A/N: Well, sorry this took so long. Heh, I told you I'm not good at long stories. I have a few more ideas after this, but I don't think this will be much longer than two more chapters. Maybe... :) Please tell me if this feels rushed or doesn't flow well in anyway-- I want to know! Or just say how much you enjoyed or didn't enjoy it, in a review! Your thoughts are welcome. Please enjoy! And thanks for reading my work!
Warning: Slight swearing... you know how Sano is. Winks.
Umm... also, I didn't really know what to call this chapter so when I think of something better I'm going to change the title. Until then, Moments will have to do. AND– please excuse any grammar mistakes... I read through this a few times, but no one is perfect and I'm sure there is something I missed. Without further ado...
Husband For Hire
Chapter Three: Moments
He didn't remember the dojo looking this... ragged and rundown. Was Kaoru neglecting her daily chores? Or maybe it was the squirt... Ponderous things. Too ponderous for Zanza though. But as he got closer to the house, he couldn't help but observe how unlivable the condition of Kaoru's home had become.
He reached the porch and walked up the steps. He wasn't watching where he was stepping and his foot fell through the floor.
"Dammit!"
"Watch your language, Sano!" Kaoru's voice commanded from inside the house. He entered the house and went directly to the kitchen, not looking at the mess on his way there. His eyes widened instantly when he discovered a nightmare. There was Kaoru, cooking something that would probably not be edible, and in her arms was a baby. That wasn't the only one. Oh no. There were a few children running around the kitchen, ignoring their mother's attempts to calm them down as she cooked and took care of the baby in her arms, at the same time.
Sano's mouth dropped open.
"Don't just stand there, you big lard! Help me out, MOU!"
"Ummm..." He started dumbly as he looked to the children running around. He grabbed one by the shoulders and turned him around to face him. He looked exactly like him! A miniature Sano!
"GAH!" He released the kid almost as quickly as he had grabbed for the little runt.
That was when he heard a knock on the dojo gates.
"I'll get it!" He cried and hurriedly left the house. He threw back the gates and there was Megumi, surrounded by hordes of men fawning over her. She was dressed elegantly but the smirk on her face did not match her outfit.
"Good afternoon, Rooster head. I've come to do a check up of your little youngin's. I always knew you'd be the first of us to settle down. So where are they?" All he could do was point to the house with his mouth gaping open. She sauntered past him, waving her hips seductively and all the men followed after, asking if they could help her with anything, get her anything, massage her back...
Sano slapped his head and then moaned.
"Holy shit, damn, mother-"
"Sanosuke." A deep voice, with a little bit of familiarity in it, interrupted his swearing tirade. He looked up to see Kenshin... or some version of Kenshin, standing before him. Kenshin looked menacing with his red hair in a high ponytail atop his head and his eyes a golden yellow.
"I've come for your life. Prepare to die." And with that, Kenshin went into his battou- jujitsu stance.
"Ahh, hold up, Kenshin, what's this all about?"
"You stole my Woman, I will kill you." Then he charged.
"AHHH!" Sano yelled and ran for the dojo. But Kenshin was too fast. And just when he thought Kenshin's katana would slice through him, a fog covered him up and he found himself inside the dojo.
All of a sudden, a freezing chill seared up his spine and his rooster hair stood even spikier and straighter. He turned around slowly and his eyes landed on a broad chest. They slowly traveled up to an Adam's apple, then to taut lips, and finally to stern eyes.
"GACK!" His eyes widened and he stepped back.
"Sanosuke," Mr Kamiya's deep voice boomed. "I'm starting to lose faith in you, boy." There was a frown now. Boy did he look intimidating, looming over him with his fists and his arms crossed.
"I don't want to resort to drastic measures... I know you want to remain... intact," and he casually made a gesture to that place 'down there' that had Sano's legs quivering. "Heaven knows I need grandchildren to keep my dojo alive, right?"
"Yes-s-sir," he gulped.
"Well, get a move on, son."
And with that, Sano woke up.
"I need a drink"
It was quiet as the young Kamiya Assistant Master sat in her dojo, meditating, Well, okay. She wasn't really meditating, She was thinking. But to any onlooker, she was meditating.
Her thoughts revolved around the new person in her life, who was a man and conveniently single. A little odd but nonetheless intriguing; Kaoru couldn't help but hope to run into the red head named Kenshin again. And again. She thought back to dinner and how it had almost ended before it even began...
