Author's Note/Disclaimer: The characters in this story belong to Watsuki Nobuhiro, Sony Entertainment, Jump Comics, etc. This is only for entertainment purposes only, not for profit. PLEASE DON'T SUE ME. *flashes wallet with – wHoA – FIVE DOLLARS IN IT*

This is my first fanfic in my WHOLE LIFE, so please don't flame me too much as I am counting on improving by reading excellent fics by other excellent writers.

The night was beautiful; there was no doubt about that. There was not a cloud in the sky; the atmosphere above seemed to represent well the endless blue-black void it was, and the heavens were full of bright, shining stars that twinkled amiably down upon whoever happened to be watching them. And many people were – watching the stars, that is. Laughing joyously and enjoying their time together, the lively people of 19th century Tokyo were savoring every minute of their lives in the crisp, young night.

But there was one person who was not gazing skyward – more like, at his feet, that is. His name was Yukishiro Enishi. A forlorn and depressing character he was to look at, this man. Standing at about six feet tall, with broad shoulders and a huge katana strapped boldly across his back, and deep sky blue eyes that were hard not to stare into with wonder and puzzlement. He was a vague and mysterious wanderer who never said much. At least that's what the citizens of Tokyo would say. But no one really knew him. They were intimidated by the power of his icy blue gaze, of course, and his lean, muscled, towering stature. But they knew nothing of him, except that he often wandered aimlessly throughout the streets of Tokyo and all of Japan. No one really cared about him, anyway. To most everyone, he was just another customer, another odd, quiet stranger. (A/N: So that's why we must get inside his thoughts, ne? ~_^)

~~

Enishi had no idea how long he'd been walking. All he knew was that he was getting cold. He needed to find someplace to stay. He was staring at his feet, thinking of..well, nothing, really. It wasn't until he saw a flicker of silky black hair tied in a blue ribbon that the gears in his mind began to creak and turn. Was it her? No, it couldn't be. His heart quickened its pace as he followed the girl with the black hair to a busy intersection and tried desperately to get a look at her face through the crowd. He couldn't, but he saw there was a young man walking with her who said something along the lines of: "Would you like to go to the Akabeko tonight, Asako?" He sighed. So it wasn't her. His breathing slowed down a bit and he returned to his original bored state. He had to admit, he had been thinking of her lately, a little bit…. Okay, so maybe not a little bit. Maybe..a lot more. Those big blue eyes and that sunshiny smile still stood out clearly in his mind's eye. And the way her voice, full of youthful enthusiasm, was always loud enough to be audible but gentle like a young girl at the same time. He hadn't heard her voice in a long time. Sure, she was nothing like his dead ne-san, but she reminded him of her. Maybe it was the fact that they both loved the same man. He felt a sharp pang of pain in his gut when he thought of that..that murderer, that killer. How could they have ever loved a man like him? He had killed so many, that red-haired rurouni. But he wasn't a killer anymore.

"Of course not," Enishi reassured himself. His thoughts drifted back to her, and the former killer rurouni. They loved each other, that was for sure. And the latter had turned into a wussy, an idiotic moron, since his last days of battle in the Bakumatsu. And she loved him, though his hands were stained with blood from a thousand deaths that had been caused by him. And her… She was so innocent, so pure. Enishi wondered vaguely if they were together by now. It had been months since he'd last seen them. Maybe they were married already, with children, and living happily ever after like they should. After all, the hero always gets the happy ending – isn't that the way it always goes? But Kenshin was a shy man. He would never bring himself to confess to the young shihondai. Kenshin was always so afraid that he would ruin her purity. But she was a much wiser woman than Kenshin believed her to be. Enishi remembered the last time he had seen her. She was a young woman already, of course, at about eighteen years old. She alone had had the power to stop Enishi's blind rage that had almost caused Kenshin's death. He wondered what she would think of him now if she saw him again. Probably something negative, as he had done nothing to deserve her respect. How could he expect her to, after what she'd been through with him? He had kidnapped her from her home, faked her death to her one and only, held her hostage on a secluded island, and waited for her rurouni to come and rescue her so that he may slice his head off. Why would she even want to see him anymore? He didn't know.

He had been walking without a destination this whole time, completely absorbed in his thoughts and thoroughly unaware of his surroundings. And when his footsteps ceased, he looked up finally, and realized that he was standing right in front of the Kamiya dojo. "Oh shit," he whispered to himself as he realized where he had been going. Just a few months ago, the front of this building had been covered up with a huge sign bearing the words, "JIN-CHUU." That had been his doing, of course. Yes. She would probably pull that random magically appearing shinai out of nowhere as she had done countless times before and beat the shit out of him…As she had tried to do countless times before.

Before Enishi knew it, he was yawning sleepily, and his eyelids were drooping reluctantly. He finally gave in to his exhaustion, set his scarce belongings on the ground, sat himself down, and had fallen asleep instantly.

~~

Late the next morning, the Kamiya dojo was filled with sounds of laughter and running. Kaoru paused in her morning chores to watch the two little girls play in the front yard. Kenshin had set off early to go fishing for dinner, Yahiko was helping out at the Akabeko, and Sano was…well, probably off gambling, as usual.

"MY doll can be the mommy," yelled Ayame.

"No no no! I wanna be the mommy," cried Suzume, running after her friend.

Kaoru chuckled silently to herself as she returned to her duty of mopping the wooden dojo floor. The toddlers continued sprinting across the yard until they disappeared around the corner of the towering wooden fence surrounding the Kamiya territory. There were more shouts, and then silence. Kaoru, being the alert and reflexive kenjustu master (assistant-master) she was, glanced up from her cleaning to listen for any sounds of a struggle or fall. Suddenly she heard the two girls running and hollering again, and saw them appear from behind the enclosure. She halted her work briefly to hear what they were saying.

"Kaoru-nee-chan!!!" Ayame shrieked excitedly.

"Kaoru-nee-chan!!!" Suzume screeched in the same manner. "There's someone at the front gate, Kaoru-nee-chan!"

The young woman's face scrunched up into a frightening scowl, and she pushed her sleeves up to her elbows as she stomped to the front gate. "It had better not be another one of those solicitors," she growled, "'cause this time I'm going to squish him flat!" When she reached the huge wooden door, she pulled it open with both hands and prepared to beat up the visitor. But instead, an immense gasp found its way through her lips as she stared, stunned, at a pair of light blue eyes gazing straight into her own.

A/N: Yeah..so..what'd you think? Leave comments plse! REVIEWS REVIEW HAR HAR HAR *bounces off*