Be afraid. Be very afraid. SCHOOL IS BACK, AND I'M GONNA BE TROUBLE.. Just joking. While school will be back in session for me in a few short weeks, I will still try to have at least a chapter out every week to two weeks. Thank god my high school doesn't use f^*% Macs. God I hate them.

Also, thank you again to all who have reviewed my story. Please let me know if you know of any good RK fan fiction sites, because I would like to get this out to more people. ^,^

DISCLAIMER: I do NOT own Rurouni Kenshin, or any of its characters.

If you want a recap, READ THE OTHER CHAPTERS! Der.

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Tsukiyo swayed, back and forth, back and forth. Her red hair was loose about her shoulders, and it covered about half of her face. However, through luck or careful movements, it had moved enough to bare one eye to the view of the two horrified onlookers.

In a startling contrast to her usually amber colored eyes, a bright purple shone where it had once been yellow. It was nothing like the rurouni's, nothing at all. They seemed diseased, as though she were drunk, or sick with delusions. Her pupils were unnaturally dilated, almost pinpricks.

Kenshin shifted his position, moving his sword down half an inch. Any samurai or one who had bee trained to read body movements as Tsukiyo undoubtedly had been would see it as a kind of message, stating, 'Please drop your weapon, I have no wish to harm you.' But it elicited no response, only an increased speed at which she shifted her weight from foot to foot.

"Kenshin. What are you going to do?" He turned his head a fraction of an inch and looked at her, about to answer that he would not fight her, but he was never given the chance. With his attention diverted from her, Tsukiyo's crazed but deadly calculating mind took that as an opportunity to strike.

She moved like greased lightning, spinning her bo staff in a circle of deadly force. Kenshin barely registered her movement before she thrust at him, almost impaling him on the blunt end of the staff. He parried it, scooped Kaoru up, and sped to the other side of the room. Putting her down, he said in a strained whisper, "Kaoru, you need to get out and make sure that everyone stays out of here. She's out of control."

Kaoru gave him a frightened look, but slowly hid behind him and moved out the door. However, Sanosuke stepped forward, abreast to Kenshin. "Tsukiyo, I don't know what that guy did to you, but you can't let it go to your head!" He took another step forward, passing Kenshin.

Tsukiyo stood there, weaving back and forth, back and forth. However, she was holding the bo perpendicular to her body, as though she were preparing for a spin. Kenshin whispered to Sanosuke, saying, "Sano, she is in." he sought for a word that would best describe it, and simply settled for one that he hated to use. "She is like I am when I revert to the Battousai. She might attack you."

Sano shook his head and took three steps forward, only a span away from the swaying girl. "Tsukiyo, please listen to me. We helped you, fed you, cared for you when you first came here. Please think back to the time you spent with us, and-"

Sanosuke never finished the sentence. Tsukiyo took a lunging step forward, thrusting the tip of the staff at his belly. Sano deflected it, but was unprepared for the speed at which she could throw attacks. Using the momentum from her lunge, Tsukiyo whipped the staff into a position that she use as a lever, and threw an attack at his groin, sweeping up from the ground.

Sano didn't have a chance. He collapsed to the ground, completely unconscious. Tsukiyo leapt backwards, and landed, crouching.

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Kenshin brought his sakabatou into a 'ready' position. //Kami-sama, Sano. Please be alright...// He knew that the attack couldn't have killed him, but his friend would be in serious pain for quite some time.

Shifting his attention back to Tsukiyo, he said in a voice that sounded too calm, even to him, "Tsukiyo-san. Look at me." She ignored his words, her face hidden by her shoulder-length hair. "Tsukiyo-san. Look at me." Again, she simply stayed crouched, waiting for something. He stepped forward, and said again, with much more force, "Tsukiyo-san. Look. At. Me."

Her head lifted, the red hair falling back. He was struck full on at her resemblance to himself, now that her eyes were purple. It was almost like she was a ghost of his past, come to haunt him. But when he was her age, he had not yet received the scar on his cheek. He threw it off, and said, "Why are you doing this?"

"Because Master's orders must be carried out." She stood, her face hidden yet again. She let the tip of the bo hit the floor of her room, and pushed the bedding she had occupied a few short minutes ago to the side. "Master told self to fight, self will fight."

"Tsukiyo-san."

