End of A Weary Day--Formating Revised 12/21

A/N: This chapter has been revamped a little bit. I got to reading it, and there were a few things in it that did not work. I apologize to those who have already read it for the not-so-good word. Tsuki-san.

Glossary: Hai=Yes, Ka=Good, Shin-yuu=Friend, Hachimitsu=Honey, Kitsune=Fox, Takuni=Racoon/Dog, Sakobatou=Reverse Blade, Baka=Idiot/Fool, Kuso=Shit/Bullshit, Jou-chan=Young Lady/Missy, Sho-ji=Outer Door, Shimatta=Dammit!, Tenshi=Angels, Engawa=Veranda, Kata=Martial Art Exercise/specific to each style, Saiai=Beloved, Nani=What?, Ne=No, Nanigato=Nothing, Koishii=Dear/Darling, Aijou=Love, Kiobito=Sweetheart,


Chapter Four
Eyes of Green Glass


CRAAASSHH! THHUUUDDD! BBAAANG!

\"GET OUT! OUT!OUT! YOU FILTHY, DISGUSTING, JERK! GET OUT!\" Takani Megumi\'s screams and the sounds of heavy objects being thrown against a wall could be heard clear out into the street. They seemed to be coming from the small room she kept in the back of the Gensai Clinic. Passerby\'s cast curious glances in the general direction of the clinic as the noise level grew and the mellower tones of a male voice could barely be made out beneath the din of raging female curses.

It was not widely known, but it was also not a complete secret that Sagara Sanosuke was attempting to court the moody prema-dona doctor; however, what was becoming better well known was the tremendous difficulties he was running into while doing it. After all, her jealousy and temper were infamous... and he was becoming the brunt of her angry out bursts more often than not, and he was now a more frequent visitor at the Clinic not because of injuries recieved in drunken brawls, but rather wounds inflicted upon his poor person by the love-of-his-life.

There was just one thing he needed to learn when he was around Megumi, how to duck faster, and Sano had just not gotten the hang of it yet. Besides, the girl had a dead on eye when it came to throwing things at his head. He would swear on Buddha\'s head that he had suffered more black-eyes and concussions in the last three months while trying to soften up this girl\'s heart than he had gotten in the last three years. It just did not seem to matter what he did or said, it was wrong, and she would be right in his face telling him so, but Sano was not giving up on her... yet. Not yet. Soon, maybe, but not yet.

Right now he was busy trying to duck and dodge her latest jealousy outbreak, and so far, he was successful. She had not connected with any of her projectiles at this point, and he was closing in on her position. Just a few more feet and he would have her. Just a few more...

TWHAAACK!!

\"OOWWWE! Hey, come on, Hachimitsu. Will you listen to me, just this once? Will you please listen? I swear I was not doing anything last night that you think I was... I swear.\" Sano held a hand to his aching head where Megumi had finally connected with a good sized clay pitcher leaving a large bump to swell as proof of her improving aim. \"I just went out for a few drinks... that\'s all... I promise... WHOA!!!\" He ducked quickly as another flying progectile whizzed past his ear and smashed into the wall behind him.

\"Shut-up, you Jack-ass!\" She shouted into his shocked face as she searched for something else to throw. \"I \'heard\' what you were doing last night, and IT was not just having a few drinks. Do you think I am an Idiot??\" Blue eyes snapped with fury as she seized ahold of a bowl full of still steaming freshly cooked beef stew that was hot from the pot.

\"Oh Shit!\" Sano lunged forward and grabbed her by the wrists before she could launch the hot flesh altering liquid into his face. \"Just you hang on a minute, Kitsune.\" He rasped as he struggled with her until she finally relinquished her grip on the bowl. \"I want to know just exactly what you heard and WHO you heard it from. OK? I think I deserve that... At least before you kill me. Geez, Hachimitsu... at least give me a chance to explain before you fry my face, will ya?\"

\"And why should I? You can not stay faithful to me for even one damned night, Sanosuke. One night... What is the matter with you? Is sex so almighty important to you that you would throw away everything we could have just because I have not let you make love to me yet??\" Megumi\'s face suddenly broke into a look of pure sadness and her blue eyes filled with tears. \"Is it??\"

\"Kitsune-Hachimitsu, I don\'t have a clue what you are talking about. I really don\'t.\" He actually had the grace to look completely confused and dismayed about what she was saying to him. \"Will you at least tell me what the in the hell you heard? Please?\"

\"Oh, Why? What good will it do? Just go away, Sano, all right. Just go away. I do not want to talk to you right now...\" She pulled away from him and walked across the room and sat down. Sano watched her with frustration and finally heaved a heavy sigh of defeat while throwing his hands up in the air.

