Disclaimer: This is not a drill. It is a dremel tool. Know your tool box.
"Apologize!
That's the least you can do to try to make right something you have wronged."
― Sanhita Baruah
LAST TIME
"Kenshin!" Kaoru pulled her hands free, done with the gentle tugging. "I'll be fine, OK. Just drop it."
"Kaoru don't-"
"No, you don't, Kenshin." Kaoru spun around and marched off to the stairwell. She paused when she reached for the handrail. "Sorry, I just don't want to talk about it -" with you. . .
The last two words hung in the air, unspoken but heard nevertheless.
Kaoru dashed up the stairs. She shut the door to the bathroom behind her. She was shaking - from her gut to her fingertips, she was shaking. She bit her lip and faced her reflection in the bathroom mirror. "I totally just blew it didn't I?"
THIS TIME
Kenshin hissed a few choice swears at the sizzling pan. Not that the cast iron had done anything deserving, mind you. No, that was all on him.
Why didn't he just let it go?
He pinched the bridge of his nose with his thumb and index finger, digging into the inner corners of his eyes relentlessly.
Because he was an idiot, clearly. A worried idiot. The worst kind.
It took a few minutes for Kenshin to start hearing shuffling upstairs. Not that he had been listening with baited breath - not at all. It was just a coincidence that, while he could tell you exactly where Kaoru was upstairs and, by deduction, what she was doing, he let the simmering vegetables get just a little too well done.
Worried idiot.
His mobile phone buzzed three quick bursts in his back pocket. A text message.
/I'm at your house and your car is in the driveway. Where the hell are you, Idiot son?/
It was from Hiko.
/I'm next door. I didn't know you were coming today./
Hardly thirty seconds had passed before Kenshin heard footsteps on the patio. He nearly rolled his eyes. No respect for pleasantries – that was his father. Hiko didn't knock. He never did.
"Of course you didn't know I was coming, Idiot son. I didn't tell you." Hiko shut the back door and gave the house he had stepped into a once over. "Why are you here, anyway?"
Kenshin resisted the urge to massage his temples. "I do believe that's my line. Did you need something?"
Hiko nodded and set his large frame down on the love seat by the back door. The poor piece of furniture was dwarfed under the man mountain. "I need you to tell me your passcode to the strong box. I wrote mine down someplace but can't seem to find it now."
"You drove all the way out here for that? You could have just called." Kenshin reached for the pen and pad of paper by the phone.
"You know I don't trust these contraptions with important information. Anybody could be listening." Hiko waved a hand dismissively and continued. "Besides, I thought I'd see how you were getting along these days." His eyes settled on the evidence of food preparation on the counters. "Now, why are you here at Ms. Takani's house cooking. Didn't she just get married or something?"
Kenshin scribbled a few numbers onto the pad he had collected. "Her name's Mrs. Sagara now, and yes. A friend of her's is house sitting for the week while she and Sano are on their honeymoon. I'm making dinner for the two of us." He folded the top sheet of the pad and passed it to Hiko.
Hiko pocketed the paper without looking at it. "Is she pretty?"
"What?!"
"The girl who's house sitting; is she pretty?" Hiko groused.
Kenshin furrowed his brows and shot his adoptive father a curious look. "I never said Megumi's friend was female."
Hiko wasn't phased. "No you didn't. I was being optimistic." He leaned back into the seat cushions, looking entirely too comfortable for an uninvited guest. "Don't worry, it won't happen again. So . . . ?" He looked at Kenshin expectantly.
Kenshin sighed and shoved his hands into his pockets. "Yes, she's pretty. Did you need anything else?"
Hiko stared off into the house and rubbed his chin thoughtfully for a moment. The he gave a sort of half grin and nodded slightly as though deciding on something "Hmm. I'd like to meet her."
Kenshin's shoulder's visibly tensed. "Now's not a good time."
"Why? Is she indecent?"
Kenshin's breath came out in a whoosh and he might have just been slapped judging by the look on his face. "No! No, she is not."
Hiko raised his eyebrow in question.
Kenshin spoke slowly his jaw clenching and unclenching. "It - I – We . . . just had a disagreement and . . . well, I haven't apologized yet."
Hiko stared at Kenshin blankly for a couple of heartbeats. Then he took a great breath and let it out slowly.
"Idiot."
Kaoru washed her face and changed out of her suit into a tee and blue jeans. It took some time to tame the veritable bird's nest on her head. And even when the last of the unruly snags were out she stood in front of the bathroom mirror for a long while, methodically running the brush through her dark locks.
It wasn't like she could avoid Kenshin for long - they were supposed to eat dinner together after all – but she really didn't want to go back downstairs. It's amazing how you can go from looking forward to every minute you spend in another person's company to dreading the next time you're required to make eye contact.
What would Kenshin think of her now? Kaoru had asked herself that a few times over the past couple of days. After she whacked him during practice, during her wedding memory revelation, their shopping trip, when she woke up on the couch, and . . . now.
Should it bother her that his opinion held that much weight?
