A/NL Gah! Sorry it took so long to update! I thought I had sent the chapter to my beta months ago until she asked how the chapter was going and I realized I must have dreamed the whole thing. Opps... er... um... ANYWAY! It's hear now! Enjoy!

Chapter 10 - Deja Vu

It was happening again. All over again. They were going to kill Kenshin; they were going to kill him because of her.

Now Battòsai, I think you owe me something.

Oh please- oh please- oh please- oh please- not again. Not again. Please not again.

They were going to kill him.

Why was this happening? How did things go so wrong?

Hiroko was going to cut off his head.

She wanted to scream. Wanted to tell Junko to leave him out of this, but her voice was gone.

It's all right, Neko.

She was always in the way! If only Kenshin had never met her. They were hurting him again. They were killing her angel.

This isn't your fault, Neko. It's mine.

It was - is - her fault. She didn't want to be saved. Not like this!

Don't look.

It was all coming back, like a bad dream. She'd had this dream before, only this time she wasn't going to wake up. This time Kenshin would die. She felt cold, not even aware she was crying, but she begged with her abused vocal cords for Junko to let him go.

For his part, Kenshin was very quiet when Bunmei broke his arm. He had been expecting it; only a sharp intake of breath gave away his pain. It hurt. He had no doubt that it was indeed broken, but Bunmei didn't stop there. More pain exploded from the break as the 'officer' twisted his arm behind his back.

He bit his tongue to keep from screaming, blinking rapidly to keep the blackness away. "Let. Neko. Go." He spoke slowly, pronouncing each word, to keep the tremble out of his voice.

Junko complied. He dropped Neko to the ground and made his way over. Kenshin vaguely heard Neko screaming and cursing on the ground as Junko slammed his fist into his stomach. "You and those damn patriots," he hissed next to Kenshin's ear. "Your revolution ruined me!" He smashed his foot down on top of Kenshin's. "People have their place in the world. You and that girl don't know your place - so I must teach you." He brought the hand holding the gun up and smashed it down on top of Kenshin's head.

Kenshin reeled - barely able to keep conscious. A small cry of pain escaped as Bunmei squeezed a bit harder on his broken arm. Just a bit longer, he told himself. Hold on a little longer then K-

But the thought was interrupted when he felt the cold steel of the gun's barrel press against his throat. Junko pressed it so hard that his windpipe closed and Kenshin found himself struggling for breath.

Neko watched, horrified. She frantically tried to find her balance and get to her feet, but she was so panicked she kept falling back to the ground. When she saw Junko hold up the gun to Kenshin's throat she shut her eyes and buried her head in her arm. She waited for the sound of gunfire, but instead she heard something else. Someone screamed and there was a large thudding sound. She cried out in misery and brought her head up to see what else they had done to her angel.

What she saw shocked her. All the men were on the ground: two were wrestling for the gun with Kenshin kicking violently at Bunmei.

"Kanai!"

Kanai had run up to the scene and had been horrified. His first thought was to go to Neko, but when he saw Junko had the gun he acted without thinking. He ran at full sprint and tackled Junko from behind. They crashed into Kenshin and Bunmei on their way down. The gun had gone flying out of Junko's hand and Kanai had started to get to his feet to go after it when Junko grabbed him and pulled him back down.

They wrestled, trying to stop the other from getting the gun first. Kanai was a business man - he wasn't use to fighting. Junko soon got the upper hand and had Kanai pinned to the ground, but unable to go for the gun without letting Kanai go.

Kenshin passed out just for a moment as Bunmei violently yanked on his arm in the fall. As soon as he came too he was fighting. He kicked at Bunmei, who soon let go of his injured arm. He pulled his arm close to him; it throbbed mercilessly, but he ignored the pain and brought his foot up again to crash his heel against Bunmei's cheek. He turned - lunging for his sword but was stopped short when Bunmei grabbed his ankle.

Kenshin was partly surprised when Bunmei threw himself at him. He rolled out of the way; Bunmei crashed onto the ground instead. He cried out as he rolled on his broken arm, but didn't slow. He turned, ready to strike Bunmei again, but was beaten to it when a cane came down on Bunmei's shoulder.

Neko had risen to her feet.

Bunmei cried out and quickly stood up, grabbing Neko's cane before she could strike him again. He gave her a violent shove backwards before Kenshin had the chance to kick his legs out from under him. He lost his grip on Neko's cane as he fell.

Neko hit the ground hard with a scream and her cane went flying from her hand as Bunmei fell to the ground with a thud. Being her only weapon, Neko scrambled for it as Bunmei and Kenshin fought with each other.

