Rurouni Kenshin
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Fandom: Rurouni Kenshin:
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Title: .043 Nut
Characters: Kenshin/Kaoru
Prompt: .043 Nut
Word Count: 365
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Not much to say…
Author's Notes: Random Drabble



Kaoru settled her skirt a little firmer around her legs, attempting to distract herself. Not that the reason for her confusion was going to disappear any time soon. He had made it clear that he was interested. For most people, interest meant a few private conversations, a dance during one of those ridiculous little parties. Then they realized that being interested in her wasn’t something they were willing to continue. She smiled her acceptance, and they found another, more willing young lady.

But not this one.

Rolling a nut between her fingers, absently considering the texture of the still green fruit, she watched him from under her eyes. He seemed content with his book, his legs comfortably positions, the tree behind him supporting his spine and neck. She couldn’t shake the fact that even when it appeared for all purposes that he was paying close attention to the words on paper… she couldn’t shake the feeling that he was paying more attention to her. His eyes never left the pages.

Sighing a little, she shifted her eyes away from him and went back to studying the item in her hands. The nut was safer. Perhaps less productive, it wouldn’t make an interesting subject for her Misao, but it was safer. Safer to pretend that his eyes weren’t burning a line down her neck, ghosting over what little skin her gown showed to the public view. Easier to pretend that she wasn’t hyperaware of his presence or that intensity; that she wasn’t curious to see what his next move would be, wanting to know what it would be.

Lifting her eyes again, she snuck another glance at him. Eyes still watching the pages of the book. There was no sign of memorization, of the way she knew his eyes catalogued everything she did with those curious sparks of gold.

No, it was better to think of something else. Like the weather. The nut between her fingers. The way her hair ribbon never quite manages to contain her thick hair. Anything else. Because she wouldn’t let him make her nervous, wouldn’t let him crawl under her skin. Because then it wasn’t interest… then it became something else.



Title: .048 Light
Characters: Kenshin/Kaoru
Prompt: .048 Light
Word Count: 350
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Not much to say…
Author's Notes: Random Drabble



Kaoru was beginning to hate the dawn. As a child, she had loved waking up early enough to watch the sun creep through her window, slowly brightening the sky until the sun peeked itself across the mountains.

There were no mountains here to hide the sun for those few, extra precious moments that she now craved. She didn’t know how long she had been awake. Her back pressed against the headboard, the sheets tangled around her fingers in her lap. Her eyes were on the bare back and shoulders of the man sleeping beside her. His hair curled a little, a sure sign he had gone to bed with it wet again. She hadn’t even felt him fall into bed beside her that night. Instead of pulling her close as they both preferred, he had simply fallen into his pillow, too exhausted to move.

There was a new scar on his shoulder. Reaching out, she traced it lightly with her fingertips. His breathing, his heavy limbed exhaustion, never changed. Pressing her lips together, she abandoned her post against the wall and slid back under the sheets warmed by his skin and pressed against his side, needing the closeness of his body. He stirred a little then, but he settled as she tangled her fingers into hair, whispering those small nothings of comfort against his shoulder.

Her inner sense told her dawn was not far enough away. That it would rise soon, and with it he would as well. She had promised herself on her wedding night that she would not demand any more of his time than she already did, but every dawn brought with it the need to have him with her during both dawn and dusk. She was tired of having him only with others were threw using him. She was tired of sharing her soul.

Kissing the skin of his shoulder, she stubbornly closed her eyes. This would all change soon. Aoshi had promised her. He had promised her. She would hold them to those promises. She would hold them close. Just as she held him close.



Title: .052 Eat
Characters: Kenshin/Kaoru
Prompt: .052 Eat
Word Count: 4304
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Not much to say…
Author's Notes: College!Kenshin drabble.



Kaoru adjusted her position on the stairs and continued to glare at her Art History book. The evils of calculus were tucked safely into her backpack until three, then which she had to pull it out for her tutoring session. She was looking forward to the help but the idea of spending any more time with a calc book in front of her had her stomach rolling. Just what she needed really; another person explaining a complicated process in a way which she did not understand but she supposed there was hope her tutor could explain things properly in English. Instead of the Latin her professor spoke in.

