Title: An Evil Plan Gone Horribly Wrong
Author: Sephira jo (contact at: sephirajo@yahoo.com)
Archive: With permission only
Part: 1/??
Series: Rurouni Kenshin
Rating: R (For loads of innuendo and adult situations/language)
Genre: Romantic Comedy/Drama
Pairings: Kenshin/Kaoru, Sano/Megumi
Disclaimer: I don't own Kenshin! *sob sob*

Summary: Kaoru's tired of being ignored by Kenshin.  Sano's tired of being
ignored by Megumi.  Together Sano and Kaoru hatch an evil, evil plan to get the
attention of their romantic interests.  But what happens when the plan goes awry
leaving a very jealous and confused Kenshin and Megumi ecstatic?

Author's notes: Hey all!  My first Kenshin fic. :D I hope you all like it, but
a few notes first.  Since honorifics don't really translate, I'll be using the
standard Kaoru-dono, Megumi-san, Yahiko-chan and Jou-chan (strangely close to one
of my nicknames: jo-chan!!).  However, even though I know that de gozaru and de
gozaru ka don't translate I'll be using the wonderful, oft hated, "that it is." 
Which comes as close as anything can in English to matching Kenshin's speech
patterns.  I will keep him saying ‘oro' but again I've replaced sessha with ‘this
unworthy one,' it's literal English translation.  Thanks!! And I hope you enjoy
the fic!!

* * ^-^ * *

As she often did, Kaoru watched Kenshin work on the laundry, a wistful look on
her young face.  As much as she loved him, the man had to be the densest person
in all of Japan.  He had lived here, at the dojo with her for how long?  And he
still didn't know how she felt about him.  Kaoru flinched, half of that was her
fault.  She just couldn't work up the courage to say anything to him.  Every time
she tried, she either froze or Yahiko or Sano would come out of nowhere demanding
food and thereby ruining the moment completely.

Kaoru sighed, she wasn't seductive and cunning like Megumi.  In fact she almost
felt stupid when she tried to ‘play the woman.'  She wasn't straight forward or
tactless like Sano, nor was she sweet and a good cook like her friend Tae.  But
nothing she did seemed to work as far as getting Kenshin to notice her.  Kaoru
gritted her teeth, her temper on the rise.  Kenshin could be such an idiot
sometimes.

"Hey ugly!!"  A high-pitched voice called out behind her, "What are you standing
there staring at?"  

Kaoru's face flushed red with anger and she whipped around to face the arrogant
little bastard that spoke.  "Yahiko-chan," she said in a deceptively soft voice,
deliberately adding the chan he hated so much to his name, "Why are you always
saying stuff like that!!"  She finished, picking her shinai up from its resting
place next to her to give Yahiko a well-deserved beating to vent some of her
anger.

She took a hard swing at him, to find that he had moved just out of reach
sticking his tongue out at her childishly, "Don't call me YAHIKO-CHAN, Tanuki!" 
He shouted.


"Mou!" Kaoru exclaimed, and forgetting about watching Kenshin, forgetting some
of her misery chased after Yahiko, screaming half-meant insults at the young boy,
who seemed to enjoy the game every bit as much as she.

* * *

Sano downed another small dish of sake, absolutely miserable.  Nothing, nothing
he did at all seemed to get that stuck-up Megumi to notice him.  Glowering Sano
downed another shot of the liquor.  Most women were flattered to be the object
of his affections.  But no, not fox woman.  All Megumi seemed to be good for was
healing wounds and annoying Jou-chan by pursuing Kenshin.  

He downed yet another shot and pounded his fist against the table causing the
tavern's few sober patrons to jump, shocked.  He had even tried letting people
get close enough in fights to hurt him, giving him an excuse to hobble to that
damned clinic to see that fox woman, and she still didn't get it.

Sano grabbed the sake bottle and scowled when only a drop went into the cup. 
Great.  He was out.  He had spent the last of his money too.  He tried to think
through a lightly intoxicated haze, didn't he keep a jug or ten hidden at Jou-
chan's?  And on the upside, going to the dojo promised some free food.

Standing to his feet he managed a small amount of balance before walking out of
the tavern and toward the Kamiya dojo.  Even if he couldn't find his booze, at
the very least he'd get some free food.  And at least Kenshin's cooking was
edible, unlike his or Jou-chan's.

