Part 4

 Morning came quickly and the sun rose high over the Kamiya Dojo. Kaoru stepped out into the warm light and stretched as she did a quick inspection. Yahiko was in the yard raking up leaves and various rubble obediently, while Sano was busy patching up some holes broken into the walls of the practice area. Kenshin's last fight had been a close one, and they were lucky to get out of it with only a few repairs, instead of someone's life. Yes, all was pretty much normal... except for one thing. Kaoru eyed the basket of dirty laundry that was still waiting to be finished.
 "Yahiko!" Kaoru called out, "Have you seen Kenshin?"
 "Nuh uh," Yahiko leaned on the rake. "I think he's still in his room."
 "Oh... thank you." This was odd. Kenshin was usually awake before everyone else. She made her way to his room, and stopped in front of the door. She took a deep breath and knocked on the door. There was no answer.
 "Kenshin? Are you in there?" She waited for a moment, but once again, she was answered by silence. She stared at the door, debating whether to go in or not. She sighed and made up her mind. "Kenshin. I'm coming in." With that, she slid the door open.
 Kenshin sat leaning against the wall, his sword propped against his shoulder in his usual pose. He was still clothed in the white kimono and he had his arm rested on his right knee. His reddish-orange hair, which was completely undone and free, was falling around his face, hiding his eyes from view. Was he asleep? Kaoru walked quietly over to him, but stopped as she noticed him tense slightly. She recoiled a little, but did not turn back. From the looks of it, Kenshin probably hadn't slept all night. She kneeled down beside him.
 "Kenshin?" She repeated again softly. She noticed the Kenshin was indeed awake. He stared blankly at his feet, but blinked a few times at the recognition of her voice. "Are you ok?"
 Kenshin looked up, blurry eyed. His hair hung limply in his face, which he ignored.
 "Kaoru-dono..."
 "You didn't sleep last night, did you?"
 "I slept... a little." He brushed the loose hair away from his face.
 "I was going to ask you if you could finish the laundry... but maybe you should go back to bed instead..."
 "No, I'm fine, really." Kenshin stood up and propped his sword against the wall.
 "Sano almost has the dojo repaired, and Yahiko's working on the yard." Kaoru started again. Kenshin nodded as reached back to put his hair in a ponytail. "No no no! Don't do that!"
 "Oro...?"
 "That's too much like your normal hairstyle. Here, I'll braid it for you." Kaoru took his hair in her hands and started to braid it. Kenshin scowled but remained still throughout the process.
 "Thank you, Kaoru-dono," he sighed and walked out of the room to do the laundry.

 “K’so! Damn piece of crap!" Sano cursed at the hammer and threw it down on the ground. "Who's stupid idea was it to put me in charge of repairing these holes anyway? Wasn't my fight!" He stuck his sore finger in his mouth and scowled as he gazed around the yard. Yahiko had abandoned the rake and had gone off somewhere. Sano took his finger out of his mouth to inspect it. It was bleeding a little, but that was all. Nothing serious. He reached into his pocket to retrieve some bandages when he heard splashing of water. 'Ah, Kenshin must be up,' he thought to himself. He turned and opened his mouth to say hello, but stopped as his eyes fell onto Kenshin. He had forgotten, or more appropriately, he had let himself  forget, that Kenshin would still be in female clothes. He stuttered slightly, unable to get out a casual greeting, gave up, and turned back to face the wall. Sano groaned as he leaned forward to rest his head on the wall.
 "Sano!" The harsh whisper startled Sano and he whipped back around only to see no one there. He had half expected it to be Kenshin, and was relieved to see he was still caught up in doing the laundry.
 "Sano!!" The whisper came again. Sano looked around and finally saw Kaoru motioning him to join her on the side of the house. He sighed and followed. Once he arrived he saw that Yahiko was there as well.
 "What's up?"
 "I'm worried about Kenshin..." she fidgeted.
 "Well, you're the one who made him dress up as a girl!!" Yahiko yelled.
 "Shhh!" Kaoru looked around to make sure Kenshin hadn't heard. "It's not that. I'm afraid he won't come to the party tonight."
 "That's it?!" It was Sano's turn to raise his voice. "Of all the selfish things to do! Can't you think about how he feels?"
 "No, don't get me wrong..." Kaoru frowned. "I just don't want him to be here... alone... That's all."
 "Kaoru, " Sano put his hand on her shoulder. "He's used to it. Ha can take care of himself." Yahiko cursed under his breath, drawing attention.
 "Gimme a break. You just want him to be there for protection!" Yahiko glared as she remained silent. He sighed. "Well, if you have to, I suppose you could tell him that there’s a good chance that the enemies might drop in sometime during the night.... Knowing him, he'd go right away."
 "You're right!" Kaoru's eyes brightened. "That's perfect!" She turned to leave but a forceful hand stopped her.
 "Are you sure you want to do that?" Sano peered at Kaoru through his dark brown unmoving eyes. "Kenshin's been through a lot lately. If he finds out you lied to him just to get him to some party he'll-"
 "He'll be fine," Kaoru interrupted. "I'm sure he'll understand!" She nodded reassuringly, as if she was trying to convince herself that her words were true. Then she smiled and walked away.

--End of Part Four—
 

Author’s notes: I want to formally apologize to any and all Kaoru fan’s for making her seem like such a mega-witch in this story. Please understand that I have nothing against her, and I find her to be one of the best female leads in anime. Everything she does is for the sake of the storyline. Thank you for your understanding! ^_^; Now on with the dance!