The Sekihoutai isn’t the kind of bar people like the Yukishiros would grace. There are no socialites, there are no pleasant hostesses, and the unisex bathroom is cleaned only once a day, which means two things: One, it stinks by lunchtime, and two, it's a hellhole come dinner. There is a menu, but no cook, so food is a non-existent commodity in the joint, owing to the fact that the "chef" quit working in it three years ago and he hasn’t been replaced since.
The establishment's only saving grace is the cheap, but quality, liquor, making it a virtual breeding ground for what Alcoholics Anonymous considers a menace to society.
It has enough seedy regulars to support the owner, his brother, and the single waiter that worked in it.
Occasionally, a new face would walk through the door. That newcomer would either become a regular, or would never grace the watering hole again.
Sanosuke Sagara, owner, manager and bartender of Sekihoutai, bore no ambition, no intention of creating some kind of Sekihoutai franchise. As far as he was concerned, Hard Rock Café, TGIF and Planet Hollywood could just eat his boxer shorts. All he knew was this: he had put up the bar for a reason, and the money it brought in was the least of it.
Festooned on the walls were various clippings of articles, literature, essays, and other government protest paraphernalia, like a well-made protest banner, "I Support Civil Rights" buttons, and some ridiculous but well-made caricature and cartoons of government officials.
Jazz music played from the hi-fi stereo in the corner of the small pub, and it provided enough noise to overwhelm the otherwise thundering silence.
Sano’s customers seldom came here to talk. They usually just sat around, drinking by themselves, lost in their own thoughts. Once or twice, they would strike up a conversation with him on the bar, but that was about it. They all inevitably left, none the better for when they first stepped in.
"Give me a drink."
Sano looked up at the sound of the voice and his eyes narrowed to slits. "I told you…not till after work, ya dimwit!"
Katsuhiro Tsukioka sighed, his face taking on an even more depressed mood. "Why? Why do I put up with this?"
Sano regarded his waiter for a brief, ponderous moment before giving a reply. "Because you gotta eat, and if you didn’t work for me, you’d be a starving artist whose paintings and scripts don’t sell."
Katsuhiro sank deeper into his despondency. "Some brandy…the really strong one."
"You’ll get your brandy after work," Sano told him. "And no freebies. We’re all living off the shits here. Now go back to polishing the tables."
Katsuhiro groaned, tearing himself away from the bar and grabbing his towel to wipe the tables with.
"I’ll let you have the brandy for free if you clean the bathroom," Sano said in a singsong voice.
"Kiss mine, Sagara," muttered Katsuhiro.
Damn! thought Sano. "It was worth a try."
In spite of the seeming sordidness of the whole thing, Sano thought it couldn’t get any better than this. He felt that at twenty-six, he’d got it made.
Someone stormed out of the kitchen door angrily.
Sano regarded his sixteen-year-old brother in amusement.
"Who the hell took my f*%king Little Women?" Yahiko yelled.
His outburst caused the half-dozen patron-bums to look up from their solitude. Finding no sense--and no sympathy--in what he said, they all went back to their own, intoxicated worlds.
Sano smirked. "Little women f*%king? Care to introduce me to these broads? I could use a good shag."
"Shut up, you ignoramus," Yahiko fumed, mirroring the angry face emblazoned on his "Slipknot" T-shirt. "It’s a book, by Louisa May Alcott. The Hag told us to read it while she was on leave. Where the f*%k is it?"
Sano’s face screwed in irritation. "Well, I don’t know. What the f*%k would I do with a book? Little Women my wiener…sounds like something only a chick would read!"
Katsuhiro frowned. "That is not true! I happen to think it’s quite engaging. Reflecting an age in American history filled with cultural practices—"
Sano looked at him with a deadpan face. "Do I look like I’m interested?"
Katsuhiro’s lip twitched in disgust. "I don’t know why I bother," he muttered. "Yahiko, I think I saw it in the bathroom this morning."
"Bathroom?" Yahiko responded in confusion, heading for the lavatory.
Silence settled once more, only to be broken again by a loud cry of dismay.
Cursing ensued, of the worse kind, and Yahiko reappeared, redder and more furious than ever. "All right! Which one of you was it?" he demanded from the customers. "Which one of you losers used my book for toilet paper?"
The book he held was tattered, missing a considerable portion of the first chapter.
Nobody replied, because nobody cared.
"I can’t believe this!" Yahiko yelled in frustration. He stormed to the farthest table where someone happened to be sitting. "You! Go away!"
Too awed, and perhaps too drunk to stand up against the towering and rampaging teenager, the frail and balding customer stood up to find another seat.
Yahiko plopped on the chair the man vacated and held up the dishonored book, opening it somewhere around the middle, where he had most probably last left off.
Sano grinned to himself. Yahiko reading a book? That was new. If only Kaoru "Hag" Kamiya could see him now.
The kid never cared much about literature before, let alone English literature. It was primarily the reason why Kaoru always kept Yahiko after school for detention, but in the past month, the boy had been reading up diligently. That wasn’t what exactly bothered Sano. What was so odd was the fact that in spite of Yahiko’s conscientiousness in the matter of study, the detention hadn't stopped. Unless his brother was an incredible moron, something was definitely up. Sano hasn’t quite figured it out, but he had his suspicions, knowing his brother...
