Disclaimer : Soujiro is not mine. =/

Warning : Bad language and violence ahead.

~ A Memory Forgotten ~

Chapter 13

Kaoru smiled a loving smile at him. "I don't care about your past. I know who you are now. Your past is what made you you, it is not something that you still are now."

Soujiro widened his eyes. She doesn't care about my past? She accepts me for who I am now? He looked as she smiled brightly at him and felt the walls that he created around him during the last sixteen years break down a little. I don't need to pretend when I'm around her, he thought.

She placed her other hand on top of his hand and squeezed.

He knew at that moment that this girl was special to him.

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It had been a little over a week since Kaoru's disappearance. Yahiko was pacing back and forth on the dojo floor.

"Stop that!" Sanosuke berated the boy. "It's annoying the shit out of me."

Yahiko just glared at him with his fists clenched. "Shut up!"

Everything was in turmoil since Kaoru had been gone. Kenshin had left to help the police to find any traces of the girl. Sanosuke and Yahiko had just come back from their search so that they could rest at the dojo. Also, a small part of them had hoped that Kaoru would be home even if it was very unlikely.

"Shiksho! How come the police can't find anything?!?!" Sano cursed while pounding a fist onto the table before them.

"Hey!" Yahiko warned. "You better not break this table or Kaoru's gonna get real mad when she gets back."

Sanosuke looked back at the young boy and his eyes softened. You're right Yahiko. She's going to be fine. We'll find her! We've got to . . .

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Meanwhile Fujimoto Akane, in layman's terms, was sincerely pissed off.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU CAN'T FIND THE FUCKING GIRL?" Fujimoto yelled out at his three bodyguards.

All three shrunk back as the boss's voice beat down on their eardrums. They were too scared to look him in the face. (A/N: These are the three bodyguards that were able to escape with Fujimoto from their last hideout. I'm just going to refer to them as bodyguards in this section, even though they are the sub-leaders of this particular group.)

"Sir," one of them began, "we've sent out forty of our men to search the entire Tokyo area and they've found nothing so far."

The boss glared at him. "HOW CAN IT BE SO HARD TO FIND JUST ONE GIRL?!"

All three men sweatdropped. "Well, Tokyo is a very large city . . ." another bodyguard replied thumbing his two fingers nervously. The other two looked at him sadly as the boss glanced annoyingly at the one who dared to speak such ridiculousness in his presence.

"Come here," the boss replied in an even tone with a suspicious smile on his face.

"H - -hai," the bodyguard replied shakily as he approached the boss with small steps.

Fujimoto smirked at his appearance and his eyes narrowed menacingly. There's no use for idiots like these to work for me. I'll use him as a lesson for the others to follow, he thought as he fingered the metal object in his hands. When the man approached in front of him, he bowed, then stood up straight to face his boss as he spoke.

"So . . . you think I don't know that Tokyo is a large city, do you?" Fujimoto asked with a sneer.

"No .. Yes .. No .. I mean .. I know you know that Tokyo is a large city, Fujimoto-sama. I'm sorry for my negligence in speaking out of terms. It will never - -"

SWISH

The two looked shocked at the horrid display of blood around him. The red liquid was splattered everywhere, on the walls, clothes, and skin of the three people within the room. As the head rolled to the corner of the room, the two bodyguards put their hands around their mouth to avoid vomiting at the sight. The man holding the katana licked the blood on his lips.

"Make sure that you and your men find that girl within this month or your fate will be worse than his. Is that clear men?" he stated.

"H- - hai," the two responded in a small, timid voice.

"Do you have any ideas where this girl may be?" the boss asked both of them.

The two of them looked at each other nervously and started to sweat. They didn't want to die an early death like their comrade. All was silent as the boss awaited their reply. Even though it was only a couple of minutes before anyone spoke, it seemed like hours.

"So?" the boss questioned again while he wiped the blood of his sword. To make the statement clearer, the boss played at stabbing the air.  Both of the men's' eyes widened in fear at the sight.

"I think . . I think . . we should have men to go search for Higurashi Miroku. You said that he is in China somewhere. Maybe the girl went there to look for him," the guard inquired.

