Disclaimer: I don't think I own anything with red hair, a cross-shaped scar and amethyst eyes, nor do I own anything that tries to 'Shi-ne!' everything in sight ne? The HalfSoul concept was influenced by the soul mate principle in L.J. Smith's Nightworld, so that kinda belongs to me I guess. HalfSoul concept I mean.

A/N: Welcome back again! Thanks to everyone for reviewing! ^^ This chapter is a rather humour-induced one, and there's not much seriousness about it; Kenshin has taken up residence at the Black Dawn headquarters, and it is hectic to say the least! More information about Kenshin and Kaoru's 'connection' and what it means! Poor Kenshin gets on Kaoru's bad side! XD Mwahaha~ the KxK fans out there will probably enjoy this!

Thanks once again to everyone who reviewed, and special thanks to Tenken and Inuyasha22 for giving me the definition of Tenken! I also noticed the miscalculation in the number of years between 1997 and 2003 _ crap, totally forgot about that; thanks to DragoWolf for letting me know! I would have had this chapter up earlier, but my computer decided that it wanted to screw up, and I spent a whole day trying to piece everything back together. My modem still is screwed up, so that means that the laptop will have to go for repairs, and I have no idea when the hell it'll return to me. Never fear, I'll just use my mum's one, but I'm warning you in advance that it'll be way harder for me to update! So don't say I didn't tell you! Anywayz, have fun reading!

Reviewers' Space!

NightRain - Yup, Oro-chan's a Dreamwalker J among other things as well, of course. I'm glad you like the chapter! Nope, haven't read Dreamscapes before, but I've seen it around. J I think I'll read it soon!

Tsugoi Kakarlena - O_O Orororororo~ I will do my best to update as often as I can! ^^ Really glad that you like it!

InuYasha22 - Heyo ^^ I'm glad you like it so far! Btw thanks for the definition! ^^ Hope to see you around in the next couple of chapters too, ne?

can't-get-enough-anime - hello again! ^^ Too short? Mou~ it's not all done yet :p and I'm still figuring out the rest of the plot. :P Not to mention, if I wrote longer chapters, that would mean that it would take longer to update, so wouldn't that be worse? Besides, I don't want to add chapters to the story if I think they're crap, so I reread each chapter a couple times, then edit it, and finally when I'm satisfied, I post it. What happened to Kaoru? ^^ Oh, she fainted. Too much contact with Kenshin and all that. I guess you can kinda say: her circuits got fried _ ouch.

CurlsofSerenity - I'm glad you're enjoying the story so far! I'll try my best to update as much as I can, but when school starts, that's gonna get tougher, so please be patient, ne? Arigatou!

Tenken - Thanks so much for the definition! Domo~ I hope you're enjoying the story!

rogue solus - yes, I love that line! XD you can always count on Sano to state the most obvious, and funny remarks. Yes, Saitou will be making an appearance soon enough ^^ :p of course, he'll get on Kenshin's nerves and vice-versa.

Random Reader-san - Hello, nice to see you again! *Gets starry eyes* ^^;; I'm glad that you like it so much! Do look forward to the rest of the story ne! ^^

Neko Oni - I know! But at least when you're writing for a hobby, you're writing for fun right? Not like you're being forced to write a huge report on acid-base equilibrium or something like that. You're lucky to have graduated. I've still got a whole semester to go before I'm outta high school. _ Sigh...Lol, I admit, :p they did indeed try to skewer poor Ken-chan, but hey, they didn't know each other in the first place ne? Hehen~ poor boy is gonna get tortured by authors like me :p I just *had* to add that line in from Sano! Seriously, the guy's humour can be so ribald! I'll try to update as fast as I can! Yiii~ What with my computer not detecting my modem and whatnot, I'm gonna be hard pressed, but I'll try to keep up with everything.