Hearing his wife's yell of pain and surprise, Kanai threw Junko off him and ran for Neko. Bunmei had managed to get a hold of Kenshin's broken arm again, just as Kenshin reached for his sword with the other. While all this was happening Junko picked up the gun. He spun and aimed it at Neko, who was just standing up. She froze at the sound of his angry scream and flinched at the sound of the gun being fired.

Don't look.

Neko felt heavy as she fell back to the ground. So heavy and cold. She couldn't breathe, tears ran down her face. Why? Why did all this happen? It wasn't fair! It wasn't supposed to end like this!

Why was she always being protected?!

She reached up and wrapped her arms around Kanai, feeling his strong arms around her. His breath was ragged, and she felt panicked when her grip felt slick and wet. She brought her hand up and began to sob when she saw the red on her fingers.

Kanai kissed his wife's head. "It's all right…" he said breathlessly. "Everything's going… be all right."

Kenshin acted fast. Brought his sword up and smashed it into Bunmei's head. As the man crumbled to the ground, Kenshin faced Junko and ran at him. Awkwardly he brought his sword out of his sheath and brought it down on Junko's arm as he was aiming the gun again. One more swing that connected to Junko's head brought the man down and just like that - the fight was over.

There was no time to celebrate. No time to see how badly his arm was broken. He picked up his sheath from where it had fallen and managed to slip his sword back into his belt with a wince. He ran over to where Neko and Kanai lay, hugging each other. Neko was hysterical as Kenshin coaxed her to her feet. He handed her cane back and then checked Kanai's gunshot wound. The bullet had entered his upper back and no exit wound could be seen. Carefully - oh so carefully - Kenshin picked Kanai up.

Kanai was hardly conscious, but Kenshin needed him to help. He didn't need Kanai going into shock right now. With his arm broken, it was taking all his focus to keep himself from passing out. His arm was on fire, the pain pulsating up his arm and across his shoulder, chest, and back. "Kanai," he spoke firmly, "I need you to stay awake. I need you to walk." Kanai answered with his head drooping to one side. Kenshin gritted his teeth; how had things gotten so bad, so quickly?

"Kanai? Kanai, please wake up." Neko's broken voice got through to her husband. His eyes opened slightly and his head lifted a fraction.

"That's it," Kenshin winced, "Keep talking to him. Help him walk, Neko."

She licked her lips. "You need to walk, Kanai. We need to get you help." She sobbed. "You can't die. I need you!"

With a cry Kanai started moving; taking small baby steps. Tears flowed from his eyes. "It hurts, Neko."

She took his hand. "I know, I know." She shuddered and began crying again. "I know."

Sweat crept its way down Kenshin's forehead, seeking his eyes. He blinked it away. How much farther? Had they really come out this far? He had begun to worry slightly when he lost feeling in his fingertips, and now the pain was so bad he was losing track of time.

But Neko's voice had managed to keep Kanai going. Not wanting to disappoint his wife he dragged his feet as fast as he could. Kenshin tried not to grunt under Kanai's weight, but it felt like he was getting heavier with each step.

"Kanai?" Neko - Neko was talking. "Kanai! Kanai wake up!" She shook him, which shook Kenshin, sending new jolts of lightning pain through his arm. Neko screamed and cried, but Kanai wouldn't wake up. They had to hurry. Gathering his strength and ignoring the pain, Kenshin pushed on dragging Kanai as fast as he could.

People were shocked when they saw the small group. A couple men of men ran to them, asking what had happened. There wasn't time to explain, Kanai needed a doctor. Now. The men quickly took Kanai from Kenshin and made their way to the Oguni Clinic. Neko and Kenshin followed quietly, Kenshin clutching his arm gently to his chest.

Megumi was surprised when she answered her door as two men carrying a third with a gunshot wound came in, and was closely followed by Kenshin and an another woman who was limping. Explanations could wait. She ordered the men to place Kanai on her examining table and got to work.

Neko was quiet as she waited for news. Kenshin stood beside her - leaving her to her thoughts. He wanted to return to the dojo; surely Kaoru would be worried by his absence, but he knew he shouldn't leave Neko on her own while Kanai's life was in question.

The police arrived while they were still waiting for news on Kanai's health. Neko stared blankly as Kenshin answered their questions. Junko and Bunmei were taken into custody, and still they waited. The minutes went by and still no news. Eventually Sano stopped by to visit Megumi, and was surprised when he found them there. He quickly went to the dojo after hearing the details from Kenshin to let Kaoru know where he was.

