Disclaimer: I don't own RK blah blah blah....

A.N. Writing and editing are therapeutic. This is a new discovery I have made. I never knew this about myself. Family has begun to drive me insane. So here's the next chapter, a little sooner than expected. For the most part, it's about Hideki and how she managed to end up in the Revolution disguised as a man.

Enjoy!

R&R Pls!

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Secrets of the Revolution

Chapter 5

Himura opened the door to the tea room and entered silently. All three men watched him as he set aside his sword and sat down on the waiting cushion. He was still covered in blood. They could see it on his blue gi and grey hakama. His exposed skin and hair were cleaned they could see. But the smell was still there. Yamagata shifted uncomfortably; he wasn't used to dealing with the odour like Katsura or Shinsaku. Himura noticed Yamagata's movement, and also knew that it had to do with his smell. Hell, even he was disgusted at how he smelled, but he couldn't exactly ask Katsura Kogoro, Yamagata Aritomo and Takasugi Shinsaku to wait while he bathed, cleaned his clothes and allowed them to dry. It was better that he got the explanation over with and get them out.

"How is Hideki?" Katsura asked.

"He'll be fine. He needs to rest for a few days so his injury can heal."

"How did he get injured?" Yamagata piped up. Himura turned his glance at Yamagata, he was still a bit sore about the ambush. They had defiantly been set up. And someone was going to pay for injuring Hideki.

"He was impaled by a Shinsengumi samurai."

"What? Shinsengumi?" Katsura exclaimed.

"They were ambushed by a few squads of Shinsengumi. We have a spy in out midst." Shinsaku said quietly. Himura stiffened at the word 'spy'... Tomoe was supposedly a spy. And at first she was, but things changed as they lived together. Even the mention of the word 'spy' upset Himura. His amber eyes narrowed at Shinsaku who flatly refused to maintain eye contact with the Hitokiri.

Katsura was visibly angry. Yamagata and Shinsaku both claimed their soldiers were trustworthy, and he never questioned them. But after seeing the blood soaked and weakened Hideki he began to wonder.

"A spy?! A SPY! Damnit Shinsaku! I trusted you and your soldiers to keep these men alive and in one piece! And yet, one of them returned severely injured!" Katsura yelled.

He had a point, but Himura held up his hand. He wasn't used to seeing Katsura this angry. Nor had he ever seen him express his anger so vehemently. Katsura took a few deep breaths. He knew he had to be sensible in order to be able to think of a strategy for payback.

"I'm sorry. We didn't know." Yamagata said quietly.

"You mentioned you had a spy. Do you know who it is?" Himura asked.

Pause.

"Yes."

"Tell me."

All three men looked at Himura in surprise at his tone. It was quietly menacing, deep, gravely, and very angry. Himura had his amber eyes locked on his sword laying beside him. They all knew what he was thinking; he wanted to kill the spy. He wanted to make the man suffer.

"Himura." Katsura started.

"Tell me."

More frightening, more angry, amber flashed.

"It wasn't a man." Shinsaku said.

Himura froze. Not a man? He looked up at Shinsaku.

"It wasn't a man?" he echoed.

"Well, not directly. It was a geisha who got her information from an unwitting soldier." replied Shinsaku. Himura's eyes widened slightly. The spy being a woman and getting information from an unwitting young man was hitting too close to home for him.

"She worked for the shinsengumi, she was a contact between the ishinshishi and the shinsengumi. The boy, unprepared for his first sexual experience and trying to impress the woman, talked about knowing that the Battousai and another manslayer was going to ambush the soldiers. As much as the shinsengumi doesn't like the opposition, they still wanted to bring down the strongest imperialists. So they struck a deal with the tokugawa army and prepared to ambush you both." Shinsaku said quietly.

"A woman." Himura breathed. He couldn't believe it. A woman had been the leak. Boy, this day was defiantly a day of revelations with respect to women. "What do you plan to do with her?"

"We'll kill her." Katsura said simply. "If you'll excuse me, I must get back to Kyoto." He stood suddenly, Shinsaku followed suit and Yamagata mirrored both men. Katsura had a plan forming in his head and he needed to get back to Kyoto in order to put in into action.

"Take care of yourself and Hideki, Himura." Shinsaku said as the three men left the room, leaving a bewildered Battousai at their sudden urge to leave. Well, Katsura's sudden urge to leave, and the other two just following.