Dragowolf o_O Crap, I totally forgot about that! Thanks for telling me about that. I was gonna put 1995, but then I changed the plan on paper, and then forgot to changed it on the computer. Misao, now? Sorry, but I guess I'll have to say that you have to wait. I'm already having enough trouble with stuffing all the KxK in, and I've still got to introduce the rest of the group ie. Yahiko and Megumi. Someone's already started about Saitou -_- I swear, being a writer is so tough sometimes. Whatever the case, I'll try to bring her in as soon as I can, but until then, please enjoy the rest of the story! Weak crybaby? Misao? Somehow, that just doesn't seem to register in my brain, so you won't have to worry about that. Yes, yes, I'll write, I'll write.

Dragona – I'm glad you enjoy it! Here's the next chapter, and I'll try to update the next ASAP!

On to the fic!

Chapter 5: Awakening…and Chaos!

Thoughts are in ' '

Speech is in " "

Telepathy is in italics.

"So…did the meeting go on well between Himura and the Kamiya girl?" Morning had dawned on Japan, and Katsura was inquiring about the mission that Black Dawn had had the night before.

Takasugi grinned, remembering the events of the night before. "It was interesting to say the least. There was some funny connection between him and the girl, and they couldn't seem to let go of each other's hands. Then they started acting as if they knew each other, and suddenly, the girl fainted. You have any idea how weird it was?"

The leader of the Ishinshishi smiled slightly. "It is as I saw then. They are indeed the halves of each other, and one cannot survive without the other. To gain a harmonious balance, they must have that very connection." His eyes took on a faraway look.

Takasugi raised an eyebrow. 'Dear God, he's getting philosophical again.' Katsura often became rather un-understandable, to say the least, when he started talking about the paranormal. "Care to explain that?"

Katsura blinked twice, coming back to himself. "Ah, shitsurei shimashita. I got lost in my thoughts. Himura and Kamiya Kaoru are HalfSouls of each other." Judging by the bug-eyed look on Takasugi's bewildered face, he didn't seem to be making any sense at all.

"Say…what?"

Katsura sighed; it was going to be a long day.

~*~

Sunlight filtered through the window into Kaoru's room and she wearily opened her eyes. She rubbed her eyes, trying to clear the sleepiness from them, still entangled in the blankets of her futon. 'Wasn't there a mission last night? And how did I get back here?' Her mind felt like cotton wool as she tried to remember the events that occurred the night before, as she closed her eyes again to think.

And promptly snapped them open when she remembered the amethyst eyes.

Only to stare right back at the pair that was hovering over her head.

*Blink*

*Blink Blink*

"AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!" Her scream reverberated through the whole house and Sanosuke and Soujirou footsteps pounded on the floor as they burst through the door to her bedroom.

"What's wrong Kaoru?" Soujirou inquired, taking in the fact that his sister was most definitely awake, and a swirly-eyed Kenshin was down on the floor for the count.

She pointed a shaking finger at the redheaded puddle on the floor next to her futon that had a huge red hand imprinted into the side of his face.

Soujirou resisted the urge to laugh, while Sanosuke loudly guffawed as he took in the sight of the poor assassin on the floor who seemed to have been slapped to the moons and back.

"I see you've met Himura-san." Soujirou commented dryly. "We met him last night on top of the Kanrii building, remember? He was just keeping a lookout on you while you were asleep, but I see that the poor man has been slapped into oblivion by your hand, dear sister."

Kaoru glowered at the still guffawing Sanosuke before having the grace to blush pink at her mistake. Kenshin had started to peel himself off the floor, hand going to his painful cheek and rubbing it. Kaoru immediately bowed to him in an apology, midnight tresses touching the floor. "Gomen nasai! I shouldn't have reacted like that!"

Kenshin smiled slightly. "Iya, it's not your fault. If it was anyone's fault, then it was mine, Kamiya-san."

Ocean blue eyes met smiling amethyst, and Kaoru had to turn her head away to hide the slight blush that touched her cheeks. Kenshin's little smile seemed to grow bigger as he noted her blush. Soujirou cleared his throat slightly, and the pair turned to look at him.

"Well, since you're awake, Kaoru, why don't you go take a shower or something?" He pointed to the outfit that she was still wearing from last night's mission. "We just put you into your futon," He grinned slightly. "But of course we wouldn't dare to help you change your clothes in fear of being whacked silly by you even in your sleep. Although you were fully awake when poor Himura-san got on the receiving end of it." You like him, don't you? The mental message didn't go unheard by his twin.

