I've set the stage for a new issue!... it's minor so don't expect too much, but I might do something with it later on. It's probably so incredibly obvious, but I like where it's heading anyway. I'm so pumped for you all to read it! Chapters are coming faster than I could ever imagine, so I hope you don't feel like the story is turning into a negative... whatever, in any sort of way.

So, I know that I haven't brought up Megumi and Sanosuke since chapter one, but they aren't all that relevant to where this is going. They might be more important later, but I'm not too sure yet. More surprise character(s).

Sapphire: I'm so glad you liked that part! I sort of have an offbeat sense of humor so I don't know if people get it. That makes me smile!

(Unknown) Guest: Yeah, I don't think rockstars would have a lot of enemies, not compared to a famous swordsman anyway (hint hint, nudge nudge). We'll just have to see who it is. (smiles)

Chapter 10!

Important note: Okay guys, tomorrow is Thanksgiving, so I might not update tomorrow. I don't get to spend time with my mom and sister very much so tomorrow is that day. If I do get downtime to write, I will. But, no promises.

So, to all of my American friends: Happy Thanksgiving in advance! I'm very thankful that you're all supporting me by reading my work.

Kenshin had called Kaoru while she was with Megumi. She didn't want to answer, because she didn't want the attention of those sitting around them, but she had to. She needed to know that he made it okay. "Do you mind?" She asked, and Megumi shook her head, giving her a warm smile. She answered and put the phone up to her ear. "You're still alive."

Kenshin's laughter came through the phone. "Yes, I am. I made it and I just wanted to let you know."

She gave a relieved sigh. "Thank you."

"What are you doing while I'm gone?" Noise clinked in the background.

"Not much. I'm sure I'll find something to keep me busy." There was a clink again. "Is everything okay?"

"Hmm? Oh, yeah. Sorry." Clink. "Hey, can I call you back later tonight?" He was distracted.

"Yeah, whenever is convenient for you."

"Thanks."

"Bye." She heard him hang up. She turned to see Megumi looking at her, an accusing look placed on her face.

"So, who was that?" She leaned back, crossing her arms and resting them on her stomach.

"Oh, come on. Don't tell me you don't want the news?"

Megumi rolled her eyes. "A rockstar having a girlfriend is not news."

"But you've heard about it." She pointed out.

"Yeah, I've heard, but I just wanted to hear it from you. How did that come about?"

"Um," Kaoru didn't know how to answer that. My job? Yeah, because that would go off so well, "to be honest, I'm not really sure. It just... happened."

Megumi shifted towards her. "Well, who introduced you two?"

That Kaoru could answer. "Remember Misao?"

"Makimachi?"

Kaoru nodded. "Except now it's Shinamori. She's married to Kenshin's best friend and she also works for him." She explained, as much as she could, about how they had met. Knowing that Misao was shot didn't affect her job. Kaoru talked to the woman for the rest of the time that they were together. When Kaoru took her to the gym the Sano worked out, he walked out from behind the desk and took her from Kaoru.

"How did it go?" He asked, looking between the women.

"She's starting to dilate." Kaoru beamed at the two of them. "Congratulations." She turned to walk to the door.

"Where are you going?" Sano asked.

"Home." She smiled back at them. "I've got a lot to do." Megumi opened her mouth to apologize for dragging her out of the house, but Kaoru shook her head. "I enjoyed catching up. I've missed seeing you." It had definitely been too long, but she didn't want to dwell on it. "Thank you for asking me to go with you." With a goodbye, she left and went home.

As she sat on the floor by her coffee table, she remembered what Aoshi had said on the jet. Four more cities, huh? She had no idea where they were, but it should be easy enough to find out. Google, the world's best friend. She smiled, there they were, clear as day:

Niigata

Morioka

Hokkaido

Fukushima

Her blood ran cold when she saw Hokkaido on the list. The one place she never wanted to be again. She pulled out her phone and dialed a number.

"Hey, you haven't called me for awhile."

She tired to smile, but she couldn't. "I know, I'm sorry."

"What do you need? I'm working."

She tore her eyes from the page and snorted at his words. "Excuse me, I'm the one who makes sure you have work."

"Yeah I know, and I'm in the middle of it."

"Yahiko, what is your problem? You're acting like a dick."

He sighed into the phone. "I'm trying to remind you of how cruel the world is, Kaoru; reintroducing you to real life. Here's your much needed wake up call: You're getting too attached to Himura."

"I am not." Kaoru argued.

"Don't act like a child," Yahiko whispered into the phone. "You think I don't watch television to see what's said about you or how you portray yourself to the world? The way you look at him... it's not an act, it's genuine. He's just a job."

