Chapter Summary- Kenshin's first night IN the dojo.

IMPORTANT- My RuoKen stories are based on the MANGA version not the anime, so if anything confuses you I'll try to explain it at the end of the chapter.

Disclaimer- Sessha does not own Rurouni Kenshin, even know he is Rurouni Kenshin de gozaru.

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"A sword is a weapon. Kenjutsu is the art of killing. Whatever pretty words you use to speak of it, this is its true nature."

-Himura Kenshin, Manga Volume I chapter I

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Himura and Kamiya

Chapter Three- Unable to sleep

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"Twenty Eight."

Kamiya Kaoru lay in her futon recalling the day's earlier events unable to sleep.

Many things had happen that day. Her previous night was horrible, she had almost gotten her self killed and was helplessly rescued by a man, a short man. Was she so helpless that someone of almost the same build as her had to save her? It seems so, yes. Then only later in the evening after he carried her all the way home she ends up pouring out her emotions and telling the damn rurouni off. She felt bad, but she was never to see him again.

She was wrong.

He was in her dreams that night saving her like a hero, again. She awoke the next morning remembering the dreams, but pushed the pleasant thoughts out her head, she was never going to see the nameless man again.

She was wrong again.

That morning she had gone to Tokyo's market with her houseguest Kihei in tow. In the midst of her shopping she noticed the police were having trouble with a man, a red haired-man. It was the Rurouni. It seems he had gotten caught with his sword and had given them a bit of trouble. Kaoru argued with the police to set him free only to have them noticed that she taught at Battousai's dojo, this made her a little ticked and she let them know. Kihei smoothed the argument by discreetly handing one of the patrol some money and they let the rurouni go with a warning. Knowing very well the man was not rich and was wandering Kaoru offered a place to stay while in town, but he humbly refused he had plans to take care of. She also tried to apologize and thank him for saving her but he brushed it off, for he was a rurouni and she shouldn't worry about such matters when it came to him. She exchanged some information with him about the Battousai and they parted ways. Kaoru wondered what kind of things he would have to tend too; but then again she would never see him so it was of no matter.

She was wrong once again.

Later that day she was in the dojo reading when a cup broke on it's own. Bad Omen. Just then Kihei came in and revealed his intentions to Kaoru. She was to give him the dojo willingly or with force, that's when his younger brother Gohei stepped in. She took one look at the tall man and realized she was standing in front of Battousai. Or so it seemed a fake one as Kihei explained all you needed to do was mention the name and everyone got scared. The past two months of her life was evidence of that.

Kaoru tried again to defend her self but was put in her place with a blow to the shoulder and then held by her gi dangling from Gohei's grasp. Death was rushing through her head again when she saw a yearning for it in his eyes.

All of the sudden though at the perfect moment there was a snap at the entrance of the dojo and a man fell to the ground. The Rurouni was standing behind him. Kaoru was frightened, she was scared now that the delicate looking man was now going to be killed because of her too, but why did he come back? He asked for her to be set free while he started to stalk closer to them. Gohei asked if he believed in the 'sword that protects life' non-sense she did, his answer was a curt 'no'. Kaoru felt her heart tug, another person did not believe in her ideals. He went on to say Kenjutsu was an art of killing, nothing more, nothing less. However he went on to add that he would like the 'joke of ideals' to become its true nature one day. She was surprised at his words again, and he even managed to pull off another one of those smiles.

Everything got very serious again in an instance when the brother's thugs challenged the man. Her fear returned for the rurouni, he was going to die. Or so she thought.

She screamed for him to get way, but the rurouni disappeared. Everyone was stunned, he was before the men drawing his sword and picking up speed. Where had this come from! With a few strokes and minimal labor the attackers lay on the floor defeated. Utter shock.

He turned to them to look over his side with sword resting on shoulder and glared at them with cold but a bit mischief in his eyes. He proclaimed the Hitokiri Battousai did not use her style, he used The Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu, a school that guaranteed a quick death but do to his Sakabatou they were saved. Realization shocked through Kaoru's mind.

