The next day three inches of snow fell, and winter was finally here to stay. Yahiko and Kaoru shivered in their overcoats as they went to school. They reached the boundary and both instinctively hesitated. Yahiko felt the pressure of the ghosts even from the safe side of the street.

Kaoru offered her hand, but he stubbornly ignored it and walked across the street. He knew that his older sister would not be with him forever to hold his hand. He would have to get used to the pressure and the negative emotions on his own eventually. Unbeknownst to him, Kaoru smiled and shrugged her shoulders, letting him test himself.

The dark cloud engulfed him, and Yahiko felt everything that the ghosts were feeling; anger, hatred, irritation, frustration, sadness, despair. It was an endless litany of negativity and weighted on Yahiko's shoulders. He refused to sag under the weight, however, and determinedly kept his back straight, his eyes straight forward, his jaw set. A fellow schoolmate jogged by and asked what he was so mad at.

"Idiot! I'm trying to be a man here!" he snapped.

Kaoru, just behind him, was murmuring and muttering. Obviously, she was trying to explain to the ghosts that she could not help them. Yahiko watched covertly; she had tried this before - several times - but never with success. If anything, Yahiko felt the pressure building, the negativity seeping into him as other students calmly walked by unknowing of the building tension around them.

"Hey, busu," he started.

"I wasn't put here to do your bidding! Now shut up!!"

Everyone was staring. Kaoru was oblivious to this, her eyes shut tight and her arms shaking at her sides.

Yahiko thought quickly. "Of course you are, busu tanuki!" he shouted. "Why is it so hard for you to do one little favor for me? Are you insecure or something? It's just one extra kata!!" The pressure seemed to release slightly, Yahiko assumed that they had given up for the morning.

Kaoru, to her credit, didn't break step from Yahiko's opening. "Don't be stupid! It's too advanced for you! You're not ready!"

"The hell I'm not ready! You're always making me do extra strokes at home!" The boy could feel the negativity finally disperse, his fake anger giving it an escape.

"Baka! Why can't you ever listen to reason?"

"Busu! Busu tanuki!!"

Their argument quickly, happily, built up to an outright explosion that lasted all the way to the school gates. The fight was the talk of the middle school, many students asking Yahiko why he had been fighting with his sister, hadn't they been very close? The rusty eyed youth only huffed, muttering that they didn't know what they were talking about. His momentary distraction had now turned into a huge irritation.

It culminated during kendo practice after school. Yutaro had decided to sit in on the meet, and Yahiko did not even try to suppress his irritation as he watched his sister easily wipe the floor with the other students. Needing to let off steam, he grabbed a shinai and stepped in front of one of the other students.

The high schooler looked as if he were being insulted. "Do you really want to spar with me, Yahiko-chan?"

"Don't call me chan!" he shouted, not moving an inch. "Fight me."

"Yahiko, you shouldn't--"

"Shut up busu!" Yutaro was near him; he could feel bitterness seeping into his person. He turned to the high schooler, "Fight me!"

The student grinned lazily. "Whatever you say, Yahiko-chan."

Raijuta-sensei was nowhere to be found, and Yahiko refused to listen to his sister. He needed to relieve his stress. It was like this sometimes; the ghosts would affect him so much that he would either faint, retch, or completely blow up.

The student swung his shinai lightly; Yahiko blocked and struck back, striking his hip. Other kendo students laughed, and the one Yahiko had challenged quickly turned from red to purple. The next strike was vicious, Yahiko quickly gave ground as the jeering and cheering and betting began. Yahiko was good - his father acknowledged that several times - but that didn't make up for honest experience. The shinai was quickly knocked out of his hand. The rusty eyed youth stared, emotions rolling through him so quickly that he couldn't keep track of them. He stared hotly at the kendo student, held captive by the rage that had unpredictably taken him over.

The high schooler was not done yet, however, his shinai was raised over his head for a much more serious strike. Yahiko stared, his eyes insolent, until Kaoru stepped between them. In one fluid motion, she raised her forearm up and blocked the strike. The snapping could be heard throughout the entire gym, and Yahiko's mind finally went completely blank.

"That's enough of that," she said softly, coolly. She easily knocked the shinai away, and Raijuta-sensei happily knocked the boy on the head.

"You're off the team!"

