Balance

By: Naela

Category: AU, Romance, action/adventure, dark

Summary:
A stranger arrives at the Kamiya residence to stay for an extended period of time. Though no one knows anything about him, Kaoru finds herself intrigued by the man. What no one realizes is that this man has come to Japan for a mission of revenge and will stop at nothing until he's complete it.

Author's Notes:

Bah! I'm sorry for taking so long with this chapter, it was the same case as chapter two. Anyway special thanks goes out to Deja Vu who agreed to beta read this chapter for me. Thanks Deja, you're a doll!! Go read her fics too if you're a Star Wars fan. *G*

Disclaimer:

Rurouni Kenshin is copyright to Nobuhiro Watsuki.

Chapter Three: To the Beach

Kenshin had always known that Sanosuke was far from being a good cook. He had to admit that the man's cooking was far better than anything Kaoru had produced, but the sight of the slop he'd considered breakfast had made the redhead turn a few shades paler. It was brown with green bits of what he hoped were leafy vegetables and it was as greasy as a fryer found in a fast food restaurant.

"Here ya go, Kenshin," Sano said, throwing a large helping of the 'breakfast' onto the redhead's plate.

Giving Sano a slight nod, he held his pair of chopsticks and stared at the food. How was he supposed to know that the thing hadn't been unintentionally poisoned? Knowing Sano, the man could have accidentally thrown in a few bottles of cleaning fluids out of carelessness. There'd been a number of times in the past where Sano had knocked a few men out due to food poisoning.

Laying his chopsticks on the table, he watched as the other man began eating his breakfast. Though he acted like a rooster in many ways, his eating habits weren't too different from that of a pride of lions gathered over a new kill.

"Not hungry?" Sano asked, staring up at the redhead and noticing his full plate.

"I already ate," Kenshin lied.

Sano shrugged. "Your loss," he replied and continued on devouring his breakfast.

The two sat in silence, much like back in the old days when they'd shared a room together during missions. Sano wasn't much older than Kaoru, but he had more experience in making things 'work' than the girl could ever achieve in a lifetime. He'd been a street kid when he was young, abandoned by his family. He'd barely entered his teens when members of Hiko's business took him in. Kenshin had known Sano since he'd been a boy, and though he'd practically ignored the other man for most of his career, they'd managed to end up on quite a few jobs together. It was inevitable that the rooster-head began considering himself as Kenshin's best friend.

Staring around Sano's apartment, he noted its neatness, which he found strange. He knew from experience that Sano was far from being a neat man; it'd only take him a matter of hours before he'd start turning a perfectly neat room into a pigsty. Either the man sitting across from him had started cleaning for himself or he had someone else cleaning for him. Kenshin doubted the former and found the latter more logical. It could be that Sano a housekeeper or it could have been…

"Sano."

Glancing up from his breakfast, the rooster-head raised an eyebrow. "Hrm?"

"You have a roommate?"

Swallowing his mouthful, Sano shook his head. "Nope, still living alone," he replied. He frowned. "Why do you ask?"

"No reason."

"If you're wondering about the neatness," Sano said, lazily sweeping an arm around the room, "It's because of this new girl."
This made Kenshin raise an eyebrow. "New girl?"

Sano grinned sheepishly at him. "Yeah," he said. "She's gonna be moving in soon and refused to live in a 'pig sty'."

"Interesting," Kenshin replied, quickly losing interest in the subject. A girl, that was explain it, though he wondered when Sano started to show an interest in women.

He jerked back when the rooster-head jabbed a pair of chopsticks in his direction. "I can introduce you to her after she moves in if you want."

"I'm sure I'll be running into her anyway," the redhead answered dryly, shoving the chopsticks away.

Sano nodded, not noting his companion's sarcasm. Kenshin sat in silence, staring at the worn table surface. He remembered eating on this table and wasn't surprised that his friend hadn't bothered to replace it.

Normally Kenshin would have been down in the dojo training, but Sano knew him too well and had intercepted him when he was on his way down. The man had then invited him to breakfast. Kenshin had refused the first time. The second time Sano had added that he had information that he needed to give. Dubiously, the redhead had accepted the invitation.

