A/N: On to the next chapter! More of Kenji and his mother (AKA Kaoru) will be in this chapter. Kenshin might show up in the end of this chapter or he may be threaded through I dunno

Warning: Kenji really doesn't like Kenshin, Kaoru goes on a date, cussing, and attractions towards Kaoru from males other than Kenshin

Disclaimer: I do not nor will I ever own Rurouni Kenshin! I don't own Guitar Hero! I do in fact own Hikaru and this plot line…

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It was Friday, the day he would either be pleading with his mother to cancel going to his father's or the day he and Hikaru would hang out and be happy since he got to stay with his mother. It was the latter Friday. Last week he had begged and pleaded with his mother and she got so tired of it she had called his father and told him that there were schedule difficulties and that he couldn't come. He loved his mother for that fact.

One of the biggest reasons he didn't want to go to his father's is that it was his sixteenth birthday that Saturday and he would rather spend it with his friends and mother rather than with his father and his girlfriend, Tomoe Yukishiro.

"Kenji Himura, are you even listening to me?" Hikaru asked placing her hands upon her hips. He flinched when she had used his last name.

"What? No, could you repeat that?" he rubbed the back of his head. Shaking her head Hikaru sighed.

"I asked you what you were going to do for your birthday," she poked his stomach. They were lying down on the grass in the park just staring at the sky. Kenji's blue eyes glazed over for a few moments before he shrugged.

"Mom has probably invited almost everyone Like Uncle Sano, Aunt Megumi, and the others. So, we'll probably have a party, and then I might get a car," he sighed rolling to his side to face Hikaru.

"Oh, so you're getting a car? Cool, my dad said he didn't have the money anymore to buy me one when I turned sixteen. He muttered something that I didn't quite catch, but I'm sure it was about my mother," her voice turned towards the depressed tone it had acquired after her parents' divorce. It had been a messy one with tons of custody hearings. His mother had murmured about the poor girl and it made him wonder if his parents had had custody hearings over him, or if his father let him go without much of a flinch. The bastard.

Pressing his hands to the grass he moved so he was sitting up. Hikaru followed after him trying not to sniffle, but Kenji already knew she was going to cry so he wrapped his arms around her frame and allowed her to cry on his shoulder.

It wasn't long after that in which his cell phone began to ring. Picking up the silver phone, he noted it was his mother and answered it.

"Hello?"

"Hi, sweet heart, I have a date tonight, so I won't be home. Sorry" the voice of his mother rang through the phone and he couldn't help but smile.

"Oh, really do I know who it is mother?" he teased. On the other side he heard her chuckle.

"Ah, yes it's your principal," she shot back. Kenji laughed and glanced at Hikaru who was wiping her eyes.

"Oh, jeez mom that guys like seventy!" his mother chuckled at his comment.

"What can I say I like them old. Anyway, I left you some money on the counter for pizza because lord knows no one eats my cooking," she instructed. Kenji just smiled not totally listening to what she was saying. "I love you sweet heart."

"I love you too mom," he mumbled and she started to laugh.

"Okay, I'll let you go since Hikaru is there. Be good," with that she hung up. Flipping his phone shut Kenji laid back down on the grass and sighed. Soon Hikaru laid back down next to him and sighed.

"Your mom?"

Kenji began to chuckle for no apparent reason, but soon tears began to stream down his face. Doing as he had done for her Hikaru wrapped her arms around Kenji's shaking form, and tried to comfort him. He was muttering about how it was that bastard's fault and that it would have been all okay if he hadn't left. People who had been walking in the park glanced toward the two, but they didn't do much else except walk and stare.

Hikaru soon felt something vibrate against her hip and when she looked down upon the item she noticed it was Kenji's cell phone.

"Kenji your phone is ringing again," she whispered in his ear. He nodded his head and grabbed that offending device and flipped it open before checking the caller ID.

"Hello?"

"Hey, how are you?" Kenshin Himura's voice rang through from the other end.

"Oh, hey. I'm was okay," he stressed on "was". Kenshin sighed.

"Well, I was going to wish you a happy early birthday."

"Okay, thanks you wished me a happy birthday. Now what?" Kenji snapped. Another sigh came from the other side, but then there were muffled voices probably from Kenshin and Tomoe talking.

"Well, I got your report card today and you're doing an excellent job. Did you finally get a tutor?" he asked. Kenji on the other hand gritted his teeth. He didn't know why exactly, but when he spoke to his father he always felt angry.

"Yes, well, Mom's new boyfriend is helping me!" he snapped.