\"Fine. Whatever you want. I am tired of trying to get it through your thick head that I didn\'t do ANYTHING. You let me know when you wan tal talk because I\'m done, Ok? I\'m done trying to do anything here.\"

\"What do you mean, you are \'done\'?\"

\"Just what it sounds like, Kitsune. I AM DONE!\" And he stormed out the door, leaving Megumi setting staring after him with her mouth gapping open in bewildered shock.

\"Sano...\" She stood up and reached out for him, but it was too late, he was already gone slaming the sho-ji behind him with enough force to crack the support pole. \"Oh no,\" Megumi\'s voice broke on the edge of a sob as she realized that she had finally pushed him too far, and he was really gone. Maybe she should have given him the chance to explain himself. Maybe he did have an explanation for what she had heard. Maybe...

Megumi burst into tears.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

\"You just left her there like that?\" Kenshin was looking at his friend with huge violet eyes filled with total disbelief and pity.

\"But she told me to leave, Kenshin? What else was I supposed to do?\" Sano spread his hands out in entreaty.

\"You are supposed to stay and try and talk sense to her, Baka. You never leave a woman in tears, and you NEVER leave her when she tells you too.\"

\"You don\'t?\"

\"No, you do not.\"

\"Why not?\"

\"Because when they tell you to leave, they really mean they want you to stay.\"

\"What??\" Sano looked very confused. \"That makes no sense at all, Kenshin.\"

\"Exactly. That is the first key to understanding women, My Friend. They do not make sense. They always tell you exactly the opposite of what they really want. Once you understand this, many things in your life will work out much easier. That they will.\"

\"Kuso... I hate my life.\" Sano buried his face in his hands and sighed in resignation. \"Why can\'t the Kitsune be more like the jou-chan?\"

\"WHAT DID YOU SAY? ARE YOU INSANE?? You do not want to try and deal with Kaoru, Sano. She would kill you before you even got past the first day of living together. Trust me, stick with Megumi-san. You will live longer.\"

\"Thanks a lot.\" Sano\'s voice was thick with unwelcome sarcasm as he glared at his best friend. \"But that doesn\'t help me out right now, Kenshin. She kept talking about stuff I was supposed to have done last night, and I didn\'t do anything except go our sor some drinks.\"

\"What did she say you did?\"

\"That is the whole problem. She would not tell me what is was I was supposed to have done. All she would say was that \'somebody\' told her a bunch of stuff, and that I was unfaithful to her. Geez, Kenshin,\" Sano\'s large essiessive brown eyes were filled with bewilderment. \"How can I be unfaithful to her when we haven\'t done anything yet? Hell, I don\'t even know if she really gives a shit about me.\"

\"Well, it would seem she has some feelings for you, Sano, or she would not be so upset over whatever it is that you are supposed to have done. Who is this person that she spoke to? Do you know?\"

\"Nope. She wouldn\'t tell me that either. She just kept throwing stuff at me and telling me to \'get out\' because she didn\'t want to talk to me. So I did. What the hell else could I do?\"

\"I think I finally see your dilema, my shin-yuu, and I must say, it is quite the problem. If she will not tell you \'what\' or \'who\', it is going to be very difficult to prove your innocence... If in fact you are innocent.\"

\"WHAT??\" Sano looked into Kenshin\'s shrewd violet gaze in hurt outrage. \"What the hell is THAT supposed to mean?\"

\"Well,\" The serious red-haired swordsman looked at his shocked friend in mock sympathy. \"Do you actually remember what you did last night, Sanosuke?\"

Suddenly Sano\'s face turned pensive and became a very bright red as he blushed in embarrassed dismay. In all the time he had spent argueing with Megumi, and all this time venting with Kenshin, he had not once considered WHAT had actually happened while he was out last night. Now that the question had been posed to him in such a straight forward manner, Sano realized that he could not remember much of anything that had occurred from the time he had left his room last evening and when he had woke up this morning with a banging hangover. As he frantically searched his fuzzy brain for even the smallest memory, the flashing image of bright red lips and brilliant green eyes exploded in front of his worried minds eye. \'Oh no.\'

Kenshin was carefully watching the different expressions as they danced one after the other across Sano\'s face until the last look of complete horror settled and twisted his handsome features into a characature of pain and disbelief. \'I was afraid of that.\' He thought to himself. \"You remember something, ahh, unpleasant?\" He asked carefully.

