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Disclaimer: Wow, I'm really getting tired of writing these. Don't own RK. Yeah.

Wow, six chapters already...this is a new record for me :) Thank you so much for all the great reviews, I'll try to get as much of this story written as possible before I have to go back to teaching in a couple weeks (when all my time to write will suddenly go *poof*), but I honestly can't say how long this fic will be...theoretically I could go on forever with interactions among the Kenshin-gumi alone. I do know where this fic is going, it's just a matter of getting there ^_^ Btw, lots of references to the plot of "An Inn in Hokkaido" in this chapter, if you haven't read it you might be a bit lost, though I've tried to spell it out for those who haven't read it. On with the fic!

Prism - Chapter 6

Yanagi left the hotel as early as possible, just as the sun was starting to be visible over the trees. He was already uncomfortably hot in his Western suit, despite the chill of the morning, and his nervous sweat wasn't helping any. He knew what his mission was, but he found his feet dragging as he made the long walk to the Kamiya dojo. He wasn't sure what he'd find when he got there. He had a pretty good idea of what he'd done to the former hitokiri, but he'd never actually tried it on someone like Himura before, and so the results were unpredictable. Akari's disapproving scowl flashed in his mind's eye and he found his steps hurrying a bit. If she knew what'd I done, she would never forgive me. He supposed he should be ashamed for using another man's life as an experiment, but he'd found that over his years of traveling his power over ki had become something of an addiction. He'd spent so much of his life in Hokkaido having little to no control over the direction of his own life; his father had repressed him and tried to make him marry a girl he despised, and Sakura-san had given him a job but had treated him like a bit of refuse stuck to the bottom of her sandal. Everyone had been like that back then, refusing to trust or believe in him, crushing his ideals and bossing him around.

Then Himura had come, and everything had changed. As much as he hated to admit owing anything to anyone, it was Himura who had finally opened a path for him to get out of Hokkaido for good. It had taken Yanagi hardly any time to figure out that Himura was the legendary Battousai, and while he had feared such a potentially dangerous man, he'd also been intrigued by his outwardly gentle and friendly demeanor. What kind of man was Battousai to have two such different faces? Hope soared in his heart at the opportunity the strange swordsman represented, a chance to learn sword arts from the best that Japan had to offer. With that strength he'd prove his worth to his father and finally claim Akari as his own.

His plan had nearly failed, however; Himura turned out to be even more formidable than Yanagi had imagined, easily brushing aside his requests for training and turning an unforgiving mirror on the way the young man had been living his life. He saw so clearly the joke his life had become, the way he'd submitted like a willow in the wind to the people around him. That painful realization had filled him with anger unlike any he'd ever felt before, and the reckless behavior that followed had nearly cost him his life...if it hadn't been for Himura saving his butt at the last second.

From that moment the world had never looked the same. He'd married his beloved and finally left Hokkaido, but his thirst for more strength had only intensified as the years passed. He knew his one asset was his strength with ki, and the control it gave him over himself and others had become like a drug he couldn't live without. For a short while he'd tried to ignore his abilities, instead drowning himself in Akari's affections. But it hadn't worked and so in secret, aware of Akari's suspicious scrutiny, he'd begun to pursue the training he'd longed for all his life. His abilities had grown by leaps and bounds, and when two years ago he'd encountered a rouge and unstable hitokiri by the name of Jine he knew he'd hit an all time low in his pursuit of power. Many times he'd come close to backing out of his unsavory deal with the man, but one evening Jine happened to mention that he'd been contracted to locate a specific man, one he'd longed to face since the days of the revolution: the Hitokiri Battousai. That had gotten Yanagi's attention, and within a few days he'd gathered a great deal of information about the potential whereabouts of his old acquaintance. Soon after that Jine disappeared, and for a while Yanagi managed to put the red-haired swordsman out of his mind, instead concentrating on developing his abilities beyond what Jine had taught him.

