Rurouni Kenshin Cinderella Story
by: nyllemnev
Disclaimer: They're not mine.
Chapter 9: Weird
'What is he going to tell me? I should've just let him finish what he is going to tell me...' Kaoru sighed as she watched Kenshin go. 'Mou! Stop being an idiot, Kaoru-baka!!!! It's not like he is going... I mean, we're only friends, ne?' she sighed again.
"MOU!!! YOU STUPID, SILLY GIRL!!!!!" Kamatari yelled angrily as she saw her stepsister standing at the gate, staring at nowhere. "WHAT TOOK YOU SO LONG?!?!?!?"
"Huh?" Kaoru blinked and turned her head to see her angry stepsister. "G- Gomen nasai... I was just..."
"Gimme my chocolates!!!" Kamatari said, snatching the small bag from Kaoru's hand. "Mou! Good thing mother and Tomoe is very busy trying those new kimonos on. If mother finds out about me not sticking to my diet... she'll kill me!!" she added before leaving Kaoru alone.
'Silly me...' Kaoru silently thought as she went back to the house.
*** "Oi..." Sano smirked as he saw Kenshin walking. "What happened with your little date with jou-chan?"
"Oro? Date?" Kenshin blushed and scarthed his head. "I just walked her home."
"Oh yeah... you just walked her home... it's not a date..." Sano said. "Anyway, what happened?" he asked and frowned when he saw Kenshin sighed.
"Nothing."
"Eh? Why do you look like the whole world is against you?" Sano raised an eyebrow. "Don't tell me you got dumped?!? The great Prince Kenshin?!? Dumped?!?"
"Of course not!!!" Kenshin shook his head like a lunatic. "She didn't dumped me!!! No!!!"
"Easy, buddy... I just thought... anyway..."
"I was so close to telling her... I was really so close..." Kenshin sighed again and Sano only gasped.
"You told her how you feel about her?!? Wow!! What happened?"
"ORO?!?!? I never said that!!!!!" Kenshin shook his head. "I can't tell her how I feel!"
"Then what do you mean by 'you're so close to telling her'???" Sano raised a brow.
"Who I really am."
"She still doesn't know that you're the prince?"
"Not yet... actually, I was going to tell her this morning but..."
"What happened?"
"She cut me off... I don't know, when I was so close to telling her, she just got so... weird... I mean, she just told me that she needs to go home all of the sudden." Kenshin sighed again. "My chance has been gone."
"Come on, buddy... there's plenty of time. You can tell her some other time..." Sano grinned.
'Yeah... I just hope that she'll believe me.' Kenshin silently added to himself.
*** 'Was he really going to confess his feelings... I mean, was that the thing that he needs to tell me???... Mou!!! Where did that come from??? Baka- Kaoru-baka!!!'
Kaoru blushed at the thought and continued to chop some vegetables. 'Stop thinking foolish, Kaoru. Kenshin is your friend, ne? And he also sees you only as a friend... you should stop thinking about this foolish things. He might be trying to tell me some other thing...' she sighed.
"I should have just let him finish what he is trying to tell me... I was such a silly girl to act like that..." she said aloud as she placed the chopped vegetable on a bowl.
"Talking to yourself is not a good sign."
"I'm not crazy." Kaoru said as she turned her head to see Yahiko sitting on a rice barrel, his favorite spot.
"Well, it's not a good sign, anyway." Yahiko shrugged. "You'll think that I'm crazy if you caught me talking to myself too, ne?"
Kaoru only sighed and started to boil the food. "Did you come here just to annoy me?"
"Not really." Yahiko said coolly. "You want me to?" he added with a smirk.
"No thanks." Kaoru rolled her eyes.
"I heard Kamatari was yelling at you earlier... what is it again?"
"It's nothing... it's just her chocolate."
"That piggy witch." Yahiko rolled his eyes. "I wonder how she can do it... didn't you just bought her a box of sweets the other day? Don't tell me she have eaten it all?"
"I'm wondering about that thing myself." Kaoru smiled and Yahiko only laughed.
"You're too bad, busu!"
"Not half as bad as you, Yahiko-chan." Kaoru giggled a little.
"Anyway, how's the things going on with your boyfriend?"
