A/N: Enjoy!

Standard disclaimers apply.

Chapter Ten

Kaoru

I had been trying to find Enishi for the past six hours, but he was nowhere. After Kenshin had fallen with Shishio, Enishi had managed to wake up and save Kenshin before he fell along with Shishio, who died on impact, his body doused with water before he could do a thing.

My cell phone was buzzing and when I saw it was work, I put it away; I had to find Kenshin first.

I squeezed past the crowd that still lingered in front of the building where the battle of the century took place in order to find a payphone with a telephone directory attached.

Of course Enishi Yukishiro wouldn't take my call if I were to call his company, given that it probably had to go through a dozen people before him, but I settled for the next best thing and found Hiko Seijuro's number.

He didn't answer.

I slammed the phone in frustration and tried to be rational. Maybe Kenshin's work…

Too bad I still had no idea where he worked.

On the verge of tears I was ready to scream before I thought of going to Kenshin's apartment; perhaps he wrote down Enishi's number somewhere.

As I walked, people were buzzing about what Kenshin had done, deeming him a hero; I couldn't help but smile.

Kenshin wrote nothing down. But I supposed that was smart because you would've never known that he was best friends with one of the richest men in the world.

I dialed Kenshin's cell phone one final time, hoping that someone would pick it up (preferably Kenshin himself).

A generic ringtone played distantly in the apartment.

I nearly tripped running into Kenshin's bedroom and I threw all the clothes that I didn't manage to fold the last time I was in here around the room until I found his cell phone.

"Thank God," I breathed out, going straight to the contacts list on his phone, which was pitifully short.

There was "Enishi Work" and "Enishi Cell" but there was also "Mr. Gensai Cell," "Dad's Place," "Kaoru," (I smiled at this) "Work," "Hiko Work," and "Hiko Cell."

I pressed on Enishi's cell number and waited.

It went straight to voicemail. What the hell?

I then tried Hiko's cell and he answered it after just one ring.

"Kenshin?" He sounded incredulous.

"No, Kaoru. Where is he?" I demanded.

I heard him sigh. "Enishi has him in a private medical facility."

"Take me to him."

"No, he's probably still in surgery right now and Enishi –"

"I don't give a shit about Enishi! You better take me to him or else I'll run an article revealing everything," I threatened in a voice that I knew scared people.

"Stay there – I'll get a cab and pick you up – it's right outside the city."

Enishi

I couldn't sit still even though my doctor specifically told me that I had to; Kenshin was in surgery right now and nobody was sure if he was going to live or not.

I winced as I tried to sit up, finding it very difficult with two cracked ribs. How the heck was I supposed to continue being Shikku like this? Hopefully someone from the League would find out and send her to me.

But I shouldn't have thought that when my best friend was balancing on the fine line between life and death.

Mr. Gensai came into my room, a grave expression on his face.

"Anything?" I asked, gripping the sheets on my bed in fear.

"He's in stable but critical condition."

"I fucking hate that phrase, give me more details," I growled.

"His internal bleeding has stopped and his burns are being treated now, which cover a lot of his body." Mr. Gensaid sighed. "Half of his face is badly burned."

I couldn't even hold back tears – they fell freely down my face.

"He'll be out in about two hours," he said before leaving me alone.

I tried to be quiet when I cried.

Kaoru

This place was insane.

It was very small and eerily silent as doctors quickly walked past us, always in a hurry.

Hiko went to the main desk and asked for a Mr. Gensai, and I assumed it was the same one that was listed in Kenshin's contacts. I wondered who he was.

He ended up being a short old man, someone that I would normally want to hug if I were to see him walking down the street because he looked so cute.

But all that I wanted to do was shake him until he told me everything about Kenshin.

"Hi Kaoru, I wish we could've met under better circumstances," Mr. Gensai said.

I nodded. "How is he?"

He sighed and my blood froze. "He isn't good. He's severely burned on over fifty percent of his body and..." He shook his head. "They don't know if he's going to be able to function properly again."

Everything that was in my hands suddenly ended up on the ground, including my purse and Kenshin's cell phone, which I was gripping like it was his lifeline.

Why was this happening to the one person on this planet that deserved it the least?

"Is…" I let out a shaky breath. "Is his…brain okay?"

"Yeah, but the tumor grew significantly…we don't know how much time he has left before the damage gets to be too much. What's known for sure is that he's beyond surgery now."

I bit my bottom lip hard, not trusting myself; I knew that I was this close to screaming and crying.

Hiko let out a deep sigh and rubbed his face with his hand; he suddenly looked old. "Is he out of surgery?" His voice sounded hollow.

