Rurouni Kenshin Fan Fiction ❯ If I Should Fall ❯ Chapter 5 ( Chapter 5 )
[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]
By: Dreamweaver 
A little bit of a twist ;)
Anime/Manga: Rurouni Kenshin Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Drama / Romance | Type: Alternate Universe | Uploaded On: 03.13.2005 | Updated On: 03.13.2005 | Pages: 4 | Words: 3.2K | Visits: 240 | Status: Completed
A little bit of a twist ;)
Anime/Manga: Rurouni Kenshin Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Drama / Romance | Type: Alternate Universe | Uploaded On: 03.13.2005 | Updated On: 03.13.2005 | Pages: 4 | Words: 3.2K | Visits: 240 | Status: Completed
MagicalGirl: lol I really enjoyed your review. It's not often that people track me down on the net to answer my questions lol (usually people ignore me lol). Do you by any chance know if the website got the info from the manga? I'm so glad you like the story ^_^ I'm also glad you like my username. So far I've never gotten feedback on my usernames. lol I've changed them so many times it's ridiculous! But I hope to stick to this oneÉI like it, it suits me. ^_^ Anyway, thanks so much for reviewing!
Grey Wolf4: I'm glad you like it ^_^ Thanks for reviewing!
Charming Woman: Why, do you want there to be?
Tenken's Lover: Drool away, girly, I do all the time! lol Yes, he is adorable, isn't he? lol Here's moreÉ
Mysterious Samurai: lol I'm glad you like it ^_^ Here's the update.
Random Person: lol That's the idea. Thanks for reviewing!
Smiling Blue-Clad Wanderer's Obsessor: Do you know how many people I have asked whether or not it was rushed? And they all said "No". Finally, someone who agrees with me!!! I have a difficult time with pacing, and now that I know that it is rushed, I will try and slow it down. But what exactly am I missing?
Joker: I'm so glad! Here's your update. Thanks for reviewing!
Chikki-chan: I'm glad you like it, thanks for reviewing!
Smiling Rose: lol Yes, we do need more! Lol
Anonymous T: Thanks!
Sora: Yeah! lol Yes, they do need each other lol. Thanks for reviewing.
Reviewer: "Or Else", eh? lol I'm glad you like it. Here is the update, so please don't torture me or anything. ~_^
Sex-Craze: Ooooookay, I'll try, but I'm not guaranteeing anything. Thanks for reviewing lol
Insane Old Owl: lol I like your username. Here's your update, thanks for reviewing!
Shojo Mizu: Wow, you're from Brazil?! That's so cool! I've got readers from all over the world now! lol Yes, I definitely agree with you about Soujiro lol ^_^ I'm so glad you like my fic. Thanks for reviewing!
I'm glad that changing my name so many times hasn't confused y'all too much. I'm just never satisfied with my name. Hopefully I'll keep it as 'Night Imp' for a while now.
Many, many thanks to my sweet Sobrina-chan for putting me on to the lyrics that I quote in this chapter. They are those of 'Breaking the Habit' by Linkin Park.
If I Should Fall
Chapter 5
By Night Imp
- Memories consume
Like opening the wound
I'm picking me apart again
You all assume
I'm safe here in my room
Unless I try to start again
I don't want to be the one
The battles always choose
'Cause inside I realize
That I'm the one confused
I don't know what's worth fighting for
Or why I have to scream
I don't know why I instigate
And say what I don't mean
I don't know how I got this way
I know it's not alright
So I'm breaking the habit
I'm breaking the habit
Tonight
Clutching my cure
I tightly lock the door
I try to catch my breath again
I hurt much more
Than anytime before
I had no options left again
I dont want to be the one
The battles always choose
'Cause inside I realize
That I'm the one confused
I don't know what's worth fighting for
Or why I have to scream
I don't know why I instigate
And say what I don't mean
I don't know how I got this way
I'll never be alright
So, I'm breaking the habit
I'm breaking the habit
Tonight
I'll paint it on the walls
'Cause I'm the one at fault
I'll never fight again
And this is how it ends
I don't know what's worth fighting for
Or why I have to scream
But now I have some clarity
to show you what I mean
I don't know how I got this way
I'll never be alright
So, I'm breaking the habit
I'm breaking the habit
I'm breaking the habit
Tonight -
Soujiro had been crouched in the shower for hours, letting the hot water run on the bruises and cuts that covered his back. They couldn't touch him in the bathroom. He would lock the door. They would pound, they would scream, they would threaten and complain, but they could not touch him. His ankles ached because he had been crouched for so long, but he did not want to sit down. The grime that covered all of the surfaces in that house disgusted him, particularly in the bathroom. Years of hair and dirt and mold and god only knows what else had built up on the floor, on the shower curtain, everywhere imaginable. Soujiro could barely stand to walk on it with shoes, let alone touch it with any other part of his body.