"Nani?!?!? Boyfriend??? I never had a boyfriend!!" Kaoru gave Yahiko a small frown.
"What do you call Kenshin?"
Kaoru blushed and tried began stirring the food she's cooking to hide it. "N-N-Nani suke??? K-Ken-kenshin is j-just my friend..." she let out a faked giggle.
"Ohoho... just your friend, ne?" Yahiko smirked wider. "Really?"
"Mou! He's just my friend!!" Kaoru pouted. "How many times do I have to tell you that!"
"But you do like him, ne?"
"Nani???" Kaoru blushed again. "He's my friend, so... of course I do like him... but only just a friend, okay?"
"I knew it!" Yahiko started to say with a glint of his eye.
"He's my friend so I do like him... You surely have a diry mind, Yahiko!"
"You sound so defensive!" Yahiko narrowed his eyes a little. "Look who has a dirty mind between the two of us."
"Mou!"
"Yeah... 'mou'... that's what you always say." Yahiko jumped from his seat. "Anyway, I just drop by to say hi... see you later." he waved a hand and Kaoru gave him a smile.
"Yeah, later... I'll get you later..."
"Oh yeah?" Yahiko smirked before leaving Kaoru.
*** "We still need to go to Yokohama, remember?" Sano asked as he and Kenshin both climbed to their carriage.
"Yeah. I know." Kenshin sighed. "Wish I don't need to go there."
"Planning on sneaking off again? You can't do that, you know?" Sano said. "Especially now that Enishi is back in the palace."
"I know." Kenshin sighed. "And I know that I need to be careful around him... I mean... I just feel... I don't know, I don't trust him That's all."
"It is just the queen and the king who trusted that bastard!" Sano frowned. "That's why he is so confident, ne?"
"I guess so..." Kenshin just shrugged. "Anyway... we need to get going."
"Yeah... yeah..." Sano nodded. "Come on then."
***
"Kaoru! Hey you girl!" Megumi came to the kitchen looking at Kaoru. Kaoru only looked at her in puzzlement.
"Is there something wrong?" Kaoru asked. "DO you need something from me?"
"You! Come!" Megumi said and dragged Kaoru with her to Tomoe's room. Kaoru only frowned quizzically and stared from Megumi to Tomoe who is at the moment searching for something in her closet.
"What happened?" Kaoru asked.
"There!" Tomoe smiled and pulled out a simple pink dress from her closet. "This is the oldest dress I could find, mother."
"This will do." Megumi said before turning to Kaoru. "Try that on."
"Eh?" Kaoru blinked in disbelief. "Nani?"
"You heard me... try it on!" Megumi said and Kaoru quickly grabbed the dress and walked changed to Tomoe's dressing room.
'Why are they acting so weird?' Kaoru thought as she was now alone in the dressing room. 'Wow... this dress is so pretty. I haven't wore anything like this in a long time.' she smiled, touching the smooth fabric of the dress. She quickly put it on.
'I've never worn anything like this in such a long time... this is soooo... great.' she smiled as she stared at her own reflection on the huge mirror pinned on the wall. Her dress was made of a blue sill material and was cut up to her knees.
When she got out of the dressing room, Megumi stared at her from head to toe. "Not bad." she said.
"Yeah... not bad." Kamatari said, some ribbons on her hand. "See... I told you Tomoe... even Kaoru is more beautiful than you if she would dress up."
"Shut up, stupid sister." Tomoe glared at her sister.
"Fix her hair, Kamatari." Megumi said and Kamatari just nodded and pulled Kaoru with her.
"Uhmm... why are you doing this?" Kaoru asked hesitantly. "I mean... is there something wrong? Is there something that is going to happen?"
"Enishi-kun is going to visit here this evening." Megumi said with a wide smile. "I want you to look presentable to him."
"Eh?" Kaoru blinked again as Kamatari let her sit in a seat and began combing her long raven-black hair. "Why should I..."
"Mou! Just wanna make you look presentable to him..." Megumi said before turning to Tomoe. "Come on Tomoe, we still need to prepare the whole house." she added and left with Tomoe.
