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Chapter Twenty-Two; Maybe She's an Angel

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"Fall seven times, stand up eight."
-Japanese Proverb

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AU- Okay, here's the part you've all been clamoring for, well one of the parts you've all been clamoring for. As for the ever present question of 'How are you going to get K and K together if Tomoe's still around' will be answered soon… although I'd be surprised if some of you haven't already guessed!

Wow, as of this publication chapter 21 has collected 35 reviews. I thought you guys would be happy about that last bit. ^.^ but WOW! I love you all.

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Tomoe was looking, for lack of a better term, beautiful. She was beautiful in the same way that roses smelled sweetest just before they died.

She didn't let on to anyone that there might be something wrong. She walked by Kaoru with her hands loosely gripping her friend's elbow. Her smile never wavered and she never fell behind, but occasionally a flash of pain would flit through her hark eyes, bright as a scream.

Kaoru had spent her life reading people's emotions in their ki and body language so she saw every wince and sigh for what they were; the signs of a woman pushed to the brink.

Kenshin was never far from his wife. From the way he watched her (like a hawk) it wasn't hard to guess who had been against this trip from the start and Kaoru found she was in agreement with him. Tomoe shouldn't have been away from home.

"… This is such a lovely part of the country. I'm glad Enishi invited us." Tomoe said softly and tilted her face back slightly to catch the warmth on her face.

She looked like something from beyond this world with the light hitting her pale skin and dark hair, Kaoru thought.

"It is. I'm looking forward to the rest and relaxation." Kaoru agreed. "I hardly expected to see you here," she admitted.

Tomoe smiled at her. "Enishi told us you all would be visiting Izu this week and I insisted that we would be there as well. I wanted to surprise you." she sobered a little. "It seems you've had few pleasant surprises in the time since we last saw one another."

"Ah." Kaoru murmured with a displeased glance in Enishi's direction. "Someone's been telling tales, eh?"

Enishi coughed discreetly and tugged at his collar.

"Don't blame him." Tomoe assured her. "When he wrote me and told me he'd found you, I made him give me all the details." she smirked grimly. "Especially once I told him I'd hike to Tokyo to find out for myself if he didn't."

Kaoru winced. "A convincing threat."

"Tomoe doesn't make threats." Kenshin corrected quietly. "She would have done it and damn the consequences."

"I believe you." Kaoru agreed. She'd become well acquainted with Tomoe's bull-headedness when she'd stayed with her during the Bakumatsu. While Tomoe was velvet on the outside, she was steel on the inside.

"We're almost there, Kaa-chan." Kaori volunteered.

Tomoe noticed the young girl for the first time. "You are Kaori, are you not?" she asked hesitantly.

Kaori nodded brightly. "I'm Kamiya Kaori. Nice to meet you."

Tomoe smiled at the girl and nodded. "I am Himura Tomoe," she glanced at Kaoru. "Your daughter?"

Kaoru smiled awkwardly. She'd been dreading this, how awful it would be for Tomoe to see another woman succeed where she'd failed so many times… "Hai, Kaori is my darling girl."

Tomoe smiled tremulously. "I hope you'll think of me as an aunt, Kaori-chan. Your mother and I were very close some years ago."

"I know you." Kaori told her. "Kaa-chan used to tell me stories about you when we lived at the Monastery. I feel like I've known you my entire life, maybe even as a surrogate mother."

Kaoru glowed with pride as Kaori stepped forward and gave Tomoe a quick hug causing the older woman to force back tears.

"I'm honored, Kaori." Tomoe whispered.

Kaoru blinked as Kenshin caught her eye from behind. His half bow said it all, she nodded back to acknowledge her acceptance of his thanks.

"Aren't you cold, Kao-san?" Megumi piped up from behind her. "I didn't realize it earlier, but everyone else is bundled up and you're in your summer clothes."

"The walk's keeping me warm." Kaoru assured her. "I also have two gis under this."

"But they all leave your neck open." Tomoe observed critically as she eyed the way Kaoru let her gi slope open to reveal the tip of her chest binding. "You'll get sick like that." she beckoned to Kenshin. "Anata, could you give me that blue scarf I made for Kaoru-chan?"

She smiled at Kaoru's startled expression. "I know you, Iyuu. You replace clothes when they are dissolving off your body. I didn't think you'd bother with winter clothes."

(*Iyuu-esteemed friend)

Kaoru flushed. "I've gotten new clothes…" she whined.

Kenshin produced a lovely length of light blue cloth from one of his sleeves and gave it to Tomoe who wrapped it around Kaoru's neck and draped it artfully over her chest.

"There, I though the color would look good one you. It compliments your eyes." Tomoe said approvingly.

"It does." Megumi agreed and sidled up beside Kaoru to take her arm unexpectedly. "Busy tonight, gorgeous?" she purred.

"Um… sparring with Kaori!" Kaoru stammered.

"Sorry, Megumi-san. I got dibs." Kaori giggled.

