**Kioku! Get away from there you baka!"**

**I'm not a baka! And I won't! I want the flower!**

**Kami-Sama..just let her fall off of there. I doubt anyone will miss her.**

**Nani?? And get in trouble with Taichou? No way!**

**Aw Shimatta..there she goes..**

***Don't just stand there you baka! Go catch her!***

***You're the baka you baka! You go catch her, you're the one she's got a crush on!**

**Shut up baka!**

**Ouch! I'm slipping!***

***Shimatta...Kioku! Hold on!! KIOKU!!!***

"KAGE!!"

A folded bamboo parasol came down on her head, bringing her out of her dreams. Sitting up quickly
and pulling her light blue gi over her wrapped chest she looked up at the owner of the parasol, blinking
the sleep out of her eyes. Her eyes widening, she scrambled to a kneeling bow, her face to the floor.

"Sumimasen Onna-Shujin." She whimpered, referring to the handsomely dressed woman standing above
her, wielding the heavy bamboo parasol. The woman's reply was a kick to the girl's chin.

"Get up you mendo. My husband wishes to see you." She said curtly. With that she turned on heel and
shuffled out of the Kages small space for sleep and slid the door shut. Wiping at her split lip, Kage
scanned the floor for her hair leather to tie her hair up with. Not finding it, and fearing the wrath of
her Onna-Shujins husband, she pushed her middle back length hair from her front as best as she could
and left her room.

She hurried across stone steps that led around a well-kept banzai garden, and past a small goldfish pond.
Not ever did she find the place beautiful, as a visitor might. She thought of this place as a prison, and the
walls surrounding the large complex her warden. Pushing her hair out of her face once more she kneeled
before the door to Shoyusha's, her Onna-Shujin's husband's room. She knocked on the wooden floor softly.

"Hai?" his gruff voice bellowed. Wincing at the force of it she cleared her throat.

"You called for me Shoyusha-Sama?" She called out, her head bowed. Low voices conversed and a moment
later Kamisori, the 20 year old right hand of Shoyusha, slid the door open. He grinned smugly at Kage as she
entered and once again bowed to the floor.

"Kage, I am displeased at you." Shoyusha began, "You have been here for almost eleven years, and when I
finally find some use for you, you perform less than adequate." Thinking inwardly if Shoyusha even knew what
adequate meant, she pressed her nose farther into the floor to hide her budding grin. Kamisori raised an
eyebrow, noticing her action. When he didn't go on, Kage desperately cleared her voice of amusement, knowing
he was waiting for her to reply.

"How can I can I find favor with you once more Shoyusha-Sama? She asked, her voice convincingly calm.
Shoyusha looked to his wife, who was lazily fanning herself with a silk fan. She was Kage's Onna-Shujin, but he
owned her, like he owned everything else in the town. Shoyusha ran one of the most powerful and feared
branches of Yakuza. Those who feared the Edo yakuza were in alliance with him. Those who sought to defy his
power were punished or put to death. Kage's skills, taught to her by a disobedient member of his group a few
years before, were finally of use to him. If her usefulness as a 'hit woman' died, he could always sell her body on
the street. His wife yawned.

"I want a new silk yukata. The amount of money you're bringing in won't buy me it for another two days. Bring in
more money or else." She said coldly, looking straight at Kages bowed head. Groaning inwardly at the woman's
never ending list of wants, and wincing at the "or else", Kage nodded her head dutifully.

"Arigato Onna-Shujin for giving me another chance." She remained bowed until Shoyusha nodded to Kamisori to
lead her to the door. He placed a hand on her shoulder and shut the door behind him, walking her back to her room.

"You know..I'd be glad to help you get some ryo for your Onna-Shujin.." he said suggestively, brushing her cheek
with his hand. Her eyes narrowing, Kage brought her hand up and smacked his away.

""Gomenasai Kamisori, but you can keep your money to pay that whore staying in your room." She said, her voice
full of hatred, referring to his fiancée. It was his turn to narrow his eyes.