The whole way there he pondered his unique . . . well okay, not really unique
problem.  After all, Jou-chan was suffering something similar, wasn't she?  After
all, that girl had been trying nonstop to get Kenshin's attention.  That was
another thing that made going to the dojo amusing, Kenshin's seemingly eternal
oblivious state to the younger woman's amazingly huge crush on him.

Sanosuke snickered to himself as he walked through the dojo's front gates, the
all to common sounds of fighting and chaos muffled to his pleasantly drunken
ears.  He heard Jou-chan screaming at Yahiko at the top of her lungs, what had
that little brat done this time?  Yahiko was running in Sano's general direction
laughing loudly.  

Distantly Sano heard Kaoru skid to a stop and shout, "Sano, look out!"

Sano looked up, his reaction slowed by a days worth of drinking and feeling sorry
for himself.  He glanced up just in time to see the bucket before it hit square
in the face, sending him on a one way trip to the ground and unconsciousness.
                                        
* * *

"Stupid, stupid, stupid!"  Kaoru muttered more to herself then the out-cold Sano
laying on the ground.  She came to a complete stop right above him.  Looking
down, she tried to assess his condition: mouth open in shock, eyes spinning, and
one large, pulsing bruise on the head complements of one Kamiya Kaoru.  Yep, he
was definitely out cold.


Yahiko also skidded to a stop next to the knocked-out Sano, "Geeze, Ugly, your
aim's just as bad as your temper!"

Kaoru shot a cold glare at Yahiko, she cared for the brat, she really did, but
sometimes his teasing was uncalled for, "How can you say that right now!  I think
I hit him too hard; Sano needs a doctor!  Why don't you make yourself useful for
once and go get Megumi-san or something."

"Nah," Yahiko said nonchalantly, stretching his arms over his back, "He's been
hit on the head enough times by now that one more isn't gonna make change
anything."  He paused then laughed shortly, "Besides, that was pretty funny."

"You wouldn't be saying that if I had hit you," Kaoru said shortly, trying to
pick up the dead weight of the former mercenary to take him inside, "Could you
at least help me here?"  She finished getting no response.  She looked up to find
Yahiko gone, she heard his voice a moment later, happily shouting.

"Hey Kenshin!! You got to come see this, Kaoru hit Sano on the head with a flying
bucket!  It's hilarious!"

Kaoru registered a distant shocked ‘oro' and sighed.  One day, she would strangle
that brat.  Thankful that she was dressed in her practice clothes instead of a
more formal kimono, she dragged the heavy Sano inside the dojo the best she
could, thinking that he smelled a little bit more like sake than usual.  Oh well,
his being drunk (again) would explain why it was so easy for him to get hit by
the bucket that had been meant for her loud mouthed student, Yahiko.

* * *

Sano opened his eyes slowly, the world around him not quite clear, it was still
an image fuzzy around the edges.  He blinked once.  Twice.  A face leaned overly
close to his, dark hair and curious blue eyes stared at him intently, waiting for
him to do something.

"Whaaa!!" He shouted pushing the body the face was attached to away.

Kaoru fell backwards hitting the floor with a whomp and a gasp as the blow
knocked the air right out of the young woman.  Sanosuke just stared down at her,
unsure of how she had come to be wherever it was that he was until he remembered
that he had been heading toward the dojo.  In fact, he had just been walking
through the gates when . . . when . . . what had happened next?

"Mou, Sano, is that how you say thank you?" Kaoru said, as she sat up again,
shaking herself free from the blow, "I just wanted to make sure you were okay."

Sano flopped back down on the futon, his head throbbing for some reason other
than liquor, "What happened?" He asked, half afraid of the answer.  In this dojo
it could have been anything.

Kaoru blushed, embarrassed and looked down at her hands as she answered, "You,
uh, tripped and hit your head which kind of knocked you out . . . "  She trailed
off, still bright red.


Sano shot Kaoru a half believing look, "I tripped?" He asked, it was obvious that
Jou-chan was lying, the girl was awful at it.

Kaoru nodded silently, then stood up quickly trying to change the subject,
"Kenshin's has started making dinner, you're welcome to join us, if you want to." 
She added, it was obvious she was using the ‘free food' tactic to get him to let
the matter drop.  Sano sat up, and sighed.  Well at least it was Kenshin cooking
and not Kaoru.  He wouldn't eat one of Jou-chan's home cooked meals for all the
sake in Tokyo.

