The women were taking over.

News of the impending nuptials had spread throughout the neighborhood via some mysterious female telepathy and the neighbors were coming to the dojo in droves to offer congratulations and advice. It had driven Kenshin into hiding in the kitchen, where he sent out tea and sweets at the appropriate intervals and limited his interactions to what courtesy required.

It wasn't that he was unhappy with the situation; Miss Kaoru was clearly luxuriating in being the center of attention, and it warmed him to know that she was so loved. But he had chores to do, and there was laundry going undone and dirt piling up in corners while they played host to a seemingly endless stream of people, most of whom he had never met.

And, frankly, it was embarrassing how many people had noticed. Rumors were one thing, quite inevitable and nothing to worry about, but this was ridiculous. No one knew the details – no one knew that name – but it was apparently common knowledge that little Kaoru's mysterious boarder was a terrifically strong swordsman who'd served on the side of the Imperialists during the Revolution and made several terrible enemies who he'd had to defend dear Kaoru from, which was what that horrible scare with her supposed death had been about, you know, and he was friendly with important government officials and an assistant to the police; clearly a man to take seriously, and wasn't she lucky to catch a husband with those kinds of connections? Even if he was a little strange…

Kenshin sighed heavily as he poured the fifth pot of tea that day alone. Clearly, he was going to have to start paying more attention to what people said about him.

And all the bustle had stolen away the evenings, too. There had been a time just after dinner, when it was too early to sleep and too late to do anything useful, when everyone would gather on the porch to drink tea or sake and talk about the day. And then eventually Yahiko would wander off to bed, Sano would depart to continue his evening elsewhere, and it would only be him and Miss Kaoru on the porch, silently finishing their sake or tea, and sometimes she would talk and sometimes she wouldn't but he would always listen.

But Sano was gone and Yahiko had moved out, and as soon as it grew too late for visitors Miss Kaoru and Ms. Sekihara – who was so involved in planning the wedding that she had practically moved in – would go on rampage, inventorying the dojo and ransacking the storage shed and poring over bits of cloth and menus and muttering about trousseaus and flower arrangements and the dozens of little details that were apparently essential to a wedding with all the trimmings.

They were currently involved in a heated, days-long dispute over whether or not to incorporate some of the fashionable new Western customs into the ceremony. Kenshin had found himself dragged in to bolster both sides on more than one occasion despite the fact that he had no opinion whatsoever – except that he did rather devoutly hope they didn't decide that he should publicly kiss the bride to end the ceremony. There were limits to this Western craze, after all, and he would hope that keeping bedroom activities in the bedroom would be one of them. He had yet to voice this opinion, however, as that particular custom had not come up and he knew better than to tempt fate.

They had set a date, at least. This had involved a visit from the local fortune teller, who had spilled ink on the tatami as she set up her charts and grumbled darkly when Kenshin confessed that he was only vaguely certain as to the year he was born in, and couldn't begin to guess the month or day or hour. She had hemmed and hawed and asked him several general questions and few too many personal ones, eventually assigning him a "most likely" horoscope for the sake of her calculations. Then she had gone away for several days, during which Miss Kaoru managed to work herself into a quiet panic over the possible results. He'd had no idea how to calm her other than to remind her that since half the necessary information was improvised, it probably wouldn't be all that accurate. It worked like a charm the first time; it might have settled the issue, actually, if she hadn't extrapolated from that the possibility that a positive result could actually be negative one and how could he possible manage not to know his own birthday, Kenshin, you IDIOT!

At that point he had deemed it prudent to make a tactical retreat.

But when the fortune teller returned, she had assured them that she had run through several variations based on the most likely birth dates – which was why it had taken so long – and she was confident that their union was well-omened. Then she had delivered the auspicious date. It was in the spring, several months away. Plenty of time to plan a wedding, in his mind, but apparently Kaoru disagreed, because she'd launched immediately into preparations and moaned about not having nearly enough time.

"Kenshin!" Miss Kaoru was calling him from the hallway. "Kenshin!"

"Yes?"

"We won't need the tea. Mrs. Nakamoto and Mrs. Hayashi couldn't stay that long after all."

