D/C: I don't own Rurouni Kenshin.

Thank you, everybody, for your reviews; I didn't expect my last chappie to be appraised by you. Well, anyway, as I said before, I've finished school and now I have a lot of time ahead of me to write and finish my stories; expect at least one update every week. Ok, now I'll leave you with the eleventh chappie.

Enjoy!

CHAPTER 11: Decisions

The digital watch on her headgear read 10 30 as she pulled into her building's parking lot.

Kaoru sighed in exasperation. It had been a terrible day at work; everybody looked gloomy and upset, and nobody seemed to want to work. She had nearly spent her entire time soothing and comforting people when, in her opinion, she was the one who needed comfort the most…apart from Sano, that is. But Sano wasn't at work today…in fact; he hadn't gone to work ever since the Captain died. He just stayed at her apartment the whole time, hunched over his laptop, searching the Net for details and information about Kenshin. He had become so obsessed with his hunt for Kenshin; Kaoru was starting to worry about them both.

She locked her car and walked out of the parking lot, buttoning up her coat as she did; it had only stopped snowing yesterday, but it was still very cold. She stepped in through the gates of her apartment building, walked up the small front lane till she reached the double doors leading inside. She was just starting to push at the cold, frosty surface of the glass door, when she felt a hand grabbing her shoulder.

Her breath caught in her throat, and she felt her heart thumping loudly against her chest. She was afraid to turn around and find a gun aimed at her head.

'Kaoru-dono,'

Kaoru released her breath, feeling relieved. She turned around to face her addresser. 'Kenshin! You scared me!' she said, accusingly.

Kenshin let go of her shoulder, and stuffed both his hands in the pockets of his black coat. 'Sorry,' he murmured.

'And what did I tell you about calling me Kaoru-dono?' she told him.

'Uh, yeah…sorry, I forgot,' he said, smiling apologetically.

She waited for him to say something, but he just kept looking around at particularly everything but her. 'So? What brings you here?' she asked. 'It's not so safe for you to come here anymore, Sano's staying with me now, and if he ever sees you around, he'll skin you alive.'

'Sano? The Captain's son?' Kenshin asked.

'Yeah,' Kaoru said quietly.

'I…I'm sorry about what happened,' Kenshin croaked. 'I didn't know he was going to do it, if I did, I would've told you…'

Kaoru forced a smile. 'I know, Kenshin, and it's okay. It wasn't your fault…it isn't your fault you have such a bastard of a brother,' she soothed him. Kenshin looked away rather shamefully. Kaoru touched his arm, and when he looked up, she smiled warmly at him. 'I told you, it's not your fault. Now let's go somewhere private to talk…I really don't want to imagine what Sano would do if he stepped out of this door and saw you here.'

'Ok,' Kenshin agreed, nodding slowly.

They left through the gates, side by side, and Kaoru led him into a dark alleyway beside the building. She propped herself up on a large wooden crate which lay forgotten there, and Kenshin leaned on the wall opposite from her. They didn't say anything for a whole minute, and then Kenshin spoke up.

'I know you must want to go after Shinta now, Kaoru-do…Kaoru,' he murmured. 'But I seriously wish you wouldn't.'

'I've wanted to go after Shinta since the beginning, remember? But you wouldn't let me…come to think of it, maybe none of these murders would've happened if I did,' she said, rather bitterly. Kenshin started to talk, but stopped when he saw that Kaoru still hadn't finished. 'It's too late to do anything now, anyway…we're all too deep in this, I've pondered over this again and again, and I've studied the consequences…'

'You're still not going to tell anybody?' Kenshin asked, sounding a little surprised.

Kaoru smiled weakly. 'I'm just not prepared for the mass murder which could follow if I ever did,' she admitted.

'That's…that's very wise, Kaoru…really,' he told her.

'You think?' she asked quietly. 'Because I have the feeling that this is going to get me nowhere…I mean, what exactly are we going to do? Are we going to let Shinta carry on like this? I feel that we're just going around in circles.'

