Author's Notes: Hello everybody and welcome to chapter nine! REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW!! Thank you minna-sama!

Disclaimer: I don't own my muses, I just play with them. Meow.

On with the story . . .

Chapter Nine

Kenshin looked up into the warm, loving and caring eyes. 'What should I do?' he wondered. If he went with her, then she would have to be part of his games with other people who want his head for millions of yen. But if he stayed then he knew that both of them would be heartbroken.

'I think you should go, de gozaru yo,' Rurouni told him.

'I don't know how to say that. . .' Battousai started off, but he was interrupted by Rurouni, much to his surprise since the Rurouni was usually very polite.

'Let me take over,' Rurouni told him. He watched as Battousai nodded in agreement. 'Don't worry, I'll be careful, de gozaru yo.' He finished with a hint of humor.

Kaoru watched as Kenshin's eyes slowly turned from amber to violet. She looked at him, not sure what he was going to do. She nearly fainted when she saw the bright smile on Kenshin's lips. "Will you go with me?" she asked again.

Kenshin smiled a smile that would win over any girl that loved puppies. "Kaoru-dono, I will go anywhere with you. But I know that you would have to be in the middle of everything when it comes to the people who want my head on top of their fireplace mantel and. . ."

Kaoru smiled. "Oh don't worry about that Kenshin! I can take care of myself, don't worry! But what about. . ." Kaoru trailed off. 'How should I say this???' she wondered. "What about your wife?" she asked.

Kenshin looked up sharply at her for a moment, then smiled once again. 'If you do that one more time, de gozaru yo, I'll. . .' started the Rurouni.

'You'll what?' Battousai asked.

'Oro . . .'

"Kaoru-dono, I must tell you something about her," Kenshin started. He watched as Kaoru sat down on the couch, listening intently. "Tomoe-a Yukishiro 'was' my wife. She was killed during a battle I had. Her memory is still very precious to me but I think you have helped me believe that there is still a purpose in life."

Kaoru put her hand to her mouth to stop her gasp from coming out. 'Tomoe . . . Kenshin's wife . . . is dead???' Kaoru put her hand back down on her lap. "What is the purpose in life you are talking about, Kenshin?" she asked.

'YOU MUST BE CRAZY!!!' Battousai screamed.

'No I am not, de gozaru yo. I have to do this! I have been dreaming about doing this for a long long time! You cannot stop me!' Rurouni yelled, forgetting his politeness.

Battousai just stared at him in utter disgust. 'I hate you, you know that, don't you?'

'Actually that's the five thousandth, six hundred twenty third time you've told me that.'

'You . . . are . . .despicable.'

'Gomen.'

'Ugh.'

Kenshin leaned forward so he was on the couch and no longer the large chair. He came up frightfully close to Kaoru and whispered, "The purpose in life is to learn how to love and then love all you can for all your life!"

Kaoru was shocked. 'Now I'm pretty sure that's not the Battousai speaking. Man does Kenshin have a split personality or what??? Hey. . .is it getting hotter in here or is he getting closer to me. . .uh oh. . .'

Kenshin watched as Kaoru's eyes flew open when his lips brushed up against her's again. Kenshin smiled and gave Kaoru a full-blown kiss.

Just when Kaoru thought the heat couldn't get any hotter, there was a banging at the door. "OI HIMURA! OPEN UP! YOU SAID WE'RE GONNA HAVE A GAME NIGHT TONIGHT!!! OR WAS THAT SUPPOSED TO BE TOMORROW NIGHT???" Noyu banged on the door.

Kenshin groaned. "TOMORROW NIGHT!!!" he shouted with irritation, his eyes flashing amber. He turned back to Kaoru and shrugged, which made her giggle.

"OH! OK! LATER HIMURA!" Noyu just laughed and laughed and laughed when he got back into his own room. The person across the hall could be heard growling.

"SHUT UP YOU FREAK OF NATURE!!!" he shouted. The laughing stopped.

Kenshin smiled at Kaoru. "I will go with you," he whispered. "On one condition!"

Kaoru giggled. "And what is that?"

Kenshin pulled Kaoru into a firm hug, holding her as if he was afraid she would get out of his arms and run away. Finally after a few moments he whispered in her ear, "You don't fall in love with any other man then me!"



