There were times he admired his skill. As soon as he felt another presence during Megumi's tirade, he had switched places, nearly convincing Megumi that the person was him. He hadn't expected Aoshi to follow Megumi. He stroked Koneko behind her ears thoughtfully.

Which meant what?

He chuckled as a thought occurred to him. As much as he would enjoy seeing what strange thoughts Megumi had about Aoshi…it'd probably be more fun to see both of them together. Who knows how they'd deal with what he had planned.

"That woman can talk all she wants. But we know better, she's sailing The Nile, kitty," Takahata announced, laughing at his own joke. "Let's see what'll happen if we…"

~~

Aoshi waited until Megumi ran out of breath in her laughter. He didn't know what else to do. She seemed so confused, upset, furious, violent ­ all at once.

"This is insane," Megumi declared. "All of this. Pink clouds, pink light…stupid pink butterflies…" She swatted two away.

"Are you all right?" Aoshi asked.

"I'm fine." Megumi began to walk away.

In what direction…and to what specifically, he wasn't sure. Everything looked the same to him. Pink. He stayed a distance away from her, walking behind her. She obviously didn't seem to care if he was behind her or not. She apparently was distracted.
He blinked hard for a moment. If he wasn't mistaken, he could have sworn he just saw two pink bear cubs dancing on clouds. Maybe he ate something bad.

But that wouldn't make sense. He just ran out of the Aoiya, determined to follow Megumi before jumping into some bright light.

The mist…when did that get there?…parted to reveal a pink castle with a tall tower and wide, stained-glass windows. And standing at the front…Aoshi blinked again. A woman with flowing hair stood at the front, dressed in a pink outfit of puffy sleeves and a short skirt, a white apron wrapped around her waist. She waved enthusiastically.

Megumi was right. This was insane. Where were they?

"Hello!" the woman greeted. "Welcome to the Pink Fantasy Inn!"

Pink Fantasy…? Aoshi struggled to keep his expression neutral. The body was female, but the voice…

"Takahata!" Megumi exclaimed. "What do you think you're
doing?!"

"You fired me, sweet-ums," he cooed. "So I had to find another job."

"At the Pink Fantasy Inn??"

This was Takahata? Somewhere in the recesses of his mind, he knew that the person was a man, but he didn't think he'd be THIS feminine.

"Come in, please!" Takahata clapped his hands three times.

Instantly, Aoshi felt dizzy. The scenery changed, materializing into a large room with chairs made of plush material and a wide circular bed covered with white satin sheets. At the head of the bed were four, red heart-shaped pillows. Several vanilla scented candles lined the mahogany nightstands by the bed, filling the room in a soft, subtle, but intoxicating scent.

What the-?

Aoshi never got to finish his thought as the one called Takahata cleared his throat.

"So!"

Megumi stared at the other man with murder in her eyes. "Takahata, what are you-?"

"Well, I hope you enjoy your stay."

"Wait…we never agreed to stay-" Megumi protested.

"You seem stressed, sweet-ums. You could use some rest. Or something else," Takahata laughed. Then he wiggled his fingers in a wave. "Use your imagination."

Aoshi closed his eyes briefly. What was going on? Everything was happening faster than any battle he'd ever...

"Toodles!" Takahata disappeared in a flash of pink.

And Aoshi blacked out.

~~

"Oh, you've got to be kidding," Takahata exclaimed, stroking Koneko's back. "I thought he was made of stronger stuff than that!"

Koneko meowed in response.

"Hmm. But I'm sure he's got other fine…assets to make up for it. I think if I was a woman I could overlook him fainting whenever pink light flashed..."

He felt something soft and cool press against his forehead.

Then it was taken away.

It came again to his cheek. He felt his mouth move, but he wasn't sure if words came out.

What a day.

"Good to see that we haven't completely lost you, Aoshi Shinomori."

Megumi's voice.