Kenshin gave her an encouraging smile. 'Don't worry, we'll come up with something,' he told her.

She frowned at him. 'How can you be so sure about that?' she asked, sounding doubtful.

'You gave me hope, Kaoru…' he told her. 'Before, I was all alone, there was no one I could trust…or rather, there was no one who would trust me, and I couldn't do anything on my own…but you trusted me, you came and put your faith in me, you believed me when I told you about Shinta when no one ever did…and that gave me hope…hope which tells me that this nightmare will soon end.'

Kaoru smiled. 'I really hope you're right, Kenshin,' she said. 'Because I can't bear to live with this secret any longer…just knowing that I know who killed the Captain when Sano is scraping the whole FBI network and not being able to tell him about him just makes me feel…kinda like a traitor, you know?'

'I'm really sorry, Kaoru,' Kenshin said sincerely. 'I never intended to put you under such pressure.'

'No, it's okay,' she replied, trying to keep the bitterness out of her voice. 'It's just…God! Look at me! Just put me under a little pressure and I crack up!'

'Kaoru…' Kenshin said softly.

'You were right,' Kaoru mumbled. 'I can never imagine what it would've been like if I were in your place…I consider the situations I go through as the pits, when you must've lived through a lot more.'

'Don't be so hard on yourself,' Kenshin chided her.

Kaoru looked up at him through blurry eyes. All the frustration and anger she'd been experiencing were coming down on her now, and there was nothing within her will power that was able to hold them back any longer. Kenshin put his arms around her and she started to sob into his shoulder, her small hands clutching at his black coat.

'I just want this to be over, Kenshin,' she choked.

'It will. Kaoru, look at me,' he told her, and she looked up at him. Hands encircling her waist, he leaned down and kissed her lightly on her lips. He smiled at her, and she blushed. 'It will be over, okay? Trust me on that.'

'I do...I do trust you,' she said softly, before Kenshin leaned down for another kiss.

-

'Hello!! I'm home!!'

Misao came running up to her as soon as she stepped in through the door. Kaoru looked at her, slightly confused.

'Er…is there something wrong, Misao?' she asked.

'No, it's just that…thank goodness you're finally here!!' she exclaimed. 'I've been trying to make conversation with your friend, I wanted to cheer him up a bit…but all he do is answer in grunts! And he never looks up from that laptop of his!! I just turned on the TV for a bit and he was sitting in the room, glaring at me on top of his laptop in such a way which made me feel like I've committed a crime or something!!'

Kaoru laughed. 'Relax, Misao,' she soothed her. 'Sano is just going through a really rough time now, and he's not really in his friendliest of moods…he's usually a great guy, but at the moment…' Her voice trailed off as she looked in the direction of the living room, where Sano had taken to brooding most of the time. She looked back at Misao. 'I'll talk to him for you, okay?'

'Yeah, okay; I mean, I don't mind him staying or anything, but...' she said, and let her voice trail off. She was now looking at Kaoru as if she was seeing her for the first time. Kaoru cringed as the girl smiled mischievously. 'Kaoru? Who've you been kissing, eh? Look at you!! You look like you've just had one hell of a kiss!!'

Kaoru blushed, and mentally kicked herself for not remembering to sort herself out before coming up to the apartment. Misao was right; she and Kenshin had necked out for a while down in that alleyway behind those empty wooden crates...Kaoru had really lost track of time down there. Looking herself in the hallway mirror, she saw that her lipstick had been wiped right off and there was snow in her already messed-up hair.

'Erm...yeah,' she said, while she hastily smoothed down her hair and clothes. She grabbed a tissue and quickly started to clean the smeared lipstick. She tried to look dignified when she looked at Misao again. 'I'll...just go and talk to Sano now, okay?'

Misao was obviously trying not to burst out laughing. 'Okay, go ahead,' she said.

