D/C: I don't own Rurouni Kenshin…damn!

Hey! I'm back!! Just want to say thank you for all your reviews! Oh, and yeah, I love updating quickly, that way you readers won't get bored with the story, and I won't forget the whole plot of the story! Anyway, I'll stop blabbering without any reason and I'll let you get on with the chappie. Remember, I told you there will be surprises in this one!!

Happy Reading!!

CHAPTER 12: It's all about Trust

'What are you doing?'

Kenshin hated it when his brother pored over the Internet and books and city maps for hours. It wasn't that he hated the silence; silence was good; silence meant that he didn't have to hear Shinta talk about Kaoru in that possessive way of his. But silence also meant that Shinta was scheming; scheming for his next operation, his next murder…he had to know what he was up to, maybe he'd be able to stop it…whatever it was.

He wasn't lying when he had told Kaoru that he had stopped some of Shinta's operations before. For example, he had once talked Shinta out of robbing a bank, pointing out all the security measures available in it, and that if any of his men got caught, they'll be sure to spill the beans on him and where he was hiding. Another time, Shinta was scheming to kill a certain minister, and he had went and sent a warning to the poor man. The minister had escaped from town then, and Shinta had started cursing his bad luck.

He knew Kaoru must think he was a weakling, but she didn't know that he was only doing that to protect the people around him, to protect the people he loved and cared for…he couldn't risk history repeating itself.

'What are you doing, Shinta?' he asked again, sharply this time.

Shinta looked over the edge of his laptop's monitor at Kenshin. There was a visible expression of irritation and annoyance on his face. 'What do you think I'm doing? Making plans, of course,' he snapped.

'Plans for what?' Kenshin persisted.

'Why should I tell you?' Shinta muttered. 'You know what you're to do, anyway…just let the cops think it's you who's doing it and everything'll be fine.'

'Am I not supposed to know what I will be taking the blame for this time?' Kenshin said shrewdly.

'It's really none of your business, Ken,' Shinta said angrily.

'If you think about it, you'll find that it's completely within my business, Shinta,' Kenshin said coolly.

Shinta opened his mouth, maybe to tell Kenshin about his scheme, but he seemed to think better of it, because he immediately shut his mouth and smiled at him. 'No, we don't want you messing up our plan now, do we?' he said softly. 'No, it's best if you did not know about it.'

Kenshin fought the impulse to go and grab Shinta around the throat. 'Best for me or best for you?' he muttered.

'Best for both of us, Ken,' Shinta replied, still smiling.

'Strange how you seem to know what's best without asking me first,' Kenshin said, bitterly.

Shinta didn't say anything; he had returned his attention back to the laptop, back to his plan…and Kenshin could bet anything that that plan involved Kaoru. He plopped down on the nearest couch.

Kaoru.

She had attracted his attention from the first time he had seen her. He saw her during the shoot-out in that warehouse. She hadn't known that he was watching her, and still didn't know. He had wanted to help her then…when that jerk came up behind her and grabbed her, he had wanted to jump out from his hiding place and help her…but he knew that if he did that, he'd be sealing her fate, he would be the cause of her death.

How?

It was complicated; but Kenshin had learned to study the consequences of he acts before attempting them. And in that case; he had seen many consequences. First of all, those thugs would've recognized him and would've been shocked to see their boss helping his enemy. Second of all, Kaoru and her friend would've shot him dead before he could've even done anything. Third of all, Shinta would probably have got wind of this and he'd have been really pissed…and would've gone and caused a mass murder as a way of expressing his anger…things would've certainly got ugly.

Shinta would have also gone and killed Kaoru, and he didn't want that to happen…

He didn't want Kaoru to get hurt…yet, he knew he would never accomplish that with Shinta around.

'Are you going to hurt Kaoru?' he asked suddenly.

Shinta looked up, and he seemed surprised. 'Hurt Kaoru?' he repeated, sounding incredulous. 'Why would I want to hurt such a sweet thing like Kaoru?'

'Don't act innocent, Shinta,' he hissed. 'That's exactly what you said ten years ago and yet you went and…'

'But, my dear Ken…' Shinta cut him off. 'That was because ten years ago you couldn't keep your mouth shut…but now, you've learned to do that, haven't you?'

