A/N: I'm really sorry for the extended delay on this chapter. I've had a lot of negative life events over the past year and I hope that you'll all forgive me. I do intend on finishing this story!

Disclaimer: I still (sadly) do not own RK & its characters.

Kaoru began humming to herself. She was really quite bored. She couldn't do anything that remotely resembled some sort of movement and thus felt like a trussed up chicken. Tokio had left her with strict instructions not to do anything and to let the "buffoons you live with handle any of the work that needed to be done" and to just "relax, sit tight and heal". Instructions which consequently left her with nothing to do.

She wasn't used to doing nothing, it grated with her personality. When she was younger she was constantly running this way and that, as she grew she became more involved with teaching and helping out, and then when her father had been conscripted into battle and had died, she had taken over.

She hadn't ever been left with nothing to do, even as her student numbers dwindled. She had known about her fathers extracurricular activities, having been brought up by a father who taught her not only the Kamya Kasshin Ryu, but also ways to keep herself hidden, not drawing attention to herself and management of emotions. The latter she was never brilliant at, but with the rest she had excelled. When Kenshin and the others had arrived, it had given her much more of a work-out than she had imagined. Sneaking out, pretending that she was completely oblivious and coming up with excuses to leave for meetings during the day were slightly draining. But it was all part of her life. It kept her busy. And now… She had nothing to do. The only highlight was that she would be able to use the time to heal a couple of the bruised ribs she had acquired and have some time for some of the other bruises about her person to fade away. The balm, which Meguimi had made for Kenshin and his antics, had been used for her purposes. Not that anyone would notice, with Yahiko and Sano constantly running in and out of fights, she was pretty sure that it wouldn't be missed.

As the rain kept falling heavily she watched the courtyard she sighed. Her hair was too heavy to leave up for such a long period of time so she had pulled the ribbon out and let her hair fall over her shoulders. She fingered the dark blue hakama, wondering how her father would see her. She hoped that she had made both her parents proud.

"Otousan? Do you think that people who have died watch over you?" She watched as her father's hands stilled mid-stroke as he cleansed his battle sword, something that he did every week to stop it from rusting.

"Why do you ask Kaoru?" It was a soft question, and she bit her lip as she contemplated whether she would continue with her line of thought.

"Someone mentioned it to Rewaito-san, you know, whose mother just passed? And I was just wondering…" Her sentence faded out as she watched her father put his sword to his side and turned to fully focus his attention on her. It wasn't often that she mentioned the word 'mother' in front of her father, knowing that he still missed his wife dearly. And it hurt that she could barely remember her, this woman who her father still loved.

"I think that people who have died do watch over us, and are with us wherever we go." He replied carefully, looking her in the eyes as he said so without a trace of doubt.

"How do you know that people who have died are watching over you?" She asked back, looking down at her hands and plucking her sleeves. Her father reached over and captured her hands in his softly.

"Because sometimes I can almost feel your mother watching over us. There are moments when I can almost feel her happiness and her pride, especially when you compete hime-chan. It's almost like feeling you're being wrapped in a giant ball of cotton and for that instant, I feel safe." She looked up into her father's worn face, her knight in shining armour, seeing the almost tears in his eyes.

"I hope that one day you will be able to recognize that your mother is watching over everything thing you do. And she is so proud hime-chan, so very proud. As am I." And with that pronouncement his voice slightly cracking with emotion, he bundled her into his lap and hugged her. And she felt like the most special 9 year old in the world. It was almost like being wrapped in sunshine.

Leaning back against the pole behind her, she pulled her uninjured leg to her chest and hugged it wishing her parents were there, but knowing that if they were she wouldn't have Kenshin, Sano or Yahiko. And that was something she was unable to fathom. Even though she had suffered and she had lost in the past, she had what she wanted in the present. A family. As she looked over the pond that was her yard she felt like she was being slowly wrapped in cotton, and for the first time in a long while, she understood, her face breaking into a real smile.

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Kenshin glared directly into the eyes of the man he held at sword point, uncaring that all the men had positively squeaked at his proclamation. He clenched his jaw, slowly rotating the blade against the sorry excuse for a man in front of him. All three of them were now as white as sheets. He wanted to inflict as much harm to these men for even thinking of hurting his Kaoru. The man in front had been limping, in a state worse than Kaoru, his eyes still wide with fear. These men, with all their false bravado had been beaten into unconsciousness. By a woman. Albeit a woman trained to fight only in defence, but a small delicate fiery, singular woman, nonetheless. Not only had Kaoru entered the fight with a disadvantage of being injured, but she had outsmarted them and had survived a 3-to-1 fight. Which made him pause. She did have the capacity to look after herself. But he didn't want her to have to. She was his. She just didn't know it yet.

