Okay, here's chapter four for you! That's all I have to say!

Disclaimer: Nope, I don't anything accept Yue Kagurasa – wait… that didn't sound very good… oh well! On to the story!

Kaoru walked silently down the dirt road, full of hopelessness. What would she do without Kenshin? How would she defend herself, her friends? How could she ever smile again? The thoughts of confusion surrounding her; Kaoru never noticed the chill in the air of the oncoming winter storm. She turned down a deserted dirt road – the road that led to her now empty dojo. She stifled the overcoming agony of wanting to cry again as she rested her hand on her family's carved name. Kamiya Kasshin Dojo it read as Kaoru's fingers traced the engraved characters. She thought of her father… then she thought of her mother… She had never known her mother; she had died when Kaoru was very young.

She thought of Kenshin then, and thought of his warmth, kindness, and protection. She hoped that he would return... 'Kenshin…'

"Hello Kamiya-dono" someone said behind Kaoru, causing her to literally jump into the air. For a swift moment, Kaoru thought it could be Kenshin, but when she turned to face the voice, she was quite astounded. There she was, staring yet again into the kind man's face; it was Yue Kagurasa.

"K-Kagurasa-san!" Kaoru stammered. The man behind her just smiled and bowed.

"I apologize for shocking you so… please forgive me…" Yue said as he remained in the welcoming bow, a smile still on his face. Kaoru held her breath in her amazement at his politeness. She blushed a bit as he rose to meet her gaze, and then offered a smile back to the gentleman.

"No, don't be silly. You only startled me is all" Kaoru said with a smile. "But if you don't mind me asking… why did you follow me?"

Yue stared at her, a blank expression settling on his face, as if the answer were obvious. Kaoru's eyes shifted a little in her nervousness. She was beginning to feel uneasy as he stared at her like that.

"I only followed you so that if you ran into trouble again, I could protect you" he said matter-of-factly. Kaoru's eyes widened at his statement, and once again she thought of Kenshin. He had protected her with such kindness, never wanting anything in return. Her eyes began to fill with tears, and she turned away from the man in front of her. Yue's eyes narrowed in concern at Kaoru's sudden movement. He stared at her back, sensing her distress in her ki. He put on his brightest smile and proceeded to spread a warming smile across his face.

"Kamiya-dono, if you would please allow me the pleasure of treating you to dinner… I would be most honored" Yue said as placed a hand on the troubled Kaoru's shoulder. She gasped from the sudden interaction, her body tensing as Yue left his hand on her shoulder, waiting for her reply. She suddenly thought about Yahiko and Sano… They had not been at the dojo since last night. 'Maybe they're with Megumi…' she thought.

"Kamiya-dono?" Yue asked again. He removed his hand as he noticed her shoulders slump and her head lower. "Kamiya-dono, please, if something is troubling you; you are more than welcome to tell me, you are."

Kaoru's eyes widened and she turned suddenly toward Yue, getting very close to his face. Yue's cheeks turned considerably red as the girl in front of him leaned in extremely close to his face.

"K-Kamiya-dono!"

"What did you say!" Kaoru asked hurriedly. "What did you say just now!"

Yue laughed uneasily and closed his eyes, scratching his head in nervousness. 'What's wrong with her!' Yue thought as Kaoru searched his face for unknown answers.

Kaoru stared at the man a bit longer, and then dismissed her thoughts in a heavy sigh. 'He'll be back… I just know he will' Kaoru thought. Then, as she balled her fist in a familiar anger, she thought to herself again. 'That baka better come back – or else I'll hunt him down and beat him so hard –' her thoughts were interrupted as Yue cleared his throat. Kaoru laughed as she realized what exactly she had done. Yue stared at the laughing girl with amazement.

"Y-you know… You're really something Kamiya-dono…" Yue said with a smile. He turned his face away from her surprised stare as he felt his face reddening. Kaoru watched as Yue allowed his hair to fall into his face, but not before noticing his extremely red cheeks. She looked at the ground, her expression saddening a little. She wished Kenshin could say something like that to her… She took in a deep breath, closed her eyes, and put on a smile the best she could muster.