Kaoru turned to her brother, his face blank. Kneeling down, she put a hand on his shoulder. "Yahiko," she whispered softly, "snap out of it. Yutaro's gone, I sent him away."

Only then did Yahiko see the intense bruising forming on her wrist, already swollen. Her block had been barehanded; of course she had taken injury.

"Kaoru," he started weakly. Emotionally spent, he fell into her arms, his eyes damp.

It was completely dark as they walked home. Kaoru's wrist was set and treated; she thought nothing of what had happened. Yahiko was a completely different story. He kicked at snow drifts mindlessly. He was still numb from the afternoon's events, but that didn't stop him from feeling enormous guilt about what had happened. Kaoru tried to pull him close, but he shied away, not feeling worthy of her embrace. The ghosts seemed to sense the mood, and were not as noisy as they normally were.

They reached the street that was the boundary, and an odd tingling sensation swept over the boy. He looked up as they crossed.

"Kenshin!" Kaoru said warmly, stepping up the pace slightly. Yahiko blinked and looked to where she was moving towards, only to see nothing. That did not mean he felt nothing, though. It was an odd presence of heated stones wrapped around his fingers and toes, mixed with the smell of incense.

It sparked suddenly, and Kaoru said, "Oh, no, it's nothing. I took an unexpected hit during kendo, that's all."

Shame filled Yahiko, even as he felt the stones roll around in his palms in concern.

"Of course Yahiko looks guilty, he always does when something like this happens."

The spark again. Concern or curiosity? Yahiko couldn't tell.

"Yahiko can't see spirits, but he can sense them. Sometimes it gets the better of him and something happens, that's all."

"'That's all?!'" Yahiko repeated. "You got hurt because of me and all you can say is 'that's all?!'"

Her good fist calmly found his crown and he pitched into the nearest snow bank. The incense dimmed and the heated stones rolled back to his fingers and toes. This was amusement.

"We do not have a good relationship!" he cried out, frustrated.

Kaoru gasped and blinked. "Yahiko, did you just hear what Kenshin said?"

Frustration evaporated and replaced with confusion. "No," he said. "I don't hear ghosts, remember?"

"But you just replied to Kenshin's comment!"

The heated stones rolled in his fingers and hands again. Was Kenshin trying to say something to Yahiko? "No, I can't hear you. But I can feel you; you're like... heated stones and incense. It changes, sort of, with your mood."

The feeling changed again, and Yahiko looked to his sister for translation as they continued walking.

"Kenshin said it's the first time he's ever been compared to those things; he says he feels honored. Do you know what he's feeling now?"

"... Happy, I think. It's like..." the rusty eyed boy paused, trying to assimilate the sensations. "I can't put it in words. It's like he's been alone for a really long time, but now he's not, and it's good. Does that sound right?" The stone were at the crooks of his elbows now, and the incense was incredibly strong.

"He say's you're very, very perceptive for your age," Kaoru repeated, looking to where the ghost must have been.

"Is that why he's tensing up?"

Kaoru blinked, looking at her brother; then turning back to the rurouni. "Is that true, are you tense because Yahiko can sense your moods?" Kaoru paused as she listened to Kenshin's response, and Yahiko continued to feel the stones roll across his body. "He can't read your mind, Kenshin, he's no psychic. And this is the first time he's ever been able to, well, 'read' a ghost. You must be a very powerful spirit for him to be able to do this."

The heated stones were at his elbows again; tension.

"Kenshin, if you don't want to tell us something, that's perfectly fine. We've all done things we're not proud of," Kaoru turned to her brother and he looked down in shame, "and we've all done things that we don't ever want to talk about. I'm not asking you to talk about it; Yahiko isn't asking you to explain it. We won't pry."

There was another pause; this time Kaoru frowned. Yahiko knew that look very well, and was suddenly glad he wasn't at the receiving end of it.

"Mou, we just live here! We go to school, we do homework, and we do chores. We're not dangerous! You don't have to avoid us like we're some plague or something, and you certainly don't have to avoid us claiming it will protect us! Protect us from what? There's nothing here except other ghosts who poke and prod us to do things for them. Where do you get off that sacrificing yourself is helping us? You said it yourself you like being around us, so don't go chopping off your nose with that sakabatou of yours for 'our benefit.' It's a load of bull and you know it! There's nothing you could have possibly done to make us afraid of you!"