The last time Yahiko had done something out of the ordinary, it had to do with a chick, an older one. Pretty and twenty years old, Tsubame Sekihara helped her sister Tae run the restaurant three blocks away. The Akabeko served a hoard of customers every day, usually salary men and women. It was a thriving business, and for an entire three months before the FIFA Worldcup, things went haywire. It was at that time Yahiko started helping Tae and Tsubame at the restaurant, without pay. Sano made no comment about it, especially since Tae exchanged Yahiko's kind service with restaurant goodies that fed them for quite some time, but Sano figured that it was Yahiko's attempt to win over Tsubame.
The poor kid's heart broke when Tsubame started going out with some Korean soccer fan. As a result, Yahiko came up with the absurd idea that he had to drown his sorrows in alcohol. Sano had caught him sneaking some beer into his room several times, and big brother would be damned before he let himself get arrested for giving alcohol to a minor who just happened to be his little brother.
It was around this time that Yahiko started paying attention in English class.
Apparently, Yahiko didn't think twenty was old enough for him. Now he was going for a twenty-four-year-old. One who was engaged to be married in two weeks.
Sano held down his wince at the thought that Yahiko had intentions of romancing the woman he kept calling "Hag" and the girl Sano still called Jou-chan or "Li'l Missy."
The Sagaras had always been good friends with the Kamiyas. All his life, he’d known Kaoru and treated her like a younger sister. They were each other’s oldest friend, and whatever Sano's Uncle Souzo had intended for his nephew with regards to Kaoru had died with him. Sano couldn't imagine himself getting it on with Jou-chan. It was too icky, and the thought that Yahiko was actually trying his luck seemed almost as unnatural as incest.
"In-breeding," Sano muttered with a shudder.
Sano hasn’t seen Kaoru in a while, but apparently, as Yahiko’s teacher, the two were seeing each other almost every day. It gave him another shudder, and he turned his thoughts to a more agreeable, or at least a less aggravating thread.
Jou-chan was getting married, and to the most eligible bachelor Enishi Yukishiro, no less.
Who'd a thunk?
He remembered the games he and Kaoru used to play, particularly baseball and soccer. He could still see Kaoru in the batter's box, giving the pitcher a death-glare as she waved the bat over her shoulder in anticipation. The girl had a spectacular right arm, not to mention an iron shin with which she sent countless soccer balls crashing into glass windows.
Now she was all pearls and high-society, dinner parties and psychiatrists, editors and authors. It made him wonder whether he would still have something to talk about with the tomboy if they had the chance to catch up.
It was inevitable that he would see her, though. He'd received a wedding invitation in the mail a week ago, for Yahiko and himself. He still didn't know where he'd get the duds to look presentable for the affair, but he'd be there even if he had to show up in a barrel. Kaoru would be walking down an aisle in a dress, and he wouldn't miss it for the world. He'd even dug up his camcorder. It wasn't as sophisticated as the little itty-bitty ones that had popped up on the market, but it would get the recording done.
He had just finished mixing a Kamikaze for the bum at table six when a new face walked into the Sekihoutai.
* * * *
Kenshin Himura, attorney-at-law, wasn't sure why he had decided to wander into this rinky-dink bar. He was by no means a man who drank by himself, and he certainly didn't look like a guy who had to go to a place where they sold cheap pots of good sake. One thing he did know, this wasn't his part of town.
The ratty clothing of the barflies were a sharp contrast to his expensive suit. As the snots of his circle said, "In order to know if a man is a success in the corporate world, you have to look at his shoes, his watch, and the make of his business card."
Kenshin had the shoes, he had the watch, and he certainly had the business card, but as much as he considered the corporate proverb a load of crap, he couldn't help but notice how the other customers wore tattered Reeboks and cheap imitation time pieces. And judging by the near-empty fishbowl sitting at the corner of the counter that said, "Drop your calling card here," they didn't have the business cards either.
Oddest of all was the young man, who looked no older than sixteen, sitting at the far corner of the establishment reading a book that looked like it had been chewed by a dog.
Kenshin's legalese mind was inclined to wonder whether it was right for a minor to be in a bar, but he shrugged off the thought. He wasn't here to talk law.
He was no snob, and if anything, the silent, devil-may-care ambience of the Sekihoutai was strangely comforting. Right now, he could do without all the out-of-office niceties he usually had to put up with.
Smoothing down his garish purple and pink tie, he sat himself on the bar.
"What'll it be, stranger?" asked the tall, spiky-haired bartender as he wiped a towel on the surface of the counter where Kenshin had placed himself.
Kenshin smiled at him pleasantly. "Sake, if you please. And this unworthy one prefers it warm."
The bartender arched an eyebrow at the self-depreciation, but he made no reference to it as he said, "A good man always likes his sake warm."
Kenshin suspected that there was hardly any truth to it. But the bartender, perhaps knowing enough being in the business, would certainly do better patronizing his customers at no extra cost to himself. Kenshin concluded that such hogwash likely made most newcomers comfortable, therefore freer with their money. Kenshin would wager that the bartender would tell a known serial killer the same thing if it made him pay his tab before going on another killing spree. However, Kenshin expressed none of his trivial cynicism. He merely kept the smile on his face and said, "Is that so? You judge me too quickly, I think. This unworthy one is not a good man, I believe."
The bartender shrugged. "You got one thousand seven hundred fifty yen for this sake?"
"Most assuredly," Kenshin replied.
The bartender leaned over the counter and gave a single nod. "Then you're a good man."
"Oro..."
"What?"
"N-Nothing."
After a while, a pot and saucer was placed in front of Kenshin. The bartender poured his customer the first dish and said, without ceremony, "Enjoy."