Yanagi turned and crossed over a small bridge. On the other side an old woman sat slumped against a low wall, snoring softly. In his mind's eye, her life spirit resembled a faint glowing aura, surrounding her body in gentle light. If he let his mind wander he knew the glow would fade and she would look no different from the bricks she leaned against, but by concentrating just a little she lit up for him like a candle in the night. Seeing her there reminded him of the old, drunken man he'd found one night in the streets of Osaka, a man who'd had an unusually strong spirit for one in his condition.

It was this man who started Yanagi's current ki obsession. Intrigued by the man's world-weary aura, Yanagi had struck up a casual conversation with him and it was in this way, completely by accident, that he discovered a way to separate ki. Exercising the same mind control he'd so often used on Akari, he tried mixing that with a form of Jine's Shino no Ippo, just to see what would happen. That's when he'd felt it, a slight difference in the man's aura. For the briefest of moments it was as if there were two men instead of one in the bum's body. Fascinated by this, Yanagi returned night after night to experiment on the old man, trying to recreate what he'd seen before: two glowing halos instead of one surrounding the man's body. Part of him, a voice in his mind that had grown steadily weaker over the years, begged for him to stop, that what he was doing was even worse than suppressing his wife's will to argue or paralyzing another's body. He was taking apart the man's very soul, and it was slowly killing him. The bum's spirit grew weaker with each attempt, and the physical effects were quite visible; every time Yanagi saw him the man was just a bit sicklier, his face and body growing thin and feeble. So what, he's going to die anyway, he'd reasoned with himself. If he just disappeared tomorrow no one could care, and besides imagine the things I could do with this technique once I've perfected it!

Actually, he wasn't entirely sure what those "things" were, but in his half-crazed, power-drunk mind such trivial details didn't matter. All that was important was the control he had over this man's life and spirit. Ruthlessly crushing his tiny voice of reason Yanagi continued relentlessly, until one night he finally succeeded in fully splitting the man's spirit into two halves, one light and peaceful, the other dark and angry. Good and Evil, Yin and Yang, Yanagi had mused thoughtfully, observing the trembling body in front of him. Then it had happened, something he had not expected. The man began to glow a faint blue and before Yanagi's stunned eyes he literally separated into two nearly identical bodies, lying side by side in the filthy alleyway. Excited by this, Yanagi tried to wake them to find out more, but the strain had apparently been too much for the old man. Both halves of him were dead.

For many long moments Yanagi had sat in that alley, stunned beyond words by what he had just done. There had been words that Himura had said to him long years ago in Hokkaido, about his potential as a swordsman and the choices he would have to make if that was the path he wished to walk in his life. The ex-hitokiri had warned him about something like this, about how easy it was to walk an evil path, even if your intentions had originally been well meaning and innocent. He'd just used another human being as if he were nothing more than an ingredient in some new recipe, and now that man was dead. I've never killed anyone before. I knew he would die sometime, I just didn't think...that it would actually be by my hand. Disturbed and more than a little frightened by his actions, Yanagi had quickly retreated, back into the safety of his Akari's arms.

It had almost ended that night as Yanagi waited for the hammer to fall, fully expecting his long-suppressed sense of guilt to come roaring back to eat him alive...but it hadn't. While he felt a bit saddened by the old man's death, the guilt and remorse he had expected to feel never came. For long days and nights afterward he'd debated with himself on what to do. He was disturbed by his own lack of remorse, and wondered what it could possibly mean, but at the same time his desire for control increased even more. His new ability was just so powerful, and he thirsted to try it again. He felt that it wouldn't do much harm to a healthy man, and besides the old man's deterioration had come about both through his age and from Yanagi's repeated experiments. The next time he tried it, it would be a one-time affair. Next time? the tiny voice of his conscience had screamed, Are you mad? You've gone too far! You have to stop this now and never ever do it again!