'You!' She choked out.
'Me?'
'Everybody!' Sano yelled to bring back some sense of comfort and normalcy to the dinner room. Well, plus he had taken an early drink. Make that a few early drinks.
"Sessha apologizes... Sessha must go.." With that said, he quickly bowed and exited the room. Sano and Megumi watched with curiosity as Kaoru watched him go, obviously affected in some, although small, way. And then she left too.
"Wait!" She yelled. She breathed a little quicker after realizing she caught him at the gates. He froze at hearing her command.
"What are you doing here?" She unconsciously reached for the ribbon in her hair. Without turning around, he answered.
"Sessha was invited."
"Why are you leaving?" Her voice became softer.
"Sessha thought Sessha was no longer welcome, de gozaru."
"Pfft! I was surprised, that's all. You silly man!"
"Oro?"
"I'm Kamiya, Kaoru," she introduced herself as she held out her hand.
"Himura, Kenshin." He took it and they gently shook.
"Now I don't have to refer to you as the one who knocked me over twice and ruined my ribbon!"
"ORO?"
"Mou! It's all right, already. I'm just messing! That's too much to say anyway."
"That it is, Kamiya-dono," he said with a chuckle. She eyed him and he blinked, a little weary all of a sudden.
"Won't you have dinner with us?" Her face was so hopeful. He felt his heart beating in his throat.
'Yes, won't you?' Battousai mimicked. 'And afterwards...' Kenshin mentally slapped his face and shook his head.
"To tell the truth, Sano and Megumi are never quite great company. They always team up on me. Now that I have you, we can get them at their own game, ne?" She elbowed him and he smiled.
"Hai, now that you have me."
"Yes! Okay then, let's eat!" She yelled enthusiastically and bounced inside. Kenshin followed quickly after.
When he returned to the table, Sano was stuffing his face and Megumi stopped eating to stare at him.
"Won't you sit, Ken-san?" Megumi purred as she got up and leaned into Kenshin, with a bowl full of soup in her hands.
"Uh, hai, sessha shall." He gulped and quickly retreated into his seat to distance himself from the fox and to make Sano stop glaringa t him.
Megumi passed out portions to everyone and they all began to eat in silence; Megumi and Sano watched the other two occupants of the room, and Kaoru and Kenshin glanced at each other ever so often.
"So this is our friend, Himura, Kenshin," Sano introduced, to break the silence.
"We've met." Kaoru stated, still staring at her rice, a little pink in the face.
"Oh really?" Megumi smirked and nodded at Sano.
"Hai," Kaoru looked at him and blushed. Then she looked away.
"Shall we drink some sake?" Sano held up the tiny bottle.
"Sano!"
"Ano, sessha does not drink... de gozaru."
"Oh c'mon, live a little!" Sano whined.
"He doesn't want any, Sano!"
"Fine, I'll drink it all by myself."
"Sessha does not think that wise, Sanosuke."
"I don't care, I'm thirsty and it's what I'm drinking!"
"Mou! You're insufferable! You'll get sick or worse!"
"Just let him do things his own way, there's no sense in talking to a fool who won't listen," Megumi added.
"Hey! You're suppose to be on my side, dammit!" He slammed a bowl down a little too hard on the table and it's contents swooshed out in every direction.
"ORO!"
"SANO!"
"SHIT!"
"Ohohohoho!"
While the Rooster and the fox were inside cleaning, Kaoru had taken Kenshin to her dojo to show him around.
"This was built by my great great great great grandfather. And almost every piece of wood you see here is the same from when it was first built." Kenshin nodded and smiled.
"Kamiya-dono, what style do you practice?"
"The sword that protects life. My father began this practice and taught me and now I am teaching my younger brother."
"Your father lives on in you." She turned to him and smiled.
"I'm sorry about dinner. My friends are-"
"Kamiya-dono does not have to apologize for her friends, de gozaru. Sessha was grateful to spend time with such generous people for the night."
"Where are you from, if you don't mind me asking?"
"Ahh... well, yes, Sessha does mind..."
"Sorry."
"Iie, it's not something Sessha likes to talk about or dwell on."
"I've lived here my whole life. And I'll probably die here. I don't see myself anywhere else."
"You are still quite young, de gozaru. It's natural to be this way."
"How old are you?" She asked, suddenly.
"Oro... I am twenty eight." Her eyes widened instantly.
"Twenty eight! You're joking!"
"Sadly, sessha is not joking."
