It was a nice and easy chapter to write, so I decided to get it out of my system so I could go to study. Who knows when I'll be this free again? Guest and Kaoru Tanuki thank you for your reviews they made me happy! =UwU= And a big thank you to Compucles for your follow!

Anyways I hope you enjoy~ And don't forget to review. 3

He did not know which way was up, or where was down. He flexed his arms in bed before pulling himself to sit up by a miracle only gods could explain. He stretched his neck from side to side, and rolled his shoulders and flexed his back in a fold, before turning to his side. He had awakened because the familiar body heat that had kept him warm throughout the night was absent, and the space left behind it was dreadfully cold.

'You sleep like the dead.' Came a dry voice from the left od the room, by an old-fashioned cupboard. He chuckled and fell back into bed, his wild mane staining the pale yellow and lilac pillowcases beneath his head. The room was surprisingly airy, with the first cracks of dawn bleeding softly through the widow shutters and illuminating the room in dull orange horizontal lines of light.

'Between my job of catching bad guys and you refusing to let me sleep, it's a miracle I get out of bed every day at all.'

'Hmph,' the owner of the voice scoffed and threw a sultry glance over her naked shoulder at him, before pulling on her yukata. 'If I'm keeping you awake, then perhaps I should not stay any longer, ne?'

'As if I would let you leave,' he laughed at himself and threw an arm over his face to cover his eyes from the light. But even as he said it, he knew this was not true, for she left whenever she wanted to leave.

He could never stop her, or catch her or even hold on to her. They both knew this, but then facts that obvious were better left unsaid. He felt the weight of the bed dip beside him, and soon she had straddled him and was all over his body, peppering him with kisses from the back of his ear, down to his naked chest and back up to meet the stubbles of hair underneath his chin. He seized her by the hair and pulled her in for a soul-crushing kiss. It was deep and passionate, and both their eyes were closed. His hands snaked up from her hips, up her waist, and onto her back.

'Kitsune~' It was barely a whisper than a hoarse groan from his throat.

But then she bit down on his lower lip and he broke off so their eyes could meet. Her eyes were soft and coy, and she kissed him again; a, lighter, gentler kiss this time. She sighed against his lips and he closed his eyes. He didn't open them when the weight of her body was replaced by cold, empty air, or when the door quietly creaked opened and quietly creaked closed.

He threw his arm over his eyes again and sighed into the darkness that was fast giving way for light.

...

Kaoru hummed as she made her way through the market square of residential Tokyo. That day's shopping was too light to go to the market district itself; the few things she needed to replace at home were all available at the square.

Life had been good in the past two weeks. Her students had started to come back, following the capture and incarceration of the slandering murderer who claimed her family fighting style as his own. The time she had was no longer completely her own again, and she was actually glad at the return to normal. Few didn't come back at all, and some of those who did were less committed than before.

But Kaoru was not one to be discouraged. She worked with what she had and used the outliers of time for herself to continue her practice. She was close to eighty now, and at the rate would need to pull out the headmaster's power scaling to follow up and chart her progress with. Not even her father had reached eighty of the headmaster's power scale or even her grandfather. And while she did not necessarily have a desire to complete the scaling, it was nice to have something to aspire towards.

Kaoru walked to and fro the market to check off her itinerary of items needed back home and by the time she was done she was so tired, she felt like her feet would give way at any moment. The sun had reached high noon and was mercilessly radiating heat on every umbrella-less pedestrian out and about. Exhausted, Kaoru headed for the nearest coffee shop. She slid into a booth and kept her things beside her, before leaning her head back and letting out a winded sigh.

'Hello and welcome to Milky Way Cafe,' Kaoru's slitted eyes sideglanced her attendant, a young woman about her age, with a bright smile and in a lolita-esque space uniform. 'My name is Fae! May I take your order ma'am?' Kaoru let out another heavy sigh and hoisted her head forward, hanging over her empty table of four. Her braid, over her shoulder, spilt onto the table as a result of her position.

'Forgive my demeanour Fae-chan,' the young sensei apologized groggily. 'I've been out all morning and it's very hot so I'm really exhausted and kind of out of it.'

