Disclaimer -I don't own Rurouni Kenshin.

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2 -- Second Prelude

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"Don't we have somewhere to be right now?" Yahiko asked, annoyed, as he picked up his car keys from where they'd lain on the couch.

"As a matter of fact, we do," Kaoru said with a sniff. "But we don't need to leave for a few minutes," which was why she was sitting on the couch watching television in heels and a dress, thoroughly made-up. Of course she hadn't forgotten. Did he think she'd dressed up for fun?

Her brother snorted, spiky black hair waving slightly in the air with the motion. Sometimes he reminded her of Sonic the Hedgehog, minus the blue color and all. "What're you wearing?" Yahiko asked doubtfully. "We're only going to meet Kenshin."

"We're meeting him at a party for people from the school," Kaoru reminded him, picking an invisible piece of lint off her dress. "I want to make a good first impression. Aren't you going to change?" she asked. He was sporting jeans and a t-shirt.

"I'm wearing what I've got on," her brother said, irritated. "Now come on, I'm driving."

Kaoru stood from the couch and wobbled for a second in her heels. "I'm older. I should drive." Yahiko had had his license for almost three years now, but his driving scared her a little, mostly because she could remember him back when he wore diapers.

"You don't know where we're going," Yahiko reminded her, "and I'm the one currently holding the keys to our one and only car. The Akabeko's in Federal Hill. I bet you don't even know where we are right now."

Kaoru rolled her eyes. "Charles Village. Just don't get in an accident or break any major traffic laws."

"Excuse me, but which one of us has points on their driver's license?" Yahiko retorted, walking towards the door. "Forgot about that, didn't you?"

Kaoru narrowed her eyes at his retreating back, but followed him. He wasn't going to let her forget that tiny little speeding incident any time soon. Really, forty miles an hour over the speed limit wasn't that big a deal.

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"Dad thought you were still in the kitchen," Soujiro said, meeting Kenshin as he was headed down the stairs to the restaurant. The Hiko family lived above the restaurant on half of the second floor. The other half was taken up by the restaurant's offices.

"Do I still smell like tempura?" Kenshin asked he drew level with Soujiro.

His cousin sniffed the air around him. "No. Stop using my soap. I'm going to Mom's office. Call me if Yahiko's sister is hot," Soujiro said, continuing up the stairs.

"I'm telling him you said that."

"You suck," Soujiro said casually and disappeared up the stairs.

Kenshin jogged down to the door at the bottom of the stairs, stopping for a moment to pray for a few non-annoying fellow students. He'd be forced to spend time in lab with every one of the people in his major before the school year was over. Last year, not one person had made his cut. They were nice enough – most of them – but they nicely drove him crazy, nicely annoyed him, or nicely just couldn't shut up or, worst of all, they nicely possessed no common sense.

Kenshin crossed his fingers and pushed open the door. The main room of the Akabeko had been specially rented by the university tonight, and it was already full of students, professors, administrators, and their spouses. Tables were scattered across the floor, but most people stood in small groups or hung close to one of the two mini bars that had been set up for the night. Tae had decorated for hours. Thankfully, she hadn't made him help out.

Kenshin spotted Yahiko immediately because he was the only person whose hair stuck straight out around his head. He was also taller than most people, and while he wasn't the only person wearing jeans, he was the only person wearing a t-shirt.

Yahiko motioned Kenshin over to where he stood alone near the small band the university had hired for the occasion. Kenshin avoided Brenda of the horrible and embarrassing date last year (not his fault) and made his way quickly through the crowd, nodding to a few people he knew.

"Hey, Kenshin," Yahiko said over the sound of the music.

"Good to see you again," Kenshin replied, shaking Yahiko's hand. He'd met Yahiko through Sano last year and they'd become friends, mostly because he wasn't annoying and they had some common interests. "You still looking for a roommate?"

Yahiko shrugged. "If you still want the room. And if you can deal with my sister."

Kenshin hoped to God she wasn't annoying. "What's her name again?"

"Kaoru," a female voice said from behind Yahiko. A young woman around Kenshin's age stepped around Yahiko, holding a drink in each hand. "Are you Kenshin?"

"Yeah. Nice to meet you." He watched as she handed one of the sweating drinks to Yahiko. Well, she didn't look annoying, but that wasn't one of those traits you could tell from the outside. Every person has the capacity to annoy, and each way is unique.

