kenkao oneshot teaser preview
“Are you this early every day sir?” Kaoru asked, trying to sound genuinely curious as she handed Himura his morning paper after a polite greeting. “I barely have time to unpack the papers before you’re here!”
The red-head laughed, tucking the paper under his arms and winking. “Please, no need to call me sir, boy. My name is Himura Kenshin. But yes, I am always up and about at this time.”
Kaoru fought a blush at his amused, almost playful attitude; mentally arguing that she was supposed to be a kid, and a kid wasn’t supposed to react like this to his friendly behavior. She covered up her discomfort with a grin, clasping her hands behind her back and rolling up on her heels while she peered up at the older man with wide, innocent eyes.
“Pleased to meet you, then, Himura-san! I am Abe Kenji!” she replied to his unspoken question, knowing it would be suspicious not to return the favor of introduction. She just hoped he wouldn’t look into it, but knowing what she did about him, it was a lost cause. The slight spark of interest in his violet eyes told her all she needed to come to that conclusion.
“The pleasure is all mine, Kenji-kun!” he said, a smile tugging at his lips and she cursed the man for his appeal. “Oh, and that reminds me…I ran into your sister yesterday, at a café. I didn’t catch her name, she seemed to be quite in a hurry…”
Well, she mused, that sure wasn’t subtle in the least. But, she gathered, to a kid the age she appeared it probably wouldn’t appear suspicious at all. Especially not with the aura of trust he possessed with those eyes and that damned smile. She was probably biased as well, knowing the true nature of this man. He would let nothing escape him. Briefly, she wondered what he would think should he find out how much she actually knew of him. Facts aside, she was known to be a good judge of character (with a few exception, she admitted, before she had been faced with the many faces of trust and betrayal) and felt confident enough to form personal opinions about this man despite the obvious distance between them.
“Oh, you’ve met Mai?” she exclaimed after making a point of blinking confusedly, almost giving in to the urge to roll her eyes at the smug tilt of his lips.
“Ah, yes, Miss Mai,” he confirmed, nodding. “She was quite the charming young lady. It is good of you to look after her, Kenji-kun.”
She didn’t bother concealing her blush this time around, because really, it didn’t matter who she was at the moment; either way she had been praised and it left her with a strangely pleased feeling to hear it come from him, of all people. She suspected it had something to do with the unfortunate attraction she harbored, but to be fair, could she really be blamed? The man was gorgeous.
“Oh, I wouldn’t call her charming,” she blurted out before she could stop herself. Realizing that her usual response to compliments had slipped through, she quickly covered it up with a fond smile that she hoped looked brotherly and not as femininely demure as it felt. “She has a tendency to get into trouble, so I am quite happy to be around to prevent it sir. Who knows what she’d get herself into otherwise?”
This caused him to chuckle, for she was sure she sounded arrogant and prideful in the amusing way only little brothers could. She guessed it helped to think about Sano during times like these.
“Indeed,” he agreed with a smile and she bit her lip to prevent releasing a sigh of relief. “I am sure you are doing a great job as well!”
Honestly? I don’t think so, Himura-san, she thought with a slight pang of helplessness that she quickly suppressed. The way things were, she had not done a good job with keeping either of the Abe siblings out of trouble with this man. Then again, as long as it wasn’t her, the game wasn’t lost yet.
“Well, I’ll have to get going,” Himura continued before she could reply with more than a smile. Flicking her cap’s screen with his fingers, he winked and turned to leave. “Good bye, Kenji-kun!”
Momentarily immobile, frozen in place in fear of the cap falling off at his careless gesture, Kaoru barely had time to return his farewell before he disappeared in the increasing morning crowd.
Well, that was…interesting.
Securing her cap, she resumed her new morning job with renewed vigor and hoped the rest of the day would be less nerve-racking. Considering what she had planned, it was sadly quite unlikely.