Princess Rule 5: A beauty queen always knows when to keep her mouth shut.

"That's right. Longer, longer, stroke, stroke."

"I can't take this anymore," Sano groaned.

Megumi sighed. "It's only calligraphy."

The tall, lean guy beside her ran an impatient hand through his hair. "But why is this so hard?"

"Hey, don't look at me, genius. This was your idea," she reminded him. "Look, you want to call it a day?"

Sano gestured towards the empty stage. They were seated inside the auditorium waiting for the rest of the crew and the participants to show up. "Why are you in such a hurry? There's no one here yet. Besides, we technically have twenty minutes left to burn."

"I shouldn't even be here, remember? You said you'd get me out of my being in the middle of that dance sequence." She leaned closer and used the end of her pen to poke his chest. "I'm. still. there. I don't see you fulfilling your part of the bargain."

Sano leaned back and propped his feet on the vacant seat in front of him. "So tell me again, fox, why are you here?"

Megumi huffed self-consciously. "I'm doing this out of the goodness of my heart. And besides, the sooner that Genzai-sensei sees that all your grades have improved the better. He can call this whole tutoring thing off in an instant. Not as if you really need it." She paused. "Seriously, rooster-head, why do you act like you don't know anything most of the time? Why bully people for their homework? Why fool around so much in class?"

"Hey, look, here comes Shishio," Sano pointed out, quickly changing the subject.

Megumi partly turned in her seat to catch a glimpse of their director. Thanks to her, he now sported a new cast on his leg, in addition to the one he already had on his arm. She tried to fight the guilt rising in her chest. That had been Sano's fault anyway. He should have known better than to place her in the middle, directly in Shishio's range. She turned back to Sano. "No, I'm serious, why do you always--"

"And hey, there's Saitou-sensei and Takagi."

Megumi spared their tall, mysterious teacher a brief glance and quickly noted the blush and smile on Tokio Takagi's face. What was going on here? This could radically affect her chances in the contest…but later. She was not going to be derailed again. "Sano, really, why are you--"

"And there's Kenshin."

Megumi was nearing the end of her rope. "Sano, I'm serious--"

"And Kamatari's in a bikin--"

"Stop interrupting me, idiot, and tell me why you're so dumb?!?" she screamed.

Everyone in the auditorium looked her way.

Megumi groaned. Why, oh why, did she continually lose her composure when she was around this guy? "Sometimes," she added lamely. "Act. I meant, act. Why you act so dumb sometimes,"

But Sano didn't seem to be offended. In fact his amused smirk took away the sting of his words. "You really enjoy putting other people down, don't you, fox?"

"Actually, just you," she retorted with a smile, so that he would know she was only teasing. Finally she couldn't resist and let out one of her trademark laughs. "Ohohohoho!"

He cocked his head. "Let's save that for some other conversation, shall we?"

Megumi stared deep into his chocolate brown eyes as she quieted down. Despite his easy grin, there was a serious look in his eyes. "Uh, okay," she stammered out. Then with a toss of her hair, she added haughtily. "So, if His Highness won't be needing my services any more, I shall retire."

He grabbed her arm, reflexes quick as lightning. "Hey you won't get away from me that easily, fox."

"Okay, let's talk about something else," she suggested. "Say, that rumor about you beating up that kid Hyottoko after rehearsals yesterday."

He dismissed it with a casual wave. "We were playing baseball. He said something I didn't like. I told him off. He didn't take it lightly and the next thing we knew we were at each other's throats. End of the story."

Megumi wrinkled her nose. She just couldn't get this guy. "I don't understand why you can be so violent."

Sano made a big show of flexing his muscles. "You ain't seen--"

"Sagara."


They both turned to face the speaker. Somehow, Saitou-sensei had managed to sneak up behind them and was now standing there with his arms crossed over his chest. He looked from Sano to Megumi and back before continuing. "I suggest that you quit flirting and start working. I suppose you already have your crew ready?"