His stomach rumbled suddenly, bringing him back to the present. He was very hungry, and he still smelled of blood. Bath first, then food. It would give him a chance to get rid of some of the smell that constantly emitted from his body, and give Hideki some time to get some much needed sleep. Then he'd bring in some food for her, since she was probably very hungry too.

He stood up, grabbed his sword and made his way to the bath house. Starting the fire and allowing the water to heat, he went to find a change of clothes and a towel. He returned to the bath and tore the clothes off his person. He quickly rinsed and slid into the warm water. A bath wasn't something he often longed for, but after the last 24 hours, he found the water to be soothing on his grated nerves. Feeling slightly better, and noticing the bloody smell had diminished slightly, he climbed out of the tub and put on his yukata.

He left the bath house, carrying his bloody clothes with him, and made his way to the main house. He threw his gi and hakama with the rest of the laundry, thinking that he would do it later, after fixing some food for himself and Hideki.

Somehow, the mundane task of fixing dinner and doing the laundry seemed strangely appealing. It was much better than killing people that was for sure. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he could see himself doing things like this day to day and enjoying it.

"Better than killing people." He mumbled, as he prepared a tray to bring into Hideki.

"What's better than killing people?" a soft voice said behind him. Himura whirled around only to see a sleep-dishevelled young woman. For a moment he didn't recognize her. Her long brown hair was loose and flowing down her back, her blue eyes gentle and questioning, her fist clutched to her yukata to keep it closed. Himura blinked, amber swiftly fading to amethyst. The girl was Hideki. "What?" she asked suddenly feeling uncomfortable under his gaze. Kenshin smiled.

"You look totally different." he said. "You're very pretty." She smiled and blushed at his compliment. His smile vanished an instant later. "What the hell are you doing up?!" he exclaimed, grabbing her by the elbow and pushing her back towards her room.

"I was hungry! I thought you were still with Master Katsura so I thought I'd fix us some food." She said. Kenshin continued to push her towards her room.

"Master Katsura, Yamagata-san and Takasugi-san have all left. I've cooked something to eat for us, but you're not eating anything if you're not in your bed!" he scolded, treating her like a child. She rolled her eyes as they entered her room.

"Himura, I'm not a child. In case you've forgotten, I kill people for a living." She muttered as he pushed her back onto the futon.

"I know, I know. I do too, now please stay here. I'll bring you something to eat." He said, and got up to leave.

"Bring something for you too. I hate eating alone." She called after him. He nodded and left to grab the onigiri and miso soup he had hastily put together earlier and returned to her room.

"Once you finish, I want you to get some sleep. You need your rest if you want to get better." Kenshin said as he placed a tray over her legs and put a bowl of miso in front of her. He paused to see that she was staring at him, smiling. "What?" asking the exact same question she had asked him minutes before hand.

"You really are like a doting brother. It's very endearing, and very strange to see you like this, Himura." she said as she continued to smile at him. He smiled back at her.

"Kenshin."

"What?"

"Kenshin. Please, call me Kenshin."

Hideki blinked at him, momentarily shocked. Himura had always been what she called him. To call him by his first name would be too... familiar. It would be strange to say the least. She shook her head.

"I couldn't."

"You could. And you should." he replied simply as he bit into an onigiri. Hideki transferred her attention away from Himura who knelt at her side, to the tray of food before her. He watched her pause for a moment, staring at the food. "It's not poisoned. I'm not that bad of a cook." She laughed, picked up a rice ball and took a bite.

"Wow! This is good Himura! Not bad, for a man." She said, grinning. He grinned back.

"Kenshin." He said again.

"Himura... I can't." Hideki said softly. Bowing her head. "I can't call you that."

"Why not?"

"Because I can't."

He paused. She was looking at her and her hands as they clenched on her lap. Her reluctance to call him by his first name raised some questions in his head.

'Why can't she? What stops her? Why does she insist on calling me Himura? She only calls me Battousai when we joke around. She isn't afraid of me at all, and yet... the prospect of calling me by my first name seems to terrify her.'

But then, he remembered their first meeting, her animosity at her namesake, the bitterness in her voice as she talked about her "pathetic excuse for a father" as she put it.

'Maybe she doesn't want to call me by my first name, since she herself doesn't have one. Or maybe, she does, and didn't tell me then because it was a female name, and she was passing herself off as a man.'