"No more talk. FIGHT!" She lept at him with a howl of rage, swinging her bo at his head. He dodged and jumped, avoiding her next attack at his legs. He landed on the other side of her, crouching. But he had a split second to recover before Tsukiyo was on him again, a thrust meant for his heart hitting the wall instead. He used the time it took her to pull it from the thin wall to get to the other side of the room, and sheathe his sakabatou.

When she turned, she noticed the change. "Why stop now, Battousai? Not through yet."

He stood straight and met her sickly purple eyes. "I refuse to use my sword on you, it would not be right. You must stop this madness, Tsukiyo-san!"

"Never." She hissed that word as though it were poison, and leapt to the attack again. Her bo was nearly invisible to the human eye, whizzing from one attack position to the other. Kenshin dodged every single one, and got away from her frenzied attacks long enough to think, //Kami-sama, it shouldn't be possible for her to move this fast! She almost matches me in speed!//

After another flurry of attacks, Kenshin found himself near the door, and Tsukiyo on the other side of the room. She had managed to get a single blow through his movements, and it HURT. A lot. But he could tell that Tsukiyo was hurting worse. Although her hadn't hit her at all, she seemd to be bleeding profusely from somewhere on her side! //But I never. Kuso!// Realization his him just as she screamed and attacked him. //Her wounds are reopening! They haven't completely healed yet!// He leapt into the air again, aiming for a spot behind her.

However, he had used this move one too many times. Recovering almost instantly from her miss, she jumped and struck him across the back, sending him flying. Kenshin rolled and crouched, wincing at the welt perpendicular to his spine. "Tsukiyo-san, you must stop! I know what you are going through."

She landed, and faced away from him. "No, Battousai does not. No one EVER knows what happen to self." She turned and faced him, her purple eyes flashing. "Battousai knows NOTHING!"

"Then tell me!" he cried, standing straight. "Tell me, so I can understand and you can stop fighting!"

"Battousai is one enemy. Self was trained by Master to kill Battousai. No other targets. Only Battousai." Tears streamed down her face as she took a step forward. "Master told self that self was good assasain, good for killing Battousai. Itami was given because Battousai still alive." She took another step, then crouched to prepare her attack.

//She was. Trained? To kill me? By whom?// He held the questions in his mind back as he said, "Tsukiyo-san, you are safe here! We wont let anyone hurt you!"

"Safe?" In a deadly whisper, she repeated, "Safe? Safe self is not. Not with Battousai alive, self is not safe."

Kenshin stopped thinking. He knew that if she wasn't stopped soon, she could die from blood loss. Already her white yukata was blotched with red, and the largest one kept growing. He had to stop her, and quickly.

As she lunged, seemingly in slow motion, he saw one end of the bo come straight at his face, aimed for straight between his eyes. //That's it!// He whipped his hand up, grabbed the staff, and used it as a lever to throw her into the pile of futon and blankets that she had moved earlier. It cushioned her fall, as well as getting her as far away from Kenshin and the bo stick as possible.

Kenshin threw the bo to the side, and cautiously walked over to the lump of human that had been a vibrantly alive and dangerous girl. He knelt, and placed a gentle hand on her shoulder.

She looked up, meeting his eyes. Her anger filled purple eyes seemed to be swimming in tears, and they looked wrong. They almost looked like a swirl of yellow and purple, both fighting for control. She glared, and the purple seemed to dominate. Predicting her response, Kenshin grabbed first her left, then her right wrists as she tried to hit him.

"Tsukiyo-san, you shouldn't try to hurt those who care for you. All they ever want to do is to help you, that they do." She shook her head as her body heaved. The yellow was coming back into her eyes, eliminating the purple. Suddenly she gagged, turned her body as best she could, and threw up on her bedding. Kenshin let go of her wrists to rub her back as she expelled everything from her stomach that she possibly could.

When she had wiped her mouth, and turned back to Kenshin, her face was covered in tears, but she made no sound, none at all. Kenshin held out his arms, and she fell into them, sobbing as she clung to his gi. He could almost read her thoughts, almost hearing her say, 'No no no no. How could I do this? How?'

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The man in black stood just outside of the dojo, frowning as he heard crying. //That does NOT sound as though she has killed the Battousai. She appears to have failed.// He swore softly underneath his breath and turned around. "Sewayaki."

"Yes?"

"Make sure that she does not fail the next time we use the Itami."

"Yes, Master."

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