Sano nodded. "My friend Tsukioka. Just one person, but he's dynamite when it comes to special effects. You should see his--"

"Whatever," Saitou cut him off. Then he looked at Megumi. "What about this girl?"

Megumi drew herself up to her full height. Teacher or not, she wasn't about to crumble in his presence. "I happen to be the reigning Miss Meiji High School."

"Was there a shortage of beauties last year?" Saitou mused out loud. As Megumi's mouth dropped open in righteous indignation, he cut her off. "I'm appointing you to help this idiot every once in a while. Only someone as stupid as him would get only one other person for his crew. You seem to be a smart girl, although I don't know why you associate yourself with this rooster-head."

"You can't do that!" Megumi protested weakly.

"I just did," Saitou growled.

"But I'm a contestant too!"

But Saitou was already walking away. "I'm not asking you to quit, am I? Like I said, you look like a smart girl. Go figure it out. Just keep Sagara out of trouble."

"Keep you out of trouble?" Megumi repeated once the teacher was out of earshot. He should just have asked her to dance over a tray of hot coals. Or to convince Britney Spears to enter a convent. That would have been much easier. "I don't make miracles, you know."

"Face it, fox, we're partners," Sano said. His words were light but his eyes begged her not to disappoint him. "Let's get to work."

Megumi felt something twinge inside her chest. She may have been popular, but she never really had any close friends. She was surprised that this guy here -- rough and brash as he was -- would want to have anything to do with her, especially considering that they were such opposites. But when he placed a friendly arm around her shoulders, Megumi didn't protest at all.

~~~

Beauty Rule 4: Are you a winter or a summer? Know your season!

"Okay, you promise to give me your honest opinion?" Misao beamed hopefully up at her best friend.

Kaoru laughed. "Okay, okay. Just show me this fabulous dress already. You've been raving about it for the past two days!"

Misao grinned. They were standing backstage, in between rehearsals. She brought out her gray garment bag and unzipped it so that Kaoru could get a glimpse of the marvelous orange gown she had bought with Soujiro. "Ta-dah!" she said with a flourish.

Kaoru seemed to be too impressed for words. She opened and closed her mouth a few times but no words came out.

"I know," Misao filled in after Kaoru's awestruck silence. "Leaves you speechless, doesn't it?"

"It's hideous!"

Misao immediately flared at the interruption. She saw Miss Meiji High standing to their right, her pretty nose wrinkled in distaste. She may have helped Misao out yesterday, but her words now made her eager for blood. "Who asked your advice?"

The tall girl shrugged. "I just gave you my honest opinion. You don't want it, fine. Not my problem."

All her life, Misao was tired of being treated as a kid. That dress was the first time she truly felt that she was a woman coming to her own, and it hurt her to have it ridiculed like that. It wasn't the dress, she realized. It felt as if everything she had ever been proud of was now being rejected. She couldn't resist a final dig as Megumi turned to walk away. "Maybe they should have named you Miss Meiji High and Mighty, huh?"

"Uh, Misao," Kaoru laid a restraining hand on her arm.

"Leggo, Kaoru! She gave me a piece of her mind, I'll give her mine." She broke free of Kaoru's grasp and grabbed Megumi. "Look, you may be pretty and smart but let me tell you -- polite people don't go around insulting others."

Megumi faced her. "Okay, I'm sorry. It's a perfectly wonderful dress. I hope you wear it and meet your Prince Charming and live happily ever after and have a dozen of his babies. Satisfied?"

"Why you…" Misao was about to leap up at her but Kaoru was already gripping her arms. She struggled against her friend, but Kaoru was no pushover.

"Why didn't you let me get a piece of her?" Misao complained as Megumi walked away.

Kaoru dropped her eyes and released her hold on Misao. "Well, because uh… because, uhm… part of what she said may be a little bit true."

Misao was shocked. "Kaoru! You mean to tell me that you think my dress is hideous as well?"

"Hideous may be too strong a word," Kaoru said. "Let's just say that I've seen better dresses."

Misao brightened. "That's not so bad."

"Uh, let's also say that I haven't seen anything as aesthetically-challenged."

"So you think it's hideous, too." Misao couldn't hide the bitterness in her voice.

Kaoru felt a stab of guilt. "I just think that you deserve something better."

Just then, Sanosuke poked his head backstage. "Shishio wants Komagata, Sekihara, and Kamiya on stage, pronto."

Kaoru didn't want to leave Misao like this but the stage manager was already looking at her impatiently. "I'm really sorry, Misao. We'll talk about this later, okay?"

Misao nodded mutely as she watched Kaoru walk back. She stared at her dress, fingering the material softly. What was so wrong about it? Come to think of it, what was so wrong about her? She had never really taken much pains in her appearance until these past few weeks. It made her feel good about herself. But now, she felt as if she was back in grade school again, like a child caught wearing her mother's clothes. She felt as if she didn't belong in this pageant at all. Before she knew it, two fat tears had made their way down her cheeks.

All of a sudden, she was aware of another presence backstage. "You heard everything, huh?" she said out loud, not bothering to find out who it was. At this point, Misao didn't care.

"When people talk so loudly, it's hard not to," Aoshi replied.

Okay, so maybe she did.

She quickly wiped her tears away with the back of her hand. Ever since she joined this pageant, her life had been one embarrassment after another. She tried to laugh it off, to save face in front of Aoshi. "Just a little discussion between friends."

"Megumi's honest to a fault," he revealed. "She's been my classmate for years. She does have a tendency to be high-and-mighty sometimes."

She grimaced. "You heard that far back, huh?" She finally raised her eyes to meet his.

Aoshi took a step forward and took the garment bag from her. "Honesty is always the best policy."

"It's hideous." But this time, she felt no resentment or anger when she repeated those words, just a calm and rather amused acceptance of her fate. Maybe it was his influence. Seeing him today just soothed her ruffled feelings over, until she felt a laugh bubbling out of her.

"Maybe you should try something in blue."

From the look he gave her, Misao could swear that Aoshi was almost smiling. Unconsciously, her hands reached up to her padded bra. C-cup all the way.