The Kamiya dojo came into view and Yanagi moved to walk along the outer wall. He was taking a great risk just by being here, but he had to know what had become of Himura. His conscience that night had been unusually vehement, and for a time he'd listened...but his soul was committed to the path he'd chosen, and it wasn't long before he'd arranged for a transfer to Tokyo, to the man who'd filled his waking dreams--and nightmares--for years. I've gone too far to turn back now. Maybe I really have gone mad, choosing Himura for this...

Locating a tree that hung over the dojo wall, Yanagi quickly climbed it and settled into the branches to wait for some sign of the swordsman. It wasn't long before he could hear raised voices coming from inside the house, and then two children came outside and began playing with a ball. They moved to the front of the dojo, out of Yanagi's line of vision, and he strained both to hear and to pick up the ki inside. He counted six people, definitely more than he knew lived there, and he wondered if Himura was among them. The wind shifted and kids' paper ball came soaring toward his hiding spot, bouncing along the ground to rest right below the tree.

A little boy came running after it, and Yanagi felt his eyes grow wide at the sight. The child appeared to be a pint-sized version of Himura Kenshin, red hair and all. He has a son? No way, that can't be... He studied the boy and felt his ki; an aura that was familiar indeed. Oh my God...he's a child? What the hell?!

The boy stiffened in the middle of kneeling to pick up the ball and his head snapped up, violet eyes narrowed and alert. Yanagi froze, hardly daring to breathe, wondering if the boy had heard or seen him somehow. Then the child spoke, with a voice that sent chills up Yanagi's spine. "I know you're there Yanagi-san."

There was so much menace implied in the child's tones, Yanagi had no doubt that this was indeed Himura Kenshin that stood before him...and his ki abilities appeared to be intact. Shit, I should have been more careful. The boy continued to stare straight at his hiding spot. "You're a bad man," the boy whispered, "A very, very bad man. Battousai-san's very angry with you right now, so I don't think you want to see him yet." Yanagi felt his heart flutter in fear, both at the implication of the boy's words and at the way the child's voice had dropped even further in pitch, losing all its childish innocence.

"Go away," the boy nearly growled. "Or I will tell them you're here right now." Yanagi agreed; casting his senses back to the house he picked up two more impressions of Himura. Three in all? I didn't expect that... He felt more than a little daunted by what he had found out in the past few minutes. He may have gotten a bit more than he bargained for when he selected Himura for his technique. If the boy is right and the hitokiri's loose...damn, what have I done? This was going to require a bit of strategy on his part, and for that he needed time and distance. As quietly as possible, mentally cursing his own stupidity, he withdrew, dropping down to the ground on the other side of the wall and making his way quickly to the safety of the busier parts of the city.

Lunch was a very subdued affair, with no one quite sure what to do or say around each other. Battousai's earlier question on where they should start looking for Yanagi had so far gone unanswered. Battousai remembered that Yanagai's last name was "Shimizu", and Sano had volunteered to go scouting around his area of town to see if he could find out anything. Kaoru had the feeling that the former streetfighter just wanted to get out of the dojo for a while and recover a bit from the weirdness of the past day and a half. Part of her wished she could too, but Kenshin needed her there, though she knew there was little she could do to help.

Leaving the three Kenshins to sit in sullen silence while they ate, Kaoru summoned Yahiko outside for practice. The boy seemed relieved for the excuse to get away from Battousai, and he threw himself into his strokes with enthusiasm.

"Yahiko!" she barked, "If you're going to strike that hard, have some control over it! Start over, five hundred strokes!"

Yahiko ground his teeth in annoyance but for once he did as she asked without complaint.

Battousai watched Yahiko through the open door for a moment, then quietly excused himself. The rurouni watched him go out in the direction of the back of the house, away from everyone else. "This really has been very hard for him."

"Yeah, it's too bad he's so stubborn," Shinta mused thoughtfully, "if he'd let himself relax and be a little more flexible, he wouldn't be so stressed out."

