This is my first published Rurouni Kenshin fanfiction. I've had this idea for years and have only now gained the courage to publish it! I used to write Ghost Hunt fanfiction so if you've read my work there, hello again! I hope you enjoy and all questions will be answered...eventually! Please enjoy and review!

The echo of a gunshot accompanied the piercing white hot pain in her shoulder as she fell to the ground. She had landed hard on the cold concrete of the suspended walkway that surrounded the battle arena her friends were fighting in. She could feel the blood pooling beneath her body. Cold was beginning to lay its claim on her and her eyes were becoming heavy with fatigue. A nap sounded really good to her.

"KAORU!" her eyes opened at the shout of her name. She forced her head to turn so she was looking through the railing that allowed her to see the opponents in the arena. Her eyes caught sight of red hair, violet eyes, and a cross shaped scar on the left cheek. She opened her mouth to respond to the sigh only for blood to trickle out.

"KAORU!" she blinked in hopes to clear her eyesight which was becoming slowly fuzzy. Her solution worked long enough for her to see tears in the violet eyes. She tried hard to remember the name that went with those eyes. He mind refused to comply for only a moment before eyes widened as the name came to her clearly.

'Kenshin…why…why are you crying? Are you crying…because of me?' she thought before turning her head back so she was looking up the high ceiling of the room. She could feel her breathing slowing. She realized belatedly that she was dying as the coldness seeped into her bones causing her body to shiver.

'How did this happen?' she thought dazedly. Her mind, though muddled, managed to supply the image of a woman with warm brown eyes and black hair tied back at the nape of her neck. She wondered briefly who this woman was before her mind managed to supply a name with the image. 'Tomoe…Yukishiro Tomoe. Because of her…I became involved in this…and I met Kenshin. I wish…I love you, Ken…shin.'

"KAORU! NO!"