AND AS PROMISED, MINNA, I'VE FINALLY UPDATED!!! I know it's a bit late, but I didn't have as much time as I thought I would have this weekend *sweatdrops*

Anyways, I hope you enjoy this chapter! And hopefully I'll be able to update more often now! ^_^ Please R&R!!!

Disclaimer: I no own. You no sue.

ON WITH THE FIC!

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Guiltily, Kenshin looked back up at Sano. "Ah, um, perhaps I should go clean up…" Sano only smirked again as Kenshin rose to his feet and walked away with a distant look in his eyes. He could pretty much guess what Kenshin had been meditating on. He'd seen the same look in Kaoru's eyes earlier when she'd absently walked into a table. Honestly, you'd think that those two were bumping into each other on purpose. *snort* I mean I just don't get why they keep dancing around the issue. Huh, at this rate though, by the time they finally DO get the guts to just go for it, they'll be too bruised and injured to move. There's no way that they're both THAT clumsy on accident. Sano folded his arms across his chest and looked down to the unfinished rice balls, pausing on the remnants of the one Kenshin had demolished. He laughed quietly to himself. Dinner promised to be an interesting affair. Especially if *HE* had anything to do with it.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

CHAPTER 4: Dinner, And The Long Night Ahead

Sanosuke smirked as he took another bite of rice. So far, he'd managed to trip Kaoru twice (directly into Kenshin's arms), he'd backed directly into Kenshin (who then backed directly into Kaoru) under the pretense of letting Yahiko pass with a hot plate, he'd motioned to pass a bowl to Kenshin, then directed it towards Kaoru, then took it back to heap more food on his plate, leaving Kaoru and Kenshin with their fingers intertwined briefly. Whistling nonchalantly, he passed the bowl back to the middle of the table, trying not to laugh outright at vividly red faces of his two dinner companions. Now, if only he could convince them to drink some sake with dinner…

Kaoru's face flamed. What is going ON? It's almost as if the gods themselves are trying to embarrass me today!

"Hey, you feelin' OK, Missy? Your face is kinda red." Sano kept his face as concerned-looking as possible.

"Gah…uh, I'm fine, Sano…I, uh, it just feels a little warm in here, but I'll be fine." Kaoru took another bite of food and did her best to combat her blush.

"Are you sure Kaoru-dono? I think Sano's right. You look a little flushed, that you do." Kenshin turned to Kaoru with a concerned expression. After a moment of hesitation, he placed his hands on either side of Kaoru's face, cupping her cheeks. She opened her eyes wide in surprise as he drew their faces close together, til his forehead rested against her gently.*

WHAT IS HE DOING?

"Just…checking your temperature…Kaoru-dono." Kenshin answered her unspoken question in a low, unsteady voice. The tips of his fingers ghosted across her skin as he absently tucked errant strands of hair behind her ears.

"Oh…" Kaoru breathed, her voice barely a whipser. The feel of Kenshin's nearness and his cool hands made her feel hot and cold all at once. She shivered and her eyes drifted shut. 

Aww man, Kenshin, I thought you were gonna go for it that time! Sanosuke snorted. Kenshin looked up quickly and guiltily dropped his hands away from Kaoru's face. Kaoru's eyes snapped open and her blush intensified. Sano felt like kicking himself. Dammit, Sano! You just had to go and ruin their moment after you've been trying all evening to get those two to get over themselves and admit their feelings for each other. Huh, too bad Kenshin's such a decent guy…at this rate he'll be 'helping her up' and 'checking her temperature' for the next ten years! And somehow I don't think Missy is that patient. He smirked smugly. However, after what I've got planned for tonight, maybe we'll be able to cut that down to five years.

"Um, is something funny Sanosuke?" Kaoru looked at him curiously, noting the slight smile on his face.

