Part 5

 It was the night of the dance. Kenshin grimaced slightly as the thought dawned on him. Kaoru had said that there was a chance that an enemy might show up, but something wasn’t right. He sighed quietly, slowly making his way to his room. It was time to get ready. Once inside, he shut the door silently and paused, eyeing the bag of cosmetics and accessories that Kaoru had left behind warily. She was busy getting herself ready, and trusted Kenshin to get ready by himself. “It’ll be easy,” she had said. “Just think like a girl!”
 “Think like a girl...” he repeated to himself softly as he unbraided his hair. It seemed that would become the theme for the night. Think like a girl, act like a girl, look like a girl, BE a girl. Kenshin looked around momentarily as if looking for someone to remind him why he was doing this. Seeing no one, he knelt down beside the bag. He reached down and fingered through the different items of make up, combs, brushes, hair clips, and ribbons. He finally decided to start with something simple and removed a comb. He then proceeded to work his way through his mass of long reddish-orange hair. Suddenly, he couldn’t help but chuckle at the irony of the situation. Here he was, the feared and hunted Hitokiri Bathousai, reduced to playing dress up and going to a dinner party! He finished with his hair, deciding to leave it down for the night, and picked up the tube of lipstick. He turned it over in his hands a few times before coming upon the decision that this must be a fate decided by God; a punishment to repent for his previous evil ways. After arriving to that decision, he couldn’t help but laugh more, despite his effort to remain serious.
 “Sounds like you’re having a little too much fun in here, don’t you think?” Kenshin turned at the sound of Yahiko’s voice and found him standing in the doorway. “Kaoru sent me to see if you needed any help...”
 “Ah, I’m fine, really.” He smiled reassuringly. “Is Sano here yet?”
 “No, he’s going to meet us there, actually...” Yahiko trailed off. “Ok, well, I’ll be out shortly, then.” Kenshin uncapped the lipstick and gave it a look of disgust. Yahiko smirked.
 “Ok, just don’t be too long. I don’t know what it is about you women that takes you so long to get ready!” He giggled and ran out of the room just before the cosmetic bag could make contact with his head.
 

 Finally, he was ready. Kenshin stood up and ran his fingers though his hair as he glanced around the room, making sure he wasn’t forgetting anything. His eyes fell upon his sword, which was propped up against the far wall, and suddenly his eyes widened as a thought occurred to him. He stared at it, blinking for a moment, sorting things out in his mind.
 “Kenshin!” Kaoru’s voice came from outside his door. “Are you ready?”
 “Yes...” he answered slowly, still eyeing his sword. “I’m coming.” He finally abandoned his thought and joined his friends outside.
 

 Kenshin fidgeted slightly, leaning against the wall, while Yahiko stood beside him, as if to guard him against unknown evils. Kaoru and Tae stood in the corner, talking among the surrounding women. Sano stood alone on the opposite side of the room. His arms were crossed across his chest defiantly.
 “Kiyone’s kind of a loner, isn’t she?” Tae observed.
 “Uhh... yes, she is. She’s kind of shy. She doesn’t really like large groups like this.” Kaoru bit her bottom lip. This was harder to cover up than she thought. Tae glanced around the room, taking in the whole scene. A small mischievous smile appeared on her face as Kaoru laughed uneasily.
 

 “Hey...” Yahiko looked up at Kenshin.
 “Hmm?” He remained still and silent. His eyes were slightly clouded over and were fixed on something in the distance.
 “Umm...” He almost lost his nerve. “It’s just that you look concerned about something...”
 “It’s nothing, really,” Kenshin smiled slightly.
 “You sure?”
 “Yes,” he closed his eyes and took a deep breath. “It’s fine. Thank you for asking.” He pushed away from the wall. “I’ll be outside.” With that, he silently made his way outside into the cold night air. He took a deep breath, feeling the crisp air filling his lungs, and breathed out slowly as he stared at the stars above.
 

 “Sanosuke-san!” Tae joined Sano by the wall. “I couldn’t help but notice that you were standing here all by yourself.”
 “I’m not much of a dancer,” he replied shortly.
 “Call it a pet peeve, but you can’t come to a dance and stand around the whole time.”
 “Who am I supposed to dance with? Kaoru? I don’t think so...”
 “No need to worry, I’m setting you up with a partner even as we speak!”
 “You can’t be serious...” Sano frowned slightly, not sure whether he liked what he was hearing.
 “Oh, yes. I couldn’t help but notice that you’ve been looking at Kiyone all night.” Tae smiled sweetly. “I know how you guys can be sometimes. You act tough, but inside you have feelings like everyone else.” She paused, noticing Sano’s uneasy glance. “Anyway, seeing as you weren’t planning on asking her yourself, I decided to take the liberties! Just stay here, ok? I’ll go get her!” Without another word, she turned and walked away. Sano stood motionless. A dance was bad enough as is. Sano the gangster did NOT dance. Only one thing could be more embarrassing for him, and that would be dancing with another guy. It didn’t matter that no one else knew that Kiyone was male, as long as he knew he could never live it down. His only saving grace would be if Kenshin finally put his foot down and said no. Otherwise, Sano would end up looking like a bad guy.
 “Oh God, Kenshin,” he prayed to himself. “Don’t do this to me!”

--End of Part Five—

Author’s notes: EEEK! The suspense is killing me! That’s all I gotta say….