"Ah… Kenshin?" Sano's voice broke through his thoughts. Kenshin's sword was still at the man's throat, but instead of looking white and scared, the man looked positively petrified. Almost as if he was living his worst nightmare.

Which, Kenshin reasoned, was most probably true. The anger that was surging through him would be enough to turn his eyes the angry amber that he was associated with back in the revolution, and his hair was up, those two elements, combined with the lack of his normal attire (the magenta gi would normally soften the almost brutal way he came across his opposition) would most probably cause some sort of fear. His gaze unforgiving, his body language screaming for blood, he believed that this would instil the kind of fear he could utilize to scare these men into thinking that pain would be a wonderful thing compared to what he was willing to inflict the three before him.

Firstly, he would have to deal with the bars which inadvertently protected the three men from him. The men, it seemed, had decided it was best to keep their mouths shut in the presence of Kenshin, Sano and Saitou.

"The keys, wolf." He held out his hand in the direction of the tall policeman who was standing behind his left shoulder. One of the men let out a small whimper of distress.

"Kenshin, I don't think Kao –" Kenshin cut Sano off before he could finish his sentence.

"These men injured her Sanosuke. For that, they will pay dearly" He ground out, his hand still held out for the keys.

"They're already paying for it!" Sano burst out, now standing between Saitou and Kenshin, pushing his hand away.

"Not enough." Kenshin withdrew his sword from the prisoner and then turned to point it against Sano. Kenshin could hear the audible sigh of relief behind him and he turned to glower at the man once more, splitting his attention between Sano and the sad excuse for a man.

"If I didn't know any better, I would say that you were trying to protect these men." The anger that he was attempting to keep in check was fighting against his will. Fighting in its anger to protect Kaoru and to harm the men who hurt her.

"I didn't tell you about this so you could kill them!" Sano burst out against the sword at his neck, his anger making him seem much larger than his already tall frame.

"Then you should have thought about it earlier Sanosuke." The tension in the room was escalating to a point of no return, the room vibrating with the mixture of emotions – fear and anger. There was a brief silence before Sano sighed.

"I'm not protecting them, Kenshin, I'm protecting Kaoru" Sano grabbed the blunt edge of the sword with his hand, uncaring of the display they were now having in front of the men in their cell. Kenshin could practically smell their fear, petrified that he was fighting against the 'good guys' turning him into some kind of rebel.

"Protecting Kaoru by protecting them? I don't think that you've thought this through." Kenshin growled whilst he attempted to pull the sword from Sano's grasp without hurting the man who was clearly set on saving the three men from his anger.

"Do you really think she would look at you the same way if you went back on your vow to never kill again? How do you think she would feel if she knew she was the reason for it?" The statement made him pause.

"I don't care about the person you were! Just the person you are now. Kenshin, why can't you see that?" She touched his hand, and he could feel her willing him to look at her. Watching her though his bangs, he saw her spirit in its full glory. She forgave him of his prior sins and was allowing him to stay because she knew he wouldn't stray from his oath.

He dropped his sword from his friend's throat, sheathing it at his side. His anger, whilst somewhat subdued, still bubbled underneath the surface.

"I made a promise, an oath, never to shed life again. But it does not mean that I will leave them unpunished."

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Sano sighed in relief, along with the men in the cell behind Kenshin, although he could still see them quivering in fear, unsure of whatever punishment the small angry man would inflict on them. Not only did he manage to save the lives of those particular nasty scums of the earth, but also saved Kaoru from a lot of heartache. Watching the deadly anger drain out of Kenshin was something of which he was proud. Knowing that Kaoru was the cause was also quite telling of the man who was previously thought to be made of stone. This turning of the tide, particularly where Kaoru was concerned also had Sano at quite a loss. Surely it was not just the incident that had changed Kenshin's mind about pursuing Kaoru. The way that she was suddenly slipping away from them all may have had something to do with it.

"I'm going to the markets." Kaoru had announced, her hair in its normal ponytail and her kimono in its usual order, with her obi faultlessly tied. Sano, who had a perfect spot on the wall had been watching the street below him, changed his object of scrutiny. Watching the interactions between Kenshin and Kaoru had become somewhat of an interest of his. Especially since he had money riding on when they would actually hook up.

