Sorry for the wait!! I was working on this for a while.. and I had some distractions.. I'm sorry! To make up for it I'll be putting up chapter 5 with this one Hope you like them!! RR please!

The One I Love - Chapter 4 Thinking

The redheaded rurouni walked at a slow pace. His mind was so clouded with thoughts. He continued to walk until he got to the river bank. There, he found a tree and sat against it with his sword by his side.

A soft sigh past his lips. His tongue gently rolled out Kaoru's name like melted butter. Kenshin just sat there, thinking to himself.

Kenshin's Thoughts

Kaoru... I love you.. I really do. After Tomoe's death, I promised to never love another again. Looks like I broke that promise.. Because I fell in love with you. Tomoe.. is it okay to love Kaoru? She's so pure.. and innocent.. While I have killed so many without any mercy.. Besides, she could never love anyone as unworthy as me... She deserves someone so much better.. Someone without blood on their soul.. However I can't trust this Koji.. Perhaps I am jealous.. Kaoru seems to really like him.. and who am I to stop her from liking.. or possibly loving.. him...

Kenshin's heart pained at the thought.

"I love you Kaoru..." After those words left his mouth, he fell into a deep slumber.

At the Kamiya Dojo

Kaoru was carrying a pot of water for dinner when something was nagging at her.

Where's Kenshin? She thought. I haven't seen him since lunch.. Now that I think about it.. He was really quiet during the whole meal. I shouldn't have snapped at him earlier.. What was I thinking? I should apologize.. Where is he anyway? Gasp.. He couldn't have left.. Could he?... He wouldn't...

CLANG Kaoru dropped her pot and ran back inside the dojo. "SANO!"

Sano immediately ran to her thinking she was in trouble. Koji was right behind him.

"Jou-chan! What happened? Is something wrong?" "Are you alright Kaoru?"

"I'm fine but where's Kenshin? I haven't seen him since lunch! I shouldn't have snapped at him Sano! What if he..."

She couldn't bare to say it. Koji was confused but Sano understood. He went up to her and put his arms around her for a hug as a brotherly way. Kaoru kept rambling and started to cry while Koji stood there helplessly. He wanted to be the one to hug and comfort her.

"Shh.. Jou-chan.. You got it all wrong. Shh.. Please don't cry."

Kaoru couldn't calm down.

So Sano shook her gently by her shoulders and told her, "Jou-chan listen to me. Kenshin didn't leave you!"

Suddenly, Kaoru stopped sobbing. Her teary eyes held relief but with worry. "sniff.. He didn't?"

"Trust me when I say this. He didn't leave. He didn't break his promise to you Jou-chan." Sano said reassuring her.

Kaoru was still confused. "But then.. sniff.. Where is he?" She had deep concern in her eyes.

"He just wanted some time to think about some stuff. But he did not leave you or us, okay?" Sano answered. "Now why don't you go to bed? You look tired. I'll bring you some food if you want.."

Kaoru smiled. "No thank you. I think I will go to bed.. Thanks Sano, you're a good friend. Good night."

Sano pet her head like an older brother would and said, "No problem Jou- chan. Night, sweet dreams."

Kaoru didn't notice Koji was in the room and went to her room, shutting the shoji behind her.

Koji stoof still, bewildered. He was thinking to himself. That 'Kenshin' must have a special place in MY kaoru's heart... This may pose a problem.. That place must be replaced by me...

Sano finally noticed Koji standing there with a weird look on his face. He didn't like that look. The emotion he read in his eyes was definitely not so nice either. It seemed to him that this guy must have been jealous by how emotional Kaoru got over Kenshin. He'd better keep an eye for Kamatori...

Ignoring Sano, Koji suddenly left the room.. Leaving Sano there all alone.

Not a minute later, Yahiko barged in. "When's dinner? I'm starved! And where's Kenshin?" He stopped, noticing the slight tension still lingering in the air.

Sano spoke up. "Hey kid. How about you and me go to the Fox for food? Don't ask why."

Yahiko looked confused but nodded anyway for his stomach's sake.

"I'll be right back." Then Sano left the room. He came back soon and motioned Yahiko to follow him to go to Megumi's. Sano had just checked over Kaoru's room to make sure she was okay.

When they left, the dojo was really quiet. Kaoru and Koji were in their separate rooms.

Kaoru lay on her futon, wondering where Kenshin was and if he was okay. She also still felt quilty about yelling at him before. As tears were starting to form, Kaoru started to fall asleep. Before deep slumber, she muttered, "I love you Kenshin..."

In the other room, Koji was still thinking about what happened just minutes ago. How Kaoru cried so many tears for that redheaded man. He will not get in the way. Kaoru WILL be mine. With that thought, he slowly drifted off to sleep as well.

Meanwhile, at the clinic, Sano had explained everything to Megumi.

"Wow... I can't believe it.. Kenshin almost turned into Battousai?"

"Yeah Fox. His eyes were amber.. Kinda freaky huh?"

"You're right .. This Koji must be the same man as the rumor.. Which means he could be the end of our two dense friends... hmm.."

Yahiko overheard them and almost choked on his rice. Woah.. Kenshin must love busu a lot... A LOT..

Then Sano and Megumi appeared and joined Yahiko with dinner. No one said a word.

While all of this was going on, Kenshin had woken up from the tree. He had the strangest dream every...

In his dream, Kenshin proposed to Kaoru. But then Koji appeared and she ran to him, kissing him. She had said, "I'm sorry Kenshin.. You're too late... I'm in love with Koji. We're leaving for New York tonight to get married." Then she showed him her ring and smiled happily. The last thing Kenshin heard before jolting awake was Koji saying, "Sorry Himura-san.. She's mine now." He had an evil smirk on his face.

When Kenshin woke up, he was sweating like crazy. He looked at his surroundings and whispered, "I must have fallen asleep here. I should head back to the dojo now. What a strange dream though... Did it mean something?....."

Then he felt a drop of rain. Oh no, I'd better hurry up and go back.

The rain poured down harder. By the time Kenshin arrived at the dojo, he was soaking wet. However he didn't go inside. He stayed and sat on the porch, still out of rain's reach. He continued to stare into the sky as the rain came down harder and harder almost unable to see.

All of a sudden, a loud thunder clap was heard. Kenshin didn't move an inch. He wasn't bothered by it at all.

One person in the dojo jolted up by the booming noise.

BOOM Again, the thunder clapped.

Kaoru clamped her mouth shut to prevent from screaming out loud. She didn't want to wake anyone up. The might think she was getting kidnapped or something. Kaoru shuddered. If there was one thing she was afraid of, it was thunderstorms. Every since shew as a little girl, she was just simply terrified.

Slowly, Kaoru climbed out of her futon and stood up. I wonder if Kenshin's here yet... It's storming out..

Her curiosity and worry carried her feet toward his room which was conviniently right next door. She peaked inside and felt her heart drop when she didn't see him. Her anxiety increased. Oh my gosh.. Where could he be?

Kaoru slowly walked toward the porch. She couldn't possibly sleep now, knowing Kenshin was in the rain somewhere while she was comfortable in her futon...

When she got closer, she saw a figure sitting on the porch, not moving. It looked pretty wet. Her first instinct was to scream but she stopped herself with the same reason as before. When she kept looking at the figure, it was oddly familiar. Her eyes suddenly widened. Gasp It's...

"Kaoru-dono?"

Kaoru jumped up without yelping or screaming.

That was chapter 4! Now go! Chapter 5 is waiting!! RR please!!!