I DON'T OWN RK, MADONNA, MADONNA'S SONG, OR ANYTHING ELSE MENTIONED IN THIS FIC. I OWN THE PLOT.

Chapter 3 Back to the Past

"Thanks again for the meal, Mrs. Takalea." "Oh, you're quite welcome, Kaoru dear." The old woman smiled as she watched the young 15-year old girl wave and walked out into the quickly darkening night. "Be careful now. Don't talk to strangers!" the woman called after Kaoru.

Kaoru smiled as she walked down the street. It's such a lovely night. She stopped and looked up into the night sky, unaware of the two men coming ever closer to her. As her thoughts ceased and her mind wondered back down to Earth, she felt rough hands grab her upper arm.

She cringed under the pressure. If it weren't for the man grabbing her, she would have fallen to the ground. "Where you going, pretty lady?" "Bringing cookies to your grandma?" "You have nice cookies. Care to let us have a taste?" one of the men asked, reaching down for her… um… 'cookies'. Kaoru twisted in futile efforts to be free. The second man grabbed the back her head, bending it backwards. "Uh!" she cried in pain. "Please, please. Just let me go!" The man that had her arm leaned in close to her face; the smell of his breath made her feel nauseous. "Aw, come on. We just wanna have a little fun."

"I would let her go, that I would." The two men looked wildly about them, looking for the source of the words. "Why? Who is she to you?" "A stranger, but I will not let you harm her." The man stepped out into the dim moonlight. "Who are you?" "My name is Kenshin Himura. Now, let her be or you will pay greatly." The two captors laughed and scoffed. "You'll just have to wait your turn, Himura. We saw…" The mans words were to be forever left unspoken as the soft swish of a sword brought him to the ground. The second man, trembling in fear by now, let go of the girl's hair and fled into the night.

Kaoru fell to the ground and caught her head in her hands and started to take deep breaths to calm herself. Kenshin was beside her in seconds, asking if the men had done anything to hurt her. "No, not physically. Just my dignity" She answered between breaths. "Where do you live? I can help you back to your home." "I live at the Kamiya Boarding House. My family owns it." She answered, reaching out to the extended hand of the stranger. "By the way, my name is Kaoru Kamiya." "Kenshin Himura." Kaoru smiled.

"What are you doing out at this time of night?" Kenshin asked, walking beside her. "I just came back from Mrs. Takalea's house where I dined tonight. She has been my mother ever since my own died." "I'm sorry to hear that." Kenshin replied, giving the girl a concerned look. "I don't want your pity." Kaoru snapped, looking sideways at Kenshin. "I never said I pitied you. I said I was sorry, that's all." They walked the rest of the way in silence.

Stopping in front of the boarding house, Kaoru bid him goodnight and started up the steps. "Wait, Miss Kaoru. I was wondering if you had any rooms left." "Sure. Follow me." The two walked up a flight of stairs and Kaoru opened a door. "You'll be the only one besides me in the boarding house tonight. My other boarders have gone to Kyoto for some reason or another and my father is somewhere in Kobe on business." "Oh." Kenshin walked in the room and looked around. He's so handsome.

The next day, the two sat at the kitchen table, eating toast, eggs, waffles, and pancakes. Kenshin patted his stomach continently, "That was some mighty fine food Miss Kamiya." "Please, call me Kaoru." "OK, that was some mighty fine food, Kaoru." Kaoru giggled as she started to clear to the table. She bent to pick up his plate. Kenshin glanced at her arm, then grabbed her wrist, stopping her from rising the plate. "Miss Kaoru, you have a bruise on your arm." Kenshin stared tenderly at the bruise. "It's fine, really." Kaoru said, staring at the top of Kenshin's head. He looked up to meet her eyes.

"I should have killed them." She gasped at the thought, but, yet, she was flattered. "I'm just glad you were walking the streets. If you wouldn't have come along…" Kaoru shuddered at the thought of it. "I'm glad I was there, too." Kenshin then realized he was still holding on to his secret crushes arm and quickly let go and turned his head away. Kaoru stood there for a moment, then went on toward the sink and dumped the dished in. She heard Kenshin climb the stairs.

