Rurouni Kenshin Fan Fiction ❯ Love, Seduction, and Counseling? ❯ Chapter 2

[ P - Pre-Teen ]

Disclaimer: I don't own Rurouni Kenshin, nor do I own the brand Lean Cuisine. Oh yeah, I also have no claim on Disney's classic Cinderella.

Summary: Kaoru is a well known couple's therapist whose dark secret is revealed: she has never had a boyfriend. So now she must advise a famous CEO, Kenshin Himura, on how to treat women to regain back her life and reputation. KK.

Note: This idea came from a book I have, and yes, I have read the novel now and it was quite good (hehe, I read it in less than one day.) The novel is by Jane Heller, and it is called Female Intelligence. And I promise I will try to keep most of the ideas in this story original, but as you all know, if you base a story after something it is bound to have some similarities...though I will give credit to where credit is do. My suggestion is for all of you to actually read Female Intelligence; it's a funny romance novel that anyone would enjoy to read on rainy days.

So one aspect I took from the story (after I read it) is apart of Kaoru's attitude which the main character had. Let's just say that I'm incorporating a very serious persona (well not very serious) with Kaoru's own personality in the series. Which, by the way, I think in the series Kaoru did need to loosen up at times, but that's what made me love her. Okay enough about this, sorry.

Oh yes, I will try to keep drama-- the headache kind--down to a minimum.

Love, Seduction, and Counseling?
By: Espiritus
Chapter Two

Misao couldn't believe her ears. "You want to do what?"

Kaoru held her hands to her ears, and readjusted the huge sunglass Misao insisted she wore so that no one would recognize her easily. Earlier that morning the doorman buzzed up to tell Kaoru that Misao was on her way to her door. You can imagine how ecstatic Kaoru was. She had not been surprised when Misao literally bounced into the room, telling her not to fear for her best pal was here; so if you can imagine how ecstatic Kaoru had been when the doorman rang, you can picture how well her morning went.

Presently, they were sitting in a pizza shop enjoying gigantic slices of pepperoni and mushroom pies, when Kaoru brought up the subject of her analyzes of last night. She had stayed up well past her bed time trying to locate the perfect candidate for her--hopefully--redeeming job, when she found him; her dream guy in a sense. Well literally speaking he was a dream catch, but Kaoru being Kaoru was only interested in him for one thing...

"Wait," Misao coughed, holding out her finger. "Are you serious? You actually just want to ask Kenshin Himura, the Kenshin Himura of Hiten Misurugi Inc., to be your guinea pig!"

"Shh," Kaoru waved to Misao, looking around to see if anyone were staring. "Keep your voice down, Misao."

The loud one came closer, "Are you crazy? There is no way he would agree to that, besides it will take a million phone calls and twice that many years to even get an appointment with him."

Kaoru sat back smiling to herself. Misao, she thought, I'm way ahead of you. Already Kaoru had formed the perfect plan in her head; well it was actually the only plan she could think of to get him to seal the deal-- annoying the heck out of him was out. It was a modest proposal by any means. Kaoru Kamiya had done her research on this Kenshin Himura, and that plus her own knowledge about him proved to be a very good ally. While famously rich and well known, Himura was somewhat of a ruthless business man. Aggressive. To the people who had the honor of meeting him, they recounted that while he could be pleasant, he was most of the time distant and arrogant to the bone. Not at all, it seemed, a family man which nowadays was a precious piece of money. So this was her solution: she would propose that in turn for letting her man-handle him, for lack of a better word, she in turn would give him what he needed most for the public eye: character. A compassionate side that would boost his profits with the 'family unit' (since he'd just bought a toy company-- only God knows why) but also for the family men in the capitalist world. They were few in number, but they were there. It was not a shabby deal in her mind. For one, they would both profit from it; she would get her reputation back, and he would get more money for his international empire.

"So that's what you're planning to do," Misao said after hearing of Kaoru's mission. Misao was an architect for a private company in New York City, so there was no way she could be actually analyzing Kaoru's proposal seriously...well and then there was herself, she was a couple's therapist. She shouldn't be talking.

"Well I'm not an expert on the subject." (There you go.) "But I would say it sounds like a plan." Misao made it sound matter-of-fact. At least there wasn't doubt in her voice.

"But still" (Great.) "This is Himura we're talking about. He's one of the best businessmen in the world; it would be amazing if he actually took you seriously."

Kaoru glared, "Thanks a lot, Misao. You sure are a friend."