But that was then. Now he lay on the floor of the bathroom in the Presidential Suite of the Bellagio in Las Vegas, overwhelmed by nausea. It was a side effect of the anti-depressants . . . or the painkillers. Or was it the tranquilizers? He wasn't really sure, and at any rate, he didn't particularly care. All that he cared about was ways to alleviate the nausea. His latest technique was thinking about things that he enjoyed: Isis curled right on top of his face while he was still half-asleep in the morning. Having lunch with Kaoru at a nice restaurant.
Comforting Yumi when she was crying.
For a moment he forgot the discomfort of the side effects as he began to think of his manager's girlfriend. If his father, his real father, had been there, he probably would have told Soujiro that Soujiro needed to come to terms with his feelings. Soujiro himself knew he should. But he wasn't sure that he really wanted to. Yumi hated him (and had every right to!), and if Mister Shishio found out the way Soujiro felt toward Yumi, Shishio would hate him too. It was a can of worms that he did not want to open up.
But his mind slowly wandered away, and he became painfully aware that he was still nauseous.
He was also painfully aware that he was lying on a cold tile floor.
His eyes shot open and he looked around, for no better reason than to ensure that the floor was clean. He could not help but remember his foster parent's house and their disgusting floors. The bathroom floor that he had once fallen on (that his foster brother had thrown him on, to be more accurate) in particular. But he was no longer there, and he had to keep reminding himself of that.
Presently there was a knock on the door, bringing Soujiro back into reality, or at least some form of it. He didn't bother to respond to the knock. He really wasn't sure that he wanted anyone to know he was sick again.
"Soujiro, are you in there?" Yumi called through the door. Still, Soujiro said nothing. "Soujiro, Makoto wants to see you."
Still, Soujiro couldn't bring himself to speak.
"Soujiro?" Yumi asked one last time before finally turning to leave.
Soujiro closed his eyes again, and lay there for another two hours.
----------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------
"Where have you been?" Asked Yumi when Soujiro finally came shuffling over to her suite.
"UmmmÉout." He said, hoping she would believe him. He really did not want to tell her that he had been sick again. He stopped for a minute and studied her; She was wearing a shower cap, a robe, and was slathering honey on her face. "YumiÉwhat on earth are you doing?"
"Making a home-made mask. Honey is very good for your skin! It's anti-bacterialÉgives your skin a radiant glowÉhere, sit down."
Soujiro studied her for a moment before slowly sliding into the chair next to her. Humming merrily, she rubbed some honey on her hands and slid over to Soujiro, who instinctively backed away.
"It's just honey, it's not going to hurt you!"
"ButÉit's sticky."
"That's why you take a shower afterwards! Now come here."
Soujiro made no effort to move. "Miss Yumi, are you drunk?"
"Of course not! What makes you think that?"
"You're just so cheerful. I've never seen you so cheerful before."
"Then you've never seen me when I'm shoe-shopping. Come here." She stood and leaned over him, so the only way to get away from her would have been to push her aside. He cringed as Yumi began slathering honey on his face. At first he did not particularly care for the feeling, but slowly he began to enjoy it.
"Miss Yumi?"
"Mmmm?"
"Why do you have your hair in a shower cap?"
"Olive oil treatment."
"What?"
"Olive oil treatment. It's the best conditioner there is for your hair." Suddenly she grinned. "You know, your hair could use conditioning!"
"UhÉn-noÉno, it's fine."
"Oh, c'mon. You want the girls to like you, don't ya?" She reached over and grabbed the bottle of olive oil. "This will make your hair so soft." She turned and began pouring the oil on Soujiro's head. "You'll thank me afterwards. Trust me."
