Disclaimer and Author's notes: Standard disclaimers apply. The cast of
RK does not belong to me. Yada, yada, yada...... Loads of weirdness and
possible OOCness. *evil chuckle* No spoilers, I think. ^^; You will
most definitely want to read this. I have made several changes and
additions. (More than I intended too, actually. ^^; But hey, when Wren
says to change something, I almost always listen to her. Mostly because
she's almost always right. ^_^;;) But this is the final draft of ch.2
APRIL FOOLS
BY SETA NEKOI
ch.2
The next day dawned bright and clear. Kaoru and Yahiko got up and did
their usual morning practice, while Kenshin prepared breakfast.
Misao walked into the kitchen, "Ohayou Himura! Can you pack some
breakfast for Aoshi-sama, onegai? He left to meditate at the temple for
a while before the game tonight." She grinned wickedly, "Personally, I'm
looking forward to seeing Aoshi undressed."
(Sweatdrop) "Hai, de gozaru yo. Here you go, Misao-dono." He handed her
a bucket with some food packed away inside.
"Arigatou!!! Ja!" Misao waved as she left.
***************
During breakfast Yahiko noticed Kenshin shooting unreadable glances at
Kaoru.
*I wonder what's gotten into him today? He's hardly touched his food.*
"Oi, Kenshin, if you're not going to eat, can I have yours? Thanks!"
Without waiting for an answer, Yahiko snagged Kenshin's breakfast and
chowed down.
"Oro?!"
"Yahiko!!! You give that back right this instant!!" warned Kaoru.
Swallowing the last of the rice Yahiko mumbled, " An whof's goin ta mae
me,(gulp) Ugly?"
"NANI!!! What did you call me, Yahiko-CHAN!!!" stormed Kaoru, her bokken
already headed for Yahiko's skull.
"Don't call me CHAN!!!" yelled Yahiko, dodging.
"Maa, maa. Daijoubu, Kaoru-dono. I wasn't really that hungry anyway."
"You're not nervous about tonight, are you Kenshin?" Kaoru smiled at
Kenshin coyly, one eyebrow raised.
Yahiko's ears twitched, *HUH? Tonight?! What's going on tonight?!*
"Nani?! What are you talking about, Kaoru? Is there going to be a fight
tonight? Why didn't you tell me, Kenshin!? Where and who is it?! How
many?! Tell Me!!!!! I can help, I can!!!" demanded Yahiko, upset that
he had missed something important.
"Iie!! No, there's no fight, de gozaru yo!"
"Besides, it's none of your business, brat," Kaoru stated swiftly, trying
to cover her slip.
"Ugly!! I'll show you who's a brat!" Yahiko threw his rice bowl at
Kaoru. She screeched and started lobbing missiles in his direction.
Ducking with a soft, "Oro!" Kenshin slipped under the table, hoping this
storm would be brief.
His wish was granted as Yahiko finally threw himself at Kaoru in an
attempt to tackle her. Kaoru slammed Yahiko into the wall with her fist.
"Ugly, am I?!?!?! 800 practice strokes!! Now!! And after that you can
clean the dojo!" She bent over Yahiko and whispered, "Besides, since
you're going to be busy at the Akabeko tonight, Kenshin and I can finally
be alone together, without you hanging around to interrupt us." Leaving
him upside down, contemplating the implications, Kaoru walked out to find
Kenshin and ask him to go into town and run errands for her.
Yahiko, muttering to himself, got up and walked out to start his
punishment and chores.
With a relieved sigh Kenshin pulled himself out from under the table.
*Never thought I'd be grateful to be short.* He started gathering the
dishes for washing.
******************************
Tokio woke up that morning and glanced over at her husband, who was still
asleep. Recalling the events of last night, a small, satisfied smile
raised the corners of her mouth. She rose to start breakfast, still
smiling.