Her stomach gurgled and Kaoru eyed the bag of goldfish that had been her lunch. Granted, she could have taken her time and gone to the cafeteria for lunch but she had left her wallet at the apartment. Again. She was just going to have to get into the habit of putting money in her backpack for the week. The only thing she missed about living in the dorms was the meal plan. Thankfully, she had remembered the baggie of goldfish from a week ago and eaten those instead. They hadn’t even been stale, a little smushed, but not stale. ‘Just give me a few more hours,’ Kaoru told the hungry organ, which rumbled again. ‘Then I can go and see what Megumi decided to make more dinner.’ The woman had been muttering about the possibility of pasta for dinner. Kaoru liked pasta. She liked pasta Megumi made almost as much as the stuff that came in her precious ramen cups.

Shutting the book, Kaoru glared at her watch. ‘Dammit. Half an hour to go…’ it was almost worth the trek to the apartment and back just to kill the time. Instead, she tucked her legs more comfortably along the step and considered the movie she had watched a week ago with Kenshin.

She had seen Kenshin once or twice since then, but hadn’t actually talked to him. Both times he had been in a group, chatting as they move across campus. The fact that the majority of his group had been girls dressed far too pretty for class had her rolling her eyes. She had decided that the little blond who seemed to chase him around had to be his girlfriend. The girl was very cute, Kaoru was willing to give her that; but she had been surprised that she was Kenshin’s type.

The way the girl hung all over Kenshin suggested that she possessive. That mean the possibility that the girl had been happy about him taking her to a movie was slim.
The clingy-girlfriend just confirmed the fact that what she had originally thought was a date, wasn’t. Which was actually fine with her. There was some minor relief she didn’t exactly want to explain to herself, so she avoided it.

“Studying?”

Kaoru whipped her head around so that her braid fell off her shoulder. Kenshin was watching her with a smile and he must have just come from kendo practice because he looked a little worn and his hair looked damp. Not to mention he was wearing the amusing green sweats of the team. “Has anyone ever told you that you resemble a Christmas tree in those sweats?”

He snorted, folding his legs under him so he could sit next to her. “No,” he returned. “You missed lunch.”

“Huh?” Kaoru asked, looking at him in confusion.

“Megumi joined us for lunch. She was late because she was waiting on you and you didn’t show,” Kenshin declared. “You did eat, didn’t you?’

Kaoru stared at him before rolling her eyes. “Yes, I ate. Thank you.”

He continued to give her a look. “What?”

“Excuse me?”

“What did you eat?” Kenshin repeated patiently. “Megumi says you have the tendency not to eat properly balanced meals, so I am curious.”

“I will have you know I had fish for lunch,” Kaoru shot back, unzipping her backpack so she could shove her books inside, the urge to brain him strong. “I am also failing to see how this concerns you.”

She turned and met his skeptical look head one. “Really, Kenshin. Did you need something or do you just like to annoy me?”

“I like to annoy you,” Kenshin replied with a smile, his violet eyes crinkled at the corners. He really did have the most interesting eyes. “You get the cutest wrinkle between your eyes.”

“Puppies are cute,” Kaoru informed him with a frown. “Definitely not wrinkles.”

“This one is,” Kenshin informed her, a grin tugging at his lips as he reached over and ran a finger between her eyes until he reached the tip of her nose, which he tapped. “See?”

“No,” Kaoru informed him, standing. “I need to jet. Some of us have calc to suffer through.” Once she had adjusted her backpack she blinked at the sighte of Kenshin holding a familiar baggy. Oops. She had forgotten she hadn’t put it back into her bag.

“Fish for lunch,” Kenshin replied in a tone that meant she was going to be getting a lecture from Megumi at some point. He waved it around so the last of the cheese crackers shaped like fish wigged between the bits of plastic. “Kaoru, this is not healthy.”

Kaoru moved down the steps, lifting her hand in a wave. “I gotta run. Calc tutor and all. May I suggest you shower?” Turning on her heel Kaoru did her best to move as a brisk walk and not turn it into a sprint.

The fact that she could feel Kenshin’s displeasure as she walked away kept her moving.

‘Like it’s any of his business,’ Kaoru grumbled mentally. ‘Best just to forget about it so that you can concentrate on the evil of calculus.’


Title: .053 Wait
Characters: Kenshin/Kaoru
Prompt: .053 Wait
Word Count: 5956
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Not much to say…
Author's Notes: Random Drabble



Kenshin smiled his thanks as the waitress placed the slice of cobbler he had ordered in front of him. She was new. The cobbler was still warm, melting the scoop of ice cream. Digging in with the spoon he took his first bite, eyes scanning the little dinner almost absently. All the regulars were settling in for dessert and coffee, a few mopping up crumbs from the meals they had ordered earlier. Tae only served dinner until nine, but she kept the desert and coffee coming until nearly one. Someone had to keep the locals fed, she said more than once, an amused grin on her face. Either way, the place was never packed, but it was busy until she closed down shop. Her sister, Sae, had the morning shift, opening around dawn with hot coffee and cinnamon buns as big as a plate.

