Disclaimer: We've been through this before – I don't own Kenshin & co. and neither do I own Ran & co. Don't own Flame of Recca or the rights to the soulmate principle either. Happy happy joy joy?

A/N: Sorry for the long wait people, was really busy both last week and this week, and this is why this chapter took forever to write. Anyway, it's up now, so happy ne? Ah, everyone who's been asking for Megumi will be relieved that she is *finally* turning up. Sorry for the long wait to all Megumi fans, but I needed to wait for the right time to bring her in. And this is it! So rejoice, all ye. Some AoshixMisao fluff as well for the AxM fans. Ah, killing two birds with one stone at the same time sure is good. Meh. Whatever di-doody, here is yet another mission chapter, so enjoy! OOCness abound. Dark and angst-ridden chapter! Read at your own risk!

Reviewers' Space!

Yumiko – Glad that you like it so far! I'll try to update ASAP when I can, so keep reading ne? thanks for R&Ring!

Eeevee – Lol yeah! O_O the sky must be falling; Sano's actually giving advice that's actually sound for once! Hehe ^^;; Kenshin's got to get speeches given to him so that he can get it through his thick (Kenshin: Hey! I'm not thick!) brain sometimes, especially what with the 'I'm so tainted and unworthy' jive that he always gets. Ooh, you enjoyed the WAFF? XD glad that you did, that I am! Well, yesh ^^ unfortunately (or fortunately according to how you want to see it!) I have to bring in Meg; what fun would it be without the Megitsune teasing the Tori-atama and vice versa? ^^ Well, don't worry, this time Megumi won't be idiotic enough to go after Kenshin coz she'll have her hands full anyway XD Mwahhaha~ Thanks for R&Ring and hope ta see you around in the next chapter too!

Kaoru23 – Hey girl! Yeah, school loves to eat up time huh? Yesh, your reviews do good XD but well anyway, the more the better! Or should I say the more *quality* ones the better ^^ but hey, everything is all good and well. Ah, I hate complicating love triangles and all that whatnot; it's not as if they don't have their hands full already dealing with the rest of normal life but lol, I'm not a KenshinxTomoe fan either ^^;; glad that you enjoyed the chapter and good luck with school and homework! Thanks for R&Ring and I'll see you again in the next chappie!

Asuka-chan2 – Hehe, I'm glad that you're enjoying it so much ne! ^^ I try my best to combine story elements and all, and it's really fun to write. Yesh, I love KxK WAFFiness too (lol, which might explain why I write so much of it). Hopefully my story does incorporate elements of humour, sci-fi/paranormal abilities, angst and romance so that its an all-rounder ^^ hehen~… Ah, you're not a fan of the typical Megumi? Well, look at the bright side ;) she won't be all over Kenshin this time 'round coz she'll have her hands full dealing with Sano! Mwahaha XD well, thanks for R&Ring and hope ta see you around in the chapters to come!

Dragona 2007 – Yup! I love writing fluff! Glad that you enjoyed it and here's the next chapter already! Thanks for R&Ring and enjoy!

KeNsHiN – Mmm…glad that you enjoyed that chapter, and that Kenshin's past is now cleared up, there's still Megumi's and Aoshi's to clear up too! So yeah, now you know what went on between Kenshin and Enishi. Finally the last of the main characters shows up (sure took long enough huh? Lol), and I'm sorry for the long wait, but anyways, hope that you enjoy this chapter too! Thanks for R&Ring!

Cherry - ^^ Ah KxK fluff is always nice to read; glad that you enjoyed that chapter! Wow o_O you're the only person who read the questions and answered them _ just goes to show how many people actually read author's notes ne? oh well. Hrm…I *might* decide to write an faq after I'm done with the story, but there's still quite a way to go, so I haven't made a decision yet. It would more or less be a compiling of all the notes in the story so that people can just easily refer to them when they get confused and stuff. Lol, thanks for the advice on that guy o_O as for whether he likes one of my friends… *_* they um…are both guys! ^^;; nah, he just loves to bother us, but well, the running away tactic seems to work lots, so unless he gets really unhandleable, then we'll be ok. Thanks for answering the questions and R&Ring! Hope that you enjoy this chapter too!

Elisa ang – Ooh, new reviewer ne? Glad that you loved that chapter, and I'll try to update ASAP! Thanks for R&Ring!

