The Devil Wears a Pinstriped Suit

*bows* Gomen nasi. It’s been a very long time since I’ve updated.

Chapter 29

The look on Missy’s face was one I had never seen before. I couldn’t tell if she was angry, sad or disappointed. She sat, unmoving next to me…she might as well have been made of stone. Because of this, I didn’t quite know what to say next. I thought bringing her to one of her favorite places would lighten the mood, but it didn’t work, I guess. My little sister loved Belle Isle. She loved how the shore was mostly composed of reclaimed stones from historic buildings long torn down. She loved to sit on these slabs and let the blue-green water lap at her feet. Now, however, the sensation seemed to bring no joy…no relief from the news I had just broken to her.

I had to tell her. I couldn’t go another day with her not knowing the truth. She deserved to know, no matter how much it would have hurt or how much she would have hated me for it. Still, it was hard to accept, for it seemed her wrath was inevitable. At least, it would be, whenever the shock wore off and she digested the news.

“You slept with someone else’s husband…” she finally said, as if testing the words to see if they were possible to combine. “Another woman’s husband…”

“Hai,” I replied, lowering my chin.

“Are you sorry?” she asked me.

“Yes…I never wanted you to get involved like this. I didn’t think this would happen,” I said to her.

“You’re not sad you hurt Tomoe-san?” she asked me.

“No,” I said without hesitation. Was I supposed to?

“Then you would do something like this again…and someone else would get hurt,” she said, almost to herself.

“That doesn’t matter…”

“It only matters when someone you love is hurt?” she snapped, her eyes finally turning to me.

Her nostrils were flaring…she was indeed angry. I batted my lips, about to reply honestly, but then thought better of it. I had to get her to understand me. I had to get her to see my point of view.

“Misao…married men don’t cheat unless they want to. If their wives get hurt, that is their responsibility,” I said, trying to not to be patronizing.

“Married men wouldn’t cheat if there weren’t women oh-so-willing to sleep with them!” she exclaimed. “I know I’m younger than you…but it seems you need to grow up! I know that one guy didn’t tell you he was married and he hurt you. But, does that give you license to hurt someone else? To be honest, I knew you had almost no discrimination to those kind of men…and I’ll also admit I didn’t care until it directly effected me…but I can’t pretend that I wasn’t WRONG in feeling so indifferent. How can you?”

I opened my mouth again, but no sound came out. Instead of retorting, I closed my mouth and took in her words. They were very true words…words that needed to be said to me. Indeed, I had looked at Missy as a child, a person with no life experience…and person not to be taken seriously. For the first time, I realized how wrong I had been. I didn’t know my sister as well as I thought I did. How correctly she had me pegged…

“You know…I’m not sure, Missy. I guess I’m so used to being completely unapologetic that I still find it hard to admit that I’m wrong…or that I care if I’m doing something wrong. Maybe that’s because this is the first time in a long time I’ve been in love. Maybe it’s the first time I’ve really been in love. And, I never wanted to fall in love with a married man…it’s hard to explain, Missy. I am sorry though…even if I can only admit it to you. I can’t feel total sympathy for Tomoe…it’s not in my nature…but I can accept she did not deserve what happened,” I said to my sister, my eyes looking directly at her.

“I guess that’s as good as I can get from you,” Misao said, half smiling.

“Can you forgive me? Forgive Aoshi?” I ventured.

“You…yes. You are my sister and I love you. Aoshi…” her voice trailed off.

“Aoshi isn’t that bad,” I said, to my own surprise.

“Is Kenshin going to tell his wife?” Missy asked, unexpectedly.

“Um, I don’t know…we don’t really talk anymore,” I said.

“Just talk to him…and I’ll talk to Aoshi. Perhaps I can find out more about his past to help you,” she said, seeming to brighten at the idea of being involved in something daring.

“No way! I’m not getting you any more involved in this mess,” I said, my authority as older sibling returning.

“Earth to Kaoru, I’m already knee deep in this bullshit. From the sounds of it, you’ll need all the help you can get. You REALLY know how to pick ‘em, Kaoru. Even I could tell Enishi was total a total skeeze,” she said, pushing me slightly in a joking fashion.

I laughed with her, putting my arm around her. She scooted closed to me and put her arm around me in like and laughed even harder. Our joy carried through the warm air, and I was happy she was again laughing. After a few long moments, our laughter died, but our embrace did not. I wanted the moment to stretch forever…but I had to ask…

“Do you really forgive me…for ruining everything?” I asked her.

