Special thanks to:

jennym374 You just gave me an idea!! It might not make itself known, yet, but it will be there.

Shangri-La I'm so glad that you loved the tofu scene. Your response gave me a great idea, a special guest appearance ^_^

PuNk ChIck 666 Sorry for the confusion. Yes this is a Kenshin and Kaoru fic, however, Sano and Kaoru are the main characters due to the lie.

Cerberus of the 5 I wanted it to be like a soap opera, a good, clean, fun, confusing, soap opera. Besides it's hard to keep up a lie when it becomes so complex.

Silver Destiny Thanks for the info on the quote. Tell you the truth I knew it, but not. And I didn't know which play it came from to look it up. I guess my memories aren't as good as I like them to be ^_^

Sarryn I'm glad that you're having fun!

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Rurouni Kenshin characters

SANO'S PAST

Last time…

Kenshin smiled and sat down a little behind Kaoru. As he did so, he made sure that his hand brushed up against her arm. He smiled innocently when Yara noticed and Kaoru stiffened up slightly.

'I think I'll have them stay a little longer. After all, I owe Sano.'

Present…

Sano had to go for a walk. Both Yoru and Yara left after Megumi hours ago, but what he saw made him nervous. Yara whispered something to her brother, which caused them to look at Kenshin and Kaoru. He had the feeling that they weren't going to leave just yet. Sano brushed his hand through his hair.

To make matters worse, Kenshin looked like he wasn't going to get out that police uniform anytime soon. In fact, Kenshin just took off the jacket, causing Kaoru to drool a bit, and started the laundry. That was when Sano decided it was time for him to go out for a walk. For crying out loud, he loves Kaoru (as a sister), and is happy that she is getting more aggressive with Kenshin, and that the Rurouni is showing more interest, but they could have better timing, like when Yara and Yoru were gone!

He needed cheering up, and what better way, than to talk to the local female doctor. A smile grew onto Sano's face. Oh-yeah, he was cheering up already.

Unknown to him, Yoru was following the ever-distracted Sano.

"Oi Megumi. Your favorite customer is here." Sano stated loudly. Megumi came from a patient's room, drying her hands.

"Ken-san?" she asked looking around, only to spot Sano. "Tori-atama. I thought you said that my favorite customer was here, so where is Ken-san?" Megumi noticed the slight disappointed look on his face, only to have it disappear seconds later.

"Come on kitsune. No one visits you, even Kenshin, as much as I do." Proudly stated Sano.

"That's because Ken-san is not a baka, and gets into fights or injury every week."

Sano gave her a lop sided grin. "What can I say? I just can't stay away from you. You've got me under your spell." Megumi gave him a small smile in return. Sano could be charming when he wanted to, albeit a little corny, especially when it came to boosting his ego.

"Oh all right. Come on in Sano. You can have some ohagi if you like."

"You know your speaking my language." Sano said with a cocky grin of his face. Megumi just raised an eyebrow in response.

Yoru watched hidden behind a tree in utter shock. He saw how Sano shamelessly flirted with Kaoru's stepsister Megumi, and how she returned to flirt right back at him. As the two stepped into the clinic, Yoru's breath became erratic.

Questions assaulted his over active mind. 'Did Kaoru know about this? Is Sano cheating on her?' After what Yara said, he was afraid that Kaoru was cheating on Sano, but after seeing this…What if Sano forced Kaoru to seek comfort in the embrace of another man?! What if he cares nothing for Kaoru, there for ignoring her, only to marry her out of duty? 'That poor woman.' Thought Yoru. A tear started to emerge from his eye.

Of course, Yoru knew that he could not jump into any conclusions, yet (not that he hasn't already done that!). So further surveillance must be needed. Yoru left quietly, trying not to make a sound. He headed back to the hotel where he and his sister were staying at, hearing Megumi and Sano laughing and arguing. He needed to get her to watch Kaoru as he would continue to watch Sano.

The next day…

The day began just like any other Kamiya Dojo day…with shouting and lots of violence.

Yahiko foolishly made another one of his stupid comments about Kaoru's cooking and ended up in the yard face down in the dirt with little raccoons dancing around his head. Kaoru wore a very pleased look on her face.

In the bushed near by, Yara stayed hidden. Although the others did not notice her, Kenshin knew exactly where she was and decided to give her a little show.

Her breath caught in her throat as all color drained from her face, that Kamiya woman was surely violent. If she treated her innocent (ha!), naïve (yeah right), and gentle (only in your dreams) cousin that way, how did she treat Sano. Was that the reason why Sano hung around Kaoru's stepsister so much? Is it because of Kaoru's violent behavior the wedge was form between the two?

