Chapter 9

"Mmmmmm," the low moan echoed through the courtyard as Shadow lost herself in the kiss. Her grip on the reverse blade sword loosened to the point where she could no longer hold it and it fell to the ground with a loud clatter. She buried her free hand in Battousai's hair, snapping his hair tie to allow his fiery locks to cascade around his shoulders in a fiery waterfall.

Sano was the first one to recover and let lose a loud wolf whistle, "Way to go Kenshin! I didn't know you had it in you!"

"Ewww! Gross! Kenshin's kissing bisu!" Yahiko yelled from his prone position on the porch.

Misao stuck two fingers in her mouth and let lose a whistle louder than Sanosoke's and yelled, "Wahooo! Put a little bit more action into it and kiss her senseless!"

Aoshi turned from the scene and crossed his arms and murmured, "Misao you're too young to see something like this. Now turn around and let them have a bit of privacy."

"Aoshi-sama! I'm Sixteen years old! Why can't you see that I'm old enough......humph!" Misao pouted, crossing her arms and turning around, but she kept watching them from the corner of her eye.

"Ah, love is such a wonderful thing, "Megumi sighed before cocking her head as another deep throated moan erupted from Karou's throat. Raising an eyebrow, Megumi grinned laviscously as she watched Karou's hands crept around Kenshin to grip his bottom, possessively."They seem to be having so much fun, but we better stop them before they take this any further. Ohohoho!" Megumi laughed as two fox ears appeared on her head.

Sano glowered at Megumi and pointing at the kissing pair, replied, "I don't know if that's such a good idea. You saw how Kenshin's eyes were before he kissed her! I think he's still in his Battousai mode and he'll be pissed if we interrupt him."

Megumi glared at the ex-gangster and before anyone could stop her, she had made her way over towards Kenshin and Karou and tapped Kenshin on the back, "Ken-san. I think you should stop now or when Karou-chan becomes fully aware of what you're doing, she's going to knock you senseless."

Breaking the kiss, Battousai whirled around and growled at the intruder, "What?"

Megumi took note of his glowing amber eyes and took a step back and replied, "I said that you don't want to be doing anything further or Karou will clobber you."

Battousai opened his mouth to retort when suddenly he was shoved violently away from Karou. Turning around, he growled and was about to yell at the person who had pushed him, but froze when his eyes met those of two frozen blue chips of ice. Unconsciously, he took a step back and his control over his Rurouni half wavered enough for him to take over, "Um....Karou-dono, S..Sessha c..can e-explain."

"Keeeeennnnnnnssssssssshhhhhhhhiiiiiiiinnnnnnn! How could you do this to me!" Karou yelled, angrily. She knew that whoever had masterminded tonight's attack would strike again, so she was determined to protect her friends even if it meant leaving to save their lives. Clenching a fist, she clobbered Kenshin over the head. As he fell, she picked up her sakabotou and dashed towards her room where she paused briefly to pick up a few supplies. Then before anyone came to find her, she ran outside the gate and into the forest; heading straight for Hiko's mountain.

"Ororororo!" Kenshin moaned; his eyes went all swirly as he slumped to the ground.

Completely misunderstanding Karou's anger, Sano interjected, "See, Megumi told you Jou-chan would be upset about the kiss....." He grinned, suggestively and asked, So, how was it?"

Still reeling from the blow he had received to the head, Kenshin grinned, foolishly and remarked, "Sessha really enjoyed that kiss, that I did!"

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Outside the dojou, a man watched as Karou ran past him. Narrowing his eyes, he quickly determined that she was heading in the direction of Kyoto, "Hmmm, the boss will want to hear about this now that Shadow no longer has her friends around to help protect her." Turning, the man known as Juro slowly limped back towards his bosses headquarters on the south side of Tokyo.

It took him some time before he arrived, but he had managed even though his injuries pained him greatly. Kneeling, he waited for his boss to turn around and acknowledge him. Suddenly, the large man growled, "Report!"