The rurouni smiled a little and finished the last of his food. "I agree with you, but that's not easy for him. It's in his nature to be wary and defensive. What about you? You seem pretty cheerful."

Shinta shrugged. "Someone has to be. You both know being depressed doesn't help, but since you're like that anyway, I'll just have to be happy for the both of you!"

Kenshin laughed. The child's humor was infectious, and he was very glad to have the boy around. "I'm going to get started on the laundry, you can go play."

The rurouni quickly took care of the dishes then headed out to do his favorite chore. Laundry had over the years become almost meditative for him, the repetitive motions allowing him to relax and escape his worries. It was also very satisfying to scrub away dirt and end up with something clean and fresh; a very true, if slightly twisted, metaphor for his life. Settling down with the day's pile he began washing one of Yahiko's gi, listening idly to the familiar sounds of kendo practice around the corner.

Intent on his task, the rurouni didn't register the light steps on the porch heading in his direction until they stopped right next to him. He looked up into Battousai's stern face. "Where did you go off to?" he asked casually. He kept his tone light, not wanting to agitate the hitokiri.

The rurouni frowned, searching the other's face. Battousai made a vague gesture to his waist and Kenshin saw the two shinai tucked through his belt. "So you've noticed it too, then."

Battousai sighed and closed his eyes. "When Shinta said Yanagi had been here and I didn't even know...several things fell into place for me. I can hear them practicing, but I can hardly feel them. They are faint as starlight when before they glowed as bright as candles."

"How poetic." The rurouni ignored Battousai's glare. "I suspected as much from the beginning, though I was hoping that it was only temporary. So much time has passed since then though that I don't think there's any doubt...it seems that our separation has severely hampered our ability to read ki. As you said, this could be a serious problem indeed."

"We should check to make sure," Battousai said, drawing one of the shinai and holding it out to the rurouni.

"Aa." Kenshin replied, setting aside the gi and rising to take the bamboo sword.

"Five hundred!" Yahiko announced breathlessly, his arms aching from the exercise.

Kaoru nodded in approval. "Good, that was better. Work on that form I taught you last week, I'm going to see if Kenshin needs any help."

Kaoru scowled at him, then turned to smile at the little boy sitting on the porch. Shinta has come to watch them some time ago and had sat like a perfect little angel, his legs swinging where they hung over the edge of the porch. "Want to come with me Shinta-kun?"

All three of them started at the sound, which had come from the other side of the house. There was another sharp sound of bamboo striking bamboo and then a muffled curse. Glancing at each other in alarm Kaoru and Yahiko sprinted across the courtyard, Shinta right behind them.

Putting on another burst of speed, Yahiko passed Kaoru only to skid to an abrupt halt as he rounded the side of the house. Kaoru nearly ran into him, and she had to grab onto his gi to keep from falling, but her protest died on her lips as she took in the sight before her.

The two adult Kenshins stood facing each other, both armed with shinai. As they watched the two swordsmen slowly circled each other, eyes narrowed in concentration. Suddenly the rurouni flew forward, kicking up a small dust cloud with the speed of his attack. Battousai saw the strike and dodged, but not without the rurouni's shinai grazing his ear. Leaping back, he shot into the air and came down in a lightning-fast Ryu-Tsui-Sen.

The rurouni shouted something unintelligible and blocked with his own sword, staggering under the impact. Both went down in a cloud of dust only to spring apart again. Almost without thought Yahiko moved to the porch for a better view, astonished at his luck. He was seeing Kenshin practice, for real! He was the luckiest kid alive! Grinning like a fool he plopped down on the wood to watch, Kaoru and Shinta coming quickly to join him.

