~Chapter Four- Saddened eyes~

Karou pulled out her 4 most beloved kimonos from her travel bags, and laid them out on her bed.

The summer evening was still light and friendly out side her 4 large windows.

She could hear Misao and Yahiko running around below her window 4 stories down, but she ignored it.

What had happened earlier still completely killed her mind.

*Why was I so happy at that moment….when he was leading me into the forest….holding my hand with his……I felt so…..relieved and at peace. I felt like nothing could ever go wrong, or ever hurt and scare me ever again. I felt like I was in a place where I could call my heaven, and he was my angel. I wanted to tell him thank you…..so badly. Now he's done so much, and I've said nothing. Perhaps I'm being paranoid, but I just feel like I should have said thank you back there……in the forest. Was it because Yahiko and Sano were there right before I said it….or was it I was too afraid….too frightened to tell him.* Karou complained to herself in thought.

She hung her kimonos and night gowns in the closet.

As she shut the closet door, the mirror on the back of the door faced her, and she saw herself staring back into her blue eyes.

She stared for a long time.

She saw herself…..an 18 year old, short, skinny, black long haired, perhaps awful looking girl, in a dress too lovely to be worn by the likes of herself.

Was that really what she thought?

Did she think she was that horrible?

That made her wonder what Kenshin saw when he looked at her.

He was so perfect, and she was so…..horrible.

"Is that it then?" She spoke aloud to her reflection.

"Am I afraid, not of embarrassment, or of Kenshin……but of myself? Surely not. I know what I'm afraid of."

She looked to her feet.

"I'm afraid of what Kenshin thinks of me."

Yes, that was it.

Exactly.

"Miss Kamiya?" A voice came from her doorway.

Karou immediately looked to the door.

It was the woman who had helped her with her dress earlier that afternoon.

"Sorry to disturb you once again, but dinner's ready. Won't you be joining Mr. Orasumi and the others?" The woman questioned.

Karou smiled weakly.

"I'll…..be there in a minute." She spoke softly.

"Alright then. I'll tell everyone to wait for you. I'll go get Mr. Himura though. He's probably ready for dinner." The woman said.

"Kenshin? You mean his room is close to mine?" Karou said in surprise.

The woman nodded. "In a way. His room is up a few more stories. I believe on story….um…oh yes! The 6th story! That's it!"

Karou laughed a bit, the first time all day.

"How many stories are there to this house?"

The woman laughed as well.

"Oh, I'd say about 10! Pretty big, huh?"

Karou nodded as the woman shut her door.

Her smile faded after that.

She walked over to the chesterdrowres and looked down at her many ribbons. Not one matched her violet dress!

Not one.

She sighed and settled for her pink one.

It was somewhat similar to her real life.

She didn't have a match for herself…..and so, she settled for being alone.

That was how it was always going to be.

~Dinner~

Karou walked out of her room and shut her door softly.

She folded her hands over one another in her front, and walked slowly to the stairway.

When she got there, Kenshin was heading down as well from on floor up.

When she saw him, she wanted to smile, but she couldn't.

She continued to frown, and she looked away.

*You don't wanna look at my ugly face, do you?* She said sadly in thought.

When Kenshin saw her look away, his smile turned to a frown as well.

He still didn't know what he had done wrong.

He bit his bottom lip, and lowered his head, and continued to walk down the stairs, being extra careful not to come too close to Karou.

He didn't want to get in her way at all.

He felt like he had done something awful, but he didn't know what.

It was something he couldn't understand he came to, and let the thought pass.

But the more he watched Karou's back as he walked down the stairs behind her, he couldn't help but wish and was smiling and laughing with him as she usually did.

*And in that dress……I wish she would be happy. That's what I wanted her to be…..when she found out I had it made for her…..just for her.* He whispered in thought to himself.

Finally, the slow walk to the huge dinning room ended.

Misao wore a new kimono, supposedly one she was borrowing from the mansion, and Yahiko had his best kimono on….not because he wanted to look classy, but because Sanoske made him wear it because he had to wear his as well.

"Oh wow!!!!!!!!!" Misao clapped her hands with happiness.

