Rent

Note From class=SpellE>Sedjet: Ok.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> So this is a bit depressing, and I can’t
promise it is going to get any better.
It’s going to be sad. There is
going to be lots of foul language and possible violence…And LOTS of angst.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> It’s a sad story.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> I can’t promise a happy ending, but I do
promise a hopeful ending. class=SpellE>Anyhoo…On with the show!

Rent

Chapter One:

Rent

Seta Soujiro checks the battery
life of his hand-held camcorder.
Satisfied, he presses the power button and focuses in on his best
friend, Himura Kenshin.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> Kenshin is a small
man with long, gorgeous, shiny crimson hair.
He has the appearance of an eighteen year-old, but in fact he is
twenty-seven. He is broody and angry
which lent to a sexy quality which caused many a woman to roll over onto her
back, legs spread wide, but that was years ago.
As of late, he just sat around the apartment, picking half-heartedly at
the guitar he used to devote hours of practice to.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> He never plays anything.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> He just picks at it.style='mso-spacerun:yes'>

At the moment, he is practicing with a reversed-blade sword
that he hasn’t picked up since before he stopped playing his guitar.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> His movements are fluid, as if the sword were
a part of him.

Soujiro begins to narrate as he
focuses the camera on Kenshin from a safe distance,
“Close on Kenshin as he practices with the class=SpellE>sakabatou that he hasn’t picked up in years.” He thrusts the
camera into the petite red head’s face, “Note the concentration, the passion, class=GramE>the—“ He is stopped
abruptly as the reverse edge of the sakabatou touches
the delicate skin of his throat.

“Sou!”style='mso-spacerun:yes'> Kenshin barks, “If
you don’t get that fuckin’ camera out of my face, I’m
going to slice you in half,” the man growls.

Soujiro is not phased
in the slightest. Instead of running
with his proverbial tail tucked betwixt his legs, he turns the camera on
himself, “Yes, folks that my best friend.
Lovely personality, ne?”

“What the hell are you doing, anyway?” Kenshin
grumps, reluctant to admit his curiosity.

“It’s the documentary I’ve been wanting
to do. I wanted to do something
meaningful, so I thought I would document the daily lives of…well…I guess it’s
just you.”

“What about Misao?” class=SpellE>Kenshin smirks.

“That is so over. She
is so fickle.” He sighs.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> “I hope she ends up being happy with class=SpellE>Shinomori. I don’t
know what she sees in him. Well, I guess
seeing is all she does, since he never speaks much.”style='mso-spacerun:yes'> Soujiro chuckles,
“Then again, how could he ever get a word in edge-wise.”

The ghost of a smile passes over Kenshin’s
face, but the phone rings, destroying their moment of camaraderie.

“Thank god,” Kenshin mutters.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> He assumes Soujiro
will answer the phone, but he does not.
“Aren’t you going to get that.”

Soujiro shakes his head,
“Nope. We en, en, remember?”

The answering machine picks up and a smooth, silky voice
fills the room, “Guys, it’s Enishi.”

“Shit.”

“Fuck.”

“I’m on my way to pick up your rent.”

Kenshin dives for the phone,
snatching it from the receiver, “What rent?!”
He stabs the conference call button.

“This year’s rent.
I’ve gone easy on you, and—“

“Easy?!style='mso-spacerun:yes'> You said we’d never have to pay rent!”

“Yeah!”style='mso-spacerun:yes'> Soujiro piped in,
“Remember, when you bought this place?” he shouts.

“Yeah, when we were roommates!”style='mso-spacerun:yes'> Kenshin reiterates.

“Yeah, I remember.” He mutters blandly.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> “How is everyone?”

“Oh, we’re fine, aside from the Tomoe fiasco.”style='mso-spacerun:yes'> Soujiro mutters.

Enishi is quiet for a moment.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> Then, “Anyway, I need your rent, or I have to
evict you. I can’t afford to have you
free-loading.”

“Evict us?! We’re
you’re best friends. You style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>told we could live here.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> For free.” class=SpellE>Soujiro yells at the receiver.

“Fuck you!” class=SpellE>Kenshin bellows, “If this is about a personal vendetta,
it’s pretty shitty. I loved her too—“

“I’ll be there in a bit,” comes the
soft response. “See ya
later.”

Kenshin slams the receiver back
onto the cradle. “style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>That fuck!” He throws himself into a
chair, burying his hands in his thick hair.

Soujiro sighs.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> He goes to Kenshin
and pats his shoulder gently, “I don’t suppose you want to come see class=SpellE>Misao’s performance tonight or go to dinner afterwards?”

“I’m broke, Sou.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> Besides, I don’t feel like going anywhere
tonight.”

“Right,” Soujiro sighs, walking to
the door of their loft apartment, “Don’t forget to take your AZT.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> You know what happens when you do,” he
reminds Kenshin as he opens the door and disappears
behind it.

Once outside, Soujiro lifts the
camcorder, turning it on himself, “Kenshin had a
girlfriend that he was really serious about.
He was with her—Tomoe. One day class=SpellE>Kenshin came home and found a note from her that said, ‘We
have AIDS.’ That was all it said.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> You can imagine the devastation.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> Unfortunately, that wasn’t the half of
it. I would like to be able to tell you
that they are working through it together, but I would be lying.

“After finding the note, Kenshin
ran to the bathroom to be sick, but the door was shut.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> He didn’t remember shutting the bathroom door
before he left, so he assumed someone was in there.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> So, he knocked on the door.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> When there was no answer, he opened the
door. The sight that greeted him was a
sight that no man should ever have to see.
Tomoe has slit her wrists in a bathtub full of scalding hot water.style='mso-spacerun:yes'>

“To risk sounding cliché, that was the day the music
died. Kenshin
stopped playing his guitar, his band broke up.
He got way into drugs and nearly killed himself.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> He wouldn’t leave the apartment unless it was
to get a gram or two of smack or coke.
He shut himself away and zoned himself out of the world he was so angry
with.

“It got to the point that I could no longer recognize in him
the human being that had been my best friend.
Our friend Sanosuke and I took him to a rehab
clinic. We were there through the crazy
outbursts and the withdrawal fits. It
wasn’t pretty. It was a long road home
and back to being the Kenshin that we used to
know. He’s still not the same, but that
is to be expected. He is dying, after
all. How ok would you be?

“But today, he picked up his guitar, muttering something
about needing to write one meaningful song before he dies.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> There is a light in him that I haven’t seen
since Tomoe was alive. It is a different
kind of light, though. It is a frantic
light. He is struggling,
floundering. Music used to come so easy
to him, but after two years of not playing at all, he lost his knack for
it. I’m glad that he’s trying at all,
really. It means the old class=SpellE>Kenshin is struggling to get to the surface.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> I really hope that Kenshin
breaks through. I miss him.”style='mso-spacerun:yes'> He frowns into the camera before cutting the
power.

TBC…

R ‘n’ R if you feel like it.
This fic is near and dear to my heart, I would
love to hear any constructive criticism you have for me.

style='mso-spacerun:yes'>