Kenshin nodded, still smiling, before he partook of the sake. He took it all in one chug, and right after, Kenshin whipped his head to the side, blinked several times before blowing a loud breath through his lips.
"My goodness...that rather hit the spot!" He said, turning slightly red.
"Then you're not from around here," the bartender said.
Kenshin momentarily wondered how the bartender had made his conclusions from the eye-watering episode but did not inquire about it out loud.
"No, not really," he replied, pouring himself another draught, but this time, he wasn't going to drink all of it at once. "I do not usually do this, drink alone...but one grows weary of too much company every now and then."
"Glad to accommodate you," said the bartender.
Kenshin felt the bartender observing him, trying to be discreet as he began wiping glasses lined up behind the counter.
He had always been self-conscious about his size, and he was prone to think that the indiscernible look in the bartender's eyes had to do with his small, kind of scrawny, frame. Most people made the mistake of classifying him as a wimp, and even if Kenshin had the propensity to think himself unworthy on several aspects of his life, he never considered himself as a weakling. Weird yes, what with his garish tie, red hair and his eerie violet eyes, but not a weakling. He had often been asked if he had foreign lineage. Truth be told, he had no idea.
The bartender brought out a bowl of spiced peanuts. "Goes great with sake," he said. "And don't worry, they're free."
Kenshin chuckled. "Thank you very much."
The bowl that the peanuts were in had Sekihoutai emblazoned on its side. It looked a bit worn, with a chip on its rim.
"Interesting name, this one," Kenshin said, eyeing the red and blue hiragana.
The bartender said nothing, and Kenshin had to wonder if he had said something to offend him.
****
Sano didn't feel like explaining things to the stranger. Story's too long, he thought. And yeah, too personal.
Sekihoutai was the name of the gang he used to be in before he cleaned up his act. The group had started out as a harmless protest faction in college. It became more radical, and then it turned into some kind of violent fraternity that got all of them kicked out of school. It was his uncle who started the group after all, with the best of intentions. Sano named the bar after it in honor of those good intentions.
"My uncle named it," was all he said.
"Could you guys keep it down? I'm trying to study here!" Yahiko yelled from his corner.
The red-headed stranger turned to address Yahiko. "Please...I hope you don't mind me saying...aren't you a little too young to be in a bar?" He asked.
The boy glared at him. "Well, I hope you don't mind me saying, aren't you a little too hoity-toity to be in a bar like this?" He shot back.
"Oro!"
"Excuse my brother," Sano said, noticing the stubby ponytail sticking out above the nape of Red's hair. "He was absent when they taught manners in school."
"If you can't stand my bitching, then shut the f&%k up!" Yahiko said, going right back to his book after expressing his irritation.
"Damn kid..." Sano grumbled.
"Sagara, I could really use a drink. Please," Katsuhiro said, dumping his towel on the bar and sitting beside Kenshin.
Sano stared at him for a moment, and seeing that he was really depressed, Sano decided to cut him some slack.
Placing a brandy glass in front of his friend, Sano poured him some liquor. "That'll be five hundred eighty five yen."
Katsuhiro groaned. "Aw...have a heart..."
"I'm payin' you for this break," Sano told him. "Are you gonna pay now or should I take it out of your wages?"
"Put it on my tab, sir," Red said. "I know how he feels."
Sano shrugged. "Good men are hard to find. I'm just glad one of 'em walked into my place."
Red seemed to have acknowledged the words with a nod while Katsuhiro thanked him profusely.
Sano raised an eyebrow in Red's direction. He was no shrink, but he had been a bartender long enough to know when his customers have had better days.
* * * *
Kenshin smiled at the whom he assumed to be the waiter before sinking to his own thoughts.
He had been in court that afternoon, defending a man accused of beating his kid. The Defense Attorney had been none other than Hajime Saitoh. Kenshin's closing would have been perfect, if not for the slight doubt in his mind that the man he was defending was actually guilty. Hajime defended the government well--too well--, for it was he who planted the seed of distrust in Kenshin for his own client, even if the jury had decided in the defendant's favor.
Kenshin didn't want to think about it. He didn't want to believe that he was responsible for setting a child-beater free. He almost wanted to go back to the days when he had been a cold, hard hitting lawyer, incapable of feeling guilt, even if his clients were guilty as hell.
No, I don't want to go back to that. Kenshin reminded himself. That man is innocent. I felt it.
Guilt is a human trait, and to feel none of it would make him no better than a beast. His ex-wife had certainly felt strongly about it, and it was the reason she left him. He vaguely wondered why she had not bothered to consider reconciling with him when he changed, then he thought better of it.
It wouldn't have worked out anyway, he mused. Too much bad blood.
They were friends now, the way it should be ten years after the divorce. The first year after the separation had been an emotional disaster for them both, with her hating him for being an unfeeling bastard and him hating her for giving up. It was only later that they understood how neither of them settled for a middle ground on anything, which is why they made each other feel wretched after the honeymoon stage. They had a better relationship now that they were best friends, instead of husband and wife.
She was the reason he had chosen to become a better person, and now he could thank her for that. In that sense, he was glad he had married her. Glad she had been self-righteous, and that she had loved him enough to want him to be human, even if she made herself miserable doing it.
No one could ever be like her.
She told him that she was dating her college boyfriend now, and that they were serious. He had the impression that she was asking his permission, as if it was the proper thing to do. He chuckled. That was Tomoe, always so formal and proper. Never letting on how warm she could be. Of course he told her he was happy for her. He was, sincerely so, but he was somewhat uneasy that he was feeling no jealousy of any kind. But then, that was what being best friends meant, and he was just too glad to accept that.