Sanosuke snapped back to reality. "Huh? Uh, no, it's nothing, uh, SAY has anyone seen Yahiko?" Sure enough, the boy had quietly disappeared from the table some time ago. Sano made a great show of looking around for him. "I think I'll go and, uh, look for him…make sure nothing's happened, y'know." He hurriedly got up and walked out of the room swiftly, leaving Kaoru and Kenshin staring after him in shock.

"What was that all about?" Kaoru scratched her head in confusion.   

"I don't know, but something is definitely amiss, Kaoru-dono, indeed it is. I don't know why, but Sanosuke has been acting strangely this entire evening." Kenshin's voice was low. "He tripped you purposely tonight, and seemed amused when he backed into me, knocking me against you. Yahiko slipped out after only one helping…highly unusual for a boy his age to eat so little, that it is. And the biggest clue that something is afoot—"

"—is that Sanosuke was actually concerned about Yahiko's safety." Kaoru finished. She nodded. "You're right, Kenshin, there IS something going on. And if it involves those two, it can't be good." Her expression darkened. "Sano better not be running a gambling ring out of the back door again!! Maybe that's why he tried to trip me tonight!" She pounded decisively on the table. Kenshin winced, and scooted away in fear, clutching his chopsticks to him, but Kaoru didn't notice. "He wants me to be injured so that I won't catch him and his dirty dealing! And getting Yahiko involved?! Why that freeloading, s—"

"Now, now, Kaoru-dono, we don't know anything yet!" Kenshin, now out of striking range, felt the courage to speak up. "Perhaps we should just ask Sanosuke what's going on…?" He smiled nervously. Kaoru was scary when she got like this.

Kaoru's eye twitched. She was about to respond when suddenly…

"AAAAARRRGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!"

"WAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!"

Kenshin and Kaoru both dropped their chopsticks and raced outside in the direction of the screams.

*******************************************************************

As soon as he'd cleared the doorway, Sanosuke raced to the storage house where Yahiko was waiting for him. Sticking his head inside, he called out to his paid accompl—er, 'partner in crime.'

"Hey! Yahiko! You got it all ready?!"

"Yeah, yeah, keep your loincloth on, baka roosterhead, it's almost ready. I don't get why you're doing this anyway. The day Kenshin and Ugly get together—"

"—could very well be today if you don't screw up!" Sano stepped inside the storage house and crossed his arms in front of his chest. "You may not understand it now—"

"What? Falling in luuuuuuuuuv?" Yahiko sneered.

"No, doing nice things for other people."

"Shut up!"

"Look, are you done yet? This won't work if they decide to turn in for the evening because you took too long!" Sano looked back towards the main house.

"Why the heck did I have to do all this?!" Yahiko stumbled over a piece of dusty furniture as he made his way back to the doorway.

"Because I paid you."

"No you didn't! You only SAID you'd pay me!" Yahiko sneezed as he finally made it back outside.

Sanosuke ruffled the boy's hair. "Just put it on my tab." He smirked as Yahiko glared at him. "OK, now on the count of three, we're gonna scream as loud as we possibly can and then run and you run and hide behind the storage house, and I'll hide over in those bushes. When you see Kenshin and Kaoru come around the corner, we'll scream a second time to get them into the storage house." He stuck a finger in Yahiko's face. "As soon as you see them go inside, slam the doors shut and I'll bar them. Got it?"

"Yeah, I got it."

"And don't forget to throw your voice like I showed you!"

"Yeah, geeze, let's just get this over with," Yahiko grumbled and rolled his eyes.

"OK…on the count of three…One…Two…THREE!"

***********************************************************************

 Kenshin and Kaoru ran to the storage house. A second pair of screams erupted out of the darkness. Kaoru turned to Kenshin.

"That sounded like Sano and Yahiko! In the storage house!"

Without a second thought, they both raced towards the open doors. Bursting through the entryway, sakabatou and bokken held aloft, Kenshin and Kaoru skidded to a halt. They both took up defensive stances, ready to fight for the lives of their friends when suddenly they heard a low giggle behind them.

