Disclaimer: I do not own Rurouni Kenshin, that I most certainly and ever won't.

A/N: So sorry for the long update! I've been quite busy lately! At least I didn't abandon this story! ^^ Hope you like this chapter!

Forever

Chapter 4

Close contact

Here's something to refresh your memory:

Running down the street wasn't Kaoru's plan, but Sagara's weapon shop would be closing any minute now, and she needed to get Enishi's gift and have it specially wrapped. Just as she turned a corner, she crashed into something soft yet firm. Looking up, she saw the man she wasn't supposed to be around with.

"You again." Kaoru said.

Kenshin outstretched a hand and Kaoru gladly took it.

"Yeah, me again." Kenshin said, lifting her up. His eyes instantly became wide. "Holy moly! How much do you weigh?" he asked.

Kaoru huffed her chest out and lifted her chin up. "Hmph, more than you could carry!"

"You could say that again." Kenshin said, rolling his shoulders as if trying to get rid of the pain. Kaoru glared at him, taking what he said seriously. Trying to regain her inner poise, she began walking away.

"Hey I was just kidding!" Kenshin said, catching up with her. Kaoru ignored him and began picking up her pace. "Hey where are you going?" Kenshin asked, walking the same pace she was.

"Why are you following me?" Kaoru asked back.

"Cause I was just about to go to The Akebeko. Is it closed?" Kenshin asked.

"No." Kaoru answered flatly.

"Then why are you out here?"

"Because I don't work 24/7." Kaoru answered in an annoyed tone.

"Oh, okay. So where you going?"

"I'm hurrying to Sagara's shop, which closes in three minutes, now if you'll excuse me." Kaoru said, picking up her pace.

"I can get you there more faster if you want." Kenshin offered.

"I'll get there faster by walking there instead of having to walk to your car and-"

"No, not a car, something else." Kenshin said.

"Okay Himura, go run off and get your bike while I go and hurry to Sagara's Weapon Shop." Kaoru said, picking up her pace even more. Kenshin gave a long, heavy sigh. "No, not that way either. Here let me help you." He said.

Before she knew it, she felt herself being picked up and then a sudden whoosh of air. Shutting her eyes tight, she held on tight to whatever she was holding. When the air around her stopped moving like a whirlwind, she cracked one eye open.

"We're here." Kenshin voice came, which was right next to her ear. Getting out of her stupor, she noticed that she was tightly clinging onto Kenshin's shirt and that his hands were on her hips. "PERVERT!" Kaoru yelled, punching him onto the floor. "What the heck do you think you're doing laying her hands on me!?" Kaoru demanded, glaring down at him.

"Yo, jou-chan, I didn't see you come in." Sano said, walking up to him. Kaoru blinked at him in confusion, letting her gaze at where she was, which was Sagara's Weapon Shop. "But… How?…When?….What?….umm…." Kaoru began, too much in a state of shock to finish her sentence.

"Quit stumbling and spit it out already." Kenshin said, picking himself up from the ground, only to be knocked back down again.

"How did I get here?" Kaoru asked more clearly, with a harsher tone.

"I helped you get here." Kenshin said, picking himself up again. "Using my god-like speed." He finished, flexing his biceps.

Sano rolled his eyes at him. "Quit showing off and flirting with Kaoru." He said, dragging Kaoru by the wrist towards the checkout counter. "You're lucky that you came on time. I was just about close down this store for the night." He told her.

"Did Himura-san really use his god-like speed back there?" Kaoru asked curiously.

"Yep. He's one of the greatest swordsmen I know. Heck, I think he is the greatest swordsman I know." Sano said, letting go of Kaoru's wrist.

"What about Enishi?" Kaoru asked.

"You should be the judge on that." Sano said.

Kaoru tilted her head to the side, lost in a state of thought. "Come to think of it, Himura-san 's speed resembled my brother's. Maybe a little faster, too. Ugh, what am I thinking? Enishi's the best swordsman I know of." Kaoru said, nodding her head, trying to convince herself.

Sano just gave her a weird look. "You talk to yourself too much jou-chan."

