Author's Note – I hate to disappoint anyone but I miscounted, I only have 10 chapters instead of the previously stated 11. I'm a ditz and I can't count. – Blaze smacks forehead with bokken and shouts baka over and over – Thanks for reading – all swirly-eyed – hope you like it, please review, thanks. - Blaze

Currently listening to: Song of Truth by Do As Infinity from InuYasha OST 3

Reviewer responses are at the end of the chapter.

Chapter 9

Monday Morning

Kenshin finishes dressing and pulls his hair back into a low ponytail. Just then, he hears the doorbell. As he approaches the door, he wonders if it could be Kaoru, though it's still a little early for her to arrive. He opens the door to her beaming face.

Kaoru, as she pushes her way in: "Ohayo, Kenshin."

Kenshin: "Ohayo, Kaoru-dono. Gomen nasai, I have yet to prepare your breakfast."

Kaoru shoves a paper bag and a cup into his hands and guides him to a seat at the table.

Kaoru: "I'm glad. I was hoping to introduce you to a typical American breakfast."

Kenshin: "ORO!"

Kaoru pulls out of her bag, a round cake with a hole in the middle.

Kaoru: "This is a doughnut. A favorite of cops, most people eat at least two with coffee."

Kenshin: "I know what doughnuts are. Shishou said they're bad for you."

Kaoru: "True, in large quantities but the occasional breakfast of sugar and caffeine wouldn't hurt anyone."

Kenshin, tastes one: "These are very good, Kaoru-dono."

Kaoru, notices how quickly he finishes: "Glad you like 'em. Just don't turn into a junkie."

8 pm, The Akabeko

Kaoru: "Thanks for asking me to dinner."

Kenshin: "You're welcome, Kaoru-dono." Looking up, he recognizes someone: "Isn't that your cousin, Sagara-san?"

Kaoru: "Sure is and he brought Megumi and Yahiko too."

Kenshin: "Should I ask them to join us?"

Kaoru: "Only if you brought a lot of money. Sano's stomach is like a bottomless pit."

Kenshin, waves them over: "Really?"

Kaoru: "Yeah. He even has his own bowl here. It's huge."

Kenshin has no time to contemplate the ramifications of his actions before the trio arrives.

Sano: "Oi, Jou-chan, Kenshin."

Kenshin: "Konwaban. Would you and your family like to join us?"

Sano: "Sure." Glances at Kaoru: "As long as we're not interrupting anything."

Kaoru, under her breath: "Sano no baka!" She intercepts a questioning look from Kenshin: "What? I've been practicing with Misao."

Yahiko, as Megumi drags him over: "NO! I don't wanna eat with ugly! She'll ruin my appetite!"

Megumi, smacks him upside the head: "You're going to do what your brother and I tell you whether you like it or not. Besides, not everyone is fortunate enough to be as beautiful as me."

Kaoru shakes her head as her boisterous family settles around the table.

Megumi: "So, Sano tells me you're an Aoiya client."

Kenshin: "Yes, I am an actor, that I am."

Megumi: "How interesting. Are you working on anything right now?"

Kenshin, nods: "We should complete filming by the end of the month."

Megumi: "Have you done any other movies?"

Kenshin, nods again: "I portrayed the Hitokiri Battousai from the Bakumatsu in "Angel of Blood."

Sano: "Cool flick. Very bloody. What's the new one about?"

Kaoru jumps in: "We're not allowed to talk about it."

Sano, shoots her a funny look: "So Kenshin, how are you making out with our Jou-chan?"

Kenshin: "Very well. She's an excellent assistant."

Sano, winks and elbows Kenshin's ribs: "Excellent assistant, huh? Yeah, right."

Kenshin: "Yes she is. She's also a good friend."

Yahiko, makes gagging sounds: "Could we stop taking about ugly? I'm trying to eat here."

Kaoru: "Why you little brat!"

Sano, leans back to gnaw on a fish bone: "Ah, the sounds of family."

Kenshin, eyes wide, takes in the scene before him. Yahiko's yelling, Kaoru's beating him over the head with a bokken that's mysteriously appeared out of nowhere, and Megumi's yelling at the both of them to stop as she tries to separate them.

Sano: "Doesn't it make you wish for one of your own?"

Kenshin: "ORO?"

Sano, continues: "Take Jou-chan. A little violent, yes, especially when she's hungry, but she's loyal to a fault. She's a great housekeeper but a terrible cook."

Kenshin: "She can't cook?"

Sano: "Ever seen her do more than boil water?"

Kenshin, thinks: "Now that you mention it, no."

Sano: "I rest my case. She'll make a good wife to the right guy."

Kenshin: "Right guy?"

Sano: "Yeah. You know, somebody who'll take her crap that she can respect and who'll respect her back. Come to think of it, she seems to like you."

Sano fails to notice Kaoru and her bokken behind him.

Kenshin: "Uhhh, Sano, behind you…."

Kaoru, each word punctuated by a blow to the head: "STOP whack TRYING whack TO whack MARRY whack ME whack OFF whack!"

Megumi, after checking for life threatening injuries, decides it's a good time to leave: "It was good to see how you're getting on Kaoru but, as usual, the two of them being knocked unconscious concludes the evening. It was lovely meeting you Ken-san."

Kenshin: "Take care, Megumi-san."

Kaoru sinks down at the table as Megumi drags the swirly-eyed Yahiko and Sano out of the restaurant.

Kaoru: "I'm sorry about that. They just get on my nerves so much. Yahiko calling me ugly all the time and Sano trying to marry me off to every man he meets. It's embarrassing."

Kenshin: "That is the nature of family. I fought with Shishou all the time."

Kaoru: "He was like a father to you?"

Kenshin: "In a drunken, womanizing way, yes he was."

They finish their meal, Kenshin pays the check and they walk to the car.

Kaoru: "So, this Shishou, he's in Japan?"

Kenshin: "No, he lives in the hills outside Los Angeles. He runs the pottery shop you took me to when I first arrived."

Kaoru: "You mean Hiko's? He's your master? Who'da thought? Wait, he was kinda rude to you, as I recall."

Kenshin: "He's rather disappointed in me because I never completed my training."

Kaoru: "Kinda like Luke Skywalker?"

Kenshin, chuckles at the mental image: "And Shishou's Yoda." In a perfect imitation of Yoda's voice: "Mmmm drink sake. Good for you it is. Mmmm."

Kaoru: "But can he levitate things with his mind?"

Kenshin: "Not that I've ever seen but I'm sure he'd claim he could. Shishou refuses to admit there's something he can't do."

Kaoru: "You should call him on it."

Kenshin: "You don't know Shishou."

Kaoru: "Well, he sounds like a conceited jerk."

Kenshin: "May be you do know him. Oyasumi nasai Kaoru-dono."

Kaoru, smiling: "Goodnight Kenshin."

To Be Continued…