"Uhmm... Kamatari-san... why do I need to look presentable to your guest? I mean... I'm not supposed to show up to any of your guests anyway." Kaoru asked uncertainty as Kamatari tried to fix her hair.
"Mou! Don't you still get it!" Kamatari said with a frown. "You know that he like you."
"That doesn't mean that he actually meant that... I mean..."
"Stop talking foolish! Just try be sweet to him!" Kamatari said. "He's the only way we could be closer to the prince and you should not do anything bad to him! I swear! I'll kill you'll do something wrong!"
"Hai." Kaoru just looked down and let Kamatari do whatever she want with her hair.
***
"Is everything clear?" a tall man hidden in the shadows of the huge trees in the midst of the woods said in a serious voice. "I don't want him getting suspicious."
"Of course... we could do that." another man answered, also hidden in the dark. "He will never get suspicious."
"I'm not kidding Jin'eh!" the tall an said again. "He is pretty tough... I tell you! He didn't get the name Battousai for nothing so you be careful in your moves. I don't want him to be suspicious to me and to all of this whole plan."
"Hai, hai... but don't forget the deal you had with us."
"Yeah, yeah right! I'll pay you if you're job is done correctly... just give me a word if there's any problem or whatever... I need to get going, I am to visit some friend of mine."
"Leave everything to us, don't worry."
"'Til then." the tall man said before completely disappearing in the dark.
*** "Where is she?" Megumi asked as she saw her daughter, Kamatari enter the waiting room all alone. "I have to see if she looks presentable enough."
"You silly girl, come in here!" Kamatari turned her head to the door and frowned. "C'mon Kaoru! Just get out of here!"
"H-hai..." Kaoru silently went in the room looking down, wearing Tomoe's old pink dress, her hair just wild down her back.
"Why didn't you fix her hair?!?" Tomoe frowned.
"Her hair is too long! It's too hard to fix!" Kamatari pouted. "Besides, she looked just nice with her hair down..."
"Okay... forget everything about that." Megumi said before walking towards Kaoru and making her sit on the soft sofa. "You just sit here and wait for Enishi-kun. "He'll be coming in a few minutes... I don't want any problem, you know what I mean... you have to be nice to him. Is that clear?"
"H-hai..." Kaoru just nodded, looking down with a sigh.
"And don't forget this, okay?" Megumi added sternly. "You are to ask him about the prince... what the prince likes and what kind of woman will he want to be a wife. Ask about his interests too."
"Hai."
"Okay... you just wait here..." Megumi said before leaving with her daughters, Kaoru all alone in the room.
'Why are they so weird?' she thought. 'Not that... he actually liked me or something, he never even know me! How can he like a person he barely knows... not that I don't like him at all... demo...' she sighed again.
'He's seemed to be nice and he's not that bad... but I just don't feel comfortable with him, unlike when I'm with...' she felt a blush creeping out of her face. She quickly shook the thought away. 'No... Kenshin is just my friend... we're just friends.' she quickly said to herself.
She sighed again and went back to her seat. 'Why do I feel like this? I just met him... a couple of weeks ago and then... I just felt...' a small smile appeared on her face. 'I never felt so happy and comfortable with someone I barely know... with a complete stranger like him. It's wonderful how he can make me feel relieved even when I feel down sometimes, how he made me feel happy when I feel like the whole world is against me... Yahiko does made me feel comfortable too, but with Kenshin,... oh...'
"What is this? This is really strange..." she said in a whisper. "I can't understand how I feel anymore... I feel weird..."
***
"Here we are in Yokohama..." Sano said to Kenshin after some hours of traveling. He sighed when he saw his friend just nodded without any energy. "Hey...chill up... it's not that you're gonna stay here for ten years."
"Yeah... right..." Kenshin sighed. "Come on in..." he nodded, gesturing that he and Sano should climb down their carriage.
"It's a pleasure to have you here, your Prince Kenshin of Tokyo... his highness is already waiting for you in the dining hall." a young lady dressed in a maid's clothes said. Kenshin just nodded to her and made her lead the way to the dining hall.
"Oh... Himura-san..." a tall man with brown hair said, smiling at him.
"Kiyosato-san." Kenshin made a bow.
"Come on... take a seat." Kiyosato Akira, count of Yokohama said. "How's your trip here?"