That had been nearly an hour ago. Sitting around and waiting for Sano to finish cooking the breakfast had wasted most of that hour. Now the food had been served and Kenshin was waiting for the other man to finish eating.

Sano, however, didn't need to finish his breakfast to start striking up a conversation. "Yo, Kenshin, remember that thing I was gonna tell ya?"

"The reason why you invited me over," Kenshin stated. His tone was flat. He ignored the fact that he could see the chewed contents inside the rooster-head's mouth when he spoke. "Yes. I remember."

"Yeah…" Sano put his chopsticks down. "Someone scratched your car."

Kenshin's muscles tensed on hearing the information. He felt an urge to rush out of the apartment and into the streets to confirm what Sano had spoken. The logical part of his mind told him to stay. Listening to the wiser part of his conscience, Kenshin remained sitting.

"Really," he replied. His tone took on a dangerous edge. "Are you certain?"

"Well, either I was really drunk enough to start seeing things last night or… yeah," Sano said.

"Thank you for the information," Kenshin said. He stood up. "Thank you for breakfast too, but I think I should be going."

Nodding, Sano stood up and guided his friend to the door. "See ya soon Kenshin, don't worry about the scratch, I'll take care of it."

"Thanks." The redhead mumbled. He turned around a corner was soon racing down the ten flights of steps. He ran past the dojo, out the lobby, and into the middle of the sidewalk. His car was still where he'd left it last time and seemingly untouched. There was no scratch or anything wrong to indicate that it was a victim of vandalism.

Going up to the car, he passed the hood and was standing on the street. He immediately saw what Sano had meant. There, on the side of his vehicle, was a single white line stretching from tire to tire. There was no point in feigning ignorance; the offending mark was just too noticeable to overlook.

Leaning against the vehicle, Kenshin pressed a hand to his forehead. Of course he shouldn't have been such an idiot to leave such an expensive thing right out here on display. He should have learnt from his experience in L.A. that no matter what country he was in there would always be people who would hurt others just for the fun of it.

He felt strangely calm. There was no anger, just a tiring emptiness. The redhead considered going back to his room and sleeping. The swordsman inside him, however, refused and fought against the idea. Relenting to its commands, he re-entered the building and headed for the dojo.

***

When Kenshin had finished climbing the last flight of steps, the first thing he noticed was the strange smells that had invaded the tenth floor. Unperturbed by the stench, he reached the Kamiya residence. His suspicions were confirmed upon entering the place. There, in the kitchenette, was both the girl and the boy, trying calmly to eat their breakfast. The boy in particular looked ready to faint though his sickly countenance was quickly replaced by elation upon seeing the redhead.

"Oi! Himura-san!" Yahiko exclaimed. He sprung from his chair and landed in front of Kenshin. "Could you please, please, pleeeeease drive me to the beach today?" The boy began tugging on the swordsman's gi, much to Kenshin's annoyance.

"The beach?" Kenshin repeated. He raised an eyebrow. "Don't you two have school?"

"It's the weekend!" Yahiko retorted. Quickly biting back his brash words, he added, "Please Himura-san?"

Kenshin felt too exhausted to go out, but at the same time he didn't feel like putting up with the boy's incessant pleadings. Given choice between the two he would have preferred shipping the boy off to the beach to perhaps so that he would have at least one less annoyance off his back. Making his decision, he nodded and he watched as a wide grin spread across the boy's face, and soon he was barrelling out of kitchenette to his bedroom. Just watching the boy had the redhead feeling exhausted.

Glancing at Yahiko's sister, he saw her scowling at the tabletop, but he didn't bother to wonder about her foul mood, having written it off as her usual disposition. He went his room and changed out of his training clothes to something more fitting for an outing. While untying his hair and running a comb through the knotted strands, he heard the footsteps of the Kamiya girl as she entered her room. He considered taking a shower and decided against the idea, there wouldn't be enough time.