There was a snickering sound form the shouji and Sano looked over to see Yahiko
standing there, trying very hard NOT to laugh, "Tanuki's embarrassed ‘cause she
beaned you with a bucket that she threw at me," Yahiko shrugged a look of extreme
amusement on his face, "It's funny, really, her aim's worse than her temper."

Sano glanced back at Kaoru, who appeared to be shaking with rage.  The hot
tempered young kenjitsu teacher pointed a finger at Yahiko and shouted, "You
didn't have to TELL HIM THAT!!"

"Why not UGLY, it's the truth.  And it was pretty funny.  Especially how you got
him right in the face," Yahiko said, laughing, demonstrating what had happened
by waving his hands in front of his face, like he was going to slap himself.

"In the FACE?!"  Sano said shocked, no wonder he had a headache.  Or on second
thought, it was a wonder it hadn't killed him.  One day Jou-chan would go too
far.  In the face . . . damn!!

Kaoru ran at the young boy, who was able to dodge her easily.  Sano wondered how
much of their banter and fighting was just play.  He wouldn't be surprised if all
of it was faked, he mused that they were more like siblings then a teacher and
student.

No one answered his ‘in the face' and Kaoru ran after the little brat, chasing
him in the general direction of the kitchen. 

Sano shook his head and flopped back on the futon, his head still pounding from
the mornings events combined with his drinking binges.  He sighed, closed eyes
and waited for dinner.


* * *


Kaoru chased Yahiko down the hall and around a corner, only to find him
completely gone when she rounded the bend.  Kaoru sighed, how did he do that? 
He always managed to slip away somehow when they were fighting.  Most likely he
went to visit Tsubame-chan at the Akabeko.  

"Kaoru-dono?" Kaoru turned around to see Kenshin's head sticking out of the door
to the small kitchen.

"Kenshin!"  Kaoru said happily for no real reason, even the sight of his face
lightening her mood.  Smiling she moved closer to the entrance to the small
kitchen, "Can I keep you company, at least until dinner is done?"  She asked,
almost holding her breath.  She loved spending time with Kenshin in any way shape
or form, even if it was in the kitchen.  In a way though, it was fun to just
watch him cook.  She treasured every minute with him.

Kenshin gave her a blank look and blinked a couple times before giving one of his
rurouni-style grins and nodding, "Hai, Kaoru-dono."  

Kaoru grinned to herself as Kenshin walked back into the kitchen, All right! She
thought, another chance!! Smiling she walked into the kitchen after her wandering
Kenshin.  

The making of dinner was obviously already well underway when Kaoru entered the
small room.  Pieces of chopped vegetables lined cutting boards along with small
pieces of tofu mixed in with the pungent aroma of freshly cut fish.  Kaoru loved
the smells of cooking, especially cooking done by Kenshin, left to her, what
promised to be a tasty meal would be nothing more than burnt ash or cold soup
with uncooked components.

Kaoru was brought out of her gentle reprieve by the sound of Kenshin's voice,
"Yahiko told me that you attacked Sano with a bucket today, that he did."

Kaoru winced, reaching for a small piece of carrot on the counter, "He told you
that?  I think I hit him too hard in the head.  I'm kind of worried about him."

Kenshin snickered lightly then said, "Sano's been hit in the head many times
before, that he has.  One more time won't make much difference, that it won't."

Kaoru bit back a laugh that would've made her choke on the small piece of carrot
in her mouth, "That's mean."  She giggled, "But Yahiko said the exact same
thing."

"Did he?"  Kenshin smiled, his attention more on the cooking then on Kaoru, who
snuck another small carrot, popping it into her mouth.  She smiled and made an
affirmative noise, chuckling the whole time.

"Yeah," Kaoru said around a mouth full of stolen snack.  She smiled and looked
at Kenshin, who was glancing at her out of the corner of his violet eyes.

"You shouldn't snack too much, Kaoru-dono, you'll ruin your appetite, that you
will."

Kaoru looked up at Kenshin who looked back at her, his expression gentle and
friendly, his eyes a soft violet.  Tell him stupid!  Kaoru thought to herself,
how could she not seize this opportunity?

Kaoru looked him right in the eyes and held his gaze with her own.  She took a
deep breath to calm her pounding heart, "Kenshin . . . "

He smiled softly, "Hai Karou-dono?" 

"I. . ."

He still smiled.

"I. . ." Tellhimtellhimtellhim!!! Kaoru screamed at herself, her heart beating
faster then any one of Kenshin's Hiten Mitsurugi techniques.

