Chapter 6

His amber eyes darted up and down the paper as he read cautiously the details. A minute had passed and Kenshin silently refolded the broadsheet. It had been the third for that particular day.

He had been waiting at the entrance hall of the hotel he and Kaoru were staying for nearly thirty minutes now. To keep himself busy, he had scanned almost all of the publications available on the rack, ranging from health or car magazines to outdated issues of newspapers.

Today was the particular day he and Kaoru had decided to settle the little debt that he owed her and he was feeling a little restless, nervous maybe.

Each time he heard the familiar elevator bell ring, Kenshin automatically glanced towards the double steel doors hoping to see Kaoru's blue eyes, a flick of obsidian hair, or that familiar stance she held in confined spaces.

Kenshin crossed his legs, closed his eyes, and tapped his fingers rhythmically. He just did not notice when the double doors of the main entrance finally burst open to reveal a harried-looking Kaoru.

"Oh, I'm so sorry," she said a little breathlessly.

Kenshin opened his eyes to find Kaoru standing in front of him, her hands upon her chest, and she slightly gasped for air. Kenshin at once motioned for her to sit down beside him on the long couch, and Kaoru responded by plopping down next to him.

"Did you wait long?" Kaoru asked, turning to look at him, "I just settled some hospital expenses. Sorry, it couldn't wait."

"No, it's all right," his voice was considerate and patient, "Rest for a while. Do you want me to get you a bottle of water?"

"No, I'm okay," she waved her hand slightly, "Just give me a minute and I'll be just fine."

Kenshin nodded and said nothing more while Kaoru leaned back on the couch, closed her eyes, and attempted to regain her composure. Silently, Kenshin observed the rise and fall of her chest, the lips that were slightly open, and listened while she breathed deeply. He noticed some loose strands of her hair on her face and felt the urge to tuck it behind her ear. Unwillingly, he pushed the thought aside.

After a minute or so, Kaoru finally opened her eyes and stood up. She turned to him with a smile flitting across her face, the sparkle and lightness back in her features.

"Shall we be going?"

They strolled on the streets of the town, with Kaoru slightly leading the way. The cool breeze graced their faces as they walked and talked. Kenshin tried so hard to persuade Kaoru to reveal to him what she really was up to while Kaoru refused and took so much pleasure in keeping it a secret.

"Oh c'mon Kaoru, I'm dying of curiosity here," Kenshin pleaded. He was quite nervous.

"Just wait a little more, we're actually almost there," she grinned playfully.

Together, they turned into a street that was almost entirely lined with different establishments: restaurants, movie houses, inns. Kenshin marveled at the sight of aliveness and energy, as he hadn't seen this side of the small town.

Kaoru took his elbow gently and pulled him lightly towards the general direction of a cinema house. Kenshin let out a nervous breath he hadn't realized he was holding. A movie? He thought quickly. Sure, he could even handle watching a chick flick or some romantic film.

"I haven't watched a film in a long time," Kenshin started quite excitedly, his feet quickly dragging him to the ticket booths, his eyes perusing the movie list and posters at display.

"Today's screening is a wa-" he was talking when he felt a hand tugging at his sleeve.

"What are you talking about?" Kaoru asked, slightly amused, "We're not going to watch movies."

Kenshin's excitement faltered a bit. He looked at her with an eyebrow raised inquisitively, "Then what are we going to do?"

Kaoru took his shoulders, turned him around, and made him face the opposite direction: the other side of the avenue.

"That."

She pointed at a store across the street. In front of a very bright building was a cart selling cotton candies and other various sweets, even balloons. It was a picture of color and life, of innocence and delight, of childhood world and pleasures. The building's façade was covered with brilliant, blinking lights arranged to form the letters of a specific word. When Kenshin's eyes hovered over the letters and he had interpreted the idea it implied, a sense of dread suddenly hit him, and he felt like running away.

The word spelt above the door stated 'Arcade' in happy, vibrant colors.

Kenshin let out a nervous breath. He had never tried any of those fancy machines and he didn't intend to start now.

Kaoru turned to him, a gleeful and waiting smile creeping across her face. Without any other word, she began walking across the street and towards the arcade establishment. She was already in front of the token booths when she realized that Kenshin wasn't following. He was still standing on the other side of the street, an uncertain expression was on his face. Kaoru waved to get his attention.

When he heard her call his name, Kenshin snapped out of his stupor and tried to avoid Kaoru's gaze. His mind was telling him to just go. He was an adult male and mature men did not engage in children's games like this. This was something that was unlikely of him. It was excessively childish and silly.

Kenshin slung his gaze on her, she was waiting for him on the other side. What was so childish and silly about a woman with a grand smile on her face, waiting for him? He had been so childish before, he mused thinking about the particular moment when he agreed to the gamble she offered. So why hesitate now?

