Hiya! It's me again, back with my 8th chapter. Sorry this took so long. I sort of kept putting it off.

One of the biggest reasons for this was because I was starting to get rather discouraged. I've been reading a lot of threads in forums discussing Mary-Sues, and have talked to two people so far, and I was very worried that Kazue was a Mary-Sue, hence the story wasn't a good one. Of course, I love this story, and I owe you guys for supporting me so much, so I'm going to finish.

I almost didn't update today even, thanks to some of today's occurrences, but since I finished it last night, I'll go ahead and put it up. Hope you guys like it.

Disclaimer: Though I do own Rurouni Kenshin volumes 1-9, I don't have the rights to the series, sadly enough for me.

"Do you really think she's all right Kenshin?" Kaoru asked nervously. She looked over her shoulder in the direction of Kazue's room, even though the door could not be seen. It had been several hours since the girl had discovered the truth about Sanosuke, and she hadn't left her room since. Not a sound had come from the room, not even the slightly whimper or sob.

"In all honesty Kaoru-dono, she's probably not all right at the moment." Answered Kenshin. He and Kaoru both stood in the kitchen, Kenshin cooking dinner while Kaoru hung restlessly over his shoulder. Even during times like this, people had to eat, and Kenshin knew that. "It is possible she might be distressed for a while." He finished.

Kaoru bit her lip and turned her eyes away from Kenshin, looking back in the direction of the door. Apparently, that hadn't been what she'd wanted to hear.

"But I'm sure she will be fine." He added. "It may take a while. After all, Kazue-chan has just uncovered something about her life even she didn't know about. Her friend and enemy are the same man. It may take her a while for her to sort out her feelings on this situation."

He turned his head to the side, sending a reassuring smile Kaoru's way. "You shouldn't worry too much Kaoru-dono." He said, setting a hand on her shoulder. "Kazue-chan will come to terms with this in her own way, at her own time. We just have to be patient."

Kaoru sighed deeply. "I'll try." She responded, receiving a small smile from Kenshin in return. He removed his hand from her shoulder and went back to preparing the meal. Kaoru watched him work for a few minutes, and then picked up a vegetable knife joined him, attempting to take her mind off their present situation. Unfortunately, it didn't help much; it kept wandering.

It was a bit surprising actually. Kenshin, who had much more life experience than he should have had, was very good with words. The things he said could completely change a person's mood, or possibly their entire outlook on life (as it was with Yahiko). Usually, if Kenshin said something reassuring, it was calming to Kaoru. However, this was one of those times where it didn't work like it should have. Still, Kaoru commended him for trying.

Yahiko of course, hadn't been around for the little fiasco, nor had he been around when things were being explained. So, when it came to important matters such as this one, he was just like so many other ten-year-olds: he hardly had a clue what was going on.

The only thing that he knew was that it had something to do with Sanosuke. Apparently, he'd done something to upset her.

He stared at the door, his nose wrinkled in disgust. No noise of any sort came from inside the room. Not even a whine or a whimper.

From Yahiko's experience with girls, he learned that on many occasions, they would cry about minute things. They would blow the most insignificant of things way out of proportion. Tsubame and Kaoru, for instance, were both guilty of it. Because of this little lesson in life, Yahiko assumed that that was the case with Kazue as well.

"Will you quite sulking!" Yahiko yelled angrily, glaring at the door as if he were shouting at it, and not the person behind it. "Whatever he did to you, it couldn't be that bad." He waited for a response, and when none came, he growled in frustration.

"Answer me!" he shouted, taking a step forward. "Don't just pretend I don't exist!"

"You wouldn't understand Yahiko!" Kazue said weakly from inside, gulping. "You just…wouldn't understand."

"What wouldn't I understand about it?" Yahiko yelled back. "I'd understand just fine if somebody would tell me what's going on!"

Again, Yahiko waited for a response, and when none came again, he kicked the wall beside the door in frustration.

"Fine!" he shouted, walking down the hall, waving his hands in exasperation. "Go ahead and mope! See if I care!"

Then, the hallway was silent once again.

Sano, who was now at his home, leaned against the wall, looking out the window. Though the view was mostly taken up by the wall of the next building, he could see a little bit of the dark sky above it. He ran his hand through his hair, eventually stopping near his forehead. On his shoulders, his shirt still felt cold and damp. It hadn't completely dried yet.