Kenshin still had that clueless grin on his face.

"I. . ." loveyouloveyouloveyouloveyou.  Why couldn't she just say it!  What made
it so hard just to spit it out?

Kaoru closed her eyes; she could feel her cheeks flushing.  Bitting her cheeks,
she opened her mouth to say it one more time.  "I. . ." The door to the kitchen
slid open with a bang.  Sano stood there, just staring in at the two of them. 
Kaoru stared back, her look black with anger.  She had almost said it, for crying
out loud!  Interrupted again!

"Hey Kenshin, Dinner ready yet?"

Kenshin simply smiled, apparently oblivious to the waves of anger and frustration
that rolled off the young woman like a thunder cloud, "Dinner is almost ready,
that it is.  How's your head feeling, Sano?"  

Sano lifted a hand to his head, a little too dramatically for Kaoru's taste, "It
still hurts like hell, but I think I'll live."  He winked at Kaoru, which just
made her fume more, "I might get better faster if Jou-chan there would
apologize."  He finished, smirking.

Kaoru couldn't take it anymore.  Snapping she yelled, "Why should I apologize!? 
You're the one who walked right into it!!  Maybe you should learn to look where
your going when you walk instead of walking around in a drunken haze!"  Kaoru
stormed out of the kitchen, the sound of Sano's laughter grating on her nerves. 
To his credit she didn't hear Kenshin laugh.

For Kaoru, dinner was a tense affair.  She would go between glancing shyly at
Kenshin, who hardly ever returned her looks to glaring at Yahiko, who had some
how magically appeared just in time to be fed, to giving Sano the blackest looks
she had ever shot anyone.  Ever.

Kaoru couldn't even focus on the conversation, what little of it there was. 
Occasionally one of the other three would glance at her, expecting an answer to
this question or a reaction to that comment and she would just mumble.  It seemed
at least her misery was contagious as Sano seemed under a black cloud as well. 
Well, Kaoru thought, serves him right.  That jerk . . .   As always, Kenshin's
mood was undefinable.  The only person who ever knew what Kenshin was thinking
was Kenshin, and Kaoru doubted that was the case sometimes.  And Yahiko was just
loud and annoying . . . as always.

Afterwards Kenshin cleaned the dishes and then went to fold clothing.  Kaoru
would've helped, but it seemed Kenshin had learned rather quickly that having
Kaoru attempt to help with household chores often ended badly.  Kaoru sighed,
Yahiko had disappeared again, leaving his share of the cleaning undone.  Kaoru
picked up the rag and bucket and chucked the rag at Sano, who sat just staring
off at nothing.  

"Hey, what are you doing?"  He asked, miffed, pulling the rag off his face,
staring at Kaoru.

Kaoru didn't answer.  Instead, she threw the bucket at Sano, who, this time,
managed to dodge it.

"What the hell!?"

"Food isn't free you know!  The least you could do is help us around the dojo!"

"Isn't this Yahiko's job?"

"He's not here, so you do it."

Sano glared, "Why can't you do it, Jou-chan?"

"Because," Kaoru stated, "I shouldn't have to." The last was spoken with a logic
that made sense.  At least to Kaoru.  After all, with three free loaders, the
least any of them could do was some cleaning.  Kenshin always did way more than
his share.  Yahiko would do some, take off, do a little more, then pick a fight
with her.  Sano hardly ever lifted a finger that wasn't somehow attached to food
or sake.

Kaoru left a shocked Sano there and went to her room.  After slamming the shouji
door closed she flopped down on the futon.  Kenshin . . .   All she really wanted
was to let him know how she felt about him.  Not even that seemed to go right. 
Kaoru heaved a deep, long-suffering sigh.  Why did everything have to be so hard?

Kaoru jumped up when she heard a tap on her bedroom's door.  She walked to the
door and slide it open, hopping it was Kenshin.  She put on her best smile and
looked up.  Her grin fell instantly.  Sano stood in the door.

"Can I come in?"  He asked nonchalantly, as if it was a question he posed to
girls every day.

"What?!?" Kaoru nearly shrieked.

"God Jou-chan, quiet down!  It's not what you think, I think I hid one in here."

"Hid what?"  Now Kaoru was just confused.

Sano pushed her aside and walked right on in, leaving Kaoru with her jaw hanging
open staring at him as he looked through the things scattered about her room.

