Chibisensei: Hello Minna-san, I'm back again! I know it's been a while, but I really haven't been on my computer much lately. Anyway, I don't own RK and would like to thank everyone who reviewed my story x2 because I forgot to thank you wonderful people last chapter. Sorry about that T_T. I really do appreciate nice reviews though; they're like sunshine on a cloudy day. I hope you enjoy this chapter!

Chapter 5: Pushing the Limits

Kenshin squinted as he followed the snake-like paths of the basement level corridors. Even through the mask, the nauseating scent of natural gas made the world seem like it was spinning. It was overwhelming. Kenshin leaned against the wall as he tried to catch his breath. With the amount of build-up and the ventilation system on the fritz, a spark down here would not be a very good thing. He sheathed his sword carefully and pushed on wearily. Bodies of friends and foes lay lifelessly within the passageways, the blood from sword and gunshot wounds forming a red lake on the cold concrete. There was a battle down here. Kenshin passed a slit pipeline with the offending sword lying below it, the oxygen displaced by the wavering leakage. The samurai quickly broke into fits of chocking coughs. He wouldn't last down here much longer, but the emergency entrance to the safe house was close…he hoped.

Kenshin woke up with a start, his breathing still labored from the veracity of the dream. In the back of his mind, Battosai seemed just as disturbed. 'Why don't you keep your nightmares on your side on our mind for once!' 'It is difficult when we are both a part of the same person that it is.' Battosai rubbed his temples. 'Don't fucking remind me.'

Kaoru yawned tiredly as her screaming alarm brought her out of a rather pleasant dream. She had become Japan's "Dr. Phil" and a group of people were fervently thanking her for helping them set their lives straight. Kaoru sighed as she groggily pushed herself out of her warm cocoon. For some strange reason, Kenshin was in her dream, standing to the side of the crowd and smiling. Kaoru stretched. When she saw him in the dream, it made her feel warm and tingly inside. It was a strange feeling that she couldn't quite put her finger on. She shrugged as she made her way to the bathroom. It didn't matter; it was just a dream anyway and today was another day.

"Mornin' Himura!" greeted Misao spritely as Kenshin made his way out of his room.

He smiled. "Good morning Misao-dono. Did you have a good night?"

Misao grinned. "If Aoshi-sama is in my dreams, it's always a good night."

Kenshin smiled kindly while Battosai cringed in the back of his mind.

"Would you like to hear about it?" asked Misao.

Kenshin sweatdropped. 'Just walk away, rurouni. Just walk away.' "Uh, er, this one thinks-"

"Hello everyone," said Soujiro, walking to them, a bland shower towel draped across his shoulder like an elaborate sash. 'Thank the gods!' 'This one agrees.'

Misao giggled. "New fashion statement, Sou-chan?"

Soujiro smiled in good humor. "Sorry, but white is not my color," he joked.

"You're right," agreed Misao. "You're more of a royal blue kind of guy, or maybe purple?"

"Nah, I don't think so," said Soujiro.

"Why not? You'd look good in purple!" argued Misao.

"I don't think so."

"You would too!"

As Soujiro and Misao continued their banter, Kenshin took the opportunity to sneak out of the conversation before he had to offer an opinion on something he really didn't want to. He walked into the recreation room and slumped lazily into a chair. The clock read 7 am; about time for the night employees to change shifts with the day ones. That would mean Kaoru would be there soon. He smiled.

"You want to what?" questioned Aoshi sternly, his face stoic.

Kaoru fiddled with her fingers nervously. "I think some fresh air and exercise will do Kenshin some good. From his file, he hasn't been let outside in a while."

"There's a reason for that," answered Aoshi seriously. "And your idea of 'exercise' is unorthodox."

"I know, but how could I ever expect to gain his trust without giving him mine?" reasoned Kaoru. "Besides, it's not like we're going to be using real weapons." She held up her mock swords. "I mean, dodge balls can cause more damage than these things."

Aoshi leveled a cool gaze at her."You are too naïve for your own good Kamiya-san."

"Do you have a better idea for me to try?" Kaoru countered calmly. "If Battosai does surface, I think this would be a much safer way for him to express frustration."

