D/C: We don't own Rurouni Kenshin.

Hello, people, we're back! Thank you all for the nice reviews; they really made us happy! And without further ado, we present to you; CHAPTER 3!

Enjoy!

Chapter 3:

'We're finally going!'

Aoshi sighed and shook his head. Yes; he, too, was overjoyed that they were finally going to leave the wilderness and get back to the city, but Himura-san was over-acting…a lot!

He had woken up early that morning; something which he never did, and started bustling about and packing his belongings…and Aoshi's belongings; something which Aoshi found extremely weird. Then he had gone and taken a dip in the stream, singing at the top of his voice, and returned carrying a small bucket which held a fair amount of fish in it, and had cooked them over the fire…all the while telling Aoshi to sit back and relax and do nothing…when on normal days he would've preferred to be the one to do nothing and let Aoshi do all the work.

'You just get in the car and rev the engine, Shinomori-san!' Kenshin said cheerfully. 'I'll get all our luggage in the trunk!'

'But, Himura-san…we still have to bring down the tent and the rubber boat…' Aoshi started.

'Not to worry, Shinomori-san! I'll take care of that too!' he assured him. 'You just take care of the car, okay?'

'Okay,' Aoshi said slowly, wondering if Kenshin really knew anything about taking down tents.

He got into the car, put the key in its place and waited; it was too early to turn on the engine yet; taking down the tent would require lots of time.

He leaned against his door, humming softly to himself as he drummed his fingers against the dashboard.

It was really peaceful and quiet out there; the sky was blue, the birds were singing, Himura-san was screaming…

'Shinomori-san! Help!' Kenshin screamed.

Feeling slightly alarmed, Aoshi scrambled out of the car. He hurried towards the campsite, looking everywhere for Kenshin. It didn't take him long to find him, though.

There he was, tangled in a heap of green cloth, which used to be their tent. He was struggling but without any success, to untangle himself from the tent. Aoshi stood watching him with an amused expression upon his face.

Kenshin didn't notice he was there. He made a couple of attempts to break free of the tent, but failed. 'Shinomori-san! Help!' he shouted again.

'You can stop screaming, I'm here,' Aoshi said quietly.

Kenshin saw him. 'Well, what are you doing standing there? Come here and help me!' he snapped. 'I've had enough of camping trips to last me a lifetime! Now hurry up and untangle me!'

Aoshi sighed. Gone where the hours where Himura-san was sweet, helpful and sensible.

-

'Okay…let's go over the list again…' Kaoru said, her brow furrowed as she looked down at the list she was holding. 'Birthday invitations?'

'Sent,' Sano told her.

'Food?' Kaoru asked.

'It had just been delivered and is on the kitchen table, waiting to be served,' Megumi told her.

'Good…er, wall?' she said, looking at Sano.

'Mended,' Sano said, proudly. 'I went into a department store and found a tank of paint of the exact red color of your wall.'

'Great!' Kaoru said, beaming at him. 'Okay…music?'

'Chizuru offered to be the DJ,' Megumi murmured, although she was frowning. 'I'm not sure of her DJing abilities, but she seemed so keen to help in Himura-kun's birthday.'

'Oh,' Kaoru said. 'Okay, then…the painting's been hung on the wall, and…oh! The decorations!'

'Damn! We forgot to decorate!' Sano said, slapping his forehead. 'And I've been wondering what was missing!'

'Alright, let's not freak out, okay?' Megumi said, calmly. 'Let's pretend that the guests won't be arriving in two hours, and that Himura-kun and Shinomori-san won't be arriving in hardly more than two hours, and that we don't have the whole house to decorate…and we'll be fine.'

Kaoru glared at her. 'Megumi! That's not comforting!' she screamed.

'Oi! Don't lose your head, Jou-chan!' Sano said irritably. 'We'll decorate the house quickly and it'll be perfect, no sweat…we just have to work together, you and me and Megtsuni and Misao…where's Misao, anyway?'

'She said something about changing Kenji's diaper…' Kaoru murmured, and looked up at the ceiling. 'She's been gone an awfully long time, though.'

