Chapter 25: Arrival

Kenshin entered Hiko's home to find Hiko himself missing from his usual spot on the couch. He shrugged it off and headed up the stairs. Hiko wasn't what he was there for.

Entering his room, he nabbed the sakabatou off of the wall. "I sure hope this works," He said aloud. He then headed off back down the steps, grabbing his violet scarf that had come with the sword. He tied it around his waist and slipped the scabbard between it and his left hip. "Megumi-san, hold on… I'll save you…"

A thought brushed past his mind. A dagger… Sanosuke… Megumi… Opium…

"Opium?" Kenshin pondered out loud as he started fast walking up the driveway. "Megumi-san and Sanosuke… Could they have really played a big part in my past life?" He stared at his feet as he continued up the drive, pondering this.

"OOF!" Suddenly, he collided with another body and fell backwards onto the pavement.

"Ow…" He muttered, raising up on his elbows.

"Kenshin? Are you all right?"

Kenshin looked up at the extended hand to help him up. "Ah----" He blushed heavily. "K-k-Kaoru-dono… I… I'm sorry! He stood up without her help and brushed himself off. "I… I wasn't paying attention! Please forgive me!" He bowed politely.

"It's really all right, Kenshin, really," She said. "What's the matter?"

Kenshin stopped to stare at her. She was dressed in a white gi and blue hakama. There was a boken over her shoulder and sweat on her brow. She had just finished training. Of course, that wasn't the reason he was gazing.

"Have I… seen you in that before?" He asked, trying to think back to a time when he possibly could have.

"I… don't think so…" Kaoru raised an eyebrow, looking at him too. For a few moments, they just stared at each other, as if trying to see beyond themselves and deep into their minds.

"Um…"

"Oh! Uh… what's with the toy sword?" She asked.

"It's no toy," He said, drawing it.

She stared at it, wide-eyed.

"It's a sakabatou though!" He explained quickly. "Don't tell! Megumi-san has gone missing to Izu, and Sanosuke, Yahiko, and I are going to save her, de gozaru yo!"

"To Izu?…" She asked. "You're going away? Megumi… missing?"

"Her whole house was cleared out, and after much research, we believe she's gone to Izu," He said. Most of it was true… of course, they had put hardly any thought into it, and now that he was thinking about it now, he was starting to believe that perhaps she could be just about anywhere.

"Ah… Kenshin?"

"Oro?" He blinked, snapping out of his daze.

"Let me come with you! I'm a good fighter, really I am!" Kaoru said, taking his hands in hers and staring into his amethyst eyes with great passion and determination.

Kenshin thought his cheeks were on fire for a moment, though that wouldn't have been plausible. "Sure?" He uttered before thinking.

"Oh, I knew you'd let me come! I won't let you down!"

"Let… me… down?…" He questioned.

"Well…" She turned her back on him and started twiddling her fingers. "I… I wanted to… you know… help you… because of before… when you saved me…" Now she was the one with the heated face. "You know… some people told me that you were dangerous… but I really… really…"

A car suddenly screeched up in front of them. "Yo', Kenshin! Let's go!" Sano yelled impatiently. It seemed that Sano thought that the sooner he got to Megumi, the better.

"Kaoru-dono is coming too!" Kenshin said.

"Jou-chan? What're you thinking? It's dangerous for a girl to-"

"Then don't go," Kaoru retorted, slipping into the back with Yahiko.

Kenshin hid his laugh with a cough as he clambered in the passenger seat. "So, what were you saying to me before?" He asked, looking over behind him.

"Oh… nothing…" Kaoru said quickly, looking out the window.

Kenshin blinked a few times, then turned back to face forward. "To Izu!"

"To IZU!" Sano exclaimed and punched down the gas pedal.

In Izu…

Two feet stepped before a mansion, covered in a pair of black high-tops. They walked towards the gate and stood in front of it, their owner's icy colored eyes staring blandly at the lock on it.

Without warning, the blade of a kodachi slammed itself against the bars of the gate, and it collapsed with ease.

Aoshi stepped over them boredly and headed towards the home. "This hacker is going to hack up blood because of what he's done," He said angrily, his hand gripping the kodachis hilt tightly. "He can count on it."

He looked up at the windows, three filled with light. "I'm coming for you… Takeda Kanryuu."

By the time the Kenshin-gumiwere nearing Izu, night had fallen, and Yahiko had fallen asleep in the back. Kaoru stared at the outside world, occasionally passing a glance at Kenshin, but always at the wrong moment. He was always looking at her when she did, and they both had to look away.

Truth be told, Kenshin was finding it harder and harder to keep his eyes OFF of Kaoru. She reminded him of someone… someone from long ago. Perhaps the owner of the scarf? No… it wasn't her, though he had become convinced that he did at one time love that woman… Kaoru was… She… He wasn't sure.

"We'll be there probably by dawn. You guys should get some sleep," Sano said, honking his horn at a slow moving car that wouldn't let him get in front.

