Sentiments of gip-k: -Hello, all. Here's to the 15th chapter of SGCG2! ^_^ Well, here we go…

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Disclaimer: I do not own Rurouni Kenshin.

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---The Barrier---

That night I awoke to the sound of my own tearless crying and mumbling. I had had the most terrible dream about…Kenshin. He was in the middle of the battle, but he could not see the opponent, but even I could see the opponent better than he could. I was watching there helplessly. I could not move… everything was black. When least expected the opponent would strike out, injuring Kenshin each time. I cried out to him but I could hardly reach him. Then when he fell, he was bleeding very badly, and I rushed over to him, shaking him I said…

"Oh Kenshin you've got to get up!" I cried. "Kenshin please. Kenshin I promise I'll do anything for you, but you've got to get up! You've got to win this battle… please do it for me, Kenshin! Get up!" Kenshin still lay still in the darkness, and I could hear the opponent's maniacal laughter. I hugged Kenshin to myself, sobbing convulsively into his tearing hakama. "Get up… get up…" I sobbed out. My eyes darted in the darkness, and I could feel the opponent approaching us to kill us, and feel Kenshin's life slipping away. "KENSHIN! KENSHIN GET UP! KENSHINNNN!!!!!!!"

Then I awoke suddenly, in a cold sweat, realizing that I was really moaning and mumbling. I even felt my face for the tears. There were none. I got up, got a drink of water, and went back to bed. Yet I could not shake the dream…

* * *

Later the next day, Sano, Megumi and I walked through the city together. Sanosuke and Megumi were both walking at my left side, with Megumi at the edge of the row.

"I hear there's more trouble down south," Sano said as he walked with us, hand s in his pockets. His face looked grim. "This is so stupid," Sanosuke kicked a can out of his way violently. "I wish I could do something to help Kenshin! But the idiot decided to go about doing things by himself- without telling exactly where he went. He's most likely in Nagoya or Osaka, but he could even be all the way in Hiroshima. That's a long distance from here, so we aren't getting much news. But I think the fighting's getting even worse."

I nodded slightly, not really wanting to dwell on it too much. Especially since I had had the dream the night before. I felt a knot of uneasiness twisting in my stomach.

"I hope Kenny makes it through okay," Megumi said in a faraway kind of voice.

"Me too," I whispered softly.

The wind kicked up a bit, and suddenly. I tucked some loose hair behind my ear. Kenshin…

As we continued walking together, at the docks we saw men enlisting in the military. Well, some did not have much of a choice, but others did. I frowned at the beaming faces of the young men. War was not a pretty thing- trying to quell a rebellion and an attack from islanders at the same time was not fun. That was what some of those men thought- they were out there risking their lives, and they were excited. They should be happy to defend Japan, but they did not have to look like that. They seemed so… foolish. So innocent.

We walked a little more, admiring the orange and gold trees. The fall was arriving, and the autumn breezes were quite pleasant.

"Hey, say, any of you two want to go to the Akebeko?" Sanosuke asked, sounding bored.

Megumi snorted.

"And who's going to pay for that?" she asked, voice oozing with sarcasm.

"Hey, the Little Missy can pay for that," Sanosuke said with a wry grin. My mouth opened indignantly. "Hey, after all, she seems to be doing pretty well."

"Well Megumi's doing much better," I snapped. "She's a medical doctor, after all."

"Hey," Sanosuke raised his arms in defense. "Don't bite my nose off, Missy. I'm just making a few sensible suggestions."

"Yes, Raccoon, a few sensible suggestions," Megumi said saucily.

I glared at them. They simply smiled at me. Ack, stupid smiles!

"All right, all right," I finally said, huffing a sigh. "But you had better be sure you'll pay for it!"

Sanosuke did pay for it, at least a small amount. He said during his trip he actually came out on the good end. That was fairly remarkable… no, dream-like.

Well, we sat at the Akebeko, eating noodles and drinking sake. Tsubame seemed to be doing even better, and Tae had chased off Wuki several times. He'd decided to go start a case with another girl.

"Hey, fox lady," Sanosuke said.

Megumi looked up from her eating.

"Katsu's been talking about you a lot," Sanosuke, chewing and swallowing. "Do you want to come over when I go to hang out with him later?"

Megumi's fox ears appeared. She pressed a finger against Sanosuke's nose.

"Now how do I know it's Katsu that's been talking a lot about me?" she asked in a syrupy sweet voice.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Sanosuke asked a bit snappishly. He pushed Megumi's finger down off of his nose. "It was a simple question, Megumi. Are you in or out?"

"I'm in," Megumi said, eyes sparkling.

"Good," Sanosuke said, giving her a wry smile.

We finished our meals, and I paid Tae for everything. She waved to us on our way out, and even smiled at Sanosuke! It seemed as though despite his bad habits, she had missed having him around.