InuYasha22 – Yeah, that was an extra fluffy chapter, ^^;; I don't know why I keep on writing fluff, but it just seems to pop out of nowhere I tell ya. Glad to see that that was your fave chapter, and hopefully there'll be more to come! Thanks for R&Ring and see you again in the next update!

Shahrezad1 – Yep, that was Weiss style, that it was. XD but who was in the car when it happened? Mwahah~ Glad that you enjoyed the chapter and my 'melding'/mix of the two pasts. Yup, Megumi sure is showing up in this chapter! Thanks for R&Ring and hope that you enjoy this chapter!

? (Mseard@aol.com) - ^^; Glad that you're enjoying the story so far, and yeah, there'll be fluff in chapters to come, so just stick around. Thanks for R&Ring!

The squirrel – Ah! Haven't seen you around in a while ^^ nice to have you back~ glad that you enjoyed the chapter, and yesh, I'll update ASAP. Thanks for R&Ring and see you in the next update then!

Irksome one – Yeah, totally evil Enishi. As it goes, Kenshin is (and probably always will be) a first class idiot. Well, at least he knows that people care now. It's probably hard for him to trust people and all coz of his past, ya know? So well… ah, "sou da ne" means something along the lines of "That's true" or "I guess you're right". It's kinda hard to categorize Japanese phrases half the time, so I worry about the accuracy of my translations, lol. As for my Japanese software thingy that I use, its called JWPCE; sorry, I don't remember the web addy for it since I downloaded the thing like 2 years ago ^^;; but just type it into a search engine and you should be able to find it. Thanks for R&Ring and see you in the next chapter!

Dragontamer9741 – Oro~ o_O that's a first! *gasp* what's the world coming to?! Lol, don't mind me. Ah, my guess is that Sou-chan likes to visit you ne? ^^ Lol, well you can borrow him whenever you feel like it, as long as I have him back for the next chapter, hehe. Glad that you enjoyed it! Thanks for R&Ring and (here it comes!) hope to see you again next chapter! ^^;; what? You can't get rid of it *that* easily! Lol.

The Girl Who Cried Oro – Mmm…KxK WAFF. Can't seem to stop writing it @_@ I think it's an addiction! Lol, it's good for all those KxK fans out there though. Yup, an SDK one-shot, Kyo's POV. Totally limey stuff. Did you read it already? ^^;;; Eh~ that was like my first lemon ever so I hope that it isn't too overboard or anything. I've already seen one SDK/RK crossover here somewhere in the RK section. Meh, they really should put one up, but I guess that it hasn't gotten all that much recognition yet, so SDK fans like us will just have to wait *sigh*. Yeah, I love Project Battousai so far! ^^ wonder if he's ever gonna regain his memory though. Do update soon! I'll be waiting to read it! Thanks for R&Ring and see you again in the next chapter!

Flyinangel777 – Glad that you enjoyed it! Thanks for R&Ring and see you again in the next chapter!

Missaw - ^^ both Hiko and Saitou rock in their own respective ways, that they do. I love their crazy sarcasm and the way that they love ridiculing Kenshin ^^;;; he just totally asks for it sometimes! Yeah, you are right; Kenshin wouldn't be Kenshin without his inferiority complex. Glad that you enjoyed the KxK WAFF, and more SanoxMeg stuff to come your way soon! Thanks for R&Ring and see you again in the next chapter!

Right…let's get to Megumi before you people murder me!

Chapter 19: Come Undone

Thoughts are in ' '

Speech is in " "

Telepathy is in italics.

Deep endless pit that yawns to eternity.

This is where I live, this is where you'll find me.

If you look hard enough you'll see

Only the shell is left.

Bring my soul back to me;

I lost it so very long ago.

Sweet misery

It'll find me. – Takani Megumi

The nervous adrenaline fuelled her muscles as she ran down the deserted corridor, heavy breaths punctuating the silence while her mid-back length raven hair slapped against her skin. Her eyes darted around quickly, trying to find the best exit; she had to be quick or they would find her. He would find her. It wasn't the first time that she'd tried to escape, but maybe this time she would be successful, after the numerous failed attempts. The fact that they always caught her didn't deter her from trying to leave the hellhole that she'd been in ever since she was 17, and she certainly wasn't going to start now. She would rather die than give them the satisfaction of letting them break her futile hopes, so she kept on going no matter what.

An involuntary gasp left her lips as the silhouette of a man stepped out from behind a corner in front of her. Fear leapt up in her heart, and disappointment surged through her body again. He had found her again.

