Disclaimer: RK not mine, it's Nobuhiro Watsuki's. However, all original 
characters and plot are mine. ^_^

Warning: Alternate universe. Yes, there will be "out of 
character"-ness. Be prepared.


AS GOOD AS IT GETS


   This was perfect, just perfect. Kaoru could barely contain her 
excitement as Kenshin pulled up in the driveway of her house. The entire 
night had been too romantic for words. First an evening picnic that had 
led to a deep and earnest chat beneath the rising stars before they had 
gone to see a movie that featured, of all things, two friends falling in 
love. And midway during the show Kenshin had held her hand! Kaoru had 
almost jumped out of her skin at that moment but a glance at him showed 
that he wasn't bothered, as if her hand in his was the most natural 
thing in the world. Surely he was going to pop the question, she couldn't 
help thinking as he shut off the engine. Well, not propose marriage, a 
girl couldn't be that ambitious. But at least now surely he was going 
to ask...

  "Kaoru, I have been in love with you for the longest time. Please say 
you'll be my girl..." 

  And then he leaned over and kissed her. She wanted to scream "Yatta!" 
at the top of her voice but that would have freaked Kenshin out and 
deafened him, thus ruining her first kiss. So instead, she breathlessly 
kissed him back, all the while thinking 'this is as good as it gets'. 
Why, there were even bells ringing in the background......

  As the doorbell screeched maniacally, the chimes ringing at an insane 
speed, Kaoru bolted up from the bed, managed to fall over the edge and 
onto the floor, stubbing her toe in the process. Shell-shocked and in 
denial at the speed with which she had been thrust from The Dream into 
the real world, she sat on the ground in her pyjamas, staring blankly at 
the wall of her room while reality sank in. "The doorbell is ringing. 
Whoever is at the door ruined my dream. I'm going to kill him," she said 
with the kind of calm that psychotic killers in movies tended to 
display. 

  Kicking her door open, which further aggravated the pain in her toe, 
Kaoru cursed as she limped from her bedroom to the hall plotting 
murder, never mind that in more lucid moments, she felt reluctant to kill 
even an ant. For the love of God, it was still dark outside and a glance 
at the clock revealed that it was six in the morning. "Six! Not only has 
that idiot on the doorstep ruined my dream, he has robbed me of three 
hours of sleep!" And just who the hell had the audacity to come at such 
an hour? It couldn't be Misao. Since the last incident, Misao knew 
better than to harass Kaoru into keeping her company while she spied on 
Shinomori Aoshi going for his morning run. Nowadays, Misao dragged her 
grandfather along to do that. It couldn't be Sano either, although he had 
turned up drunk a couple of times to crash at her place where his two 
sisters would be unable to get to him. Sano had a test today so Yumi and 
Tokio would have imprisoned him at home the night before. Sweet, 
lovable Kenshin would not even think of disturbing her now. So just...

  "Who the hell are you?" she yelled as she snatched open the door. 
There was a second door of metal grille between her and the young man so 
Kaoru was not in the least worried. In fact, the stranger should be glad 
that there was a barrier between them to save him from bodily harm. As 
she fumed and tapped her bare foot, Kaoru glared up at him expectantly. 

  "Excuse me but you are Kamiya Kaoru?" He smiled unrepentantly, 
looking down at her, a pair of shades low on his nose. What kind of clown 
wore sunglasses at this hour, she wondered irritably. "Yes I am," she 
snapped. "And you are...?" Rather good-looking, the thought popped into her 
head. Tall, her head barely reached his shoulder, with bleached messy 
and stylish hair. He had a pierced ear too, she observed, noticing the 
bright wink of the solitary stud in his left lobe. His clothes, from the 
trenchcoat (trenchcoat!) to his shoes were all black and looked 
expensive. Nope, she certainly did not know him and she never mixed with his 
type. He had trouble written all over him and now Kaoru was feeling glad 
that the grille door was between them. 'I really should remember to use 
the peephole.' She had installed it two years ago after her father's 
death. 

  "I'm Yukishiro Enishi."

 "Don't know you. You sure you got the right person?" Kaoru asked, 
covering her mouth as a yawn escaped her. 

   Of course he had the right person. 'Short and petite, blue eyes, 
black hair. Explosive temper,' he recalled. He had even managed to obtain 
a picture of her. She had seemed rather cute. But this angry, sleepy 
girl with tangled curls sprouting from her head was...quite something 
else. Still, it was Kamiya Kaoru all right. 

  "I'm sure I've got the right person. How could I mistake my 
stepsister for someone else?" That got her attention. She froze midway in the 
yawn, her eyes widening until those blue orbs threatened to fall out of 
their sockets. Enishi expected a barrage of questions to follow after 
she recovered herself. What he did not anticipate was for her to laugh so 
hard that she doubled over before slamming the door in his face. 

   "Good God, what a loon," she muttered, wiping tears from her eyes. 
Like she was going to swallow that tall tale. Her father had not 
remarried since her mother had died giving birth to her and she was his only 
child. Going through his documents and files after his death, she had 
only come across one marriage certificate and that had bore his name and 
her mother's. Kaoru was already halfway down the hall when the phone 
rang. Unthinkingly she picked it up. "Hello?"