Her thoughts were interrupted as all breath left her body. She could have sworn that the officer…Himura, looked right at her, with amber in his violet eyes and gave her a predatory smile. At first she was afraid as he walked towards her hiding place, but that fear disappeared as the Kamiya girl called his name. She made sure to note that Kaoru called Officer Himura, by his first name.

"Kenshin? What are you looking at?" came Kaoru's sweet voice. Kenshin turned and smiled at her.

"Nothing, just thought that I heard something." Kenshin grinned at the different aura signals that Yara was giving off. Before Kaoru's curiosity could get the better of her, Kenshin took her arm and lead her away, just not that far, he wanted to make sure that Yara would catch everything that he did, and said.

"Kenshin, are you okay?"

Kenshin smiled and stepped closer to her. He held her hand, gently rubbing his callused thumb across her knuckles. "I am fine koishii. What about you, this must not be easy. After all, having Saito as a father can make anyone insane."

Kaoru let out a laugh, and blushed. "You're right. I shutter thinking about it."

'What?! Saito drives his children insane? Is this really why Kaoru is staying at the dojo instead of with her father?'

"Would you like to go to the market with me?"

"I don't know, I just finished chasing Yahiko-chan around the dojo. I don't think that I look very presentable."

Kenshin took a step back and gave her close look. Some of her hair was falling out of her favorite indigo ribbon, and her famous yellow kimono was a bit ruffled. A gentle red colored her checks from the chase, and her blue eyes seemed to stand out more. "You have never looked better." And Kenshin believed it too. Once again Kaoru blushed. Hand and hand they stepped out of the Kamiya Dojo property and onto the public dirt roads.

Yara hurried and ran after them, ducking behind trees and other such objects, which amused Kenshin to no end. Obviously the two siblings never before followed someone, and were using their knowledge of certain high action, romance novels about the war, to follow them. He smiled when he heard a little 'ompf' from behind.

"What was that?" asked Kaoru as she started to turn around. Kenshin quickly grabbed her shoulders and continued to walk forward, making Kaoru follow, before she could see Yara flat on her face in the dirt road. Obviously she was too engrossed in trailing them that she never saw the bucket at the side of the road, and hence tripped on it. One would think that those novels that everyone seemed to love would say a little about knowing your environment if one was going to spy on the other, oh-well.

"It was probably nothing." Kenshin said calmly.

Back at the dojo, Yahiko was just starting to wake-up. His hand went immediately to his forehead, and then moved to the back of his head where a nice size bump was formed. Grumbling, Yahiko slowly got up, trying to keep the head-ach from coming full force. He was successful until a knock came from the gate's doors. Grumbling some more, and adding a bit of cussing into the mix, Yahiko opened the door to reveal a man around forty.

"Kamiya Dojo?"

"Yeah." Yahiko accepted the one letter that the man handed him and walked back to the dojo, only to be stopped by Sano.

"Oi, where is everyone…Yahiko-chan?" Yahiko slipped the letter into his gi, only to forget about it when he was called chan (uh-oh).

"What did you call me?!"

"Man, Kaoru probably hit you really hard this time, you're loosing your hearing. Hahaha."

From the shadows, well sort of (after all it still is early, maybe afternoon), Yoru hid and listened to the conversation. 'Kaoru hit Yahiko, and he is going deaf because of it? And Sano laughs about it? (Here we go again) the nerve of that man!' Yoru fumed, making sure to remember this, he was about to leave and regroup with his sister, when their conversation turned.

"Anyways Yahiko, you should know better than to make fun of Kaoru…at least in her face. I mean, yes she is a horrible cook, but has the anger to match it. If only she could be more of a lady like my Megumi (Yoru gasps). Then perhaps she wouldn't have so much guy trouble. Instead of running away from her, they might even talk to her." (I know, Sano is getting a little mean here, but hey, not all families are perfect).

"Yeah but Sano, you have to remember she was left without a mother and grew –up by herself. After her father left, she had to become tough." A comfortable silence came between the two. They both shared a smile thinking of the woman that they love as a sister, and couldn't help but admire.

Too bad Yoru didn't see these looks.

'Her father left her after her mother died? What kind of man is that Saito anyways?! Yara must know this, and perhaps another as well'.

Yoru left the dojo without being seen as Sano and Yahiko went inside.

