Disclaimer: Hana-chan is siting on her room, looking pretty down. Kenshin walks in.
Kenshin: "What's wrong, Hana-dono?"
Hana-chan: "Huh? Oh! Nothing, Kenshin... I'm out of ideas... And I feel depressed about being spoiled the end of Seisou Hen..."
Kenshin: "Hana-dono... You are not like this... You've been writing stories for four months now... Four stories in four months. You actually found three different ways of embarrassing sessha."
Hana-chan: "HUH? ONLY THREE? YOU MUST BE KIDDING!"
Kenshin: "See... There is still plenty of ideas you could use..."
Hana-chan starts crying: "Oh, Kenshin... I wish you were my character! You are so nice! I would never let anyone hurt you..."
Hana-chan starts hugging Kenshin. Kaoru walks in, with her bokken in hand.
Kaoru: "HANA-SAN! TAKE YOUR HANDS AWAY FROM MY KENSHIN!"
Hana-chan sweat-drops and states blankly: "I don't own Rurouni Kenshin."
Kaoru: "Good, at least you understand that... The Rurouni is mine!!!"
Kaoru hugs Kenshin until he is blue from lack of oxygen.

Dedicated to: Bao Blossom and Firuze Khanume: cheer up, girls!!!!!!! And all the people who got sad about Seisou Hen.
Thanks to Kathie who got sad with me because of "a depressing event" and made me feel like I should write something to make people smile.

Kenshin's dilemma

By Hana Himura

'That's it. I can't do this anymore.' The rurouni sighed heavily, while hanging the last piece of clothes to dry. Things that gone well on the last few months staying at Kamiya Dojo, but deep inside he knew that it couldn't stay that way forever. And that hurt him. It hurt him making this decision.

He wondered what Kaoru's reaction would be. Would she be hurt? Would she be angry? Would she hit him on the head with her bokken? Knowing Kaoru, like he had grown to know her on the past few months, he knew she would understand. She was like that... Always so concerned for other people's feelings. She was always like that. She would always try her best to make other people happy, even if at the expense of her own happiness.

'Oh, koishii... Why does it have to be like this?' Kenshin sighed again. He had to take care of her, otherwise she would neglect herself. That thought made his decision even worse. 'Poor Kaoru-dono... She'll understand, sessha knows she will... But that doesn't mean she is going to be happy about it...'

The sun was bright in the sky. The laundry wouldn't take long before it was dry. There were still chores to be done, but Kenshin thought they wouldn't mind anymore after he talked to Kaoru. And if he was going to talk to her, it was better to do it in the morning, just after she had finished training with Yahiko. If she was tired, the odds would be on his favor in case he had to run like hell.

'If I have to do this, it's better if I do as soon as possible.' Kenshin walked to the dojo, listening to the sounds of practice inside. He peered at the door. Yahiko and Kaoru were sparing. Kenshin smiled.

Kaoru was such a good teacher. And Yahiko was a cocky student. He was getting better and better and he knew it. Kenshin wondered how they would react when Yahiko was finally able to beat Kaoru. 'As if... No one can beat Kaoru... Not even Battousai could.' Kenshin's grin became wider.

"Itai!" Kaoru shouted, as her bokken flew far away.

"Busu! Stop staring Kenshin! How am I supposed to beat you fair and square if you are not paying attention!" Yahiko scowled at Kaoru.

Kenshin walked quickly to her, taking her hurt hand and examining it.

"Yahiko, go get fresh water." Kenshin asked.

The boy went away, mumbling something like: 'why do I have to get water when it was all ugly's fault?'

"Does this hurt, Kaoru-dono?" Kenshin asked, moving her hand a little.

Kaoru was too shocked to answer. Kenshin was holding her hand. How many times had she dreamt about that moment? Her face was the loveliest shade of pink. Their faces were so close... But Kenshin kept looking down, at her hand.

"Kaoru-dono?"

"Huh?"

"I asked if it was hurting..." Kenshin said, flatly.

"No... It doesn't hurt at all." Kaoru replied, unaware of any pain.

"Really? It has already swelled." Kenshin looked on her eyes and swallowed. That was the perfect moment to say what he wanted to say. With her hand like that, she couldn't possibly pick up her bokken to hit him.

"Ano... Kaoru-dono..." He began, on a low voice.

"Hai, Kenshin?" Kaoru whispered.

"Sessha wanted to tell you something..." Kenshin kept gawking at her eyes.

'Please say that you love me.' Kaoru's mind begged.

"I've been thinking this for a while now..." Kenshin found that his mouth was dry. "I was afraid of telling you, because... I know Kaoru-dono won't like it."

'What? Is he trying to tell me that he will go away? Oh! No! I can't stand if he leaves me again!' Kaoru fought the urge to cry.

"Sessha can't do the laundry anymore, Kaoru-dono." Kenshin finished.

"WHAT?" Kaoru was shocked. It was a good shock, because at least he wasn't going anywhere but it was a shock nevertheless.

"Sessha has developed the most terrible allergy to soap..." Kenshin sighed.

"Oh, Kenshin... You must be so sad... I know how you liked doing laundry." Kenshin looked like he was going to cry.

"It was my favorite chore..."

Kaoru hugged Kenshin tightly.

"We'll find you another chore to do... Something that you might like as much as laundry. By the way... Why did you like laundry so much?" Kaoru asked.

'Uh-oh... She won't like it if I say that I liked it because I got to see her undergarments...'

"Sessha likes making things clean de gozaru."

"Oh! So you can sweep the house, mop the floors, sweep the yard, besides of all your chores that don't involve soap! You can start right now, Kenshin!"

'Oro! Maybe a soap allergy is not bad comparing to the other chores...' Kenshin sighed, but went to fetch a broom to start his brand new-old chores.

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Hello minna-san! Well this is it! I didn't want to make a loooooooooong fanfiction. I actually don't know how I wrote this (I was writing a disclaimer for my other fic and... When I saw I was already writing this thing). For those of you that like my comedies, I'm already working on a plot for the next one. But I thought that being away from comedies for a while would be a good thing. Well, I still need your support. Please review! 'Cause then I might feel happier about writing another fic!!!!!!!!!!!

By the way, the same thing applies here as every fanfiction that I ever wrote: English is not my first language, therefore I'm expected to make a lot of mistakes.

Hana Himura
=^x^=