limelight (pun intended)
Tight Spot
Part two: limelight
This is part two, probably one more and then we're done...
---
She tugged at his sleeve, dragging him through the marketplace. They stopped at a stall. “We’re here.”
“What are we doing here?” Kenshin asked.
“We’re here to register,” Kaoru said eagerly. They hurried to the booth.
“Kaoru-san,” one of the men in charge of the booth said. He was balding, in a grey gi.
“Konnichiwa Najima-san, we’re here to register,” Kaoru said, smiling.
“You’re below the age limit eh?”
Kaoru nodded, “I am not joining, Kenshin’s cousin is coming all the way from Sapporo and we thought it would be nice to let her experience something different while she’s in Tokyo.”
“Oh, I didn’t know Himura-kun has relatives…” Najima-san glanced at Kenshin.
“In fact he has, Kyoko-chan has two brothers ne?” Kaoru asked Kenshin winking.
Kyoko? He wanted to ask but something in Kaoru’s face told him to just shut up and nod.
“Really? That’s good to hear,” Najima-san laughed. He pushed a piece of paper to Kaoru and Kenshin, “Here, this is where you’ll sign up.”
“Domo,” Kaoru said as she leaned down to write. As she finished she returned the paper to Najima-san. “Hope we win.” And she crossed her fingers to show him and she laughed.
They excused themselves.
“Who’s Kyoko?” he asked as they got away.
“You,” Kaoru said, examining Kenshin’s hands. “We need to soak your hands in warm water with salt. That’ll make your skin softer.”
“Kaoru-dono, what do you mean…Kyoko? Me?”
“That’ll be your name,” she stopped and gazed at his face, “I have a facial cream that’ll make your skin softer, you also need to get rid of those facial hairs Kenshin.”
He swallowed hard again.
“We’ll start as soon as we get home. We only have a week to prepare.” And she grabbed his arm and dragged him back to the dojo.
--
Kaoru rubbed the cream on his face. “Do this an hour before you take a bath in the morning, and before you go to bed at night.”
“Demo…” Kenshin felt weird with the cream feeling cold on his face.
“And you have to try on some clothes,” she hurried to her cabinet, hauled some kimonos out and said, “I rarely use these ones.”
He stood up, following her.
She motioned for him to undress but when he didn’t move she looked up at him and found him reddening. She blushed herself and said, “No malice Kenshin.”
“Right,” he laughed nervously, “I wasn’t thinking about it anyway.”
She frowned. “Here,” she handed him a purple kimono.
He removed his gi, his hakama and was left with his loincloth. He felt too self-conscious standing almost naked in front of Kaoru. He swallowed hard as he accepted the kimono from a fairly blushing Kaoru and put it on.
Kaoru frowned, “It’s short.”
He looked down and found that the hem was about three inches above his ankle.
“What about this?” she handed him a yellow one.
He slipped it on. Nope, it was also too short.
Several short kimonos later Kaoru said, placing her fingers to cup her own chin in a thinking fashion, “What do we do?” And suddenly her eyes brightened, “Oh I remember I have this kimono that I can’t wear because it is a bit longer for me. I can’t give it to Megumi either because it’s probably a bit short for her.” She started foraging deep inside her cabinet until she produced a white and navy blue kimono with silver cranes at the hem.
“It’s pretty,” Kenshin can’t help but say.
“I know right?” Kaoru grinned, “I’d have it repaired after the pageant so that I could wear it.” And she handed it to him. “Try it on.”
And it fit perfectly well. He was almost glad himself. And as he realized he was glad he quickly shook his head and told himself he’s a man. He glanced at Kaoru and realized that he was glad not because the kimono fit perfectly but because Kaoru was glad herself. He almost blushed.
“It looks good on you,” she said, as if entranced.
“It’ll look better on you,” the words slipped out of his mouth before he even realized it.
Blush crept up her face and she nervously smiled, “R-really?”
He nodded, blushing too, “H-hai…” and for the first time since he agreed to join the pageant, he was actually glad he did so.
--
Kaoru patted the space beside her. “Come here and make it quick, we only got five days more.”
Kenshin nodded, not getting over the sight of Kaoru patting the space beside her. Somehow, it felt too intimate. He felt a shiver through his spine.
“We need to do something about your hair,” she said, beckoning him to turn and face her. She stood on her knees as she inspected his hair. “You have healthy hair alright, but you don’t take care of it.”
