Sentiments of gip-k: -Hello! Welcome to the TWELTH chapter of SGCG2. In this chapter, we shall go deeper and deeper into the plot. (Laughs maniacally) I most certainly am glad you all have enjoyed it so far, and have seen a variety of emotions displayed, but now a line is being drawn. I certainly hope the way I end this story (not in this chapter mind you!) pleases you all very well.

Also, I'd like to note that last chapter, my writing style may seem to have… altered. _ I read an awful lot of a book that day, by Robert Jordan, and my mind sucks up the information like a vacuum, so I suppose that some of my descriptions may have been a little more deep. ^_^ Hopefully, though, I will be able to write well and have my own personal style. If you'd notice, though, I use a lot of the "three dots" in this story. (Shrugs) Why, I do not exactly know, but that is one of my trademarks, now, I suppose. ^_^

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Disclaimer: I don't own Rurouni Kenshin. (Smashes the disclaimer)

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---Glistening---

Kazuma walked me home that day, and I hardly wanted to leave his arms. I gave him my warmest smile as he left, and he seemed to see the love that radiated from it, for he smiled back, and his eyes brightened like gleaming brown pearls.

I ate a quick dinner by myself, since Kazuma had declined. I chewed the food carefully, deep in thought as I did. Well, deep in thoughts of Kazuma Zhang. I loved him so much, and I felt that all I could see was his face, branded on my brain as if with a hot tool, and his name seemingly flickered before my eyes frequently.

When I finally finished up, I silently washed my dishes. Then, I went to my room, where I undressed and hurriedly slipped under my covers. An involuntary smiled turned up the corners of my mouth as I closed my eyes. Kazuma…

The very next morning, I awoke, with thoughts of Kazuma filling me once again. Then I blinked, and realized that I had not cleaned up the mess of glass that I had made when half destroying the picture frame. I got out of bed quickly, retrieved a broom, and began cleaning up. I opened the door and swept the glass pieces under the landscaping bush, so that I would not step on them later and possibly be hurt, or ruin my slippers.

After that, I got dressed, whistling a soft tune to myself. I hurried to my room, and knelt before my easel, where I was writing. Then I heard someone calling from the dojo gate. I stopped humming, and stopped my brush, which had been stroking smooth, quick lines onto the paper. I washed the ink off of it, and then placed it gently away with the rest of my writing tools. This time I had actually been writing constructively… poetry, of all things!

I walked smoothly to the door, and was quite surprised at who I saw there. It was Megumi, and her hair was rustled, and badges under her eyes.

"Megumi?" I said with a gasp. "What -?" Then I remembered. I had left Megumi searching all over half the city, and I had been cuddling with… I blushed. "Mou! I'm so, so sorry Megumi."

To my surprise, Megumi smiled.

"This was actually… self-inflicted, in a way," Megumi said, a wry smile twisting her mouth. "I tried searching for Sano, but he was nowhere to be found. I know we'd agreed not to give anyone his description…"

"Yes," I replied. "We had agreed that, Megumi, because you said-"

"-it was too dangerous," Megumi finished for me, grimacing. "Well I thought I was just being over-cautious. I had no idea Sano had so many enemies. I asked a shopkeeper about a person of his description, and she chased me out of her store with a knife! After that, I searched all around, and finally, a nice little chubby man told me he'd seen someone of Sano's description heading out to the docks. So I went back to the docks, and I asked around there, and finally discovered that Sano had gotten on a ferry and went out of town. After a little more asking around and… eavesdropping," Megumi looked mischievous. "I finally found out that he would not be returning for quite some time, maybe a few weeks."

I nodded happily, unable to conceal my absolute joy.

"That's wonderful, Megumi!" I said.

"Yes," Megumi said dryly, grimacing as she did. Her eyes twinkled with amusement, though. "By that time, just about everyone knew who I was searching for, and those with sense put two and two together, and decided that I was not searching for Sanosuke Sagara, but for Zanza the gangster," she grimaced even more deeply, but looked even more amused, as well. "I had a lot of people asking after Sanosuke's well fare- quite a few of those, to be exact. But… I had some more people who did not like Zanza at all. Those were the one's who cursed at me. The rest of them went a little further, and decided that I was Zanza's girl, and decided to try attacking me!" Megumi looked angry, now, but still affection could be seen somewhere in that look. "I hardly escaped those losers, and someone had to rescue me! By that time, I was far away from my home, half-lost, and tired and hungry enough to rob a bandit for a peace of bread," Megumi began muttering something about Sanosuke that did not sound very pleasant. "Well, anyway, I tried finding you, but I gave up on it and went to bed. But by the time I got to bed, it was almost one in the morning." Megumi let out a deep sigh, then her face broke into a smile. I smiled back at her, and it all ended with both of us in a fit of laughter.