"Yeah, he will be soon, but he's in a medically induced coma right now."

"Where's Yukishiro?"

"Resting – he has some injuries as well."

"Could we talk to him?" I asked softly.

Mr. Gensai looked at her hesitantly. "If you're going to give him a rough time about his arrangement with Kenshin, then no. He's beating himself over it enough, he doesn't need someone else to help him."

I was surprised by the protectiveness of that. Was he some sort of assistant to Enishi? He probably was, and judging by what he had just said, he must've known Enishi for a very long time.

So that must've meant that he knew Kenshin pretty well?

I looked down at all the items that I dropped earlier but I couldn't bring myself to kneel down and gather them, because I was sure I would then collapse on the clean, white tile and just cry.

"Kenshin really cared…cares for you. He wouldn't have risked anything with Enishi with just anyone."

I nodded. "Thanks."

Mr. Gensai gave me a caring smile. "Please take a seat over there – I'll find you as soon as Kenshin is in a room."

I nodded and after Mr. Gensai left, I knelt to the ground and picked up my belongings.

Enishi

"Enishi, Kenshin is out."

I sat up quickly and instantly regretted it. "Shit," I muttered. "Help me up! I want to see him."

Mr. Gensai winced. "Enishi…maybe you should wait until you've gotten a proper night's sleep."

"No."

"It's not good."

"I don't care! The last thing I deserve is peace of mind."

He sighed. "Alright." He left for a moment and came back with a wheelchair.

It took him a few minutes to get me off the bed and into the chair without disconnecting the two IVs in my arms. But it was done, and it felt like it took hours to roll me from my room to Kenshin's, even though he was only at the end of the hall.

I was scared when we reached the door and I seriously considered asking Mr. Gensai to turn around and take me back to my room, but steeled myself and nodded to him, allowing him to open the door.

When I saw Kenshin, it was like a car wreck that I wanted so badly to look away from, but my eyes were glued to the scene.

The first glaring injury was on his face – his entire left cheek was almost black, almost as if he were cooked like a piece of meat. The skin that wasn't burned to a crisp was extremely pale and right next to his body was a blood bag, and its contents were entering his body through an IV.

He wasn't wearing a shirt, and on his chest was a large bandage that was already bled through. His right arm had severe third degree burns that made me wince. How was he able to hold a sword with that?

"He looks awful," I whispered. "And the sad thing is…he's going to take this completely in stride."

Mr. Gensai looked at Kenshin with an extremely sad expression on his face. "Poor kid."

And he did look like that lying unconscious: a child.

"How long will he be under that coma?" I asked, eyeing the other IV in his arm that administered the drug that kept him under the coma.

Mr. Gensai. "I don't know…but I'm assuming for a very long time. I can't imagine how the pain must be if he were conscious through it."

I stared at Kenshin for a good minute, murmuring under my breath, "Don't you go on me, Kenshin."

Kenshin

Never in my life had I been in so much pain. I couldn't even think about how much pain I was in, it was that bad. I thought of nothing.

I wanted to scream, but my tongue seemed to be stuck to the roof my mouth and my jaw felt like it was locked.

I tried to open my eyes, but I was only able to open my right eye and the first thing I saw was a stunning woman watching me. Her glossy black hair and red lips definitely made her extremely attractive, but there was something about her that I couldn't put my finger on. She was dangerous.

I instinctively tried to reach over for my sword, but I couldn't move an inch.

I think I groaned because she tilted her head to side and said, "What?" in a sultry voice.

I eyed her in total fear, hoping that she wasn't going to kill me. But when I finally noticed my right arm, I wanted to get away from it. Was this really better than death? And if I were to die this instant, was it really good that it was after the fact that I defeated one of the strongest super humans? After all that, only to die in a hospital bed?

"I'm not here to kill you."

You're not?

"I'm actually here to help you."

The first thought that came to mind was if she had any painkillers, because I honestly needed something that would take out an elephant; the pain stemming from every inch of my body was driving me insane.

She wordlessly reached into the leather jacket she was wearing and pulled out a syringe. Without any warning, she slipped the jacket off, revealing her perfect, bare arms, and stuck the needle in the soft skin of her inner elbow. She didn't flinch as she extracted her blood, not stopping until it was full.

She then pulled out the blood IV from my arm and I saw that the one that must've kept me unconscious was already out of my body. I was pretty sure at this point I started screaming, the pain was just too intense to be conscious during.

But she took one of my arms and inserted the syringe into it.

"There are other abilities besides offensive powers," she merely explained.

I couldn't distinguish the pain of the needle from anything else. But I soon felt a cool rush through my bloodstream. My head stopped pounding and my chest didn't feel like it was on fire anymore.

