Sentiments of gip-k: -Hello everybody, this is the 16th chapter of Shattered Glass Can Glisten, Too. I'm really enjoying writing this… I warn you, though. We're in the last chapters. (Has an ear to ear smile on her face) Now it all comes down to it all! ^_^ (Is thinking about how great it'll be)

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Disclaimer: I don't own Rurouni Kenshin already!

(Is considering mean things to do to the disclaimer)

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---Looking Towards the Horizon---

For weeks more I continued on like that- running off to see Megumi and Sano, running back home to eat dinner with Kazuma. My life was hectic, and I began feeling depressed, wondering how on earth I could continue living this painful, restless life, trapped between the love of my life and my friends.

One night, I told myself it had to end. Kazuma, Megumi, and Sanosuke, were all going to have to meet each other at some point or another, and they would just have to get along as best as they could! Sanosuke did not even know that Kazuma existed.

So over dinner one night with Kazuma, I was very quiet purposefully, picking at my noodles disdainfully. Finally, as I had suspected he soon would, Kazuma commented.

"You're quiet, Kaoru-chan," Kazuma whispered. "What's wrong?"

I looked up at him. I did not speak a word… just stared into his brilliant, beautiful eyes for a long time, letting myself drown in their radiance. Then, as soon as I was sure his eyes had locked fully and totally with mine, I spoke.

"Kazuma, I'm going to invite Megumi and Sanosuke here for dinner tomorrow," I said very evenly. "I want you to come."

Kazuma just stared at me.

"Is that all?" he whispered. "Is that all you have to ask?"

I gave him a bare nod.

"Of course I'll do that, Kaoru," he said, eyes shining. "If that's what you want… I'd be very happy to meet them, Kaoru-chan."

The knotting in my stomach vanished away almost completely, and I smiled a smile of sheer relief.

"You promise?" I asked.

"Hai," he said, giving me a small smile.

"Thank you," I said breathlessly.

"It's wonderful to see you happy again, Kaoru-chan," he said.

That evening, we laid down on the ground next to each other, holding hands and staring up at the stars.

"Don't you have to go home and sleep, Kazuma?" I asked him. "You'll be too exhausted to go to work tomorrow."

"Nah," Kazuma said. He grinned. "I would not have been able to sleep, anyway."

We stared there until almost midnight, when Kazuma finally decided to go home. I tried to persuade him to just stay at the dojo, and he said no thanks to that, smiling and saying that he was already eating enough of my delicious food, costing me money, and he did not need to do anymore damage.

I embraced him tightly and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek.

"Goodnight," I said against his neck.

"Goodnight, Sweet Grass," he replied.

I continued holding him. He chuckled a bit.

"Uh… Kaoru?"

I let him go, and he stroked my cheek with an idle finger.

"I'll see you tomorrow, Kaoru-chan," he said.

"Okay," I replied. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight."

With that, Kazuma began heading to the gate.

* * *

I was in the market shopping, with Sanosuke and Megumi on either side of me.

"This is boring," Sanosuke said.

"No it's not," Megumi said, examining some bluish purple fabric. She held it against herself. "Now how does that look?"

"It looks nice, Megumi," I replied without looking.

"Everything you wear is that color."

At that moment I flipped around. Megumi and I stared at Sanosuke.

"Oh?" Megumi said coolly. "Now what did you have in mind?"

Sanosuke looked around casually for a few moments, and picked out two fabrics. One was a deep kind of red… no dark, but not extremely dark. It was a light fabric, maybe linen. The other was and emerald kind of greenish color… and pure silk, too.

"Get something like one of these," Sanosuke replied, shoving them at Megumi.

She looked at them with pure awe and amazement. I gasped.

"Do you have… any clue how much this costs?" she said, holding up the emerald cloth. She wrinkled her nose at the red. "Are you saying you want me to get something red? Red?" She asked incredulously.

"Sure, it would match your lips," Sanosuke replied. "And the green looks nice."

Megumi gaped.

"Well I'm not getting either," she replied indignantly.

"Yes you are," Sanosuke said. I could tell he was teasing- he had to be teasing.

"No I'm not," Megumi retorted.

"Then I'll get them," Sanosuke replied.

"Sano- are you serious?" I asked incredulously.

"Sure," he took the cloth away from Megumi. She and I watched him in pure awe as he walked over to the seller of the cloths and put them atop the booth. He spoke to her for a long moment, and her face turned from indignation to an ear to ear grin. She looked at Megumi for a moment, then nodded a bit. She laughed at something Sanosuke said, and Sanosuke grinned. He paid her some money, and then she let him have the cloth.

Then he came back, looking positively proud. He then folded the cloths, and placed them in a very purposely-gentle way in her arms, and patted her shoulder.

"Charm, Megumi, charm," he said, smiling.

Megumi looked at him incredulously. I was too shocked to laugh.

"Erhm, come on, let's go look at the vegetables," I said.

Megumi gave a bare nod. I almost had to drag her along to make her move.

I purchased a few vegetables from the markets, though not many of them were very good this time of the year. But I was more looking for something else… fish.

"What, you're getting fish?" Sanosuke said. His eyes were shining.

"Yes," I said in a teasing voice. "And be sure you don't eat it raw by mistake- it's not healthy."

Sanosuke just looked confused.

"So what's going on, Missy?" Sanosuke asked. "You only used to buy fish when you had enough money, or when Yahiko's complaining seriously got on your nerves. So what's so special about today?"

I bit my lip.

"Um, I've got something to tell you," I began. I paid the lady for the fish, and then we started walking. "Let's sit in the Akebeko."

We sat down in the Akebeko, and over small glasses of sake we talked.

