A/N: oh man! I'm soo sorry guys! My computer needed a new mother-board and so my cousin went to fix my computer! Plus there's school.. Soo..i haven't got to update but now I have! Oh man I missed my computer! TT sorry again!

Chapter 13:

"You what!" Megumi asked in surprise.

"You heard what I said. But Kenshin stopped me." Sano explained getting a bit annoyed. Megumi snorted.

"So what are you going to do now? You do know Kaoru's feelings right? She likes him."

"I know I can't have Kaoru….but the fact that she's dying is making it worse." Megumi stayed quiet looking at a group picture they had recently took and smiled at she saw Kaoru with a bright smile.

"Kaoru is a strong girl. It makes me wonder how she can still smile."

"I'm going to talk to her..and sort things out." Sano said getting up from the sofa.

"When?"

"Today…"

:Different Scene:

Kenshin woke up and looked at the person sleeping next to him. She had had a nightmare screaming out his name and he quickly came to her, comforting her. Before he could leave she asked him to stay with her and he did. It had been two weeks since Kaoru was in the hospital. Her health had been doing well, once in a while coughing up blood, yet she always kept her smile. Kenshin brushed a strand of hair on her face and carefully memorized her face.

She had affected him, changed him. Not once had he cried after his parent's death. He became distant, he hid his emotions and was never serious.. But ever since he met her his emotion came back slowly. She knew she was dying yet she comforted him instead of pitying herself. She told him it was okay to cry and he cried. He was becoming weak…his weakness is her. He needed to see her, he was jealous of Enishi and Sano. That day he cried he realized that he loved Kaoru.

Yes, he was in love with Kaoru and never wanted to loose her. Kenshin cupped Kaoru's face and gave a kiss on her cheek.

Kaoru slowly awakened and found Kenshin smiling at her. She smiled back giving him a kiss on the lips before jumping out of bed leaving him stunned. As he followed her to the living room Kaoru's cell phone rang from the kitchen counter and answered it.

"Moshi moshi? Ah! Misao! Ohayo! How are you? Uh-huh. Yup! Well I'll see you later then yeah? Ja ne!" Kaoru closed her phone and looked at Kenshin.

" Hope you don't mind but I haven't hung out with Misao in a looong time..we're probably going out to the mall or something."

"Don't worry. Besides I need to go to Hiko's place. He wants to talk to me about something." He replied going into the kitchen and looking for something to eat.

"Oh okay. Does he need you now?"

"Well I said I would meet him after breakfast so yeah…" Kenshin took out a carton of milk and bread. Kaoru sat down as she was handed a cup and took it gratefully.

"You know what? I haven't talked to Sano ever since I was in the hospital. Have you happened to see him?" Kenshin frowned.

' Tch.. the bastard better be ashamed...' he thought to himself before answering.

"Kaoru…"

"It's because of his feelings am I right?" she interrupted him. He sat down and waited for the bread to toast.

" So you did know about his feelings? What do you feel for him?" he said with a hint of jealousy. Kaoru chuckled.

"I'm sad that I can't return his feelings because he's my best friend. And you don't need to be so jealous of him." Kenshin sighed.

"Yeah..i shouldn't but he can be so stubborn sometimes.." Kenshin got up as the bread popped out of the toaster and put them on a plate. As he turned around arms wrapped around him and found Kaoru snuggling to his chest, making him blush a bit.

"Don't worry Kenshin…your not going to loose me." she said smiling.

"I don't plan on it." He replied hugging her back. " by the way…is my chest the only thing you like about me? Cause your always hugging me. Geez I feel hurt!" He said with a teasing tone. Kaoru playfully hit his arm.

"Baka! You should go! I don't want to keep Hiko waiting." She said pushing him.

--------- ------- --------------- ------------- --------------------- ---------------- ------

Kenshin walked up to the nurse register and asked for Dr. Takashi, Kaoru's doctor. As he waited in the Doctor's office his phone rang and answered it.

"Hello?"

"Hey Kenshin! It's Kaoru. Misao just arrived at the house and we're gonna go to this new amusement park near the central park. When your done talking to Hiko go over there kay?"

"Sure. Where can I meet you?"

"Oh. Just give me a call and I'll go out to the parking lot."

"Kay..see ya then." As he hung up the phone Dr. Takashi came in and sat down looking at a few papers before looking at Kenshin.

"Ah… Mr. Himura. What is it you want to talk about?" he asked.

"It's about Himura Kaoru."

"Ah.. Kaoru-san. You say there's nothing that can save her from Leukemia…but what about transplant?" Takashi folded his hands together.

