A/N: Sorry for the long wait!
Disclaimer: Don’t own anything, just the plot. So back
off!
Altered Memory
Chapter 9 Part I: The Meeting of Old Friends
“What the hell’s going on?” Kenshin demanded
furiously, dragging her across the hall into his study, too angry to close the
door behind him before he was shaking her. “He kissed you!”
Kaoru shuddered deeply, her hand coming up to wipe her
mouth as if she would wipe away the memory. “If you think he got me out there
to make love to me, you’re wrong,” she said, on the edge of hysteria. “Kissing
me was only his final insult. Before that, he offered me money to take myself
off.”
“I’ll kill him!” Kenshin’s rage took her by surprise.
“I’ve taken all I can stand from that man tonight.” He moved towards the door,
determined to force a show-down evident in every line of his stride, and in
that split second, much as she would have liked to see her tormentor measuring
his length on the ground, she knew she had to stop it from happening.
“No, Kenshin, please.” She seized his arm, hanging on
when he would have dragged free of her. “Oh please, it’ll only cause more
trouble. I should never have told you, and I wouldn’t have, only–” She stopped,
knowing it would only fuel his temper if she admitted just how much the
incident had upset her. “Don’t you see? If you rush out there to my defense,
it’ll only confirm his suspicions.”
He stopped trying to brush her off and caught her
hand. “What suspicions?”
Too late, she could see herself being dragged in deeper.
“Oh please, can’t we just let it drop?” she pleaded.
“What exactly has he been accusing you of?”
“It’s all so silly.” Embarrassment put color into her
cheeks. “He has this ridiculous idea that I’m some sort of femme fatale with
designs on you, and that you find me more attractive than you should. He– he
seems to believe there’s something between us. We know it’s a ludicrous
suggestion, but you must see that if you make an issue over it, Tomoe’s going
to be hurt.”
Kenshin’s eyes burned with a strange fire. “Is it so
ludicrous, Kaoru? Hasn’t there always been something between us? I only ever
had to touch you.” His hands slid up her arms to her shoulders, drawing her
against him, his head coming down so slowly that surely she could have moved
away. And then his mouth was claiming hers, gently, almost tentatively at
first, as if relearning the contours, the taste, and it was too late to deny
him as she drowned in a sea of sensation. The passion this one man had always
been able to elicit blazed up, burning all the more fiercely for having lain
dormant for ten years.
The blind response of her mouth and yielding body, of
her urgently seeking hands, had him shuddering against her, his kiss deepening
with the hunger of a starving man, his arms crushing her possessively, his body
enveloping her as id he would absorb into himself. For Kaoru, there was no past
and no future, just this present terrible aching need to lose herself in this
man.
So absorbed were they in needs that have been denied
too long, neither heard the door pushed wider. Even Tomoe’s cry, “Kenshin...
how could you?” took several seconds to impinge.
Kaoru swayed drunkenly as Kenshin let her go, taking
longer to come back to earth than he, and it was a crash landing when she saw
the guilt with which he faced his fiancée. “Tomoe... I’m sorry. I never
intended this to happen.”
“What do you mean? You didn’t intend to kiss her, or
you didn’t intend that I should see you doing it?” Tomoe challenged tearfully.
“I didn’t intend– oh hell!” He swore helplessly.
“Tomoe, we have to talk.” He put out a hand appealingly but she struck it away.
“Talk! Talk! Were you talking to her? I hate her. I
hate you both!” With a sob, she spun on her heel and fled.
“Kaoru.” He turned back to her. Burning with an
uncontrollable heat only moments ago, she was now encased in ice, deeply
ashamed of her mindless response to Kenshin’s love-induced actions.
Love! What Kenshin had been offering had nothing to do
with love. It had been merely lust, and she shouldn’t have needed Saitou’s
warning to tell her that when she had her own experience to go on.
“Kaoru... don’t go,” he said as she evaded him and
reached the door.
But she ignored the plea in his voice as she said
bitterly, “You always did enjoy playing one girl off against another, didn’t
you, Kenshin? Well it looks as if you’ve done it once too often. If you have
any hopes of staying engaged to Tomoe, then you’d better go after her.”
“Kaoru, I don’t want–”
“You don’t want!” Her anger was all the more bitter
for having been allowed that one glimpse of heaven before having it snatched
away. “Kenshin, have you any idea of what you’ve done to her? Take it from me,
I know. I’ve been there.” She walked away quickly across the hall and up the
stairs, leaving him gray-faced.
All right, that’s it folks! Just kidding! You might
kill me if I end it here since you gave me a week to have this ready and all I
came up with is this. So read on! )
A few days later, Kaoru walked out of the London hospital
into the noon-day sun. She felt odd, enormously relieved and yet still with
unease. She ought to take a taxi to the flat but she hated to go back there
when it made her feel so uncomfortable. Sighing, she knew she had no
alternative when there were phone calls she had to make, but to put off that
moment, she decided to walk.
