Disclaimer: Ha! I wish I could say I made RK.

Chapter 4

She walked at a relatively fast pace to warm up. By the time she reached the school gates, she did not need her light jacket. She took it off and set out for the practice hall. When she reached it. She slid off her shoes and set down her jacket. She peeked in to see if there was anybody in. Her shoulders relaxed when she saw nobody. She slipped in silent as a cat and slid the door shut. The moonlight coming in through the windows provided enough light for her to train by. If she needed to, she could practice in absolute darkness. Her father had taught her to fight under all conditions.

She sat down and started to stretch. When she finished, she sat in a kneeling position on the floor and clasped her hands together in front of her. She whispered, "Father, mother, watch over me."

With her prayer said, Misao got up and walked to the center of the room. She stood there with her feet spread out evenly on the floor, her arms hanging loosely at her sides. Her head sunk to her chest and she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Then she lifted her head up and opened her eyes to reveal glimmering turquoise. She put herself into her ready position and lunged, grabbing her kodachis from their sheath and slashed at the air in front of her, starting her deadly dance with her kodachis.

Kenshin walked out from the boys' locker room with his sakabatou in his hand and ready to head home. When he stepped into the practice hall, he saw a figure dressed in black fighting the air with two weapons. Upon closer inspection, the two silver arcs slashing at the air turned out to be kodachis and the person holding them turned out to be Misao. Kenshin's eyes widened when he saw that. At the spar during lunchtime, he had noticed that Misao was skilled. When she was fighting Kaoru, she seemed to be falling into an old routine. He hadn't thought that she was this good. Watching her fight, he noticed that she was using very advanced moves, very different from the ones she used when she was fighting Kaoru. It slowly dawned to him that she had been using a warm up routine when she fought Kaoru. When he realized that, he had stepped back in shock. Apparently, Misao had heard the rustle of clothing, stepping out of her routine; she turned without warning and was speeding toward Kenshin before he knew it. She raised her arm and slashed at him. Using his impossible speed, Kenshin dodged. Misao lunged again and said as she was slashing at him again, "Who are you?"

Kenshin dodged again and didn't answer, wanting to see what she would do. That was the wrong thing to do. Misao attacked with more fervor, thinking that it was one of Shishio's spies or Shishio himself. She slashed with both kodachis and used one as a diversion when she used the other one to slash at his side. Surprised, Kenshin drew out his sakabatou to block an unexpected strike. When he caught a glimpse of Misao's eyes, he shivered. The turquoise orbs were filled with hatred. Now he shouted at her, "Misao! Misao! It's just me, Kenshin! Snap out of it, Misao!"

Misao blinked when she heard Kenshin's voice. She stopped her attack immediately, blinking in confusion, she said, "Kenshin? What are you doing here?"

"I was about to go home until you attacked me."

Misao blushed, "Sorry, I thought you were someone else."

Kenshin's violet eyes hardened, "Who?" he asked, his voice ice cold.

Misao waved him off, realizing she had almost let her secret slip. "Nobody. Hey, wait for me to get my jacket, I'll walk home with you."

Kenshin let her go, thinking to himself that he would eventually get it out of her. "Sure. Let's go."

Misao grabbed her jacket and slung it over her shoulder warmed up from her movement. Together, she and Kenshin walked home. When they reached their apartment complex, they stopped, "Well, see you," they said simultaneously. They stopped and stared at each other. Misao asked Kenshin, "You live in here?" indicating the apartment complex. Kenshin nodded and asked her back, "You too?"

Misao nodded. They looked at each other and said, "Well…"

Misao finally shrugged, "Come on. Lets go inside before we freeze standing here."

Kenshin nodded in agreement and they both headed for the elevators. Once they were inside, they reached for the same floor number. They glanced at each other. Misao said in disbelief, "Same floor too?"

In silence, they waited for the elevator to reach their floor. When it did, they stepped off and started walking in the same direction. When they reached to corner, they turned their backs to each other and unlocked their doors. They stopped and turned back to look at each other in astonishment. Kenshin asked her in an uncertain voice, "You live in there?"

Misao nodded slowly, "Yes…"

"We live across from each other?"

"I guess…"

"This is weird."

"Tell me about it."

"Well, I guess we can walk each other to school now."

"Yeah…"

"What time do you usually start walking?"

"6:30…"

"See you then, then."

"Yeah…"

With that, they turned around and opened their doors. Misao dropped her jacket in astonishment. Hearing the falling fabric, Kenshin turned around. He picked it up and tried to give it to Misao. Misao had gone still. She ignored Kenshin's hand holding the jacket out to her and ran inside her apartment. Curious about what had gotten her so up tight, Kenshin stepped in to her apartment into a mess. Misao's apartment had been ransacked, things strewn everywhere. He turned to see where Misao was and saw her in her room. He walked over to her, picking his way through carefully. When he reached her, he saw that she was tossing out things in the closet, obviously looking for something. Reaching the back, she brought out two boxes wrapped up in cloth. He noticed a third on like it on the bed. Putting the two boxes on the bed next to the third one on the bed, she took off the cloth wrapping them up. Then she slid back the lids to reveal two katanas in one box and a set of twenty kunais in the other. She opened the third one and slid back the lid to reveal nothing. She took out her kodachis and set them in gently. That done, she wrapped up the two boxes she had brought out from the closet and put them back. She kept the third box unwrapped and put it on the table next to her bed. She picked up the cloth that had wrapped up the third box and folded it gently and placed it within the box with the kodachis.

When she had done that, she ran over to her desk and sorted through all of the scattered papers. When she finished there, she went into the living room and straightened up everything, placing things back where they belonged. When she went into the kitchen, she stopped short. From where Kenshin had been straightening up some things, he got up and peered over her shoulder. On the cupboards were pinned up a piece of paper. Written across it in large red letters was the message; You are a dead girl, Misao. Just like your parents.

Tbc…at who knows when…

A/N Mwa ha ha ha! Do you like it? Flame me to ashes, just leave me a review! …This fic hasn't been updated in forever and I'm sorry to say that I'm not sure when or if I will. Sorry!