"Mou... Are you married then?" She batted her eyes and stepped closer to him, all focused on him; his movements, his reactions, his answers.
"Hai... Iie. Ano... Sessha was married."
"Oh... my friends want me to get married."
"Marriage...can be a blessing. It can also be very hard."
"I don't want to get married."
"You certainly shouldn't have to if you don't want to. It is apparent that Kamiya-dono is doing fine on her own; there is no need of a husband. And your friends seem to care about you enough that if you needed their help, they would assist you." She smiled and glanced at him.
"Thank you, Himura-san." And he smiled back at her. A comfortable silence fell about them as they observed the dojo and the signs on the wall. Kenshin touched a bokken and lifted it, testing it by using it with one arm.
"You may call me Kaoru." She offered, breaking the silence.
"Thank you. Then you may call me Kenshin..." That was when they heard whispering and some movement. Then Sano fell into the dojo.
"Uh, hi! I was just looking for the bathroom..." He explained, sheepishly.
"Mou! That's a lie, Sano and you know it! You know perfectly well where the bathroom is, you jerk! Spying on us!"
"Maa, maa, it's quite all right, Kamiya-dono, de gozaru."
"It's not like you were doing anything remotely interesting anyway! You're sooo boring. And so are you Kenshin! You call yourself a man! Shit! I'm outta here. And so is Megumi. Later." Kaoru shook her head and relaxed. She turned to her guest and tried to think of some reason he could stay.
"Umm... would you like some tea?"
"Oro... iie, Sessha much be going. Thank you for dinner and the tour of your home..." And he quickly left after that.
She opened her eyes and looked at the sword he had left, most likely on accident. She had found it by his seat at the table. She hadn't unsheathed it to look at the blade. She thought that might be rude. But there it was, sitting there. Kenshin's sword.
She'd see him again for sure. He had to realize he left it sometime. That put a smile on her face.
"Kenshin."
'Flowers. Bleuck. Why do girls love flowers so much? I think they're annoying, personally. Flowers are a waste of time and money... But.. Awww jeez. If it makes her happy...
'Just... which ones? Shouldn't this be easy? I should just grab some and be done with it!
'What the hell are these yellow ones? Maybe I should have brought Kaoru with... NAH! HAHAA! She wouldn't know anything about flowers. She's practically a boy!'
Yahiko's internal monologue was expressed outwardly in his facial expressions, scaring away certain customers and entertaining the others. That was when the Rurouni, who was meandering by in search of work, decided to help out if he could.
"Excuse me, essha would like to offer his assistance." He smiled warmly and the boy glared at him in response.
"Oro?"
"Do I look like I need your help?" The kid gave him the cold shoulder.
'Geez... I'm getting that a lot lately,' Kenshin thought.
'...' The Battousai wanted to slap him for his obliviousness.
"Maybe Sessha could offer some advice. Are you buying flowers for a girl?" The kid turned and stare at him with a "duh" written plainly across his face.
"Do you buy flowers for MEN?" The kid angrily asked, his face getting all red and distorted.
"Maa, maa. Sessha wanted to know if it was for someone special, de gozaru. No offense was intended." He then began to search around.
A familiar scent reached his nose and he paused, a pair of pretty eyes flashing though his mind.
"These?" The kid asked, incredulously. "These are ugly!" Kenshin stared at the ridiculed jasmine flowers and then wondered about the boy, why he was so quick to label things.
"Perhaps daisies would be the safest way to go?" Kenshin asked gently. The kid seemed satisfied with that particular flower and was off on his merry way. Kenshin found himself back in front of the jasmine.
"Caught your eye, eh?" The flower peddler asked.
"Hai. What could a wanderer do in exchange for these?" The peddler's grin widened.
It was shopping day again. Yahiko was a growing boy and so he tended to eat more than necessary. Although when one is growing, all is necessary, isn't it? Especially when he was working it off at the Akabeko. The boy seemed to always be there working. Kaoru was beginning to worry that maybe they were overworking him. That or he's been lying to her and going somewhere else.
She shook it out of her head and tried to focus on the list. But then her thoughts moved to the new person in her life: Kenshin. Who could explain what he was? Just a kind man... whom she knew almost nothing about. Except that... he made her feel... and she'd never felt so..alive before, around anyone! Maybe when she was younger and there was no worries or bills to pay for. Nothing complicated to solve or think about. Yeah, she was truly happy when she was younger. But it seemed happiness was fleeting with the passing of age. And Kenshin... was a new source of happiness. Who knew it could be so easy?