It took several moments for him to open his eyes. Megumi was patting a cool cloth against his face, and he was lounging back on the strange bed. Relief filled him. She didn't hate him. She wouldn't do this if she did. Although he tried to ignore the little
voice inside of him that said she was just being a doctor, which was why she was tending to him.

His eyes shifted to the ceiling, and he groaned inwardly. What was with this…place? Pink clouds, pink dancing bears, mirrors above beds…what was the point of having a mirror above a bed?

"Do you feel all right, Aoshi-san?”

The beautiful doctor’s melodious voice drifted over Aoshi’s senses. Mmm. The shadow man contented himself with lying back and enjoying the feel of the cold cloth against different parts of his face.

“Aoshi?”

He really did like the sound of her voice when she was being informal with his name. He could get used to it. Her face entered his line of vision, her eyebrows scrunched up in a scowl.

“Aoshi Shinomori. Do answer me when you see fit to do it.”

Whoops. So he was enjoying things a little too much. “I…thank you.”

The woman moved to lie beside him on the wholly impractical mattress, where their eyes met in the large mirror on the ceiling. “What now?” she asked.

“Perhaps you’d like to explain this Takahata-san you seem to know…”

She let out a breath. “I don’t know. That man who wanted to purchase women’s undergarments from you? And then the pink lights…and there were the robes…and now he’s put us here—I just don’t know what to think anymore. I thought he was on my side.”

“I didn’t realize there were sides to take. How did we get here?”

“I don’t know!” she said, exasperated.

Perhaps he was hallucinating…or perhaps it was the candles that flickered in every reflective surface…or perhaps it was the heavy scent in the air…

…perhaps…well, in any case, he should…

…hmm. You know, he really did have a point to that train of thought…funny he couldn’t think of it now…

He became aware of Megumi’s form shifting on the bed and watched the mirror above as he saw and felt her chest press against his shoulder. Her lips were brushing his ear and he fought the reaction he was having at feeling her hot breath tease his earlobe. Christ Almighty.

With the lightest of whispers, her voice filled his thoughts, “I think the aromas in here are getting to me…are they getting to you?”

He fisted his hands at his sides. Good God, yes. He had but to turn his head and…

“It’s frightening…do you think you could protect the both of us from something you don’t understand?”

He had to keep his head. She needed him alert. She needed him. Alert.

She needed him. It had an intoxicating ring to it.

She leaned in closer and his eyes rolled back into his head in ecstasy when the tip of her tongue touched just inside the sensitive tissue in his ear. “I…I’m sorry for earlier, Aoshi. I really don’t hate you.”

~~

WTF?? Megumi pounded on the clear floor beneath her. Dumb broad, get your hands off him!!! Who the hell was that woman—because it sure wasn’t her!!

“Aoshi, you idiot.”

The woman doctor found herself in this tiny, dark enclosure when Takahata-san had supposedly welcomed she and Aoshi into his inn. If not for the window into the room beneath her, she would have passed out from sheer fright.

But now…now that she sees some damn hussy who looks and sounds like her, cuddling awfully close to the man with the supposed heart of ice…it just really pissed her off.

“Shhhh…”

Aoshi’s soft murmur echoed in the doctor’s prison. She covered her ears. “Stop.”

“I am the one who should apologize. I was unforgivably rude. I did not consider your feelings.”

His voice surrounded her, warmed her and resounded within the enclosure. She couldn’t stop even the faintest of whispers from being heard in her cell. Not even when she made all the noise she could to keep the voices away.

“Takahata, are you there?? This isn’t funny!!!”

Megumi was sliding her hands down his chest and he almost made a sound from the tension there. Something wasn’t right. He was breathing hard, but whether it was the lady doctor’s doing, or the effort it took to not be undone, he wasn’t sure. But he couldn’t let things go any further.

“Megumi—”

She insisted on letting her hands roam. He grasped her wrists, twisted, and jerked them behind her back, forcing her facedown into the mattress.

~~

“TAKAHATA!!! I AM GOING TO KILL YOU! THERE IS NO WAY THIS IS MY FANTASY!!!”

