Kaoru gazed over her burnt dinner. Somehow she knew that the others were enjoying some good food at the festival. 'Why am I so stubborn. I should have just gone with them... now I'm alone.'
Pouring herself some sake, she turned out the door, which was slid open. The night was beautiful and so romantic. She felt sure that Kenshin and Megumi were having a good time together.
'Demo... it's his choice to be with her. I can't do anything about it.' she thought, though her face began to get angry, 'Still! After all we've been through, he should know how I feel about him!!'
"MOU!!" she grumbled, now drinking out of the bottle, "When he gets home, I'm going to give him a big punch!!"
She found the bottom of the bottle soon enough. Sighing, she threw it aside, and gazed back down at her dinner. 'What am I saying? What if he doesn't come back? What if Kenshin realizes that he'd rather... no...'
Kaoru got up and sat outside, hugging her knees, frowning at the night sky, "Kenshin..."
* * *
It took four fried fish and eight sticks of meatballs to satisfy Sanosuke’s appetite. As he and Shena walked through the crowds, they looked for a place where they could sit and rest their stomachs. “Aa, I’m having the best time of my life!” he chimed, as they took a seat in the grass, “How about you?”
“I’m enjoying your company. But I have to admit, I’ve never eaten so much before. I’m afraid I might burst or something.” she laughed.
“You know, you look cute when you smile.”
Shena acted as though she didn’t hear his last line, her attention brought to a couple passing them. “Isn’t that her?” she asked, pointing towards them. Sanosuke didn’t even have the chance to look because she had already started calling out to them. “Ano… Takani-san! Over here! Kochi kochi!!”
Both Megumi and Kenshin turned towards them. “Who’s that girl with Tori Atama?”
“Hah? Wakaranai de gozaru.” Kenshin uttered with a shrug. Slowly, they walked over towards them.
Shena got up and bowed her head. “You must be Takani-sensei. Sano-san has been telling all about you.”
“I have?” Sanosuke uttered, scratching his head.
Shena simply folded her arms behind her back and grinned. “You’re really amazing to be such a young and female doctor in this era. I’m just as impressed as Sano-san was.”
Megumi blinked. “Oh… a-arigatou.” She rubbed her head wearily and looked over to Sanosuke, “What a sweet girl you’ve met, Sanosuke. But you haven’t introduced us properly.”
”Eh? Well, her name is Fujimura Shena... Shena, that’s Megumi as you know.” he stammered, moving aside so the girls could chat amongst themselves. “So, Kenshin, how’s it going? The Fox dragging you up and down the streets?”
“Aa. Megumi-dono is very excited about the festival de gozaru.”
“And you aren’t? Does it have something to do with Jou-chan?”
“Sessha doesn’t know if it was okay to leave Kaoru-dono alone. She was acting really strangely. Do you think she’s still upset over last year’s Tanabata de gozaru ka?”
Kenshin frowned, remembering the terrible misunderstanding of him proposing and asking for the ring back even after learning that it was Tanabata. He sighed and took out his wallet.
“Sessha should have gotten her present… demo sessha hasn’t any money and it would be wrong to use her money to buy her own present de gozaru.”
Sanosuke shook his head. “I don’t think that’s it at all. Jou-chan isn’t the type to hold a grudge, you know that. The whole incident is passed and forgotten.” He tapped his finger on his friend’s head. “I think it’s because you’re on a date with Megumi.”
The rurouni went pale. “D-De-to de gozaru??”
Sanosuke looked him over, “What the hell did you think this was? It IS just the two of you and it IS Tanabata after all.”
“Of course it’s all about that!!” Tae suddenly appeared, dragging Tsunan with her, “You know, Kaoru-chan was very upset about that! You two-timer! I’ll never forgive you, Ken-han!!”
”Oi Katsu,” Sanosuke noted to his buddy, “What’s going on? Couldn’t pay your bill at the Akebeko so you’re on a date with Tae?”
Before Tsunan could object, Tae pointed at Sanosuke. “And you! Why didn’t you do anything to prevent this, Sano-han! After all – aren’t you and Takani-han…”
At this, Megumi broke away from Shena and rushed over, yelling, “That is a lie! There is nothing going on with me and that Tori Atama!!”
Tae crossed her arms and turned away. “Whatever you say, Homewrecker.”
“What did you call me?!”
