Chapter 1
Sano groaned as he leaned against his broom. Why was he always stuck with the worst work? For that matter why was he stuck with any work at all?
Kenshin of all people had lost all Kaoru's money. It might not have been so bad, but they had discovered that fact with the Hakone hotel manager in the room after they had just devoured a huge expensive meal. The look on Kaoru's face when she discovered the redhead had lost her money was enough to send a man running for the hills. Sano's lips quirked as he remembered how Kenshin's sheepish grin and nervous laughter had only made things worse.
Thank the gods that the hotel happened to be understaffed. He didn't think the manager really wanted to hire them, but their enthusiasm won him over. Misao's in particular since she was used to working in a restaurant.
She had been put to work in the kitchen. Yahiko, Kaoru, and Kenshin were put to work as waiters and busboys. They were given the extra staff uniforms, light green long-sleeved robes with a white apron tied around the middle with a maroon ribbon.
Sano couldn't help but stare at Kenshin when he came out of a changing room, dressed to work. Although small, his hakama had always made him seem somewhat imposing. That robe emphasized his slimness and made him look almost delicate, despite the battle scar on his cheek. The light green of the robe only served to highlight the red of his long hair and the violet of his eyes. One couldn't help but stare at him. The samurai had shifted uncomfortably under the others' appraisal, uneasily picking at his sleeves. He didn't relax until Kaoru interrupted the moment by shoving a broom at Sano and declaring it time to work.
For the first time, Sano, who was not prone to noting men, noticed how beautiful Kenshin was.
He, being the least savory and polite of the bunch, was given the grunt work. He hated it. Aggravated, he began to push the broom again.
***
Ryuzaburo crumpled his sketch with frustration and tossed it to join the rest of the paper balls scattered about his room.
"No, no, no. that's not what I want," he muttered to himself, fumbling for another piece of paper. He chewed on his pencil. "What am I missing?"
He was interrupted from his reverie by a sound at his door.
"Excuse us sir," a server said. "Your dinner is ready"
"I've already eaten," Ryuzaburo said, turning to the door, eager to be rid of the distraction. His eyes widened and he froze. "Y-you're."
The servers didn't seem to notice his surprise.
"This is the wrong wing, isn't it?"
"Oops." The redhead turned to the artist staring at him with his mouth open and gave him an apologetic smile. "Gomen nasai!"
The door slid shut with a click
"Chotto!"
He scrambled to his feet, and flung the door open.
"Wait please!"
He looked up and down the hall. They were gone.
"That might. that might be the one."
***
"Ah, this is great!" Yahiko stretched his arms out and leaned back in the steaming bath.
Sano agreed wholeheartedly. The day had been hard, but after work, the manager agreed to let them stay the night and make use of the hot springs.
"I thought we were in deep shit back there Kenshin," Sano said, reflectively, thinking of the moment they had found out they were broke.
"I had given up all hope." Kenshin agreed.
Yahiko was in high spirits now that the day was over.
"Now we get to make a little money and then return to Tokyo," he said happily.
Kenshin still looked a bit guilty.
"I'm really sorry I screwed up, de gozaru."
"Don't be sorry!" Sano exclaimed, cheerful now that he was full and clean.
Yahiko joined in, genki as ever. "Remember we're the Kenshin Gumi!"
***
The outdoor baths were divided into male and female sections by a thin wall. On the female side, Misao and Kaoru sank into the steaming water.
"Melting into a hot spring after a hard days work is the best," Misao sighed. "This is paradise!"
"Gomen ne Misao-chan. If I had held on to the money, we would have never been in this mess," said Kaoru.
"Oh, that's ok." Misao turned to her with a playful wink. "Although you do seem to trust Kenshin with an awful lot of personal things."
Kaoru shrunk into the water, her face flushed.
"You misunderstand, Misao-chan, Kenshin and I have nothing!"
Misao leaned back and sighed. "That's kinda what I thought. He doesn't seem so good with stuff like that. I don't think he has any interest in women."
Kaoru suddenly had bug eyes.
"It wouldn't matter anyway. There's a huge age difference between you two. What if he's already in love with someone else? I wonder if he has an old flame somewhere."
Kaoru twitched. Misao prattled on, oblivious.
"Did you see Sanosuke staring at him when he came out in the green robe? Of course, Saitou stares at him a lot, too. He might just want to kill him or something, but I don't see why he has to stare that much."
Kaoru attempted to speak and failed. Misao suddenly looked up, body tense.
"Someone's watching us!"
"Eh?"