Yahiko?

*WHAM!*

Not moving, Kaoru glanced sidelong at Kenshin. "Please don't tell me that that was the sound of the doors slamming…"

Kenshin and Kaoru whipped their heads around to see two very firmly shut doors. "What is going on?! I could've sworn that was Yahiko's voice I heard just before the doors shut." Kaoru's voice quavered as she lowered her bokken helplessly. Wordlessly, Kenshin tapped her on the shoulder. She turned to see him pointing at the far end of the room. Her eyes widened.

A small area at the back of the storage house had been cleared out, with furniture and other miscellaneous items stacked to create a small alcove. Moonlight streamed through the barred window, illuminating a small table and two small laterns. A plate of wagashi had been placed in the center of the table, along with some tea. A stack of folded blankets and pallets lay against one wall, with a odd-shaped object placed on top. Eyes full of wonder, Kaoru stepped slowly towards the unexpected scene. She inhaled deeply, noting a sweet fragrance in the air. Walking further into the makeshift alcove, she realized there was one other touch to the scene…

Everything had been scattered with sakura blossoms.

Kaoru felt a slight blush tinge her cheeks. Whoever had prepared the setting had made their intentions clear with the delicate pink flowers: friendship, togetherness, the fleetingness of life…the sakura was a complex symbol, full of meaning. It couldn't possibly have been Yahiko who'd done this. The boy was too young and preoccupied with fighting to know about things like sakuras. Kaoru then noticed a small piece of paper placed beside the wagashi. Picking it up, she saw that the symbol for 'bad' had been scrawled quickly across it. She smiled inwardly. Sanosuke…he must have planned all this with Yahiko so that Kenshin and I could spend some time together! I'll have to be sure to thank him before he goes home tonight.

"Um…Kaoru-dono…?" a soft voice spoke up hesitantly from the darkness.

 Dreamily, she turned to Kenshin, who was still at the other end of the room, examining the doors. "Yes, Kenshin?"

"It seems we have been locked in," he said miserably, "that we have."

"WHAAAAAAAAAT?!"

***************************************************************************

After much effort, Kenshin had managed to restrain Kaoru from beating herself senseless trying to get the door open, narrowly avoiding a few blows himself. Grumbling about baka roosterheads, burdock roots, and other things that made Kenshin wince, Kaoru allowed herself to be guided back to the table. Despite their situation, Kenshin kept a cheerful disposition, and began pouring the tea, chatting conversationally, his face highlighted in the dim lantern light and the paleness of the moon.

"Well at least Sanosuke and Yahiko didn't leave us to starve, that they did not! I can't remember the last time I had wagashi. I wonder where Sano got the money to pay for it," he mused as he happily bit into a cake.

"He probably just convinced Tae to put it on his tab…the freeloader," Kaoru mumbled indignantly. She folded her arms and leaned against the wall, pouting.

Kenshin pushed her tea towards her. "Come now, Kaoru-dono, it seems that Sanosuke and Yahiko put so much effort into this. The least we could do is enjoy it! Here, have some cake, won't you?"

Kaoru sighed in resignation. She reached for her tea, sipping slowly. So maybe it's not as bad as I'm making it out to be. I mean, I still get to spend time with Kenshin…just…a lot MORE time than I thought. I guess he's right. All we can do is make the best of this. And I suppose it could definitely be worse than tea and wagashi. A slight gust of wind blew through the window, causing some of the flower petals to swirl up into the air. A few landed in Kaoru's tea. She wrinkled her nose and began picking them out. Stupid flowers…

Kenshin stole a surreptitious glance at Kaoru as he took another sip of tea. He hid a smile. She looks so lovely in the moonlight…   

Kaoru frowned in frustration as the petals refused to unstick themselves from her fingers. Stupid, stupid flowers!