He knew Akira Kiyosato. Another lawyer, and Kenshin had gone up against him a few times. He could see how Tomoe and Akira could hit it off so well. Both of them had a strong sense of morals, both were passionate in their beliefs. Kenshin's flaw had been his failure to keep the morals, whenever he had the passion.
Kenshin was happy for her, because Akira was a good man. Unlike before, when he and Tomoe were married, they told each other everything now, and she had even set him up on a few dates, with perfectly beautiful and respectable women, no less. It amused him to think that it was some kind of repentant gesture on the part of Tomoe, as if she was trying to atone for the damage their marriage had wrought. He could hardly consider it "damage". More like an experience that he couldn't and shouldn't forget.
So on Kenshin's prospects of romance, in spite of the dates, he hadn't had that much luck. The longest relationship since Tomoe lasted no longer than two weeks, which to him meant there was almost no hope for him. He was just too weird. People at the firm called him Funny Freak, and he supposed that didn't and wouldn't help him with the women much.
"So stranger, what do you do for work?" the waiter asked. "I'm sure you don't wait on tables for a cheapskate."
"That's funny. Hear me laugh," the bartender said flatly. "A-hahum."
Kenshin chuckled. "No. I don't wait on tables and my firm abhors cheapskates."
"Everybody's a comedian," muttered the bartender.
"Shut up, cheapskate!" the brat yelled.
"I seem to recall that there are only three people involved in this conversation and it doesn’t include a brat reading a book for girls!" the bartender said, roaring out the last part.
"Eat my shorts, bully!" the brat returned.
Kenshin chuckled in amusement. "I grudge you the brother talk, if you don't mind me saying, sir," he remarked, remembering a story he had read about a motherless nurse saying "I grudge you the mother talk," to appease a man who had been arguing with his mother heatedly.
"What?" the bartender asked.
"I grudge you the brother talk," Kenshin repeated. "I've never had a brother. I barely had parents. My father died of cancer and my mother just wasted away after that. I was raised by my godfather."
"I ran away from home when my father couldn't stand the thought that his son is an artist," declared the waiter gravely.
The bartender looked like he was about to say something when the chime at the door rang.
A woman stood at the threshold, making a black suit look really good in spite of the hair piled messily on her head held by two disposable chopsticks.
"Well...isn't this a nice Orphan Convention," sneered the bartender. "Long time no see, Jou-chan. The usual, I presume?"
* * * *
Kaoru didn't know if Sano was being a tad sarcastic. He had a right to be. She hadn't dropped by to see him in a while. Actually, more than a while. It had been a year.
"Full house?" Kaoru remarked in the same tone.
The red haired man at the bar was staring at her, and if she were some place else, she would have considered him rude. But since Sekihoutai was no place for gentlemen, she didn't hold it against him. Besides, the guy got leeway points for his weird sort of good looks. Odd...he looked awfully familiar, and one would think she'd remember a redheaded Japanese guy.
"Oh great! Now the Hag's here," Yahiko said.
"First I'd like to say that I'm glad to see you hitting the books. Next, I'm afraid you hit the book too hard, kid. That thing's a mess, like someone used it for toilet paper. Lastly, I'm not sure if I'm glad to see you in another one of your bratty moods, come to that," Kaoru said, sitting herself on one of the stools beside Katsuhiro while she pulled off her coat.
"Geez! Is that why you came here? 'Cause you're PMS-ing?" Yahiko asked with a smirk. "And don't call me a kid!"
"Oro..."
"I wish this was a school, so that I could issue detention," Kaoru said wearily. She blatantly ignored Yahiko who made farting noises with his mouth. She looked at Sano. "So, how are you Sanosuke? God! I haven't seen you in ages. What have you been up to?"
"Making my life a living hell," Katsuhiro groaned.
Kaoru grinned. "Nothing new?"
Sano placed a tall glass on the counter, looking like he was in dire danger of smiling. Then deliberately, he pulled out a carton of chocolate-milk and began to pour some for her. "Drink moderately."
Kaoru glared at him. "Very funny, Sano. As a matter of fact, I came here for a margarita."
Sano scoffed. "If I gave you a margarita, you'd be passed out in five minutes. Quit being a socialite and drink your milk."
Kaoru rolled her eyes around, but she drank from her glass anyway.
"That'll be three hundred fifty yen," Sano said.
Kaoru chuckled. "Right."
"Whatsamatter? You don't have three hundred fifty yen?"
Kaoru stopped mid-gulp and pulled her glass away from her to stare at him open-mouthed. "What the--chrimeny, Sagara! I haven't seen you in a year and you're charging me for a cheap-arse kiddy drink? You haven't changed a bit!"
She hauled her wallet from her purse and flashed a credit card. "You take Visa?" She asked with a smirk. Sano hated credit cards. It was too much work for him to collect from the card companies and he didn't appreciate the 6% they shaved off the profit either.
A quiet laugh emanated from the red haired stranger. "Mr. Bartender, you may put her...umm, lady's drink on my tab as well."
Kaoru looked at him, raising an eyebrow. He seemed really amused by her, and it did occur to her that he was laughing at her for something, but she was in no mood to ask him what it was. "You're definitely not from around here," she merely said.
He grinned at her brightly. "I'd surmise that you're looking quite out of place yourself, madam, if this unworthy one had not heard the candid exchange between you and the gentlemen."
Kaoru laughed. "Madam? Gentlemen? Unworthy one? You're funny!"