"Her body is fragile and we've tried a transplant but her body for some reason keeps on rejecting them. We've done a lot of surgeries on her and I don't think her body can handle another one. The last surgery she barley made it back to the world." Kenshin's eyes widen.

"What do you mean by that?"

"Huh? Didn't she tell you? Last year we had found out she had another wound but she didn't go to the hospital, she treated it herself. The wound reopened and it got infected."

"How did she get that wound?" the doctor looked at him surprised.

"Well.. it looks like you don't know your wife too well. I'd suggest you ask her yourself what happened but I'm only going to tell the point. Her father had tried to kill her again." Kenshin slammed his hands on the table. He was angry.

"He's in JAIL right!" he asked with a death tone.

"Yes. The only reason he wasn't in jail on the first attempt of killing Kaoru was because she requested it. Instead of him going to jail he was fined and watched." Kenshin rose from his chair.

'The son of a bitch! If he wasn't in jail right now…' Kenshin clenched his hands.

"Thank you Dr. Takashi. That's all I wanted to know." He said opening the door.

"Mr. Himura…things like this usually lead people to commit suicide….take care of Kaoru."

:Different scene:

"Ne! Nee-san! Can we stop to eat? I'm getting kinda hungry." The two had been playing some games and won a couple of prizes.

"Hey Misao. I'll be back. I gotta go to the bathroom." Kaoru said putting her bag down.

"Okay." Luckily there was no one in the bathroom and so she closed the door and locked it. She opened the lid and waited. She could feel it coming. Her stomach hurt and she began to throw up blood. Once it stopped she wiped off the blood on her mouth and flushed the toilet.

'Damn it….the symptoms has only begun and I'm already tired of it.' Kaoru got up and got out of the stall to wash her hands. She splashed some water on her face and looked up at the mirror. Her hand moved up to touch her cheek and slowly rubbed her cheek. She just realized she was pale but that brought out her beauty even more, especially her eyes. Or at least that's what Kenshin told her. She chuckled and turned the water faucet off wiping her face with a paper towel.

"Eh..? Sano! Over here!" Misao stood and waved to catch Sano's attention. He turned around and gave a smile.

"Hey Misao. You here alone?" he asked standing next to her.

"No. I came here with Kaoru. There she is now." He turned his head to the left and found Kaoru approaching. As she saw Sano she ran over to him giving him a hug.

"Hey Sano! I've missed you!" she said happily. The surprised Sano smiled and hugged her back.

"I've missed you too." Kaoru stepped back and hit him.

"Where have you been? I haven't seen you in two weeks! You jerk!"

"Haha..sorry Jou-chan."

"Oh we're just about to eat. Have you eaten yet? I'll buy you some food." Sano looked at her with a soft expression. Misao who had already begun to eat pulled up a chair from another table.

"Yeah. Come sit down and eat."

"Thanks but I've already eaten." The two girls looked at him surprised.

"Wow. Sano turning down food. That's a first."

"Hey! Watch it weasel!" Sano glared at her as she stuck out her tongue.

"So did you come here alone?" Kaoru asked giving a smile.

"Ah actually I came here to ask you something Kaoru." she put her bowl down and looked up at him. ", I just wanted to talk to you about some things…but not right now. When you done hanging out with Misao just give me a call or something."

"Are you sure-" just then her phone rang and picked it up.

"Hey Kenshin. Are you here now? Okay. I'll be there." Kaoru got up from her chair and faced Sano. ", Why don't you hang out with us? That way Kenshin won't be alone in the rides."

"Thanks for the offer but…" sadly Sano could not think up of an excuse.

"See you have no excuse so thanks!" Kaoru left before he could protest. He sighed and sat down. Misao giggled.

"So were you planning on telling her?" Sano looked at Misao.

"Yeah. But not when he's around."

: Different scene:

Kaoru waved her arm up as she saw Kenshin looking around for her. She gave a smile as he walked up to her.

"Hey Kenshin. Come on lets go. They're waiting." She said linking her arm with his.

"They?" he replied as they started to walk.

"Oh ya..about that. Sano bumped into us and since he was alone we invited him to join us."

"Sou ka.." Kaoru was surprised to find him alright with the plan and looked at him. He was in deep thought and he didn't look too happy.

"Are you okay? Did you have a fight with Hiko?" Kenshin snapped out of thought.

"Oh sorry. No not really. It's nothing to worry about."

"You sure?" she asked doubtfully.

"Yeah. So anyways as you were saying. It's fine with me as long as I don't sit with him in some of the rides."