The smiling Rurouni was the Hitokiri Battousai.

Everything after that was a blur on Kaoru's mind. Gohei challenged Battousai, and lost after he was plummeted by an air attack. After that her hero tried to make a retreat after apologizing about lying to her, but before she knew it the words were coming out her mouth, she asked him to stay with her. Her offer did not look like it was going to be taken so she settled for at least asking his name.

It was Kenshin, Himura Kenshin. It was a perfect name for him, 'heart of the sword'. The man before her obviously lived by the sword and was going to probably die by the sword one day. Kaoru thought it was impossible for him to have any other name.

She was so surprised when he also added that he wouldn't mind staying with her, only for a little while though. He was a rurouni and a time to wonder again would come but right now he was a little tired of the life. Kaoru had no time to think about being happy or second-guessing her decision for asking him to stay with her, there was so much more that happened after that. The police came and cleaned out all the men that made an attack on her; she had to answer their questions too. Kenshin stayed out of it as much as he could trying to hide in the background but the question of who beat them up did rise a few times. After the police left he graciously helped her clean the dojo doing most of the work himself. Then it was time for dinner; he once again stepped in and cooked it for her. He was a good cook, she would have to ask him to do it for her more often, Kenshin was a lot better than she was. Then after an awkward evening of scrambling up a guest bedroom for him they bid each other goodnight. It was late and she was tired, they would work out the details tomorrow because everything was going by to fast.

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So now she lay in her futon unable to sleep. Hitokiri Battousai is asleep not so far from her room but she was not thinking about that prospect of it at all, only one thought stayed in her mind above all the others.

"Twenty-eight, he's TWENTY-EIGHT!"

Kaoru was utterly amazed, and utterly mad. How can Kenshin be so old! Her mine was boggled when she found out his age which was shortly after he agreed to stay. He himself wasn't even really certain what it was at first, he made a comedic attempt to figure it out by counting on his fingers. Kenshin probably hadn't even thought about his birthday in many years, it didn't matter when you wondered all over Japan and didn't have a soul to tell about it. The thing was he looked so very young. In her mindset he shouldn't have been much older than her, early twenties at the max. He was short which made him look younger, his face was smooth and innocent looking except for the scar that marred his left cheek. The hair colour brought about a more cheerful appearance to him, he always seemed happy on the posterior except when he slashed through Gohei and his men earlier. An almost thirty year old that fought through the revolution should be tired and rugged looking, they should definitely not look like Kenshin.

What made her mad was the fact that when she turns twenty-eight she is probably not going to look like a teenager any more like he does. 'What in the world was going on with that man's breeding anyway?' Another question arose with that thought. Red hair and violet eyes. 'What kind of background did he have for him to appear with such exotic features?' That was a question she would have to save for another day and ask him himself.

Her mind was bustling with thoughts about Kenshin and his appearances; sleep was not coming soon. Kaoru decided to some fresh air to calm her self; the stuffy room was not helping. Carefully she climbed out of bed and slip on another layer of clothing over her yukata to keep the nights chill away. Made her way outside quietly and sat on the porch outside her room still locked in thought.

Minutes later musings ceased when she heard a rather large thud emanating from the dojo. A similar thing had happened the night before to her but this time it sounded to big to be a cat. She once again jumped to her feet but decided on grabbing a real weapon this time instead of a garden tool. Lucky for her she always kept a boken handy in her room just in case, and this might be the case. Similar sounds were emerging from the dojo again. 'Did Gohei or his brother get free and come back to get me?' Kaoru clamped down, she was mad if that was the fact, how dare they come back again and bother her after being beaten to a pulp by Kenshin. She gathered the material of her yukata closer and started making her way towards the dojo.

After creeping her way to the dojo she peered in and saw a candle lit in the middle, but nothing else. She took a step forward inside and then that's when she saw something out of the corner of her eye. Kaoru quickly swung her boken to the side towards the object in self-defense. No contact was made and she quickly found herself off balance and falling to the floor. The floor never came but she did land on something hard but at the same time soft.

