A/N: This is it, people! The one you’ve all been waiting for! They see each other again at last, after ten long years! Will they be all mushy and lovey-dovey? Find out! Oh, and there’s another character that’s going to be introduced here… y’all know who I’m talking about. Anyway… why on earth are you still reading this? Go on!

Disclaimer: Watsuki… Watsuki… Watsuki… Watsuki… Kaizen… huh?

Altered Memory

Chapter 3 – Part I: Round One

She would have known him anywhere, even though his red flaming hair was longer. He was twenty-seven when Kaoru had last seen him, a full-grown male adult, but the last ten years had given him an added maturity, his broad shoulders keeping the fabric of his jacket taut, the tailored trousers doing little to disguise the length and power of his muscled legs. His face was leaner, the indentations running from his nose to the corners of his well-shaped mouth giving him a sardonic look that hadn’t been there before, though the once expressive purple eyes were coolly blank.

“Kaoru, isn’t this a surprise, Kenshin turning up days before we expected him?” Yoshida said excitedly from her usual chair. “But of course you two haven’t met, have you?” Her rich chuckle rolled out. “You’ll have guessed though, Kaoru, that this is the nephew I’ve been boring on all about all week. Kenshin, meet my nurse and congenial companion, Kaoru Kamiya.”

He held out his hand and Kaoru was forced to move, transferring the book she held to her left hand and putting her right in his. At his touch, she suddenly felt weak and breathless, devastatingly aware of him, and in that moment, she knew he still had all the old magnetic attraction he possessed then.

“A two-way surprise, Miss–Kamiya.” Neither her name nor appearance had seemed to raise a flicker of recognition and the way he had extended his hand towards her had seemed no more than the polite acknowledgement of a stranger, nut that slight pause before saying her name made her wonder and she shivered. Her released her hand and turned to his aunt. “When I went away, you were still dead set against the idea of having a nurse, and I come back to find one already installed.”

“It did happen rather quickly,” his aunt admitted. “Kaoru’s been ill and needed a light job to give her time to recover. It was Dr. Genzai’s idea that she should come to me, and I must say I’m very grateful to him for thinking of it. We get on splendidly, don’t we, Kaoru? Now what was it you were rushing in here to tell me, my dear?”

For a moment, Kaoru looked at her blankly, her senses still vibrating at Kenshin’s nearness, her mind still off-balance, wondering if he did know her and if he meant to tell his aunt. Finally pulling herself together, she held out the book. “I found this in Framlingham today and I thought you’d like to see it.” She found the right page. “Look, there’s a picture of the house taken years ago.”

Yoshida gave a crow of delight as Kaoru laid the book on her lap. “Oh Kenshin, do look! You must show this to Tomoe; she’ll be fascinated. Have you seen her since you got back?”

“Yes, I called in at the winery first to see how the bottling is going on and she’d just finished showing a party around. I’ve asked her over for dinner if that’s all right with you, Yoshida?” He had glanced at the illustration in the book then directed a coldly searching look at Kaoru.

“Of course it’s all right. You know you don’t have to ask,” his aunt assured him. She turned to Kaoru. “Tomoe Yukishiro is Kenshin’s fiancée, Kaoru. Her father bought the old rectory a few years ago and did it up. I’m glad she’s coming tonight. I’m sure you’ll like her, and she’ll be some young company for you.”

So he was still unmarried then, but soon to change that. Kaoru refused to recognize the ache.

“Do I take it she hasn’t been up to the house to see you while I’ve been away?” Kenshin asked, frowning.

Yoshida suddenly looked uncomfortable. “Not for the last few days,” she admitted. “But the tourists are starting to arrive and she’s been kept busy. Tomoe helps Kenshin as a guide,” she explained for Kaoru’s benefit, “taking visitors around the winery and showing them what goes on. You’ll have to join one of her tours while you’re here, Kaoru.”

“I thought Miss–Kamiya was here to look after you, not go junketing around the district.” Again, there was that unnerving hesitation as Kenshin said her name, and his implication that she would be prepared to neglect her patient for her own enjoyment made her smart at the unfairness.

But before she could defend herself, Yoshida said sharply, “Don’t be silly, Kenshin. Kaoru’s entitled to some free time.”

“You might feel like taking a gentle stroll over to the winery yourself one day if it’s not too far,” Kaoru said placatingly, not wanting to be a contention between aunt and nephew. Kenshin’s attitude to her made her deeply uneasy. Surely if he had recognized her, he would have said something by now? But if he hadn’t, why was he so hostile?

There was a sound of the front door opening and closing and light footsteps crossing the hall. A lovely woman with long black hair and thickly fringed eyes burst into the room.

“Tomoe, my dear!” Yoshida smiled a welcome.

The woman went at once to Kenshin, linking her arm in his and hardly able to tear her eyes away from him to say, “Hello, Aunt Yoshida. Isn’t it marvelous to have Kenshin home early?”

“Hello, sweetheart.” There was no coldness in Kenshin’s purple eyes now as he looked down at the girl hanging on his arm. “I understand you haven’t met the new addition to the household yet, Yoshida’s–nurse, Kaoru Kamiya.” Again, that almost imperceptible hesitation that kept Kaoru on tenterhooks. “Miss Kamiya, this is my fiancée, Tomoe Yukishiro.” There was an unreadable expression in his eyes as he made the introduction.

There was a sharp pain, deep down, and with dismay, she recognized it as jealously. Ten years ago, Kenshin Himura had rejected her, leaving her in no doubt that he had no place for her in his life, and after all those years, it was still painful to meet the woman who was to be his wife.

