-Disclaimer- I don't own anything but plot and horse…

Chapter 2- Careful What you Ask for part 2

Seiko didn't seem like a forgotten town at all. It was little, sure, but there were travelers of all kinds and races wandering the streets. Many, to the Kenshin gumi's surprise, carried swords in the broad day light! Even more seemed to be former Samurai themselves. None of which were looked down upon, nor was anyone confronted by any officials. Speaking of which, no policemen even wandered around town like they usually did in Tokyo or Kyoto.

There were none. Not one.

Keeping a watchful eye out, the group headed toward a place Sanosuke lead them to. It was the biggest building in town, but it was still terribly small. Its white walls looked to be newly painted as a sign that read 'Hyoga Breakfast Inn' that hung form the over hung roof.

"Here's Hyoga!" Sanosuke exclaimed as he walked in the rug door. The rest of them followed him closely behind.

Inside looked rather busy. Waitresses were rushing to the full booths with orders or to collect dirty plates. It basically looked like the Akabeko on an extremely busy day.

A young waitress around her late teens hustled by, but stopped and back-tracked her steps then looked up at Sanosuke with recognition.

Her dark green eyes lit up in realization as she seemed to recognize him.

"Sagara! I thought I saw ya there!" she greeted with a bow.

"Hey there Akina. How's it going?" Sano replied with a friendly smile plastered to his face. He really did seem to like her.

Akina had long, almost blond hair and a very voluptuous body figure. Even dressed up in that innocently cut and modestly worn Kimono uniform of hers, her luscious curves strained the material. Which most of the group noticed almost instantly?

Kaoru glanced up at Sano suspiciously, 'just how does a guy like Sanosuke know such a pretty girl like her?' she thought.

Akina gestured behind her with a grimace on her bubbly features, "overly busy as of late, I'm afraid. You won't get a booth for a while in the public seating, but I can see what Hyoga's up to. He might let you use the house dinning room instead since you're such a dear friend of his. Excuse me while I go ask," she bowed respectfully to them then rushed off.

Yahiko didn't miss the way Sano's eyes followed her as she swayed her hips walking away in a rushed fashion.

"Past fling Sano?" the boy pestered.

"Huh?" Sano seemed to snap out of the 'gaw-gaw' state he was in and blinked. He then snarled and glared at Yahiko, "Now wait a minute!! Where the hell did that come from, huh?!"

"I dunno, you seem to know her pretty well," Kaoru smugly teased.

"So I know her, big deal!" Sano huffed with a small blush.

"AH! Sanosuke!" a big jolly looking man with bright hazel eyes greeted them as he approached and clasped a hand on Sanosuke's shoulder good naturedly. The man seemed to be about middle aged with a goatee mustache/beard and balding light brown hair. His impressive height reached that of about an inch or so taller than Sano. All in all, this man was as close to a Japanese Lumberjack as it got, "How ya been, boy?"

Sano clasped the man's shoulder in return with a big goofy grin, "Could be better with some food if you know what I mean?" he smirked.

"Now, now Sano, you know it hurts to hear that you only visit now a days if and when you're hungry enough to make the trip… but I do owe you a few favors…,"

"And I'm here to collect said favors if you don't mind, my friend." Sano nodded.

"Yes, you know I'm always willing to help the man who drove off those punks back in the day!" the jolly man whooted in laughter, "Come in! Come in, and tell this old man Hyoga what ails ye, boy!"

"Well, he's certainly generous." Kenshin gauged politely while he observed the jolly mood of the massive man who looked more like an ox.

Kaoru bopped the red headed swordsmen upside the head, "Be nice, Kenshin!" she hissed and then followed the two larger men to the back and left Kenshin to rub the back of his head as it ached from abuse.

Yahiko patted Kenshin on the back reassuringly, "I agree wholeheartedly, Kenshin" he sighed.

Kenshin just sighed and followed, "Agree to what? What'd I do??"

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Hyoga's booming laughter was contagious as he laughed at his own joke he just shared with the rest of the group over the dinner table they all sat at. It wasn't a traditional Japanese table, but an imported high table with wooden chairs that had seats made of cow skin to create a western feel. Just like the rest of the restaurant; it was a steak house…

"Never saw the fire cracker coming!" the man chuckled while the others laughed with him.

