Some things just can't be ignored. This would be one of them. It's a recent plot bunny that rabidly attacked my mind, and I liked it, so I agreed to write it out as long as the bunny stopped running rampant. It's also going to be a trilogy. Goodie goodie. What's with my apparent obsession with trilogies? I've no idea. They just seem to come out that way. Blame the bunnies. They run in packs of three, it seems. However, instead of having three different stories, I'll post them all in the same one to make things easier.

It's no update for Lunar Eclipse or Akutenshi but my betas and I have all been very busy lately. This one hasn't been run by either of them, so unless I find another beta beforehand, then I'll run this one by one of them when I finish one of the other stories.

I really shouldn't be starting something else, but…I was very weak this time… So, enjoy!

The rating is iffy. Sano has a mouth on him, so if anyone feels that because of that the rating should be upped, please let me know. Thanks.

Disclaimer: I do not own RK in any form or fashion.

The Dreamland

She'd just about had it. This was way too weird.

Go to sleep in one bed, a nice bed with plenty of springs jabbing into her back, and wake up in another, a really nice bed that feels like air with no morning pains that had to be worked out. It made for a boring morning. Well, putting the fact aside that someone had switched out her entire bed frame with another without waking her up during the night.

Fuzzy pink slippers, missing their holes on the bottom, were sitting right where her feet fell when Kaoru sat up. Those were her favorite pink, ugly slippers, too.

Kaoru, after calming from the stunning jolt, growled. Someone, and she had an idea of whom, was gonna get it real good.

The shower didn't have that faint smell, and Kaoru knew she hadn't gotten the chance to buy cleaner, much less actually clean the bathroom. That one was appreciated.

Her phone was missing. Wrapped in a brand new robe—it was really pretty so she couldn't leave it hanging on the back of the bathroom door—Kaoru searched her little, dingy, and wholly temporary apartment for the ancient contraption that came with the place.

Funny how whoever had switched out nearly everything that she'd bought since her stay here didn't touch anything that was already in the apartment when she first moved in.

Except, of course, the stupid phone.

She found it on the counter in the kitchen hidden behind a large paper bag filled with, to her further surprise, and entire meal that only needed heating. Now that was a feat within her grasp, and she'd wanted a decent meal besides sandwiches and instant ramen.

But, who had she told recently?

Forgetting about it, Kaoru riffled the whole chicken, mashed potatoes, and dish of precooked veggies and found a DVD at the bottom.

"Dinner and a movie," she muttered to herself, flipping the case over to read the back.

It'd been a while since she thought about it, but this was a flick that she'd wanted to see way back when it was still in theaters, but never got the chance. Interest sparked, Kaoru completely ignored the fact that she had no DVD player.

It wasn't until she had Saturday morning breakfast of chicken and mash-potatoes, saving the vegetables for dinner, in the oven and on the stove heating and the DVD inside the player when she realized.

They'd gone too far.

Kaoru ran her hand over the DVD box. It was really nice, and really, really ridiculous.

Looking out the window, Kaoru realized the streets below were empty, and the silence crashed into her awareness. She'd enjoyed it so much she didn't notice that it was so quiet, just like she remembered complaining about being woken up early every Saturday when she wanted to catch up on sleep.

Now if only she could remember who it was she told.

When Kaoru took a moment and thought it over, everything new, everything cleaned, all of it was something she'd wished she could have or fussed about.

And it all made sense.

She laughed.

"Nice one, Kamiya," she chuckled to herself, surveying the sleeve of the robe she thought she was wearing.

She was dreaming. She had to be dreaming. This was insane, suddenly having almost everything she'd wanted for the longest time. There was no magic evolved, and it wasn't a prank from a friend, but a prank on herself.

Well, she thought to herself as she pulled open her closet and surveyed all the new clothing with a silly smile, who am I to waste this opportunity?

She wasn't worried and didn't think twice when she felt the fabric of the clothes, and tasted the food. What was the term from Psych class? Lucid dream. Right, it was only a very vividly imagined dream.

And very mean, if she came right down to it. When she woke up and saw that everything was normal, she'd have to kick someone. Preferably someone she knew. Who would be the lucky one? They'll be the lucky one to find out.

Kaoru wondered how much more was gone, or switched. She shuffled her dresser top, looking for a few heirlooms that she'd wanted fix, and found the couple she talked about fixed. Like the ugly, pink slippers, she frowned when she found her old wristwatch had its lost band reattached and looking brand-spanking new, and like her slippers, she hoped that the originals were somewhere around. Yes, she wanted new ones, but she also wanted to keep the old ones.

Maybe, is she wanted them back enough they'd just appear out of nowhere since it was just a dream after all. It would make her feel better if she knew she still had them.

Her curiosity extended outward, and Kaoru found herself on a clean sidewalk in front of her once trashy building, and she didn't see the landlord when she came down the stairs either. That's a plus.

Just how much had she complained about anyway?

Kaoru saw a single car on the street, parked shining deep blue just outside the apartment. She glanced around and looked down into her purse, finding a car key at the bottom. She grinned. By the time she'd driven far enough away from her apartment, people were walking and driving the streets. It was as eerie as it was extremely cool. Still, she hoped the lack of noises wouldn't permanent for the extent of this dream.

