No Way Out
by Akane


Part 1

  "I'm not so sure about this, Kaoru-dono..." Kenshin grumbled as he shifted his weight from
one foot the other uncomfortably while he watched Kaoru dig through the closet.
  "You don't have much say in the matter!" Kaoru's voice came from the small closet.
  "But I..."
  "Kenshin..." Kaoru poked her head out of the closet and glared at Kenshin, "Do you
realize how many times this dojo has nearly been destroyed? And almost every instance has been
because of some deranged weirdo chasing after you! I really think it's about time you went
incognito for awhile. At least long enough to repair the dojo from your past two battles..." she
trailed off and ducked back into the closet to continue her search.
  "I really don't see how this'll help, though..." Kenshin sighed and slumped down to the
floor against the wall. He knew better then to question Kaoru when she was this persistent.
Nothing would stand in her way when she made up her mind about something, especially if that
something concerned her precious dojo. "Couldn't I just camp out somewhere else for awhile?"
  "Nuh uh, I need your help with chores around the house."
  "We could get the police to help watch the area, maybe..."
  "You know as well as I that the police don't stand a chance against the type of people that
are after you!"
  Kenshin sighed again and shifted his position. There was no way out of this. Even if he
managed to escape all it would do would be to postponed the inevitable. He would have to come
back eventually. Kenshin closed his eyes, lost in his own thoughts, frowning slightly.
  "AH HA! Found it!" Kaoru giggled as she backed out of the closet. She walked over to
where Kenshin was sitting and nudged him with her foot. "Look what I got!"
  Kenshin opened his eyes and looked up at the flowery kimono that she held in her hands.
He groaned as he buried his face in his hands.

*-*-*-*-*

  Sano pushed open the gate to the Kamiya dojo cautiously. All was quiet... a little too quiet.
He made his way over some rubble, still waiting to be cleaned up from Kenshin's last fight, eyeing
the abandoned laundry. It wasn't like Kenshin to leave a job half finished unless he absolutely
needed to... or Kaoru needed his for something else. At times he couldn't help but feel sorry for
him. Kaoru always had SOMETHING for him to do. Sano grimaced. She was NOT someone to
argue with. He made his way to the kitchen, but stopped as he passed Kenshin's room. There
was something going on inside... and what he could hear only peaked his curiosity more.
  "Kenshin, would you please just take off your clothes?!"
  "I really don't see what this will accomplish, Kaoru-dono... isn't there some other way?"
  "No, there isn't. Now hurry up, I don't have all day. I have other things to do. It's not like
I'm gunna hurt you!"
  Sano whistled inwardly. He had known there was something between Kenshin and Kaoru,
but he has no idea it was this... involved. Sano pressed his ear against the door only to hear some
slight rustling. If he didn't know better, he would have to say that it was the sound of clothes being
discarded... Kaoru's voice came again.
  "There, now this isn't so bad, now is it?"
  "I don't really feel comfortable with this Kaoru-dono..."
  "I told you before, you don't really have a say in this matter."
  Sano blinked several times and stared at the door. He knew Kaoru was a forceful and
stubborn woman, but he would never have guessed she would do something like this... He shook
his head. He was not about to let this go on any further. With that he thrust the door aside and
burst into the room. "What the hell is going on... in... here...?"
  At that moment Sano's eyes fell upon Kenshin... or was it Kenshin? He stared, aghast,
mouth hanging open in shock. What the hell WAS going on in here?!
  "Oh, Sano!" Kaoru broke the silence. "You scared me. Glad you stopped by, tho. I could
use some help..." Kaoru took Sano's hand and led him towards Kenshin.
  Sano regained his composure slightly. "Can I ask why the hell is he dressed like that?!" He
gestured at Kenshin, who now wore a long, flowing, silky white kimono-like dress with dark red,
blue, and royal purple flowers. Kenshin was glaring at either Kaoru or Sano, or maybe even both.
He couldn't quite tell.
  "It's a long story..." Kaoru brushed Sano's question off. "SO! How does he look?"
  "He looks like a guy in a dress..." Sano trailed off as Kenshin's eyes narrowed some more.
  "Well, I'm not done yet!" Kaoru released Sano's hand and walked the remaining distance
to Kenshin. She studied him over for a few minutes and smiled as she made up her mind. With
one swift move, Kaoru reached up and untied Kenshin's hair, allowing it to fall freely around his
shoulders. Sano's eyes widened as he breathed in sharply. This was getting scary. With every
passing moment Kenshin was looking more and more... well, female. Sure, with his small build,
long hair, and delicate facial features it was pretty understandable, but never in his wildest dreams
did he imagine he could pull it off so well! Sano looked him over again, slowly.
  "Oy, Kaoru..."
  "Yeah?" Kaoru replied absent mindedly as she pulled up some of Kenshin's hair on the
top of his head, while letting the rest flow freely.
  "I'm not sure why exactly you're doing this, but if it has anything to do with keeping him
low key... won't they notice his scar?"
  "Hmm..." Kaoru took a step back and cocked her head to one side as she went through
different ideas in her head, obviously unaware of the menacing glares directed her way. "We can
just put a bandage over it, I suppose... like he did in Kyoto." She shrugged and went back to
Kenshin's hair, combing it into soft wisps of reddish-orange velvet.