His twin glared pointedly at him, blush returning again while she growled angrily. "Kamiya Soujirou, you will pay for that!!!!" She was out of her futon in a flash and ran after her brother, who ran from the room. "Come back here you!" Her yells and his laughter echoed through the corridors of the house as the cat-and-mouse chase continued.

A sweatdrop was fast forming on Kenshin's forehead as he got up from the floor. "Are they always like this?" He asked Sanosuke.

The spiky-haired man nodded with a grin. "Yeah." He turned to leave. "Better start getting used to it!"

Kenshin was left alone in the room, shaking his head as he folded up Kaoru's futon, blankets and all. 'It just keeps getting stranger, doesn't it?'

~*~

"HalfSouls?" Takasugi rubbed his aching head; he had been up for more than 24 hours and the fatigue was starting to take it's toll on him, but he wanted to listen to what Katsura had to say before he returned back to the compound to sleep.

"Well, to explain what HalfSouls are, I'd have to backtrack a bit and talk about reincarnation first." Katsura allowed himself to grin at Takasugi's stricken look; the man loathed philosophy and religion. "In many myths and legends, a person's soul is reincarnated many times before it can eventually ascend to wherever it is that they go. However, in the process of reincarnation, sometimes one soul will be split into two. When this occurs, we call this a HalfSoul. There will therefore be two people walking around with half a soul each, when it is truly only one soul. It is often believed that twins are the HalfSouls of each other."

Takasugi opened his mouth to ask a question then, but Katsura already knew what was coming. "So you would think that the Kamiya twins already have a full soul between them, right?" Takasugi nodded. "Unfortunately, or fortunately - depending on how you look at it - even though the Kamiya twins are connected in some way, they are not HalfSouls of each other. From what you have told me of the mission that took place last night, it can be confirmed that Himura and Kamiya Kaoru are HalfSouls of each other. When one meets their HalfSoul, they will feel an unexplainable sense of familiarity and connection with the other HalfSoul."

"How do you know about all this HalfSoul business anyway?" Takasugi's mind was befuddled with how well informed Katsura was about this strange soulmate principle thing.

"Ah." Katsura's eyes crinkled at the sides. "That is because Ikumatsu-san is my HalfSoul, you see."

To say that Takasugi had eyes popping out of his head at that moment would not have been an understatement.

~*~

Kaoru released a happy, contented sigh as she sank into the hot water of the furo, allowing her hair to skim across the surface of the water as she enjoyed her bath. She had chased Soujirou around the whole house before finally cornering him and giving him two bumps on his head, which would probably last throughout the whole day. She frowned to herself as she started to lather her skin with soap; her twin was unfortunately, and infuriatingly correct in assuming that she did somewhat find the redhead addition attractive. There was also the uncanny sense of familiarity that she felt about him, and it was driving her up the wall because she just couldn't seem to understand why it was so. Kaoru was so lost in her thoughts as she got out of the bath and reached for the towel, that she failed to hear the knock on the bathroom door and the voice outside asking if anybody was inside, so, it was without doubt that she was shocked to no end when the door opened and Kenshin walked in.

The redhead's amethyst eyes were wide as saucers, and he couldn't stop himself from gawking at the raven-haired beauty who was standing naked in front of him. As his roving eyes started to rove down below her shoulders, Kaoru was brought back to reality and turned as red as a tomato. She grabbed the nearest object and threw it at him.

"HENTAAAAAAIIIIIIIIII!!!!!!!!!" For the second time that morning, Kaoru's scream echoed throughout the house.

As the bar of soap hit him square in the face, he too, turned an unimaginable shade of crimson that matched the colour of his hair, hurriedly shutting the door behind him before anything else could land on him and he muttered incomprehensible apologies through the door as he stuttered.

"Sumimasen, Kamiya-san! I didn't know there was anyone in the bathroom so I opened the door! I'm really sorry!"

The other two men in the house had come up to the second floor to investigate the sound of the scream, and this time, both of them started laughing their heads off at the sight of Kenshin's face. The redhead winced at their laughter and wished a hole would open up in the ground and swallow him up. He had only been in the house for a few hours, and already he had the place in chaos. 'How on earth am I going to get out of this one?' He wrung his head in his hands, certain of the death he would suffer for walking in on Kaoru in the bath.

