Author's Note: Here's chapter two. It's split into two parts: one from Kenshin' POV, and one from Kaoru's POV. Hehehe… here you'll find out what Kenshin is really thinking while he's acting all goody-goody. Let's just say appearances can be deceiving. And pleaseee review!!!

Disclaimer: If you even think about suing me, I'll hunt you down like a flamboyantly gay man in some serious need of bargain-priced designer clothing. (just kidding ^_^x) Warning: Use of colorful language.

Chapter One: Appearances Aren't Always What They Seem

Fuck. Why me? Why do I have to be such a God-damn pushover? Because, I'm posing as a freaking rurouni. That's why. Why couldn't I of chosen to pose as something a little more feared? I hate these incognito type jobs. They suck. But I do need the money. And that pretty, yet creepily psychotic lady is paying me an awful lot of money, so I guess posing as some pansy of a rurouni isn't so bad. Let's see, my target is 6'2", brown hair and brown eyes, muscular, wears the word "Bad" on his back… he shouldn't be too hard to find. He sounds like the drinking gambling type -I'll check out the local bar.

I marched into the nearest bar, using my most imposing stance…. to be greeted by laughter? The minute I stepped into the bar, the entire room broke into laughter. I, the Battousai –the most feared man of the revolution, am very unaccustomed to this kind of reaction. I am a deadly man –to be treated with respect. Do these fools know whom they are laughing at? Then it dawned on me. Here I was, a man with flaming red hair and a not altogether imposing figure wearing a fuchsia colored haori and carrying a reverse-blade sword. I supposed I looked just as girly as I felt wearing this ridiculous get-up. But my employer had insisted I wear it to look unassuming.

Unassuming my ass! I looked like some fruitcake who was very unsure of his sexuality. And the useless reverse-blade sword at my side did nothing to help. It was just dead weight –some piece of junk that my employer had insisted I use in place of my real sword so I could not actually kill the target. She just wanted him unconscious and begging for mercy and had heard how I sometimes get caught up in the thrill of the chase –and well, let's just say there aren't any of my targets still alive to tell the tale.

I was getting majorly pissed when a large brawny man walked up to me with a huge smirk on his face. I smiled back, but only because I was imagining that same face smiling –in two pieces on the floor. Then the man spoke, "Hey there, little guy. I think you wandered into the wrong place. You don't belong here. Go back to your little farm where you belong. It gets ruff in here –I would feel awful knowing that an innocent was killed in a mere bar fight." I sized up the man –tall, brown hair and eyes, the sign of "bad" on his back. It matched the description –this was my target. I kept that same idiotic smile plastered on my face and replied, "Yes, I suppose I'm as innocent as a infamous man-slayer can get, that I am."

The entire bar burst into laughter, once again. I was getting tired of this, very quickly. For crying out loud! I'm Battousai the manslayer, not Battousai the comedian. I will not stand for this insolence any longer I- "You, little man? An infamous manslayer? How much exactly have you been drinking big-shot?" That was the final straw. I whipped out the sakabatou. It may not be able to pierce flesh, but it sure as hell could chop a table in half.

I chopped one… two… three tables, six chairs, and the bar in half before my anger was sufficiently calmed and I could point the sword at a man without feeling the overwhelming urge take his life. I smiled… the bar was deadly silent. Who were those bastards laughing at now?

"Wha-what exactly are you trying to do buddy? We don't want any trouble.", my target said in a shaky voice.

"I'm not here to make trouble, I'm just here to knock you unconscious and drag you back to your psychotic drug-dealing girlfriend." I replied nonchalantly.

"Me-Megumi set you up to this?" He questioned in almost a whisper, his eyes clouding over in fear.

"Yes, and if I were you, I'd fear her more than I would fear me. Do you know how much she is paying me for this? I usually personally deliver the target's head on a silver platter for this kind of money. She is going to great lengths to see to it that you are returned to her." I smirked in satisfaction as I saw my target gulp. Watching this bastard squirm was more fun than I thought it might be.

"D-did she s-say why?" He stuttered, clearly nervous about the situation.

"Nothing specifically, but judging from her condition, she looked about six months pregnant and like she's been smoking half of the stuff she sells. And imparting from the fact that you supposedly disappeared from her six months ago, I'd say you're going to be a father."