"And where do you think you're going, sweetling?" Goosebumps rose on her skin at the tone of the fake sickly sweet voice. She wisely chose to remain silent. It was something she had learned quickly after being subject to being beaten within an inch of her life when she retorted after the first few times she had tried to escape. He stepped fully into the moonlight, which filtered through the window, illuminating his cruel features.

"How many times has it been now, sweetling? Fifty? Sixty? A hundred?" He shook his head in fake disappointment, tsking sounds in his throat. "You never learn, do you?" She stood her ground as his shoes clacked on the tiles of the floor, moving closer towards her. The hard slap came crashing down on her cheek, just as it always did, and her head was flung to the side. Still, she turned defiant eyes on him as she wiped the trickle of blood from the corner of her lips; it was a customary practice by now, and she knew how to let her cheek move along with the direction of his palm so that it wouldn't hurt as much.

"Take her away." He turned his back on her once more as a mass of security guards took his place, hauling her roughly by the arms back to the room where she had come from. She closed her eyes in silent acceptance of her fate, sending out an unheard plea to anybody, nobody, in her mind, just before the needle entered her arm and the morphine pumped through her bloodstream, rendering her unconscious to the world.

Take me away from this place…

~*~

The knock on his door made him look up from his polishing of the blades on his bugnuks. It was Kenshin, all dressed in assassin garb, flaming red hair tied up in a topknot and sheathed katana held in one hand who stood there. His face was serious as he said:

"It's time."

Sanosuke nodded as he unfolded his lanky body from the cross-legged seat he had taken up on the floor, rising with the grace of a sleek panther. Seeing that Sanosuke was almost ready to go, Kenshin exited the man's room, moving towards Soujirou's. The spiky-haired man pulled his gloves on, then proceeded to tie the red bandana just below the longer bangs of his hair to keep them from falling from his face. Grabbing a nearby wakizashi, he tucked it into the belt of his slim jeans, along with the small handgun there. Other assassin groups would rather use more modern weapons, but Black Dawn had been specifically trained to fight and kill with more hands-on combat, although they were also skilled with guns. These they took with them as a precaution that was never really required.

He reached for his mask that hung on a hook behind his door.

Take me away! (1) Sanosuke's head snapped up with surprise at the mental voice that had seemingly come out of nowhere. It was definitely nobody from Black Dawn, so where was it coming from? The voice came again. Get me out of here! He shook his head as if clearing it. As he pulled on his boots he muttered to himself, "Shit, I must be going nuts or something, hearing strange voices in my head when I'm not even a telepath. Stress, that must be it." Just as he finished tying the laces of his boots, Kaoru stuck her head into his room.

"Ready to go?" Was the soft inquiry.

"Aa." He flicked the lights off, closing the door behind him with a decisive click. The pair made their way down the stairs where the rest of Black Dawn were waiting for them, along with Aoshi, Misao, Tsubame and Yahiko. Katsura had wanted all four members of Black Dawn to participate in the mission, so they had had to ask the two spies over to keep watch over their charges while they were gone. Aoshi nodded at Sanosuke as their eyes met and Kaoru hugged the two teenagers before standing back with Soujirou and Kenshin who were standing near the door silently. Black Dawn took their leave silently, saying nothing as they left. Kaoru was the last one out the door but was called by Aoshi just as she was about to shut the door.

"Kaoru." She turned to regard him, gloved hand still resting on the doorknob. The lanky man let one of his rare smiles show as he ruffled her hair slightly. "Ki o tsukete." She returned the smile, and the door clicked shut behind her. Misao came up behind the okashira of the Oniwa Banshuu, slipping her petite hand into his and squeezing it gently.

"They'll be alright." Her voice was reassuring. He nodded absently as he squeezed back before her hand slipped out of his again and she made her way back to the two teenagers who were sitting on the couch. "So." Misao beamed at them, all genki again. "Whaddaya feel like doing? We could play a few rounds of Tekken TAG on the PS2, or go if you like." Yahiko shrugged; it didn't really matter to him as long as there was something to keep him entertained. It wasn't as if there was much to do when the others weren't around anyway, and he didn't know either of the adults very well either.