Kaoru nodded and quickly hurried off to the living room. She stepped inside, and saw Sano, sitting on the couch with his laptop resting upon his lap. He was so absorbed in his work he didn't seem to notice that she had come in until she had cleared her throat. 'Oh…hi, Kaoru,' he said, rather absently.

'Hey. How was your day?' she asked, crossing over to an empty couch and plopping down on it. She reached out and scratched Kenny, who was snoozing soundlessly on the coffee table, behind the ears. 'What did you do?'

'Nothing,' Sano grunted.

'Any success with your research?' she asked.

'No,' he mumbled.

Kaoru stayed silent for a moment, trying to come up with something that would keep the conversation going; she, herself, was having a hard time trying to communicate with Sano, since the later preferred to keep silent most of the time. 'They asked about you today…in the Agency, I mean,' she told him. Sano didn't say anything. 'They're worried about you, Sano…'

'Worried about me, or feeling sorry for me?' Sano muttered.

'They're worried about you, Sano,' Kaoru insisted. 'They wanted to know why you haven't been showing up to work, and personally, I'm sick of covering up for you! I'm sick of telling them that he's in Japan working on the Captain's will!'

'No one's telling you to do so,' Sano said quietly.

Kaoru sighed in exasperation. 'Honestly, Sano, you think the Captain would want you to wallow up in sorrow and grief just because he passed away? Do you think he'd want you to skip work for that?' Kaoru said sharply.

Sano gritted his teeth. 'Unfortunately, I wouldn't know what the Captain would've wanted because he's dead!' he said angrily. 'I just lost the closest thing I've had to a family, Kaoru! What do you want me to do?'

'I…' Kaoru started.

'Besides, I am doing some work,' Sano continued. 'I am looking for leads about Himura.'

'That's no excuse, Sano,' Kaoru replied. 'You know perfectly well that you'd have more luck with your search in the Agency…you just don't want to go and face everybody there, you're afraid they might feel sorry for you and…'

'So what if I do?' Sano snapped.

'Sano, this isn't right, you must…' she said.

'And I can't find a thing in here!!' he suddenly shouted, slamming the laptop shut with such force that Kaoru felt sure it must've broken. Kenny woke up with a start and started hissing, the hairs on his backs standing on an end. Kaoru scooped up the cat into her lap and started smoothing his hair, cooing to him gently. She then turned to Sano, and was about to say something, when he stood up, tucked the laptop under his arm and marched out of the room, muttering, "Good night".

Kaoru sighed wearily. 'Good night, Sano,' she mumbled. She looked down at the cat, who had returned back to sleep. 'I envy you, you know.' Then, the phone started ringing. Kaoru put down Kenny on the couch, and went to answer the phone. She picked up the mouthpiece. 'Hello? Kaoru Kamiya speaking.'

'Hello, Kaoru,' came Saitou's voice on the other end of the line.

'Oh, hi, Saitou!' she exclaimed. 'It's been a long while since I last heard from you.'

'Yeah, well, I figured you'd be busy…what with the Captain's death and everything,' Saitou said quietly, and she didn't say anything. He was quiet for a moment, and she could tell he was raking his mind for something to say. 'Well...um, how is your friend Sano doing?'

Kaoru was surprised to hear the note of concern in his voice, but she really wasn't in the mood to press on the subject. 'He's not doing well,' she said unhappily. 'He's really upset about the Captain, and he's become really obsessed with looking for the murderer…it's scary.'

'Yeah, I can only imagine,' he said quietly. 'Listen, when can I see you? I really want to see if you're okay.'

Kaoru smiled and started coiling the phone's cord around her finger. 'Aww, aren't you so sweet?' she cooed. 'But yeah, it's been a long while since I last saw you...so how about we meet at our usual place and have lunch?'

'Seems like a good idea,' he agreed. 'So, I'll meet you there at two?'

'Yeah…and try to be there this time, okay?' she said, rather sharply.

'Ok, I will' he assured her.

