“Welcome to the Aoiya!” the teenage hostess chimed at the entrance of the newly open hotel, “We’ll take your baggage from here. Please step this way so we can check you in and lead you to your rooms.”
“Yow! That’s a nice view of the ocean!” Sanosuke gasped, leveling his hand over his eyes to block the glare of the sun. He and Kenshin just stopped and gazed out at the water.
“Nee, you two!” Kaoru came up to them, “They’re waiting for us to come inside.”
“Suman, Kaoru-dono.” Kenshin said with a smile. “This is my first time at the ocean de gozaru yo.”
“Honto? That’s…” she started to say. The hostess appeared in her face. “H-hai??”
“Haven’t we met before?” the hostess asked. The two of them stared at each other for a while. All of a sudden, they dropped everything and started hugging. “KAORU-SAN!!!”
“MISAO-CHAN!!!”
Sanosuke muttered, “What in the hell?”
Kaoru explained, “This is Makimachi Misao. We used to live near each other when we were growing up. I’m two years older than her, so it’s kind of like having a little sister.”
“Yeah! I’m soooo happy to see you again, Kaoru-san!” Misao chimed, squeezing her to death; “I was sooooo sad when you moved away.” Kaoru eventually pried her off and brought to her attention the line of people waiting to be helped. “Oh yeah, I’m working! We’ll talk later.”
“I guess we can go to our room.” Kaoru uttered, looking at the key in her hand, “Come on, let’s go. Kenshin?” He was gazing outside still. “Is something wrong?”
“Iya, bezuni! Sessha is coming!” he blurted out. Before going after them, he turned back one last time at the arriving group outside. ‘Why is there so many people from my past here?’
* * *
Kenshin caught up to Sanosuke on the stairs. HIs friend looked very deep in thought. “That weasel girl said ‘room’, not ‘rooms’, right?” he asked, rubbing his chin.
"Oro?"
“Forget it. Let’s take a look.” He opened the door to a large and spacious room filled with sunlight. “Just as I thought. Maa...”
Kaoru came running in from the balcony. “It’s wonderful, isn’t it? Kenshin, you’ve got to see the view!”
Her smile was enough for him to look at, but he couldn't help but feel uneasy. ”Eto, Kaoru-dono… we’ve got a slight problem.”
She gave him a blank look. He just cleared his throat and pointed out that in the center of the room was a king size bed. Everyone then realized it. Sanosuke just shrugged and went to lie down.
“What’s the big deal? Jou-chan, there’s still plenty of room.” he said, patting a pillow. She just gave him a sock to the head. Sanosuke landed on the floor. “Yamero...”
Misao peered her head in from the door. “Something wrong? I just heard a large thud.”
“HAI!!” the three of them exclaimed, pointing at the king sized bed.
Misao replied, “It’s no problem at all! We can just put two extra pull-away sofas. I’ll have someone bring them up right away.” She cheerfully left the room.
“See, there wasn’t so bad.” Kaoru noted, going to sit on the edge of the bed.
Misao poked her head back into the room. “But it’ll cost extra.” Everyone fell over.
* * *
Much later, Kenshin, Sanosuke, and Kaoru were lounging in the outdoor spa. “Even though everything is so expensive in this place, this really is the life!” Sanosuke chimed.
Kenshin sighed, “Oro, I should be studying. At this rate…”
“Kenshin, can’t we just enjoy this?” Kaoru muttered.
“Honto na,” Sanosuke said, suddenly climbing out of the tub and reaching his robe. (His trunks had “BAD” written all over ^_^). “You should really enjoy this.” He winked over at Kenshin then hurried off.
“What was that all about?” Kaoru asked, looking towards Kenshin. He shrugged. The two fell silent. Now that Sanosuke was gone, it was just the two of them. “Ano… K-Kenshin...”
"H-hai, Kaoru-dono...?"
