Chapter 10:

"Inevitable Coming At You Again"

Kenshin dipped the washcloth into the warm soapy water again, lathering it up with soap suds before he smoothed it over the dirty dishes, his official job for the summer. When the dishes were cleaned off of the remaining food and grime, he placed it in the other side of the sink for Megumi to rinse off. Humming, she picked the plate up and washed the bubbles off with the warm water from the faucet.

Mina and Kaoru were downstairs in the basement playing(what else?!) pool. Kaoru was pretty good at it, but she insisted that Mina teach her a few tricks so she could become even better.

Mina gripped the pointer, aiming it at the red ball in the center and readied it to push the ball forward when Kaoru's shout startled her, causing her to thrust the stick into the table and ruin the green carpeting with a deep gash.

"Kenshin! You wanna play pool with us?!" Kaoru called from the basement and at hearing the horrible ripping sound of the table cloth, she turned to Mina, startled by the huge cut in the middle of the table, "Mina, why'd you mess up the table?"

"Whoops.... sorry," Mina apologized as she quickly tried to smooth over the big gash with her hand and she looked around for something to cover it with, "Uh.. Here we go!" Mina smiled and placed an overly large book over the cut on the table and Kaoru laughed at her sad resolution to the problem.

"I'll be there in a second, that I will!" Kenshin hollered back from the kitchen and he turned to Megumi with an apologetic smile, "Do you mind if I go to join them for a little while?"

"Go ahead, I can do the rest," Megumi said and they switched sides so that she could have easier access to the soap, "Have fun." Kenshin smiled in thanks and he bounded down the steps to the basement to play the game.

Honestly, Kenshin had no idea how to play pool, but he figured that anything he set his mind to, he could do pretty good at it; besides, Kaoru was there and there was no way he was going to pass up an opportunity to spend some time with her. It was upsetting enough that he couldn't join them in their volleyball game earlier since he would have very much liked to see her in her bikini jumping around, so hopefully this would act as some kind of compensation.

"Alright, you know how to play pool right, Kenshin?" Kaoru asked as she rubbed over the tip of the stick with the cue, "If you do then I won't have to hold back on you!"

"I think I can figure it out," Kenshin replied with a nervous smile and he took the stick from Kaoru, aiming it at one of the balls in the center.

Biting down on his lip, he concentrated on how he was going to go about not making an idiot out of himself in front of Kaoru and took a deep breath before he struck it. Unfortunately, a little too hard, and the ball flew over the edge of the table, smacking Mina right between the eyes and she fell over unconscious.

"ORO?! Mina, are you alright?!" Kaoru and Kenshin ran over to her side, the red ball still attached to her forehead, her eyes shut closed.

"Here, help me get her over to the couch," Kaoru instructed as she lifted up Mina's arms and gestured for Kenshin to take hold of her ankles. Carefully, they carried her over to the couch across the room, both of them straining under her weight, "Okay, she is not one hundred and fifteen pounds!" Kenshin would have laughed if he wasn't struggling with Mina so much and both of them were finally able to got her over to the cushions and they heaved her onto it with a big sigh.

"Whew! That was like an entire body workout!" Kaoru said as she wiped the sweat from her brow and leaned on the wall nearby to help her stand, "Well, you could've told us you were that bad at pool."

"I'm sorry, that I am. Do you think we should get her some ice for her head?" Kenshin asked as he watched Mina dozing off on the couch in front of them and in her sleep, she hugged herself again and Kenshin and Kaoru exchanged confused glances, "On second thought, maybe we should just leave her and her thoughts alone..."

Kaoru nodded in agreement and they both made their way over to the pool tables again, leaving Mina alone on the couch with her dreams. Kaoru smiled as she handed Kenshin the stick again.

"Give it another go," Kaoru encouraged as Kenshin gladly accepted the stick from her and readied it on the table edge, "Oh wait, wait, wait!" Kenshin paused, confused as she turned around and fumbled through a large box in the corner of the room. After throwing about a few things, Kaoru finally came upon what she was looking for and with a big thumbs up to Kenshin, she came back to the pool table, this time with a football helmet on her head, just in case.

Saito, Sanosuke, and Aoshi sat in front of the television, completely bored out of their minds, Sanosuke with the remote control in his hands, flipping through the millions and millions of channels they had, but found nothing. It wasn't that there wasn't anything interesting on TV, it was mostly that he was just too angry with Aoshi being in the house still that he was only concentrating on how he was planning on getting him as far away from his girlfriend as possible.