\"Oh God.\" Sano dropped his face back into his hands. \"It can\'t be. It just can\'t.\" He moaned and shook his head in denial. \"What did I do? I don\'t remember... Kuso! What did I do?\"

\"What exactly DO you remember, Sano?\"

\"A face... A woman\'s face.\"

\"Hmmmm... What did she look like?\"

\"Pretty.\"

\"But of course, Baka. If nothing else, you have always had good taste in women.\" Kenshin snorted in angry frustration at his friends densness. \"Now try to think, Sano. What did she look like? Her actual features. What color were her eyes?\"

\"Green... a really bright green.\"

\"Green, all right. That is a start. How about her hair? What r war was her hair?\" His eyes pierced harshly through Sano\'s troubled ki and the other man finally looked up into that demanding gaze.

\"Brown, I think. Yeah... It was brown, and wavy. Short and wavy.\"

\"Ka, Sano. Keep going. What was she wearing?\"

\"Ummmm...\" He closed his eyes and tried to focus on the blurry image before his minds eye, and slowly the radiant colors of fuscia and yellow started to come back to him. \"A yellow kimono and a really bright pink obi... that\'s right... Short brown wavy hair, green eyes, and a yellow kimono with a pink obi.\" His smile was one of huge relief but it was short lived when he opened his eyes and met the disapproving gaze of his friend. \"Hey, you asked me to try and remember.\"

\"That I did.\" Kenshin sighed in defeated irritation and shook his head at Sano\'s innocent increduality. \"All right, so now we know what she looks like, do you remember her name?\" \'God forbid you ever knew it, My Friend.\'

\"I don\'t think so. That doesn\'t seem to be ringing a bell.\"

\"Tenshi be praised.\" The sarcasm in Kenshin\'s voice brought another heavy blush to Sano\'s face as he fumbled with the tie on his pants in nervous embarrassment. \"I suppose now we need to find out who saw you, and just exactly \'what\' you did... unless you think you can remember the details yourself?\"

\"I..ah... I don\'t think that is going to happen.\"

\"I did not think so.\" Kenshin stood up in one elegant movement and reached down to retrieve his sakobatou from the floor. Placing it in the left side of his belt, he turned a sober face to a still setting Sanosuke. \"Well, there is no time like the presant, shin-yuu. So, I suggest if you do not wish to lose Megumi-san\'s affections completely, you get up off your ass and come with me.\"

\"Wher-where are we going?\" He stuttered as he scrambled to his feet and joined his much too serious friend.

\"Down to the bar, of course.\" Ken tun turned and walked out of the Dojo and made his way to the front gate. \"How else are we going to discover what sort of a Jack-ass you made yourself into last night unless we go back to the \'scene of the crime\'?\"

\"Oh,\" Sano mumbled, \"I guess your right. But, Kenshin?\" He turned a pleading look in his red-haired friends direction.

\"Nani?\" The response was tentative and slightly cold.

\"Yon won\'t tell Megumi everything, will you? I mean, you won\'t tell her about the girl will you?\"

Kenshin stopped so abruptly that Sano nearly walked right over the top of him. \"Sanosuke.\" His voice was low and close to a growl as he spoke. \"If I discover you dishonored Megumi-san\'s affections in any way... I promise I will let you be the first one to tell her.\"

\"You... You will?\" Sano swallowed hard against the lump of anxiety that formed in his throat. He did not like the sound of Kenshin\'s voice or the feeling that there was much more to what he said than the words themselves were implying.

\"Hai, but that will only happen after I exact my own retribution from you for your lack of honor and intelligence.\"

\"Wha-what? What do you mean by that?\" An icy cold finger of apprehension reached out to tickle Sano\'s spine as a feeling of impending dread started to sink into his heart.

\"I will beat the shit out of you before I drag you to the Clinic to apologize to her. Is that quite clear, Shin-yuu?\" The voice was as flinty hard as the stone, and Kenshin\'s eyes were beginning to show a definite tint of gold as he glared into the wide brown eyes of his increasingly nervous friend.