"Itai!" Kaoru winced in pain, the landing hurt. A deep moan was heard from below her and she stiffened. 'Ano . . . what did I land on?' Frightened she turned her head down and saw a somewhat familiar shade of red; hair was spilled on the ground below her. Bending her head more she locked onto eyes, violet eyes. She blinked, Kenshin blinked.

"Kaoru-dono?"

"Kenshin?"

Oh, how so wrong she had been earlier when she thought he was almost the same build as she was. The hard thing she landed on was Kenshin's chest and it was all muscle. Kaoru could tell because she had her hands all over it bracing herself along with half of her being. Second-guessing this man's strength would never come again.

"Ano . . . Are you okay?"

Kaoru blinked again, she realized she had been staring at the poor man below her for more than an appropriate time and quickly jumped to the side a little embarrassed. 'Kaoru-chan stop staring like an idiot!'

Kenshin was a little stunned about what had just transpired. All he knew was all the sudden something had been swung at him and the girl slipped because she failed to hit him so he dived underneath her to break the fall. Next he found himself being straddled by Kaoru-dono and her gaze fixed on him rather uncomfortably.

"Hai . . .Gomen but I heard noises in the dojo," Kaoru squeaked out a little reluctantly.

"Aa, then it is me who should apologize, sessha was the one who caused them." 'He was the one to cause them, what in the heck was he doing?' She decided to ask.

"What were you doing out here Kenshin?"

"Gomen nasai Kaoru-dono, Sessha was practicing Kata because he couldn't sleep. Sessha hopes he did not offend you by using the dojo . . ."

'Offend me? What a sweet man.'

"Kenshin, you are my quest and as I said earlier I want you to make yourself at home, you can do anything you want. You scared me though, I forgot you were here and figured it might have been thieves or something. I'm sorry for attacking you," Kaoru giggled a little at her mistake. 'Great, first day here and I try to assault the man, AGAIN!'

"Don't worry about me Kaoru-dono you will not hurt me." Kenshin spoke the truth, even if she ever did end up connecting one of her surprise attacks she wouldn't be able to harm him. Hitokiri Battousai can take a beating from a woman, dojo instructor or not.

She giggled again, that was probably true. "You were practicing? Can I watch?"

"Sessha was done for tonight."

"Oh."

"But if you want to next time . . ." Kenshin usually, well actually never practiced in front of anyone but if the time arose he felt he wouldn't mind if the girl watched. Tonight was out of the ordinary for him too, he usually never practiced in a dojo, wide-open spaces were needed for the Hiten style if it was to be used to the fullest. However he could not sleep at all and practicing kata was the only thing he could think of to tire himself out.

"I would like that." Kaoru was pleased immensely that he was honoring her enough with a practice session one day. Not many people in Japan have seen his sword style in action.

Kenshin smiled. "Well sessha should try to go to sleep." He stood up and started to head for the door.

"Ano, Kenshin, I couldn't sleep. Could you stay with me for a while? We could start to get to now each other maybe." A small pink tinge started to appear on her cheeks, but if he was going to be staying for a while, why not?

Hesitantly Kenshin made his way back to Kaoru and sat in front of her placing his sword to the side. "What would Kaoru-dono like to know?"

'Kaoru-dono would like to know a lot of things, first off, why the dono?' Sigh. "I'm not sure." That was a lie.

"Aa." He chuckled at the girl, Kaoru had quit the fiery spirit but she could also be very timid and shy. "Sessha has a question, if you may?"

"Hai."

"Why did you want me to stay, don't you mind living with a complete stranger?" This was the question that kept him up all night; he didn't get her reasoning at all.

"Well it's exactly like I said before, I don't care about peoples past and, well, I've been alone for a while now and the only way to have company is with a stranger I guess."

