A/N: The much-anticipated chapter is here, longer than
my other chaps! Enjoy!
Disclaimer: Seriously, stop taunting me!
Altered Memory
Chapter 8 Part II: The Future Father-in-Law
Watching Tomoe clutching Kenshin's arm possessively, Kaoru was
glad to turn away to the woman's father, only to find herself held in his
assessing stare.
"Ah, the little nurse." Saitou took her
outstretched hand in a crushing grip, the heavy gold ring on his fourth finger
biting into her flesh.
"How do you do, sir," she responded with
more composure than she felt, suspecting his greeting had been calculated to
put her in her place.
The painful pressure on her hand slackened but he
didn't release her, confounding her by saying, "Oh call me Hajime, or are
you trying to make me feel past being able to appreciate a beautiful woman by
being so formal? You're a sly dog, Kenshin, not letting on what a little
stunner you've been harboring under your roof."
Kenshin looked unaccountably angry and Kaoru was at a
loss to know how to handle this middle-aged man's gallantry, which was both
heavy-handed and unexpected. It was Yoshida who came to her rescue.
"Stop flirting with Kaoru, Hajime. She's much too
wise to be taken by it."
Saitou grinned at his hostess. "You're only
jealous. And you can stop glowering at me, Kenshin, I've given you my daughter
so don't begrudge me this small consolation." He gave Kaoru's hand a final
squeeze before releasing her at last and offering his arm to Yoshida, escorting
her to the sitting room. But it was Kaoru he chose to sit beside on one of the
sofas, much too close for her comfort, plying her with flowery compliments
until she squirmed with embarrassment.
Kenshin dispensed their drinks, glowering. Kaoru tried
not to look at him but even as she looked down at her hands, his vision filled
her. Formally dressed tonight, he seemed more attractive than ever.
She stole a glance at him to find him looking at her,
seemingly angry. "Kaoru, perhaps you'd be good enough to fetch some more
ice," he said coldly.
Scrambling to her feet, she was glad to escape to the
kitchen, discovering only when she got there that the ice bucket he handed to
her was still more than half full. She lingered in the kitchen and was relieved
to see that dinner was almost ready to be served.
She said as she went back, "The dinner trolley's
on its way; perhaps you'd like me to help you get to the table, Yoshida."
She was pleased to find herself seated between Yoshida
and Kenshin, looking out on to the still sunlit garden, and under the influence
of Meg's superb cooking. Saitou ceased his heavy-handed flirtation in favor of
more general conversation and Kenshin lost his glowering expression while Tomoe
listened to the pair. Kaoru slowly began to relax. Perhaps this awful
evening wasn't going to turn out too badly after all.
She looked across interestedly when Tomoe said,
"I hope you won't be going into hospital before the midsummer party,
Yoshida. You just have to be there."
Yoshida grimaced. "There's every chance that I
shall miss it this year. But, Bethan, you'll be able to go." She
brightened up immediately. "You'll love it. the Yukishiros' house is open
to all and people come from far and wide."
Everything in Kaoru shied away from the idea. She
didn't want to have another evening just watching Tomoe and Kenshin together.
It was too painful. Neither did she want to again be in the company of Hajime
Saitou Yuskishiro.
"If you're able to go, then of course, I'll be
glad to go with you. But I couldn't go alone."
"Nonsense, my dear. You won't be alone. Kenshin
will take you." Yoshida declared.
"Of course," Kenshin agreed, his voice
betraying no emotion. "Give in gracefully, Kaoru. It's not as if you have
the excuse of nothing to wear. It'll be a chance to give that silk caftan
hanging in your wardrobe an airing."
The sudden silence was deafening, and mortified color
rose up Kaoru's cheeks as she could hear the other three people at the table
speculating how he knew what she had in her wardrobe.
"Well, if you already have something to
wear." Yoshida broke the silence. "Though I was rather looking
forward to taking you shopping."
Kaoru said quietly, "It was a get-well present
from my colleagues at the hospital in Beirut. I happened to comment to Kenshin
that, lovely as it is, a warm sweater would have been more practical."
She knew it wasn't terribly convincing, but she was
relieved to see some of the jealous uncertainty fade from Tomoe's face. Her
father, though, was still studying her with hard, skeptical eyes.
Kaoru's hands were still shaking when they returned to
the sitting room for coffee and Yoshida asked her to hand out the cups. She was
bending over the tray and didn't see Kenshin come up behind her on the pretext
of helping, so when he said in an undertone, "Kaoru, I'm sorry if I
embarrassed you," she was startled into looking up at him.
The mixture of expressions she saw in his face held
her transfixed: frustration, a king of hunted anger, and strangest of all,
something that might have been tenderness. That and the note of genuine
contrition in his voice undermined her defenses and in her face was all her
hurt and longing.
