AN: Sorry for such a belated chapter. My apologies~

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Kenshin or anything relating to Rurouni Kenshin...sadly...

The car ride was quiet as Kaoru tried her best not to look at the others. She was ashamed that a kiss was stolen from her so easily. She was also ashamed that it was Kenshin who stole the kiss from her. Of all people, it had to be him who stole her first kiss.

The limo stopped in front of a large mansion. This did not look like a fun party that Misao described. It looked like a really formal boring kind of party. Kaoru stubbornly stayed in her seat as everyone got out. Kenshin glared at her and held out his hand. She shook her head and crossed her arms. "Do I need to kiss you into submissiveness?" he asked.

She blushed and refused to look at him. "I won't fit in."

"You will be fine."

"I am not pretty."

"You are beautiful." Kaoru turned at the sudden compliment. "Come. I promise you will have more fun tonight than you thought you would."

She reluctantly looked at him and took his hand. "I'm only doing this for Misao. She spent so much money on the dress. It was ridiculous."

He chuckled. "Sure." He got out of the car, still holding her hand. She grumbled and wished he didn't. She could have closed the door and threatened the driver to drive. He must have known what she was going to do. She carefully stepped out and clutched his arm.

"You must stop me before I make a fool of myself" she whispered.

"You will be fine." He calmly looped her arm through his and they walked in.

There were many lights and many people. Everyone stopped to nod politely at Kenshin before shooting curious glances at Kaoru. She stood straight and acted like she did not care. She dared not grip his arm tighter, in case he thought she would rely on him. She was not relying on him. She was merely accompanying him as a friend and because her friends forced her to. Yes, that was her excuse for being there. She finally found Misao and Megumi, with their respective dates. Misao bounded over, still as energetic as usual. "You finally got out of the car. I thought you really were going to stay in there. Which would have been a disappointment because I spent so much time looking for the perfect dress for you. And Kenshin would have been dateless again."

"Misao?" Kaoru interrupted. The small girl looked at her confused. "You talk too much."

"Yes, yes I know. Everyone already tells me that. Except Aoshi, of course."

Kaoru rolled her eyes. "You seem to be doing fine anyway tanuki." Megumi said. "Its perfect. Of course, it couldn't have happened without my skills."

"You shut it kitsune. I didn't need nor did I want your help." The two glared at each other.

"Now, now ladies. No need to fight here" Kenshin said.

"You stay out of this Kenshin. If it weren't for you I wouldn't be here either." Kaoru hissed. Her glare was turned to him now. The two stared at each other. Kaoru was unwilling to break from his gaze. It would have been a sign of weakness and she was showing that she was not weak. Kenshin was taunting her, and she knew it.

"Well, well, well. What has the baka deshi brought today."

"Shishou." Kenshin said curtly. Kaoru composed herself and turned around.

Kenshin's teacher was a huge man. He was tall and wide. Kaoru had to work hard to keep her face from looking surprised. She bowed and calmed herself. "You are?"

"She is my date tonight, shishou" Kenshin said. His teacher raised an eyebrow but took the answer.

"Ah, well then, I hope the baka deshi treats you well."

"Thank you" she said curtly. "However, even if he does, I would not want to be stuck with him for that long."

The man laughed. "And why would that be so?"

"I hate his guts." She said bluntly.

He laughed. "I like this girl! I am Hiko by the way. You are?"

"Someone you will hopefully not be seeing after this party."

He laughed again. "You are a smart girl. Have fun tonight. I enjoyed your company." He walked away laughing. The crowd parted as he walked by.

Kenshin sighed. "He's finally gone."

"You" Kaoru hit his head. "You should have at least bowed. He is your master. Show some respect to him."

His eyes narrowed as he rubbed his head. "Not necessary" he said.

"Yes, it was." She sighed and flipped her half pinned hair dramatically. "I think its time I go now." Misao and Megumi laughed, making Kaoru even more angry. "This was not meant to be funny. I really do want to go home now."

"But you haven't even danced with him yet!" Misao pushed Kaoru with a little too much strength and Kaoru fell into Kenshin's arms. "Just go for at least one dance and then you can go home."

"Misao!" But the girl was already off with her Aoshi on the dance floor.

Kaoru sighed. "Any way I can get you to let me go now?"

"You can…" he leaned in and whispered in her ear. "Spend the night with me."

"Hmm" she turned around and reached a hand slowly towards his face. He grinned and she fisted it to quickly set a punch on him. He easily caught it. "I think not." She hissed. She headed for the dance floor after pulling her hand free. "Come on" she called over her shoulder. "Are you coming or what?" He carefully followed her and took her in his arms for a dance. "Watch where you're touching. I am only here so I can go home as soon as possible."

Kenshin chuckled. "You will like it in my arms."

"No I won't" she said. And so their argument continued.

It was around midnight when they actually stopped and went home with everyone. Kaoru was surprised. It was only meant to be one dance but somehow it led to several others as they argued. She didn't even realize they changed dances. Now she felt her tired feet and her headache from the pins. She sighed and sat back rubbing her eyes.

"Tired?" Kenshin asked.

"Leave me alone" she snapped. "I could have gone home a long time ago but you were an idiot and I stayed longer."

"How is it my fault?"

"I said leave me alone!"

He sighed but stayed quiet. Eventually, Kaoru fell asleep. When the car turned, her head fell onto his shoulder. He looked at her and saw she was still sleeping, not even feeling the contact. He poked her face and she did nothing. Satisfied, he sat contently.

The others saw this and looked away. Part B was going to begin soon.

"Kenshin." Misao called. "Can we switch tonight?"

His eyes narrowed. "Why?"

"Because I rather like it with Aoshi sama~ I've been away from him for too long."

"You were with him the whole night."

"But I haven't been with him for a whole day." She gave him a sad pleading look. "Please Kenshin? Please please please!"

He sighed. "If she kills me tomorrow I'll tell her to kill you first so we can both rip you apart."

"Yay! Thank you Kenshin!"

He was pushed out of the limo when they got their first destination. He sighed and took out the key Misao had given him. He supposed that it was nice. He was carrying Kaoru, who was still unconscious. It would be fun to tease her later. He gently settled her on the bed. Feeling a bit tired himself, he found the bathroom and quickly showered and wore his shirt and pants to sleep.

Weird chapter? Yes. Awkward ending? Yes. Now you have proof that it's me who wrote this.

Kokoronagomu: Wow. I hope everything is okay for you. Please take care of and don't overwork yourself.

No one else reviewed the last chapter –cries- Oh well. This is a belated chapter. I was grounded for not having good enough grades. Now I need to study more. But don't worry, I'll be updating on a regular basis again.

Hope everyone enjoyed this! Please review~