Chapter Summary- Spiky-haired men goodness! I apologize in advance for the restaurant scene, but I'm not very happy with this chapter. Anyway, thank you for reading, and please review, good or bad.

IMPORTANT- As I've said in the last five chapters, my lil' story is based on the MANGA version, not the anime. So there will be big differences, like no Ayame and Suzame, and no pink Gi's, you know, all the stupid stuff. I'll explain the differences at the end, in the Author's Notes.

Disclaimer- *Opens purse, counts money* Hmm . . . *throws purse down in an angry fit* Damn! I'm 20 bucks short of owning RuoKen. *Looks at you* Say, you'll lend me some money right? Right?

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"The blade on this Sakabatou can cut anything, but people."

-Himura Kenshin- Manga Volume I, Chapter IV

*

Chapter Six- Intermission

It was over a week since Yahiko moved into the dojo, a little over half a month for Kenshin. Already there was a daily schedule unofficially set in place. Kenshin woke before dawn, and immediately started opening the Dojo's ground, along with preparing breakfast. An hour or so later, Kaoru would wake, and help with breakfast preparations, but after their first experience in her cooking, Kenshin politely made sure he did most of the food handling. After Kenshin finally manages to push her out of the kitchen, Kaoru would disappear to the Dojo, practicing morning Kata. Shortly after sunrise, Yahiko would wake up to the smell of Miso, and clamor to the source, stumbling sleepily along the way. Breakfast was served, and the Kamiya Dojo's occupants would discuss about activities to fill the day.

The day before was no exception to their morning ritual, everything went as planed. Kenshin took care of the cooking and chores. Kaoru and Yahiko ate breakfast, changed, and headed for the dojo to begin practice. Kenshin took a break in his tasks to come watch the instructions, but mainly to defer any arguments started between the other sword artists. Most of the lesson evolved a screaming match, and not much sword skill was taught in the end. The failed lesson ended, and Kenshin quietly laughed to himself about the two's antics while heading to the markets for that evening's meal. Everything seemed to go quietly as planned.

When Kenshin came home later in the day, he found that the day had not transpired as usual, his inner instincts immerged in full force when he drew close to the dojo. The shopping supplies were set aside along the wall, and he quietly crept up a tree to survey the grounds. A mob had formed in front of the school and after listening to their conversation a few minutes Kenshin picked up the gist of the story. Evidently two former students of Kaoru-dono's ran there for safety because they were fleeing from a gang that were after them for assaulting a few of it's members. A few more glances picked up heavily armed men, and a wooden cannon that blasted a whole through the Dojo's wall before his arrival. To say the least, Kenshin was not very pleased.

Down below Kaoru offered to take responsibility for her former student's actions, and Kenshin's angered flared when the men drew closer to her with obvious non-gentlemanly thoughts on their minds. Before Kenshin's could interact, Yahiko flew in with a flying kick to the Leader's head. Kenshin took the diversion and swooped down to the streets again, picking up his groceries, while he quietly entered the Dojo just as the Gang's leader ordered them to be killed.

Calmly entering the Dojo, Kenshin announced his arrival and placed the groceries to the side again --lynch mob or not, they were not going to disturb his chores. Of course the idiots recognized him from the Federal Armed Forces incident and arranged their cannon towards him, an effort to defeat him. Split seconds later they fired, and Kenshin drew his sword, swiftly splitting the cannon ball in two. The gang got scared and ran for their lives, Yahiko was rolling on the ground after they scrambled like frightened children, but Kaoru was upset. Kenshin understood why she was crying --she thought her efforts of teaching failed with the two students who took refuge at her dojo-- but felt helpless seeing his cheerful Kaoru-dono brought down to misery. He quickly dismissed the former students, and told them to never touch a sword again, and they left silently, feeling guilty.

Yahiko intervened, it seemed he too did not like seeing Kaoru in such a sad mood, and told her to cheer up. He was never going to be like them, he knew it would take time but he would become strong under the Kamiya Kasshin style. Kenshin saw Kaoru immediately perk up, returning back to her normal self, and he was proud of Yahiko's earlier actions when he protected Kaoru, also proud of his kind words. The relationship between the two was troubled but none of their fights were personal, deep down he knew they respected one another, just as he did for them.

So, In the spring of the eleventh year of the Meiji Era, the first small but sure steps were taken for the rebirth of the Kasshin Ryu.