"Oh, your mother has a new boyfriend, and you've met him wow that must be a serious one," his father's tone seemed forced and for a few moments Kenji was satisfied maybe now that jerk will know the heart break as his mother did. "That's good for her." His smile fell. Kenshin Himura did not care about his mother anymore.

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Kaoru Kamiya stood in front of the mirror her eyes resting on her features. She wasn't the gorgeous beauty Megumi or Yumi, her co-workers, but she wasn't that bad. Turning to the side she made sure her dress was presentable. She then faced the front again and placed a hand on the mirror. It was from their wedding, an heirloom from her late mother to be given to her when she married her true love. Well, I did momma, but I wasn't his true love. Trailing her hand along the wood she sighed as the tears prickled at the edge of her vision.

A knock on the door interrupted her pity party. All right Kaoru, get yourself together and have a great time! She tried to cheer up. Checking her appearance once again she walked towards the door and opened it revealing a rather tall man.

"Hello, Aoshi," she smiled at the cold man before shrugging on her evening coat and heading off. His hand rested on the small of her back as they walked to his expensive car. Kenji who was hiding behind the fence of his neighbor's watched as the man opened the door for his mother before even getting in for himself. His own blue eyes narrowed as the car drove off. From his mother's expression he couldn't tell if this date would be a fluke or not.

"Damn it!" he cursed. Usually he would try to get a good look on his mother's face before she went off because then he would know if she was about to enjoy the date or was beginning to get depressed. Kenji once again blamed his father as he shuffled into their small house. It was slightly larger than his father's and didn't have the forbidden room. It was quiet with out her in the house, but it always meant that he could invite some responsible friends. His hand connected with the cool plastic of the house phone as he dialed a familiar number.

"Hi, Yahiko. My mother left me all alone again you want to come over? Tsubame can come too," he offered and it only took a few seconds for one of his closest friends to agree. It didn't even take long for the boy and his girlfriend to get to Kenji's house either. The moment Yahiko opened the front door of the Kamiya household he saw Kenji lounging in a chair playing Guitar Hero on expert.

"Man, I hate that you don't even try and you're that awesome at it," he grumbled and plopped down on the couch next to the television. Tsubame soon sat next to Yahiko and watched as Kenji slaughtered the song.

"Where's Hikaru?" Tsubame asked feeling a little lonely being the only girl there. After Kenji had finished the song he gave the controller to Yahiko and finally responded to the usually shy girl.

"Her dad wanted her to meet another one of his girlfriends so she couldn't come. Plus he doesn't like it when she's at my house. We could do naughty things," he made a face and the other two started to laugh.

"You do naughty things with Hikaru? Kenji you're not man enough," Yahiko chortled, but Kenji stopped smile for a split second before replying. "And you are?" he shot back. Yahiko paused the game for a few seconds before turning to his red haired friend.

"Wouldn't you like to know," he grinned. Tsubame blushed.

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Kaoru tried to hide a smile that crossed her face when Aoshi won her yet another stuffed animal with out really trying. He was extremely suave and not a chatterbox, but his presence was in a way comforting. She wasn't alone. His hand lingered on the small of her back as they walked along the fair grounds.

It was the last day and Kaoru had missed every other day and when she asked Kenji if he wanted to go he just grunted and said fairs were boring. He probably thinks it's boring because his friends do she sighed. Aoshi gave her a look of question and Kaoru couldn't help but smile at him. It was adorable the ice cube Megumi had set her up with was actually concerned.

"Is something wrong?" he asked his voice deep.

"No, I was just thinking that if I hadn't gone out with you I wouldn't have gotten to see the fair this year," she once again rewarded him with a grateful smile. There was a twitch at Aoshi's lips but still no smile reached across his face.

"Well, I'm happy I could be of service," he nodded his head the twitch of a smile still there. Kaoru gave a giggle before she laid her head against his arm, since he was really tall.

"Ohohoho," a familiar laugh cut through the air. "See I told you Rooster head they are getting along just fine!" Kaoru looked up just in time to see Megumi and Sanosuke moving towards them quickly, Sano carrying some herbs.

"Hey, Missy, Shinomori," Sano nodded towards the other man. Aoshi nodded in reply and kept quiet.

"Aren't you glad Yumi and I forced you to go on this date?" Megumi laughed. Kaoru's eyes almost bugged out of her head and she shook her head furiously.

"You two didn't force me I decided on my own after you told me about Aoshi," she retorted quickly before anyone could take her actions as something else. Megumi began to laugh even more before she dragged Sanosuke off. She waved good bye.

