Author's Note: I seem to have a habit of posting updates on holidays. Happy New Year everyone! I hope that 2011 will be a good year for all of us.

Disclaimer: Rurouni Kenshin is the property of Nobushiro Watsuki. I do not own these characters.

Chapter 11: Trust

Kenshin wasn't in the cave when Kaoru woke up, but something smelled like it was burning.

When she emerged from the cave to investigate she found Kenshin tending a fire with some animal roasting on it. He was bare-chested, but at least he had found some pants somewhere.

"I'm not bothering anyone except to steal the occasional article of clothing from a camper when I feel like being human again," he had said last night. Well wherever they had come from, Kaoru was glad about it. With the shock of seeing Kenshin again wearing off, she wasn't sure she could have controlled her embarrassment in the daylight. It was bad enough with him being only half-naked. Kaoru caught herself staring and hid her face with her bangs. This was not the time or place, but damn he was attractive.

"What's for breakfast," Kaoru asked.

"I caught a couple of rabbits this morning. I figured that I'd make you breakfast before you left as a send off. Besides, you only pack granola bars when you come out here. That's not a balanced meal, Kaoru." Kenshin lectured while stirring the fire. "I'm not sure how you hiked as far as you have living off that stuff. It tastes like dirt."

She looked at the spit over the fire and counted only one rabbit. "Where's the other?"

"Err…," Kenshin blushed, "I short of ate mine already. I didn't think you would want it prepared the way I like it these days."

Kaoru paled catching his meaning. The silence that followed dragged on. She saw him fighting with his hair again that unbound, kept falling forward into his face. She noticed also that her hair brush lay on the ground besides him, but little headway seemed to have been made in untangling the mess. "Here, let me help you brush your hair out. That looks like a two man job."

Kenshin bristled but didn't voice any protest. Kaoru picked up the brush and knelt behind him.

It was slow work and Kaoru had to get tough on some of the larger mattes. While working through one she pulled too hard and ripped a chunk of his hair out. Kenshin did not yell instead a wholly animal growl rumbled from his throat. Kaoru pulled her hands back and froze while he regained his composure.

"Be more careful," he asked annoyed and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Please," he added as an afterthought.

It was totally bizarre watching these split personalities trade off dominance at such lightning speeds. Kenshin was still Kenshin, considerate and polite to a fault, but this primal side of him was made of aggression and impatience. His dual natures seemed constantly at odds with one another whether there was a full moon out or not.

"Gomen." She said quietly and resumed brushing.

"No, no. I'm the one in the wrong. I'm so sorry, Kaoru." He said with more compassion. "You know the anger isn't directed at you?"

"I know." She said comfortingly.

"It's no excuse. Believe me I know, and it rips me apart every time I yell at you."

"You'll learn to control it, Kenshin. I believe in you." Kaoru assured him.

"Maybe," he said glumly without a lot of conviction in his voice. He seemed so sad and distant right now. "Either way, I won't to risk your safety by keeping you close."

"I was about to ask…if I could stay another day, Kenshin. My uncle isn't expecting me back until tomorrow. I could stay. Just one more day, please," she pleaded.

But Kenshin shook his head. "No. Another full moon rises in a day or two. I can sense it and I think that it's what is making me more irritable. You should get going after-" he froze mid-sentence and looked out into the woods. "Shit!" Kenshin cursed and rose gracefully to his feet.

Kaoru stood up too. "What is it?" She asked.

"Wolves." Kenshin said in a husky voice that bordered on a growl. His face was a storm of malice, but his body posture was poised and protective. He pulled her behind him. "Stay close, but run if I tell you." He instructed sternly.

Kaoru could hear them now too, crashing through the brush as a pack circled around them. Her hand stroked the silver pendant that had once belonged to Kenshin. She had no idea how it would help her against a pack, but maybe she could swing the chain like a flail. It was her only idea and her only weapon at the moment unless she could get to a large enough stick that might serve as a bokken. In addition to the Student Council, Kaoru was also an assistant master in the school's Kendo club.

Two wolves and a man stepped into the clearing. Kaoru recognized the man as the police chief that she and Kenshin had encountered when they first learned the ugly truth. Police Chief Hajime Saitou.

"Well now, are you two finally done playing house?"

"Saitou." Kenshin growled looking like he was ready to lunge for the man.

Saitou raised his hands up over his head and showed that he was unarmed. "All right, settle down now. We haven't come to fight unless you turn it into one."

"I don't believe it for a moment. Not after what I did," Kenshin argued back.

Kaoru's attention darted back and forth between Kenshin, Saitou, and the wolves that stood beside the police chief. It was the first good look she'd ever gotten of the creatures since the light was good and neither one of the wolves seemed interested in attacking her at the moment. They looked like very overly large wolves with long paws and jointed digits that were vaguely more human-like than animal.

"There are some extenuating circumstances that I want to talk to you about before we decide what to do with you, boy, but let me ask you this first. Do you really want to do this in front of the girl?"