“Hai,” she said. “It will be hard to forget, but I love you. Enishi is our common problem…and I’ll help you take him down.”

With tears pooling in my eyes, I whispered “Thank You” to her, and I meant it. I hadn’t realized how much I needed her acceptance and her love. I was beginning to think that perhaps I hadn’t valued her as I should have…and perhaps my priorities were a little screwed up. But, with her forgiveness, I felt rejuvenated and at ease. I felt I could take on the world again...and if could take on the world, I could handle a two-bit gangster named Enishi.

Ugh….if only Megumi gave me the same kind of confidence boost. After my reconciliation with my sister, I returned to work. My next move of the day was to try to coax Meg into giving me some dirt on the Yakuza. I knew her gang-banger boyfriend has some info to give up and she could get it for me. However, Megumi was being as stubborn as ever.

“You do not understand, Megumi, I need you to speak to him,” I pleaded with my best friend over the phone.

“If it’s so damn important, you can at least tell me so I can try to understand, Kaoru. He’s finally getting his life on track and I’ll not have you ruin it for one of your cases,” was the reply I received.

“Look, I honestly cannot give you all the details, but I’ll tell you a little bit. Your beau’s parole officer is looking into some things about the O’Nelly case. Hajime mentioned something about Sano…”

“Are you suggesting my Sanosuke is a murderer?!” Megumi interrupted, her tone high-pitched with anger.

“No, no, Megumi. I don’t know what Sano knows, but I need to find out,” I said, trying desperately to keep my patience.

“When you can come with something concrete, give me a call. I don’t want Sano even thinking about his old life. Normally I would love to help, but too much is at risk for me. I’m finally happy, Kaoru,” Megumi explained.

I knew she wasn’t being difficult for the sake of being difficult. Megumi had been though a lot with Sanosuke. He was a thug to the core, but she loved him. All of her life, Megumi thought she would not find what she had with Sano, and she wasn’t going to give him up for anybody or anything…not even me.

“I understand, Megumi. I will keep you posted,” I said, hanging up the phone.

I sighed as I tapped my pen on my desk. My quest was not going well. If there was Yakuza in the city, their holdings were air-tight. Though I was relatively young, I thought I had a good handle on the crime rings due to my occupation. Like with so many other things as of late, I had been wrong. Megumi knew something, and she had known it for a long time. What she knew, I needed to know. I would have liked to have gotten the information straight from her, but it seemed I would have to be a little underhanded in my dealings. Placing the pen in its holder, I stood up and walked towards my office window. Folding my arms about me, I looked out to the bustling city below. I had to choose my path very carefully, for a lot was at stake. It only took me a few minutes to reach the solution.

Just talk to him…

I could hear Misao’s voice ringing in my ear. She didn’t know just how difficult that would be. We had been avoiding each other, only speaking when necessary. I made it quite clear the only relationship we were to have was a professional one, and he made it quite clear that was his intention as well. As soon as the legal matters of the O’Nelly case were “officially” cleared up, Kenshin changed departments and went to Corporate Law. I’d hoped he wasn’t under the impression that Corporate had less corruption, but I didn’t take him to be that naive. I knew he was just trying to put some distance between us.

I couldn’t ignore him anymore, however. I had to find out about the Yakuza.

Without a further thought, I turned from the window, left my office and walked down the long hallway to Kenshin’s office. The door was shut, so I politely knocked on it.

“Come in,” he said from the other side.

For some reason, I felt butterflies in my stomach as I turned the knob and entered his domain. His new office was spacious and warm. Law books were neatly displaced on a classy ebony bookshelf to the left of his desk, which had a spot for his laptop and his sleek desktop unit. He had his nose in a pile of folders, intently studying the contents. It reminded me so much of when we were working on the case together…

Then his eyes caught mine, his face was an emotionless mask. I just stood there for a moment, waiting for some kind of response from him. Indifference, anger, longing…something. All I was offered however was a kind hand motioning for me to have a seat in one of the leather chairs opposite of him. Without thinking, I took the seat and placed my hands in my lap. For some reason, I was nervous. Unused to the feeling, I decided to ignore it and just be me.

“I need to ask you something,” I said.

“Ask away,” I was told.

“What happened between you, Aoshi and Saitou in college?”

“None of your business,” Kenshin replied without missing a beat.

“Whatever you know may help solve O’Nelly’s murder,” I offered.

