Two months passed quickly in the Hiko household. Kaoru had spent her time either helping out around the house, reading, or practicing kenjutsu. She had been accepted quickly into the family, and found herself relatively comfortable around everyone. She had built a strong friendship with Misao and Megumi, and gotten to know Sanosuke, and the quiet Aoshi as well. Her relationship with Kenshin had not changed however. Neither had taken the step to go further than heated kisses, and night time cuddling. There seemed to be some form of ice wall built between her and the former hitokiri that she could not break.
She often wondered what exactly was he hiding behind that polite mask. The passion he poured into their kisses proved there was something hiding within him. She had seen it off before, but only during their intimate moments.
Kaoru sighed to herself as she lost herself in her thoughts, the book that was sitting in her lap long forgotten. The sky was a shade of grey, matching her mood, and the others in the house. The men had gone on government business somewhere in Kyoto, and were supposed to return two nights ago. Her mind thought back to the last night she and Kenshin had spent together before he had left:
“Kaoru, I’ll be back,” he murmured kissing the top of her head.
She whimpered softly as she snuggled herself closer to the man. “Demo…”
“Hush…” he whispered before he kissed her softly. “I promise you I’ll be back.”
Their departure to Kyoto had been abrupt. The government only giving them two days to prepare before they had left. Now their delayed absence layered the house atmosphere with worry. Kaoru did not think she would miss him so much, since their relationship hadn’t developed. However, she felt lonely now during the nights. The futon was empty, lacking the warmth and comfort she usually had when she curled up against him. She noticed that the entire house was very quiet without any of the men around. There were no more fights between Megumi and Sanosuke, or any fights between Sanosuke and Misao. Even though Yahiko had to remain home, he didn’t fight with Misao, or her as much as he usually did.
Closing the book in her lap, she got up and walked downstairs into the study room. The study room still held his powerful presence. She could still smell the faint scent of sandalwood that was unmistakably his. She noticed that the papers Kenshin had been working on were still sprawled on the table, and had books lying on the sides of the desk, threatening to fall off if they were pushed a millimetre more. She absently pushed them back on to the desk as she gazed over the various types of books on the bookshelves. Literature seemed to be a large part of his collection, as well as some philosophy and history books.
“He’s more educated than I thought. Probably by Hiko-sama too…” she thought to herself as she pulled out a history novel to read. “There’s so much I don’t know about him,” she thought wistfully to herself as she gazed around the room once more. She remembered clearly the scars she had seen on his chest, and of the course, the most prominent one being the x scar on his cheek. All the scars reminded her of the pain that Kenshin had gone through during the war, both physically and mentally. There was one thing she knew about Kenshin though, he was quite clean when it came to his living quarters. As opposed to Sano’s room, which looked like a whirlwind had hit it. Taking the book she had chosen with her, she walked back upstairs.
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Somewhere in Kyoto, Kenshin’s irritation was gnawing heavily on his mind. He was still sitting in a meeting room with Aoshi, Sanosuke, his Shishou, and six other government officials. Sometimes he wondered where these officials got their power from, or how they even rose to such high positions, since they seemed so dimwitted at times. If half of them used their brains perhaps he and the rest of his family could have been comfortably at home right now.
Home with Kaoru.
The former hitokiri had to admit, his Shishou knew him quite well. He was beginning to enjoy have Kaoru around him all the time. He loved the way she instinctively curled up against him during the cold winter nights, or the way she blushed a pretty pink when he kissed her. He found that Kaoru was slowly ebbing the pain that had built up from the Bakumatsu. It no longer hurt as much when he thought of his first love and wife, Tomoe.
“There must be some other way to deal with these terrorists!” one official declared jolting the red-head out of his thoughts.
“There are plenty of ways,” Kenshin thought to himself as he crossed his arms over his chest. He snuck a glance at Sanosuke, and noticed that he was just busy staring out the window, one leg propped up on his knee, not even listening to half of the discussion. Kenshin then took a glance at Aoshi. He had the most concentration and patience out of the three when it came to business deals or government dealings, but here he was even drifting. There was a distant look in his ice blue eyes.