“Hai,” he murmured, feeling her so close. Maybe the pageant wasn’t such a bad idea after all.
“Let me wash your hair everyday whenever you take a bath,” she suggested.
Kenshin reddened immediately.
“Don’t get me wrong Kenshin,” she scolded him.
He laughed nervously, “Right…”
--
Kaoru came in the bath while he was getting in the furo. He quickly reddened, hiding quickly anything that needed hiding.
Kaoru blushed and said angrily, “I told you I’d be washing your hair.”
“Suman,” he nodded apologetically, “I forgot.”
“Whatever,” she said, averting her eyes. She went behind him, just outside the furo and told him to lean back. She had pulled up her kimono and her sleeves so as not to get her clothes wet.
“Kaoru-dono,” he whispered as he felt her fingers massaging his scalp. Her touch was soothing and relaxing.
“Nani?” she lathered some concoction she made on his hair.
“I’ll do my best.”
“Good,” she said, suddenly getting a warm feeling. She was inside the bath with him, literally bathing him, but well, not actually. But that somehow gave her a very distinct feeling. She felt the urge to join him in the furo. She shook her head and scolded herself for being such a pervert.
He closed his eyes, allowed himself to let his guard down for a while and drifted off to sleep.
--
Kenshin was doing laundry when Sano came asking for Kaoru. “She went to the clinic.”
“How many days more before the pageant?”
Kenshin thought, “Three?” he was feeling anxious alright.
“Really?” Sano tried hard not to laugh, “Well it seems as if you’re having fun doing all those stuff ne?”
“I’m not…” he looked away. What does Sano think? He’s some Honjou Kamatari enjoying playing dress up?
“I’m not referring to your homosexual tendencies Kenshin,” Sano grimaced, “I’m talking about the missy.”
“Oh,” he blushed.
“So I was right,” and Sano grinned.
“You might think I’m taking advantage of her-”
“Not really,” Sano said quickly, “In fact I think she’s enjoying it too.” And he stood up, “I can’t wait to see Kyoko-chan.”
And Kenshin puffed his cheeks in humiliation.
--
Kaoru was much more queasy than him. Tonight was the pageant night. She had Kenshin sit down in front of her dresser. Good thing, all those skin-softening measures worked well.
“Don’t be nervous,” Kenshin said as she spread out the kimono he’s going to wear.
“I am not,” she said, not meeting his eyes.
“You are,” he smiled.
She stopped fussing around and said, “I’m sorry for putting you all through these.”
His smile broke into a grin, “I’m glad I could do this for the family…for you…”
“I feel guilty for making you do this.”
He feigned annoyance and said, “It’s too late to be guilty now.”
Kaoru frowned but laughed as he did so. “Alright.” She took in a deep breath and said, “Dress up now, we don’t have too much time left.”
Kenshin was about to undress when she suddenly said, “I’ll turn around.”
He almost laughed but nevertheless undressed and slipped on the kimono. One of the perks of getting into the pageant was putting on her clothes. No, he doesn’t like cross dressing, it just felt so intimate to wear something she wears. He tried tying the obi but eventually gave up on it and said, “Kaoru-dono will you help me with the obi?”
She almost laughed as she walked to him and wound the obi around him. “Just like this.”
He watched as her fingers deftly moved to wound the knots. He began to wonder what other intricate things she could do with her hands and he began to flush and feel warm. She was so close, if he would just move a bit then he would be kissing her. But that would be called cheating. And no matter how stupid he looked now, he was no cheater.
“There,” she pulled back, gazing at the beautifully wounded knot. “Come on, let’s fix your hair. Megumi’s coming to help me put on make up.”
“Make up?” he panicked. He would even beat Kamatari at this rate.
--
“That’s a pretty do you’ve got Ken-san…oops, Kyoko-chan…” and Megumi laughed, making him redder that he already was.
“I thought you aren’t going to come. You said you have patients,” Kaoru said with an arched brow.
“I just wanted to see Ken-san,” she started opening her bag, placing in the dresser the several rouges and make up paraphernalia she brought.
“That’s a lot,” Kaoru commented.
“Of course, anything to make Ken-san the prettiest,” and she laughed again.
Kenshin dropped his head in embarrassment.
--
“We are all set,” Kaoru grinned as she gazed at him. Megumi just left, doing a good job putting on make up on his face.