Awakening to the smell of Tokio's cooking, Saitoh rose and walked into
the kitchen. Seeing the smile on Tokio's face, he grimaced. *I knew it.
She's got something planned. I wonder what it is.* Remembering the last
time she had tricked him, Saitoh licked his lips nervously. *I still
haven't lived that one down.* He walked out to the porch to have a
cigarette while Tokio finished making breakfast.
***************************
Sano woke around noon. A beam of sunlight had slid past his shutters to
shine on his face, disturbing his sleep. "Uuhhggg." he groaned and threw
his arm across his face, attempting to block out the light. "Kuso!" He
shot up as last night's challenge and Megumi's insinuation of having seen
him in all his glory, came to mind. *I wonder if she really meant that?
And when would she have.....undressed me? After Saitoh, perhaps?*
Grinning recklessly, he added, *If she did, I wish I had been awake to
remember it!*
His grin faded momentarily, as he recalled her comment about not having
been impressed. Then his ego recovered, *Ahhh, she just didn't want to
admit she was impressed in front of the others, she probably would have
said something else if we had been alone.*
Emboldened by that thought, Sano dressed and wandered out the door
whistling. *I think I'll go see the Fox-lady and see if I can find out
just how much she saw. And maybe after I'll see if I can get a free
lunch from Jou-chan.*
**************************
Kaoru watched suspiciously as Yahiko left for the Akabeko, whistling.
"Kenshin!"
"Hai, Kaoru-dono?" Kenshin looked up from his tub of laundry.
"Would you please go with Yahiko and make sure he gets to the Akabeko?
Also, I ordered some rice balls and stuff from Tae-san for tonight, so
you may as well pick those up while you're there. You're finished with
the laundry, ne?" She looked at him meaningfully.
Seeing the look Kaoru was giving him, Kenshin hurried to agree, "Hai, I
was just finishing, de gozaru yo." Drying his hands on his gi, he
hurried through the gate, "Yahiko, matte! I'm coming with you!"
Kaoru watched until they were out of sight, then turned to go inside and
prepare for the game. If Kenshin had seen the expression on her face
then, he might have stayed with Yahiko at the Akabeko that night.
************
"Yatta!"
Aoshi winced inwardly. *Great, I bet Misao's got another royal flush or
something.*
"I'll stay! Anyone need another card?" Misao grinned.
"Hand me 2, onegai," said Kenshin as he passed 2 cards to Misao.
"Anyone else? No? Then let's show our hands!" Misao laid her hand on the
table triumphantly.
A chorus of groans echoed around the table.
"A royal flush!" Misao laughed wickedly.
"I have a small straight."
"2 pair here."
"1 pair." Saitoh grimaced.
Tokio smiled, "I have a low flush."
"Another 2 pair," Sano frowned. *These girls are better than I thought.*
Picking up a rice ball, he bit into it savagely.
"Ohohohoho! What's the matter Rooster-head? Can't stand being beat by a
bunch of females?" Megumi laughed into her hand as she flashed her cards
at the group.
"NANI!! Another royal flush?!" Sano's jaw dropped as he saw Megumi's
cards.
"Are you sure you girls aren't cheating?" asked Saitoh, one eyebrow
raised.
"Anata, really! How dare you accuse us of cheating!" Tokio chided him.
"Now be a good dear and eat your rice."
(Sweatdrops around the table.)
Saitoh glared at Tokio as he picked up a rice ball. *Damn that woman!*
"What about you, Aoshi-sama? What do you have?" Misao asked
encouragingly.
"....." Aoshi laid his cards down to show......nothing.
"YATTA!!" Misao threw her cards in the air. "Are you going to give in and
take off your pants now? Or do you want me to help you?"
(Sweatdrop) Aoshi took out one of his kodachi and laid it on the table.
"Mou! That's not fair!" Misao complained. "Weapons don't count! Do
they?"
"Well, our men do tend to feel naked without them, so I guess they should
count." Tokio contemplated. "What do you think, Kaoru?"