\"Yeah, it\'s clear.\" Another hard swallow, and a pale-faced shakey smile that belied Sano\'s true feelings of deep anxiety.

\"Ka, then let us be on our way. There is much to do. That there is.\"

\"Yeah, right... there\'s a lot to do.\" \'Like try to save my ass.\' Sano thought as he followed the smaller man out into the street and then down towards the seedier part of Tokyo where the Bar\'s and Gambling Houses flourished. \'Kami-sama, if your really up there in Heaven, I\'d really appreciate a hand here.\' Sano had never been religious, and to tell the truth, he did not really believe in all that mumbo-jumbo, but what the hell... at this point cot could not hurt, and God knew, he needed all the help he could get.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

\"And he just left you? Just like that? Without saying anything?\" Kaoru was totally incredulous as she listened to a whimpering Megumi vent about her most recent argument with Sano. In the last three months, since the day Kenshin had thrown Megumi into Sano\'s arms, the couple had been one of the hottest topics inside the walls of the Kamiya Dojo, and that was in no small way due to the fact that Megumi had suddenly decided that Kaoru was the only person she could talk to about Sano\'s stupidity. Today was no exception, and after relaying the details of their most recent interlude, Megumi had an outraged Kaoru on her side.

\"Y-yes, h-he did... h-he just walked out.\" Megumi sniffled loudly and wiped the wetness of her tears away with the back of one of her hands. \"H-he is such an i-insens-sitive b-brute, K-kaoru. I hate h-him.\"

\"I know, Sweetie. I know you do, but how could he do that to you? EEWWWWWW, what a big jerk!\" Kaoru had her arm around Megumi\'s shoulders and she was absently patting her in a show of loyal frienship and comfort, but she was not really paying ation ion to what she was doing and did not notice when her hand accidentally strayed from Megumi\'s shoulders to the back of her head.

\"Kaoru!\"

\"Huh... Oh, Ah, Sorry, Kitsune...\" She smiled apologetically, and tried to rub Megumi\'s head to soften the force of the \'pats\' she had given it, but Megumi threw her hand off roughly and stood up.

\"Stop! I am all right. I just need some time to get my thoughts back in order.\"

\"Of course you do, Sweetie. I understand.\"

\"NO YOU DON\'T!\" She raged. \"Ken-san never did anything like this to you. NEVER! He is the most... honorable and faithful man God ever put on the face of the Earth, and you should be grateful that he loves you, Tanuki.\"

\"I-I am. I am grateful Kenshin loves me, and I know that he is an honorable and faithful man, Megumi. I am sorry... I did not mean to upset you when I said I understood... I was just trying to make you feel bet\"

\"
\"Oh I know it.\" Megumi huffed in self reproach flopflopped back down on the floor beside Kaoru. \"I am sorry. I just do not know what to do about Sano, Kaoru. I really love him, and he is just so... he is so...\"

\"Stupid?\"

\"Kaoru!!!\"

\"I am sorry.\" She giggled unapologetically and soon Megumi was giggling with her despite her emotional upset.

\"I guess he is sort of a big goof, isn\'t he?\"

\"Yes, but that does not mean you cannot still love him, Kitsune.\"

\"I know, it is just that I... well, I just do not trust him, Kaoru.\"

\"Oh,\" Kaoru looked down at her hands and wondered what she could say to that because she had never had that problem with Kenshin. \"Why don\'t you trust him?\"

\"Because he still goes out carousing and drinking all night all of the time, and then after what happened last night...\" Her voice trailed off into sad silence and Megumi\'s eyes stared into space as she remembered everything Tae had told her.

\"Just exactly what did HE do last night, Megumi? And who told you?\"

\"Tae told me.\" Her voice was barely above a whisper as she dropped her eyes and the tears started to fall again. \"Tae saw him and... and she came to the Clinic first thing this morning and told me everything she saw. I-I couldn\'t believe it at first, but Tae would never lie to me... not about Sano. Would she?\" Desperate blue eyes filled with the sheen of unshed tears searched the wide concerned cobalt depths of Kaoru\'s gaze as Megumi reached out for answers to the questions in her troubled heart.