  "Go back to the door and look at the papers I slipped under it," he 
ordered tersely before cutting the connection. Kaoru stared at the 
cradle in her hand before putting it down. Papers? He had documents? 
'Forgeries," she concluded but decided to have a look anyway. She could always 
call the police if he insisted on planting himself outside her house. 
And her lawyer. 'Let's see, marriage certificate, divorce papers.' If 
she wasn't so sure that she was her father's only child, she might be 
having some doubts now. The documents looked like the real deal. But when 
she saw the photograph, she paled. Everything else slipped from her 
hands save the coloured picture of her father with his arms around a 
serious-looking boy of about five. And on her father's left hand was a gold 
band. "A wedding ring," she whispered, the sound of her heart hammering 
in her ears. 

  "Believe me now?" he called from behind the door and she jerked her 
head up. She had forgotten he was still there. "Kaoru, at least open the 
damned door." He sounded exasperated. Clutching the photo in one hand, 
she did as he asked, sliding it open just a crack. 

  "You'd better explain yourself."

 "Can I do it inside? I've been travelling the entire night."

 "How do I know that this boy is really you? He doesn't even look like 
you."

  Enishi felt his temper fraying fast. 'Relax,' he warned himself. 'You 
mustn't frighten her.' He owed it to his stepfather to be at least nice 
to Kaoru. And her shock was perfectly understandable. 'Obviously he 
never told her about me.' Bitterness tinged that thought along with 
resentment at that bitterness. He was no longer a little boy. What did it 
matter now that he was an adult? "If it makes you feel better, call some 
friends and ask them to call you back in an hour to check up. Give them 
my name and a full description." A part of him balked at the idea of 
being exposed like that although he realised that eventually the news of 
his presence would spread. But that would be alright for the present. 
They were still looking for him in China. Japan was as far from Shanghai 
as possible and this sleepy little town was even more so. He was safe 
here. If only she would just let him in!

   For the second time that day she slammed the door in his face and 
for a moment Enishi thought she was refusing him entrance. Then his ears 
picked up the sound of her voice, the rise and fall of her tones. He 
could hear the fear in her voice but also uncertainty. Good, although she 
did not believe him, he had a chance of convincing her. Minutes later, 
he had the jangle of keys and she opened the door, unlocked the metal 
grille and stiffly told him to go inside. Enishi couldn't help thinking 
that she was incredibly naïve to do so but was also thankful for that 
naivety. 

  "I've called my friends. You'd better not try to be funny," she 
warned, taking a seat opposite him. "Now, what's this stepsister business? 
My dad never mentioned that he was married to anyone else and I know for 
sure that he never remarried after my mother."

   "I'm not surprised if he didn't tell you." As Enishi spoke, his eyes 
wondered to the mantelpiece behind Kaoru. Rows of photos lined it along 
with some dried flowers. So that was Kaoru's mother. There were seven 
photos of his stepfather hugging Kaoru, all the way from infancy to 
teenage years. He almost felt jealous at that moment. The rest of the lot 
showed Kaoru and her friends. It was with some shock that Enishi noted 
the smiling red-haired man sitting next to her in one picture and for 
the first time had doubts about his decision to come here. If anyone was 
going to recognise him, then Battousai surely would...but just what the 
hell was Battousai doing in a town like this? 'Maybe hiding, just like 
you are.' 

  "Didn't tell me what?" she asked pointedly when he lapsed into 
silence after that. This was like a tired replay of events two years 
before-phony relatives coming out of the woodwork, wheedling for some of the 
family property, suing when she refused. By God if this Yukishiro person 
was one of them this time she was going to sue first! 

   "That he was married to my mother when I was three. They lasted for 
two years, she got bored, ran off with someone else and divorced him." 

  There was an unnatural flatness in his tone. When people kept their 
voices deliberately expressionless like that, it meant that whatever 
they were talking about still obviously affected them sufficiently. She 
looked at the photo in her hand. It wasn't new, no longer glossy, but it 
was in mint condition. He had taken good care of this old photo, if it 
really belonged to him. She still found it hard to believe him. "I 
didn't find any of these amongst my father's belongings. You do know that 
he's...that he's gone, don't you?"

  "Yes. I do. I'm sorry." Light blue eyes, the shade of turquoise 
lifted to hers and in them she saw genuine sympathy and there was a slight 
thickness to his voice he could not disguise. "I don't know why she kept 
the marriage certificate but if you check the divorce papers, you'll 
see they are addressed to her." Kaoru's eyes slid to the paper and saw 
that it was so. She also saw that the divorce had taken place two years 
before her dad had remarried. "You can call up the Registry of Marriages 
to check if your father was ever married to her. That will be the best 
way to find out if I'm lying or not. You'll have to wait another two 
hours though. I don't think they open till nine."

     An hour had passed and she had barely noticed. Outside, the sky 
was lightening rapidly, a mix of varying shades of blue. 