Well, Soujiro had always wanted a nice, sensual evening alone with Yumi, but this wasn't exactly what he had in mind.
"So, um, what did Shishio want to talk to me about?" Soujiro wanted to talk about something, anything, to get his mind off of that horrible liquid that was slowly running down his scalp.
"MmmmÉhe didn't say. He just said he wanted to talk to you. When I couldn't find you he got angry and left."
Soujiro hated it when Shishio got angry. Shishio was downright scary when he got angry, and it would remind Soujiro all too much of his foster father.
"Now," he heard a crinkling sound, and realized that he had been completely unaware of the fact that Yumi had left the room to get another shower cap. "We put the shower cap on and leave this in for half an hour, 'kay?"
Soujiro groaned.
Suddenly Yumi got down on her knees with a big grin. "Soujiro, can I paint your nails?"
"UhÉ" Soujiro's eyes grew wide. "ÉuhÉnoÉthank you Yumi, butÉyou've been doing a lot latelyÉwhy don't you rest for a while?" He had been slowly getting up out of the chair the entire time he was talking, and began to back out of the room. "Thanks Yumi, butÉyeah."
He turned and shut the door to his suite behind him, leaving Yumi kneeling by the chair, still not entirely sure what she had said to warrant such a reaction.
Soujiro looked around. The first thing he was going to do was take a shower and wash that horrible stuff out of his hair. Then, he was going out. He felt rather bad about leaving Yumi the way he did, but he was not going to let his nails get painted. Of course, if it was black he wouldn't mind, but no. She had red, pink, purple, blue, pink, and more pink, and frankly, he was not going to be caught dead in the color pink.
His mood began to improve as he let the water run on his back, thinking up a plan for the night. It had been a while since he had gone out and really enjoyed himself, and he felt it was about time to do so.
He pulled his suitcase out of the closet, and from it pulled his favorite old clothes from before he met Shishio.
Yes, tonight he was going to enjoy himself.
-------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------
Hardly anyone would have recognized the goth-bordering-on-punk boy as Soujiro, and in Soujiro's opinion, that was a very good thing. He didn't particularly want to be recognized tonight. What was even better was that he was even harder to recognize in the darkened nightclub. Perched on a barstool, he sipped a screwdriver and quietly watched his iniquitous surroundings. He had learned over the years that people were very interesting to watch. Everyone had some sort of bizarre idiosyncrasy that made him or her unique.
Occasionally a girl would come by, flirt and make small talk, or try to get him to dance. He would smile and politely turn her down. Really, that had not been his intention when he decided to go there, but he couldn't get one girl out of his mind.
Yumi.
He hated it. He had come here to forget her for a while, but he found that he just thought about her more. He downed his drink and asked the bartender for another.
A shout came from the other end of the bar, and Soujiro turned to witness two boys starting to fight. He sipped his drink. It seemed no matter where he went nowadays that he could not escape his life. Shishio had found him in a bar. He had gotten into a fight. He was always getting into fights with one person or another.
He was lost in his thoughts again when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned to find Kaoru standing beside him, much to his surprise and delight. "Kao, what are you doing here?"
"I wanted to talk to you." She said as she sat on the barstool next to Soujiro, "I've been kinda worried about you since you ran out of the restaurant."
Soujiro swirled his drink around in the glass and mumbled an apology. Kaoru sighed.
"Sou, I'm not looking for an apology. I just what to know what's up with you. Why have you been acting so . . . hostile?"
Soujiro gave a humorless chuckle and took a sip of his drink. "I'm a boxer Kao, it's what I do."
"But this is different. You're acting -- oh I don't know, not like yourself." She laid a hand on his. "Has something happened to you?"
Soujiro shrugged. "People change."
She looked at him earnestly. "Not like this. If something is wrong, please, Kenshin and I will help you as much as you need."
Soujiro hmmphed. "Kenshin." The name came out more derisively than he had meant it to. "I remember when I was the one helping you with your troubles." Soujiro spoke more to himself than to Kaoru.
Kaoru's eyebrows rose. "Is that what this is about? You think Kenshin is replacing you?"