Kenshin scowled at him. 'Yeah…I have,' he lied.

'Good,' Shinta said approvingly. 'Now, if you don't mind, I have some business to finish here…so I want you to keep your mouth shut now as well…understood?'

Again, Kenshin got the impulse to strangle his brother, but he contended himself with glaring at him.

-

Sano watched her as she bent over a folder which had placed upon a desk, her brow furrowed as she scribbled furiously on the papers within the plastic folder, ebony hair falling across her shoulders. She was totally oblivious to the fact that he was standing right next to her…and Sano found that amusing; the way some people can get too engrossed in their work to notice anything else of their surroundings.

He cleared his throat to draw attention to himself, and she jumped, looking quite startled. She looked up, with raised eyebrows, at him. 'Sano! You scared me!' she said accusingly.

'Sorry, he said, smiling apologetically. 'So…how are you doing, Dr. Takani?'

'I'm fine, I'm fine' she said. She frowned. 'What are you doing here, though? Don't tell me you went and got yourself shot again!!'

Sano held up his hands, as if to ward her away from him. 'No, I didn't get myself shot, no need to work up a steam for no reason,' he said quickly, and her features relaxed. 'I just dropped by to pay you a visit.'

Megumi blinked. 'Oh…well, that's very considerate of you, Sanosuke…thanks,' she murmured.

Sano propped himself up on the desk. 'So, how are you doing nowadays?' he asked.

'I told you…everything's fine,' she said. 'Things in the hospital couldn't have been better.'

'What about Izumi? We haven't heard from him in a while,' he said, smiling. 'Has he been up to his old ways lately?'

'I don't know,' she said quietly. 'I haven't talked to Izumi for days now.'

Sano frowned. 'How come?' he inquired. 'Aren't you two supposed to be together?'

'We aren't anymore,' Megumi said. 'I…I broke up with him…I told him that if he wasn't prepared to stop stealing, then there was no way I was going to stay with him, and he said he wouldn't be able to do that…so I broke up with him.'

He didn't know why, maybe because Megumi didn't look at him when she was talking, or maybe because her tone was low and she was stammering slightly, but Sano didn't feel that Megumi was being too honest with him. However, he didn't press on the subject. 'He's a jerk, anyway,' he said in an off-hand sort of manner. Megumi didn't say anything; she was twirling her pen between her fingers and looking down at her papers. 'Oh, I'm sorry! Am I keeping you from your work?'

'What? Oh, no!' Megumi said, smiling brightly, and closing her folder shut. 'I was already done!' She glanced at her wristwatch. 'In fact, I have a lunch break in five minutes.'

'Oh, good, then,' Sano said, looking relieved.

Megumi put her pen down, and looked at him, her cheeks slightly tinged with pink. 'If you didn't have any lunch yet…you could feel free to join me if you like,' she said quickly.

Sano grinned. 'Sure! I'd love to!' he agreed. 'My treat, though!'

'Of course,' Megumi said, smiling. 'Why else did you think I want you to come along?'

'Of course,' Sano echoed. He knew he liked her.

But that made him feel guilty all over again about Sayo. Was it right to be talking to Megumi? Wouldn't that be like an insult to Sayo? But Megumi was so interesting and so nice…he was finding it real hard not to like her. He watched as Megumi shrugged off her white uniform and placed it against the back of the chair. She was wearing an aquamarine blue, long-sleeved, V-neck t-shirt underneath, over a black skirt which reached a few inches above her knees. He was also finding it very difficult to ignore that fact that Megumi was one pretty lady.

She caught him staring at her, and he looked away quickly, hoping she wouldn't see the faint blush in his cheeks. 'Shall we go now?' she asked quietly.

'Wha…?' he said, caught off-guard for a moment. 'Oh, yes…yes, we shall.'

'Well, then…' she said, looking shyly at him.

'Do you know a good place where we could have lunch?' he asked quickly.

Megumi nodded. 'I know just the place,' she told him.

As they left the room, Sano felt his pocket in order to check that his wallet was still in there, and kept praying that he had enough money in it to feed two people…especially when the two here included him!

