"Urgh…" Kamatari rubbed his neck as he awoke. He had fallen asleep on Ren's couch the previous night. Sitting up while one is sleeping had proven to be rather painful. When did I fall asleep? Have I been here all night…? And Ren…Ugh. What happened? Sitting up, the man winced in pain. The cops took him away…She sat there on the floor crying for so long and I just held her and listened to her…Then she went to bed and I sat here…

"Hey, Dude…Did you sleep there all night?"

Kamatari looked up. Yutaro was in the doorway, peeling a banana. He was dressed in flannel pants and an old sweatshirt, his feet bare and his feathery hair tousled. He blinked his sapphire eyes, regarding the disheveled man critically.

"…Yes." Kamatari groaned. He stood up, stretching and cracking his back. "I wanted to make sure Ren was okay after you went to sleep. Guess I just sort of dropped off." He scratched the back of his head sheepishly, "You don't mind, do you, Big Guy?"

The boy crammed the last of his banana into his mouth and chewed it, still staring at the man. He swallowed, a frown crossing his face. "You're some sort of fag, aren't you?"

The man's eyes widened and he looked sad for a moment. "You shouldn't say things like that, Kiddo. It's really mean. Words like that are painful…" He thought back to the time when he told Ren. One of the more hateful things she'd said…

"Well, it's true, isn't it? You like men." The boy blinked again, his head tilted to one side.

"What if I do? It's not like I can give you gay or something. Either you are or you aren't." He ran his fingers through his hair, causing it to stick up slightly in the front.

Yutaro said nothing, just regarded him disdainfully. He wasn't sure why exactly he was so bothered by Kamatari. He actually thought the man was quite pretty. If he didn't know for a fact that Kamatari was a man, he would have thought he was a woman. He had come to take care of Ren and he had been nice to them both…"I'm sorry…" He looked at his feet.

"It's okay. I just don't want you to get the wrong idea of me. I hate ignorant people who don't know what they're dealing with." He patted the seat beside him, "C'mere, Kiddo."

The boy cautiously made his way across the room, depositing the banana peel in a wastebasket on the way. "What's your name?"

"Kamatari. You're Ren's nephew, right? I remember when you were born…She was all excited. She wanted to spoil you rotten and she was only sixteen."

"Yeah, I'm Yutaro. You've known Aunt Ren that long?" He settled himself on the end of the couch, a pillow on his lap.

"Sure. We went to school together. We were friends, but we lost touch after a while…Had a sort of falling out." He smiled sadly, "I missed her a lot."

"She's kinda a loner. Aunt Ren doesn't usually let people help her out with stuff. But she's real good to me. She doesn't treat me like a little brat like most people do. And she doesn't even think about my arm at all. People always say I can't do stuff because of it."

"What happened to your arm? I mean, if you don't mind my asking…" Kamatari had noticed the boy's arm hanging limply at his side and it had made him immensely curious. What had happened to him?

"I hurt it." The boy replied simply, "A couple years ago. I was ten and I hurt my arm. Dad thinks I'm an invalid because of it. Every one at school picks on me. But Aunt Ren doesn't care." He paused, "Sooo…You got a boyfriend or something?"

"Nah. There's a guy I like, but he's not interested. Plus, he's got a girl already."

"Oh. You like Aunt Ren a lot, huh?"

"Sure. She's real nice. I don't understand how any one could not like her." A smile crossed his face, "She's got this charisma…"

"There're a lot of people who don't like her. The building super, Sano, he's pretty mean to her since she complains to him about stuff a lot. And some of the other teachers at school…They hate how she teaches. She gets away with a lot since she and Principal Okita are friends. And, well, the guy who was here last night…He certainly didn't seem to like her."

"Maybe he liked her too much." Kamatari suggested, drawing his knees up to his chest.

"It was kinda scary…She told me to go in the bedroom and not come out. I called 911 and just kinda sat there for a while…But I couldn't let anything happen to her. She's really the only person besides my mom who ever really cared about me. And my mom is gone now, so I need Aunt Ren…" The boy's words died on his lips and he looked at the pale green shag carpeting.

"Your mom is…gone?"

"She died when I was a baby. I don't even remember her. But I know she loved me a lot." Yutaro looked back up, "I look a lot like her. Maybe Dad doesn't like me because of that. He didn't really know how to take care of me, so he bought me a lot of toys and left me with the nanny a lot. He was always gone away on business. Dad never wanted kids anyway. Every one at school thinks I'm a jerk because of the way I grew up and the way I act."