Pause again, the moods were changing too fast for Yahiko to follow and besides, he was too busy watching his sister in all her glory.

"So what if you've killed people? That was ages ago and you're obviously repentant for it. You probably had no other choice right? The whole reason you're here is to protect the people in your sight. You said it yourself last night, there's no way you could be the demon you're trying to make yourself out to be so just shut up and stick around!"

"Hey, Yahiko-chan, who the hell is Jou-chan yelling to?"

Yahiko turned around, surprised that they had made it all the way back to their street. Sano was poking his head over the fence, looking at them in confusion.

The stones and the incense disappeared, gone with the tingling of their arrival.

"Uh...."

"Just an idiot," Kaoru replied heatedly. "Come on Yahiko, let's get inside. If Kenshin shows up again I'm really going to give him a piece of my mind!"

Sano only had time to say, "Who?" before Kaoru stormed into the house and slammed the door.

Two days later, Kaoru was having a bad day. A really bad day. First, her alarm didn't go off, and both she and Yahiko were late to school. The run in after the road was excruciating, and her teacher chastised her in front of the class when she finally run in, shouting apologizes for being late. She was a senior who was going to graduate in just less than two months, and she got chastised for being late.

As the day went on, it felt like everyone was snubbing her. It wasn't that she didn't have some friends in the kendo club, she did; but for some reason, they weren't around today as the usual clicks tried to pick on the new girl. The teachers seemed in a foul mood as well and by the end of the day, Kaoru was snapping.

She and Yahiko argued the whole walk home. She was grateful that Yahiko headed home to start the laundry while she went to the market to pick up food. The silence while she was in the barrier improved her mood somewhat. Until she got to the local market. The market was half in the barrier, and half out. And as she looked at her grocery list, she realized most of what she needed, was outside the barrier.

The small improvement her bad mood had made quickly deteriorated and then plummeted further. The spirits of the market, just like the sales people of the market, were pushy. So she was facing pushy people and pushy ghosts. Oh, she was livid, snappish, and ready to tear off heads.

Then, just to make everything perfect, it started to rain as she went home. Freezing rain. And Kaoru didn't have her umbrella. About the only thing going for her was that her groceries were in plastic bags. She couldn't say the same for the rest of her. Just like when she first met Kenshin, she was cursing the school uniform skirt.

Just as she got home and handed the groceries to Yahiko, Sano appeared over the fence.

"Oi, Jou-chan. I need your help."

Why oh why couldn't Kaoru just crawl into her house, take a hot bath, and curl up in bed!!

"What!" she yelled.

Sanosuke, unperturbed, kept up. He launched into a tale of Megumi's haunting and even that couldn't put a smile on Kaoru's face, though Yahiko did chuckle softly. "Well, I found a method that might work, but I can't afford it, so I need you, since I need a virgin to do the ceremony."

Kaoru couldn't decide whether to be complemented that he thought that she was that pure or insulted that he was implying she didn't have a boyfriend at the moment. Given her current mood, Kaoru got pissed. For the first time, the Kamiya leech neighbor, felt Kaoru's wrath.

Several bruises and bandages later, a relieved, but still seething Kaoru entered into Megumi's house.

"That rooster said something stupid, didn't he?"

"No more than usual. It's just my day."

"So what'd he bring you over for today?"

"A virgin sacrifice to cleanse the house."

"Call him in here. Now. I'll deal with him."

"Only if we have some serious girl talk after that lout is put in his place."

"Deal."

Taking a deep breath and trying to let anger out of her body, Kaoru stomped down the hall. "Sanosuke! Get your sorry ass down here! There's no way in hell I'm doing this without you're bird-brained beak down here!"

Sano obediently appeared through the door, swollen nose and all. Yahiko was waiting outside with an umbrella, a huge smile on his face. Sano warily treaded down the hall. Both entered the room and Kaoru gasped in shock. The sofa...was on the ceiling. All anger immediately drained from Kaoru, and her legs gave out from under her. Megumi was a powerful spirit to be able to do something like that in such a short amount of time.

"See what I mean?" Sano grumbled, evidently used to such a sight. "Can't you just get on with this ceremony thing?"

Then, in front of them, Kaoru watched as Megumi reached up, touched the sofa, and let it float down, righting itself to its proper place.

Words started emanating from Sanosuke's mouth that Kaoru hoped Yahiko would never hear. Kaoru couldn't help it. She burst out laughing. "Megumi! You're too much!"

