AN: Sorry for the delay. School kicked in and doing work for honors classes takes a lot of time off of my schedule. I do realize that I must finish this before any of you awaiting fans decided to kill me.

Remember: /…./ indicated that either Kenshin or Battousai is speaking, depending on who has "control" of the body.

Warnings: Hints of shounen ai, becoming less implied. Possible Kenshin angst if my muses don't get sidetracked again.

Disclaimer: I don't own them. But I wish I did.

Still the Same to Me
Chapter Five

"Sano! Don't play with him like that. He's a growing boy, he needs his energy, that he does," Kenshin called out, ignoring Battousai as best as he can.

/He's here./

Three sharp knocks at the front gate made Kenshin frown. Slowly, he turned his head in the direction towards the front of the Dojo, and sure enough he could sense Soujiro's presence by the door. Kenshin didn't turn back around; he had seen the worried expression on Sanosuke's face and didn't want to deal with his questions just yet. Without a second thought he went to answer it, Battousai growing restless with every step towards the door.

/Let me take over. This is suspicious—no enemy of yours would come to the front door unless they wanted something./

"If he wanted something," Kenshin muttered to Battousai, "he wouldn't have watched me and Sano walk home, and would have done something to Yahiko, that he would. And Saitou came to the front door."

/Saitou's different, Kenshin, and you know it./

Kenshin kept his mouth shut and sighed through his nose, hoping that Battousai would just leave him be. Soujiro was waiting for him at the door, after all, and he had to be polite to any visitor, despite what relation he had with them in the past. So what if Soujiro was once his enemy—people can change, right?

/We haven't changed./

"You haven't changed," Kenshin whispered, standing in front of the door. And if people can change—because they wanted to change, then Soujiro might possibly not pose a threat. Nodding to himself, Kenshin opened the door and was instantly greeted with a tired smile.

"Good afternoon, Himura-san. Long time no see," Soujiro said, tilting his head slightly, his smile strengthening just a bit.

Kenshin nodded, narrowing his eyes at Soujiro for a second. "Soujiro. Nice to see you," he responded, his voice a bit stiff. He cleared his throat a bit before asking, "What do you want? It's not usual for me to get a guest like you."

"You're willing to call me a guest?" The surprise was obvious, even if Soujiro attempted to hide it with his smile. Soujiro glanced down at the ground before looking back at Kenshin. "May I come in, Himura-san? I've been wandering for quite some time and I would like to take a rest."

"There are other places where you can stay," Battousai muttered, narrowing his eyes. "Why here?"

Soujiro's smiling face faltered as he blinked in surprise at the change of tone. "…I—I don't know. I guess I wanted to see you again, Himura-san."

Battousai left his eyes narrowed, studying Soujiro before sighing. He couldn't sense any hatred, any anger from the young man before him. It was almost as if…he had no feelings. /It's because he doesn't have any,/ Kenshin whispered, /Give me back control. Soujiro will notice the change!/ Battousai nodded to Soujiro, moving out of the way and allowing the young man inside the Dojo, watching his every move carefully. He ignored Kenshin's soft pleas to have control again and continued on, showing Soujiro where he would be staying.

"I will only be here for a week, Himura-san. I do not wish to trouble you," Soujiro said softly, his smile fading just slightly. "I'm afraid that I will only cause you and your friends trouble if I stay here."

"Why do you say that?" Battousai grunted, trying to keep his tone friendly enough to pull off sounding like his soft counterpart. Soujiro blinked at him, studying him for a moment, before shaking his head.

"There are still people out there who would like to see me dead, Himura-san," Soujiro responded, shrugging. "I'm sure there are plenty of people out for you, as well. How do you manage to stay out of harm's way?"

"I just started to manage staying out of harm's way," Battousai whispered. He was bored with Kenshin's low life style. He wanted to be back in the action, wanted to be fighting again. But…Kenshin had grown attached to a group of people and refused to leave them. Battousai couldn't fight his other half when his other half was so determined to try and have a normal life. And Sanosuke…Sanosuke was becoming a problem.

Battousai gave himself a little shake. "I was just about to make dinner. Please, Soujiro, make yourself comfortable. I'm going to go check up on Yahiko and Sanosuke to make sure they haven't killed each other yet." /You can't cook, Battousai. Let me take control. Sanosuke would notice if you were in control./

"I hate how much you want to protect that insufferable boy," Battousai muttered, sighing as he made his way towards the back. He knew Soujiro had heard him, but the young man didn't question him, so therefor he made no effort to explain. Soujiro would find out soon enough that the man who had just let him stay was not Kenshin.

/Damnit, Battousai! Soujiro is harmless at the moment! Give me back control right this instant!/

"Why should I?" Battousai responded. "I want to get to know Sanosuke better, to see if he'll be worthy of our protection."

/He's strong enough to take care of himself, Battousai. There are times where he may need help, but…Sano can take care of himself, that he can. Please…please, don't make him worry about me./

"Why should he worry about you?"