-

Kaoru was trying her best to suppress a wave of laughter which threatened to take over her, as she stared at the pair of university students sitting before her.

Misao was talking a mile a minute, while bobbing up and down on her couch-Kaoru knew it wasn't the effect of the coffee she had had, because Misao was always this hyper. Aoshi, on the other hand, was sitting quietly, nodding every now and then to register the fact that he was really listening to her talk. Misao had invited Aoshi over this afternoon, and she was hoping to make him get to know Kaoru better, and also spend some quality time with him. Yet, Kaoru had to admit that she had never seen two people more different from one another.

'…and then, if you'll believe it, he dozed off!!' Misao exclaimed. She had been entertaining them for the last fifteen minutes with funny incidents involving her math professor at the University. Kaoru wasn't able to understand every word of Misao's, because she was talking real fast, but she did laugh every time Misao stopped talking and started to laugh at her own words. 'Right while he was explaining the lesson! He was just sitting there, explaining something, and the next moment, we saw him nodding off at his desk!'

Kaoru laughed-this time it was for real, though-and Aoshi just nodded and smiled politely. She clapped her hands together. 'I know!' she said. 'I got a box of fudge brownies from the market today! How about I go get them?'

'That'd be a great idea!' Misao said, happily. 'I love fudge brownies!'

Aoshi didn't seem to think it was such a great idea, though. Maybe he thought that any more sugar would make Misao a lot more hyper than she already was. But seeing that Misao was happy about it, he didn't say anything on the matter. Kaoru got up and left the living room. She went to the kitchen, and pulled the fridge's door open. She leaned in and peered inside, looking for the box of brownies. She found it, pulled it out, and set about putting the brownies into plates.

She jumped as she felt something brush against her leg, nearly dropping a plate in the process. She looked down. 'Kenny! Don't do that!' she scolded the cat. Kenny just blinked innocently up at her, and started meowing loudly, his paw gently prodding her leg. Kaoru frowned. 'What is it? Your bowl needs a refill?'

Kenny just turned on his heels and padded out of the kitchen. Her frown deepening, Kaoru went after him. To her surprise, she found him heading right towards Misao's room. He slipped in through the small crack of the open door.

What did Kenny want from Misao's room?

Kaoru shot a glance at the living room's door; she could still hear Misao talking and laughing, before pushing the door and walking inside. 'Kenny?' she said softly, her hands moving around the walls in search for the switch. She found it, pressed it and the room was flooded with bright light. 'Here, kitty, kitty.'

'Meow!'

She looked around and saw Kenny by Misao's closet. He was up on his hind heels and was scratching against the wooden door of the closet, whining continuously. Kaoru stepped towards the closet and pulled the door open for Kenny. The cat jumped inside and came out moments later, holding something in his mouth. He meowed again, looking immensely pleased with himself.

Kaoru gasped as she realized what it was. She bent down, and with shaking hands, pried the gun out of Kenny's mouth. Why did Misao have a gun? University students don't require guns…or maybe Misao was just not a university student after all?

Kaoru looked around the room, and for the first time she noticed that there weren't any books in the room…just that horror novel Misao had checked out of that library two days ago for a bit of bedtime reading. But weren't university students' rooms usually stacked with books and papers? So where were all Misao's things?

Still clutching the gun, she went to Misao's desk and started pulling out drawers. To her immense surprise, she found them empty. The little cupboard next to her bed. Empty. Her bureau drawers. Empty. There was just that photo of Aoshi she had seen the first day she had come in here lying on the bureau alongside a bottle of perfume. Her closet. No books or stationary, just a jumble of clothes which had been stacked untidily on the shelves and hung hastily on clothes' hangers.

What the hell was going on here? Kaoru started to feel panicky. Where did Misao's stuff disappear to? Why was her room so empty? Why weren't any books in here?

As a last resort, Kaoru decided to check underneath Misao's bed. She put the gun down on the bedspread and looked. She didn't know whether to feel relieved or upset when she found a large black box made of metal which had been shoved against the wall. With some effort, she managed to pull it out from underneath the bed. She wasn't surprised to find that the box had a lock on it. That didn't worry her, though; breaking codes to locks was a specialty of hers. She twisted the knob of the lock around, waiting to hear that certain click. She struck the first number; nine. Second number; two. Third number; five. Forth number; eight. Fifth number; one. The lock sprang open and she lifted up the lid of the box.

