Chapter Four: Past Comes Alive

*The soldiers looked past Kaoru at Kenshin, trying to decide how to handle him. They noticed he was already weak and would most likely not be able to attack, or keep up with, any of their swords. Then the soldier who stood in front of the formation stepped forward, nearing Kaoru with every step he took, his gaze solely concentrating on her and only her.

"Kaoru, dear, sweet Kaoru. The beauty that the dojo raised. It has been a long time, hasn't it? Too long for me." Kenshin's eyes widened from their slitted anger when he heard the man address his Kaoru in such a manner. Did the two know each other? How? And what exactly did this mean?

"Jensai." Kaoru asked with uncertainty and anger in her voice. "It will never be too long for me. You and your band of soldiers are not welcome here. Leave now."

"Kaoru, you know I think you and I have quite a bit of catching up to do. And you want me to leave so soon?"

"You are no longer welcome here in this dojo. You haven't been welcome here for six years, what makes you think you can come back now?"

"Six years is a long time, and I thought we might be able to patch things up between us. We would be so good together Kaoru. Everyone knew it."

"I asked you to leave."

"Miss Kaoru, shall I take care of these men for you?" Kenshin clipped roughly. He had managed to stand up straight and tall, as if he were completely healthy, and his glaring eyes did wonders in helping the illusion along.

"No, I can handle it Kenshin."

"Hiding him are you Kaoru? I had heard you had a man staying with you, but I didn't believe it until now. How dare you betray me Kaoru?"

"Betray?" Kaoru practically glowed with anger. Kenshin blinked. Was his mind playing tricks on him, or was Kaoru seething with an anger she rarely felt and he rarely saw?

"Betray." The man echoed.

"Jensai, it is you who is the unloyal one here. Now get out!"

"Kaoru, do not think you can take that tone of voice with me young lady! How dare you think you can contradict me in such a manner?" The man roared. Behind him his friends drew their swords. "No, stay your hands, this bitch is mine."

Kenshin's face went ghostly white, and his fists clenched tightly into knots. How dare this man speak to Kaoru like that! He would pay for it with his blood, that he would. Kaoru was a woman, a lady, and she deserved to be treated with respect, regardless of whether or not she knew this man. Kenshin's eyes gleamed lilac, and then a golden sheen bathed them in a blindingly stunning display of pure and unadulterated hatred.

"Do not address Miss Kaoru in such a manner."

"I'll address the little girl any way I see fit. She is mine after all."

"I am not yours, I never have been, and never will be." Kaoru whispered with a fear etched in her soft voice.

"Miss Kaoru, please stand aside and let me handle these men." Kenshin asked, more demanding than pleading.

"Kenshin, no. They aren't worth it." Kaoru turned around to face him. She was quite shocked when she saw his eyes lit up like golden lights. "Please Kenshin, just leave them be. They'll leave!" She pleaded softly, so that only he could hear her. He looked at her, and suddenly the gold thawed into the softer royal purple of care and understanding.

"Are you sure Miss Kaoru?" She nodded slightly, and gave him a tiny smile. Kenshin felt his heart melt and knew instantly he could not deny her her request.

Once Kaoru was sure Kenshin was himself again, she turned back around to face the men who were hassling her. "Jensai, leave, before I get angry. You haven't seen my swordsmanship in six years, and I guarantee I've improved a great deal. Not to mention Kenshin is a master himself, and if you anger him, you'll be sorry."

"Kenshin is it? As I said before, I've heard that there was a master of swords staying with you Kaoru, and I'm not willing to test his skill, not today. I came to let you know, this is your final notice. Pay the taxes within the next week, or be evicted. It's as plain as the writing on your dojo walls. Or did that dolt of a father of yours not teach you anything but debauchery and whoring?" The man smirked. Kaoru blushed deep red and glared at him murderously. Kenshin, on the other hand, was at Kaoru's side instantaneously.

