AUTHOR's NOTEs

Okay, I don't know where the idea for this fanfic came from.  Maybe it's because I'm in one of those little ironic situations.  Here I am in NEW ORLEANs of all places, and I can't GO anywhere!  ::sigh::  And so, for your reading pleasure (hopefully) I've written this.  Some things I'd like to point out.  One, I love Sanosuke.  Not as much as Kenshin, but he's definately up there.  So, instead of being the total blockhead he likes to be, I tried to make him a little wiser and more insightful.  I'm justifying this by thinking that he's probably a damned smart cookie and he'd see things better than a lot of us would.  Only, he usually keeps this stuff to himself.  After reading this, you'd probably wished he still had.   Two, for whatever reason, I felt the need to rework the background a little bit, so if something glares out at ya, let me know, I'll see what I can do about it. (I probably just didn't know in the first place.) Third, any suggestions, comments, CRITISMS, or anything else constructive would be VERY HELPFUL!(jcrect@aol.com) And I just want to say for the record that I'm not Watsuki (the writer of RK) and that I'm not in anyway trying to be like the manga. I'm just writing it for fun and out of boredom.
                  ***This also takes place before the appearance of Saitoh.***
                    Anyway, this is a romance between K & K, so....read on.

     Part One

 It was a bright and sunny day.  The kind of day that the birds sang of so joyously that as they flew, you couldn't help but feel your own spirit soar.  It was the kind of day that made you want to just sit outside and soak up the sun.  Yes, it was an absolutely perfect day to do the laundry.
 Kaoru slid open the door of her room and looked around.  As usual, Yahiko was still asleep, snnoring so loudly that she could hear it all the way outside.  She narrowed her eyes and smiled about all of the oh-so-wonderfully evil things she was going to do to him later.  Not that she was a violent person, but there was something about that boy that made her want to slap him silly.
 She went back into her room, grabbed a fresh change of clothes, a bar of soap, and a towel and headed for the river.  Normally, she would've forced Yahiko out of bed so he could heat the water for her bath, but in a rare show of consideration for her young pupil, she went instead to a small stream behind the dojo.  When there, she looked all around to make sure the coast was clear before diving beneath the surface.  The sun was warm and the water deliciously cool as it slid over her skin.  She sighed and began to slowly float on top when a bit of movement caught her eye.  She stopped floating and looked toward the movement.  It was a huge man with spiky brown hair  who was wearing a jacket with his hands in his pockets.  It was Sanosuke.  Surprise and annoyance caused Kaoru to sputter in the water. "Sano, what the hell do you think you're doing?!"
 Sanosuke smiled slightly before arching a brow at her, "And good morning to you, too."
 "Damnit, Sano..."
 "Damnit, Kaoru.." He mimicked before he sat down crosslegged, "Do you know you have a damn, filthy, mouth?"
 "HA!"  Kaoru sputtered, trying to keep her body out of view, "That you of all people have the nerve to say that... So, Why are you here, Sanosuke?"
 "Actually," His expression grew sober,"I wanted to talk."
 "About what?"
 "Well," he started, "Have you told Kenshin how you feel about him, yet?"
 Kaoru could feel the blush rising in her face, "What are you talking about?!?  What do you mean?"
 Sano sighed, "It's gonna be this kinda day, isn't it?"  He looked Kaoru straight in the eyes, "You do realize that you've been acting completely idiotic the last few days?"  Kaoru was about to interrupt when she saw his eyes," Would you like for me to elaborate?  Well then, how about two days ago when Tae offered Kenshin a second serving of sake?  You were ready to call her out and beat the life out of her.  Or how about yesterday when Kenshin got that splinter in his hand and you acted like he was about to die-"  He halted when he saw Kaoru's expression.  "Kaoru, what's wrong?  Talk to me, babe."
 While Sano was talking about her irrational behavior of the previous days, she knew that she couldn't stop the tears from streaming down her face.  "I'm sorry...I.."  She shrugged, forgetting about her state of undress as she swallowed and took a shaky breath.  "It's just that I've been getting this feeling that something awful's about to happen."  She tried to wipe her tears away with her wet hands, "It's...it's the same feeling I felt the very day I was told my father died."
 The water, which had been only slightly cool before, now froze her to the bone as she remembered that night.  When she looked at Sano, he was suddenly only a foot away, chest high in the water, reaching for her.  He picked her shivering body into his arms and carried her to shore, where he wrapped her towel around her.  In his arms, she began crying softly while he awkwardly patted her head.  When she was done, he put her away from him and asked again the question he'd come to ask.  "You love Kenshin, right?"
 She was cold, despite the sun's warmth, "I don't know what you mean-"
 "Don't pull that bullshit on me!"
 She started to get up when his hand clamped onto her wrist and pulled her back down, "You're not leaving till you answer me."
 "Damnit, Sanosuke!  What's wrong with YOU ?Why are you doing this? "She stiffened. "This has something to do with Kenshin, doesn't it?  What's going on?  What's wrong?"  She raised to her knees and leaned towards him, "Kenshin isn't in trouble is he?  Wait...WHERE is he?"  She was about to get up again when he re-pulled her to the ground.
 "Nothing is wrong..at least not yet."  Sano sighed, "I don't know where Kenshin is right now, but I'm sure he's alright.  Listen, I'm trying to tell you something and I can't get to it till you answer my question, now damnit, are you in love with Kenshin?!"
 Kaoru looked at the river and replied impatiently, "You know I am."
 She heard Sano sigh behind her, "Good, now what are you  going to do about it?"
 Kaoru slowly turned to Sano, "Nothing...Why should I?"
 Sano lost his temper, he rose beside her cursing, "Damnit, I thought that I could try to be gentle about all of this, but..FUCK IT.  Here's the deal.  You heard about the raiders a couple of days out of town, attacking every person on their way here, right?"  She nodded her head, "Well, there are some rumours in town that some of them are old samurai who are training new ones and using those poor people out there as practice."
 Kaoru paled, "I can't...believe.."
 "Anyway, the police sent a dozen men and none of them came back..well, that's not true.  One horse returned with a bag of what remained of one of the men.  So, these men are located-"  He turned abruptly when Kaoru started dressing, "Damnit Kaoru, warn someone before you do that, damnit!"
 "It's not like you didn't see anything earlier-"  She paused and looked at him, anger burning in her eyes, "You god damned PERVERT!"
 Sano easily dodged her fist, "Puh-lease like I want to see a skinny nothing like you!  You'd have to have bigger tits to get my attention.."  And realizing too late that those were fighting words, Sano turned and began running for the dojo with Kaoru not too far on his heels.

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