"If Kaoru-dono will wait a couple more minutes, sessha can accompany her –" Kaoru waved a hand at Kenshin cutting him off. Well, Sano thought, this was new. It also turned the bet in Katsu's favour, that Kaoru would tire of the Rurouni's obliviousness to her feelings.

"You don't have to worry Kenshin, I'm only going to collect a couple things." She turned to leave, but had hardly moved when Kenshin started to speak.

"But…" Kenshin seemed slightly flabbergasted. Usually Kaoru would smile and then wait for him to finish whatever chore he had managed to pick up, but this was the first time she had refused his company. Sano scratched his head looking from one to the other, almost as surprised with this change of events as the rurouni below him.

"Kenshin, I can go myself, you're clearly in the middle of something. I don't expect you to come with me everywhere I go." Kenshin's face seemed to frown, but it was quickly hidden underneath a carefully constructed rurouni mask.

"If you're sure Kaoru-dono" Kenshin announced carefully. From his position on the wall, Sano could see how the small red head's hands clenched around the item of clothing he was washing. A sign that the rurouni was anything but calm. His hands always seemed to give his emotions away, but first you had to know that it was his weakness. He didn't doubt that Kaoru knew about it, but she chose to ignore it in this case. Shaking her head, she continued to walk toward the gates past Kenshin.

"I'm positive, you don't have to worry about me. There are dozens of people at the market, I'll be perfectly safe." With a slight smile, she had hurried toward the gate and slipped outside it without looking back once.

Now, whilst he watched as Kenshin tormented the three men behind the bars with his mere presence, his mind was going over what had occurred since he had returned. Not just the issue with Kaoru's attack, but he was going over what Saitou had been saying. Clearly the man knew more than what he was letting on.

"Kaoru said you would be gone at least three weeks-"

"You're back early Battousai."

What was really interesting was that both Saitou and Karou had believed that on the length of their mission would be of longer duration and both Saitou and Yahiko had commented on their early return. Sano and Kenshin had been sent to Kyoto by Saitou to work out some intelligence issues which the Meiji government could not be seen to be involved in. Only Saitou and the upper echelons of the government had any idea behind the real reason of their trip, so how could Kaoru know about their timeframe? Granted, it should have taken them a while to gather all the information they were seeking however they had also used the Oniwanbanshu to quicken the process, instead of working the issues out by themselves. The ninja group had heightened their resources since the return of Aoishi, therefore, work that would have taken them several weeks, was done and completed in a matter of two. Kenshin had even had time to visit Hiko on his lone mountain, leaving Sano on his own for two days. Two very worthwhile days. He had a chance to seek out some of his personal investments. Which was a success. Katsu had established a good rapport with some contacts in Kyoto which meant that Sano was able to utilize them to their utmost capacity.

"Clearly there is some intelligence underneath that ridiculous hair of yours baka-tori." Saitou breathed smoke on him once more, relieving him of his jaunt down memory lane. At that particular moment in time, Sano wished the man would choke on that cigarette. For once, he wished that the stupid policeman would have an ounce of humanity in him.

"Just because I don't want them killed Saitou" Sano replied, drawing out the man's name. "Does not mean that I don't want them to remain unpunished." He stared up at the man who was now watching Kenshin prowl back and forth in front of the bars.

"He hasn't always been this protective." The policeman seemed somewhat astounded by the small red head's behaviour, his voice dipped low so that only Sano could hear.

"You don't get out much, do you Saitou?"

"What's that supposed to mean baka-tori?" Saitou growled back.

"When it concerns jou-chan, nothing stands in his way." He hesitated before continuing.

"Clearly there's something in this for you or else you would have baited Kenshin even more." The man just blew smoke in his face as a response.

"I've never seen him close to this angry since the revolution." The policeman murmured under his breath, his eyebrows coming to form a frown. Sano paused, considering the man beside him. It wasn't often that Saitou managed to show some sort of shred of decency. Not sure that he liked seeing this side of the man, he finished off his previously held back sentence, wondering what kind of response it would provoke.

"Or worse, you could have given him the keys." The man looked down at the cigarette between his fingers, rolling it slightly before raising an eyebrow and drawling out his next sentence meeting whilst meeting Sano's gaze unblinkingly.

"Battousai, the keys are behind the door on your left. If you wouldn't mind getting this over and done with, I have actual work to do."

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Yahiko stood staring at Megumi for what seemed like hours before Tae called out over the slight hum of conversations being held in the akabeko.