Suddenly, he was there beside her, smiling cheekily. “I know.”

The floor beneath Meg became intangible(?), untouchable(!), insubstantial(!!!) and she fell…through the mirror, into the room and onto Aoshi’s back.

~~

“—OOOF!” the lady doctor found herself in a very undignified sprawl, her back to Aoshi’s back.

The onmitsu turned his head to look at her and immediately looked at the woman beneath him and back again.

“But…how can there be two of you?”

Aoshi waited only for half a second for the woman who had landed on his back to remove herself before he leapt off the same woman who was lying beneath him. He backed off from the bed and from the two women who were now glaring very sharp, serrated-edged daggers at each other with the same colored eyes. He brought up one hand to scrub at his eyes. This was becoming too much even for him. As the
Oniwabanshuu Okashira and former Captain of Edo Castle, he had thought he had seen everything in life that could be seen…but pink lights, a man dressed in a pink skirt, pink dancing bears, a pink castle, and now two Megumis was enough to push him right to the edge of insanity. There couldn't possibly be two Megumis! He had investigated her when they had been in the employ of Kanryuu and he knew for a fact that Megumi Takani did not have a twin. He twisted the palm of his hand into his eyes again, but the scene before him didn't change. Maybe he was drugged...yes, that was it. Okina
probably put something into his tea as a joke...

He watched in shocked, unbridled amazement as Megumi no. 1 shifted her position on the bed to her hands and knees, her teeth bared at Megumi no. 2, who had dropped down into a crouch, poised to strike.

"Hands off! He's mine!" Megumi no. 2 declared vehemently as she launched herself at the bed. Megumi no. 1 hissed in response.

Aoshi's eyes swung to Megumi no. 1. That hiss sounded awfully familiar…

POP!

Takahata-san appeared in a flash of pink light. He was now sitting on the bed, next to Megumi no. 1, legs crossed demurely under a pink gingham dress. On his head was a big, floppy straw hat decorated with a huge plastic red rose. He reached out and stroked one hand down Megumi no. 1's soft, long black hair. "Now, now, children," he
purred. "Play nicely."

Aoshi's eyes widened further in astonishment as Megumi no. 1 transformed slowly into Koneko beneath Takahata-san petting hand. A cat??? He had been about to make love to a cat? He shook his head once to clear it. He had had enough of this nonsense. Okay, maybe this was a dream or a drug-induced nightmare, but it was time to
find out what the hell was going on. That very strange man/woman/being seemed to be at the heart of this, and that's where he would start. He would do what he did best: obtain the information he needed. It was time for some answers.

Aoshi reached out and grabbed Megumi's hand as it swung out to slap Takahata-san. She glared up at him but lowered her hand. She stepped back as Aoshi twisted one hand in Takahata's dress and slowly lifted him off the bed. She smiled ferally. "Yes, this is much better," she thought to herself as she watched Aoshi in open admiration. "Now,
we'll definitely find out what's going on."

Takahata-san squealed as he felt himself being lifted several inches off the floor. He wrapped one hand in desperation around Aoshi's arm. "Now, don't get your knickers in a knot, sweet cheeks, I'll explain everything!" Takahata exclaimed. Aoshi's eyes glinted
dangerously as he threw Takahata back on the bed, where he landed on Koneko. She howled in protest and ran for cover under the bed.

Aoshi crossed his arms across his chest and glared fiercely down at the pink being laying sprawled across the bed. "Talk," he demanded in a low growl. "Who are you? Where are we? What the hell is going on?"

Takahata-san sat up on the bed and began to straighten out his dress. After a moment, he took the big floppy hat off his head and began to fan himself with it. "I really thought that this would work this time, but you two are really tough," he half murmured to
himself as he gazed up at them. He began to stand up but found himself shoved back by Megumi. "I believe Aoshi-san told you to explain yourself," she stated icily.