"Hid what?!"  Kaoru demanded, regaining enough composure to walk up right next
to him.  This was her room after all.

Sano made a triumphant noise and held up a drinking gourd, "This.  I knew I hid
one in here."

Kaoru was shocked, stunned beyond anything she had ever been before.  He had
hidden a SAKE gourd in HER BEDROOM!!

"That's sake!  You hid a gourd full of sake in my bedroom?!"

Sano gave her a confused look, like it shouldn't have mattered that he had been
sneaking around her dojo hiding sake in strange places, "What?  Would you rather
I had put it in Yahiko's room?  Or in Kenshin's?  At least in here I knew it
wouldn't be drunk."

Kaoru pushed him angrily, "That's not the point!!!  You were in my room, hiding
liquor!!!!!"

Blank stare, "Yeah, so?"

Kaoru bit back a scream of rage at Sano's total and complete idiocy, "How many
of those things to you have hidden around here?"  She asked, trying very hard to
keep her voice even.

Sano stared upwards, trying very hard to think, "Uhh, I dunno.  Ten I think . .
. hell, it could be more."

Kaoru was shaking with rage.  This compounded with the days events made her want
to pick up her shinai and beat the living daylights out of Sagara Sanosuke, "How
many of them are in here?"  She asked, speaking each word slowly through clenched
teeth.

"Five, I think."

"So, there are four more full gourds of sake hidden somewhere in my bedroom?!"

"Sounds ‘bout right."  Sano said, popping the quark out of the one in his hand,
taking a big swig, "Damn, that's good stuff."

"So, where was I when you decided to hide sake in my bedroom?"

"I dunno."  Sano took another swig then looked at Kaoru, the drunken haze already
returning to his eyes, "I'm surprised you haven't stolen any.  I mean you see
yours everyday."

"My what?" Kaoru asked, every bit as confused as she was angry.  Sano made no
sense when he was sober, and even less sense when drunk.

"You know, your stupid red-haired crush person," Another swig, "It has to be
worse on you, ‘cause you see him everyday."

"How do YOU know what I think about Kenshin!?"  Kaoru shrieked, absolutely
mortified.  It figured that the one person to figure out how she felt about
Kenshin wasn't her rurouni.

Sano snorted, "Oh please.  You'd have to be blind not to notice!"  Sano made
girly gestures with his arms in a bad attempt to imitate Kaoru, "Oh look at me! 
I'm Kamiya Kaoru and I'm totally in love with a guy too stupid to notice it!"

Kaoru tried to punch the drunk mercenary, who dodged it easily, "Oh like you have
it any better, who's yours?"  Kaoru spat out, half-wanting to know, simply
because it never occurred to her that Sano loved anything other than fighting and
sake.

"Why should I tell you?"  Sano said, his tone very much like that of a little
brat.

"You know mine!  Besides, the least you could do for hiding five things of sake
in MY room is tell me yours!"  Kaoru returned.

Sano glared at the floor and muttered something that sounded like a name, but
said it so fast that Kaoru couldn't make it out.

"What?"

He muttered something again, and this time Kaoru thought she could catch the last
syllable of ‘mi'.  

"I can't understand you."

"THAT DAMNED FOX WOMAN!!!"

Oh.  Megumi, huh?  Kaoru thought about it a minute, then, unable to help herself
she burst out laughing.

"What's so damned funny?!"  Sano shouted as Kaoru collapsed to the floor in fits
of laughter.

"You . . . and Megumi-san," Kaoru gasped out between fits of laughing.  Right now
she didn't feel the slightest bit of pity for Sano.  She did feel a little sorry
for Megumi-san however, "Poor Megumi-san."

"Poor Megumi?!"  Sano shouted, taking another swig, "What about poor Kenshin? 
I'd feel sorry for anyone with a woman like you after them!"

Kaoru stopped laughing.  Lashing out, she kicked Sano in the shins, brining him
down to the floor next to her, "What is THAT supposed to mean!  At least you can
get Megumi to pay attention to you!  You're always over at that clinic!!"

Sano swore, "Yeah sure, she pays attention to me.  After I get the shit beat out
of me, she dresses my wounds and tells me not to be so fucking stupid!  That's
a lot better then with you and Kenshin!"

Kaoru stared.  All of a sudden it wasn't ‘poor Megumi-san' anymore, "Poor Sano
. . . "  She thought aloud.  Sano looked up at her, his face flushed from sake
and shouting, his expression confused.

