If you are all still interested
after this chapter, I'll have 6 out soon. It will be a short one, because it
will only be about the second part of Shinta's scar. If I missed any mistakes,
I'm sorry, I'm a bit on the tired side, it is 2:00 am as I post this.
Disclaimers: I do not own RK.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
*~*
Kaoru looked down at her watch. The
morning had been rather disarmingly hectic. As soon as she got home that early
Thursday morning, she received a phone call from her father, telling her about
his arrival home. Shinta had been polite, and offered to take her to the
airport to meet up with her father, but she declined and decided to take a cab
instead. Mostly, she needed time alone to reflect upon her feelings.
She stared out the airport terminal
window, a vacant stare painted upon her face, as if she were viewing another
reality. A tall man approached from behind. He stood momentarily before calling
her name.
"Kaoru?" He lowly spoke to
startle her from the dream.
"Hnn," She said and turned
to see her father standing slightly behind her. "I'm sorry, Dad." She
lowered her head.
The first thing he noticed was her
less than stellar appearance. Her eyes looked a little red, almost as if she'd
been crying. "Its all right, Kaoru." He laid a hand against her
forehead. "Have you been getting rest. You look very tired."
"I'm fine," She cracked a
smile. "It's just that... Makoto has been bothering me again."
He released a sharp growl; Kaoru
anticipated his flaming anger. "I should have known it was going to be boy
trouble." He motioned to pick up his carry on bag, it had been the only
bag he had taken with him. "If he bothers you again, tell me directly and
I will deal with him using my methods."
She roughly swallowed, "That's
ok. I have a friend who said he would deal with him."
Kaoru's father grinned, "Do I
know this boy?"
"Not yet," Kaoru became
more aware of her father's tone. "But I know you will like him. He's the
most successful student in our school."
"I like him already," Mr.
Tsukino laughed. "You must invite him to dinner."
"Tonight?" Kaoru asked.
"Sure; unless you rather
not."
"Um, ok," Kaoru fidgeted.
"You seem uncomfortable?"
"No," She answered.
"Please don't go picking him apart like Makoto."
"I will if he gives me a reason
to do so."
"Father!" Kaoru scolded.
"It's a father's prerogative to
insult his daughter's suitor," He laughed.
She deeply blushed, "He's not
my suitor. I can't believe people still use that word," her voice subtly
cracked. That word seemed almost ancient, but of course, that was her father.
He was deeply embedded in his ways.
"But you wish it, and that
makes him fair game for my questions."
"You seem very happy about
something," Kaoru laughed. This would help change the topic, and hopefully
save poor Shinta some grief. They walked out the door and stopped by the taxi.
A man got out and placed the single bag in the trunk and the two got into the
back seat.
"That is because the merger
went accordingly. My share of the profit will be about two-hundred million
yen."
"I'm glad business is doing so
well," Kaoru replied. "That means you will be home more often?"
"I don't know about that
yet."
Kaoru sighed, "It's ok. A
little time is better than no time at all."
"When its fully completed,
we'll have all the time in the world."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
*~*
Kaoru picked up the receiver and
dialed Shinta's phone number. It was now four in the afternoon, and
preparations for dinner had been started. When the phone kept ringing, it
started to make her nervous. Was he home, would he answer or let the machine
get it? It rang four violent tones, and then a fifth. She was about to give up
when there was a click and then a voice on the other end.
"Hello?" Shinta spiritedly
sighed into the receiver.
"Shinta, its me... Kaoru."
"Kaoru..." He deeply
breathed her name, an audible whisper that sent chills down her spine. He
cleared his throat. "Did you meet up with your father?"
"Ah... Yes... about that...
Father wants to meet you. He wants to meet you tonight."
Shinta's eyes widened,
"Why?"
Kaoru become more nervous. Maybe it
would have been better if he had not answered the phone. She knew how he felt;
he didn't want a girlfriend. He already explained he had no intentions of
starting a personal relationship. She had to tell him the reason, she owed him
that much.