When he left his room the boy was still going through his preparations. He sighed and knocked on Yahiko's door, alerting the other of his presence. "I'll be down in the car," he said, not waiting for an answer. There was a short grunt as a response.

Kenshin left the apartment and went down into the street. Glaring briefly at the scratch, he stepped into his car. He sat waiting for at least ten minutes before the boy emerged. Kenshin was mildly surprised when the Kamiya girl followed and sat in the back seat.

She was dressed ready for the beach, and it was hardly an outfit one would expect the daughter of Kamiya to wear. She wore a long white t-shirt that reached past her thighs with no shorts or pants underneath. He knew that she was wearing a swimming suit under it, but it invoked unwanted and inappropriate thoughts. Banishing them from his mind, Kenshin berated himself for even thinking of a girl barely past her teens in such a manner.

He turned his gaze elsewhere when the girl glanced up, nearly catching his eyes in the rear view mirror.
He held back a wince when Yahiko jumped into the seat beside him and closed the door behind him with a hard slam. Throwing a grin at Kenshin he buckled his safety belt and pounded against the car door. "Come on, let's go!" he exclaimed. "There's gonna be traffic if we keep waiting here."

Kenshin's reply was to ignite the engine and pull the car into the street. Without any sort of warning they were racing down the road at an incredible speed. Driver and passengers were pushed back into their seats as he sped up, running through a traffic light ready to turn red.

He glanced at the mirror and saw the girl mouthing something at him. Her words were lost in the wind. He guessed that she was shouting at him to slow down. Smiling slightly he added more speed, making the girl shriek.

The speed brought back memories of nights in Los Angeles, shortly after he'd dropped out of UCLA. He was no expert in cars back then, but he knew that he loved driving at break neck speeds. It got his mind off the troubles of the world and allowed him for at least a few brief moments to just forget about swords or guns or even Tomoe.

His mentor never approved of such reckless driving since he was the one who would always pay for the cars Kenshin would crash. He'd been in quite a few accidents in the past few years, and Kenshin had never let anyone realize that his accidents had been intentional. No one knew that he would destroy cars on purpose, just to see them collide together. It was enjoyable to see something so strong become nothing but scrap in a few seconds. It wasn't as if he were suicidal; he always managed to get out of the cars before a collision. Now here he was, once again behind the wheel and acting as if he were some bus driver shipping two kids to the beach.

In a leisurely manner he laid his head against his seat and almost smiled as he tailgated another a corvette. In the back, the Kamiya girl was screaming loud enough for him to hear her.

***

The car came to an abrupt halt when they reached the beach, and a green minivan honked at them as it swerved to the right, barely missing a collision. Ignoring the honking, Kenshin pulled his car into a parking lot that was baking underneath the afternoon sun. Families were gathered by their minivans, pulling out miscellaneous items meant for a picnic or small floatation devices for swimming in the sea.

They came to a smooth stop at the front of the lot, and Kenshin waited wordlessly for the two siblings to depart. The boy shakily stepped out of the car. The girl remained frozen; her hands were clenched into fists and her cheeks were unusually pale.

Minutes passed before Kenshin turned, staring at her over his shoulder. He frowned and hesitantly he reached forward, placing a hand on her bare thigh. She flinched at the touch and stared up at him with blue eyes. Her thigh was warm under his cold hand.

"You all right?" Kenshin asked, pulling his hand away.
Swallowing hard, she nodded.

Yahiko poked his head into the car, glaring at his sister. "Ugly, you gonna come out or not? The racoon girl's bugging me again."

Sure enough, Misao appeared right beside him with a grin Kenshin had come to associate with the girl. Bopping the boy once on the head, she grinned even wider at the redhead. "Hi, Himura-san!" she said. Her grin lessened at the sight of her friend. "Oi, Kaoru… you don't really look that great. What happened, you sick?"

The girl shook her head. "No," she said, weakly. "I'm fine." She began to slowly crawl out of the car, nearly tumbling onto the pavement when Yahiko opened the door. Her brother was immediately by her side, helping her up.

"Well, isn't this a surprise, clumsy and ugly," he said, throwing her another one of his glares. The girl glared back and immediately straightened.