"Ah? That's a shame, so it is. When will you and Ms. Sekihara want dinner, then?"

"Tae's gone home, she needs to do some work… it's only us tonight, Kenshin." She was flushed slightly, from the heat of the kitchen and excitement of the day, and he ducked his head to avoid staring too hard at the way her skin glowed and her eyes sparkled.

"That will be nice, that it will," he said placidly, kneeling down to take out the miso and rice. It would be better than nice, actually; it would be downright paradisiacal. "No Yahiko, either?"

"No, he's staying home tonight…"

"Well, then. Dinner should be ready in an hour, it should. Is that alright?"

"It's fine..." There was a strange catch in her voice, a sentence she wanted to say but wouldn't release. "Um… Kenshin?"

"Yes, Miss Kaoru?" He stood and faced her where she knelt on the tatami just outside the kitchen. "Is something the matter?"

"N-no, nothing's the matter. I just thought… do you want to do anything, after dinner? Together, I mean."

"Oh." His brain kicked into gear. Oh! "Perhaps a walk?" It was the only thing he could think of immediately. "It's a full moon tonight, so it is."

She seemed obscurely disappointed by the suggestion, and he hesitated for a moment before adding, carefully, "This one has missed spending time with you, so I have. Since you've been so busy with the wedding, and this one has little to contribute to the planning, that is…"

They were affianced now, weren't they? He was allowed to say that kind of thing. And from the way she blushed and smiled happily, he'd done something right.

"Alright, then," she said, and left him to make dinner in peace.

They walked side-by-side, not quite touching, in night air already chill with frost. Winter would be here soon. The moon lit up the sky and cast the world in silvered black and soft grays, and the ripples on the river in moonlight sparkled like unexpected diamonds in the shadows of the trees.

Miss Kaoru had talked a little at first, about the wedding plans and how Yahiko was training at the Maekawa dojo for now, since she was so preoccupied, and how he'd reported back to her that some of the students there were asking him about Kamiya Kasshin Ryu and whether or not she was a good teacher.

"I'm sure he gave them an earful," she'd sniffed. "Troublemaking little brat."

"Now, now," he'd said, laughing a little, "Yahiko is an honest boy, that he is, for all he has a bad mouth."

She'd smiled slightly. "I know," she'd said, and left it at that, but the mingled pride and sorrow in her face added let me have my troublesome student for a while longer; let him be my almost- brother forever; let me stop time for just a little bit more.

He'd taken her hand and held it, briefly; she'd squeezed his hand in return and they'd walked on in silence.

In time they came to the low bank he'd spent too many days fishing from, usually in vain. And when he did manage to catch something, it always seemed to be catfish. If he didn't know better, he'd suspect a conspiracy.

"Isn't this where you fish?" she asked.

"So it is."

She left the path and picked her way gingerly down the slope. He followed, ready to catch her if she fell; but she made it without any difficulty and sat down on the grass, legs curled beneath her. He stayed standing, one hand resting lightly on his sword.

"It's so pretty…" she said, looking out at the river and tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. He followed the curve of her fingers traced. "The moon, and the water… Kenshin, do you think the cherry blossoms will be blooming this spring?"

They bloom every spring, he almost said, and then caught her real meaning. "It's in April, isn't that so?" he said, and even though it had been five years since they began changing the calendar it was still strange to think in these harsh Western divisions the ignored the moon and stars. "The blossom season starts then, so it does. This one doesn't see why they wouldn't be in bloom…"

"That's true." That cheered her, and she drew her knees up to her chest, wrapping her arms around them. "Thank you for being so patient, Kenshin. With the wedding and all."

He blinked, surprised. She was blushing again.

"I know it's inconvenient," she continued. "But – well – to tell the truth – you know, I've been dreaming about my wedding since I was a little girl." She started fiddling with her kimono sleeves, staring at the ground. "So I wanted to thank you, for putting up with it – "

"It's not an inconvenience, that it's not," he said abruptly, sitting down next to her. "Not at all."

She looked at him from the corner of her eyes. "Really?"

"Really." He resolved, quietly, to do a better job of hiding his irritation. "And even if it were…" He took her hand, then, and her fingers curled around his and his around hers, trapping each other lightly as children holding butterflies.