There was an answering flare in Kenshin's eyes. The
very air seemed to pulsate around them as she was caught in the force of his
magnetism, held immovably.
Saitou's voice reached her as if from a distance.
"Now that Yoshida's operation is set to go ahead, maybe it's time we fixed
a date for the wedding. Especially since your sister's coming over from
Australia, Kenshin."
Kenshin turned quickly, "Changed your tune,
haven't you, Hajime?" he said mildly. "Two months ago, you were
insisting we waited six months to be sure Tomoe knew her own mind."
"You mean you've changed your mind, Dad?"
Tomoe said, smiling.
"I'll grant I had a few misgivings. But Tomoe's
convinced me she really does know what she wants, so I'm withdrawing that
condition."
Tomoe hugged her father. "Oh, thank you, Dad!
Isn't it marvelous, Kenshin? We can get married straight away!"
Kaoru didn't think she could stand this anymore when
Kenshin spoke. "When you say straight away, are you thinking of dashing to
the nearest registration office?" he asked sardonically. "What about
your plans for a big splash?"
Her father said easily, "It'll be in a church and
everything can be as she wants it. Of course we'll need time to arrange
everything – say six weeks perhaps. Yoshida will be out of the hospital, your
sister should still be here and so will your little friend." His hard gaze
flicked to Kaoru.
Kaoru flinched. She had known that Kenshin and Tomoe
will get married but he certainly had never imagined she would have to witness
it herself
"I'm sure it'll all be easy enough to arrange.
But there are other considerations," Kenshin said smoothly.
"Name one."
"I can name at least four," he said
challengingly and Kaoru wondered why he wasn't as eager as Tomoe was. Perhaps
he didn't like to feel manipulated. "In the foirst place, Yoshida hasn't
been given the date for her admission into hospital yet, so I doubt very much
if she'll be up to the strain of attending a wedding in six weeks' time."
"Oh you mustn't let me influence things, Kenshin.
I could always just use a wheel chair," the older woman said at once.
"That's one objection out of the way,"
Saitou grunted.
"Secondly, it's highly unlikely my sister can
extend her visit for so long," Kenshin went on as if neither of them had
spoken. "Thirdly, six weeks will bring us right into the busiest time in
the farming community, which will make it impossible for most of my family and
friends to attend."
"Your sister will stay on if you asked her
to," Saitou barked, making no attempt to hide his displeasure. "And
you family and friends are all in a position to take one day off, however busy
they are." His tone changed, smooth but with an underlying threat.
"Or are you no longer in such pressing need of my backing for your drive
to export venison to Germany?"
Kenshin betrayed no reaction to the threat, but Kaoru
recognized the waves of anger emanating from him by his stance. "And
fourthly, and after that remark, by far the most important consideration, not
only Tomoe buy I too need the full six months to be certain marriage is what we
want."
"Kenshin!" Tomoe couldn't have sounded more
wounded if Kenshin had physically struck her. "Darling, you don't mean
that!"
He looked down on her with a gentle expression.
"Tomoe, you're young, highly intelligent, and very beautiful. You have too
much going for you that you don't need your father to 'buy' you a
husband."
"I don't know what you mean, Kenshin. I love you,
you know I do." Tears welled up in her eyes.
Kenshin hesitated, obviously affected by her tears,
"This is neither the time nor the place."
"I'm afraid we've shocked Kaoru with our little
argument." Saitou was smiling at her, a smile that didn't quite reach his
eyes. "She's gone quite pale. What you need, my dear, is a breath of fresh
air. Come, you and I will take a turn in the garden."
She recoiled from the idea of spending any time alone
with the man. But she would be doing Kenshin and Tomoe a favor if she
distracted him for a while.
He was silent until they reached the center of the
knot-garden where he stopped, forcing her to halt too. And there was none of
his earlier gallantry in his voice when he demanded harshly, "Well, Nurse
Kamiya, how much do you want to take yourself off?"
The moon hung, round and yellow over the vineyard and
there was enough light to see clearly the jut of his jaw and the ruthless gleam
in his eyes. "I beg your pardon?"
"I think I made myself perfectly clear. How much
is it going to cost me to persuade you to go away and leave Kenshin Himura
alone?"
Anger scorched through her at his brash insensitivity.
Who did he think he was? As if money was the answer to everything, first trying
to buy Kenshin and now, herself. She forced down the impulse to tell him just
what he could do with his money, for some sixth sense told her she would be
playing into his hands if she lost her temper.
Instead she said coldly, "You can save your
money, sir, Kenshin isn't, and never has been, in any danger form me."