\"No, Megumi. Tae would not lie to you. She had no reason to lie. Tell me what she told you, Kitsune. What did she see Sano doing that was so terrible. You said he was unfaithful, what did you mean by that? Was he with another woman, Sweetie?\"

\"Yes.\" The word was like a bead of agony dropped from Megumi\'s lips. \"She saw him with autifutiful woman wearing a yellow kimono. They were inside the \'Fisher\'s Sea\' Bar, and she was sitting in his lap. Tae said it looked like they were both drunk, but not so drunk that they were not aware of what was going on. She said the woman was hanging all over Sano, and kissing him and fondling him... and he was laughing and holding her around the waist. She said it was disgusting... of course, it was just like the \'old Sanosuke\'... before he started seeing me.\" The tears were flowing unchecked down her smooth pale cheeks now, and all sense of whineing or whimpering was gone. Only the purest feeling of sorrow and betrayal was found in her fine voice as she described what she had been told.

\"Oh Megumi,\" Kaoru leaned over and wrapped both arms around her distraught friend and pulled her close tenderly rocking her back and forth as the sobs started to tear themselves loose from her fragile chest. \"I am so sorry, Kitsune... so sorry.\"

\"H-he kept s-saying he did n-not do anything... h-he kept saying th-that, K-kaoru. W-why did h-he say th-that? W-why? Why? W-when h-he knows what h-he did w-with h-her? Why d-did he s-say th-that to m-me? I-I don\'t underst-stand. I don\'t... I-I don\'t.\" And the sobs finally rose to crush the last of her strength and resolve, and Megumi callapsed in Kaoru\'s arms as the force of her own emotional upheaval over came her.

\"Oh my sweet dear,\" Kaoru whispered as she tenderly stroked the long soft black hair falling over her arm. \"I do not understand either. I do not understand either...\" Her voice broke with emotion as tri tried to comfort and ease the pain in her friends heart, but there was no comfort for pain such as this.

All Kaoru could do was hold Megumi and let her cry.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

For the rest of the afternoon Kenshin and Sanosuke searched the Gambling district for the Green-eyed woman to no avail, and each person they spoke to concerning her description seemed to be clueless. No one was familiar with anyone who resembled Sano\'s mystery woman, and Kenshin was beginning to feel like they were chasing a shadow while Sano was just praying they would find something... Anything, that would lead them to her, but it was as if she had disappeared into thin air. Even the old bar-keep at the \'Fisher\'s Sea\' was sketchy on his memory of her.

\"Come on, Boys. You have got to be kidding me. I see 101 floosies coming in and out of this place every week and you want me to remember a specific one? You\'re crazy. I can\'t even remember what my own Mother looks like let alone half the girls that come in here looking for a trick.\"

\"I understand that, Mr. Lei, but this is a very SPECIAL girl, please, you gotta try and remember.\" Sano leaned over the bar and pleaded with the balding old man the tone of his voice bordering on desperate.

\"Yeah sure, Kid. They\'er ALL special... Gimme a break will ya. If you want to find out who you were with last night, Kid? You need to start keeping better watch on your pecker tracks, you know what I mean.\" And he winked laciviously at the stunned younger man. \'t d\'t drink so much and your memory works better, Sonny. HA HAHAA HA HAHA.\" With that he walked away and went back to washing glasses thus ending a very nonprofitable conversation.

\"Shimatta!\" Sano cursed viciously under his breath.

\"He had good a point, Shin-yuu.\"

\"Yeah, thanks for the hot tip.\" Angry brown eyes looked daggers at the amused Samurai for several seconds before the tall irritated gangster shoved himself away from the bar and stormed out of the dim lit building. Kenshin smiled and chuckled to himself as he followed at a slower pace.

\"It does not look like we are going to find anything out today, that it does not.\" This admission was followed by a deep sigh of regret. \"It is getting late,\" His violet eyes gazed up at the hazy late afternoon sky. \"The Sun will be setting soon. I must return to the Dojo before Kaoru begins to worry.\"

\"I understand.\" Sano looked down at his feet in discouragement. \"Will you come back tomarrow and help me look again?\" He asked quietly.