"I'd shake your hand, but both of mine are wet," Kaoru said apologetically. She wiped her free hand lightly on her dress. Well he'd have to call Soujiro in the office at some point tonight, because Kaoru was actually pretty attractive. No lust at first sight or anything, but that wasn't something he wanted in a roommate anyway, and especially not in his friend's sister. She filled out her dress nicely and had dark hair pulled back from her face and blue eyes utterly different from Yahiko's. The two siblings barely looked related.

"It's alright," Kenshin said. Her wet hand left a faint print on the fabric of her dress.

Yahiko stepped away. "I'm going to go say hi to a few people. You can tell me what's happening with the apartment when I get back."

Kenshin nodded. Yahiko was letting them judge each other without getting in the way. It was best that way. Quicker. He turned to Kaoru. Yahiko's sister looked as if she'd like to protest, but in the end she only shrugged and let her brother walk away. Kenshin gestured to a table a few feet away. "Want to sit over there?"

"Sure."

He let her take the lead and studied her from behind. Her hair was unusually long. Most girls kept it short. She'd clipped it back with a piece of metal, or whatever women called it, at the base of her neck. She carried herself confidently and ignored a couple heads that turned in her direction.

The large round tables scattered around the room sat twelve. About seven or eight people were seated at this particular table, talking or sipping drinks. Kenshin recognized a professor he'd had last semester leaning in too close to a woman too young to be his wife. Kaoru sat down three chairs away from the couple, and Kenshin sat next to her.

She said something he couldn't hear because of the music and the crowd noise.

"What?"

Her lips formed something, probably "Say that again" and they both moved their chairs closer together.

"I said, do you like playing loud music?" Kaoru asked shooting a glance toward the band with a smile. She took a sip of her drink. On her right hand, she wore a thin gold ring with some type of design carved into it. The ring looked slightly too small for her finger.

"Of course," Kenshin replied, "but I was trained from a young age to do it on my headphones."

"Good answer." She smiled at him and that wasn't annoying, which was a relief because some people had annoying smiles. Very unfortunate for them. Kenshin remembered Brenda of the horrible and embarrassing date's smile and tried not to cringe.

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"Hey, Yahiko, is this your girlfriend?" a tall guy asked, walking towards where Kaoru stood next to Yahiko. She instinctively took at step away from her brother, which was ridiculous. Why should she care what a stranger thought? Still, did other people think she was dating her brother?

"Hell no!" Yahiko said, his hands fisting at his sides. "She's my sister!" Kaoru glanced at her brother and almost laughed at how horrified he looked, but she was too unsettled herself.

"Chill, kid," the guy said, his tone easy and unembarrassed at the mistake he'd made. Kaoru fumed internally. He should be embarrassed, so embarrassed he should be peeing in his pants from shame right about now.

"I'm Sano. You must be Kaoru."

"Hello." Kaoru frowned slightly. She'd heard his name before. "You were Yahiko's mentor when he was a freshman, weren't you?" That had been right after their mother died.

Sano nodded and raised an eyebrow at Yahiko. "So do you appreciate me enough to mention me to your family," he drawled. "I'm touched."

"You're not allowed here," Yahiko said rudely, although Kaoru knew for a fact that he both admired and respected Sano. "This is a party for students. You graduated."

Sano shrugged. "Kenshin let me in the back way. I should've been invited anyway." Kaoru looked up with even more interest at this tall man whose brown hair had way more body than hers ever would. Did he use conditioner? Mousse?

Yahiko snorted and muttered something she couldn't hear.

Sano ignored him and spoke to Kaoru. "I'm the new assistant coach for our basketball team. We're getting the NCAA title this year."

Yahiko tried to laugh but instead choked on his drink and went into a coughing fit.

Kaoru decided to take a tip from Sano and ignored her brother. "Good luck."

"Thanks, Missy," Sano said. His tone held a smugness she knew was directed at Yahiko. Abruptly, Kaoru realized she liked Sano. She'd known him for two minutes, so it probably had more to do with the fact that Yahiko had been talking about him for two years, but that didn't change the truth.

"What's wrong with Yahiko?" Kenshin asked, passing by her and noticing Yahiko's coughing fit. Kaoru hadn't felt the same instant appreciation for Kenshin, but he wasn't quite as comfortable in his surroundings as Sano. There was something restless in his personality.

"The kid did it to himself," Sano said. Yahiko glared at him.

