Disclaimer: I don't own Rurouni Kenshin. [Meteor Garden-ish story, yet slightly different]

"Kaoru," a voice called behind her. She turned around and was surprised to see Aoshi. She sighed, "Nani?" Aoshi pulled her into the kitchen, and sat her down. Aoshi grunted, "Look, I know we're not the best of friends here, but I want you to know that I'm here for you no matter what. Okay?"

Kaoru snorted, "What do you want?" She put her head in her hand. "Nothing, I just want you to know that," Aoshi said. He didn't want to worry her about Enishi's plan to get her laid. And if he did tell her anyway, he'd be out of the group and the school as well. He knew that his reputation would be ruined if he crossed his line. What Enishi wants, Enishi gets.

"Oh, c'mon. Like that's true," Kaoru spat. Aoshi sighed, "Okay, okay, I want Misao's number. I want to invite her to Tomoe-san's party. Oh, you're invited too." Shaking her head, Kaoru took out her cell phone from her pocket and searched for Misao's cell phone number. She found it and showed it to Aoshi, who was writing it down on a napkin, "What's this party about? And I thought Tomoe was in France?"

"It's her birthday party. It's been quite a while since she was here, so her parents were excited to throw one when she returns. So she did, and her birthday is just a few days away," Aoshi explained with boredom in his voice. Kaoru stuffed her cell phone in her pocket, "Can I not go? It's bad enough that Enishi will be there. I can't handle humiliation in front of Tomoe-san."

"I'm afraid not. Tomoe knows you're coming. I can't say no to her. Don't worry, Misao would be there," Aoshi said. Kaoru frowned, "How do you know? She doesn't even know yet." Aoshi placed on one of his rare grins, "I'm going to be her date, that's how I know."

Kenshin smiled at the sight of Sano. He waved to him as he approached Kenshin's car. Sano was had something on his mind, but breaking it to Kenshin would be the hardest. He had seen Tomoe during one of her photo shoots in Sano's dad's building. She had told him about the party, and how she was expecting the gang and their girlfriends to come. She had been really excited to see Kenshin, and was looking forward to seeing him again. Sano didn't know how to tell him about Tomoe. So he cooked up small talk first.

"So you and Jou-chan are together?" "Um.No. We're just really good friends, de gozaru." "Oh? But you seem so much more, ne?" "I don't know, Sano. I might like her but." "But what?" "Nothing," "It's about Enishi isn't it?" "Well, not exactly," "Tomoe?" Kenshin remained silent. Sano hit the button on the head. Sano shook his head, "You should move on, pal. But um, Tomoe is here in Tokyo, you know." Kenshin's eyes widened in surprise, "Nani? She can't be." "I'm afraid she is. Um, Kenshin?" "Hai?" "She wants you to come to her party, too." "Oh. Her birthday party?" "Yeah, so are you going?" "I can't say no, can I?" "Well, no, you can't. Her parents are expecting you there. Besides, Jou- chan will be there!" Kenshin disregarded the last part. His heart swelled in pain. Tomoe.here, now. What would he do if he sees her again? He can't back out, or it'll be disrespectful to her parents and his own. "And Pierre?" "Her fiancé? He's still in France." He looked down at his shoes. He had to tell her how he felt. Even though she knew it, he still had to. His heart was so full of pain that he needed her to relieve all of it. Only Tomoe could release him from his pain. Then he decided, he has to do it, even though he knew he will get hurt again.

Kaoru reached for her telephone and dialed Kenshin's number. If she had to have a date for this party, Kenshin would be the person. One ring. Two rings. Kaoru's stomach did a somersault, what if he rejected her? How will she go to the party? At least with Kenshin, it would be much more bearable, with Enishi annoying the hell out of her.

"Hello?" Kenshin's voice was cold and groggy. Had he been crying? "Um, Kenshin? This is Kaoru," "Oh, hai." "Are you going to Tomoe-san's party?" "Um.I think I have to," "Oh. Would you mind going with me?" Kenshin remained silent. How was he going to tell her? "Kenshin?" "I'm afraid I can't. Since Tomoe-san's fiancé is not here, her parents have asked me to be her escort for that night. I'm sorry, Kaoru-dono, I would love to go with you, but I can't. Gomenasai." "Oh, it's alright. Um, goodbye."