"The meal looks even better then the tea party this afternoon!!!! Ohhhhh!!!! Thank you Mr. Orasumi!!!! Thank you!!!!!!!!" She laughed.

"It's no problem, Miss Misao! Please! Like this afternoon, have as much as you prefer to have! I've made a welcome feast fit for a king!" Mr. Orasumi chuckled as he patted Misao's head softly.

"REALLY?! THANKS SO MUCH!!!!!!!!! LET'S DIG IN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Misao exclaimed as she started putting things on her plate and eating them like a pig would do it's sludge.

Yahiko stared at Misao with annoyance.

"You know, Misao, it's not that big a deal really! Would you stop acting like we all mistreats you back at the dojo!!!!!"

Misao glared back as a piece of tofu stuck out of her mouth.

"I'm not……..little brat."

Yahiko slammed his hands down onto the table and stood up.

"WHAT'D YOU SAY UGLEST GIRL IN THE UNIVERSE????????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Misao swallowed the tofu and looked away from Yahiko.

Yahiko blinked for a moment, thinking she was going to punch him or something, but didn't, and then he sat down…..knowing he had been defeated with nothing but a simple turn of Misao's head!

Karou sat next to Sanoske at the end of the table, and Kenshin sat next to Yahiko, right across from Karou at the end of the table.

It made it so hard for the both of them.

Karou was afraid to look up from her plate, but she wanted to badly to look at Kenshin. To see him.

She didn't know why, but seeing him made her calm.

It was no use though. She could do it.

On the other hand, Kenshin couldn't look up either. He was too afraid that if he did, he would see her staring back at him with hurt in her eyes.

Karou slowly picked up her chopsticks, and began to eat though, just as Kenshin managed to do.

Mr. Orasumi smiled at Misao chowing down, and Yahiko trying to pay no attention to Misao's ignoring him.

Sanoske was happily eating away as if nothing was wrong, and everything was fine.

Mr. Orasumi looked to Kenshin, noticed he was looking a bit uneasy, but passed it as nothing, and then, when his eyes met Karou's figure, slowly eat with a saddened look on her face, fire seemed to fill his eyes.

*I'll have your life and my revenge soon, Miss Kamiya, but first, let me seem to be extra nice to you, so you won't suspect a thing.*

Just as he thought this, he turned and saw Kenshin staring him down.

The look in his eyes said something he couldn't read.

They seemed to say… "Back off" ….or something, but he turned away and put on a fake smile as he face Karou again.

"Ah! Miss Kamiya! You look simply gorgeous in that dress! Why, isn't that the dress Mr. Himura had made for you?" He said in a happy sounding voice.

Karou looked to Mr. Orasumi and smiled very weakly.

"Yes……..this is the dress."

Mr. Orasumi smiled even brooder.

"Well…do you like it? Isn't it just the most spectacular dress you've ever seen?"

Karou's weak smile vanished.

Kenshin had to look at her now.

"Please……excuse me…….if it's alright, I'm finished. I'm sorry Mr. Orasumi….but I'm not very hungry at the moment. Thank you anyway for the meal." She said very quietly, almost to the point that no one could hear her.

She then quickly sat up from her seat, and walked out of the room.

Misao, Yahiko, Sano, and Mr. Orasumi all stared.

Kenshin's eyes filled with sorrow for a moment as he watched the swinging door Karou left through swing back and forth.

Then he lowered his head, and started eating again as in nothing had happened.

Misao stood up from the table.

"Well, Himura!? Aren't you gonna go after her?! She looked really sad!!!"

Kenshin looked up at Misao with a look she had never seen before.

"I think Miss Karou just wants to be left alone, that she does. Let's let her be, alright Miss Misao?" He said ever so careful to have a straight voice.

Misao heard his sadness even if he didn't crack in his voice.

She sat down all the same.

It took a while for everyone to continue eating again.

Kenshin felt horrible.

He wanted to go after Karou.

He wanted to make her smile.

But he couldn't.

He just couldn't.

~Sorry!!! It's just sooo very sad right now!!! It'll get happier though! I promise!!! Keep going!~

~Smile B~