Saito eyed the stairs to the basement suspiciously, listening for the sounds of people playing pool, but he heard nothing. 'This can't be good...' he thought, remembering that only a few minutes ago, Kenshin had gone downstairs to join Mina and his sister in the pool game, and the silence was starting to make him think they weren't really playing anymore.

"Hey! I don't hear you playing pool!!!!" Saito shouted from the couch, "You better not be doing what I think you are, Shit-Break! Touch the sister and you die!" The sound of ceramic balls hitting against each other only a second after signaled that they were now playing the game and Saito smiled in approval. "That's better!"

Suddenly, Sanosuke and Saito's attention drifted over to Aoshi as he stood from his seat and walked over to the kitchen without saying a word. Both men leaned over to the sides to peer into the doorway and watched as Aoshi stood beside Megumi and asked her if she needed any help with the remaining dishes. To Sanosuke's disappointment, she moved over to give him some room next to her and smiled.

"Aw, thanks Aoshi! That's really nice of you!" Megumi said as he turned on the faucet to rinse off the dishes she had placed in the other side of the sink, "Is there nothing good on TV or something?"

"Not really. I just felt like helping you out," Aoshi replied cooly as he rinsed off the plates and dried them off with the nearby towel, "you looked pretty lonely doing these all by yourself anyway. I thought you could use some company as well."

Sanosuke made a low growl in the bottom of his throat, the color rising to his face as his blood boiled inside his veins, threatening to burst. "Stupid.. no... good.. Who does he think he is... Mother.... freakin'.... damn bastard...." he grumbled under his breath more incoherent words that Saito didn't catch, but the basic jist was that he just plain didn't like Aoshi... at all. His eyes narrowed as he watched Aoshi smile down at his fox in a manner not exactly the way just a friend would.

Saito snickered at his current state and clicked off the TV. There was no one watching it anyway since the real live show was going on in the kitchen.

"You're a moron," Saito muttered as he struck a match against the box, lifting it up to his cigarette to light it and he drew in a content breath, exhaling the smoke out of mouth in a small circle shape.

"What'd you say?!" Sanosuke asked angrily as he turned his anger out on the insolent man next to him, "I really hate you, Saito, you know that?!"

"Well, at least I'm not the one macking on your girlfriend," Saito answered, holding the cigarette to his lips firmly, "I think you've got to concentrate your hate on someone else right now, you moron."

"Quit calling me that! If I'm such a moron, why don't you tell me what I gotta do to get that bastard away from my girlfriend!" Sanosuke muttered, his eyes drifting from glaring at Saito to glaring at how Aoshi was standing way too close to Megumi in the kitchen and his eyes flashed crimson at the sight of their hands brushing against each others.

What made the situation a little better was when Megumi started singing their song from the choir competition last year. To Sanosuke, it was like a symbol of what he and Megumi had, but the symbol broke apart when Aoshi started singing along with her.

"Aoshi, I didn't know you could sing!" Megumi exclaimed with a bright smile, "You're pretty good at it."

"I bet she knows a couple other things he's good at too," Saito murmured in the background, making Sanosuke even more frustrated than before and he clenched his fists into tight balls, preparing to go over and knock the suggestive smile off Aoshi Shinimori's face, or actually, knock out all his teeth. Knowing Sanosuke, Saito knew exactly what he planned to do and he sighed, shaking his head at him. "I wouldn't do that if I were you, moron..."

"Didn't I just tell you not to call me that?!" Sanosuke raged, his anger rising at the forbidden insult that Saito preferred to name him as.

If Saito wasn't such a bad ass, Sanosuke's tone would have felt threatening, but since that wasn't the case, Saito was in no way intimidated.

"Damn it, what is this?! 'Let's-all-get-on-Sanosuke's-nerves-day'?! Now, move out of the way so I can tie that guys vocal chords in knots!" Sanosuke snapped, but Saito pulled him back with one easy throw, sending him back into his seat on the couch with a thud.