She found herself hoping to run into him again in the market. But thought, now that she was hoping to run into him, she probably wouldn't. Irony at its best. She still needed to give him back his sword.. Which she carried on her back in case she ran into him.
"Daydreaming again Jou-chan?" Kaoru glared at Sano.
"No." She marched past him,. But he followed.
"Thinking about a certain red-haired man?" He chuckled when he saw her turn red and clench her free hand into a fist.
"Sano! Knock it off!" She picked up a radish and looked it over before setting it in her basket.
"Okay, listen, missy. Here's the thing... I just want you to be happy. So could you just give someone, anyone, a chance?" She lowered her head and hid her eyes under her bangs.
"Fine..."
"Okay then, could you ask Kenshin to marry you!" She turned to him suddenly and glared. "Sheesh, just thought I'd ask..."
"So, shoppin for groceries, eh? I'm shopping myself," he changed the topic and then winked.
"Mou... Sano... go do whatever it is you do somewhere else! Better yet! Go bother Megumi!" And she huffed before stomping off.
"Damn... what an attitude!" He shrugged and began devising a way to get the two soon to be lovebirds to fall head over heels for each other. It was tough work. And he wasn't eve getting paid for it. Sheesh!
His hands were sweating. Good God! Why was he so nervous? He talked to her many times before.. Well, he never gave her flowers before,... so...
He stood in the doorway of the Akabeko, flowers grasped tightly in his fists. He watched her as she went to and fro, helping people and taking their orders.
She was... pretty. And nice. And she liked to talk to him. The truth was, he liked to talk to her too.
He looked down at the flowers. Suddenly they didn't seem like the right ones, or that there weren't enough of them. He made to take a step but that was the moment his confidence decided to desert him. He took a deep breath and tried it again.
"ARGH!"
"Is something wrong, Yahiko?" He looked up to find his boss, Tae, smiling down at him. He looked back at Tsubame and then to his flowers, and thrust them at Tae before going in the back to start working on the dishes. Tae looked down at the flowers in surprise and then smiled.
"Tsubame, I have a gift for you!" She called sweetly. Tsubame excused herself from a table she had been waiting on and walked up to her. Tae handed her the slightly wilting bouquet.
"These are for you, from a rather shy secret admirer." Tsubame smelled them and smiled. She went in to the back to put them in water and saw Yahiko grumbling as he did the dishes.
"Yahiko..." He turned to her and turned pink in the face when he realized it was her.
"I just wanted to say thank you." She hugged his back briefly and put the flowers in a glass of water. He watched her return to the lobby and a smile spread across his lips. He didn't bang the dishes around quite so loud after that.
Upon purchase, Sano had been giddily awaiting trying out his new tricky, lucky dice. The kind you can really do some damage with if your opponent doesn't catch on. He'd also bought some parchment and ink, and some perfume so that he could begin his plan.
Until then, he decided to go try his new dice out... But everyone seemed to know right away his evil scheme.
"C'mon! One GAME!" He pleaded in a drawled out whine. The other gamblers shook their heads, tsked and left him to his lonesome.
"Bunch of LOSERS!" Then he got an idea. The Tanuki! She would play, if only for a few games. Filled with anticipation yet again, he walked more confident with his chin raised high, his shoulders back and a big stride.
After reaching the Kamiya residence, he was crestfallen to find it devoid of the usual occupants. But thrilled at who he had the luck to come across.
The red head wussy Sessha-man!
"Oiy!" He greeted, as was custom, followed by a hand gesture executed in a lazy manner.
"Oro..." The man looked guilty. Or nervous? Nah, guilty.
"Say... were you just coming back from Jou-chan's room? Did you look through her underwear drawer?" He asked, with a twinkle in his eye.
It took a second for the man to comprehend the babble that was "Sanosuke Speak", but as soon as the words hit home, he gulped and shook his head quickly.
"Sessha would NEVER!" He said, aghast.
Whatever The Battousai commented, knowing full well he was still, in fact, a man. And all men have urges.
"Just jokin', man," Sano said, with a manly slap to his back. Kenshin coughed from the force of his slap and weakly smiled at him.
"Hai..."
A moment of awkward silence passed between them, Sano's eyes roaming the scenery and then finally coming back to rest on the two amethyst eyes that belonged to his new friend.
"So..." The amethyst eyes looked worried...
