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"Hai, hai," Kenshin chuckled as he hung the last of the laundry on the line.
"Come and play Ken-niisama!" Suzume called.
"Coming!" he called as he put the basket to the side and called the two girls in.
"Eeeee!" they cried cheerfully as they ran around the yard. Kenshin laughed and ran after the girls. On their third turn they ran into a man dressed in a suit."Sumimasen," the man said with a bow, "I am looking for Miss Kamiya Kaoru."
"I am Kamiya Kaoru." Kaoru said as she walked down the steps to greet the man.
He bowed in front of Kaoru and said, "I've come on behalf of my client."
"Client?" Kaoru asked confused.
"What he means is that he is my legal guardian." a voice said.
Kenshin noticed a young man dressed in a brown suit. He was Japanese but dressed in western clothing.
"Ahem," the man said, "true, I am his legal guardian and his lawyer, Mr. Toriyama. This is-"
"Aki-kun!" Kaoru exclaimed hugging the young man.
"Kaoru-chan!" he said happily."What are you doing here? Why are you in that suit?"
"He's-" Mr. Toriyama began.
"I've come for a visit." Aki said interrupting him.
Kaoru smiled and turned to Kenshin, "This is Himura Kenshin," she said smiling at Kenshin, "he has been a great help to me." she turned to Aki, "Aki-kun was a childhood friend of mine."
Aki turned and looked at Kenshin. He bowed and said, "Please to meet you Himura-san. I am Kanzaki Akira."
Kenshin bowed politely and said, "I am pleased to meet one of Kaoru's friends."
"And this is Yahiko and Sano." Kaoru said.
Kenshin didn't notice that Yahiko, and Sano had materialized behind him. He found himself watching Kaoru as she introduced Akira to the rest of the group.
Akira was polite and pleased to meet all her friends. He seemed out of place, a Japanese man wearing a brown wool suit. Kenshin was used to it since he had met with those of the Meiji government before. But somehow, something about Akira disturbed him.
"They are more than friends." Kaoru went on, "They have become family to me." Kenshin suppressed an irritation at the word "family".
Akira smiled, "Kaoru-chan, I've come with some gifts that my mother wishes to send to you." he said as he turned. "Seira! You didn't have to do that." he said to the young woman that was carrying boxes. He quickly took the boxes from her and placed them on the ground.
"It's all right, I wanted to do this." she said.
He turned to Kaoru, "Kaoru-chan meet Tsuzuki Seira, she's been living with me for a few years now. Seira, meet my friend Kamiya Kaoru."
"Pleased to meet you Kamiya-san." Seira said bowing.
"Please call me Kaoru-san, Seira-san." Kaoru said bowing.
Seira smiled, "Hai." she turned to Akira, "There are more boxes in the carriage.""More boxes?" Kaoru asked as she looked at the boxes on the ground.
Akira laughed, "Yes, mother thought you were starving. So she sent food."
"Really?!"
Akira smiled, "Yes, your favorites when we were little."
Kenshin made to move when he heard her voice say, "Would you like to come with me to see what Aki brought?"
Kenshin smiled, "Its all right, Kaoru-dono. Sano and I were going to do something."
Sano blinked for a moment and then nodded, "Of course we were, we planned to go fishing today."
Kaoru nodded, "All right."
Akira held his arm out for Kaoru to take, "Shall we?"
Kaoru took his arm and he walked her to the doors of the gate where his carriage stood on the other side. Seira bowed and then followed them.
Kenshin smiled, "Well shall we go fishing Sano?"
Sano nodded, "Ha, let's go."
Yahiko sighed, "I'm going to go practice." He said and went back to the dojo.
Kenshin and Sano walked to the stream and sat on the bank after casting their lines.
"What do you think of Kaoru's friend?" Sano asked.
Kenshin smiled, "He makes her happy."
Sano nodded in agreement. "I wonder why he came."
"He came to visit probably."
Sano secretly glanced at Kenshin. His face was impassive as he concentrated on the water before him. "Yeah, he came to visit with his lawyer and his friend."
Kenshin suppressed a sigh, it was easier to believe that Akira-dono had come to visit Kaoru. But the lawyer's attitude spoke otherwise. "He only came to visit." he said.
Sano made no reply he was cursing at his broken fishing line. Kenshin snapped out of his brooding and laughed at him.
"Oi," Sano said.
Kenshin turned to see Sano lounging on the wooden walkway, "Ah Sano, have you seen Kaoru-dono?"
Sanosuke nodded, "She went out with Akira-san for the day. He was going to take her out to the town for shopping."
"Ah," Kenshin said tonelessly.
"She didn't tell you?" Sano asked.
"No, but then again I didn't ask her what her plans were."
"This has been the fifth day." Sano said.
"He's her childhood friend." Kenshin said.
"The fifth day in a row." Sano sat up, "How can you let him do this?"
"If it is what she wants who am I to argue with her?"
"Aren't you at least a bit mad? She's ignored us, not that her cooking was any good." Sano muttered. "If I were you I'd show him a thing or two." he made a fist.
"You'll have to go through me first." a voice said.
Kenshin and Sano turned to see Seira.
"Seira-dono. . ."
"Three years ago Kanzaki-sama and Akira-san gave me a home. I slowly learned to be an inhabitant of the Kanzaki home." She looked at Sano, "I won't allow you to hurt him. If you do, you'll have to face me, and I still remember how to use these knives." she held one up.
Sano smiled, "I understand." he got up and turned away, "I'm going for a drink." he left with a wave.
Seira watched as Sano closed the door of the gate and then turned to Kenshin, "I'm like you."
"Like me?" Kenshin asked.
"Yes, you're watching the person you care for slip away from you and there is nothing you can do about it."
"Seira-dono, I don't understand."
"Akira-san came to the Kamiya Dojo to fulfill a family agreement. His father and Kaoru-san's father had arranged a marriage between them. He will marry her and both houses of kendo will merge."
Kenshin felt frozen to the spot. "Uso." he surprised himself with that word. He felt as if his world had spun out, Kaoru . . . and Akira? Suddently he wondered, where did he fit in?
For some reason the rain was a good omen for him. He closed his eyes and remembered when he was caught in the rain with Kaoru. . .
"I can't believe it, it's pouring. The weather was doing fine before." Yahiko said as he patted the water off his clothes.
"Aaahhh, and I just bought this kimono too." Kaoru said as she held up a wet sleeve.
Kenshin noticed that she was still getting wet and covered the hand holding the kimono. "Stay close to me Kaoru-dono." he suddently realized what he asked her. He paused to think about it and then glanced back at her. She looked at him with an interesting look. Since the sun had been hidden by the clouds it was hard to tell if she was blushing under the dark overhang. He remembered staring into her eyes.
He remembered closing his hand and drawing her closer to him. . .
He opened his eyes and glanced at Kaoru. She had dropped her book to the side. He sighed and smiled as he gently laid a blanket on her and knelt down to pick up her book.
"Hmm . . ."
Kenshin looked up quickly only to see that she had settled more comfortably. She slept happily. He smiled and realized that he was close to her face. It gave him a good view of the tender play of emotions on her face. He wanted to see her more happy than upset.
She mouthed a phrase he could not decipher. His eyes watched as her lips moved. Before he knew it, he was leaning close to those lips and-
He was on the other side of the room. He could feel his heart pounding. Why? Why?! WHY?! The question seemed to ask itself as his heart pounded out its fast rhythm. He covered his face and knew that he could never be near her again. Not when she belonged to someone else.