"I'm being serious, Kaoru. Honest to God here. Come on, think about it. He probably doesn't even know who you are, even if you have been in the newspapers. Your fame,"Misao said, her fingers forming bunny ears, "is nothing compared to his."

Kaoru nodded at Misao's words, doubt setting in. Well this was her last hope, and if he said no she would probably cry, and then move onto another lesser immortal. Yet Kaoru was confident she would try. No matter how powerful he was, she would at least try to save her career with him. Her father didn't raise her to be a coward. She was only bashful, mostly around men. Maybe she should try reading her own books on such issues; they seemed to help others, both couples and non-couples.

"Yes, Misao, but I have to try."

Misao agreed, "Yes, you have to. It's not impossible."

Kaoru laughed as a thought came to mind. "What's so funny?" Misao asked, confused.

"Nothing, nothing. It's just that I better go light all the candles at church to make this deal come true."

Misao shrugged, "Well we better get started then, there are a lot of candles, along with a lot of people with problems."

Kaoru mechanically put all her belongings in a small cardboard box, as everything else had already been packed up by buff men and put in storage, and Kerry had left one hour ago leaving Kaoru utterly alone.

She sighed as she looked around her office. She loved it here. The room was dark and cozily decorated with plush warm colors that suited both men and women, and their extreme emotions (Men agitation. Women frustration.) Three couches used to be spread across the room, and an old iron rustic chandelier still hung from the ceiling. To her sides, behind where her desk use to be, there were two spacious windows which overlooked trees and upper class town homes, all in all, it was her second home. She loved the area she worked in, she loved her cozy office, but most of all she loved what she did. Or used to do for that matter.

What if things did not work out with Himura? What would she do for a living? Of course, Kaoru had taken her father's suggestion and received a degree in accounting. In fact, she had a bachelor's degree in the horrid subject, but really, was that how she wished to spend the rest of her life: stuck in a cubical? She had always held an aversion to numbers and figures and closed spaces. That was Himura's realm, not hers...well, maybe not the closed spaces; he probably had a huge corner office overlooking Central Park. Lucky.

She needed travel, for one, and events that could tickle her brain. Not that therapist usually travel, but there were perks to working with famously rich people. For example, if they wished to not come to New York for an appointment, they would usually send her a ticket and bring here to wherever they were first class and more. Once, she smiled, she'd been whisked away to London, spur of the moment it was. Not that it was romantic in any way, shape, or form. On the contrary, it was a messy ordeal; the couple had complained about which estate they should put on the market. Big argument. Kaoru still couldn't help but roll her eyes at that; rich people, she had come to find, could be complete babies at times. She was glad that her parents weren't rich and had brought her up as normally as they could, although she had been quite the tomboy-- something that had not gone away. It matured with her, as funny as that may be.

At least she knew she was ready to become a mother. Babies couldn't be worse than men, who acted like infants--always having to be pampered and served. And women, who acted more like toddlers-- always asking for more and more attention.

Kaoru walked over to the window and looked out, her mind switching to a completely different problem in her life: a cause of her misery. What was wrong with her anyway? Not to be vain or anything, but Kaoru didn't think she was ugly. Not that she thought herself pretty, either, but Kaoru had seen many girls of her rank and less get dates and eventually tie the knot. So what was wrong with her? Was she intimidating...okay, Kaoru could accept that when she was in high school, and maybe even college. But come on, this was the real world now with real men, not boys.

Though, in her experience, some men never finished the race towards manhood in its true essence.

Kaoru was done within the hour, everything was packed and ready to be shipped off to God knows where, and she was left to pick up the remains of her empire. Misao had told her to look at the bright side. Kaoru had asked which side, and Misao replied, "At least you can finally get a vacation."

Yes, some vacation, Misao, Kaoru hissed in her mind. She hated vacations, personally. For one, they wasted her money, and secondly, she was--okay, Kaoru would admit it-- alone. Couples all over the world needed her guidance and reassurance that their love with their significant others would last, but they had all but dumped her. It was sad to think that Kaoru pictured her clients in a relationship with herself, but that's what made her work so successful. She actually did care. She loved working with people, loved giving advice; money, while needed, was honestly just a bonus to her.

So with a final look around her old office that had been so good to her over the years, Kaoru picked up her box and stepped out the door, unaware yet optimistic of what the future might bring. Hopefully, the future would smile upon her; that or Kaoru would feel she'd lit all those candles for nothing. Major upset!