Her eyes fell as she stared at her reflection in the water, "Did you really want to come? I feel bad about taking you away from your studies..."
"Daijoubu. I can always make it up. Demo, I'm happy to be with Kaoru-dono."
She lifted her head to see his warm smile. Her face blushed. "Honto?"
Before he could reply, a voice called out, “Senpai!”
The two turned to see a man with bandages all over his body, in the hot tub next to them. There were two women with him. “S-Shishio?” Kenshin gasped, “I thought you were…!”
“Dead?” Shishio grinned. “Surely if you think that blast would have killed me, you’d be wrong. I just got back from plastic surgery. Really, it’s good seeing you again.”
Kaoru looked back and forth. “Ano... who is this, Kenshin?”
Shishio replied, “I’m his ‘Kohai’. Senpai was the best killer in the business. He’s my role model. It’s a shame that he was hired to kill me once. Don’t worry about it, Senpai! It’s already forgotten!”
“Sou ka…” Kaoru said, “He’s a guy from your past.”
Kenshin noted, “It’s not just Shishio, but some other guys too. I see them everywhere. What is going on?”
“KEN-SAN!” A woman with long black hair was standing behind them in a very revealing swimsuit. “Ken-san, this is a pleasant surprise!”
“Megumi-dono!” Kenshin said cheerfully, “It’s nice to see you again…” He turned to see Kaoru boiling in the water. “Oro?”
“KENSHIN, WHO IS THIS??”
“Takani Megumi. She's a doctor. In fact, she’s the one who checked you out that time when you passed out.” he explained.
Megumi smiled slyly. “Could I join you?” Before they could answer, she climbed in the spa. “So, this is the one you had me check out, huh?” Megumi said, looking Kaoru over, “Well, she certainly fit in that cheap, run-down atmosphere. Ken-san, why didn’t you just move in my condominium?”
Kaoru’s face tensed up. “MOU! At least I’m not walking around looking like some sort of a tramp!” she yelled, smacking Kenshin on the head, “QUIT STARTING AT HER LIKE SOME SORT OF A PERV!”
Megumi put her arms around his neck. “Poor Ken-san…I’m much better than this Raccoon-girl, huh?”
“EXCUSE ME!?”
There was a lot of splashing, and moments later Kenshin and Megumi were sitting outside of the spa. “Hmp, honestly that girl has no manners at all.” Megumi said, “C’mon Ken-san, let her sulk.”
She dragged the swirly-eyed Ronin away by the arm. “Orororororo.”
Shishio chuckled, “My Senpai’s pretty popular!”
“So are you, Shisho-sama!” Yumi cried, clinging to his arm.
“Back off! Shishio-sama is MINE!” Kamatari yelled, splashing water at her.
“Shut up! You’re not even a woman!”
“SO!? You copied my swimsuit!”
Shishio sighed and covered his head. “Calm down, please. There's plenty of me to go around.”
* * *
Kaoru went into the hotel room and slammed the door. “MOU! That woman!” she growled.
Sanosuke came in from the balcony. “Yow! Jou-chan, what’s with you? Where Kenshin?” Just then, Kenshin ran into the room. He quickly closed the door and locked it. Panting, he collapsed on the bed. “What happened to you?” Sanosuke asked.
“I’ll tell you in a moment. Kaoru-dono, can you hand over a bottle of water?” he uttered. She just turned away and crossed her arms. “Ororo…”
Sanosuke scratched his head. “I definitely missed something. Aa! Did you two have a ‘lovers’ quarrel’?”
“S-Sanosuke!” Kaoru cried, her face all red, “What are you talking about?!”
“You know…” he said, slyly, “Don’t be shy!”
Kenshin blinked his eyes blankly. “Oro?”
“Don’t just ‘Oro’! Back me up here, Kenshin!” Kaoru exclaimed.
There was a knock on the door. “Please excuse me!” an energetic voice on the other side chimed.