"Bet he felt that the next day!" Yahiko snickered.

"Ah, but he felt it not only then, but the day after that, and the day after that, and so on till the next 6 days afterwards." Hyoga smiled as Akina and a few other server girls came by to pick up the plates.

"Thank you so much for your hospitality, Mr. Hyoga." Kenshin thanked with a small bow of his head.

"Yes, it was really good! I've never had that kind of meat cooked quite like that!" Kaoru followed his example and forced Yahiko to do the same.

"Non-sense, any friend of Sano's is a friend of mine! And I wouldn't really expect you to have ever tasted the new worlds 'steak' either. That recipe is fresh from the American colonies back west! Our cook happens to be a survivor off a shipwreck along the coast of Japan." The jolly man's voice lowered, "We… don't really serve that kind of food to public since some of the people about these parts don't really hold true to the new governments foreign policies, but my family and I personally love it!"

"Well add another Kudos to his list, 'cause this taste is worth coming back for!" Sano grinned.

"Aye, boy, we'd be happy to have ya!" he stood up, seeing this as a sign that the group was about to leave, "If there's anything ya all need, just tell me so,"

"Actually, we really could use one more thing," Sano spoke up.

"Tell me. Whatever it is, tis yours."

"We need a place to stay for the night."

" 'Cept that." Hyoga said sympathetically.

"What do you mean 'Cept that'??" Sano almost whined.

"I mean that we don't have no room. We're the only hotel in the town, and we've been get'n lots a travelers as of lately. Even got my own personal rooms filled." Hyoga sighed, "What could be causing all these travelers to suddenly stop?"

"There were some rain clouds hovering heavily to the east of here on our way, and the wind seems to be blowing them this way. It could be a seasonal storm warranting this kind of attraction to shelter by travelers." Kenshin offered.

"That'd do it. Around these parts, we get heavy rainfall about this time of the year. Not something ya wanna be traveling in; warm weather or not. Still can't see a blooming thing past your outstretched arm at times when it gets really heavy." Hyoga sighed, "What you saw must be the big storm of the season."

"Does it cause flooding?" Kaoru asked worried.

"Not likely, missy." Hyoga snorted, "this town's been around fer years. Reason being, we've got a system we go under every time the storm hits to prevent floods. There's a dam up the river a bit that only blocks off the flow completely when it reaches a certain level. After that, it redirects the flow towards a trench we dug out ourselves to go around the town and connect with the original current about a mile out of it."

"How does the dam know when the water's reached that level??" Yahiko asked in awe.

"The dam?? No, no, son, the dam don't know; it's made a wood! There's a volunteer that we switch among the citizens to go out and keep an eye on it. When it gets too high, we pull the gates closed on the dam with horse power and patch whatever hole there is with thick mud we mixed with straw and a bit of oil to make the patches between the logs thick and water proof."

"Sounds dangerous," Kaoru said quietly.

"Unfortunately, it's probably more dangerous to patch up that dam then it is to face an elite force of samurai sent to kill you. It's uncertain if the dam will hold or not, but if ya patch it up quick enough, it'll hold faithfully. So far so good." He shrugged, and then returned to the request at hand, "I'm sorry I can't be of help."

"Do you know someone in town that may have an extra room?" Kenshin asked.

"Nope. Cant says I do." Hyoga sighed.

"We can't go out in the storm!" Yahiko panicked.

"Listen, Hyoga, there has to be somewhere we can take refuge in. we'll take anything you can find! Even a…. a SHACK would be better than the storm." Sano pursued.

Hyoga stopped a moment in his movement to the door and looked at them thoughtfully.

"In that case…."

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"Well…. It's not a shack." Kenshin said brightly when a stable hand led them through the stable gates and to a detached small building connected to the round pen. It was a walk in stable for what ever animal was kept in the round pen on one side while on the other it was a small room that connected doubled as a tack room. The walk in side for the animal had two stalls; one open and one with a stall door closed on both inside and out, indicating that it wasn't in use. There was just enough room for the small group of four they had in their traveling party to fit in comfortably, and the unused stall was cleaned out, so if Kaoru didn't want to share a space with the men, she could always drag her futon in there and sleep with at least a stall between her and them.