*

The day after the incident in the dojo, Kenshin rose at his normal time, before the sun. He was accustomed to few hours of sleep, turning in after the majority and rising up before them too. At least now it was not because he had to carry out any duties of the Hitokiri or set foot early on the road to find the next town over, it was just so he could prepare the Kamiya dojo for the new day.

He went through the mechanical procedures of the morning. First was a quick bath, then quickly he changed into his white hakama and red gi, next was breakfast. The Miso was stirred, the rice left to cool and the rest set out until everything was finished. After that he tended to the dojo gates, and checked the grounds. He quietly walked past Yahiko and Kaoru's room to check the occupants. Satisfied with everything else, he returned to his room to clear away his sleeping futon. It folded away easily and he picked up his sword to set on top for the day.

He held the sword in his hands and starred, fascinated where his life had took him the past half-month. Before coming to the Kamiya dojo, it went every where with him, never separated from him for more than a few hours. Now at the dojo, he could leave it in his room all day, only bringing it with him when they left the grounds. Sometimes when he missed the weight, or out of habit he carried it around the dojo, but the thought that it was not necessary was comforting.

Shaking his head, he placed the Sakabatou through his obi. He reminded himself that his stay with Kaoru was temporary, and he should not allow himself to get accustomed to his current life style. It would end soon, and his sword would be with him for the rest of his life as a rurouni. Sword in tow, Kenshin left his room, and headed for the kitchen once again.

When he arrived at the kitchen door he stopped short, and instead sat on the engawa, resting against a wood beam. The mornings were his favorite part of the day, someone could have argued with him it was because of the quiet, and he could have his privacy, but they would be wrong. He liked the mornings because of the early conversation he carried out with Kaoru, since Yahiko's arrival it was the only time of the day guaranteed to be left for the two alone. He enjoyed talking with Yahiko's presence but most conversation erupted in an argument while the other two jested with one another, it left little room for sincere words.

Kenshin was brought out of his musing when he heard the pitter of footsteps on the wood floor. He turned to greet a pouting girl, still clad in sleeping yukata.

"Good Morning, Kaoru-dono." He patted the space next to him, inviting her to sit. "You're up early today."

"Mou, Kenshin, You always beat me!" Kaoru crept over to Kenshin, and sat. His earlier assumption about her pouting had been correct, it seemed she tried to beat him to meal preparations, again. She blinked, and smiled sheepishly. "Good Morning, though . . ."

"Aa, but it was a good try." Kenshin chuckled and placed his sword to the side, out of his lap where it had been resting. Kaoru noticed the sword but said nothing of it, and returned to the smiling red head. "You woke up very early this morning, it's not even fully light out yet."

Kaoru glanced at the sky; it was still fairly dark out. Swinging her legs a few times, she sighed. "Kenshin, you can't try to do everything on your own."

"Kaoru-dono is the one who does to much."

Arguing with Kenshin never got anywhere, Kaoru sighed again. "Will you at least let me make breakfast this morning? I am the woman of this house."

"Sessha would --but it's already done." Another pout appeared on Kaoru's face and Kenshin grinned, she really looked Kawaii when she did that. "Maybe tomorrow?"

"That's if you don't beat me to it again." Kaoru shifted, and brought her legs underneath her, sitting on them for comfort. "We should do something different today."

Kenshin blinked. "Different?"

"Yeah, we should all go out to town and do something together." The idea already had passed through Kaoru's mind the day before and she thought a change in pace was needed after yesterday's intrusion. "What do you think?"

"What do you have in mind?"

"Nothing special, but we've never gone out and done anything before." A bright smile flashed on Kaoru's face, lighting up her features. "So, I'll tell you when we get there."

Kenshin caught on. "Aa, a secret."

"Maybe," Kaoru nodded, and glanced at Kenshin's sword lying on the floor. It was odd to see him carry it around with him in the morning, let alone the dojo. "Kenshin?"

"Hai?"

Kaoru hesitated, unsure if it was proper for her ask or not. "Why do you carry the sword with you everywhere, you don't need it all the time, right?"

Slumping back on his palms, Kenshin sighed. Kaoru knew more than the common people did about him, but it was a small percentage of his whole life's story. It was something he was not going to depress the blue eyed girl with today. "It's a reminder."

Kaoru's brow knotted in confusion. "Reminder?"

"Sessha was thinking . . ." He knew, Kaoru knew there was a deeper meaning behind his statement, but wanted her to have nothing to do with, that is why another thought resided in his mind since Yahiko's arrival. "Since Yahiko is here, maybe it's time for sessha to lea--"

"Kenshin," Slight panic set through Kaoru, she knew where the sentence was going and did not like it, at all. She quickly placed a hand on top of his to gain full attention, making sure he knew she was serious. "You promised you would stay and help me with the dojo."