~~~

After her short talk with Aoshi, Misao felt everything was a breeze. Even Kamatari's dance. As they mimicked their choreographer's steps, she caught a glimpse of Kaoru, who smiled back, relieved that Misao was back to her usual sunny self. Yeah, everything was okay.

Except of course for the fact that Miss Meiji High and Mighty was standing right behind her and had kicked her for the third time since their dance began.

They had new positions again, one that Shishio had promised would be their permanent places for the pageant. They were now divided into two rows, three girls in front and four in the back. Misao found herself front and center, with Kaoru on her right and Shura on her left. That unfortunately placed Megumi behind her.

And it irritated the hell out of Misao.

"Okay, step, step, clap, kick," Kamatari instructed.

Misao felt something poke the back of her knee. Again.

That was it. She had had enough. "All right, Takani. You and me, right here," she challenged.

Megumi's face was flushed, her expression genuinely apologetic. "I'm sorry."

At first, that threw Misao off. Then she remembered. This was Megumi.  She would do anything to win -- probably even maim her rivals into backing out. Well, Misao wasn't going to let her. She was all over Megumi like a bat out of hell. "You did that on purpose!"

Megumi tried to claw the petite girl off. "I said I was sorry!"

But one of her fingernails scratched Misao's arm. "I bet you're not sorry about that!" Misao roared, pulling Megumi's long hair.

"Why you little weasel!"

Everyone tried to separate the two girls. Kaoru tugged on Misao's arm to no avail. "Misao, get a hold of yourself, will you?"

"She started it!" Misao accused, still refusing to let go of Megumi's hair.

Megumi flailed around. "Hey, I just had that hot-oiled!"

"I don't care if you had it cooking-oiled!" Misao retorted. "I'm going to get you, Takani!"