\"Hai. I will come back.\"

\"Thanks.\"

\"Do not thank me yet, Sanosuke.\" Kenshin\'s voice turned hard again, and Sano looked into an equally hard face. \"I have yet to discover what you have done... You may not want to say \'Thank-you\' by the time we are finished with this.\"

\"Yes, I will.\" He looked down in shame for a moment, and then let his sad brown eyes meet those of the serious swordsman once more. \"If I dishonored what I feel for Megumi, then I deserve everything you do to me and more... I just wish I could remember what happened.\"

\"So do I, shin-yuu. It would save us a lot of time and trouble.\" Kenshin allowed a small smile of understanding to touch his lips, and then he bowed to Sano and bid him good-night before turning and running in the direction of the Dojo... And Kaoru.


It took Kenshin about thirty minutes to make the run home to the Dojo, and the entire way the only thing he could think of was making certain his beloved knew how much HE loved HER. The whole incident with Sanosuke and Megumi had upset him more than he had wanted to admit to himself, but now that he was alone he could no longer deny how it had made him feel. The singlular thought of taking Kaoru into his arms and holding her as close as he could had plagued him from the moment he had left Sano\'s side, and as the gate closed behind him, Kenshin\'s keen senses swiftly searched the Dojo for the unmistakeable energy signiture of his lover. A great sigh of relief escaped him as he \'felt\' her in the direction of the Dojo itself, and he quickly mounted the steps of the engawa and trotted to the doorway. Looking inside he saw her carefully pacing herself through the Kamiya Kassin Ryu Kata with her ever presant bokkon. A smile of pride and appreciative awe curved his full lips as he leaned against the sturdy door frame and watched the gracefullness of her movements as she forced her bto pto perform the complex exercise. \'Beautiful. Perfect. My Angel. My Saiai-Kaoru.\'

\"Saiai-Kaoru.\"

She stopped suddenly and looked up at him in surprise. Kenshin was not even aware he had spoken until she responded to his barely audible whisper of her name. \"Kenshin.\" The smile that lit up her face was glorious and Kaoru laid her bokkon on the floor before running to throw her arms around her beloved\'s neck. He caught her around the waist with both arms and pulled her closely to him as he buried his face against her sweat dampened neck. \"I missed you.\" She whispered into his ear as she presa soa soft sweet kiss into the sensitive spot just behind it.

\"Did you?\" He asked as a warm chuckle rose in his chest and his arms lifted to cross her back and press her more tightly against his heart.

\"Yes.\" Kaoru burrowed her nose and lips into the thickness of his flaming hair as she nuzzled against his warmth and closeness her hands caressing the sinuous muscles of his shoulders as she felt them flex and pull beneath her touch.

\"Mmmmmmm,\" He breathed against the curve of her throat as the tip of his tongue poked out to taste the saltiness of her skin. \"How much did you miss me, Koishii?\"

\"This much,\" She whispered and pulled back from the tantalizing feel of his tongue against her sensitive throat and captured it quickly between her moist lips to suck it sensously into her mouth. Kenshin shuddered against her as liquid heat spread itself outward from his chest and into his arms and legs creating a sensation of burning flames along his hypersensitive skin. Their lips parted, met, and clung together for a long drawn out passionate kiss that left them both breathless, and when they finally pulled away, they pressed their foreheads together as the moistness of their breath mingled between them. \"See,\" Her voice was husky with emotion as one of her hands curved around to stroke the smoothness of his cheek. \"I told you I missed you, Koishii.\"

\"Hai, that you did, Kaoru-Aijou. That you did, My Angel.\" And he reached up to capture that gentle hand and brought it to his lips where he pressed a warm kiss into the cupped palm. Then he tenderly rubbed her knuckles against his face while the brightness of his glowing violet eyes gazed deeply into her emotion filled sapphire orbs. \"I missed you too...\" He whispered as he reached out to slide his hand around the nape of her neck, and as he applied enough gentle pressure to pull her back towards his waiting mouth. \"I missed you so very much, Kaoru.\" And his lips closed over hers as he pulled her into another close passion filled embrace.

Kaoru sensed something different about Kenshin\'s kiss this time. She could feel an almost desperate emotion attached to it, and it touched a chord of concern deep within in which caused her to pull away from him breaking the pleasureable contact. Her face mirrored her confused concern as she searched his handsome features for a clue to his odd behavior. \"Doushita, Kenshin?\"

\"Nani? Everything is fine, Koishii, why do you ask?\"

\"You... Your feelings... you do not \'feel\' fine. What is wrong? I can tell there is something wrong, Kenshin, what is it? Did something happen today?\" She tenderly cupped his face as she looked into his now clouded amethyst eyes.