"You look awful still, Megumi," I said, still giggling.

"Hey, don't tease, raccoon girl," she said wryly. Her eyes sparkled. "I did all the work, remember?"

"Yes, Megumi-san," I said with a mock-serious voice. "Thank you very, very much for your awesome effort."

Megumi mock-pouted at me.

"Ah, that fool boy is rubbing off on me!" Megumi exclaimed. "I actually feel like some… some sake."

"Weird," I said. "Me, too."

"And some hot soup," Megumi added.

We both looked very thoughtful and glum for a second. Then all of the sudden, we both smiled, giving each other a knowing look.

"Akebeko?"

We spoke it at the same time. Megumi looked triumphant, though.

"Ha!" she said. "Beat you, raccoon girl. I said it first."

"No you did not," I argued, feeling a twinge of irritation. But then, I smiled. It was a time to rejoice.

"Well then, it's decided," Megumi said. "We're going to the Akebeko right this second."

Megumi began walking out of the dojo gate, but I caught her arm.

"Erhm, Megumi?" I asked with mock-uncertainty.

Megumi turned to me. I grinned, and retrieved a small silver comb from my kimono sleeve. I waved it in front of Megumi. She snatched it away from me with a wry look.

"Humph!" she said indignantly, but I could tell she was amused. She hurriedly smartened up her hair, and then tried to hand the comb back to me, but I refused.

"No, you keep it," I said.

"All right then," Megumi replied. Her eyes twinkled mischievously. "But don't beg me to give it back to you."

We walked side by side through Tokyo, and we must have looked like the two happiest girls in all of Japan. We walked right into the Akebeko. I ordered some rice and soup, and Megumi asked Tae for two bottles of sake. Tae gave her a twisty grin, obviously knowing how much that was going to cost, and very pleased with it.

"At that rate, Miss Megumi, you'll be worst off than Zanza," she said, amused.

"Yes," I said with a small smile. "But we'll pay for our rice wine."

Surprisingly, the person who delivered our food was none other than Tsubame. She was smiling again, and her eyes had returned to their lively blue. Her face was a bit bandaged, as well as her left hand and arm, but she looked like an angel in her orange work suit. She still looked grown up though, but the smile she gave us almost returned her face to the way it had been before Yahiko died.

"Hi, Tsubame," I said cheerily. "You look very happy, today. How are you doing?"

"I'm doing perfect, Miss Kaoru!" Tsubame said as she placed our food on the table. "How's everything at the dojo?"

"It's just fine," I replied happily.

Tsubame nodded.

"I'm sorry I have to go, now," she replied. "I have a lot of work to do. See you later, Miss Kaoru. Bye, Miss Megumi."

"Bye, kid," Megumi said with a smile. As soon as Tsubame was gone, Megumi bent closer to me and whispered, "Is it just me, or is that girl looking very much better than she did before?"

"She's better," I said happily.

"Good," Megumi said, leaning back. She growled. "I'm sure glad she ditched that little prick Wuki. I hate him."

"Me too," I said, nearly snarling.

"He needs some manners."

We both said that at the same time, and were shocked at agreeing with each other for the second time that day. We blinked. Strange… very strange and disturbing.

We began digging into our meals, but I think that Megumi drunk a little too much. She seemed… dizzy, and her evil fox ears appeared a little too often.

We left the restaurant a little more than an hour later, and walked with Megumi a little while longer, to make sure she got to her place in one peace. Then, I walked the rest of the way to the dojo.

My mind was filled with thoughts. Sanosuke was coming back to Tokyo in a few weeks, and she would have to speak to him, soon. She loved Kazuma with all her heart… all of it. She had to let him see her friends, sometime. She had to plan a meeting. She wanted them all to get along, for she did not want to have to choose between the Kenshin Gumi and Kazuma. It did not seem right and…

I suddenly heard a rustling in the bushes, and then I flipped around, reaching for a bokken that was not there. RATS! I spun around slowly, eyes darting from bush to bush, and my whole body was alert. Then I heard… laughter. Soft, evil, rumbling laughter.