Aoshi was lost in his world of memories. They kept him entertained at times like these. He couldn’t wait to go back home right now. He knew Misao would be waiting for loyally, like she had done so many times before. And usually he got quite an…intimate…welcoming home from her. Who would think his little Misao-chan, would turn out to be such a demanding woman?
His lips curled to a slight smile as he re-called the night that she had forced him to admit his feelings for her. He had been denying his love for her since she had turned 15. Already at that age, though small, she was still beautiful. Last year, she had took drastic measures to make sure that he was paying attention to the fact that she was growing up. He remembered that night well. She had entered his room with her long black ebony hair let out, dressed in his trademark white trench coat, in only his trench coat. This was her effort to seduce him, and it worked. He was caught off guard at first, but then tried to get her to leave. The later half didn’t work and he ended up loosing and admitting to his emotions. The whole night had been lived in a realm of pleasure that was previously unknown to both of them. The passion of the entire evening was coming back and heating him internally. In his mind he could see Misao standing there with an innocent look on her face.
“If you want me, come and get me,” he remembered hearing Misao purr after she had kissed him.
Kami-sama, Aoshi wanted to go home now, wanted to return home to his Misao.
Sanosuke’s mind was completely blank, as opposed to his two best friends, as he stared out the window. It was as close to sleeping with his eyes open as he could get. He called the technique zoning out, and he used it often in these situations. He used to do some thinking during these times, but recently his life had been quite calm and serene. Nothing serious he needed to sort out.
“I say just let us handle it. We’ll get the guys for you if you give us some time,” a voice cut through.
Aoshi and Sano looked at their red-headed friend. “Nani?” Aoshi whispered.
“We’ll hunt them down. It’s pretty simple, considering they’re in Tokyo.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes I’m sure,” Kenshin replied looking at his Shishou.
“I think it’s a great idea. They’re all trained,” Hiko added in.
“If you want, I could ask my people to get further information for you,” Aoshi suggested.
“Yes, the Oniwanbanshu are one of the top most reliable in Japan,” Hiko said. “So is this settled? We were supposed to be due back home two days ago, I don’t want to worry the woman. We’ll send you the report when we’re done.”
“Yes…we’re quite sorry to detain you for so long,” an official said.
With that Hiko Seijuro and his three boys quickly left the building, and entered their carriage. “Why didn’t you think of that earlier Kenshin?” Sano asked when the carriage began its trip back to Tokyo.
Kenshin shrugged. “I wasn’t paying attention from the start.” Hiko hit him on the head.
“Baka deshi, how am I supposed to hand everything over to you when you can’t pay attention to anything?”
“Why didn’t you think of something Shishou?” the red-head shot back, one hand rubbing the bruised spot on his head.
“That was my suggestion, but I wanted to see how long before any of you actually got it.” The three men face faulted. “That, and I like to see those bakas twitter around nervously. I find it amusing.” There was another mass face fault and Hiko flashed the evil genius smile. “But no worries, we’ll be back soon tonight.”
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Kaoru looked from her reading, and noticed that it was getting darker. She turned on one of the lamps, and then went downstairs to turn on another lamp in the study. The girl left the study and went down the hall to the front of the home, wanting to turn on the two larger lamps at the front door. However, the lights were already turned on when Kaoru arrived. Misao and Megumi were talking to each other outside quietly.
“D you think they’ll come back tonight?” the younger girl asked Kaoru.
“I think so. I can feel it.”
“I hope that baka will come back soon…” Megumi whispered as one hand played with her long black hair.
The three waited in silence for some times. But soon they heard the distance clicking of the shoes of a horse, or rather two horses. They waited until the carriage stopped in front of the house. Aoshi was the first to leave the carriage and Misao promptly squealed out, “AOSHI-SAMAAA!” in her usual fashion and ran over to hug him. The tall raven-haired man half smiled as he wrapped his arms tightly around the little girl, moving her to the side. Next Sanosuke came out and walked over to Megumi and then kissed her hard.
“Baka,” she murmured when they broke the kiss. “You’re late.”