They continued to eat in silence for a while. Himura was lost in thought, while Hideki concentrated of consuming as much food as she could before she got tired. Her sword wound was killing her with every breath she took, with every move of her arms, with every swallow as she tried to eat.

"What's your name?" Himura suddenly asked quietly. Hideki paused, her bowl halfway to her mouth as she looked over the brim at Himura. He kept his head bowed and looked at his empty tray. Hideki slowly put the bowl down and took a deep breath.

"I don't have one." She said, repeating herself once again to Himura.

"I don't believe you."

"Then don't, but I am telling you the truth."

"Then... why?"

She knew what he was asking. He wasn't simply asking for her name. He was asking for her past. What happened to her in her short life to have her end up thrown into the middle of the revolution as a manslayer? He wanted to know why she lacked a first name, why she killed, where she learned her swordsmanship, what happened to her family....

Hideki pushed her tray away and sighed.

"I guess there's no way I can rest until I tell you."

"That's right." Kenshin said as he gathered up the dishes and stood. "But not yet. Let me take these back to the kitchen, then you can fill me in."

"What if I don't want to?" she called to his retreating back. He stopped in the frame and looked over his shoulder.

"Did I give you the choice?"

Arguing with Himura the Battousai always proved to be fatal, since he usually won the argument by killing his opponent. Arguing with Himura Kenshin proved to be impossible. Kami-sama he was stubborn! Hideki sighed in resignation. Knowing that any arguments were futile she relented. Gathering the blankets from the futon, she crawled to one of the walls, propped herself against it and pulled the blankets up around her shoulders. She needed the back support, and she didn't want to be laying down as she explained her past to him. Kenshin walked in and found her like that, knowing that he was in for a long conversation, he sat next to her.

She took a deep breath, and began.

"I never knew my mother. She died giving birth to me. My father was a drunk, a gambler and an all around bastard. He was furious with my mother for dying while giving birth to me, and for having saddled him with a little girl. He had wanted a boy. So from what I can piece together from slurred comments he made while drunk, when he arrived home the night of my birth he found his wife dead in a pool of blood, a crying baby girl and two options. One: dump the body of his wife, along with the little girl or two: dump the body of his wife and keep the girl. He went with option two."

Hideki closed her eyes at the onslaught of painful memories from her childhood. Kenshin watched her silently, his face totally emotionless as her words passed over him.

"He dumped the body of my mother somewhere, cleaned up the blood and raised me as he saw fit. You see, he had a plan. His baby boy was going to be a famous yakuza manslayer. Everyone would fear his boy, and in return, they would fear him. Being born a girl was a minor hitch in his plan. He was determined to have a boy, and didn't want to wait any longer than necessary. He had a baby in his possession. He was the only one who knew what the baby's gender was. So he raised me as he would raise a son. Hell, even I didn't know I was a girl. I thought all boys were like me."

Kenshin remained still. His heart wrenched at the thought of a little girl thinking she was a little boy and could only imagine the emotional chaos that she felt when she realized her whole existence was a lie.

"He gave me my first sword at five years of age. He began to teach me all he knew about swordsmanship then too. Looking back it wasn't that much; basically how to hold a sword properly and swing it. All my attacks, my speed, my agility, I learned somewhat on my own."

Hideki fell silent at some bitter memory. She closed her eyes and did everything in her power to stop herself from crying. Summoning all her self control, she took a deep breath and willed the tears to stop. She couldn't cry. Not for any reason. She was a manslayer and manslayers don't cry.

"I killed a man for the first time when I was seven." She whispered. Kenshin watched her hand fist into the blanket tightly, her knuckles went white. "My father, disgusted with the fact that I wasn't getting stronger, decided to make me learn to be strong on my own. He told one man, a drunk like himself and who was a known pedophile, that his son was actually his daughter. The man, not one to hesitate when a little girl crosses his path, grabbed me one day and tried to force himself on me."

She shuddered, drawing her knees closer to her body at the thought. Kenshin placed a reassuring hand over her own which was still fisted in the blankets and nodded for her to go on.