"Do you dig 'er?"
"Oro? Dig... who, Sanosuke?"
"Do you dig Jou-chan? You must be intrigued, why else are you here? And with flowers, no less!" Kenshin's eyes were wide and he hid the flowers behind his back. He thought maybe he was having an anxiety attack or worse yet, a heart attack, which could explain the shortness of breath, loss of feeling in his hands, and the rapid beat of his already over-exercised worried heart.
"Sessha can assure you, Sanosuke, that Sessha has a very good reason for being here, which, by the way, does not include romantic inclinations towards Kamiya-dono in any way--" A gasp interrupted his defense of himself and both men turned to look at said woman. Her eyes were cloudy, all of a sudden, and her frame shook. But neither one could fathom exactly what she was feeling. That is until she socked them both in the face... Then they had a pretty good idea.
"Kenshin no baka!" She yelled in rage and flung his sakabatou at him.. Then she dashed off. Sano presumed... to hide in the dojo.
"Good going, Ace. I just love it when she's like this..." Sano turned and left, forgetting all about his dice with all of the drama going on.
"Kami-sama! Why does this always happen to Sessha?"
'Because you're such a pansy...' Battousai easily retorted.
"But sessha has barely known Kamiya-dono for twenty four hours!"
'Your point is...?'
He reached out with his ki and found her inside the bathhouse, briskly cleaning the bath in angry strokes.
"Ummm... Kaoru-dono, please let me apologize..." He walked up to her and laid the flowers on the floor next to where she sat.
"I'm not mad at you, Kenshin," she interrupted. She paused in her angry cleaning and sat back on her heels but didn't turn to face him.
"I'm angry at myself."
"Kaoru-dono doesn't have any reason to be angry at herself."
"Oh yes I do. I'm ridiculous. Eighteen and teaching swordsmanship. No man could ever consider a... I guess I will be alone for the rest of my life... And I was fine with that... I really was..."
"Forgive Sessha, but isn't it a little dramatic and early to be writing yourself off as hopeless? Eighteen is still very young, Kaoru-dono. And there is nothing wrong with you, that there is not. Let me be the first to say you are a truly wonderful and beautiful person." He smiled at her back and when the silence began to ring in his ears he turned around to leave.
"Kenshin?" Her voice was small and unsure. He stopped at the door and stared at the wood grains in it.
"Hai?"
"Thank you." Suddenly there was a small pressure at his back. It was warm and bumpy and he felt charges of electricity where she touched him. His belly felt tickled by her hands grasping him there as she hugged him. And why? Was the question going through his mind. Why was she hugging him?
Stupid Rurouni. It is apparent the lust that attracts her to our body. The Rurouni sweat-dropped at the Battousai's enormous ego.
"Umm... Kaoru-dono... Sessha..can't breathe..." he faked, uncomfortable with her invasion of his personal space. She instantly detached herself and looked demurely at the ground.
Oh, thanks a lot, Rurouni. I never get to have fun anymore. The Battousai complained. His lips twitched in the direction of a pout but never quite made it there.
"Sessha had a wonderful time last night, eating dinner.. Uh... what was left of the dinner, oro."
"Mou! It's all right! Things like that happen all the time.." She instantly clapped her hands over her mouth, her eyes wide and her cheeks flushed with embarrassment.
Kenshin chuckled.
"Sessha is grateful to have met you, that Sessha is." He took that for a good line to leave by but she grabbed his arm.
"Umm you see, no one has ever...really listened to me before.. Thank you." And she smiled. Boy, could she smile. Kenshin felt his heart stop beating it was going so fast. Why would she give him such a beautiful smile?
And he thought to himself... 'oh dear, I know what this feeling is...'
Sano neared the doctor place and decided to pay the fox a visit. Ruffling his hair up a little bit and checking his breath, he strolled in like nothing in the world was amiss.
Megumi looked up over the papers in her hands and eyed him skeptically.
"You appear to be all in one piece, save for the piece of your mind that's been missing for, who knows how long... What are you doing here?"
"What? No hello?"
"Do you think you deserve a hello?"
"Do you think you could be a little forgiving for once?"
"Do you always expect people to do what you want?"
"Do you always have to be so cold when I'm around? Maybe I just... wanted to see you."
"Usually you get all bloody first." He sighed and stepped around her desk to tower over her.
"Maybe I'm tired of coming up with excuses for being here. And maybe.. I don't actually like fighting as much as you believe I do."
