(A/N: Wow… The Fluffy Muffin Queen (formerly The Kikyo Hater) is doing Rurouni Kenshin… and she's only on the 11th book in the series! Soon it'll be the 12th but… -.-; Anywho, this baby 'ill be my first AU, since I wouldn't be able to do much justice to it if it wasn't. I don't know many of the characters but… I'll try to do well!

Summery:KamiyaKaoru has just moved to Tokyo where her father has just died, leaving her with a dojo. As an accompliced swordsman, she thinks of herself as tough, but when she is almost killed by a gang, and a young man saves her, she looses faith in herself. The young man shows up again and watches her defeat another man in a battle with swords, and asks if he can take a shot at it. She agrees, and says that, since she owes him a debt, she'll teach him for free. Problem is, the young man, Himura Kenshin, brings troubles of his own. Will she throw him out, or keep him in?

Disclaimer: I don't own Rurouni Kenshin… I just wish I did… -sigh-)

Chapter One

The Dojo and Robbed

Kaoru sighed and ran her fingers through her hair as she gazed up at the dojo. "Fourteen years, Otou-san," she muttered. "You don't see me for fourteen years and suddenly you dump this on me…"

She shook her head, pulling out a sapphire ribbon and putting her hair up in a high ponytail. "Man," she muttered as she walked through the old walls. They had stood there since the Meiji age. "This sucks… I can't believe Dad had to leave me this!" She sighed and shook her head. "Ah well… looks like I'll just have to live with it…"

A shout from behind her made Kaoru turn, her eyebrows knitted together in confusion. A young boy stood there, panting lightly, holding a katana in both hands. Kaoru frowned. He was holding the sword wrong, both hands touching, overlapping over the handle of the sword, and it was at an odd angle.

"Who are you and what the hell are you doing here!?" the boy yelled. Kaoru blinked and took a step back. Bit forceful, this one, ne?

"Ano… I'm here to take over the dojo since my father died and left it to me," she explained, her eyes stretched slightly.

The boy snorted. "Heh… Yeah, right… I was told the daughter of the dojo master was pretty… not some ugly lady."

Kaoru had gone from surprised to pissed in record time; 0.001 milliseconds. "WHY YOU LITTLE-!" she yelled, leaping forward. She and the boy had their little fist fight, neither really doing all that much damage to the other.

As the broke apart, Kaoru, panting slightly, withdrew a copy of her father's will. "I was told if I showed this to anybody I met, that it would confirm that I owned this place or something like that…"

The boy froze, squinted at the paper, shrugged, and turned away and crossing his arms in front of him. Snorting, he stuck his nose in the air. 'Yeah… he's acting like the pompous little snot he is!' Kaoru seethed, her hands clenching into fists by her side.

"Whatever… but I can't believe I'm being taught by a girl!" she muttered, stomping away. Kaoru's eyes narrowed and she followed after him.

"They why don't you just leave and go home!"

The boy flinched and froze, not moving a step and hardly breathing. Kaoru also stopped, and her angry expression melted into one of worry. "Ano…"

"Because this is my home."

"… Nani?"

"This is my home," the boy said, still not looking at her. He started moving again. "My parents died when I was eight. Dad died in the war and mom died of a disease. I stay here now."

'I… I had no idea… I mean, I…' Kaoru's shoulders slackened and she stared sadly after the boy. 'Poor guy…I guess I could be nicer to him… and kicking him out is out of the question!' She finally gathered herself up enough to begin to run forward. "Hey, um…" He turned back towards her, raising an eyebrow. "Ano… what's your name?"

The boy grinned. "Myojin Yahiko," he said, turning around again and leaving. Kaoru smiled. 'Well this has already been an interesting first day,' she thought, following Yahiko as he entered the dojo. 'Things can only go uphill from here, ne?'


"Listen, if I have to tell you one last time…!" Kaoru growled dangerously, propping her groceries higher on her hip, glaring at Yahiko who just snorted and crossed his arms. "No, the pokey is for LATER!!!!"

It had been half a year since Kaoru had moved to Tokyo and she had settled in quite nicely. She now ran the dojo with ease (surprisingly enough), and thought of Yahiko as a little brother.

Rolling her eyes, she saw a pet shop. Squealing, she ran ahead to skid to a stop in front of a puppy that yipped and jumped onto the glass, his tongue hanging out of one side of his mouth. "Hey, Yahiko, how 'bout we get a puppy!?" she asked as he came up to stand by her side, an eyebrow raised.

"No."

"Why not?"

"I don't like 'puppies'. They get older and are smelly and all they do is lie around, eat, sleep, and poop."

"…Like you?"

"HEY!"

Kaoru rolled her eyes and turned back to the puppy. "But we could be dorks and name him after an anime character! How does InuYasha sound to you?"

"Freak!"

"Sesshomaru?"

Freeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaak!"

"Well, we could get a girl kitty and name her Kirara, just 'cause I like that anime!"