Megumi sighed dramatically and would have answered but they reached the Inn gate then and Hiko was sanding outside it. There was a slip of paper in his huge fists. Kaoru smiled at him in an attempt to sooth his temper.

At the sight of it, Hiko relaxed by measures and unbent enough to nod at both Kenshin and Tomoe.

"The cabin is far," he said gruffly as soon as they were within hearing range. "We had best leave now if we want to reach it before dark."

***

They left Tomoe and Kenshin in the tender hands of the innkeeper and began their trek to the Summer House. Kaoru might have lost her worries for a short time in the bright winter afternoon, but Yahiko chose then to bring up something she'd been dreading for a while…

"I still say the 'Kaoru-gumi' is a better name than the 'Raiden-no-gumi'." he commented suddenly and Misao pounced on him before Kaoru could realize what had left his mouth.

"No way!" she cried. "The Raiden-no-gumi sounds waaaaay better!"

Kaori shook her head distastefully. "Much as I hate to agree with Yahiko, I like Kaoru-gumi better. It has a good ring to it."

"Kaori has a point." Enishi said.

"E-excuse me?" Kaoru stammered.

"I fail to see the need for a name at all." Aoshi pointed out and Hiko nodded his agreement.

"Naming a group of comrades reinforces their group identity and commands loyalty." Kaneda said eloquently. "I like 'Kaoru-gumi'."

"Excuse me." Kaoru said a little more forcibly.

"You make us sound like something out of a bad samurai novel." Aoshi said distastefully.

"Our life makes us seem like something out of a bad samurai novel." Hiko said drolly. "Still, there is a modicum of dignity to be maintained. Don't you think Kaoru?"

"Uh…"

"Oh come on! The name's a good idea, don't start going over our heads!" Kaori protested.

Kaoru began to massage the bridge of her nose and walk a little faster. All of a sudden she was really eager to get to the Summer House and sequester herself in the kitchen, only it was not to be.

The Summer House was a small western mansion built onto the edge of a cliff overlooking a lake the stretched out so far that it could have been mistaken for the ocean if it hadn't been for the slender edge of dark green knot work surrounding the edges.

There were enough rooms in the Summer House that every one could have their own room and still have empty rooms to spare.

When the Kaoru-gumi arrived (they'd finally agreed on the name) they found their new home for the next two weeks to be sparkling clean with an English butler awaiting them in the foyer.

***

Kaoru suddenly throws down her luggage and hold up her hands in a time-out T. "Hold the Music!" she yells.

Excuse me?

She glares up at the ceiling. "Going through this whole song and dance is going to be rough enough, I'm not about listen to you refer to us as 'The Kaoru-gumi' for the rest of the series too!"

You don't exactly have a choice, my dear. I am the author. As far as you're concerned, I'm God.

"Oh yeah!?" she pulls out her bokken. "Come down here and say that!"

I can't do that. I am beyond you. The mere sound of my voice would make your heart explode in your chest and your brain immediately cease function.

"What a load of…" she mutters. "It would not!"

It will if I say it does.

"…"

Will you go back to work quietly or do I make you?

"Can't we talk about the Kaoru-gumi thing?" she pleads.

There's not much I can do, it's part and parcel with your role in this story. Look at it this way; what doesn't kill you makes you stronger.

Kaoru sheathes her bokken. "If it kills me I won't have to put up with it anymore." she grouses.

That's the spirit!

***

They clustered in the doorway; most of them stared at the luxurious trappings while the others (namely the Oniwabanshuu) broke off to scout the surrounding woods.

"I am Xavier." the butler introduced himself in the stiff, formal Japanese that foreigners were taught. "Master Yutaro has asked me to look after your needs while you are here. There is a small staff here to see to the laundry, cleaning, and cooking. Your rooms have been prepared for you and supper will be served in an hour. Master Yutaro invites you to visit the Manor on the morrow."

From the members of the Kaoru-gumi present there came a few thanks and words of greeting. Kaoru stepped forward. "Thank you for your kind greeting, Xavier-san." she said with a deep bow. "I am Kamiya Kaoru and this is my daughter, Kaori." she gestured to Kaori who waved.

"Yes, Master Yutaro described you to me in detail." He snapped and a line of maids in frilly western dresses filed out from behind the stairs. "The girls will show each of you to your rooms." he looked directly at Kaoru and Kaori "If you ladies will accompany me, I will show you to your rooms."

Kaoru glance back at her companions, but they had mostly dispersed with their designated maids. She turned back to Xavier and picked her luggage off of the floor. "Lead on, Xavier-san."

Xavier wasted no time and led them straight up the main staircase. Kaori whistled appreciatively as she took in the gorgeous woodwork and paneling that surrounded them when they mounted it.

"This is really something, Kaa-chan.," she mused out loud.

"It is, Musume." Kaoru agreed. She didn't add that this had been the main residence back when she'd been close to the family, they must have built a new house further into their lands since then.