"Get out. Now." He growled, his eyes glowing brilliant and eerie shades of fiery dun yellow.

"Kenshin." Kaoru whimpered in a warning tone, lightly placing her hand on his forearm. The man and his fellow soldiers simply backed away a little. Then Jensai began to laugh uncontrollably.

"Who do you think you are? A manslayer? Kaoru's a nice little whore, I'm sure. But don't get too attached, she'll only be the cause of suffering and pain." He laughed again, this time harder, and began to back away. "Come on men. We have more important things to do than waste time with little tramps."

As the soldiers finally withdrew from the dojo grounds, Kaoru sighed with relief she hadn't known she would feel. It was so easy to pretend to be strong, so easy to pretend to be level-headed to keep Kenshin from making a mistake and becoming his other self, but once that threat was gone, her own anger was barely harnessed.

"Miss Kaoru?" Kenshin questioned, confusion written in his violet eyes.

"Kenshin! You should be in bed!" She yelled, releasing some of her pent-up frustration.

"Miss Kaoru, that will not work on me right now, that it will not. Sick or not, I deserve to know what that man wanted."

"He wanted the taxes Kenshin, exactly as he said. Now bed! Or else!" She shook her fist menacingly. Kenshin caught it was ease and held it tightly grasped in his own hand.

"Kaoru." She inhaled sharply.

"Kenshin?"

"I must know why that man threatened your honor and reputation."

"He's a bad man Kenshin, evil in his soul. That's his reasoning. Please, let go?"
"Kaoru…" Kenshin sighed, but let go of her hand. "I will return to bed, that I will."

"And I'll bring you your medicine, that I will." Kaoru nodded brightly. Kenshin looked at her under from under his fiery bangs and felt a pang of sadness. She was not as happy as she sounded. His Kaoru was not happy- in fact; she was very much angry and depressed. What had those men done to her in the past that had caused her to be this way?

As Kenshin padded back to his room and slipped under his blankets, his mind was still spinning. Part of it was the fact that though he had put up a brave front while the men had been there, he was still sick, and the other part of it was that he still could not understand why Kaoru was acting so strangely.

"Kenshin? Here's your tea." He looked up as the young woman entered the room, her hips swaying ever so slightly beneath her kimono and her ponytail swaying behind her head.

"Thank you Miss Kaoru. I am very grateful to you for all the help you are giving me." He tried to shake it off, but her pain was hurting him.

"Kenshin, I want you to know something." He smiled lightly. Finally she was going to tell him what was wrong! "I want you to know that I'm going to ask Megumi to take you and Yahiko for a week. I mean, I was going to ask her if you and Yahiko could stay with her." Kaoru knelt beside him and blushed slightly as she spoke.

"Miss Kaoru, why?" Kenshin shot up.

"I just needed to get some work done here, and it would be rather hard with you and especially Yahiko around. Besides, you're sick, and Megumi is a doctor. She can look after you much better than I ever could."

"But Miss Kaoru, what if those men return?"

"I'm not a child Kenshin, I think I can take care of myself. How do you think I managed for the three years before I met you when I was alone? I can do just fine on my own!" She snuffed. The colder she was to him about this, the better. That way he might actually want to leave. But she didn't want him to!

"I know that, I do. But please, Miss Kaoru…"

"No Kenshin. I've already made up my mind. I'll be all right. And anyway, if they did come back, you'd still be too sick to handle them."

"I was not too sick today, that I was not." His eyes were hidden by his bangs, and she wished she could see the emotions that he had portrayed in his hoarse voice.

"You were so dizzy you could hardly stand Kenshin, I think that qualifies as too sick."

"I would have been able to hold them off anyway. Miss Kaoru, what is it you are hiding from me?"

"Kenshin!" She stood abruptly. "Why do you think I'm hiding something?"

"Because I know you better than that, that I do. Please Miss Kaoru, tell me what is wrong?"

