Hey all, thanks for reading and reviewing! For anyone just happening upon this story, please review once you're done and tell me what you thought! As always, standard disclaimer applies.

Mia21

The next week was enjoyable for both Kenshin and Kaoru, spending the majority of their time in the other's company.
By the end of the week, Kaoru found herself talking out loud.
"OK Kaoru, you want Kenshin. He's strong, but gentle. Protective and caring. Sometimes scary but oh, so sweet. I mean, he told you the truth about his past as Battosai and he didn't have to. That should reassure you that he trusts you as a person who will keep that secret with him, only ever saying anything because someone needs to know. But the real question is, could he love you or is it best to keep your lips sealed?"

Kaoru didn't have an answer for herself. If only she could have known that at about the same time, Kenshin was arguing with himself about Kaoru.

"Kaoru is so…wow, she's incredible. Caring and compassionate, her friends and the people she loves are the most important things to her. And, yes, I told her the truth, well, not all of the truth, but I have no idea how she'd react to the rest, probably by telling me I'm crazy or running away and I would never see her again. Maybe the easiest way to keep her safe would be to mark her, no, no, that would only traumatize her. Although, perhaps she'd realize she needs to be more careful if I marked her, perhaps she'd accept my warnings about unsavory people and that damn red cloak if I marked her. That's it then." Kenshin decided, nodding to himself.

Having already told him that she was visiting Tae and Megumi in Fujiyoshida and would be unavailable the next day, Kenshin wasn't worried when she didn't appear near the waterfall.

Meeting her two friends at the restaurant where Tae worked, the Akabeko, the three friends had a late lunch and talked about gossip and what was going on in their lives. Megumi admitted that she had met a former ruffian who was actually very sweet and funny named Sanosuke though he preferred Sano. She also admitted that she had a major crush on him, but was waiting to see how things went. After Megumi was done, Kaoru admitted to her two friends that she had met a young man named Kenshin and she already deeply cared for him. Tae and Kaoru urged Megumi to tell Sano how she felt and Tae and Megumi urged Kaoru to tell Kenshin how she felt.

"Life is too short." Tae told her friends.

After finishing their late lunch and realizing how late it was actually getting, Megumi asked if Kaoru would like to stay with her that night. A small voice in the back of her mind said she should probably accept, but not wanting to bother Megumi, Kaoru assured her friend that she'd be just fine, the path from Fujiyoshida to Oyama was straight and true.

"But Kaoru, aren't you worried about the werewolf?" Tae asked.

Kaoru snorted. "Oh, not you too, Tae. You know that werewolves aren't real. I'll be fine, really."

Kaoru hadn't realized how dark it was until she'd gotten more than a few steps into the forest, but she took a deep breath and continued on. Moving quickly, Kaoru tried her best to avoid briers and rocks. When her skirts caught on a low branch unexpectedly, Kaoru ended up on the ground. Wet earth stuck to her as she tried to rise, but she froze halfway up when she was positive she heard breathing that was not her own. Turning slowly, she nearly fainted when she saw the silhouette of a large creature against the darker shadows. She turned to find some sort of weapon but only made it a few steps from where she was before she was flat on her stomach, the creature crouching on her back. Kaoru thought about screaming for help but a heavy paw was shoved expertly onto the back of her neck, pushing her face into the ground and cutting off her chance to scream. Knowing she was going to die, Kaoru waited for the gruesome ripping, tearing, and gnashing of teeth to begin. She was surprised then when she felt a warm pang on her right hand. She turned her head as best as she could to look through the darkness at her hand as the warm blood trickled down it. It hurt, but it wasn't the killing lunge she'd expected. Even stranger was feeling the animal back up and move off her.

Despite the blackness of the night, she could make out the contours of a wolf, the largest she'd ever seen. His coat was bronze, and it almost gleamed in the evening haze. Staring at him, she locked eyes with the beast, and as soon as she did she began to shake. The eyes into which she gazed were gold and unmistakably human. As she stared, the wolf turned and disappeared into the forest.

'Ok, so maybe the werewolf stories are true after all.' Kaoru thought, ripping off a piece of her skirt to bind her hand with and continuing home.

When Kaoru finally made it home that night, she cleaned her hand as best as she could and used a clean strip of cloth to wrap it back up, not looking forward to visiting Dr. Gensai tomorrow and having to explain the wound. Kaoru remembered clearly what had happened, but she wasn't sure if the good doctor would believe her.

So, Kaoru has now found that the werewolf rumors are true. What did you guys think?

Mia21