Chapter 10

I just wanted to start off by saying, this is not a love-triangle type fic. You'll see what I mean very soon. Things aren't so humorous in this chapter for obvious reasons, but that'll return.

Perpetual shipper – I'm so glad you reviewed to let me know that! I know I'm late to the fanfic universe, but this story has been building in my mind for a while and I just had to get it out. Your review really did help make my story feel appreciated and I'm so happy to contribute to this wonderful fan-built world. I truly hope you enjoy the rest of the story! I agree about Kaoru too. She seemed to have a bit of a crush on Kenshin from the beginning, but it took time to build. This fic will obviously be quicker than that, but that's just because I have to resume my life eventually. Thanks so much!

Summer314 – I know! But it just seemed like such a Saito thing to do. I thought Kaoru breaking free for Yahiko was really appropriate for this fic, so I'm really glad you liked it!

Disclaimer: I don't own Kenshin.

Sanosuke was there fifteen minutes later, sending a cloud of dust in the air as his glossy silver Firebird raced into the yard and skidded to a halt. I'd never seen the look of pure worry on his face as I did when he slammed his door and took in the condition of Megumi, Yahiko and myself.

He eyed Shinta with what I could only describe as rage after helping Megumi in the passenger seat of his car. Poor Shinta didn't understand who Sanosuke was, let alone why he got up in his face and threatened to "pummel the living daylights" out of him if he came near any of us again when this was over. Sano clearly thought he was chewing out Kenshin.

Shinta calmly stood there and let the taller man vent his anger before taking my arm and gently leading me to one of the BMW's. He hadn't spoken a word since the fight with Akio.

Later, I would have to explain to Sano that he was being too harsh, but at the moment I was too exhausted to see straight.

After sending Megumi home with a promise to call, Saito and Shinta brought Yahiko and I to headquarters. It was located thirty minutes from my home, in a long brick building with about fifty different rooms with bulky equipment and computers occupying a large majority of its vast space. Currently, Akio was being treated at Memorial Hospital with about a dozen agents guarding him in all-out-war gear; Including massive helmets that hopefully protected them from whatever mind trick he had played on me.

Fortunately, in this large building, there were also sleeping quarters. Saito gave us several hours to recover before barging in to the small space Yahiko and I occupied to sleep off my near-death experience.

"You are a walking nuisance!" he growled the moment the door opened.

I was sitting on the side of a low cot with a blanket around my shoulders. Even though there were several empty cots close by, Yahiko's head was heavy in my lap, and my eyes rounded up at the raging narcissist to shush him. His eyes dropped to my kid when I firmly and silently pointed down to his sleeping form.

Saito closed his eyes, taking in a deep breath, and then did something that completely shocked me to my core.

He apologized.

"I'm sorry. The boy has been through enough." He gestured for someone outside the door, and then Tomoe walked into the room, shoes clicking softly on the floor. With what had just happened, seeing her made tears prickle behind my eyes. I was able to admit now that it was because of Kenshin… or Shinta… or both. Something was there in the back of my mind and heart, lurking and teasing and making me want to throw things at him and hug him until he was blue. Both… and all at once.

Tomoe wasn't my rival by any means, but I knew how much she meant to him, and it hurt a little.

To him. Could I even separate Kenshin and Shinta from each other anymore? What I had seen that day, the mannerisms, the anger, the barefaced protectiveness… they may have been from different time periods, but it was as if they were the same person.

Did they both love her? The thought stung more than I cared to admit.

"Could you please keep watch on the boy, Tomoe?" Saito asked, respectfully. "I need a word with Miss Kamiya."

Tomoe's eyes warmed fractionally as she watched Yahiko stir slightly, his arms caging me to him as if he were afraid to let me go, even in sleep. "Of course. And she prefers Kaoru, Mr. Hajime."

My eyes rounded in astonishment as I watched Saito's face flush the faintest shade of pink. Tomoe expression didn't change at all except the wink she gave me as she waited for me to get up.