"Girls, watch out!" someone cried out.

But the warning came too late. Megumi and Misao -- with Kaoru still trying to pry them apart -- collapsed against a confused Shishio, who wasn't able to hobble out of the way in time. All four of them went stumbling down the infamous orchestra pit once again.

Three guesses at who was at the bottom of the pile. And the first two don't count.

~~~

Princess Rule 6: Shopping has healing properties.

"Irashaimase!" A beautiful man with long white hair, amber eyes and an overflowing aura of confidence opened the door, causing Kaoru and Misao's jaw to drop. Curving up his lips into a dazzling smile, he announced in an unbearable loud voice. "Welcome to this fabulous store where all men's romances come true. Hahaha— Eh?" he blinked his eyes, looking down to adjust to his customers' height. Upon seeing them in a much clearer light, his smile broadened as his eyes sparkled its new meaning. Clearing his throat, he continued, "Correct me… not only men's but women's romances as well!"

Kaoru and Misao allowed themselves to be led inside as they sat comfortably in a large sofa. "Ano…" Kaoru began quite timidly.

"Sohma Ayame."

"Sohma-san—"

"Call me, Ayame," he winked before he added, "Or master if you like."

"Eh," Kaoru inquired innocently as he let out a loud guffaw.

Meanwhile, Misao sat on one corner, surprised at the overflowing burst of energy this man in front of her had. It wasn't that she was displeased. It was just that it was hard to be with someone with this much confidence and good looks to be this energetic. Comparing him with Aoshi… well, she didn't even know where to begin.

Kaoru suddenly had the urge to grab her bokken when Ayame held her hand, rubbing it to his cheek, "I see, where the problem is…" 

Kaoru's face instantly took a deep shade of red as she looked into Ayame's eyes. No, not the loving stare… more of the shocked and threatening 'you-better-not-be-thinking-of-anything-hentai' look.


Well, actually, he is… good thing our shihondai was innocent enough not to get where their converstation was heading.

Standing up, he looked into the horizon, fisting his other hand in conviction, "…you want to ignite a passion gone bland… you want to explore new horizons and act out new roles, isn't it? Isn't it!?"

"Actually…"

"You don't have to worry! I know and understand what you need!" Turning to his assistant, Mine, he ordered, "Give her today's special!"

Curiosity turned to shallow fear as Misao tugged Kaoru shirt and whispered, "Let's go, Kaoru…"

"Wait!" Ayame exclaimed, turning to Misao. "A lovely girl like you deserves nothing but the best. I see, you need something that will get his attention, ne?"

Blood drained from Misao's face at his words. How could he have known? She was instantly glued to where she was seated.

Giving her a furtive glance, he continued his preaching, "You need something that will glue his eyes on you…

The excited weasel girl just nodded as stars formed in her eyes.

"and sweep you off your feet…"

"Yes!"

"…and then ravish you as he throws you in bed!" he shouted somewhat in victory.

"Not that far hentai!" Misao threatened with her fists as her face reached a new shade of red.

"Well, I have the perfect dress for you!" Mine handed over a dress bag to Ayame, which he opened with outmost pride. "This is a ninja costume for you who search for adventure, and a little roughness, might I add, in your relationship. This will surely rejuvenate his dormant— "

"Hey, Misao! What about this?" Kaoru called out from the other side of the store, wearing a huge grin on her face as she pulled out a red halter dress, completely cutting one of Ayame's usual monologues.

"Sugoi!" Misao gushed at the sight of the beautiful dress, running towards her best friend like a child being offered free ice cream. She ran her fingers through its delicate fabric, eyes sparkling in excitement.

"Beautiful, isn't it? I bet you would look great on this!"

As usual, Misao was off to lala-land with her Prince Aoshi by her side. She closed her eyes, hugging the dress to herself.

"Yes, that's a beautiful dress! It reminds us of roses and secret gardens, doesn't it?" Ayame said, approaching the two.

Just then, Misao yelled, throwing the dress two feet away as if it were one fire. "Nooo!!!"

"Misao-chan, what's wrong?"

"I mean…" she stammered. "I would like to look at other kinds of dresses."

Kaoru looked at her friend worriedly, placing one hand on her forehead.

"Maybe you should try something in blue," she remembered "her beau's" words. At that, she nodded to herself and mentally chanted.

Blue. Blue. It must be blue. Blue. Blue. It must be blue.

"What about this?" Kaoru smiled, showing her a Chinese collared gown.