"Oro!"
"What?"
"N-Nothing."
Kaoru drank from her glass and strangely felt that she needed something stronger. "Sano, think you could give me something more robust?"
Sano pretended to give it some thought before popping out a Pepsi.
"Oh, come on!" Kaoru said. "Who gets drunk with a Pepsi? I don't get drunk with a Pepsi."
"So you came here to get drunk," Sano said. "Alright, who are you and what have you done to Jou-chan?"
Kaoru pouted. "I haven't changed that much. Just for tonight. Please? I've got too many things on my mind, and I want to forget."
"You've got a milk mustache, girlie," Sano said. "Wipe it off before running that Jaded-bitch deal by me again."
Kaoru stuck a tongue out to taste her upper lip, confirming that she did have a milk mustache. Great, no wonder Red was laughing. I must have looked really stupid.
* * * *
Kenshin watched as Jou-chan wiped the milk mustache from her face. He grinned to himself.
"Maa..." he said, amused to see a woman with such a pristine personality trying to seem jaded and weary. It didn't become her. Even when she frowned, she looked like she was smiling through her radiant blue eyes. She certainly looked like a milk person, and if bartender named Sano were better stocked, he might have brought out cookies as well. "At your age, madam, you shouldn't have to forget things."
"At my age?" Jou-chan asked with a chuckle. "You're about as old as I am and you've got a pot of sake."
"Madam, I'm at least a decade older than you. I am thirty five."
They all stared at him in disbelief.
The waiter gave a whistle.
"Age becomes you," Jou-chan muttered.
"I get that a lot," Kenshin quipped pleasantly.
"So what are you in for, if you don't mind me asking?" Kaoru asked.
It took a moment for Kenshin to register the fact that years into his practice dealing with detainees, convicts and psychos in prison, he'd never been asked that question.
Kenshin smiled plaintively. "I just wanted to get away from it all, even for just a while."
Jou-chan nodded, understanding completely. "A Greta Garbo. Same thing for me."
The waiter sighed in annoyance. "I don't get it with you rich types. You've got everything and all you could say is 'I vant to be alone?' What is up with that?"
Bartender Sano poured his employee another shot. "Trust me, Katsu. When you've got gobs of money, there's an extremely irresistible urge to find something else to worry about."
Jou-chan nodded sagely. "Like one's sanity."
Kenshin stared at her in surprise. That was exactly how he felt at the moment. How could she be so bothered by these things when she's so young? Not just a pretty face, this one. But then, when had looks ever been a good basis for character?
Sano scoffed. "Jou-chan, you've always been a bit of a loon. Remember that time when you were nine and you found that pearl bracelet in your shed? You said you found it under a pile of Unicorn you-know-what."
Jou-chan frowned. "The unicorn had been prancing to the tune of Claire de Lune and it led me to the shed! And it wasn't unicorn you-know-what! It was unicorn dust!"
Sano put up his hands. "I rest my case."
Kenshin laughed, thinking that he's never said, "I rest my case," either.
"So I've got a vivid imagination, big deal," Jou-chan told him loftily. "Don't tell me you never had imaginary friends."
"The rooster head prefers more visually oriented associations," the brat suddenly said. "He's quick to make friends with the Bunnys and Debbies and Fifis on the pages of Penthouse and Playboy. All it takes is a hand shake."
Waiter Katsu sputtered in laughter.
Jou-chan made a face and Sano didn't look too pleased by the turn of the conversation.
Kenshin was really beginning to enjoy himself. Apart from the fact that the sake was doing its work, the raw exchanges flying all over the room were making him a bit giddy. There were no niceties here. Just blatant comebacks and almost-rude retorts. It was refreshing.
He stared at the little missy again, a moment later realizing it was boorish of him to do so, but then deciding that he didn't care. He liked looking at Jou-chan. He liked the fresh enthusiasm in her face. He liked the way she forced herself to act like some kind of Prozac Emergency when all it did was make her cute and quirky. He liked the way she wore her hair with complete disregard for fashion simply because it wasn't falling all over her face, courtesy of the chopsticks. He liked the sharp wit, mixed with her residual naivete.
And when he saw the rock glistening on the finger of her left hand, he knew she was probably the woman of his dreams, because by the law of averages, you only met your soul-mate once, and chances were you couldn't have her one way or another. As the saying went, "Mr. and Ms. Perfect are never available. They're either married, engaged to be married, gay or lesbian. And if you're especially unlucky, Mr. and Ms. Perfect are actually married to each other."
Whoever this woman was engaged to, he had be one lucky son of a-- "When is the big day, if I may ask?" said Kenshin, taking another gulp of his sake. He was definitely getting tipsy.
Jou-chan followed the line of his vision and saw it resting on her seven-carat diamond solitaire. She covered her left hand with her right, hiding her hands behind the counter and on her lap. "Two weeks," she replied with what seemed to him a forced smile. "Only two weeks," she whispered under her breath, probably thinking that he didn't hear her. "And everything has to be perfect."
* * * *
And everything has to be perfect.
That last thought turned her stomach, as in really turned it. Perfect…
Another stab of fear struck her. But I'm not!
It wasn't self-deprecation. It was just a fact: Nobody's perfect. There were people who were really good at giving a semblance of perfection, like Tomoe and Enishi, but most people were so obviously chipped and flawed. Kaoru didn't know if Enishi could accept that fact in her, or if she could stand it if he couldn’t.
"You're looking a little pale," Katsuhiro said to her. "Here, have some of this."