"I found out I was a girl that day when that man stripped off his clothes presented himself to me and told me where it went. He had me pinned by the shoulders, and already my legs had been parted by his." Her tone became deeper, more menacing with each word she said. Kenshin watched her reverting to her old self, the one he was used to, Hideki, the manslayer. "I did all I could to protect myself. Using the small sword I always had with me, I stabbed him straight through the heart, killing him instantly."

She paused at the memory.

"It was the first time I tasted blood."

Kenshin tried to think how at seven years old, she had been dealt a huge emotional blow and managed to survive. At seven, he watched the entire slave trader company he belonged to get slaughtered by bandits. It was the first time he held a sword and saw blood, but he didn't spill any of it. He couldn't fathom how a seven year old could handle killing someone. Her voice brought him back from his own memories.

"I wasn't upset that I had killed a man. But I was upset that I had lived a lie up to that point. I was very angry at my father for making me believe I was a boy. And at seven years old, I vowed to become stronger, and kill my father.

"He had other ideas. He knew how to train me now. So for the next 6 years, he continually set men upon me, to attack, to kill, to rob, anything. I grew stronger, not by killing my attackers. I didn't take a single life for those whole 6 years. I wouldn't give my father the benefit of being related to a great killer; instead I allowed him the benefit of being the father of a strong swordsman who didn't kill. To the women, the geisha's and the whores, he was a hero. To the men, he was a laughing stock. It was the laughing that made him furious. So each and every time he sent men to attack me, he would send more and more, hoping to release my bloodlust and have me kill again.

"He got his wish, and more than he bargained for. The revolution had begun and I wanted to join it. I wanted peace. I didn't want another living soul to live the same way I did. And I wanted to be away from my father, as far away as humanly possible.

"On the night I left to join the imperialists, he was increasingly frustrated with my non-killing defeats of all those men. So 15 yakuza manslayers, with my father included, descended on me as I made my way home from the market. I killed each and every one of them, leaving my father for last. I wanted his last moments to be the most frightening moments of his entire life. I watched his face, frozen in fear as I easily killed the other 14 highly trained yakuza manslayers. I turned to him, only to see he had soiled himself and was begging for his life. I refused him his last request and relished the sound of my sword slicing through him."

Hideki's piercing blue eyes had returned during her talk. A slight smile tugged at the corner of her mouth and her voice had taken on the same tone as it usually had while she was pretending to be a man.

"I joined the revolution, and 6 months later, I met you. The rest is history." She said, looking over at Kenshin. He locked eyes with her for a few moments, totally shocked at her courage, strength and perseverance through her horrible life. And he could plainly see where the cold blooded Hitokiri had come from. Not to mention where the demons of bloodlust first found their grip on her being.

"You still didn't tell me your name." Kenshin said softly, staring into her blue eyes. Hideki smiled.

"I don't have one. If I was ever given one, it was by my mother, and no one heard it. My father only called me 'boy' and it really wasn't until I had a thought pattern on my own that I bothered asking about a name. I found out my mother's last name was Hideki, so I chose that and introduced myself as Hideki."

"Everyone should have a first name. Why not choose one now?" Kenshin asked.

"Names are something other people give you. I already broke that rule by naming myself 'Hideki' but I couldn't introduce myself as 'boy' could I? Besides, I have no use for a first name. Hideki serves me well enough." Hideki said simply. Kenshin smiled and shook his head.

"You have a use now. Actually, I have a use now. I find calling you Hideki when you look like a woman is very disconcerting." Kenshin laughed. She smiled; his laugh was very nice to hear. She wasn't used to feeling contentment. But sitting with Kenshin and just talking, she found it.

"Then why don't you give me a name?" she said. Kenshin sobered at that thought and shook his head.

"I couldn't do that. I have no right to."

"You are the only person even remotely close to me. You are the closest thing I've ever had to a family. I wouldn't want any other person to choose a name for me. Besides, you would be the only one to use it, so you may as well choose it."

"Sakura." He said softly. She smiled.

"Sakura sounds very nice, maybe a little too nice for someone as stained as me. Why Sakura?" she asked.

"It was one of my sister's names. Not a blood sister, but I considered them sisters. They were a part of the slave group that I belonged to. When we were attacked by bandits, they laid their lives down to protect me. You do the same. I think it's perfect for you." Kenshin replied, smiling. Hideki smiled in return.

"Hideki Sakura." She said softly.

"It suits you." Kenshin smiled. He pushed himself off the wall and stood up. "It's time we both got some sleep. Oyasumi, Sakura."

