50Hello! Terribly sorry for the long wait, but I've had a few personal issues arise (one of which being that my brother in law moved in with us. Fun fun.) and I really couldn't help it. Regardless, if anyone's still around to read this, I do hope you enjoy the chapter. :)
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Previously on Make A Move:
Kenshin merely turned on his heel and walked back to the bedroom mumbling something about how horrible his taste in friends was.
Kaoru waited until he was out of earshot before she erupted into a fit of laughter. "Sanosuke, you have got to be the cruelest man I have ever met!"
Sano pretended to look hurt. "And what, pray tell, did I do?"
"Did you even tell him that he's not only wearing a pair of pink pants, but he's also wearing a pair of pink pants that says 'naughty' in giant writing on the butt?"
"Nope, can't say I did. I just assumed he noticed it."
An enraged shout from the guest room elicited another bout of laughter from the both of them.
"I am not naughty!"
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If Kenshin hadn't known better he would have sworn that he had intentionally been set up. Why was it that he tended to get so flustered whenever he was around Kaoru?
Of course, it wasn't like he had been around her enough to form a solid conclusion on the matter, but he was batting two for two right now.
The sound of a woman's laughter rang out from the kitchen, startling him from his reverie. His irritation faded a bit and a goofy sort of smile crossed his face before turning back to irritation again.
He found himself wondering what the other man had said to make her laugh.
And then he promptly chastised himself for being jealous of someone else, especially with the situation being as strange as it was.
He cast one final angry look at the pink pants before throwing his jeans back on and heading back to the kitchen.
The look he received upon his entry was much less confused and much more appreciative this time around. And try as he might, he just couldn't deny that he definitely enjoyed the attention. Especially since it was coming from a woman that was as attractive as Kaoru was. He blushed a bit under her gaze before chastising himself and lifting his eyes to meet hers. She gave him a warm smile and he returned it, glad that she didn't seem to have been too fazed by his earlier appearance.
Then again, it was highly possible that things such as these were normal occurrences in the Sagara household.
Though he obviously didn't know as much as he thought about Sanosuke, he knew enough about him to know that the man was probably the class clown when he was in school.
He would have to make a note to ask him at a later date.
'You could always just ask Kaoru, she was there, wasn't she?' The little voice in the back of his mind added. Kenshin was fairly certain that if that voice had possessed a face, it would be smirking at him.
"Kenshin? Earth to Kenshin, come in Kenshin." He snapped back to reality then, and found, much to his embarrassment that the look of amusement had returned to the object of his affection's face. He opened his mouth to apologize but quickly shut it again upon noticing the hand that was currently laid across his chest.
Her nail polish was pink.
"Ah.. I'm fine, sorry. I sorta spaced out for a second."
"So I noticed. Is anything wrong? If it's about the pants, I apologize. Sano can be a real pain in the ass sometimes."
Her hand didn't move.
"I was just thinking.." His voice came out harsher than he wanted, and he winced a bit.
The hand finally moved, and Kenshin found that he could breathe again.
Funny. Until that moment in time he hadn't even realized he had been holding his breath.
"Okay, if you're sure you're alright…" The amusement in her eyes had died and had been replaced by a look of concern. It was at that moment that Kenshin decided that he liked her smile much more.
"I'm sorry, Kaoru. I didn't mean to sound like an ass."
"No, you were right, I really had no right to pry. Anyway, grab a chair. Sano's trying to force the girls out of bed. It's not really working too well, though, so if you want breakfast before it gets cold, now's the time." She gestured to a spot beside her at the table, which he quickly took.
"But daddy, I was sweeping!" Kenshin heard the exclamation from the other side of the apartment and couldn't help but laugh.
"Are they always this difficult to wake up?"
Kaoru nodded, chewing her food as quickly as she could before she continued, "It's a trait they got from Sano, I think. I've been known to sleep in, but that man is positively impossible to get out of bed."
Kenshin gave a good natured smile then. "You know, you really are a good cook, Kaoru."
"Ha.. You should have met me when I was seventeen. I couldn't cook worth a lick when Sano and I first moved in together. I'm sure you're well aware that Sanosuke Sagara is one of the biggest cheapskates in the world, right?" At his nod she continued, "Well, my cooking was so bad that he actually paid for me to take cooking classes."
Kenshin's eyes widened a bit. "I'm sure it wasn't that bad."