She hung up with Saitou, and the guilty feeling she had been getting ever since she had gone out with Kenshin took over. She felt ashamed that she had gone out with Kenshin behind Saitou's back; Saitoh had always been loyal to her, and she had gone and cheated on him.

She couldn't help it though; she had been drawn to Kenshin despite herself…same way he had become drawn to her. There was something different about him…something she never found in Saitou…something deep. Saitou wasn't deep. He was great and everything, but he was just too unemotional, and that got on her nerves sometimes. But she didn't want to continue to cheat on him…and she neither wanted to stop seeing Kenshin. She had to decide between them.

She groaned. Decisions!! She really hated them!

-

Sano looked up at the wooden sign which was swinging above his head, frowning upon the red boar which had been painted upon it.

The Red Boar. He had never set foot in that pub; the Captain had always forbidden him from going to it. He heard a lot about it, though, from senior FBI agents, and from that Hajime Kaoru dated…he heard enough to make sure that this place was like a gold mine to all Agencies, police stations…it was a place where lots of criminals and thugs collected and grouped to make plans and carry out plots. Lots of conspiracies and schemes were stopped here; it was just a matter of getting your hands on the right leads. You'd think those ruffians would learn and pick out another place, but they never did…it just went to prove that all villains were idiots.

Just like that bastard, Kenshin Himura…

He also learned that this place was the best if you wanted to gather information about the underground community. The bar tender and pub manager, Kamatari, was your kind of man for that.

Sano pushed the heavy wooden door upon, and stepped into the pub. He, too, like Kaoru, felt the humid air, and felt himself sweating under his black over-coat. He took the flight of steps which lead down to the underground pub.

His impression of the place was just that of Kaoru's; he thought that the place must've been furnished from the dumpster, and the painting job done must've surely been done by a three-year-old. Screwing his nose against the horrible odor which filled the place, and ignoring all the eyes which had fixed upon him from the moment he had walked into the place, Sano made his way to the pub. He set himself up on a stool one stool away from a man who looked like he had done a job of engorging himself somehow.

Just as much as he liked to get up and start shouting at those people to stop staring at him, Sano kept silent. It wouldn't do him any good to stir up trouble here…especially when each one of those sitting here might have a weapon under their coats…maybe even those sluts of a woman carried weapons…No, it was best if he remained silent.

'Well, well…what have we here?'

Sano looked up to face the pretty bartender who had been addressing him. If he was in a good mood, he would've sat here and appreciated the beauty of this girl while she filled him up with Sake…and, judging by the girl's expression, she wanted the exact same thing. But he was here on business, he wasn't here to play and fool around.

'You're new here, aren't you?' the girl said in a sweet tone. Sano grunted in reply. 'What's your name?'

'That's only for me to know, missy,' Sano said, quietly. 'Now get me your manager.'

For some reason, the girl giggled. Sano scowled up at her, tapping his fingers impatiently against the scrubbed wooden surface, while he waited for her to finish laughing. 'But, sweetheart,' she finally said, resting her hand on his shoulder. Sano didn't react. 'I manage myself.'

Sano was taken by surprise. 'You're Kamatari?' he said incredulously.

Kamatari grinned and swept his hair back with his free hand. 'In the flesh,' he said proudly. Sano immediately brushed the guy's hand off his shoulder. Kamatari smiled at him and folded his arms against the counter. 'So, what can I do for you tonight?'

'You can help me by giving me some information about Himura,' Sano said quietly.

Kamatari pouted. 'All of you people want information about him!' he protested. He relaxed again and reached out and tickled Sano's chin. 'Don't you want to have some fun?'

Sano slapped his hand away. 'Who else came asking for information about him?' he asked sharply.

'You didn't say the magic word!' Kamatari said in a sing-sang voice, and Sano shot him a death-glare. Kamatari frowned and then he sighed wearily. 'It was a young girl…pretty thing she was, with black hair and blue eyes.'

Kaoru.

