Kaoru hummed happily to herself as she bustled about the kitchen, preparing a meal out of the ingredients Enishi had fetched on his way home today. For some reason life seemed a lot fuller with him around, although he was really good at staying out of peoples way, though she didn’t think there was any way he could fade into the background.

            He really was a big help… but it was curious, how she couldn’t help but blush around him sometimes. Yes she already knew that she’d fallen in love with him, but she’s already decided to ignore it in favor of the quieter love she found with Kenshin. Kenshin was safe, clearly the better choice. Besides she was halfway convinced that her feelings for Enishi were a sort of insanity… although with him around every day it became harder and harder to believe that.

            But that reminded her, she thought, Kenshin had been moody lately. He did a good job of hiding it, but she could tell those subtle changes in his actions and the source of his silence. She would have to remember to talk to him about it. She was afraid that he still didn’t trust Enishi or want him here. She paused in her cutting. It was hard to think of them as brothers. Maybe they should start acting like it.

            She smiled to herself at the thought of those two getting along maybe like her and Yahiko did… only who would act the older. It would be interesting to find out, though she couldn’t imagine Enishi acting like a little brat. She giggled at the thought… and then laughed outright as she pictured Kenshin doing the same thing.

            “Owwww” she exclaimed quietly to herself as she shoved her finger in her mouth. Sanosuke peered in with a raised eyebrow “I mmut my finger” she said around her finger. Sano nodded and walked off with a grin, whistling along the way. Kaoru glared after him.

            Sano really wasn’t in good a mood as he portrayed. He was worried. Worried about the whole situation in the dojo, Kenshin most of all. He didn’t know how the rurouni was going to go about telling Kaoru his feelings, and frankly, he doubted the Samurai would. He would have to put them in some sort of situation where they’d be alone and hope one of them would say something.

            He was no good at plotting things though, he would have been glad to leave things like that to Megumi, but she’d made a complete joke out of it. He still didn’t know why he went along with that so long. Maybe he’d been right in the first place to think she was bad news. She was still bad news now, she’d just fooled him into thinking he wasn’t. He growled. What was he going to do about Kenshin… what…

            “Fuck” he said as he kicked a rock into a wall so hard that it stuck in the wood. He stared at it for two minutes before scurrying off in the opposite direction, looking around to see if anyone had seen him do it.

            He would have to do it. He thought to himself with determination. Nothing would stop him from getting the truth out of her and avoiding any misunderstandings between them… He stood up and strode towards the Main section of the dojo, pausing and turning around abruptly to head back outside. Nothing would stop him tomorrow, he thought, he’d do it tomorrow for sure.

            Enishi worked the forge, his muscles gleaming with sweat, their sinewy makeup contracting as he moved, the light of the fire casting a bronze tint across his bare torso. He was a tiger, beautiful and sleak, prowling in a jungle of shops and busy pedestrians. Or at least that’s how it appeared to the girl who watched him hungrily with wide eyes.

            She wanted to walk up to him and run her hands down that sexy exterior, run her hands up his chest and wrap them around his neck as she licked the salty sweat in a trail up his neck and nibbled on his ear. So intent was she on her imagined scene, that she didn’t notice that people had started to watch her as she sat there staring at him and chewing her lip.

            He wiped the sweat from his brow and ran a hand through his dampened hair… hair that she would love to grasp as she pulled him to her for a desperate passionate kiss. She smiled whistfully as she imagined him looking at her… no wait… he was actually looking at her.

            “Can I help you” He asked. He spoke to me! She thought to herself, her heart fluttering in her chest. Then she realized she’d been caught staring at him and she could almost feel herself turn a bright red. She opened her mouth and started to speak but nothing came out for a good while. She grinned lopsidedly finally as she croaked.

            “Ahhhh…. Ah, I forgot to bring what I needed fixed” she stuttered and ran off, her braid trailing behind hair as she went.

            “Aneka you fool” she said to herself “You’re 17 now, you shouldn’t make such a ridiculous display of yourself” she paused around a corner and breathed heavily as she finished her lecture to herself “And you’ve got to do something about that overactive imagination of yours” she admonished, but then she sunk against a wall.

            “Oooooh, but I think I’m in loooove” she said clasping the broken Utensil to her chest. Then she cursed, realizing that she had said she didn’t have anything when she was holding it in her hand the whole time. She was too embarrassed to go back today, Mr Sakamura would be angry at her for not getting this done. She winced, not looking forward to the beating she would get when she arrived back at the orphanage.

            “Only one more year” she said to herself, sighing as she strode towards home.

            Meanwhile, back at the forge, Enishi stared after her briefly before taking the next customer, wondering what all that was about. People in Japan were certainly strange. He smiled slightly thinking of Kaoru. She was likely the oddest of them all, but that’s why he lo… hated her so.. he chuckled at his minds stubborn refusal to admit the truth.

            Patience was a tool that he was very glad he had now, but he had a feeling that everything at the dojo was about to erupt into Chaos.