"Okay, okay," Takahata agreed in a faltering voice. "Someone...hired me to bring you two together. I'm a fairy god queen-slash- matchmaker, you see. I help out when Cupid is overbooked."

"Who hired you?" Aoshi asked as he leaned over Takahata. "Was it Okina?"

"Well, yes and no…"

"What do you mean `yes and no'?" Megumi demanded. "This is exactly the kind of thing he would pull."

"Well, I was actually recommended to Okina by another person," Takahata answered, "Okina hired me, but he paid the bill."

Aoshi grabbed the front of his dress again, his fury now rising to dangerous levels. "Who recommended you?"

Takahata reached down into the pocket of his dress and pulled out a picture. He stroked his fingers against it. "My own true love," he said sighing loudly. "Unfortunately, he belongs to another. Oh, well." He flipped the picture over so that they could both see it. "Isn't he a vision of loveliness? I made that pink gi for him, you know…"

"Kenshin!??!" Aoshi and Megumi cried as one.

And why in the world did they look like they wanted to kill him?

~end flashback~

Kenshin scratched the back of his head with one hand and put on his best rurouni smile, his violet eyes wide and innocent. He had a sudden funny, nervous feeling as to why Aoshi and Megumi were here and just who had transported them to the dojo. Was there a way to deflect their obvious wrath and get out of this? He had to try or they would never forgive him. And if Kaoru ever found out…he shook his head. He didn't even want to think about that one.

"Hello, you two!" he exclaimed cheerily. "I did not expect to see you so soon again, that I didn't!" He couldn't help noticing that the glares thrown his way had both intensified to hazardous levels. He gulped. "Um…welcome to Tokyo!" he finished lamely.

Aoshi reluctantly rose from what had been the softest, warmest, most pliant cushion he had ever had the privilege of lying upon (Megumi really did feel very, very good, and he wondered briefly when he could have that privilege again), but Himura's meddling had to be dealt with first.

As his hands clenched around the hilts of his kodachis, Aoshi let the all of the fury he was feeling ooze out of every pore. He had just been placed in the strangest, wierdest, mind-bending situation of his life, nearly losing his sanity in the process, and all apparently due to the small red-headed man standing in front of him. "I really will kill you this time, Battousai," he growled menacingly as he took one step forward toward the former hitokiri. His crystal blue eyes crackled dangerously.

"Not if I kill him first," Megumi stated icily as she also stood up. Her once-beloved Ken-san had definitely overstepped his bounds this time.

Aoshi turned back to face her. "Perhaps we should join forces, Megumi-san, and kill him together."

"Deal," Megumi replied. She spat on her hand and held it out. Aoshi spat on his hand and shook her hand once. They turned around and together took one more step toward Kenshin.

"Maa, maa!" Kenshin cried in a strangled voice as he held up his hands placatingly and backed up against a wall. "I can see that you both have met Takahata-san, that I can! I can explain!"

Megumi crossed her arms beneath her breasts, her face scowling at the rurouni. "Explain, then," she demanded. "Now."

"Be quick, Himura," Aoshi commanded as he loosened his kodachis in their sheaths until an inch of steel glowed from each one, reflecting back the candlelight in the room. "Who is Takahata? And why did you send him after Megumi-san and me?" He was seething and wanted an explanation now. No one kidnapped the Oniwabanshuu
Okashira to a pink castle without his permission!

"Well, um…you see, I…" Kenshin's tongue stumbled through the words, smiling foolishly. "It's like this.. you know…heh."

Aoshi let another inch of kodachi slip out of the sheaths when the door to the room suddenly slid open. "Kenshin…," Kaoru said as she stepped into the room, but then her eyes widened in shock when she beheld Aoshi and Megumi standing there, both of them wearing livid expressions. "Aoshi? Megumi?" she asked in a startled voice. "When did you get here? I didn't even know you were coming to Tokyo."

"Neither did we," Megumi muttered.

"Huh?" Kaoru asked, puzzled. "Is something wrong?"

