Yay, I fixed the problem! I do hope that you guys aren't disappointed with the second chapter...

Kenshin's not mine...

Kaoru

This is just great. I sighed loudly. I could not believe that I was stuck in a tearoom with Kenshin. Wait! Stuck all alone with Kenshin. I smiled wickedly; maybe this won't turn out so bad after all.

"Would you like some tea, Miss Kaoru?" Kenshin asked. I smiled sweetly at him.

"Why thank you, Kenshin." His hand brushed mine as he handed me the cup. I felt my cheeks heat up slightly. I took a small sip. The tea tasted a bit funny and burned as it went down my throat, but I figured it was just because it was hot. I took another, longer gulp this time. My stomach growled embarrassingly loud and I felt myself blush again. "Hey Kenshin, there is a lot of good food here, and they OBVIOUSLY went through a lot of trouble to do this so we might as well indulge them, don't you think?" I looked up and Kenshin was smiling at me.

"You are right Miss Kaoru, that you are." I grabbed the parcel of food closest to me and started munching. I paused mid-munch, realizing that Kenshin was staring at me. I laughed nervously and slowed down on the shoving-food-into-my-mouth thing.

I watched Kenshin eat. He does it so masterfully--just like he does everything else. Oops, I might have sighed too loud there. I laughed timidly as his gaze turned towards mine. Kenshin only smiled. He has the cutest smile! The corners of his mouth turn up and his eyes sparkle, holding onto his mysterious air. Every time I see that smile of his, I just want to melt into his arms.

Kenshin poured me some more tea, which I gulped down a tad bit greedily. I gently poured myself another full glass and guzzled that down as well. The burning sensation in my throat began to go away as I downed my fifth or six cup. I can't remember. Remember what? Huh? What am I talking about? Halloo in there! Teehee . . . look at Kenni. He's so cute.

"Miss Kaoru, are you okay?" said Kenshin, looking worried. Why is my Kenshin worried? Aww, poor Kenshin!

"Kenshin, I like your smile, will you smile for me?" Kenshin gave me a bewildered look. "Kenshin?" I could feel my words slurring.

"Of course, Miss Kaoru." I could have sworn he added, "For you . . . anything . . ." under his breath, but I'm not sure. I could be wrong, I mean, ooh--more tea please!

Kenshin

I smiled at Miss Kaoru, sensing the joyful aura radiating from her. She had me worried for a minute, but I think she was just tired. I'm guessing she had come from teaching Yahiko from the looks of her training garments. And she was probably thirsty by the sizable amount of tea that she had consumed in the past hour or so. Me on the other hand, I don't drink until I finish my meal. Habit, I guess.

"Kenshin?" Miss Kaoru asked softly. I snapped out of my daze.

"Yes, Miss Kaoru?" I answered, looking up at her. She was glowing happily and I felt my heart skip a beat. I smiled lightly at the angel before me, her cascade of raven-black hair trailing over her shoulder.

"Would—would you," she began, looking at me earnestly. She paused. "Kiss me?" she said finally, leaning towards me with those luscious pink lips of hers.

"Whaa?" I backed up. "M--Miss Kaoru, are you okay?" She crept closer, crawling on her knees. Oh god, oh god, oh god! As she advanced on me, I tried to fight it, but I felt myself giving in to temptation. Miss Kaoru leaned in farther and I closed my eyes to concede to her request.

You could probably imagine how I felt when I kissed the air. Something heavy landed in my lap. My eyes snapped open to see miss Kaoru, passed out against me. Lovely. I suppose that I was lucky that she passed out. 'Don't you have any self-control!' I thought, chastising myself. Nevertheless, I smiled at the woman in my arms. I picked her up and laid her on the blanket that was draped on the floor.

Wait a minute; was that sake I smell on her breath? I sniffed her teacup. SAKE! I then sniffed the teakettle. She--she had been drunk!

Ayame

It was just Uncle Rooster and me. Megumi had gone to put Suzume to be, it being WAY past her bedtime. We watched what was happening on the inside of the tearoom through the blinds on the side of the wall. It was extremely... boring. Seriously, you'd think there'd be at least some action, or something or the sort, but nothing! No freaking thing!

Then the action happened...

"Ohmigosh!" I whispered loudly, as I heard Miss Kaoru ask Uncle Ken to kiss her. I was more surprised when she landed it his lap with a hard thud. "What happened to Miss Kaoru!" I started to panic; maybe this wasn't such a good idea after all. I looked at Uncle Rooster for help, but he was just snickering beside me. I narrowed my eyes at him.

"What did you do to her!" I demanded quietly. Uncle Rooster just laughed harder and motioned for me to follow him out of Uncle Ken's hearing range.

"I switched the tea with sake!" He was practically bursting at the seams with laughter.

"WHAT!" I silently thanked God that we were out of Uncle Ken's hearing range. "Sake? But doesn't that make people, well, you know, act all weird?"

"I believe 'drunk' is the word that you're looking for." I stared up at Uncle Rooster and, at that moment, I wanted to plant my fist in his face. "Are—are you... growling at me?" I shook my head and gave him a sweet smile.

"No, of course not, Uncle Rooster. I just hope you know what are you're doing." He nodded.

"Of course. Trust me, this is going to help them move things along. I promise... just uh... just don't tell Megumi about this, okay?" I smiled and nodded vigorously. If Uncle Rooster ruined this, I'm sure Uncle Ken wouldn't mind pounding on his face for a while...