So Kaoru had been here before. She had come here looking for information about Himura. If she had told him that she would've saved him the trouble of coming here; he could've asked her for all the information he wanted. Then again, he really wasn't in the mood to talk to Kaoru, she would then start reminding him of how he had become too obsessed with finding Himura, and he would start on how it was none of her business, and then Kaoru would start shouting and…he really didn't want that.

'You want information about Himura?' Kamatari said, taking off the apron he had tied around his waist. 'Follow me, then…we can't talk here, everybody'll hear what we're saying.'

He nodded at the engorged man sitting next to Sano, and at the five men huddled together at the table behind him. Sano nodded. He stood up and followed the cross-dresser around the bar and through a wooden door in the corner. Sano found himself walking into a room which was much closer to his liking than the pub outside. A few other paintings had been added since Kaoru had come here, but the room looked as comfortable as ever with its wooden furniture and crimson cushions.

After gesturing for the girl who had been warming up before the fireplace to leave the room, Kamatari plopped down on one of the couches, and beckoned to Sano to have a seat. 'You know…I don't get much of your type around here,' Kamatari said softly. 'The guys who show up are usually bearded and scruffy, and have trouble walking and talking at the same time.'

Sano's eyebrows rose slightly. 'Yeah…okay,' he said, with a dismissive end to his tone. 'So, what do you know about Himura?'

Kamatari giggled. 'Other than the fact that he's one of the cutest little ruffians I ever saw?' he said. Sano just glared at him. 'Ok, seriously, what do you want to know?'

'Everything,' Sano said shortly.

Kamatari's perfect eyebrows shot up in surprise. 'Hmm…I'd have to know why you want information about Kenshin first…' he said, and wagged a finger at him. 'I just can't go giving these stuff to everybody, y'know.'

'I'm here on official FBI business,' Sano hissed. His nerves were already stretched to breaking point, and here was the guy playing around with him. 'So either you tell me everything you know, or you'll have to face my wrath, get it?'

A mischievous smile crept onto Kamatari's face. 'Ooh, you're so manly,' he said softly. 'I like that.'

Sano snapped. No sooner had the words left Kamatari's mouth, than he found a pair of hands clasped tightly around his throat. His eyes widened in surprise, and he opened his mouth soundlessly. Sano brought his face close to Kamatari's. 'Listen here, Kamatari,' he said softly. 'I didn't come here to play, alright? I just want to get what I came for and leave…or things will turn very nasty for you…is that clear?'

Kamatari opened his mouth, but no sound came out. Sano loosened his grip around his throat a little. 'Crystal clear,' he said hoarsely.

Sano smiled and let go of the guy. He sat back on his chair. 'Good,' he said. 'I knew we'd get to an agreement.'

Kamatari nodded vigorously. Jeez! What a temper! Who'd ever want anything to do with some one like him? Aw, but he's so cute!

'Shall we proceed?' Sano said quietly, and Kamatari pushed away any dirty thoughts he had about Sano out of his mind; this wasn't a guy he wanted to mess with.

-

Kaoru felt a sinking sense of déjà vu as she sat at their usual table in the small restaurant where she and Saitoh had agreed to meet for lunch.

Saitou was late…again.

She glanced at her watch for what seemed like the hundredth time. Saitou was supposed to meet her here at two, but it was already twenty five minutes past two o'clock, and he still wasn't here.

Kaoru felt fed up and she went and ordered without him, deciding she'd finish her meal and get out of here, and leave the bill on him. And to make things more classic, she had thought savagely, she was going to order the most expensive meal on the menu; as a punishment for keeping her waiting.

She swore silently under her breath that if Saitou's lateness was any where due to his work, she was going to ditch him. Once, twice…and maybe thrice…she'd forgive him. But five times in one month was just too much. She would take it personally then.

