Author's Notes
This is my first fanfiction attempt. Well, not my first attempt, but the first one that got past a page in length. Be nice to me, please? Read and review, and maybe if people like it, it'll get nice and long....

This is also my first attempt to upload things to fanfiction.net, so please forgive me if stuff gets screwed up. I'll try to fix it, I promise... I haven't figured everything out yet.

Many thanks to the wonderful authors whose stories inspired me and gave me lots of evil little ideas. If you recognize one of your ideas, write to me and I'll stick it in my "thanks" section at the end. For now, I just want to thank Melissa "Missy" Good, whose portrayal of another stubborn couple has touched and inspired me.



"Yahiko!"

"Busu, busu!"

The sounds of daily life flowed around Kenshin, who sat ignoring them all and concentrating on his cooking. The soup was just about done.

"Glad to see you're still the same, Yahiko-chan." Someone commented from the gate.

Kaoru stopped chasing Yahiko, who immediately stopped running. "Sano!"

"What did you call me?" Yahiko yelled angrily.

"Dinner's ready." Kenshin called.

"Just in time, I see." Sano grinned.

"I should have known you'd show up just in time for dinner." Kaoru growled, but took her place next to Kenshin. "Thanks, Kenshin."

"Argragrah...." The only sound in the dojo for a bit was that of the rapid consumption of food.

"I'm glad you reappeared, that I am." Kenshin said when things quieted down a bit, puncutating his statement with his rurouni smile.

"Yeah, where were you?" Kaoru asked. "It's not like you to miss a meal, and you've been gone for a week!"

"Busu's right!" Yahiko said, earning him a smack. "Where didja run off to? 'Fraid Busu would make you cook?" Another smack descended on his head, and the two were off.

Sano watched them for a moment, then smiled at Kenshin. "Always at it, aren't they?"

"Aa." The rurouni sighed. "It's true, that it is."

"She still making you do all the housework, Kenshin?"

"Aa. Sessha doesn't mind."

"The least you could do is teach her to cook. Your stuff is great... hers..."

"I heard that!" Kaoru stopped and began advancing on Sanosuke.

"I think you are trying to change the subject, that you are." Kenshin said quietly.

"Yeah. Answer the question!" Yahiko demanded. Kaoru nodded firmly.

"Nowhere really." Sano leaned against a support and smiled widely. "Just off having a little-- fun."

Yahiko sighed with disappointment and went back to inhaling the contents of his bowl. Kaoru's eyes widened and she blushed slightly and coughed, then went back to eating also. Kenshin's eyes narrowed and he looked at Sano for a minute, but said nothing.


Kenshin and Sanosuke sat together after dinner, drinking tea and watching Kaoru chase Yahiko.

"Having 'fun', Sanosuke? For a week and a half?" Kenshin said softly.

Sanosuke laughed nervously, putting a hand behind his head. "Well, Kenshin... You see, I had these... delayed payments." He grinned uneasily. "So I... decided to work them off."

Kenshin's eyes stayed on the other two, and he smiled slightly. "I see, that I do. I am glad you have chosen to take an honorable path, Sanosuke."

Sanosuke coughed slightly, but smiled. "Thanks, Kenshin." He indicated Kaoru and Yahiko, who were engaged in pummeling each other. "Think we should break them up?"

Kenshin thought about that a moment, then smiled. "I do not think so. I think they enjoy it, that they do."

Kenshin watched the two in peaceful silence. Sanosuke watched Kenshin for a moment, then turned his gaze away.


"Where the heck is Sano?" Yahiko wondered a week later. "He's never around anymore."

"That's Sano's business." Kaoru said sharply. "It's not polite to pry, Yahiko."

"How would you know, Busu?" Another lump appeared on his head. "I was just wondering, cause he came in and paid off his tab at the Akabeko the other day. Nearly shocked Tae-san out of her obi!"

Kaoru stopped hitting the boy. "You're joking, Yahiko. Sano? Pay off his tab? Never! Where would he get the money? He'd gamble it all away first."

"Perhaps Sanosuke-san has given up gambling," the rurouni suggested with a smiled. "Or perhaps he has found a reason to."

Kaoru and Yahiko just blinked at him.


"No, I haven't seen that Rooster-head in days." Megumi said. "Why? Something wrong?"

"Neither have we." Kaoru frowned.

"Not even for meals?" The taller lady laughed in disbelief. "You must be joking. I've never known him to miss free food!"

"No, that we are not." Kenshin spoke up. "Sessha is worried."