When was she finally going to wake? Kaoru knew this was not real, but she still couldn't wake herself up. As long as things kept going smoothly, she didn't see a reason to wake up.

Since this imaginary world was going so nicely, Kaoru stopped by the haunt of a friend of hers. It was a dark bar and a hole in the wall that she usually avoided.

My dream, my way, she thought as she strode through the doors and was smacked with the smell of smoke, booze, and men. Lots of men, who all turned to take a gander at the pretty little thing that happened through the door. The women weren't interested in anything more than giving Kaoru a sizing-up glance and a glare.

The sense was very odd as it crawled over her, and Kaoru almost glanced down to see if suddenly she was I nothing but her underwear, or worse. She knew how dreams could go.

"Is Sanosuke here?" she asked the bartender, and almost immediately half of the room quickly lost interest in her.

The bartender lifted a brow. "Yeah. He's in the back with a few folks."

"Thanks," she beamed.

The back was just a bunch of rooms with missing doors where private parties could have some peace. They were decent sized rooms from what Kaoru could remember from a few weeks ago when Sano had a get-together with everyone for no reason but to party and get drunk without having to worry about getting back home.

She'd gotten tipsy that night, and couldn't remember much except for the absolute blast everyone had, and that she'd spoken with a friend of Sano's she never met before, whose face has stayed with her, even through the haze of everything else.

"Sano?" she called over the music echoing from the main room down the hall.

Second door down, Kaoru caught her breath, her fingers turning white against the brown trim of the doorframe.

"Kaoru," Kenshin smiled from his seat at one of the round tables. "I was waiting for Sano." He waved to the chair next to him. "Do you want to have a seat?"

The redhead didn't seem fazed that she was shaking her head and chuckling quietly to herself. His smile didn't falter or change while he watched her laugh and wave a finger at him.

"I get it," she said with a sigh. "I get it, ok? This is perfect. Just perfect. I get everything else I wanted, so why not this?"

Something flickered in his violet, flower petal eyes, but Kaoru was too busy cutting up at herself to notice. Kenshin's smile still didn't waver.

Kaoru looked him square in the eye before shaking her head again. "Look at me…"

"I am," he said after a moment.

She frowned. "Not you. Me. Me look at me. I've lost it! I haven't even known you a month and I'm already dreaming about you." Her finger was waving accusingly again. "So I can wake up any second now, that'd be great."

Kenshin was confused, and it showed, but that something was in his eyes again, sparkling.

"Kaoru, what are you talking about?"

Something in his voice said he already knew, somehow, and Kaoru growled, stalking towards him to lean over the table.

"This is ridiculous," she said, finger up and in his face. "This is ridiculous, and you know it. How would you know it?" she went back on her words, standing up and paced. "I know it, but you don't."

"Know what, Kaoru?" he asked quietly.

"You're not what I want," she accused him again, as if the conversation was normal. She couldn't wait until something woke her up. Where were those cars and screaming people out on the streets when they were needed for once? "I haven't known you long enough."

Kenshin blinked calmly. "Does it matter?"

"Yes, it matters!"

He stood.

"Hey!" She put her palm out to stop him. He stopped halfway up, but backed his chair away from the table so it wouldn't hit the back of his knees. Her eyes ran over his dark jeans and grey t-shirt with a little logo patched on the left of his chest. She didn't give herself time to read it. "Don't come close to me!"

"Kaoru?" Sano asked from behind.

"Sano!" She backed into him, not realizing she was backpedaling from the room. "Take care of this!"

Brown eyes glanced from her to Kenshin, who was calm as ever, if not seemingly a bit uncomfortable.

"Take care of what?"

"Him! Your friend! He's playing around with me, and I don't really appreciate it. So…so, do something. That's what!"

Kaoru almost sighed with relief when Sano's confusion hardened, and his face became very grim.

"Whatever the hell you did, you gonna explain it?" he asked Kenshin.

The redhead nodded.

Kaoru blinked between the two of them. "What? Explain what?"

Sano looked down at Kaoru and answered her request. "Hell no, I'm not taking care of this, cause he is." Sano inclined his messy head toward Kenshin. "I would if I could, Missy. You'll understand, maybe." He looked at Kenshin, his jaw tight. "Don't fuck this up."

When Sano turned and walked out, Kaoru was speechless. She turned, ready to yell, to get some answers, ready and willing to just wake up, but she ran face-first into a chest instead.

Kenshin caught her and steadied her, but let go when she yanked her arm.

"Kaoru, I know that this'll be hard to grasp," he began, earning a glare as she sat down and crossed hr arms. "But you have to listen, at least. You understand?"

Bending down to look her in the eye, he got her attention, but she looked away, closing her eyes and chanting, "It's only a dream, it's only a dream…"

"But it's not a dream," Kenshin said lightly. "Not the dream you think it is."

She opened an eye. "And what is that supposed to mean?"

"Do you remember the party?"

She nodded.

"Do you remember what you said to me?"

So it was him she spoke to. Interesting.

