Disclaimer: All standard disclaimers apply. Rurouni Kenshin does not belong to me – all characters and original situations are not my property.
A/N: I just wanted to say, thanks all, for your kind reviews of the last chapter. I really love reading all of them, and hope that you're still with me here.
IMPORTANT NOTE…Freda Potter: I'm really glad for your comments, and how you hope that I won't show Kenshin and Battousai as two separate people. I myself don't really like it when people show him as having an almost split personality, so I was really considering writing it differently for a change. I perceive Kenshin being as much Battousai, as he is the rurouni, and that's how he's going to be shown in the fic. Just wanted to let y'all know!
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"Man, I'm stuffed," Sanosuke complained. He was sprawled out on his back on the dojo floor, looking quite bloated with hands flung carelessly behind his head. "That was good," he added, turning his head to look at Yahiko who was lying next to him.
Yahiko groaned, "Great. Now I'll have one hell of a stomach ache once busu starts whacking me around with her stick."
"You shouldn't call Miss Kaoru that, I say," Kenshin told him quietly from where he was sweeping the floor.
Yahiko grunted and rolled over onto his stomach.
Crammed full of food, Sano pushed himself to his feet and stretched his long limbs. "Well, I think I'll be off. Maybe I'll go and visit Megumi at her clinic and see if I can scrounge up a few more morsels for myself."
This instantly motivated Yahiko to follow suit, "You know, I think I'll come with you." He fell into step behind Sano, heading for the exit.
"Yahiko." Kenshin leaned on his broom and pointed at the boy. "You still have lessons today, that you do."
"Aw, come on, Kenshin," Yahiko whined, eyes turning wide and innocent. "You know it's been ages since I last had a holiday around here."
Sano walked over to Kenshin, "The kid's right; he needs a holiday. Loosen up, will ya, Samurai Boy?" He pushed Kenshin playfully.
Kenshin frowned, "Miss Kaoru won't be happy."
"That means 'yes'!" Yahiko skipped out of the dojo, promptly disappearing from Kenshin's view.
Sano gave him a wink, and followed just as quickly.
"When did I have time to say 'yes'?" Kenshin wondered aloud, then shrugged and went back to sweeping.
"Where's Yahiko?" a voice demanded from behind him.
Kenshin smiled brightly, "Yahiko went out with Sanosuke just now, that he did" he informed the young woman who stood behind him.
She had a hand planted on her hip, bokken clutched tightly in the other. "Went out?" She repeated. "And you let him?"
Kenshin nodded, "I'm sorry, Milady, but they just ran out before I could – ORO!"
"Kenshin! Idiot!" Kaoru had dealt him a sound hit with her bokken again, setting him on the floor with the broom. "You just should have told him 'no'!" She turned around and stomped back to her room, "Really. Men are so incapable these days…"
Kenshin rubbed his forehead and frowned slightly. Suddenly he was not so sure he appreciated being whacked by everyone day in and day out whenever they were angry or frustrated. When had he developed a sign on his forehead that said 'Punching Bag'?
Shrugging, he hopped to his feet and wielded the broom once again. With Kaoru sizzling in her room, and Yahiko and Sanosuke off on an eating spree around Tokyo, he was sure all would be quiet and orderly around the dojo today.
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Kaoru fumbled with a tie on her kimono, sighing when her fingers slipped for the third time. Her hands had been clumsy ever since hitting Kenshin, as if guilty at the action. Normally she felt no remorse at hitting the rurouni, as he bore it patiently and with no comment. It helped to ease her anger, but she never realized before that he might not like it all that much.
A lock of hair fell forehead to cloud her eyesight and she dropped the whole mass in irritation. For now, she would just leave her hair loose as her hands seemed incapable of putting it up in any normal hairstyle. Stupid hands, she thought to herself, and stood up. Maybe she would go and apologize to Kenshin, and then try to help him around the house. Yes, that might draw his attention more closely to her and maybe help to ease the sting of that whack with the bokken.
She left her room and trudged to the shed to grab a second broom. Armed with the stick of straw, she found Kenshin outside, having progressed to the porch. He looked up curiously at her arrival, a red eyebrow lifting in wonder at the broom she held.
Kaoru set to sweeping alongside him, "I thought I'd come out and help you!" She told him brightly.
"Miss Kaoru, you really mustn't trouble yourself," he told her, stopping his own movement. "Sessha would be happy to do this himself, that he would."
She frowned, "Nonsense. This is my dojo, and I should do some of the work around here."
Kenshin nodded, "All right, Milady, but if you become tired, I would be happy to finish the rest."
"Tired?!" Kaoru hit him in the knees with her broom, sending him back into the dust. "Who here do you think gets tired after a bit of sweeping, eh?!"
Kenshin looked up at her blankly from his position on the ground.
Kaoru bit her lip, "Oh, Kenshin, I'm sorry," she told him, bending to help him back up. "I don't know what it is that gets into me. Are you all right?" She took his hand and pulled him to his feet.