Grinning in surprise, I bend and put my hand on Yahiko's flushed cheek. There were faint purple bruises beneath his heavy lashes, and I took in a shaky breath, wanting to cry again. What happened back at the cab place was a turning point for us. It was the first time I'd realized just how much Yahiko needed me… and how much I needed him. We'd been through so much together in our short lives and I knew with complete clarity that seeing me almost die brought back the most painful memory he'd ever experienced.

Losing his mother.

Gently, I peeled myself away and lay a pillow beneath his head. "I'll be right back," I whispered, pressing a soft kiss to his temple. I imagined he'd be mad at me if he knew I'd done that with people watching, and I smiled at the thought, not caring in the least. Much like a mother would.

I stood straight, giving Tomoe a small bow in gratitude, and her hand gently touched my arm in passing. "Kaoru?" Her eyes found mine and I bit my lip, still trying not to cry. A sliver of a smile tilted her lips, and she pulled me into a hug. It was possibly the loosest hug of my life, but the gesture made a tear slip down my cheek. "You're very brave. Please come back when you're done, and I'll help you get cleaned up."

When she pulled away her fingers squeezed my arms in a way the was so reassuring and warm that another tear slid down my cheek. Then she sat next to Yahiko on the bed, placing a hand tenderly on his head. That woman was possible the gentlest creature I'd ever met, and within those few moments, I discovered I liked her tremendously.

Kenshin would have been an idiot for not loving her.

"Thank you, Tomoe." I smiled at her then, before following Saito out of the room.

"A brave nuisance," he clarified once the door shut, but the anger he'd used a moment ago had deflated into small frustration. "But a nuisance nonetheless."

I kept my eyes on the floor, knowing he was right. None of that would have happened if I had just listened. Or at least kept my butt in the car. "I'm sorry."

He seemed surprised. "Hmmm… well, now that you've met Jineh, you know the dangers we're dealing with."

Jineh… that's what Shinta called Akio as I struggled to breathe.

With a tilt of the head, Saito beckoned me to follow him. I did, stumbling a little over the blanket still wrapped around my shoulders, and trying to keep up with his swift speed.

"Is Jineh from Kenshin's time?"

A nod.

"And he's taken over Akio's body," I reasoned aloud. "Why Akio?"

We entered a small elevator. Once punching the second-floor button, Saito's narrowed eyes slid down to mine. "Because they are the same person."

I recalled how Akio's face changed. The lines around his eyes softened, the hair at his temples darkened. He hadn't so much changed as drastically youthened. "But they're so different."

"Are they?" The doors slid open and we stepped out. I came to a screeching halt when I noticed a young man behind a desk in the far left corner of a loft-sized room. I knew his face; warm, simple, kind eyes. He was typing away, and stopped to speak with another man that approached his desk. For a moment I couldn't place him, but then he smiled, crinkling his eyes, and I knew exactly who he was; Akira, Tomoe's husband. I grinned absently, and then felt Saito's hand on my back, pushing me along. The flurry of activity on this floor was dizzying, and I was thankful when we entered a quiet room down the hall.

An interrogation room, from the looks of it. It was just like in the movies. There was a small table and three chairs, and a giant mirror on one wall that I was positive went two ways.

Saito continued talking while I padded over to touch my finger to the cool glass, half expecting to hear someone on the other side jump back. "I suppose you aren't aware that Akio, the cab driver, has quite an interesting past."

"What do you mean?" I pressed my lips together when I really looked at my reflection. No wonder Saito decided to take it easy on me. I looked awful! My hair had come half loose from my ponytail and dark strands hung down in tangled clumps around my head. My eyes were swollen and red from crying and lack of air, and dark circles hung beneath them like ill-painted halfmoons.