"You moron. You actually think that kicking his ass is gonna help you out any? Don't you ever use that thing in your head called a brain? That guy's her friend, you kick his ass right now and she's gonna throw a hissy fit!" Saito spat as he took in one last puff of smoke from his cigarette before he put it out in the ash tray nearby, "I know that guy. He's rich, and I'm not talking about 'he-can-carry-himself' kind of rich, I'm talking about 'my-wallet-can't-fit-another-damn-thing' kind of rich. That guy can sue the shirt off your back if he wanted to! The next thing up that guy's sleeve is to shower your girlfriend with expensive crap that you can't get her. And if I know anything about women, they all fall to your knees if you give 'em a piece of jewelry and that Aoshi guy can definitely afford some pretty big ass jewels. Megumi's gonna be groveling at his feet in no time, make no mistake about that. You just wait 'til he whips out the green, then it's all over." With a sigh, Saito pulled out another cigarette and lit it with his last match.

"Well, that's not gonna happen," Sanosuke said confidently.

It didn't matter to him how much money Aoshi had or the size of jewelry he could buy. If Aoshi had so much already to begin with, why did he have to try and take Megumi? True, Sanosuke himself couldn't afford that kind of stuff and it never really mattered to Megumi in the first place if he could get her nice things or not, just what he had was always enough. So why was this whole money thing bothering him so much?

Megumi wasn't shallow and she looked for what really made a person instead of what the person made, but somehow the whole idea of looking past a huge diamond seemed to get in the way of the previous theory. If he couldn't buy her a big rock strung on scrap metal, he could at least take her out to dinner or something. Special treats like that from him were rare, but in this case, Sanosuke felt it was necessary.

"Hey Fox! Can I talk to you for a second over here?" he called and Megumi turned away from Aoshi for a moment, drying her hands off with a towel before heading over to him.

"Sure, what's going on?" Megumi asked as she stood before him, her hands still holding the damp towel and she flung it over her shoulder, "Did you need something?"

"No, I was just thinking... Why don't we go out to eat right now? My treat," Sanosuke offered, giving her his best smile as bait and he stole an evil glare at Aoshi, who was watching them from the kitchen with his arms folded across his chest.

"Now? Oh, well, that would have been fun, Sano, but I already promised Aoshi that I'd go for a ride with him in his new car," Megumi said, pushing a strand of hair that fell into her eyes and she saw Sanosuke's mouth twitch at the corners as he tried not to scream, "I'm sorry. I would, but I already promised him and I can't break it. It would've been really fun though. Some other time would be better. Like how 'bout we go..."

"Ready to go?" Aoshi asked, accidently-on-purpose cutting her off before she could make a rain check for dinner with Sanosuke and he pretended that he hadn't meant to interrupt their conversation. Megumi was fooled, but Sanosuke and Saito saw right through his fake act of innocence and they both rolled their eyes at how obvious he was being and what a horrible actor he was. To their surprise, Megumi didn't catch on.

"Yeah, you have your car ready?" Megumi asked, turning back to her friend and she tossed the dish towel aside to the couch, "That was quick."

"Hang on, let me check," Aoshi said and he pulled out his cell phone from his pocket and dialed a number. Bringing the phone up to his ear, he spoke to the person on the other end, "Yeah, hey, I'm done. Oh, you're outside? Okay, thanks." Aoshi turned to Megumi, giving her a thumbs up in response to her question and he clicked off the phone. "Alright, it's outside. You ready?"

"Yeah. Now, let's go see this car!" Megumi exclaimed excitedly, making Sanosuke cringe at just how enthusiastic she was to go and he and Saito followed them both to the door to check out the new car.

Everyone except Aoshi made a loud gasp at the sight of the car; a black Lamburgini Diablos. Even Saito was surprised, his mouth hanging open so wide that a freight train could have gone through and his cigarette fell to the ground.

All Sanosuke could think was that Saito had been right. Aoshi had already started giving Megumi what he couldn't and he just had to start with a ride in his brand new convertible. Next to Sano's beat up old jeep, it was like a baby kitten sitting next to a ferocious man-eating lion. No competition.

"Oh my God! That's your new car?!" Megumi exclaimed, the first one to react to the shiny new convertible, Saito and Sanosuke's mouths still hanging down about an inch from the ground, "WOW! I can't believe I get to ride in that!"

"That's not the only thing she's gonna get to ride," Saito murmured in the background as he suddenly regained his composure and Sanosuke shot him a malevolent look.