The two Kenshins made several more passes at each other, their speed increasing until they were nothing but streaks of color when they moved. Shinta observed the fight with interest, watching his two counterparts run through most of Hiten Mitsurugui Ryu's major special attacks, both of them successfully landing blows on the other. As awed as Kaoru and Yahiko were by the display, Shinta could tell that they were both holding back, neither wanting to hurt the other. He could also see that they were having trouble predicting the each other's moves. Battousai was naturally faster and fiercer than the rurouni, but the younger swordsman was taking most of the hits, seemingly unable to predict where the other would move next. It must be hard to spar with yourself, but still Rurouni-san shouldn't be doing so well. The child was no fool, and he felt his concern rise as Battousai took another hit from a well-placed Ryu-Shou-Sen. Their lack of prediction could only mean one thing, that they couldn't read each other's ki. But I can do it just fine...what does it mean? "Kaoru-san," he whispered, tugging on her sleeve. "Something's not right."

"Hmm?" Kaoru was completely absorbed in the fight and didn't really hear the child's statement. She never got to see Kenshin practice either, and although she didn't show it, she was just as excited as Yahiko to witness such a rare event.

Battousai snarled in frustration and circled wide, annoyed by the number of hits the rurouni had scored on him. The rurouni stood his ground, shinai held out straight in a defensive stance. "Shishou was right about us, you know. We rely too much on reading the opponent."

The other grunted in acknowledgement and looked for an opening. The rurouni turned with him as he paced a circle, unwilling to drop his guard. I need something fast and powerful to break his stance. Battousai thought. The attack he needed came to mind and he tucked the shinai back through his belt, keeping his face carefully blank. He burst into a sprint, still circling, and the rurouni tensed visibly.

"Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu, Ryu Kan Sen Tsumuji!" The rurouni knew which attack it was the minute Battousai started to run and he tried to follow the hitokiri's motion, but it was simply too fast. With no bright mind's-eye glow of ki to guide him, he could only make an educated guess as to where the sweeping battou-juutsu would land.

Yahiko felt his mouth drop open as he watched the hitokiri make his move. He'd never seen this attack before, and it was just so...cool. Battousai was airborne, leaping towards the rurouni, and as he flew he turned his body over so that his back was to the ground, the shinai gripped tightly in his right hand. Reaching the rurouni he wrenched his body over, drawing the shinai and sweeping it across the rurouni's chest, landing a solid blow. The rurouni went flying back, his shinai knocked halfway across the yard, and landed solidly on his rear. Battousai landed gracefully on his feet, breathing hard, and re-sheathed the bamboo weapon. "Well I think that's been decided. You all right?"

The rurouni sat for a minute before getting up, trying to recover his breath. "Yes, thank you for holding back on that one. I was worried for a minute."

He was holding back?! Yahiko wondered if was possible for your eyes to really roll out of your head if they opened wide enough. "Kenshin that was really, really cool!"

Battousai glanced over at him and shocked the boy by giving him a very small, but quite genuine smile. "I've always thought so. It's a difficult attack to pull off though, and we've hardly practiced the last few months."

The rurouni went to retrieve his shinai and came back to the porch, wiping the sweat off his brow. "Well that will have to change. We're going to have to compensate."

The rurouni sighed and looked meaningfully at Shinta. "Do you want to tell her, or shall I?"

Shinta shifted nervously under everyone's stares. "They can't read ki very well, Kaoru-san, but I still can. I'm the only one who knew about Yanagi-san this morning, and when they were sparring just now they couldn't predict each other. Hiten Mitsurugi needs ki, it's really bad if it's gone."

"Yahiko," the rurouni explained patiently, "it seemed fine because we weren't trying to hurt each other, but in a real fight this could mean serious injury or death...for either of us."

Yahiko was quite bright for an eleven-year-old and he put two and two together, looking at Battousai in sudden realization. "That's how I surprised you this morning, isn't it?"

The hitokiri nodded, ignoring the questioning stares of the others. "Yes. For whatever reason only Shinta can read ki, but he's far too small to fight. It should be possible to work around this problem, but it won't be easy, and will take a little time."