She laughed again, blue eyes sparkling. "Oh, I didn't think it was that bad then, mind you. But do you know that I managed to burn boiled eggs once?"
He had been right. It was much much better when she smiled.
Of course, as all small talk does, the conversation fizzled out right about then, leaving a semi-awkward silence in its wake. The silence continued for several minutes until a small cry from the living room broke it.
"Sankontessou!"
Kenshin blinked.
Kaoru covered her beet red face with her hand.
Sanosuke screamed.
And two little girls died laughing.
"Kaoru Kamiya! I swear to all that is holy that if you let them watch one more episode of Inuyasha I'm going to Sankontessou you. Do you understand me?" Sano's muffled voice came from the living room. Despite the menacing wording, it did little to make up for the fact that only a moment before he had been screaming like a little girl.
It was enough to make Kaoru double over laughing.
Kenshin settled for merely chuckling. Not that the situation wasn't entirely hilarious, mind you. It was just that he had seen the way that Sanosuke fought. While he was fairly certain that he could still take him, he wouldn't put money on it. Besides, he was also fairly certain that fighting with Sano would involve pain.
Kenshin Himura had never been a big fan of pain.
It was at that moment that the man in question entered the kitchen, two brown haired girls slung over his shoulders.
Kaoru, whose laughter had been reduced to mere giggles at this point, did the best that she could to get an intelligible sentence out between them. "Ah.. Sano.. erm… W-where did she get you this time?"
"The same damn place she gets me every time, Kaoru."
Kenshin winced. He could only imagine what place the other man was referring to.
"You know, with all the ball shots you've taken in your lifetime, you're lucky you ever managed to have children at all." Kaoru replied, still desperately trying to reign in what was left of her laughter.
"Luck has nothing to do with it, missy. I'm just damn good at what I do." He flashed a quick grin to Kenshin then, before depositing his cargo into their seats and proceeding to fill their plates.
Kenshin's eyes narrowed. Was he actually trying to piss him off?
Kaoru, however, just took it all in stride. She had seen that grin, and she was more than aware of what he was trying to do. After all, he did it every time she got interested in someone (which wasn't a lot, mind you., but it did happen on occasion). "Yes, Sano.. I remember very well how good you were. Of course, just in case I didn't, we could always just go ask.. what was her name again? Sakura?"
That shut him up.
Kenshin smiled victoriously. She was good. Damn good.
The other man gave her a glare.
The rest of the meal was carried out in relative quiet, with the exception of the occasional chatter between the two youngest members of the group.
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After the dishes had been cleared, the group made their way back into the living room.
Kaoru took to shoving a few items that she would need for the girls into a backpack.
Sano busied himself with tying Ayame's shoes.
And Kenshin did the best he could to pretend that the atmosphere in the once cheery home hadn't gone from warm and inviting to cold and bitter in less than two seconds flat. At first he had thought that the Sakura comment was merely meant to shut up the other man, and he was fairly certain that it had been meant that way, at least at first.
Any idiot could see that there was obviously some bad blood there, though. He was definitely going to have to ask Misao for her version of the story. Either that, or he would have to ask Kaoru, and judging from the way that she was abusing the socks and tshirts that she was currently cramming into her bag, he wasn't sure that Sanosuke's previous transgressions would be the best subject to bring up around her.
At least not with Sano around. Or anything else that resembled him, for that matter.
He cast a glance at the man in question then, eyes widening slightly as he realized that he was looking back at him, rather intently.
"You sure you know what you're getting into asking her out, Kenshin?"
Kenshin merely blinked in reply, unsure as to where he was going with that question.
Sanosuke turned to Kaoru then, who had moved on from her abuse of said clothing and had taken to examining her nails instead. He plastered a large smile on his face before continuing. In hindsight, Kenshin probably should have seen what was coming next.
"Cause she can be a real BITCH at times."
Poor Sanosuke never saw the punch that knocked him out.
Kenshin winced a bit. "Erm.. should I get some ice?"
"Let the fool lay there. He'll come around eventually."
Kenshin decided to take her word for it.
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Yes, yes, I know. Far too short, not enough goodies. Yell at me later though, because things are about to get interesting.
And no, you need not worry, Kaoru and Sanosuke will still be on relatively good terms, but his "indiscretions" are still a bit of an open wound to Kaoru. But more on that later.
Thanks for reading!