"Quite well." Kenshin just nodded and took a seat, Sano took the seat beside him.
"I'm really glad that you're father sent you here in our humble place." Akira said again. "It's really a pleasure."
"Hai." Kenshin said, just that same moment, a beautiful young lady with long brown hair and crystal green eyes entered the dining hall.
"Oh... Prince Kenshin..." Akira said with a smile. "This young lady here is my cousin, Amakusa Sayo..." he said, before turning his head to the young lady, Sayo. "Sayo, this is Prince Himura Kenshin from Tokyo and Sagara Sanosuke, his personal assistant.
"It's a pleasure meeting such a beautiful lady." Kenshin said in a polite manner, Sayo gave him a smile before taking a seat.
"You must be pretty tired from your travel... come on let's have dinner for a moment before we talk about the current situation of our place."
***
"Ah... Enishi-kun..." Megumi gave the young man a smile. "It's a pleasure having you here again."
"Yeah." Tomoe smiled too. "It's been quite a while."
"Yeah... Good thing the king was kind enough to give me this break." Enishi said. "I mean... I have a hand full in the palace. There are so many documents and paper works to do."
"That's pretty exhausting." Kamatari said, "Come inside... in the waiting room."
"Hai." Enishi nodded and let the three women to led him to the waiting room. Once there, he smiled when he saw a very wonderful sight in front of him.
"Kaoru-san... It's been quite a while." Enishi said and walked towards the young lady.
"It's nice to have you again here, Yukishiro-san." Kaoru stood up from her seat and gave Enishi a small smile.
"Do you want a cup of tea?" Megumi asked and Enishi only nodded. "We'll just go and get you some tea. You keep yourself at hom here, Enishi-kun." and with that, Megumi and her daughters left Enishi all alone with Kaoru.
TBC...
A/N: A short cappie for today, ne? Sorry for taking too long in updating this fic and my other fics... I just finished doing my research paper and I just thought maybe I should do another chapter of this story... anyway, just wait for another chapter to come, okay? Just be patient, ne minna-san? Again, see you 'til next chapter. I'm looking forward to hearing more of your feedbacks... ja!
Disclaimer: They're not mine.
Chapter 9: Weird
'What is he going to tell me? I should've just let him finish what he is going to tell me...' Kaoru sighed as she watched Kenshin go. 'Mou! Stop being an idiot, Kaoru-baka!!!! It's not like he is going... I mean, we're only friends, ne?' she sighed again.
"MOU!!! YOU STUPID, SILLY GIRL!!!!!" Kamatari yelled angrily as she saw her stepsister standing at the gate, staring at nowhere. "WHAT TOOK YOU SO LONG?!?!?!?"
"Huh?" Kaoru blinked and turned her head to see her angry stepsister. "G- Gomen nasai... I was just..."
"Gimme my chocolates!!!" Kamatari said, snatching the small bag from Kaoru's hand. "Mou! Good thing mother and Tomoe is very busy trying those new kimonos on. If mother finds out about me not sticking to my diet... she'll kill me!!" she added before leaving Kaoru alone.
'Silly me...' Kaoru silently thought as she went back to the house.
*** "Oi..." Sano smirked as he saw Kenshin walking. "What happened with your little date with jou-chan?"
"Oro? Date?" Kenshin blushed and scarthed his head. "I just walked her home."
"Oh yeah... you just walked her home... it's not a date..." Sano said. "Anyway, what happened?" he asked and frowned when he saw Kenshin sighed.
"Nothing."
"Eh? Why do you look like the whole world is against you?" Sano raised an eyebrow. "Don't tell me you got dumped?!? The great Prince Kenshin?!? Dumped?!?"
"Of course not!!!" Kenshin shook his head like a lunatic. "She didn't dumped me!!! No!!!"
"Easy, buddy... I just thought... anyway..."
"I was so close to telling her... I was really so close..." Kenshin sighed again and Sano only gasped.
"You told her how you feel about her?!? Wow!! What happened?"
"ORO?!?!? I never said that!!!!!" Kenshin shook his head. "I can't tell her how I feel!"
"Then what do you mean by 'you're so close to telling her'???" Sano raised a brow.
"Who I really am."