"You forgot 'Sama' after my name, bitch." He growled, clenching a fist. Kage snorted and opened her sleeping
room door.

"You deserve as much respect as the idiots I grab money from." She shut her door in his face, before he could
come back with any insults. She had been insulted enough the past two days. She didn't want to hear it from
Kamisori. Sighing, she began collecting the things she'd need for her next trek into the crowded city. It wasn't
Onna-Shujin that she was afraid of, but Shoyusha. Her sensei, after being caught teaching her Bo-staff Jiu-jitsus,
suddenly disappeared the next day. Pressing a hand to her temple she forced the memories into the back of her mind.
So many memories that she had successfully locked away dwelled there. She couldn't even remember her real name.
Shoyusha gave the name Kage to her, because when she first came to live with the Yakuza, she successfully had
hidden from everyone, even in the day. Never knowing her real name, and her refusal to talk, they had come to the
nickname Kage, or "shade", and had punished her for running. Shoyusha had no tolerance for children.

Collecting up her Bo-Staff, she opened the door, relieved that Kamisori had wandered elsewhere, and silently ran to
the gate, vaulting over it with her staff.
----------------------------------

"Onegai Jo-Chan!" Sanosuke whined, giving Kaoru his best puppy dog face. Three days had passed since the
incident in the alley, and Sanosuke hadn't seen the girl since. It bothered him, however, that ever since he fought
her, dreams of the past had suddenly begun to haunt his sleep at night. He couldn't explain why, but he had the
nagging feeling that he knew that girl.

"Iie!" Karou snapped, turning her back on him and catching up with Kenshin, Yahiko, and the little girls. Dr. Genzai
was overwhelmed with patients suffering from heat stroke, so Kaoru took the girls off his hands and decided it was
a nice day to go eat at the Akabeko. Sanosuke, as usual, was begging for a free meal. Shoving his hands into the
pockets of his gi, he picked up his pace and followed behind the group. Kenshin's head was lowered, preparing for the
expected outburst from Kaoru.

"I'll pay you back.." he began, the classic argument about to ensue. Kaoru suddenly halted, her fists shaking at her
sides as her temper came to a head and burst. Kenshin blinked, swearing to himself that Kaoru was surrounded by fire,
then jumped to the side, taking the girls with him as she spun around to face Sanosuke. He gave her a weak smile,
knowing that she was about to breaking point.

"YOU ALREADY OWE ME SEVENTY YEN YOU..YOU..."she fumbled over the correct words to say to add to her
outburst. Cussing was not an option with Suzume and Ayame watching her with wide eyes. Kaoru's eyes bugged out of
her head as someone grabbed her arm and pressed some coins into it. Blinking in bewilderment she looked at her hand,
which now held the seventy yen. Still confused she looked up at Sanosuke, whose eyes were wide as saucers, then
she looked over her shoulder. A girl wearing a pale blue mans gi and hakama made her way into the Akabeko, stuffing
a leather money pouch into the sleeve of the gi. Both parts of her outfit looked to be twenty years old. As if he were
in a bewildered daze, Sano slowly walked towards the Akabeko. Fearing for the sanity of his friend, Kenshin reached
out and caught the sleeve of his gi, holding him back. Startled, Sanosuke looked back at Kenshin, then at Kaoru, who
was still staring at the yen in her hand, as if she'd never seen yen before.

"Kaoru-Donno? Kenshin called to her. Her head snapped up at his voice. Blushing furiously and feeling like a baka,
she scurried up to Kenshin and walked next to him. She then flashed Sanosuke a grin.

"Well, since your debt is paid off, I suppose I can spare you ONE meal. But I won't allow any more, got it?" She said,
feeling generous now that she was seventy yen richer. Sanosuke's pace slowed, and he folded his arms across his chest,
glowering at the Akabekos entrance. It was one thing to be beaten by this girl, but now to have her paying off his debts?
He was going to kick some serious ass, even if she was female.