"Thanks for the ride, Himura-san," she said coldly and turned on her heel, marching towards the sand.

"Yeah, thanks," Yahiko said. As he turned he gave the redhead a single wave before running off to the beach.

Misao lingered, resting an elbow on the hood and frowning as she watched the two siblings. "Weird," she mumbled and shrugged.

Kenshin was silent as he waited for her to leave. Misao, however, remained where she was, smiling at him. "Aoshi-sama wanted me to give you a message," she said, running one finger over the car's red paint. "He said for you to meet him over… there." She pointed at an amusement park.

"There…" he echoed, staring at the park disconsolately.

Misao grinned. "Yeah, in about two hours," she said, holding up her middle and index fingers at him. Throwing him a wink, the girl left to join her friends.

Sighing, Kenshin gripped the steering wheel and pulled his car away and began to slide it in the small aisles between the rows of vehicles. Occasionally glancing from side to side, he soon spotted a parking space at the very back. Moments later he was leaning against the car door, glancing at his watch every few minutes and wondering if time had deliberately slowed down.

Pulling out a pair of sunglasses from his coat pocket, he placed them over his eyes and glanced once again at his watch; ten minutes had barely passed. Kenshin decided that he was not going to wait by his car for a man who didn't have the foresight to call ahead. Pushing himself away from the door, Kenshin headed for a row of shops lining the sandy beach, placed there to elicit tourists and those who forgot to bring certain items for a day at the beach. He walked past the Kamiya girl and her racoon friend, noting the fact that the two girls and more of their friends were setting up a net. The weasel girl stopped and waved at him, trying to catch his attention. Kenshin continued walking towards the shops.

The first two he had no interest in, ice cream and candy stores. The second one was a newspaper stand with a fat, greasy man with a stained white shirt leaning against the counter. He stopped by it and picked up one of the papers, scanning the headlines momentarily. A heavily scarred man was staring back at him with most of his face bandaged.

"Makoto Shishio," he read the large black print. There was a man he hadn't seen in years. Shishio had once worked for Hiko, acting as Kenshin's successor though after a time the man had run off to Japan and disappeared. Neither Kenshin nor Hiko bothered with trying to locate him, knowing that Shishio's ability to keep a tight lip would never fail them. Now here he was making the front page, apparently a multi-millionaire working as head of his own company. No doubt a legitimate one.

"I'll take this," Kenshin said, holding the paper up.

The greasy man grunted and named the price. The redhead tossed a few bills onto the counter and began walking, newspaper tucked under his arm. He kept away from the beach, preferring not to have any sand in his shoes. Compared to the many people there, he felt out of place. His semi-formal outfit was less than suitable for a trip to the seaside.

Wooden docks lined the shops, bordered by a waist high railing. Leaning against one of the posts, Kenshin ignored the wind as it whipped his hair about in a swirling cloud of red. He instead was focused on the Kamiya girl and the game of volleyball she was playing with her friends. He only needed to watch a few matches before catching onto the basic rules of the game.

When he'd been under Hiko's care, Kenshin never had a chance to attend a school. He was educated at home by some of the best tutors. His training in kendo filled his physical education requirements and so he never needed to learn or participate in many team sports.

It'd been obvious from the start that the Kamiya girl's team would win. With both her and the racoon girl paired up they made an unstoppable duo. Just by watching Misao he could tell that the girl had extensive physical training, if not in swords then definitely with some form of martial arts.

Another round of the sport began, the teens, having realized the practicality in separating both Kamiya and Makamachi, insisted on having at least one girl on each side. Kamiya had relented to their demands and ducked under the net to join the other team.

This time it'd been harder to discern which team would come out as the victor. Kenshin found himself watching the game with interest, much to his dismay, and even smiled when the Kamiya girl scored the winning point. Her team broke out in cheers. They slapped each other on the back and shook the Kamiya girl, giving her words of encouragement. The girl blushed heavily, but the spirit of the celebration affected her and she broke out into a laugh when one of her teammates dumped a bottle of water over her head.

