Kaoru's thoughts: '.'

Kenshin's thoughts: /./ or \.\

Chapter 4: Morning Surprises

Kenshin woke up cold. /So cold!/ was his first thought. He sneezed, which sent him into a coughing fit. His throat hurt badly and he noticed the room was spinning. /I think I'm sick./ he thought miserably. /I wonder how I got sick so quickly./ He looked around the room as if the answer was hiding somewhere in it. After finding nothing in the room, he looked down at himself.

/Oh. that's how./ His clothes were still damp from the last night. One of the few reasons he was cold. /I slept in soaking wet clothes. well it wasn't as if I had anything to change into./ he thought with a sigh. He started coughing again. /I hope this goes away soon./

He sat up slowly, hoping the room would stop spinning. /I feel like I've been hit by a train. itai./ His head started pounding when he tried to stand. /I must hide this from Kaoru-dono. I don't want to get her sick either./

He eventually made it to his feet, although he did so with much pain. Standing there, he willed the room to stop spinning. After the room stilled he realized he had nothing to do. /It feels odd not doing anything./ he thought. Habit told him to start doing his daily chores around the house. /Demo. I don't have any./

/I think I will cook breakfast for her./ he thought as he slid the door open. His feet made little noise against the floor as he walked to the kitchen. When he got there, a thought hit him. /I don't know where anything is. I guess I have to hunt for everything./

After he finally found everything, except rice, he started to cook. /All I can make is miso. I hope Kaoru-dono does not mind. I will have to tell her she has run out of rice when she wakes up./ he thought. He continued to stir the soup in silence.

*****

'Mmm. smells good,' was her first thought as she woke up. 'Breakfast.' She stretched lazily and sat up. Yawning, she opened her eyes slowly and took in the dim light. She breathed deeply and sighed. 'Another day! Its going to be a busy one too! Lets see, I have to - wait! Who's cooking?' With that sudden thought, she stood.

'It has to be Kenshin. If Sano was cooking he would've woken me up with the noise.' she thought while she stood up. Dressing quickly, she shoved the door aside with a clack. She ran down the hall into the kitchen to find Kenshin absently stirring miso soup.

"Kenshin! What are you doing?!" she almost yelled at him. She ignored his startled look, and walked towards him taking the spoon from his hands.

"C.cooking?" he stuttered a bit hoarsely. He was confused. /She doesn't want me to cook? Why?/ he wondered. The answer came to him quickly. /Chore. right --/ Before he could even finish his thought, Kaoru started talking again.

Kaoru sighed. "I told you no chores. Not even cooking." She said as if reading his mind. She looked at him. "You can go relax somewhere. Maybe you can go look around the dojo. I know I never gave you a tour or anything." She smiled brightly at him. "I will cook breakfast, don't worry!"

Kenshin nodded slightly, willing to obey anything she said just to keep her in a good mood. He walked out of the kitchen, intending to wander around the dojo. Once he was out of hearing range he started to cough. /It's hard to hold in a cough./ he thought. His wanderings were delayed until later when he heard a knocking at the dojo gate.

He decided to answer it, knowing Kaoru was busy cooking. When he opened the gate, he looked up to see wild hair and a smirking face.

"Hey stranger! I'm here for breakfast, unless jou-chan is cooking!" the man laughed.

Kenshin recognized the man as the one he met the day before. /I don't remember his name. I think it started with an 's'./

The tall man continued to talk. "Kenshin, right?" At this Kenshin nodded, "Well Kenshin, if you don't remember, I'm Sano. We met yesterday." Sano said. Kenshin was about to greet him, however Sano walked straight past him.

A bit confused, Kenshin followed Sano into the dojo. His loud voice echoed through the place. "Jou-chan! I'm hungry! Are you cooking?" he yelled. Kaoru simply yelled a rushed "yes" back at him.

They sat at the low table in the room, Sano waiting impatiently for the food. Kenshin simply sat, finding his hands a very interesting view. He was trying hard not to cough. They sat in silence for a minute or two. Finally, Sano decided to talking to Kenshin might make the time pass faster.

"You haven't had jou-chan's cooking before, have you?" Sano asked Kenshin. Kenshin looked up and shook his head "no". Sano laughed. "Well, I'm gonna give you an early warning, don't say anything about how it tastes!"

At this, Kenshin looked confused for the second time this morning. He was about to ask why, but decided against it, knowing if he opened his mouth he would start coughing.

Sano looked at him, prepared to give a reason seeing his confused look, but he was cut short when Kaoru yelled, "It's ready!"

Sano shut his mouth as Kaoru slid the door open carefully so she wouldn't spill the soup. She set the miso on the table and sat down. As she was serving, she glanced at Kenshin.

"Kenshin, why didn't you tell me I ran out of rice?" she asked him. He switched his gaze to her. "I could've gone and bought some before you started cooking."

Kenshin knew he had to answer her, but he also knew he would start coughing if he tried. /Oh well. She would have found out eventually./

"Sessha would have told you Kaoru-dono, however you were sleeping and sessha did not wish to disturb you." He said, then found himself coughing badly. /Wow. I did not think it would be this bad./ he thought painfully.

The coughing finally subsided and he became aware of two pairs of extremely worried eyes staring at him. He managed a weak smile. "Sessha is fine, Kaoru-dono," he said pathetically.

Kaoru looked at him as if he was crazy. "'Fine'?! You call that 'fine'?" she said disbelievingly. Kenshin nodded slightly. Kaoru huffed. "Finish your breakfast. After Sano will go get Megumi while I clean up," she said with a tone nobody would argue with.

Breakfast continued in silence. Neither Sano nor Kenshin said anything about the food's taste.

As Kaoru said, after breakfast Sano went to get Megumi, while she cleaned up the dishes. Kenshin decided to wander around now, so he stood carefully and walked out of the dining area.

He started to walk towards the small garden when, once again, his wanderings were cut short by a knock at the gate. Again, he went to answer it.

Sliding the gate open, he looked up. A large, tall man stood there. /Why are all of Kaoru-dono's friends so tall?/ he thought absently as he tried to get a better view of the man's face. /The sun is too bright! I can't see!/

Kenshin realized he was being rude standing there staring. "Good morning!" He said as cheerfully as he could. He was too surprised by two simple words the man said next to hear Kaoru's shouts asking him who was there.

"Hello Shinta."

To Be Continued.

Okay!  That's the last chapter from Ami-dono.  The next chapters are written by me.