Frustration of Purpose

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Disclaimer: I do not own Rurouni Kenshin; only the story line is my own.

A/N: This story is in response to the reviews I got on The Secret Bond. I wanted to write about why Aoshi was a little… ahem… anxious in my one-shot and do some more intimate scenes between my favorite couple. I hope you all enjoy what I've come up with.

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Chapter 1: Sparring Fun

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Kaoru looked around taking in the situation she found herself. One moment she had been sparing next to a river in the forest not far from the Aoiya, and the next she was sitting chest deep in water.

"My point koi" came a deep and husky voice.

Kaoru reached up and rubbed the sore spot on her shoulder where he had hit, and looked up with an annoyed frown. It melted into a loving smile when she took in her sparring partners appearance.

Aoshi stood in front of her, his practice sword at his side and panting hard from their workout. Dark bangs hung slightly in his face and ice blue eyes glowed down at her with mirth and love. His gi was gaping slightly giving her a glimpse of his defined chest underneath and, the bottom of his hakama was soaking up water and sticking to his strong legs. His panting breath caused an aching in her and a slight blush to stain her cheeks, as she was reminded of other times, not due to exercise, when he was breathless and above her.

"Your point" Kaoru agreed as she forced herself to concentrate on standing instead of jumping the Okashira.

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In the last attack Aoshi had successfully disarmed Kaoru and hit his mark. Grabbing her wooden sword, from where it lay on the riverbed, Aoshi tossed it along with his own to the bank where the match had started. He then extended his hand to the soaked dojo master and pulled her to him. Not wasting a moment Aoshi covered Kaoru's mouth, with his own, in a searing kiss causing her to moan. As they pulled away to catch their breath, Aoshi kissed down her jaw line to the column of her throat. Her hands, which had been resting on, his biceps now fisted tightly in the material of his gi. He couldn't help the smile that crossed his lips, when he heard her whimper his name with longing.

He pulled away, and looked her over with male pride. Her face was flushed, lips swollen and passion filled her eyes as they slowly opened to look up at him.

"You cheated," came her breathy accusation.

Aoshi raised an eyebrow at her, "How?"

"One kiss for one point. Those are the rules," she said shifting slightly in his arms. He only laughed and returned his mouth to her neck and started to plant kisses along her collarbone.

"In this case, rules are meant to be broken," he paused before gently kissing the small bruise that was forming from the last hit. "Sorry about that. I was… eager."

"It's alright. Besides I got you back for it," came Kaoru breathy reply next to his ear.

"When di..." before he could finish his question Aoshi found himself landing flat on his back in the river. He sat up quickly wiping the water from his face, hearing Kaoru's laughter as she climbed out.

"Minx," he whispered with a smile and quickly followed her.

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As Kaoru hurried to get back on dry land and out of Aoshi's reach, a pair of strong arms encircling her waist, telling her it was too late. Her body was pulled down but she did not connect with the hard unforgiving ground. Aoshi used his body to cushion the fall, but the wind was still knocked out of her for a moment. Aoshi laughed up at her before she felt him place a hand on the back of her head and pull her mouth down to his. As the kiss deepened Aoshi stroked her thighs through the slits of her hakama before starting to tug on the ties at her hips. Kaoru pulled back slightly and looked around them.

"We're outside Aoshi," she whispered in surprise. She could feel a blush warming her face

"But we are alone. I want to end what we started weeks ago," came his husky answer as he captured her lips for another kiss, while pulling the ties loose. Kaoru felt the ache from earlier grow stronger through her body, as he pushed her hakama away and ran his hands over her newly exposed skin. The surrounding forest and river quickly faded away, and she became only aware of what Aoshi's hands and lips were doing to her. Shifting so that she was straddling Aoshi's waist, she tentatively made contact with his clothed and very erect member. He groaned loudly and Kaoru smiled as he placed a hand on either side of her waist and tried to pull her down directly on him. Kaoru resisted and shifted so that she was now sitting on his stomach.

"Kaoru" came his frustrated groan.

"Patience Koi," she whispered as she slid her body down his causing another strangled moan to leave his lips. Kaoru resisted her desire to give in to Aoshi's urgings, wanting to get him back for the last hit, it had hurt slightly after all.