"YOU NEED TO GET A THERPIST YOU NUTSO!!!" Yahiko yelled at her. Kaoru grinned.

"I'll take that as a no too."

"AAAAAAAARG!!!!!!!!"

"I love you too."

Turning, Kaoru began to walk back down the sidewalk, but something crashed into her side. She cried out as her groceries went flying and she stumbled into an alleyway, her knees giving out beneath her. She looked up and gasped, flinching away from the gun that was aimed at her head. A shout from Yahiko made her look in his direction as he darted forward, only to be kicked by a second mugger.

Kaoru looked from the gun to Yahiko, who was being kicked. "Leave him alone!" she shouted. The man smirked.

"Only if you give me your money."

Kaoru bit her lip, but withdrew her wallet in an instant. 'If I had my katana, that man would never be able to have kids again!' she thought venomously, throwing her wallet at his feet. "Now leave him alone!"

The man thought for a second, then grinned. "No."

Kaoru swallowed the bile that rose in her throat. "You said you would!" she screamed, lunging forward, her nails digging into the man's arm. "You said if I-"

Her sentence was cut off as the man slapped her again. Her teeth closed around part of her tongue and the side of her cheek, ripping tissue and making blood slowly fall into her mouth.

She knelt and spat, feeling sick. The man raised the gun again, and the sound of the barrel readying made Kaoru flinch. Yahiko shouted again, but a slight ringing sound filled her ears. She closed her eyes and bent her head, waiting for the gunshot.

It never came. Kaoru lifted her head at the sound of a punch, her eyes widening as a figure blocked out most of her vision.

Gasping, she scrambled away. And who was this guy!?

She bit her lip as he turned towards her, his eyes narrowed dangerously, but he smiled brightly and she smiled shakily back, her eyes never closing.

The man turned back and Kaoru studied him. A magenta sweatshirt was tied around his waist and a white t-shirt was fitted lightly over his slim figure. Dark blue jeans were also loose, but not down past his ass like most of the youth. White sneakers were on his feet, the laces tied, but loosely. His hair was a deep but bright crimson that looked as if it had never been combed, and it was pulled back in a loose ponytail to keep away from his face. As the man turned to look at Kaoru one last time before launching back into battle, she saw his violet eyes study her for a second before jumping forward. The guy had a scar that stretched across his left cheek in the shape of an 'x'. Kaoru flinched lightly as she thought of how he must've gotten that scar. 'No doubt it hurt like hell,' she thought as the man used his fists and legs to hit the mugger over and over.

Finally, he drew a gun and Kaoru gasped and closed her eyes. She didn't want to see death.

But not gunshot sounded. Only the crack of something making contact with flesh. Kaoru slowly opened an eye, but the other opened widely. The mugger lay on the ground, knocked clean out.

The other one jumped up and ran for it. Kaoru just watched, stunned. Finally, when she found her voice, she could hardly whisper. "Holy shit."

The man turned towards her and tilted his head. "Oro?" Kaoru's brows knit together. 'What the hell?' He walked forward and bent to survey her. "This one wonders if you are ok, miss."

Kaoru blinked, but nodded, lifting her hand and wiping away the blood that slowly trickled out of the corner of her mouth. "Yeah… I'm fine… Just bit the inside of my mouth… Nothing serious really… not like…" They both turned towards the crumpled figure that was Yahiko. "Yeah… not like him."

Jumping up, Kaoru rushed forward and knelt by boy, turning him over and sighing. "Only a few bruises and cuts… nothing to really worry about…"

Turning around, Kaoru smiled again. "Doomo arigato gozaimasu! KamiyaKaoru desu. What's your name?"

The man smiled. "This one is Himura Kenshin. It's a pleasure to meet you!"

Kaoru smiled back, but a groan from Yahiko made her look worriedly at the boy. "Ano… arigato, again, for saving us…"

Kenshin nodded, his face suddenly somber. "Hai. This one usually does not like to fight, but it is hard to dodge the bullets of guns."

She nodded. "Yeah… I'm more used to dodging the sword's blade, but…" She shrugged, her face falling. 'I never really thought that I had to learn much more than karate and kendo to survive… but I guess I was wrong…'

Sighing, she shrugged Yahiko farther onto her shoulder. Turning, she smiled at Kenshin. "Ano… I need to take Yahiko to our dojo. Um… Thank you again. Ja ne…" Bowing as best she could, she began to leave, but flashed the boy a bright smile before hurrying away. She hadn't meant to be rude, but Yahiko was beginning to groan harder, and it sounded like he was in a lot of pain, though he'd commit seppuku before he'd admit it! Annoying boy…

But, as she made her way to the dojo, her mind strayed back to the boy. 'I hope I see him again,' she thought. 'He was nice… and I owe him one!'

(A/N: Grrr... sucky sucky chapter... GYA! -bangs head against table- In case I'm new to you, I do this a lot... Anyways, that's chapter one! Please, review! --.n)