Not finding her as they entered the Akabeko, Sanosuke scarfed his food in silence, listening above Kaoru, Yahiko and
the girl's voices for the girl. Leaning back, happily fed behind the embarrassment of having someone pay his debt for
him, he broke the head off of the fishbone that came with the lunch and stuck the end of the spine into his mouth,
holding it there as he listened. Kenshin glanced at his friend between questions Kaoru would ask him, knowing that he
was listening for the girl. It puzzled him as to why this girl bothered him, it had to be more than just wounded pride.
Little did Kenshin know, it puzzled Sanosuke just as much to not know why the girl haunted him.

"STOP HER! THEIF!" a sudden voice bellowed. Yahiko leaned forward, choking on his mouthful of sukiyaki. Jumping up,
Sanosuke vaulted for the door, and flung it open, just in time to see a blur of pale blue dart past the door.

"Yosha." Sano growled, a menacing grin spreading across his face. He jumped out and took off after the girl, who was
being chased again by traveling Yakuza. Kenshin stepped out as even MORE Yakuza ran from the Akabeko, following
their buddies after the girl. Knowing that the girl and undoubtedly Sanosuke were going to get into a fight with each
other, the Yakuza, or both, Kenshin held his sakabatou and raced after them. Confused, Kaoru, Yahiko, Suzume and
Ayame peeked out of the door, one head below the other. Tsubame-Chan was fanning a fainted Tae with her apron.
Feeling mischievous, Yahiko grabbed some leftover wasabi and squat-crawled to Tae. With his mischievous grin growing
bigger, he popped it into her mouth. Tae's eyes snapped open in an instant.

"YAHIKO!!!!!"
-----------------------------

Kage ran as fast as she could, aware of the troop of Yakuza following her. The sky was growing dark with clouds,
and thunder rumbled loudly. She stopped at the riverbank, trying to catch her breath. Turning around, she couldn't
see the Yakuza. Confident that she'd lost them, she pulled out the fat money pouch from her gi's sleeve and opened it,
her eyes lighting up at all the money she'd gotten. Onna-Shujin would be pleased. Turning her back to the town, she
reached into the pouch and pulled out a few yen, counting it.

Rounding a corner and pausing to catch his breath, Sanosuke looked up to find the girl with her back to him about
200 yards ahead of him at the riverbank. She had her head bowed and was obviously counting the money she'd stolen.
Grinning smugly, he broke into a run again, and tackled her at full speed. She let out a noise of surprise as she was
thrown to the ground. Some ryo spilled out of the pouch onto the grass, while the majority and the money pouch itself
were flung into the river.

Kages eyes widened in fear as the pouch hit the water. Scrambling for it despite Sanosuke's death hold around her
waist, she caught the leather and pulled. The money spilled out of it and sank to the bottom of the river, leaving only
a wet empty pouch in Kages trembling hand. She let out a few panting breaths, the sky rumbling again and a few large
droplets of rain seeping from the clouds.

Standing when he didn't get a fight from her, Sanosuke's eyes quirked in confusion. "Oyy, didja die or sumthin?" he
asked her. She was silent for a moment, then she lifted her arm and smacked Sanosuke with the drenched piece of
leather.

"YOU AHO!!!" she screamed at him, her face screwed up into an emotion that was a mixture of fear, anger and hurt.
Looking back at her, his face stinging from the wet leather smack, he glared, remembering his own embarrassment
from earlier. Their staring contest was interrupted by a shout from one of the Yakuza Sanosuke had somehow
managed to outrun. Fear once again placing itself in her eyes, she scrambled to her knees and began collecting the
scattered remnants of the ryo. The droplets from the clouds increased, and soon the clouds opened up, and rain
began to pour. Merchants, strollers and playing children began to run for cover, shielding themselves from the rain
as if it were acid. A sickened look on her face, she clutched the handful of ryo to her chest and ran along the bank
to the bridge, and crossed it. Moving the fishbone from one side of his mouth to the other (how the fishbone managed
to stay in his mouth during the tackle and hit is a mystery yet to be explored) he stood up, determined not to loose
track of her again.