"Hmm .. " Fujimoto thought as he sat back in his chair and began drumming his fingers on the chair handles to the side of him. The noise that it brought along only served to put both of the guards' nerves more on edge. "You have a point there. I think it is time to pay my long lost friend another visit."

The two sighed in visible relief.

"Send men there and find the Higurashi's exact location. And when you do, I'll be on the first ship there. Also, make sure to keep an eye out for that girl just in case she did try to go look for her father. . .That will be it. Please go tell this to the others. . .oh and tell them exactly what you saw here today."

"Hai." The two turned and quickly left the room.

Fujimoto Akane sat back more comfortably in his chair as he looked at the corner of the room. He had a wolfish smile as he looked at the decapitated body folded in the middle of the room. At least that idiot had some use, he thought as he cracked his knuckles, I needed to let my pent up energy out somewhere. Lucky he was here. He smirked and then frowned as he looked at the mess around him. Damn! Now I have to call someone to clean this shit up.

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Soujiro and Kaoru looked out at the sunset together again that evening. They both had peaceful looks on their visages as the last of the sunlight bounced off of each other around their settings.  The cool night air blew on the two bodies and Kaoru shivered in reaction. Soujiro saw this and wrapped his arm around her to keep her warm. The girl smiled up at him.

"Shall we go back, Kaoru-san? I don't want you to catch a cold," Soujiro said as he faced her with a compassionate smile.

"Hai, Sou-chan. Let's go back," Kaoru replied in a light voice as they both stood up. However, his arms never broke from their position on her shoulders as they started to walk back. Kaoru laid her head to rest on his chest as they trekked back home. They accompanied one another in a comfortable few minutes of silence before Kaoru spoke.

"Sou-chan, where shall we go if we leave Tokyo?" Kaoru asked as she looked back up at him.

Soujiro felt troubled at the thought. He wasn't sure where they should go, not sure if they even should stay in Japan. Then he remembered what the boss had said when she was captured and brightened at the thought. "The man who captured you said that your father was still alive. Higurashi, I believe," Soujiro said in a calm voice.

"Aa," Kaoru replied. Why can't I remember my father? And where would we start looking for him? "Ano.. Sou-chan .. where would we look for my father? I don't know where he is . .and . ." She paused and looked down on the ground. With a whisper she said, "and . . I don't know who he is . ."

The man's eyes darkened. That's true . ., he thought for a second and then said to her in a comforting voice, "Don't worry, Kaoru-san. I'll find out for you."

Kaoru stopped in her steps and stood in front of him. She pointed out her index finger and poked him square in the chest. "And how may I ask are you going to accomplish that?"

"Aa . . don't worry about it, Kaoru-san," the boy said with his usual smile. (A/N: When I saw usual smile, it refers to the smile that he uses in the anime series. The mask)

"What do you MEAN, don't worry?" Kaoru asked with her brows furrowed.

"Eh . .  .I'll find out from the men that took you," Soujiro replied.

"No, absolutely not. I don't want you to get hurt on my account. Onegai Sou-chan, don't," the girl replied pleadingly.

The man's heart warmed again as he looked into her sapphire blue eyes. He put a hand onto her shoulders and squeezed. "Either way, we've got to find him. He'll help you recover your memory."

Kaoru looked at him and her eyes softened. Sou-chan cares for me so much, but I don't want him getting hurt. I wouldn't be able to live with myself if anything happened to him because of me. I'd risk my memory if that means that he'll be safe. "Iie . . I can't have you getting hurt. No matter what," Kaoru said.

"Kaoru-san . . I told you not to worry. If anything were to happen, I'll just run away from the scene. You saw how fast I am, ne?" he said with a small smile. I'll keep you safe no matter what. I won't have those men finding you and I'll do whatever I can to protect you.

The woman looked at him and saw the resolve in his eyes and she began to feel her eyes moisten once again. She looked down at her feet and her bangs fell in front of her face. I've got to be strong, I can't let him see me cry again. I have to believe in him. I saw how he took care of those guys back there. And this time .. this time .. he'll be fine also, she thought as she tried to convince herself.