Aoshi remained silent as he contemplated his decision. After a minute, he locked eyes with his employee. "You have 30 minutes and ONLY 30 minutes to test your idea; you will be no farther than 50 feet from the building and security will be on standby. Are we clear?"

Kaoru nodded. "Hai."

Aoshi put on a pair of small black-rimmed glasses and began to page through the files on his desk. "Very well; you're dismissed then." Kaoru nodded again and exited the office, her pride at getting what she wanted soaring. Besides, she needed a worthy opponent. After her father's death, she really only had Yahiko to spar with and she had gotten rather bored with beating him up. Kaoru's lips curved.. She could still hear her brother's unsportsmanlike insults. Kaoru lightly wrung the foam tubes in her hand. This would work…she hoped.

The door to Megumi's office door was closed when Kaoru entered ward 3. She shrugged as she went towards her office. She was probably with a patient. She would say "good morning" to her later. Unlocking the her office door with a subtle "click", Kaoru placed the bright orange pool toys against the side of her desk. The office was small, but it was quaint. A medium sized mahogany desk (with matching chair) rested in the center of the room and a small maroon couch in the left hand corner. A few small pictures left over from Tachi's employment still decorated the walls. They were mainly patriotic pieces causing Kaoru to suspect they had something to do with the war. She took one off the wall and looked at it with a smile. She had never seen the Japanese flag be painted with so much…emotion…before.

"Morning Jou-chan!" greeted Sano form the doorway, causing Kaoru to jump. The picture frame shattered on the floor.

"Crap!" Kaoru shrieked.

Sano looked at the broken mess on the floor. "Damn, I'm sorry," he apologized, scratching the back of his head nervously. He paused as he watched Kaoru kneel to assess the extent of the damage. He cleared his throat. "You know, I saw a nice frame at the dollar store on my way here today that I think would go along a lot better with that picture and-"

"It wasn't mine," stated Kaoru flatly.

An awkward silence ensued as Sano absorbed the information. "Oh… well, I think I'll go and get a broom or something to, uh, clean this up then," said Sano, quickly stepping out of the room.

Kaoru picked the broken frame up by its corner. Unfortunately, the painting inside hadn't escaped unscathed. Kaoru sighed. Maybe Tachi wouldn't notice if he came back for it? The back of the frame gave way causing the naked painting to crash back down into the glass. Kaoru sweatdropped. Ok…hopefully he wouldn't come back for it at all? She looked at the mess again and blinked. There was something stuck to the back of the painting. Carefully, she peeled the piece of paper off to reveal an army group photograph. It wasn't rigid as expected in an official army photo. On the contrary, many of the photo's occupants were goofing off, like in an outtake. One soldier was even flipping off the camera (or cameraman).

"Hey Jou-chan, I brought the broom and dust pan," said Sano from the doorway.

"Oh, ok," said Kaoru, getting up and stepping to the side to let him clean.

Sano looked at her. "Wait, I'm doing it?"

"Of course you're doing it!" griped Megumi, coming up behind him. "You and your bird brain made the mess so you're going to clean it up!"

"Can't I just call the janitor?" reasoned Sano. Megumi frowned and yanked on his ear hard, causing the poor man to yelp. "Ack! Alright, alright, I was just joking!"

As Sano reluctantly cleaned the broken glass, Kaoru put the photo into her desk drawer and glanced at her "weapons". She really hoped this would work.

Kenshin couldn't help an amused smile as he heard Megumi yelling at Sano to clean up his mess. 'She's

really cracking the whip hard at him this morning,' commented Battosai wryly. 'Maybe she is under the

delusion that they're still in their bedroom?' Kenshin shook his head lightly. 'What Megumi-dono and

Sano may or may not do in their…personal…life is no business of ours that it isn't and we should not

speculate on it.' Battosai sighed. 'You're right.' 'Oro?' 'We should speculate on Kaoru's…personal…life

instead.' 'ORO!'

"Good morning everyone," greeted Kaoru, walking into the activity room. Kenshin was snapped out of his mental conversation with Battosai as Misao and Soujiro greeted Kaoru back.

"I'm happy to see you came back," said Misao cheerily. "I don't know what I would have done if they ended up bringing another male psychologist into this ward." Her face twisted in emphasis on the word "male".

Soujiro leaned over towards Kaoru. "Actually, Misao-chan would have thrown a temper tantrum," he whispered. "She does that."

