Disclaimer: Nope, I don't own Rurouni Kenshin or Weiβ Kreuz, so it would be no use if you sue me, because I'm just another fan who's got very little money on her hands, and well, it would just cost tons to get a lawsuit, ne?

A/N: Ta-dah! Here comes Kenshin! It's gonna get a lot more darker and angstier from now on, but well, bare with it, because, after all, who *wouldn't* (if you were an assassin for 10 years and was isolated from everyone, and well, killed almost every stranger you were told to kill?)? FYI, Kenshin is 26, Kaoru and Soujirou are 20, Sanosuke is 22, and Aoshi is 25. I shortened the age gap between Kaoru and Kenshin because urm ^^; I felt like it! Yesh. Well, hope ya'll enjoy this chapter!

chris: Thanks for reviewing! The only reviewer so far! ^^; *gives you a cookie* Yup, in this fic, Soujirou, Kaoru and Aoshi are all related. As to why Aoshi was living with them…well ^^ you'll find out later in the fic.

Thoughts are in ' '

Speech is in " "

Mind-communication/telepathy is in italics.

Chapter 2: New Addition

He shook the remaining blood off his katana before sliding it back into its sheath, pulling his cloak over the sword to conceal it from wandering eyes. His footsteps echoed in the dark alley, as the sheet of bloodied paper on the remaining corpse fluttered slightly in the wind.

It read 'Tenchuu'. Heaven's Justice.

It was the same message that the police had found a few days before in another part of Kyoto, with the bodies of a druglord and his bodyguards who had repeatedly slipped through the hands of the law. They had no idea why the assassin was doing what he did, but somehow, all his hits had been upon those who brought ruin and discord to society, and for that they were grateful. It did not stop them from trying to find out about the identity of this particular man, but strangely enough, no one could ever find any record that he even existed in Japan.

The amber eyes changed back to their normal violet colour as he left the area of bloodshed behind him, and sucked in a lungful of fresh air. Battousai the assassin was tucked away for the time being, and Himura Kenshin had returned. It had been a relatively easy mission tonight, and he didn't have to deal with the nuisance of killing the man's bodyguards as well as the man himself, because the target had chosen to be foolish, and had slipped off to a rowdier part of Kyoto (ie the red light district), where the unwritten law was 'every man for himself'. His target had been drunk, which made the job even easier, and Kenshin had finished him off within a few seconds, with no struggles at all. He stuck his leather-gloved hands into the pockets of his long trailing black trench coat to try to fend off the icy cold bite of winter. His long crimson locks were tied back in a high ponytail, and only a few locks of hair fell into his face. Although Kenshin was rather short in comparison to other men, the dangerous air that seemed to follow him more than made up for his height.

His cell phone vibrated in one of the pockets of his trench coat, and he scrutinised the number on the screen before answering the call.

"…" Kenshin waited for the person on the other end of the phone to speak; he never spoke unless he knew who was on the other end of the line first. It was one of the skills that his shishou had taught to him about being an assassin: never give away your identity to others.

"Himura." The voice had an air of authority to it, which could be heard even over the telephone.

"Katsura-san." Kenshin acknowledged. He wondered what was the matter; Katsura Kogorou rarely called on nights which he had missions on.

"I trust you have taken care of Takuya Hyogo?" Kenshin's echoed an affirmative noise in his throat. "Good. A job well done. I think that it's time you met up with Black Dawn."

"Black Dawn?" Kenshin inquired, not because he didn't know about them, but because he had never met any other Ishinshishi assassins before.

"Aa. Meet me at the Kikuzakura Teahouse in an hour." Katsura rung off.

The assassin slid the phone back into his pocket and crossed the desolate road. 'No blood on my clothes tonight.' He mused to himself. It was a rare occurrence. 'Not to mention the fact that the compound is too far away and I wouldn't be able to get back in time without being late for the meeting with Katsura-san.' He stretched his limbs slightly, mentally sighing. 'If I get there early I'll be able to get something to eat then.' With that thought, Kenshin slowly made his way to the other side of Kyoto.

~*~

Katsura Kogorou put down the phone and rubbed his temples lightly, attempting to pacify the migraine that was building up in his head.

"Are you sure that's a good decision to put him together with the Kamiya girl?" Katsura squinted at the outlined figure in the dim room. It could only be Takasugi.

Katsura contemplated his answer. "Both of them have suffered…more than anyone their age should. They carry burdens that they should not have to, and yet, continue to live on as they are."

"Aa." Was the affirmative response.

"Himura has lost touch, so to speak, with human contact," Katsura continued. "And…" He frowned in mid-sentence. "I think that Kamiya will be able to bring back more of his humanity…or more of the real him before he became an assassin. Besides, interaction with the other members of the group will be good for him too."

Takasugi raised an eyebrow in the darkness of the room. "Indeed. Something else you 'saw' (1) then, Katsura?"

The head of the Ishinshishi nodded. "Yes. I have 'seen' that she will be the one to save him. Besides…" His voice softened. "This is the very least that we can do for him in return for taking away his sanity."

~*~

The phone rang in the living room as Kaoru walked down the stairs, rubbing her wet hair with a towel. Sanosuke had gone out sometime in the evening; Soujirou was somewhere in the house. She sighed inwardly, about to rush down the stairs to reach the ringing cacophony when—

I'll get it. (2)

Soujirou's mental voice sounded in her head. She sent an appreciative smile through the mind-link she had with her twin.