Soujiro hunched his shoulders. "Yes . . . no . . . I don't know. Isn't he?"
"Sou, you're my brother. I'll always need you." She smiled at him. "Who will I complain to when Kenshin annoys me?"
"From what I've heard the man can do no wrong."
Kaoru rolled her eyes. "Believe me he's definitely not perfect." She reached her arms around him and squeezed. "I love you, no matter what."
Kenshin came up behind Kaoru and set a drink down next to her. "So, is everything okay now?"
Kaoru stepped back from her brother and laced her fingers with Kenshin's. "I think there are still some things to work out, but he's being stubborn. Anyway, we had a nice talk and hopefully we straightened out one issue."
Soujiro stood up. "I guess I should go now."
"Oh no you don't mister. You're not running away this time. I want to visit with you. And I want you and Kenshin to get to know each other."
Soujiro slumped a little. "Oh, okay."
Kenshin laughed a little. "I'll try not to make it too painful of an experience. Only I hope you don't mind if we go some place else. Some place where I can hear myself think."
Soujiro shrugged. “Sure, I guess.”
---------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------
“How long are you going to be in Las Vegas?” Soujiro asked as he leaned forward and picked up the drink Kenshin had fixed. He knew Kenshin was an amazing boxer- just as good as himself, no doubt- and therefore knew Kenshin didn’t stay in one place for very long.
Kenshin shrugged. “I’m not sure. My manager, Sano, wants to set up another fight. I told him I want to wait till after Kao and I get married.”
“Who does he want you to fight?”
Kenshin hesitated and glanced between Kaoru and Soujiro. Sano had just told him yesterday, and Kenshin was none too happy about it, nor was he anxious to tell anyone, what with the already difficult situation that faced him regarding Soujiro. He cleared his throat. “You.”
Kaoru looked up with surprise and Soujiro blinked. “Me?” He squeaked.
Kenshin nodded. Oh, how this complicated things.
---------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------
Yay! 5th chappie done :D Woo-hoo!
Many, many, many thanks to my wonderful cousin and best friend, Sobrina-kun (A.K.A My sweetie) for helping me with the ending (actually, for helping me with this entire chapter. I had writer’s block -_- )
I just bought myself a brand new Mac Mini (computer, that is) since my PC was acting inordinately sadistic and evil. I swear, it is the most amazing, drool-worthy computer you will ever find! But seeing as how it is a Mac and my PC is inordinately old, it’s gonna take a while to get all of my files transferredÉand therefore it will probably take me a while to post the next chapter.
Many, many thanks to Sobrina-kun and all of my wonderful reviewers. :D I hope you enjoy this chapter.
Much love,
Night Imp
Converting /tmp/phpO7d2aG to /dev/stdout
Grey Wolf4: I'm glad you like it ^_^ Thanks for reviewing!
Charming Woman: Why, do you want there to be?
Tenken's Lover: Drool away, girly, I do all the time! lol Yes, he is adorable, isn't he? lol Here's moreÉ
Mysterious Samurai: lol I'm glad you like it ^_^ Here's the update.
Random Person: lol That's the idea. Thanks for reviewing!
Smiling Blue-Clad Wanderer's Obsessor: Do you know how many people I have asked whether or not it was rushed? And they all said "No". Finally, someone who agrees with me!!! I have a difficult time with pacing, and now that I know that it is rushed, I will try and slow it down. But what exactly am I missing?
Joker: I'm so glad! Here's your update. Thanks for reviewing!
Chikki-chan: I'm glad you like it, thanks for reviewing!
Smiling Rose: lol Yes, we do need more! Lol
Anonymous T: Thanks!
Sora: Yeah! lol Yes, they do need each other lol. Thanks for reviewing.
Reviewer: "Or Else", eh? lol I'm glad you like it. Here is the update, so please don't torture me or anything. ~_^
Sex-Craze: Ooooookay, I'll try, but I'm not guaranteeing anything. Thanks for reviewing lol
Insane Old Owl: lol I like your username. Here's your update, thanks for reviewing!
Shojo Mizu: Wow, you're from Brazil?! That's so cool! I've got readers from all over the world now! lol Yes, I definitely agree with you about Soujiro lol ^_^ I'm so glad you like my fic. Thanks for reviewing!
