Companion

She stared at his slippers, silently musing on whether or not she should look up. But

hands reached down and gently started to untie the rope on her hands. She sat up and

gingerly rubbed her aching wrists.

"Are you alright?"

Kaoru looked up to stare up at hypnotizing lavender eyes that lacked any emotion.

Unruly red hair spiked out from under a sloping kasa, and grew long down his back.

*One man beat them all? Impossible, what kind of swordsman can do that?* Seeing that

she was fine, he got up and started to walk outside.

"Matte!"

He turned around.

"Yes?"

"Did you kill all of them?"

"No."

She gave a sigh of relief.

"Where are you going?" she asked.

"Somewhere."

"To the village?"

"Yes."

"Can I go with you?"

Looking at her filthy clothing and dirt smudged cheeks, he wondered if she was just

some poor waif who was looking for work. Though her eyes looked slightly jaded she

held her head high, something a waif would never do. But there was a silent pleading in

her eyes and a hint of fear as well. What was she scared of, perhaps she was a runaway

slave?

"Why should I take you along?"

"Because I need help."

He gave a sigh. He did take a vow to help all people...but did runaways like her count?

"I will take you as far as the village, no more. After that you are on your own."

Relief shone through and she gave her first grin in days.

"Thank you. I'm Kaoru by the way. Kaoru Ka- you can just call me Kaoru." she said as

she picked up her scarf. She wounded it all around her nose and mouth and followed the

man through the forest.

"Why have you wandered so far from home? Are you lost?" the man asked softly without

turning around.

"I'm off to see the world. I want to go to new places and forget my old life." she replied,

keeping close to her savior. "It's a choice that I made." she added, hoping he wouldn't

suspect anything. Daughters who ran away from home were branded as a disgrace in

society. She glanced sideways at him, waiting for a reply. He didn't say anything and

soon they came upon the village gates. She bowed deeply at him.

"Thank you so much for saving me. But I was wondering-"

"This is as far as I will take you, the rest is up to you. Good day."

He tipped his hat and quickly entered the village, disappearing into a crowd of morning

shoppers. With a disappointed sigh, the lone girl walked into the street. She had been

hoping that perhaps he would accompany her. She felt safe with him, even though he

was a complete stranger. People pushed passed her and she could feel the stares

pressing at her back. There was suddenly a huge crash and screams tore the air. She ran

towards a crowd of people gathering around. She went on tip toe so she could see what

had happened and gasped at the sight of blood. An old woman was weeping wildly as

she held a tiny gasping boy in her arms. The boy must have gotten in front of a cart,

bruises marked his face there were numerous gashes across his body with blood flowing

heavily. Her fingers began to tickle and she looked down at them to see it glowing a pale

blue. *Use them, heal with them* A voice whispered inside her head. Her feet moved

step by step by some invisble force till she was kneeling by the boy. Her hands reached

over and touched his chest. A bright light exploded and Kaoru fainted.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A hand gently slapped her face. Kaoru moaned and pushed the hands away, content to

stay sleeping.

"Wake up." Said a soft voice. "Miss, wake up."

She was so tired, she just wanted to sleep. Why was somebody bothering her from her

much needed rest? She blearily opened her eyes to meet the lavender gems of her

savior. Why was she lying down and looking at the sky? Wait, the explosion of light, the

hurt boy. She sat up but nearly fell back down again, her head felt like it had split in two.

She groaned and held her head as the savior helped her sit up. There was a large crowd

of people standing in a circle around them, silently staring in a almost fearful awe.

"What happened?" She asked, her head still aching like crazy. He picked her up in his

arms and the crowd moved apart to let them through. Nobody followed but they kept

staring and staring. "Did I do something wrong?"

"Who are you?" He asked curiously.

"Did you forget my name already?" She asked, slightly hurt.

"No. Perhaps I should ask WHAT are you. Do you remember what you did?"

"I-I touched the boy and then I fainted. Wait, is he alright? Where did he go?!" Kaoru

twisted her head to look back.

"He's fine, his grandmother told me to tell you thank you."

"He's fine? But...but he had so many injuries..."

"You healed him. There isn't a scratch or a bruise on the boy. Which brings us back to

my previous question, what are you? A demi-goddess? A magician?" He carefully sat

her down on an outdoor teahouse table. He motioned the waitress to bring some tea

and took a seat across from her. "Well?"