"I figured." She sighed. ", well we plan to visit the animals first, maybe ride a rollercoaster . After that it's off to Laser Tag ."

"Is it new or something?"

"Yup! I think your suppose to split into teams and try to shoot your enemy." Kenshin just gave a nod. Misao greeted Kenshin as they arrived and next to her Sano just looked at Kenshin. Just as they had arrived both Misao and Kaoru felt the awkward tension between the two.

"Well," Misao said breaking the tension. ", Lets go! There's a lot that I want to do!" as they started walking Kaoru pulled Misao back following the two guys that were ahead.

"I'll be riding with Kenshin on the rides. Man I wish these two would grow up and apologize to each other." Kaoru said with a sigh. Misao smiled nervously.

"This is going to be interesting."

:Different View:

It was quiet. Too quiet. Kenshin motioned Kaoru to follow behind her as they hid behind a thick bush. Kenshin held his gun and took a peak sticking his head out. It was dark and the only light were the stars on the ceiling. Kaoru looked the opposite of Kenshin trying to hear or see any suspicious movements.

"Kaoru." Kenshin whispered. ", stay here. I'll be on the other side. I think I hear them coming this way. We'll ambush them." Kaoru nodded as Kenshin fled to the other side swiftly.

They had been in the building for almost an hour. The rules were each person had five lives, ten all together as a team, and to win you would have to aim at a device they had strapped to their chest. At first Kaoru was a bit nervous since they were playing in the dark but later got use to it. She had lost three lives along with Kenshin, leaving only four more for their team. Sano and Misao had three left.

Kaoru heard a movement and found Sano trying to sneak around the place. She held back her laughter and watched as Misao and Sano bumped into each other, making Misao scream.

"Mou! Sano! Don't scare me like that! I thought you were Kaoru or Kenshin!"

"Shut up! They might-" Kaoru ran out of her hiding spot and shot Misao. Sano quickly ran away.

"Ahh! Stupid Sano!" Misao screamed. Kaoru laughed as Kenshin got out from his spot trying to also holding back from laughing.

"Yosh! Now we need to find Sano and get him! Then we win!" Kaoru said with glee.

"Humph! Well let me join you then! I wanna kill Sano for leaving me like that!"

"Okay. Lets go Kenshin." Kaoru turned around but he was nowhere to be found.

"Where did he go?" Misao stood beside Kaoru.

"Maybe he went to look for Sano already." The two girls went into the next section and found Kenshin hiding behind a cardboard box. Kaoru motioned Misao to duck while going to Kenshin.

"Ne Kenshin. Where's Sano?" Kenshin didn't answer and they both came out of their hiding spots trying to tag each other. Sano grunted as he missed his shot and quickly got out of the way as Kenshin aimed for him. Again they both tried again and shot twice. It was a draw. Sano and Kenshin just stared at each other as the automatic announcer spoke out 'draw'. Misao scooted over to Kaoru.

"This is crazy Kaoru. Maybe we should go home now. These two look like they're going to kill each other!" Misao whispered. Again there was that awkward silence. Kaoru clapped her hands making both Sano and Kenshin look at her.

"That was a great game guys! Man!" she faked a yawn and stretched. Kenshin took a step forward.

"You tired?" he asked in a serious tone.

'eh….man Misao is right..they are scary..'

"Just a bit."

"Well it's fine Kaoru! You go home and rest!" Misao interrupted.

"Before you go can I talk to you alone Kaoru?" Sano asked.

"Umm..sure." she looked at Kenshin then back and Sano. They went out of the building, Kenshin and Misao decided to wait out in the parking lot as the two talked.

Sano brought Kaoru to a quiet more quiet place which was somewhat a garden like area. The two stayed quiet for a while just walking around as couples or families passed by and enjoyed the sight of some of the flowers or plants. A little boy, around five or six years of age, wasn't watching where he was going and ran into Kaoru and fell on the ground.

"Ops..are you okay? Here let me help you." Kaoru offered her hand out and the boy took it and was brought up. Kaoru gave a smile.

"Gomen Ne-san." He said coyly.

"Don't worry about it." He gave a nod and went to catch up with his friends.

"So..what was it you wanted to talk about?" Kaoru asked Sano.

"Do you remember when we first met?" he asked as he heard Kaoru chuckle. ", We were in third grade and I was a new student."

:Flashback:

"All right class! Please may I have your attention? Today we have a new student! His name is Sagara Sanosuke. Please make him feel welcome. Ah Sanosuke? You can sit where ever you like kay?" he gave a nod. The seven year old went to an empty desk and sat down not knowing blue eyes were watching him. After the teacher explained the homework a little girl, that had a ponytail down to her neck, got out of her seat and decided to talk to the new kid. She stopped behind his desk and poked him on the back twice. Sano put down his color pencil and turned around. The girl gave him a big smile.