"Sessha is fine," Kenshin replied with a smile. "Although a bit dusty, now that sessha has taken two falls today, that he is."
She giggled, then bit her lip again to stifle the sound.
"Oi, busu! Hope I'm not interrupting any tender moments!"
Kaoru realized she was still holding Kenshin's hand. Her face flamed, and she instantly dropped his hand, whirling to face a snickering Yahiko sitting on the dojo wall.
"Oro?" Kenshin inquired, dumbfounded.
"YAHIKO!"
Sano sauntered back in, "No action at the clinic. Megumi threw us out – this is the second day I haven't been able to get any food other than Kenshin's gruel. I'll start losing weight," he muttered.
"I doubt that," Kaoru snapped at him.
Yahiko laughed, leaning forward to catch his balance on the dojo wall where he was perched.
"It isn't safe to be up there, I say," Kenshin pointed out to him.
The boy hopped down and made a face at the rurouni. "Always spoiling the fun."
"May I remind you who it was that allowed you to set foot outside the dojo today?" Kaoru boxed his ears harshly, producing a yelp of pain from the student. "Inside, and not another peep until you do one thousand swings."
"But-."
"Swings. Now." She turned back to the two other men, "I just don't understand it. Why is he being so rude?"
Sano grinned, "He's becoming a teenager. Of course he's bound to be rude. We all went through the same thing. Well, except maybe Kenshin here."
"I can attest to that. Although I must say, he was a great deal more interesting back in those days," a heavy voice, dripping with sarcasm drifted over to them.
Sano and Kaoru turned around cautiously to find the source of the words, but Kenshin didn't need to. "What're you doing here, Saitou?" he asked, his voice losing its polite and formal manner. "I do not recall sending you an invitation here."
"My, my. Do I detect a hint of malice in your tone, Battousai?" Saitou asked calmly, sneering at the three of them. "After all the things I've done for you..." He lounged against a pillar of the entrance to the dojo, face half hidden in the shadows. It was a misty day, adding to the enigmatic look of his face.
"Listen here," Sano interrupted, displaying a fist in Saitou's face. "If you just came to insult Kenshin -."
Saitou calmly pushed Sano's hand out of the way, hand grinding painfully into the other man's. "I have no time for your childish games. My business is with Battousai." He looked at Kenshin, toying with a leaf, "Is there anywhere we can go to speak in private?" Strands of straight hair fell roughly into place, his angled face looking serious.
"Whatever I can hear, I am sure my friends can as well." Kenshin informed him, not moving from his place.
Saitou interjected coldly, "Save your sentimentality. This is important, and you may share it later with your… friends if you feel the situation warrants it." He turned to step inside the dojo himself, unguided.
Yahiko suddenly darted out, stopping abruptly at the top of the steps, "Busu – are you coming, or what?" He noticed Saitou looking up at him with a bored expression, "Aw, he's here? What now?"
"I see the little brat has developed an attitude," the tall man commented. "Well, never mind. Move aside, child," he told Yahiko roughly, putting a sour stain on the word 'child'.
"Hey! Excuse me! I am -."
"Yahiko." Kenshin simply said.
Yahiko quieted, and let the two men pass, catching a warning look from Kenshin. He blinked, never having caught that sort of warning glare from the usually sweet rurouni. "What's gotten into him?" he muttered, coming to stand beside Kaoru.
She put her hands on his shoulders and shushed him, "I don't know. I expect we'll all find out soon enough."
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Saitou stood at a window in the practice room, his tall form outlined by the noonday sun. He shifted the sword belted at his side, rigid posture giving him an abrupt look. He turned back to look at Kenshin who had seated himself against the dojo wall, laying his sakabatou beside himself.
"Did you come here looking for another fight?" Kenshin demanded bluntly. "Because I assure you, you are not going to get it."
Smiling, the former Wolf shook his head, "The day I come looking for a fight with you, will be the day you learn to stain that blade of yours crimson. Until then, it is below me to fight one such as yourself."
Kenshin inclined his head, "I thank you for your honesty, but I am afraid then, you will never receive your fight."
"Then so be it. But I did not come here for that." Saitou sank to the floor across from Kenshin, leaning his back against a pillar. "My, what drab conditions you live in, Battousai," he commented dryly, eyeing the inside of the dojo that was rather bare.
Kenshin fidgeted and muttered, "Well, I wasn't exactly born and bred to housekeeping."
Saitou grunted something in reply, then, "I've come to do something which is very difficult, even for me." He glanced up at Kenshin, looking him straight in the eyes, "I've come to ask for your help again." Saitou sighed, "There. I've said it."
"Help?" Kenshin echoed, not quite believing his ears.
"Don't make me say it again, Battousai," Saitou growled. He continued, launching into the problem before Kenshin could make further comment, "As you know, the British ambassador is coming next week to the country on a routine tour to make sure everything is functioning smoothly, as well as keep up 'peaceful' relations with our government and make a show of good will toward the people."
"Naturally," was all Kenshin said.