"Very funny Kenshin." Yahiko grumbled.

"Well, this is all we have to offer. Here are a few futons for you guys to sleep on. Have you had enough to eat? I could bring something from the house… and if you need to use a toilet there's one in the stable hand house you may use at any time." The stable hand offered as he passed two single futons to them and one double sized futon. Apparently, he thought Kaoru and Kenshin were a couple, "The futons are the only extra we have, so they're a bit dusty. We dusted them out about a month ago."

"It's fine," Kaoru said with a plastered smile on her face. She was going to protest, but they were already doing so much for them, and he said it was the only spare ones they had.

"Why is one stall opened but the other isn't?" Sano asked as he peered over the empty open stall that lead out to the large round pin area.

"Oh, that?" the young mans voice dropped a bit in disdain, "We have a stallion whom isn't very stable friendly when we put him in his concealed stall with the others. So he resides in the round pin and that open stall is his food source and shelter. He's fairly hot tempered. So I apologize ahead of time if he causes any ruckus through the night. He can't hurt you through the stall though." He gestured to the steel metal bars placed around the openings of the stall toward the inside so the horse couldn't reach what ever was out of his living quarters, "Don't mind him."

"Thank you so much." Kenshin bowed to the man respectfully, "Please tell your master that we appreciate it."

"I will." The man bowed at the head back to Kenshin, "you may keep this door open to keep air circulation, but I recommend you close it soon as the rain starts to keep dry. Good night to you." and with that he left.

Sano, Yahiko and Kenshin set to work getting the place tidied up a bit and set the futons still rolled, but in their places readily for bed time when it rolled around.

"Looks like Kenshin and Kaoru bunk together for the night." Sano shrugged.

"And why should we? Why can't you and Yahiko bunk together?" Kaoru asked with her back turned to them while she studied the dark metal of the bars sadly. They looked like a cage to her.

"You kidding?" Sano snorted, "I'm not bunking with someone who kicks, slaps, pinches, and sleep talks in their sleep."

"And I'm not about to get in the same bed as a pervert." Yahiko scoffed.

"I AM NOT A PERVERT! AND IF I WAS WHY WOULD I BE FOCUSED ON YOU!" Sano retorted.

"If you're a pervert, who's to say you aren't also a pedophile?" Yahiko accused.

"You little PUNK!" Sano lunged for Yahiko.

"See what I mean?!!" Yahiko backpedaled away and so did Sano in disgust.

Kenshin sweat dropped, "I'll sleep on the floor if Ms. Kaoru doesn't-,"

"It's fine." Kaoru cut him off. Kenshin looked up at her and watched as she put a small hand on one of the bars and wandered what she was thinking about with that sad, far off tone in her voice, "It's…. It's only one night, and we're just sharing a futon. That doesn't mean we have to touch or anything, just sleep on the same damn thing is all." She reasoned completely out of tone of the usual Kaoru. Usual Kaoru would have already sent Kenshin through the wall for even considering sharing a futon with her!

Kenshin, Sano, and Yahiko shared a confused look.

"If you say so, Missy." Sano shrugged.

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The rain had started not long ago and the steady patter of rain drops lulled inside the small stable the 4 of them shared as shelter. No one was talking while they all contented in simply listening to the rain silently. Kenshin was cleaning the Sakabatou with an extra rag he found that was used for dusting off the saddles while Sano seemed to be watching the rain fall out the Dutch door of their side of the stable. Yahiko was nibbling on some bread the stable hand had brought them and Kaoru sat against the opposite wall facing the stalls and staring at the one with bars intently.

"It's really starting to come down now." Sano commented to no one in particular, "Should we close up the top part of the door too? So the rain doesn't leak in like that guy said?"

"That would be a wise decision, which it would." Kenshin agreed.

"I've got it." Kaoru volunteered as she stood up, closed the top part of the door and secured it, then checked the empty stall, again, and proceeded to sit down in the same spot she left from.

With out the rain to keep him busy, Sano watched her as she kept looking over the stall, "Waiting for something to appear?"