"Come to think of it," Megumi said, "it is rather odd that he hasn't been in. Goodness, I must patch that idiot up every day!"

"When was the last time he was here?" Kaoru asked.

"Let me see." Megumi pulled out a small ledger and ran her finger down it. "Today, yesterday... ah. Here we go. Early last week... nearly twelve days ago. Had a sprained wrist, several large scrapes, a few cuts, and badly bruised knuckles." She turned her gaze to the two standing in her clinic. "It looked like he had been in a big fight, but that's not all that unusual. Do you think he's in some sort of trouble?"

"No," Kenshin said. "We're just concerned." He smiled.


Shhhht. Shhhht-t.

Kenshin came awake in an instant. Someone had opened and closed a door in the dojo. His hand going to his sakabatou, he rose silently and padded to his own door.

Through the paper, he could tell it was Kaoru-dono moving. Figuring she was on her way to the bathroom, he started to go back to bed, but something stopped him. She's going the wrong way.

Click.

There-- faint, but distinct, the sound of the front gate closing. Where could she be going at midnight? Kenshin wondered, eyes narrowing. Where-- Sanosuke-san. Of course.

A shadow slipped from the dojo after her.


Kaoru gripped her bokken fiercely and tried to walk quietly and quickly. "Sano no baka." she cursed him under her breath. "What have you gotten yourself into this time?"

Kenshin thought she had no clue what was going on in the world. Truth be told, like any woman, she had an extensive rumour net. And that rumour net wasn't saying anything good about Sano-baka.

"I heard that Sagara-san was working in the gambling district." Tae had told her quietly the last time they were at the Akabeko. "I don't know where."

"I heard that a man like that was working for one of the gambling places down on the Row," her perfume saleslady had said. "Two men were talking about it at the shop next door."

"I heard something about a guy with a white shirt working for Hikokan's place." Shinokima-san, owner of a dojo she taught at, had said. "I was in a-- tavern-- and I overheard him talking." He had put a hand on her shoulder. "Stay out of it, little miss. You are a wonderful instructor, but he's bad news."

She snuck onwards, towards the part of town known as the Row. A bad part of town, it was, although not so bad as some would have it. I'll just sneak in, see what Sanosuke is up to, and sneak out again... not that hard.

As she got closer, the streets got rougher, less well tended. She thought she saw things in the alleys that made her avert her eyes and blush, and occasionally wince. Where she had walked proudly through the area she lived in, now she took to the shadows.

There- that was the street she was looking for. Unlike the rest of the alleyways, it was large and well-lit. Odd. She went past it to the next street, then turned down that one. Creeping up to the back of the establishment, she stood on tiptoes to peer in through a high window.

What she saw made her drop down to her feet with a small thud. Just to be sure, she looked again.


Kenshin followed the girl through the alleys, occasionally taking different streets when he thought she might be suspicious. He thought he knew where she was going, but found himself frustrated that she had pinpointed Sanosuke's workplace more accurately than he. After all, he should be better at this than her.

She paused at a well-lit street, then turned down the next alley. Kenshin peered down the first, and was immediately suspicious. They were deep in the ne'er-do-well area of Tokyo. What was a street like this doing here? He could see a few gambling houses, three eateries, and some houses without signs. Filing away the incongruities, he peeked down the street he'd seen Kaoru turn on. Ah- there. He slipped into a deep shadow nearby.

The girl was peering through a lighted window. She dropped back down to her heels loudly enough to make Kenshin wince internally, then stood on her toes to look in again. This time she lowered herself much more slowly, and therefore much more quietly, but her frown showed her to be lost in confusion.

Shaking herself a little, she glanced the other way quickly, then in the direction of Kenshin. He drew himself back into the shadows, but her eyes narrowed on his hiding place. "Kenshin?"

Smiling sheepishly, he emerged and came over to her. How had she seen him? Perhaps his hakama had caught the light.

"Kenshin." She whispered, her face icy. "Were you following me?"

"Aa, de gozaru." He said quietly.

She loomed over him, as she had a way of doing. "Why?" Her voice rose slightly.

"Ssh." He cautioned her, only succeding in making her face go red. He put up his hands and smiled, hoping to calm her down before she gave them away. "Sessha worries sometimes."

"Kenshin no baka." She muttered.

"Did you find anything?" He asked, hoping to divert her.

She gestured to the window. "Look for yourself."

He grabbed the edge of the window and pulled himself up, then stared. After letting himself slowly down, he turned to stare at her. "Sanosuke-san-- is washing dishes?"