Finally, Megumi came out. "I've done all I can, but…"

Neko's eyes watered and the grip on her cane became crushing as Megumi spoke to her. Her knees buckled and she fell to the floor sobbing. Kenshin knelt beside her and placed his left hand on her shoulder. "Don't give up hope. He's in a coma, but he's not dead."

Neko nodded softly. "Of course." She looked up at Megumi, her eyes red and swollen, a dark, angry bruise running across the side of her face. "Can I see him?"

Megumi nodded sadly, stepping aside so Neko could go to his side. She had done all she could. The bullet had deflected off a rib, which saved his life; she had removed it successfully, but he had lost too much blood. He should have woken up by now. She had tried everything to wake him, but he kept sleeping.

Neko - shaking - got to her feet and made her way to Kanai. As she passed, Megumi's eyes fell on Kenshin's arm. Finally she had the chance to ask. "What happened?"

Kenshin grunted softly as Megumi pushed roughly on his arm. It needed to be set so that the break would heal correctly. Kenshin was just about finished explaining the situation and Megumi was almost done with his arm, when Kaoru ran in without knocking.

She ran right up to Kenshin and yelled, "What happened to your arm?"

So he explained it all again. When it had all been repeated, Kaoru stared sadly at Kenshin's bandaged arm. Poor Kanai. Her eyes filled with tears. Poor Kenshin and damn that Junko, he had to break Kenshin's right arm. Of course, she'd prefer it if Kenshin hadn't gotten hurt at all, by why couldn't it have been his left instead?

Kenshin didn't miss the strained look on Kaoru's face as she stared at his arm. He smiled, "It's all right, Kaoru. Thanks to Megumi-dono, it will heal just fine."

Kaoru nodded slightly. "I know that." She turned towards Megumi. "Thanks for all your help, again."

The doctor sighed. "It's no problem, I'm just glad that no one died." Her eyes narrowed slightly. "I hope that Junko never gets out. What a horrible man!"

Alone with Kanai, Neko could hear the trio's conversation. She cried soundlessly as she listened to Kenshin tell Kaoru what had happened. When he was done, she reached out and took Kanai's hand, rubbing it softly. "Oh Kanai, please forgive me. I was so stupid. If I hadn't threatened Junko, none of this would have happened." She was quiet a while longer. "I put so much on you, asked so much of you, and you never questioned or refused." She kissed his hand. "I love you, please wake up."

But he didn't. He kept on sleeping. Eventually Megumi came to take a look at Neko's injuries. The bruise on her face was nasty looking and was going to be sore for a long time, but it wasn't serious. Neko winced as Megumi checked her ribs; nothing broken, but a couple were most likely bruised. When the check-up was over, Neko went back to Kanai's side.

A couple hours passed, but Neko never left Kanai. Kaoru poked her head inside the room to ask if Neko wanted any lunch. She stayed quiet when she heard Neko's voice speaking softly.

"Remember Kanai? Remember when we were little?" Her voice was hoarse, her eyes red and swollen. Kaoru saw she was rubbing his hand softly with her fingertips. "Remember when we hid Kenshin in my house and he wouldn't wake up?" She chuckled slightly. "And we nearly drowned him trying to pour water down his throat?" She sniffed and wiped an eye. "Well, this time you have to wake up." She grinned again. "Don't make me drown you first."

Kaoru cleared her throat so Neko would know she was there. Neko jumped slightly and started wiping her eyes. "Oh, sorry Kaoru. I didn't see you there."

She entered the room and smiled a bit. "It's all right." For a moment she was silent. "There's lunch if you want it."

Neko shook her head. "I'm not hungry." Her eyes gazed down at Kanai.

"All right," Kaoru stared at Kanai's peaceful face as well. "He'll get better."

"I know. I know he will." She looked up briefly at Kaoru. "He'd do anything for me, and I've asked him to live and wake up. So I know he will."

Kaoru stood quietly for awhile. "So, the three of you were pretty close?"

"Three?"

"You two and Kenshin."

Neko laughed slightly. "Well, not really." She smiled. "Actually, Kanai was afraid of him, but… I guess, Kenshin and I were close. I was all alone and he took care of me. He saved my life more than once. I called him my angel." She laughed again. "I don't think he liked that very much."

Kaoru giggled at the thought. "No, I don't suppose he would."

They were quiet for a moment. Neko glanced over at Kaoru again. "You love him don't you?" Kaoru blushed slightly, but didn't deny it. Neko smiled brightly. "I'm glad. He's changed so much, some of it I don't like… but …" She turned fully towards Kaoru. "He seems so much happier, and I'm glad. I hope you make him even happier."