Meanwhile…

'Okay, Kenji…let's get this over with,' Misao said quietly, moving towards Kenji with the clean diaper.

It had taken her ten minutes to finally gather up her courage and change the baby's diaper, and now that she finally did, she wasn't going to back out.

'I'm going to do it for you, Kaoru!' she said, with such determination you'd think her's and Kaoru's life depended on it.

Kenji just blinked innocently up at her.

Misao slowly undid the diaper, rolled it up and set it aside. She cleaned Kenji up with a couple of Baby Wipes, and then fastened the clean diaper onto Kenji. Misao sighed in relief and looked back to appreciate her handiwork.

'Misao!' Kaoru burst into the bathroom, a panic-stricken look on her face. She relaxed when she saw them. 'What took you so long?'

'Sorry, I was just changing Kenji's diaper,' Misao said, looking kinda sheepish.

'Well, thanks,' Kaoru said. 'If you're done, put Kenji in his cradle and come give us a hand with the decorations, okay?'

Misao nodded, and Kaoru left the bathroom. Misao turned back to Kenji, and her hand accidentally hit the diaper which flew and dropped into the toilet seat.

'Oops,' Misao mumbled. 'Damn! What should I do now? No way am I going to put my hand in there! This is all your fault!'

She glared at Kenji, who, again, blinked innocently at her.

'Oh, well,' she murmured, and flushed the toilet. 'I don't think anything will happen, right, Kenji?'

She picked up the baby and left the bathroom, shutting the door behind her. If she had stayed there a moment later, she would've noticed that the toilet water hadn't sunk down. On the contrary, it continued to rise.

-

Aoshi was driving silently. Not bothering to even act as if Kenshin was sitting next to him. He was drenched to the bones from head to toe; Kenshin 'accidentally' pushed him into the lake while they were deflating the rubber boat they never used. It made him furious just to think that he took the great effort to inflate it in the first place, but to be pushed into the water because of it, that's something else. Kenshin, realizing that Aoshi had finally ran out of nerves kept very quiet; he knew how very dangerous Aoshi could be when he's angry. Also, he had a head splitting headache and thought it was better for both of them if he just kept his mouth shut just incase, the wilderness wasn't made for him any more, not like before when he and Kaoru could go there alone for a relaxing week end or sometimes with friends. He had to admit that he had changed greatly in a comparatively short time, but he did it for a reason.

The soft melody that Aoshi set to his cell phone suddenly filled the air.

"Hey, Misao, sweetie," he greeted, relieved to be hearing some one else's voice other than Kenshin's.

Misao giggled so loudly that even Kenshin could hear her.

Kenshin watched as Aoshi's face slowly frowned. He tried to argue what ever Misao was saying but apparently was not doing so well.

"Alright, alright," he finally gave up. "I'll do it."

He shut the phone angrily and returned it to his pocket. Kenshin didn't dare ask about what the conversation was because, if possible, Aoshi seemed even more furious than he was a few minutes ago.

The city's neon lights greeted Kenshin as warmly as hot meat to a hungry dog. It felt relieving to be back home, where he truly belonged. He was admiring the shops and boutiques when suddenly Aoshi parked the car. Kenshin looked at him quizzically, still not daring to make a sound.

Aoshi opened his mouth but didn't speak; he didn't know what to say. He couldn't possibly tell him: "I'm going to pick up Misao's dress for your birthday party, which is of course a secret surprise". That would make the 'surprise' bit go down the toilet. Now, already bottling three days' anger at Kenshin, he had to swallow up his anger at Misao, who was so clumsy that she forgot to get her own dress and Aoshi would have to attend the party as wet as a fish, he doubted that she was truly busy decorating the house, how could they forget the decorations till now? Maybe he could get to have a quick dry upstairs during the party.

"I'm..." Aoshi started and Kenshin blinked at him. "…going to pick up Misao's dress...she's attending a party tonight."

Kenshin only nodded in comprehension. Aoshi noticed that Kenshin was very pale.

