Authors Notes: Hello everyone! I'm bored out of my mind and I feel as though I'm going to collapse any minute now. I've nothing to do and I just want to scream.

And so, I decided to write.

Whoo!

Anyway.

Well, A Special Note: Kenshin doesn't like Kaoru like a girlfriend yet, and same for Kaoru. Sure, they acknowledge their looks and personality, but they're feelings aren't that strong yet. Or, not discovered D

OH! Yes. I'm sorry Aoshi fans! D:

Enishi has won the vote. Actually, he won by about double the amount that Aoshi was voted for.

BUT

AOSHI WILL BE IN THIS FIC!

NO WORRIES!

Anyway.

(points forward all heroically) ONWARD!

-

Dear Diary

-

Chapter 2 – Topsy-Turvy

"I'm sorry…but your parents are dead…they were found dead last night."

"Get ready to leave this place in 24 hours!"

"We're getting rid of it."

"But I live here!"

" Y'don't live here no more. Go on, git!"

"But-!"

"Y'ain't livin' here no more! Now go! We're demolishin' this sucker in less then an hour!"

"You can't demolish it! It's my home! My family lived here! You can't!"

"Kid, I'm telling you, get out o' here! I'm followin' orders and my orders are to demolish this here buildin'! If y' used to live here, y'ain't no more!"

"Come back! No!"

"Kid, your parents are gone. You've no where to go. Just get out of the city. This is no place for you."

"I won't let you destroy my home!"

"I'm sorry about your home. It's already been destroyed, and the damage done. Just get out of here."

"I've no where to go…"

"Come with me, I'll help you."

"I don't even know you…"

"…I'm Kaoru…"

Swiftly sitting up from his sleeping position on the apartment bed, Kenshin's sweaty palm made it's way to his damp forehead as he desperately tried to compose his labored breathing. The blares and screeches from the busy street down below calmed his nerves slightly as the lights from outside just faintly pierced through the slit blinds that blocked them out. From what he could tell, it was still dark out. And he was safe too.

He was in uptown New York City. Not in some wild dream.

Taking deeper breaths, Kenshin finally controlled himself into a relaxed state, trying to forget the mixture of the past he was presented with in the odd dream. Throwing off the hot comforter covers, Kenshin threw his legs over the side of the bed and balanced himself onto the carpet floor.

Slowly sauntering out of his bedroom and into the kitchen, he grabbed a glass from the cupboard and filled it with water from the sink. Taking small sips from it, he tried to regain his wits. He had recently started to dream about things that had happened in the past and had been waking up in the same cold sweat almost every night. It was starting to confuse and worry him.

Taking deep breathes once more and splashing the cold water into his face a few times, Kenshin finally succeeded in calming his anxiety. But, to his dismay, he had also managed to wake the sleeping girl who was harbored in the room that was unfortunately by the kitchen.

Oh, why didn't he go to the bathroom instead?

Sighing in the lack of wisdom in his own head, Kenshin decided that he'd berate himself later once he got back into his own bed.

The small creaking of her bedroom door had somewhat pleased him to think that she would care enough to get up out of her own bed to see what might be going on at the late hour. Of course, he reminded himself mentally, there were such things as robbers and thieves. But he decided that he liked the former idea better and stuck with it.

"Kenshin…what's going on…?"

Kaoru stumbled out of her room, looking for some support once her free hand left the knob, the other rubbing her glazed sapphire eyes; her cheeks still rosy from her sleep. Kenshin smiled at her sheepishly and made his way over to her, taking her hand to steady her.

"Don't worry about it, ma'am. I just came into the kitchen to get a drink is all."

Kaoru frowned at his answer, even though she was still partially asleep. Sighing deeply while waiting sometime before answering, Kaoru desperately tried to compose herself for a girl who had just awoken from some much loved slumber.

"You sure…? You usually…don't get drinks in… the middle of the night…"

Her voice was light and feathery, and most likely would have been soft if able to touch, while she took small yawns in-between her sentence. Kenshin chuckled slightly, noting that her voice sounded that of a young girl. Cute and coaxing. He gave her hand a small squeeze and nodded.