"Oh." Kenshin shrugged and ignored Yahiko too. Maybe this apartment thing was going to work out. Then he spotted someone behind Sano and backed away from the group. "I just remembered, I've got to go grab my cousin really quick. He's probably still upstairs."

"Bring him down," Yahiko said, finally over his cough. "He should meet Kaoru."

"Sure thing," Kenshin said, and disappeared.

Kaoru noticed that Sano frowned for a moment, but then he smirked when one of the waitresses who were walking around with trays of food popped up next to them.

"Hey, Meg. I didn't know you were working tonight, thought it was your day off."

She tossed her hair gracefully, a motion Kaoru had never actually mastered, especially not while holding a tray of food. "I'm being paid time and a half, but I wouldn't have done it even for that if I'd known I have to serve you."

"And yet you dropped by to say hi," Sano said, although if Kaoru knew that the waitress had been trying to catch Kenshin, she knew Sano knew as well.

"To say hi to Yahiko," she shot back, flashing Kaoru's brother a smile.

Yahiko grinned back and waved a little, obviously enjoying the fact that someone else was taking on Sano and winning. "This is my sister, Kaoru." The waitress turned and met her eyes with a smile. "She's starting the grad program this fall," Yahiko continued. "Kaoru, this is Megumi Takani."

Kaoru reached out and they exchanged a brief handshake. "It's good to meet you, Megumi," Kaoru said.

"Please, call me Meg."

"Meg's technically a med student at one of those colleges downtown," Sano said, throwing an arm around her shoulder. "But she's starting her residency at Maryland General in a couple weeks. It's right near MLK Boulevard and West Madison."

Megumi noticed Kaoru's confused look and laughed as she shrugged Sano's arm off her shoulder. "It's north of us, in Mount Vernon."

"Oh," Kaoru managed, confused.

Sano laughed. "I'm going to have to take you around town, Missy. You should come too, Meg, in case I forget anything."

"Which would probably happen even if I was there," Megumi said lightly. "But I'd be more than willing. You've got my number. Call me when you've set a date. And now I must get back to my job."

With that she flitted off through the crowd in the direction Kenshin had taken.

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"So on Halloween all the college kids dress up, come down here and get drunk," Sano said as they cruised through Fells Point. "Everyone knows they're going to do it, so the school has free shuttles to get them there and back."

Kaoru nodded as she gazed out the passenger side window and caught a glimpse of the harbor through an alley. "That sign just said live rock music!" She sighed. "I really am a small town girl."

Sano shook his head and made a left turn towards the harbor. "You should check out a couple blues sets at Bertha's. I came down here with Megumi and a few friends for the first time last year and didn't want to leave."

Kaoru glanced over to see an un-Sano-like look on his face, almost wistful. "Is that because there's a pub every half a block?"

He smirked and the expression vanished. "Maybe. Now we're in Little Italy. Kenshin and I are taking you to Vaccaro's for your birthday."

"My birthday isn't until June, but what's Vaccaro's?"

"We'll have to go earlier then. It's a restaurant that serves only Italian desserts. Two years ago they had their fiftieth anniversary and they sold desserts for fifty cents. It was heaven."

"I bet," Kaoru said, trying to take in as much of Little Italy as she could. "The street smells like pasta sauce."

Sano took a deep breath. "I know. Some days all I want is an Italian woman to cook for me. My cousin's wife is Italian and she makes her own noodles. I love her."

Kaoru laughed. "And here I thought you had a thing for a certain Japanese waitress."

Sano shook his head. "Not after she ditched us today, besides, she's hung up on Kenshin. I should never have introduced them. Inner harbor." He pointed to the left.

"How'd you meet anyway?"

"Meg and me?"

Kaoru nodded and looked past Sano to see the giant ESPN center and the Baltimore aquarium.

"At a hospital where Meg was doing a four week internship. I punched some guy and broke a bone in my hand. That was before she got into med school. She was in between jobs, so I introduced her to Tae. I've known Kenshin and his family since I was a kid." Sano braked for a traffic light. "And the thing is, Kenshin doesn't care about Megumi, not like that, so I can't even tell him to back off. It's all her being stupid."

"She's gotta give up sometime," Kaoru reflected.

"Until then, not a word of this gets back to her, or to Kenshin, or to anyone, or I'll feed you to Soujiro."

Kaoru laughed as Sano made a right turn up Saint Paul Street. "Soujiro?"

Sano nodded. "He's a little psychopath. You'll see. I don't know how he holds down a girlfriend."