He sighed deeply, banging the back of his head against the wall. He'd really blown it this time. If only he'd known a few minutes earlier. Hell, a few seconds earlier would have worked too. If he'd known just a little bit earlier, he could have gotten the shirt away from her before she saw the writing on the back. If only he'd known.

Well, it was too late now. She knew that he was Zanza. He could still remember it vividly, seeing as it was only that afternoon.

At first, she'd been speechless and unmoving, except for the tears dripping down her face. Then, her eyes had narrowed into a hateful glare. She'd thrown the waded up shirt at him and bolted inside the dojo, leaving her own gi and hakama in the washtub. He remembered hearing Kaoru's voice from inside the dojo, asking Kazue what was wrong. Then, the girl had locked herself away, and as far as he knew, was yet to come out.

At that moment, he hated himself. He'd always hated those who had picked on the weak. Now, knowing what he had done to Kazue, unintentionally or otherwise, he felt like a hypocrite.

'I wonder,' He thought to himself and he stood and moved to his sleeping mat. 'What happened to her and her mother after that? That can't be all of the story…'

Even as the sun began coming up the next day, Kazue still didn't leave. She sat in a corner of the room, watching the thin yellow light of the morning reflect against the far wall. It slowly darkened, signaling morning, and then afternoon.

Raw, red streaks marked her face, the product of her silent tears. Her arms were wrapped tightly around her knees, as if letting go of them would send her plummeting off of the edge of the Earth. Then again, at the moment, that was how it felt.

By now, she had realized that she'd reached a major crossroads, and she knew she had a decision to make. Unfortunately, neither of her options was very appealing.

Option one of course, was to kill Sanosuke…Zanza…whatever. Then he would be dead, and her revenge would be had. After that, she could start over and do her best to put everything behind her.

However, ironically, if she were to kill him, she couldn't start over. His blood, the blood of a friend, would forever be on her hands. Stains like that could never be wiped away. In other words, that option simply led to a dead end.

Her second option was to let Sanosuke live. However, she knew that if she did that, she could never live in peace. She would live out the rest of her life in misery, however long it may be. She would never truly feel at ease, knowing that she'd let the murderer Zanza get away unscathed. It would haunt her nightmares, tormenting her until death, and maybe even after.

Kazue swallowed and sniffed, feeling hopeless and defeated. No matter which of the two paths she took, she would never be happy. Happiness was too far beyond her now. How cruel fate was, letting her have that little taste of happiness, only to choke on the bitter aftertaste.

Slowly, she glanced about the room. It was the same as the day she had arrived in the dojo, but during the month that she'd lived there, it had become something more: it had become hers. She'd finally begun waking up in the morning and knowing exactly where she was. She'd begun to think of the futon as hers, the blankets as hers, the room as hers. She even dared to think of the dojo as her home.

She shut her eyes tightly, trying to decide what she would do. However, it was no easier with her eyes shut than it would have been otherwise. Then, she slowly opened them and looked towards her futon. All the blankets were piled at the foot end of it, concealing a small lump: the gun. Then, in the moment, she knew exactly what she was going to do.

She got to her feet and unsteadily trudged over to the futon. She dropped to her knees and reached under the it, pulling out the gun. She turned the weapon over in her hands. It had been a while since she had actually looked at it, so it seemed much more foreign than it should have. She noticed that there were still flecks of dried blood stuck to it.

She flipped open the chamber and looked inside. There were five bullets remaining within, just as there should have been. Perfect. That would be plenty enough. She put the gun in her pocket, and then began rolling up her futon and folding her blankets.

'I'll do it tonight.' She thought to herself, a few more tears sliding down her cheeks. 'The sooner I do, the less time I'll have to change my mind.'

Yahiko stretched his arms above his head, yawning loudly as he walked down the hall. He reached behind his head and pushed his elbow, successfully stretching out his arm. The day had been rather uneventful; everyone had gone about their business as usual, except for Kazue of course. She hadn't come out of her room the entire day, apparently still sulking. Yahiko shook his head at the thought. She was just being stupid now.

The dojo was almost entirely silent by now, Kaoru and Kenshin having gone to bed earlier. The only noise that could be heard was the sounds that the sleeping residents made, which came from behind tightly closed doors.