"They sort of…popped in," Kenshin explained hastily. He grabbed his fiancee's arm "I have to talk to you, Kaoru. Excuse us!" He bowed slightly to the dojo's very unexpected guests and steered Kaoru back down the hallway. Kenshin sighed inwardly. He would have to explain this situation to Kaoru after all and face whatever consequences she decided to hand out.

Aoshi and Megumi both leaned out of the doorway, their ears straining to hear the whispered conversation that Kenshin was having with Kaoru.

"Kaoru, do you remember that strange man who came here two weeks ago?" the two eavesdroppers heard Kenshin say. They saw Kaoru's head bob down once in reply. "Well…," Kenshin began, and then his voice became too low for them to hear. Both Aoshi and Megumi watched with a certain amount of satisfaction as Kaoru's expression became angrier by the second. Kenshin's murmured explanation went on for another minute or two more before Kaoru exploded completely. "You did what?!!!" she shouted. "Kenshin, you idiot!" Her fist swung out and slugged him. She stalked away, muttering angrily.

Kenshin landed on the floor with a loud thud. "She really loves me, that she does," he gasped, violet eyes swirling madly. "Oro, oro, oroooo……..ooohhh…"

Megumi looked calmly up at the tall, handsome onmitsu standing before her. "It looks like we'll have to wait for our explanation," she said.

Four inches of kodachi steel hissed back into their sheaths. "I am a patient man," Aoshi replied.

"Of all the things to do…" Kaoru was drinking her tea nearly half an hour later, glaring at her recently unconscious soon-to be-husband.

Kenshin looked slightly embarrassed as he, his fiancée, and their unexpected guests sat at the table.

Megumi had only taken a little of her tea, while Aoshi had nearly finished his.

"You still haven't explained why you sent Takahata after us, Ken-san," Megumi reminded.

Kenshin smiled sheepishly, noticing the fire in Megumi's eyes, and the dangerous glint in Aoshi's. He then turned to his fiancée. "Kaoru…I was wondering if I could speak to
them-"

"Alone?" Kaoru filled in, her eyes rounding. "Forget it! You sent a matchmaker after them! I'm surprised both of them haven't killed you!"

"Yet," Aoshi muttered.

Kenshin glanced back at their two guests.

"How could you do such a thing?" Kaoru shook her head. "Playing with them like that-"

"Oh, I can definitely say that they both enjoyed the time they had," a voice spoke from the doorway.

Four heads swiveled to see a pretty man dressed in a pink kimono with yellow flowers printed on it. His long hair was held back in a half-ponytail, tied with a ribbon.

"Ah…" Kaoru looked to see Kenshin sink in his cushioned seat, Aoshi's eyes narrow, and Megumi clench a fist.

"It's rude to just walk in to people's homes," Megumi chided.

Takahata beamed a smile and flapped a hand. "I called, but no one heard." He winked at Aoshi. "Apparently, your hearing isn't as good as you think it is, Aoshi-kun." He smiled at Kaoru. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Kamiya Kaoru. I've heard so
much good things about you…"

Greetings were exchanged before Takahata settled next to Kaoru. Needless to say, the whole experience seemed too…surreal.

"Your explanation, Himura," Aoshi spoke up.

Now that the man was awake, he and Megumi were planning on getting their answer.

Kenshin cleared his throat. "Well…Perhaps I should start from the misunderstanding…"

"Please do." There was no mistaking the sarcasm in Megumi's tone.

Kenshin nodded. "Apparently…Okina's gift to you, Megumi-dono, was accidentally sent here…"

Megumi's brows lifted.

"Gift?" Kaoru blinked. "What gift?"

"Women's clothing made of expensive material," Megumi hastily explained.

"So…I…" Kenshin continued slowly, "by…chance, Takahata-san was in town, and I asked him to find Okina and explain the mistake...saying that the gift was meant for you…" He cleared his throat. "I didn't expect anything to-"

"Kenshin-kun, don't lie!" Takahata scolded, smiling. "You also told me to find Shinomori Aoshi…that once I see him, I'll understand everything." He then looked at the onmitsu.
"And did I ever. For someone who's capable of turning heads on the street…you definitely need more romance in your life."

