~Chapter Seven- Carried away by a shadow of pure hatred.~

"So….Kenshin…..what have you been doing up here all night?" Karou spoke very softly.

She could hardly believe that Kenshin let her stay with her in his room for a while until she felt safe enough to go back to her own room!

It shocked her….and made her feel so cared for at the same time.

The fire Kenshin had made in the beautiful fireplace was warm and comforting, and because no other light was on in that room except for the fire's glow, it set a perfect gleam into the atmosphere.

Kenshin took a moment to reply to Karou's question.

"Well…..since I couldn't get a wink of sleep, I just decided to make the fireplace useful, and sit here for a while, until I was much too tired to stay awake. That's what I was planning on anyway. I hadn't even remotely expected that you would come to my room, Miss Karou, that I did not!"

He explained.

"So…it was a bad thing to come to you?" Karou suddenly got the feeling that she was somewhat of a burden, but then she felt Kenshin's hand on her shoulder.

She couldn't help to look to his face.

He smiled.

"Not at all! It wasn't bad. Not one bit. I'm……glad that you came to me, Miss Karou. Even if there was no real danger, and it was just your imagination at work in that dark room of yours, I can't help but feel the erg to keep you safe from that darkness." He blushed.

His hand remained settled on her shoulder for a long moment.

Kenshin soft smile was so loving, as it always was, but tonight, Karou noticed something different in his eyes.

She saw complete happiness in them.

She, herself, knew that she was happy that he had let her stay….but….she had no idea, that he would come out and say the things he had just spoken to her.

She smiled back at him, and he finally let his hand come back to his lap after a while.

The two just stared at the fire burning in front of them then.

There was nothing to be said really.

Those moments….were just too precious to waste on words.

Karou felt so comforted inside.

She wanted to just fall to Kenshin's side and stay there.

She imagined herself falling asleep in his arms, as he watched over her, like a guardian angel of some sort.

Her guardian angel.

Suddenly, the grandfather clock in Kenshin's room boomed out a loud 2 bells, signaling that it was now 2:00 in the morning.

After the bell faded into the background, Kenshin sighed.

"Well….Miss Karou…..I think I should bring you back to your room now, that I should. It's getting rather late, and we'll be doing many things tomorrow, that I'm sure of." He stated.

Karou felt her stomach suddenly drop and her calmness as well.

She looked to Kenshin with a "please, no, I don't want to" expression.

Kenshin knew that she didn't want to be alone again.

But he knew what was best for her. He felt almost responsible for her well being!!

"Miss Karou….I'm sorry. But…..you need your rest, that you do." He tried to say it sternly, but wasn't very good at it.

All the same, Karou understood, and stood up.

"……..alright, Kenshin. I……understand. But……will you walk me?"

Kenshin smiled.

"Of course."

As he stood up with her, and walked with her to the door, and even if he was walking with her to her room, she couldn't help but feel the fear returning.

She knew she saw that shadow….and it wasn't all in her head.

Kenshin opened his door, and motioned for her to step out first.

"No…..you go first. I'd rather be behind you." She stuttered, much fear in her voice.

Kenshin understood.

"It's okay, Miss Karou, that it is. I'll be there to walk you to your room the whole way, and there will be nothing to fear, alright?"

Karou nodded, and cautiously followed Kenshin into the dark hallway, into the shadowed places she had tried so hard to escape from only a half an hour before.

As the light of the fireplace in Kenshin's room vanished, and darkness fall upon her form again, Karou tried to ignore the horrid feeling coming back to her….as if she were being stocked by something or something in the shadows surrounding her.

At one point, Kenshin couldn't be seen in front of her, and she felt completely certain that something was behind her.

"Kenshin!!! Wait! Please wait for me!" She cried softly as she ran forward.

She finally bumped into Kenshin, and she could see his face looking back at hers.

"It's alright. It's just the dark. If there was a light on, you'd be perfectly fine, that you would. Don't worry."

He placed his hand over her for a moment.

Karou knew he was trying to make her feel at ease…..but how could she was the looming feeling that something was trying to get her!

Nevertheless, she continued on behind Kenshin, making sure to stay right up against him…so she wouldn't get lost in that murky hallway.