Kenshin turned and looked at her. His expression was laced with worry and sadness.

"We'll go up to that ridge," Saitou suggested. "You'll be able to see her the whole time, and I'll tell the pack to back off. I'll let you tell her about that night when you're ready."

Kenshin's shoulders slumped forward and he nodded. Saitou waved his hands and the wolves at his side bounded into the forest.

"Just one more thing, Himura. Were you really going to feed her that?" Saitou said pointing at the cooked rabbit. "I don't think that's even fit for a human anymore. You burned it, pup. Badly." He reached into his coat pocket and produced something wrapped in white paper that looked like a sandwich. He tossed it towards them and Kenshin caught it.

Kaoru watched him unwrap it and sniff at the contents. Kenshin wrinkled his nose, but passed it over to Kaoru. She took it from him and saw that it was a tuna salad sandwich. "Thank you." Kaoru said.

Saitou nodded. "I'll pass that along to my wife. She likes to make these lunches for the pack sometimes disregarding the fact that I hate tuna."

"Let's get this over with, Saitou." Kenshin interrupted.

"As you wish, Himura."

Kaoru watched them retreat up the hill together. She sat down and tried to eat her breakfast, but found that she had no appetite. What happened that night that Kenshin didn't want to tell her yet. Had he perhaps killed someone?

…

Kenshin followed Saitou up the hill not knowing what to think. So far the man had kept his word and the pack had withdrawn. Saitou seemed relaxed and confident, and Kenshin sensed nothing in the man indicating that he had come here to fight.

But he brought his pack with him, the hunter within him warned. There were four wolves nearby, and unlike the police chief, all of them were very ready to attack if it came down to that.

Saitou took a seat on a large stone and fished in his jacket for a cigarette and lighter. It was almost infuriating how unconcerned he seemed. Kenshin squared off in front of him as if he were readying to throw a punch and launched into an interrogation of the man.

"Have you come here to kill me?" Kenshin said in a menacing whisper.

Saitou lit up took a drag from the cigarette. "Nope. Do you want to die?"

"No." Kenshin said and he knew that he meant it. Even if though this life of his was utterly messed up now, Kenshin had found a form of peace in these woods. If it was a choice between being put down like a rabid dog or living out the rest of his days in the forest as an animal, he could honestly say that he'd choose the later.

"I didn't think you did. Otherwise you would have let that exorcist do it for you. She'd have been quick about it. Put you out of your misery while you were still human, but I'm sure she explained that to you before you killed her."

Kenshin cringed and the scar on his face where her knife had cut him throbbed. Much of that first night was blurry to him. He had nearly lost himself to his predatory nature until the guilt of Tomoe's death brought him back, but he could remember how she'd looked as she died. And if he thought about it for too long, he could still remember how her blood had tasted.

"Look, we kill the ones that don't remember their human lives. The ones that live for their hunger. The ones that don't come back."

"And that's supposed to absolve what I did!" Kenshin shouted suddenly, deflecting the anger that he felt internally at Saitou. "I did lose myself. Then I killed her, ripped her apart in my claws, and attacked you!"

"Are you sure that you don't want to die? You're making a compelling argument right now." Saitou said calmly with a raised eyebrow.

Kenshin grew quiet.

"You're bleeding." Saitou pointed out.

Kenshin put a hand to his scarred cheek and it came away slashed with crimson. "It just won't heal. " He said more calmly. "Everything else closes up right before my eyes. I don't get sick. I don't tire easily, but this one injury…"

"It's their weapons. They're special. That wound will trouble you for quite sometime and it'll never heal completely so long as you harbor guilt over what you did. That girl was a priestess of the Yukishiro clan, a family of demon hunters and exorcists of the Shinto faith that have hunted our kind since her family organized in the early days of the Tokugawa shogunate. Unlike some other hunter associations, she'd have killed you no matter how you turned out just for what you are. I will not kill my brother for defending himself, and…I would like to apologize for baring my fangs at you that night. I did not understand the situation at the time. We only found her weapons later."

Kenshin stared at Saitou dumbfounded. Did he really just hear all that right? And had the man just called him a brother?

"Now Himura," Saitou said addressing Kenshin in more formal terms. "Will you have a seat. And do try to compose yourself, you are putting me on edge and I have much to explain to you.

Kenshin sat down on a log and folded his arms across his chest.

"Our plans went horribly wrong that night, Himura. I had assigned a man to watch you and pick you up in the early afternoon to bring you into the station. There is a holding cell that we use for certain special occasions, but you went to the one place we couldn't follow, that church."

"Why the church?" Kenshin interrupted.

Saitou held up a hand. "Let me finish first, but I'll give you this one. There is a treaty in place between our kind and theirs. This pack does not go near that place, and if you join us, you'll be held to that treaty too setting aside your personal history with a certain man of the cloth. The one who has acted as your sponsor."

"You want me to join your pack?"

