NEW CHAPTER!!!! Everybody Cheer, NOW!!! I COMAND THE!!!! Sorry evil over-ruler moment, I have those when dealing with my siblings… They seem to think I'm not being serious… Huh….

Oh well… Setting that aside.

So two chapters in as many days, and less than 24 hours. Make sure you thank me for it.

Remember Read, Review and Enjoy.

Hiraru sat next to Yahiko and Kenshin, with Kaoru opposite her. Clean but nervous, Hiraru ate her dinner while quietly listening to the discussion. Yahiko suddenly made a comment about swords and Kenshin's swordsmanship, prompting Hiraru to make her first comment of the night: "You must really like swords, Yahiko-kun."

"Of course!" Yahiko exclaimed. "Why else would I live in a dojo, with this ugly one?" He jerked his thumb toward Kaoru.

After he received a rather large lump from 'ugly', Hiraru commented, "So you love it?" Yahiko began to make another statement but Hiraru held up one finger as she picked up her tea cup, "You love it. Love it enough to sneak into someone's room. Love it enough to go through someone else's things. Love enough to intrude on a person's privacy?" Hiraru took a sip from her cup.

Yahiko's jaw dropped, "Kenshin! You said you wouldn't . . ."

"Donot blame Kenshin-san!" Hiraru boomed, the way her father had when giving orders. "I saw my sword wrapped differently than the way I left it. Kenshin-san would never go through my things. Kaoru-san has some sense of privacy, which leaves you and Sanosuke-san. Sanosuke isn't here, and if it wasn't you . . . you would have been confused and offended, rather than deciding it was Kenshin-san that told me." Hiraru glared at Yahiko, "Now I would have showed you the sword if you'd asked me, but I put my foot down about illegal entry and going through someone else's possessions." Hiraru noted the rise in one of Kenshin's eyebrows. "Now, why would you think it was alright to go through my things?"

Yahiko looked ashamed, "I just looked at the sword . . ."

Hiraru raised an eyebrow. "And what did you find that was so important?"

Yahiko looked at her with an almost angry expression. "Your name."

"Hiraru? It's a family name, I explained that." Hiraru didn't bat an eyelash in surprise.

"Why did it read 'to my beloved'? And then that note was signed 'Hiraru', why is that?" Yahiko was suspicious, that much was obvious.

Hiraru decided to squash that problem quickly, "That name is passed on from grandparent to grandchild. It was my grandmother's name, and before that her grandfather's and before that his grandfather's. It has been passed down for the past two thousand years, since my ancestor, Hiraru, founded my family's personal shrine and the royal family's northern shrine and the burial place of more sacred priests than we have chronicled in the records."

"Then why was it given to your grandmother and not a granduncle or something like that?" Yahiko practically yelled.

For once in her life Hiraru found herself honestly angry at a child. She clenched, her teeth not wanting to yell and not wanting to strike out at him.

"My grandmother took that name after her elder brother died while she was still a child. It was custom that the family name should live on no matter what. If something were to happen to me, my name would go to my youngest brother, and I would expect it. My grandmother had that sword made for my grandfather when he went to war for the second time. She blessed it because she could not bear it if he died. She cherished my grandfather and wished to honor him. And I am more honored by the fact that my grandfather gave me that blade then any one else would. I am reminded of my ancestors every time I hold it. Samurai aren't the only ones with pride, honor, and beloved ancestors, though if you had any, you never would have insulted me and my family, Yahiko." Hiraru's voice was deadly low, and she glared at Yahiko in a way not even her brothers had seen.

Quickly she stood, leaving her half-eaten meal where it was. "I need some air," was all that came from her tight lips before she threw the dinning room door open and left.

Kenshin looked at Yahiko and said coolly, "You should not have said those things. How would you have felt if Hiraru-san had insulted your mother or father?"

Yahiko wouldn't look at him but just fumed at the floor.

It was late, past midnight. Kenshin sat in his room, leaning against the wall as was his custom, but he was not asleep. It had been dark when Hiraru had left, angry at Yahiko, and he was worried about what he knew now to be a young girl. His senses picked up suddenly, pulling him out of thought. He had almost missed it, it had been so subdued.

He stood and silently crossed the room, opening his door. The rest of the house was quiet; without Sano, there wasn't even the sound of distant snoring. Kenshin followed the subdued presence to the backyard, but it was quiet just like the house. The gelding, Katsu, looked up from where he stood, and called a soft greeting. Kenshin stepped down from the porch, walked over to the horse and placed a hand in the center of the gelding's forehead. "I thought . . ." he told the white face, "I thought I sensed your master's presence . . ."

"Maybe you did," Came the quiet reply.

Kenshin turned to the voice, his sword half-drawn. But when he saw who it was, he relaxed.

"Hiraru-san, you should not sneak up on this one," he said.