"Kind of, I guess." She admitted with a light blush at being caught, "The stable boy said that there was a horse that uses this stall for shelter. With the rain starting and all, I thought it would be in by now."

"He did say it had a temper." Yahiko reminded as he finished up his snack, "it might've seen us come in and doesn't want to be near humans."

"It'll catch its death if it doesn't get out of the rain." Kaoru said.

"If you're really worried, then just check it out through the other stall. It has a door out to the pin as well. So you can see for yourself and stop worrying." Sano nodded to the vacant, closed off stall.

Kaoru hesitated, but she was still to worried and curious to let the opportunity go and quickly stood up, ignoring all three pairs of eyes following her in mild boredom while she opened the stall door and proceeded to the back entrance of it to look out in the rain. It really was coming down now, but it wasn't as bad as Hyoga had described. She could see the round pin clearly, and the animal inside it. Her eyes widened when she recognized it as the black coated, silver eyed stallion she'd just ran into earlier.

He stood stubbornly with his head low and back toward the current of the rain as it fell down on him. He was on the opposite side of the pin from the stall and didn't look in any hurry to get out of the rain if it meant he had to go in there. He was still as beautiful as she remembered, even with the wet-cat look he was sporting now. His long silvery mane plastered to his hide while his thick tail was pulled tightly to himself to keep the rain out. His ears were folded downward to keep their insides dry and his silver eyes seemed half closed.

"It's that stallion from before!" she told the others.

"You mean that wild thing that nearly killed ya?" Yahiko asked.

"He was just frightened, Yahiko!" she defended.

"Imagine someone coming at you with chains trying to force you to do accept a rider you didn't want." Kenshin enforced.

"Well yeah…" Yahiko nodded, "What's he doing out there? Is he stupid?"

"Probably just too stubborn with pride." Sano snorted, "A true rebel."

"A horse can't be a rebel!" Yahiko argued.

"How would you know? Are you a horse whisperer?"

Kaoru rolled her eyes at them and turned back to see that the rain had already picked up, but the stallion wasn't there. She looked around and gasped in surprise and fell backward when the wet, large head of the said stallion popped up into the window with a rough whinny.

"Are you alright Ms. Kaoru?!" Kenshin stood up.

"I'm fine Kenshin!" she quickly got back to her feet and waved off his concern.

Yahiko and Sano were laughing at her expense, "Now that was a classic!" Yahiko snorted in laughter.

Black ears perked at the sound of more laughter curiously before the black stallion tossed his head in the rain and then popped his head back in to watch what Kaoru did next. Now that he saw that it was her, he was interested.

"Well hello to you to." She said dryly when the horse shook his mane at her and got her a bit damp, "Stop that! If you wanted to be dry, then go to your stall!"

Silver eyes looked her over a minute before he pulled away and disappeared, only to reenter the other way and into his stall where he paced around and snorted after he took a good shake to get the water out of his fur and mane, soaking Kenshin in the process from where he stood by the stall.

Kaoru and the others giggled at the red head's expense when he went from dry to the wet-cat look with in seconds.

"Kenshin, you should know not to go walking around in the rain!" Sano laughed.

"That I should and that I do." He sighed, "More than what I can say for some of us nonhuman." He sent a mild glare at the horse who ignored the samurai In favor of the lady in the other stall, the only side of his own stall with out bars on it.

"See Yahiko, he's not bad, he just doesn't like it here." Kaoru said as she petted the horses head.

"Seriously, are you a horse whisperer?" Sano asked.

"No, I can just tell he doesn't like how he's treated. Who would?" she compromised as she scratched behind the back horse's damp ear. The horse sighed and leaned into her mistrations.

"He seems to like you." Kenshin said as he sat back down wringing out the damp front of his Gi.

"He's probably just hungry and I'm the only one he can reach." Kaoru argued as she bent down to gather up some hay that was strewn all over the floor of the vacant stall and threw it over to the black beauty on the other side. The black horse followed the hay down, sniffed then proceeded o eat.

"See? He was just hungry." She said as she stepped out of the stall.

"Is that the same horse?" Yahiko blinked, "where's the temper?"

"Don't provoke him and find out." Sano warned, "He's just fed up with the rain. Aren't we all?"