"I'm sure. Everything's fine, ma'am. You mustn't lose sleep on this. Now please, go back to sleep, will you?"

Finally feeling a wave of drowsiness possess her once more, Kaoru nodded sleepily and let Kenshin guide her back into her room, and into her cozy bed once more. Tucking her into the comforter, he smiled at her as she quickly fell victim to slumber once more.

He was tempted to just kiss her forehead quickly in a brotherly gesture, but resisted and slowly walked out of the room, quietly shutting the door behind him.

Once back out into the kitchen, Kenshin stressfully rubbed his eyes. He couldn't let his problems interfere with Kaoru's life. Leaning over the kitchen sink, he splashed his face with cold running water again to clear his mind and refresh his memory before heading back to his bed somberly.

Slowly, his eyes came into focus, staring at the ceiling above his head tiredly before blinking off his fatigue. His violet eyes roved about the room, noting that his abode was lighter then before, and glowed with the welcome of the morning sunshine.

Yawning lightly, he sat up in his bed and rubbed his eyes tenderly. Well, he had made it through the night, he proclaimed mentally. Running his hand through his messy red locks, Kenshin gently folded the covers off himself and stepped onto the carpet floor, then stretched mirthfully, humming in contentment as the relaxing stretch had comforted his aching muscles.

Sauntering out into the kitchen Kenshin rolled his shoulders to take the stiffness that harbored in his joints away. Then, with the elegant skills of a cat, Kenshin padded over to Kaoru's door and quietly opened it and took a peek inside.

As he had hoped to see, Kaoru was still sound asleep, the covers thrown askew around her while she tousled in her sleep with her feisty nature burning even in her dreams. Kenshin chuckled softly and slowly closed the door behind him.

"Well, I better get breakfast started."

Smiling at the thought, Kenshin pulled out a loaf of bread from the cupboard and a few eggs and some milk from the fridge. French toast sounded like a good starter for the day.

She woke up rather pleasantly that morning, despite the constant honks and beep down below that slipped through her closed window. The sun wasn't as strong and irritating as it usually would have been, and the smell of Kenshin's cooking enveloped her senses faster then the smell of the stingy apartment bedroom. She needed a new air freshener.

Dismissing the thought, Kaoru felt surprisingly refreshed. Stretching her limbs, she quietly glided her slippers onto her feet and trudged to the door. With another small stretch, she reached for her door and pulled it open, suddenly becoming engrossed in the sweet smell of Kenshin's delicious morning meal.

Kenshin, hearing the familiar creek of her door, looked up from his hot pan and was surprised to find the late riser standing outside of her door, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed.

The surprise didn't leave him, but he still greeted her with his famous smile and every day-

"Good morning, ma'am!"

And yet again, he was surprised with the outcome. Instead of the oh-so familiar ritual of morning-loathing and curses against the early sunlight, along with short, irritated grumbles in response for anything said, he was presented with a bright smile and a flash of her sapphire eyes along with a reply.

"Good morning, Kenshin!"

Two miracles in one day had to mean something.

Bobbing over to the chair-stool, Kaoru plopped down onto the chair and placed her arms on the countertop, glancing around the apartment curiously, as if she'd never seen it before.

"Why up so early?"

Kaoru glanced at Kenshin a moment and then took a look of thoughtfulness and laced her fingers in with each other and rested her chin on the tops of her hands, accompanied with a small shrug.

"I'm not too sure. I just…woke up, I'm guessing. Kind of strange for me."

Kenshin nodded in agreement, never taking his eyes off of the French toast which sizzled in the frying pan.

Kaoru then took a long stretch with her arms once more and yawned slightly before standing and heading out of the kitchen and toward the bathroom. Kenshin then glanced up from the toast and looked at Kaoru with a small smile.

"You going to splash out the sleepiness creeping up on you?"

Kaoru shook her head.

"Nope. I'm going to take a shower and get dressed then head down to the music department 'I.T.L.O.M' and schedule a date for a job interview."

Kenshin cocked an eyebrow.

"I.T.L.O.M?"

Kaoru nodded and stuck her tongue out.

"The title sounds cheesy, but it stands for 'in the life of music.' I like that part of it at least."