One step towards her would mean a lot. One step would mean that he was willing to shred off the persona of a stern man he thought he was. One step would mean that he was not afraid to try new things, welcome new experiences, and create new beginnings. One step would mean that he was willing to build a bridge between himself and Kaoru.

It was all a matter of choice.

Kenshin took one step across the street. He was just not sure if it was the beating of his heart that told him to do so.

They entered the arcade and were received by the area's lively chatter and color. Neon lights were blinking everywhere. Children flocked to the coin-operated machines and the sounds of catchy tunes drifted through the air.

Much to Kaoru's delight, Kenshin bought a handful of tokens and she run towards the first game she would try with him, of course.

It was the racecar, where two driver seats were propped up before big screens showing the racetrack.

Kaoru took one of the seats and inserted two coins on the slot, "Come here," she said, patting the chair next to her, "I'm fairly sure you'll enjoy this. You're a good driver, aren't you?"

Kenshin inhaled heavily and complied, he was nervous. He tried flashing a smile and took the other seat. The driver seat felt and seemed as authentic and as precise as the real one, Kenshin thought. Maybe he wouldn't have a hard time learning this.

Inserting another two coins in Kenshin's slot, Kaoru turned to him, "There's the wheel, the pedals and brakes, and the shifting gear. You see it's just like driving your typical vehicle," she talked him through the game, genuinely encouraging him to have fun. Gearing up, Kaoru added, "Seat belts please."

Kenshin laughed under his breath and buckled the strap across his chest and around his waist. They had chosen their sports car model and all was set to go.

Three…Two…One…Go!

The lights turned green- they stepped sharply on the gas pedal, and their cars went shooting through the track, tires screeching loudly. Deeply focused with the animating screen, Kenshin was fairly surprised with himself. It was much easier than he thought not to mention enjoyable. Going at full speed and turning his wheel towards a particularly sharp bend, Kenshin's mind formed a resolute thought.

He could actually win this.

Kaoru noticed Kenshin's really quick association with the game. She smiled at his building enjoyment and tried hard to gap the distance Kenshin had successfully created between them.

"Not so fast!" Kenshin told her, as he reached his second lap now. One more to go, with several seconds remaining on his time, and he would take the first place.

Laughing, Kaoru put on a challenge and quickly followed his lead. Narrowing her eyes, she geared up for full speed as the race approached its conclusion.

Kenshin and Kaoru were both seconds away from the third lap. Unfortunately for Kaoru, a man would always seem to be better when it comes to driving and wheels. He finished as first, with her lagging behind him by just three seconds.

"Why, you!" Kaoru said as they both stood up from their seats, delighted.

Kenshin laughed, unable to hide the thrill in his eyes, "I never thought I could do that."

"I told you. Off to the next?" Kaoru asked, and without waiting for an answer, she took his elbow and led the way.

Kenshin glanced at her hands clutching at his arm. It seemed so natural and felt so right, as if the act had been designed solely for this purpose. Inexplicably, he felt his heart lightening and a smile tugging at his lips.

The next game Kaoru chose was the Monster Shootout. A game with two toy guns and virtual pellets shooting the mummies and other ugly monsters, which appeared unexpectedly from behind every corner on the screen.

"This is really simple," Kaoru said, explaining to him the game's objectives, "Just shoot every monster that appears. Step on that pedal whenever the gun needs to reload."

Kenshin nodded and they loaded the token slot. The game set to begin. Kaoru glanced up at Kenshin holding the gun like some action star from television. There was something quite beautiful and fierce in the way he closed his left eye whenever he took aim at a target.

"Ready, Kaoru?"

"Yes!" she answered.

The first mummy that appeared and the incredibly loud noise that accompanied it had Kaoru screaming like a child watching a horror movie. She crazily gunned at it and Kenshin laughed at her apparent panic.

Luckily, mostly thanks to Kenshin's efforts, they were able to reach the final stage of the game, where the boss, the big evil monster could slay the players' characters with just three hits. Not so many people had come close to this level which explained why there was certain group of excited people who flocked around the pair to watch as the game progressed.

"Aim at the monster's head, Kaoru. I think it is its weakest point."

Eight shots to the head was all the monster needed to end its seemingly endless life. The pair, particularly he, played with so much cleverness that after a moment or two, the display screen showed the monster with its head grotesquely severed. The crowd around them cheered and clapped their hands at their apparent success. Kenshin felt a little embarrassed though he was able to flash a smile and make a bow. He felt proud, he could not believe how such a small thing could give him such a big sense of accomplishment.

Kaoru was thrilled. She looked at Kenshin and gave him a wink, earning a good-natured chuckle.

"What do you want to do next?"