The next day, Kaoru and Kenshin got into the car and drove off to their new home. Katsura wasn't too pleased with having to release Kenshin, but he had to because he knew what would happen if he didn't. He'd have to face Kenshin's wrath.

Kaoru smiled as they walked up to the house. It was certainly beautiful, with a garden and a small bathhouse. The inside of the house was absolutely perfect. It could fill more then one person. It could fill a whole family of ten! Kaoru nearly giggled at the thought.

Kaoru turned to Kenshin and smiled warmly at him. His eyes were half violet and half amber, as if he was still trying to figure out which one suited him better. They both walked in and sat down on the big couches in the living room.

Kaoru sighed with happiness. "This is so great Kenshin! How did Katsura pay for all this?" she asked. She watched as Kenshin smiled with a bit of humor, his eyes totally violet.

"Very carefully, that's for sure," Kenshin told her.

Kaoru giggled.

The rest of the day was spent in the market place where they bought some food and clothing. Kaoru was still wearing her nice purple kimono that she had forced Kenshin to admit he had bought, not Noyu.

But later on that night, they were trying to figure out something. Which of the many rooms would they sleep in??? Kaoru really liked the biggest one that had a whole bunch of American things in it, but still the Japanese futon.

Kenshin agreed and that night they slept in separate futons. Kaoru smiled in her futon, her back towards Kenshin. 'This is going to be very interesting. . .' she thought.

Suddenly there was a loud knock on the door. Kenshin got up, pulling a bedtime robe around himself. He walked down the stairs which led to the living room then walked over to the front door. He looked in the peek-hole and groaned.

He could hear Kaoru giggling from upstairs, which made him groan again. Kenshin opened the door and immediately said, "I don't care what I said last night there is no way we are doing it tonight!!!"

Noyu frowned. "But I brought all the guys! See? Here's Makota, Tsublin, Nasha and Fraknon! Come on, Himura! We wanna play!!!" he cried, pointing to each man who smiled and waved.

Kenshin noted that one man didn't smile or wave. Fraknon. 'Oh well. . .' he thought. 'But I better be on my guard. I remember what happened last time Noyu brought some of his friends. . .'



"Oh come on, Himura! Take another drink!" Noyu shouted.

Kenshin shook his head, feeling the dizziness coming.

"You loose a thousand yen, then!" Noyu shouted. He cackled when he saw Kenshin's head shoot up, his amber eyes watching him intently.

"A thousand???" Kenshin asked.

"Well yah! That's what you betted! The other guys are all down and it's just you and me now! Come on Himura! If you drink this one, who knows! You might win!" Noyu cried out, in the middle of hic ups.

Kenshin looked down at the last bottle. He watched as Noyu drank down his last bottle but didn't get all the way down. He watched as Noyu just dropped down on the ground with a thud.

Kenshin grabbed the last bottle and drank it down as much as he could. He drank the whole bottle. He smiled with relief that he had just won a thousand yen from every man here. That was five men.

With the thought, 'I won!' Kenshin felt the dizziness take over him and he plopped down on the ground of his apartment, right next to the other five sleeping men. Kenshin knew that the next morning would be a living hell.



Kenshin shook his head. "I'm sorry guys but it's just going to have to wait until next time. How about next week?" he asked.

The five men in front of him groaned. "OH COME ON HIMURA!!!" Noyu shouted. Noyu watched as Kenshin shook his head again. Noyu looked down at his feet. "Well. . . it IS your first night here in this really nice house. Well, catch ya later Himura. Come on guys, let's go over to my place. . ."

The five men walked into the night, but one of them gave Kenshin a lingering look. Fraknon gave him a half pitiful, half disgust, half revengeful look, then turned around and followed the others.

Kenshin raised an eyebrow. 'I feel like I've seen him before. . . He has white hair and really small glasses but he must be at least twenty years old. . . (AN: Keep in mind that in my story, Kenshin is twenty eight and he didn't need to do the ten years of wandering, rather he did ten more years of working with Katsura. Just thought I'd let you know. . .heheheh)

Kenshin closed the door and walked back up the stairs. He looked down at Kaoru who had questioning eyes. Kenshin sat down on his futon and looked at her. Finally he told her questioning gaze, "I think we've got an enemy already on our tail. And it's been a long time since I've seen him. And most importantly, Fraknon isn't really his name."

To Be Continued. . .

Author's Notes: Thank you for reading! REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW!!! Bye bye minna-sama!