"Megumi?"

"Wait a minute, you're soaked. That rooster didn't even let you change clothes!" Megumi immediately thrust her hands into Sanosuke's chest, making him double over shivering.

Kaoru's laughter just increased. "Megumi!" she cried, trying to regain her self, despite how much she desperately needed this laugh after her day. "You're scaring Sano!"

"Like hell I'm scared!"

"You mean inconsiderate boar. He could have at least let you change before making you a virgin sacrifice."

Still struggling to talk between guffaws, Kaoru replied, "I could have made him wait till I changed."

"Huh?"

Megumi huffed, pulled off Sano's thick, warm jacket, and flung it over her.

"You need that more than him."

Finally getting her laughter under control, she smiled. "Thanks Megumi," she shivered.

"Jou-chan, what the hell is going on?"

That question dropped Kaoru's humor in five seconds flat. Sano had found out. Damn, there went another friend. Heaving a deep sigh, she gave the rough bare-bones of her gift/curse, Sanosuke's face unreadable through the explanation.

"If this rooster can't accept you for you, he's not worth being your friend," Megumi murmured. "But I think he has more character than that."

The silence was oppressive while Kaoru shivered in Sano's warm coat.

"So," Sano trailed off, looking at his now-on-the-ground couch. "This ghost has been trying to keep my house clean and didn't like what I did with the place?"

"More or less."

"And you can see and talk to ghosts?"

"Yes."

"And Yahiko senses them?"

"Yes."

"..." Sano shrugged. "Well that explains why I keep finding you talking to yourself."

Kaoru looked at him in shock. He was accepting them. No one outside her family had ever accepted her and her brother. Even some ghosts took offense to her being able to see what they did. Kenshin was nervous about how Yahiko could sense him. But Sanosuke was just accepting them. Was he really so easy-going?

"Achoo!"

"Rooster."

"Ah, Jou-chan, you're soaked through, aren't you?"

Kaoru bristled. "You noticed?"

"Kaoru?" Yahiko's voice floated down the hall. "Kenshin's here. He wants to talk to you."

Sighing, Kaoru stood, giving Sanosuke his jacket back. "If you two are settled here, I'm taking a nice hot bath."

Without really waiting for a reply, she briskly left, too emotionally drained to really deal with anything. "Yahiko, I hope you have a bath ready." She stepped out under the umbrella and looked to Kenshin and his freshly lacquered sword. "I know you want to talk to me, but would you mind waiting until after my dinner?"

Kenshin appeared to look slightly crestfallen, but merely nodded and vanished.

The young student sighed. She didn't mean to brush off the spirit, but she was just too tired. It has been far too long a day, she just needed a moment to breath.

"You okay?" her little brother asked.

"I'm in desperate need of a hot soaking bath."

"Coming right up."

Damp as she was, she hugged him in thanks.

One hot bath and one hot meal later, Kaoru was feeling infinitely better. Wrapped in a big, thick, hooded sweatshirt, Kaoru walked onto the back porch, Yahiko already snuggled up on the cushioned bench. Sitting beside him, she lovingly ran a hand through his hair as Kenshin appeared.

"Kenshin!" Kaoru greeted warmly. "I'm sorry about earlier, it's just been a long day."

"You have no need to apologize, you don't," the samurai replied. "It is this one that does."

"Eh?"

"This one clearly angered you the other day, and he wishes to apologize." Kaoru scowled, but said nothing as he continued. "When this one awoke, his only instinct was to protect. He is still wondering what to protect, but you and your brother were the first that this one saw and will be protected." The red head sighed. "This one is still forgetting something, though he his unsure what. He does not know if it is people that need protecting or something else, but this one thinks his uncertainty lead to such a foolish thought at the wall you appeared through that day."

So Kenshin saw that boarder as a "wall". Interesting. And he was taking blame for everything. Idiot.

"Look, Kenshin, I wasn't exactly nice that day either," Kaoru offered her own apology. "I don't exactly behave properly when in a temper, and while what I said was correct," no way in hell she wasn't, "I could have afforded to have been a little nicer."

"The fault lies with this one," Kenshin bowed. "He hopes that he has not lost your friendship, he certainly hopes not."

Kaoru only smiled.

"It takes a lot more than that to push me away."