Departure Scars

Chapter 5:

"Battousai's Woman"

She raised her arms to open the gates, but froze. She could hear footsteps and they were right right on the other side of the gate.

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The rain pounded hard on the grounds of the Kamiya dojo. Muddy puddles scattered the yard.

A young boy that had recently stepped on hid behind a shoji, watching curiously as Kaoru stood before of the entrance of the dojo grounds. She was as still as a statue, her arms frozen against the door. "What is she doing?" he wondered and stepped out a bit more. "Is she leaving?" He wondered, but his suspicions were confurmed when he heard the high-pitched squeak of the dojo gates sliding open. "Oh, no."

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Kaoru's eyes widened. A tall police officer stopped and looked down at Kaoru coolly. Why was a police man in front of her dojo this late at night? She shook her head trying to figure out the man towering over her. She felt that she recognized him in a way, but...how? She looked into his narrow amber eyes trying to find some hint of who he was. Nothing. She noticed his sword and blinked at the flash of blood and a red haired man getting stabbed in the side. Who was it? Who was he? She was confused. Kaoru shook her head again trying to rid herself of the bad feeling and confusion that she could feel welling deep inside her.

When she looked back up at him she found that he was still staring at her. That piercing, haunting stare. "How pathetic." He thought. Her soaked hair hung down over her shoulders and stuck to her skin which seemed to stick to her bones even more. She looked starved. She was wearing very little clothing. Her hakama clung to her legs and the rapping's around her breast were soaked with not just rain, but blood. .

"So what is the battousai's woman doing out so late? He would go on a rampage if he saw you like this." The man spoke. Kaoru face was full of confusion.

"Battousai's...woman?" She repeated. "I don't belong to anyone. Especially the battousai." Venom slipped into her speech. The man cocked an eyebrow.

"Aw, did you have a fight?" He asked with sarcastic concern.

"What are you talking about? I don't even know the battousai." The man raised an eyebrow.

"Oh, but you seemed to be very close to him a few days ago."

"What?!" Kaoru was now getting annoyed, but 'battousai' sounded vaguely familiar. Could she have possibly been so close with a murderer? The man shook his head.

"Never mind. I don't have time for you, woman." he turned to leave.

"Matte." Kaoru grabbed his arm. "Onegai." He halted. "What's your name?"

"Gouru Fujita." He replied. Kaoru's eyes narrowed. "That's not right. I just know it!"

"Liar."

"Then, if I'm lying why don't you go figure it out." He smirked, now looking at her again.

"Fine then..." Kaoru glared. He started to walk away. "W-why do you say that I'm the Hitokiri Battousai's woman?" She demanded loudly.

"I said I don't have time for you."

"Tell me!" She persisted as he stepped away further.

"Like I said, figure it out."

Kaoru yelled at him again but he was already gone. She shivered as she shut the gate. Kaoru didn't feel like taking a walk anymore, being so confused and now a little tired, it was cold now and no longer peaceful. Her chest hurt really bad but her head was clear.

Kaoru turned and saw that Yahiko was running towards her. His feet splashed loudly in the mud.

"Yahiko, why are you out here so late?" she asked.

"Why are you out here? You are supposed to be in bed sleeping or at least resting. I'm not the one with a deep wound in my chest that has reopened again!" he scolded and he pushed her back inside the dojo. "You're never going to let me or Megumi get any sleep are you?"

"Yahiko..."

"You know, I'm starting to feel like I'm your mother or something." He continued as he pushed her into her room.

"Yahiko--"

"Now, stay there. Don't go outside or anything. I'm going to go get Megumi up okay?" he interrupted. Kaoru just nodded as he left the room. She leaned against the wall and looked at her chest. The wound had reopened. A bit of blood was seeping out of the bottom of the bandages and dripping down the rest of her belly.

Suddenly she felt really dizzy and tired. Her head nodded forwards weakly. "Maybe I should lay down..." She glanced at her shoji, hearing Megumi's voice down the hall. Megumi would probably be mad at her for going outside in her condition. Kaoru sighed, stepped towards her bed, but she felt her legs give out in exhaustion. She collapsed onto the floor and only saw darkness.

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"Megumi..." Kaoru asked as Megumi carefully cleaned the bloody wound. In was in the early afternoon a day later.

"Hmm?"

"This man...he was at the dojo gates. He was a police officer...He said that he name was Guuro Fujita." Kaoru said. "Do you know who he is?" Megumi barely nodded. Her face was blank as she worked. Kaoru thought for a moment. "He called me the Hitokiri Battousai's woman...do you know what he meant by that?"

"You don't remember?" She asked pausing in her work.

"Is there something to remember?" Kaoru looked up at Megumi curiously. Megumi was silent. "Well...is there?"

"Yes."

"What is it? Please, I need to know." Kaoru nearly pleaded.

"...Some things...you're better off not remembering right now." Megumi replied.

"But, why did he call me that...I'm not married am I?" Kaoru blurted looking panicked.

"No."

"Then why--"

"It doesn't matter right now. Just be quiet and go to sleep." Megumi said firmly. Kaoru opened her mouth to protest.

"You still need rest!"

Kaoru frowned, feeling frustrated. But she gave in anyways. Kaoru closed her eyes and drifted off into a deep sleep.

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Kenshin sighed in self defeat. He was returning to the dojo. He missed them to much and that knawing feeling in the pit of his stomach didn't make it any better. "I'll just see if everything is okay. Then I'll leave. No one has to see me. No one will see me." He told himself as he made his way through the forest. "Then...then I'm going straight back towards Kyoto."

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The next morning while Yahiko was practicing with his shinai, Megumi came into the dojo and before Kaoru was awake.

"Yahiko, I have to talk to you about Kaoru." Megumi stated.

"What's wrong?" He asked as he wiped the perspiration off of his forehead with his sleeve.

"Well, Kaoru doesn't seem to remember Kenshin at all and...I don't know if we should tell her...I don't want her to try to...kill herself again." Megumi said ruefully.

"Oh..."

"I was thinking that maybe later today we could go find Sanosuke and decide if we should tell her or not. I mean...since she saw Saitou last light he and her called the 'battousai's woman' she's asking questions. She doesn't seem to remember anything Yahiko." She stated.

"Sure...what should we say for right now? Before we talk about it?" He asked.

"Nothing...Don't tell her."

"Okay."

Translations:

Onegai-please

Shinai-a sword made out of bamboo. Yahiko's sword.

Matte-wait

Author's notes: Well, I finally got this one done. Now the story is changing drastically from my original. I had lots of fun writing this one with my parents getting on the computer and staying on for a few hours when I got up to go to the bath room or something. The space bar isn't working well either, buuuut, I just love getting all those good reviews and the good ol' feeling of finally getting another chapter on the internet. It's probably going to be a while until my next chapter. I don't have much time around this place. Well, I have to leave now. I was hoping to get another chapter up tomorrow but I guess not. Please review. Buh-bye!

Oh yeah, sorry for all the mistakes I made in the last chapter. I was probably really tired or something. I think I fixed most of them. Anyways, bye!

(Re-edited)