"She still doesn't know that you're the prince?"
"Not yet... actually, I was going to tell her this morning but..."
"What happened?"
"She cut me off... I don't know, when I was so close to telling her, she just got so... weird... I mean, she just told me that she needs to go home all of the sudden." Kenshin sighed again. "My chance has been gone."
"Come on, buddy... there's plenty of time. You can tell her some other time..." Sano grinned.
'Yeah... I just hope that she'll believe me.' Kenshin silently added to himself.
*** 'Was he really going to confess his feelings... I mean, was that the thing that he needs to tell me???... Mou!!! Where did that come from??? Baka- Kaoru-baka!!!'
Kaoru blushed at the thought and continued to chop some vegetables. 'Stop thinking foolish, Kaoru. Kenshin is your friend, ne? And he also sees you only as a friend... you should stop thinking about this foolish things. He might be trying to tell me some other thing...' she sighed.
"I should have just let him finish what he is trying to tell me... I was such a silly girl to act like that..." she said aloud as she placed the chopped vegetable on a bowl.
"Talking to yourself is not a good sign."
"I'm not crazy." Kaoru said as she turned her head to see Yahiko sitting on a rice barrel, his favorite spot.
"Well, it's not a good sign, anyway." Yahiko shrugged. "You'll think that I'm crazy if you caught me talking to myself too, ne?"
Kaoru only sighed and started to boil the food. "Did you come here just to annoy me?"
"Not really." Yahiko said coolly. "You want me to?" he added with a smirk.
"No thanks." Kaoru rolled her eyes.
"I heard Kamatari was yelling at you earlier... what is it again?"
"It's nothing... it's just her chocolate."
"That piggy witch." Yahiko rolled his eyes. "I wonder how she can do it... didn't you just bought her a box of sweets the other day? Don't tell me she have eaten it all?"
"I'm wondering about that thing myself." Kaoru smiled and Yahiko only laughed.
"You're too bad, busu!"
"Not half as bad as you, Yahiko-chan." Kaoru giggled a little.
"Anyway, how's the things going on with your boyfriend?"
"Nani?!?!? Boyfriend??? I never had a boyfriend!!" Kaoru gave Yahiko a small frown.
"What do you call Kenshin?"
Kaoru blushed and tried began stirring the food she's cooking to hide it. "N-N-Nani suke??? K-Ken-kenshin is j-just my friend..." she let out a faked giggle.
"Ohoho... just your friend, ne?" Yahiko smirked wider. "Really?"
"Mou! He's just my friend!!" Kaoru pouted. "How many times do I have to tell you that!"
"But you do like him, ne?"
"Nani???" Kaoru blushed again. "He's my friend, so... of course I do like him... but only just a friend, okay?"
"I knew it!" Yahiko started to say with a glint of his eye.
"He's my friend so I do like him... You surely have a diry mind, Yahiko!"
"You sound so defensive!" Yahiko narrowed his eyes a little. "Look who has a dirty mind between the two of us."
"Mou!"
"Yeah... 'mou'... that's what you always say." Yahiko jumped from his seat. "Anyway, I just drop by to say hi... see you later." he waved a hand and Kaoru gave him a smile.
"Yeah, later... I'll get you later..."
"Oh yeah?" Yahiko smirked before leaving Kaoru.
*** "We still need to go to Yokohama, remember?" Sano asked as he and Kenshin both climbed to their carriage.
"Yeah. I know." Kenshin sighed. "Wish I don't need to go there."
"Planning on sneaking off again? You can't do that, you know?" Sano said. "Especially now that Enishi is back in the palace."
"I know." Kenshin sighed. "And I know that I need to be careful around him... I mean... I just feel... I don't know, I don't trust him That's all."
"It is just the queen and the king who trusted that bastard!" Sano frowned. "That's why he is so confident, ne?"
"I guess so..." Kenshin just shrugged. "Anyway... we need to get going."
"Yeah... yeah..." Sano nodded. "Come on then."
***
"Kaoru! Hey you girl!" Megumi came to the kitchen looking at Kaoru. Kaoru only looked at her in puzzlement.
"Is there something wrong?" Kaoru asked. "DO you need something from me?"