At least he has an equal sparring partner now. Kaoru thought as she watched the two Kenshins exchange meaningful looks. I'm an assistant master of Kamiya Kasshin Ryu, but I'm far below Kenshin's level. There's no way I can ever catch up to him. Battousai's offhand comment had also emphasized just how proficient Kenshin really was with his chosen weapon; to be that strong after so little daily practice required true mastery.

Battousai was the first to meet him, hurrying around the house at a jog, tucking the shinai thought his belt as he ran. "Did you find out anything?"

Sano blinked at Battousai's enthusiasm. He opened his mouth to answer but was interrupted by Yahiko. "Sano, you missed it, they were so cool!"

"He's always been a fan," the rurouni remarked matter-of-factly. Beside him Battousai nodded in agreement, the ghost of a smile on his face.

Yahiko continued to babble excitedly about the sparring match. Sano did his best to ignore him, turning to the hitokiri. "I didn't find out much, except that he's been seen occasionally in the Western quarter in the company of gaijin the past week or so. He's brought some of these guys over the gambling houses the past few days, which is how anyone knew about him. I couldn't find out where he was staying, but I figured it was a start."

"Sure thing," he replied, relieved to see that the teenager seemed to be in a better mood. "When's dinner?"

Akari took in Yanagi's bedraggled appearance with some concern. As promised, he'd arrived back at the hotel early to take her out to dinner, but so for far he'd been such lousy company she was starting to wonder why she'd bothered talking him into it in the first place.

"Hmm...?" he murmured distractedly, watching the trickle of people go by in the darkening street. In his mind he was turning over plan after plan of how to deal with Himura, but all of them kept hitting one major snag: Himura Kenshin was the Hitokiri Battousai, and no matter what there was no way Yanagi could ever best him in a fair sword fight. If Himura was now in three bodies, one of them had to be the legendary assassin, the killer he'd glimpsed briefly in Hokkaido when he'd stupidly tried to sneak up on the sleeping rurouni. There's no way in hell I can beat him! And if he doesn't have the rurouni to hold him back...damn it, I just don't know enough! If only that kid hadn't found me I wouldn't have had to turn tail like that. I'll have to go back, or find another way of observing him.

"Yanagi!" Akari's fist tensed on the table and she seriously considered just belting her husband one to get his attention, social rules be damned. He continued to ignore her, chewing his lip slightly the way he always did when very deep in thought. She said his name again and when he still didn't respond her patience ran out; she reached out and smacked him smartly across the temple.

It had the desired effect; he snapped to attention immediately. "Ow! What was that for!"

She glared daggers at him. "What is going through that mind of yours? I wanted you to take me out so we could spend some time together, but instead you ignore me!"

"Sorry," he murmured, but she could tell it wasn't entirely sincere. She felt her temper flare. "Yanagi..." she growled in warning.

He held his hands up defensively. "I'm sorry, really I am! I just had a long day, that's all. I have a lot to think about."

Think of something. He knew he was losing her with his silence the past week, and he scrambled frantically to come up with something to placate her. Damn it, I need her, but she can't know what I've really been up to. "Well, the French don't want to deal with Tokyo merchants, they think they have an attitude when it comes to foreigners. They would rather take their business back to Osaka. I have to try and convince them to establish a market here." It was a half-truth, he actually had no direct contact with the French at all, but he hoped she would get bored with it and leave him be. He certainly didn't expect her to ask more questions.

"The Japanese do have a dislike for foreigners, dear. Their concerns are not unfounded, so how do you plan to get them to stay?"

"Um...well, that's the problem. I think what I need to do is go around and make nice with the shop owners around here, find out which ones would be willing to deal with gaijin, then introduce the French to them."

Ah hell. "Well...Europeans like meat. A lot. They want to encourage the city folk to relax the meat taboo so that they can open a few restaurants, get some distribution going, that sort of thing."

