It's a warm spring day. Yahiko is on the side of his room, looking mad at himself.
"Ah! Yahiko what's that in your hand?" Kaoru asked, taking the piece of paper Yahiko was clutching onto.
"Wait! Busu that's mines!" He shouted.
Kaoru smiled, and began to read what she made out to be a letter.
"Ehem. Dear Tsubame,-" Kaoru stopped and looked over at Yahiko, who was blushing. "This isn't a love letter is it? That's so sweet! Even my bratty student knows when it's time!" She patted Yahiko's head for a split second, but he immediately tried to grab the letter back.
Yahiko, on the other side of the room, apparently because Kaoru pushed him away.
"Well let me continue.
'Dear Tsubame,
You are the nicest girl I know, at least compared to Kaoru..." Kaoru paused, but decided she should continue. "'You shine like the...polish on my bokken?! And can you be my bride? Ja, Yahiko!'
Yahiko...girls don't like this kind of stuff! You have to be more sincere! You can't tell Tsubame she shines like your polished bokken!" Kaoru sighed and threw the letter behind her.
Yahiko then ran up to it and caught it right before it reached the ground.
"I tried hard on it Busu! I'm going to give the letter to her right now!" Yahiko quickly put the letter in his pocket and headed towards
Kaoru watched as her student ran out of dojo.
"Kids will always be kids," Kaoru sighed again. Then, before she knew it, Kenshin appeared behind her.
"Kaoru, Yahiko isn't a child like he use to be. You have to admit that it's about time he found his own happiness."
Kaoru nodded, laughing hard as she thought about Kenshin's proposal to her.
"Kaoru. Whats wrong?"
"It's just that I was thinking about your proposal to me."
Kenshin's face went down. Kaoru smiled at the thought.
"I remember it was a summer day, just like this one. And we were near the lake. When you proposed to me, do you remember what happened?"
Kenshin slowly nodded.
"Kaoru got so excited she hugged Sessha and made him fall down a lake."
Kaoru grinned.
"Yeah and we had to call Sano to pull you in."
They were quiet, both recalling that unforgettable moment.
At this time, Yahiko had just finished a bowl of rice at the Akabeko.
"Yahiko-chan, would you like anything else?" Tsubame asked.
Yahiko shook his head. He reached into his pocket to take out the letter, but he couldn't find it.
'Oh shit! I lost it! It must be in here somewhere in the Akabeko! What if...someone else reads it?' Yahiko pictures Tae reading the letter and telling Tsubame and everyone else in the neighborhood.
'Oh god. That won't be good. I need to look for it.'
"Listen, Tsubame I need to look for something that I lost in here...Can I check in your kitchen?" Yahiko asked, remembering he had used the back entrance.
"Hai. Do you need help looking for it?"
Yahiko shook his head, and darted to the kitchen. But, when he was done...
"I can't find it...I really can't find it..."
Yahiko's head went down as he slowly went out of the Akabeko.
"Yahiko-chan? Is there anything wrong?"
He shook his head and sadly walked back to the dojo.
However, halfway, he came to his senses.
'That's it!' He thought. 'If I can't find the letter, I'll just propose to her myself! Who cares about a stupid letter...okay I did but it's different now...because I know...I want us to be just like Kenshin and Busu.'
When he came back, he stopped as he heard Tsubame and Tae talking. He put his ear near the door, trying to hear there conversation.
"Tsubame-chan, look what I found"
'That's the letter! It's gotta be!' Yahiko thought as he heard Tae speak. There was long silence, then Tsubame finally spoke up.
"I can't accept, Tae-san."
"But Tsubame-chan, you always wanted..."
Yahiko sprinted into the room and fell to his knees.
"Tsubame!" He shouted, putting his head down to the ground. "I know I'm not the richest or nicest looking guy around but I thought what we had...I mean...all the times we were together, that made me feel special knowing someone cares!" Yahiko got up and hugged Tsubame. She was surprised, not expecting this at all...
"The truth is...why don't you want to-"
"Because it was meant for Tae to wear not me."
"Wh-what?"
Yahiko let go of Tsubame and saw what she was talking about...Tae was holding up a jade bracelet in her hand.
"You see Yahiko, Tae knew I always wanted a jade bracelet, and that belonged to her family. I couldn't possibly take it."
"B-but I thought the letter and you didn't want to and-"
"You mean this letter?" Yahiko turned around as he heard Kaoru's voice. She was standing at the shoji, holding up the letter. Before Yahiko could take it from her, she quickly gave it to Tsubame.
"Go on, read it."
Tsubame hesitated at first, but opened it. After she read it, there was a silence. Tsubame then laughed.
"I guess you don't want to get married then." Yahiko said, thinking that Tsubame thought it was just a joke.
Tsubame shook her head over and over again, now only crying.
"Why...Yahiko...you could of...!" Then, she took Yahiko's hand and headed out.
"Tsubame what are you doing? You're not going to kill me for making you sad are you? Just think of it as a joke...it..it never happened." Yahiko said as Tsubame dragged him.
"Iie..." Tsubame turned around. "But we need to buy flowers."
"Why?"
Tsubame smiled.
"A wedding needs beautiful flowers, and my very own fiancé has to help me pick them out right now."
"You don't mean..." Yahiko beamed and started to run to the flower shop that Sae-dono opened recently. "Tsubame-chan, hurry up, my bride needs the best flowers of all!"
"No. All I need to do is shine like the polish on your bokken."
Tsubame ran after him, laughing and crying at the same time, awaiting the day when she gets to finally hold those flowers, a beautiful summer day- not too far away from now.