I'm glad that changing my name so many times hasn't confused y'all too much. I'm just never satisfied with my name. Hopefully I'll keep it as 'Night Imp' for a while now.
Many, many thanks to my sweet Sobrina-chan for putting me on to the lyrics that I quote in this chapter. They are those of 'Breaking the Habit' by Linkin Park.
If I Should Fall
Chapter 5
By Night Imp
- Memories consume
Like opening the wound
I'm picking me apart again
You all assume
I'm safe here in my room
Unless I try to start again
I don't want to be the one
The battles always choose
'Cause inside I realize
That I'm the one confused
I don't know what's worth fighting for
Or why I have to scream
I don't know why I instigate
And say what I don't mean
I don't know how I got this way
I know it's not alright
So I'm breaking the habit
I'm breaking the habit
Tonight
Clutching my cure
I tightly lock the door
I try to catch my breath again
I hurt much more
Than anytime before
I had no options left again
I dont want to be the one
The battles always choose
'Cause inside I realize
That I'm the one confused
I don't know what's worth fighting for
Or why I have to scream
I don't know why I instigate
And say what I don't mean
I don't know how I got this way
I'll never be alright
So, I'm breaking the habit
I'm breaking the habit
Tonight
I'll paint it on the walls
'Cause I'm the one at fault
I'll never fight again
And this is how it ends
I don't know what's worth fighting for
Or why I have to scream
But now I have some clarity
to show you what I mean
I don't know how I got this way
I'll never be alright
So, I'm breaking the habit
I'm breaking the habit
I'm breaking the habit
Tonight -
Soujiro had been crouched in the shower for hours, letting the hot water run on the bruises and cuts that covered his back. They couldn't touch him in the bathroom. He would lock the door. They would pound, they would scream, they would threaten and complain, but they could not touch him. His ankles ached because he had been crouched for so long, but he did not want to sit down. The grime that covered all of the surfaces in that house disgusted him, particularly in the bathroom. Years of hair and dirt and mold and god only knows what else had built up on the floor, on the shower curtain, everywhere imaginable. Soujiro could barely stand to walk on it with shoes, let alone touch it with any other part of his body.
But that was then. Now he lay on the floor of the bathroom in the Presidential Suite of the Bellagio in Las Vegas, overwhelmed by nausea. It was a side effect of the anti-depressants . . . or the painkillers. Or was it the tranquilizers? He wasn't really sure, and at any rate, he didn't particularly care. All that he cared about was ways to alleviate the nausea. His latest technique was thinking about things that he enjoyed: Isis curled right on top of his face while he was still half-asleep in the morning. Having lunch with Kaoru at a nice restaurant.
Comforting Yumi when she was crying.
For a moment he forgot the discomfort of the side effects as he began to think of his manager's girlfriend. If his father, his real father, had been there, he probably would have told Soujiro that Soujiro needed to come to terms with his feelings. Soujiro himself knew he should. But he wasn't sure that he really wanted to. Yumi hated him (and had every right to!), and if Mister Shishio found out the way Soujiro felt toward Yumi, Shishio would hate him too. It was a can of worms that he did not want to open up.
But his mind slowly wandered away, and he became painfully aware that he was still nauseous.
He was also painfully aware that he was lying on a cold tile floor.
His eyes shot open and he looked around, for no better reason than to ensure that the floor was clean. He could not help but remember his foster parent's house and their disgusting floors. The bathroom floor that he had once fallen on (that his foster brother had thrown him on, to be more accurate) in particular. But he was no longer there, and he had to keep reminding himself of that.
Presently there was a knock on the door, bringing Soujiro back into reality, or at least some form of it. He didn't bother to respond to the knock. He really wasn't sure that he wanted anyone to know he was sick again.
"Soujiro, are you in there?" Yumi called through the door. Still, Soujiro said nothing. "Soujiro, Makoto wants to see you."
Still, Soujiro couldn't bring himself to speak.
"Soujiro?" Yumi asked one last time before finally turning to leave.
Soujiro closed his eyes again, and lay there for another two hours.
----------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------
"Where have you been?" Asked Yumi when Soujiro finally came shuffling over to her suite.
