Clair de Lune

Kenshin

She didn't need to go far into the property to notice the lieutenant, as he was playing outside with Bubi. First Kaoru smelled the smoke of his cigarettes and after taking few steps to the left, so that the corner of the house would no longer interfere, she saw him pretending to throw the ball in his hand and Bubi chasing it. Kaoru laughed at Bubi's confused face as he looked in the grass for the said ball - being completely sure that the man had thrown it there - and found nothing.

The German officer seemed to have heard her laughter and turned his head in Kaoru's direction. At first he was smiling, but once he saw the state she was in, the look on his face changed into the one of horror. After seeing him completely and utterly devastated Kaoru couldn't help herself but laugh once more.

"You look as if you have been laying in the mud the whole day." He said, still lost at what to do after seeing her like this.

"Well, lots of women pay huge sums of money to enjoy mud baths and I just happen to know a place where I can do it for free." Kaoru giggled. Even she couldn't believe in what a weird mood she was.

"What a wild hostess I happen to have." The smile returned to his face again.

"Speaking of which, I advise you to go nowhere near the food you will find in the kitchen for the next few days." She spoke in a matter-of-fact tone of voice.

"Is the maid plotting to poison me?" The man joked, flicked what was left of the cigarette on the ground and trampled it. Kaoru took few steps in his direction.

"No. Neither Tae, nor my sister will be home for a while. I will need to cook for myself and it just so happens that I am not much of a cook."

"Well, I mostly eat at the nice soldier cafeteria set up in the government's building, so I am in the clear. Are you sure that you are okay, though? If you are not that good I could try to cook something up, but I am afraid I am nowhere as good as your maid." The smile on his face turned into a childish grin.

"There is no need to bother yourself. If I poison myself with my own cooking, at least I will know who is to blame." Kaoru took another few steps in his direction and now they were standing a meter, or so, apart.

Kaoru's heart started beating faster. The last time they were this close was when she was looking for that key in a book. Kaoru didn't know if it was the fear she was feeling at that time, but her heart was beating just as fast then as it was now. It seemed as if every encounter with the man left Kaoru with her heart trying to escape the confinement of her chest and a confused mind.

Kenshin also took a shaky step closer to her. Now they were only centimetres apart and could feel another's warm breath on their skin. The feeling was almost erotic. Then with the back side of his hand the man moved the wet stray strands of her hair out of her face. And then Kenshin slowly kissed her, closing the distance between them. It was a slow and careful kiss, but one filled with passion. The world seemed to disappear around them leaving only that heated dance of their mouths.

Once they started running out of air, they pulled apart, but Kenshin held Kaoru close, not letting her out of his arm. His face was in her wet hair and when Kenshin took a deep breath he smelled the woods in her hair. They both wished that the time would just stop and this moment would last forever. But time didn't stop for anyone, not even for them, and after standing like that for few minutes they heard a soldier shouting that it's already past curfew.

Kaoru abruptly broke free from his hold and took few steps back. "We should get inside." She pointed in the direction the voice was coming from. "The curfew."

"No, let us stay here." Kenshin gripped her wrist gently. "No one will say anything to you as long as you are with me."

And Kaoru did. She stayed next to him and they talked. They talked until it got too chilly for Kaoru to stay outside but even then they didn't go inside the house. It took few hours but the cold got better of Kaoru and she started shivering. After noticing this Kenshin draped his military jackets over her shoulders and they continued talking. Their subject was nothing in particular, yet at the same time everything. They were sitting on a stone bench, right next to the backdoor, with Bubi sleeping at their feet. They watched stars until the first sunrays hit their eyes, forcing them to come out of the wander filled night to reality.