"Humph." Saitou shrugged, "We got a message that he is arriving shortly, and is already aboard a ship heading for Japan. His first stop will be Tokyo. However, ever since the journey began, we've received mysterious reports of…deaths occurring randomly in his wake."
Kenshin looked thoughtful, "Mysterious deaths? You make it seem like some violent drama you just invented in that head of yours."
"Don't insult me," Saitou warned. "I'm being serious. People have been found brutally slaughtered, who are closely connected to the ambassador. Or rather, found in pieces, might be the words I'm looking for. The victims disappear for a time, and then an arm, a leg, and finally a head will be found." He said this all very calmly, adjusting his sword by his side. "We fear for the ambassador's life," he added.
"And you want me…"
"I want you to act as bodyguard while he's here. Not only that, I want your help in locating the person, or network responsible for these deaths. I don't want them coming into my city or my country, if they can be avoided."
Kenshin shook his head, "I'm sorry, Saitou, but that would mean leaving Tokyo."
"Who knows – we'll probably catch the one behind this all before the ambassador moves on," Saitou examined a hand.
"I will offer my help while he is in Tokyo, but in asking me to leave, I cannot do that," Kenshin informed him, standing up. "I'm sorry, but I owe Miss Kaoru this."
"Oh, 'Miss Kaoru this', and 'Miss Kaoru that'. Snap out of it, Battousai," Saitou hissed, getting to his feet to tower of the short man. "When people start dying, how will it feel to know that you must add those lives to those already hanging upon your conscience, eh?"
Kenshin's face was hidden beneath his bangs, his head bowed.
"Wake up, Himura Kenshin," Saitou told him in a low and dangerous voice. "You stay, only to preserve the 'rurouni' and to keep Battousai at bay. Your major mistake is in thinking that you can separate the two. You cannot. You are an assassin, as much as you are a wanderer. And when you realize this, rethink your motives for remaining here." He gave Kenshin a mocking bow.
Kenshin had not moved.
"You have a day to decide, no longer. The ambassador's ship docks in less than two days. I will await your reply tomorrow evening – you are not to share this with anyone, except for your so-called friends. Good day."
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The three in the courtyard were still when Saitou passed them without a word, carriage haughty and eyes fixed straight ahead. They all stared at him until his figure had disappeared from the dojo, and then ran inside to learn of what had transpired between the two men.
"Well, what'd he say, Kenshin?" Sano asked, beating a fist in the palm of his hand, "I can't believe his nerve, showing up here all unannounced -."
"You told him off, didn't you?" A curious Yahiko jumped up in excitement. "He left here looking rather unhappy!"
"You can say that again," Megumi suddenly stepped into the dojo behind the quiet Kaoru. "I saw that Saitou leaving here with the most disgusted expression I've ever seen on his face."
"And who invited a Fox like you in here?" Sano exclaimed in dismay. "It seems everyone is turning up in our dojo uninvited today."
"Your dojo?" Kaoru spoke for the first time. "You're one to talk, Sagara Sanosuke."
"Aw, be easy on him," Megumi told Kaoru, smiling. "Besides, you need some more of the feminine element here, surrounded by all men, as you are. Right, Ken-san?" She moved over to the quiet man and put her arms around him, purring into his ear.
Kenshin made no acknowledgement of her presence, or her touch. Although Kaoru fumed, and promptly screamed a few unintelligible words at Megumi, he did not react to that either.
"Kenshin?" Sano finally clutched the man's gi, and smacked him across the cheek. "Wake up, will ya?"
Blinking, Kenshin shook himself free and took a step back. They had all expected a surprised 'oro' from him, but instead, he merely stared at the other four mournfully. He raised a hand to rub at his throbbing cheek, red spreading over his light skin.
"What'd that bastard want?" Yahiko demanded.
"Shh," Kaoru told him, putting a finger to her lips. "Megumi, would you help me prepare dinner?" She asked the lovely doctor, motioning to the kitchen.
Megumi nodded, and followed her inside.
"I wonder what's up with him," she asked Kaoru, starting to slice a vegetable viciously. "DON'T TOUCH!" she suddenly yelled, pointing her knife at a sack of rice Kaoru was bending over to untie. "You just sit, before you burn something," Megumi told her, and went back to preparing dinner.
Kaoru was too worried about Kenshin to even think about giving Megumi a comeback to that stab at her pathetic cooking. She decided to just get the crockery, and laid that out as Megumi brought the hastily prepared dinner.
She knew by the expressions of the three men in the room that Kenshin had not divulged any information, and she heaved a sigh as they all gathered round to sample the doctor's cooking. Dinner was a quiet affair, four of them eating, and Kenshin just sitting and staring into nothing.
Finally, Kaoru could stand it no longer, "Kenshin! Just say something, will you?"
There was a silence.
Then he looked up, but he saw only her. "I'm leaving, Miss Kaoru."
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A/N: Yay! Kenshin's told them…sort of. As always, reviews are really appreciated and taken to heart ^_^ Thanks bunches for taking time to read my fic.