It had been marvelous to see Yoshida sitting up and
looking so much more like her usual bright self this morning. Last night when
they had allowed Kaoru a few moments with her, she had been drowsy after the
anesthetic and frighteningly pale and frail from the operation, and Kaoru had
felt the weight of responsibility heavy on her shoulders.
Of course Yoshida’s fist question this morning had
been to ask if she had heard from Kenshin yet and Kaoru admitted she hadn’t.
she assured her, though, that the rest of her family would visit that day
having been telephoned earlier. It hadn’t been the answer Yoshida had wanted
and Kaoru knew the older woman was as puzzled and worried by Kenshin’s
inexplicable disappearance as she was herself.
At first, the morning after the dreadful evening,
Kaoru had felt nothing but relief when Yoshida told her Kenshin had gone off to
London. She had no idea whether he had healed the breach with his fiancée before
he left and as she had seen nothing of Tomoe or her father in the ensuing days,
she still had no clue. And she told herself it was no business of hers anyway.
It was only when, a week after, Dr. Taseki had told
Yoshida that there would be a bed for her at the hospital the following
Thursday that his absence became a source of concern. Repeated phone calls to
his London apartment brought no reply, and no one at Merrifields knew where he
was. After several days, they had ascertained that he had been to London and
had later flown to Germany, but where he had gone from there was a mystery.
In his absence, all arrangements for Yoshida’s
operation fell on Kaoru. Not that she minded but she was worried about whether
she was doing things as he would have wanted, especially when Yoshida insisted
that she make herself at home in his flat.
She was debating on whether to treat herself lunch
outside when she reached the building of Kenshin’s flat. The lift whisked her
up to the fourth floor and she took out the key and fitted it into the lock.
But she hadn’t had time to turn it when the door was snatched open.
“Where the hell have you been?” Kenshin demanded,
glowering at her.
It was a nightmare come true, Kenshin coming back to
find her occupying his flat. “Where have I been? I’ve been visiting your aunt,
that’s where. Someone had to organize things while you were gadding about.
Yoshida had her operation yesterday.”
“Yes, I know that.” He closed the door behind her and
hustled her into the sitting room. “I’ve just come from Merrifields. I’m sorry
you had all the responsibility for Yoshida, but there were things I had to do.
And I didn’t mean that. I meant where have you been now? I called
the hospital and they said you left over an hour ago.”
Her eyes widened. “I-I walked.”
“And here I’ve been imagining you mugged or knocked
down crossing the road.” Kaoru was curious to see signs of strain in his face.
Had he really been worried about her?
“Well, you’re here now, so you’d better get packed,”
he went on. She had known of course that if Kenshin came back, she would have
to move out, but it hurt that he was so eager to get rids of her.
“I’m sorry if you’re annoyed that I stayed here, but I
never actually unpacked so it won’t take a minute to get my things.”
“Kaoru, of course I’m not annoyed. Where else would
you have stayed? But right now, I’m taking you to Merrifields.”
“Merrifields!” Kaoru stared up at him. It was the last
place she wanted to go to and she couldn’t imagine why he had suggested it.
“Misao’s at Merrifields, Kaoru. That’s where I’ve been
– after I settled some urgent business here in London and in Germany. She wants
to see you very badly, and Kaoru, it’s imperative you talk to her. Don’t worry
about Yoshida; the family has worked out a system that would always have
Yoshida some visitors.”
She hardly heard his last statement. Misao...
Kaoru closed her eyes, the longing to see her friend washing over her. But
Merrifields! How could she bear to go there, to all the memories it held?
As if he understood her hesitation, Kaoru said
urgently, “Trust me, Kaoru. I know I failed you once, but please, trust me
now.” And something in his voice had her bowing her head in silent
acquiescence.
“There’s only Misao here at the moment.” Kenshin said
as they pulled into the driveway. The ride was silent, as Kaoru didn’t want to
talk and as memories flooded her mind.
“Not– not her family too?”
“Later. They’ll be here in a few days but we thought
it was important that Misao should be alone for this meeting.” Kenshin got out
of the car and opened her door, holding her hands firmly as he helped her to
her feet.
If that was meant to be reassuring, Kaoru didn’t find
it so. Only there was no retreat. the door opened and she turned, her heart
hammering. She saw a petite, superbly groomed young woman standing there, her
glossy dark hair flowing, her clothes impeccably fashionable. A stranger!
For the space of several heartbeats, they stared at
each other, and then Misao was leaping down the steps, a grin spreading across
her face that was so familiar.
“Kaoru!” Outstretched arms wrapped around her and held
her without restraint. “Oh Kaoru, it’s so good to see you.”
“Misao.” Tears filling her eyes and spilling down her
cheeks, Kaoru clung to her old friend, and it was some time before either of
them could bear to draw apart. Slipping Kaoru’s hand through her arm, Misao led
her into the house, leaving Kenshin to bring her suitcase.
Okay, I have to end it here. Seriously. Next chap,
find out why Kaoru needs to talk to Misao imperatively. What business did
Kenshin have to do in London and Germany? (oh wait, that’s for the last
chapter.) 2 more updates and then this is done (kinda makes you wonder how I
can wrap this up in 2 updates, don’t you?). So you all must review now!