"Master Yutaro has informed me that you were given the Peacock room when you last stayed in this house and I have taken liberty of preparing it and the Emerald Room for you and your daughter." Xavier aid as he led them up the stairs and into the grand hall on the second floor.

There were six doors on the sides of the hall and a huge set of double doors at the end. The largest door led to the master suite, which was a monster to turn out and clean as well as freezing in the winter. The six doors led to smaller bedrooms, which were named after the various colors in the rainbow: the Carmine room, the Citrine room, the gold room, the Emerald Room, the Peacock room, and the Amethyst room.

The Peacock and Emerald rooms were the rooms closest to the Master's Suite and also were directly across from one another in the hall.

"Where are the hot springs, Xavier-san?" Kaori piped up.

Xavier smiled down at her as he unlocked the doors to their rooms. "The Hot Springs are located about halfway between here and the inn near Master Yutaro's mansion, a mere five minute's walk from here although there is a rickshaw for anyone injured."

Kaoru pursed her lips. "Perhaps you should lend it to the inn, there is a very sick woman there who should not spend overmuch time walking."

"It is done." Xavier promised and pushed open the bedroom doors one after another. "I shall leave you to get settled it. A maid shall come for you once supper is served."

"Arigotou gozaimasu." Kaoru and Kaori bowed simultaneously.

Xavier bowed in return and made good on his promise to leave them.

Kaoru waited until he was gone before dropping a hand onto her daughter's shoulders. "Let's see if this place is as overdone as I remember." she whispered and Kaori nodded eagerly.

It was.

As one entered the Peacock room from the hall, one was first faced with the portrait of the woman who had designed it. She was grossly overweight and garbed in a skintight western gown of indigo that displayed a stomach turning amount of cleavage. She held a fuzzy pink fan in one hand and petted a malnourished terrier that cowered in her lap. The painting stretched from the vaulted ceilings to the deep sapphire carpet.

"Masaka…" Kaori breathed. "It's hideous!"

Kaoru made a face. "I know."

"It would give me nightmares." she shuddered.

The rest of the room was of a similar vein. The walls were painted a deep violet-blue that put Kaori in mind a big pulpy bruise and in no way set off the aquamarine curtains edged in frilly silver lace. The furniture was of delicately carved wood, which had been painted white. There were a few table of this sort that sported huge, almost grotesque statues that threatened to crush the fragile wood beneath them.

The bed was perhaps the only tasteful thing in the room and it wasn't the one Kaoru remembered being there. It was a lovely medieval antique canopy bed with a navy blue damask coverlet. There were thick curtain that could be drawn closed to shut out the horror of the interior décor.

Kaori jumped onto the bed and exclaimed over its softness. "Wow! This is great!"

Kaoru chuckled and inspected the cunning little nightstand by the bed. It could be adjusted to fit within the curtain so that one might never have to open the curtains unless they were about to leave.

'Looks like Xavier had his say about the rooms décor.' she thought in amusement. To tell the truth, most of the truly ugly things that had been in the room when Yutaro's obaa-san had been in residence were gone. It looked like the butler was gently phasing out the distasteful and replacing it with more elegant pieces.

"It was worse when I was here last." Kaoru admitted to Kaori.

"Why did Tsukayama-san put you in here if it was so…" she jerked a shoulder at the room in general.

"Well, at the time it was the only free room 'outfitted for lady' and after that he said the room matched my eyes." Kaoru punctuated the statement with a roll of the aforementioned organs. "I don't think he'd ever actually been in the room otherwise I probably would have ended up in the Emerald room."

"Speaking of…" Kaori grinned.

Kaoru dumped her bags on the bed and they spent the rest of the hour exploring the Emerald room, which was in infinitely better taste than the peacock room.

***

Dinner was a comfortable affair. Kaoru had been mildly afraid that they'd be served in the formal dining hall where the Tsukayamas displayed generations of hunting trophies.

She wasn't sure about her companions but eating under all those glassy staring eyes gave her indigestion.

As it was, teaching Kaori and Yahiko to eat with a fork and knife was stressful enough but that was soon to be allayed with a trip to the hot springs!

Aoshi and the Oniwabanshuu disappeared shortly after supper to finish up their vendetta against Raijuta; they left a note saying they'd catch up with the rest at the Hot Spring.

Kaoru made a mental note to never get between the Ninjas and their vacation.

Although, little did she know the Oniwabanshuu were on a false trail laid by Raijuta's remaining men and that there was more than relaxation waiting for them at the Hot Springs.

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End Chapter 22

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Seiyuu- the action's slow in this chapter but we'll make up for it next chapter. Many things become clear then. I'm cutting it off here so I can make a clean break to the action.

*Note* I have discovered something about the word 'Oro' it translates (literally) as a past-natal discharge, but that can't be right. I doubt our Ken-chan goes around say 'after-birth' so I did some more research and discovered the 'Ororo' is something a young man says when flustered. Check it out for your self at the J-E Dictionary http://www.wot-club.org.uk/jdict/