Kenshin came to the river bank behind the Yakuza. They were making their way to the bridge, yelling displeasing
ways on what to do with the girl once they caught her. Desperate for a faster way across the river so he could get
ahead of them, he pushed his nicely drenched bangs out of his face and scanned his surroundings. Deciding that his
only option was a superhuman feat, he set his face and backed up a bit, then, holding his sakabatou to his side, ran
at top speed to the river bank and pushed himself off of it. Bringing his legs forward like a hurdler, he landed in the
shallow water on the other side of the river, and stumbled forward, tripping on the raised bank and falling to his knees.
Looking over his shoulder at the bewildered faces on the other side of the river, he gave them a nervous smile and
climbed up onto the slick wet grass, taking off after Sanosuke and the girl.

Pushing her sopping wet hair from her eyes, Kage ran as fast as she could, only to slip and fall on the slicker mud
spots of the road, and hastily pick herself up, continuing on her way. She looked over her shoulder, to be sure
that no one followed her. If she led the rival Yakuza or that spiky-haired aho to Shoyusha's house....

She banished the rest of her thought, confident that she had lost them all. Approaching a path that was hidden by
magnolia bushes, she checked both directions of the path, squinting through the downpour for any sign of unwanted
life. Smiling in relief, she brought a hand up to push the bush away..

"Heh hehh...look what we stumbled across Kuchibiru. The hellcat has returned to feed her litter." A gruff voice
suddenly came. Her eyes widening, she looked behind her. Off the road and in the bamboo forest that bordered it,
seven male forms suddenly made their way forward, each carrying a drawn katana. Quickly withdrawing her hand
away from the magnolia bush, she turned to face them, inching towards the hollow bamboo tree in which she had
hidden her Bo-staff, not trusting the people she lived with to leave it in her room while she was out.

"Oyy, joro, where's our money?" another man said. The men surrounded her now, each laughing menacingly at Kage.
Reaching behind her, she fumbled for the split in the tree that encased her staff, while depositing the measly handful
of ryo into the binding around her chest. Yanking the staff from the tree, she went into her battle form, the men's
faces going from first to shock, then enjoyment.

"Looks like she thinks she can fight us Jinzo." Another man said to the first one that had spoken. Lightning flashed
and thunder rumbled again, lighting up the road briefly. Using that as the 'hajimei" for their fight, the men ran at
Kage. Assessing the fight, and trying not to panic, she ducked down from one mans raised katana slice. While under,
she brought the middle of her staff into his gut, pushing him up and behind her as she stood again. He fell to the
ground, his katana embedding itself in the mud. Ducking through the men as the other six all tried the same overhead
slice as the first, she thought desperately of a way to take them all on at once. She wasn't afraid of dying, she had
no one, and nothing to fight to live for. But she wasn't going to fight and loose, just for them to use her for their own
pleasures. Squinting her eyes shut against the ever-increasing downpour she went into stance again, awaiting them to
attack her again.

The seventh Yakuza who she had flipped stood up, pulling a thin piece of fishing line out of his gi. Kage's attention
diverted, he ran down the road a bit, and back into the bamboo forest behind Kage. The rest of the Yakuza, seeing
their buddy go, lowered their katanas, each smirking as Kage's eyes widened in confusion. Her ears perking at the
barely audible swoosh of fabric, she turned her head slightly and dropped her staff just as the Yakuza brought the
thread around her head, aiming for her neck. Raising her hands, she caught the line before it could strangle her,
wincing and trying to pull it out of his hands. He only chuckled and tightened his hold, the line biting into her palms,
blood mixing with water and running down her arms. She made a pained grunt as he tightened the hold again.

"Where's our money joro?" he growled into Kages ear. Kage made a strangled noise, and he nodded to the one named
Jinzo, who sheathed his sword and stepped forward with a perverted look on his face. He began to rummage through
the pockets of her gi.