Aoshi's fingers curled into fists.

"Takahata-san," Kenshin warned gently.

"Oh, you should have been there, it was wonderful!" Takahata exclaimed. "You and Okina were so right about them! When it all came down to it, Megumi would have liked nothing more than to start making babies-"

Megumi's sharp gasp interrupted his speech. "I never said that!" she exclaimed.

Kenshin, Kaoru, and Aoshi turned to stare at her.

"And Aoshi-kun…if it hadn't been for some teeny, tiny incident…he was definitely in a similar mindset-AAAAHHHH!"

Faster than anyone could see, Aoshi had yanked Takahata by the front of his kimono and thrown him outside into the yard. Takahata rolled on the ground crying out in pain.

"Ouch! My hip hurts! I wasn't finished with my story!" Takahata wailed.

"Don't bother," Aoshi retorted.

"I don't believe this!" Takahata shot to his feet like a person who apparently hadn't hurt his hip. "You people are the most difficult I've EVER had to deal with! I gave you both a
means to act on what you both wanted…and you did," he declared matter- of-factly. "Yes, it was a little out of control. But that's the REAL issue, isn't it? Both of you weren't in control of the situation, and THAT'S what bothers you the most."

Takahata found himself flattened a half-second later.

"Aoshi-kun," he growled in warning. "As much as I like your pretty face--"

"Why are you looking at him?" Megumi Takani stood over him, her eyes flashing and her hair swirling about as if reflecting her intense anger. (In fact, it was windy, but no one noticed.) . "I'm the one that punched you, you asinine little meddling twerp. And I'd like you to know it has NOTHING to do with control. It has EVERYTHING to do with dragging my name through the mud and Aoshi's with it. You have NO right to manipulate people as you wish and --"

At that point Takahata was already covering his ears.

Aoshi studied the strange man and thought carefully. If this _thing_ had some kind of odd mystical powers, there certainly had to be some way to negotiate with this thing. It appeared that "Takahata" was easily influenced if he took mere suggestions from Himura and Okina that were clearly ridiculous. It also appeared that Takahata would keep persisting unless some end were achieved.

But what?

"--and force the perverted will of Okina upon us. A man and a woman can not just be forced--"

Aoshi placed his hand on Megumi's shoulder, silencing the very long tirade .He put her behind him, safely out of Takahata's view and calmly forced the anger from his body. "What will it take for you to go away and leave us alone?"

"You mean you don't want me around any more?" His voice was plaintive, but Aoshi could tell that now Takahata was suddenly intrigued.

"Surely there are other people who need your services," Aoshi's mouth turned up into a ghost of a smile as an idea came to him. "Himura obviously doesn't need you. He has his wife. But Okina, poor Okina," he shook his head. "He's so obviously lonely that he misrepresented everything to you."

"He lied?" Takahata gasped.

"Well, I guess he did," Aoshi drew Megumi in front of him them and let his hand slide down her back slowly, possessively. "Megumi and I never needed your help."

Megumi stared at him for a moment before she played along. "That poor old man," she purred as she turned to face him and slid her hand up the front of his shirt. "He's been so lonely as of late, pining after that seamstress must have gotten to his head. He made up this whole thing as an excuse to work with her--"

Aoshi used years of disciplined meditation to ignore the fact that at the moment she was pressed up against him. "The fact is, we've been secretly together for years. It was hard hiding the fact--"

"He was my first, you know that?" Megumi cooed at Aoshi.

"I can't believe he lied to me--" Takahata frowned, uncertain what to make of the behavior of the two who had been all protests earlier.

"That's how lonely he is," Megumi added. "You should really should help him you know."

"But --" Takahata appeared to be wavering. "I can't believe him -- I mean he was so insistent."