"You! Come!" Megumi said and dragged Kaoru with her to Tomoe's room. Kaoru only frowned quizzically and stared from Megumi to Tomoe who is at the moment searching for something in her closet.
"What happened?" Kaoru asked.
"There!" Tomoe smiled and pulled out a simple pink dress from her closet. "This is the oldest dress I could find, mother."
"This will do." Megumi said before turning to Kaoru. "Try that on."
"Eh?" Kaoru blinked in disbelief. "Nani?"
"You heard me... try it on!" Megumi said and Kaoru quickly grabbed the dress and walked changed to Tomoe's dressing room.
'Why are they acting so weird?' Kaoru thought as she was now alone in the dressing room. 'Wow... this dress is so pretty. I haven't wore anything like this in a long time.' she smiled, touching the smooth fabric of the dress. She quickly put it on.
'I've never worn anything like this in such a long time... this is soooo... great.' she smiled as she stared at her own reflection on the huge mirror pinned on the wall. Her dress was made of a blue sill material and was cut up to her knees.
When she got out of the dressing room, Megumi stared at her from head to toe. "Not bad." she said.
"Yeah... not bad." Kamatari said, some ribbons on her hand. "See... I told you Tomoe... even Kaoru is more beautiful than you if she would dress up."
"Shut up, stupid sister." Tomoe glared at her sister.
"Fix her hair, Kamatari." Megumi said and Kamatari just nodded and pulled Kaoru with her.
"Uhmm... why are you doing this?" Kaoru asked hesitantly. "I mean... is there something wrong? Is there something that is going to happen?"
"Enishi-kun is going to visit here this evening." Megumi said with a wide smile. "I want you to look presentable to him."
"Eh?" Kaoru blinked again as Kamatari let her sit in a seat and began combing her long raven-black hair. "Why should I..."
"Mou! Just wanna make you look presentable to him..." Megumi said before turning to Tomoe. "Come on Tomoe, we still need to prepare the whole house." she added and left with Tomoe.
"Uhmm... Kamatari-san... why do I need to look presentable to your guest? I mean... I'm not supposed to show up to any of your guests anyway." Kaoru asked uncertainty as Kamatari tried to fix her hair.
"Mou! Don't you still get it!" Kamatari said with a frown. "You know that he like you."
"That doesn't mean that he actually meant that... I mean..."
"Stop talking foolish! Just try be sweet to him!" Kamatari said. "He's the only way we could be closer to the prince and you should not do anything bad to him! I swear! I'll kill you'll do something wrong!"
"Hai." Kaoru just looked down and let Kamatari do whatever she want with her hair.
***
"Is everything clear?" a tall man hidden in the shadows of the huge trees in the midst of the woods said in a serious voice. "I don't want him getting suspicious."
"Of course... we could do that." another man answered, also hidden in the dark. "He will never get suspicious."
"I'm not kidding Jin'eh!" the tall an said again. "He is pretty tough... I tell you! He didn't get the name Battousai for nothing so you be careful in your moves. I don't want him to be suspicious to me and to all of this whole plan."
"Hai, hai... but don't forget the deal you had with us."
"Yeah, yeah right! I'll pay you if you're job is done correctly... just give me a word if there's any problem or whatever... I need to get going, I am to visit some friend of mine."
"Leave everything to us, don't worry."
"'Til then." the tall man said before completely disappearing in the dark.
*** "Where is she?" Megumi asked as she saw her daughter, Kamatari enter the waiting room all alone. "I have to see if she looks presentable enough."
"You silly girl, come in here!" Kamatari turned her head to the door and frowned. "C'mon Kaoru! Just get out of here!"
"H-hai..." Kaoru silently went in the room looking down, wearing Tomoe's old pink dress, her hair just wild down her back.
"Why didn't you fix her hair?!?" Tomoe frowned.
"Her hair is too long! It's too hard to fix!" Kamatari pouted. "Besides, she looked just nice with her hair down..."
"Okay... forget everything about that." Megumi said before walking towards Kaoru and making her sit on the soft sofa. "You just sit here and wait for Enishi-kun. "He'll be coming in a few minutes... I don't want any problem, you know what I mean... you have to be nice to him. Is that clear?"