"Kagurasa-san… I would be happy to join you for dinner" she said suddenly. Yue's head snapped toward her, his face still slightly red. His surprised expression was quickly replaced by a more ecstatic one as his face blushed furiously by her answer.

"W-what do you like to – to eat?" he managed. Kaoru stared at him a moment. She thought of how different he seemed to be now, then that of his calmer and collected state a few moments ago. She quickly dispelled the thought, and gave him an answer.

"Lobster!" she said, almost too easily. Yue fell to the ground hard, but quickly got up and regained his composure. Beads of sweat formed on his face as he took out his wallet to inspect his current wad of money. Oddly enough, there would be just enough money to go out for a lobster dinner – if they shared of course. Yue thought about the different places they could go… maybe they could get some of that ice cream they had from the west… That's when the thought came to him.

"Kamiya-dono, would you like to go to Hokkaido with me?" he asked, unsure of what her answer might be. Kaoru thought about the proposal for a moment. 'It's not like I'd be gone forever… and maybe when I come back, Kenshin will have returned!' she thought, her happiness coming back slightly.

"Yes. I will go to Hokkaido with you – there's so much yummy food there!" she cried. Although she only knew Yue Kagurasa for only a moment, she couldn't resist an invitation to a well-known place of FOOD like Hokkaido! She quickly made up her mind, then spoke again.

"If you'll wait here, I must leave a note for my friends when they return okay?" she said. Yue seemed to have a look of nervousness on his face, but it was gone before she could give a second glance.

"Of course Kamiya-dono" Yue said. Kaoru smiled, then ran inside to write the note for the boys, and quickly grabbed an extra kimono on her way out. Yue Kagurasa smirked inwardly as he watched the girl walking out to meet him.

"Okay, I'm ready!" she said. Yue placed his hand on his sword and smiled to himself. 'Soon Kaoru… very soon…'

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"So what are you getting busu, Kenshin?" Yahiko asked as they traveled down the dirt road. Kenshin looked ahead, a determined smile on his face.

"Well, Kaoru-dono is very fond of food, she is. So I thought we could go and buy her a lobster dinner, then bring it back to Tokyo! We could even stop and get us some of that ice cream that came from the west!" he replied. Yahiko drooled as he daydreamed about how the ice cream would taste as he slowed to a stroll.

"Hey Kenshin? So uh... where are we going exactly to get all that?" Sano asked the red-head. Kenshin looked up at the taller fighter and smiled.

"We're going to Hokkaido"

Well there you go! Who is this Yue Kagurasa, and what does he have in store for our poor, sweet, utterly STUPID Kaoru?

Kaoru: Hey, I'm not stupid! takes out her bokken

Candizzle: It's MY story, and I say you're STUPID! sticks out her tongue, only infuriating Kaoru more

Kenshin: smiling nervously Well, Kaoru-dono, at least you were in this chapter! You should be grateful, that you should!

Kaoru: chasing after Kenshin Oh you think so HUH!

Candizzle: …. I'm surrounded by idiots…..

Starrydreamz : Well, I hope you liked this chapter! Thanks for the compliment also – I was hoping that my writing would a least be readable! Thanks again!

Waffles01 : Wow! Thanks a bunch – I'm glad you like it! Well, I hope you keep reading to find out who Yue is!

Coke48Kenshin : There you go! Another piping hot chapter for your viewing pleasure! Hope you liked it!

Prince Aoshi : I'm glad you like it!

animefreak-shinobi : Hope this chapter lifted the atmosphere a bit more! Thanks for the pointers too!

trekker4life : I'm glad you like it! Yeah, you're right – they ARE dense aren't they! But they're so adorable at the same time! Thanks for the review!

Universal Fighter : Well, I'm really happy that you decided to go ahead and read it! I know that the whole "Kaoru getting kidnapped" is a bit overused, but there's a twist in this story! I hope you keep reading – and I'm really glad you like it so far!

Okay guys, that's it for the reviews! All I have to say is just… Please keep reading and reviewing I guess!Anywayz – that's all for now! Laterz!

Coming Soon – Chapter 5

Candizzle