With righteous rage and ninja strength, Misao, towel clutched to her chest, stood up and flung a wooden bucket at the dark figure in the trees.
***
Ryuzaburo wandered the hotel grounds in a daze, his sketchbook clasped as his side. He gazed at the stars and thought.
/I've found you my ultimate beauty. A vision more beautiful than the heavens themselves. I've finally found you!/
He closed his eyes and bowed his head.
/The answer I've been searching for./
Turning around, his eyes widened as he saw a hint of red in the steaming springs. He gasped. He must grasp this opportunity while he still had it.
He climbed a tree stealthily as he could and flipped open his sketchbook and drew with delight. At last, art!
Unfortunately, he did not conceal himself as well as he should and was shortly struck unconscious by a bucket to the head.
***
Later, in their room, Sanosuke glared at the man kneeled before them.
"What perverted tastes you have," he said with a sneer.
Misao was incensed. She slammed her foot on the floor.
"This guy deserves to die!"
"P-please wait a moment. I'm not a pervert!"
"Then who are you?" Sanosuke demanded.
Ryuzaburo bowed his head in shame, knowing full well what this looked like. "I'm studying Western art in Tokyo. My name is Higashiyama Ryuzaburo."
"So you're a student, de gozaru?"
"I've been struggling to answer the question of what art really is... Trying to find that answer, I decided to go on a quest. But I hadn't found the answer and I just let time pass, and now, all my confidence is gone."
He raised his head, eyes filled with fervor.
"However, it came to me in that first moment I saw the this person. What art is for me would be to paint the most beautiful thing, and I mean a true beauty."
Ryuzaburo fairly shook with enthusiasm. His eyes burned with passion.
The group just looked at him with confusion.
"Huh?"
"A true beauty?"
"I don't get it at all, de gozaru."
"I'm lost."
Sanosuke raised his hand, one finger pointing upwards. "I bet you found a real time babe, right?"
"Even though my vision was taking a bath, I couldn't resist. I really wanted to draw in my sketchbook and."
Yahiko spoke slowly, comprehension dawning. "Taking a bath. You mean?"
Attention turned immediately to the two women who both blushed and began to preen. As they both babbled modestly, Sano, Yahiko and Kenshin peered into the book.
"Kenshin." Yahiko started slowly.
"Isn't that you?" Sano finished.
Identical sweatdrops appeared on the women in mid-preen.
"WHAT?"
Both women rushed to look in the sketchbook. There, on the page, was a charcoal sketch of Himura Kenshin. It was obviously a rough draft, but it was beautiful. Kenshin's hair was damp and he was looking to the side with a small mysterious smile on his face.
Ryuzaburo was unconscious of the women's indignation. He gazed up at Kenshin intently.
"Please Kenshin-san. Because of my quest, I must draw you no matter what." Still in his kneeling position he bowed down in supplication. "Be my model please!"
Kenshin stared at him, violet eyes wide with shock, cheeks flushed red in embarrassment.
"Oh I don't think so, de gozaru."
"No- " Ryuzaburo began to protest, but the others all began to speak at once.
"You heard him," declared Misao, obviously jealous but trying valiantly to hide it.
"You were still peeking in the baths," said Kaoru, in the same predicament as Misao but infinitely more embarrassed about it.
"That's right," Yahiko said, always ready to leap to his idol's defense.
"He's not modeling for a pervert like you!" Sano would never leave a pretty friend in the clutches of some disgusting hentai, no matter how strong his pretty friend happened to be.
"I'll pay you handsomely," Ryuzaburo pleaded desperately. "You won't have to wait tables to pay your bills anymore!"
Kenshin appeared to hesitate.
". I don't mind waiting tables."
"Lay off, you perv!"
"I'm not a pervert!"
He turned to Kenshin and spoke to him earnestly. "Please. I'm sorry about the baths incident. I swear it will never happen again. Please, I've been searching for you for so long!"
Kenshin wavered.
"I only want to make art."
Kenshin decided.
"Very well. I will model for you de gozaru."
"KENSHIN!"
Four voices raised in indignation.
"You can't do that!"
"Kenshin, you don't even know this person!"
Kenshin raised his hands in a calming gesture. "Maa, maa, don't worry about it. I'm only going to let him draw me."
Sano glared at the ecstatic artist. He reached down and grabbed him by the front of his shirt and lifted him to eye level with him.
"I swear, if you get any funny ideas about having Kenshin take his clothes off for you or anything like that, I will tear out your liver and feed it to you."
Ryuzaburo nodded wide-eyed.
"I intend to draw only the most tasteful of images, I swear!"