Saito was leaning against the opposite wall, watching me. He pulled a pack of cigarettes from his back pocket and casually lit one. "Akio's prints match someone the JTF have been looking for the past 15 years, Kaoru." He glanced away from me when I turned to look at him, and I pulled the blanket tighter around my arms. "This man fought in the Iraq war from 2003 through 2007. He murdered his entire platoon, claiming they had been ambushed."

My face went pale. "Why would he do that?"

Saito kicked off the wall and sat down on one of the hard, metal chairs. "Bloodlust. Do you know what he's done since?"

I swallowed. "Kill people?"

Another nod. "Possibly dozens. And he would have killed you too, had he not seen that family across the river when he dropped you off all alone the day you met the Battousai. He offered that tidbit happily before you so rudely interrupted our confrontation this afternoon. Did you sense that from him, Kaoru?"

I shook my head, feeling faint. "No." He was a sweet old man who wanted to look after me, I just knew it. My instincts had never been so wrong.

"So," he said, sounding smug and a little sarcastic, "Maybe you don't quite understand how dangerous this situation is yet. Which is exactly why I asked you to stay home."

I narrowed my eyes at him, but I couldn't argue.

Saito's lip curled as he took another long drag of his cigarette before extinguishing it into the lone metal ashtray in the middle of the table. "History shows this Jineh was quite similar, though he was less discreet with his killing. He was a hitokiri during the revolution, and there is evidence that he continued killing well after the revolution had ended. Neither of them discriminated; Male, female, young, old… it didn't matter. He did it because he liked it."

So, this psychotic man had almost killed me twice? "I should've broken more than his wrist."

Saito's booming laugh made me jump. I tried to find the humor but every time I tried to smile my lips quivered. "That, you should."

"He said, 'as long as I'm here, they can't send me back.' What do you think that meant?" I asked, trying to make my voice sound strong.

Saito motioned to the chair across the table. He must've seen me wobbling on my feet. Tiredly, I sat.

"Time travel requires a certain amount of energy, and we have equipment that picks up that energy." He nodded at the door. "We passed that equipment on the way to this room."

I nodded, remembering the bulky grey box-shaped machines. "And you picked up that energy around Akio?"

Saito smiled, seeming uncharacteristically pleased. "Yes, and yet, nobody time-traveled or disappeared as the Battousai did in Tomoe's office."

I grimaced because my heart burned at the memory. Kenshin reached for me and I couldn't help him.

"Jineh remains with Akio, and we believe that's because Aiko's solid form holds him to our time somehow… even though whoever brought him here seems to be rethinking that decision." Saito leaned back in his chair, his long legs stretching out in front of him.

"I can't blame them," I muttered, tracing a line on the cold metal table with the tip of my finger. "He's bat crap crazy."

Another big laugh. Saito reached over and pulled out a leaf that was tangled in the back of my hair. He stared at it, dangling limply from his fingertips for some time. "There was a burst of thermal energy this afternoon," he paused, eyes meeting mine, "at the same place you found the Battousai."

Quickly I sat up in my chair. "Riverside Park?" My thoughts ran a million miles an hour. "Is it Kenshin?"

His broad shoulders shrugged. "We can't be sure, but he is the only one who has appeared there twice."

Twice? Oh yes! Kenshin was the "extra" in the fragrance commercial shoot. It was so faint and quick, almost as if was a failed first attempt.

"We have to go there!" I stood excitedly, sending the chair back with a screech.

Saito shook his head. "We've already been. He's not there."

"Are you sure? Kenshin is sneaky and quick. What if he was hiding from your men because he didn't know who they were?" Saito never stopped shaking his head, which was possibly the most annoying thing I'd ever seen. Starting to feel deflated, I gave a heavy sigh. "I should go! He knows me!"

Saito's fist fell to the table top. "Which is exactly why you're going home. You're the only person in this century the Battousai has a connection to. If he goes anywhere, it will be to find you."

"His name is Kenshin," I corrected.

Saito's eyes narrowed at me. "You are a tiring woman."