"Oyasumi, Kenshin." Sakura said. He stopped at her door again, smiled over his shoulder at her, and went to his own room.

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It had been three days of peace for the two manslayers. Sakura was on the mend, and their friendship had blossomed into a family relationship. She considered Kenshin to be her brother, and he considered Sakura to be his sister. They lived a peaceful existence for three short days.

The two were outside enjoying the summer breeze, Sakura sat on the porch while Kenshin was crouched over the laundry tub, scrubbing.

"I can't believe you know how to do the laundry!" Sakura laughed.

"Well, what do you expect? I lived with my Shisho for quite a number of years, and he was never one to so such 'unmanly things'. He made ME do all the laundry!"

She laughed again and he joined her.

"I can only imagine little Kenshin crouched next to a river grumbling as he's forced to scrub his Shisho's undergarments." Kenshin laughed even louder at that comment. It was true. He did grumble any time he found Hiko's personal effects in with the pile of laundry.

"Well, he did soften the blow. Once I finished the laundry he always had tea ready for me." Kenshin said slyly over his shoulder. Sakura laughed again. She was radiant when she laughed. Her whole face lit up with mirth. Each passing day she looked more and more like the woman she should have been, than the man she had become. Her brown hair had been left loose and flowing softly down her back, she wore Kenshin's blue yukata since hers was in the wash. She never bothered to put her gi and hakama on during the last three days for two reasons: 1) she had no need, she wasn't allowed to train; Kenshin wouldn't let her, and 2) the bandages she would need to wear in order to put on the gi would be too tight around her wounds, and cause her unnecessary pain. So she didn't bother putting it on.

As she was, sitting on the porch, legs folded neatly under her, hair down, and a smile on her face, there was absolutely no way to mistake her for a man. Of course, the tightly tied sash about her waist didn't hide the obvious womanly curves she possessed either.

"I'll take that as a hint." She said, and stood up to go to the kitchen. Getting tea was pretty much all she was allowed to do. Kenshin flatly refused to allow her to do anything strenuous; going so far as to threaten to punch her in the stomach again if he caught her doing anything aside from making tea. She went to the door and slid it open to enter the house. Someone tall, wearing a black kimono, stood in her way. She gasped, horrified that someone had managed to sneak this far into their house and not alert either manslayer and then slapped her hand over her mouth. She was angry at herself for letting her guard down, and for emitting the frightened gasp, making her feel even more helpless than she already did.

Kenshin whirled around hearing Sakura's gasp. He had his hand on the hilt of his sword ready to draw it. He was also prepared to launch himself forward and put himself between Sakura and the attacker who stood in the door way. Kenshin blinked, his amethyst eyes vanished and were replaced by amber when he looked into the face of the man in the door whose presence brought whatever peace they had built in the last few days to a halt, forcing both manslayers back to reality.

Katsura Kogoro.

He was staring wide eyed at the girl before him. One hand was clamped over her mouth; her eyes were wide with shock and horror. The other hand was clutched to her yukata, keeping it closed over her chest.

Hideki's world came to a crashing halt. Very aware that she was wearing Himura's yukata and that she looked undeniably female she watched Katsura's face for any sign of recognition. She saw his lips move, but wasn't able to depict anything he said, the shock had caused her ears to malfunction momentarily. But she heard one thing spoken clear as day.

"....Hideki?"

Katsura Kogoro had found out her secret.

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A.N. Okay, in the OVA Trust & Betrayal there were three women in the slave group little Shinta was a part of. Their names were Akane, Kasumi, and Sakura. Akane reminds me of a black haired tomboy who beats the crap out of her half-man half-woman fiancé. Kasumi reminds me of a young woman who cooks, loves her family dearly, and says 'Oh My'... A LOT! Sakura reminds me of young Sakura in "Sakura Wars". So that's why I chose Sakura. It in no way has anything to do with my pen name. Believe me!

Sorry if this chappie was a tad boring, but we know all about Kenshin and why he's the Battousai and how he conquered his bloodlust. Besides, it wouldn't be very good of me to throw a wrench into the works of this story and make Hideki a woman without telling you what happened to her, right? So that's what this chapter was for. And hey! Cliffhanger ending! Hooray! :D

Tks for the wonderful reviews! You're reviews make me wanna keep writing! Tks! Tks!