She didn't even bother for his reply and slammed the phone down. Now what? She stuffed her face in her pillow and began to think. Soujirou! He's sort of nice. Once again, Kaoru picked up the phone and dialed Soujirou's number. He wasn't her first choice, but he would do.

On the day of the party, Misao had asked hair stylists and make up artists to come over and do them up. It was a formal party, so they had to look their best. Kaoru was devastated by Kenshin's rejection, but was eager to have a good time despite Enishi running around her. Misao had a spring in her step. Aoshi did a good job by asking her out. If he hadn't asked for her number, Kaoru wouldn't have known that he liked her.

After her hair and make up was done, she slipped on her light lavender dress. It was fairy-like, reaching only her shins. [A/N: you know on Mandy Moore's video, crush? She had on that skirt when she was playing with the monkeys? Kaoru's dress is sort of like that, except in lavender. Of course if you don't understand.disregard this] She wanted to go barefoot, because it really did make her look like a fairy but she didn't think she would be allowed without them. She slipped on her beige high heels and looked at her image on the mirror. Her hair was in a bun, with tendrils at the bottom. Her bangs were tamed and slicked back from a side parting, making her look like she had no bangs at all. Her loose hair near her ears was curled. She was sure to make any guy faint, but she only did this for Kenshin. She was excited to see how his reaction was going to be.

Misao came in to her room and nearly fainted. She caught hold of herself and showed a thumb's up at Kaoru. She was looking gorgeous herself, with her hair loose and spiraling at the bottom. Her blue dress was stiffer than Kaoru's, falling all the way to her toes. She did a twirl, showing her bare back. Kaoru gasped, who would have known that she dared to show off her back to Aoshi.

Hand in hand, they went downstairs, carefully and slowly, afraid of tripping in their high heels and ruining their dresses. Soujirou and Aoshi were sitting in the living room, playing a friendly game of cards. When the girls walked into the room, they stopped and stared.

"How do I look, Aoshi?" Misao asked. Aoshi didn't reply, his mouth hanging open. Kaoru rolled her eyes and grabbed Soujirou and headed for the limousine. Kaoru shouted after them, "C'mon I can't wait all night!" Soujirou chuckled as he opened the door for her, "You look very pretty, Kaoru."

"You look handsome, yourself," Kaoru replied as she pulled him in. Aoshi and Misao finally got in, and they were on their way to the party.

When they went in, Kaoru gasped. Tomoe's house was bigger than Aoshi's and the decorations were simply breath taking. Everyone in the mansion was looking their best. She caught sight of Sano, who was twirling Megumi away. Like the rest, Sano had on his tuxedo while Megumi had on a sexy red dress. Sano waved to them while Megumi just smiled. They approached them and showers of compliments were exchanged. Kaoru wondered where Kenshin was. Just then, the music stopped. Enishi picked up a microphone and winked at Kaoru. She rolled her eyes. What's with this guy?

"Alright everyone, here she is, our birthday girl, Tomoe!" Enishi announced. Tomoe walked in, full of grace, with Kenshin. Kaoru's eyes were wide with surprise. Kenshin was looking handsome in his tuxedo. She noticed a sad look on his face. But she quickly forgot about it when she turned her eyes back to Tomoe. She looked elegant in her white and black dress. It was revealing one of her shoulders and it fell to her feet, clad in a beautiful black high-heeled sandal. Her hair was in a fancy up do, revealing her long neck. Kaoru looked down at her own dress. She was no match for Tomoe.

Music began to play and the couple started to dance. Everyone ooh-ed and ah- ed at them. They looked perfect. Megumi snickered at Kaoru's expression, which was full of pain and disappointment. Megumi placed a sympathetic hand on Kaoru's shoulder, "They're like a match made in heaven, ne?" Kaoru slowly nodded. Megumi smirked, "I heard she was having cold feet about marriage with Pierre, certainly Kenshin would be a good replacement." Kaoru gulped. 'I think I'm losing Kenshin. Wait, I never had him in the first place!' she thought to herself.