And then it stopped.

My body felt normal. And not only that, my head felt empty. For the first time in over a decade, my head didn't hurt.

I looked at her with wide eyes. "Can you…heal?" I croaked. I cleared my throat as I looked at her expectantly.

She stared at me blankly, but there was confusion in her eyes, as if she was trying to figure me out. "You really…don't know?"

"Know what?" I asked, examining my arms. The skin was smooth with no blemish. I brought a hand to my face and it was clear.

"That Shikku and Shishio and you are not the only people in this world with extraordinary abilities. There are others out there, Kenshin."

"Well…that would make sense."

"Yes, and we all know about what you've done. Everyone is in an uproar."

I cleared my throat. "What? Who?"

"Sidekicks, of course. We're all talking."

"You're a sidekick?" I stared at her.

She laughed a little, as if understand where my train of thought was going. "And that's what makes me the perfect sidekick – I'm very good at distracting."

"I bet you are."

Her smiled disappeared and she stared at me with all seriousness. "We're meeting. All of us. And we want you to come."

"What? Like a sidekick convention or something?"

"Sort of. But…we'll wait for you. I'm sure you have a lot of questions about what has just happened…and you'll probably want to talk to Shikku about everything."

I sat up and said, "Thank you…for healing me. And my head, it's…so much better now."

"You're welcome. But you will need to get a haircut – part of your hair is burnt and uneven."

And with that she strutted out of the room.

I put my hand on the back of my head and grimaced; I would need to chop off my ponytail, basically. I guess in the end, losing my hair was basically unavoidable.

Taking a slow, deep breath, I closed my eyes for a moment before beginning to remove all my bandages.

Kaoru

Mr. Gensai led us to a room at the end of a corridor and he put a wrinkled hand on my arm, preventing me from going inside.

"He doesn't look good," he warned me.

I nodded. "I said I would be with him, and I mean it. Until the bitter end, as that stupid saying goes."

He accepted what I said and stepped aside.

"You can see him first," Hiko muttered, stepping aside as well. "I have to talk to Mr. Gensai."

"Thanks," I whispered, turning my head back to the door. Taking a breath, I opened it and walked through, shutting it behind me.

The sight before me made me collapse to my knees.

Kenshin was unwrapping his bandages?

And he looked completely healthy! How…

He looked up and saw me on the floor, his eyes wide.

"Kaoru?"

I tired to talk, but my mouth was dry.

He was about to get up from his bed, but he checked under his blankets sheepishly. Satisfied by what he saw, he got out of bed, and I noticed he was just wearing a clean pair of boxers.

He knelt before me and I couldn't breathe.

"You…you were burned…and you…"

He shrugged. "Some woman came and…" He paused. "I'm not quite sure what she did, really."

I felt lightheaded.

"So…" he cleared his throat. "I'm assuming…you know everything?"

I could only nod.

"Right…sorry. That I couldn't tell you."

"I need air," I gasped.

He bit his bottom lip. "Trust me, this is a little…unbelievable for me too."

I closed my eyes and forced myself to breathe slowly; in through the nose, out through the mouth.

Okay. I had to get used to the fact that there were people out there that had extraordinary abilities; I already saw it with Kenshin and Enishi, demonstrating good uses of their power while there was also Shishio and Speedy Gonzales, using their powers for evil. Those four couldn't be the only ones. So this woman that had visited Kenshin earlier must've had some sort of ability also that would somehow heal all of his injuries.

Feeling better after thinking it through, I opened my eyes to find him staring at me patiently.

"Better?" he asked.

"Yeah, sorry."

He smiled and tears filled my eyes. I reached out a hand to brush away his bangs.

"Your hair looks terrible," I commented.

He fingered the torched ends of it, grimacing. "Yeah. I have to schedule another appointment."

I smiled at his expression before I reached out again, this time to stroke his cheek. He closed his eyes and leaned into my touch. I could feel his warm breath in the palm of my hand; he was alive.

I think I surprised him by leaning forward and catching his lips with my own.

He fell deeply into the kiss and responded hungrily as my hands snaked around his neck.

He half-lifted me from the ground so every inch of our bodies were touching. My hand moved down to his hip to pull him even closer as his mouth moved from mine to the delicate spot below my right ear.

"You're my heroine, do you know that?"

"You're the city's hero," I managed to say before I grabbed hold of his torched hair and pulled his mouth back to my lips and kissed him fervently, eliciting a sound of pleasure from him.

But then the door suddenly opened and a, "What the hell is this?" filled our ears.

A/N: Yeah sorry, my bad about the cliffhanger.

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MissGoalie