Another gust of wind blew through the window. Kenshin noticed Kaoru's displeased look. She must be cold. Perhaps we should…go to bed…Kenshin's thoughts lingered on the idea just long enough for him to choke on his tea. SEPARATELY!

STUPID, STUPID FLOWERS! Kaoru combated with the blossoms that had just been swept into her hair with the second gust of wind. She looked up, hearing Kenshin coughing.

"Kenshin, are you all right?" she paused from her battle with the sakuras.

"Gack! Agh…uh *cough* just fine…AHEM!" he pounded himself on the chest. "I'm just fine, Kaoru-dono."

She raised an eyebrow.

"I, uh, was just thinking that perhaps we should go to bed separa—uh, that we should go to bed soon…that we should," Kenshin offered, flustered.

"Oh, well, I guess you're right." Kaoru took a final sip of tea, draining her cup. Standing up, she stretched and yawned. "Could you lay out the pallets, Kenshin?"

"Hai, of course, Kaoru-dono." Kenshin stood and walked over to the pile of blankets. He picked up the strange dark object on top. It was a jug.

"Kenshin, what is that?"

He uncorked the jug and sniffed at the opening. "It's…sake."

Kaoru turned. "Sake? What for I wonder…?"

Kenshin set the jug down. "Maybe it was in case we didn't like the tea."

"Maybe."

Kenshin bent over the pile and picked up the first blanket. Standing, he snapped it open, sending sakura petals flying upwards into the air. He looked over to Kaoru, who had turned her back to him, and inhaled sharply at the sight that met his eyes.

Kaoru reached up to the indigo ribbon that held her hair in its familiar high tail. With a tug, she released the dark strands, which fell gracefully like a curtain of silk, nearly to her waist. Her hair shimmered in the pale moonlight as she ran her fingers through it, ridding herself of more sakura petals and searching for tangles. I should remember to start carrying a comb with me. Then again, it's not everyday that you get locked away in a cold storage house completely separated from all your personal belongings…Suddenly, she dropped her hands to her sides, feeling a warmth at her back. Gentle fingers threaded themselves through her hair, pulling slowly downward, combing through the blue-black strands. Kenshin…His fingers trailed through her hair, just barely touching her neck, ghosting down her back. She closed her eyes, afraid to breathe and break the spell.

"Kaoru…" His voice was a low, throaty whisper.

Hesitantly she turned to face him, wide blue eyes meeting unreadable violet ones. He held a hand out to her. "You missed one…that you did."

Kaoru looked down. In his open palm rested a perfectly formed sakura blossom. She shivered as she reached out to take it, her fingers caressing his skin as she did so. She smiled, blushing. "Thank you." I LOVE SAKURA BLOSSOMS!

Kenshin only smiled in return, and turned back to the blankets. Kaoru dreamily finished combing her hair, then braided it neatly. The night hadn't turned out so badly after all!

"Oro…"

Kaoru's back stiffened. She knew what that word meant…it meant a problem…some unexpected problem…something to ruin a night that had already had enough things wrong with it. Warily she faced Kenshin, who stood beside a pallet, two blankets in hand. He looked at her like a rabbit under the scrutiny of a wolf.

"Kaoru-dono…ah…"

"Yes, Kenshin?" Her voice was deceptively calm, her eyes were dangerous.

"There's olliwupallot…" he mumbled, instinctively backing away.

"There's what?"

He bowed his head defeatedly. "There's…only one pallet." His voice died to a whimper. "That there is."

"WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT?!"

*******************************************************************

*Yes, this is actually a way of checking someone's temperature.

A/N: Well, there you have it! A nice, big, fat juicy update!!! Hehehe…Where oh WHERE am I gonna go with THIS?! ::grins evilly:: READ AND REVIEW ONEGAI!!! It helps keep those creative juices flowing!!!!! Oh, and in case anyone's interested, I hope to have my new Aoshi/Misao fanfic up sometime tomorrow night! Keep your eyes peeled, I'm really excited about this one! Ja!