Slowly she ran the tips of her fingers down his damp chest, tracing intricate patterns before kissing the patterns her fingers had made. Deciding to be a little bolder, Kaoru slowly loosened Aoshi's own hakama ties. She had just slipped her hand past the top of his hakama, when a shout brought all movements to a stop.

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"Aoshi-sama! Kaoru! Where are you guys?"

Aoshi groaned loudly as Misao's voice cut through the forest and his passion-hazed mind. Kaoru was off him in an instant, grabbing her hakama and darting for the nearest cluster of trees to rearrange her clothes. Aoshi followed cursing softly as he quickly pulled the ties of his hakama tight again. Once hidden behind the trees, he looked to see if Misao had reached the riverbank. He turned to say something to Kaoru, but the sight of her in a transparent white gi, instantly brought his arousal roaring back to life. Frustrated that they had been interrupted (again) from reaching where they had been trying to get to, he released some of that frustration by pulling Kaoru flush against him, grinding his need into her.

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Kaoru flushed a bit when she felt Aoshi's hard member pressed into her upper thigh, but felt proud that she had affected him that way. Slowly she ground her hips back into him before placing a kiss on his lips and stepping away. He gave a low growl and started to reach for her a second time when Misao's voice called out to them again. Kaoru thought she heard him mumble a curse as he glanced back towards the river. Giving her a look that said they were not finished, and taking several deep breaths to calm himself, he stepped back out to where they had been sparring.

"By the river Misao," he shouted. Kaoru watched as Misao appeared and walked up to Aoshi. Sunlight was filtering through the grove of trees she was in, and the warmth reminded her that her white gi was now transparent due to her dunk in the water. She quickly pulled her hakama on and straightened her ponytail. Kaoru shook her head ruefully at her white gi, thankful that her bindings were not transparent. Aoshi was having a hard enough time controlling himself without her clothing leaving nothing to his imagination. Speaking of her gi, Kaoru thought she had better try and get it to dry a little more before heading back to the Aoiya. Pulling it off she gave a few sharp shakes to get rid of the last remains of water, she then held it up and let the breeze air it out.

As Kaoru stood drying her gi, her mind wandered to when she and Aoshi had started acting on their secret desires.

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Their whole relationship had started out quite innocently. Kaoru had been making two-week visits to Misao once every two months in order for the girls to enjoy the female company of someone their age.

It was the beginning of the second week of her third stay, when Misao fretted to her about who would take Aoshi his tea, while she took the rest of the Oniwabanshu on a training trip. Naturally, Kaoru had volunteered and from then on if Misao was gone she took Aoshi his tea. This was how their, then unrealized, romance started.

As time passed Kaoru found that she was able to begin to start to read the silent man. For example she found that she was able to tell when he wanted her to talk while he took his tea, or if he wished for her to serve it in silence. Kaoru had always thought Aoshi was good looking, but the times that she sat silently with him, gave her the opportunity to study him more closely, and she discovered that she found him truly handsome. As her visits continued, Kaoru found that she would seek out Aoshi's company more and more often when Misao was busy with the ninja clan, training or assignments. Aside from sitting quietly with Aoshi around the Aoiya, she had taken up the habit of quietly going to the temple when she knew Aoshi was leaving, to walk home with him. The trip more often then not took longer than usual, for the two would become so wrapped up in their conversations that either they would pass the Aoiya completely, or not realize that they had stopped walking all together.

Neither could quite place the exact time they realized that they had started to have more then just friendly feelings for each other. When Kaoru contemplated it on her own, she found that, really from the beginning it had not been a friendship they had been forming, even though they did share camaraderie with each other. Rather they had both been testing the waters between them to see if they were compatible for something more. At the same time though, they danced around each other for several months, neither able to build up enough nerve to step up and take the next step.

That was until destiny stepped in one fateful afternoon.

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A/N: Well what do you guys think? LOL I'm enjoying writing a frustrated Aoshi. Oh and can someone correct me if I'm spelling koi wrong, or if it is suppose to be koishi? I've seen it both ways in other stories but I don't know what the difference is. Thanks for reading.