Clair de Lune

Unexpected visits (Part I)

Another two months passed peacefully like this. During these two months Megumi moved to her mother-in-law's house. It seemed that whatever made the old lady ill was fatal and her sister didn't want to let Sano's mother die while feeling lonely.

While Megumi was packing her things she gave a pistol to Kaoru. "Take it." She said. "There will be a time you will need it more than I ever would."

Now Megumi visited her every chance she got, even though it wasn't often, and Tae worked in her house in the morning hours, devoting her time in the afternoon to help Megumi nurse the old lady.

This gave Kaoru unexpected freedom to think about why whenever the lieutenant was close, her heart was acting so weird, as well as about the kiss they shared. There was only one logical explanation – that she was in love, but Kaoru just couldn't bring herself to admit it. After all he was married and this all wasn't fare to his wife. That's why Kaoru tried to lock her feelings away, but those feather light touches and other gentle gestures Kenshin made whenever they were talking made her fall for him even harder.

Kaoru was playing the piano and Kenshin was reading "Notre-Dame de Paris" when they heard a loud banging at the backdoor. The German officer slammed his book shut, stood up and motioned to Kaoru to keep playing, but once Kenshin left the room she stopped playing.

Caught in the web of curiosity Kaoru followed after him, leaving a three meter gap between them. She didn't follow him all the way to the door though, when Kaoru made it down the stairs she leaned on the nearest wall and tried to listen. Unfortunately the only thing she heard was a flood of German words, which she didn't understand.

The conversation lasted few minutes and the Kenshin was suddenly bolting in the direction of the stairs.

"I am sorry that our time was interrupted like this, but it seems that I will have to excuse myself." He spoke while climbing up the stairs. Kaoru knew that he is going up to his room to put on his military hat and jacket – the parts of his uniform he preferred not to wear around the house.

"Did something happen?!" She half-yelled after him.

"Yes, an accident. But you should not worry, I am sure that I will be able to handle it." Kenshin was finally on the second floor and only after hearing his footsteps ring out above her head Kaoru understood how erratic they were.

It only took few moments for Kenshin to be back on the stairs. He was already wearing the jacket and was holding his hat pressed between his chest and upper arm while with the other hand he skillfully tied an extremely low ponytail. The lieutenant stopped in his tracks once he was in front of Kaoru. Without saying a word he put on his hat, sneaked his arms around Kaoru and kissed her.

This kiss was only a shadow of the first one, but it still made Kaoru's knees go weak. It wasn't long before Kenshin pulled away, slowly releasing her from his gentle hold. They stared at each other for a while before the person at the door started yelling something in German. This seemed to bring back the lieutenant to reality and he bolted out of the door, leaving Kaoru gasping for air.