"I'm just a normal girl, that's all. Oh, where's my scarf?" He pulled it out of his gi and

handed it to her. She gratifully took it and began to wound it around her face again. "I'm

no demi-goddess or magician or whatever."

"Then what was that display from before?"

"Er." Should she tell him? About the goddess who had given her the powers? Did she

trust him enough to tell? He was a man though, and men couldn't be trusted. She went

along with her inner instincts and gave a shrug. He must not have believed her

completely because his unique eyes narrowed just the slightest bit. He didn't say

anything however.

"So what are you going to do now? Many people will want to ask of your services and

you could become very rich with your power."

"Rich? People?" If she became well known, then her father might find her. She shook her

head hard. "No, I don't want to become well known. I think I might have to leave soon

before somebody finds me. Thank you for your help, sir, I'm feeling a bit better, if you'll

excuse me." Kaoru got up to leave but he grabbed her wrist.

"Sit."

She sat down.

"I want to make an offer."

"O-offer? What kind of offer?" Kaoru asked nervously.

"I'll protect you till you arrive at your destination."

"What if I don't know my destination." Kaoru explained, wondering why he was being so

helpful now. He certainly hadn't even let her finish her sentence before, what was

making him listen now?

"Then I will accompany you till you find it."

"Why are you helping someone like me?" Kaoru asked cautiously.

"You remind me of a promise.....and someone I once knew. So do you accept?"

A person to protect her, but she didn't even know him. He might be an evil man

underneath that polite exterior. But he had saved her from those men single handedly,

which meant he was skilled with the sword. She looked up from her thinking.

"I accept."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

He glanced back to make sure she was still following. She was keeping up without a

complaint though her sporadic stumbling gave away that she was getting tired. With a

sigh he led her into the forest where there would be some coverage from other

travelers.

"We'll stop here for tonight, I can see you're getting tired."

She chagrinned.

"I don't know why but I feel so tired, I'm usually not this tired from such a short amount

of walking. I don't know what's wrong with me." She smacked her forehead. Of course,

the goddess had warned her about this, using her powers sapped up her own energy

supply. She sat down on a fallen trunk as he gathered wood to start a fire. "I'm sorry, I'd

help but I don't think I can get up again."

"It's alright."

She watched him stack the wood then gave a grunt and stood up. She never liked having

people do things she could do herself. She walked around and picked up various pieces

of wood, though wobbling a bit whenever she straightened up. Warm hands took the

wood away from her and sat her down on the trunk again.

"Just sit down and let me do the rest."

She gave a yawn.

"I guess you're wondering why *yawn* a girl like me is going around all alone."

"It would be interesting to know." He took flint from his small bag and striked it till a

spark caught on some dry leaves. She nestled her head in her lap, feeling herself drifting

off to sleep.

"I'm running."

"Running from what?"

"Death."

"Who's death?"

She gave a giggle, sounding like a little kid.

"My father of course." She gave a sniffle as if she was going to cry. "He HATES me. It's

why I have all these." She held out an arm and the yukata's sleeve slipped down her arm

to show masses of dark bruises that looked like someone had gripped her arm too hard.

"He broke my ribs once, because I burnt dinner. I kept telling him and telling him that I

was a horrible cook, ever since mother died. But he didn't believe me." She gave

another sniffle. "And...and since I killed the leader, he'll be looking for me now."

"What does your father look like, Kaoru-dono?" Kenshin asked but she was already fast

asleep in her awkward position. She was so innocent. Like Tomoe, she had an aura of

purity around her. Despite the bruises on her arms, she looked like she would be

content spending an afternoon picking flowers under a warm sun. He gently picked her

up laid her down on a patch of grass. She shivered as she cuddled into a ball. He dug

into his pack and pulled out an extra gi, covering it around her small form. Looking

down at her, he remembered what he had said to her earlier. The promise. Perhaps it

would be easier to keep it now that he was with Kaoru.

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*Ack, a bit short, and after such a long time of not updating. Sorry folks! I swear on my honor of a writer...hm, is there any honor in that? okokok, I swear by my love for all anime (especially Kenshin) to make the next chapter very long to make up for the shortness of this one. ^^ don't forget to review!!!!!!