***
TBC
Sano groaned as he leaned against his broom. Why was he always stuck with the worst work? For that matter why was he stuck with any work at all?
Kenshin of all people had lost all Kaoru's money. It might not have been so bad, but they had discovered that fact with the Hakone hotel manager in the room after they had just devoured a huge expensive meal. The look on Kaoru's face when she discovered the redhead had lost her money was enough to send a man running for the hills. Sano's lips quirked as he remembered how Kenshin's sheepish grin and nervous laughter had only made things worse.
Thank the gods that the hotel happened to be understaffed. He didn't think the manager really wanted to hire them, but their enthusiasm won him over. Misao's in particular since she was used to working in a restaurant.
She had been put to work in the kitchen. Yahiko, Kaoru, and Kenshin were put to work as waiters and busboys. They were given the extra staff uniforms, light green long-sleeved robes with a white apron tied around the middle with a maroon ribbon.
Sano couldn't help but stare at Kenshin when he came out of a changing room, dressed to work. Although small, his hakama had always made him seem somewhat imposing. That robe emphasized his slimness and made him look almost delicate, despite the battle scar on his cheek. The light green of the robe only served to highlight the red of his long hair and the violet of his eyes. One couldn't help but stare at him. The samurai had shifted uncomfortably under the others' appraisal, uneasily picking at his sleeves. He didn't relax until Kaoru interrupted the moment by shoving a broom at Sano and declaring it time to work.
For the first time, Sano, who was not prone to noting men, noticed how beautiful Kenshin was.
He, being the least savory and polite of the bunch, was given the grunt work. He hated it. Aggravated, he began to push the broom again.
***
Ryuzaburo crumpled his sketch with frustration and tossed it to join the rest of the paper balls scattered about his room.
"No, no, no. that's not what I want," he muttered to himself, fumbling for another piece of paper. He chewed on his pencil. "What am I missing?"
He was interrupted from his reverie by a sound at his door.
"Excuse us sir," a server said. "Your dinner is ready"
"I've already eaten," Ryuzaburo said, turning to the door, eager to be rid of the distraction. His eyes widened and he froze. "Y-you're."
The servers didn't seem to notice his surprise.
"This is the wrong wing, isn't it?"
"Oops." The redhead turned to the artist staring at him with his mouth open and gave him an apologetic smile. "Gomen nasai!"
The door slid shut with a click
"Chotto!"
He scrambled to his feet, and flung the door open.
"Wait please!"
He looked up and down the hall. They were gone.
"That might. that might be the one."
***
"Ah, this is great!" Yahiko stretched his arms out and leaned back in the steaming bath.
Sano agreed wholeheartedly. The day had been hard, but after work, the manager agreed to let them stay the night and make use of the hot springs.
"I thought we were in deep shit back there Kenshin," Sano said, reflectively, thinking of the moment they had found out they were broke.
"I had given up all hope." Kenshin agreed.
Yahiko was in high spirits now that the day was over.
"Now we get to make a little money and then return to Tokyo," he said happily.
Kenshin still looked a bit guilty.
"I'm really sorry I screwed up, de gozaru."
"Don't be sorry!" Sano exclaimed, cheerful now that he was full and clean.
Yahiko joined in, genki as ever. "Remember we're the Kenshin Gumi!"
***
The outdoor baths were divided into male and female sections by a thin wall. On the female side, Misao and Kaoru sank into the steaming water.
"Melting into a hot spring after a hard days work is the best," Misao sighed. "This is paradise!"
"Gomen ne Misao-chan. If I had held on to the money, we would have never been in this mess," said Kaoru.
"Oh, that's ok." Misao turned to her with a playful wink. "Although you do seem to trust Kenshin with an awful lot of personal things."
Kaoru shrunk into the water, her face flushed.
"You misunderstand, Misao-chan, Kenshin and I have nothing!"
Misao leaned back and sighed. "That's kinda what I thought. He doesn't seem so good with stuff like that. I don't think he has any interest in women."
Kaoru suddenly had bug eyes.
"It wouldn't matter anyway. There's a huge age difference between you two. What if he's already in love with someone else? I wonder if he has an old flame somewhere."
Kaoru twitched. Misao prattled on, oblivious.
"Did you see Sanosuke staring at him when he came out in the green robe? Of course, Saitou stares at him a lot, too. He might just want to kill him or something, but I don't see why he has to stare that much."
Kaoru attempted to speak and failed. Misao suddenly looked up, body tense.
"Someone's watching us!"
"Eh?"