After the cheering had died down the players dispersed. Some flopped onto the sand, appearing as if they'd gone into a coma, while others rushed off into the waters. Finding himself bored, Kenshin turned away from the beach. He turned his back to the railing and watched as tourists walked to and fro.

His muscles tensed when he felt the presence of a fiery life force coming at him at a startling pace.

"Himura-san!"

He glanced over towards Misao who was running towards him. The girl skidded to a halt, spraying sand in nearly every direction. Kenshin glared at her as most of it fell onto him. He was trying to shake sand out of his bangs when the braided girl hopped onto the platform, snatched his arm, and began dragging him away.

"What…?" He blurted out and struggled.

"It's time Himura-san," Misao replied. She grinned at him as her hold on his arm tightened. "We're going to see Aoshi-sama!"

"We?"

"Of course! Aoshi-sama gave me specific instructions to make sure that you didn't forget," she answered, not at all aware that her words were causing the redhead to scowl.

'He did it to torture me.'

Just as abruptly as Misao had started off into a run she came to a halt that was so swift that Kenshin nearly barrelled into the girl. He twisted his arm free from her grasp and stared at the girl questioningly. Misao didn't catch his expression but was staring past him, her blue eyes slit in a squint. Twisting his body around Kenshin saw both Kaoru and Yahiko running, both with their shoes in hand as they tried to catch up with them. Kenshin brought a hand to his forehead, he knew without asking just what the two were intending.

"You two aren't coming," he said once they were in earshot.

The two halted in their steps, and very much like Misao they brought about a cloud of dust and sand. Thankful that his eyes were protected by his shades Kenshin turned his back to the two and began a steady march towards the amusement park.

"Himura-san!" Misao exclaimed her voice reaching a high pitch. "Kaoru and Yahiko must come!"

"If they're coming then don't expect me to baby-sit them," Kenshin snapped. He didn't spare a glance at the two, knowing what their reactions would be.

"We don't need baby-sitters!" Yahiko retorted.

Kenshin's reply was a snort. Yahiko glared at the man's back. Just as he was ready to pounce on the redhead, a hand landed on his shoulder and restrained him. He glanced up to see Kaoru staring back at him disapprovingly.

"Don't," she said. "He's still our guest."

It wasn't often when Yahiko willingly obeyed his sister, but the way she scowled made him refrain from any rash behaviour.

"Come on," she said, prodding him forward.

They reached the gate and found Himura and Misao already in the line-up. Inwardly Kaoru groaned, she didn't like waiting, but took her place behind the two. She sighed and reached for her pocket, hoping she'd brought enough to pay for the fare. Her hand froze, hovering above her thigh upon realizing that she'd forgotten one important item.

"Yahiko…" she mumbled.

The boy glanced up at her questioningly.

"Do you happen to have…" she lowered her voice and turned away from the redhead. "Enough money to pay?"

Her brother scowled but reached into his pocket and nodded. Relief washed over her, and Kaoru straightened once more. She frowned, seeing the redhead staring at her from over his shades; their eyes met and Kaoru felt her cheeks warming. She quickly directed her gaze elsewhere. As the line began moving she chanced a furtive glance at Himura. The redhead had his back turned to her.

It took the group fifteen minutes of waiting before they reached the front. Kaoru glanced up in surprise when she heard Himura say, "Three adults and one child."

He placed the money through the slot before she had a chance to protest and moved away to the entrance. She followed in silence and held out her hand to the waiting park staff. They brought down a rubber stamp on the back of it and barely acknowledged her before turning to the next person.

A paved area of concession stands, games, small shops and rides was spread before them. Crowds of people, families and couples gathered at these sites. Some spent their money away on games in hopes of winning a stuffed toy while others waited in line-ups to get on a minute-long ride.

"I wanna go on the roller coaster!" Yahiko exclaimed and rushed off.

"Wait for me!" Misao exclaimed and moved to follow the boy. Kenshin's voice stopped her.

"Makamachi."