He handed her his brandy glass, and she thanked him, tipping the lid to her lips.
"NO!" Sano and Yahiko cried at once.
The glass was empty. She had swallowed her poison, and the effect of it was immediate.
* * * *
Kaoru flushed and let out a whoop of glee. "Whoo-hoo! That's some stroooooong shit you got there, Sagara!" She stood up, wavering a bit. "Ah feel good, daddy!"
Ho boy, Sano thought in absolute dismay. How many times have I done this? Too many times.
She attempted to sit back down but she missed her seat and toppled off.
"Easy!" Sano and Yahiko exclaimed in unison.
Katsuhiro caught her before she completely fell.
Kenshin frowned in slight worry. "Oro...maybe you shouldn't have given her the alcohol."
"Katsuhiro, you're a moron," Sano muttered, going around the bar to help. Yahiko had left his seat as well, getting to Kaoru first to support her.
She hiccuped and giggled. "I feel nice! Like sugar and spice!"
"She's singing," Katsuhiro said. "It's a James Brown song recorded in 19--"
"Oro..."
"What?"
"Shut the f*&k up with your trivia and help me get her to a chair!" Yahiko said.
Red hastened to assist Yahiko when Katsuhiro had seemed too annoyed by the boy to be cooperative.
Kaoru's legs turned to jello, and she became somewhat of a dead weight. Yahiko and Kenshin had to join forces to catch her.
"You're a couple of wimps, you know that?" Sano said, pushing through his brother and customer to haul Kaoru up by himself. He easily sat her on a chair with a backrest and she began toppling face down on the table.
"Oro! Miss Jou-chan!" Red said, holding her up.
"You're a sweet man," Kaoru slurred, attempting to clap a hand on his shoulder. She missed and her palm landed on his face.
"O--!"
"I should be marrying a guy like you," she continued in a drunken drawl. "Not some hot-shot perfectionist who wants me to be as perfect as he is. Saaaanoooo, I don't wanna marry Enishi..."
"Of course you don't," replied Sano with a grin as he reached for Kaoru's coat.
Red blinked. "Pardon me...Enishi?"
Kaoru's head swiveled as she nodded. "He wants me to horse a hair and ride my fix...like a perfect little Aquarian."
"I think you mean Equestrian," Katsuhiro said.
"What-the freak-everrrr!" Kaoru said droopily. "If he thinks he could turn me into a horse-wife, forget it! I'll giddy-yap him a house and have it ass him on the kick."
Sano observed stranger raising an eyebrow but he decided to ignore it. There were more important matters to take care of.
"I'm going to 'im right now to tell him I don't wanna marry him!" She declared, bolting from her chair and teetering like a pendulum.
Red caught her and she plopped against him limply.
"She's drunk," said Katsuhiro.
"Gee, you think?" Yahiko asked.
"You. Stranger," Kaoru said, her voice muffled by the press of her lips on Kenshin's coat. "Ya wanna futae my kiwami? 'Cause you've got a hand on my arse."
"Ororororo!!" Kenshin exclaimed, adjusting his hold on her.
"Alright, I'm taking you home," Sano said, pulling Kaoru by the back of her collar and swinging her over his shoulder like a sack.
"Sano, I'm looking at your butt. It's a nice butt," Kaoru quipped, her arms hanging limply.
"Thanks, Jou-chan, but you know, that's really gross, coming from you," Sano said. "Katsu, man the store while I'm gone, will ya? Yahiko, where do you think you're going?"
"I'm going with you," Yahiko replied.
"Kid, it's bad enough I'll be walking around lugging a drunken dame, but it'll look super if the people see two men with a drunken dame."
"If I may... I have a car," Red offered.
Sano frowned at him. "What? You think I'm stupid? I'm not leaving Jou-chan with a stranger."
Red sighed. "You don't have to. Of course you will come with me when we deposit her at her place. And even if I were to bring her home by myself, I can assure you that I would not harm her."
"Fine, but I'm driving. You're tipsy," Sano said.
Red didn't even argue. He gave Sano the keys to his Mitsubishi Eclipse.
"Damn drunks," Sano muttered, leading the way to the door, Yahiko and Red close at his heels. "Hey stranger. I'm going to be driving your car and...what the hell's your name?"
"Himura. Kenshin Himura."
"Well, Kenshin Himura, thanks. I appreciate your help."
"You're welcome," Kenshin replied, heading to his car.
* * * *
Yahiko rode on the backseat of the cramped car with Kaoru leaning on the door of her side of the seat. Her coat had been put back on her, because she had drunkenly complained about feeling cold. She didn't look too comfortable now leaning against the window. Who could ever be comfortable in a sports car anyway?
What's that thing they said about the Porche? It's too small to get laid in, but you get laid anyway. One look at Kaoru and Yahiko pushed the thought out of his head.
He wondered if it would be too obvious to his brother if he pulled Kaoru over to lean on him.
Yahiko watched Sano drive the car and decided that Big Bro would know, and Yahiko would rather die than let anyone figure out that he had a crush on his teacher.
He remembered the day he fell in love with Kaoru. He was in a fight with a bully, rolling on the soccer field with the whole junior class watching them and cheering them on. He already had a cracked lip, and his opponent was sporting a bruised jaw. He couldn't even recall what the fight was about, but it had something to do with calling him a kid.
Kaoru had pushed through the crowd.
Small as she was in build, she managed to pull him and his opponent apart. Holding them both by their ears, she marched them to the sidelines and.