Hiraru stretched before going back to leaning on the roof pillar. Kenshin took note of the bottle sitting next to her. It looked like a sake bottle.

"You, Kenshin-san," said Hiraru, speaking calmly, almost lazily, "You should learn to look up when you're looking for something."

Kenshin didn't take his eyes of the nineteen-year-old. Hiraru seemed different, and it wasn't just her looks. Her attitude had changed as well. The young woman's dark hair was down, bangs hung in her face, but the rest was tied in a low tail at the base of her neck. Her eyes were half-lidded, and seemed to be looking only at the cup she held. Her coat and the undershirt were loose as well, revealing the bandages that held her breasts in place. Her voice was different too, a little higher, and more fluid. In the pale moon light Kenshin noticed how much the young woman could look feminine, as opposed to her harsh day time disguise. Even with the bruises, there was a defined feminine look to her face.

Kenshin sniffed the air; either he wasn't close enough to smell it or she wasn't drinking sake, because he knew the smell of rice wine anywhere. The best idea he had was to ask, "Hiraru-san, are you drunk?"

Hiraru looked up, so she could see the edge of the roof and the starry sky. She seemed to be thinking about that. "It would be more fun that way…" she said dreamily, "but no, Kenshin-san, I don't like sake. Never cared for the way it burns your throat going down. I prefer rum and western wine."

Kenshin tilted his head. Had that been an answer? "Hiraru-san. Are. You. Drunk?" he asked again, enunciating each word clearly.

Hiraru turned her head and smiled at him; it was a kind smile, the likes of which Kenshin hadn't seen. "No, Kenshin, I am not drunk," she said in the same clear tone he had.

Kenshin's eyes narrowed and he stepped closer, he couldn't smell any alcohol. "Then what are you drinking?"

Hiraru raised the glass, explaining "I bought the bottle off some old man and filled it up with water. I'll need a bottle like this if I'm working on the roof during the middle of summer."

Kenshin sat across from her, "Then why do you seemed so relaxed?"

Hiraru chuckled. "I'm not a relaxed drunk."

"You should try answering my questions," Kenshin said.

"I went and did something I find relaxing," Hiraru replied still avoiding the question. "You know, I've never heard you use 'my', 'I', or 'me', before."

Kenshin raised an eyebrow. "Why are you acting this way?"

Hiraru sighed before saying, "I got angry before, at Yahiko. I wanted to hit him."

Kenshin listened silently as Hiraru continued, "I couldn't believe it. I've never wanted to hit a child before, so I did my best to explain myself calmly, and I left." Hiraru leaned her head back again. "After I'd wandered the city for about an hour, I found myself at a shrine, not unlike my family's. I went inside. I was in there an hour, just meditating, before a priest approached me. I must have spent the rest of the night talking to him."

She closed her eyes breathing deeply for a moment. "He told me sometimes we lose the patience the gods taught us, and it is the strong people who manage to rein in their anger, dispensing it in a safe way for those we love." She opened her eyes, watching the sky again. "About an hour ago I left the shrine with directions on how to get back here. That's when I almost fell over the old man, and bought the bottle from him." Her eyes went to Kenshin. "I didn't want to wake anyone up so I jumped the fence and walked over the roof. I also subdued my presence in hopes of not waking you."

Kenshin nodded before saying, "I wasn't asleep, I was waiting for you."

A smile passed over her face. "Tell me, Kenshin-san, what are you going to do now that you know I'm a woman?"

Kenshin let the same smile pass over his own lips. "Honestly, I don't know. It is none of my business whether you are a man or a woman. I just wonder . . . why do you hide it from us?"

Hiraru grimaced. "I wasn't trying to hid it from you guys . . . it's just easier to get a job as a delivery boy, or something that involves working outside, if everybody believes you're a man."

"And?" Kenshin prompted, knowing there was more.

"And it's safer for a man to travel by him self that a woman."

"And?"

"And there are some people I don't want knowing who and what I am just yet," Hiraru finished. She refused to look at Kenshin then. He could just barely make out the blush on her features.

Kenshin smiled to himself. "This one won't push to find out whom, but this one must ask again, what is your real name?"

Hiraru looked at Kenshin, that sad smile on her face again. "I should get to bed, I never manage to sleep later than dawn." She stood, stumbling a little due to her sudden rise and walked to the screen door Kenshin had opened. She placed a hand on the frame, seeming to think about something. Then, without looking at him she spoke to Kenshin, saying simply, "I will say this: my mother . . . she named me Hiraru. I wouldn't lie about that."

She slipped quietly into the house. Kenshin was surprised by the way she seemed to ghost across the floor; few knew how to walk in a way that did not make the floorboards sing.

Good Chapter? Yes? No? Maybe?... (To Twilight-chan) Hey at least it's longer than the last one… I wanted to post this chapter and the last one at the same time, but you know things happened so I'm posting it now.

Now tell me how much you love me and review.