"Whatever floats your boat, itachi-musume." At the sound of the nickname, Misao was hard pressed not to zip over to Yahiko's side and strangle the young Empath; she absolutely hated being called a weasel! "I'm not a itachi-musume, Yahiko-CHAN!" Aoshi shook his head, a wry smile touching his lips as they exploded into an argument, Tsubame's gaze flicking between them as insults flew back and forth.

It was going to be a long night.

~*~

Megumi's eyes opened to the darkness of her small room that was more of a cellar than a room. She sat up on the bed slowly; there were still traces of the morphine in her bloodstream and the grogginess that she felt was proof enough of it. 'You would think that after so long I would get used to stuff like this.' She thought bitterly to herself. Still, five years of imprisonment in Takeda Kanryuu's place seemed to have no effect on increasing her immunity to the morphine. Pulling her feet over the side of the bed, she leant against the wall, the coolness permeating through her thin clothes into her skin as she closed her eyes again, trying to get her thoughts straight. How long had this been going on? Images from the past filtered into her mind, unbidden, even as she tried to escape from them; memories only served as a painful reminder as to what she once had before Kanryuu had killed her family right in front of her eyes as she hid in the tiny kitchen cupboard, eyes wide at the scene, but helpless to do anything but stare. The Bakufu had then burnt her home down to the ground when they took her, eliminating the rest of the evidence that they had been murdered.

Her long raven hair cascaded over her shoulders as her shoulders heaved against the painful memories and tears threatened to get the best of her, desperate to squeeze themselves out of the corners of her eyes. It hadn't taken much to turn her from a scared young teenager into a jaded young woman who obeyed Kanryuu's orders so that she could live another day, if just to plot her revenge against him for murdering her family in cold blood. She had withstood the numerous experiments and blood tests as they tried to analyse what cells in her blood allowed her to be a Healer (2); they believed that her cells held their passport to immortality, and it was the only reason that she was kept alive and kidnapped in the first place. Still, that didn't stop them from inflicting painful wounds into her back with the whips that they used periodically when she went against their orders one too many times or tried to escape. If she had been any ordinary woman without paranormal abilities of healing, Megumi was sure that she would have been raped a long time ago. As it was, they knew close to zilch about her gift, and so were not sure as to whether the gift was linked to her virginity or not, and this was the only thing that kept her safe.

She wrapped her arms around herself in an empty hug, drawing her knees up towards her chest as she rocked herself slowly on the balls of her feet upon the bed. Megumi hated being different, hated having this Healing gift of hers; it had brought nothing but trouble right from the start. It was something that she had tried to hide early in childhood; children labelled her as a demon, as children often do with things that they don't understand, and the only safety and acceptance that she could find was within her own family. It was because of her gift that her family had been killed, and it was because of it she was kept here now. A bitter smile lit her face now. It was also because of her gift that she was still untouched (at least sexually) by the scientists. However, her gift wasn't the only thing that Kanryuu had been after; Megumi came from a family that had been doctors dating all the way back to the Meiji Era. She had been something of a child prodigy, entering the medical school in Aizu at the age of 13, and she had finished them by the age of 16 (3). It was one of the things that had gotten her noticed, but the other…

She had been forced to use her healing abilities in broad daylight when a young boy had almost been crushed dead by a falling streetlight. In the midst of the calamity, Megumi had slipped her hand under the boy's shirt, easily knitting the bones and muscles and stopping the bleeding in minutes, but it seemed that she wasn't as safe as she thought she had been, because in a month's time, the Bakufu had come for her and her family. And here she was now, someone who kept her emotions away under lock and key lest they tried to use it as her weakness, and she wore a mask like ice. Her eyes opened themselves again slowly at the sound of faint screams that seemed to be coming from the lower compound. Her brows knitted together slightly; could it be that there were people who were here to take down Kanryuu?

Megumi slid off the bed, emotions and memories locked away from now as she made her way to the small window of the cellar/room, cold concrete under her feet. There was another scream that was louder than before, and her eyes widened fractionally as she saw the reason why. There were four figures dressed in black in the compound; three held katanas, while the tallest figure seemed to be fighting with what looked like blades that protruded from the knuckles on his gloves. The fluidity and grace of their movements made her breath hitch slightly, even though dark stains on the ground were pooling as the result of their actions. It was as if she was held spellbound by their movements.

What she didn't expect though, was for the tallest one with spiky hair to stare straight up at her window, as if he knew she were there. She was taken aback by the seemingly cool expression that the hardened brown eyes held from what she could see through the mask that covered the top half of his face, and she felt as if she should know him. Megumi backed away from the window, out of his sight as her legs gave way from underneath her, and she sank to the ground in shock.