Kenshin stiffened, and glanced down at their hands. "But--"

"Besides, you said so yourself you were tired of wondering." Kenshin straightened and tried to pull his hand free but Kaoru instead threaded her fingers through his --he was not going to get away that easily. "Two weeks is not enough time for rest, don't you think?"

Returning his gaze forward, Kenshin just stared, thinking. He, himself did not want to leave just yet, and he knew he would have to one day, he had just reminded himself that same fact earlier in the day, but Kaoru was not ready for him to wander. 'The things you get yourself into, Himura'. He slowly smiled and squeezed Kaoru's hand, letting her know he was still there. "Aa."

Kaoru giggled, he always knew how to get out of an argument, and his lack of speech was his best tactic. Someday she would get the rurouni to talk more openly to her, even if she had to force him, but today was not going to be that day. "Is that all you can say?

He blinked. "Oro?"

She shook her head. 'Silly rurouni'. The adorable sound Kenshin always made seemed to be perfect for getting him out of sticky situations, almost as if it was made for that reason. Prying another word out of him on that subject would be in vain, she just smiled at Kenshin and returned to watch the sun finish rising in the sky. For now, the Kenkaku-san was not going anywhere, and she had plenty of time to worry about it later.

*

Morning light evaded Yahiko's sleep and he awoke to the quiet room. Shifting in the covers, he drew them over his head and sighed unhappily. Ever since staying with Kaoru and Kenshin he woke up early, not wanting to miss any activities during the day, and maybe the slight chance he would get to see Kenshin in action. He sighed again, Kenshin was a controlled man and never showed off his swords skills, and for that matter, he never even practiced while he was around. It was irritating, maybe he should just return to sleeping in late like before.

Eventually, Yahiko unraveled himself from the futon and rose to his feet. A few quick stretches and he was out the door, bumbling down the hall. He yawned, turning the corner, and slowly came to a stop. 'I knew it'. In front of the kitchen Kaoru and Kenshin were sitting on the engawa, holding hands rather sweetly if he thought so himself. The whole week before Kaoru constantly told him there was nothing special between the two, but he thought otherwise. 'People don't hold hands with people they don't like'.

"Hey, Busu! What are you doing?!" Yahiko snickered when he saw Kaoru jump and turn a pale face towards him. She gave him a quizzical look, verging on irked, and he continued. "Let go of Kenshin, he has better things to do besides hold hands with a busu!"

"Why you--" Kaoru glanced down at her hand and blushed, starting to pull away after she realized his outburst. "Oh."

Kenshin instead rose to his feet and pulled Kaoru into the kitchen, tugging on her hand. It was to early for a morning round with the two, so getting them separated fast was the best option of determent. "Kaoru-dono, would you help sessha?"

"Ano . . . S-sure." Kaoru let herself be drawn inside, and reprimanded herself for forgetting about little monsters roaming the dojo, just looking for havoc. Once inside Kenshin lightly squeezed her hand and dropped it, turning to the counter. "What would you like me to do?"

He taped on his chin thoughtfully with his finger. "Maybe, set the table?"

"Hai." Just as Kaoru turned around, Yahiko slid open the shoji and grinned at her, she scowled and moved along to her task. Evil children were not worth the time of day!

Kenshin smiled, and nodded to the boy. "Ohayo gozaimasu, Yahiko."

"Ohayo, Kenshin." Yawning, Yahiko scratched his head, voicing the only thought on his mind. "I'm hungry."

*

Breakfast was cleared after everyone ate their share, leaving with full bellies. Kaoru and Yahiko changed and went to the dojo, once again trying for lesson, only leaving later rather tired and mad at one another. Kenshin busied himself with simple task as he listened to the occasional thumps and shouts coming from the dojo, another instruction sounded unsuccessful. Eventually, Kaoru went to the bath and changed into her kimono and disappeared inside after she said she needed to look for something. Yahiko carried his shinai over to where Kenshin was chopping wood in front on the engawa, looking for something to do while he was bored.

Kenshin swiftly sliced a block in two, letting the two pieces fall to the ground. "Learn anything today, Yahiko?"

Yahiko snorted, "Not really."