Yoru waited patiently for his sister in the ally by the dojo. Their idea was to act like they were giving a surprise visit, just to keep the others on their toes. In the mean time they would use their keen observational skills to conform their suspicion.

Yoru held his breath as he watched Kenshin and Kaoru pass the alley, with smiles on their faces and holding an interesting conversation. To Yoru though, it was nothing but a bunch of babbling, after all, he was waiting for his sister.

Yara showed up moments later. She looked completely exhausted. She did more walking than she had ever done, she tripped five times, part of her kimono was muddy, and her hair that was well place in a bun this morning, was everywhere but in the bun. It was as if Himura and Kaoru walked the roughest terrain there was. Yoru gave her a questionable look, but she waved her hand telling him not to ask. Doing her best to place her hair back into the bun, both figures missed a tall powerful figure walk past them, towards the dojo (and no it was not Saito ^_^). Once she felt that she was presentable, which was about five minutes later, the two siblings decided to head back to the dojo, where an argument could be heard.

Five Minutes earlier…

Kenshin and Kaoru just walked into the dojo's gates. Kaoru was a bit curious why he decided to walk in the roughest terrain, but decided that he would tell her later. It was starting to get late, already around five o'clock, but there was still plenty of light left. She actually enjoyed spending the whole time with Kenshin, with no interruptions. Although he did act a little weird, it was almost as if he was playing a joke on someone that wasn't there. Oh-well. Kaoru let out a happy sigh.

"Excuse me." A familiar voice said from behind the two.

"I'll get some tea." Kenshin spoke as he left. He knew that that man was behind them for sometime.

Kaoru turned and looked up to see no other than Shinomori Aoshi.

"Aoshi-san what a pleasant surprise." And boy was it a surprise, usually he would send word that he was coming.

That was when Yahiko paled.

"Um Kaoru? Here." Yahiko took out the letter that they got that morning/afternoon. Kaoru gave him a suspicious look, and read it…

"YAHIKO!!!" Yahiko winced at the furry that his name was said. "You BAKA! Why did you wait to give this to me now?"

That was it, Yahiko was mad. "Me the baka? You are the one that left with Kenshin! So obviously I couldn't give it to you, because you just came back!"

"Oh yeah?! Well I remember that Kenshin said we were going to the market. I didn't hit you that hard! I would have thought you still had some brain left in your head."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah"

Kenshin sat on the porch, drinking a cup of nice hot tea. Usually he stopped the arguments between the two, but he just didn't feel like it today. In fact it was quite amusing.

Kaoru and Yahiko were head to head, still yelling at each other, when Yoru and Yara stepped up to the open gates.

"Ahem. I would like to know where my room is." Aoshi stated in his ever-calm voice. A gasp from behind caused all attention to focus behind Aoshi to the brother and sister.

"He's staying here?" asked a shocked Yara with her finger pointed at the tall, and incredibly handsome man, whose eyes were like ice.

Knowing that this was his fault, Yahiko did the first thing that popped into his head (uh-oh). He ran up to Aoshi and cried…

"Daddy!"

Kenshin started to gag. He was taking a sip of hot tea when Yahiko cried out, and now the tea wanted to exit his noise instead of mouth. His throat was burning, along with his nostrils, but he could help but laugh. Albeit not a very good laugh due to the tea, it just sounded like he was chocking.

Aoshi stood still as Yahiko latched his arms around Aoshi's waist and hugged him. It didn't look like the siblings were falling for it, so Kaoru ran up to him, also hugging Aoshi and said, "Cousin. I'm so glad that you are here!" Aoshi, stoic as ever, looked down at Yahiko then Kaoru then at Kenshin who wore a police uniform and was gagging on tea. Though a closer look, Aoshi noticed that he was not gagging but rather laughing painfully.

Kenshin just couldn't stop, the picture that the three made was priceless. There stood Aoshi, straight and ridged as can be, and probably shocked stiff, and Kaoru and Yahiko were draped on his arm and side, trying to look like they absolutely adore this man. Kenshin leaned forward grabbing his sides as he laughed. Thankfully he was still sitting or else he would have fallen down. Gasping for air, Kenshin tried to calm down, after all he was still in pain due to the tea, yet he never had this good of laugh before in a long time. He kind of missed it.

"Am I interrupting anything?" asked the ever annoying and dangerous voice of the wolf. Saito took a long drag from his cigarette and looked at the occupants of the dojo's property for an answer.

T.B.C.

Sorry that it took so long to write this, I hope you all had fun, and please continue with the ideas, I love them ^_^

Don't worry, I will finish this fic…someday…hehehe.