"He thinks that...we're...you
know."
"Oh..." Shinta gasped.
Kaoru was quick to explain the
situation, "I tried to tell him we're friends, but he doesn't like to
listen."
"It's fine. I'm all right with
it," He explained.
"Can you come over? Daisuke and
Megan will be here too?"
He began to laugh, "Daisuke is
kind of loud, but I guess I'll live. What time?"
"Can you be here in about an
hour?"
Shinta looked at the clock on the
wall, "I'll be there."
Kaoru's smile spread, "Thank
you."
"You're welcome, I'd just like
to know why you are so thankful?"
"It's nothing," She
gleefully snickered.
"Are you going to let me go
now?"
"All right, I'll see you in an
hour."
"In an hour," He repeated.
They hung up on each other. Kaoru
floated back to the kitchen, where she began by checking on the fish in the
oven. She was far from a superior cook, some might say she was and will always
be awful at it. But, she had a few recipes she managed to do well with, as long
as her father helped.
Kaoru played it smart. Before she
had called Shinta, she had called Megan and asked her for help. She looked down
at her watch, fifteen minutes had passed. Since Megan lived a short walk from
her house, Kaoru could almost time the arrival down to when the doorbell would
ring.
"Three... two... one..."
She whispered. Amazingly, the doorbell chimed and Kaoru went to open the door.
"So what's the big
emergency?" Megan folded her arms. Daisuke stood behind her.
Kaoru blushed. "If you don't
mind, Daisuke; I need to barrow Megan for a few minutes. If you want, you can
join my dad in the living room?"
Daisuke shuddered, "No thanks,
I'll go sit and relax by the pool."
Kaoru and Megan laughed at the same
time. Kaoru gave Daisuke a light push, "I can't believe you are afraid of
my father."
"Any man in his right mind
would be."
"We'll, when you turn into a
man, let me know?" Megan mocked.
"I can't believe you just said
that!" Kaoru covered her mouth.
Daisuke turned scarlet, "You
thought I was man enough last night." His brow sharply rose.
Megan gasped and covered his mouth
with her hands. Her face flushed, "Be quiet!" She squealed.
Kaoru stuck her fingers into her
ears, "I didn't hear anything."
"Sure!" Megan
sarcastically laughed as Kaoru began to push her toward the kitchen.
Once they arrived, they washed their
hands at the island stationed in the center and then turned to prepare the
meal.
Megan cleaned some daikon radishes
and sat them in front of Kaoru. "Chop these up for me." She turned
and placed a pot of water onto the stove. "What is so special about
tonight?"
"Nothing..." Kaoru
dreamily replied.
"Nothing? You have a dumb look
on your face, one that shouts 'I have a boyfriend'."
"No, its not like that!"
Kaoru replied. "Shinta is coming over."
"Oh! 'Red' is coming to
dinner?"
"You can be so rude,
Megan!"
She giggled, "I love driving
you crazy, its my job."
Kaoru made a few cuts, "Is it
true?"
"Is what true?"
"Did you and Daisuke
have..." Kaoru sounded as if she were forbidden to say the words, "I
mean do...it?"
Megan blushed, "It probably
shouldn't have happened, but it did."
"What was it like? Do you
regret it?"
Megan shrugged, "It was over
before I knew it happened. I don't know how to sum it up. I guess it was
gentle, the type of feeling you get when your completely safe. He maybe a thug,
but I love the guy." Megan lightly bit her lower lip and shook her head,
"No, I don't regret it."
Kaoru released fits of laughter. All
Megan could do was watch as her best friend folded over holding her sides.
"What's so funny?"
"You!" Kaoru replied.
"It was like a year ago when you said, and I quote, 'I will never go out
with that creep!'"
"So I did, but things
change."
"That they do, and there is no
stopping it." Kaoru sadly sighed and cut the final slice of radish.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
*~*
Shinta stood at the front door as a
boy his age came to the front. The young man stared for a moment and decided to
walk up and see what was going on.