Kenshin managed a weak smile.
“Don’t forget, no kenjougo, always smile, adjust your voice, act vulnerable, be fragile-looking. And no wide or big movements.” She gazed at his face again, at his hair let loose apart from his half-ponytail which she did with some more intricate knots, at the beautiful kimono, at his tabi-engulfed feet. She brushed a tendril from his face, checking that the hair hanging loose behind his back was soft and smooth. She marveled at her masterpiece. “You’re very beautiful.”
He reddened, hoping that she would not look at him in such a way, it was too embarrassing. He would like it more if he was dressed like a man and she was looking at him like that. He cleared his throat and asked, “What happens next?”
“The bidding starts at eight. You will spend the night with whoever bids for you,” she said.
“Night? You haven’t told me this before…”
“Because you didn’t ask me,” she cleared her throat, “But when I said spend I only meant to say drinking tea or sake or talking. Every other thing is against the rules.”
Kenshin breathed out a sigh of relief, “Yokatta…”
She smiled, “Don’t worry, I’ll look after you.” And she giggled. “I hope you don’t change your preferences after tonight.”
Kenshin pouted and almost felt challenged to kiss her there and then to show her but stopped when he remembered how much time and effort Megumi had given when she put on rouge on his mouth.
“Just joking,” and she laughed, “Come on now? Sano and Yahiko would be coming with us. They’re already outside.”
--
“Who’s the sexy chick?” Sano gave him a once over.
Kenshin scowled at him.
“Oh, it’s Kyoko-chan.” Sano laughed and Yahiko joined too.
“Stop it,” Kaoru scolded the two, noting Kenshin’s embarrassment and his discomfort. She slipped an arm around Kenshin’s and escorted her. “Don’t worry, you look really good.”
“Are you sure they won’t see through the disguise?” he asked, leaning closer to her. Telling himself that leaning closer doesn’t count as cheating. Nor taking advantage. He was just playing her role as a woman.
“Of course Kenshin. Your disguise is flawless, unless you let your guard down.”
“I won’t.”
She beamed, patted his nose and pulled him into a quick and loose hug, “That’s good. Really good.”
---
TBC
Part two: limelight
This is part two, probably one more and then we're done...
---
She tugged at his sleeve, dragging him through the marketplace. They stopped at a stall. “We’re here.”
“What are we doing here?” Kenshin asked.
“We’re here to register,” Kaoru said eagerly. They hurried to the booth.
“Kaoru-san,” one of the men in charge of the booth said. He was balding, in a grey gi.
“Konnichiwa Najima-san, we’re here to register,” Kaoru said, smiling.
“You’re below the age limit eh?”
Kaoru nodded, “I am not joining, Kenshin’s cousin is coming all the way from Sapporo and we thought it would be nice to let her experience something different while she’s in Tokyo.”
“Oh, I didn’t know Himura-kun has relatives…” Najima-san glanced at Kenshin.
“In fact he has, Kyoko-chan has two brothers ne?” Kaoru asked Kenshin winking.
Kyoko? He wanted to ask but something in Kaoru’s face told him to just shut up and nod.
“Really? That’s good to hear,” Najima-san laughed. He pushed a piece of paper to Kaoru and Kenshin, “Here, this is where you’ll sign up.”
“Domo,” Kaoru said as she leaned down to write. As she finished she returned the paper to Najima-san. “Hope we win.” And she crossed her fingers to show him and she laughed.
They excused themselves.
“Who’s Kyoko?” he asked as they got away.
“You,” Kaoru said, examining Kenshin’s hands. “We need to soak your hands in warm water with salt. That’ll make your skin softer.”
“Kaoru-dono, what do you mean…Kyoko? Me?”
“That’ll be your name,” she stopped and gazed at his face, “I have a facial cream that’ll make your skin softer, you also need to get rid of those facial hairs Kenshin.”
He swallowed hard again.
“We’ll start as soon as we get home. We only have a week to prepare.” And she grabbed his arm and dragged him back to the dojo.
--
Kaoru rubbed the cream on his face. “Do this an hour before you take a bath in the morning, and before you go to bed at night.”
“Demo…” Kenshin felt weird with the cream feeling cold on his face.
“And you have to try on some clothes,” she hurried to her cabinet, hauled some kimonos out and said, “I rarely use these ones.”