Saitou narrowed his amber eyes as he puffed on his cigarette obviously not pleased with all the interruptions. "Yes, pup. Look, I want to be clear. It was not one of us that that did this to you, and I was honest with you at the police station. I wouldn't choose this existence for anyone other than myself, but although my pack does not actively recruit new blood, I won't pass up a stray that wanders by. You would be an asset to my pack, able to help me protect the weaker ones and hunt down those of our kind who prey on the humans. If you join with us, you will obey my commands as your alpha, and you will never kill another human unless your life is endangered."

"And if I don't want to…you'll what? Just leave me alone out here?"

"I will, but, others may come, the Yukishiros for instance. You killed one of theirs. They will not forget that although it may be some time before you are faced with their revenge. The last five years have not been kind to that family. They've lost many of their strongest exorcists, but Tomoe had a younger brother. You can bet that when he's old enough he'll want blood for his sister's death, and there is more. That first night, do you recall the other wolves?"

Kenshin nodded. He remembered another pack arriving and clashing with Saitou's. It had given him the opportunity to escape.

"After you went into the church, my man panicked and came racing back to report to me instead of staying put and tailing you should you come back out again. We lost you after that until you placed the distress call. When we arrived to come get you, the other pack was already moving in on the area. We don't know much about them except that they moved into the area eight months ago and look like they are deliberately trying to grow their numbers by turning the mad ones loose in an area and seeing if anyone comes through it the transformation all right. It's my belief that this pack was behind the incident that you and your girl stumbled upon and that they were there that night to pick you up."

"So why haven't you done anything about it?"

"It won't be easy to move against them. They outnumber us and we know little about their movements. Their leader keeps to the shadows and has never fought in the open," Saitou sneered obviously enraged. Kenshin did not understand Saitou's anger. It made sense to him from a hunter's perspective. A wolf hid in the shadows to better stalk his prey.

"I want you for in my pack because you would make us stronger. You are strong already, Kenshin, incredibly so for one as young as you are, but I'm guessing that you can be dangerously out of control. I was worried about your little sleepover last night with the girl."

"You knew about that?"

"We were in the area in case anything went down. The rain masked our scent from you and we were careful. Only one of us stood watch nearby. You would have sensed the whole pack."

Kenshin wasn't sure what he thought about being spied on, but he supposed it was comforting to know that Kaoru had not been in as much danger alone with him as he had thought. "So it's just about military strength?"

"No. This is not an easy time for you, Himura, and throughout all the long years that you'll live you will never forget what these first days were like. I've gone through this before. So has my wife and everyone else in my pack. We are a brotherhood. We look out for each other, and it would please us all if we were to be able to help another one of our brothers through this time."

Kenshin sat quietly before answering. "So what happens now, Saitou?"

The police chief snuffed out his cigarette on the stone and tossed the butt to the ground. "I want you to demonstrate a measure of trust by allowing one of my officers to escort Miss. Kamiya back to the city while you and I spend some quality time out here in the woods together. You need to learn how to be a wolf before you can learn to live with it as a man. I'm willing to share my experience with you if you are willing to follow me, Himura."

Kenshin bristled. "And if I refuse?"

Saitou stood up. At his full height he towered over the still seated Kenshin. "Then I withdraw my offer. You are either a member of my pack and that means you trust your pack brothers or you're a lone wolf. If you join us, you will have to learn to trust us eventually so it might as well be now."

Kenshin stared at the ground. Trusting Saitou…it seemed absurd, but two months ago this whole sorry situation seemed like lunacy. Don't do it. Kenshin's instincts warned. This is not a man to be trusted. He is as dark and twisted as you.

"I want you to consider something else, Himura. If it is revenge you want, I can give that to you. With me, we will hunt that other pack and put a stop to this abominable pursuit of theirs." Saitou's voice grew strong and threatening.

Kenshin looked up into the old wolf's eyes searching for something. The wolf inside of him wanted to rise to challenge the alpha and finish their duel. Kenshin wanted to fight. He wanted to win. He wanted to kill. He could not tell whether Saitou sensed it within him or not, but Kenshin was the first to break eye contact. Yes, he needed someone's help to learn how to control this thing inside of him. It might as well be Saitou."

Kenshin looked back down the hill to where Kaoru stood looking up at them. "And you promise that she'll be safe," he said.

"Safer than she would be with you. Go. Say what you need to say to convince her to go with my men peacefully. She doesn't strike me as the type who is all that trusting."

Kenshin smiled when he looked at her. With his sharpened vision he could see Kaoru's worried face and bright eyes clearly. She said that she trusted him and believed in him even after everything that had happened. "That's where you're wrong, Saitou."

The police chief had risen and removed his jacket and shirt. There were a great many scars across his chest. "Whatever, Himura. Do what you have to do and join me back up here." Saitou turned and walked off into the forest.

Kenshin walked back down the ridge to go bargain with Kaoru.

Author's Note: I hope that you enjoyed the chapter. If you have a moment, please leave me some feedback. Special thanks to Skenshingumi for you reviews the last few chapters.

Stay tuned for Chapter 12: A Cruel & Beautiful Smile.