"You okay Himura-san?" Aoshi asked sincerely, sure Kenshin was had been a menace the past three days, but if he returned him to Kaoru sick she'd probably chop off his head.

"I have a headache," Kenshin answered quietly.

Aoshi considered the situation for a brief moment. Kenshin had been giving him a headache for the past three days, should he even bother to help him? Finally, he made up his mind; he wasn't going to risk losing his head.

"In there…" he told Kenshin, pointing to the dash board."…you'll find two prescription pills, the bottles both look exactly the same, take one from the white bottle with black marking, it's for headaches. Be careful not to take from the black bottle with white markings, that's a very strong sleeping drug."

Kenshin bowed his head appreciatively. Aoshi climbed out of the car and walked into an expensive boutique.

Kenshin opened the dash board and saw that every thing inside was packed very neatly. Careful not to mess up any thing he reached for the white bottle with black markings then suddenly stopped.

Did Shinomori-san tell me to take the black bottle with white markings or the white bottle with black markings?

He considered waiting for Aoshi to come back and ask him, but his head was throbbing worse than ever. He decided to test his luck and pick one.

-

Aoshi had to admit that Misao had a royal style in fashion; her dress was a piece of beauty. He carried it proudly by the hander at arm distance; although it was secure in its protective bag, he still didn't want any risks. He opened the back door of the car, rested the dress carefully so that it wouldn't crease, then shut that door and climbed back into his seat. He drove away, now humming with the excitement of seeing his wife in that dress. He became so cheerful; he decided he might have a small chat with Kenshin, just to kill time.

"So, how do you feel Himura-san?" Aoshi asked pleasantly. "Did the medicine take its effect?"

Aoshi waited for Kenshin's reply, but none came. He looked at Kenshin and his jaw dropped. He stomped the brakes forcefully and pulled the car aside, causing a loud screech of the tires against the asphalt and gaining himself a few insults from other drivers.

"Himura-san, Himura-san!" Aoshi mumbled rapidly, his heart beating in his chest as he shook Kenshin hard by the shoulders. Kenshin still didn't reply, his eyes were closed and his head lolled from side to side.

Aoshi gulped. He opened the dash board and scanned the contents nervously with his eyes. He gulped even harder; dumb Kenshin reversed his words, he took the black bottle with white markings instead. He took the strong sleeping pill.

Back at the party...

Kaoru checked her reflection in the mirror from every angle possible. She wanted everything in this party to be perfect, but above all she wanted herself to be perfect. The door bell rand and she hurried out of the room and ran downstairs to welcome the guests. She passed by Misao who was rushing upstairs to hide until Aoshi showed up with her dress, then she'd be able to join the party. She winked at Kaoru wishing her good luck.

Kaoru opened the door cheerfully and welcomed a small group of Kenshin's employees that she invited. She showed them in and introduced them to Sano and Megumi, and then carried their gifts to a table set especially for them. Soon, most of the guests had arrived. Kaoru had invited most of the people she and Kenshin knew and had received hardly any apology cards. She smiled to herself; may be this party will end up perfectly after all, the only main thing missing was the star of the party and his companion, but they weren't really late and was still early for her to get worried. Of course, not to mention that Aoshi was very reliable and trust worthy.

The phone rang and she went to pick it up, she could think of nothing that could spoil her good mood.

"Hello?" she said into the phone cheerfully.

"Kaoru-dono?" Aoshi asked apprehensively.

"Yes Shinomori-san?" Kaoru asked slowly.

Aoshi hesitated, he already felt guilty and ashamed, although nothing of this was really his fault, it was all Kenshin's fault.

"There's a problem here," Aoshi told her. "I think you should come down and see to yourself, we're waiting in the garage."

Kaoru's heart sank.

A/N: Ok, so how was that chapter? Was it good? I bet you're all excited to know what would happen to Kenshin now that he's taken the sleeping pill, right? Anyway, wait for the next chapter to know and plz review! (By the way, it's starry night blue speaking here…Shimmering Tear went on a trip to Turkey; she's bound to come back soon, though…so don't worry, you'll get your forth chappie soon enough!)