"I don't think you're a jerk. I think you're brave for what you did last night. I'm sure you made Ren very proud of you."

"You think so?" A self-satisfied smile crossed the boy's face, "Maybe I did." He paused for a moment, "What are you doing here anyway? You just kinda came out of nowhere last night."

"I was coming to see Ren. We saw each other for the first time in ten years a couple of days ago. I guess it was just good timing, huh?"

"Guess so. I -oh, the door. You answer it. You're a lot bigger 'n I am."

"How am I supposed to know if it's some one Ren knows or not?" Kamatari looked doubtfully at the child, "I don't know any of her friends or any one who lives here."

Yutaro sighed as if the weight of the world were on his shoulders. "Fine." He heaved himself out of the seat, "I'll look through the peephole. But you still have to open the door." He crossed the room stealthily and peered through the hole. "It's the guy across the hall. You can let him in."

"All right, all right." Kamatari undid the deadbolt, slid the chain out of the lock and opened the door.

***

"Kenshin! Kenshin, wake up!"

"What's wrong…?" Kaoru was shaking him in an attempt to rouse him. He looked over at the clock beside the bed. It was eight o'clock on a Saturday morning. Something had to be wrong for her to wake him so early. "Did something happen to Kenji?!" He bolted up, then wide awake.

"No. Kenji's fine. Look at this!" She thrust a newspaper under his nose.

He took it in his hands and his amethyst gaze followed her finger to a certain spot on the page. "Oh my…All this happened last night and we didn't even know. Poor Ren."

"We were to busy-"

"We'll have to go down and see how she is later." Kenshin cut her off, looking up at her, "She must have been terrified. At least now she can get on with her life." He glanced back at the newsprint, "Look, it mentions her nephew here. He's your student, isn't he?"

"Yeah. One of the ones who's always causing trouble too. I'm sure on Monday the whole class will here about how he saved the day." She rolled her eyes.

"Nanashi steadfastly refused to go to the emergency room for treatment to a wound on her forehead." Kenshin read aloud, "A friend had shown up at her apartment during the commotion and offered to look after the distraught woman. Her injury wasn't serious and no harm was done to her apartment." The paper crinkled as he moved it aside and looked up at his wife, "I wasn't aware she had any friends; that I was not."

"Neither was I. She's always by herself, minding her own business. She's never mentioned any friends or acquaintances before."

"We'll go see her later on." Kenshin stretched, pushing back the blankets, "I might as well get up now. Is Kenji still asleep?"

"He's-"

"Ma! Ma! Ma! Ma! Maaaaa!" Kenji's little voice sang down the hall.

"-Awake now." Kaoru finished with a sigh, "I'd better go get him dressed." She bent to kiss her husband on the cheek, then disappeared from the room.

***

Aoshi stood in the doorway of Misao's room, debating over whether or not he should wake her up. He had just read about Ren in the paper and he knew that was something that would trouble Misao deeply. She loved Ren; the woman was her favorite teacher and the only one who could get her interested in school.

But he also knew that Misao was not an early riser. To wake her now had potential to be suicide. It would be better in the long run to have her angry later because he didn't wake her than to have her angry now for waking her.

Sighing heavily, he closed the door. I don't want her angry at me, not right now. Last night was rather daring on my part. I'm sure I made her happy, but is it the right thing?

She's ten years younger than I am. She's still in school. Can this work? I do love her and I'd like to marry her some day. But she should go to college before then. She's smart. She should get more of an education. She doesn't want to…but what will she do if she doesn't?

Maybe I shouldn't have done that last night. Maybe I made a HUGE mistake. God, I'm hopeless.

He flopped down on the couch, staring up at the ceiling. This is where I told her, right here on this couch. She was sitting there and I just…told her. She didn't even believe me at first. Oh Misao…Of course I love you. You're gorgeous, you're headstrong and you're everything I need to be happy.

***

Katsuhiro awoke to find himself in the shabby recliner in his studio. He had been painting furiously, taken a break, and fallen asleep. He hadn't wanted to stay there all night. His plans had been to get some work done, then see if Ren wanted to go get something to eat.

He rubbed his sore neck as he rose from the seat. Sleeping like that was not comfortable in anyway. He switched on the light, wandering to the front room of the gallery. The picture window gave him a view of the street outside. Everything was dusted with snow. The world outside was positively beautiful.

