A/N: Apologies for the horrendously late update. There has been a hell of a lot happening lately, but it's the end of semester, so all I have left are a couple of exams and then I'm free for the rest of the summer. Fingers crossed anyway.


They burst into the office of one Saitou Hajime, without much care for the man's privacy. He would know that they would be arriving; it would not be so easy to hide the bloodlust that was running so freely in his veins due to Kaoru's current condition.

No one was allowed to touch what was his. Ever.

Saitou sat in his chair, smoking a cigarette, the smoke curling around him and creating a hazy atmosphere. The open window did nothing to suck the toxic air out of the office, all it seemed to do was enhance the thundering of the water upon the roof.

"You're back early Battousai." It was a statement, one which had him gritting his teeth in anger. Slamming his fists upon the desk, he almost growled his response –

"If I had been back earlier, none of this would have happened, Saitou." The name was spat in disgust, none of his kind rurouni words seeping into his speech. His golden eyes glowing, it seemed that emotion seemed to have gotten the best of him.

"I take it from that statement, that you were not responsible for the three men currently under my care. If that was not the reason, what is the purpose of this so called visit, Battousai?" Saitou drawled out in similar disgust.

"Revenge."

Sano shifted uncomfortably beside him, the anger that was radiating off Kenshin in waves, was probably more than he had ever felt in the past 10 years of his life. Kaoru had done nothing to deserve this, and those who were responsible were going to pay.

"Revenge, Battousai? What did these men do to you? They seem like petty drunkards and thieves to me." He blew out smoke slowly, and inhaled at the same speed.

"What are they to you, Battousai?" He squinted back at Kenshin, his eyes trying to figure out the explosion of anger in his ki, calculating eyes taking in his appearance. Kenshin clenched his teeth, grinding them in the process, his anger making the blood in his veins pump loudly in his ears.

"What has the silly Tanuki done this time?" Time seemed to slow as he pulled his sakabatou from its sheath at his hip. Holding it against Saitou's neck he ground his teeth.

"You will not refer to Kaoru in such a manner in my presence, Saitou."

"Well, well, Battousai. I didn't realise you had it in you." Cocking an eyebrow in response to the sword at his neck, he moved against the slight pressure of the blunt edge.

"Kenshin, he's not the one we want to deal with…" Sano's hesitant voice made it through the angry fog that seemed to be building a thick brick wall in his mind.

"They were found bound and knocked out. It took six of my dim witted subordinates to drag them back to the station. I think the question that we should ask ourselves is what did – Kaoru – do to them?"

"I let you know as soon as I can have a little chat with them." Saitou brought his cigarette up and pulled on it, blowing out slowly. It looked as though Saitou was carefully weighing up his options.

"At this point, Battousai, I seriously doubt that you have a 'little chat' in mind with those baka's."

"Tell me where they are, or my conversation with them will be the least of your worries." There was a slight pause before Saito announced conversationally, with little regard to the sword at his neck.

"Usually, we give people the benefit of doubt when we find them on the street-" Kenshin growled in response to this particular comment, applying more pressure onto his opponent's neck.

"However, upon regaining consciousness, one of them decided to bring my mother into the equation." Saito's tone was dry without any response to the additional pressure against his neck.

"That is something for which they are now sitting quietly in their little jail cell."

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Tsubame made a small little noise in the back of her throat that he barely heard above the rain pelting down on his hat.

"Did I say something wrong?" Her voice was hesitant and shy. Yahiko felt bad for making her feel that way. Almost unconsciously their paths had intercepted and he had taken the box from her grasp.

"No! Of course not! I didn't mean for it to sound the way it did…" He started moving towards the Akabeko, and she stepped into follow him.

"Don't ever lose that pride you have" Kenshin's voice reverberated through his mind as Tsubame walked quietly beside him.

"It's just that, something bad happened to Kaoru last night and I–" A small gasp from Tsubame interrupted his sentence.

"Is she alright? She looked tired when she left. Tae tried to tell her to stay, but she insisted she had to go home to you…" If anything, Tsubame's soft spoken words made himself feel worse about his predicament. Hello guilt trip.

Kaoru had gone out of her way for his welfare, something which no one since his mother had done. It was hard when he thought of his mother. He had watched her fade away, slowly at first, but once the sickness had taken hold of her, the more quickly her decline. She had pleaded with the yakuza for money for his education, for his care, which they had given, with the promise that one day he would have to pay back those debts – with interest.

When she had passed away, they had pulled him out of school and had taught him the art of 'bringing in his debts'. He had learnt quickly, his nimble fingers enabling him to get away with his payments. They were able to the way he lived his life, but they were never able to make him choose who his targets were. He had chosen older men, those with an unkind look in their eyes, without pity or emotion.

He had been desperate the day Kenshin had 'caught' him. There had been no one that he had thought to be a reasonable target so he had to pick randomly or he would be at risk of upsetting the boss. His undoing, retrospectively thinking, had been that small child. He couldn't bear to be responsible for someone to go without a present, given so lovingly, from a doting grandfather. He had been like that once.

Kaoru was strong, she looked out for him when he didn't think anyone would but most of all she was kind. He was the reason she was hurt and she had spent time last night to tell him he wasn't. "You had no authority over any of the events that transpired today."

He realised he wasn't directly responsible, but still he held the responsibility to some extent – at least he thought so.