Akari blinked. "Well...okay, but most people do that anyway. There's supposed to be a really good beef hot-pot place around here...I think it's called the Akabeko, and it does very well." Yanagi was actually starting to sweat and twitch nervously in front of her. Most people wouldn't have noticed, but Akari knew her husband far too well to miss the signs. He's making all this up. Why? "Really, wouldn't they be better off selling their wine and...what did you call it yesterday?"

"Cheese?" Yanagi asked hopefully. He visibly relaxed when she nodded. "I think you're probably right. I'll have to discuss it with them tomorrow."

"Do you even know what cheese is? What do you really do while I wait for you at the hotel."

Yanagi sighed heavily and met her gaze. Staring deep into her eyes he pushed his way into her mind, exploring carefully, using his own will to dampen her suspicion. As he watched, her eyes glazed over slightly and he saw her relax. "I help gaijin establish new markets for their goods, that's all I do."

She nodded dumbly and he felt his heart wrench. Gods why do I keep doing this? Why?

Battousai and the rurouni squared off in the main bedroom of the house, neither willing to give ground. "You got to stay with her all night while I slept on the roof! I'm not staying out there again."

"Hey, that was your own choice! This has been weird enough for her already, we shouldn't make it worse by being in here at the same time."

Battousai waved at him dismissively. "You can go sleep with Yahiko or something."

"Oh that's right, we'll just invade everyone else's lives in this dojo until they can't stand us anymore."

"That doesn't make it right! Besides, your behavior has been dismal. You don't deserve to be sleeping in here with her." The rurouni regretted his words the minute they left his mouth. Battousai drew back as if he'd been struck, the hurt clear in his eyes.

"How--how dare you say something like that! I'm not some petulant child to be punished!"

"Maa, maa!" Shinta said desperately, stepping between them. "Why don't we just ask Kaoru-san?"

All three Kenshins whirled to face their wife, who was standing in the doorway with her hands on her hips, one eyebrow raised expectantly. They all knew THAT look, it was Kaoru's "I know exactly what's going on, but I want it explained anyway so I can solve the problem, then whack you over the head for being ridiculous" expression. The three Himuras exchanged nervous glances, none of them wanting to go first.

Kaoru sighed heavily. "No no, let me guess...this is some silly male argument over who gets to share my futon, is that it?"

Battousai rolled his eyes. "Look at him! I really should be the one to stay Kaoru, I think he'd just pass out on you."

It was all Kaoru could do to keep from laughing, both at the rurouni's embarrassment and Battousai's amusement at his own shyness. It was endearing, and honestly she wasn't sure what she'd prefer in terms of sleeping arrangements. All three were technically her husband after all...

"I'll just...go see Yahiko." Shinta said with a nervous laugh, ducking around Kaoru and vanishing down the hallway.

Kaoru eyed the two remaining Kenshins. "Now guys, there really is no reason to argue about this, is there? Until this is resolved, you can both sleep in here, we'll just have separate futons. Kenshin--" here she cast a glance at the rurouni, "--if you could go get two extra futons from the shed that would be nice."

There was a moment's tense silence before the rurouni complied, leaving the other two alone. Kaoru took in Battousai's rather miffed expression and sighed. "Look, it's only fair. What else did you want me to do?" Actually, she was pleasantly surprised that there had even been an argument; after their talk the previous evening she had seriously wondered if he cared about her at all. It's good to know that he really is still Kenshin under that cold mask he always wears.

Kenshin shrugged and stared down at the floor. "I have no complaint, Kaoru. It's your decision."

Karou approached him cautiously and touched his shoulder. She felt him stiffen. "It's not that I wouldn't want to spend the night with you, it's that I don't want to be the cause of even more friction between the two of you. Does that make sense?"

He nodded, then carefully backed away from her. "It's all right, Kaoru, really. Goodnight." He moved away to sit against the wall in his familiar pose, with one knee raised and his chin resting on his chest.

Kaoru sighed and turned away, unable to hide her own disappointment and sadness. "Good night, Kenshin."