"Nothing Kenshin." She shook her head in denial. A few tense moments of heavy silence permeated the atmosphere.

"You don't trust me." Kenshin broke the silence. His head dropped to his chest, and he felt it begin to speed up and ache at once. Was this how it felt to have a broken heart? Nothing had ever been this intense before. The thought that Kaoru didn't trust him…

"Kenshin you idiot! How could you even say something like that!" Kaoru finally responded. "How could you? No, how dare you! I trust you with my life Kenshin! You should know that by now!"

"Then tell me what is going on." He whispered. Kaoru stopped yelling and sunk back to the hard, wooden floor, her face pale.

"Kenshin. When someone brings up the revolution, you become quiet and withdrawn. I can only imagine you must be thinking of the past, thinking of everything that happened in Kyoto. Am I right?" He nodded, not sure where she was going.

"When someone brings up Kyoto, I remember my past deeds, that I do."

"Well, when someone brings up Jensai, I feel the same way- like someone is dredging up the past. I don't like to think about it."

"He hurt you?" Kenshin asked her calmly, his inner soul raging. If Kaoru felt as horrible as he felt when he was thinking of the revolution, something had to remedy this. Never should someone so pure and innocent; never should someone he loved so dearly, be allowed to suffer in the same way.

"Yes, he hurt me." Kaoru whispered. She voice became strained, and it was hard for her to breathe. Tears pricked at her downcast eyes, and she avoiding looking directly at Kenshin.

"How?"

"I, I…" When Kenshin saw the tear slip down from her eye and roll down her porcelain cheek, he had the urge to reach up and wipe it away. He did not fight his urge.

The moment Kenshin's soft fingertips grazed Kaoru's cheek; she looked up and caught his eyes. Mistake. Soon she had broken down into a sobbing heap, tiny arms hugging herself as Kenshin's stronger arms pulled her into his lap and encircled her. She buried her head into his chest and sobbed into his gi.

"Miss Kaoru…" Kenshin whispered under his breath. Pulling her closer, he pressed her petite body tighter to his, hoping that in some way he would be able to take her pain and make it his own. "He must have hurt you very deeply, that he must have. And I promise I will make him pay deeply for his crimes, that I will."

At the dark tone in his voice, Kaoru looked up, sobs caught in a momentary feeling of utter awe. His once deep violet eyes were a light lilac- closer to the gold they were when he was furious. He was bordering insanity at the moment, she could read him so easily. It was time to be strong again, so that her rurouni would keep his inner peace. Sitting up and wiping her eyes, she stifled her last sniffles and put on a lighter expression.

"I'm all right now Kenshin. He never really did very much, I'm just over-reacting is all. Don't be angry."

"Miss Kaoru, it is obvious that he hurt you. You are not one to run, nor are you one to cry so easily. You are the strongest woman I have ever met- I have a hard time believing that if this was nothing then you would not be so affected by that man's return, or his name being mentioned, that I do."

"Look Kenshin. What Jensai and I had a long time ago is over. It never has to be repeated, and it doesn't have to be mentioned. It's over and done with, and nothing can change the past, so let's try to just live in the present, all right?"

"I know the past cannot be changed. But I also know that if you put your past in the back of your mind and bury the memories, they will only hurt you more later. You must learn to accept your past and deal with it. What happened between you two?"

"I don't really care to say."

"Kaoru." Kenshin breathed, his worry for her overpowering his memory to keep her name formal. "Why is it that you can trust me with your life, but not with your heart?"*

~~~Hey! I hope you're all enjoying? I wanted to answer a review I got a while back. I know that saying 'this unworthy one' instead of sessha, or 'miss' instead of –dono sounds a little awkward, but I like to keep my Japanese in fics to a minimum. It isn't that I can't write it, I just don't prefer it. I'm an oddball like that! I hope you all understand my quirk! Thanks much, and PLEASE REVIEW! Much love, Vixen~~~