o_0;; Sorry for not updating any of my fics in a while! I just keep putting things off, and I've had a few projects due in school too. Finally got this chapter typed anyway. Hope you all like it. Sorry again if the characters are getting a little off original....

*I do not own Rurouni Kenshin*

Kenshin dropped to his knees. How...how can this be? He and Sanosuke had been searching Tokyo for three days now, without a trace of Yahiko. Now, even worse to Kenshin, he had lost Kaoru. Where can you be Miss Kaoru? After what happened to Yahiko you wouldn't leave us without saying anything first. You, most of all, were devastated by Yahiko's disappearance. Now you plague us with your own?

"We'll find them both Kenshin," Sano tried to cheer up the swordsman.

"How Sano? We've turned the city upside down searching. Asked every person if they had spotted them, and to no avail!" Kenshin vented. The red head picked himself up and started walking back to the Kamiya Dojo, alone.

~~~~Later that Night~~~~~~
Slowly, a middle aged man walked down the silent streets of Tokyo. The time creep along as he placed one foot in front of the other. A icy gust of wind came from behind, and the man pulled his navy jacket up closer to his body. His tan skin looked pale in the dim light of night.

The fragile figure lurking behind him cast almost no shadow as she glided forward swiftly. Her prey had left safety, was now alone, helpless in the dead of night. All it was now was a game of cat and mouse. No one could save him now. Her deep blue hair, tied to a ponytail, flew behind her as she stalked her victim. The young woman's heart raced as she drew closer. Was it excitement? Or fear?

The man looked behind him. Those foot steps he had heard must have been his imagination running wild. Even so, some instinct long forgotten told him to quicken his pace, and he willingly obeyed. Another sound frightened him more, and he couldn't help but break out to a run. Terror spread over him as he glanced back and saw the slender, dark figure following in pursuit. Sweat trickled down his forehead, but he had never felt so chilled in his life. He shot his head back again and his heart skipped a beat when a faint glint of silver met his gaze.

The woman's hand firmed it's grip on the hilt of her katana when she reached the man. Her feet left the ground as she leap, and raised the blade high into the sky, bringing it down swiftly. No petrified scream could escape his lips before he fell to the ground, and his life faded into nothing.

Crimson. Kaoru's eyes blocked out all color, save the red of blood. It stained everything, her sword, the ground, the man, her clothes, her hands, and her innocence. Nothing was left untainted. The man lay in front of her, motionless. Was this what it was like to experience a kill? Was this the kind of feeling you get from murder?

Wasn't it supposed t be horrible?

But that was the last emotion Kaoru felt. She felt excited, unstoppable, on top of the world. Everything was at ease, all her worries, sorrows, everything was washed away with the stream of blood flowing from his body. Her anger was taken out in the final strike that ended his life.

The exhilaration of those few moments before she brought the sword down on him. The sound the escaped her blade when it met his flesh. The look of his eyes when he felt the pain, and the way they glazed over. The rush she felt when he feel to the ground, and would never rise on his own again. The blood she had split had given her a high. And she wanted more.

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"A man was found dead last night on the outskirts of the city. He was positively identified as an important official for the Meiji government, handling foreign affairs. The killer left no evidence behind, and no witnesses were found. The police are still investigating, but are not releasing very much information on the incident," Sano read aloud. The report had reached the dojo for Kenshin and Sano, along with a note asking for their help.

Kenshin sat silently, staring at the ground. They don't really care about him. They just want to get their job done as quickly as possible. They know that we're working on something of our own. We've already told them that Kaoru and Yahiko are missing. They just want our help because they don't want to put the effort into finding and fighting the murderer.

"Kenshin?" Sano looked over at his silent friend, "are we going to help them?"

"I don't know," Kenshin replied, "it's the polices job to take care of this. Not ours. We have some other matters to attend to, that we do."

"And what do you think we can do about them Kenshin? We've searched the entire city! Asked everyone who we could find if they had any idea of what could have happened but no one knows anything! Kenshin I know your hurt by their disappearances, but you have to keep helping other people too. Maybe we'll find something out about them if we help with this problem," Sano fumed. Everything was starting to tick him off.

"Since when has helping the government been very high on your priority list Sanosuke?" Kenshin asked. He had been up late again the night before thinking about anything that might possibly help them. A little too late.

Sano stared at Kenshin in wonder, then stood up and walked out of the room saying, "And since when has snapping at people been hobby of yours Kenshin?"

Great. I've driven another person away. This is the last thing we need right now, that it is. We have to work together to get them back, being alone won't help anyone right now. I guess Sano was right. I shouldn't be snapping at people because I've been staying up late and letting everything get to me. I just want to make all of this end sooner. Kenshin mentally scolded himself. The red head pulled himself together and walked out after Sanosuke.

Later, after everything had been settled, they went to the police to try and offer their help. "What do you want us to do?" Sano questioned first.

"Anything you can. Since this was closer to the outskirts of the city we think that the culprit might have left Tokyo and gone to hide in the woods around here," a random officer replied willingly. Sano sighed and walked out to the woods.

"This is stupid, how are we supposed to do anything if the ones who were trained to take care of this stuff can't even get their acts together?!" he threw his head back and looked at the sky. Kenshin was watching the ground.

"Because they were too lazy to look for this," he said kneeling down. Kenshin put his hand to the soft soil and picked up a leaf with red drops on it. After all that he had done the sight was a familiar one to him. Blood.

"Okay...so now what?" Sano said absent mindedly again.

"We continue going this way, that we do," he said, and walked forward again. They were both silent during their walk in the woods. Neither wanted to be here, and would rather have been looking for leads on the disappearances then searching through the forest. After a bit more walking Kenshin stopped, and was soon run over by Sanosuke who had been staring at the sky again.

"SANO THAT H-!" Kenshin nearly finished as Sanosuke apologized. When he had opened his eyes again Kenshin saw a small hut in a clearing just up the dirt path from them.