"My Lord, we failed to kill both the Battousai and the Shadow Hitokiri.....however, we have managed to cause Shadow to run from her friends. Now, she is alone and vulnerable to attack. Do you have another plan?" Juro asked after he had finished telling his boss the details.

"I am very disappointed that you failed me, Juro." The Scar-faced man, known to his close friends by the name of Hirakowa Taka, growled, coldly.

Juro winced at his masters tone and bowed his head in defeat. He knew that his master never gave second chances to anyone in their organization, so he prepared himself for the killing stroke that would end his life. He was surprised, however, when his master didn't kill him, instead, he spoke, "You have one more chance since your news is most pleasing."

"Sir?"

Whirling around, Hirakowa Taka grinned evilly and replied, "We will hunt her down like you would hunt a buck, but this time, I will be joining in the hunt and bringing along our most skilled hunters......gather them and meet me outside in an hour!"

"Yes, Sir!" Juro replied, bowing. Quickly, he made his way out of the meeting hall and pulled aside a few of their most trusted messengers to send word that the hunters were needed. Once that task was accomplished, he stared into the night sky and growled, "I will not fail you again, master!"

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Several hours later, Kenshin sat on the egwa with his friends surrounding him and talking in low hushed tones. Shaking his head at his confused thoughts, he turned towards Sanosoke and asked, "Sano, can you go and get Karou? I think that she's had enough time to calm herself down."

"Sure, Kenshin. I'll go get Ju-chan," the ex-gangster replied, rising from his lounging position on the egwa and then walking off towards Karou's room.

"Ken-san?" Megumi called, interrupting his train of thought.

"Hai, Megumi-dono?" Kenshin replied.

"What are you going to do about Karou?" the doctor asked, curiously.

"Sessha is not sure, but....Sessha will find out when he speaks to Karou-dono. This is not an easy thing to handle and finding out that Karou-dono used to be an Hitokiri like Sessha is quite a shock." Kenshin sighed as he pushed back his bangs with one hand and then stared off into the night sky before continuing, "Sessha....no, I don't know what I will do, but there has to be a reason for what is happening to Karou-dono."

Aoshi nodded in agreement before interjecting, "Yes. I agree with Battousai. According to my contacts in Kyoto, the Shadow Hitokiri had many enemies, but there was only one that managed to avoid capture by the government. I believe you've fought him before, Battousai."

Glancing back towards Aoshi, Kenshin inquired, "I've fought him before?......when?"

"Do you remember the time when you were almost killed by a large group of skilled swordsmen?" Aoshi asked.

Furrowing his brow, Kenshin thought back towards the revolution and his many battles. Suddenly, a memory surfaced, "Yes. I remember now. I was in a really tight spot and had several injuries. The leader of the group had managed to sneak up on me and was about to kill me when Shadow... no Karou-dono saved my life by deflecting the strike." Frowning, Kenshin cocked his head and asked, "Why do you ask?"

Smiling grimly, Aoshi replied, "Because he's the one who's after Karou and he's determined to take her life."

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Standing in front of her door, Sano knocked insistently and called, "Ju-chan! Please come out! We really need to talk to you!" Sano waited a few moments for a reply, but only silence greeted his pleas. "Enough is enough, she'll either answer me or I'll barge in there and drag her out!" Sano decided before calling one last time, "Karou, answer me or I'm coming in!"

Nothing

Growling, Sano shoved open the shoji screen and stepping into the room, only to be greeted with the sight of its bare walls and furniture, but no Karou. "Shit! I'd better tell Kenshin!" Sano muttered, turning, he dashed back towards his friends, when they were in sight he yelled,"KENSHIN, COME QUICK!"

"What?" Kenshin cried as his head snapped around at Sano's yell. It took him a few moments for the panic in his words to register, and before anyone took their next breath, Kenshin was on his feet and dashing towards Karou's room. Upon arrival, Kenshin's eyes took everything in within a space of a second before he raised his head towards the glittering night sky and screamed, "KAROU!"