"H-hai..." Kaoru just nodded, looking down with a sigh.
"And don't forget this, okay?" Megumi added sternly. "You are to ask him about the prince... what the prince likes and what kind of woman will he want to be a wife. Ask about his interests too."
"Hai."
"Okay... you just wait here..." Megumi said before leaving with her daughters, Kaoru all alone in the room.
'Why are they so weird?' she thought. 'Not that... he actually liked me or something, he never even know me! How can he like a person he barely knows... not that I don't like him at all... demo...' she sighed again.
'He's seemed to be nice and he's not that bad... but I just don't feel comfortable with him, unlike when I'm with...' she felt a blush creeping out of her face. She quickly shook the thought away. 'No... Kenshin is just my friend... we're just friends.' she quickly said to herself.
She sighed again and went back to her seat. 'Why do I feel like this? I just met him... a couple of weeks ago and then... I just felt...' a small smile appeared on her face. 'I never felt so happy and comfortable with someone I barely know... with a complete stranger like him. It's wonderful how he can make me feel relieved even when I feel down sometimes, how he made me feel happy when I feel like the whole world is against me... Yahiko does made me feel comfortable too, but with Kenshin,... oh...'
"What is this? This is really strange..." she said in a whisper. "I can't understand how I feel anymore... I feel weird..."
***
"Here we are in Yokohama..." Sano said to Kenshin after some hours of traveling. He sighed when he saw his friend just nodded without any energy. "Hey...chill up... it's not that you're gonna stay here for ten years."
"Yeah... right..." Kenshin sighed. "Come on in..." he nodded, gesturing that he and Sano should climb down their carriage.
"It's a pleasure to have you here, your Prince Kenshin of Tokyo... his highness is already waiting for you in the dining hall." a young lady dressed in a maid's clothes said. Kenshin just nodded to her and made her lead the way to the dining hall.
"Oh... Himura-san..." a tall man with brown hair said, smiling at him.
"Kiyosato-san." Kenshin made a bow.
"Come on... take a seat." Kiyosato Akira, count of Yokohama said. "How's your trip here?"
"Quite well." Kenshin just nodded and took a seat, Sano took the seat beside him.
"I'm really glad that you're father sent you here in our humble place." Akira said again. "It's really a pleasure."
"Hai." Kenshin said, just that same moment, a beautiful young lady with long brown hair and crystal green eyes entered the dining hall.
"Oh... Prince Kenshin..." Akira said with a smile. "This young lady here is my cousin, Amakusa Sayo..." he said, before turning his head to the young lady, Sayo. "Sayo, this is Prince Himura Kenshin from Tokyo and Sagara Sanosuke, his personal assistant.
"It's a pleasure meeting such a beautiful lady." Kenshin said in a polite manner, Sayo gave him a smile before taking a seat.
"You must be pretty tired from your travel... come on let's have dinner for a moment before we talk about the current situation of our place."
***
"Ah... Enishi-kun..." Megumi gave the young man a smile. "It's a pleasure having you here again."
"Yeah." Tomoe smiled too. "It's been quite a while."
"Yeah... Good thing the king was kind enough to give me this break." Enishi said. "I mean... I have a hand full in the palace. There are so many documents and paper works to do."
"That's pretty exhausting." Kamatari said, "Come inside... in the waiting room."
"Hai." Enishi nodded and let the three women to led him to the waiting room. Once there, he smiled when he saw a very wonderful sight in front of him.
"Kaoru-san... It's been quite a while." Enishi said and walked towards the young lady.
"It's nice to have you again here, Yukishiro-san." Kaoru stood up from her seat and gave Enishi a small smile.
"Do you want a cup of tea?" Megumi asked and Enishi only nodded. "We'll just go and get you some tea. You keep yourself at hom here, Enishi-kun." and with that, Megumi and her daughters left Enishi all alone with Kaoru.
TBC...
A/N: A short cappie for today, ne? Sorry for taking too long in updating this fic and my other fics... I just finished doing my research paper and I just thought maybe I should do another chapter of this story... anyway, just wait for another chapter to come, okay? Just be patient, ne minna-san? Again, see you 'til next chapter. I'm looking forward to hearing more of your feedbacks... ja!