"He's not!" She froze at the words that just slipped out of her mouth. "I mean... I just..."

"Kaoru, if you're serious about this-"

"I don't know Yahiko... I don't see how this would work out." She wanted this to, more than anything... but Yahiko was right, this was a job. And when it was over, she would have to walk away. It's what he was expecting and it's what needed to be done.

Yahiko said her name, getting her attention. "Don't worry about it right now. You still have a little while. Everything will work out the way it's supposed to."

"That was some big wake up call." She snorted. "Either you want it to or you don't."

"I never said I didn't want it to," he reasoned, "I just said you're getting too emotionally attached. I want what makes you happy. You know that."

"Yeah..." She didn't sound as sure as he had in his statement.

"I'll talk to you later, okay?"

"Yeah." She hung up, forgetting about the initial reason she had called him. The rest of the day, she aimlessly walked around her home. She couldn't finish anything she started; she was too distracted with how she felt about Kenshin. Kaoru hadn't meant to admit her feelings out loud, let alone to another person. By keeping those feelings to herself, she'd hoped that they would go away. Repress themselves. Now... now they were out in the open and she couldn't take them back. Not that she wanted to, but... whatever it is that they had, it wasn't permanent.

Night couldn't have come soon enough. The darkness slowly settled in, and as the lights in the city began to turn on, Kaoru curled up in her bed and lay there. She closed her eyes, hoping that sleep would claim her. Tonight, her past haunted her and she couldn't get comfortable. She started to drift when her phone rang. She blindly reached for her phone before putting it to her ear. "What?" She sighed, thinking it was Yahiko.

"Not the greeting I was expecting."

Her eyes flew open. Kenshin. "Sorry, it's been a stressful day."

"I guess you found something to keep you busy." He tried lightening her mood.

She smiled at his attempt. "Yeah, you could say that. How did your day go?"

"Don't even ask." He sighed, the tone of his voice instantly changing. "It's been ridiculous."

"Oh," she paused, "well, if you want to talk about it..." She left it to him to finish her sentence.

"Thanks, but I'd rather not." Kaoru nodded, even though she knew he couldn't see it. "I told you I'd call you back, so I just wanted to say good night."

"Kenshin?" She asked, trying to work up the nerve to confide in him.

"Yeah?"

"I... I," she sighed. She couldn't do it, "it's nothing. Sorry."

"You sure?" He asked, though he didn't sound quite sincere in his question as he would have had he been fully invested in talking to her. It was more like a rehearsed reaction.

"Yeah, good night."

"Bye." He hung up and she wanted to throw her phone across the room, but instead she placed it by her head as she grabbed her pillow and pulled it to her chest as tears silently fell.

The next two days, Kaoru distracted herself from Kenshin. She tried to take her mind of off everything that was happening...everything that had happened, but for the passed few days, the past had been haunting her mind, her dreams, her life. Ever since she'd seen that Hokkaido was on the list, she couldn't shake her bad feeling. Kenshin rarely called her but when he did actually call, she tried to act as nonchalant as possible. He was always the one to leave first, not that she minded. Honestly, she thought he'd forget to call her after the first night. They didn't talk long, maybe five, before he had to leave for some reason that he couldn't tell her. He had yet to call her today, and when her phone rang, she expected it to be him. "Hello?" She answered.

"You've got a problem." Yahiko said from the other line. "And I mean a big, big problem."

She felt her heart drop into her stomach. "What do you mean?"

"Turn on the television and look."

God, please don't let it be Kenshin. She would never forgive herself is something happened to him. Reaching for the remote, she turned it on. As the images played across the screen, with a woman speaking in the background, bile rose from Kaoru's stomach. "Oh God..." this was so much worse.

"Did you know about this?" He asked.

She shook her head. "No, I went there with Megumi."

"Takani?" He was great with remembering people from his past.

"Yeah. She married Sanosuke Sagara."

"Rooster head?!" He sounded amazed, not that she could blame him. She had been surprised to.

"She's pregnant, and asked me to go with her." She sighed. "I didn't even think about someone seeing me."

"Damn," he sighed, "you're screwed. Just think about Himura is going to react."

"That's making me feel better," she replied, her voice serious. "You would think he'd trust me a little bit." Why wouldn't he? He trusted her with his life, why can't he trust her to tell him if something important like that happened?

"Guys are weird like that. You girls aren't the only ones who overreact to simple things."

Kaoru laughed at his words, "you're too smart for your own good, you know that?"

"Oh whatever, you know you love me for it."

It was true; she did love Yahiko. He was like her precious baby brother. "I know." She smiled. A knock at the door drew her from her conversation. "Someone's here, so I'll call you back." She hung up and walked to the door; opening it, she found Kenshin. Great, just great.