"So, spill it, Little Missy," Sanosuke said, taking a short sip of sake. He let out a sigh. "What's up?"

"Well, there's someone I want you to meet-" I said, looking down hard into my glass. "-he's my… boyfriend."

Sanosuke just stared at me for a long time. Then he bursts out into a fit of laughing. I was filled with alarm.

"W- what's so funny?" I asked, my stomach twisting into knots.

"Y- you're joking, right?" Sanosuke said, his eyes filling with tears at how hard he was laughing.

"No," I said calmly. "His name's Kazuma Zhang. He's coming to lunch today. I wanted Megumi and you to come along and meet him."

Sanosuke stopped laughing, but he still looked amused.

"And I thought Kenshin just liked you because of… you know Kenshin!" Sanosuke replied.

"You're not mad?" I asked.

"Why should I be mad?" Sanosuke said. "You can like who you want to like. From what I know of you and Kenshin, he can always win you back over when he comes back."

I was bringing the glass to my mouth to drink my sake, but when I started coughing abruptly, I put the glass down. My eyes watered. Megumi patted me on the back. For some reason, what Sanosuke said disturbed me more than him being mad.

After drinking that small bit of sake, the three of us headed down to the dojo. Megumi dropped the fabrics off at her house on the way, and then we continued going.

We got there early, seeing that it was only the morning when we met each other to go shopping. Kazuma would not be coming for quite some time, so it gave me a chance to cook and change my clothes.

Megumi helped me in the kitchen, and though I would never admit it to her in a million years, she was better at cooking that I was. And I was very glad to have her help.

By mid-afternoon the sun was glaring down on us hard. I went to the bathhouse to go get a bath and change into my best kimono. Kazuma would be coming soon.

I took a long nice, bath. I put sweet scents and oils in the water to help make my skin as soft as possible, and make my hair smell like flowers. Then I dressed with just as much care, making sure the ribbon was tied perfectly. I looked in the mirror once more, then let out a deep breath, and stepped out of my room.

I looked for Megumi and Sanosuke, and found them sitting down on the dojo steps. I had spent all that time making myself nice just to sit down on the dirty dojo steps. I squinted at the sunlight that was shining down on us. I sat down next to Sanosuke, who scooted closer to Megumi to make room for me.

"So we're just sitting here waiting for him," Sanosuke said, puffing a sigh. "I can't wait to eat that fish."

I had more things to worry about than just fish, but decided to just relax a bit. I blinked at the sunlight. It felt warm and nice, but was a bit bright. I could hardly see what was in front of us.

Megumi and Sanosuke talked a little bit, and I joined in. It was a lot of fun sitting here on the dojo steps, just enjoying the sunlight and nature.

We had been talking for a couple of minutes when I noticed something moving in the trees. I squinted in the sunlight. I could not see clearly. The sounds of Sanosuke and Megumi's voices turned into a distant buzz. I looked on ahead. I put a hand to my brow, and tried to look. I still could not see it. I looked as hard as I could. The thing… figure was coming closer. I saw a flash of something red. I looked harder. I stood up to try and get a better look.

By this time, Sanosuke and Megumi had stopped speaking, and looked to the object of my gaze. I looked harder.

The figure soon took on more detail, and as he walked past one of the trees, the shadow fell on him and through the sunlight he became clear. It was only a moment… only a second, but it made me gasp. I saw red hair spilling down his face, and a ripping, tattered purple gi. I brought down my hand involuntarily from my face, too shocked to keep it there. The man continued to approach us, and I could see him. I was so shocked… I was filled with a feeling that I could not describe. The man came closer, and I could see he was limping, leaning on a sword. The sound of it stabbing in the dirt as he walked was clear in my ears. He seemed hardly able to stand.

The man came closer to me… so close. I knew who he was. My heart hammered in my chest, and my mouth hung open. I saw that he was not in very good shape- his entire right arm…the arm holding to that sword- was covered in bandages. His hair was covering his eyes. I could hear him breathing… and when he looked up at me, I saw that his forehead had a bandage wrapped around it, and his left eye was covered. Yet the eye that I could see was brilliant… and a beautiful shade of violet. For the first time it relayed all his feelings… pain… pain and a feeling I could not decipher. But when I saw the look in that eye… I felt… I can't explain how I felt.

"Miss… Kaoru…" he breathed, panting with the effort. "You… saved me. Th-thank…Thank you. You're all that kept me alive…when I saw you…I was…dying…but you…you…you would not let me go…I had…had to…had to…to…come…back…back…to…you."

I wrapped my arms around him in a light embrace. I was trembling.

"K…Kenshin," It was all I could say.

Kenshin collapsed on to me, and I nearly fell. Megumi grabbed him. I looked at my hands. They were stained… stained with blood. I looked down at my kimono. The whole thing was covered with blood. My eyes widened. I looked at Kenshin. I heard Megumi screaming out commands. Sanosuke picked up Kenshin and held him as though he was a child. He was so… weak. I was in shock. For some reason I looked to my left… I don't know why. I just did. What I saw was quite unbelievable. I saw…Kazuma. My eyes locked with his. I saw the most pained look I had ever seen on a human face in my entire life. Then Kazuma turned around and ran…

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gip-k's Post Chapter Statements: -Yes, Kenshin came back. And he's barely alive. Will he survive? insert "Play Cliff Hanger Music" command

I'll just go unto my special thanks for someone I forgot- my best reviewer of the last round! The rest will be for later.

Kakkabrat

Oh my GOD!!! I cannot believe I forgot you! I am SOOOOOOO sorry Kakkabrat! You were like the coolest… you gave me 15 reviews in a day! How could I forget you! Oh s***. Thank you so much! ^_^

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