'Who is he?'

~*~

Sanosuke shook his head slightly as he padded after Kenshin, Kaoru and Soujirou silently, leaving the bodies of the security guards behind them. 'What the hell was that all about?' He had felt as if someone was watching him, and when he had looked up, he was surprised to find that it was a woman who had been watching him from a high-up window. A strange sense of déjà vu had overcome him, leaving him slightly confused and very intrigued. From what he had seen, the woman had been extremely beautiful, with ebony-black hair that framed her face perfectly. The almost silent sound of Kenshin's sword slicing through the thick gate brought him back to reality as he berated himself. 'This is no time to be getting distracted, Sagara! Get with the darned program!' Yet, he couldn't shake the feeling that he knew her.

'Work first, think later!' The claws of his bugnuks sunk into the rib cage of yet another security guard easily, blades twisting through the flesh up towards his heart. In another second, he had slid the blades out of the guard, leaving the now dead man in a heap on the floor. The straight path that they had been following yawned off into four smaller ones, and the group nodded silently to each other as they separated, moving down each path; they would contact each other through the com links if they really needed to. First to find the target reports to the others, either via com link or telepathy. Follow the mission objectives as per orders. Kaoru's mental voice reminded them as they moved along their individual paths towards their goal.

~*~

"Ne, Aoshi-sama." Misao looked up at Aoshi through sleepy eyes as she rested her head on the cushion in his lap. Tsubame and Yahiko had retired to their respective rooms after playing a few mad games of Twister, yawning widely. The young ninja was close to sleeping herself, but Aoshi, on the other hand was wide-awake.

"Hmm?" He brushed a few bangs away from her face.

"How did you get to know Kaoru-san and Soujirou-san?" Sleep clouded her senses as she put a hand over her mouth to hide a small yawn. If she had been more awake, she would have noticed that Aoshi tensed up slightly at the question. He smoothed a hand over her brow slowly before answering.

"As Kaoru probably told you, I came to live with them when I was 10 after my mother entrusted me to Kamiya-san's care." There. That answer seemed safe enough.

Misao frowned slightly. "But why?"

"Why what?"

"Why did you have to go live with them? What about your okaasan and otousan? Weren't they around?" She knew very well that she was delving into deep waters, but there was an incessant urge to know, even though she felt so very, very sleepy.

"My mum died and my father left." He was trying hard not to talk in clipped tones; it was Misao he was talking to after all!

Her dark green eyes opened to regard his. "Gomen nasai, Aoshi-sama."

The tall man smiled gently at her. "Don't be, Misao. It's all in the past now. And it was my fault for snapping at you, anyway."

"If I have nothing to apologize for, then you have nothing to apologize for either, Aoshi-sama." It was times like these that he understood just how much
Misao meant to him, just how much she made him smile even after so much.

"Hai hai. Now since you're so tired, then just go to sleep now." Misao nodded, closing her eyes again. A few minutes passed and soon Misao was asleep, her breathing slowed. He turned his eyes to the TV that was on mute, watching the images flicker by. Looking back to the sleeping beauty who was using his lap as her pillow, he leaned down to kiss her, even as his back protested at the movement. She mumbled slightly in her sleep, making him smile at her antics before turning his eyes skyward.

'There's a reason for everything, koishii. And so too, there is a reason for my coldness that has held me back from society.' His eyes closed as he rested his head back upon the cushion of the couch. 'If you only knew.'

~*~

Megumi's teeth bit into her tongue lightly as she picked the lock of her 'room' door in deep concentration. With all the hullabaloo that was going on downstairs, the security guards who normally roamed along the corridors outside her room would no doubt have left to deal with the issue, leaving her free to make her way out of the room and escape. She was a resourceful woman, and had somehow managed to find a piece of steel wire lying about in her room, promptly turning it into a lock pick. There was a click from the door and she turned the knob, able to open it now. The corridor was devoid of people as she stepped gingerly out of the room. Quickly assessing where the sound of distant yells were coming from, she followed them; the complex was large, and although she had almost escaped on several occasions, she had never come close to actually exploring the whole complex at all.