"Bye Missy!" Sano called out before he shot Aoshi a look of warning. Kaoru sighed and rested her head once again against Aoshi. Well, at least they didn't ruin the date she smiled.

"Kaoru," another familiar voice drawled. Kaoru's body went rigid and Aoshi took notice of the man in front of them. He had white hair and a slight crazed look in his eye, but after a few minutes Aoshi inferred he was harmless since Kaoru didn't seem to be afraid.

"Oh, hi, Enishi," Kaoru forced a smile. It was always awkward to meet up with ex's especially if you were the one to do the dumping.

"It's good to see you again," he gave a slight smile before pecking her on the cheek. Kaoru relaxed a little, but she still felt a little tense. Enishi seemed to finally notice Aoshi. "Ah, so this is your new boy toy," he smirk then seeing if he could rile Aoshi.

Frankly, Kaoru believed it nearly impossible to rile Aoshi. He was extremely calm and collected not one to get fired up like she was. Now that she thought about it they were almost on the opposite of the anger issue.

"Well, good-bye Kaoru," Enishi sighed after he decided Aoshi wasn't worth the effort, but he had successfully ruined the date. Kaoru then let out a sigh this time she had actually had a nice time.

"I suppose I should take you home," Aoshi spoke softly before he led her towards the exit of the fair.

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Kenji sat up groggily in his bed as the smell of tea wafted through his bedroom. It meant his mother was home or it was morning. Glancing at the clock he sighed, it was morning. He hadn't been able to stay up and wait for her once again. School was making him so tried now, and it didn't help that he was struggling with almost every subject except for the ones Yahiko and Tsubame helped him with. He couldn't even ask Hikaru for help because she was doing even worse than him was. She unfortunately had the excuse that she was dealing with the stress of her parents divorce and couldn't handle school work. His teachers believed he on the other hand was use to his parents' separation and was just lazy.

Soon the smell of tea was joined with bacon and he sat up straight. He mother couldn't cook to save her life and there were few people they knew who would get up at seven in the morning to cook. So either her boyfriend had spent the night, he shuddered at the thought, or one of his mother's friends, of whom he didn't know, had shown up and was being nice. Kenji pushed against the soft mattress and stumbled out of his room in time to smell eggs, bacon, and cinnamon pancakes. Someone else was definitely cooking. His feet dragged against the floor as he made his way towards the kitchen.

Upon entering the kitchen Kenji let his jaw drop there in front of the stove were his grandfather, not his mother's father but his father's father, Hiko Seijuro. He was big man and Kenji couldn't help but feel respect for him even though he didn't feel an ounce of it towards his own father.

"Hey, grandpa," he murmured and sat in a seat next to his mother. Her hand reached out slowly and she began to rub his back involuntarily. She seemed to always do that when people who were of his father's family or Tomoe was around. Hiko turned around and gave him a grunt before piling the food on plates and handing it to them.

Kenji shoveled the food down before he even turned to give him mother a questioning gaze. Kaoru smiled softly at her son and quickly she turned towards her ex-husband's father.

"Hiko, it's great to have you here and all, but neither Kenji nor I were expecting you," she trailed off allowing Hiko to put in a few words.

"Well, I wasn't about to miss Kenji's birthday because my stupid son doesn't have him this weekend," he replied gruffly and Kaoru let a real smile scroll across her face. That was until there was a knock at the door. Kenji decided he would get the door it was most likely to be either Yahiko or Tsubame, who knew what they had left at his house. He glided with the grace he had inherited from his father towards the door. Hiko watched his grandson, who looked so much like his adopted son, until he disappeared around the corner. He then turned to the only woman he had approved of for his idiot son. Her eyes had too just returned to the table.

Kenshin you idiot why did you let her go? Hiko grumbled. Kaoru opened her mouth to either ask something or say what ever was going through her mind.

"Uh, mom, some guy is here to see you," Kenji called from the front. A frown marred Kaoru's features for a few moments before she too walked towards the front of their home. As her eyes rested on the figure at the door they seemed to widen ten folds. There stood Aoshi Shinomori looking somewhat uncomfortable with her leather jacket tucked under his arm. It wasn't long after that Hiko was leaning against the doorframe that connected the dining room to the living room as a way of intimidation towards the other man.

"I am sorry to bother you, but you left this," he held up the jacket as if it were a white flag.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I knew I forgot something," Kaoru replied feeling extremely uncomfortable especially with the man who use to be her father-in-law standing behind her. Plus she had just broken a rule she and Kenji had set up; he had met one of her dates. Aoshi seemed to sense her unease.