Before I could split with Sanosuke and Megumi, Sanosuke grabbed my arm.

"Hey, Missy, where do you think you're going?" he asked.

"I'm going back home to the dojo," I replied.

"Hey, that does not sound too good to me," Sanosuke replied, his eyes sparkling. "Why don't you come over to Katsu's house with us?"

I thought about that for a minute… Kazuma would be worried about me… and I had some things to do at home. I did not tell Sanosuke about Kazuma, though. I just told him that I could not come.

"Is it really safe for a young lady like you to be going home all by herself?" he asked in mock-seriousness.

I gave him a playful whack on the head.

"Sano!" I scolded. I smiled at him. "It's all right, I'll be fine. Besides… if you were to escort me home, then you and Megumi would be late."

Sanosuke shrugged.

"Whatever you say, Missy," he replied. We exchanged farewells, and began heading down in our opposite directions.

As I walked through the city of Tokyo, my mind was filled with anxiety and my hands shook slightly with worry. I huffed out sighs continually in a vain effort to calm myself. I stalked through the city like an angry cat, not knowing what was ailing me. All I could think of was the dream… of Kenshin.

I continued walking, and I was so engaged in my own inner battle that I hardly heard a voice calling me out from amongst the crowd.

"Kaoru! Kaoru-chan!"

My head flipped around. I saw Kazuma running to me through the crowds. When he reached me, he wrapped an arm around my shoulder and pulled me close to him.

"Kazuma!" I exclaimed, a smile making it's way almost immediately into my face.

"What are you doing walking home alone?" he asked seriously. He was doing everything but smiling.

"I-" I looked down for a moment. His concern pierced me like the sharpest needle. "I'm sorry, Kazuma. I did not mean to worry you."

Kazuma kissed my forehead.

"It's all right, Kaoru-chan," he said. "I'm here with you now, so I guess it doesn't matter." He smiled at me. I smiled back. We continued walking to the dojo together.

Over dinner, Kazuma said something that made me feel doleful… torn.

He reached over the table and put his hand on top of mine. His gold brown eyes were filled with deep emotion… feeling.

"I miss you, Kaoru-chan," Kazuma said, his voice sounding deeply pained.

I nearly choked, and went into a short fit of coughing. I saw momentary concern in Kazuma's eyes, then it flashed away when he saw that I was fine.

"What are you talking about?" I asked, voice unsteady.

"You're always gone," he said. He squeezed my hand. "Sometimes I come to the dojo in the morning, and you're already saying good-bye. Then when I come in the evening, you're not there, or you're tired. You don't want to spend time with me anymore."

"That's not true, Kazuma," I said, my anger beginning to flare.

"Yes it is," Kazuma said. "You're always spending time Sanosuke Sagara and Dr. Takani."

His words made me feel… mournful. I squeezed his hand, looking deep into his eyes.

"You know I love you, Kazuma," I said. "I never met to hurt your feelings."

Kazuma looked away from me.

"You did," he whispered.

I felt tears coming to my eyes. Without another word, I rose from the table, taking the dishes with me. I washed them slowly, taking each moment to consider carefully what to do.

"They're wonderful people, Kazuma," I whispered. "Maybe one of these times you'll get to meet them."

Kazuma nodded numbly.

After dinner, we spoke a little longer, but other than that, not much. Kazuma gave me a kiss before he left. Somehow that made me feel better.

I went to bed that night, hoping to find a good night's sleep. That night was not haunted by any bad dreams, but I did a lot of thinking. Yes, I did an awful lot of that.

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gip-k's Post Chapter Statements: -Not the best chapter I've written lately. I'm confident that I did my best, though. I guess Kaoru has been a little bit distant from Kazuma and spending more time with Sanosuke and Megumi. That's just the way I decided to do this chapter. No flames, please.

And here are the special thanks.

Waterflash

Thanks for reviewing! You remembered this time! ^_^

Crazed Fanatic Anime Fan

Still here! ^_^ I'm glad you've been enjoying the story so much… YES! Less Kazuma-fluff or whatever you call it, in this particular chapter.

nina

I'm glad you've been enjoying the story, too. Thanks for reading/reviewing.

Baka Sisters

You are Crazed Fanatic Anime Fan and Tanuki Diethel! I checked the profile. That's very cool. Thanks for the review, Tanuki!

Female Hitokiri Battousai

Thanks for reading/reviewing. You always manage to do so even when you have very little time.

Dragon Ladysupreme

Yay she updated! (Does a little dance) Thank you for reading and reviewing my story- I did the same for you!

Brittanie Love

Thank you so much for reading my story! You always seem to be the first to review, of late.

Varina

Yay a new reviewer! I love new reviewers. I'm glad you've been enjoying my story. I've been enjoying writing it.

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And to any I may have forgot or who have not reviewed THANK YOU!!!

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