As she made her way through the maze of corridors, her mind returned to the group of assassins – for that's what they had been doing: killing people! – or rather, to the tall spiky-haired assassin in particular. There was something about him that she couldn't describe; something that seemed to draw her to him. If she didn't know better herself, she would have said that it was almost as if there was some unstoppable attraction that drew her to him and him to her. The meeting of their eyes over the distance just minutes ago was more than platonic, and could even be described as electric.

The sudden scuffling of feet from up ahead made her stop and a cowardly whimper followed. Another voice spoke up, a total contrast to the scared sounds that the first was making.

"Where is she?" It was a low tenor sound, seemingly calm at first thought, but the tone that hid under it promised certain death for whomever he was speaking to.

"I d-don't know what you're talking about." More shuffling and Megumi realised that it was Kanryuu, the cowering bastard; her eyes narrowed as she stood out of sight, behind the wall while the conversation progressed.

"Don't try to play your funny games with me, you disgusting little shit. I know your type. Where is she?" Anger was creeping into the voice, as well as slight irritation. The raven-haired woman was getting curious as to who this 'she' they were talking about. Who on earth could it be? Kanryuu shifted further backwards as Sanosuke's bugnuks edged ever closer to his throat, close to cutting his skin and drawing blood. Megumi could only stare and listen to the scene in something akin to shocked fascination. The drug lord continued to cower under the unseen man's close-combat weapon, driving him further backwards into the corridor that Megumi was standing in, towards the back wall. She was so taken in by the scene unfolding before her that she failed to notice that Kanryuu glanced her way as he bumbled through gibberish sentences, seeing her as his way out of being killed by the tall assassin who stood in front of him.

Shock registered on the woman's features momentarily when Kanryuu snapped an arm tight around her neck, and she felt the cool surface of a pistol to her temple. Sanosuke stiffened unnoticeably when he saw their retrieval mission began close to being killed, and his blood seemed to boil. Still, he refused to back down, even as mentally cursed the drug lord, and his hands tightened in their gloves, making the bugnuks extend to their full length as they extended to their full length. Megumi heard the gun click as Kanryuu pulled back the safety switch, yet she remained still and calm. Her eyes closed as if in acceptance of her final fate.

'Is this how it ends?'

~*~

The second-hand of the clock ticked silently as the minute hand clicked once to its destination. The grandfather clock struck a lonely chime that echoed and reverberated throughout the whole house, but only Aoshi was awake to hear it. Misao's head shifted within the cushion on his lap and his eyes flicked away from the TV to regard her as she mumbled something incomprehensible in her sleep. He cast his senses out and around the house, yet another spot check to check that there were no other presences except him and the teenagers in the house. Satisfied, he came back to himself, stroking Misao's cheek lightly with a rough finger. The questions that Misao had asked had stirred memories of his childhood that he had thought were long buried. Flashes of memory persisted and he shook his head slightly to clear it. Pain flickered for a moment before disappearing again.

He sighed inwardly as Misao nuzzled her cheek into his palm unconsciously and he smiled wistfully. Now that he had somewhat shown his affections for Misao, he wanted to share everything with her too, and that included his wanting to tell her about his past. However, it was still something of a barrier for him, a reminder of why he had become the cold okashira that everybody was used to.

'Still,' Aoshi mused to himself, 'even if I can't tell her when she's awake, at least I can try to tell her while she's asleep? At least it'll make it easier for me to tell her about it when I'm finally ready to do so.' That decided, he ran his thumb over her closed eyelids, listening to her soft breathing as he began his tale.

"Ne, koishii. You're asleep now, and maybe this will reach your ears, and maybe it will not, but I'm sorry that I can't tell you this while you're awake yet. Still, now while you're asleep, my voice will reach you, and maybe subconsciously you'll still accept my past as part of me and so it won't be so horrendous if I tell you again when you're awake." There was no change in the young ninja's sleeping expression as he continued on in a soft voice.

"My mother and father were both 'Shifters, both aware of their own heritage, and so alike, yet so different. Okaasan was in the Oniwa Banshuu, while otousan was actually just a normal civilian. How they ever came to meet is something that I will never know, but against all odds, they fell in love, got married and had me. I remember my mother's smile, so tender and sweet, yet underneath all that, she was a woman with a strong will to persevere throughout anything. My father…" Aoshi's voice faltered before he spoke again. "He was my role model back until I was five years old, and then…then everything changed. The happiness that we had had as a family was short-lived, because one day, without any reason, and without any warning, he just packed his bags and left. My mother, she cried, but yet she had known that such a thing was coming and I started to hate my father for making her cry like that, for leaving her to fend for herself and for me. Even after the pain that she went through, she never really changed, except that every time she smiled, a flicker of pain would be there in the curve of her lips, and the smile never really reached her eyes."

