A/N: some of you wanted to know "what if Kaoru stayed" and see what happens..well I tried to em..oh well you'll see how I managed :D don't shoot me if you don't like it…

Warning: The italics are rated R, if you don't/can't read it, I've made it so you can skip the bit and move on without missing anything out! *so considerate* lol

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The Tale of A Proper Marriage : Chapter 17

by white seraph
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"Kaoru…Please, stay."

Her black, glossy hair wavered, and she turned, staring at him with those big blue eyes that Kenshin found he was, strange to say, familiarly drawn to. "Alright" Came her soft, angelic voice and he saw the dark figure move, and bent down toward him.

Kenshin blinked. He didn't expect her to be so…docile. Their faces were so close now, so close…

But before he could do what he wanted, her voice broke the magic. "Yes?" She questioned, giving him a confused look, and that was when Kenshin realized that he was staring at her.

"I..I…." Kenshin started, but her lips saved him from the excuse, feeling the sudden touch of her warm, soft lips on his own, he automatically snaked his arm around her waist, as if it was the most perfect thing to do, and pulled her closer to deepen the kiss.

The sound of her soft moans only excited Kenshin the more, and unable to take it anymore, he pulled her small, soft body closer to him, crushing her in his embrace.

And as it was a sign, the girl immediately grabbed the hem of his night-gi (if there is such a thing) and slid it off him. Her little hands roamed teasingly across his chest, and leaving a trail of soft, butterfly kisses.

That was it. Kenshin, like any other human, any other man, had their limits, and unable to take the torture anymore, he pulled the playful creature away, and pulled her under himself, trying to gain control.

He looked down, and saw her smile maliciously, as if she had some other plans in stock. True to his predictions, he felt something grab him from under, those hands, that seemed so experienced moved down, but unable to accept defeat, Kenshin sat up, straddling her exposed body, and cupping her creamy chest.

"Conquer me tonight." She whispered, allowing her fingers to trace down his lips…

and he closed his eyes, resolutely…

To Kenshin's great misfortune, everything, like a piece of fragile glass, shattered. He was woken up, and torn away from the sweet, soft dreams of Kaoru by his mother's loud shrieks. "Oh my! My! What happened to my poor boy?!" Lady Himura practically threw herself to Kenshin, who was still lying hazily on the futon, trying to grasp the last strings of the dream.

Seeing the irresponsive lad there, Lady Himura continued, "You got yourself into a fight again?!" She sighed, with distress, unhappy with this sight. "And, my, my, did your dress your wounds up yourself? They look so dirty…" She drifted off as her attention drew toward the bandages that seemed to have fallen apart during his sleep.

Kenshin flinched as he felt his mother's cold hands touch the white strips of bandage that was sliding off his shoulder. "Stop! I'm alright, gosh just a fight, won't have me killed!" He pushed his mother away, terribly annoyed at her. "I'm not a five year old, I can take care of myself." He added more calmly.

"But..but" Lady Himura tried, but after having had a glance at his son's annoyed expression, she decided to keep quiet. "Alright then, I'll have breakfast sent to you, and I'll get the doctor to drop by some time later on."

Kenshin watched as the door slid close, shutting him from the rest of the world, before he fell back on to the soft bed. Alright, admit it, he told himself, you are infatuated by Kaoru. So what? you're marrying her either way, so it doesn't make a difference…It was indeed true, and it brought some comfort to the young man.

He still remembered how Kaoru used to be head over heels over him, and wondered what she felt about him now. Clearly, from yesterday evening, it did seem as if she did care about him, as if she did like him a lot.

That thought was somewhat…nice; that she cared, and that she liked him, too.

However, despite his new found feelings, Kenshin's arrogance and pride did not allow his emotion to take control. Although he did admit he was infatuated by the girl, he had no intention, whatsoever, in trying to express his feelings to anyone, or to her. He didn't want Kaoru to think that her feelings for him were returned, didn't want her to know that he felt the same way towards to as she did he. He wanted everyone to know that Kaoru liked him, but at the same time sustain the cool, careless image.

[yeah I was reading the previous chapters the other day and realized I totally dropped the arrogant element of him in recent chapters, so I'll put it back in now :D]

There was a knock on the door, and Kenshin smelt his breakfast, on its way. "come in" He told the servant, who docilely obeyed, "Here is your breakfast" She said, putting the tray on his lap, before quietly leaving the room.

He sighed, and picked his chopsticks up, ready to eat, but was interrupted by the loud voices outside, that ran down the corridor outside his room. He immediately recognized the feminine voice. It was Kaoru. And at that, Kenshin felt his heart clench with excitement, thinking she must coming to the study room to see if he was alright. (remember he had to stay at his dad's study room cos kaoru got sick..a few chapters ago)

Kenshin waited, and waited, impatiently for a knock on the door he so wanted to hear, but seeing that it never came, he felt confused, and wondered what was causing her delay. Sliding the wooden door open slowly, and quietly, just enough to poke his head out, Kenshin scanned across the corridor on both sides, only, to his great disappointment, to see Kaoru, on the farthest end of the corridor, looking across the yard, searchingly. She did not seem to notice the pair of eyes staring at her, nor did she remember that Kenshin's room was at this corridor.