With righteous rage and ninja strength, Misao, towel clutched to her chest, stood up and flung a wooden bucket at the dark figure in the trees.
***
Ryuzaburo wandered the hotel grounds in a daze, his sketchbook clasped as his side. He gazed at the stars and thought.
/I've found you my ultimate beauty. A vision more beautiful than the heavens themselves. I've finally found you!/
He closed his eyes and bowed his head.
/The answer I've been searching for./
Turning around, his eyes widened as he saw a hint of red in the steaming springs. He gasped. He must grasp this opportunity while he still had it.
He climbed a tree stealthily as he could and flipped open his sketchbook and drew with delight. At last, art!
Unfortunately, he did not conceal himself as well as he should and was shortly struck unconscious by a bucket to the head.
***
Later, in their room, Sanosuke glared at the man kneeled before them.
"What perverted tastes you have," he said with a sneer.
Misao was incensed. She slammed her foot on the floor.
"This guy deserves to die!"
"P-please wait a moment. I'm not a pervert!"
"Then who are you?" Sanosuke demanded.
Ryuzaburo bowed his head in shame, knowing full well what this looked like. "I'm studying Western art in Tokyo. My name is Higashiyama Ryuzaburo."
"So you're a student, de gozaru?"
"I've been struggling to answer the question of what art really is... Trying to find that answer, I decided to go on a quest. But I hadn't found the answer and I just let time pass, and now, all my confidence is gone."
He raised his head, eyes filled with fervor.
"However, it came to me in that first moment I saw the this person. What art is for me would be to paint the most beautiful thing, and I mean a true beauty."
Ryuzaburo fairly shook with enthusiasm. His eyes burned with passion.
The group just looked at him with confusion.
"Huh?"
"A true beauty?"
"I don't get it at all, de gozaru."
"I'm lost."
Sanosuke raised his hand, one finger pointing upwards. "I bet you found a real time babe, right?"
"Even though my vision was taking a bath, I couldn't resist. I really wanted to draw in my sketchbook and."
Yahiko spoke slowly, comprehension dawning. "Taking a bath. You mean?"
Attention turned immediately to the two women who both blushed and began to preen. As they both babbled modestly, Sano, Yahiko and Kenshin peered into the book.
"Kenshin." Yahiko started slowly.
"Isn't that you?" Sano finished.
Identical sweatdrops appeared on the women in mid-preen.
"WHAT?"
Both women rushed to look in the sketchbook. There, on the page, was a charcoal sketch of Himura Kenshin. It was obviously a rough draft, but it was beautiful. Kenshin's hair was damp and he was looking to the side with a small mysterious smile on his face.
Ryuzaburo was unconscious of the women's indignation. He gazed up at Kenshin intently.
"Please Kenshin-san. Because of my quest, I must draw you no matter what." Still in his kneeling position he bowed down in supplication. "Be my model please!"
Kenshin stared at him, violet eyes wide with shock, cheeks flushed red in embarrassment.
"Oh I don't think so, de gozaru."
"No- " Ryuzaburo began to protest, but the others all began to speak at once.
"You heard him," declared Misao, obviously jealous but trying valiantly to hide it.
"You were still peeking in the baths," said Kaoru, in the same predicament as Misao but infinitely more embarrassed about it.
"That's right," Yahiko said, always ready to leap to his idol's defense.
"He's not modeling for a pervert like you!" Sano would never leave a pretty friend in the clutches of some disgusting hentai, no matter how strong his pretty friend happened to be.
"I'll pay you handsomely," Ryuzaburo pleaded desperately. "You won't have to wait tables to pay your bills anymore!"
Kenshin appeared to hesitate.
". I don't mind waiting tables."
"Lay off, you perv!"
"I'm not a pervert!"
He turned to Kenshin and spoke to him earnestly. "Please. I'm sorry about the baths incident. I swear it will never happen again. Please, I've been searching for you for so long!"
Kenshin wavered.
"I only want to make art."
Kenshin decided.
"Very well. I will model for you de gozaru."
"KENSHIN!"
Four voices raised in indignation.
"You can't do that!"
"Kenshin, you don't even know this person!"
Kenshin raised his hands in a calming gesture. "Maa, maa, don't worry about it. I'm only going to let him draw me."
Sano glared at the ecstatic artist. He reached down and grabbed him by the front of his shirt and lifted him to eye level with him.
"I swear, if you get any funny ideas about having Kenshin take his clothes off for you or anything like that, I will tear out your liver and feed it to you."
Ryuzaburo nodded wide-eyed.
"I intend to draw only the most tasteful of images, I swear!"
***
TBC