"When did it become ‘poor Sano'?" He asked.

"Oh please.  Can't I feel sorry for someone in the same situation as me?  Even
if it is you," Kaoru said, shaking her head, then she sighed, "I think I'd do
just about anything to get Kenshin to pay attention to me.  At least you have a
way to get Megumi to touch you.  Even if it is only dressing wounds then calling
you an idiot."

Sano regarded Kaoru with a sympathetic expression.  Kaoru looked at him confused,
then Sano stretched out his arm, offering her the sake.  Sighing she took the
gourd and took a swig of the liquor inside.  It warmed her almost instantly,
fuzzing her thoughts in a not altogether unpleasant way.  She handed it back to
Sano, who took another swig then repeated the processes.  They drank, the two of
them emoting about their various problems with their significant others.

One jug disappeared, then he found the second, then the third and fourth.  The
sake seemed to do something to Kaoru allowing her to open up.  Indeed she had
never been this open or honest with anyone, not even when her father had been
alive.  Kaoru squinted at Sano, for some reason her vision was all fuzzy and she
felt strange.

"You know," Kaoru started, "You're really UGLY, Sano."  She said, not even aware
that she was speaking out loud, "But at least you've got other girls who want to
be with you . . . you could try making Megumi jealous or something," Kaoru paused
and hiccuped, then giggled.

"Sometimes," She started, "I wish I could do something like that with Kenshin. 
Hang all over some other guy until Kenshin got really jealous or something.  But
I couldn't hurt someone else like that,"  Kaoru jumped when Sano clapped his
hands together loudly.

"That's it!!"  Sano exclaimed loudly, scaring Kaoru half to death.

"What's it?" She asked, her words slurred.

"You could hang all over me to make Kenshin jealous!"

Kaoru squinted at Sano, grabbing the sake from him and taking another swig, "Why
would I want to do a thing like that?"

Sano rolled his eyes and snorted, violently taking the jug away from Kaoru,
"Because once Kenshin's jealous he'll be all over you.  And Megumi will be all
over me when she's jealous.  And it's not like I find you attractive or anything,
your face is always red from screaming at people and you throw stuff at me.  All
the time."

Kaoru tried to jump up, only to fall backwards on her futon, giggling insanely,
in that moment she could've kissed Sano, but her body didn't seem to want to do
anything she told it to, "Sano, do you think it will work?" 

"It will!  Kenshin will be all over you in no time, and Megumi will be all over
me once she finds out what's she missing.  Especially if she thinks I like you," 
He snorted out the last word to show what he thought of the idea of him liking
Kaoru.

Kaoru giggled some more and Sano mused her hair in a big brotherly type gesture. 
Her mind was full of images of her and Kenshin together, the plan a perfect
success.  She felt light headed and giddy and the colors in the room began to
spin.  Kaoru tried to sit up once more only to fall backwards, passed out cold
from a mixture of exhaustion and liquor.

* * *

Sano looked down at Kaoru and laughed lightly.  The young girl had obviously
never drank that much before, she had already passed out.  He took a big swig
from the jug, finishing off the last of the sake, congratulating himself on his
awesome plan for snagging Megumi for himself and trapping Kenshin for Jou-chan.

Sano tried to get up to walk away, but he must have drunk more than he thought,
because his legs weren't moving right and trying to stand made his stomach lurch. 
He needed somewhere to sleep it off.  He tried to think through a drunken haze
when an idea came to him.  He and jou-chan were going to pretend to be interested
in each other, right?  Then it shouldn't matter if he spent a night in her room. 
It wasn't like he wanted to sleep with her or anything.  After all, it was Jou-
chan.

Sano flopped down on the futon next to the passed out Kaoru and smiled to
himself, certain that their plan was foolproof.  Sleep overcame him quickly and
dreams of Megumi throwing herself all over him danced through his head.

* * *

Kaoru's first welcome back to the world of the living came in the form of a
pounding headache unlike anything she had ever felt before.  She groaned.  What
the hell had she done last night to make her feel like she had been practicing
for a year straight?  Her body letting out a moan of protest she rolled over on
her futon, only to bump into something hard and warm.

Kaoru's eyes shot open and she found herself staring at a bare chest.  A bare
chest that wasn't Kenshin's.  She looked up, half afraid to see the face attached
to the body.  When she saw who it was, she screamed.

* * ^-~* *