But aware of Kenshin’s sardonic eyes watching her, Kaoru hid both the shock and the betraying jealousy. “I’m very happy to meet you, Miss Yukishiro,” she said quietly.

“Oh Tomoe, please.” The other woman’s smile was warm and friendly. “And I’ll call you Kaoru. It’s such a pretty name, don’t you think so, darling?”

“I used to like it once.” Kenshin’s voice, like the expression in his eyes, was flat and hard, but when Tomoe looked up at him in surprise, his face relaxed. “As you say, it’s a pretty name,” he agreed indifferently.

Yoshida showed Kaoru’s book with the old illustration of Vine House to Tomoe and the tension eased. But all the time, Kaoru was aware of Kenshin and that his eyes often rested on her with cold speculation. It was a relief when Meg announced dinner was ready and Kaoru jumped up to help Yoshida from her chair and into the dining area.

“I’m glad to see you take your duties seriously, Miss Kamiya,” Kenshin said as she lowered Yoshida into her chair at the table.

“Indeed she does!” Yoshida answered for her, smiling fondly.

Kenshin took his own chair when he had seen Kaoru seated and for some reason, she realized he was furiously angry and yet his question, “You know Gr. Genzai well, Miss Kamiya?” sounded reasonable enough.

“I can’t say I know Dr. Genzai well, but we’ve been acquainted for quite a few years now,” she replied quietly. “I’ve been working abroad for too long to be able to say I know anyone in England well.”

“But he obviously felt he knew you well enough to recommend you for this job. Do you do private nursing?”

Kaoru toyed with her spoon, her appetite deserting her under his questioning because she couldn’t help feeling there was some hidden purpose behind it. “No, this is the first time.”

His eyebrows lifted. “So what made you change your habits? Oh yes, you said something about having been ill and needing a less arduoud job.”

“Darling, do you have to fire questions at the poor girl all through dinner?” Tomoe laughingly protested. “You’re not giving her a chance to eat.”

Kenshin stood up to pour out the wine, which Kaoru refused with her hand over her glass and he didn’t look pleased at his fiancée’s protest. “Surely it’s only natural I should want to know something of Miss Kamiya’s background and qualifications,” he retorted stiffly. “That is what you said, isn’t it, Miss Kamiya?”

“I-I had an accident,” Kaoru glanced at Yoshida, silently begging her not to enlarge on her bald statement.

“What kind of accident?” he pressed.

Kaoru shifted uncomfortably in her chair and shot another pleading glance at Yoshida, who was frowning. “A-a street accident,” she said.

“You walked in front of a car?” he was openly disbelieving. “And this happened in London, I suppose?”

“No, I’ve already told you I was abroad.”

“Oh yes, so you said. America, wasn’t it? So why come back to England for medical treatment?”

“America!” She couldn’t imagine why he would think that. “No, it wasn’t in America. And my-my employers had me brought back to London.”

“Your–employers? Now who would they be?” He was like a cat pouncing on a mouse.

This time it didn’t need another pleading glance to bring Yoshida to her rescue. “That’s quite enough, Kenshin,” his aunt said firmly. “Can’t you see Kaoru doesn’t wish to talk about her accident?”

She began to talk to Tomoe about the stage the wine-bottling had reached and under cover of their conversation, Kenshin said to Kaoru in a low voice, “Oh yes, I can see all right, and I’m sure I don’t need two guesses to know why you’re so reluctant to talk about it.”

Kaoru’s startled and apprehensive blue eyes clashed with his hard amethyst ones. But at least Yoshida had put an end to his questioning. What on earth had he meant by that last remark? Had Kenshin recognized her, the girl who had brought disgrace to her stepfather’s name all those years ago? She could think of no other explanation for his barely concealed antagonism.

The meal did eventually come to an end and Kaoru began to stack the dirty plates on the trolley as the others moved back to the sitting room to take their coffee.

“Don’t you bother with them now, Kaoru,” Meg protested. “You go and sit yourself down and relax. That trip to Framlingham must’ve taken it out of you.”

“More junketing, Miss Kamiya?” Kenshin said in a jibing tone.

“Your aunt wanted to got o the hairdressers,” she said defensively. “As I’m supposed to be looking after her, naturally, I went along too.”

He merely shrugged and went to sit by Tomoe on one of the sofas, and soon the two were in deep discussion about events at the winery since he had been away.

Yoshida said with a laugh, “If those two are going to talk business all night, you and I have will have to make do with the chessboard again, Kaoru, for our entertainment.”

Kaoru went to the cabinet to get the board out, thinking Kenshin hadn’t heard, nut almost at once, he said derisively, “Chess!”

“Perhaps you’d like to take Kaoru on, Kenshin,” his aunt suggested. “I promise you’ll find her a very worthy opponent. I haven’t managed to beat her yet.”

The thought of sitting across a chessboard with him put Kaoru in a panic and it was with considerable relief she heard him say, “I think not, Yoshida.” He turned to Tomoe, putting her to her feet. “I’ll run you home, darling. I know it’s early yet but I need to see your father anyway. He’ll expect a report on the deal I struck with the Australian businessman.”

They walked across the room together, his arm around her shoulders, but at the door, he turned. “Please don’t keep my aunt up too late, Miss Kamiya. And when you’ve seen her to bed, I’d like you to wait for me in my study. There are things we need to discuss.”

Had he recognized her? She was almost sure of it now. And though she was grateful that the forthcoming interview with him was to be conducted in private, she was equally sure it wasn’t going to be a pleasant experience.