"Let's try that," Kenshin suggested, finding himself much more associated with the place than minutes before. He had never imagined that he would enjoy the arcade this much or perhaps what he was enjoying was the companionship of a certain blue-eyed woman.

"Basketball!" Kaoru squealed before walking to the direction of the game.

Kenshin watched her and her hair gliding in the air, letting himself drag behind her for a little while. He was reminded of how amusing Kaoru looked when she winked at him and he wondered if he could do that. He looked around him for a while and secretly, Kenshin tried winking, realizing that it was much harder than he expected. He tried again but felt as if he was making more of a frown than a wink. He tried repeatedly until his left eye hurt a bit. Only then did he realize how stupid he might have looked- winking like a crazy maniac.

He shook his head and laughed silently to himself.

The wall was divided into several segments by a long net, each having a basketball rim of its own. A digital counter counted the number of basketballs that would pass and shoot through the ring. Kenshin and Kaoru took two adjacent sections.

Kaoru mockingly glared at Kenshin, "Let me warn you redhead, I'm quite good at this."

"That, we'll see," Kenshin replied, an equally stern look mirrored on his face. However it seemed that he had more difficulty fighting the smile off his face than giving her a glare.

The basketballs were released from the counters. At once, they began shooting balls through the ring. While Kaoru was doing perfectly well, thanks to her frequent gaming, Kenshin was playing rather faultless. Every ball he threw went swishing through the ring, not even a single miss. Kaoru notice this and her mouth dropped at his display of talent. His actions seemed so smooth and well executed, too; there was dignity in the way he stood like a professional player, there was power in the way he raised his arms over his head, and there was grace in the way his hands let go of the ball.

The timer ticked and the game was through. The score: 36-34.

"Looks like I've defeated you again," Kenshin smirked, his ego quite inflating.

Kaoru narrowed her eyes and looked dangerously at him. "Don't get so confident, it just may be beginner's luck."

Kenshin stared at her intently and gulped. With a bit of uncertainty and a lot of difficulty, he winked at her.

The wink, however, appeared not as charmingly as it should be.

The pair looked at each other and after a very brief silence, they burst into a pleasant chuckle.

"Thank you for trying."

Kenshin smiled and shrugged his shoulders.

Without any other word, they strolled off to look for another game. They still had tokens in their hands and many games left untried. Kenshin and Kaoru attempted everything that grabbed their attention: from action and adventure games, bowling, slot machines, and even the classic pinball. While Kenshin seemed to be enjoying himself much more than he actually expected, winning games every now and then, Kaoru was quite challenged at her companion's surprising abilities. She felt her heart swelled a bit at the sight of glee in his eyes and smile.

After an hour, the pair took some time to rest themselves. Kaoru saw the huge and vivid cotton candies in one of the food stalls and had suggested trying it. Kenshin complied and though he did not have much of a sweet tooth, he enjoyed the way the candy instantly melted in his mouth.

Tonight really was a night of fresh discoveries.

They found an available bench and sat to rest their limbs. While Kaoru talked about Kenshin's quick association with arcade games and his apparent enjoyment from it, and suggested some games that they had to try the moment they finished resting, his mind was secretly wandering to some other ideas.

"...have to try air hoc-"

"Kaoru," Kenshin turned up to her, a small idea forming at the back of his head, "Can you excuse me for a while? I'll just give someone a call."

"Sure, sure," Kaoru muttered while chewing a particular toffee, "No worries."

Kenshin smiled and told her a diminutive promise that he would be back. With firm and resolute steps, he moved towards the general direction of the telephone booths.

Immediately, Kenshin mixed with the crowd and changed his course. He was going to try this game where the player would have to maneuver and control a metal clamp that would at a certain instant drop and then clasp whatever toy was within its grasp- if you're lucky. He had seen Kaoru looking at them intently while they were playing another game and he thought she wanted one of those toys. He was out to give it a try.

He still had five tokens left in his coat pocket.

Kenshin chose the machine which he thought was farthest from Kaoru's view. Eagerly, he retrieved a token and inserted it in the slot. He began controlling the clamp with the joystick and several buttons in front of him. He mentally estimated the distance between the clasp and the toys below it. Finally, he positioned to clasp to its final place and he hit the 'drop' button. The clamp mechanically opened its arms and descended to the heap of toys below it. Kenshin followed with his eyes carefully, in deep hopes that it would be able to grasp a certain brown, teddy bear.

Unfortunately, it didn't.

He grunted with disappointment and sighed. He inserted another coin in the slot and told himself that he would have to be more careful this time. He turned the joystick to the right, a little up, to the right again, and then a little left. He hit the 'drop' button and the clasp mechanically opened. He watched as it slowly went down to retrieve a particular toy.

It clasped a toy but dropped it midair.