Then, as he neared his own door, Yahiko paused, his ears perking. For a moment he'd thought he'd been imagining it, or maybe he was making the noise himself, but as he listened more carefully, he was sure of what he was hearing. The sound of footsteps came from somewhere else in the dojo. He turned his head in the direction of the sound, staring into the darkness behind him. He knew Kaoru and Kenshin were already sleeping, and Kazue was yet to leave her room…

The boy's eyes narrowed a moment, and then he slowly tiptoed back down the hallway. He reached out on both sides of him, and put the tips of his fingers on each wall. Hopefully, this would help him to know where he was going in the dark.

Soon, he felt the walls disappear from under his fingers, and he knew he'd reached the training hall. He tilted his head to the side and held his breath, listening. The footsteps were still very faint, apparently originating from another room further over. Still, they were there.

Slowly, silently, the boy reached behind him and placed his hand against the wall, searching for a shinai. Even though he knew the dojo like the back of his hand, it took him several minutes to find one in the dark.

He held the shinai tightly in his right hand, while using the other to guide him across the wooden wall. He stayed light on his feet, careful not to make as little noise as possible. He even took shorter, shallower breaths, as to keep from making sound. Then, as his fingers brushed against the paper of the door, he stopped and backed up. This was the only door out of the dojo, so whoever was sneaking around had to go through there to leave. A simple trap perhaps, but a good one nonetheless.

He held the shinai out in a ready position, and waited patiently. His muscles tensed up as he braced himself for what he was sure would be an interesting fight.

After only a few moments' wait, Yahiko noticed the sound of the footsteps coming closer. He tensed, gripping the hilt that much tighter.

He heard the footsteps enter the room. There was a weighty, uneasy pause, the person apparently accessing the situation and checking for threats. Finding none, the footsteps started up again.

They got closer and closer to Yahiko until they paused again. However, this time the figure was much closer. So close in fact, Yahiko could have reached out and touched the person with the tip of the shinai.

With a light scratching of wood against wood, the door opened. Light from the half moon poured into the room, illuminated the silhouette of the figure. Just as they were stepping through the opening, Yahiko pounced.

"Hold it right there!" he shouted, swinging the shinai at the figure, which screamed as it was struck in the ribs. Something fell from the figure's hand, bouncing against the wooden boards with a metallic clang.

"Yahiko?" gasped Kazue's surprised voice. "What are you doing?"

Yahiko's eyes widened, and a sweatdrop formed on the side of his head. "Oh." He said. "It's just you."

The boy looked down at the floor and saw that the thing Kazue had dropped, whatever it was, had broken. There was one large piece near the girl's foot, and five smaller pieces scattered about it. He knelt down, picked up a smaller piece, and was reaching for the largest piece when Kazue roughly shoved him away.

"No!" she yelped, her voice shaky and panicked. She dropped to her knees and picked up the larger piece, then hurriedly replaced the remaining small pieces.

Yahiko watched, confused, as the girl frantically worked to reassemble the object. He also noticed that she was made a point of keeping it in the shadows so that it could not be seen.

"What's going on?" he asked curiously.

Kazue didn't answer as she continued to put the object back together. Then, after she'd replaced the five smaller pieces, she snapped something back into place, deposited the in her pocket, and grew still.

Yahiko continued to stare, and finally asked, "What is that thing?"

This too, Kazue didn't answer. Instead, to Yahiko's shock, she reached out and embraced him, gulping back a sob. The boy's body went completely rigid and his eyes widened. Then, just as suddenly as she had embraced him, she let go.

"Bye Yahiko." She said simply, then stood and ran across the yard and out the gate.

Yahiko stared after her, confusion shining in his eyes. What was she so upset about?

He adjusted his grip on the object, feeling the cold surface in his palm, then stretched out his arm and held the object in the light. For the third time that night, Yahiko's eyes widened.

"Kenshin!" he shouted, jumping to his feet and dropping the shinai. "We have to stop Kazue! She's got a gun!"

::Is humming the tune to "Janie's Got a Gun".:: Well, that's chapter 8 people. I hope you guys liked it, even if the ending was a little…meh. As I always say, please R/R!

And, like I say every chapter, please R/R!