Kenshin understood fully now, she was lonely. He himself had been in a similar predicament now for over a decade and knew exactly what she was going through. A common bond was made between the two that night. "Sessha understands," Kenshin smiled knowing at the girl.

She looked up at Kenshin and saw him smiling at her. New feelings washed through her. The most important was trust. Seeing him giving her that smile she knew that no harm was ever going to come to her from Kenshin. She never really ever thought about fearing him before but she should very well of. He was the Hitokiri Battousai for Kami-sama sake. Anyone else would of turned him away for fear of there lives but this man reassured her he was done with his killing days and was never, ever going to take a life again. Secretly she wondered if push came to shove if he would be able to keep that vow. There had to be some people out there looking for revenge on the great Himura Battousai, and that meant his death. She hoped that situation would never arise, it would break her heart if the happy man in front of her had to kill again because of his past. Clearly he was trying to make a new life and separate it from the old.

They talked for about another half an hour, nobody got to personal though and neither one of them was about to dig into the others lives. They both had painful pasts and would like to leave that conversation for another day if it ever came to being that personal. Kenshin found out a little more about Kaoru's school and the area he was staying in. Kaoru managed to pull some information about Kenshin's travels through Japan, not too much though. She knew getting facts out the man would be far and few and he would be the one telling her when he felt like it.

Slumber slowly crept up on each other and they felt it was time to sleep. They both were a little reluctant to go back to sleep because of their newfound friendship. It had been a long time since both of them had been in such carefree company but it was getting late and they had tomorrow. They bid each other good night and went to there separate rooms.

Kenshin's original plan was only to stay for a week max and help her with the dojo rejuvenation. After seeing the girl's hidden loneliness he felt the need to perhaps stay a little longer than that. Kaoru wasn't beautiful like a Geisha but she was pretty and cute, it was likely in the near future she would find a husband and have all her problems solved when she found love. Temper and spunk seemed to come as a package deal with her but Kenshin didn't mind her challenging emotions. Unknowingly Kenshin decided he would stay until he felt his presence was not needed any more, physically or emotionally, but until then he would enjoy the companionship of the dojo girl.

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To be continued . . .

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Next Chapter- Settling in at the Kamiya Dojo.

Author's Notes-

*Cough* . . . umm, yeah, a little to many 'sesshas' to drive you to the loony bin, but I promise I won't add in any 'de gozarus' to grate on your nerves any further. I know it's a little redundant but Kenshin's speech is such a key part to his character structure, so live with it!

All right so as I explained before in the previous chapter's notes Kenshin does not take up on Kaoru's first offer of room and board. Before he came to her rescue the next day he was out researching the fake Battousai. The guy at the door Kenshin knocked down when we seem him come back to the dojo again was one of Gohei's thugs guarding the brother's place. Most likely Kenshin made the guy bring him to where Gohei was, then knocked him out, heh heh. (So yeah, there was never that bit about Kaoru's father breaking Gohei's thumb.) Kihei wanted the dojo because Tokyo was building up fast and the dojo's worth was going to tenfold soon. So he sent his brother Gohei out as the fake Battousai so she would have to sell the dojo when she lost all her students. But we all now Kenshin came to her rescue when they tried to force her, blah blah blah. Thanks for reading, let me know what you think!

Glossary-

Kenshin- Ken=sword, Shin=heart: 'Heart of the sword'.

Ano- equivalent to 'umm'.

Sessha- Kenshin's archaic way of saying 'I', instead of using 'Watashi', 'Ore' and so on…

Kaoru-dono- 'Miss Kaoru', more polite and outdated version of 'Kaoru-san/sama', only Kenshin uses this.

Hai- 'Yes', also said when agreeing with something.

Gomen- Sorry.

Gomen Nasai- More formal way of saying sorry.

Aa- It's kind of like 'yes', men usually say it when they are agreeing with something. Kenshin says it a lot.

Kami-sama- Japanese version of 'Oh my god' or 'for Christ's sake', get the drift?

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Thanx!