"I would have left it in the office, but there was a janitor who had been looking at it suspiciously," he tried to cover up for her and Kaoru smiled gratefully towards him. Aoshi wasn't even in her department; he was a lot higher up than she was.

"Thank you, I won't leave it in my office again," she blushed. Both Kenji and Hiko had looks that plainly said they didn't believe a word she had said. She didn't blame them since usually if she left anything Megumi would bring it back.

"Good-bye," he bowed and turned to leave except two very familiar figures were blocking his path. One really tall man with spiky hair and another female with long black hair, the female was grinning at Aoshi.

"Hello, Shinomori," Megumi smirked. "What are you doing here?" she asked acting oh so innocent.

"I came to drop off a jacket Ms Kamiya had left at the office," he replied curtly.

"Oh really?" Megumi chuckled, "Well, then nice seeing you Shinomori." The usually silent man nodded and walked off towards his car. At this point Sano decided to speak to Kenji totally ignoring Kaoru.

"Hey, how's your birthday been?" he took a big whiff of the air. That's not your mom's cooking is it?" he asked.

"Nope, Grandpa Hiko made it."

"Good I though the apocalypse was starting," Sano joked as he clutched his chest in a dramatic manner. Kaoru made a strange noise before attacking the taller man.

"Happy birthday Kenji," Megumi sidestepped the two gave the red headed boy a hug.

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Kenji couldn't help but smile as he friends joked around. His mother had gone all out for his birthday party. She had borrowed Saitoh's plasma screen so Yahiko, Tsubame, Hikaru, and he could play video games in style, but unfortunately where the plasma went Saitoh went, Kenji had the feeling that Saitoh was attracted to his mother. The golden eyed detective was now lounging in a lawn chair and watching over the party along with his Grandpa Hiko.

"Hey kiddo!" Misao, one of his mother's closest friends, hugged him from behind causing him to lose focus for a few moments on his game, thus insured Yahiko beating him, again.

"Hey, Misao," he greeted before shooting the celebrating teenager a glare. He had almost had Yahiko too! Misao was still hugging him when Yumi and her boyfriend, who gave Kenji the creeps, walked up to him. Yumi was moving quickly towards them while Shishio was holding a large sized back in his arms and somewhat lagging behind. Misao had by then detached herself from Kenji and was eyeing the birthday present, probably as curious as he was.

"Happy birthday Kenji!" Yumi then hugged him and the red headed boy couldn't help but blush.

"Thanks Yumi, uh, mom said the gifts should go on the table over there," Kenji mumbled and pointed to a table that was overflowing with gifts. Shishio nodded and swaggered towards the table, but instead of coming back he decided to hang out with Saitoh and Hiko.

"Well, I hope you have a great birthday," Yumi pecked him on the cheek and then went to join her boyfriend.

"So," Yahiko drawled, "you up for another round?" Kenji was about to answer when some more guest arrived at the back door, but instead of being either embarrassed or overly happy he growled. Standing in the doorway was his father, Kenshin Himura, and his girlfriend. Out of the corner of his eye he saw his mother stop and her body become rigid. Sanosuke stood ready waiting for something to happen and by the look Saitoh was giving Kenshin a glare that said he wished Kenshin would die. Kenji shuffled closer to his mother in an attempt to be support, but instead he felt comforted by her.

Kaoru placed a hand on her son's shoulder and leaned closer to him. Her blue eyes spoke to him on many levels, mostly asking him to do what ever she was about to ask him to do, but he wasn't too sure he wished to do that.

"Go, say hi to you father."

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A/N: Well, at least it's longer than the other chapter. I want to thank the three reviewers, man that sound pathetic, even though I have a small number you made me smile and kept me writing. Now the reason this is out so late is that I went out of state for eight days or else it would have been sooner, a lot sooner. As I mentioned in the notes above Kenshin did make an appearance!

Now for Kaoru's next date shall it be Aoshi? Saitoh? Soujiro? Actually at the moment I don't know, but after a good night's sleep, usually as I tell myself stories the idea will come to me!

Now, if you read it please review it. It's taken a lot of time and effort to write it. Yes, I'm doing it for pleasure, but it would be nice to know people actually like it. Also I would love feedback. Thank you Onhiro, Harlyn, and Alwyzme you're the ones who inspired me to write this.

Next Chapter: The three K's interact, meaning Kenshin, Kaoru, and Kenji. Also school and Kenji has to go visit his father. Plus we get to learn more about Kenshin.