"UmmmÉout." He said, hoping she would believe him. He really did not want to tell her that he had been sick again. He stopped for a minute and studied her; She was wearing a shower cap, a robe, and was slathering honey on her face. "YumiÉwhat on earth are you doing?"
"Making a home-made mask. Honey is very good for your skin! It's anti-bacterialÉgives your skin a radiant glowÉhere, sit down."
Soujiro studied her for a moment before slowly sliding into the chair next to her. Humming merrily, she rubbed some honey on her hands and slid over to Soujiro, who instinctively backed away.
"It's just honey, it's not going to hurt you!"
"ButÉit's sticky."
"That's why you take a shower afterwards! Now come here."
Soujiro made no effort to move. "Miss Yumi, are you drunk?"
"Of course not! What makes you think that?"
"You're just so cheerful. I've never seen you so cheerful before."
"Then you've never seen me when I'm shoe-shopping. Come here." She stood and leaned over him, so the only way to get away from her would have been to push her aside. He cringed as Yumi began slathering honey on his face. At first he did not particularly care for the feeling, but slowly he began to enjoy it.
"Miss Yumi?"
"Mmmm?"
"Why do you have your hair in a shower cap?"
"Olive oil treatment."
"What?"
"Olive oil treatment. It's the best conditioner there is for your hair." Suddenly she grinned. "You know, your hair could use conditioning!"
"UhÉn-noÉno, it's fine."
"Oh, c'mon. You want the girls to like you, don't ya?" She reached over and grabbed the bottle of olive oil. "This will make your hair so soft." She turned and began pouring the oil on Soujiro's head. "You'll thank me afterwards. Trust me."
Well, Soujiro had always wanted a nice, sensual evening alone with Yumi, but this wasn't exactly what he had in mind.
"So, um, what did Shishio want to talk to me about?" Soujiro wanted to talk about something, anything, to get his mind off of that horrible liquid that was slowly running down his scalp.
"MmmmÉhe didn't say. He just said he wanted to talk to you. When I couldn't find you he got angry and left."
Soujiro hated it when Shishio got angry. Shishio was downright scary when he got angry, and it would remind Soujiro all too much of his foster father.
"Now," he heard a crinkling sound, and realized that he had been completely unaware of the fact that Yumi had left the room to get another shower cap. "We put the shower cap on and leave this in for half an hour, 'kay?"
Soujiro groaned.
Suddenly Yumi got down on her knees with a big grin. "Soujiro, can I paint your nails?"
"UhÉ" Soujiro's eyes grew wide. "ÉuhÉnoÉthank you Yumi, butÉyou've been doing a lot latelyÉwhy don't you rest for a while?" He had been slowly getting up out of the chair the entire time he was talking, and began to back out of the room. "Thanks Yumi, butÉyeah."
He turned and shut the door to his suite behind him, leaving Yumi kneeling by the chair, still not entirely sure what she had said to warrant such a reaction.
Soujiro looked around. The first thing he was going to do was take a shower and wash that horrible stuff out of his hair. Then, he was going out. He felt rather bad about leaving Yumi the way he did, but he was not going to let his nails get painted. Of course, if it was black he wouldn't mind, but no. She had red, pink, purple, blue, pink, and more pink, and frankly, he was not going to be caught dead in the color pink.
His mood began to improve as he let the water run on his back, thinking up a plan for the night. It had been a while since he had gone out and really enjoyed himself, and he felt it was about time to do so.
He pulled his suitcase out of the closet, and from it pulled his favorite old clothes from before he met Shishio.
Yes, tonight he was going to enjoy himself.
-------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------
Hardly anyone would have recognized the goth-bordering-on-punk boy as Soujiro, and in Soujiro's opinion, that was a very good thing. He didn't particularly want to be recognized tonight. What was even better was that he was even harder to recognize in the darkened nightclub. Perched on a barstool, he sipped a screwdriver and quietly watched his iniquitous surroundings. He had learned over the years that people were very interesting to watch. Everyone had some sort of bizarre idiosyncrasy that made him or her unique.
Occasionally a girl would come by, flirt and make small talk, or try to get him to dance. He would smile and politely turn her down. Really, that had not been his intention when he decided to go there, but he couldn't get one girl out of his mind.