“Err, come in!” Kaoru said, holding both Kenshin and Sanosuke in a headlock, “No, wait, it’s locked…”
“Daijoubu! I have a key!” The door flew open and Misao came in pushing a cart full of food. “Room service!”
“Yeah! Food!” Sanosuke exclaimed, flying over to the cart and eating, “Mm! This is so good!”
Misao grinned. “Eat all you want! After all, this is the special service we give to our most honored guests! By the way, are enjoying yourselves?”
“Hai.” Kaoru replied, “But we were wondering why is there were a lot of fighters and gun-men staying at the hotel?”
“That’s only because our grand opening is presenting a “World’s Strongest" convention.” Misao explained, “It was all Aoshi-sama’s idea! Aoshi-sama is the coolest guy to come from Kyoto and he’s also the best fighter around. Well, that’s I what I think, anyway. But it’s the truth! Aaah, Aoshi-sama~!”
Kenshin’s eyes widened. “Shinomori…Aoshi…”
Misao gasped, “You know Aoshi-sama? Are you an old friend of his?”
He just scratched his head. “Not exactly, we were old classmates in school. That’s about it.”
“Still, you knew from back then! Wasn’t he cool?” she cried, leaping in his face. He just gave her a blank look. “Aoshi-sama is soooo awesome~! Ever since he came to help Jiya with the hotel, I just started idolizing him! I’ve never seen smile though… but someday, I’ll unseal his smile~!” she chimed. “Ne, he’s here if you want to see him?”
“Not really.” he replied, “We never got along.”
“Ne?” Misao looked curious. “Why is that?”
Kenshin didn’t say and headed for the cart of food. Everyone exchanged looks. Sanosuke whispered, “There’s stuff about his past that even I don’t know.”
“Hm? A mysterious guy, huh?” Misao whispered back.
Kaoru noted, “We should deal with it later. It’s best if we all just get some sleep.”
“Hold on, Jou-chan,” Sanosuke said, “I’m too big for one of those sofa beds.”
She shot a glare at him. “SO?”
“C’mon, Jou-chan! Have a heart!”
“Quit your whining and be a man!”
* * *
Kenshin sat on the beach, facing the ocean. It was still dark out, but nearing sunrise. His sadden gaze was interrupted by a voice from behind. “There you are, Kenshin.”
He turned around. “Kaoru-dono? What are you doing up?”
“Nature called.” she replied. She turned red and smacked him. “Don’t make me say it!” Calming down, she sat down next to him. “What about you? You’re still up. Is something wrong?”
“It’s just… Sessha keeps thinking about the past. Just by seeing all these people, seeing Shishio again…that time keeps coming back into my mind; that time when I killed and hurt a lot of people. Those victims… their faces…”
“Kenshin…” Kaoru uttered, “It’s hard, isn’t it? Forgetting those memories. Sometimes, I’m not sure if remembering the past is such a good thing. It just keeps pulling you backwards.”
“Kaoru-dono, do you have bad memories you want to forget about?”
“No, good memories,” she said, “That’s why I left town after my dad died. It was just too hard staying in a place that was full of memories.”
“But, good memories should make you happy.” he replied.
They stopped for a moment and saw the sun rising. “So beautiful…” Kaoru uttered. She looked up in surprise as Kenshin put his hand on her shoulder. “…Huh?”
“Surely you won’t look back on this memory and become sad?”
She sighed, “To tell you the truth, I’m not sure. But, one thing is for sure, I’ll treasure it now.”
Kenshin smiled. “Sessha mo.”
* * *
When they got back to the room, Sanosuke eyed them suspiciously. “I see what’s going on… Kenshin, you sly devil.”
Kenshin was oblivious. “Oro?”
Embarrassed, Kaoru exclaimed, “S-SANOSUKE!!”
Sanosuke started running, dodging her fists. “I’m just teasing! Get a grip, Jou-chan!”
Kenshin laughed. “Mah, this will make a good memory too.”