"Sessha is sure you learned more than you think." Yahiko studied Kenshin as he cut wood blocks into two, with no particular effort, using his sakabatou for the chore. It seemed every time Kenshin did something he did it to perfection, and house chores were no exception.

Yahiko swung a few practice swings as he watched the rurouni out of the corner of his eye. "Kenshin, I'm hungry."

Kenshin chuckled. The boy was always starving and seemed too not be shy about letting people here him complain. His practice with Kaoru probably took a lot out of him, and it was fast approaching the lunch hour. "Sessha thinks Kaoru-dono has something planned for today, we will have to wait for her."

"Like what?" Before Kenshin could respond, Kaoru stumbled through the door holding an article in her hand, looking very excited.

Kenshin blinked. "Oro?"

"Hey, look! We don't have to worry about money for a while!" Kenshin and Yahiko exchanged confused glances while Kaoru danced. She unraveled the item she was carrying and continued. "I found what I was looking for. Grandpa painted it--"

"Oh, a doodle." Kenshin looked at the picture in her hand, and Kaoru frowned.

"It's an ink painting!"

Kenshin squinted his eyes for a better view, in the drawing there were a few brush strokes that depicted an outdoor scene. Maybe he had been wrong; art appreciation was not in his job description. "Oh."

"Grandpa was also a Kenjutsu instructor, but he loved doing ink paintings on the side . . ." Kaoru closed her eyes and wound the painting back up, looking very content. "We can go and sell this off for money. Oh, thank you, my dearest beloved grandpa . . ."

Yahiko rolled his eyes. "Money grubber."

Kaoru decided not to listen to Yahiko's complaints. She danced forward, heading to the gate. "C'mon let's go celebrate!"

Kenshin shook his head and chuckled, sheathing his sword. He followed Kaoru out the Dojo's gates with Yahiko in tow.

*

Kaoru had mentioned early in the morning she wanted to do something different with the day, so the three set out in town. They stopped at a stall where Kaoru could sell he grandfather's ink painting and walked away with more money than Kenshin thought the doodle was worth, then again, he did not know much about art. Traveling through the streets, Kaoru explained they were headed for a restaurant where a family friend worked. It was a Gyu-nabe restaurant, that's specialty was a sort of beef hot plate --sukiyaki. It was one of the new foods introduced, thanks to the new Meiji era.

Kaoru skipped her way to the door when they arrived at the Akabeko. She slid the door open to reveal a very busy restaurant.

"Welcome, Can I help--" A slender woman, with short brown hair turned to greet her customers. She stopped mid sentence when she recognized the young girl. "Oh! Hi, Kaoru-chan!"

"Hi, Tae-san, long time no see"

"You look so much nicer all the time! I don't think I've seen your friends before . . ." Tae moved her eyes to Kenshin, and smiled knowingly. "Is that your boyfriend over there?"

"N-n-no!" Kaoru sputtered, turning shades of pink. "H-he's just someone staying at the dojo."

Kenshin smiled a little uneasy, and Yahiko snickered at both of their embarrassment --It was always fun to see Kaoru suffer, if he says so himself.

"YEAH RIGHT!"

Everyone was brought out of their amusement when shouting irrupted. Drunken men were arguing about governmental issue, screaming about democracy and freedom. They listed off a few important names and Kenshin frowned, the ideals they were talking about hit close to home for him. Not everyone in the Meiji era was happy, a fact he knew all to well.

Tae sighed. "They come here once in a while, they're always like this when they get drunk . . ."

"Guess they are part of civil rights movement." Kenshin tore his sights of the men, and glanced around the room, noticing how uneasy the rest of the customers looked. In the back there was one man who calmly sipped his sake and looked un-bothered, at least some people knew how to shrug it off.

Kaoru shrugged. "I don't understand a thing they're saying."

Tae led them to a table while Yahiko scoffed. "Ah, they're just drunks."

Kenshin quietly agreed with Yahiko as Kaoru ordered for them, along with a request of coffee for afterwards. Kaoru turned and patted Yahiko's head. "Ever had coffee before, Yahiko?"

"Shut up, and stop patting my head." While Yahiko seethed Kenshin noted Kaoru's giddy smile; it had been plastered on her face all day, nothing seemed to be getting her down. It was a happy thought in midst of drunks arguing over politics, something he would rather forget about for the time being.

"You are awfully happy today, Kaoru-do--" Kenshin stopped, senses alert.

Kaoru blinked when Kenshin cut off his sentence. "Kenshin?"