He knew everyone here by face if not by name. Saitoh sat in the back corner, the only sing of his meal the large bowl that held the soba noodles he preferred. His wife would be joining him a little later for cake and coffee as they both relaxed after a long day at the precinct. Until she arrived, everyone general pretended her wasn’t there.

Yahiko was waiting on tables tonight. He only waited on tables when Kaoru was too busy to fit her normal hectic schedule into her schoolwork. Kenshin frowned a little until he spotted his sister, hunched over pile of books, a tall mug of coffee in front of her. She looked tired again. Scrapping his spoon along the plate, he finished off the last of his desert. From what he had managed to pick up from various conversations, Yahiko was doing pretty well in school, but things had gotten a little tight since Kaoru had started classes last fall.

He wondered why no one in there family was helping.

“If you keep starring,” Sano teased as he sat down. “People are going to think you like the girl.”

Kenshin grandly ignored his friend, picking up his coffee mug and reluctantly moving his eyes away from the way her shoulders were rounded with stress and exhaustion. It was difficult to fight the urge to walk over and ask her if she needed help with anything, but he already knew the answer. An over bright smile, shadowed eyes, and a polite ‘thank you, but were fine’.

“How is the building coming?” Kenshin asked, turning back to his friend. Sano looked a little worn, but he looked like he had had time to shower.

“Better.” Sano said with a sigh. “I think we weeded out all the idiots early this week.”

The little ding of the bell as Tokio entered, her heels clicking against tiled floor as she moved straight to her husband. She paused in front of Kaoru’s table, and Kenshin watched interested as the girls head came up. Tokio said something and Kaoru nodded, a faint smile flickering across her face before leaving again.

It wasn’t any of his business. He was still curious. Taking another sip of his coffee, he turned his attention back to Sano.

“… ask her out.”

Kenshin lifted a brow. “What?”

“Why don’t you just ask the girl out?” Sano repeated. “Everyone knows you like her.”

Kenshin sighed. The long standing argument between the two went on almost every time they entered the diner. Kenshin supposed that it was karma’s way of paying him back for all the times he had delicately pushed Sano into getting to know his now-wife.

It was never a question of him wanting to get to know Kaoru Kamiya better. It was always a matter of Kaoru showing any interest in him. At least with Megumi and Sano it was like sitting in the middle of a lightening storm. You never know which one was going to get hit first.

With Kaoru, he always felt like he was walking on eggshells.

“How is Megumi?” Kenshin asked, deliberately ignoring Sano’s snort. However, Sano could take a hint and rambled on about the decoration for the house. Or rather, the decorations that Megumi wanted for the house that Sano was trying to talk her out of. Leaning back, his coffee cup cradled between his fingers, his eyes flickered back to the raven-haired woman quietly speaking to her brother.

….

“You should head home.” Kaoru told Yahiko firmly. His shift had ended and he looked tired. ‘Almost as tired as I feel,’ she thought with a touch of wry amusement.

“Your not walking back home alone,” Yahiko responded irritably. “That last time you took the bus that guy tried to grope you.”

“I’m fine.” Kaoru soothed. “You should still head home.”

“No.”

Knowing that it was useless arguing with Yahiko when he was in this sort of mood, and that she was wasting precious minutes, Kaoru just sighed and went back to her textbooks. It was a challenge, studying here. While the atmosphere was comfortable in a way a coffee shop weren’t, it was terribly difficult to concentrate when someone was watching her. She was really starting to wonder. She had shoved it off the last few times she had noticed, because she was always tired and he was also so perfectly polite. Interested men were rarely polite. He never failed to leave her a tip when she was waiting on tables, always had a few polite things to say to her, and never once did he make her feel uncomfortable.

She was always uneasy around men she knew were interested. That strange six sense that something wasn’t exactly… comfortable would settle in her stomach and she would find herself only making minimum conversation.

He asked how her day was. How classes were going. How her little brother was doing. Those were not the standard questions that a man who was interested in taking a woman out would ask. At least, not in her limited experience with them.

Shaking her head, she tried to stare at equations and numbers and wondered if Tokio would ask her to see a shrink if she picked up the book and threw it across the room. At least she was babysitting the boys again on Monday. She had been trying to find a way to replace the income she was missing on Monday nights since the diner was closed. She wasn’t entirely sure what prompted Tokio to ask her to baby-sit the three boys, but it was nice. They were mostly well behaved and went to bed early, allowing her to get some much needed study time in.