Sure, Kaoru liked him. Who wouldn't? He was friendly, attractive, skilled, polite – but Kaoru had crushes before and she never cared this much. Kenshin was different. She couldn't say she loved him or anything like that. Love was deeper. It required time to build – to craft. It was an intricate tapestry woven with the threads of two people's lives. It didn't happen quickly and Kaoru would never label what she was experiencing as 'love'. It would be demeaning to the word.
But maybe it could be a beginning.
Kaoru liked to see him smile, really smile. She wanted to make it happen more often. She had seen it happen a couple of times so far – a real, true smile. Usually, when he smiled, it didn't quite manage to chase away the sorrow in his eyes. But those precious times when it was heartstoppingly real – when the invisible weight on his shoulders gave him a moment's reprieve – Kaoru couldn't help but think of the little Kenshin grinning and hoisting a giant fish over his head. Carefree. Beautiful. And then came the moment when Kaoru realized he was looking at her like that and, well, it was suddenly hard to ignore the fluttering in her stomach.
The thought that she may have just stomped on whatever beginning they had together terrified her.
Could she fix it? Did he want to fix it?
Kaoru huffed and set the brush down. What was she? Twelve? No. She was an adult woman who owned up to her blunders – who apologized and moved on. Even if he decides you aren't worth it afterward.
She left her hair loose around her shoulders. After getting the tangles out it was still sort of styled from her meticulous preparation that morning and leaving it down made her feel softer somehow, gentler, more feminine. Kaoru figured those were good things when you're trying to win favor back.
Kaoru lowered herself down the stairs as quietly as possible. There were voices coming from the living room. As in more than one. Kaoru stopped on the middle step and bent down to sit on her heels. She saw them through the gap in the handrail, Kenshin's back was to her and passed him, sitting on the love seat, was a veritable giant. Kaoru recognized him instantly from Kenshin's photograph. Hiko Seijuro hadn't aged a day from what she could discern. It was kind of incredible if you stopped to think about it. The man must have been in his forties, maybe even fifties, but he didn't have a grey hair on his head and his features were strong but smooth. Kenshin may not be related to his father by blood but somehow they clearly shared the same phantom anti-ageing gene. Was their sword style some fountain of youth or something!?
Kaoru tuned in to their conversation when she saw Kenshin pass something to Hiko.
"Is she pretty?"
Suddenly Kaoru was all ears. Who?
"What?!"
Exactly.
Kaoru had a shot of nerves when she realized they were talking about her. A part of her was appalled at her high-school-esque reaction and was dutifully informing her that she really should be worried about other things right then. But Kaoru quickly shot that part of her with an elephant tranquilizer and shoved her in a large trunk. She really wanted to know.
She waited as Kenshin deflected and Hiko said something about optimism.
"Yes, she's pretty . . . "
And Kaoru didn't hear anything else for about thirty seconds because she was too busy doing a mental version of the Carlton dance. She had already suspected as much. He was sending signals and all. But it was good for her against-all-logic insecurity to actually hear.
She was jolted out of her giddy revere when Hiko's eyes looked passed Kenshin, into the hallway and landed directly on her. She froze instantly. Hiko threw her a smirk and a barely-there nod.
". . . I'd like to meet her."
Kaoru relaxed just as Kenshin tensed up, thankful Hiko didn't appear to be planning on giving away the fact that she had been spying from the staircase like a child. Odd, since, you know, they hadn't met yet.
"Now's not a good time."
"Why? Is she indecent?"
Kaoru rolled her eyes sort of hoping he could see her. As if he didn't know.
"No! No, she is not."
Aww. Kenshin was defending her honor. Just for that she wouldn't smack Hiko for implying she was naked. Not that she had been planning on smacking him right away, oh no. She would wait until they had been properly introduced. It was rude to hit someone you didn't know.
Kenshin began speaking and his shoulders just seemed to get tighter with each syllable. "It - I – We . . . just had a disagreement and . . . well, I haven't apologized yet."
Kaoru stifled a gasp and almost leapt from her hiding place. This was not his fault.
Hiko stared at Kenshin blankly for a couple of heartbeats. Then he took a great breath and let it out slowly. "Idiot."
And it was then that Kaoru realized two very important things. Firstly: she needed to apologize to Kenshin as soon as possible, and give him a hug if he would let her. He looked really upset. And that was just his shoulders!
Secondly: Hiko Seijuro, Kenshin's Father, was on her side.
CHAPTER END
It's one thirty in the morning. I'm usually in bed by ten.
It's kinda hard to write the same scene from two perspectives. I hope I avoided too much redundancy.
I felt Kaoru had, at least in my head, run into some serious insecurity that needed to be delt with. That was my goal for this chapter. I imagine her having a few reservations about just letting herself fall in love. It's scary when you decide to swap your heart for someone else's. I think Kenshin has a few reservations too, but don't worry, we will get to them soon enough.
I've always wanted to take a stab at writing Hiko. He's one of my favorite characters from the cannon and he really deserved more face time. I hope I did him justice here. I think we will be seeing a bit more of him in the next chapter but for the most part I don't really plan on bringing him back. So if you thought he was a waste of space - rejoice! You wont have to see much more of him. And if you're like me and you love him - then I hope you like what I've written.
Later, Loves!