"But I was talking to you." Kaoru said, blinking her eyes.

"Well, I wasn't listening, so you were pretty much talking to yourself." Sano said. Kaoru furrowed her eyebrows in confusion.

"Any ways, wait here. I've got that sword that you wanted in the back." Sano said, going behind the counter to look for the Chinese sword.

"So, do you come here often?" Kenshin asked, coming out of nowhere.

Kaoru jumped as she tried not to yelp. "Why do you keep popping out of nowhere?" She asked, slapping him on his shoulder.

Kenshin gave a phony pained look on his face as he rubbed his shoulder where she had hit him. "What's under all that fat skin? The Incredible Hulk?" Kaoru's facial expression immediately turned into one of worry.

"I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to." Kaoru said, brushing her fingers against his shoulder.

"I was just joking around." Kenshin said swatting her hands away.

"Hey! That wasn't very funny!" Kaoru shouted, shoving her finger at his chest. "And who are you to call me fat and Hulky?"

"He's called The Incredible Hulk. Not Hulky." Kenshin corrected.

"Whatever." Kaoru said exasperatedly.

"Okay jou-chan, here it is." Sano said, coming out from the door behind the counter. Kaoru gave Kenshin a 'this isn't over yet' look.

"It'll be $180.00." Sano said, placing the sword down on the counter. Kaoru pulled out her checkbook from her purse and signed a check written out to Sagara's Weapon Shop for 180 dollars and 00 cents. Sano took the check and finished doing the check-signing job.

Kaoru picked up the Chinese sword and looked at the bottom of the hilt of the sword. 'Love' It was beautifully carved in cursive and it was also painted in black. Kaoru traced her fingers across the letters, feeling the indentions. "Thank you." Kaoru said, looking up at Sano and flashing him a sweet smile.

Sano nodded his head. "Sure thing jou-chan. Whenever you need something, just come by and I'll help ya out." He said, giving a smile back.

"You know I will. I'll see you later, I've got to hurry back to work now." Kaoru said, giving him a kiss on the cheek and leaving.

"Why are you still following me?" Kaoru asked as she was walking towards The Akebeko with a red head walking next to her.

"I told you, I want to go to The Akebeko and harass a certain waitress." Kenshin said giving her a sidelong glance.

Kaoru gave him a suspicious look. "Don't you mean following a girl until she runs into a problem and act like Mr. Hero?" she suggested.

Kenshin just shrugged his shoulders. "Maybe." He said.

"Oof." Kaoru said, as a short boy with dark brown hair bumped into her.

" 'Scuse me." The boy said, quickly running off. Kaoru straightened herself and felt her arms were lighter. 'Enishi's sword.' Kaoru thought. She quickly turned on her heels and began running off to the direction the boy ran off to.

"GIVE THAT BACK " Kaoru shouted as she saw the young boy shoving through the crowds, holding her brother's sword in his hands. There suddenly was a hand placed on her shoulder, making her stop in her tracks. She turned around to see Kenshin staring at the young boy who was running off.

"I'll get him." Kenshin said. With a blink of an eye, he disappeared. With another blink of an eye, he was back, standing in front of Kaoru holding the young thief by the back of his shirt. The young boy's eyes widen in shock.

"Let me go! Let me go!" The boy, struggling to get free.

"Give me back my brother's birthday gift and I'll tell Himura-san here" Kaoru said, indicating to Kenshin. "to let you go."

The boy gritted his teeth together and threw the Chinese sword to Kaoru, who caught easily. Kenshin let go of the boy, and the boy immediately stuck his tongue at Kaoru and ran off.

"Brat." Kaoru said, checking the Chinese sword for any scratches. "Whew. Good thing there's no scratches."

"That boy seems familiar." Kenshin said, staring off at where the boy had ran off to.

"Yeah, he does." Kaoru agreed, looking in the same direction.

"I think he stole my condemn." Kenshin said absentmindedly.

"WHAT?!" Kaoru shouted, blushing a light shade of pink.

"I was just kidding." Kenshin said, raising his hands in the air. "But he does seem vaguely familiar." Kenshin said, looking back at where the boy had ran off to again. Kaoru nodded her head in agreement.