"Did you say something, Hajime?" Megumi asked curiously, not quite catching what he had said because of her distraction with the car. Saito only shrugged his shoulders and Megumi sighed, turning around to face the car again. "I call shotgun!" she said and was about to hop in the car when she remembered her boyfriend, "Oh, Sano, I'll be back soon, okay? It won't take too long! B.... whoa!" Megumi didn't even get to finish the word "bye" but she was able to wave before Aoshi slammed his foot on the gas pedal in an effort to get away from the house as soon as possible before Sanosuke could say any word of response.

Saito and Sanosuke were left in the driveway covered in dust and they both spit out the dirt that had managed to get into their mouths.

"Looks like you're not exactly Lady Luck's favorite person to visit, huh?" Saito snickered as he walked away, dusting himself off of the dirt that had flown onto him from Aoshi's speedy exit, "That moron ruined my new shirt! Forget anything I said about not kicking his ass! Do what you have to 'cause if you don't, Megumi's already gone to you." Saito swore aloud as he tried again to get the dirt of his shirt, but to no avail and he grumbled under his breath that if Sano needed any help kicking Aoshi's ass, he'd definitely jump at the chance.

Saito walked off into the house, leaving Sanosuke in the dusty mess. But the mess in the driveway was nothing compared to all the jumbled up thoughts running through his head at that moment. Megumi was practically gone, and in a whole different way other than a couple miles distance.

"Kenshin! I already told you! It's like this!" Kaoru sighed, getting frustrated with his slow understanding of how to hit the ball correctly and she bent over the table one last time to show him. To tell the truth, Kenshin wasn't at all paying attention to how she angled the pool cue or how she aimed at the targeted ball, he was much more interested in watching her bend over the table so he could take a good long look at her rear end without her even knowing it. The best part about it was that she kept showing him, therefore giving him multiple opportunities to check out the "merchandise."

Kaoru straightened up again, signaling Kenshin that she was about to turn around and he tore his gaze away from her ass to look up at her face and he flashed her his trademark innocent rurouni smile.

"Thank you, Kaoru, it was a VERY good demonstration, that it was," Kenshin said and he took the cue that she handed to him, still having no more insight on how to play as he first did before even coming downstairs.

He angled the cue to the white ball, aiming it carefully before he struck it hard, sending it flying over the table for the third time in a row. Neither Kaoru or Kenshin noticed that Mina had just woken up from her unconscious state, sitting up to view her surroundings, only to be hit with an oncoming ball yet again. She fell back down onto the couch without Kaoru or Kenshin even knowing it and again, she went back into her dreams of holding Kenshin in her arms and she tightly hugged herself in her sleep. Kenshin and Kaoru only turned around to look at her, seconds after she plopped back down on the couch from being hit again, totally missing that she had gotten up so recently.

"It seems Mina has been out for quite a while, that it does," Kenshin replied as he watched the young girl continue to sleep soundly in the exact same place they had put her.

"Yeah, I know. I guess she hit her head harder than we thought," Kaoru added, looking sorrowfully at her friend who was still in no condition to play pool with them. She was getting pretty tired of playing with Kenshin because he never seemed to be learning how to play better at all, in fact, she thought he was getting worse. Of course she wouldn't tell him that, but she was getting lonely for some good competition.

"Hey guys! Mind if we join you?" Yahiko asked as he came down the stairs with Misao under his arm, Tsubame following a little behind, still shocked from their news that Yahiko and Misao were together and she walked like a dense robot over to one of the pool tables they stopped at.

"Sure! Go ahead! Just watch out for Mina on the couch, alright? She got uh... she tripped and fell earlier so she's just resting on the couch," Kaoru lied. She had been about to tell them about how bad Kenshin was at pool when he had given her a pleading look, she had quickly made up a different story, for his sake. "Yahiko, what's going on? Are you and Misao going out now or something?" Kaoru asked, noticing for the first time how close they were standing to each other and that Tsubame looked a little left out of the tight embrace.

"Yup!" Misao exclaimed and she slapped Yahiko on the ass as if to prove herself right and Yahiko jumped up in surprise, giving everyone a nervous, but agreeing smile, "He's my bitch!"

"Yes, they're going out... it's lovely, everyone's happy... La di da!" Tsubame replied sarcastically, her feelings still hurt by the unexpected announcement that Yahiko already had a girlfriend. It didn't help at all that Misao was such a dork and how Yahiko preferred her over Tsubame, she was left totally in the dark about.

