Ugh, Gomen Nasai for the extremely long wait between chapters!

"Talking"

'Thinking'

Mushi - Bugs in general

I might as well say it again, I don't own Rurouni Kenshin and this doesn't follow the exact storyline! Enjoy!

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Kaoru peeked out the door, before tip-toeing out and sliding it quietly behind her with a sigh. It had been almost a week now since they'd discovered Kenshin's eye problem and she still felt it hanging over her. She hadn't seen Kenshin since either. Oh sure, maybe she had been avoiding him, and the others didn't say anything about Kenshin's location around her to spare her feelings, but it wasn't helping.

'Well, I did catch a glimpse of red hair here and there but it's just not the same.'

She thought things like that as she left the dojo and walked to the bridge. It was night now, and she liked to come here sometimes to watch the water and forget her troubles.

It was only until she realized that there were other people lurking in the shadows at either end of the bridge that Kaoru decided going off on her own without a sword was a bad idea.

'Sanosuke mentioned bandits but no, you had to go wandering off without telling anyone!'

"Hey there pretty lady, what are ya up to?"

"It's not safe for a little girl like you to go wandering around at night, ya know."

"Yeah, didn't ya hear about the Mushi Bandits being in town?"

Five thugs surrounded Kaoru from all sides. They all had short swords out, but looked very confident. They knew they didn't need to protect themselves from her.

"Well then, thank you for telling me, gentlemen. Now, if you'll excuse me -"

The lead bandit held out his sword and stopped her.

"You ain't going anywhere, small fry."

There was a gust of wind and suddenly a thug fell over. The others and Kaoru blinked.

"What's with him? He - uhh…"

A second thug toppled over mid-sentence.

"Spread out! Some wise guy's throwing rocks!"

"No way, these two are like they somebody hit 'em over the head with a dead horse!"

Kaoru tried edging away but the leader was smarter then the others and held his sword at her throat.

"Whoever's out there, show yourself or the girl dies!"

"As you wish."

Kaoru gasped in shock as Kenshin appeared out of nowhere, standing on the railing with a hand resting on the hilt of his Sakabatou. The bandits began grumbling about 'the no-good punk' but Kaoru just stared in astonishment.

'But I thought he couldn't see well, even in the daytime! And even for me, it's pitch-black out!'

"You should leave now before you end up like your friends."

Kenshin pointed to the unconscious pair.

'He did that? I know the Hiten Mitsurugi is fast, but the second time he didn't even cause a wind! If he even did the first time…what's going on?'

While Kaoru tried to figure it out, the bandits tried rushing Kenshin. The Rurouni didn't even bother drawing his sword, instead knocking them all out with one swing of the sheath. Then he walked up to Kaoru.

"Hello again Kaoru-dono. It's nice to see you after you were hiding away all this time."

Kenshin was grinning as he always did. Kaoru didn't know what to think anymore.

"You mean…you can actually see me? But I thought…"

"Well, I can't see you like I used to," Kenshin admitted. "But, I've gotten quite good at seeing even like this, that I have."

"But where have you been all this time? It's been nearly a week! I was worried sick! Honestly Kenshin, you have absolutely no respect for other people's problems!"

Kenshin blinked as Kaoru stomped on a bandit's head as she began heading back to the dojo, still complaining. Kenshin followed behind her, smiling at the same old Kaoru.

"Kenshin, I swear sometimes you are completely hopeless! And another thing, you haven't had a bath since you left have you? You're not setting a single foot inside until you get cleaned up! And somebody's going to have to get all those tangles out too. You need to learn to take better care of yourself Kenshin, your hair's a complete rat's nest! And another thing…"