The man just stared at me for a good 10 seconds before stuttering out "p-p-preg-pregnant?"

"Did I stutter? My advice –never knock up bitch with enough money to send an assassin after you. But oh, look at that –it's too fucking late! Haha. Somehow, I don't mind not being able to kill you, because I just know that what's waiting for you at home will be much more painful than any injury I could ever inflict."

Much to my disappointment, the man fainted at my feet. I didn't even get to beat him up a little bit. Oh well. It's of no concern to me. This has to be the easiest money I've ever made. And I could finally get out of these damn rurouni clothes. I carried the man back to my client's house, received payment, and headed back to the Inn where I was staying.

(Kaoru's POV)

Hmmm… this is the place. The Saysaki Inn. The Battousai is staying here. Excellent. Finally, after all this time, I've managed to track him down. Vengeance will be mine. He'll never know what hit him. I'll make a surprise attack -kill him in his sleep. No, if I kill him in his sleep, he'll die instantly. This bastard needs to suffer. I will make him feel physically what I've been going through mentally for the past 5 years. He will know pain because of me. He will know torture because of me.

I am dark… invincible… I know no mercy… my blade know no limits… I have no conscience… I have no regrets… I am the shadow of death. I repeated this mantra several times. It was a little something my sensei taught me to recite whenever I began to doubt myself ~it always seemed to return me to my shell. The shell that didn't let any emotion in or out. The shell that locked my heart in a vice-grip and squeezed any emotion out of it like a sponge. The shell that had become an alter ego of sorts. The shell is on a level of it's own. I'm no longer Kaoru Kamiya who loves kids, nature, and can't cook to save her life. I am the death's shadow –the embodiment of anger, who lives and breathes hatred –whose sole purpose is to eliminate the man who destroyed her.

I sometimes wonder how I could have allowed myself to sink into such depths as to resort to brainwashing myself into a state of fighting perfection and emotional turmoil. The old Kaoru would say I'm just a ruin of my former self- the rotten waste left from the slow decomposition of a once beautiful soul. I still agree in some ways. As I have mentioned before, I admire people who can openly display emotion in battle –it is a mark of strength, something that not even I can do without losing myself and letting my shell fall. But then again… we are all ugly inside. Beauty is, after all, only skin-deep. Everyone has at least a portion of tainted soul. It's human nature to be selfish, greedy, and egotistical. We humans are such hypocrites –claiming to have pure souls while we deny having the darker sanctums that we so often indulge. I on the other hand have embraced this dark side of humanity and used it to my advantage. There's no escaping yourself, so why not manipulate the evil seeds that have been planted within you since birth?

All musings aside, I arrived at the Inn and found his room. I was fully prepared to face the duel of my life. But that damnably illusive Battousai was nowhere to be seen. Curiously, his robes and sword were strewn about the floor. Now where could that bastard be without any clothes? What could he be up to that he had no need of his sword? Very interesting indeed. Perhaps I should take a few souvenirs of his to remind him that he's not above being victim of a common burglary. Yes, I may not have taken your life tonight, but I have taken your sword, which you are helpless without. Your life is as good gone. Maybe I'll just take his clothes too. Hehe, oh Kaoru, you are a sneaky one!

(Back to Kenshin's POV)

Ah… finally back at the Inn… now to change out of these god-forsaken fruity rurouni clothes. Wha-WHAT?! Where are all my clothes!!! And where is my sword? Jesus tap dancing Christ -I've been robbed! Oh, someone is going to be in so much pain for this. They took my sword… that-that means I'm stuck in these clothes? That means I'll have to use this worthless reverse-blade sword? FUCK. I'm stuck looking like some hobo rurouni. What's this? A letter?

Battousai,

You're fortunate I only took your clothes and sword tonight. Don't worry I'll be back soon for what I missed –your life. Until then, sleep secure in the knowledge that I hold possession of your only means of defense and that not even you, the mighty Battousai is above being victim to a common-place robbery.

Until we meet again,

-Shadow of Death

A/N: Ok, end of chapter two. I'm on my hands and knees begging… REVIEW!!!! Please!!! Come on, you know you want to ^_^x. Any extra comments/questions you can e-mail me at dragongrlz@cs.com or qtpievtg@cs.com. And Huge thanks to the people who did review. *runs and enthusiastically glomps reviewers. Next chapter: Kenshin and Kaoru meet.