"Can I help you?"
"Yeah, is Kaoru home?"
"Hey, you're Shinta, I sit a
few seat behind you in a few classes," Daisuke answered.
Shinta gave a slight nod and smile.
He still wasn't good at dealing with others. His loner nature seemed to
prohibit the use of vocabulary.
"She's with my girlfriend right
now."
Shinta's eyes shifted, "So why
are you outside?"
"Oh," Daisuke laughed.
"Because Kaoru's father is home. He has the tendency to emotionally tear
down people if he doesn't like them."
Shinta swallowed, "That's
useful information."
"So its true then,"
Daisuke replied. "You are into Kaoru!"
Shinta's face went flush,
"Well, we're friends, so I care about her."
Daisuke slapped Shinta on the back,
causing him to stumble forward several feet. He caught his balance and turned,
giving a questionable look.
"You love her!" Daisuke
mocked.
Shinta didn't know how to react to
the guy, Daisuke acted more like a sociable monkey than a human.
"Lets go around to the kitchen
entrance, I'm sure the girls won't mind."
The two young men walked around to
the other side of the house and looked in through the sliding glass doors.
Megan immediately soured and filled a cup with water. She headed to the sliding
doors and opened it.
"What do you want?" She
asked while nodding to Shinta to move to one side.
Shinta stepped back just in time.
Megan poured the entire contents of the glass over Daisuke's head.
"I told you no snooping!"
Kaoru laughed and picked up a dry
hand towel and tossed it at Daisuke.
"Here, you can use this to dry
off." She froze and smiled. Shinta stood off to one side, looking quietly
perplexed by the situation.
"Shinta!" Kaoru sighed.
"How long have you been here?"
"Just a few minutes," He
stated. "Daisuke said that you were busy."
"I am trying to finish dinner.
You can come in if you like?"
"Is it safe? I won't get wet,
will I?"
"I promise, I won't let Megan
harm you," Kaoru cheerfully grinned.
"Great, he's allowed into the
kitchen and I'm not?" Daisuke sarcastically grimaced.
"You mustn't pay any attention
to him," Megan lightly pulled Daisuke's ear, "He's not house
broken!"
"Awe come on! I'm not a
complete animal!" He slipped out of his shoes and left them outside the
door. The tall and seriously uncoordinated man-child rushed in and nearly
skidded into Megan. Daisuke managed to halt when his senses lifted the aroma of
fresh sushi rolls from the air. When he went to lift one from a plate, Megan snapped
at him.
"Don't even think about
it!" She howled and slapped his hands.
"Owe!" Daisuke croaked.
"Awe come on! You can let me try one!"
"No, you can have some at
dinner." She picked up the plate and placed a light covering of plastic wrap
over it. She placed it into the refrigerator before returning to stir the rice
to go with kakiage teishoku (A Diced Shrimp tempura).
Kaoru stepped out on the cobble
stone. "Please, come in, Shinta?" She again asked. "It's ok,
they are here to help me. Even daisuke, I think."
"Comedic relief?" He
questioned before walking forward and removing his shoes, where he left them on
a mat.
"It's always good to
laugh." She answered.
He stepped inside and Kaoru pointed
to his left.
"Since you visit so often, I
got you your own surippa (house shoes)."
He lightly blushed and slipped them
on. Daisuke on the other hand, being rude as normal, did not use the guest
shoes left for him by the door. It was naturally rude to enter through the
kitchen anyway, but he didn't care. He'd do anything to avoid Kaoru's dad.
Dinner was close to being ready when
Kaoru decided that it wouldn't be right if her father found out that her friend
was already there.
"Shinta, I hate to ask you
this," She paled. "You might make a better impression on father if
you go to the front door and knock."
He nodded and went toward the
kitchen door. He removed the new guest shoes and stepped into his own. Daisuke
followed suit and decided not to leave the poor guy alone with Kaoru's dad. He
slipped into his shoes and followed the shorter boy to the front door.