"Hi! My name is Kaoru!" Sano smiled a bit.

"Hi. I'm Sanosuke." Kaoru looked at him as he looked at her confused expression.

"You don't look to happy. Are you okay?" Sano was surprised at first but shook his head telling her he was fine.

"hmm..if you say so. Do you mind if I color with you Sano? Is it okay to call you Sano? I think it's much easier to say, you know? For short." Sano just nodded. She was pretty talkative. He watched her go to her desk to get her things and sat next to him. Kaoru hummed a tune as she started to color and so he decided to start coloring too.

"So how old are you Sano? I'm seven! Oo! Oo! Do you have any brothers and sisters? I do!"

"I'm seven also. But I don't have brothers or sisters." He replied picking another color out of his color box. The recess bell rang and the kids excitedly put their stuff down to go out and play. Sano got up but noticed Kaoru was still drawing.

"Aren't you going to go outside?"

"Umm..no I cant. But you can go out and play! I'll just stay here." She said happily. Sano was now confused. She couldn't go out?

"Why can't you go?"

"Oh because it's too hot out there. When it's too hot I get sick, I get all dizzy and stuff so I just stay in here. When it isn't too hot I go out to play."

" I see. I'll just stay inside too then." He said sitting back down. The teacher walked up to them and smiled.

"You okay Kaoru?" Kaoru nodded with a smile. ", what about you Sanosuke? Why don't you play outside?"

"I'll just stay here." He replied.

"I know! Me and Sano-chan will play rock-paper-scissors! That way he won't be bored." Miss Yukimo laughed.

"Okay. Well I'll be outside for a while." She then left.

"What's rock-paper-scissors?" Sano asked.

"Huh? Nobody showed you how to play it?" he shook his head. ", not even your parents? Don't you play with your parents?" Sano looked down for a while hesitating to speak.

"No. I-I don't play with my parents."

"wow…well I'll teach you! It's easy!"

: Later that afternoon :

"Bye Suzu-chan!" Kaoru screamed out as her friend went in her car. Next to her Sano sat quietly thinking to himself, but was startled as he heard someone scream out Kaoru's name. He looked up and found a girl and a boy walking towards them.

"Who's he?" the boy asked.

"This is Sano! Sano this is my brother and sister. Aoshi and Misao." Misao sat down next to Sano and touched his spiky hair.

"Wow! It's like sharp! Like a rooster!"

"A rooster?" he asked with a insulted expression.

"Haha! Yeah kinda!" Sano learned a few things about Kaoru's brother and sister. Misao was a noisy one and was much more talkative than Kaoru. He just wondered if she ever breathed when she talked. And Aoshi well Aoshi was the opposite of Misao he was quiet and kind of scary. His icy blue eyes would look at him from the side when ever Kaoru got close to him. But other than that he enjoyed their company.

"Oh I see Otou-san!" Kaoru said standing up. Kaoru ran and gave her father a hug as he hugged her back happily.

"How's my Jou-chan? You guys ready to go home?" he asked as the other two walked towards them. Sano stared at them as he saw the smiling faces of Kaoru and Misao. Aoshi had also smiled as their father turn towards him and gave him a pat on the head.

"Where do you guys want to eat tonight?"

"Hmm.. that's a tough one!" Misao replied.

"Oh how bout we cook dinner and surprise Okaa-san tonight?" their father requested.

"Yeah! Okay!" they said with big smiles. As they were about to leave Kaoru suddenly turned around and went back to Sano.

"Hey! I'm leaving now! Your parents aren't here yet? Do you want me to wait with you?"

"No. It's fine. I'm sure they'll be here soon."

"Okay. I'll see you tomorrow then!" she waved and ran back to her family. Sano just stared sadly at them. It was weird looking at their family. They were all smiling and hugging. They all loved each other deeply. Pain struck and Sano put his hand on his heart. His heart hurt like there was a wound but no blood. He wanted it to go away. He decided to wait for them to pick him up. He waited and waited till he was the last person sitting down on the steps in front of the school. His heart sank deeply and he brushed away the tears that spilled. They had forgotten about him. They weren't going to pick him up. It had been like this for as long as he could remember. He should have known better. What gave him hope that they would come to pick him up?

Sano got up from the steps and slowly walked out of the school. He would have to walk home. He looked up as he saw a little girl holding her fathers hand and laughing as they walked past him.

'Alone…'

…..……….To be continued.