He stood up, following her.
She motioned for him to undress but when he didn’t move she looked up at him and found him reddening. She blushed herself and said, “No malice Kenshin.”
“Right,” he laughed nervously, “I wasn’t thinking about it anyway.”
She frowned. “Here,” she handed him a purple kimono.
He removed his gi, his hakama and was left with his loincloth. He felt too self-conscious standing almost naked in front of Kaoru. He swallowed hard as he accepted the kimono from a fairly blushing Kaoru and put it on.
Kaoru frowned, “It’s short.”
He looked down and found that the hem was about three inches above his ankle.
“What about this?” she handed him a yellow one.
He slipped it on. Nope, it was also too short.
Several short kimonos later Kaoru said, placing her fingers to cup her own chin in a thinking fashion, “What do we do?” And suddenly her eyes brightened, “Oh I remember I have this kimono that I can’t wear because it is a bit longer for me. I can’t give it to Megumi either because it’s probably a bit short for her.” She started foraging deep inside her cabinet until she produced a white and navy blue kimono with silver cranes at the hem.
“It’s pretty,” Kenshin can’t help but say.
“I know right?” Kaoru grinned, “I’d have it repaired after the pageant so that I could wear it.” And she handed it to him. “Try it on.”
And it fit perfectly well. He was almost glad himself. And as he realized he was glad he quickly shook his head and told himself he’s a man. He glanced at Kaoru and realized that he was glad not because the kimono fit perfectly but because Kaoru was glad herself. He almost blushed.
“It looks good on you,” she said, as if entranced.
“It’ll look better on you,” the words slipped out of his mouth before he even realized it.
Blush crept up her face and she nervously smiled, “R-really?”
He nodded, blushing too, “H-hai…” and for the first time since he agreed to join the pageant, he was actually glad he did so.
--
Kaoru patted the space beside her. “Come here and make it quick, we only got five days more.”
Kenshin nodded, not getting over the sight of Kaoru patting the space beside her. Somehow, it felt too intimate. He felt a shiver through his spine.
“We need to do something about your hair,” she said, beckoning him to turn and face her. She stood on her knees as she inspected his hair. “You have healthy hair alright, but you don’t take care of it.”
“Hai,” he murmured, feeling her so close. Maybe the pageant wasn’t such a bad idea after all.
“Let me wash your hair everyday whenever you take a bath,” she suggested.
Kenshin reddened immediately.
“Don’t get me wrong Kenshin,” she scolded him.
He laughed nervously, “Right…”
--
Kaoru came in the bath while he was getting in the furo. He quickly reddened, hiding quickly anything that needed hiding.
Kaoru blushed and said angrily, “I told you I’d be washing your hair.”
“Suman,” he nodded apologetically, “I forgot.”
“Whatever,” she said, averting her eyes. She went behind him, just outside the furo and told him to lean back. She had pulled up her kimono and her sleeves so as not to get her clothes wet.
“Kaoru-dono,” he whispered as he felt her fingers massaging his scalp. Her touch was soothing and relaxing.
“Nani?” she lathered some concoction she made on his hair.
“I’ll do my best.”
“Good,” she said, suddenly getting a warm feeling. She was inside the bath with him, literally bathing him, but well, not actually. But that somehow gave her a very distinct feeling. She felt the urge to join him in the furo. She shook her head and scolded herself for being such a pervert.
He closed his eyes, allowed himself to let his guard down for a while and drifted off to sleep.
--
Kenshin was doing laundry when Sano came asking for Kaoru. “She went to the clinic.”
“How many days more before the pageant?”
Kenshin thought, “Three?” he was feeling anxious alright.
“Really?” Sano tried hard not to laugh, “Well it seems as if you’re having fun doing all those stuff ne?”
“I’m not…” he looked away. What does Sano think? He’s some Honjou Kamatari enjoying playing dress up?
“I’m not referring to your homosexual tendencies Kenshin,” Sano grimaced, “I’m talking about the missy.”
“Oh,” he blushed.
“So I was right,” and Sano grinned.
“You might think I’m taking advantage of her-”
“Not really,” Sano said quickly, “In fact I think she’s enjoying it too.” And he stood up, “I can’t wait to see Kyoko-chan.”
And Kenshin puffed his cheeks in humiliation.