"Let's get her boys!" the voice was loud, raspy, and I let out a gasp as the big man, and four other men, emerged from out of the midst of the trees and bushes along the way. The road ahead was wide, and I was sure I could easily escape any of their pity punches and lunges. Yet, without my bokken…

They all lunged at me wildly, and I tried kicking at them. I was not best at kicking, so I tried punching. That worked better, but I was very much used to the bokken being in my hands. The biggest man, the leader, reached for my neck with a large, hairy hand, and I dodged underneath him, and punched him between the legs, he jumped back, clutching himself and yelling out. I almost smiled, but another man grabbed my arm. I fought him, and kicked at him, and then used my greatest strength…

"YOUCH!"

The man yelped as my teeth sunk into his hand, and then I jumped backwards away from him, but someone I did not see kicked me in the ribs, and I went flying back, crying out. I clutched my side, for a second, gasping, but as the men lunged at me, I began kicking, scratching, biting, anything to get them all away. I somehow managed to escape, and began running down the road. I did not look back, but somehow a very skinny bandit caught up with me and tried to trip me. I leaped over his leg, but the pain in my ribs caused me to stumble at my landing, and I fell down, moaning as I struggled to get up.

I felt one of the men grab my arm and yank me up, roughly. Before I could react, I was punched in the face. Blood splattered, and I let out a muffled scream.

"Awl, a feisty one, then?" the biggest man drawled.

I looked at him with squinting eyes.

"Leave me alone!" I yelled, trying to fight that man that held me. But he was too strong and I was injured and in a half-daze.

The leader man fingered the sleeve of my kimono.

"That's good stuff," he said, with a toothless grin. "How much did it cost you?"

"It did not cost me anything!" I spat blood on the man's shirt. "I made it!"

Ripples of laughter and murmurs went through the group. I felt a shiver go up my spine. The big man smiled more wildly than ever.

"Well," he said. "We will be taking it, as well as the pretty bow of yours."

"And…" the big man whispered so close to my face that I could feel his hot, stinky breath on my cheek. "We'll be taking something else."

I blinked at the man, and was horrified at the shocking realization of exactly what that meant.

"Let me go!" I was not about to cry out for help- no one could help. I was in the middle of the road with a bunch of bandits… a road to a dojo that was hardly visited.

The men began laughing, and I almost felt tears stinging my eyes. My face reddened with anger.

I squeezed my eyes shut to restrain myself from panicking, and then I heard a thump followed by a yell. My eyes opened as quickly as they had shut. I tried to turn around, but the man held me firmly. But I knew that voice…

"Leave her alone."

It almost did not sound like him… the sheer contempt in his voice was not was I was accustomed to hearing. But I knew it was…Kazuma.

The big man stepped away from me, and I tried to look from the corner of my eye.

"And who are you to tell us what to do?" the leader snarled. "Hold her fast," he commanded the man who was holding unto me. "Boys, let's teach this wimp a good lesson."

With that the man began attacking Kazuma, punching and kicking at him. Kazuma fought them fiercely, but I bit my lip every time I heard him get hit. I heard their yelps, as well. He was fighting three men alone. I heard the sounds of hitting and moaning.

"Kazuma!" I yelled, as I saw him hit the ground. I began fighting the man holding me even more. I kicked and fought with him, he tried to tell me to stop but I would not, I was near tears, and I squirmed and squiggled. I finally got out of his grasp, and finally began running towards Kazuma, my love, who was now down on the ground, battered and bleeding, but despite the fact of that, he was still getting good kicks and punches in, and he fought wildly… street style.

"Hey, stop it you little b****!" the man holding me grabbed my arm again, and pushed me towards the ground, then boot his foot on my back to keep me from standing. My face was shoved into the dirt, and I could hardly breathe. The man pressed to cause pain over and over, and it felt like he intended to trample me to death.

"Kaoru!" I heard Kazuma calling me- a loud, deep voice that almost shook the ground like an earthquake. I tried to gasp for breath and call back to him, but I could not. All I got was a mouthful of dirt and more pain and pressure on my back.

Then I heard the footsteps rushing towards me, and I felt the pressure of the man's foot leave my suddenly, and I gasped for air… sweet oxygen rushing into my lungs suddenly. I breathed in the air with a dry, raspy throat, but hurried to my feet, and just as quickly began helping to fight the men trying to kill Kazuma. I would not let them hurt him… I would not.

We seemed to be losing, though, because I felt more punches on me, despite the fact that I dodged most of them, and we were weakening. The skinny man was sprawled on the ground, though, unconscious, a dagger in his hand.