"Not here boss...should I look...elsewhere?" his nasal voice was dripping with testosterone. The boss nodded, his grin
widening. Kages eyes began to water, as she bit back her cry of pain as the line tightened.

The line suddenly loosened and Kage fell to the ground, gasping for breath. She looked up, her vision momentarily
blurred, to see a tall figure wearing white kick, then punch Jinzo into the ground.

Sanosuke, thrilled to finally be in a fight after so long, cracked the knuckles on his good hand. The other Yakuza,
stunned, forgot momentarily how to fight, and just gawked as Sanosuke beat their boss and Jinzo. Kneeling down
beside Kage he took the strap of red fabric that he wound around his good arm, and bandaged the worse of Kage's
cuts. She looked up at him, confused, and he gave her a half-smile. Sanosuke was suddenly jerked back by the boss,
who just couldn't seem to stay unconscious, and found the fishing line, which was bloody from Kage's hands,
around his own neck. He pulled at it with his fingers, but the boss only tightened his hold.

"Damn you. Shoulda stayed out of it ya baka." He spat into Sano's face. Grabbing her Bo-staff, Kage ran towards
the boss, staff out and ready to strike, when her foot was grabbed by Jinzo. He pulled back, causing her to fall
to the ground once more. Her eyes flashing, she took her staff and beat him repeatedly, and un-extravagantly,
until he lost consciousness. "YOU BASTARDS! DON'T JUST STAND THERE! GET HER!" the boss yelled to the rest
of his group. Snapping out of it, they advanced on Kage, katana's raised. Glaring at them, she lowered herself into
stance once more, when a blur of red and purple suddenly jumped in front of her, pushing her away.

Kenshin turned to the side, his violet eyes narrowed into a glare, one hand poised above his sakabatou. Yelling, the
five Yakuza attacked at once. Kenshin, in one motion, drew his sword and sliced all five across the chest with it,
seemingly not moving any more than his arm to do it. The Yakuza fell backwards, senseless.

"ORAAAAAA!" Sanosuke yelled. The line snapped from his neck as he pulled on it. His mouth agape, the boss backed
up a few steps. Turning around, Sanosuke brought his fist up in an uppercut, the boss flying into the air and landing
on his back. He turned back to Kage, who was being helped up by Kenshin, and pushed his soggy hair from his face.
The sky rumbled, the rain letting up from a downpour to a steady drizzle, but showed no promises of letting up for
good.

Kage looked between the men, clutching her Bo-staff to her chest protectively, worry and fear clearly written
on her face.

"Anno.." Kenshin began. Kage only shut her eyes tightly and ran between them.

"Please...take them back to the town. They cannot be here." Kage whimpered, hoping that Kamisori had not taken
his daily guard rounds of the complex hidden behind the magnolia bushes and bamboo trees. He would've heard
the fight, and reported it to Shoyusha immediately. Standing in front of the Magnolia bush, she waited for them
to move, or turn their back so she could dart silently through the bushes and get back into the complex.

Sanosuke and Kenshin looked at each other, knowing that she was waiting for them to leave. They knew from
rumors that the Yakuza complex was hidden somewhere in the bamboo area of the forest, and by her behavior,
deduced wordlessly that they had unknowingly come across it, and that she worked for them.

"Anno.." Kenshin began again, "kimi wa dare de gozaru? Desperate to get away from them, and fearing severe
punishment, Kage looked at the expectant faces of Sanosuke and Kenshin. Looking back at Sanosuke, his expression
of masked curiosity making her body temperature drop a few degrees. She hadn't noticed before, but why did his
expression seem familiar? Shutting another door and locking it in her head, she raised her chin indignantly.

