Kamatari awoke with a splitting headache the next morning. He pulled a pillow over his head, trying to block out the sounds of his alarm clock. He felt like hell. Every part of his body ached and his dull hair fell into his eyes as he looked over at the clock to see exactly what time it was. Seven o'clock. Ugh.

So much for finding comfort in the form of a bottle of cherry brandy.

I will never drink like that again…Never, never, NEVER. He rolled over, pulling the blankets over his head. And I am NOT going to work today. Not like they need me anyway…

His jumbled thoughts wandered back to the previous evening.

I came home. Wallowed in self-pity as I remembered…no, as I RELIVED that horrid scene in my mind. Ren telling me I was disgusting. Ren crying and screaming. And then…Ren when she came in, her face all busted up and I wanted to burst into tears and hug her. Because it hurt me so much to see her suffering. Because she used to be my best friend in the whole world.

Because she was kind to me when no one else was.

And I always loved her for it.

But now…

He huddled up under the covers, wishing he had never been born. Or at least that he had never tangled with that bottle of brandy. I'm twenty-seven years old and my life is such a mess….

***

Ren stretched and yawned.

The night before had had pleasant results as she and Katsu had got to know one another over a simple dinner. He was a charming man, lots of personality and a rapid wit about him.

She smiled. She actually smiled. That hadn't happened in a long time. It was, however, when she smiled that she realized how much her face still hurt. Her lip started to bleed again and her face felt soar. Her eye throbbed. I can't go to class today…

Yawning a second time, she sat up, reaching for the phone beside her bed. The school was on speed-dial and she punched in the number that would connect her directly with Okita's office.

"Hello? Souji? It's Ren. I can't come in again today. I'm not feeling up to it. Yeah…That's right…Yes. Alright. I see your point, but Aoshi wouldn't go for that. He's pretty adamant about her getting educated…Yeah; I wonder about that too. He is very concerned about her and I have seen his name written on her papers and scrawled in little hearts. She even hands things in with 'Shinomori Misao' written in the name space." She paused, listening to him as he spoke, "Right. I'll give her some work later today. See you tomorrow…That's right, Monday. Good-bye, Souji."

Okita Souji was very good to her. She thought over her relationship with the principal she had worked with for the past five years. Souji was a good man. He gave her time off as she needed it without questioning it. Unlike everybody else, he kept to himself and didn't badger her about the goings on in her life.

I have to call Aoshi and tell him not to bother sending Misao to school today. Souji says to have her over her so I can give her some one on one work. She really needs to get her head out of the clouds and do some work. I want to see her graduate this spring.

She dialed again and spoke briefly with the man, explaining to him why exactly Okita wanted the girl to stay home. There were intervals of silence in which she knew he was silently responding to her statements and the occasional "Aa" from his end of the line. He sounded tired on the occasion that he talked, but she knew he had just got home from work.

Now what? She flopped back down on the bed. I don't want to sit here all day. I would go crazy if I did that. Maybe I can go visit Katsu at his gallery…

She sat back up, pushing her hair from her eyes. It was Friday. That meant a weekend was upon her. She had hopes of recovering enough to go to class on Monday -her students needed her!- but weekends usually just meant he came around more.

She sighed.

Life sucked.

The phone rang. She lifted the receiver, said hello and then froze as that familiar voice invaded her ears. The childish taunting, teasing, laughing. She practically threw the phone back into the cradle, then she crawled out of bed and, grabbing her bathrobe, ran out of the room.

***

Misao was lost somewhere in a sea of blankets when Aoshi poked his head into her room. He frowned slightly, able to see nothing but the tail end of her long braid poking out from amidst pile of fabric.

It would be best for me to just let her sleep. He told himself, And I'd better go get some sleep. I'll leave a note for her about going to see Ren in case I'm not awake when she gets up.

He scribbled something on a piece of paper and hoped it was coherent. Working the graveyard shift as a security guard at the hospital was a killer job, but he had to feed them somehow and he liked being around in the day when Misao was home. He just liked being with her period. Taking care of her was the only life he had known for ten years.

He peered into her room one last time before he went to retire in his own room. She hadn't moved once. "Enjoy the extra rest while you can get it." He said quietly, "And I'm sure we will both be glad that there was no arguing this morning." Then he shut the door behind him and padded down the hall. Ahhh….Sleep…

***

Katsuhiro was eating breakfast when he heard some one pounding on his door. A frown crossed his face. He wondered if it was Sanosuke; if his friend was drunk again. He set down his spoon and rose to go to the door. He was all set to chew out his friend, but as he got closer he could hear Ren frantically calling to him.

"Katsu! God, Katsu, let me in! Katsu! He…He…He called me; I'm scared; God dammit, let me in, Katsu!"

"Ren!" He opened the door to find her standing there, hysterical. "Come on in; it's okay."

She fell into his arms, sobbing. "Don't let him…Don't let him…You won't…Don't let him hurt me, Katsu!" She sniffled, burying her face in his shoulder.

"Calm down…" He hugged her carefully, trying to give her space, "Come over here and sit down. I'll make you some tea. We'll figure this out. I won't let anything happen to you."

He forced her to sit down, then looked at her. She was wearing her bathrobe over a pair of flannel pants and a thermal shirt. Her hair was a mess and her lip was crusted with dried blood. He felt his heart turn for her. She was so tragic.

"I'll be right back." He assured her. He went into the kitchen and microwaved water to make her tea. Then he hurried back into the living room, only to find her huddled at the end of the couch in a quivering lump.