The door to the bathroom suddenly burst open and a furious clothed Kaoru stomped her way past the two laughing men and the other embarrassed one, all the way to her room, muttering curses under her breath and then slammed the door with enough force to shake up the whole house. Soujirou and Sanosuke exchanged looks of amusement with each other and a new peal of laughter ensued and they collapsed to the floor, while Kenshin's face continued to burn red as he leaned against the wall of the corridor.

Sanosuke slapped Kenshin across his back, still laughing. "Man, I've got to hand it to you. You've only been here one night, and already you've managed to make her scream twice! Will this be something that we'll have to deal with everyday? (1)"

Kenshin gave him a withering glance, then got up from his spot and made his way towards the room that Kaoru had disappeared into. His knuckles were poised to knock on the door when Soujirou's mental voice chuckled in his head.

I wouldn't do that now if I were you. She's still too pissed off. Give her a few hours and she'll be back to normal; then you can apologize.

Kenshin nodded his thanks to the younger man and moved from the door, making his way down the stairs.

He slumped down into the sofa and rested on his arms which pillowed his head. 'How on earth do I get myself into these kinds of things? Only a couple of hours and I've already gotten on her bad side.' He still couldn't shake the fact that there was indeed something familiar about her. 'Or the fact that she's got such a good figure…Oro!' He blushed at the thoughts running through his mind, and they weren't entirely decent. Kenshin had expected to get a good shower after being stuck in his black turtleneck and faded black jeans for one whole night. But of course, fate had had other plans for him, so even though it wasn't his fault for walking in on Kaoru (he had, after all, knocked on the door and asked if there was anyone inside), he felt incredibly guilty, and slightly perverted.

As he closed his eyes, the events from the night before were pulled to the fore of his mind. It was undeniable that when he had touched her hand, there had been a spark of electricity, so to speak, that had travelled between them. And all those colours that he had been seeing… 'That was her mind!' He realized with a start. Strange as it could be, but he had indeed been seeing the colours of her mind, and undoubtedly, she must have seen his. He frowned slightly; there had been a sorrowful gray and depressing black that didn't mix into all the other colours that he had seen, and he wondered what could have caused it. Kenshin's thoughts started to drift again, and Kaoru's blue eyes seemed to fill his mind.

He had volunteered to keep watch on her, and apparently her twin and Sanosuke had deemed him trustworthy enough to leave him in a room with her. Even when she was asleep, she had looked like the perfect beauty, the sleeping princess to him. He had wanted to reach a hand out to touch the soft midnight locks that were spread across the pillow, but his better judgement prevailed, and so he stayed in his corner of the room, waiting for her to wake. He had drifted into a light dreamless sleep when the rustle of blankets brought him back to the room, and he realised that she was awake, but hadn't sensed his presence there yet. Kenshin had moved to her bedside, wanting to watch the sleeping angel wake, and there was an inexplainable need to see her blue eyes. Kenshin smiled. The slap he had received for his curiousity was well worth it. Her eyes had seemed to be bottomless depths of blue and there were flecks of green and slight traces of light gold. If she hadn't slapped him, he was sure that he would have continued his staring at her eyes; it was as if there was a magnetic pull that drew him to her.

If he didn't know better, he would have said that he was falling for her.

~*~

Kaoru raged around her room, the hot blush still on her face. 'That pervert! He was openly gawking at me! Of all the nerve--!' Outrage made her pummel the pillow into submission. 'But no one's ever stared at me that way before…' The blush seemed to double in strength as she remembered the slightly heated stare that he had given her, and she could have sworn that she had seen amber flick across his amethyst gaze before disappearing again. 'Of course not!' Her mind berated. 'No one's ever walked in on you before! Sou-chan always knows when you want privacy, and Sano's not stupid enough to try!' She felt slightly embarrassed, because it wasn't his fault that he had walked in on her. If it was anyone's fault, it was hers, for not answering the door and for not hearing the knock. 'Mou! That still didn't mean that he had to stare like that!' She stopped in the middle of her tirade as she noticed that someone had been kind enough to fold up her futon for her. She frowned slightly 'Sou-chan was being chased around the house by me; Sanosuke is never neat, so that leaves…'