\"Hai. Something DID happen, but not to me.\" Kenshin looked down, and then moved out of Kaoru\'s arms and walked away. He stopped in front of the small shrine that held her fathers Katana and Wakizashi and stood for a long silent moment before he continued. \"It had to do with Sanosuke and Migumi-dono.\"

\"I know what happened.\" Kaoru\'s voice was soft and very sad as she walked up behind Kenshin and rested her chin on his shoulder. \"Megumi was here today for a couple of hours, and she told me everything. It was terrible. I have never seen her cry that way before.\"

\"She told you EVERYTHING?\"

\"Yes.\"

\"Did she tell you what happened and who told her about it?\"

\"Yes, why do you ask?\"

\"Because she would not tell Sano, and the Baka was too drunk to remember anything, so kept telling her he had done nothing wrong.\"

\"Oh dear... well, that explains a lot.\"

\"It does?\"

\"Yes. Megumi could not understand why he kept denying everything when she had absolute proof he had done something.\"

\"That is why. He cannot remember anything. Well, that is not entirely true.\" Kenshin amended carefully. \"He came to see me after he and Megumi-dono argued, and while we were talking, he did finally remember that there was a woman.\"

\"HE DID?\" Kaoru gasped in shock and cocked her head slightly so she could see Kenshin\'s profile. It was stoney and cold. She could see plainly that he was very upset by this situation, and it was effecting him deeply. \"What did he say about HER?\"

\"He described her as being a pretty woman with green eyes, short wavey brown hair, and wearing a yellow kimono with a pink obi. That is all he can remember. He does not remember her name, and is not certain he ever knew it.\"

\"Oh.\" Kaoru\'s mind slipped backwards in time to her conversation with Megumi, and she started to form a mental image of Sano and the green-eyed woman in her mind. \"What else did he remember?\"

\"Nanigato.\" Kenshin sighed heavily and unconciously shifted his feet. \"So I took him back down to the Gambling district to see if we could rattle his memory a little bit, or find someone who remembered seeing him and the woman, or even find someone who might know of Her.\"

\"Any luck?\"

\"Ne. We found nothing. It is almost like she was a ghost of his imagination. The Bar-Keeper does not even remember her.\" The hand resting on the hilt of his sakobatou figited absently with the leather bindings as Kenshin\'s mind played the details of the afternoons search over again and again searching for a possible clue he might have missed earlier, but he could see nothing out of the ordinary. \"Did she tell you who told her about Sano?\"

\"Yes. It was Tae.\"

\"Tae?\" He jerked to the side slightly and met her clear blue gaze. \"From the Akabeko?\"

\"Yes.\"

\"What on Earth was Tae doing in that part of the City at that late hour last night?\"

Kaoru\'s brow\'s furrowed at that thought and she lifted her chin off Kenshin\'s shoulder as she considered the implications of that one question. \'What HAD Tae been doing in that part of the City at that time of night?\' \"I do not know, but that is a very good question.\"

\"Just exactly WHAT did Tae tell Megumi-dono Sano waing ing with this woman last night, Kaoru? What is it he has suppossedly done that is so terrible that she is refusing to talk to him and is accusing him of being unfaithful? WAS he unfaithful?\" Kenshin\'s eyes were hard and filled with angry confusion as he looked into Kaoru\'s pale face. He was suddenly fed up with this whole matter, and he wanted some answers and he wanted them now. \"What did she tell Megumi-dono?\"

\"She said she saw Sano in the Bar with this woman in his lap.\"

\"Kuso!\"

\"And that she was hanging all over him; kissing him, hugging him, fondling him... you get the picture?\"

\"Hai, what else?\"

\"Well, she said that it did not seem to be bothering Sano in the least, and that he actually seemed to be enjoying it. She said he was holding her around the waist and they were both laughing and having a good time.\"

\"Shimatta!\" He swore violently and his eyes flashed a brilliant amber gold as his thumb unconciously pushed the sakobatou loose from its sheath with an ominous \'click\'.