It was now or never, Aoshi realized. He had to absolutely convince Takahata that Okina had been lying all along or seriously deluded. That was the only way to turn Takahata's attentions back towards Okina and that poor hapless seamstress.

The inspiration for the idea came from Megumi herself.

He grabbed Megumi and kissed her.

Takahata's dainty little mouth dropped practically to his knees at the sight of that ground-shaking, theme-music worthy kiss. There are about five kisses in all of history that had managed to reduced him into a puddle of fluffy-pink romantic goo. (and being of the magical persuasion and given his job description, he had seem them all, regardless of time and space limitations.)

So he had to admit that this kiss stole the rose from Romeo's pilgrim's lips, stirred the envy of Don Juan and paled the glory of Genji's amorous conquests. This kiss—this was a kiss that would have made Byron proud. This was a kiss that made Takahata cry.

He felt a sudden surge of determination as tears spilled wildly from his eyes. Yes. Really, it didn't really *matter* if they were just trying to play him as a fool. This kiss, if anything proved that there was nothing more that he could do for these two. If they decide to remain stubbornly uncoupled after all of that—then Takahata was sure that he would hang up his fairy wings, whisk his wardrobe into stylish black turtlenecks, and join the cynical, jaded, single magical creatures union instead.

After several minutes of physiologically-impossible anaeorobic tongue-wrestling later, the two pulled away from each other, flushed and breathless.

"See?" Megumi finally said with a wavering voice, "Secretly together…"

"Is this true, Kenshi—ahhh!" When Takahata turned to look at the rurouni, what he found was a swirly-eyed, oroing rurouni lying flat on the ground with a severe nosebleed.

Aoshi nudged Megumi lightly. "Uh. That's quite a nose hemorrhage. Perhaps you should do something—"

Megumi mumbled something about her knees not working anymore.

With a delighted giggle, Takahata disparated in a poof of pink-strawberry scented cloud. Oh those two are just hopeless.

~~

Okina sometimes liked pruning his garden at night—in his ninja garb--with Misao's throwing daggers. Yes. It was a strange thing to do, even _he_ had to admit that. But being a ninja is a hard thing to get out of one's system. Sometimes, he simply got the uncontrollable urge to sneak up on something. He found out soon enough that bushes are a lot more tolerant of sneak attacks than random Kyoto residents.

So he almost had a heart attack when the bush began to speak to him as he prepared to launch into his Flying Deadly Pointy Metal Wasp Attack.

"Okina!" The hedge cried. "Okin—oh stop looking so scared! Its me, Takahata!"

The pretty man stepped out of the hedge, pulling branches and dead leaves out of his meticulously styled hair. "Ugh, apparition is so dreadfully imprecise."

Okina blinked. Once.

"Anyway, I came to talk to you about something very important…"

LongwindedGirl

Fortunately for Megumi, Koneko yawned and accidentally consumed this Dark Presence.

Koneko after all was an odd little cat. And she did not realize the utter mistake she had made. Had she, in fact, realized that the Dark Presence was contemplating wiping out Megumi, she might have been tempted to cooperate with it.

Instead, thinking she had caught a bug in her mouth, she clamped down and began chewing.

As it turns out, the Dark Presence was crunchy. But greasy -- in a weird sweet, ethereal way.

Had she not, though, then Megumi would have never existed, Aoshi would have never run into the Battousai, and Aoshi that the little cat worshipped would have never existed. It would have been ironic. As well as confusing.

But on the other hand, this poor cat was stuck in an odd unnamed location by herself. She could, if she had a clue, unearth massive damage on Takahata's little world, or simply curl up on one of those odd beds and sleep.

As for Megumi and Aoshi, completely unaware of how their fates were in peril, simply put poor Kenshin inside and got the hell out of the Kamiya compound before they had to explain anything more. The fact was, they were quite anxious to deal with something important.

That of course being, starting in on what would be the sixth kiss of all time to qualify as a fangirl-screaming-inducing moment in some dark alley around the corner.