"Sit! Both of you!" She yelled angrily, letting go of their ears.
She sounded so bossy that neither of them had the nerve to defy her. They looked at her wordlessly, waiting for her to say something.
Yahiko felt queasy. He was going to get it now. His behavior in school had always been erratic since his Uncle Souzo died, and he couldn't even count the number of times he'd graced the principal's office. The last time he had stood before Principal Toshiyoshi Kawaji, he had been given a grave warning of expulsion. He didn't want to get kicked out of school. He didn't want to disappoint Sano. His big brother always told him education was important, probably because Sano had been devastated when he himself got kicked out of college. Sano had such high hopes for him, and so did their Uncle Souzo.
And now here he was, sitting before the teacher he constantly called "Hag" and "Ugly". There was no hope.
"I'm not even going to ask you what this is about!" She told them, "because it doesn't matter, but what disturbs me is that you actually believed you could resolve your issues with a fist fight!"
"He started it!" Yahiko cried defensively.
"Well, I don't care who started it," Kaoru said loftily. "I won't allow two boys to have a pissing contest while I'm around. I'm going to be sending you off into this world and I'm not going to be responsible for letting loose a couple of bruisers. I'm hoping your little brawl at least help both of you blow off some steam. Did it?"
Slowly, they nodded.
"Good. And do you promise that this will never happen again?"
They nodded once more.
She seemed satisfied by it.
"Um...teach?" Yahiko piped, feeling a stab at the pit of his stomach. "Will you...report this to the principal?"
Kaoru stared at them for a moment before replying. "No. I don't want to get you boys in trouble. You have more important things to do than be punished for such an absurd thing. I'm expecting you to be mature enough to keep your word. Are you mature enough?"
"Yes!" Yahiko and the other guy said in unison.
The relief Yahiko felt was insurmountable. He wasn't going to get kicked out!
"That's good enough for me," she replied. "If either of you have any problems, come to me. I'll listen, alright?"
Yahiko could hardly believe such compassion.
The other guy scampered off, thankful for Kaoru's kindness of heart.
"Yahiko," Kaoru began, sitting beside him. "Why do you subject yourself to these things? I don't like seeing you get into this kind of trouble. Detention for being amiss in your studies is one thing... I could handle that, and the detention itself won't get you kicked out, but when you get into brawls and cause trouble for the school, like you've been doing... I can't help you. I never have and I never will get you in trouble with the principal, you can count on that, but you have to pitch in. I've known your family all my life, and when your Uncle Souzo died... I felt worse for you and Sano than I did for him. He was such an inspiration to you and your brother...I promised myself I would take care of you as much as I could. Do you understand?"
Yahiko could say nothing, caught in a haze of emotion. "Y-Yeah."
She nodded. "Alright. Make me proud, okay?"
He vowed that he would.
Yahiko did much better in school after that. His general behavior improved, and he began getting good grades. He did study for English, and his test scores were commendable, but he refused to give up detention for the class, because it was the only time he could spend with Kaoru without anyone getting suspicious.
He had little hope of getting Kaoru at this time. She thought him too much of a child. But he'd be twenty in a few years. Maybe then, she would take him seriously. If only she didn't have to marry that big-shot Enishi.
"Are we heading to the Hag's house?" Yahiko asked.
"Yeah," Sano replied. "Why?"
"I don't think she lives there anymore. I think she moved in with her fiancée," said Yahiko.
Sano seemed annoyed by this. "That so? Well, I don't know the way to his house."
"I do," spoke Kenshin. "I know where he lives."
Sano sniffed. "I suppose you would. Rich people and their henchmen know where each other live. Think they'll let us into his house? Though we are in a flashy sports car."
"They will let us in, good sir. Leave it to me," Kenshin told them with a grin. "As you've said, rich people and their henchmen are my specialty."
"Right," Sano replied.
Yahiko sputtered in laughter. "Good sir?" Then he laughed some more.
Sano dealt Yahiko a glare over his shoulder before looking back at the road to address Kenshin. "Hey, call me Sano, alright? The brat back there's Yahiko, and the broad's..."
"Kaoru Kamiya. I know," Kenshin interjected mildly.
Sano and Yahiko arched an eyebrow at the same time.
"And how did you know that?" Sano asked.
"The man she's going to marry... his name and the way she described him," Kenshin began, "he's my ex-wife's brother."
"Whoa. Small world," Yahiko remarked.
"Yes," responded Kenshin. "I'm invited to their wedding."
"Isn't this nice? So are we," Sano said. "So where to, Himura?"
"Turn left here," Kenshin directed.
Sano drove.
* * * *
It wasn't as easy getting into Enishi's house as Kenshin had thought. Apparently, in Enishi's household, no one knew who he was. But since they had Kaoru with them and Kenshin looked respectable enough, the butler allowed Kenshin to bring in Kaoru.
Sano and Yahiko had to wait in the car, though.
"I'm sorry they're rude," Kenshin told them apologetically as he hefted Kaoru in his arms.
Sano and Yahiko shrugged at the same time, to the great amusement of Kenshin.
"S'alright," Sano said. "We don't look half as dandy as you do so we don't blame 'em."
"Yeah, we're too manly for their tastes," Yahiko quipped, grinning at his brother.
They laughed together, with Sano hooking an arm around Yahiko's neck and pulling it down to grind his knuckles on the boy's spiky head.
"Hey!" Yahiko complained in a less-than-serious tone.
