Kaoru was walking down the road to the clinic. She slowly opened the door and walked in. "Oh, Hello Kaoru!"

"Hi miss Megumi! When is Dr. Gensai coming back?"

"Oh, in about 2 weeks. He thinks he has the pneumonia epidemic in Kyoto under control. So, Are you here for a checkup?"

"Oh, yes. You know about Hiro?"

"The new guy? Yeah, Ayame told me extensively (Megumi put emphasis on this word) about him. I really think she likes him!"

"Well, he was the one who told me to get a checkup."

"Why did he tell you that?"

"He looked at me when we first met and he seemed to see something."

"Have you been feeling sick an anyway?"

"It's been kind of weird, I eat twice as much as I used to and I throw up a lot."

"Hmmm," Megumi kind of had a weird look on her face.

"What?"

"I think I know what's wrong with you."

"What is it?"

"Well, I can't confirm it until you take the physical test."

Megumi mad Kaoru do different exercises. "Hey, did you hear about the body they found in the field outside of town?" asked Megumi as she tested Kaoru.

"No." she said.

"I had to find the cause of death. I couldn't give the police and answer! It looked like he was cut really deep with a sword, but the wound's opening was so small! The person would have had to move really fast to make it look like that."

"Wow."

"Well, it's time to see if I'm right. Lay down."

"Um, okay. What do think it is?"

"Hush." Megumi pushed on Kaoru's waist as if looking for something. "Ooooh," she seemed to find what she was looking for. She kept pushing all the way up to her upper stomach. Megumi smiled. "Well, well, well, well, well...."

"What?" asked Kaoru.

"You're going to have to cut back on the exercise and eat really healthy..."

"What is it!? It's happening to my body! I'm sick of waiting!" Megumi smiled broader.

"Kaoru...your pregnant." Those words sent something down her spine. It was a mix of panic and worry. She didn't think she was ready! "Oh, it's Kenshin's baby isn't it?" Megumi's face puffed up. "I never thought he'd go for a sweaty little girl...well, technically you're a woman now." Kaoru's face didn't budge. It was frozen in place. That's why Hiro was protecting her so much! "Did he notice this when he first came?" asked Megumi.

"Y-yes." She said hesitantly.

"How could he have seen it that early on? Not even Dr. Gensai could've known by just looking! He must have a sharp eye!" Kaoru was still frozen. "Oh, come on!! Snap out of it! It's not the end of the world!! Kenshin has to know..."

"I'll tell him." Said Kaoru quickly.

"Of course. Now go back to dojo, congratulations!"

"Yeah, sure..." Kaoru seemed to have lost all of her energy. When she went into the backroom with Kenshin she didn't think about this would happen! When she got to the dojo she didn't go and tell Kenshin. She went to Hiro. She didn't know what to do. "Uhhh, Hiro..." she said worriedly. Hiro turned around and saw her as he put clothes on the clothesline.

"Oh, hi! Did you go to the doctor?"

"Um, yeah, how did...uhhh..."

"How did I know?"

"Yeah."

"Well, my cousin got pregnant early in her life and I practically watched her from start to finish."

"Oh..."

"You don't know what to do now?"

"No."

"Eat a carrot." Hiro handed the orange vegetable. Kaoru sighed and started crunching.

Ayame sat leaning on a tree doing nothing. Her mind would always drift off to Hiro. She was pretty sure he didn't like her, but there was nothing wrong with hoping right? About three minutes later Hiro came trudging up the hill. Ayame suddenly got nervous. She was getting serious about this guy. He stopped beside her and looked over the forest. "You know..." he began. "Looking at the forest isn't going to make it change."

"Huh?"

"What makes it change is your perspective of it."

"What?"

"Let me show you." He grabbed her hand and ran towards the forest. What Ayame noticed most of all was that he had his hand in her. She blushed really bad.

When they got into the forest Ayame was enjoying all the animals and beauty. "Wow..." she muttered.

"See," said Hiro. "When you fist look at the forest all you see is trees, but when you come into it you can see that the forest is full of life and beauty. People are the same..." Ayame jerked her head towards him. Suddenly there was a huge explosion.

"What was that?!" Shouted Ayame. Hiro looked at the blast's shape. His eye's narrowed.

"Go back to the dojo and make sure nothing happens there!"

"Okay..." she ran off. Normally she would object, but there was something in his voice that seemed dead serious. She was going to have to get Kenshin.

Hiro ran unbelievably fast to the west part of the forest. In a clearing stood another rather old man. "Kai..." mumbled Hiro. "Don't I ever get a break?"

"No." said Kai with a smile. On his belt was a bunch of dynamite and on his back was a pack full of round bombs. "I'm afraid I've been ordered to kill you."

"Was it by...her?" Hiro hesitantly said. Kai smiled. He had two pieces of metal on his index and middle finger. One was flint and one was steel. He quickly clicked them together and lit one of the clumps of dynamite.

Ayame ran all the way to the dojo. When she got there everyone was gone except Kenshin. "Kenshin!" panted Ayame.

"What is it Ayame?" asked Kenshin as he came over.

"In the forest...blast...pant..."

"Everyone's out looking...are you sure it's in the forest?"

"Yes, Hiro, fighting..." Kenshin kind of froze at those words. He stood there for a moment then began running towards the forest.

"Stay here Ayame!" he shouted.

It took Kenshin a few minutes to get to the forest. When he got there he saw Hiro slicing the fuses off of all the dynamite sticks. He jumped back and got into a threatening stance. "Tell me!" he said. "Is it her?"

"She's the leader now Hiro." Replied Kai. Hiro dashed quickly to Kai.

"HIRO!!! NO!!!" shouted Kenshin. Hiro didn't listen. His attack was different than last time.

"Hashara secret technique! TOCKNA SHEARA!" His sword was stabbed into Kai's chest. Hiro sliced out and landed on the other side. "Your life...is over." Kai fell straight down, bounced once and didn't move. Hiro turned to Kenshin who had drawn his sword. Hiro sighed. "Kenshin, I don't want to fight you..."

"It seemed otherwise with the person you just killed. Your not just an innocent kid...you're an assassin for the group Hashara!!" Hiro's eyes changed. They were filled with sadness. Kenshin slowly dropped his sword.

"I thought..." Hiro closed his eyes. "That one day, I could just live like a normal person..." he brought up his sword. "...I give up!!!"

"NO!!!" Kenshin knew what he was doing. The sword came down.

(Cliffhanger)