For the second time in five minutes, Kaoru gasped. The box was filled with pictures…pictures of her, that is. There was a picture of her in every likely pose; pictures of her sleeping, eating, sitting, talking, laughing, scowling…and to her horror and disgust; there were even pictures of her while in the shower. Hands shaking worse than ever, Kaoru pushed these aside and looked underneath them; the box was too deep, there were probably more than just photos in it.

She was right. There were tiny objects Kaoru realized to be cameras, there were other guns and stacks of bullets. There were all sorts of devices in here, ranging from the smallest electronic bug to the most complex computer. Kaoru took the small computer into her hands and booted it. The computer demanded a password of her, but before she could even type anything on the small keyboard, a shadow fell over her as some one stood in the doorway.

'What are you doing, Kaoru?' Misao said sharply.

Kaoru looked up at the towering figure of Aoshi above her, flanked by the petite Misao. They both looked beside themselves with unmistakable rage…and in Misao's case; a small amount of fear was visible in her eyes. She got up to her feet, clutching a small bunch of photos in one hand while grasping a gun she had dug out from the box with the other. 'What…are these?' she said in a shaky voice.

'That's none of your business, Kamiya-san,' Aoshi said quietly.

'What do you mean, it's none of my business?' she shouted angrily. 'It is my frigging damn business! These are all my pictures!!' She threw the pictures at Misao, but the girl didn't move. 'What the hell are these, Misao?'

'They're…' Misao said.

'And where are your study books? And where did you get all these guns from? And all these high-tech devices?' Kaoru interrupted, positively beside herself with anger. 'I didn't know students like you had access to such stuff! I demand an explanation!!'

Aoshi didn't move a muscle; he just kept her fixed in that icy stare of his. Misao was shifting uncomfortably; she looked like she wanted to say something, but looked terribly frightened of what Aoshi might do to her if she did.

'Speak up, dammit!' Kaoru said, and pointed the gun at them. 'I won't hesitate to use this gun if I don't get answers immediately! Who are you? What are you doing here? What do you want from me?'

There were a million questions swarming her head and those two creeps didn't seem to bother themselves with answering any single one of them.

'That gun isn't loaded,' Aoshi said, smirking.

'What?' Kaoru said, and looked at the barrel of the gun. She saw that, indeed, the gun wasn't loaded. When she looked up back again at them, her voice caught in her throat. They were both holding up guns and were pointing them directly at her head. She knew that one single wrong move would end her with a dozen bullets in her skull. Aoshi was smiling, his eyes dancing with excitement. Misao, however, looked reluctant with her gun. 'Who are you two?'

'Our identities do not stand of importance, Kamiya-san,' Aoshi said coolly. 'What's important is how much you found out by snooping around my partner's room.'

'Who are you?' Kaoru repeated. 'I want to know why there are about a thousand pictures of me in here…where you spying on me?'

Aoshi inclined his head in Misao's direction. 'Seems like she knows too much, doesn't she, Misao?' he said softly. Misao's turquoise eyes turned round and fearful, as she looked from Aoshi to Kaoru and to the gun in Aoshi's hand, and back again. Aoshi, now, directed his speech to Kaoru. 'I'm afraid you'll have to leave us, Miss Kamiya, you seem to know a lot.'

Kaoru tried her best not to look scared, although she knew that in a few moments' time, she'd be dead. What did she get herself into?

'Well, if you don't have anything to say, then I guess it's time to…' Aoshi said, pulling on the trigger.

Here it comes…

'Aoshi! No!!' Misao suddenly screamed, grabbing his arm. 'We're not supposed to harm her, remember? These were the orders!'

Aoshi looked exasperatedly down at her. 'Misao! She found out too much!' he told her. 'We just can't let her live!'

'He said no!' Misao pressed on, still clinging to his arm. 'He said not to harm her no matter what the circumstances were! We have to obey the orders!'