"Even if it were," he continued, "this unworthy one would not mind, I would not. It wouldn't be such a great inconvenience, since Miss Kaoru is enjoying herself so much, that you are."

"Oh." She smiled and rested her head on his shoulder, and he stopped breathing for half a heartbeat. Then he relaxed, slowly, and let go of her hand to curl his arm around her waist. She was his fiancée, after all.

She pressed herself fully against him, her freed hand tangling in his clothing, and he marveled, as he could never help doing, at her absolute faith in him, at the eyes that never saw blood on his hands and the ears that never heard the word man-slayer, at the brightness that never dimmed no matter how darkly his past cast its shadow.

"My father and I used to watch the stars together," she said, looking up at them. "We'd make up stories about them. His were always better than mine." She seemed to sigh, then. "…I wish he could have met you."

He tightened his arm around her and if his heart was beating a little faster than normal, no one but him needed to know.

"Will you tell me about the stars?" he asked, without quite meaning to or exactly knowing why, except that it was part of her and there was nothing of her that wasn't precious.

"Hmm?"

"The stories Miss Kaoru's father told. This one would like to hear them."

"Well…" she shifted against him. "You see the two triangles, connected?" Her hand lifted to trace the outline, pale against the blue night sky.

He nodded. "The kimono sleeve."

"Well, actually, you see, long ago, there were two brothers, both warriors in service to the same lord…"

She told him the story of the two brothers who ended up on opposite sides of the battlefield; then the story of the princess born of bamboo, who ascended to the moon in a chariot; then of a poor woman who did a kindness to an injured fox, and earned abundance in return; and with each story they curled closer together, warming each other. And when the chill was eventually too much and it was time to go home, nothing seemed more natural than to stay close to one another.

He walked her to her room and they lingered for a moment outside it. She clasped her hands behind her back, eyes cast downward, and he waited patiently because he didn't want to leave, not yet. Not ever.

"Well…" she said finally. "Good night."

She looked up, then, eyes wide in the darkness. She was backlit by the soft lamp in her bedroom and his head was suddenly full of static, his throat dry and his tongue thick as he took in the shadows of her collarbone where her kimono had fallen just a little bit open. The soft moue of her lips. The curve of her neck and the slope of her shoulders…

He knew that he was supposed to take a step back, now, to bid her goodnight with longing in his eyes and walk to his room on the other side of the house and shut himself there until morning.

He wanted to follow her into her room.

She straightened her shoulders suddenly, as though she was bracing herself for a blow. Then she leaned in and kissed him lightly on the cheek; just a soft brush of lips on skin, trailing jasmine in its wake.

"Sleep well," she murmured, and he broke.

His arms wrapped around her waist and pulled her flush against him, hip-to-hip, and even through all the layers of cloth he could feel her small breasts against his chest. She squeaked a little, startled, and he realized too late that he'd pinned her arms against her side. His hand fisted in the cloth covering her back and he pressed his face into the sweet curve where her neck and shoulder met, breathing her in. Jasmine and sweat and cold night air and Kaoru… he mouthed her name against the border between her kimono and her skin, hot and shaking with want, and he knew that she could feel it and he didn't care.

"Kenshin? I – I…"

Her voice, thin and uncertain, brought him back to himself and he sprang away, bowing.

"Forgive this unworthy one, Miss Kaoru – "

"No!" She was flushed and unsteady, clutching at the collar of her kimono. "I – I mean – it's only – until the wedding."

"Yes. Absolutely. The wedding, so it is. Until then. Not before, no. Absolutely not." He was trying not to look at her but he couldn't help noticing her dilated eyes and the way her mouth was open slightly and oh god – "Good night, Miss Kaoru! This unworthy one will see you in the morning, I will!"

"Yes! Of course! In the morning!" She bobbed a quick bow back at him. "Good night!"

He turned tail and fled for his room, and did not sleep well at all.

The next morning, he burned breakfast. But Miss Kaoru barely took two bites before she turned bright red and hurried to the dojo, muttering something about training, so it didn't matter that much anyway.