Shena tugged at Sanosuke’s arm. “Let’s get out of here. It’s really getting ugly, and I’m afraid it’s about to get worse. Saa…” As the two retreated, Tae and Megumi got into a catfight.
“Oro… maa maa, please calm down de gozaru yo!” Kenshin cried, only to be pulled into the brawl. “ORORORORO!!!” he yelped as claws and heavy purses made contact with his head. He collapsed on the ground, eyes white.
“Aa, perfect!” Tsunan said, kneeling down and sketching the disabled rurouni.
* * *
Yahiko and Tsubame were walking hand and hand down the street, stopping at the various booths. “I’m having so much fun.” Tsubame uttered, blushing as Yahiko gnawed on a fried fish on a stick, “Arigatou, Yahiko-kun.”
“Iya! It’s been my pleasure!” he replied, rubbing the back of his head, “I’m just glad you agreed to come with me! I mean, I thought you’d say ‘no’…”
“Of course I wouldn’t have said ‘no’!” she cried, blushing harder. She stopped as she felt Yahiko’s hand tighten on hers, “I’m glad too…”
The dokidoki moment was halted by a loud girl advertising her booth. “Step right up! Do you have one it takes to make this magic carpet rise up to the mark?!” the teenager chimed, standing on the table, “If you and your partner do, then the prize is this authentic katana passed down a long line of samurai heroes!!”
“Wow! What a cool sword!” Yahiko uttered. He paused to watch a couple go over and pay to try. They each held a piece of wood that was attached to some wires, leading up to the dirty old carpet. The carpet lifted off the ground a bit. “Masaka! How’d they do that?!”
But it wasn’t enough to reach the mark. “Better luck next time!” the salegirl said, “Perhaps you’d might want to try later with a different partner! The secret lies in the strength in your heart…”
Tsubame turned to Yahiko, “Would you like to give it a try. I mean, the sword is perfect for you, Yahiko-kun. And I’ll do my best… I mean, I’m not really strong, but I’ll really try!”
“Yosshi! With you helping me, I’m sure we’ll win!” Yahiko replied, as they took their place in line.
In the booth, Lili was counting her money. “Oh this is soooo great!! Look at all this cash!! I can finally afford that trip to America!! Ohohohohohoho!!”
“Ano… Nee-chan,” Mimi uttered, climbing down from the table, “Didn’t Kimi-san tell us to find that person… why are we doing this? We’re gonna get in trouble.”
”Daijoubu!” Lili replied, waving her hand as she put away the rest of the money in a bag, “We’re doing exactly as we’re told. The person we’re looking for has a great spirit and will surely be the one who lifts the carpet up to the mark.”
Mimi nodded. “Wakkata! I get it now! So that’s why you had me build that machine…” She paused. “Demo ne, why’d you have them do it as partners. How will we know which is the one if there’s two…?”
”Daite!” Lili sighed, getting tired of explaining herself, “The person will only show their true strength if they’re with someone they care about… also we’re capable of being able to point out the person with this talisman Shena-san gave us. Once we target the person, we can instantly get them to go with us…”
”Sou ka!” Mimi cried, “It’s all making sense! Saa, I’m going to keep the line going.” Surely enough the next person in line were Yahiko and Tsubame. “Eh? Kids?”
“I AM NOT A KID!!!”
”Calm down, Yahiko-kun…”
With that, the two took hold of the bars. Tsubame looked over to Yahiko, who was intent on getting the sword. ‘I want you to have it too. For you, I’ll do my best!’ She turned back to see the carpet rising. And rising. ‘Sou na…!’ It rose way over the mark and was floating over their heads.
“Looks like we have a winner.” Lili noted with a grin. “And as promised… here’s the katana...!”
Before she could hand it over to Yahiko, they stopped to hear whistles. A cop was running down the street. “There you are, you brats!! Give me back my sword!!!!!”
“Ehehehe, gomen ne!” Lili said, dropping the sword and dragging Mimi with her; the cop and crowd of people chasing after them.
“A bunch of scam-artists…” Yahiko mumbled, looking towards them, then to the ground. “At least they dropped our money. No harm no foul.” he said, putting it away in his sleeve, “Ne, Tsubame…?” But there wasn’t an answer. “Tsubame??”
Her face was pale, her eyes cold and pupiless. It was a blank stare into nothingness.