“So? The bastard was a murderer. A tit for a tat, I think,” Kenshin responding, finally looking at me as he spoke. “There’s another reason why you care. Why don’t you just be frank with me?”

“You haven’t been the warmest person as of late,” I said quietly.

“Oh, and you have?”

“Not really,” I admitted, “but this thing with O’Nelly is really bothering me. Especially since your brother-in-law seems to be involved.”

“Enishi,” Kenshin said, placing his file down on the table.

“Hai, Enishi

“You mean your lover?”

“He’s not my lover, Kenshin. It was a one-night-stand, for crying out loud!” I yelled.

“A one-night-stand…” Kenshin repeated.

“Hai.”

“Is that what you would have preferred I was? A one-night-stand?”

“Kenshin…” I sighed. This was not why I came, though I should have known the topic would have come up.

Suddenly, I felt his eyes one me. They were smoldering with a look I had seen but once before. It was almost as if it wasn’t really Kenshin in front of me, but a much different person. A darker person. A primal person. Kenshin stood from his desk and walked around to me and with a firm grip, took my wrist and yanked me up from the chair. I had the mind to struggle, but my eyes caught his again and I couldn’t move a muscle. In an instant, his lips were upon mine in a harsh, unrelenting kiss which demanded that I yield. Completely caught off guard, I complied with his angry, unspoken command and tasted him. My mind was a hurricane of thoughts and emotion, moving so fast nothing made any sense at all. All the existed with any certainty was the fury of his passion and uncompromising desire which awakened my own longings.

It had been quite a while since Kenshin and I had been intimate. About thirty second ago, I though we’d never go there again. Yet, I was in his arms, his nimble fingers undoing the buttons to my blouse, skillful hands sliding under my bra to play with my pert nipple. My body draped over his, for my legs had long ago given way. His lips tore from mine and I protested with a whimper, until he took my nipple between his lips and began suckling it fiercely. My back arched and I cried out, clawing at him, needing him to be closer, to do more…needing him to never stop.

His tongue trailed to the valley between my breasts and up the next peak and I though I’d lose my mind. I was lost, lost in the passion I was unprepared to feel. My sanity cried out to me, but I willfully ignored, for the sweet ruin I was experiencing was far more attractive.

“How could you only want this for a toy when you could have it forever?” Kenshin questioned as he set me back down on the chair and slid his hand down my bare torso to the button of my skirt.

For a moment I wondered if he was asking me or asking himself, but I cared not after I felt his hand upon my mound, moist and ready for him to take at his will. I arched up to him as he grabbed my hips and plunged his face into my sweet core. Somehow, my hands found their way to his head as I pulled and tugged at his fire-locks. Each pass of his tongue against my jewel pushed me closer to oblivion. I needed release. I needed him to give me release. Before I realized it, I was sobbing his name, begging him to end the torture. It was at that moment he let go of me, pulled himself up to his full height and looked down on my languid form.

I had to be a mess, I was sure. Half-naked, sweating, writhing…and unfulfilled. I wasn’t quite sure what was happening, but I knew I wasn’t ready for him to stop. I thought I would die if he stopped. I needed him.

“Kenshin…” I whispered.

“You feel that?” he asked.

“Huh?”

“Do you feel that?” He asked again.

“What?” I responded, still puzzled.

“Desire so strong, so uncontrollable it physically hurts. That’s what I feel every minute of every day. For you. Not to mention the guilt I feel. The guilt of knowing I led my wife into the arms of my best friend. The guilt of knowing I’m a hypocrite for being upset that my wife was unfaithful to me. Knowing that as my wife begged me to forgive her, I was lusting after you…after what I knew I could never have.”

“Kenshin…”

“Shut up!” he yelled, taking a length of my hair and yanking my head back so his gaze pierced mine. “You are so fucking selfish, you know that? But I can’t blame this all on you. I am older. I played the game, though I must say I was damn better at it. How I allowed myself to be blinded by lust... No, Kaoru…no more games. I offered to leave my wife for you, but I’m glad that fell through. I would have been stuck with unfaithful, adulterous whore.”

With that, he released me and let me fall into the chair. I was stunned. His words couldn’t have hurt more if he threw them at me attached to a sledgehammer. It was odd his words hurt. I had heard them before and never had they affected me. But to be uttered from those lips, it was unbearable. It was unthinkable. It was reprehensible. It was…not to be fucking tolerated!