'Ah~' Fae drawled out and nodded sympathetically in understanding. 'You must be feeling dehydrated, my apologies.'

'It's okay,' the ravenette responded through a muffled yawn and gave the bobbed blonde a tired smile. 'Thank you.'

'May I recommend iced tea? Perhaps chai on the rocks or a cold chocolate smoothie?'

'One of everything!' An unfamiliar deep voice declared behind Kaoru. The girl tiredly nodded, agreeing with him as she raised in one finger and shook it in acquiescence.

'Yes, Fae-chan... One of-' she paused and instantly straightened up, all signs of fatigue gone from her eyes. 'What?!'

'Don't worry Kamiya-san,' the stranger spoke again from behind her dismissively and a hand reached over with a thumbs up for her to see. 'It's on me.'

Fae looked between the stranger and Kaoru repeatedly, trying to understand the situation, before smiling brightly and bowing to them both.

'Understood! An iced tea, chai on the rocks and a cold chocolate smoothie! To go or to wait?'

'To go.'

'To wait.'

The man behind Kaoru chuckled at the fact they spoke at the same time and the woman just let her head hit the table with a dull thud. Fae blinked slowly, unsure of what to do when the man spoke again.

'The smoothie is to go, bring the other two to-wait please.'

'Of course!' she nodded again, penning the orders down and smiling. 'Expect your drinks in seven minutes, ma'am, sir!' With that Kaoru's attendant was gone and immediately the girl turned to glare at the man behind her with narrowed slits.

'You've got some nerve coming back after ghosting on me for so long K-' the sentence died in her throat when she realized she was not face-to-face with a certain ginger-head, but a true stranger. The spiky-haired brunette gave her a shit-eating grin and winked.

'I'm afraid I'm not the man you think I am,' he cocked a brow and leaned closer to her. 'I am much better though.'

Kaoru let out an exasperated groan and rolled her eyes, turning back to her table and slinking into her chair as the stranger made his way to his table. She couldn't help but spy the giant "wicked" embroidery at the back of his ivory-coloured overcoat and she had to stop herself from gasping when she saw that the man was completely topless underneath it.

'Just so we're clear, I will spend all your money and still not enter your bed by the end of the day. So if your plan was charm and persistence I'm afraid you'll have to look elsewhere.'

'Charmed loved,' he winked at her, his brown eyes twinkling with amusement. 'But my taste in women leans further from Tanukis and more to Kitsunes if you get my drift,' Kaoru gaped at his audacity and immediately shot up, fists on the table menacingly as she glared at him.

'Excuse me-!'

'Feisty too? I see why my partner likes you.'

Kaoru blinked, taken aback by the statement and she faltered in her speech.

'P-partner?' she managed to utter, feeling like a complete dimwit. He smiled smugly and leaned back, crossing his arms over his broad chest.

'Ah~ I believe his name was just at the tip of your tongue just now when we met; Kenshin, yes?' he rubbed the tip of his nose briefly with his thumb, amusement in his eyes as Kaoru grew redder and redder, completely flustered.

'For all you know,' she finally responded, crossing her arms across her chest and tilting her chin up haughtily. 'I might have been about to say Konan.'

'Oh?' the man mused and shrugged, making to leave. 'Alright then my bad, I was hoping to buy Kenshin's damsel a drink or something. I guess I'll just go find her-'

'I'm not his damsel!' She protested before she quickly threw her hands over her mouth to stop her self from digging her own grave.

'But you were about to say Kenshin,' he fell back into his seat, the shit-eating grin on his face again. He stretched out his hand forward for a shake. 'Sanosuke Sagara, Kamiya-san.' She stared at the hand outstretched toward her like it was capable of giving her hives, while her mind was pre-occupied by her mortification at being teased so easily. Slowly she stretched out her hand to return the shake and sat back down with a petulant pout. He smiled warmly at her this time. 'Nice to meet you.'

'Kaoru and I'm... yet to say the same.' The sensei muttered stubbornly, refusing to meet his eyes. Sanosuke only laughed and grinned even wider.

'So you say, for now.' He winked and turned to call on staff for their drinks. Thankfully, Fae was arriving with them just before he could and with a bright smile, she served their orders. Sanosuke paid her with a one-time card debit and looked at Kaoru. 'What would you like.?'