The tall okashira closed his eyes in reminiscence as one long fingered hand rested lightly on Misao's forehead. "I swore to myself then that I would never let emotions touch me; I had seen what love had done to my mother, crushed her, killed her inside even though she tried so hard not to show it to me. At the young age of five I started to lock my emotions away, and created a mask for myself to hide from the world. We lived like that for a few years, detached from the world as our lives went on, until yet another painful day. My mother…she was a Seer as well as a 'Shifter, and I think she foresaw her own death, so she went to her brother, Kaoru and Soujirou's father, telling them to look after me when she…left this world." A grotesque image of his mother's body flashed momentarily in his mind as he recounted the events that occurred. So lost was he in his memories that he never even realised that Misao had actually woken up and was hanging on to his every word. She kept up the pretence of being asleep, breathing slow and deep, but her heart was clenched in pain for her okashira. 'I'm sorry for bringing back such painful memories…Aoshi.'

He spoke, his voice haunted, oblivious to the fact that she was awake. "I was walking back from school one day at the age of nine, when suddenly I turned in upon the road that my house was on, only to find that the whole street was filled with people. The sound of sirens filled the air, and already…already I knew that something had happened to my mother. I remember pushing through the crowd desperately, but even then, I wasn't prepared for what I might find." The muscles in his arm tightened almost painfully before he forced himself to relax again. "It was a sight that I'll never forget for the rest of my life. There right in the middle of all the chaos, was my mother's bloody corpse. Her body had been ripped apart, and her head lay not far away from one of her hands." Aoshi quashed the strangled sob that seemed to want to rise up and envelop him.

"I could never understand though, why there was such a beautiful smile on her face. A real, true smile that I had not seen after my father left. I stood there in shock, but then a familiar scent filtered by me, and I knew that is was my father who had done this to her." If Misao had not been shocked before, she surely was now, but outwardly, she gave no reaction even as she bit the inside of her cheek. 'Kami-sama…finding out something like that would drive anyone mad.'

"Just like I never knew why she was smiling when she died, I never found out the reason why my father had killed her either. My primal instincts as a 'Shifter took over even as cold rage filled my mind. Quickly I left the place to pursue my father's scent, and 'shifted completely into full panther form, hunting him down. I found him finally, sitting by a river in human form, his clothes bloody from what I could see at his back, and I leapt at him. It didn't matter that he was my father, but he had hurt my mother, and I was only bringing retribution to him. He turned to me as my claws ripped into his skin, but in his eyes there was a haunted look; he knew what he had done, and he knew that it was me, his son who would take his life. Yet, he did nothing even as my fangs closed in upon his neck and snapped it easily. He left no answers as to why he did what he did, but there was that same strange smile upon his face that my mother had had upon hers even as he died. I buried him, then washed the blood off myself in human form. The whole year I wandered about with no aim, living off the streets, until finally, one day, I found the Kamiya-dojo. He was standing there, as if he was expecting me, and he recognized me at once as his sister's son and took me in, no questions asked." The tale was done, dull pain returned.

Aoshi twisted one of Misao's bangs around his finger softly. "What say you now, koishii? Now that you know what I've done. Can you say that you love me still? Can you say that you won't feel disgusted after knowing that I killed my own father with my own hands? What say you now?" Her unexpected answer made him start slightly in his seat as her clear emerald gaze held his.

"Yes I can." She pushed herself off the couch as she sat up to look into his eyes, her forehead resting against his gently. "You can't blame yourself for what happened. As 'Shifters, our primal instincts take over sometimes, and we can't always control the consequences."

"But that was unjustifiable. I killed my own father." She interrupted him.

"And he killed her, did he not? I'm not saying that what you did is right, but I'm not saying what you did is wrong either. What you did was what you believed in, and at that moment, you believed, no, you knew that he had killed your mother, and it was what took over. In that moment, it was clear to you what you had to do, even though you knew that you might regret it later. Do we not often do things that we later regret? Is that not how it always has been and always will be? Isn't that why we live in the present, and not in the past?" Misao stared deep into his eyes, driving her words home. "Isn't that why we try not to have any regrets? There are some things that we will never know the answers to, and maybe, just maybe this is one of them."

