A/N: I feel kinda bad for abandoning you guys, but this is the semester where i do all my college apps, and stuff, so i've been busy, but apologizing for the late update.

Chapter 25:
Last Peace

I walked around the busy streets of Kyoto, feeling hungry and dejected. After that little scene with Kenshin, I had grabbed my bag and walked out of the office, not bothering to talk to anyone. I didn't plan on returning to the office after lunch hours either. Tomoe can fire me if she wanted to. I just didn't care.

I came to rest on an empty park bench. As I sat there, a happy couple walking hand in hand passed me by, talking and laughing gaily. We were once like that too, I thought sadly, twirling the silver ring on my finger. I leaned back on the bench and raised my head upwards, towards the clear blue sky and closed my eyes.

Feeling as though I really needed someone to talk to, I hurriedly looked through my bag for my cell phone. As I punched in Soujiro's number, I remembered that he was in the States.

Sighing, I flipped my phone shut again. I pinched the bridge of my nose a few times. Calling Aoshi was out of the question. He doesn't need the additional stress. Akira and Soujiro were in the States. Yahiko? Nah…he's Kenshin's friend. He's probably busy anyway. Misao? Nope…she'll probably get everyone in the office worried. Then it came to me. I hurried punched in his number and crossed my fingers for luck, hoping that he wasn't busy or anything.

" Hello? " came his voice.

"Sano? Kaoru here," I say.

" Kaoru, hey! "

"Hi! What are you doing?"

" Oh, I'm out with Kamatari wanna join us? "

"Oh, no…it's all right then."

" Kaoru, did something happen? Are you all right? " he asks, concern evident in his voice.

"No, nothing happened. I'm fine. Don't worry."

" Are you sure? "

"Yes, Sano. Anyway, sorry for bothering you. Tell Kamatari I said hi, will you? Thanks and bye!"

Without waiting for an answer, I hung up on him. The longer I sat there, the more dejected I felt. There was only one other place for me to go to drown my sorrows. Getting up, I hurriedly flagged down a cab and gave directions to the cab driver. I leaned back in my seat and looked out the window at the passing cars, a tear rolling down my cheek.

"Who was that?" asks Kamatari, taking a sip of his coffee.

"Huh? Oh, it was Kaoru," answers Sano distractedly.

"Why? Did something happen?"

"I don't know. She wouldn't tell me, but I could tell that she had been crying."

"What are you waiting for?" asks Kamatari getting up from his seat and slapping a ten-dollar bill on the table. "Let's go!" he says, putting on his jacket.

"Where to?" asks Sano.

"To look for her!" he says, running out the door.

"But I don't know where she is!" yelled Sano, running after him.

"Think, Sano. Where do you think she would go to whenever she's feeling down?" asks Kamatari.

"Well, she usually looks for Soujiro, but Soujiro's in the States now. Ummm…she would never disturb her brother because she doesn't like to trouble him…" trailed off Sano, thinking hard. "Where else? Where else?" he muttered under his breath, chewing his bottom lip.

"Park?" asks Kamatari while he shook his head. "Café?"

"No."

"Bookstore?"

"BOOKSTORE?" he asks incredulously.

"What?" says Kamatari defensively. "Different people have different styles."

As he shot his close friend an amused look, it suddenly came to him. "I know where she is!" he says, running towards his parked car. "Hurry up and get in!" he yelled.

"Okay," says Kamatari. "I know I mentioned that different people have different styles, but…why a CEMETERY of all places?"

"Shhhh!" says Sano, motioning for him to keep his voice down. "She comes to visit and talk to her parents very frequently. It's her way of keeping her parents alive in her heart and a part of her life while she grows up."

"Oh..." says Kamatari, suddenly feeling sorry for all the sorrow and pain that Kaoru had to go through all this time.

"There she is," whispered Sano, pointing into the far distance where a lone figure sat with her back facing us. We stood a few feet behind her, so as not to disturb her but near enough for us to listen in on what she was talking about.

"…I just didn't expect things to turn out this way. All I wanted to do was to prove myself…to prove that I could do it on my own…that I was good enough. I didn't mean to hurt anyone at all. I really didn't. I knew I should have told him from the start, but I just didn't know how to begin. Every time I tried to, my mind drew up a blank. I wasn't expecting him to find out about it like this…he must have thought I was deliberately doing it to make fun of him…but you know I wouldn't do that, right, mom, dad?"

When she paused to inhale a deep, shaky breath and to wipe away her tears, Sano felt that he needed to do something to comfort her, so he crept up behind her and put his jacket around her shoulders. Surprised, she turned around to look up at him.

"Sano! And Kamatari!" she exclaimed, trying to hide her tears. "What are you guys doing here?"

"Here to see you," says Kamatarigiving her a warm smile and sitting down next to her. "By the way, from what I heard so far, I personally think Kenshin is a baka."

"How long were you guys standing behind me, anyway?" she asks, slanting her eyebrows at them.

"Ummm…long enough to hear someone has made you upset," says Sano squatting down in front of me. "Tell you what, why don't we all sit down together somewhere and have something to eat? You can tell us what's bothering you or we can just talk about other things, okay?"

"You guys came all the way out here just to ask me to eat with you guys?" she asks incredulously.

"If you want to put it that way," says Kamatari. "But we really came out here to see what we can do to cheer you up."

"Really?" she asks, her eyes tearing up again.

"Really," says Sano, giving her a warm hug.

"Come on, Kaoru," pleads Sano. "Smile already!"

I lifted the ends of my mouth in a bid to smile but I guess I must have failed terribly when he deliberately banged his head on the table a few times, earning a few curious stares from the people sitting at tables nearby.