"Sano... why do you do this to me! I have... things that I need to take care of—Control. My life is complicated. I really want to be a doctor. I'm afraid there's no room in my life for a fighter-for-hire who constantly gambles his money away and can not be counted on for support." She stood up to put space between them but then he grabbed her on impulse and roughly hugged her to him.
"Do you hear my heart?" His voice was so..low. She shivered and closed her eyes, listening to the erratic pounding of his heart in his chest. His firm chest.
She nodded, slowly.
"I know I can screw up... but I want this. I want you. That's why I'm trying to marry off Kaoru. I want to be with only you!" He pushed her away and stood in the doorway.
"I have an idea... you better not give up on me, fox." Then he left.
TSUZUKU--(To Be continued)
Boy o boy!
Thanks to the readers...
Phi-dono: Hehee, thanks a lot! I'm glad that you found that chapter satisfying. I have to say, that is probably my favorite and best chapter! I'm not so sure about this one, but I'll find out, ne? Anyway, you're always the first one to review my stuff! Hehee, it just makes me happy knowing I have a reader like you! I'll try to have more Battousai comments... and definately more fluff because I live for that! Thanks again!
Sailor Tiamat: Hmmm, I think this chapter answered your question, that I do. I'm glad you enjoyed chapter two. Thank you so much for reading and reviewing!
Nyako: Hehee thanks! I certainly tried to make this funny and light hearted!
Neko-Yuff16: You're most certainly welcome. And yes, I am going to have Kaoru do something to them, but I don't know yet. I have been thinking about that though. There's so many directions to go from... GAH! Sometimes I wish that my thoguhts could just flow straight into the computer so I wouldnt' have to type anything. That's the worst part of writing. Hehe. Thanks for reviewing!
Reignashii: Lol, well here ya go! I'll try and update again soonly. I'm glad you liked it!
Krystal Waves: Hehe, poor Sano. Actually, I don't pity him that much. He usually asks for what he gets. :) I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Thanks for reviewing!
Kawaii meeh: Does your name mean that you want someone to make you cute! OO Lol. I hope you think this chapter is funny too. Thank you!
Sims are awsome: Thank you, I will try to update soon :)
Crystal Snowflakes: Thank you very much!
Crewel: I will try and have more Sano and Megumi interaction... actually I have something special planned out for them. winks Hehee, I can't wait! Thank you for reviewing!
Meant2be: You're so silly! I'm honored that you think my writing is good enough to be on your favorites! And I don't mind you reviewing a lot! It makes my day!
Bradybunch4529: I hope that I don't start to lose my muse. Usually I start off good and then everything just kind of goes blah after a while. I'm glad you liked my first two chapters. Thank you for reviewing! I will try and update soon!
Silent Tears of Agony: You're right, it's set in the original time, just alternate universe. I probably won't have all of the original characters make appearances, because honestly I'm not that good of an author! Hehe, and I really only absolutely adore Kenshin and Kaoru. But Yahiko and Sano are fun too! I'm going to try to keep this up. Usually I write crap when I force myself to write... so I'm trying not to do that because it's better when it just comes out! I hope this chapter doesn't disappoint. Thanks for reviewing!
Gray Rose: I hope that's a good wow!
Evilteddybear: My goodness! You certainly know how to put an everlasting smile on someone's face! Gosh! Thank you very much! I'm not as good as some of the other writers out there, like Linay, who is amazing! But when you say things like that, it makes me feel better about my writing skills. Thanks!
Royal bluekitsune: Hehee, thanks for reviewing!
The Incredible Emo Kid: :) I think you can tell by this chapter that there is one other pairing. They might not be a main focus in this story, but they will pop up now and then. Thank you very much for reading and reviewing!
Bunny Sailor Moon: You know what? I didn't even think about the parents leaving the dojo to the boy. I thought since Kaoru was older, it would be okay, but thanks for pointing that out to me. Maybe I'll go back later and tweak it a little. And I realize Yahiko should be in there more. I guess I'll have to make up excuses for him not being in the second chapter. Hehee, thanks for the constructive criticism. He is in this chapter though. As far as being a little OOC, well... I'm making them do what I want them to do. And as a writer who didn't originally create the characters, all I can do is aspire to keep them in character as much as I can. I know there will be times when it won't happen, and I hope those people who don't like how I write leave good reasons why. Thank you for being honest. :) I hope you enjoy this one too!