"Watashi namae wa Kage." She said shortly. Both men, surprised at the lack of prodding they had to do to get her
to say her name, looked at each other in confusion. A rustling was heard, and they both looked back to find that
Kage had disappeared.
----------------------------------

Back in her room, Kage shrugged out of her soaked gi, sucking in her breath as the fabric moved across her
unbandaged cut hand. Sliding her door open, she squatted in the door frame and wrung the old fabric free of water.
Keeping the door open, she sat down, Indian style, watching the rain fall. It began to fall harder again, not quite a
downpour, and the sky grew darker, more thunder and lightning crashing in it. Something inside her wanted to
remember a time like this from long ago, but she refused to open its firmly locked door and let it out. Memories were
just foolhardy images from the past. They neither comforted, nor made situations better. She had shut hers away
permanently, and in doing so, she forgot how to cry. Tears were also unnecessary in the world she lived in. They
were a show of weakness, something she refused to ever let anyone see. As long as she stayed strong, the women
hungry Yakuza scum never used her. Women who didn't cry, or weren't submissive were no fun for them.

Shutting her door once more, she stood up, and hung her gi on the half-broken yukata pole she had salvaged from a
bunch of junk Onna-Shujin was throwing away. Her hakama joined a moment later. Leaning down, she pulled her
blanket off of her futon and wrapped it around her waist. She then sat down, and stared at the paper wall,
listening to the rain outside. Remembering the ryo, she reached into the binding chest fabric and it out. Her
shoulders slumped as she counted only forty ryo left from the 200 she had while she was by the riverbank.
Throwing the ryo across her room, she made an exasperated noise and threw her head into her hands as the coins
chinked and rolled across the floor. A moment later a knock sounded on the wooden floor outside her room. Not
waiting for her to answer, Kamisori slid her door open and stepped in. She pulled her blanket around her
protectively, glaring at him as he entered.

Shoyusha-Sama wishes to see you now Kage." He smirked. He turned slightly as he stepped out. "Oh, and those
Yakuza you led here had to be killed. Shoyusha-Sama isn't happy with you." His smirk never leaving his face, he
shut the door, her pale face giving him cruel satisfaction.

In minutes Kage had re-dressed in her wet gi and hakama, and was waiting outside of Shoyusha's door. A moment
later one of Shoyusha's many concubines darted out, hastily tying her kimono back around her body. Kage entered.

It was dark within the room, the scent of opium and incense was strong. Trying not to choke against the sickly
sweet smell, Kage began to go into her usual dutiful bow, until Onna-Shujin's hand darted out and yanked her up
by her hair.

"YOU DARE RETURN TO ME WITH ONLY FORTY RYO?" she snarled and spat into Kage's face. Her eyes
watering in pain, but not daring to lift her hands to grip her scalp to ease it, Kage swallowed her cry of pain.

"I had more, but I was attacked by Yakuza...I dropped it in the river." She said with a small voice.

"YOU WHAT??" Onna-Shujin screeched. She threw Kage to the floor, then kicked her in her stomach with her
slipper-shod foot. Bracing herself up with one hand, the other clutching her stomach, Kage awaited the worst
of her punishments; Shoyusha.

Taking a drag off of his opium hookah, he let it out in a slow breath, drugged eyes intently watching Kage.
Standing then, he handed the hookah to his wife, who began sucking on it as if it were water and she in a
desert. He slowly circled the coughing Kage, regarding her with a cold expression.

"You led them to our home." He said in a stony voice. Drawing in a pained breath, Kage quickly assessed that
she had a fractured rib. It was no use standing up for herself, or making excuses. Shoyusha's punishment
was inevitable. Nodding to Kamisori who had stepped in silently, he reached behind the pillows he always
reclined upon and pulled out a stick that had leather strips tied to the end of. Shoyusha's punishment was
seen as entirely sadistic, but effective and painful. Leaning down, Kamisori grabbed and pinned Kage's
arms to the floor. Another Yakuza, who had entered behind Kamisori, grabbed her feet at the ankles. Onna-
Shujin yanked off Kage's gi. With an opium-insane gleam in his eyes, he began to whip her, embedded shards
of glass and metal in the whip leaving scores across her back. Clenching her fists, Kage refused to scream,
refused to show emotion to Shoyusha. She bit her lip, tasting blood as more scores appeared on her back.
When the whip finally hit what felt to her as bone, her scream came, loud, piercing and mournful.

