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La Fleure qui est Belle	By : Raithe Category: Rurouni Kenshin > General Views: 3301 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Rurouni Kenshin, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 16
- 17
- 18
Usual disclaimer and
warnings apply. See chapter one.

Beware, much yelling and arguing, and general use
of the most horrid language that can be put into a PG-13 story. I want to use stronger, but that would
require upping the rating.

Chapter 17

When Kaoru
came around an hour or so later, she found the two men laughing fit to be tied.

�You��
Kenshin spluttered in between gasps of air, �you sold that piece for that
much? It was worth twice that
amount! You are such a softie!�

Kaoru
leaned against the doorframe, bemused.

�Ah!� cried
Kenshin�s father. �Sleeping beauty has awoken!�

Kenshin
gave a rueful shake of his head. �Kaoru,
meet my father, Eric Himura. The biggest sap on the
planet, and a horrid womanizer.
Keep your hands to yourself, father.�

�My, my,�
drawled Himura Sr. �so possessive.�

Kenshin
went scarlet, causing his father to break into ringing laughter, and Kaoru to
smile. It was wonderful that they got along so well, she thought, and that
Kenshin�s father accepted him completely.

Her opinion
of that changed, however, a few days later when she woke to shouting. Pulling on a robe, she went out into the hall;
the yells and curses were coming from the library. Standing in the doorway, she could see
Kenshin sitting in a chair, looking weary, while his father paced in circles
and railed at him.

She took
the time before they had a chance to notice her, although that didn�t look
likely at the moment, to let her gaze wander over Kenshin. He was wearing black pants and a loose shirt
that fell open halfway down his chest, the laces loose. The pants looked like velvet,
and the shirt silk. Had
she been in any sort of relationship with him other than former employee or
friend, she would have gone and settled in his lap, head pillowed on his
shoulder. However, she instead
watched various expression flicker across his face
while his father�s back was to him: hurt, annoyance, exasperation, horror, and
finally fury before he leapt to his feet, eyes flashing.

�Would you
SHUT UP? I�m twenty-six, I�ve been an
adult for years, and can take care of myself! I�m GAY, and I like it that way! Why can�t
you accept that there�s a bloody unlikely chance of my having a family? Why don�t you go bug Hiromi? She�s younger, she�s attractive...�

�She�s a
nun.�

Kenshin
stopped dead in his tracks en route to throttling Eric. His voice had gone quiet. �She�s what?�

�She has
entered La Coure, and has given herself to God. So you�re the last of the family. As such, it�s YOUR responsibility to
produce��

�Damn you,
father! You KNOW I�ve never been
attracted to a woman in my life! I�ve
never felt anything for��

Kenshin�s
father smirked. �And what about the
lovely lady living with you who�s heard all of your undignified ranting?�

Kenshin
whirled so fast that he nearly lost his balance. His face went white at Kaoru�s half furious,
half hurt expression and could do nothing but stare, jaw hanging slack as a
fish. He was utterly mortified that
she�d heard everything and hoped that she wouldn�t leave, but could scarcely
blame her if she did. Her subsequent
actions, however, floored him.

Regaining
her composure she stalked across the room to Eric ans
slapped him so hard that her palm was red.
It set his teeth rattling as his head whipped to the side. Glowering,
she proceeded to give him a lecture such as he�d not heard since his mother had
scolded him twenty years ago about leaving is wife to raise the children while
he went in search of art to sell.
Kenshin, meanwhile, was still staring at them, slack-jawed. Soon, however, his shock began to fade, and
he started to laugh silently. She was
finally back to her old, infuriating self, and he was actually glad of it, glad
to hear her railing at someone. He�d
found that when she was angry her logic became sharp as a harpoon her sarcasm
coming to the fore, and�those were words he�d never heard before. He grinned.
True, she�d been a courtesan, but she was very well learned even for a
courtesan. He found himself wondering for
the first time just what her familial background was.

Twenty
minutes later found Kenshin�s father looking cowed, and slinking from the
room. Kaoru stood, hands on her hips,
glaring at his back as he left, and Kenshin was now laughing so hard that his
eyes were watering. �Kaoru, my dear
girl, you really surprise me. No one has
stood up to him like that in years.�

�Then it�s
high time, isn�t it? He shouldn�t treat
you that way. Honestly!�

He smiled
softly, and stood, walking over to her.
�I can�t blame him�he�s getting old, and wants grandchildren, but it
doesn�t look as though that will happen.�

�You could
always adopt�I�m sure there are homeless children out there who need to be
taken in.�

�And for
him that would be�quite a letdown. He�s
the type of man who wants blood relatives, which requires�well�you heard what
he thinks.�

�So�why not
marry some girl, get drunk� It�s been done before, and one time might be
enough. I suppose the problem would be
in finding someone who wouldn�t care that you�re gay��

�Actually�I�ve
been thinking about that�� he guided Kaoru to the closest chair and sat her
down. �Kaoru, I was wondering how you
feel about marriages of convenience.�

�Well, I
believe marriage should be for love, ultimately, but if convenience is needed,
it�s possible for love to grow��

She had, Kenshin thought, an
adorable, confused frown, a thought which made him
mentally smack himself. You�re gay, he
thought. You just told your unfeeling
idiot of a father that you�d never been attracted to a woman before! But, a tiny part of his brain queried, isn�t
there a first for everything? Was it
possible that he was beginning to love Kaoru?
He�d noticed, despite how she tried to hide it, that she had feelings
for him. Would marriage make it easier
for him to figure out his feelings for her?

�Kaoru�� he
cleared his throat. �Would you be
willing to marry for convenience?�

�Well�I
suppose. It would mean that I would no
longer be a courtesan, but yes.�

�Would you
be willing�that is�what I mean to say is�well�Oh bloody hell, why is this so
damn difficult?� He stood, and began
pacing. �You�ve known me for a while�you
probably know me better than I do myself.
Would a woman ever want to marry me, gay bachelor that I am?�

Kaoru
watched him, smiling. �You�re
intelligent, handsom, and wealthy. You should see the looks you get at
parties. Oh yes, many woman would love
to be your wife.�

�And what about you?�

�Me?
I�wait. Are you asking me? To marry�you?�

Kenshin�s
words were a babble. �Yes, Kaoru, I am. Purely out of convenience of course, I mean,
it�s not as though I�m�� He stopped, for Kaoru had fainted again. Shaking his head, he lifted her and carried
her into his room, settling her on the bed before sitting beside her, waiting
for her to come round again.
- 16
- 17
- 18
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La Fleure qui est Belle