Chapter One

Kaoru Kamiya wrapped the heavy, grayish blanket around her more tightly, shivering slightly with the cold. It was never supposed to get so cold in Tokyo. She stared deep into the dancing orange flames as they burned into the wood, making it crackle. Kaoru turned as she heard the sound of slippered feet behind her. Before her stood a man with long red hair that was kept only partially out of his face by a blue band. He still wore his usual clothing, a purple gi that matched the color of his beautiful eyes, and a white hakama. Kaoru looked deep into Kenshin's warm violet eyes that were, as always, somewhat covered by strands of his reddish hair. Those strands also touched the cross-shaped scar on his left cheek- a remnant of some past battle. A warm smile that Kaoru had seen so many times on Kenshin's face twitched the corners of his mouth.

"Kenshin," Kaoru breathed out the words in faint surprise.

"Good afternoon, Miss Kaoru," Kenshin said cheerfully, and as politely as ever. His gaze turned to the dwindling fire for a moment, then back to her. "You must be cold."

Kenshin reached for the nearby stick that Kaoru had previously been using to stir the fire. He stirred the fire, but with such gracefulness that... Kaoru tore her eyes away from him. She was acting like a silly little girl. She was watching Kenshin stir a fire. Stir a fire! And thinking he was doing it gracefully! He was stirring the fire no differently than the way Yahiko would! Wait Yahiko... He was supposed to bring some logs into the house for the fire. Where was he?

Kaoru realized suddenly that Kenshin was putting the stick back where he had taken it from, and now immense warmth was radiating from the fire. Feeling much more comfortable, Kaoru let the blanket drop from her shoulders.

"Thank you, Kenshin," she said.

"It was nothing, Miss Kaoru," Kenshin said, his eyes closing as he gave a modest smile. Then Kenshin's eyes turned towards the window, and his face became more serious.

"The weather has been strange, lately."

Kaoru nodded in agreement.

"I wonder what's going on," she said softly.

Just then, the door burst open loudly, letting in a rush of cold air. Kaoru turned her face to the source of the sudden commotion. Yahiko was standing in the doorway, panting.

Anger rose up in Kaoru at the sight of Yahiko standing there like that. She stood up, ready to reprimand Yahiko severely for not doing his part around the dojo.

"Close the door," she said to the panting boy. "You're letting in all the cold air."

Yahiko quickly turned and shut the door.

"Where have you been all day?" Kaoru demanded angrily.

"Certainly not cooped up in the house doing nothing, like you," Yahiko said, a look of defiance present in his reddish brown eyes.

"You were supposed to go out and cut some logs for the fire!" Kaoru said, becoming angrier every second.

"I- I'll just leave you two here to talk," Kenshin said, and then darted off somewhere.

Kaoru ignored his departure.

"Okay, Yahiko," she said through gritted teeth. She reached for her wooden sword. "You are going to tell me where you've been all day!"

Yahiko's eyes widened momentarily, but then his face broke into a mischievous smile.

"I think it's possible for a student to get better than their master," Yahiko said.

Kaoru's anger grew even more, she charged at Yahiko. He drew out his shinai and deflected easily with it. The match raged on, and in the end, to Yahiko's dismay, Kaoru was the winner.

Yahiko lost his sword, and Kaoru didn't give him a chance to get it. She grabbed his gi collar and yanked him mercilessly.

Sanosuke could hear screaming and yelling from all the way in his room. He cursed under his breath.

"Now what is the little missy up to right now?" he muttered.

Sanosuke had been about to take a nap, but with all the yapping and screaming that turned out to be impossible. Sanosuke eyed his white coat lying on top of the small wash table. He snatched it up irritably and shrugged into it. He rushed over to the main part of the dojo, shivering a little in the cold. Kenshin was peeking inside through the window, obviously hoping not to be seen.

"It's ugly, isn't it?" Sanosuke asked.

Kenshin turned around.

"I think it's getting a little out of hand," Kenshin said sheepishly as he scratched his red-haired head. Kenshin flinched as more of Kaoru's yelling flew through the air.

"I better go take care of things," Sanosuke said.

"Be my guest," Kenshin said. "You know how it is. It's not such a good idea to bother Miss Kaoru when she's upset about something."

"I agree," Sanosuke said, grinning. "You can't get more than a few bumps on the head, though."

Sanosuke gave Kenshin a thumbs-up before walking to the other side of the building to open the door.