Kenshin chuckled. Their appearance didn't seem at all repulsive. Sano wore a blouse, folded at the sleeves up to his forearms, presumably to make his work easier in the bar. His jeans were decent, and his Doc Martens were polished to a shine. Though Yahiko had on that infernally morbid "Slipknot" T-shirt and his jeans had been ripped to his calves, it was expected of a teenager. Besides, his Nikes were the latest kind.
"I'll be right back," said Kenshin. "Just as soon as Miss Kaoru is comfortable."
This elicited another laugh from Yahiko. "Miss Kaoru! He called the Hag 'miss'!"
"Shut up, ya primate," Sano told him.
Kenshin left them in a state of crude debate, about who was dumber.
He was led through the spacious residence, up a flight of stairs and through large hallways. The butler didn't even bother to see if Kenshin was keeping up.
The butler pushed through a room with double doors, and Kenshin could hardly believe that Enishi owned such a large house.
He knew all too well how the Yukishiros lived, but he had never gotten used to the opulence of their homes. He resided in a condominium unit. Spacious, but still relatively economical in square meters compared to this.
There was a huge bed at the right of the room, and he trudged to its side. He stood there doing nothing for a moment, looking at the butler expectantly.
"You may put her down," the butler haughtily said, thinking perhaps that Kenshin didn't know what to do.
Kenshin smiled at him. "It's a rather cold night, sir. Perhaps it would do well for the lady if you could pull back the sheets, so we could cover her with it when I put her to bed."
The butler looked annoyed, but he did as Kenshin suggested.
Kenshin laid her down gently, making sure that her head rested on a pillow before pulling the sheets over her.
She stirred, shifting to a more comfortable position. "Thank you, daddy...I love you..." she mumbled before sinking back into slumber.
Kenshin smiled slightly. Well, that was rather endearing, he thought, unconsciously reaching out to slide the chopsticks from her head and pushing hair from off her face.
Not that she wasn't good enough for Enishi, but Kenshin had always imagined the guy to fall for someone more like--well--Tomoe. The mere fact that Kaoru had gone to the Sekihoutai by herself and that she was friends with the likes of Sanosuke and Yahiko Sagara meant that there was more to her than mingling with the elite.
What would he do with a sparkplug like you? he mused somewhat fondly and without disdain.
Just because Kaoru was nothing like Tomoe it didn't mean she was a lesser person. Kenshin adored his ex-wife, and with good reason. Tomoe was caring and considerate, using her influence for the good of others. She was a model citizen of Japan. Kaoru...well, he hardly knew anything about Kaoru, but he had remembered Tomoe telling him how Kaoru was a sweet, lovable woman, bent on making changes in the world by educating and influencing young minds. Tomoe also mentioned that Enishi had some objections to Kaoru's independence and, to quote his ex-wife who was in turn quoting Enishi, "...being rather unrefined. I see nothing wrong with her. I think she's charming, but Enishi...well, you know how Enishi gets..."
Now he could see exactly what Enishi was trying to convey. Kaoru was not the submissive type, and for someone like Enishi who needed to have things under his control, well…
The butler cleared his throat. "That will be all."
Kenshin looked up, slightly annoyed, and then he nodded, making his way out of the room.
The butler escorted him to the door. "Thank you for bringing her in. Rest assured, your kindness will be remembered." He took one last look at Kenshin and his companions before shutting the door without anymore ceremony.
Sano scoffed. "What a prick."
"Once again, I apologize," said Kenshin, heading for the car.
"Whatever dude," Sano said. "I'll drive you to wherever you live, then the kid and I can just grab a cab from there."
Kenshin smiled. "I think I'm sober enough. I'll drive you both back to the bar. You've done more than enough. Besides, I haven't paid my bill."
That did it.
Sano told him going back to the bar wasn't such a bad idea, but only if he'd let Sano fix him a cup of coffee before he headed back to his place. "The coffee's on the house," Sano said.
Kenshin grinned. "Thank you."
Sano gave a half shrug. "It's nothing, and thank you for taking care of Jou-chan. We appreciate it."
Kenshin waved it off. "You're still going to drive?" he asked when Sano didn't give him the keys.
"You haven't had your coffee yet," Sano told him, and that was that.
TO BE CONTINUED...
Author's closing notes: How'd you like the characterization? Do you think it's disgusting for Yahiko to have a crush on the Busu? I do! Hehe! But I thought it would be different, and to an extent, it's kinda important for the succeeding events. I decided not to make Sano such a loser (I love him, you know...), because if I stuck to his life story in the series/manga, he'd be in jail in 2002. I don't want him to be in jail, so I just made him a kick-out from college instead who had little ambition. That's about as Sano-esque as I could get. What'd you think of the Kenshin-Tomoe relationship? Too off-kilter? Just right? Not enough? Well...I like Tomoe, so I don't want her to be some kind of raving bitch that Kenshin would be glad to have divorced. She's a soul full of heart, and Kenshin knows that.
I'd also like to say that I adore Enishi, a lot. So much so that one day, I will write a truly Enishi+Kaoru fic, but for this story, I have to have a reason for Kaoru to be so worked-up about her upcoming marriage to the bad-guy-we-love-to-love. Also, there has to be some insight on Enishi's character from someone else as well, hence Kenshin's musings and opinion on the Kaoru+Enishi engagement. I thought about letting Tomoe do the thinking on that aspect, but she's Enishi's sister, which would make her somewhat biased.
I'm worried about Kaoru...did I manage to get in some of her Tanuki-ness? Let me know. Maybe I could improve on her!
You know I'll be back for more. So 'till then, see ya!