Their danced finished and Kenshin looked around for Kaoru. He wanted to know who she was with, and was relieved that she was with Soujirou, not Enishi. His violet eyes looked back at Kaoru. She was gorgeous, like an angel. Her fluttery dress complimented her fair complexion. Just then, lavender met sapphire. They stood there looking at each other for a moment, when suddenly Tomoe tugged his hand. Everyone was dancing, so they began to dance too. Kenshin loved the feel of Tomoe in his arms, but at the back of his mind, he knew that he wanted Kaoru there too.

Kaoru clutched Soujirou's hands as they danced. She couldn't stand the sight of the two. She decided to make her date happy. Might as well. The rest of the night went on smoothly, except for Enishi popping up and asking for a dance. So she ended up dancing with him on a slow song, as Soujirou was too much of a gentleman to refuse. Kaoru thought that he was afraid of Enishi. She shrugged it off. Enishi kept sliding his hands elsewhere, and with a glare from Kaoru, he'd place it were it was suppose to be.

Kenshin saw this. He was fuming mad that Kaoru had accepted a dance with him. He kept his eyes on Kaoru, boring in to her. Tomoe looked at Kenshin, puzzled, "Kenshin, are you alright?"
"I think we better sit for a while," he said, leading her into another room. This was it, he has to tell her.

Megumi saw their exit and followed them. They were at her den. She ran back to Kaoru and whispered, "Kenshin wants to meet you at Tomoe's den. It's the first room from that corridor on your right." Kaoru nodded as she slipped away from Enishi's hands.

"The plan has started," Enishi laughed. Megumi just nodded.

"Kaoru-dono looks pretty tonight, doesn't she?" Tomoe asked Kenshin, who was sitting on a sofa beside her, eyes distant. He just nodded. She continued, "If it wasn't for me, you should have been with her tonight. She's a charming girl, I can tell. I also can tell that you like her."

Suddenly, Kenshin pinned her down, his face inches apart from hers, "You don't know who I like. But if you must know, you're the one that I love."
"Then kiss me," Tomoe said, placing a hand behind his neck.

Unknown to them, Kaoru was outside of their den. She heard every single word that they said. She felt tears rolling down her cheeks. Then it hit her like a ton of bricks. Kenshin was just playing with her feelings. He didn't like her, much less love her. He was just playing with her feelings. Why? Maybe to get back at her for bumping into his friend? She didn't know. She didn't care. She began to run, to where, she did not know. However, she missed the part when Kenshin began to say, "I don't think I can."

He pulled away from Tomoe and looked down. "Kenshin," Tomoe began, touching his shoulders, "Doushite?" Kenshin looked at her apologetically, "I just realized that I can't.. Because I'm in love with Kaoru."

***

Megumi saw Kaoru running to the garden, crying. She smiled, the plan had worked. She tapped Enishi's shoulder and showed him what just happened. Enishi grinned as he walked to the garden. He saw Kaoru sitting near the fountain, crying her eyes out. He placed a sympathetic hand on her shoulder.

"Go away, Enishi," Kaoru cried. Enishi remained still, "How can I? You're crying. I can't leave a crying woman alone. That's too ungentlemanly." Despite herself, Kaoru laughed.

"I'm sorry about these past few days; I'm just a bit out of my mind lately. Now, tell me what happened," Enishi asked. Kaoru shook her head. Enishi sighed, "If it's too personal, I won't barge, but if you need a shoulder to cry on, I'm here." Kaoru looked at her reflection in the fountain. Then she looked at Enishi. He wasn't so bad, she thought. He's just a spoilt brat. He's a nice person like..Kenshin. She began to cry more and flung her arms around him.

"There, there, Kaoru. Cry all you want. We've all the time in the world," Enishi said with a smirk. Finally, Kaoru was beginning to com to him.

A/N: Sorry if the chapters are always short. I always try to make them long, but they take longer than expected.