The voice halted the girl in her tracks. Kaoru turned to see the redhead standing behind her in the shadows of the huge walls surrounding the amusement park. He had his arms crossed against his chest and was staring past her at Misao with slight annoyance.

"Eh?" Misao questioned.

"Where did Aoshi say he wanted to meet me?" Himura asked.

"Oh, um…" Misao quickly scanned the amusement park. "Over there!" She was pointing to a small building bearing a large sign hanging on its front reading: "House of Mirrors". Kaoru could see his annoyance turning into irritation. She had to admit that he didn't seem to be the kind of a person who enjoyed going to amusement parks.

Grunting, Himura strode past her and forced his way through the crowd. Kaoru stood staring at him before she felt herself being dragged forward.

"Misao!" she exclaimed, realizing what the braided haired girl intended.

"Come on, Kaoru, let's have a little fun!" her friend exclaimed.

Kaoru felt her stomach tighten into a knot as she saw their destination: the Twister.

***

Kenshin strolled past the entrance to the House of Mirrors, briefly showing his hand stamp to an employee of the park. The place was dimly lit as means to give it an eerie atmosphere. All it succeeded in doing was having Kenshin walk into mirrors. The place had been built as one large maze with mirrors as its walls. Some were constructed to stretch his image in an absurd manner, making him appear fat in a few or incredibly thin in others. Some were normal mirrors with handprints smudging their surfaces.

He felt rather than saw the Okashira, though it was hard to miss the man's reflection. His image was on almost every mirror in the next hall. Approaching the sombre man, he stopped only a few feet away from him and stood waiting.

Returning his gaze, the Okashira continued to stand still.

Moments passed before Kenshin could feel a corner of his lips twitching. He bit back the smile. It was always said that the only other man who could be more silent than he was the Okashira. He believed those rumours to be true, knowing firsthand just how silent Aoshi could be.

"Aoshi," he said.

Nodding in greeting, the Okashira shoved his hand into his coat pocket and pulled out a manila envelope. He tossed it at Kenshin, who held his hand out, watching it flutter into his palm. The envelope was thin and unsealed. It was hard to believe that something like a mere piece of paper could have the power to bring about a person's death. Pulling its contents out of the envelope, Kenshin quickly glanced over the paper. It had a single name and a few vital stats of a man he'd never heard of.

He smiled slightly. Its colour had changed, but it still bore the same significance to Kenshin as the black envelopes he'd received in his youth.

"Thank you," he said, folding the paper away.

The Okashira frowned at him in disapproval. "You should just forget about it. This man," he gestured towards the envelope. "Is too important to mess with."

Kenshin shoved the packet into his coat and shrugged. "I don't care about dying. Besides, he'll be dead before they find out that it's me."

"He's powerful. His friends will figure out that it was you."

"Then let them come," Kenshin said coolly. "They all deserve to die."

End Chapter Two.

To the people who reviewed my fics:

Deja Vu: LOL! How can you be rooting for a pairing you don't even know about? Silly girl. :P

Kitt: Thanks! Don't worry how about I just have both you and Deja beta read the next chapter. ;)

Lizzie: Yep! It's thickening and I hope it continues on doing so. Don't worry  more of the characters we all know well and love will also be making an appearance. The family businesses? Eh heh aint that obvious?

nemo: Yeah I get ya, I often times go on FFN for some reading when I shouldn't be and yes, I shamelessly turned Kenshin into a jerk but not too much of one I hope.

Astareel: Thank you! The encouragement is much appreciated.

Neko-chan: I'm really glad you're enjoying the fic and the characterization. Of course I'll keep it up!!

AN 2:

Ok, I'm getting a lot of questions about the age difference between Kenshin and Kaoru. I guess I should make it pretty clear that the diff in this fic is the same as it is in the series. I really have no problems with a 28-year-old guy dating a 17-year-old girl. The way I see it, as long as they're in love, age matters very little. Of course for those of you who are squeamish, Kaoru has a birthday in June so let's just say it's coming up soon making the pairing legal. Anyway I hope this clears things up and I also hope no one's gonna be chucking tomatoes at me. See ya in Chapter 4!!