"Had I been in your shoes, I would have done pretty much the same thing, and maybe even more. Who is to say what would have, or could have been otherwise? The past is now only that: the past, and nothing we say or do now can change it. Yet, it is not something that you can leave behind, because it is irrevocably, part of who you are now, and why we are sitting here together at this instant." She wrapped her arms around his shoulders, pulling his head into her small frame. "Whatever happened then has already happened, and I think no less of you now than I did then. You are always, and will always be the Aoshi that I love. I am here for you, as you have always been there for me. So let me comfort you now just as you have done for me."

He breathed in the minty air that always seemed to surround her, a lone tear slipping down his cheek as he buried his face into her shoulder, wrapping his arms in turn around her petite frame.

"Arigatou, koishii." Came the muffled reply.

~*~

"I thought you said you didn't know what I was talking about?" Sanosuke deadpanned even as Kanryuu's hold on Megumi tightened around her neck. The woman seemed resigned to her fate as she stood there rigid, eyes closed, face blank.

"I know who you are. That group in the Ishinshishi who's been messing up all our plans lately." Kanryuu's eyes narrowed sinisterly as he realization dawned on his slow brain. "You've killed many of my subordinates lately and if you think you're going to get away with it, then you're wrong!" He spat the last line over Megumi's shoulder in fake bravado, but the shaking hand that held the gun betrayed him. The small movement didn't go unnoticed by Sano.

"Only because they choose to harm those who are helpless and innocent to filth like you." Came the cool reply. "Unhand her." Megumi's eyes slipped opened, surprised as she heard Sanosuke's response. She had heard about people like them; those who struck back at criminals who slipped past the law unseen, like the hunters of shadows who eluded the light. 'Are they…could they be here for me?' The possibility seemed unprecedented to her, no one had ever come before, but now, all of a sudden, they were here? 'If it means getting out of here, then I'm taking that chance of whether they're actually here for me or not!'

Short bitter laughter answered Sanosuke's demand. "Think you can fool me? The moment I let go of her is the moment that you'll kill me! I'm not that stupid! She's worth millions to me, and if I have to die then I'm taking her along with me!"

Sanosuke's eyes narrowed dangerously as he pursed his lips. He met Megumi's eyes for a split second before directing the angry gaze at Kanryuu.

"So be it."

A gunshot resounded loudly in the hallway, sound twisting through the whole complex. In their respective spots in the building, Soujirou, Kaoru and Kenshin froze momentarily in their movements, inclining their heads towards the sharp sound. The thought ran through their minds unanimously.

'Sano!'

Notes:

(1) Ah, what *is* this voice that Sano can here? Hehe, see if you can't fit the puzzle pieces together for yourself!

(2) Yet another lil' ability in this story that you're gonna deal with. Megumi is undoubtedly a Healer. Healers have the ability to mend wounds instantaneously, but at the cost of their own energy. It doesn't matter how big the wound is, but if the Healer has enough energy and the strength and perseverance to heal the wound, it will be done. However, there is a drawback. Healers cannot heal themselves with their own power. XD Idea snatched from Flame of Recca's Yanagi.

(3) Yes, yes, yes. I know that medical school takes at least 5-6 years or so, but just humour me, ok? It's required for the sake of the story :p

Dictionary

Wakizashi – short sword

Aa – male informal way of assenting to something

Ki o tsukete – be careful

Itachi-musume – weasel girl. Misao's nickname

Koishii – beloved. Affectionate term used by a man to address his wife/girlfriend

Okaasan – Mother

Otousan – Father

A/N: Mwahahah~ XD Just had to leave it hanging there; haven't done any evil cliffhanger goodness in the last few chapters, so I couldn't resist. Love it? Hate it? Reviews pleaaase! Mucho OOC characters in this chapter. Sorry for taking forever to write it, but I was really busy with school and all the other miniscule details of real life. I've got a 3-day weekend this weekend, so I'll be able to write just a *teeny* little bit faster, and then I've got the whole mid-term week off in two weeks time. XD Then I'll be able to write! Yay~ Ooh yes, probably gonna be posting up a KxK oneshot songfic sometime soon when I'm done with it; I've gotten halfway through it right now. Anyways, in the next chapter, [yet] another unexpected event occurs, drawing the group closer and putting Megumi's abilities to use. Thanks to all for R&Ring and I'll see you again in the next update!