--
Kaoru was much more queasy than him. Tonight was the pageant night. She had Kenshin sit down in front of her dresser. Good thing, all those skin-softening measures worked well.
“Don’t be nervous,” Kenshin said as she spread out the kimono he’s going to wear.
“I am not,” she said, not meeting his eyes.
“You are,” he smiled.
She stopped fussing around and said, “I’m sorry for putting you all through these.”
His smile broke into a grin, “I’m glad I could do this for the family…for you…”
“I feel guilty for making you do this.”
He feigned annoyance and said, “It’s too late to be guilty now.”
Kaoru frowned but laughed as he did so. “Alright.” She took in a deep breath and said, “Dress up now, we don’t have too much time left.”
Kenshin was about to undress when she suddenly said, “I’ll turn around.”
He almost laughed but nevertheless undressed and slipped on the kimono. One of the perks of getting into the pageant was putting on her clothes. No, he doesn’t like cross dressing, it just felt so intimate to wear something she wears. He tried tying the obi but eventually gave up on it and said, “Kaoru-dono will you help me with the obi?”
She almost laughed as she walked to him and wound the obi around him. “Just like this.”
He watched as her fingers deftly moved to wound the knots. He began to wonder what other intricate things she could do with her hands and he began to flush and feel warm. She was so close, if he would just move a bit then he would be kissing her. But that would be called cheating. And no matter how stupid he looked now, he was no cheater.
“There,” she pulled back, gazing at the beautifully wounded knot. “Come on, let’s fix your hair. Megumi’s coming to help me put on make up.”
“Make up?” he panicked. He would even beat Kamatari at this rate.
--
“That’s a pretty do you’ve got Ken-san…oops, Kyoko-chan…” and Megumi laughed, making him redder that he already was.
“I thought you aren’t going to come. You said you have patients,” Kaoru said with an arched brow.
“I just wanted to see Ken-san,” she started opening her bag, placing in the dresser the several rouges and make up paraphernalia she brought.
“That’s a lot,” Kaoru commented.
“Of course, anything to make Ken-san the prettiest,” and she laughed again.
Kenshin dropped his head in embarrassment.
--
“We are all set,” Kaoru grinned as she gazed at him. Megumi just left, doing a good job putting on make up on his face.
Kenshin managed a weak smile.
“Don’t forget, no kenjougo, always smile, adjust your voice, act vulnerable, be fragile-looking. And no wide or big movements.” She gazed at his face again, at his hair let loose apart from his half-ponytail which she did with some more intricate knots, at the beautiful kimono, at his tabi-engulfed feet. She brushed a tendril from his face, checking that the hair hanging loose behind his back was soft and smooth. She marveled at her masterpiece. “You’re very beautiful.”
He reddened, hoping that she would not look at him in such a way, it was too embarrassing. He would like it more if he was dressed like a man and she was looking at him like that. He cleared his throat and asked, “What happens next?”
“The bidding starts at eight. You will spend the night with whoever bids for you,” she said.
“Night? You haven’t told me this before…”
“Because you didn’t ask me,” she cleared her throat, “But when I said spend I only meant to say drinking tea or sake or talking. Every other thing is against the rules.”
Kenshin breathed out a sigh of relief, “Yokatta…”
She smiled, “Don’t worry, I’ll look after you.” And she giggled. “I hope you don’t change your preferences after tonight.”
Kenshin pouted and almost felt challenged to kiss her there and then to show her but stopped when he remembered how much time and effort Megumi had given when she put on rouge on his mouth.
“Just joking,” and she laughed, “Come on now? Sano and Yahiko would be coming with us. They’re already outside.”
--
“Who’s the sexy chick?” Sano gave him a once over.
Kenshin scowled at him.
“Oh, it’s Kyoko-chan.” Sano laughed and Yahiko joined too.
“Stop it,” Kaoru scolded the two, noting Kenshin’s embarrassment and his discomfort. She slipped an arm around Kenshin’s and escorted her. “Don’t worry, you look really good.”
“Are you sure they won’t see through the disguise?” he asked, leaning closer to her. Telling himself that leaning closer doesn’t count as cheating. Nor taking advantage. He was just playing her role as a woman.
“Of course Kenshin. Your disguise is flawless, unless you let your guard down.”
“I won’t.”
She beamed, patted his nose and pulled him into a quick and loose hug, “That’s good. Really good.”
---
TBC