Yumi.
He hated it. He had come here to forget her for a while, but he found that he just thought about her more. He downed his drink and asked the bartender for another.
A shout came from the other end of the bar, and Soujiro turned to witness two boys starting to fight. He sipped his drink. It seemed no matter where he went nowadays that he could not escape his life. Shishio had found him in a bar. He had gotten into a fight. He was always getting into fights with one person or another.
He was lost in his thoughts again when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned to find Kaoru standing beside him, much to his surprise and delight. "Kao, what are you doing here?"
"I wanted to talk to you." She said as she sat on the barstool next to Soujiro, "I've been kinda worried about you since you ran out of the restaurant."
Soujiro swirled his drink around in the glass and mumbled an apology. Kaoru sighed.
"Sou, I'm not looking for an apology. I just what to know what's up with you. Why have you been acting so . . . hostile?"
Soujiro gave a humorless chuckle and took a sip of his drink. "I'm a boxer Kao, it's what I do."
"But this is different. You're acting -- oh I don't know, not like yourself." She laid a hand on his. "Has something happened to you?"
Soujiro shrugged. "People change."
She looked at him earnestly. "Not like this. If something is wrong, please, Kenshin and I will help you as much as you need."
Soujiro hmmphed. "Kenshin." The name came out more derisively than he had meant it to. "I remember when I was the one helping you with your troubles." Soujiro spoke more to himself than to Kaoru.
Kaoru's eyebrows rose. "Is that what this is about? You think Kenshin is replacing you?"
Soujiro hunched his shoulders. "Yes . . . no . . . I don't know. Isn't he?"
"Sou, you're my brother. I'll always need you." She smiled at him. "Who will I complain to when Kenshin annoys me?"
"From what I've heard the man can do no wrong."
Kaoru rolled her eyes. "Believe me he's definitely not perfect." She reached her arms around him and squeezed. "I love you, no matter what."
Kenshin came up behind Kaoru and set a drink down next to her. "So, is everything okay now?"
Kaoru stepped back from her brother and laced her fingers with Kenshin's. "I think there are still some things to work out, but he's being stubborn. Anyway, we had a nice talk and hopefully we straightened out one issue."
Soujiro stood up. "I guess I should go now."
"Oh no you don't mister. You're not running away this time. I want to visit with you. And I want you and Kenshin to get to know each other."
Soujiro slumped a little. "Oh, okay."
Kenshin laughed a little. "I'll try not to make it too painful of an experience. Only I hope you don't mind if we go some place else. Some place where I can hear myself think."
Soujiro shrugged. “Sure, I guess.”
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“How long are you going to be in Las Vegas?” Soujiro asked as he leaned forward and picked up the drink Kenshin had fixed. He knew Kenshin was an amazing boxer- just as good as himself, no doubt- and therefore knew Kenshin didn’t stay in one place for very long.
Kenshin shrugged. “I’m not sure. My manager, Sano, wants to set up another fight. I told him I want to wait till after Kao and I get married.”
“Who does he want you to fight?”
Kenshin hesitated and glanced between Kaoru and Soujiro. Sano had just told him yesterday, and Kenshin was none too happy about it, nor was he anxious to tell anyone, what with the already difficult situation that faced him regarding Soujiro. He cleared his throat. “You.”
Kaoru looked up with surprise and Soujiro blinked. “Me?” He squeaked.
Kenshin nodded. Oh, how this complicated things.
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Yay! 5th chappie done :D Woo-hoo!
Many, many, many thanks to my wonderful cousin and best friend, Sobrina-kun (A.K.A My sweetie) for helping me with the ending (actually, for helping me with this entire chapter. I had writer’s block -_- )
I just bought myself a brand new Mac Mini (computer, that is) since my PC was acting inordinately sadistic and evil. I swear, it is the most amazing, drool-worthy computer you will ever find! But seeing as how it is a Mac and my PC is inordinately old, it’s gonna take a while to get all of my files transferredÉand therefore it will probably take me a while to post the next chapter.
Many, many thanks to Sobrina-kun and all of my wonderful reviewers. :D I hope you enjoy this chapter.
Much love,
Night Imp
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