/Because he cares about me, that he does. If he sees that you're in charge, he'll think something is wrong, that he will./

"Then I will tell him that nothing is wrong. That we're taking a precaution and that he should not worry. That you'll have control once Soujiro is gone," Battousai bargained. "I can't let you have control of our body while he is here. I don't trust Soujiro. I want to keep an eye on him."

/You're just as stubborn as ever, aren't you?/

Battousai smirked and found Sanosuke sitting down upon the deck, his legs stretched out ahead of him as he sat, watching Yahiko practice peacefully. Intently, Battousai watched as Yahiko continued his downward stroke, noticing that the boy had some skill. Without even turning around, Sanosuke whispered, "Is he considered a threat?"

Battousai took a moment before realizing whom Sanosuke was asking about. "I'm not sure," he whispered back, trying to keep his voice the same tone as Kenshin's usually was, "however, I'm going to keep an eye on him."

"Figures you would, Battousai," Sanosuke muttered, sighing. Finally Sanosuke turned his head towards Battousai, smiling, his expression cynical. Battousai blinked at him. "Do you really think that Kenshin can't handle protecting us?"

Battousai scowled, turned away and headed inside to the kitchen. He heard Sanosuke's heavy footsteps behind him and sighed. Was the boy expecting an answer from him? "Kenshin is unable to take a life for those he cares about," Battousai muttered finally, carefully picking up the kitchen knife, studying the carrot and wondering, just briefly, how Kenshin managed to do this every night.

"So? He can still protect us. He has before," Sanosuke muttered in response, reaching a hand out and taking the knife from Battousai. "I don't trust you with this."

Battousai stared at Sanosuke in disbelief and took the knife back without hesitation. "I'm not the bloodthirsty killer you think I am," Battousai said, cutting up the carrot with precision, with such ease that Kenshin even envied.

"Then what are you?" Sanosuke countered, leaning against the wall.

Battousai remained silent, scurrying and cooking dinner without a second thought. Kenshin was probably helping him subconsciously with his decisions in the food making, but he didn't mind so much. He didn't want to disappoint Sanosuke's hope for what dinner would be like. Sanosuke stood in his path back to the counter and Battousai scowled up at him. Slowly, Sanosuke took the vegetables out of Battousai's hands and grasped Battousai's fingers lightly.

Battousai's scowl left him for a brief second, shock scurrying across his face before he went and scowled at Sanosuke again. "What do you think you're doing?" he growled, pulling away from Sanosuke, not even looking up at him.

"You didn't answer my question," Sanosuke stated, grabbing Battousai by the arm, holding him in place.

"I could throw you off of me if I wanted to, Sanosuke. I suggest you let go of me," Battousai muttered, shrugging away from Sanosuke's touch. "And the reason why I haven't answered your question is because I have never been able to become much more than a killer. Kenshin fears that's all I will be…and doesn't give me a chance to prove otherwise."

/You trust him…And you never asked for a chance to prove otherwise. You always came out whenever I needed your help to defeat someone./

Battousai's eyes widened briefly before shaking his head at Kenshin. "I've asked…" he whispered.

/I don't remember you asking, that I don't.

Sanosuke stopped Battousai again, staring down at him worriedly. "Battousai, how long will you remain in control? Yahiko will notice soon that it isn't Kenshin who's in charge…"

Battousai looked up at Sanosuke, seeing the soft worry in the boy's eyes. Turning away, he finished with the vegetables and began preparing the rest of the dinner. "For as long as Soujiro remains here," he answered, not looking up at Sanosuke again.

"Himura-san, something smells good in here. What're you making?"

Battousai turned to face Soujiro expectantly, muttered what he was making, and went back to work. He noticed that Sanosuke was standing stiffly next to him and he nudged the boy with an elbow. "Have you made yourself comfortable, Soujiro? And please, you don't have to be so formal," Battousai said softly, slipping his tone into a comfortable one. Sanosuke blinked at him.

"It would seem impolite of me if I called you Kenshin, Himura-san," Soujiro responded, smiling at him. "Who's your friend?"

"He's—"

"Sagara Sanosuke," Sanosuke interrupted, glancing at Battousai briefly.

Soujiro blinked, then smiled again. "Sagara-san, who's the boy outside? I've been watching him practice…. He seems to be pretty good."

"That's Yahiko," Sanosuke answered.

"He was the first apprentice of Kamiya Kaoru. Sadly, she passed away not too long ago," Battousai whispered, feeling very little regret.

"Was she a close friend of yours?" Soujiro asked. Battousai winced and Kenshin sighed.

"A very close friend."

"How did she die?"

Sanosuke growled and stormed out of the kitchen. Battousai watched him leave before sighing himself. "Ken—I killed her. On accident," he whispered.

"Oh. I see, Himura-san. You must be really upset."

Battousai decided it was best not to respond to that, and he felt Kenshin give up his itching for control. Good. He had gotten his other half to quiet down. Now…if only he could get Sanosuke to realize that he and Kenshin weren't really that different…

That wouldn't be a problem, Battousai thought, if it weren't for the fact that Sanosuke was already in love with Kenshin. But why would that matter so much to him? Battousai shrugged to himself and continued with his cooking. That was a matter he'd have to look into later. Right now, he had to keep an eye on Soujiro. That's what was important right now.