Ten minutes later, half dead and bloodied, Shoyusha's whipping ceased. Kage was barely aware of Shoyusha
ordering Kamisori and the other man to get her away from him. She felt herself being lifted, Kamisori
holding her wrists, and the other holding her feet. She barely felt the rain as it hit her half-dressed body.
The whipping had stripped away the binding on her chest. She wanted so badly to cover herself, but she
couldn't feel her arms. She knew what they were doing. Disobedient Yakuza before who had been whipped
were always left outside the complex for the night. If they survived the night, they would be treated and
left. If they survived being left by themselves with only someone cleaning their wounds, their usefulness
had not ended and they would be forgiven. Blinking heavy lids, she felt herself being swung, Kamisori and
the other getting ready to throw her. Her shoulder muscles tensing slightly, she hit the ground limply, mud
entering her nose and mouth, choking her. But she couldn't cough. Everything was numb. She hoped death
would come quickly. She wanted escape.

"Oyy, Kenshin." She heard a male voice say from afar. Her eyes shut against the sting of mud..or was it
the sting of blood? She could no longer tell the difference. Her body suddenly felt very, very cold. I'm
dying, she thought, her body relaxing into the mud, the rain pounding on the bleeding cuts on her back.

Sanosuke and Kenshin had not left the area, searching for a different way into the Yakuza compound to
find Kage in secret. To remain had been Sanosuke's idea, and Kenshin was beginning to regret staying with
his friend. The rain was becoming a downpour again, and he feared two things; getting sick and having
to be treated by the cynical and barbed-worded Megumi-Donno, and the harsh tongue-lashing he was going
to receive from Kaoru-Donno when he finally DID get back to the Dojo. Circling the bamboo-fenced compound
for what felt like the 100th time, a soaked Kenshin watched as Sanosuke prodded the same place that he'd
been prodding each time they passed that very spot. His eyes lowered into an annoyed stare, he tilted his
head to the side, wringing out his mass of red hair. Sniffling and running his wet gi sleeve under his nose,
Sanosuke stood up, a thoughtful look on his face.

"Sano, I think it's time we left." Kenshin said. Sanosuke turned and looked at the sopping ex-samurai,
wondering why the former Hitokiri Battousai was getting annoyed about staying in the rain for extended
periods of time.

"Oyy, Kenshin, just one more round. I'm almost positive that there.." Sanosuke stopped mid-sentence and
listened. He heard voices by the road, and the sound of something plopping into the mud. Kenshin stepped
towards the road, one hand near his sakabatou. As he reached it his eyes widened and he ran out of
Sanosuke's sight. Curious, Sano jogged around the corner to find Kenshin kneeling beside a mud and what
looked like blood covered person, half sunk into the murk that had once been a road. His eyes widened and
he broke into a run towards them as he saw his red arm strip wound around the person's hand. Kenshin was
trying to dig her face from the mud, afraid to move her lest the bleeding in her back became worse. Kneeling
next to Kage, opposite of Kenshin, Sanosuke shrugged out of his wet gi and placed it over her, picking her up
as he wrapped it around her upper body. The mud gave up it's hold on her with a loud "SHLUP", and Kenshin
wiped the mud from her face with his sleeve, scooping the muck from her mouth, praying for her to breathe.
A moment after the mud was cleared away, she coughed up the rest of it and drew in a ragged breath.

"Let's get her to Gen-San." Kenshin yelled over the increasing rain and thunder. Sanosuke nodded, placing
one hand by her shoulders, and the other in the crook behind her knee, and lifting her up. Bracing her
against his chest, he and Kenshin ran as best they could in the mud and rain towards Dr. Genzai's home.

Kage was dimly aware of something being wrapped around her, then being picked up by someone. She didn't
like it, it was too familiar. She put a hand on the chest of he who carried her and murmured "Sano-Kun."