Kaoru sighed when she finally plopped down on the couch. It was almost the middle of the day and she had worked herself to exhaustion. She untied the bandanna that held her hair up and tossed it to the side. "Oh!" Kaoru quickly turned to see who had spoken. "Hi Kenshin. I haven't seen you all day." Kenshin had caught her bandanna and was staring at it. He slowly sat in the basket beside the door and stood before Kaoru on the couch. "It's no wonder, Kaoru. You have worked yourself to death. He pushed the footstool in front of her and picked up her legs and put them on the stool. Kaoru smiled as she felt the touch of Kenshin's hands on her legs. "Let me go fix you some hot tea."

Kenshin came back after a few minutes and stopped dead in his tracks when he saw what he did. Kaoru had unbuttoned her shirt a ways. It showed a bit of cleavage. She was rubbing the back of her neck with her eyes closed. He dropped the tray he was carrying. Kaoru whipped around to fine a slightly blushing Kaoru picking up some pieces of a teacup. "Oh, Kenshin!" "I'm sorry about your…" "Are you OK? Did you cut yourself?" Kaoru took one of his callused hands and examined it carefully. Kenshin looked at the worry in Kaoru's eyes. "I'm sorry about your tea set, Miss Kaoru." "It's OK. Now I have an excuse to buy a new set." She smiled at Kenshin warmly.

A couple of weeks later, there was a knock at the door. Kenshin answered it. When he opened the door, the man asked where Kaoru was. "She's taking a well deserved nap. Would you like if I tell her you stopped by?"

"No. Just go and wake her."

"Maybe you didn't hear me correctly. I said Miss Kaoru is taking a nap." Kenshin knew he was being rude, but he didn't care. The man shoved his way in and marched down the hall toward Kaoru's bedroom. Kenshin ran after him, but was too late. He had already entered the bedroom.

"Get up, you lazy hag." Kaoru shot up out of bed to face the speaker. "Excuse me?" That's when she noticed his face. "Gohi," she muttered loud enough for him to hear. She noticed Kenshin standing at the door and relaxed. He wouldn't let anything happen to her, she was sure of it. "What are you doing here, Gohi?" "Can't I come see my girlfriend?" Kaoru watched as Kenshin tightened his jaw and saw the disappointment in his eyes. "Ex," she hissed. "No matter. I have come to stay for a few days. Show me to my room."

Kaoru and looked up at Kenshin, "Could you take Gohi to room 5 please." "No, Kaoru. I want YOU to show me to my room." Kaoru sighed irritably and got up. "Follow me." Kaoru led Gohi and Kenshin started to follow. "I'm sure Kaoru is able to show me to my room by herself." Kenshin looked at Kaoru and she mouthed sorry and led Gohi away.

A few minutes later, Kenshin heard a scream. That's Miss Kaoru! He ran to the room the scream came from. Finding the door was locked, he ran up against the door till he broke through. He saw Kaoru on the bed, in her bra, using her arm as a shield. He turned and saw a half-naked Gohi advancing toward her. Kenshin ran toward Miss Kaoru and blocked Gohi's path. "I swear, you lay one hand on Miss Kaoru and you will regret it." "Hump. You're bluffing. Now get out of my way!" Gohi brung his hand back to punch him. Kaoru drew in a sharp breath and closed her eyes. She heard a thud and opened one eye. She was surprised to see the back of Kenshin's head, and his sword drawn, still in his attack stance.

"Ken…shin?" Kenshin turned to face Kaoru. Her eyes, watery with tears, danced. Kenshin sat next to her. She fell onto his chest, weeping, sobbing. Kenshin brought her up into his lap, throwing the covers over her shivering body, rocking back and forth, whispering, "I love you, Kaoru. I love you, I love you."

A/N: A lot happens to Kaoru, doesn't it? Anywhoz, I hope you liked this chappie! I think I misspelled Gohi's name. It doesn't matter cause this will be one of the last times his name will be mentioned. I know all of you are wondering where Yahiko and Sano are. Sano will be mentioned next chapter and Yahiko…. I don't know. He will be in the story though.

Remember next chapter we go to back present time…. Just don't want you to be confused.

Plez review!