\"Kenshin!\" Kaoru grabbed his arm and felt the tightly flexed muscles beneath the magenta material of his faded gi as his anger rose to a dangerous level. \"Stop it! We do not know what was going on. I know it sounds bad, and I was ready to believe the worst of Sano too when Megumi was here, but thaes nes not mean it is everything it seemed to be.\" She shook him hard until those angery golden eyes met the fiercness of her blue ones. \"Calm down and let\'s try and think this through rationally... Please?\"

\"What is there to think about, Koishii? Sanosuke WAS unfaithful to Megumi-dono. It does not really matter WHO this woman was or is... Tae would not lie.\"

\"No, she would not, but do you not think we should find out the WHOLE story first? BEFORE you go off and kill your best friend?\"

\"I was not going to kill him, Kaoru. I was just going to beat the living day-lights out of him.\"

\"Kenshin!\" She was agast at the coldness of his tone. \"How could you?\"

\"I promised him already if I found he had dishonored Megumi-dono\'s affections in any way, I was going to beat him, and he agreed it was a fitting punishment. So, you need not have worried.\"

\"Need not have... Oh Kami... Help me.\" She pressed a cool hand to her forehead in exasperation as she approached her angry lover and cupped his stoney face. \"You cannot just go beat the shit out of Sano without knowing the WHOLE truth, Kenshin.\"

For a full minute Kenshin\'s raging amber eyes stared definantly into Kaoru\'s logical blue gaze, and then he looked down and muttered, \"Hai, you are right, Kaoru. I cannot.\" A deep sigh of defeat and frustration lifted his slender but muscular shoulders, and when he met her gaze again, his eyes were once more their usual clear violet. \"I must find the whole truth to this matter before anything else occurs. I must find the truth for Megumi-dono\'s sake... and for my own peace of mind.\"

\"And for Sano\'s sake, Koishii. Don\'t forget Sano. He has a lot at stake here as well.\"

\"Hai, that he does, Saiai-Kaoru, that he does.\" Kenshin let his slight frame slump as he leaned into Kaoru and rested his head in the curve of her shoulder. His hands reached out and grasped her hips pulling her gently back against the hardness of his body as his arms closed around her. \"I need to tell you something...\" His voice was very soft and very quiet as he spoke.

\"What?\" She tenderly began to stroke the thickness of his flaming red hair as the need to comfort him suddenly became very important to her. \"What do you need to tell me, Kiobito?\"

\"I need you to know that I will never be unfaithful to you, and I need you to know how very much I love you. I love you, Kaoru, with all my heart and soul. You are my life and my blood, Saiai. I would be lost without you.\"

\"Oh Kenshin,\" She whispered as tears burned her eyes. \"I know you would never be unfaithful to me, Saiai, and I know how much you love me. Why do you feel like you needed to tell me like this?\"

\"Because... because of what is happening with Sano and Megumi-dono. I do not ever want you to doubt me or my feelings for you.\"

\"I won\'t. I could not. Not after... Not after everything we have been through to get to this place where we are now.\" Kaoru wrapped her arms as tightly around Kenshin as she could and pressed her face against his shoulder. \"I love you too. I hope you know that, and I hope you know I would never be unfaithful either. Do you know that? Kenshin? Do you know that I would NEVER be unfaithful to you?\"

\"Hai, My Angel, I know that.\" He lifted his head and looked tenderly into her tear filled eyes. \"You are all I will ever want or need, My beautiful Kaoru, and I will love you the rest of my life.\"

A beautiful smile crossed Kaoru\'s face as she nodded her head and leaned forward to rub her nose against his. \"Then \'Love\' me now, Kenshin, my beautiful sweet Aman. Love me now.\"

\"I will.\" He whispered and swept her easily into his arms as if she weighed no more than a child. Carrying her from the Dojo, Kenshin ever so carefully made his way to the room they were now sharing and entered.

The evening meal would have to wait for a while, he had other appetites to appease before he thought about cooking food. Besides, the food would keep, Kaoru would not, and as he undid the knot of her obi and opened the front of her kimono, Kenshin finally let his troubled thoughts about Sano and Megumi-dono settle into the back of his mind. He would dwell on the mystery of Sano\'s green-eyed \'lover\' later. \'Much, much later.\' He thought as his mouth closed over an erect pink nipple causing his own lover to moan and bury her hands deeply into his hair. \'I have better things to do with my time right now, anyway.\' And he lowered Kaoru to the futon covering her with his weight. \'Much better things.\' And Sano was completely forgotten as the room became filled with the whimpering cries and moans of loves passionate pleasures.