Kaoru opened her eyes and frowned. Why was she remembering the party in a dream? It didn't make sense. She didn't want to have another party. Yet anyway. And she didn't want a repeat of that one two and a half weeks ago, no matter how fun it was. There wasn't any information that she hadn't already process. Thinking back to her class, she couldn't remember anything else about dream interpretation except that all of this could be nothing more than wants and needs.

Wants and needs. It was all wants, but what was it she needed? It didn't make any sense.

"Kaoru, you have to think past that," Kenshin said firmly, almost as if he saw what passed through her mind and read it like a book.

"That this really isn't a dream," she answered blandly.

"Yes. Because-"

"It's not."

"Right."

"Go on."

Kenshin shook his head. "Don't be like this, or you won't understand."

"I said go on."

He sighed. "The party? When you were very…open from all your drinks, do you remember what you said?"

"Yeah," she replied grudgingly. "I was talking about all the crap in my apartment and in my life right now, and how I wanted it all to change. But, you know, I'm not really like that. It's just, I was a little off that night. It's not that important. I'll get by with what I got."

She was explaining herself to an apparition inside a dream. Worse, an apparition that was actually a man, and a man who she had almost instantly had a very high school crush on. Humiliating didn't even begin to cover it, but she felt that she was also talking to herself. Odd, but it made sense, what she was saying aloud.

"Really," she looked into his eyes, which were closer than they were a moment ago. "I'll be ok."

Kenshin nodded, as if in agreement. "That's also what you said, very vehemently. But I wanted to change it, Kaoru. I wanted to change everything, but I knew I couldn't, so I only changed what you said, what you wanted most."

Now she was very confused, and staring at him. "You did all that? By yourself?"

"Yes."

"How come I didn't know you were in my apartment? And how the hell did you get inside my apartment in the first place?! Was it Sano?" she fumed. "Did he give you a key? Oh, that's it. I'm taking that key back, and I'm taking the hand that gives them back to me also. I've had it with the jokes-"

"Kaoru! It wasn't a joke!" Kenshin held her shoulders, kneeling in front of her. "It's not a joke, you have to believe me. I did exchange everything for you, but I did it alone. Only I could do that anyway. Sano had nothing to do with it."

"Well, in any case, it was a good joke, Kenshin."

He seemed pained and tried to explain. "It's not a joke, Kaoru. Why would I joke around with something like this?"

Kaoru looked into his eyes for a long moment, and was almost lost within their color and depth. She could have been sucked in completely, gotten lost, and would have been happy to. But it was going to end sooner or later, and later would be more of a blow.

"I want to wake up now," she whispered.

"You don't believe me," he said, a whisper also.

Kaoru opened her mouth, but couldn't answer. "I don't…I don't know."

Kenshin nodded serenely. He wasn't upset, and he wasn't going to force her to get anything.

"You still think you're asleep, and that you're only dreaming."

Kaoru thought about it, swallowed, and said it anyway, taking the jump "It'd be way too good to be real."

"I can make it better."

Kaoru froze, her breath gone, and it wasn't coming back any time soon. She thought she'd suddenly forgotten how to breathe, but couldn't really tell. He was so close, closer than he'd been a minute ago. When had that happened?

"Since this is only a dream, then you won't mind…"

He kissed her, softly and slowly. Kaoru was glad she was sitting in the chair. It was a warm kiss, but there was something he was holding back from her, she knew when he ran his tongue over her bottom lip. Something, and dream or not, Kaoru wanted to know what it was.

But it ended too soon to test it.

Kenshin looked into her eyes, running his fingers over her cheek and jaw. That flicker was a flame, and it burned from his eyes, curling her toes. When he blinked, it diminished, but it wasn't gone.

Standing, Kenshin whispered her to stay there with a shaky voice that confused her, and confused her even more when he apologized. And she was tired of being confused. She couldn't have followed him from the room anyway. She was focused on the trailed of fire that his fingers had left, and licked her smoldering lips. Waiting until he got back was a grand idea, then she could smother him with demands…a couple different demands possibly, she wasn't exactly sure yet.

She looked up expectantly when someone walked in, but it was Sano. It was his turn to be uncomfortable as he shifted from one foot to the other. Kaoru took her hand from her cheek, where she forgot it was, and glanced behind him.

"Where's Kenshin?" Her voice was a whisper, but it was loud in her ears.

Sano ducked his head, but she saw an angry light in his eyes before he hid, and handed her a small piece of paper ripped from the corner of a notebook. He stepped back when she took it, her eyes searching his face and stance, wondering what was wrong.

The handwriting on the paper was horrible, but she could read it easily enough.

I'm so sorry, Kaoru. It's the only wish I can't fulfill.

The paper fell from her fingers, and she looked up at Sano.

No. It wasn't a dream after all. It was a friggin nightmare from her standpoint, and, at least for the moment, it was as real as it could get.

An odd whim, but I like it. I'll try my very best to have Akutenshi updated next, for anyone here who reads it. If it seems like it'll be a long wait, I'll have the second chapter of this up instead.

Reviews are appreciated, but no flames. Criticism is more than welcomed, but no flames.