As if on cue, Kenshin began to drift off at that very moment. "All… right…" He whispered, though it was barely heard. He was quickly snoozing before he knew what happened next.

The sound of a gunfire…Screams for a leader…The swish of a blade…

"Why don't you ask your money to save you!" Kenshin yelled.

The sakabatou nailed Takeda Kanryuu directly in the jaw and sent him to the floor, a large puddle of drool surrounding his face as he pleaded, "Please, please don't kill me…"

"Ah-" His eyes flew open. It was perfect timing. "SANOSUKE!"

"Huh?" Sano rose his head up and looked back at the road, pulling out of the swerve off of the road he had taken. "Whoops…" He laughed nervously. Kenshin looked absolutely mortified.

"Maybe… I should drive the rest of the way, de gozaru yo," He said shakily.

"Uhhmmm… okay…" Sano murmured, pulling over. The two got out and switched seats.

Kenshin closed the door on the driver's side and pulled his seatbelt over his shoulder. He sighed, rolled his eyes, and shook his head, then took off down the road.

Once dawn had hit, Kenshin had pulled over on the side of the road and turned off the car. He too could no longer drive and had fallen fast asleep against the steering wheel. He only hoped that the people inside the house across the road wouldn't think anything of it.

"Kenshin… Kenshin… KENSHIN!" Sano yelled. Kenshin cried out and hit his head against the car horn, sending it blaring.

"AHHHHHHhhh-what?" He moaned, grabbing his forehead.

"Where the hell are we?" Kaoru asked, raising up out of the back.

"We're in Izu… I stopped on the side of the road so I could sleep, de gozaru yo," Kenshin said, glancing at her.

"This… place…" Sano said, getting out of the car.

"Oro?" Kenshin followed curiously. Kaoru climbed out behind him.

"There's… something about this place," Sano said. "I feel like I've been here before… Just like at that dojo we went to, Kenshin!"

"What dojo?" Kaoru asked.

"Hey, yeah! I feel like I've been here too!" Yahiko said. "It is like that dojo from the past!"

"From the past?" Kaoru was getting aggravated that no one was listening to her.

"Megumi is here," Kenshin said suddenly, staring at the gate. "This is… the home of Takeda Kanryuu…"

"Who's Takeda Kanryuu!" Kaoru yelled.

"That must mean Aoshi's here too," Sanosuke said crossing his arms.

"HEY!" Kaoru screamed. "MIND FILLING ME IN OVER HERE!"

"Ah-" They all froze and stared at her.

"Well, it… er… doesn't concern you… not really…" Kenshin said. "Well… actually… but… um… that is… er…"

Kaoru glowered at him, hands on her hips.

"We'll er… discuss it later…"

"When?" Kaoru more demanded than questioned.

"Uh… ah… At the dance…?" He blinked, curious as to his choice of setting.

"We're meeting at the dance?" She asked, blinking.

"Uh… yes… that is… if you'll… go with me…" Kenshin said, blushing. Now he understood. His mind was betraying him! He mentally slapped himself for it.

"Wha---?" Kaoru turned beet red. "Oh, um…"

She already has someone to go with… Stupid Kenshin! You're very stupid, de gozaru yo! He scolded himself, depressed.

"O…okay…" She whispered.

"I'm so sorry for… wait, what?" Kenshin blinked.

"She said she would. Can we go?" Sano said impatiently.

Kenshin stared at Sano, forgetting that he had been there. "Oh, right," He said. "Let's go!"

"Yeah!" Yahiko had also lost his patience. The four headed through the gate, serious looks on their faces.

"I just hope… Hiko-san isn't angry with me for not being home," Kenshin muttered, smiling sheepishly.

Meanwhile…

Hiko sat on the couch, flipping through the channels boredly. The phone rang, drawing his attention to it.

"Yo'," He said once he answered.

"Hey, this is Tsukioka Katsuhiro, and I was wondering if Kenshin was there. I didn't get Hajime-sensei's homework, and I wanted to get it from him."

"Hold on…" Hiko set down the phone. "HEY! BAKA!… Kenshin! C'mere! PHONE!…." His face went agitated for a moment. "YO, COME-HERE-YOU-BRAT!…" He waited. Nothing.

Picking up the phone, he sighed. "I guess he's not here."

(A/N: Sorry for the EXTREMELY long wait… Bwee… I'd been having trouble on where to go on this fanfic since writer's block consumed me in this plot. This chapter I'm sure isn't the best one… in fact, it was really jumpy, I thought… kinda like quite a few of these chapters… -.-' Well, anyways, I hope you enjoyed in none the less, and I'm trying to put more Kaoru in the fic someone requested it a few chapters back. I'm going to try to work in some more Aoshi and Misao too, but bare with me. Also, if you don't get enough Kaoru in this fanfic, I've got fanfics planned that will have a LOT to do with her, so no worries! Well… I'm rambling, so sayonara!)