"Something else, maybe?"

Blue. Blue. It must be blue.

"This one?" Ayame pitched in, showing her a sexy black dress.

"Hehehe… No." she smiled, trying to conceal the steam building up inside her.

Blue. Blue. It must be blue.

"This?"

"How about this one?"

"No this is more beautiful!" Ayame countered.

"It would make her look small!"

"But she is small and yellow is a good color! It matches my eyes!" The owner fought back… seductively?

 "Blue. Blue. IT MUST BE BLUE!!!!!" Misao burst out in utter frustration.

Kaoru and Ayame stopped their bickering and turned to the other woman, both with questioning looks on their faces, "Ehh?"

Misao blushed in embarrassment as she squeaked, finger pointing at the dress on the mannequin. "That one—"

"Where?"

Misao took Kaoru's hand to lead her best friend towards the dress that would lead her towards the ice blue eyes that caught her heart. With slow and somewhat floating steps, she glided her way to the dress when suddenly, to her horror…

"Megumi!?" Kaoru exclaimed, wide-eyed as she glanced at her shell-shocked friend.

The word shock didn't even come close to what she was feeling at that moment. Hate? Disbelief? Envy? Of all people why would Megumi be the one to steal her dream dress. Giving up, Misao sighed and began weighing the downs and ups. After all, there was always the bright side of things.

Aoshi à blue dress

Blue dress à Megumi

Aoshi à Megumi [??]

"Nooooo!!!!!!!!!!!" she screamed at the top of he lungs. When Misao regained her composure, she slowly opened her eyes, preparing herself to face the biggest humiliation of her life.

But then again, it seemed that the attention was not focused on her.

"Welcome, Ms. Beautiful! I can't believe I did notice such a fine looking woman come in. Hahaha!"

"Too bad because… I got tired noticing what a fine looking man you are. Ohohoho!!"

"Hahaha!"

"Ohohoho!"

Rolling her eyes, Kaoru grabbed Misao and whispered, "Come on, Misao-chan, let's go before she sees us."

"Itachi and Tanuki! I can't believe I would bump into you here!" Megumi greeted, using her high and mighty tone, making sure that both had noticed her blatant scrutiny.

"Too late for that!" Misao hissed in Kaoru's ears. Turning to Megumi, she raised one challenging eyebrow, "We were just leaving. The air here became too polluted for us."

Tossing her hair to one side, Megumi approached Misao, a jubilant smirk not leaving her face. "I see you are shopping for your dress for the pageant."

Misao and Kaoru paled and said nothing. They didn't need any snide remarks from that stuck-up and snotty reigning queen anymore.

Because of their lack of reaction, Megumi continued, "But you know what? A dress can only do so much… it cannot do miracles, you know."

Both glared daggers her.

"But…" she sighed, feigning concern. "The least you could do is to try your best so that you wouldn't fail so utterly miserably."

"Oi!"

"Misao, with that dress you had bought, they might even give you a prize."

"Nani!?" Misao demanded, flailing her fists as Kaoru grabbed her arms to stop her from creating a commotion.

Smirking, Megumi continued, "They would pity you so much for your awful taste that they would handcuff you and imprison you in charm school…"

"That must've hurt!" Ayame commented, amusement apparent in his eyes.

"…But I doubt that they would receive you there. They all might go crazy after seeing you in that dress. Ohohohoho!!!"

"Why you!!!!???" At that point, both girls finally lost their tempers as they marched towards their would-be prey.

Just then, Megumi's eyes softened as she smiled sincerely, "Here, Misao." She handed her the blue dress the mannequin was wearing earlier. "You would look stunning in this dress."

"Eh?"

"It's blue. It would bring out your eyes."

"A-a-arigato," Misao stammered, unable to comprehend the sudden turn of events.

"Don't just stand there, weasel! Try it on!" Megumi shoved her inside the dressing room, obviously flustered. She felt quite uncomfortable being nice all of a sudden. She didn't want to be accused of being a scheming hypocrite. Actually, she had wanted to befriend the two earlier that day. Hard it was to admit but she needed friends. That was the reason she told Misao about the absolute gore of the dress she brought to school that afternoon. If she had wanted to eliminate her rivals, she would have encouraged Misao to wear that.

But she didn't.

She wasn't as bitchy as people thought she was. It was just her defense mechanism. A way to shove other people away so that they wouldn't get near enough to see her flaws. However, she had to be true to herself. She needed friends and these two were the closest and most acceptable ones available.

