get his car. 'I have to consult Megumi and Misao again. They'll help me as long as I don't cause too much distress. I have to be a gentleman, treat her like a queen. I will have her; I will not go on without her.'
Kaoru sat at the table, watching Kenshin walk away, relieved that she managed to put off the rest of the conversation. 'I prefer him being an arrogant asshole, someone that I can legitimately hate. If he was nice, I won't have a reason, a reason to hate his guts, want him to disappear. If he was nice then Megumi and Misao wouldn't understand. I wouldn't be able to discourage them from matchmaking. And the worst thing about him being nice…is that I might start falling for him. I won't be able to push him away, start craving him, needing him, loving him…the way he feels for me…' Kaoru stomped on those last couple of thoughts, buried them deep into the recesses of her mind, locking them so she would never think them again. 'Bad Kaoru! BAD!!! You are never allowed to think that again, ever!'
"Are you coming?" Kenshin's velvet voice asked her, waking her from her thoughts of him.
"Yes, of course," Kaoru said, shaking her head and picking up her cup of chai and muffin. She climbed in the little car, careful not to spill her tea and once she placed the tea in the cup holder, she slammed the door shut. He sped off as soon as her door was closed.
The silence in the car was suffocating, neither of them able to break it. Kaoru stared out the window next to her, determined to ignore him, as if she was still upset at him, even though Kenshin knew that she wasn't. He could tell she was upset, but not at him. Her inner emotions were in turmoil, but he could not tell what happened. But he had a grim feeling that he had influenced it.
"Can I drop by later to finish this conversation?" he asked carefully, trying not to upset Kaoru more.
"Hmm?" She asked, obviously because she had been lost in her thoughts. Kaoru turned to look at him, her blue eyes unreadable.
"Can I drop by later this evening to finish our conversation?"
"Umm…sure…I guess. Drop by anytime you want," she said with a wide smile.
Kenshin's eyes widened slightly with shock. 'She would never tell me something like that. What happened? What did I do? It's like her anger evaporated…wait…no, she's still angry…what's she playing at?'
"Kaoru…what's wrong?"
"Nothing. What gave you that idea?" she asked him, flashing him another over bright smile.
"Okay then," Kenshin said, playing along with Kaoru.
'Two can play that game, my dear,' he thought wondering how this might play out to his advantage.
He watched her out of the corner of his eyes. She sat silently sipping her tea, ignoring him and the muffin completely. He flicked on the radio, hoping to fill the silence that ate at them but his effort failed; the silence consumed the blaring music.
Kenshin quickly brought her home, opening the door for her and walking her to it. "I'll drop by later tonight, okay?" he asked whispering huskily. Kaoru nodded, not being able to do anything else. "Speaking like that should be illegal,' she thought resentfully, 'especially for him." Kenshin in return picked up her hand and kissed her knuckles chastely, but at the last moment he let his fangs scrape against her delicate skin.
Kaoru blinked in shock. 'He's being a…gentleman.' She looked into his amber eyes expecting to see mischief, but instead she saw unbridled passion…affection…and dare it be said, love. Warmth started to pool into her belly and heat started to creep on to her neck and cheeks.
"Until tonight then…" he whispered and he left her standing before her door in shock.
--
After Kenshin's car drove off, his spell on Kaoru broke and she opened the door and slammed and locked it behind her. She stalked off to her room, mumbling about vampires who are too charming for her own good.
"Kaoru?" she heard Megumi ask, "Is that you? Misao said you where out with Kenshin."
Megumi knocked on her door and Kaoru threw it open with a charm as she sat at her desk with a spell book. Megumi walked in and sat on her bed, waiting for Kaoru to start talking.
"Well, I was out with Misao. She and I went out for coffee, we talked and I told her how much I hated Kenshin…and then she left. After Misao left Kenshin showed up. I then proceeded to yell at Kenshin and try to catch a bus. While I was still pissed to all hell, another jackass tried to pick me up and take me out. I then proceeded to insult and beat up, until Kenshin interjected. Sano took the man away and Kenshin bought me chai and a muffin…you told him one of my weak spots."
Megumi looked sheepish. "Of course I did Kaoru, he needed some help. He's trying to woo you in the human way, which I give him credit for, it goes against his nature. He usually just takes what he wants."
"Well he tried that already…and that method obviously didn't work."
"Continue with your story."
"He told me he was going to start trying to be a human to which I told him not to bother. And then he said that if that was the case he was going to start behaving like he had at the club. So I have no choice the matter. He will NOT go around molesting me. Never."
"Never say never…"
"Shut up, kitsune."
"Stop being a stubborn tanuki. You are too afraid to admit you might actually like him…because there is no way you can tell me that you are not attracted to him." Kaoru looked away. "I think that you are too stubborn and set in your ways to see his true nature…he is a vampire. He is not human, he is not a witch. Not to mention the fact that he is Battousai, a lord of vampires. He has most of them terrified of him. He is used to getting what he wants. You have to understand that if he is willing to try to defy his nature to try to get you, then you have to give him some credit. I want you to give him a chance. Even if he is a complete asshole, he will treat you like a queen and let nothing ever harm you. He wants you for a mate, not just a fling. And you should understand the difference. I would talk to Misao…or even me about it. Because Kaoru, I have recently decided to…become Sano's mate, and with that I would change too. I'm thinking that Misao is trying to convince Aoshi to change as well, which I'm sure he'll agree to. Where will that leave you?"
"Megumi, I don't like him. He is an asshole, and I refuse to fall for him!" 'Even though it's already started…BAD KAORU!!!' She buried that thought, far, deep into her mind.
"Fine Kaoru. I'll stop trying to bother you about it, but you know Misao or Kenshin won't let this drop." Megumi sighed and then looked at the book that Kaoru had on her desk. "…What are you doing?"
"Finding a ward I can make against vampires."
--
Glossary
Bokken – wooden sword
Kami – god
Sumimasen – I'm sorry/excuse me
Jou-chan – little missy, Sano's nick name for Kaoru
tanuki – raccoon
kitsune – fox
--
A/n- So there it is...13 pages and 7308 words long. I'm proud of myself. I'm working on part for and a few drabbles right now, so hopefully there will be another update before I go back to school.