I do not claim any right to Rurouni Kenshin. Standard disclaimer applies.

She found herself staring at his hands again.

His hands spoke humbly of infallible strength; every slender finger whispered the recognition of the ability to kill. She can only visualize in her mind the flick of his wrist, bringing the sharp steel to its descent upon its prey, was swift enough to be missed during a careless blink of the eye. However, he intended and willed her to observe his every movement carefully, going about the whole procedure in a deliberate speed than he normally would.

Of course he is, he expects me to do the same deed.

"Ready?"

His voice was low and gentle, enticing her to relax, even as he was about to take a life. She licked her lips in a nervous gesture and nodded mutely, shifting her eyes from his hands to the victim in plight. Beady, black eyes stared back into her own. At that moment, she wanted to do nothing more than to scream on the top of her lungs for him to stop, but the sound never escaped through her throat. Within a second, the keen edge of silver met solid wood and the poultry sitting on top of the kitchen countertop never perceived its chances. The languid body of the bird rested on top of the wooden board as her instructor proceeded to discard the head. What surprised her most, besides the uneasiness of how calm she felt, was the lack of blood. The cutting board was only tickled with a few pink spots and fluffs of feather. She had always thought this to be a grimy ordeal, but his cut had been so clean.

A cluck from the chicken standing meekly before her halted her train of thought, and now held her full attention.

"It's your turn, Kaoru."

Kamiya Kaoru would never be the first to step up and admit to be a horrible cook. Not the best, quite possibly, but she was certain she could not be the worst. But after growing tremendously aggravated of hearing the constant ungrateful bickering from the little rascal of a brother she had, and how every guest she received would make up a blatant excuse to leave at the mention of her cooking, Kaoru decided she would attempt to do something about it.

She glanced up from her paperwork to the clock hanging on the white wall. It was earlier than usual, and her workload was dwindling. She will finish the rest at home.

Fine. Today then. Might as well.

"Thank you for your hard work, Kamiya-sensei. See you tomorrow."

"You too, Ishikawa-sensei. See you."

After bidding her co-worker goodbye, Kaoru turned to face the opposite direction and exited the school building. Having sat for hours on end, imprisoned in her tiny cubicle, walking brought immense pleasure to relieve the ache in her back. Despite the late hour, the temperature in the air was warmer than usual as the summer months were drawing closer. Soon, her students will go on their break and she will be working from home again. Kaoru loosened the collar of her blouse a little, letting the cool evening breeze wash through her senses. It was a routine walk from work to home, but on this particular night, her feet stopped when she neared the small, bricked building of her interest. Kaoru glanced at the modest sign placed beside the entrance that lettered 'Akabeko Cuilinary Academy' to assure herself that she was at the correct place.

This is it.

Making her presence known upon entering through the entrance, Kaoru greeted the receptionist sitting behind the curved desk with a smile.

"Konbanwa, sorry to intrude," Kaoru started, quickly reading the bronze name plaque on the desk, "Sekihara-san. I was wondering if you could assist me with a few questions."

Sakihara Tae had to be around her age, Kaoru noted. This was the first time she saw the young receptionist up close. There have been several times where the two of them have encountered each other before, due to the close proximity of their workplaces, but the both of them never exchanged anything more than polite greetings. Tae wore a sweet smile on her face that reaches up towards the ends of her soft eyes, and her slim face was framed by the brown tresses that fell from her ponytail.

"You're not intruding at all!" Tae exclaimed all the while getting up from her seat, "How am I able to help you, ano-"

"Ah! I apologize for my abruptness. My name is Kamiya Kaoru."

"No need to be so formal, Kamiya-san! I would be glad to help. You can just call me Tae."

"Please, call me Kaoru."

Kaoru extended her own hand to shake Tae's inviting one. Looking around the lobby for the first time since she arrived, she studied the glass doors to her right and noticed that it leads to a large room that houses multiple kitchen stations. Feeling slightly abashed now that she was here, Kaoru could only muster a small smile at the kind woman before continuing.

"I'm hoping to improve my-" Kaoru paused to contemplate on how to state this without damaging her own pride, "-skills in the kitchen, although it's not much to begin with. Is there an opening spot for a potential student like me for the summer term?"

Leafing through the papers in a manila folder, Tae drew her eyebrows together with a frown and regretfully answered, "I'm so sorry, Kaoru-san, but it seems our classes have been fully registered until early September. Would you like to enroll for the term in fall?"

"Sorry, that wouldn't work out very well for me. I teach at the junior school in the area and I was hoping I could use the time during the break."

Good. Perhaps I can forget and avoid all this nonsense on taking up cooking classes after all. There's nothing wrong with my kitchen creations! Yahiko only fusses because he is set out to make my life miserable on purpose. How did I ever let him bother me so much in the first place? I'm going to have to knock him a new one when I get home.

Oblivious to Kaoru's thoughts, Tae started to look greatly distressed before leafing through more papers. Kaoru began to feel very guilty for having put the young woman on the spot.

"Don't worry, Tae-san. It's not important at all. Thank you so much for all your time and effort. You're very sweet."

"No, Kaoru-san! Let me find something for you. It's here somewhere!"

Kaoru could not refuse Tae, she was so dear. Not to mention, Kaoru was exceedingly curious to know what the receptionist could frantically be digging through her desk for. A minute later, Tae's entire face lit up with excitement as she pulled out a paper from a drawer and placed it on the desk for Kaoru to read. There was a name scrawled at the top of the page.

Himura Kenshin?

"This is it, Kaoru-san! I recall that this man teaches private classes in his home as a part-time job. He's a very close acquaintance to the instructor here at Akabeko. If you would like, I can arrange you an appointment with Himura-san."

A/N: I originally wanted to write this as an one-shot to leave it short and sweet, but I guess that won't be happening. I apologize for any mistakes and errors made in my writing. It did not go through beta as I was a little embarrassed to show anyone my first piece. I hope any readers that stumble upon this would be forgiving and kind enough to give me some constructive feedback. If anyone would be willing to beta and revise my chapters, I would appreciate it greatly! Arigato.