"I think I saw a photo of him for the lost children a couple of years ago." Kenshin began, creasing his eyebrows in thought.

"How many years ago?" Kaoru asked.

"I think it was…. 2?" Kenshin said uncertainly.

"And we let him get away." Kaoru said sadly. "We could've brought him back to his family. I feel bad now."

Kenshin shrugged his shoulders, not knowing what to do.

"Ah, look at the time! Tae's gonna kill me!" Kaoru said, looking at her watch.

"Allow me to help you." Kenshin said. Before Kaoru could protest, Kenshin picked her up and used his god-like speed to get them to The Akebeko in record time.

"We're here." Kenshin said, stopping in front of The Akebeko.

"Kaoru." Came a voice from behind them. Kaoru's eyes went wide with horror at that familiar voice. She quickly pushed Kenshin off of her and shoved him to the ground, hiding the Chinese sword behind her back.

"Enishi-onee-san." Kaoru said, giving her brother a forced smile.

"Kaoru, what are you doing with Himura?" Enishi asked.

Kaoru began to look from left to right. "I, umm… I-"

"I saved her from being robbed, and was just making sure she got back to where she needed to be, safely." Kenshin answered for her, getting up from off the ground. Kaoru nodded her head.

"Someone tried to rob you? Did they hurt you? Did you lose anything?" Enishi asked, checking her arms for any scrapes.

"I'm fine, all thanks to Himura-san." Kaoru said, flashing Kenshin a warm smile.

"That's good. Now let's get going. The Akebeko is closing in a few minutes, so come on." Kaoru nodded her head solemnly. She turned to face Kenshin and gave him a smile that was worth a million dollars, hiding the Chinese sword along the way.

"So, I'll see you later, then." Kenshin said, outstretching a hand. Kaoru's eyebrows slammed together as she gritted her teeth together, shaking his hand, and squeezing it tightly. "Wrong thing to sat in front of my brother." Kaoru whispered through her clenched teeth.

"We shall see Himura-san." Kaoru said in a normal tone, quickly letting go of his now broken hand, turning on her heels and striding over next to Enishi.

"Are you going to see him again?" Enishi asked five minutes later as they were walking home.

"If he decides to come to The Akebeko, then I have no choice but to see him." Kaoru said.

"Himura." Enishi grimaced. "I hate that name." Kaoru gave a weary sigh. "So what's behind your back?" Enishi asked, trying to see what was behind her.

"You can't see! It's your birthday gift!" Kaoru said, hiding the sword from his sight.

Enishi sighed." Okay, I won't see it till later on."

"Good." Kaoru said, as they walked home.

TBC

Whew. So, how was it? Did it suck? Does it seem to rushed? I don't know! Please tell me! I'm trying to add humor, but I think I'm doing a horrible job at it!

I've been quite busy, now that the snow has come, a lot of my plans have been postponed. Grrrrr! It usually doesn't take me this long to update, just been tired! SORRY

PLEASE REVIEW!

And now, the other reviews…….(And yet again, I did not respond to everyone. I'm so sorry!)

Aimi-chan – No hard feelings!

DacrayZblaze1 – I'm so glad you didn't stop reading this just because you thought this was a KxE pairing! About the drunk Sano and Megumi, are you talking about my other fics about Sake? If you are, then, I 'm still thinking about it. I don't think I'm good at that kind of humor. ::sniffle::

Noner_89 – Just wanted to tell you…. I LOVE YOU SO MUCH!

Phoenix – You talk funny! It reminds me of that doctor guy from FFVIII in the city of Esthar! Do you know what I mean? ::everyone just stares & blinks.::

Tsugoi Kakarlena – YAY! I read your fic! It's a great story! WEE!

Whoohoo!!!! I really do love your reviews! Enishi's birthday party is coming up, so I don't know what chapter it will be though, but it will be soon! I just want to tell you something! I love the word WEE! WEE! WEE! WEE! (wow, I'm very immature….)

Weeness!

I can't live without your opinions, so please review!

^_______^

cutie-chan