With a bust of unbridled anger I rose from my seat and delivered a bitch slap a disco-pimp would have tipped his feathered hat to. Kenshin, caught off guard, stumbled back a couple of steps. His eyes, however, never wavered. Nor did mine. If he thought he was going to walk over me, he had another thing coming…a left hook.

“I’m no more selfish than you. I am no worse than you. If I am a whore, you are ten times the whore. Just because you are angry at yourself for not being able to control your actions, that does not mean you can take that out on me.” I paused for a moment, remembering my state of undress. I began to button up my shirt, still looking directly at my former partner. “You seem to forget it was you that broke the rules. I offered to end things when I realized things were getting too deep. You refused.”

“But you said you loved me, too,” Kenshin replied, his hand rubbing his cheek.

“Hai, I did. I admit that I messed up as well. I did fall for you. Against my better judgment, against my fears, I wanted to be with you. Just as you were prepared to leave, I was prepared to be with you. The day Tomoe revealed her secret, I was going to tell you I wanted to be with you.”

“Then why didn’t you!?” Kenshin yelled.

“What chance did I have, Kenshin? What chance do we have with Enishi plotting against us and Tomoe still oblivious to the truth? Hell, Kenshin, that’s why I came down here. Enishi. He needs to be stopped. I need to know what’s going on. I need to know why he had a hand in O’Nelly’s death,” I pleaded with him, hoping to get through to him.

Slowly, I saw his expression soften and demeanor change. The fire in his eye had been temporarily quenched, and I knew it was ok for me to proceed.

“Kenshin, I need to know,” I said again.

“Kaoru…it’s all so complicated. Everything is,” he responded, sitting on the edge of his desk. “I wouldn’t even know where to start.”

“The beginning would be fine,” I said in a sarcastic tone.

To my surprise, Kenshin laughed, and nodded his head.

“Yeah, I suppose you are right,” he said, still chuckling.

“So, you’re going to help me out?” I asked, my voice still expressing a bit of doubt.

“Hai, but under one condition,” Kenshin replied

“And what’s that condition,” I ventured

“When we sort this mess out, you’ll be mine.”

For a second, I was taken back. Did I want to go there again with him? Would it be worth it? A little voice told me it would, so I nodded and put my hand over his.

“Hai, but we have to tell those close to us. I’ve already come clean with Missy,” I said to him.

“I’m not sure that was wise,” he said, standing up and walking over to the window. “I think we should have let everyone assume we still hate each other. If I tell Tomoe, she will run to Enishi. He’ll know we’ll be putting two and two together.”

“You think that’s not on his mind now?” I asked.

“Yes, but his guard is down now. No need to add complications,” was his answer.

“What, and keeping us under wraps won’t?” I said, rolling my eyes. “I’ll level with you here, Aoshi has been dropping me hints. If he has an idea of what’s going on…I know you know. You can’t afford to hold out on me, not matter the risks.”

Kenshin’s expression dropped when I mentioned Aoshi’s name. I suppose I could not blame him. It was a messy situation we created for ourselves, and it was only getting messier by the minute. Clenching his fists, Kenshin battled back whatever hate-laden thoughts he had and focused on his task. He had to fill in the gaps; he had to help me out. If Enishi would murder a man just to stir trouble, who knew what else was in his set of abilities.

“There’s something else you need to know,” I ventured, interrupting his thought flow.

“What?” he asked.

“Tomoe called me. I think she already knows deep down we’ve slept together. I think she may have always known,” I said.

“Fuck! She called you?!” Kenshin swore as he ran his fingers through flaming red hair and paced his office. His face was red with anger…or perhaps bewilderment. I wasn’t quite sure, but I knew he was about to pop like a hot balloon.

“Kenshin, don’t tell me you didn’t know she was suspicious…”

“Of course I knew!” he interrupted.

“Well then calm down and start explaining to me this huge mess that got O’Nelly killed,” I said it him in a voice none too calm. “What are we up against with Enishi and what does that police officer have to do with it?”

Kenshin looked at me intensely, and then sat down in his chair. Resting his head between two clenched fists, Kenshin visibility fought with himself to reveal what he had kept internal for so long. Finally, I was going to get to the bottom of this mess and hopefully but two and two together in enough time to get back at Enishi.

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And YOU are going to have to wait until next time to find out what Kaoru found out. Just to let you know, it will involve a flashback and bad 80’s hair. Ahhh!! Gotta love it.