"Hey," she stepped back, "come on in."

He took a step in and froze.

Turning, she cringed as she realized the segment was still showing. "Um..."

"I hope you know I'm expecting an explanation." His voice was distant, and all she could do was sigh.

"There's nothing to tell." She shrugged as she led the way in to the living room. She sat down and gestured for him to do the same.

"Nothing to tell?" He sounded furious. "You were at-"

Kaoru's eyes narrowed as she looked at him. "I know where I was," she interrupted, "but that wasn't for me." She sighed again at his confused stare. It looked like he was going to get an explanation after all. "My friend is pregnant. Her husband works at the gym a ways down the road, and he couldn't get off so she asked me to go with her." Her eyes softened as she looked at him. "That's all there is."

Kenshin sat there a moment, looking as though he was contemplating what she had told him. Weighing in his mind whether it were fact or fiction. His shoulders, which had been tense since his arrival at her door, relaxed after a few minutes. "I was so nervous." He confessed. "I didn't know what to think when I saw this playing this morning." He gestured towards the television.

She gave him a faint smile before she stood up and went to kneel down in front of him. Placing her hands on his knees, she looked up into his eyes. "If something like that happened, I don't care what the situation is, I would tell you." It wouldn't be fair to keep that from him. "I promise," she whispered, "I'm not."

Kenshin sighed before pressing his forehead against hers. "Just the same, I'd like to hold off for awhile."

The way he had swept into her apartment hadn't exactly endured her to be intimate with him at the moment. He had been there for fifteen minutes and had already introduced her to an emotional roller coastere She had no idea what was with him. He'd probably had a bad few days; his eyes were amber. Or this new could have been his trigger, her mind whispered. "Whatever you want."

She swept her fingers through his long red hair. "How did your trip go?" She wanted to make sure she hadn't been the cause of all of his distress. He gave her a look and she held her hands up in defense. "Still don't want to talk about it." She replied to her own question. Kaoru wanted to be a little irritated that he couldn't, wouldn't, tell her, but she understood. It was a personal matter, she'd found out the night before he left. He couldn't even tell her where he had been going. She hadn't been completely honest with him either, and it had been tearing her up inside. She stood up before walking into her room. While she was in there, she spoke loudly to him. "I thought you were going to be back in a few days."

"I was," he spoke at the same volume, "but after seeing this, I had to come back and be sure. I didn't want any surprises."

Kaoru's head popped out in the doorway. "You shouldn't have interrupted your trip for something like this."

He stood up and walked towards her. "I would have called, but this is a little too serious for a phone call." He stood in the doorway as she aimlessly walked around, picking a few things up and putting them in a different location. "What are you doing?"

She stopped and stood there, her back to him. "Nothing." False. She had been distracting herself from the thought of her deceit from him. She couldn't even look at him without her life, her screw ups, being thrown in her face. It's time, she thought before turning the conversation in a different direction. "Who chooses where you perform?"

"Tomoe mostly. She'll find locations and make arrangements. If it isn't possible, we'll find different locations. Why?"

Her back was still to him, she waited to answer. She had wanted to chicken out of telling him, but she couldn't. She wanted him to be honest with her, but how could she expect that without starting it. "Why Hokkaido?"

"Why not?" He took a step forward and her body tensed.

"I... never mind." Kaoru couldn't do it. No matter how much she wanted to push herself, she couldn't. She didn't want to burden him with unnecessary problems and worries.

He hadn't moved once she flinched at the sound. She was hiding something, and he didn't want to come on too strong. "Kaoru, tell me."

"Kenshin." She whispered, as she held a small music player in her hand. "Does this sound familiar to you?" A song began to play. A soft melody that was more like a lullaby.

It was a song that he'd written for a girl he met once. She'd publicly declared, more than once he mused, that she was his biggest fan. Her father was a very powerful man, and his family had to leave with a protective order. They had to be kept safe. Her one wish before she left was to meet him. He'd been honored, and once he met her, he was taken with her personality. She was incredibly sweet, and because of her declarations, he'd written the song for her. "Where did you get that?" She turned her head to look over her shoulder, and he noticed the tears sliding down her cheeks.

"The girl who you gave this to, gave me this as a present before I came home... before she died."

Okay, I'm such a bad person for leaving you hanging. Don't worry, don't worry. Kaoru will definitely explain. Is it getting too complicated yet? What did you think of this chapter? Had to have some baby drama in there, I know. (Sigh)

I hope it was okay for you guys (though I'd love it if it were more than okay).

I'll be updating as soon as I can.

-K