Mr. Housewife

Author's Note: Thank you everyone for the warm support!

Disclaimer: I don't own RK.

Chapter 2

Kaoru glowered at her tea. The redhead sitting across from her still had that stupid smile on his face.

"It's alright. I'm not mad at you."

She refused to look at him.

"Really Kaoru-dono." he said, trying to cheer her up. "When Sano asked me to help you, he gave me hazard pay, and I have insurance."

She snapped a glare at him. "Are you mocking me?"

"N-no."

He hurriedly picked up his tea and took a sip. Kaoru huffed, about to do the same when Kenshin froze.

"This tea -"

For a moment, he stared into his cup with a tense face, then he looked up and smiled sheepishly.

"- is really bitter, Kaoru-dono."

She scowled and drummed her fingers on the low table. Kenshin panicked and took another hurried sip. Points for effort. But honestly, it wasn't any of his… her… come to think of it, was Kenshin really a guy? The redhead had a face that could pass for either a delicate male or slightly masculine female, even with the scar. And that polite voice…

"Are you a girl?"

SPLURT!

Kenshin hacked violently as he choked on his tea.

"O-oro?"

"Are you a girl?" she repeated, looking pointedly at his chest.

"N-no. I'm not a girl, Kaoru-dono." cheeks a faint pink, Kenshin shifted uncomfortably. "I have a fiancé actually. It's how I met Sano. She introduced us."

"Oh." Well, at least she knew he was a guy now. "And Sano really hired you?"

Kenshin nodded. "Yes. He wanted Kaoru-dono to learn cooking."

She propped her chin in a hand and frowned. "Don't bother." She told him blandly. "You're just going to waste time."

"I don't give up on clients, Kaoru-dono."

Kaoru blinked. The sudden declaration surprised her.

Setting down his cup, Kenshin stood from the low table and bowed. "Thank you for the tea. I will visit Thursday to begin our lessons at noon."

"W-wait!"

Kaoru stumbled over her cushion. She got to her feet and followed Kenshin to the front door.

"I never agreed to any of this! It was Sano's idea, not mine!"

"That may be true," Kenshin turned, a gentle look on his face. "But I made a promise to help Kaoru-dono, that I did."

She just stared at him.

Kenshin smiled and opened the door. "I'll see you Thursday, Kaoru-dono."

The gym was on the sixth floor of the high rise building of Tokyo Fitness Center. In the corner of the brightly lit room, Kaoru saw Sano at the punching bags and marched over with an air of purpose. He hadn't notice her, and after about a minute, she grabbed a bottle of water and threw it at his head.

"Ow! Who threw that?!" Sano turned sharply, but when he saw Kaoru, his anger instantly vanished. "Oh… hey there, Missy."

She crossed her arms.

"Still mad, huh?" he gave her a lopsided grin, but she continued to glare. "What?"

"Why did you hire Kenshin?"

He shrugged. "Because you're a horrible cook."

"Hey!"

"And you need to learn some girl things." He added. "You won't find a decent guy if you can't even make rice without burning it."

Kaoru fumed. She hated when he was right.

"Besides," he ruffled her. "Kenshin's an expert. So you might as well learn from the best."

She swatted his hand. "You just want to eat my cooking without dying."

He flashed a grin. "That too." Grabbing the bottle on the floor, Sano unscrewed the cap to take a drink. "Anyway, just go along with it. Everything's already paid for."

"Which reminds me," Kaoru eyed him suspiciously. "How did you get money to pay Kenshin?"

"Uh…" he wouldn't look at her. "I found it?"

"Sano!"

"It was just a joke!" he backed up when Kaoru raised a fist. "Really! Don't worry about it, okay?"

She narrowed her eyes at him.

"Really," he said again, putting a few extra feet between them in case Kaoru decided to lunge for his throat. "I didn't gamble it. I just... borrowed it from a friend."

He was lying to her. Kaoru knew it.

She did!

But damn it, he was still getting off the hook.

"Ugh. You're impossible."

They're such good friends, aren't they? ^_^ I wasn't planning to write Sano until next time, but things turned out better like this. Thanks again for the comments, you guys rock!