"Arugh…what am I going to do with you?" he whined.

"I'm sorry, Sano," I say apologetically, reaching over to ruffle his hair.

"I don't get it," begins Kamatari, propping an elbow up on the table to support his chin and prodding me gently with his free hand. "Why are you moping over that sorry excuse for a guy when you've got two eligible bachelors right in front of you?"

At his words, the corners of my mouth twitched a little and I could feel myself breaking into a small smile.

"Oooooooh…finally smiling, eh?" teased Sano, pinching my cheeks. "Uh-oh," he says, as he caught sight of Kamatari's expression. "He's up to something."

I turned to look at Kamatari and he grinned broadly back at me. Then, picking up his fork and spoon, he began to hit them on the table, creating a beat, and catching everyone's attention. Sano listened intently for a moment, then picked up his own fork and spoon and joined him.

"What are you guys doing?" I hissed, slumping down lower in my seat, my face flushing red with embarrassment.

"So no one told you life was going to be this way… your job's a joke, you're broke, you're love life's D.O.A…it's like you're always stuck in second gear…well, it hasn't been your day, your week, your month, or even your year," sang Kamatari, winking at me.

"But, I'll be there for you, when the rain starts to pour…I'll be there for you, like I've been there before...I'll be there for you, cause you're there for me too," chimed in Sano, singing along with Kamatari.

"Sano," says Tae Kamatari. "Your turn!"

"You're still in bed at ten, the work began at eight…you've burned your breakfast, so far, things are going great…your mother warned you there'd be days like these…but she didn't tell you when the world has brought you down to your knees," sang Sano.

"That, I'll be there for you, when the rain starts to pour…I'll be there for you, like I've been there before…I'll be there for you, cause you're there for me too," they sang together.

"No one could ever know me, no one could ever see me…seems like you're the only one who knows what it's like to be me," says Kamatari.

"Someone to face the day with, make it through all the rest with…someone I'll always laugh with, even at my worst, I'm best with you," says Sano.

"It's like you're always stuck in second gear…well, it hasn't been your day, your week, your month, or even your year…but, I'll be there for you, when the rain starts to pour…I'll be there for you, like I've been there before...I'll be there for you, cause you're there for me too…" they sang together, ending the song to the many cheers coming from their audience. They stood up, gave a small bow and sat back down again, grinning at me.

"What did you guys think you were doing?" I ask, glaring at them.

"Singing?" asks Kamatari, raising an eyebrow at me.

"You know what I mean," I say, rolling my eyes.

"Cheering you up!" says Sano, smiling at me.

"By singing in public?" I ask incredulously.

"Well, it worked, didn't it?" asks Kamatari, taking a sip of his drink.

I bit my bottom lip and looked at the both of them gratefully. "Thanks, guys. That performance was unbelievable," I say, giving each of them a radiant smile…my first real smile for that day.

"Anytime, Kaoru" says Sano, returning my smile. "Anytime."

Kenshin poured himself a quarter glass of whisky and went to sit down on the couch. He had long abandoned all his paper work after the incident with Kaoru. He just couldn't concentrate. He felt bad for blowing up at her like that. He knew he had the world's worst temper and it was his rotten temper that had prevented him from listening to any of her reasons, no matter how rational they sounded. Just as he was about to call her to ask for her forgiveness...beg, if he had to, a faint knock was heard at the door.

"Come in," he says, rubbing his forehead and standing up.

"Hey, Kenshin," says Tomoe, slipping into his office and closing the door behind her quietly. "How are you doing?"

"Not to well," he says, trying to smile.

"Give it some time. I'm sure things will work out between the both of you," she says, feigning concern.

"Thanks, Tomoe. Anyway…has Kaoru returned yet?" he asks, after a slight pause.

"Oh…umm…" she began, looking down at her hands, which lay folded in her lap.

"She hasn't, huh?" asks Kenshin, running his fingers through his already messy hair.

"Come on, Kenshin. You can't expect her to be able to face you so quickly after what happened, do you?" she asks, getting up and moving to stand in front of him. "Here, let me just…" she trailed off, reaching up to try to fix his hair, but before she could even touch him, he took a step backwards.

"It's all right, Tomoe. Just leave it like that," says Kenshin, giving her a small smile.

"Oh…right…" she says, trying to keep her rising temper in check. "Anyway, I'd better get back to work."

"Sure," he says. "Oh, and Tomoe…"

"Yeah?" she asks, turning around hopefully.

"Can you please send word up to me when Kaoru comes back? I would really appreciate it."

"Of course," she says tightly. "No problem."

Tomoe stormed into her office, fuming.

"Kaoru, Kaoru, Kaoru. She's all he ever thinks about!" she shrieked throwing a file across the room.
As she sat down huffily in her chair, her anger not diminished even by a little bit, she caught sight of the telephone directory lying on her table. The longer she looked at it, the more she felt like doing it. Kenshin's words played over and over again in her head.

" Can you please send word up to me when Kaoru comes back? I would really appreciate it. "

Feeling anger and hatred towards Kaoru surging through her entire being, she reached over and grabbed the telephone directory, flipping through the pages roughly, only coming to a stop on a page labeled J. She ran her finger down the page quickly, her keen eyes searching for the right number. Finally finding it, she picked up the phone and punched in the numbers, not hesitating even for a moment.

"Hello? Japan Times? I've got a story for you."

A/N: suppose one scheme at a time isn't enough, she's not dumb, Tomoe strikes with a double hit, the max and the turning point of the Women's battle. Next chapter, MAJOR drama, and a lot of Kaoru suffering.

Next Chappie: The beginning of KK Breakup.