"Stop!" the big man called loudly. His voice cut the air clean like a knife and all of us stopped fighting, gasping and clutching wounds. Kazuma fell to his knees, grimacing and clutching his side.

"It's enough," the leader said. "These kids aren't worth the trouble." He spat. Then he left, the rest of his group of stupid loser bandits following him. I was partially frightened, but I glared at them until they were gone.

Then my mind suddenly went back to Kazuma, and I cried out to him, and scurried over there to wrap my arms around him. I let him go, shaking. I felt his face and peered deep into his gold-brown eyes.

"Are you all right?" I asked, softly.

"Yes," he replied. He sounded very weak, but his eyes radiated love and strength. "Are you?"

I nodded, dabbing a tear from my eye.

"I should not have let this happen to you," I said. "I should have brought my bokken."

"Shhh, Kaoru-chan," he replied, putting a finger to my lips. I stayed silent, and my dark blue eyes locked fully with his… yes, there were a window to his mind. He smiled. "I am glad you're safe. I would have died before letting them have you."

"Me too," I said softly.

We hugged again, a warm, happy embrace.

"Can you stand?" I whispered to him softly.

"I… think so," he replied.

I stood up, and he, too, attempted to stand, but fell back down with a hiss and a grimace of pain.

"Kazuma," I said, voice sharp with worry.

"I'm… all right," Kazuma finally got to his feet, but only while heavily leaning on me. He gave me a weak smile. "We're done in really bad, aren't we?"

I continued to try to help him walk, struggling to return the smile. I couldn't. We limped along a snail pace, but somehow, with Kazuma resting against my shoulder, and I nestled next to him, I felt at peace.

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gip-k's Post chapter Statements: -Hello. Hey, I know. It's not exactly typical for Kaoru to be attacked by bandits, but I threw it in, thus adding to the story and making it all Rurouni Kenshin-like. Many of you have failed to notice that Tokyo could easily get into disarray… at least the way Watsuki makes battles pop up in Rurouni Kenshin. _ Luckily, I did not have to add that sour effect. Because there's trouble down south!

Well, Kaoru and Kazuma are just getting all fluffy like. (Sighs) Sanosuke is back in two weeks from his trip. A brewing trouble, but in the midst Kaoru is peaceful. Is her love for Kenshin disappearing, or does she still have a place for him deep inside? You'll have to find out later. For now, here are my special thanks.

Dragon Ladysupreme

Hey, thanks for your nice review! It was really quite lovely. But I can tell you're a bit angry with Kenshin for leaving. Yes, well deserved… but how many times must I say? THERE WAS TROUBLE DOWN SOUTH! (Gets icy calm)

Chibi Fyrefly

(Writes "Kenshin favoring" on a chart next to Fyrefly's name) Okay, hello! Thank you for your… nice review! I really appreciate it, and not to worry about the, erhm "Kuwabara-rip-off?" Well, let me see… no, don't worry about that. :D

Crazed Fanatic Anime Fan

Another Kenshin favoring… goody! :D Thanks for your review. I sure hope you're not to… irritated at this update! I promise NO ONE will be disappointed.

Silver Hanyou

You're another Kazuma hater? WOW. O_O We've got a lot of those. But it's all good. Very good! I see you've been enjoying the story. Well, golden cried? ^_^ Intended, intended. Thanks for the nice review. (And the brownies! ^_^)

Female Hitokiri Battousai

-_- Yes, you've been getting what you want forever. :D I surely thank you for all your reviews… nice and unpleasant! I certainly hope that in the end you'll be satisfied, after all the mixed emotions I've been seeing from you.

Brittanie Love

Thanks for your review! You've liked this story from the very start… you were one of the first reviewers. Yes, all is good. EVEN me making you anxious. ^_^

Nina

… … … Your review made me feel like the pits. _ An accurate expression hopefully. You really know how to make a person feel BAD.

I will not flame you back, though, because I understand all of your sentiments. True, I was trying to slide the blame unto Kaoru, quite a lot, though no one has seemed to notice but you and maybe Female Hitokiri Battousai. I hope this story is not just terrible in your eyes. I have certainly maybe overdone the angst, but things are looking up. I made Megumi very OOC and much contrary to the word "lovable"; however, you must understand that I did this all for a purpose. I want to bring out Kaoru's true inner-strength. Mind you, I did not make her soft at all… if I were in Kaoru's place, most likely I would not survive. Yes, I was being unfair to Kaoru… but only so that you could see how strong she was. I apologize if I disappointed you in any way, but understand that there are purposes for all that I am doing in my story.

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