Kaoru popped the cork off a wine bottle, pouring the red contents out into two wine glasses that looked more like mugs. Misao, after finding her hidden stash (while snooping around most likely), insisted that they drink to Kaoru's victory that night at dinner. Kaoru, who thought Misao crazy and vexing, told her that it would be pointless to share such drink over two plates of Lean Cuisine. Misao would have none of it, saying they could make believe they were sitting in some classy five-star cafe. Kaoru rolled her eyes, knowing that to argue would be a waste of God given breath.

Misao scrunched into her seat, and gave Kaoru a grand Misao-has-got-a-plan smile. Kaoru wished to ignore it for the time being, wanting to keep sane for just a bit longer. "Here's a toast," Misao held her cup/wine glass, "to my best friend Kaoru, the couples' guru. Let her mission be played well, and, for that matter, accepted well!"

Well, she could drink to that. Once finished, Kaoru set down her drink and was about to start her gourmet meal when the plan she'd been waiting for sprang from Misao's mouth.

"Kaoru, I've been thinking about your plan to get Himura's attention." Kaoru raised her brow.

"Is that so..."

"Yes." Misao nodded, as though she were muttering to herself about the point. "While your plan does have its merits, it would take a tremendous amount of time: time you need. So I suggest that you 'accidentally' bump into him, and approach him in that way."

Kaoru considered the plan and searched the feelings deep within herself like she told her clients to do. You know her answer. Hell No. There was no way on Earth Kaoru would stock the man. Again, she did not want to be sued or thought of as a crazy teenage girl who had nothing better to do. She didn't even know the man. Yes, of course there had been those few news flashes about him here and there, a couple of interviews she'd bothered to watch, and the 'oh so acclaimed' publications which slandered her good name. But other than that Kenshin Himura was a stranger to her, just as to all other mortals.

"Misao," Kaoru sighed, "I appreciate your concern, but I have to do this my way. And following CEOs is definitely not a Kamiya family tradition. I will get to meet him, and hopefully he will buy my proposal. I'm not going to 'accidentally' bump into him. That is exactly what I detest. It's also a reason why couples come to me for help; underhanded actions such as that lead to no good."

Kaoru sat back from her meal, rubbing her eyes gently after taking her glasses off. Misao laughed, not at all fazed by Kaoru's resistance.

"Okay, okay. Point taken. Just know that it is a possibility."

"Thanks," Kaoru responded while taking a bite of her food. It tasted like plastic.

Misao was never one for quiet dinners, so she launched into a whole vignette about her time in Italy, which Kaoru did not mind because Misao was quite the storyteller. Waving her hands here and there, standing up at some points to re-enact an episode of her life, and the faces she made to accentuate her feelings at the time were one in a million.

"So basically," Kaoru noted after dinner and Misao's stories, "you did not find the man of your dreams."

"Don't make it sound like such a failure, Kaoru. Think of it as more of as expanding one's horizons, and knowing more about what one wants from a man."

Kaoru could not hide her slight smirk. Misao could be such a goober at times, looking failure in the face and screaming at the top of her lungs, "You weren't worth my time anyway!" That was just one thing she admired about her best friend, her ability to always keep up hope, her excitement about small things, but most of all her ability to loosen up. The last time she had been 'loose,' as Misao so nicely put it, was when she was thrown out of her mother's uterus. Thanks for the picture, Misao, but thanks alot also for making me seem like a stick in the mud. She had fun, really she did.

"You should really come with me one day on one of my expeditions," Misao continued, oblivious to all else. "I don't mean to bring up a sensitive subject, but you really needed to get laid to loosen up."

Kaoru's face paled. Laid and you (meaning Kaoru) and loosen should never go together in the same sentence. She was happy with her life with the exception of her lost career, wasn't she? Now here come the doubting questions, Kaoru thought. She gave a tight smile at Misao, who was off talking about something totally different, and cleaned up the table. Misao said she would wash the dishes, but Kaoru, needing time to think, waved off the suggestion, and proposed that Misao pick out a movie they could watch. Something with feminine power as a moral, a movie like 'The First Wives Club.'

With a skip and a hop, Misao bounded towards the den to pick out such a movie, leaving Kaoru with her thoughts, which at times could be a scary thing. No, she was not mad at Misao's comment. The remark had not been meant to hurt or poke fun at her but had been just a silly statement that friends say to each other jokingly. Misao could have, if she wanted to hurt her, brought up the fact she never had a boyfriend, but she didn't. All she said was that she needed to get laid to loosen up. Laid and loosen were not words that suggested a statement meant to aggravate her about her dark secret, which wasn't so secret anymore. Come on, Kaoru was a couple's counselor, and that meant she was good at helping all relationships, even friendships, because that is what most romantic relationships were built off of.