“I’m sorry kitsune, government officials a bit more stupid these days than usual,” he whispered before he kissed her again.
Next, Kenshin came out. Kaoru and Kenshin each walked half way and met each other with a gentle hug. He buried his face into her hair, inhaling her jasmine scent. “Tadaima…” he whispered into her ear before giving her neck a soft kiss.
“Welcome home,” she replied enjoying the feel of her body against his once more.
Finally Hiko came out and observed the scene. He shook his head at what he saw. “Kids these days…don’t know what the word privacy means.” He stood for another moment before going over and smacking Kenshin on the head. “Get inside, I don’t want all of you to catch a cold.”
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Kenshin sighed in contentment as he slipped underneath the covers of his bed. Even though he wouldn’t admit it to anyone, he loved his bed to death. The eight days in Kyoto deprived him of the comfort and warmth he always had underneath the covers. He snuggled further in and let out another sigh. Soon he heard the soft footsteps of Kaoru as she walked out of the bathroom and into their room.
She entered the room and gave him a tender smile. Her hair was completely let down now, and she was beautiful to hold in the soft light, dressed in only a simple yukata. Putting her kimono away she went over to her desk, where she kept her brush. Then Kaoru began her nightly tradition of stroking the brush through her ebony tresses.
“Come here,” Kenshin’s voice was husky, with a slightly commanding tone, slightly jolting Kaoru, but at the same time sending shivers up her spine. That voice…
She obeyed him and walked over to the futon, and sat down, her legs folded primly to the side as she continued to brush her hair. She felt Kenshin’s hand removing the brush from her own, and began brushing the hair out for her. Kenshin marvelled at the way her hair was so sleek, and how it felt like silk when he ran his fingers through it. He continued to brush her hair for a few minutes in silence, before he put the brush down, and tucked it elsewhere. Turning her around he gazed at her, “Kirei…”
Kaoru blushed a soft pink as she gazed back into his violet eyes. He gently tugged on her wrist and pulled her underneath the covers with him. Kenshin flipped her over so she was lying underneath him. Cupping the curve of her cheek with one hand, he gently stroked her cheek with his thumb. “I missed you.”
“I missed you too,” she replied.
He bent down and gently kissed her lips once, before rolling over again and having her spooned by his side, like he usually did. “I missed having the feel of a woman by my side.”
“You could have…in Kyoto…” she whispered snuggling closer to him.
“None were like you,” kissing her lips, this time deepening the kiss.
It was Kaoru who first broke the kiss. “I did some thinking while you were away…”
“And?” he asked as he continued to brush butterfly kisses along her neck.
“Ano…”
Kenshin brought his face level to hers again. “What’s wrong?”
“I don’t know how to word this,” she sighed.
“Shhh…it’s okay,” he whispered cradling her body against his, stroking her back tenderly.
“Nothing’s changed between us,” she replied, her voice muffled against his chest.
“Aa…”
“Nothing’s deepened,” she raised her head and looked straight into his eyes, “I barely know who you are. How can I be with you if I don’t know you?”
The red-head sighed and looked away. It was inevitable. She would have to know about his past, and he would have to know hers. He could not hide. But he was quite taken back at how forward she was, when it came to this. After all, she only knew him for two months. Everyone else seemed to avoid his past, where as she wanted to know more about it.
Kaoru continued, “I like you Kenshin, I want to know more about you, and see the man you hide away, the man you truly are.”
“Do you really want to know about someone’s who’s so stained?” he replied, his voice only a whisper.
“You’re not stained, and even if you are, I don’t care.”
“Oh Kaoru…” he murmured before hugging her tightly again.
“Will you tell me?” she pleaded.
“Yes, when the time comes you will know, and you will see. But for now, I’m sorry to keep you wondering like this. Wondering so much about the man you have been sharing a bed with for the past two months.”
Kaoru remained silent and just snuggled further in. “I’m glad you’re home.”
“Aa…” he kissed her cheek. “You know what, Kaoru?”
“What.”
“I like you too.”
The girl smiled into his chest as she sighed in contentment. “Good night.”
“Good night…koishii.”
Chapter5