Guess I'd better get home. He put away his brushes and paints, pulled his coat from the back of his chair and switched off the light again. A few people bustled by as he locked the door. There was a nip in the air and everything was frosty.

"Hey, Katsu!"

"Sano?" He turned at the sound of his best friend's voice. The other man was hurrying towards him, pushing his hair from his eyes, his jacket flapping open.

"Where were you all night, man? Have you seen the paper yet? You missed a hell of a lot of excitement last night!" Sanosuke stopped, looking at his friend.

"What happened?"

"Trouble with Ren. That guy came back again. Yutaro was at Ren's and he called the cops. Saito was sniffing around…They got him this time!"

"Ren? Is she okay? Did anything happen to her?" Katsu's eyes widened and he grabbed the newspaper from his friend's hand. He scanned the article quickly, reading it over at lightning speed. "Dammit! I should have been there!"

"Chill out. She's fine. But if you want to stay on her good side, you'd better go see her. You know how chicks are about stuff like that."

"You're such an idiot. I'm not trying to get into her bed. I really like her. Some of us have more noble intentions than just sleeping with a girl."

"Hey! What are you trying to say? I've been chasing after the foxy doctor for a long time, but she doesn't seem to be interested."

Katsu snorted. "Of course she's not interested. You're a common thug. She's a successful doctor. She's probably got a million rich men falling at her feet."

"Thanks a lot." Sano replied dryly, "You're such a wonderful friend, you jerk. I don't think she's that far out of my league. Megumi's no saint, ya know."

"Yeah. But anyway, I'd better get going. See ya, Sano."

He hurried off down the street, thoughts of Ren jumbling his mind. Ren, I'm sorry. I'm sorry I wasn't there for you; sorry any of this had to happen. I'm gonna make it up to you. I promise…

He pulled open the door and hurried through the lobby. Down the hall…He stopped between his door and Ren's. Looked at his watch. It was late enough in the morning for Ren to be up. So he knocked on the door. A few moments later, it was opened.

By a man.

***

Sojiro was pacing nervously in his small loft apartment. What had happened the night before? He'd been on his way to see Kamatari, but no one had answered the door. So he'd headed back for home when all these police cars went flying by.

He'd receded back into the shadows of an alley. The police were not on friendly terms with the young man; not at all. He'd caused them grief in the past, always getting in trouble. Saito especially disliked him and made it a point to grill him about the deaths of his foster family when he was just a child. It was as if he had suspected the boy of fowl play.

Sojiro shook his head to get his dark hair out of his eyes. He was worried. Suppose something had happened to Miss Ren? He remembered her from high school. She'd never been his teacher, but he and the weasel girl, Misao, had been friends and Misao worshipped Miss Ren. The woman was nice enough; she didn't deserve any of the crap she put up with.

I should try Kamatari again. This would be so much easier if he didn't have an unlisted phone number. But something deep down inside is making me worried. Something happened last night and it wasn't good. Something…

He grabbed his coat from the hook by the door. I'll go out for some breakfast, then stop by at Kamatari's apartment. He should be home. It's Saturday morning; there's nowhere he could be gone to now.

***

Ren curled up tighter under her blankets, wishing to never get up. Her head throbbed where she had gotten that gash the night before. It was a cold, dreary day. Watery sunlight filtered through her drawn curtains. Her room was cold and dark.

I thought I was going to die last night. She pulled a pillow over her head, blocking out the sliver of sunlight. I thought he would kill me. I'm lucky Yutaro was here. And Kamatari…Even after I treated him so horribly all those years ago he still wants to be my friend. I'm such a jerk…

I wonder if he spent the night…I should probably get up. Yutaro is here after all. I can't just ignore him, can I? She removed the pillow from her head and pushed herself up off her stomach.

Crawling slowly off the bed, she reached for her bathrobe where it lay in a heap on the floor. She stumbled towards the door as she fastened the belt around her waist. Her arm hurt and she knew a bruise had fanned out somewhere on the back of her leg.

She poked her head into the guest room, which served as a bedroom for Yutaro when he spent the night. The boy wasn't there. She wandered down to the front room.

A tense atmosphere greeted her. Yutaro was flopped down on the couch, still in his pajamas. An amused expression lit his face and his sapphire eyes sparkled with laughter. Kamatari was indeed still there. He stood by the door, which was open, his hand raised to the knob. Staring at him from the hallway, a suspicious look plastered across his face, was Katsuhiro.