"Yahiko? Is that you?" Turning toward the voice he suddenly remembered why he was so elegantly booted out of his home.

"Lunch! I'm here for lunch!" Megumi frowned at him whilst stepping to one side, allowing room for Tae who had bustled over through the multitudes of people who filled her restaurant.

"Oh good. Kaoru sent you over. I was half expecting her to keel over last night, so I offered for her to stay the night. She said she wanted to get back to you." This was announced with a distinct quickness, the words seemingly falling out of her mouth, typical of someone who usually gave orders. Yahiko blinked at Tae, trying to work out what the woman had just said. When it finally clicked, it made him feel even worse.

"Actually… Saitou-san sent me to get lunch…" He began uncertainly, twisting the material of his gi in his hands.

"Saitou-san told you to get lunch?" Tae asked blankly. Megumi, who looked slightly worse for wear, still managed to pick up on Yahiko's nervousness. Her sharp eyes now watching him as he now was not only scrunching his sleeves, but also seemed to be looking for some kind of escape route, his eyes darting around the room, attempting to avoid eye contact with the two women in front of him.

Kaoru had been worried about him. She should have stayed at the Akabeko. He wouldn't have minded. Much. He would have been worried but if that's what it took to keep her safe…

"Yahiko. Why is Saitou-san asking you to pick up lunch?" Megumi asked slowly.

"Well Kaoru agreed with it…" He began before Tae interrupted him.

"Will Kaoru be by later? She was such a help last night." He stared at his hands before answering her.

"She's at home. She won't be able to do anything for a while…" He said slowly.

"Oh no! Did she get sick! I knew I should have given her a hat and a coat, but when I remembered, she was already gone. Never mind. I have soup and…" She turned away and started mumbling to herself, making a list of food she had bubbling away in the kitchen.

"It's not that…" He announced louder than he initially intended, at which both women who had been moving off in opposite directions turned around their faces full of inquiry.

"Kaoru did get home last night, didn't she, Yahiko?" Tae asked with a distinct slowness.

"Well, yes. But…"

"Is Kaoru sick, Yahiko?" Megumi asked sharply, her eyes focusing on him. Having both women look at him in such a forceful way was slightly intimidating.

"She's not sick per se…" He began.

"Spit it out Yahiko!" Tae snapped, her entire demeanour completely changing. Wanting to get it all out before he was interrupted again, he took a deep breath.

"Sheranintothreeguyswhotriedtotakeadvantageofhersoshe'sathomerecuperating!" Tae and Megumi looked at each other blankly before they sat him down on a chair.

"I'm sorry Yahiko, but you're going to have to speak slower for us to understand you" Tae said kindly, with a scarily calm face. Yahiko immediately knew how cows felt before they were lead to slaughter.

"What. Is. Wrong. With. Kaoru?" As a doctor, he could respect her, but she really knew how to freak people out. But her voice calmed him somewhat, his nerves slowly beginning to calm.

"She was attacked on her way home last night…" Tae gasped, cutting off his sentence, shock written all over her face.

"What?!" Megumi's reaction was almost instantaneous as she grabbed his arm, almost pulling it out of its socket, bustling toward the direction of her black doctor's bag.

"You will take me to her immediately Yahiko, why you didn't mention this before is beyond me –" Yahiko found himself halfway across the room before he dug his feet in.

"Megumi! Stop! She's ok. Kenshin fixed her up –" The tall woman looked at him blankly, stopping in her quest across the room but still tugging lightly on his arm.

"Kenshin? He's not back yet." Both Tae and Megumi stared at each other, silently communicating in a language which Yahiko was obviously not meant to understand.

"He and Sano got home late last night…" He managed to get out before he was interrupted yet again.

"Oh. In that case, Yahiko, come with me. We're going to get some food for you to take home. Megumi? Would it be alright if you could see the family in the back before you leave?" Megumi had relinquished her control on his arm and he was now being ushered toward the kitchen by Tae, a gentle but firm hand leading him onward. By the time he left the kitchen he was feeling quite worn out and holding onto some containers of food, he found Megumi waiting for him by the door. Taking one last glance over the Akabeko, she then focused her attention on him, her eyes sharp and her voice brisk over the rain outside and the buzz of voices inside.

"Right. Yahiko, I am going to take you home. Then I am going to check up on Kaoru. And then someone will have a lot of explaining to do."

A/N: Hope you enjoyed the chapter! If you have time, drop me a line or a review. When writing, criticism is always helpful!