The rurouni suddenly slumped forward to Kaoru and Yahiko's surprise. Seconds later Yahiko noted the broken Sake holder that smashed on Kenshin's head and growled at the drunken men whom through it.

Kenshin head was aching from his action of saving Kaoru-dono's pretty face. "Ororoo . . ."

"Hey, you! D'ya' realize you HURT someone with that Sake bottle?! Stop arguing for a sec, Dammint!" Yahiko snapped when the men went on with their shouting. "You should apologize you know! Then you can go back to your arguing!"

The men turned to see a young bow yelling at them and they irrupted. Alcohol induced tongues flew back at the boy, only to have him return with twice the venom. Kaoru could only blink, but Kenshin tried to step in to at least calm Yahiko, his attempt only failed in the end.

Tae came running with a worried look playing across her face --fights were not good for business. "I'm sorry, but we'd prefer not to have trouble in here . . ."

"Shaddup! Women should know their place!"

Kenshin instantly grabbed his hilt in an angered gesture when the man backhanded tae, and she went flying backwards. Luckily, she was caught before more harm could be done. "Careful now."

"Tae!" Everyone's attention focused on the man who rescued Tae from a meeting with the ground. Kenshin slowly released his hand from the hilt, dropping it to his side.

"Hey, now. Democaracy exist for the weak, you know. You guys are the worst examples of freedom fighters I've ever seen." It was the man that Kenshin noticed before talking. He stood tall, with spiked hair, very similar to Yahiko's but wrapped in a red cloth tie. "Unless, of course, you're thinking of some other freedom. Maybe you're for the freedom to get drunk and cause shitloads of trouble. That sound about right to you?"

The men were no more pleased at the new stranger than they were at Yahiko and another screaming match ensued. Kenshin felt like that's all he had been doing today, listening to people bicker. But the taller, young man spoke of a more genuine truth and he seemed angrier with their political side than the fact they hit a woman. Eventually the man was challenged to a fight, and he accepted it happily.

Kenshin followed the crowd that gathered outside to watch, just in case some serious matters took place. All Kaoru could do was blink, not fully understanding what just had occurred. "Wow. This just keeps getting weirder."

"Maybe sessha should stop them?"

Yahiko smirked --the idiots deserved any pain coming to them. "Hey, if they wanna fight, they wanna fight."

The younger fighter brushed off their insults and even was kind enough to offer them a free shot. Everyone thought he would regret it when the other man aimed his punch, armed with a suntetsu, a hidden weapon easily concealed in the hand.

Kaoru cried that it was not fair to use concealed weapons, while the other men scoffed that a suntestu was meant to be hidden, so there was not point to her gripping. Kenshin passively agreed but noticed something they did not about the young fighter. "They tell the truth, however, it appears to have no effect."

"Tch." The tall man pulled away, looking rather unaffected by the other man's attempts to inflict injury. "You used a suntetsu and I didn't feel it at all."

The drunk brawler screamed in pain as his arm twisted, Kenshin knew then the street fighter was not in the normal class, he was more stronger than most. With a flick of one finger, the boy sent the other man flying backwards, and he frowned at his lack of effort. "Man, I bought into a boring fight."

Kaoru and Yahiko were stunned but the down man's friends grew angry, and one pulled a concealed blade. Kenshin set into action by placing his hilt into the man's back in a suggestive manner, keeping a calm tone as he spoke. "I can tolerate drunks causing disturbances. However, if you draw that sword, I will have to take appropriate measures."

Kenshin further instructed the suddenly scared man to leave the premises after paying his bill, quickly. The man scurried out as they dragged their unconscious friend behind --thanks to the young street fighter. Tae thanked the man for his help but he shrugged it off declaring he liked to fight, it was no big deal. Before Kenshin and the others could return to their interrupted meal, the fighter called to them. "Oh, yeah. You okay, Senkaku-san? How's that head of yours?"

Kenshin blinked. "It's nothing serious."

The man smirked down at Kenshin. "Yeah, I figured. It'd be really stupid to not dodge on purpose, and get hurt badly, wouldn't it."

'Did I miss something?' Kaoru blinked. "Huh?"

"You knew she'd be hit by the bottle if you didn't block it." Kaoru and Yahiko looked up to Kenshin, while the man pointed in his direction. "So you didn't dodge and used your head as a shield, right?"

The man was better than Kenshin thought if he noticed that, he decided to play innocent. "You over estimate my ability."

"Huh, modest, too." The man smirked again, raising a fist in a mock punch. "I like you, how's about we fight. It'll be fun, I swear . . ."