I opened my mouth to argue, but Saito's was watching me with a look that was half amused and half challenging. My mouth snapped shut. He was right. "Okay. So, I just sit there and wait for him?"

"You'll go on with your regular activities, work and so forth, but for the most part, yes, that's exactly what you'll do." He stood then and made a waving motion at the mirror. Whoever had been watching us from behind it had been beckoned. "That connection not only makes you someone the Batou—Kenshin is interested in contacting, it also makes you a target. I'm afraid your life, and your son's, has just become much more dangerous."

Going to Riverside Park that day had changed everything about my life. "So, I just happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time that day, didn't I?"

Saito's lips curled. "Something like that."

It felt like there was something important he wasn't telling me, but I was too weary to ask right now.

The door on the other side of the room opened and Shinta walked through. For a moment I stopped breathing, but not because of any spell or mind trick. He looked just as battered and exhausted as I did, with his shoulder wrapped in white bandages and his glassless eyes hooded. When those violet eyes met mine, he gave me a weak but encouraging smile and bowed his head. My entire body flushed, thinking of him and Kenshin being basically the same person, separated by generations and circumstance. He had been willing to kill to save me, and that thought made me both warmly grateful and terrified all at once.

Megumi had been right. This whole time I had been growing closer and closer to Kenshin. That's why I missed him so much that it raked a new tear in my heart every day since he disappeared. And in the few times I'd met Shinta, he had proved to be a more stable, humble and courteous version of the same dangerously beautiful man. Kenshin, but a little older and wiser…

I wasn't entirely sure if I preferred one version over the other.

We watched each other for a long moment before Saito cleared his throat, breaking the trance.

He stood to leave the room, and paused after opening the door. "Shinta will be staying with you," he said over his shoulder, giving the red-head a strange smile that I couldn't interpret in my sudden jumble of anxious thoughts. "I suggest you get acquainted with one another."

A look passed between the two of them, and Shinta's cheeks instantly turned pink before suddenly draining of all color. I wondered if he was about to be sick. His eyes fell to the floor as the door shut, lashes dark against his pale cheeks. The memory of Kenshin at my kitchen table, eyes half-lidded, and fingers firmly tangled with mine, drifted through my mind in vivid clarity.

At that moment, the desire to comfort Shinta was just as strong. "Are you badly hurt?" my voice cracked, still tender from earlier.

His eyes flicked up to mine before gently lifting his shoulder, testing the pain from Akio's wound. "No. Are you?"

I shrugged, and a short, strangled laugh burst unintentionally from my lips. Was I hurt? Not physically. Mentally, I felt like a frail piece of glass that had been stomped on repeatedly.

"Kaoru…" Shinta stepped forward, and something inside me shattered at the worry in his eyes. I stared at him, hard, willing the tears that slipped from my eyes to go back into my body. His fingers brushed my cheek very softly, and his eyes searched mine. "You are very brave."

Just what Tomoe said.

"No." I shook my head. "I was foolish."

His eyes narrowed, and they were an impossibly deep shade of purple as they searched mine. "There's nothing foolish about wanting to save someone's life, Kaoru." There was a sparkle in his eyes from the bright lights hanging in the otherwise chilly, prison-like room.

His head tilted very slightly to the side, and I wondered for a moment if he could read my very thoughts. Because his closeness warmed me to my very core, making me feel safe and content, even as more tears filled my eyes and spilled down my cheeks. Could he sense how much I wanted to hold on to that feeling?

His body leaned forward ever so slightly. For a second I thought he might pull me into his arms, but then he seemed to think better of it, and took a step back instead. I felt suddenly cold and unbelievably tired.

"Let's go get Yahiko," he said softly. His hand was on my back, gently leading me to the door. "And then I'll take you home."

The rest of the day I couldn't help but wonder what secrets Saito had kept from me, and what could have passed between the two men that had Shinta looking at me the way he did when he walked into that room.

To be continued…

Any guesses what the secret could be?