Kaoru looked at Kenshin and pondered. She shrugged, "Well, why not. Let
them try to draw out the game a bit. They're still going to lose." She
smiled innocently at Kenshin.
*Oroooroooo....* (Sweatdrop)
Misao pouted. *That's not fair! I wanted to see Aoshi without his pants!
On the other hand, this could work even better for me.* She brightened
as she recalled her kunai.
Aoshi eyed Misao warily as he noticed the sly look return to her face.
Kaoru looked around the table at everyone as she took the cards from
them. Everyone had lost their tabi already. Aoshi had lost his
trenchcoat, and all the guys had lost their shirts, before Aoshi had
pulled his trick with the kodachi. Misao hadn't lost anything except her
tabi, Megumi had lost her doctor's smock, and Tokio was down to her
kosode. Kaoru herself had lost her obi and padding. She chuckled,
Kenshin had almost fainted when she took that off! She glanced back at
him and admired the jump and play of his muscles as he shifted
uncomfortably.
Feeling eyes upon him, Kenshin looked up to see Kaoru watching him with a
gleam in her eyes.
"Have a rice ball, Kenshin," Kaoru offered, not bothering to hide the
fact that she was enjoying looking at him.
Kenshin blushed and took the offered rice ball, trying to avoid looking
at Kaoru's loose kimono.
Several hands later.....
"Orooroooo..." As all the cards were laid on the table, Kenshin was
ready to slide under the table again. More than one pair of bright eyes
watched with great interest to see what he would divest himself of next.
"Sessha....de gozaru yo," he muttered incoherently. Brushing his bangs
back, he paused, *Wait a minute! My hair tie!* Smiling, he pulled his
hair tie off and threw it into the pile of clothing on the table.
Kaoru pouted, "Mou! Kenshin!" *I was hoping he wouldn't think of that!
At least not until things had gotten more interesting,* she thought,
enjoying the thick fall of his hair over his shoulders.
Looking over at Megumi's cards, Sano thought, *I should bring her with me
next time I go gambling.....Naw, the Fox would never go for it. Unless I
approached her right...hmmm.*
Daydreaming of ways to convince Megumi to go gambling with him, Sano
didn't realize he had lost the next hand.
*SLAP*
"KUSO! What did ya do that for, Fox!?" Sano yelled, rubbing his smarting
cheek.
"You lost the hand, Rooster. Pay up," Megumi replied, smirking.
Looking around, Sano realized she had spoken the truth. *Che! What have
I got left that I can part with? I haven't had a sword since Kenshin cut
mine in half. Fists always worked better for me anyway.* Looking down
at his hands, he noticed the bandaging he still had wrapped around them.
*Yatta!* Grinning, he unwrapped his hand and placed the bandages on the
growing pile.
"Ahou, you should have thought of that earlier, before you lost your
shirt," Saitoh commented, the candlelight gleaming on his own bare chest.
"Shaddup! Just because I don't have a weapon to put down...." Sano
muttered back. *Kuso! If I lose one more hand....Wait! I still have the
bandages around my chest! And if I have to, I can always take off my
headband.* His good spirits revived, Sano grinned.
"What do you think you are doing, baka!!" Megumi scolded. "I didn't
bandage those just for you to take them off!"
"Sorry, Fox. Anything else you want to help me take off?" Sano asked,
winking. "Maybe later, when we're alone, you can help me......put them
back on."
Megumi turned away, blushing.
By this time, Aoshi had lost his trenchcoat, shirt, both kodachi, and his
sheath. Misao had lost a few hands, having been distracted by Aoshi's
bare chest. Her eyes traced his scars, barely visible in the
candlelight. Not that it had mattered; everyone had watched, stupefied,
as each time, she had pulled one kunai after another out of her obi, to
place them on the table.
