Hiko stared at the man before turning to him, "I thought you said they would start arriving tomorrow!" Frowning in confusion, he replied, "She shouldn't be here. It took me three days to get here and I started back as soon as I left her dojo. She wasn't even ready to leave when I left." He was confused, there was no possible… unless…yes, that had to be it. Satisfied that he had, most probably, figured it out, Saitoh leaned back again, having stood straight as the man had entered.

With a careless shrug, he flicked his cigarette to the ground and put it out. Deciding to let the king figure it out and decide on his own, the notorious wolf remained silent. Feeling the glare that was being tossed his way, Saitoh looked over at Hiko and raised a brow, as if to say, 'What?' Rolling his eyes, Hiko turned back to his guard. "Let her in." he said simply, waving his hand dismissively. Bowing, the guard left to go fetch the tanuki.

Shifting in his seat, Hiko dawned his, 'bow before me or else' pose and awaited the arrival of the infamous Kaoru, missing the smirk and faintly amused expression on the wolf's face. If the king thought that he could intimidate Kaoru, he was dead wrong. Preparing for an interesting show, Saitoh turned towards the door as well. It would be interesting to watch the king flounder.

A few moments later the guard returned, a petite girl and sulking boy coming in behind him. Waving the guard away, Hiko scrutinized the girl. She stood at about 5'5, very petite and fragile looking. She had her long hair tied up in a high pony-tail and a smile on her face, innocence radiating around her. Looking her over, he couldn't help but dismiss her. To say he was disappointed was an understatement. It had seemed like the wolf had liked and respected her, but he saw no reason for it apparent, she seemed like some innocent schoolgirl to him.

"So, you're Kaoru, and he must be your brother." Flicking his eyes over to the boy before dismissing him as well, Hiko turned his gaze back to the girl. Smiling brightly at him, she replied, "That's me. So, you're the king," her gaze flickered over him quickly before meeting his eyes. "I'm disappointed, the people made you out to be much better than reality, but I guess that's just the way of thing." Shrugging slightly, she saw Saitoh struggle not to laugh out of the corner of her eye. Turning back to the king, she smirked slightly. "I didn't know you could do impressions. That is a fine fish your doing now." She said, complete innocence radiating from her as she said it.

Gaping, Hiko quickly shut his mouth and glared at her. How dare this little slip of a girl mock him like this? Turning towards the wolf, he saw that he was struggling to not laugh. Growling quietly, he turned back and glared at the girl again, finding that he was at a loss of words. "Don't feel to bad, she has that affect on most people." Looking past the girl, he saw that the kid, Yahiko, had spoken. Seeing that he, too, was holding back laughter, only made him more enraged.

Pulling the bell pull, he glared at them both until a maid came in. "Please show them to their room if you please." He ground out, obviously not pleased. Bowing swiftly, the maid turned on heel and fled, expecting the new comers to follow. Smiling and waving to Saitoh, they left the room, leaving an enraged king and an amused wolf.

-------

Except for Kaoru he had been right, all the others started to arrive the next day. Unfortunately, they all had to arrive within ten minutes of each other. The king, being all wise, decided to put them all in his visitor sitting room when they arrived. To bad this let them get to know each other. Sano and Megumi had somehow started a hate-hate relationship and argued over everything every two minutes, Misao had gotten a crush on Aoshi within ten seconds of meeting him, and Kenshin and Aoshi had determined that they would be enemies for an unknown amount of time.

'And the tanuki had to disappear before breakfast even started. To bad her brother couldn't do the same.' He thought irritably. Since this morning he had been bugging the guards, criticizing the cooks, and trampling through the gardens, he really didn't want to know what he would manage to do in a month. And their king had stood in the doorway, looked at the havoc in the room, and retreated to the safety of his study.

Heaving a sigh, Saitoh prepared to enter hell once again and try to restore order, though only god knew why he tried. Half way down the hall, he turned as a familiar voice called out to him. Stopping, he waited for Kaoru to catch up.

"And where have you been all day?" he asked, walking again towards the door to chaos. "Sketching. It's not everyday that you get to be in a castle, you know." She said cheerfully. Looking sideways at her, he noticed the black sketch pad, knowing her well enough not to ask to see her drawings. If she wanted him to see the, she would show him. "Well, why you were away, chaos ensued." He said dryly. Seeing her confused look, he explained it to her.

He watched with amusement as her face donned a look of understanding, followed by a look of pity in his direction. Suddenly smiling, she looked up at him. "I can help! Where are they?" gesturing in front of her, he said, "In there." Walking forward, he allowed her to enter before him and saw that all was as he left it.

Misao was practically clinging to an oblivious Aoshi, who was trying to stare down Kenshin. Megumi and Sano were still bickering, though now he had her hair and she had his ear. Sighing softly, he leaned back against the wall, watching Kaoru walk to the middle of the room. Bringing two fingers to her lips, a shrill whistle cut through all the noise.

Saitoh could only stare in amazement as all the people in the room looked at her, and followed her instructions. Not two minutes later, everyone, including Kaoru, were in there seats, looking attentively at him. Staring back at them, he could only think, 'Damn that king, he should be here, not me!'

As if his thoughts had summoned him, Hiko strode through the door, looking like a royal idiot to him. "Well, now that everything has settled down, lets get down to business shall we?" Saitoh had the sudden urge to kick him. "Now, since we all don't exactly know each other, let's start with introductions, I'll go first. My name is Hiko, I'm your king, and I have the power of summoning."

"Saitoh, mental and physical telekinesis."

"I'm Misao Makamachi, and I have control over the power of Electricity. I'm always bubbly and cheerful, so get used to it."

"Aoshi Shinamori, Water."

"Megumi Takani, I control Air and am a certified doctor."

"Sanosuke Sagara, you can call me Sano. I control Earth."

"Kenshin Himura, Fire."

"Kaoru Kamiya, Light and Dark are my elements, and I like to draw."

After that, the room went silent. Looking up a few minutes later, Kaoru saw that everyone was looking at her. All of the occupants of the room had varying looks of shock on their face. Blinking obliviously, she asked in confusion, "What?"

AN: Ok, I tried to do this good, but I'm not sure how it came out. Was it a bit rushed? Sorry if it was, but at least you got to see what powers they all had, right?

….. anywayz, thanx to all of you that are still with me. Till next time,

-Kitzune-