"There is no black and white. Only shades of gray." -Dorothy Catalonia

***

It was a dreary December morning. Slush littered the streets and sidewalks, melting, leaving scummy puddles. Somewhere there could be heard the sound of car horns blaring and profanities being exchanged by the drivers of the cars. The sun was making a pathetic attempt to break through the clouds, all to no avail.

Nanashi Ren wrapped her coat tighter around her shoulders, wincing in pain as the heavy material pressed against a bruise on her upper forearm. She exhaled, silently cursing the bastard who had given her the bruise. Her life was going to change. No more would she stand for his abuse.

"Good morning, Ren."

She looked up at the sound of a familiar voice. Himura Kaoru was hurry to catch up to her, slightly out of breath, her small son in her arms. Ren could hardly see little Kenji's face; his mother had him tightly bundled up against the bleary winter weather.

"Morning Kaoru." Ren muttered. She stuffed her hands in her pockets, trying to warm them.

"What happened to your gloves? Where's your hat? It's freezing out here." Kaoru, ever the mother, chided her.

"Lost them." She shrugged.

"And what on earth happened to your face? Your lip is all busted up."

Ren stopped walking and looked at the other woman. "Look at me, Kaoru. What am I doing wrong with my life?"

Kaoru studied Ren for a moment, taking in her frightened, hazel eyes; the wild tangle of dull brown hair which framed her broken face. A split lip, a black eye and a million hidden sorrows could be seen on the young woman's face. "He was back yesterday, wasn't he?"

"I've been telling Sanosuke my lock needs to be fixed. He hasn't done it yet. That's why I look like I've been beaten by a two-by-four. He's not a very good super."

"I'll have Kenshin talk to him." She sighed, "If any one can get through to that lunk-head, it'll be Kenshin. And you should come upstairs next time. That looks nasty. I could have taken care of it for you."

"I'll be fine. And you've got Kenji to worry about anyway."

"You can't go to work like that."

"I know. I'm not. I'm going to see a lawyer about a restraining order on him. I won't be afraid any more. I want to move on with my life."

"Good for you, Ren." Kaoru smiled, shifting Kenji in her arms, "So I guess I'll see later in the evening then. I've got to get Kenji to daycare. Good luck."

"See ya, Kaoru. Bye Kenji."

"Bye-bye!" Kenji chirped cheerfully.

Ren picked up the pace again as she and Kaoru parted ways. She hated walking the city streets alone, knowing he was out there, somewhere, waiting, watching; his fingers itching to wrap around her neck.

She paused for a moment, looking at her pathetic reflection in the dingy window of a small art gallery. Why did this happen to me? Where did I go wrong in my life? Am I truly such a loser?

"Hey, you like that painting?"

She jumped as a hand rested on her shoulder, whirling around to slap the perpetrator in the face.

"A simple 'no' would have been fine."

Her hands went up to her mouth as she realized what she'd done. "I'm so sorry." She stammered. Her gaze wandered up to meet the turquoise eyes of the man who lived across the hall from her.

He simply smiled. "That's okay. It was my fault. You had a rough night last night, didn't you?"

Her face flushed red and she frowned deeply. "It's none of your business, so butt out."

"I'm sorry." He paused, "You know, we've lived across the hall from one another for the past three years and I don't even know your name."

"It's Ren. Nanashi Ren. And you are?" She studied him for a moment, taking in his pale face; dark, stringy hair; those brilliant aquamarine eyes. He was wrapped loosely in a red jacket and a forest green bandana held his long hair off his face.

"Tsukioka Katsuhiro." He offered her a hand, "Katsu for short."

His hand somehow appeared in hers, his fingers long, delicate and spindly. Truly, they were the fingers of an artist. His handshake was warm and friendly; just long enough to be comfortable but not so long that she had to pull her hand back.

"This is my studio." He nodded in the direction of the building, "I saw you looking at the window…I get so caught up in my work I forget to clean." He scratched the back of his head, "Hope you weren't offended by the mess or thinking I'm a slob or anything."

"Oh, no…" She shook her head slightly, "I was looking at myself in the glass. To see how terrible my face looked."

"It doesn't look terrible. But I suppose it's all just a matter of opinion. Maybe you should go see a doctor about your lip though. It's kind of gross."

"Whatever. It's not the first time it's happened. Now if you'll excuse me, I have an appointment to keep."

"Okay…I'll see you later then, Ren. Nice meeting you."

"Yeah…" She trudged down the street as he went into the studio. What could be nice about meeting me?

***

"Here. Mr. Shishio needs copies of this transcript and you'd better get his coffee before he gets angry. File this and I need the Shorui file."

"Why can't you do it, Yumi? You're the secretary, not me." Honjou Kamatari blinked his soft brown eyes as the buxom woman before him handed him a stack of papers about a foot thick.

"It's not like you have anything better to do." The woman snapped peevishly, "I don't know why he keeps you here anyway. You failed the BAR twice and you don't have a real job. He must just keep you around out of pity or something."

"Oh shut up." Kamatari grumbled. Yumi could put him in a bad mood very easily. Maybe because he hated the fact that she was right. Maybe because she could easily rope him into doing her job. Or maybe just because she had the affections of the man he loved. Yes, it was probably that. He glared at her as he staggered over to the filing cabinet near the door.

It was while he was stuffing things into the drawers that the door flew open. He sidestepped to avoid being hit by it, lost his balance and dropped one of the numerous folders, which spewed it's contents across the floor.

"Crap!" He bent to start gathering the papers.

The person who had opened the door also knelt down to help him. She was cursing under her breath, muttering apologies and ranting about her own stupidity. He caught the end of one of her sentences, "I've never been more embarrassed," as she straightened back up.

He rose to his feet, finally looking up at her as she handed him the papers. A familiar face; hazel eyes, muddy brown hair, frightened expression, all muted by bruises and a swollen lip. His throat went dry and he blinked several times. "Ren?" He whispered, "Is that you? Holy shit, what happened to you?"

***

So….

Is this terrible? Or okay? I'm still fiddling with ideas. I do have some good plans and it seems most of the RK cast will be living in the same apartment building, but I want it that way. And they may be slightly OOC, but that tends to happen with AU fics, so DEAL WITH IT!!!

Now go click the "review" thingy and tell me whatcha think!!!