Yahiko sensed her sadness and he wanted so much to go over to her and tell her it was all a lie, but he couldn't. He had to stay true to the plan and carry it out; besides that, Misao's grip on his rear was not loosening and there was no way he could have moved an inch, unless of course, he wanted to have a huge chunk of his butt missing.

"Oro? But Yahiko, I thought you wanted to..." Kenshin began, but Yahiko nervously laughed out loud, his hand behind his head as he hinted that he did not want Kenshin to finish his sentence. He did want to get with Tsubame, but now was not the time. He wasn't ready and he still had a few more days for using the medicine the doctor gave him until he could actually do anything.

"Eheh... Yeah, well! Are we gonna shoot some pool or what?!" Yahiko asked, quickly changing the subject before anyone could object and he grabbed the pool cue, readying it to hit the ball and he thrust it forward. Misao, not wanting to miss an opportunity to act as his girlfriend would, pinched his nipples at that same moment and the ceramic ball flew off the table.

"Huh? What happened...?" Mina murmured groggily, her eyes still half-closed as she sat up from the couch. But her eyes suddenly widened when she realized a huge red ball coming straight for her and she gulped back down her saliva in fear. "Uh oh..."

The ball smacked her right in the middle of her forehead for the third time that day, sprawling her back onto the couch with a huge red bump ascending from the spot of impact. Worst part about the situation was that no one in the room seemed to notice as Mina fell back down on the pillows, unconscious yet again. You can just imagine the size of her headache by the time she woke up again...

"So Yahiko, when did you and Misao start going out?" Kenshin asked, ignoring the missing red ball as he leaned on his stick like a cane. Without warning, the stick snapped from under his weight, sending him to the ground with an exclaimed, "Oro?!" But Kaoru was able to catch him in time, throwing her arms around him and she sent them both flying onto the pool table, her lying on top of him.

A low whistling was heard as someone started down the steps to the basement. Their footsteps got louder as the person neared them inch by inch until his form appeared at the bottom of the stairs. A puff of smoke coming out of his mouth was an obvious notification of who it was.

"Hey, I just thought I'd join you morons in a game of pool since I had nothing better to do and..." Saito began, but he stopped talking when he saw both Kenshin and Kaoru on the pool table, Kenshin on top of Kaoru, both too shocked to speak. Kaoru had one leg wrapped around Kenshin's waist and her hands were sprawled over his back. Kenshin had his hands on her shoulders and his mouth hung open at the sight of Saito standing before them.

What disgusted Saito the most was that Yahiko, Misao, and Tsubame were all there too, just standing around and watching them like it was no big deal. To top it all off, Mina was lying down on the couch, hugging herself and talking in her sleep. To say that Saito was angry was an insult, to say that he was possessed by a demon didn't really reach the bar.

"GET THE FUCK OFF MY SISTER, SHIT-BREAK!" Saito shouted and he ran forward, pushing over dozens of chairs in the process, but none of them seemed to slow him down and his hands outstretched before him.

"ORO?!" Kenshin cried as he jumped off Kaoru with a big jumble of legs and arms, pulling away from her so that he could avoid the powerful wrath of her brother, Hajime Saito.

"Get back here, you little fucker! What the hell are you doing that for in front of them?! No, what the hell are doing THAT for in the first place?! What the hell is wrong with you?!" Saito shouted as he chased after Kenshin around and around the room, Kenshin somehow able to avoid his claws by mere centimeters.

"Saito! Please! You should calm down, that you should!" Kenshin hollered, turning back to run around the pool table again, keeping the biggest distance he could manage between him and Saito, "If I was going to sleep with her, I would have done it in private, that I would!"

"That's it!" Saito shrieked and he was about to push the table forward and hit him down when Kenshin jumped up in the air. He kicked the table on it's edge, sending it flying backwards, hitting Saito instead and the man fell over unconscious with a dozen Kenshins floating around his head in circles like dizzy birds, singing all the while, "Ororororororororo!"

A/N: Haha! A little more K/K for you ppl out there that were getting a bit restless! Hope you liked it! Sorry if some of the characters were OOC, but yunno, if they weren't the story wouldn't be as interesting! Leave a review please!