All right, all right, violent as they were, she couldn't still erase the fact that Kaoru and Misao were really nice and honest.

"Hey Fox!" Kaoru called out, giving her a mischievous smile.

"Do. Not. Call. Me. Fox!"

Bingo! Kaoru's smile widened, knowing that she had hit a nerve. Tilting her head to one side, she shrugged, "You're not so bad after all."

"That's what you think! Wait 'til you see me dance."

At that, Kaoru burst out laughing, "Oh. You're not so ano… umm… how do I put it… grace-deficient?"

Megumi rolled her eyes. "There's no such thing and you know it! Don't sugar coat it, okay?"

When Kaoru's laughter died down, she placed her hand on Megumi's shoulder. "Well, since you've helped Misao out with her dress… maybe we can teach—"

"I don't need anybody's help!" she kept her chin high, maintain the little pride she had left after Kaoru's sudden outburst.

"Uh-ok," Kaoru giggled.

"But." Megumi broke into a sheepish smile and continued, "Maybe if we can practice the dance together after the rehearsals then—"

"No sweat, Megumi. Anoo… we're friends now, right?"

"Friends? Don't talk of such silly things! Now let's find ourselves a dress!"

"Alright!" Kaoru nodded, unable to contain her smile.

Misao chose that moment to emerge from the fitting room. "So, how do I look?" she announced, a little shyly.

Megumi was right. The dress did look stunning on Misao. The slim spaghetti straps showed off her slender shoulders, holding up a corset-like top of a light shimmery blue material. The gown draped smoothly over Misao's well-toned hips and legs, emphasizing her silhouette and giving her an added appearance of height.

"Ohohohoho!" Megumi laughed. "What would you do without me?"

And this time, Misao knew she was right. She grinned back. "Yeah, yeah."

"Three of us against the rest of them," Kaoru declared. "They'd better watch out."

Megumi frowned. "Which reminds me -- I keep seeing Saitou-sensei and Tokio Takagi together. Is there anything up with those two?"

Misao nooded in agreement. "I know what you mean. Think something's up?" Then she squealed. "But if Tokio has Saitou-sensei backing her up, we wouldn't stand a chance at winning!" And I'd lose my shot at my Aoshi-sama! she added silently.

"Of course not," Kaoru protested. "Everyone has an equal shot at winning..." her voice trailed off. "Of course, Yumi is Shishio's girlfriend and she seems to be getting extra treatment but--"

"That's it!" Misao said firmly. "It's really us against them! I won't let anything stand in my way towards that title!" Of course, Kaoru and Megumi were also her competition, but with the three of them backing each other up, then it was like they had narrowed the field down to just the three of them.

"Then I guess it's a good idea that we all decided to help each other out then," Megumi said. "What do you think, Kaoru?"

Kaoru looked from one determined face to another. "Okay," she said with a smile. "Count me in." Then she wagged a finger at them. "Just make sure that I don't end up in another orchestra pit!"

Anyone who was passing by would have thought these were three longtime friends laughing and having fun together. No one would have thought that just this afternoon they had been at each other's throats.

After taking a long time fitting their gowns, the three had finally bought the one that matched them best. They paid for their bills and happily, they stepped out of the store, all relieved and uplifted with the new friendship they had established that afternoon.

As they walked down the street, Ayame followed them outside and called out, "Bye beautiful ladies! And remember me, Ayame! The one who will make all your romances come true so don't forget to channel all your—" Suddenly, Ayame stopped short as he felt a pair of amber eyes, boring a hole at the back of his head. As he turned around, he saw a short but gorgeous woman glaring at him, lips pursed. "Hey there, doll!" he winked.

"Doll!?"

So unfortunate for Ayame that his "doll" turned out to be a red-haired man. And a jealous one, for that matter.

Go figure.

Love Rule 8: You cannot make someone love you. All you can do is stalk them, hope they panic, and give in.

"What was that all about? What the hell did you do inside that store?" Sano demanded, suddenly appearing out of nowhere and surprising the three girls.

"Jealous much?"

"What!? Why you kitsune-onna!! I don't give a damn about you!"

"Then, why are you here?"

Sano opened his mouth in an attempt to retaliate, however, nothing… Nothing would come out. No retort. No comeback. No nothing.

At that, Megumi could only laugh.

Why?

It was the only thing she could do to hide the blush that crept up her cheeks.