  "I'd like to have the photo back." It wasn't a request but a demand. 
Almost obediently, Kaoru handed it back, watching his reaction. He 
didn't meet her eyes, simply took it from her hand and slipped it into his 
pocket. There was a moment of awkward silence as they both sat there in 
the hall. 

  "Why didn't my father have custody of you?" She almost flinched as 
she asked the question but it had been nagging at her. Kaoru knew her 
father; he had been incredibly responsible. He wouldn't have abandoned any 
child of his, even a stepchild.

  "He didn't abandon me," Enishi said quietly, her bright blush 
confirming that he had correctly guessed the nature of her thoughts. "She took 
me away to China and initiated divorce proceedings there. Your father 
did look for me but he couldn't find me." It had been years later that 
he discovered that his stepfather had spent a year looking for him and 
his mother. 

   How he must detest his mother, Kaoru thought. He had used the term 
'mother' only once and for the rest of the conversation kept referring 
to her as 'she'. The more Kaoru listened, the more she found herself 
closer to believing his story. It definitely rated among the more 
fantastic stories she had been told but he seemed so genuine...and it would be 
easy to find out if he was lying...

   "Why did you come here? How did you even find me? I mean, we don't 
know each other...I didn't even know I had a stepbrother...not that I 
believe you, of course. And I will be making those calls."

   She was trying to appear firm and in control but to Enishi, it was 
clear that she believed him, even if she didn't know it. But it was the 
sympathy in her eyes that made him feel uncomfortable. Nobody had ever 
looked at him with sympathy; most had not even looked happy to see him. 
He was a lot more at ease with the fear and trembling that his presence 
induced. 

  "I'm here because I have nowhere else to go. This was the only place 
I could think of," he replied honestly. 

 Kaoru inhaled sharply. "So you are in some kind of trouble! How can 
you just show up here and-"

   "You won't be in danger. I made sure of that. If you want me to 
leave, I will." He actually stood up then, because if she truly insisted 
that he leave, then he would have no choice but to do so. But if the 
report about Kaoru was true...

  "Wait! I didn't ask you to leave," she said testily, trying to cover 
up her alarm at his words. "What kind of danger are you talking about 
and what will happen if you go?"

  "Some people are looking for me. I'll be taken away if they find me." 
Technically that was the truth. If the secret society found him, they 
would kill him and then take his head back to the boss. Not that he was 
an easy target but Shanghai was their turf, as was half of China, and 
real friends were hard to tell from traitors. Disappearing was less 
troublesome and would give him a shot at a new life. 

  "Taken away? You mean killed." Kaoru felt like pinching herself in 
the hope of waking to find that this was just a dream but she knew the 
situation was real. If she sent him away, she would be keeping herself 
safe. But it might mean killing him indirectly. Biting her lip, she 
stared at her clasped hands, hesitating to make a decision that she knew had 
already been made the moment she learnt that sending him away was 
tantamount to killing him.  "If you really are my stepbrother," the word 
sounded terribly awkward to her, "then you can stay. But only for a 
while," she quickly added. She didn't intend for him to become a permanent 
fixture in her home. "Maybe you should go to the police.." 

  "No cops!" She actually shrank back from his fierce tone and Enishi 
could have bitten his tongue. "I mean, that will only make things worse. 
I won't stay long, I promise. I just need some re...some time," he 
corrected himself, hoping she wouldn't notice the slip. 

   So, he was wanted by the local authorities as well, Kaoru thought 
miserably. Just what had she gotten herself into? But in spite of that, 
she couldn't quite bring herself to tell him to leave. His death was a 
responsibility she could not bear. And then there was also her father. 
He would have taken Enishi in, she was sure of it. 'Dad loved him too.' 

  "You promise to leave as soon as possible?"

 "I promise," he said, relief washing through him. He thought he had 
blown his chance. "I know your friends will ask questions once they 
notice I'm here. Just tell the truth, that I am your stepbrother, we just 
found out about each other and that I'm here to visit. End of story." 

  "Well, what did you think I would tell them? That my stepbrother is a 
wanted criminal?" she shot back sarcastically, bristling at what she 
conceived as his extremely bossy tone. "Just remember whose house you are 
hiding in."

 To her surprise, he grinned at her verbal jab. "Point taken. So, 
where's my room?"

  "Where's your room?" she repeated, astounded by his brazenness. "Feel 
free to make yourself at home," she muttered as she stamped past him. 
He chuckled before catching her by the wrist. 

  "I think I forgot to say something else. Thank you." 

  Kaoru found it a little hard to breathe as she stared up at him. 
Rather good-looking had been an understatement. It was a good thing she was 
hopelessly in love with Kenshin. "I still have my doubts about you," 
she warned. 

  "I know. That's why I'm thanking you." Enishi almost chuckled again 
as she blushed once more and snatched her hand away from him. He did not 
intend to stay for long, but he was sure that whatever time he spent 
here was going to be
interesting. 



---------------------------------------------------------------
Extra Notes: Ehh...I meant to write a romance comedy but somehow it got 
away and became angsty and dark in the middle. Hmm...and I know I said 
I wouldn't write anything for a while until I got my new laptop but 
this idea was running around in my head. *sighs*