Things were slowly working there way from bad to not so bad.

Her spine prickled again, and when she looked up, he was talking to his spiky haired friend again. Sighing heavily, she just didn’t need this; she dug back into her books and deliberately ignored the way she could feel him watching her.

…

Kenshin checked his watch and inhaled the last of his now lukewarm coffee. He was due to start his shift in half an hour. Rubbing the back of his neck, he stood. Sano was discussing something with Yahiko at the bar, and he debated going over and saying something. Deciding that it was probably best to give her space when she looked that tired, he was about to turn to secure his jacket, when those blue eyes looked up and met his.

Blue eyes dark with confusion, frustration, and something that he wondered if she knew she was showing. Nodding his head in a silent hello, he turned away and reached for his jacket. Pulling his hair free of the collar, he headed outside into the cold air.

Tucking his hands into his pockets, he let a slow smile cross his face as he moved along the street. It seemed like his patience was finally starting to pay off. Now it was just a matter of getting her to admit what her eyes had already shown him.




Title: . 055 Crime
Characters: Kenshin/Kaoru
Prompt: .055 Crime
Word Count: 233
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Not much to say…
Author's Notes: Random Drabble



She had known he was a bad idea when she saw him. Men like him just didn’t come without a price tag… even if they didn’t wear the warning label. He was no exception. He wasn’t tall. But he was all slick, smooth muscle under golden skin. She had never been overly fond of long hair but him… Red. Gold. The faintest touch of gold at the ends. She would have killed with her bare hands for hair like that and she was fascinated.

And his eyes… she wasn’t certain how she felt about his eyes. Hot. Tawny. Cool. Violet. His eyes were her greatest source of his moods yet… they deceived. She wanted to know what color they were after sex. Wanted to know what they looked like early in the morning. What expression would they carry for her… for them?

And his mouth. Than damnable, kissable, mouth that she wanted to bite. Especially when he smirked… that half knowing, half-amused smile curling thin lips.

And he knew. She could tell by the way he watched her, the way she could feel his eyes as she walked away. Feel it in the glide of his hands along her arms, the playful way he tugged the ends of her hair.

The way he licked that bottom lip when he thought she wasn’t watching.

She really should have known he was a bad idea.



Title: Slow Hunt
Characters: Kenshin/Kaoru
Prompt: .059 Summer
Word Count: 488
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Not much to say…
Author's Notes: Random Drabble



She felt sick. Her body felt like lead and it was difficult to move, but she managed to roll of her back and into her side. There was something warm and sticky down her neck. Her hand flapped against her cheek as she attempted to brush whatever it was. The trick of opening her eyes took her several attempts, but when she managed to, it took just as long to get them to focus.

Blood.

That was blood. Pulling her fingers up so she could see them in the dark room, she rubbed them together. She was bleeding. From her neck. She had the strongest urge to curl back inside herself and sleep, the warm place in her chest so inviting.

‘No,’ Kaoru thought slowly. ‘That’s what got you into this. You gave into warm…’

Warm was bad. Warm was getting stronger. Her limbs were shaky as she pushed to her feet. It was clawing her way through cotton candy while standing on a water bed. The floor rolled and sank under her feet and she stumbled dizzily until she hit something. Her knees wobbled and she hit the floor painfully. The dull sound of metal on metal and something sinking into flesh…

Sweat dripped down her face as she tried to push back to her feet.

“You should know I never leave the pretties alive.”

The voice felt like glass embedding into her brain. Her body lurched towards the sound of the voice so that she gasped, falling painfully to the side. Her slid shut as a noise of complete frustration rolled from her throat. ‘I can’t get up…’ Kaoru thought fuzzily, struggling not to sink into the darkness. ‘Not again.’

“Looks like you left one alive.” There was an edge to that voice.

The air changed. It was colder suddenly and the pulsing in her chest was suddenly temptation. Sudden pressure on her face had her dragging away from it, but only enough to recognize what she was feeling. Fingers. They ran over her cheekbones. Warmth died. Kaoru considered reaching for it, but let it go, the sudden rattling of her teeth as shivers racked her frame distracting her. It was like being plunged into ice.

Her eyes opened. The colors were so bright she had to close them.

“You smell like summer.”

Her lashes fluttered, but this time they refused to open. Not even the way her body was suddenly pulled upwards, her head lolling on her neck, could she managed to do anything. The drag of cold darkness pulled at her, no matter how hard she struggled.

“I wonder how you smell in the rain.”

As her world faded, she thought she smelled ginger.