So she sat alone at the table, munching at the meal she had ordered, while she thought up of what to say to Saitoh when he called her up, all the while eyeing her cell phone expectantly, which was lying solitarily on the table beside the salt shaker. She finished her meal, wiped her mouth on her napkin, and sat glaring at the cell phone, as if it were its fault that Saitoh was so late. She was going to give him one more minute…just one minute…

Kaoru jumped as the phone rang suddenly. She recollected herself and snatched it from the surface of the table, pressed the TALK button and pinned it to her ear. 'Hello?' she said.

'Hi, Kaoru,' Saitou's voice came on the other end.

Kaoru almost laughed out loud. There were only a few times when you caught Saitou scared, and those times were priceless…and he seemed terrified at the moment. 'Would you care to explain why you're forty minutes late?' she asked sharply.

'Well, you see, Kaoru…I got caught up in my work and didn't notice the time…' he started.

'Of course!' Kaoru interrupted him. 'It's always about your work, isn't it?'

'Er…I don't understand,' he said.

'Oh, for God's sake!' she snapped. 'You're always skipping out on our dates and lunches and dinners and breakfasts just for the sake of your stupid job! I work in the Agency, and I still make time to come and see you. Why can't you do the same?'

'Kaoru, you don't understand…' he said, trying to explain.

'Oh, I perfectly understand what's going on here,' she muttered. 'You just think more of your job than you do of me!!'

'No, Kaoru, I don't! If you'll just listen to me…' he pleaded.

Kaoru knew she sounded like some jealous girlfriend, but she didn't care. She had listened to a lot of Saitou's excuses already, and she wasn't prepared to listen to any more of them. There was only one excuse too many. 'I'm sorry, Saitou, but I don't want to listen to you anymore,' she murmured.

'Huh?' he said, surprised.

'I think we should take a break,' she suggested.

'Yeah, okay…I'll just let you cool off for a moment and then I'll call you back again, and we'll…' he said.

'No, Saitou…I didn't mean that kind of break' she said gently.

Saitou fell silent. Kaoru bit down on her bottom lip; she didn't intend for things between them to turn out this way, but lately, Saitou's been so immersed in his jobs and she wasn't seeing him that much. She liked Saitou and everything, but things didn't look like they were going to work out between them.

'No, of course you didn't,' he said softly.

'I'm sorry, Saitoh, but things aren't working out between us and I think it's best for both of us to just…let go' she said softly. 'I don't want to put any pressure on you, I want a stable relationship, but you seem to be pretty occupied to spend time with me…and I don't want that, and I don't think you want that on your mind either'

Saitou didn't say anything, and Kaoru felt a stab of guilt. She had told him why she wanted to break up…but that was only part of it. And I just don't want to continue cheating on you, Saitoh…it's not fair for you…

'Saitou?' she said softly.

'It's alright, Kaoru…I knew it would come to this some day,' he admitted, chuckling lightly. 'I never was able to hang on to the girls I met.'

Kaoru smiled. 'I know you'll find some one soon, Saitou, but it's not going to be me,' she replied. 'I guess…there wasn't enough chemistry between us, huh?'

'Yeah, I suppose,' he agreed.

'We could still be friends, though,' she told him.

'Yeah,' he said quietly.

A couple of moments passed, and they both were silent. The silence hung heavy around them.

'Well…I'll see you around, then,' she finally said.

'Yeah, see you,' he murmured.

And with that, Kaoru hung up. She put the phone onto the table, and looked down on it. She felt surprisingly well about this break up. She was upset, of course, but relieved at the same time. It was as if a huge weight had been lifted off her chest.

What more, she didn't feel guilty about seeing Kenshin any more.

-

A/N: STRIIKE!! And you're out!! G'bye. Saitou! Nice having you!! (Saitou: Damn! And it was really great too!!). Yes, yes, I bet you're all very happy now that Kaoru broke up with Saitou, huh? You didn't think I was going to keep him with her, did you? That really wasn't in my intentions. Anyway, I've got some surprises for you in chapter 12, so be sure not to miss it!

Oh, and please review!!

- S. N. B.