Kenshin dropped his gaze and felt his shoulders slacked. He could not give up on the idea of doing giving her a little present.

For the third time, he tried the game and attempted to play with all his cleverness. He did the same thing before: estimated the toy's and clamp's position, maneuvered the joystick little by little, and then hit the 'drop' button.

For each time that he tried, Kenshin failed but despite repeated attempts ending in failure, he persisted. He tried until the tokens in his pocket had entirely diminished. Quickly, he ran to the nearest token booth, slightly hiding himself amidst the crowd. Kenshin bought twenty tokens more.

This would be one hell of a challenge.

Kaoru discarded the stick of the sausage she had purchased, the second one in that particular hour.

It had been fifteen minutes since Kenshin headed off to make a phone call when she realized that perhaps he would not be coming back for a while. With that thought in her mind, she got out from the bench and cheerfully headed to the general direction of the dozen food stalls. They were so attractive, she thought, the sandwiches, candies, toffees, fruit shakes and ice cream. Every now and then, she would try a bit of them but she limited herself to a certain amount. Kaoru would want to wait for Kenshin so she could share the delight with him.

When she reached the last stall, Kaoru looked back to the bench she was sitting a while before. He was still not there, much to her dismay. Sighing, she dragged her heavy feet back to the bench and sat down.

Kaoru busied herself watching the people passing in front of her. Families, children, and the young-at-hearts, they all flocked to the coin-operated machines with smiles upon their faces, appearing so glad.

She looked around: the bright neon lights blinking at random patterns, the lively and catchy-tuned music wafting in the air, the balloons and cotton candies in vivid colors, the carousel spinning in a steady motion, and the sweet and innocent atmosphere of the entire place. It seemed like a refuge for her, a place where she could momentarily forget that her husband had just betrayed her for another woman.

The recent troubles that she had just experienced were making her feel really old and tired. But this day in the arcade was a real stress-reliever for both Kenshin and her. It was the best way to take her mind off the depressing and hurtful things that happened.

Kaoru smiled, for the first time in a very long while, she felt refreshed and young again.

All of a sudden, a stuffed toy of a space rocket, held by a familiar hand, flew and hovered in front of her eyes. Kaoru raised her eyebrows and turned around.

It was Kenshin.

He was holding a stuffed toy, about half the size of a foot, resembling a space rocket at launch. It was of color emerald with two pink lines near the nose cone and some red and yellow flame from the toy rocket's nozzle.

"This is for you," Kenshin said, handing to her the toy. His amber eyes were flickering with golden sparks, "I could have gotten you a little teddy bear, but I had little difficulty managing that machine," he said and pointed to the coin-operated machines some distance behind him.

"Oh, thank you," she said in response, her voice laced with utmost sincerity and her azure eyes twinkling with delight, "I really appreciate this."

Nodding, Kenshin found himself unable to tear his gaze away from her beautiful face, feeling a sense of triumph. He turned around and smiled to himself. Losing fifteen tokens to that machine definitely was worth it.

Kenshin and Kaoru dined in one of the eateries nearby, as what he passionately suggested. She hesitated at first, wondering whether he had already paid more than what she really owed her. However, she at once gave in the moment he entered a particular bistro and asked for a table for two.

The pair leisurely strolled the street on their way home, 'a night of cool, crisp wind with stars hanging in the dark sky' as what Kenshin liked to describe. Now, they found themselves standing, facing each other at the fourth floor of the hotel. Their respective rooms were just a step away.

"Thank you so much for tonight," Kaoru said quietly and looked down, trying to avoid the intensity of Kenshin's gaze.

He noticed a strand of hair that fell over Kaoru's temple and he half-heartedly fought the urge to tuck it behind her ear.

"Goodnight then," she broke the terse silence and looked up slowly into his eyes.

"Goodnight," he replied unwillingly. He did not know why but he felt as if he wanted to keep her near him a little longer.

Kaoru nodded and she turned around to unlock her door. She could feel his eyes in her back as she pushed the door open and entered her room. She was about to shut the door, when slowly she stopped and looked at Kenshin who had been staring and hadn't moved an inch. She just wanted to remember his face for the night because the moment she shut this door, she would be very alone once more. She waved the stuffed toy he had given to her and again bid him good night.

"Kaoru."

She paused and held the door for a moment, looking at his amber eyes and waiting, her heart strangely beating fast.

"I'll s-see you…again," Kenshin said a little slowly and tensely, "Tomorrow."

"Sure."

They smiled at each other one last time.

Kenshin watched as her door finally closed and it sealed the night and the barrier between them. Slowly, he let out of a breath he wasn't aware he was holding. He stood still on the extremely quiet hallway, hands in his pocket, and listened.

His heart seemed to be whispering a certain name.