Disclaimer: I do not own either Inuyasha or Rurouni Kenshin.

Chapter 5.

The entire affair had surprised Kagome. She never could have believed that she would be so lucky as to find the swordsman so easily, and had never seen anyone react like Sanosuke had. At first he wasn't willing to help them at all, and now he was leading them to Kenshin Himura, one of the greatest swordsman in recorded history. Which, it turns out, lives in a dojo not far from the temple they had started from this morning.

The young boy had been equally puzzling. Sanosuke had insisted they wait on him so he could go with them to the dojo. It was therefore evening when they reached the entrance to the dojo.

Kagome and Sango stepped into the yard of the dojo behind a grinning Sanosuke and an equally mischievous looking Yahiko. "Hey, Jou-chan! Kenshin! Anybody home?"

Kagome watched as a young woman stepped out of the dojo followed by some guy with red hair. The two of them came across the yard to where Sanosuke was standing.

"Hey Kenshin, these two are here to see you. Either of them look familiar?"

"Oro?"

Kagome noticed that the woman suddenly looked at Kenshin with a dangerous gleam in her eyes. This did not bode well. Kagome tried to get right down to business to avoid any confusion. "Yes, Mr. Himura. We came to inquire about enrolling someone in your dojo…"

"WHAT? HIS DOJO?" the woman with the red haired man shrieked. Kagome noticed Sanosuke and Yahiko were already rolling in the yard laughing. Kagome looked to Sango for help but Sango had a blank stare on her face.

"Yyess… this is where Kenshin Himura lives isn't it?" Kagome stammered.

"Yes, this is where he stays, but this is MY dojo!" the young woman said heatedly.

"Oh, dear. I am so sorry. You must be Mrs. Himura…" Kagome didn't know what else to say. The woman suddenly looked as if she had been hit upside the head. Her face went red, but fortunately not from anger. She stammered herself for a moment before hiding her embarrassment.

"You two did this didn't you!" she screamed and suddenly pulled out a wooden sword beating Sanosuke and Yahiko senseless even while they were laughing. The resulting scene progressed until Yahiko and Sanosuke were running around the yard being chased by this insane woman wielding a stick.

Kagome massaged her temples for a moment and tried again. "I'm sorry. This has been a total disaster." Kagome was getting ready to leave and head back to the well, when the man with red hair finally spoke.

"You're looking for me?"

Kagome turned to the man in the pink gi. He definitely didn't look like the greatest swordsman that ever lived. "You mean you really ARE Kenshin Himura?"

Kenshin bowed slightly as Sango watched Yahiko valiantly trying to climb a tree to escape the wrath of the woman with the sword. Sanosuke had already been clobbered. "Yes, I live here under Ms. Kaoru's roof. She is the owner of the dojo."

"So you work here?" Kagome said confused again.

"Yes."

"You do teach here right?"

"No, Ms. Kaoru is the instructor. I only do the laundry and cooking."

Kagome couldn't remember fainting. When she looked up she was inside, and Sango was looking over her worriedly. Kenshin and Sano sat off to one side waiting patiently. The young woman, Ms. Kaoru was it, was just coming in carrying some tea.

"Oh, you're awake. I'm terribly sorry for the misunderstanding," Kaoru said shooting a murderous stare over at Sanosuke. "It seems you were made unwitting accomplices in a very tasteless practical joke."

Sanosuke started to snicker until Kaoru shot him another glance. "I believe you said something about wanting to get some training in the martial arts?"

Kagome sat up and took the tea thankfully. She took a sip and looked at Ms. Kaoru, who was apparently the one in charge. "Yes, I came looking for Mr. Himura to see if I could get him to teach someone swordsmanship."

Kaoru looked at Kenshin who looked back at her with a shrug. "I'm afraid Kenshin doesn't teach swordplay. The only thing we teach here is Kamiya Kasshin Style."

Kagome was still not working this through right. "You mean Mr. Himura doesn't use Kamiya Kasshin Style?"

Kaoru once again looked stricken. "You don't know anything about Kenshin do you."

Kagome looked down at the cup embarrassed. "No, not really. We were… told… that he was the best swordsman in all of Japan. That's why when Sanosuke told us that he lived in a dojo, we assumed he taught here."

Kaoru actually smiled for a moment before turning to Kenshin. Kenshin looked at Kagome and smiled. He was definitely a cute man. "I'm sorry Ms. Kagome, but I won't teach anyone my fighting style. It's going to die out with me."

Kagome looked at Kenshin before she sighed heavily. She reached over to her book and pulled it open flipping to the chapter she had book-marked. "Then can you tell me something?"

"Certainly. If I am able."

"Can you please tell me where I can find Hajime Saitoh, or Aoshi Shinomori?"

Kagome looked up at the people in the room and saw startled expressions on all of their faces. Kaoru managed to find her voice first. "Exactly where have you heard about these people?"

Kagome put her book away and tried to give them a winning smile. "I was told that the three best swordsmen in all of Japan were Kenshin Himura, Hajime Saitoh, and Aoshi Shinomori. I came here trying to find one of them to teach swordsmanship to someone."

Kenshin shook his head as if confused. "Saitoh and Aoshi are both in Kyoto at the moment. Saitoh will probably be back in town on business at some point, but Aoshi stays in Kyoto."

Kagome tried to wrap her mind around it. She'd found the greatest swordsman in all of Japan and he was serving as a butler to a woman that wielded wooden swords at her friends like a madwoman. She thought things were odd in the feudal era?

Kagome was just about to ask another question when she suddenly felt a surge. Something was happening nearby. She jerked her head up and started looking around for its source as Yahiko burst into the room. "Kenshin, something's going on up at the temple!"