'Him…'

She felt the guilt pile on like heated bricks now. 'He was nice enough to do that, and then I yelled at him for being a pervert, when it wasn't even his fault at all…' Twisting her fingers in her skirt, she made the decision to apologize to him, and strode out of the room, determined. She looked down the corridor…nothing. He couldn't have gotten very far, so she closed her eyes and threw out her senses. Even though she had only sensed his ki the night before during the mission, it was as familiar to her as if she had known it all her life. She made her way down the stairs quietly and then padded silently to the living room where she had felt he was.

She nearly gasped at the sight of the beautiful man who was sprawled out on the sofa. Red hair cascaded over the sofa, wavy where it had been held back in a hair tie. His eyes were closed as if in peaceful sleep, but even in such a relaxed position, he seemed to radiate quiet strength and a will of steel. Kaoru crept closer to the redhaired angel who adorned the sofa. One eye opened to look at her, and his lips curled up into a smile; he had undoubtedly sensed her presence. He sat up, sweeping his legs of the sofa to make space for her. Kaoru was suddenly at a loss for words.

"I…um…that is…" She fumbled for the words, looking at anywhere but him.

"Gomen nasai." He made his apology first. "I didn't mean to walk in on you like that. I should have known that there was someone in the bathroom---"

"No, I'm sorry. It wasn't your fault, and I shouldn't have been dozing off in the bath tub like that." She looked up at him and realized that she shouldn't have.

The atmosphere seemed to hum with anticipation as they continued to stare at each other, spellbound. Kenshin reluctantly moved his face slightly, breaking the spell. "So…um…" she interrupted him.

"Since we got off on the wrong foot this morning, and well, me fainting was probably the worst introduction ever, let's start this again." Kaoru stuck out a hand towards him, smiling. "Kamiya Kaoru."

"Himura Kenshin." He took her hand.

And jumped slightly a second later, when he felt the sparks of electricity as his hand came into contact with hers. He stared at his hand as if it was possessed; Kaoru was regarding her own hand with the same intensity. There was that feeling of familiarity again.

"It's really strange…but I feel like I know you." Kaoru cradled her hand and looked up at him through her black bangs.

Kenshin nodded shakily. "I have the same feeling."

"Perhaps…we met before…?"

A mischievous grin lit Kenshin's face, and he never knew what possessed him to say the next sentence that came out of his mouth.

"Perhaps you saw me in your dreams."

He saw her eyes widen, and a faint blush lit her face; he slapped himself mentally for saying something like that, 'She probably thinks I'm trying to come onto her or something.' Realization dawned on him then, as memory clicked. 'Wait…those blue eyes…I really did see her in a dream! That dream of a burning dojo…it was her!' He sighed in relief, glad to have found some kind of explanation to the familiarity that he felt.

Kaoru however, was still clueless as to why he felt familiar to her.

"Himura-san?" Her voice brought him out of his thoughts.

"You can call me Kenshin, Kamiya-san."

"Well then, you can call me Kaoru, otherwise I'll never know whether you're referring to Sou-chan or me, ne?"

He smiled at her then, unaware of how she felt like she was melting inside.

"Ok, Kaoru."

And so, the HalfSouls were tied together, as the cogs of fate started to turn.

Notes

(1) Hee. Sano's dirty humour is kicking in again!

A/N: Phew, finally done! Sorry to have taken so darned long to get this done. Because my modem got fried, my computer got totally messed up and I had to do a system restore on it to get everything back to normal; I think some virus took it to hell and back…grr… I hope you enjoyed the extra long chapter; 3000 words, for taking so long to update! The next chapter should be out soon, and mwahah, Saitou's coming to visit! If you're really lucky, I might decide to bring in Aoshi and Misao as well. We'll see…you've just got to wait for the next chapter now! I hope that the HalfSouls explanation makes sense, ne? Thanks for reading! I'll try to get the next one up ASAP!