*-*-*-*-*

  Sano leaned against the door frame, arms folded across his chest. This was too much.
Kaoru had just gone to retrieve some make up, and Kenshin remained motionless. His eyes were
narrowed slightly and were glazed over. Obviously he was deep in thought. Sano cleared his
throat, disturbing the silence.
  "So how'd you get talked into this anyway?"
  Kenshin blinked several times, jerked back to reality, and stared at Sano for a brief
moment with his warm violet eyes. Eyes that have seen so much, eyes that have experienced so
many sorrows, yet never expected to go through something like this. It was always hard to tell
what Kenshin was thinking. A person's eyes were supposed to be the gateway to the soul, yet his
were always changing... Sano reflected on this. Perhaps it was only natural, considering what he's
been through. He was two sides of a coin. His body the host of both Himura Kenshin and the
Hitokiri Battousai, two entities that were always carefully separated by a thin line...
  "You know as well as I that it's just about suicide to cross Kaoru-dono when she's this
serious." Kenshin replied quietly, breaking Sano's train of thought. "If she feels this will help, even
a little, then so be it. She needs a break. It's only for a few days anyway..." Kenshin smiled gently
and Sano couldn't help but feel a little warm. How could he look so feminine? He was a guy, for
God's sake! Sano looked away just as Kaoru returned witha bag full of cosmetics and hair
decorations.
  "Sorry I took so long!" Kaoru set the bag down next to Kenshin's feet and pulled out a gold
hair clip, which she immediately fastened in KenshinÃÔ hair. "Megumi brought these by and put
them in a different place then where I told her to..." She reached back into the bag and
rummaged around a bit. She then pulled out a small tube. "Say ah, Kenshin."
  Kenshin opened his mouth slightly and Kaoru carefully applied the lipstick, giving
Kenshin's lips a faint glossy red tint. She continued to apply other various things and when done
took a step back to admire her handy work. Sano raised an eyebrow, not sure what really to say.
This was DEFINATLY NOT Kenshin standing in front of him. This was some sort of... goddess.
That's the only word he could think of to describe such an image of beauty. Sano blushed faintly
and turned away so not to draw attention. "Um... nice job, Kaoru. But doncha think you should be
using that stuff for yourself?"
  Kaoru flustered a bit. "I'm busy enough trying to run this dojo properly. I don't need to
worry about my looks 24 hours a day on top of that. Besides, I'm cute enough as is!"
  "Don't let it get to you, Kaoru-dono" Kenshin spoke up, placing her... er, his hand on her
shoulder. "He's just playing with you"
  Sano closed his eyes. Was it just him or was even Kenshin's voice more feminine? He
had to get out of here, this was just too weird, even for his standards. He turned and looked at
Kenshin one more time. Yes, those were defiantly Kenshin's eyes... his face... why were clothes
and a new hairstyle making such a difference?! Sano felt his cheeks grow warm and he looked
away again. "Well, I'd like to stay and chat, but I uh... have a gambling game to get to. See you
guys later..." Sano waved over his shoulder as he left the dojo as fast as he could without looking
suspicious.
  "Well then..." Kaoru turned to Kenshin. "We have some stuff to do of our own!"
  "Oro...?"
  "Mmhmm, we gotta go shopping. I need some tofu for tonight's dinner."
  "You don't expect me to go out like this, do you?!"
  "Of course I do! Why else would I go through all this work to priss you up?"
  "But..."
  "Not buts, let's go" Kaoru went into the kitchen the get the tofu tub.
  "Very well..." Kenshin walked over to his futon and reached for his sakabatou that laid on top.
  "No you don't! Not only is that a dead give away, but ladies don't carry around swords!"
Kaoru placed a firm hand on top of his.
  "But what if we get attacked?" Kenshin protested.
  "We won't! Now come on, the sun's going to set soon." Kaoru took Kenshin's hand in her
own and began to lead him out of the dojo and on to the street. "Oh, and you better be sure to act
like a lady, do you understand?"
  Kenshin nodded slowly. How had he gotten into this mess? He stepped into his sandals,
thinking about how glad he was that he didn't have to wear any special shoes on top of this
humiliation.

 

--End of Part One--


Authors Notes: Don't ask me HOW I got this story idea. Let's just say I get REALLY bored in math
class sometimes. I hope you enjoyed it, I know I had fun writing it. I have no idea how this is going
to end, or where I'm going with that Sano thing... just bear with me, everything will be solved in the
end! I hope... ^^;