Inside the dojo, a violent scene was before him. Pictures had fallen off the walls, and Yahiko and Kaoru's weapons were sprawled on the ground. Kaoru was shaking Yahiko violently, demanding that he tell her what he'd been doing. Sanosuke walked up to the two, and grabbed Kaoru's arms. She fought him, still yelling at Yahiko all the while. Yahiko took this opportunity to escape, walking back a few feet until he was a safe distance away from the mad woman.

"Whoa there, little missy," Sanosuke said, as he held a furiously panting Kaoru's wrists. "You do want to see your student alive to graduate, don't you?"

"Jeez," Yahiko said as he rubbed a bruise on his cheek. "What's gotten into you, Ugly?"

"You," Kaoru said, panting from her anger. "Better, TELL MEEE!"

Kaoru nearly escaped Sano's grasp, but he refused to let go.

"Hey!" Sanosuke exclaimed. "What's the meaning of all this?"

Kaoru, who was too angry and exhausted to speak, kept silent except for her hard panting.

"I come home, and then Kaoru tries to beat the heck out of me!" Yahiko said, now at the task of straightening out his clothes.

"NOT TRUE!" Kaoru exclaimed, again trying to free herself from Sanosuke's hold.

"If Ugly here doesn't mind," Yahiko said as he picked up his bamboo sword. "I'm going to my room to take a snooze on my futon. See ya!"

Yahiko walked away, fully aware of the fuming Kaoru that was watching his every move. Whew! He'd escaped that one alive! There was no way he'd have told Kaoru where he'd been. Then she'd tell Sano and Kenshin and- that would have been too much. I've gotten more than a little sick of their teasing. Tsubame's just a nice girl who works at the Akebeko. It's not that I like her or anything. Even in the cool weather, Yahiko's cheeks grew warm. He was lying to himself. He did like her, no matter how much he denied, but he wasn't about to let anyone know. Hey, Kenshin never tells anyone how much he likes Kaoru, so I don't have to tell anything about... OH! What am I doing thinking about her? We're not anything like Kenshin and Kaoru. Tsubame still calls me little. I'm not little! I'm strong! I'll show her. How come Kenshin's the only one who believes I act older than I look? Ten isn't really that young, anyhow!

"You should hurry up before Miss Kaoru gets you, again."

Yahiko flipped around. Kenshin was leaning against the outside of the dojo.

"Oh, hi, Kenshin," Yahiko said. "I didn't see you there."

Kenshin smiled.

"Letting your thoughts distract you, Yahiko?" Kenshin said.

Yahiko looked at him more intently. There was something about the gleam in those violet eyes. It was a sympathetic look, and one of understanding. It was as though Kenshin had some idea of what Yahiko had just been thinking about.

Yahiko turned away, embarrassed.

"Don't be ashamed, Yahiko," Kenshin said. "It happens to me more often than you know."

Something in Kenshin's voice- again there was an indication that he knew what Yahiko was thinking about!

"Kaoru had asked me to chop some wood," Yahiko said quickly. "I better start doing it before she gets mad at me again."

"Calling Miss Kaoru's wrath upon yourself is not a wise thing, that it isn't," Kenshin said.

Yahiko nodded. He hurried to go complete the task at hand.

* * *

Tsubame rushed into the door of the Akebeko, and quickly closed it behind her to keep out the cool air. Tae looked up, abruptly stopping her furious wiping of the table.

"Hello, Miss Tae," Tsubame said breathlessly.

"Why, hello Tsubame," Tae replied. She looked Tsubame over with concerned eyes. "You shouldn't stay out in the cold so long. Your face is all red."

Tsubame studied the floor in a slightly embarrassed manner.

"I'm sorry," she said. "I guess I got a little carried away."

Tsubame had been out feeding birds. She felt sorry for the little creatures in the cold, during which it was very difficult for them to find food. Tsubame's face heated up. She hadn't been out by herself. That cute little boy was there with her, and he seemed to actually be having fun! Oh, little Yahiko. Tsubame thought, a small smile creeping onto her doll-like face.

"Tsubame, are you listen'nin?" Tae asked.

"Oh," Tsubame said, looking up quickly. "I'm sorry. What did you say, Miss Tae?"

"I said that I didn't really have much work for you to do around here so you can have the rest of the day to yourself," Tae said, a faint smile on her lips.

"Oh, thank you, Miss Tae!" Tsubame burst out joyfully. She put her blue cloak back on and rushed out the door.

Tae shook her head, chuckling to herself. She peered out the window and watched Tsubame disappear down the street. After chuckling a little more, she resumed her work.