Kaoru grabbed the guest surippas and
headed to the front entrance hall to drop them off. She quickly raced back to
the kitchen without a sound. A few moments later there was a sharp knock at the
door.
Daisuke whistled a few notes,
"What fools do for the love of a woman."
Shinta didn't bother correcting him.
He didn't reply to the comment. It was becoming blatant to the world at large.
He was indeed falling in love with Kaoru.
The door opened and on the other
side stood Kaoru's father. Daisuke was right, the man was intimidating at first
glance. He was rather tall with a slight muscular build. His face held a stern
grin and a thin mustache over his upper lip.
"You must be Shinta," He
extended his hand and Shinta accepted it.
"Yes..." Shinta replied.
"Kaoru invited me, I hope you don't mind?"
"I don't mind, in fact I told
her to invite you over,"
He moved to one side, allowing his
young prey to enter the house. "You can call me, Tsukino-sama."
"Hai, Tsukino-sama."
Shinta slid from his shoes and
quickly stepped back into the house shoes Kaoru gave to him. Daisuke followed
his lead.
The three men walked toward the
dining room, where Kaoru and Megan were currently working. They had just finished
setting the place settings.
"Dinner will be ready in a
moment," Kaoru replied. "Please, sit down and have some tea."
Tsukino-sama reached for the tea and
began to pour. He filled three cups and passed one to Shinta and the second to
Daisuke; the third stayed in front of him.
"Daisuke, how is school?"
Mr. Tsukino asked.
"I'm actually doing well,
thanks to Kaoru and Megan."
"That's nice," He turned
to the other young man. "How are you doing Shinta? Kaoru says you live on
your own."
Daisuke almost spewed his tea. He
never heard anyone question Shinta's credentials.
"I'm an honor student,
Tsukino-sama." Shinta answered. "I work for Professor Fujita Goro as
an assistant."
"Impressive," Mr. Tsukino
grinned. "Who knows, you might just influence Daisuke."
Daisuke frowned, "My grades
aren't that bad."
"Let your elders finish
speaking, Daisuke. You need focus." Mr. Tsukino sipped his tea and
returned the cup to the saucer.
"What else do you do,
Shinta?"
"I'm a master of the
Nakamura-Ryu Battou-Do. I'll be at the festival this Friday in an exhibition
match against the junior national sword fighting champion."
"You seem to be a very
accomplished young man," Tsukino-sama replied as Kaoru entered the room.
It was like he wanted her to hear what he was about to say. "I have no
problems with you and my daughter dating."
Shinta's eyes nearly bugged, and
felt like they were swirling in confusion. How did they move from his life's
work to dating Kaoru?
Kaoru nearly dropped the platter of
sushi into Daisuke's lap. She made it to the table and placed it in the center.
"I thought I asked you to
behave father," She sarcastically smiled.
"I am," He answered.
"I was just saying if he wish to date you, that he has my permission."
Kaoru nearly blew up. Her eyes
slightly protruded as she stomped off to the kitchen. She and Megan quickly
returned with the rest of the meal.
Dinner was rather quiet. Kaoru sat
near Shinta, Megan sat between Mr. Tsukino and Daisuke.
Kaoru reached for her napkin, but
accidentally dropped it.
Shinta handed his napkin to her,
"It's ok. I have no need for it."
She blushed and obtained the cloth
from his hand. "Thank you."
"After-dinner-would-you-like-to-go-for-a-walk?"
He rushed the words and swallowed a sip of water from a large tumbler.
"Sure, it will be fun,"
She lightly giggled.
"Is there anything you two
would like to share with us?" Kaoru's father interrupted. "It's not
nice to whisper at the table."
Kaoru cleared her throat, "It's
nothing important. Shinta asked me to go for a walk after dinner, we have to
talk about a school project."