'Iced tea please,' she responded quietly. Sanosuke reached for the chai tea, and Kaoru her own drink. They fell into a comfortable to enjoy their beverages, and Kaoru eyed the smoothie in a bottle curiously.

'Is that for-'

'Kenshin? Yes,' Sanosuke answered her question before she could finish, letting out a low and long burp, then a sigh of satisfaction. She frowned at his table manners, but he stuck his tongue out at her and made her roll her eyes. 'Man's got an incurable sweet tooth. This man spent all of our money on dango the last time we came here! Gods I thought I had done my time and was going home!' Sanosuke narrated the ordeal with all the theatrics of a dramatic and Kaoru found herself giggling. Soon they fell deep into conversation, and the two were practically snorting their tea with laughter. They finished their drinks in no time and Sanosuke offered to help carry her stuff home. Not one to reject free labour services, she accepted. The two were just across the street when Fae ran out and started to call for them, but the traffic made her unhearable. They looked back, Kaoru with some curiosity.

'What do you think she wants us for?' Kaoru asked curiously. Sanosuke smirked mischievously, before suspiciously glancing around and then leaning to whisper in her ear.

'The card was already used up.'

'No!'

Sanosuke could only nod as he snickered and Kaoru beat him repeatedly with her palms, which only made him laugh the more.

'You crook! How could you?'

'Careful I'll break your stuff,' Sanosuke laughed doubling over. 'Let's get out of here before they-!'

'No, you stay here!' Kaoru scolded, smacking his head as she dug her purse for money. 'If you move I'll kill you!'

'Yes ma'am!' he mock-saluted, struggling not to laugh. She quickly made her way back to pay and apologize for the inconvenience and soon they were on their way again. Kaoru had refused to speak with him. But he cajoled his way back into her favour by making her laugh. Soon they fell into another comfortable silence before the sensei spoke again.

'Did you ever get anything about that fake Battousai guy?'

'Nah,' he responded with a huff and slacked his shoulders a bit. 'Bounty hunters aren't really into detective work, you know?'

Kaoru nodded quietly and sighed. She couldn't help but feel that the case had been personal, with what the criminal having gone out of his way to defame her dojo and what not. Sanosuke noticed her quiet mood and decided to cheer her up, asking about her family history and the dojo. She happily indulged in the small talk, taking her mind off the worry of the criminal that was already behind bars.

Eventually, they arrived at her home and Kaoru gratefully collected her property from Sanosuke.

'It was nice meeting you Sanosuke-san!'

'Please, it's just Sanosuke.' He corrected with a warm smile and put his hands in his pockets. 'Stay safe Kaoru.' He turned and made his way off, but called over his shoulder before disappearing from her sight. 'Maybe I'll see you again one of the times.'

Kaoru smiled and waved back at him till he disappeared out of view.

'Be safe! Goodbye~'

...

'And where have you been all day?' Kenshin gave his partner a grin not unlike Sanosuke's as he walked in. 'The women of Tokyo don't have a chance against you, do they?' The taller man did not even reply, instead throwing the bottle of chocolate smoothie his way. Kenshin eyed the drink with shameless sugar-fuelled greed. 'Thanks, Sano! We leave in thirty-minutes by the way!'

Sanosuke only groaned his reply, making his way for his room. He found his bed and fell face-first into his pillow and groaned again. The memories of the early morning haunted him and dampened his mood.

But then he remembered his afternoon with Kaoru, and he grinned slightly into the pillow.

"She's alright, the Tanuki."

Out of his mood as quickly as he got in, he lifted his head enough to yell out loud and make fun of his partner.

'She's a pretty cute Tanuki, by the way Himura! You sly dog!'

He let his bed fall back into his pillow, chuckling as Kenshin tried to open the door that Sanosuke had been smart enough to lock before he turned off his nightlight and fell asleep.

I couldn't help being on a roll. This chapter is a filler, but I've planned this story's direction to the T, fillers included. The next chapters are more arc central and I won't have time to write them out as I have done this, as they require more brainpower. Enjoy this one chapter while we wait, and wish me luck in my papers tomorrow.

Oh, and please review! Thank you! =UwU=