He…? Did she mean Shinta? Kaoru took this moment of distraction to retreat towards the bed. Maybe that gun Kenny found in the closet was loaded. She bent her knees and reached out to grab the gun…

'Don't move!' Aoshi said sharply.

'I…I just wanted to sit down,' she said.

'I said, don't move!' he repeated fiercely. He looked behind her to the bed and saw the gun. He smirked. 'Thought you could get the best of me, huh? Put your hands up where I can see them now…go on.'

Scowling, Kaoru slowly raised his arms. Aoshi, still pointing his gun at her, walked towards the bed and grabbed the gun lying there, and then he returned to his original position in the doorway. Misao tugged at his shirt. 'Aoshi, let's go,' she hissed urgently.

Aoshi nodded slowly. 'We'll see you soon, I suppose, Kamiya-san,' he said softly. 'Good bye.'

Pushing Misao in front of him, Aoshi smiled at Kaoru before closing the door. A distinctive sound of the key being turned told her that he had locked the door. Kaoru put down her hands and hurried to the door. She twisted the knob around but the door wouldn't budge; it was definitely locked. She pulled out a hair pin from her pocket and started working on the lock…maybe if she hurried, she'd still be able to catch up with them. But with her hands trembling so much she was finding it difficult to concentrate on the lock.

So Shinta had been keeping a close watch on her the entire time…at least, she thought it was Shinta…there wasn't any one else, was there? All the time, she had been thinking that she was safe…that Shinta hadn't come anywhere near her…she found out she was wrong. There seemed to be spies everywhere…she didn't know if she could trust any one else after this.

The sound of car tyres screeching as a car sped out onto the road told her Misao and Aoshi had escaped. She sighed in exasperation and cursed under her breath. She pulled the pin out of the key hole. Too late to do anything now. She had to calm down if she wanted to get out of here. She willed herself to cool down, to stop shaking. She started to breathe steadily, and returned to picking the lock.

'Meow?'

Kaoru looked down as Kenny brushed against her legs. She smiled down at him. 'It's okay, Kenny, I'm alright,' she said softly. 'If it weren't for you, I would've never found out about Misao.'

When she returned to her lock, Kaoru couldn't help but think that maybe Kenshin had actually given her his cat as some sort of protection. Kaoru smiled at the thought. Who knows? Maybe Kenny did have some sort of powers…after all; he was Kenshin's cat, wasn't he?

-

'Your passport, please?'

He put down his briefcase on the marble floor and took out his passport from his pocket. He handed it to the Customs' officer.

The officer flipped the passport open and looked down at the picture in it, before looking up at its owner to establish likeness. He seemed to be satisfied, because he turned to his computer and started entering details into it, his fingers flying rapidly over the keyboard.

The passport's owner stood patiently by the desk, humming gently to himself and looking around at the other passengers who had accompanied him in his flight from Japan. They all seemed to have come here on vacation. He had reached that conclusion because all the passengers seemed to be families of three or four or five...there had been too many children on the plane. They were very noisy, and that really annoyed him. He had to endure the noise all through the flight.

He, however, didn't come here on vacation. No; having fun and enjoying himself was the last thing on his mind. He had come here on very serious business. He had caught a waft of rumors in Japan and had to come here to make sure of those rumors himself…because if they were true, then he had to do something to stop them.

He was a kid the first time it happened, but now he was older, and he had the strength to do something. He was more prepared this time…

The officer entered the last of the details into the computer, stamped on the passport and handed it back to him. 'I wish you a pleasant stay in America, Mr. Yukishiro' the officer said, smiling.

Enishi Yukishiro took the passport, picked up his bag, nodded at the officer before walking off. Yes…it was going to be a pleasant stay indeed; after all, he was going to meet his brother-in-law, wasn't he?

-

A/N: What did I tell you; didn't it have surprises or what? Please raise your hands those who expected Misao and Aoshi to be working for Shinta! And I know none of you expected Enishi to show up in the story, huh? Well, anyway, if you did like this chapter, then please press that small purple button and send me a review!

Oh, and by the way, I want to tell those readers who have read "My Guardian Angel"…yes, this is especially to you, Crewel…that I might continue with the story after all. So wait for it!

Oh, and wait for chappie 13!!

- S. N. B.