"Soujirou!" he saw her cup her hands to her mouth and shout. Soujirou soujirou, why was it always him?! Kenshin took one last look at her, before slamming the door shut, a little too loud, as if wanting to be noticed.

* * * * * *

"Don't worry, nothing internal wounded" The doctor closed the lid of his medical box. "I will give him some herbal remedies, it will do the boy well." The old man said, before bowing politely, and making his way to the door.

Then, he suddenly turned back and added "Oh, and some rest will be good, too." He added.

"Alright, I will make sure he has a good rest." Lady Himura smiled before dismissing the doctor.

Unbeknownst to Lady Himura, Kaoru had slipped into Kenshin's room quietly right after she had made her leave with the doctor. Putting her finger to her lips, she smiled, and tip toed toward Kenshin, who was still quite angry..or rather, jealous about what he saw this morning.

Kaoru seemed rather giddy, with that big smile on her face, but Kenshin was uninterested, or at least, he pretended not to. When Kaoru knelt own next to his bedside, he turned away from her coldly, like a sulking little boy.

But the girl, blinded by excitement, paid no heed to his childish actions, "Hey! Hey! Guess what, Kenshin?!" She asked still grinning as if it was stuck on her face.

 "Go away."

The answer was unexpected, but Kaoru dismissed it immediately. "You know, alright, don't go crazy when you hear this;" She paused for a moment, wanting to get him into the mood. "You might not believe this, but I think I have the perfect plan to get us both out of this marriage!!" She said it all in one

Kenshin immediately felt his heart sink down to his abdomen, as realization came across that she had absolutely no interest in him all the way along whatsoever, he was the foolish one who thought she was hopelessly in love with him, he was the foolish one who didn't see that she had no feelings for him.

It was somewhat ironic, that for so long, Kenshin, believing Kaoru was obstinately in love with him, wanted to break the betrothal, yet no one was able to break it, and now, now that Kaoru had finally come up with the perfect plan, he only realizes that he did not want to break the betrothal, at all.

"Hey! Are you listening!" Kaoru hissed, dragging Kenshin away from his own thoughts.

"What?" Kenshin stared at her blankly.

Kaoru rolled her eyes, slightly irritated. "I said, what we can do, is, we can play act a little, you can pretend to elope with some girl, and then, that would give me the excuse to demand our parents to break the betrothal…"

"No" He cut in "I will not forfeit my reputation just for you." He replied, which of course was not true, but he was not prepared to tell her his real reasons anyway.

But Kaoru was persistent. "No, no, you're not doing it for me, you're doing it for yourself!" She countered, "You really have to reconsider, I mean look who you're marrying! It's me! ME!" She pointed at herself exaggeratedly "look who you'll be dealing with for the rest of your life here, I'm annoying, I'm not ladylike, I'm childish, I'm ignorant, I'm plain" She went on, pointing out the bad qualities in herself, in a vain attempt to get Kenshin to reconsider her plan. It was blatant how much she wanted to gt herself away from the marriage.

Kenshin bit his lip, silently thinking to himself, Annoying? No, spirited. unladylike? No, unique. Childish? No, innocent. Ignorant? No, cute. and ugly? No, Kaoru is far, far from plain. Finally, after a brief thought, he made a conclusion. "Hm…No."

"What?! No?! would you not even reconsider?!" Kaoru was devastated by the declination.

"I just did." He replied curtly.

Kaoru's devastation turned into frustration. "Fine then! Be that way! If you can't be bothered to put some effort in, then why should I?! Lets just follow what is planned! Lets just let then screw our lives up!" without waiting for him to reply, Kaoru left, slamming the door hard. She was angry. Very angry.

Kenshin sighed heavily, For some reason, the very fact that Kaoru was angry at him upset him, he never realized how much he valued her good opinion, how much he wanted her to care, and to like him, come to think of it, perhaps it is because of this very reason that made him foolishly believe she really was infatuated by him at the very beginning.

Not only was his heart shattered at this revelation, his pride, and ego was, too. What happened to the Kenshin with the long line of admirers? What happened to the Kenshin who no women could resist? Curse Kaoru for ruining his perfect life! Curse her for causing him so much distress! Curse her for being such a cruel, cold hearted wench! But dammit he wanted her!

[a/n sorry that was short and the lime was WEIRD and..gah I dunno…, I finally handed my English coursework in! *phew* but damn, there's yet a big r.s. cwk to come and I'm so dead…-_-]