"I understand," she started as she looked back into his eyes, "but I want you to know that . . that you're the only one I have right now .. and . .and if anything were to happen to you . .I wouldn't know what to do. Onegai . .I know I can't say anything to dissuade you from going, but take care of yourself. I don't want you to get hurt."

Soujiro was a little stunned at her words.  He didn't even register when she pulled him into another tight embrace. She cares this much about me? Never . . never in my life . . or in my dreams has anyone cared so much of me. .He took a breath and caught the faint smell of jasmine. So peaceful, he thought. In both of their hearts that night, they subconsciously wished that they would be together like this for a long time.

As the night air got cooler, Kaoru shivered once again.

Soujiro noticed and said, "We better get back."

They walked for another ten minutes and found themselves "home" again. As they entered into the house, they sat down in one of the rooms while Soujiro prepared some tea to warm up both him and the girl.

He brought in the tea and looked at her. She looked like an angel. Her cheeks were tinted red in response to the cold and her blue eyes were shining as she looked upon him. He sat down and they both took a sip of the tea. Kaoru put her tea down and looked back up at him with a small smile.

"Sou-chan, can you tell my why you became a rurouni?"

Soujiro paled.

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Kenshin was getting more and more anxious as the days drew on. They hadn't found any clues about Kaoru's whereabouts since she had been taken from the hideout.

Damn it! Why can't I find her? Maybe I can find some other people to help, de gozaru yo.

He mentally kicked himself for not thinking of this earlier. Kenshin ran to the building, wrote a quick note, and attached it to the pigeon.

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- To be continued

Author's Notes:

Please read and review! Thanks much.

Hehe .. I finally added cliffhangers in this one. Sigh I was losing my touch .. lol .. the two chapters before this didn't have any cliffhangers =/ ..

Well, this one had a little bit of everything. Oh yeah, and about Kenshin's thoughts and cursing.. hehe .. He's acting half-battousai/half rurouni –ish .. ^_^

Also many of you voiced your worries about there being too much Soujiro and Kaoru waff .. so much so that they'll end up falling in love with one another. Well, I'm not going to delve into any explanation for this right now. You'll just have to wait until later chapters to find out what happens ^_^

I was also thinking of doing an Inuyasha/Kenshin crossover where Inuyasha and his gang have to travel into the future during the Meiji era to find Kaoru .. who happens to be a miko. Even though she does not yet know =) What do you guys think?

Thanks to my reviewers:

Nicky, ^_^, AnimeFreako, wolfpack, Uenki, somebody, Princess of Darkness, Tsugoi Kakarlena, kenshinfan, kato, Souryusen, chibi, Briar, shippo, beriath, chibi frog, Luna Angel, hoots, kaoru-no-tanuki, Ana, CurlsofSerenity, pushpitake,  Inugirl, tigerrelly, Califpinay3001, animelub, ranma sao, saotome, kiki, kim, john, Poohbear, Jouchano8, anime lover, Clemen, Miya-chan, Kyoznekozukigirl, nihongo55, Aino Saori, wudnt u like 2 kno, kuru kuru 17,  Sarahi, Hiei 7, lostanimeangel, thunder sister, Ayuka Moonwind, Inuyasha chic515, Ryuugirl, Volleygurly, and Sanosuke Sagara for your support!

Briar – Hehe .. I'm glad I was able to change your mind about the K/K thing and you actually support S/K now .. ^_^ But this fic will still be K/K .. sigh . And yes there will be other characters coming up. Hehe . as you see in the conclusion for this chapter.

Ryuu Girl – Aww. . everything will work out fine in the end. =) maybe a little angst. .? but Soujiro won't have a sad ending.

CurlsofSerenity – Hmm .. Kenshin seeing Kaoru and Soujiro together? Umm . .that'll come up in later chapters. You can expect him to be jealous of course =)

Kenshinfan  and hanashin– I'm glad that you liked how I portrayed Soujiro =) I'll try my best to do a Soujiro/kaoru fic after this one ^_^