Ruroken Fic: A Case of Mistaken Identity part 3
Hiko peeked out of the kitchen. He looked around and found his bakadeshi and his friend sprawled on the couch in front of the TV. “Kenshin? Where’s Shinta?”
Kenshin turned. “Upstairs.”
“Tell him to get down here. Lunch is ready.” He disappeared inside the kitchen again. Kenshin sighed and turned to Aoshi.
“Don’t even think about it.” Aoshi said in a deadpan voice.
Kenshin rolled his eyes. “I haven’t even said anything yet.”
“I know what you’re thinking. I’m not going up there to call them. They could be all sorts of tangled up by now. I don’t need images of your brother making out with his girlfriend in my head.”
Kenshin scowled. Aoshi glanced at him. “Hmm”
Kenshin turned to him. “What?”
“Aoshi smirked. “I was just thinking…that if you were to go….and even if you interrupted…something…It would not be quite as disturbing for you as it would be for me.”
“And why is that?”
Aoshi snorted. “Please Kenshin. Anybody with half a brain could see what’s going on in your head. You were drowning in drool when she left.”
“I was not!” He replied indignantly.
“Is that why you couldn’t move when she had you pinned to the door?”
“I was not,” Kenshin quickly glanced back in the direction of the kitchen, before continuing in a whisper, “…. pinned to the door.”
“Oh right. You were just leaning against it.”
Kenshin stood and shook his head in disgust. “You’re sick Aoshi.”
Aoshi laughed. “Oh, I’m sick? I suppose standing in as your brother’s proxy while his girlfriend kisses you is...”
“It was an accident.” He snapped.
Aoshi settled deeper into the couch and laughed. Kenshin went up the stairs with a scowl on his face. He stopped in front of Shinta’s door. Taking a deep breath, he raised his knuckles and was about to knock when the door flew open and Kaoru stood in the door frame, looking every bit as startled as him.
She jumped back immediately, bumping into Shinta. “Oh.”
Kenshin looked past her at his brother. “Lunch is ready.”
Shinta slipped his arms around Kaoru, resting his chin on her shoulder, he grinned at his brother, “Be right there.”
Kenshin turned and made his way back towards the stairs even as soft murmurs and snippets of laughter escaped to reach his ears. He quickly informed Hiko that they had a guest and began setting plates at the table.
X
Kaoru pushed the vegetables on her plate around absently even as the four men sitting around her ate in oblivious silence. She sneaked a glance at Shinta, who caught her eye, smiled and went back to eating his food. She inwardly sighed and considered glancing at the other redhead who had occupied her attention since the moment she had set foot inside the house. But the thought of looking at him terrified her. Great, just what she needed - an acute case of nail-biting embarrassment each time she thought of him.
God, she could not believe what had happened. Ugh, she was never this impulsive! What on earth possessed her to do something like that? Of course she wanted to surprise Shinta, show him that she’d missed him but seriously, could she not have found a better way to display her affection for him? She felt like tearing her hair out at the roots. She squirmed uncomfortably.
That grabbed his attention. Kenshin stopped moving his fork over his plate and slowly raised his eyes to meet hers across the table. He held her eyes for the briefest second before reaching out for a glass of water.
She swallowed and looked away. She couldn’t believe she was stuck in this stupid situation straight out of a movie. A very bad movie at that. This was the sort of thing she and Misao used to sit and laugh themselves silly at. Oh well hee haw…not so fun from this side of spectrum is it? She stabbed a piece of tomato thoughtfully before putting it in her mouth.
“So…Kaoru?” The deepest voice she’d ever heard floated over the table. She looked up. Oh yes. Hiko Seijurou. Shinta and Kenshin’s uncle and legal guardian. As she met his eyes, she smiled. Good looks definitely run in the family.
Involuntarily, her spine seemed to pull straighter. “Yes?”
“How’s the food?” He smiled at her.
She looked down at her plate for the fraction of a second before looking up at him. “Oh…um…it’s great! Yummy. Great pasta.” She stabbed her fork in the air for emphasis.
Hiko chuckled. “I see you’re not a big fan of vegetables.”
Kaoru smiled sheepishly. “Err….I do recognise that they constitute a food group.” She replied to the amusement of everyone around the table.
Aoshi smirked. “That reminds me. Aren’t you the girl who fell sick last year because you ate a spinach roll for a dare?”
Shinta laughed softly, while Kaoru replied flatly. “I’m allergic to spinach.” She turned to Hiko was staring at her curiously, “It’s the astringent….er…I’ve never really developed a taste for it.”
“Well, whatever is your poison…” He glanced around the table. Everyone was pretty much finished with the meal. He picked up his plate. “Well, I have some business to take care of in town. I trust the house will be standing in one piece while I’m gone.” He deposited his plate in the sink and nodded at Kenshin, who had stood as well. “We’ll train when I’m back.”
Kenshin nodded. “Hai, Shishou.” He waited until Hiko had left the room before taking his seat again. Kaoru watched this entire exchange with curious fascination.
She leaned towards Shinta and whispered, “Why does your brother call him ‘Shishou’?”
Shinta glanced at Kenshin as he replied, “Because Hiko is Kenshin’s kenjutsu teacher and because Kenshin’s old-fashioned,” he finished loudly, intending for his brother to hear. Kenshin glanced at him, scowled and went back to his food.
“Oh.” Kaoru bit her lip. She looked at Kenshin. “That’s really amazing.” Kenshin stopped eating. He looked at her, held her eyes but couldn’t bring himself to say anything so he settled for smiling at her before looking away. Aoshi watched the entire exchange with poorly concealed amusement. He smirked as Kaoru caught him looking at her. Her face flushed and she squirmed once again.
Kaoru rolled her eyes inwardly. She had completely forgotten about Aoshi. He’d seen her little femme fatale act at the door. What if he told Shinta? Oh gods…she had to tell him about it. She couldn’t hide it from him. I mean, not while the boy she’d kissed by mistake lived in the same house. What made matters worse was that Aoshi had seen everything. Even if Kenshin didn’t tell Shinta, Aoshi might. She clutched her fork tightly. The question was - how on earth was she going to tell Shinta about this? Even though it was an honest mistake, maybe he wouldn’t see it that way. This was the real reason why she’d been so upset. If only she had known, he had a twin; she would have not jumped straight into that kiss. She might have tried to find out who he was before she pounced upon him like that. She might have…oh what was the use?
What was done was done. She couldn’t change it. She would just have to gather some courage and tell Shinta about that kiss. It was no big deal. It didn’t mean anything, did it?