"Yahiko?" Tsubame's voiced seemed quiet in comparison to the rain battering against his body. He blinked and turned his head toward her voice, finding himself just outside the Akabeko, with Tsubame standing in the doorway.

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The rain cut through the silence that seemed to echo around her as she sat on the wooden porch. The dull thuds thrust upon the roof proved to be little distraction as she stared out onto the water wonderland that had presented itself in her yard. It would take a long time for the sun, when it came out from its cloudy surroundings, to clear the amount of water that could become a very sizable pond.

Perhaps she should just buy some fish – or more fish anyway, considering that she already had many koi in her mother's pond. Her mother had had a great fascination with the water, her father had told her with a warm glint in his eye. Sometimes Kaoru would feel a little left out, because she was unable to access memories like her father could. Other times, she was grateful that she couldn't remember anything – the pain that her father had gone through seemed enough for both of them.

Not wanting to further her own misery she blocked her mind to any negative thought, focusing on the sound of the rain, and finally letting her mind wander.

She didn't really stand much to lose by staring out into her rain soaked yard. From where she sat, she could see the spot which Kenshin chose to do the laundry. She hadn't really thought about his choice of location much but now that she had the time, her eyes wandered through her yard and the rurouni's locations.

They always seemed to be in sight of her room, which was somewhat strange, considering the wooden posts, which in dry weather held newly washed items, were over on the other side of the yard, closer to the fence than where Kenshin chose to do his daily tasks. It was also a fair distance from the well. When she had done her washing herself, she had usually chosen a spot equi-distant from the posts and the well. So she wouldn't be carrying heavy wet clothes for a far distance, or buckets of water to wash through the clothes.

She brought her knee up close to her chest and rested her chin on it, her sprained ankle resting on the wooden floor, elevated by a folded towel that Tokio had left her with.

She shouldn't have been moving around as much as she had, but she was restless with nothing left for her to do. The fact that she couldn't do anything but sit and shuffle around when her derrière got numb was slightly frustrating to say in the least. At least her brain hadn't been impaired otherwise she had a feeling that she would be rocking back and forth and talking to herself – not that it wasn't going to happen anytime in the near future. However, if Kenshin, Sano or Yahiko didn't come back soon, it would be very likely that they would be returning to her doing said activity.

Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath in and exhaled slowly, mentally shaking out all the knots and creases that were wrecking havoc on her mind. It was a relaxing technique she had adopted from Aoshi, not that he would know. Perhaps if she took up green tea, he would get a clue.

Honestly, the man was a human wall made of ice. Nothing fazed him or seemed to penetrate his thick skull, and that was a constant source of frustration of both herself and Misao. One day, they would get to him, until then, Misao would have to learn a little patience, but still keep up her over-enthusiastic attitude towards him.

If only it were that simple with Kenshin. Now, he was a man that was even more frustrating than Aoshi. Which, if she really thought about it, was really saying something.

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Sano shifted guiltily in Saitou's office, uncomfortable with the whole situation. Seeing Kenshin, the once immovable, courteous rurouni, hold a police office at sword point – even if it was Saitou – was not something he had on his 'to do' list. Perhaps he should have just told the tall stupid office everything when they had been standing in the over-watered street. However, any sense of justice to Kaoru wouldn't have been carried out.

Dealing with an angry Kenshin had seemed the best way to deal with the situation. It was a plus that rehabilitation – when Kenshin dealt with people – was usually very good. Sano really hadn't really considered the re-appearance of the Battousai would factor into his plan. This would have to be one of those times in which he would have to admit that he hadn't really thought his actions through. Of course he wanted revenge, but above that, he wanted justice – which – he thought, picturing an injured Kaoru, would be something that she would want, even with all her naivety attached.

He watched the sword that was still held against Saito's neck. He could see Kenshin's jaw clench and upon hearing that the men were in the cells downstairs, the sword was slowly removed. Sano released is breath in relief, only to find himself the object of an amber eyed glare, one which had him contemplating. On one hand, those men who had hurt Kaoru should be in line for some pain, but on the other, Kaoru seemed to have been able to get her own back. It wasn't as if they had come back to seek revenge on her. But then, he reasoned with himself, Kenshin would be justified in kicking their sorry butts back where they came from. It was a somewhat circular argument that he probably shouldn't entertain, however he was looking out for Kaoru, and she deserved justice.

It was then that he realised he was standing in front of the doorway. Finding himself in the tricky position of either facing the wrath of Kenshin and his anger or saving those men from that anger – a position which was not exactly where he wanted to be with less than four hours of sleep.

"Sanosuke, remove yourself from the doorway." Kenshin told him in a cold voice. Knowing that Kenshin would possibly regret any action taken by the Battousai in anger, he stood his ground. It was Saitou who saved him from answering; he had stood up and walked around his desk.

"Battousai, if I were you, I wouldn't do anything that your precious Kaoru would be ashamed of." His tone lacked any care what-so-ever and yet Sano felt that the officer had found the right niche to pull Kenshin back from his anger.

"What would you know, Saitou?" Kenshin rasped in response to the statement that was thrown at him. Blowing cigarette smoke out, Saitou smirked back at the small red head standing in front of Sano.

"Much more than you think Battousai. Much more than you think."


A/N: Although there wasn't a lot of plot going on, I needed to draw together some of the loose ends that seem to dangle endlessly in front of me. I hope you enjoyed the update, feel free to review!