~~~

After finishing up with a certain snake, who tried to keep him and his beloved Kaoru apart by hitting on both of them, Kenshin ran as fast as he could, trying to catch up with Kaoru and her friends. However, upon seeing the brightness of Kaoru's smile, his heart ached, fearing that he just might be the one to wipe her happiness away. Taking a heavy step back, he sighed and turned to go back the opposite direction.

On the other hand…

… if Kaoru didn't know he was there, then, there would be no problem, ne? So he ran back towards the girls, content at watching over them from a distance.

One could never be too sure if there were perverts lurking around.

An image of an infuriated Kaoru with a bokken on her hand and a pissed off Misao with her ever ready kunai flashed before him and he smiled.

"Yup! They need our protection alright," he grinned, facing his right, "Ne, Aoshi?"

Aoshi, stepped out from the shadows and walked beside Kenshin, "You never cease to amaze me, Himura."

Kenshin smiled, "Likewise."

Omake ^_^ :

So you can see that the afternoon was filled with surprises from all our main characters. Kaoru, Misao and Megumi finally became friends. Misao got the dress from her dreams. Kenshin was thought to be a girl. Well, no surprise there… cross that out. Sano was actually jealous! Hmmm… no surprise there either. Even Ayame got his surprise!

In fact, when he staggered to return to his desk, he picked up a phone and using his most hurt tone, he whined, "Gure-san, you deceitful dog! Why didn't you tell me there were a weasel, a raccoon and a fox, in the juunishi! You selfish dog! You were cheating on me! Keeping them all to yourself!"

Back to the surprises… there is a big BUT. Despite some of the predictability… I bet you didn't think that Aoshi would actually be lurking to what… protect Misao? See if her dress is acceptable in the pageant?

Meditate?

The day ended pretty well. You might be asking, "And what about Megumi and Sanosuke?" Let's just say they took an "accidental" detour and they didn't "notice" that Kaoru and Misao went the other direction.

Author's Notes:

Sorry everyone! The delayed chapter is my fault entirely. Dementedchris, had already finished her part last July. GOMEN NASAI!!! If you are wondering who Ayame is… He is my brother-on-law. Hehehe… Kidding! Actually, he is one of the lovable characters of Fruits Basket. While I was whacking my brains for ideas for this shopping scene… He was the guy who popped out of my mind. I couldn't think of any other guy or girl since most of the RK people already had their roles in this fic. Hmmm… what else? Again, sorry for the delay.

Also, I am looking for site affiliates and linkages so email me about it, okay? –chibi-angel