Mr. Tsukino took a sip of his drink
and then wiped his mouth on his napkin.
"Do you think I was born
yesterday?"
"No, father."
At that moment Shinta felt like
sliding under the table. Did he do something shameful? All he did was ask her
to go for a walk. Daisuke was right, Kaoru's old man was over-bearing.
"So where are you really
going?"
"I thought I'd take Shinta to a
drinking party, do a few Jell-O shots and funnel a bottle of whiskey, while
looking at porn on the internet."
Mr. Tsukino blinked at his daughters
sarcastic behavior. "If that's all make sure you're home by ten."
At that moment, Shinta's face was as
red as his hair. He never thought Kaoru to be tough. Anyone who could talk to
their father in such a tone has to be strong.
Kaoru's jaw dropped, "You
didn't believe a word of it, did you?"
Mr. Tsukino negatively nodded his
head, "Not a single word. You're just like your mother."
Shinta straighten up and his head
cocked toward Kaoru and then Mr. Tsukino. He was sure a fight was going to
ensue, but instead of rage, the room filled with fits of laughter. He remained
silent, with the usual confusion-glazed expression.
"Don't worry about the table,
kids. I'll take care of it," He said and then stood up.
Kaoru smiled and nodded her head at
Shinta, and then walked toward the door. Shinta stood up and gave a polite bow.
"I hope we get to talk again, Mr. Tsukino. I had a wonderful visit in your
home."
"Thank you, and you can stop in
and visit any time."
Kaoru rolled her eyes and pulled
Shinta by his arm, "Come on!"
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
*~*
A few minutes later, the four were
walking down the street and stopped at the crosswalk. Daisuke sighed,
"Well, its about time I made an appearance at home. See ya!"
"It's been fun," Kaoru
replied.
Daisuke pulled Shinta into a
headlock and whispered a few words into his ear, "Hey, Shinta. If you ever
have questions, come visit me. I live in that white house right over
there."
"I'll be sure to stop in,"
He choked.
Megan yawned, "I think I'll
leave you two alone and stop in to see Daisuke's mom."
"I'll call you later,"
Kaoru replied.
"It was nice talking with you,
Shinta," Megan replied.
"The pleasure was mine,"
He casually replied.
The two were finally alone, and to
Shinta, that was a blessing. They began to walk across the street to the park.
Once Kaoru reached the curb, She turned and faced Shinta.
"So... What is so important
that we needed to go for a walk?" She took two steps back as he stepped up
onto the curb.
"It's a secret," He cast
her a cute grin and looked toward the pond.
"What type of secret?" She
curiously asked.
He walked across the grass and
stopped in front of the water's edge. Kaoru followed him. She was curious to
know what it was he was hiding.
"You know you can tell me
anything," She whispered.
He skipped a rock over the water.
"I've been a bit uneasy about telling you this."
"What?"
He looked into her azure eyes and
finally admitted the secret to his own self. He leaned forward and wrapped his
arms about her waist. His mouth was so close to hers, she felt his breath and
his flesh move. He began to whisper the words she longed to hear; "I'm in
love with you, Kaoru-dono." His lips brushed over hers, and she leaned
into it, accepting and anticipating each new feeling erupting within her heart.
She reached and cupped his face with her hands and returned the kiss.
Her body trembled when she finally
pulled away. Kaoru looked at him, only to see sheer fulfillment in his eyes and
smile.
"You look content," She
whispered.
"I feel complete in a familiar
way," he softly answered and pulled her close. "Like this was meant
to be and there was no fighting it."
"Do you believe in a
foreordained destiny or something?" Kaoru drew a breath as his head
settled on top of hers.
"Or something." Shinta
replied.
"It would be nice to think that
we were meant to be for all eternity," Kaoru spoke and then turned to
watch the sunset. "Lets just watch the sunset for a while, ok?"
Shinta stood behind her and drew her
back against his body while changing his position to rest his cheek softly
against her neck.
"Anything you wish,
Kaoru."