Ruroken Fic: A Case of Mistaken Identity part 2
“Just wait a minute. I know I have it here somewhere….” He began to throw clothes and random items off his bed, searching for something. “Kenshin bought it for me….and now I can’t seem to find it….crap.” He continued to look and didn’t notice that Kaoru hadn’t moved an inch from the door and that she looked mortified and slightly ill.
“Aw, it’s no use. I’ll find it later. Sorry Kaoru…” he frowned as she stood staring at the floor, mercilessly mauling her lower lip. He crossed over to her and put his hands on her shoulders. “Hey, what’s wrong Kaoru?”
“Huh?” She looked up suddenly.
Shinta chuckled. “Wow, you’re clueless.”
“What…about what?” Kaoru asked in bewilderment.
“You’ve been staring at the floor for ages, and you haven’t said a word since you got here, that’s like a record.” He raised his eyebrows mischievously. “And if you really have to punish your lip like that, why don’t you let me do it?” He leaned in to close the distance between them.
“No, Shinta.” Kaoru stopped him, shrugging his hands off her shoulders; she stepped past him and crossed her arms over her chest.
Shinta looked at her carefully. He was surprised but chose not comment on it right now. Kaoru seemed upset about something and he would rather know what was bothering her. “What’s going on Kaoru? You seem…weirded out ….or something.”
“Shinta….we’ve been going out for two months and not once in all that time, did you tell me that you had a brother. A twin! I mean, I thought identical twins were really close, and I had to see him to find out that you had a brother.” She turned away and sat on his bed, ignoring the distinct smell of an unopened lunch that wafted out from under it.
“That’s it? That’s why you’re upset?
Kaoru glared at him. “It’s not a small thing Shinta.”
He sighed, and sat down beside her. Taking her hand in his, he looked into her eyes and spoke, “Kaoru, Kenshin’s my brother, yeah, my twin…and I love him. I mean, I would die for him, and he for me. It’s just…it never came up. And he’s been away for a really long time, training so it never came up. I’m sorry. I should’ve told you but I guess I got carried away with everything that was happening with us and…I forgot.”
Kaoru instinctively turned to him. “I guess its okay. It’s just…there seem to be things I don’t know about you..
Shinta looked back at her with a straight face. "Well, there are a lot of things you don't know about me yet."
"Oh really? Like what?"
"Like I have a harem hidden away in my closet. The minute you leave, I'm going to pull one out and get busy."
Kaoru stared back at him. "Was that you trying to be funny?"
Shinta grimaced. "Did it work?"
"No."
"Drat. I knew it!"