Kenshin chuckled and nodded, turning back to his French toast and flipping it over, he added a touch of cinnamon on the bread while Kaoru disappeared into the bathroom.

About eight minutes later, Kaoru emerged from the lavatory in a tidal-wave of steam and dressed in a cream colored, fluffy towel that was tucked into itself so it would stay put where it meant to be. Sputtering small coughs from the heaping of steam that escaped the bathroom and stepping out into a more chilly environment, Kaoru shivered slightly and uttered a small 'bur' sound.

Kenshin glanced up for only a mere second and then quickly averted his gaze back to his cooking smartly. He knew it not courteous to stare no matter how much attention Kaoru could possess at the moment. He had learned the hard way that gaping at the girl when she would come out of the shower was not a wise thing to do and was immediately corrected for his wrong doing with a powerful sock to his right cheek.

After the two years he had lived with her, he was slightly used to seeing her dressed in only a towel when coming in or out of the bathroom, but being the modest young man that he was, he still found it in himself that the more polite thing to do was avert his attentions elsewhere for the time being.

Kaoru strode into her room, her ebony locks dripping onto the carpet floor and clinging to her skin and towel while her body emitted a warm rapture as she sauntered past him and into her quarters. And within a minutes time, with a few more in addition, Kaoru presented herself in a very flashy but sophisticated business suit.

Kenshin smiled at her and scooped up one of the toast pieces from the pan and onto a plate while heading for the other to finish off the small pile that sat steaming from their fresh addition of egg yolk, cinnamon, powdered sugar, and a hot pan along with a jug of syrup for an additional topping if wanted.

"No can do, Kenshin! I've no time for breakfast today, though I'd really like some! I've got to get down to ITLOM as quick as I can to claim my prize!"

Kaoru's announcement stopped Kenshin with his flipping of the French toast. He frowned at her slightly and looked at the fresh batch of breakfast he had made, then back up at her with a small pout.

"Kenshin, please don't look at me like that. When I get back, I'll eat it with you, alright?"

Kaoru smiled at him before quickly escaping the apartment room and rushing down the flight of stairs. Kenshin, on the other hand, stared at the door, his mouth agape. It was only when the smell of smoke entered his nose did he wake from his daze and came back to the reality of his last French toast that was now sizzling mercilessly on the pan and puffing out smoke and a few flames. Yelping slightly, Kenshin rushed the pan over to the sink and put out the flames with the faucet water.

The eruption of steam and dark clouds of smoke entered his lungs, causing him to cough and heave, waving his arms to rid the gas. Finally escaping the haze of smolder, the gears in Kenshin's mind finally started to crank as the equation brewed up in his mind. Smoke plus confined apartment space equals-

"Fire alarm sprinklers."

And, as if on cue, the small sprinklers that were scattered about the ceiling set off and in a matter of seconds, drenched the kitchen area despite the precious electric devices. Kenshin only groaned and tipped his head back, eyes closed, and spread out his arms in an irritated welcome of the unwanted water.

It was definitely the day that was off the old man's rocker.

This was undeniably going in his diary.

If his diary survived the uninvited shower of water, of course.

He hoped it did.

Then, the sudden thought of Kaoru entered his mind. Gulping slightly, he could hear the reaction she'd present when she'd come home to a drenched apartment house, soggy French toast, and a maddeningly busy roommate trying to dry the drenched apartment and make up for the ruined breakfast.

With that goal set, Kenshin told himself to get his butt to work once the sprinklers decided that enough was enough and they had done their work, though useless, and shut off for next time.

As the sprinklers finally ceased their shower, Kenshin slowly made his way to his room to change into some drier clothes. And then, once changed into something more comfortable, out with the paper-towels.

He silently prayed that 'next time' wouldn't occur.

And, he noted dully to himself, that he'd be pulling the hair out of his head from the over whelming thought of the large mess left by the small sprinklers.

As he opened the cupboard that harbored the cleaning utensils, he slightly cursed and groaned.

Today was an off day.

For out of every day of the year, it had to be that day they were out of paper towels.

Just his luck.

Lendra-chan: Well everyone, that's all for now!

I hope you don't mind the chapter's shortness!

Ja!