"I don't throw temper tantrums!" retorted Misao.

"It's alright," said Kaoru, trying to diffuse the situation. "There's nothing wrong with expressing your frustrations."

Not liking that answer, Misao turned to Kenshin. "Himura, tell her it's not true! I don't throw temper tantrums, do I?"

Kenshin sweatdropped. "Er, oro?" 'Very creative, rurouni…"commented Battosai sarcastically.

Sano strolled in lazily with the trash bin holding the remnants of the glass and frame in hand, the "clinking" sound of glass against glass gathering everyone's attention. "Oi, the mess has been cleaned so…yeah."

"Sanosuke-san cleaned something?" asked Soujiro with a smile. "The world must be ending soon."

Sano frowned slightly. "Oh, zip it," he grumbled, stalking off in a pout.

Kaoru, Misao, Soujiro, and Kenshin shared a chuckle. Kaoru looked at Kenshin. "Would you like to be my first today?"

The wording of the sentence, although innocent on Kaoru's part, caught Kenshin off guard for a moment. Deciding to ignore the rather crude comments Battosai was making on it, Kenshin simply nodded. "This one would not mind that he would not."

Kaoru smiled. "Ok, follow me." She began to walk out of the room with Kenshin behind.

"Can I be next?" asked Misao.

Kaoru stopped and nodded. "Sure." Misao smiled and Kenshin and Kaoru exited the room.

"Can you hold on for a second?" asked Kaoru stopping at her office door. "I have to get something."

Kenshin raised an eyebrow. "This one thought we were going to my room."

Kaoru shook her head. "No, we're going outside today."

Kenshin's eyes widened. "Outside as in outside?"

Kaoru walked into the office picked up the foam tubes she placed against her desk. "Yeah, is there something wrong with that?"

Kenshin looked down. "No, it's just this one hasn't been let outside in 2 years."

Kaoru came out of the office and locked the door behind her. "So long as you don't run away on me, I don't think there's a problem."

"You talked to Aoshi?"

Kaoru gave Kenshin an annoyed look as she swiped her id card against the door sensor. The door opened. "You leave that stuff to me; all you should concentrate on now is today's therapy session."

Kenshin eyed the bright orange tubes strangely. "But what are the 'fun noodles' for?"

"You'll see."

Kenshin stood next to Kaoru just outside of the hospital side exit. From 5 stories up, he was unable to notice all the changes that had taken place. He was in awe. It was like he was experiencing the world for the first time.

Kaoru smiled at his reaction and held out a fun noodle. Kenshin took it looked at her confused. "Oro?"

"Your sparring weapon," she clarified.

Kenshin blinked. "Sparring?"

"So which one of you will I have the pleasure of dueling?" asked Kaoru.

Kenshin's eyes nearly popped out at the question. Was she actually serious? "K-Kaoru-dono, this one does not think this is such a good idea."

Kaoru dismissed the statement. "My late-father taught a swordmanship style called Kamiya-Kasshin-ryu." She held up the "sword" and smiled. "I'm pretty good at kendo so don't worry about me. Oh, and don't worry about the fun noodle, I got two of the stiffer ones so they shouldn't flop around."

Kenshin was once again caught off guard by the statement, an entirely different meaning to it invading his thoughts. Battosai's colorful commentary wasn't helping much either. He swallowed dryly and suddenly became very aware of his own heartbeat.

Kaoru looked at Kenshin curiously. "Are you alright?"

Kenshin shook himself out of his stupor. "Hai, this one is fine Kaoru-dono."

"Are you ready then?"

Kenshin looked at the foam tube and shook his head. "Iie, Kaoru-dono. This one will not duel you."

Kaoru frowned. "Do you trust me?"

Kenshin looked at the ground, suddenly finding it the most fascinating thing in the world. "This one does not trust himself."

"Then trust me to trust you."

Kenshin looked up.

"I trust you," said Kaoru sincerely. "And I think this will help you, you and Battosai, so please…trust me too."

Kenshin looked at the tube again and closed his eyes in defeat. "Hai."

Chapter 6 Preview:

Kaoru couldn't believe her eyes. How was it possible for one man to have so much speed? It was inhuman.

"My turn," stated Battosai, with a smirk.