*Where does she put them all?!* Kaoru wondered. *Don't they get
uncomfortable?*
Megumi dealt the next hand. Looking at her cards, Kaoru pouted. *Looks
like I'm going to lose this round.* After everyone had shown their
cards, Kaoru and Megumi looked at each other. "Looks like we both lost."
"Hai. Oh well, can't be helped," agreed Megumi.
Sano and Kenshin watched, their faces turning bright red, as Megumi
stripped down to her kosode.
"Oroorooooo....." moaned Kenshin softly, as Kaoru plucked at her
furisode, a trickle of blood running down from his nose. She smiled, and
pulled out her hair ribbon.
Saitoh snorted.
Misao ignored all of them in favor of watching her Aoshi-sama.
"Aoshi-sama, would you like some rice to go with your tea?" she asked,
handing him a rice ball. *He he he. Next time you lose, you HAVE to
take your pants off. There's nothing else left!*
"Aa," nodding his head in thanks, Aoshi took the rice and bit into it.
Misao hid her grin behind her hand as she watched Aoshi bite into the
rice ball.
Three hands later, Misao's ribbon, Sano's headband, and his chest
bandages had joined the pile. Megumi licked her lips, her gaze lingering
along the lines of Sano's well-defined muscles.
**********************************
The four women watched curiously as Kenshin, Aoshi, and Saitoh fought to
hold off the effects of the drugged rice. Sano had already succumbed and
lay on the floor, his face in his rice.
*Only the rooster would still try to eat after having been put in a
drugged sleep,* thought Megumi.
Kenshin shook his head as he asked for another card. *Why am I having
such a hard time concentrating?* Looking up, he noticed Kaoru staring at
him intensely. To his left he saw that Sano had fallen asleep in his
rice, on his right Saitoh and Aoshi both seemed to be having problems
staying awake. Glancing quickly back at the girls, he noticed that now
all four pairs of eyes were looking straight at him. An idea began to
form slowly in his fogged mind, *What....drugged?...they didn't....they
couldn't've....* "Oro?! Kao...ru...-don..."
Kaoru smiled as Kenshin tried to say something before being overtaken by
Megumi's sleeping powder. Tokio looked around at the slumbering men,
then turned to the girls, "Well ladies, it looks like it's time for part
two of Operation: April Fools, aka OAFs."
"It's about time too, I was beginning to think your sleeping powder
wasn't going to work, Megumi," Kaoru commented.
"Of course it worked, tanuki-girl!" huffed Megumi.
Kaoru tossed her hair, "If it had taken any longer to work, you would
have been exposed to all of Japan, not just Sano."
Fox ears twitched above Megumi's head, "I still have a few surprises
left. Ohohohoho!!!"
Kaoru simply rolled her eyes and ignored her.
Misao frowned, "Actually, I was hoping it would take a little more time.
I never got to see Aoshi without his pants."
Tokio laughed, "Don't worry, Misao-chan. If everything goes as planned,
you'll get your wish."
**********************************
Author's Comments: YATTA!!! I finally finished ch. 2!!!!! After many
interruptions from the real world (blech!) I've finally finished it!
There are many people I have to thank for helping me with this chapter.
Unfortunately, I can't name all of them, seeing as how earlier, all my
e-mail files got deleted. ^^; Gomen! Here are the ones that I still
have listed:
Rurouni Setsuna
Kirstin
Wren
Holly
Gomen to anyone who helped out that I didn't get! *ducks thrown objects*
I'm sorry!!! I know you all wanted to see them naked in this chapter,
but hey, I came up with a more evil idea. ^_~
Wait 'til you see what happens in the next chapter! Mwahahahahaha!!!!
*rubbing hands and cackling maniacally* Please send all C&C to
firekat1@juno.com
Flames will be cut down by my defender, Soujiro. *o*
For those of you who were wondering, the furisode and kosode are
different layers of the kimono. If you want more specifics, you're
going to have to ask my editor, Wren. ^^;
Enjoy!!
Nekoi