Misao was a treat to her life, in nonsexual terms.

Nevertheless, there were more pressing matters than her own not-going-to-happen love life at hand. She had a career to save, and an attractive CEO to somehow meet and present her case to. There was not much time if she was going to make a quick comeback. It was either that or become pale as a ghost working in a cubical. Not that those people were pale or anything, she corrected herself. She actually admired them for what they did; it's just that that's all she wanted to do. Admire them, not be them.

"Hey, Kaoru, I got a movie ready to go!" Misao yelled from the living room. Kaoru was finished with the dishes, and had already heated up some buttery popcorn.

"Okay, just a minute."

This, Kaoru thought, would be the last fun she had for a while. After this she would have to work, work, work. But Kaoru loved to work, just about as much as she loved to breathe. And with that thought, she was right smack dab on square one again. Tomorrow, she promised herself, she would take her first steps towards meeting this Kenshin Himura and somehow reclaiming her integrity.

During the night, someone dared to call. Misao, who never woke up to anything unless someone screamed, "Hot Males Around!” never heard the phone call. Damn her. So regretfully, Kaoru reached over her pillows, plucked the phone off its bed, and answered it.

"Kaoru. Hello?"

She blinked a couple of times, her ears adjusting to the voice on the opposite line. "Megumi, is that you?"

"Yes. I'm sorry to call you so late, but I have been so busy with work down here that I have not managed to call you up and see how you're doing after what happened."

Kaoru groaned listening to Megumi chat on. Megumi, the beautiful medical doctor who for a time moved down to Houston to work for Herman Hospital. Megumi, one of Misao and Kaoru's friends since college. Megumi, the one who interrupted her sleep. Megumi, the one she hated to admit was a wise woman.

"I'm doing as well as can be expected," Kaoru said tiredly. Megumi didn't even ask if she'd woken her up; how like her.

"Kaoru, I couldn't believe my ears and eyes when the news came out. I'm so sorry." Megumi went on. Kaoru smiled. "Is there anything I can do?"

"Well, unless you have a blue cloak, a white wig, and a magic wand I think not," Kaoru said flatly, thinking of the old Disney cartoon. Where was her fairy godmother when she needed one? Blondes got everything--what dire humor.

Megumi chuckled a little, "Leave it up to you to crack jokes at a time like this."

"Would you rather I be like Misao?"

"Duly noted," Megumi said, clicking her tongue. It was a habit she'd developed ever since meeting both Kaoru and Misao. God, Kaoru thought, I really do miss her, even though she is a know-it-all. It was at times like this she needed to get counseling, not to give it, and while Misao was a great friend who had many excellent qualities, Megumi was the wisest one of them all.

"Anyway, I'm not just calling to tell you that I'm sorry for what happened, but also because I have great news," she continued. That got Kaoru's attention. Great news meant one of two things: either Megumi was pregnant and Kaoru would get to throw her a baby shower, or she was getting married.

"I finally get to come back. I'll be leaving in one week from today and heading back up north. I tried to call Misao, but I guess she is still off touring Italy." Kaoru's mouth went dry. Megumi was coming back, and it would be like the good ole' days with both Misao and Megumi trying to get Kaoru to go to clubs and loosen up. The good ole' days equaled hell.

At least now she had a reason to decline their invitations: she had to concentrate on work. Work without play made Kaoru get her job back.

"That's great, Meg." And she meant it. "But no, Misao is staying with me for a bit. She thinks I'm going to have some sort of mental breakdown."

"Yeah, that sounds like Misao," Megumi replied. "But I know you have a long day ahead of you, and I know I do to, so I'm going to let you go, okay? And, Kaoru," Megumi said after a pause, "tell me about your plan of action when I get there. And no, I'm not psychic; I just know that you're a girl who won't give up what she wants without a fight."

After that the line went dead, and Kaoru, not in the least surprised (remember, she knew Megumi was wise), finally fell into a hopefully dreamless sleep.

A/N: I'm sorry this chapter was so uneventful, but I have to build up. I promise soon things will start to heat up.

Again, special thanks to my friend, Elizabeth, who edited this chapter!

Thank you to everyone who reviewed the first chapter.