"Here. Drink this. You'll feel better." He said kindly. He sat at the other end of the couch, still giving her plenty of space. "Now, what exactly happened?"

"I…I called in sick to work. Then I called Aoshi to tell him Okita doesn't want him to bother sending Misao to school. Then I was sitting on my bed and the phone rang. I thought maybe it would be either Okita or Aoshi, so I answered and it was him."

"Oh, Ren…" He didn't know what to say. He still didn't even know the man's name. All he knew was that they had gone out for about a year then she had decided to break it off. This was when things got bad and he started attacking her.

"He was threatening me. Saying he was going to kill me. He would too. He needs a lot of help, Katsu." She stared into the tea cup, her short hair falling around her face and hiding her expression from him.

"You need help too, Ren." He said slowly, "And I want to help you. I really like you. I only want to see you happy."

"Katsu…" She looked up at him shyly.

A faint smile crossed his face. She was so much like a scared deer; so timid and frightened. But there was a beauty about her, some hidden quality that seemed to be leaking out as he was around her. "Don't worry."

"Thank you so much…" Her fingers flexed slightly around the cup, "It means a lot to me to have some one care."

His smile widened. "I'm sorry I didn't do anything about it sooner. I've been trying to ignore everything for the past three years. I didn't want to deal with it, as much as I liked you. I'd pass you in the hall and see you looking so scared and I always wondered why. Why did you put up with some one like that? And I didn't do a thing about it. I'm so sorry."

"It's…It's n-not your fault." Her chin trembled; her eyes welling with tears. "But I really, really appreciate all you're doing for me now."

There was something between them and he hoped she could feel it too. He had always been attracted to her, but she seemed unreachable. She looked comfortable there, sitting on his shabby couch, her legs tucked underneath her. He never wanted her to be uncomfortable around him.

***

Kenshin kissed his wife goodbye and set out to open his little dry cleaning shop around eight o'clock that morning. It was a Friday and business would be slow, so he had Kenji with him.

"Kenji, we shall have an uneventful day, that we shall." He told the little boy as he took off his coat. "But I'm sure your mama will have a lot of stories for you later on."

Kenji frowned, looking up at his father through wide, turquoise eyes. They stared at each other for a moment, eyes locked together. Then he burst into tears, screaming at the top of his lungs.

Kenshin sighed. "It's going to be a long day; that it is…"

***

Tsukayama Yutaro slumped down in his seat in Mrs. Himura's class. He had at one time enjoyed school until he wound up in a class with that moron Yahiko. All the other boy did was make his life miserable by teasing him, tripping him and throwing things at him. It wasn't his fault he was smart. It wasn't his fault he had injured his arm in the accident and it was hard for him to do things. And it certainly wasn't his fault they both happened to like the same girl.

He glanced over at Tsubame where she sat staring at her desk. She always seemed nervous, but he knew that was because she was a very shy girl. In some ways, she reminded him of his aunt Ren. Maybe that was why he liked her. Ren was his favorite relative ever. She gave him the attention he craved, but had never spoiled him. He couldn't wait until he got to be in her class and he could show her what a good student he was. He couldn't wait to show everybody.

"What are you staring at?" Came the loud, obnoxious voice of Myojin Yahiko. Yutaro snapped to attention, glaring at his rival, his blue eyes narrowed down to slits.

"What does it matter to you?" He muttered. Yahiko knew how to aggravate him to no end. No one, in Yutaro's mind, could be more annoying or stupid than Yahiko.

"It matters to me because you're looking at my girl." Yahiko's fist appeared in front of Yutaro's face.

The other boy sighed. His spiky-haired, dark-eyed adversary was such an idiot. "If you punch me in here, moron, you'll be in deep shit. And I'm free to look wherever I want to. So get your fist out of my face and stop trying to be threatening because it's not working."

Yahiko glared at him, but had no response to this. He knew it was true; Yutaro hardly got in trouble because he was Miss Nanashi's nephew and Miss Nanashi was friends with Principal Okita. It wasn't fair.

Yutaro smirked. No matter what, Yahiko would ultimately be the loser.

***

It was around noon when Misao returned to the land of the living. She dug her way out of the covers and looked over at her clock. ELEVEN FIFTY-FIVE!?!?! Holy shit! How did I sleep so long? And why didn't…

Something happened to Aoshi!

She dragged herself from the bed, tangled up in the mess of blankets. There was one thought on her mind and that was the following: Something happened to Aoshi at the hospital and he never came home.

She finally kicked the last blanket away and ran out of her room, clad in nothing but a tee-shirt and underwear. He always woke her up when he got home. He always made her get up and get ready for school. They always got into a huge argument and wound up angry at one another. Always.

She pulled open the door to his room and peered in. There he was, sound asleep on the bed, curled up in a big lump. She breathed a sigh of relief. Oh Aoshi…You're here…But why didn't you wake me up?

She closed the door quietly, not wishing to disturb him, then wandered into the kitchen. Sitting on the kitchen table beside a bag of donuts was a note.

Misao-

Don't worry about school today. Okita wants you to stay home, as long as you go see Ren. She wasn't going to be there so it would be pointless for you to go. Have a good day; I'll see you later when I wake up.

-Aoshi

PS- Do not under any circumstances eat the Bear Claw. It's mine.

She smiled to herself as she looked at his tight, neat handwriting on the paper. Even if he didn't show it well, he did care about her.