Arigatou, Sou-chan!

"Moshi moshi." Peeping around the wall that separated the hall and the living room, she saw that Soujirou had already picked up the phone.

"Hai." Soujirou beckoned towards Kaoru. "Yeah, she's here. Hold on." He handed the cordless to her and returned to the sofa. Takasugi da.

Sinking into the sofa and curling one leg under herself she spoke into the phone.

"Takasugi-san ne? Nan no you desuka?"

The gruff voice chuckled. "Ah, the mind link again ne? I still remain amazed every time you two do that."

She smiled. "Sou? Do we have another mission?" Kaoru rolled her eyes at her brother, who promptly graced her with a withering smile.

He sighed. "Straight to the point as always, Bara (3). I'll be coming around at 1200 tomorrow, so make sure the whole team is there."

"Aoshi joining us?" She inquired. She hadn't seen her cousin in 2 months.

"Nope. Not this one. Next one maybe. Get your equipment sharp and ready. That's all." He hung up.

Kaoru plonked the phone back onto its stand and leaned into Soujirou's shoulder, trying to suppress the cold shiver that ran down her back at the thought of having to kill someone again. She closed her eyes, trying to blink away the tears. 'I hate this. Taking people's lives as if we had the right to do so.'

Soujirou shifted in his seat to give his twin a comforting hug. Zannen dakedo…but this is what we have to do to keep others safe. His mental voice also held her in a hug.

Kaoru gave a small grimace. I know…kedo…no one understands the extent of the work that we do ne? I wish sometimes…that we were as normal and naïve as all those other people out there. Never knowing, never suspecting.

Soujirou nodded sadly. I wish for that too. But I wouldn't wish for someone else to go through the pain that we had, and still have to go through.

She smiled a small sad smile. Sou ne. She hugged him back. Thanks for understanding, Sou-chan.

He broke out into a big, real smile. That's what twins are for, baka!

She answered in a grin. Hai!

Soujirou squeezed his sister once more, before going back to his Law notes. "Have to call Sanosuke soon and tell him too." He said aloud.

Kaoru stretched slightly. "Mind call? (4)"

"Yeah." He waved his sister off. "Go to sleep, you look like you need it." He grinned boyishly as he ducked under her playful swipe. "I'll tell him."

"Oyasumi, Sou-chan."

"Oyasumi, Kaoru."

Dictionary

Tenchuu – Heaven's Justice; used in the manga by Kenshin whenever he had to assassinate someone. Motto, I think you can call it, of the Ishinshishi.

Shishou – master (^^ and who else could be Kenshin's master, hmm? :p)

Aa – yes; an affirmative acknowledgement.

Arigatou – Thank you

Moshi moshi – what you usually say when you answer a phone call in Japan.

Takasugi da – It's Takasugi

Nan no you desuka? – Is anything the matter?/What's the matter?

Zannen dakedo – It's cruel, but…/It may be cruel, but…

Kedo – but

Baka – idiot

Hai – yes

Oyasumi – good night

Notes:

(1) 'Seeing' – what Takasugi and Katsura are going on about here is Katsura's urm… 'little' ability as a pre-cog. He can 'see' into the future; it's not really predicting what will happen, but it's a kinda insight into what is the most likely event to occur into the future. For those who have watched Weiβ Kreuz, think Bradley Crawford, the pre-cog :p

(2) Sou-chan is 'talking' via telepathy with Kaoru in this conversation. They've done it for years, so it's only usual for them to communicate without having to talk vocally.

(3) Bara is Kaoru's assassin code-name. As in Weiβ Kreuz, all the assassins in this fic also have their own individual code names. You have probably figured out that Kenshin's is Battousai, Soujirou's is Tenken, and Sanosuke's is Zanza. As for Aoshi's code-name…hrm…still working on that :p Why Bara? Gods…couldn't come up with anything else! Short, sweet, and I know…lame! ^^;; If anyone else has any suggestions, please do tell me, and I'll consider changing Kaoru's code-name.

(4) Mind-call. Sending a telepathic message to someone who isn't a telepath. They can receive messages from telepath, and for those non-telepaths who have an um…stronger communication ability than others, they can send *very* short messages back. Sanosuke can do this, and well, Kenshin may be able to as well. Still working on it. It's much easier, of course, to mind-call non-telepaths through dreams.

A/N: Yii. New chapter with lots and lots of explanations (as well as Japanese!). Gomen if my Japanese, sucks, 'coz all the Japanese that I know is from reading a lot of manga and watching anime; it's all self-taught. My reading skills are so-so, my translation skills are…strange… and my conversation skills are awful! ^^;; So, if anyone who's fluent in Japanese wishes to correct me, please do. I was gonna put the mission into this chapter -_- but it kinda took off on its own. Grah! *slumps in chair* Yet another chapter to write! _ I have no idea how long this story will go on for, but I think probably about 10-15 chapters…depends on whether the story plans to take off on its own, which is normal for fanfiction… I just hope that it doesn't take too long to finish _ otherwise I'll be *really* hard-pressed to update, coz when school starts I'll have lots of h/w to keep up with! Anyway, hope you enjoyed that chapter minna, R/R please!