Chapter 20: Chapter 20:- Maki
"Ummm....." Kenshin grabbed Akane's hand nervously. "What..... do you mean by that?"
Akane was initially surprised with his reaction but she knew he was just concerned. After all, with her experiences in her past life regarding this kind of thing, it's obvious he'd be concerned and nervous. "Who knows. But you don't need to be worried. And don't get your hopes up too much, okay?" She smiled warmly and went inside the restaurant.
'Is she seriously going to do that this quick? Considering the amount of abuse she faced in her past life, I don't think this is a good idea. But I'll see what happens.' He thought as he went inside. But inside, he saw Akane talking to another girl, who seemed to be the same age as Akane. She had short brown hair and green eyes.
"Hey, look who I found! This is my genin teammate, Maki!" Akane said, waving at Kenshin.
[Image of Maki]
"Hi, Kenshin-kun. Nice to meet you." Maki reached her hand out.
"Nice to meet you, Maki-san. It must've been hard taking care of my sister." Kenshin said with a warm smile.
"Hey, what do you mean, little brat?!" Akane punched Kenshin in the arm angrily. "I'm not a child! Geesh, have some respect for your big sister!!!"
"It seems you two get along well." Maki chucked. "By the way, Kenshin-kun. You're a genin, right? How come we never met you during the chunin exams? We've participated in every one since our graduation but as fate would have it, every time we failed because of one reason or another. In the last one, our teammate died in the second test."
"I didn't want to leave my mother alone. Nee-san told you about her disease, right?" Kenshin replied, while playfully blocking Akane's constant punches.
"Yeah, she did. It's admirable how you took care of her all alone all these years. Now, Akane, stop hitting him." Maki pulled Akane away from Kenshin and they sat on an empty table nearby.
"Thanks, Maki-san." Kenshin grinned.
As they ate, Akane kept stealing glances at Kenshin, her heart pounding in anticipation for what she was about to do tonight. Although her past trauma made her very nervous and afraid, she wanted to forget it, to move on. And she wanted to do it with him.
"Hey, you gonna say something or just keep glancing at him?" Maki whispered to Akane when Kenshin wasn't looking. "I've known you long enough to know when you like someone. And I know that you're not the kind of girl to do something like this on impulse. So, I won't oppose it." Maki glanced at Kenshin, who was staring at them in confusion. "Hey kid, don't pry into the ladies' conversation. Go on, focus on your meal." Kenshin nodded, still visibly confused and turned his attention to his food. "So, does he know?" Maki asked Akane, her voice barely reaching Akane's ears.
Akane's face flushed bright red but she tried to hide her embarrassment. She nodded and whispered,"He knows. We've kissed. But I... I wanted to do... you know.... that. But I just feel.... scared for some reason. And really nervous."
"Oh. My. God! You sly cat! You haven't even known the guy for two freaking days and already?! Well, If you've already done that, I'd suggest taking it slow. Take a bath together, talk about stuff. The buildup is important." Maki advised. "Well, I need to go back to the orphanage. I finally made enough money to get a place for me to live. I wanna show it to my little brother. Good luck." Saying this, Maki got up and left.
"Nee-san? Is everything okay?" Kenshin asked, after the two of them had finished eating.
"Yeah. It's fine." Akane shrugged. "It's getting late, we should go home. I might have a mission tomorrow."
"All right." After getting home, Akane put away her gear pouch and katana.
"You going to the bath first?" Kenshin asked.
"How about..... we go together?" Akane replied, blushing softly. "I mean.... if you don't mind."
"Sure. I don't have a problem." Kenshin walked up to her and gave her a gentle kiss on the forehead. "Take it slow." He whispered, his voice barely audible.
"Wha.... What do you mean?" Akane asked, startled by his advice.
"I didn't say anything. You must've heard wrong." Kenshin shrugged nonchalantly.
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Everyone, thanks for your support with the previous chapter. I'm sorry for the short chapter but I have exams so I can't get time to write. If this chapter feels bad then do let me know. I'll take it down and upload a long chapter later on. As always, please give me your power stones if you want to support me and let me know if you have any helpful suggestions/criticisms.
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