Disclaimer: Yada yada yada. I do not own Rurouni Kenshin. I’m only borrowing it for a while (I hope I remember to return it to it’s owner when I am done... Or else it will have the same fate as all those books I borrowed a while ago). Sano’s Plan "Why are we leaving?" Sano asked after ten minutes of walk. "I don’t know why you are leaving." Kenshin answered, without even looking at him. "All I do know is that you can’t leave Jou-chan... It would break her heart!" "Kaoru-dono won’t mind if I leave. I think it’s best to go now and save her the trouble of asking me to leave." ‘Man! This is going to be a hard fight, but I can’t afford to loose.’ Sano thought, clenching his fist. He didn’t want Kenshin to know he knew everything. "What did you do to her? Did you hurt her?" "Sessha would never hurt Kaoru and would never allow anyone to hurt her." "That bring us back to where we started... So we are leaving because...?" "I just want Kaoru-dono to be happy." Sano punched Kenshin, knocking him down. "You are full of bullshit! You say you want Jou-chan to be happy and you know that what you’re doing is going to break her down! You are a scumbag!" Kenshin got up silently, dusted off his clothes and kept walking. *** Kaoru touched the fabric of her new kimono. Tae had helped her picking a light blue kimono, with a pattern of falling sakura petals. "Blue is the color for you" Tae had said. "It brings out your eyes." Kaoru had to agree that her new kimono was very beautiful. She combed her hair carefully. She knew she hadn’t completely forgiven Kenshin yet, but still... There was the urge of seeing him again. She just had to see him. She put away her comb, for she knew dinner should be ready by then. When Kaoru got to the kitchen, she found a rather unusual sight: Yahiko was cooking dinner. Kaoru had to blink a couple of times to make sure what she saw as indeed what she had seen. "Where is Kenshin?" Kaoru just had the feeling something wasn’t right. "He left." Yahiko said, emotionless. "KENSHIN LEFT?!?!?!?!" Kaoru ran to the rurouni’s room and found it empty. She was about to burst into tears when Yahiko, who had followed her, said: "He left with Sano a while ago. I guess they’ll be gone for a while, because Kenshin asked me to finish dinner." Kaoru sighed in relief. They just had went out... There was no one really leaving. Then the oddness of the situation stroke her. "Since when you can cook, Yahiko?" "What? I learned a few things helping at Akabeko..." *** ‘Kaoru-dono is better off without a former hitokiri living under her roof.’ ‘You are probably right.’ ‘She is always in danger when I’m around. There is always someone trying to use her to get to Battousai.’ ‘So... Everybody already knows she is your weakness. Why did you stay there at the first place?’ ‘I was sick of wandering.’ ‘Lame excuse.’ ‘Yeah, I know. But what is the truth?’ ‘Figure out by yourself.’ ‘You are not helping!’ ‘Maybe it’s because I am you... You are talking to yourself, baka!’ ‘Then I guess I’ll ask Sano. He is been quiet for quite a while.’ "Ano... Sano, do you think Kaoru-dono is going to be sad when she finds out I left?" Kenshin asked. "Damn right she will." "Do you think my stay at the dojo endangers Kaoru’s life?" Kenshin still kept trying to make conversation. "Damn right it does." ‘I knew it!’ Some part of Kenshin’s mind jumped to the conclusion. "But you should have thought of that before you decided to stay there to begin with. Now she is in more danger without you than with you." Sano added. "I am not sure I’m going to believe it." "But if you are worried about her safety, you should go back now. After all, she is alone with the kid. I know he tries hard, but he’ll never be able to protect her." Sano shook his head. "Are you going to say no one can protect Kaoru like I do?" "No. You already said it. By the way... Why did you leave?" "That’s between Kaoru-dono and me." Kenshin said, avoiding Sano’s gaze. "Ooh... So there IS something going on between you two." *** Kaoru was concerned when Kenshin hadn’t come back to dinner, but since he was with Sano, she guessed there would be no problem. Sano would never allow Kenshin to leave without saying a word. Having that on her mind, Kaoru finally tasted her food. As she chewed, her eyes popped wide open and a smile crossed her lips. "What are you smiling about, busu?" Yahiko asked. "I thought I was a bad cook... But comparing to you..." Kaoru fought hard to not laugh. "You are lying! I can’t cook THAT bad!" Yahiko said, finally tasting his own food. He fought to keep his face straight as he kept eating. He ate all of it, while Kaoru watched him carefully. ‘Mou! He is going to have a stomachache just to prove me his food is edible!" Kaoru smiled to herself. *** ‘Oro! He knows!’ ‘He doesn’t know! He’s bluffing! Just play it cool.’ ‘I really should stop talking to myself...’ "There is nothing happening between Kaoru-dono and me, nothing at all." Kenshin said, trying to study Sano’s reactions. ‘He definitely knows it!’ ‘Yeah, right... Like chicken head would pay attention to anything outside his little world.’ "Do you think I am dumb? It’s so obvious!" Sano snapped. ‘He knows!!!!’ "Even if that was truth, what should I do about it?" "Tell her you love her, you damn fool! Tell her before some fresh meat shows up and take her away!" Sano was so loud that Kenshin was afraid people would hear him all the way to Kyoto. "But that would really be the best for Kaoru-dono, wouldn’t it?" "Stop acting like you have a pineapple for a brain!" Sano grabbed Kenshin by his collar. "Oro!" And Sano threw Kenshin at a wall. "There is no way someone will show up and take better care of her than you do! Besides... Are you going to just sit and watch if that ever happened?" Just the thought of Kaoru in love with someone else made Kenshin feel sick. "But I left... There is no way she will ever take me back now." "Jou-chan is not that smart! She probably didn’t notice it yet." Far away, Kaoru sneezed. ‘Someone must be talking about me. I hope it’s Kenshin.’ "But how am I suppose to tell her... To tell her..." "That you love her? It’s very easy. I’m an expert at that. I tell a woman that I love her at least once a week. Of course, I never see them again, but that is not the point!" Kenshin just looked at him, with a puzzled look on his face. "Don’t tell me you never told a woman that... Not once?" "The last time I was in love it was over ten years ago..." "You are nearly thirty and you don’t know how to confess your love?? Your undying love for Kaoru..." "You HAVE to help me Sano!!!" Kenshin had a panicked look on his face. ‘We are doomed...’ Sano shook his head. ‘Unless...’ "Kenshin, why don’t we go over to my place and talk more about this?" ‘It’s a good thing I always keep sake at home for emergencies.’ Sano thought patting Kenshin’s back. *** "You are my best friend. *hiccup* No one understands me like you do." Kenshin said, grabbing a bottle of sake. "You are my best friend too. My bestest friend in _the_whole_wide_world." Sano said, trying to get the sake bottle away from Kenshin. "Sano *hiccup* I wasn’t talking to you. I was talking to my pretty, pretty, pretty sake..." "I wasn’t talking to you neither... And the sake is MINE!" Sano took the bottle from Kenshin. "Did you miss daddy, beautiful?" "Weren’t we suppose to be talking about *hiccup* Kaoru-chan?" "Wow! Wow! Wow! This sake is pretty good stuff! Kaoru-CHAN? That’s sooo lovely!" Sano started sniffing. "And I was lying before... You really are my best friend... You and the sake tied at number one." "..." "You were suppose to say I’m your best friend too." "..." "Kenshin?" Sano glared at Kenshin. "Sorry... The sake is still my best friend. With you a distant second... I mean, third. My sakabattou is definitely number two." "Whatever. I would help you with Kaoru-CHAN, but I guess you don’t need my help!" Sano got grumpy. "I was joking! *hiccup* Please help me!" "Okay, just because you are my best friend... Now pay attention!" *** Kaoru woke up with a loud cry. "KAORU-DONO!!!" ‘Huh? Who is that?’ Kaoru asked herself, unsure if she was awake or still dreaming. She got up, drowsy, and made her way to the front yard. "KAORU-DOOOOOOONOOOOOO!!!" Definitely Kenshin’s voice. But why did it sound so weird? "Where are you? KAORU-DOOOOOOOOOONNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOO???" "Shut up, Kenshin! You are going to wake Yahiko! I’m here. It’s late. Why are you shouting?" "Kaoru-dono!!!!!!!!! You are here!!!!!! I’m soooo happyyyyyy!" Kenshin looked like he was about to cry. He ran towards Kaoru, his arms wide open, until he finally tripped on his own legs, falling on the floor. "What is going on here?" Kaoru asked herself, as she kneeled next to Kenshin. "Are you ok, Kenshin?" She turned Kenshin over. "Kaoru-dono... I came back because I have something to tell you." Kenshin said. "Kenshin? Why is your nose redder than Rudolph’s on a Christmas Eve? And what’s this smell? Sake?" Kaoru asked. "Sessha only drank a little, right, Sano?" Kaoru got up. "What happened, Sanosuke?" Kaoru yelled. "I never knew Battousai was such a weak drinker..." Sano laughed, wobbling to where she was. He was as high as Kenshin was. "Mou! You are just like kids! I’ll beat you up!" "Did you hear that, Kenshin?!?! Jou-chan is going to spank you!" Sano said, at the top of his lungs. "Oro!" "WHAT? Wait until I get my hands on you!" Kaoru shouted. "WOW! Jou-chan! I had no idea you were this... Naughty!" Sano had a surprised look on his face. "Oh! Shut up! You... You... Rooster head! What were you thinking? Why did you get Kenshin drunk?" "I thought Kenshin needed some encouragement. *hiccup* You know, it had worked before... You REALLY know it." Sano was having trouble standing up. "Mou! And you, Kenshin? What were you thinking?" Silence. "Kenshin?" Silence again. Kenshin had passed out. "LOOK WHAT YOU DID, SANO!" "Me? It was you and all that sex talk you were doing before! You must have scared him to death!" "What if... Kenshin turns into an alcoholic?" "Relax, Jou-chan... He is not going to turn into an alcoholic just for a little drinking..." "Then you will get Kenshin to his room." Kaoru said. Sano picked up Kenshin and went wobbling and banging into every wall of the way. When they finally reached Kenshin’s room, Sano fell over Kenshin. Kaoru would motion him to move, but she realized he had fallen asleep. "Oh, well... I guess I will just leave the two of you alone." ===================== You honestly didn’t think I would make Sano the hero here, right? I think he means well, but the outcome is always disaster. Okay, this was fun to write. I kept laughing and laughing on the street while imagining the scene. Someone actually asked me why I was laughing. I really felt like I was crazy! I guess drunk people are funny to write. I hope this one was funnier than the last one. Thanks to everybody who reviewed it so far. Obrigada também às duas pessoas que mandaram o review em português. Eu responderia separadamente a vocês, mas eu estou sem internet até o dia 2 de janeiro, então eu realmente não consigo lembrar quem foi que escreveu o que. Abraços. Bye everybody. Stay tuned for the next chapter. No drunks, I promise. Hehehehe I wouldn’t want my dear Kenshin to become an alcoholic. (Can you imagine a drunk Kenshin fighting an enemy? It wouldn’t work!