They finally reached the staircase, and Kenshin took one step down and reached up for Karou's hand.

"Be careful. It's so dark, you could fall!" He explained.

Karou felt a little better then….knowing and finally realizing that Kenshin was there with her.

Nothing could get her when she was with him.

But then, as the two reached the bottom of the staircase, and he let go of her hand, she realized something else.

When he left her to return to his room…..she would be all alone again, and anything could get her again, just like before!

It was true that if he was there with her, she felt completely sure hat nothing could harm her, but when he left again, she would be unable to withstand that darkness!!

She grabbed Kenshin's hand again and held it tightly.

"Kenshin…please….let me stay with you." Her voice was trembling, and so was her hand tightly grasping his.

Kenshin turned around once more and was shocked by the look he barley saw in the shadows.

He saw her eyes filling with tears….tears of fear.

"Miss Karou……why are you so afraid? Please, tell me." He insisted in worry.

Karou wanted to tell him. She had to tell him, but the fear was conquering her.

"Be…..cause………be….cause…..I……I don't know……….I….."

Kenshin looked away from her.

He didn't want to, but he had to.

"Miss Karou….I know you're afraid, but there's nothing to be afraid of. Miss Misao, Sano, and Yahiko aren't afraid, and even though I am afraid of the darkness as well….I'm not as afraid as you are. If you refuse to tell me why you're so troubled by these shadows, then please, don't speak of it anymore." He said this with so much firmness in his voice, it just about killed Karou.

It was as if she were being punished for something she had done wrong by a father…..and she was the foolish little girl, afraid of her own shadow.

She let go of Kenshin's hand then, and brought it to her side.

She stared at the ground.

The bottom lip quivered like a child's, and yet, she felt so sure that she was still 18 years old.

She didn't look back at Kenshin.

She was about to say something with his name…..but she almost felt compelled to even say "Kenshin". It was almost out of disrespect!

So she decided, to use something else to refer to him as.

"I…..I'm sorry, I'm such a foolish child……Mr. Himura." She whispered, just enough that he could hear her clearly.

His eyes widened when he heard his name as if some little child had spoken to him…..like she had just met him, and she knew nothing about him. Like he was the elder, and she was to obey.

He turned to her with a hurt look on his face.

Had he really set himself that sternly.

Karou refused to look at him, and he could understand why.

He started to move forward, and Karou walked slowly after him.

*I'm getting so sick and tired of waiting for this annoyingly slow girl to get back to her room, and be left alone once more by Mr. Himura!!! Enough with this foolishness! It's now or never, Miss Kamiya!!!!* The man in the shadows far behind Karou thought angrily.

He had been following them ever since he had seen Kenshin take Karou out of his room.

He started to come closer and closer to Karou's back.

Karou was so far behind Kenshin now….that he could easily grab her and pull her away quickly enough that Kenshin wouldn't notice a thing!

Karou still held her head down, when she saw on the floor beneath her, a shadow quickly pass.

Her eyes widened, and she stopped dead in her tracks.

Kenshin heard Karou's soft footsteps behind him vanish, and he turned around.

He saw Karou dead still about 10 feet away from him.

She lifted her head and saw Kenshin stared back at her, with concern for why she was acting so strangely in his eyes.

Her eyes were completely wide…..and she was too afraid to move an inch.

"What……does it want with me?" She stuttered with much fear in her voice.

Suddenly, with a flash of shadows, two pairs of hands grabbed Karou's mouth, and pulled her into the darkness.

She was able to get a terrified scream out before the shadow's hand tightened over her lips.

Kenshin's mouth dropped.

It took him well over a second to realize what had just happened.

"……..MISS KAROU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" He cried as she rushed into the direction that the shadow had pulled her into.

He was quick enough to see a secret door in the hallway wall shut.

He rushed to that wall, and hit it with his fists.

"MISS KAROU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! MISS KAROU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" He screamed, pounding harder on the wall.

No one replied.

~AHHHHH!!!!!! KENSHIN SAVE KAROU!!!!! Well, not that this has happened, YOU HAVE YO KEEP READING!!! FOR KAROU'S SAKE!!!! HURRY!!!!!!!!!!!!!~

~Smile B~