A/N: 46 reviews!? WOW!!!!!!!!!!!! I cannot believe it!! THANK YOU SOO MUCH!!

Thank you to WidowNight and donna8157 for reviewing on all four chapters so far!

Changing

Disclaimer: I don't own RK... I wish I did!!

Chapter 5 – Talk to us!

Kenshin slowly woke to a constant, steady, "Hah! Hah! Hah..."

"Do you hear that?" Sanosuke asked, stretching his arms.

"Yeah..." Yahiko answered.

"Hey, kid. G' morning to ya, too. But you should be still sleeping. The sake you drank was too strong for a kid like you to be up..." Sanosuke yawned.

"First of all, I'm not a kid baka rooster head! And secondly, I didn't drink that much..." Yahiko blushed. "Actually, I mixed it with water..."

Sanosuke chuckled. "Yeah, yeah... I figured."

"Instead of a useless chit-chat, shouldn't you have gotten up to figure out who or what is making that noise?" Aoshi Shinomori spoke.

"Oh... yeah..." Sanosuke grinned, rubbing his head.

After a moment, Yahiko asked, "Well? Aren't you guys going to find out what that is?"

Another moment of silence greeted his question.

Then there was the sound of the dojo door opening.

Then closing...

Then the gate of the front door opened, and then closed.

"Is it wise to let her out on the street, Himura?" Aoshi asked quietly.

Kenshin looked down, his bangs covering his worried violet eyes, "I don't know..."

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Kaoru whimpered as her body ached with each step. I can do this... I can do this!!

She gritted her teeth and bit her tongue. She stopped. She put her hands to her knees and began to breathe.

Just a bit more... she thought and began to push her body again.

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The delicious aroma of cooking food woke up Yahiko again. He had waked up to the sound of Sanosuke but quickly fell back asleep when there was nothing but silence.

"Yahiko... YAHIKO!! WAKE UP!"

"I'm already awake WEASLE!! Stop yelling in my EAR!!" He screamed.

"Jeez, some thanks I get for waking you up for breakfast... Maybe we should have eaten without you!" Misao glared at Yahiko before walking out.

It took a moment for all that to register in Yahiko's head because after a moment, he repeated, "Breakfast?"

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"Is Tanuki here?" Megumi asked as she sipped her miso soup.

"No... She woke up and left."

Megumi, Misao, Sakura and Yahiko dropped their chopsticks.

"And you let her!?" Misao shrieked.

Aoshi put a hand on her shoulder. She looked up at him then frowned but began to eat her meal once again, picking up her chopsticks.

"Ken-san... That's not very-"

"Drop it fox..."

Megumi stared worriedly at her food. "..."

Then Aoshi, Sanosuke, and Kenshin went rigid.

Saitou...? With Kamiya?

Then the door to the living room, slid open, and in walked Saitou, carrying Kaoru, who was snuggled against his chest.

Kenshin felt a pang of jealousy but pushed it away, and replaced it with concern.

"I found her by... by her parents' grave..." Saitou said quietly, wondering if him telling them was the right thing.

And as if on cue, Kaoru snuggled even more into Saitou's chest sighing softly but loud enough for everyone to hear, "Daddy... I love you..."

"Oh Kaoru-chan... You should have said something..." said Misao, looking tearfully at Kaoru.

Sanosuke stood up, and held his arms out... "I'll put her in her room..."

Saitou handed Kaoru to Sanosuke, and his eyes softened at the sight of her.

After all, Kaoru was just a young teenage girl. No matter how much mature she was, or how brave she was.

She was still a naïve, carefree, young girl.

Yahiko put his chopsticks down and followed Sanosuke and his shihondai to her room.

Misao quietly followed, also followed by everyone else.

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"Where am I?" Kaoru asked, her voice coming out in more of a growl.

There was everyone around her, and even Hajime Saitou himself, was there, leaning against her wall, smoking that awful cigarette.

"You're in your room," Sano's voice answered her question.

"My body aches, and my head feels like I banged it against trees or something," Kaoru groaned.

"Yeah... I expect you to feel that way," Megumi's voice came.

Kaoru grunted and groaned and tried to get up.

"No! You shouldn't!!" Megumi gasped, but Kaoru pushed herself up anyway.

"I can do this..." she whimpered. "I should be able to do this, supposedly," she added under her breath, not meant for anyone's ears, but skilled ears from the Bakamatsu caught them.

"Kaoru, you're pushing your self too hard! Way too hard!" Megumi chewed nervously on her lower lip.

"Megumi, you're not my stupid mother!" she yelled as she grabbed her bokken.

"My mother was stupid enough to fall in love!" Kaoru said through gritted teeth.

"My mother was stupid enough to give birth to me!" Tears began to run down her face. Angrily, she wiped them away.

"My mother was stupid enough to leave us!!" Kaoru dropped to the ground, curling herself into a ball, sobbing loudly.

"Oh... Oh god Kaoru-chan..." Misao began to cry. "I'm so sorry!" She hugged Kaoru and began to cry with her.

And they watched them cry, and watched Megumi dab at her face every few seconds.

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Kaoru came out of the bathhouse, feeling a bit better, after minutes of crying, she pulled herself away from Misao and quickly heated the water.

Then she washed herself, imagining the sticky substance all over her again.

The red, sticky, metallic, liquid.

Blood.

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"I'm so glad you decided to join us for lunch today!" Kaoru smiled at him as she walked into the room, in a lavender kimono, her hair still damp but up with a dark purple ribbon.

Everyone went silent but Kaoru smiled and sat down, taking her usual place next to Kenshin.

"Took you long enough busu! What you'd do? Try to drown yourself?" Yahiko smirked at her.

Then they went quiet again at the talk of death.

Kaoru smiled and ate a spoon full of rice. Then she chewed slowly, as if savoring the taste.

"You know, when Kenshin first heated the bath for me, the funniest thing happened..."

Then she smiled as the tension eased, telling them of how Kenshin walked into her bath, thinking that she tried to drown herself.

Then she laughed, a happy, carefree, naïve laugh.

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A/N: I'm sure I want to type more, and I do know what to type more!! THANK YOU SOOO MUCH FOR THE REVIEWS!!

I will try and update soon but I really don't know if I can or not, it depends if the readers want it bad enough.

And yes... This WILL be a dark fic. Hopefully, angst and dark.

REVIEWS! ONEGAI!!