"No thank you."

"Hmm, well, if you ever change your mind, just say so. You'll find me over at the old long house on the edge of town." The man turned to walk away and waved. "Later."

The blaring Aku symbol on the back of the man's white shirt caught their attention. Kaoru wondered if that meant he was a good guy or a bad guy, Yahiko just thought it meant bad taste. Kenshin knew him to be an interesting man, and also knew it would not be the last they saw him.

But they were brought out of their musings when Tae said he forgot to pay the bill . . .

*

The rest of the meal was luckily undisturbed and quite pleasant. The atmosphere at the Akabeko was very enjoyable when there were no screaming dunks in the background. Kenshin did not mind if they decided to come back again, and the hostess, Tae-dono, was a very lovely woman.

Kaoru sipped her coffee and glanced at Yahiko. "Will you just try it at least?"

Yahiko sniffed the unidentifiable liquid in the cup, "It smells funny."

"Argh! Your so irritating sometimes." She turned her attention to the quiet rurouni. "Tell him its okay, Kenshin, he only listens to you."

"Oro?"

"Fine." Yahiko huffed and gulped down a mouth full, only to spit it out back again because it was scolding hot. "Bleh, your tryn' to kill me!"

Kaoru giggled. "You idiot."

Kenshin chuckled as he tasted some of his own drink, coffee had never been his favorite but Kaoru-dono seemed to enjoy the foreign mix. He was more of a rice cracker and green tea sort of man. Tae shuffled up to their booth, sitting down next to Kaoru. "How was everything?"

"Wonderful as usual, Tae-san." Kaoru smiled. "Don't you think, Kenshin?"

Kenshin nodded and Tae grinned at the couple sharing significant glances. She leaned over to Kaoru and whispered in her ear. "So, when are you two getting married?"

Kaoru sputtered, while Yahiko snickered, and Kenshin felt like dying.

"Oro?!"

*

To be continued . . .

*

Next Chapter- "Girls" out on the town with Yahiko. *Snicker* You'll see . . .

Author's Notes- Sorry, I apologize for getting a little overboard on the Sano scene, I just pretty much rewrote it with minor changes. I took out a lot of the dialogue so it would not get too boring, but that scene in the manga is really cool. So, as you can see, Genzai-sensei and his granddaughters did not come along for lunch, plus the granddaughters do not even exist in the manga, and Genzai is a very, very minor character in the manga. I only remember seeing him a few times, and he's kind of a dirty old man. Anyway, the whole Sanosuke fight with the drunk men was about the same, only minor differences. That's about it, I think.

Sorry for not updating like I usually do, but I'm writing two stories and they caught up with each other. So, my updates will range from one week to two weeks, unless somethin' critical happens in life. *Shrug* it happens sometime . . .

IMPORTANT- *Throws confetti, toots on a horn* Yeah! RuoKen has officially been picked up by Viz; the latest Shonen Jump (issue #7) gives details and pretty pictures from the manga series. I've already got all 28 volumes in Japanese but this just makes it much easier to read and more attainable for people like you! So, they say it will be released in November. Far away, but it's a start. Personally, I think Kenshin looks much better in the manga, not to mention a better story line. Anyway, go out and buy it!

Thank you for reading, and bearing with my story line!

*

Reviewers- Thank you all!

Icegal- Kaoru's cooking is always a classic in fan fiction writing, right along with Akane from Ranma.

MysticPrincessMoonlight- I think 'sessha' is awesome too, it makes the rurouni. "Gozaru" is a suffix conjugation for "to be" or can be roughly translated as "...so says this humble person". I've got all of the terms on my web site if you want a more in depth look too.

Jaina- Thanx!

forbitten- Kaoru: I think there needs to be more fluff . . .*Looks at Kenshin* Get over here, Rurouni!

Kenshin: *Gulp* Ororoo . . .

Lucrecia LeVrai- Ah, I love you! Thank you, but I must say, I'm pleased with the amount of reviewers I have now, but more is always good.

bonessasan- Yahiko's a little twerp that will be doing a lot of interrupting in this story. *Snicker* Sometimes you just want to strangle him!

vindemon64- Detail is always a good thing, although I could put in a lot more. I'm just lazy . . . Anyway, I think it will still be a couple of chapters before Yahiko discovers Kenshin's secret. Thanx!

KatsyKat- *Sigh* you had me scared there for a sec, I thought you hated it. You might not be pleased with this chapter but thank you for reading!

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Thanx!