Hikari

By KCSobe

Disclaimer: We don't own Rurouni Kenshin, no matter how many pennies we throw in the wishing well.

A/N: Ok, we just wanted to make sure that you all understand that that the main couple of this story is Kenshin/Kaoru. There will also be other couples maybe, like possibly some Sano/Megumi and Aoshi/Misao. But there won't be any odd or unnatural couples, got it?

Amber Glare

Kenshin sighed as he looked around the empty dojo. He had been staying here for only two days and he already wanted to leave. Kamiya and the kid had done nothing but argue the entire time. But at least it would be silent for the next hour or so. The two other inhabitants were off at another dojo giving lessons, so he had some time to himself.

Though, Kenshin had to admit, the distraction that they provided gave him a brief respite from about the nightmares that plagued him every night. Now that they were gone, he could feel the darkness creeping up on him once again.

Suddenly, he began to feel ill and sat down on the porch. When he looked around, the edges of the buildings seemed fuzzy, as if reality was warping and twisting beyond his control. He could see the faces of so many of the men he had once brutally killed. They stared at him accusingly from the shadows- pale faces with haunting eyes. Kenshin looked down at his hands and felt his heart skip a beat. They were stained in a red liquid. Blood. Not his blood, but the blood of those who were dead because of him. He tried to wipe it off on his gi, but it just kept coming back. Closing his eyes, the hitokiri attempted to calm himself. After a moment of meditation, Kenshin opened his eyes again and the blood was gone.

It's getting worse. Why do I keep seeing so much blood?! Why do I keep hallucinating?!

He got up and looked around for something to occupy him. A basket of dirty laundry, waiting to be cleaned, was sitting on the corner of the porch.

I might as well. Kenshin thought as he grabbed it and brought it over to the laundry bin near the well.

…Perhaps it will help me scrub this blood from my hands…

Kaoru smiled as she listened to Yahiko tell her about how badly he beat all the other students. She was amazed by the progress he had made in such a short time. She opened the gate to her dojo and froze. There, in front of her, was the most bizarre scene she had ever seen. Shinta was doing the laundry. It was the first time she had seen a man doing laundry. He seemed to notice her stare, and looked up.

"Oh! Hello, Kamiya-dono! How was your training at the Maekawa Dojo?"

"It was fine, but you don't need to do the laundry! I'll do it!" She insisted.

"No, it's ok. Doing the laundry calms this one very much. Plus, one should be honored to do laundry for a land lady as kind as you." Kenshin nearly bit his tongue. Okay, that sounded corny.

Yahiko pushed past Kaoru, took one look at Kenshin, and marched on, muttering something under his breath.

Kenshin felt his hand twitch. He had clearly heard what Yahiko had called him.

That runt's got a lot of nerve to call the Hitokiri Battousai a wimp! Taking deep breaths, he picked up another dirty cloth and started scrubbing it.

Kaoru had also heard what Yahiko said, and was about to beat his head in when she saw a slight change in Shinta.

He seems upset, almost. He must be sad because he doesn't know how to use a sword. She walked over to him and kneeled down next to him.

"Don't let anything that stupid kid says get to you. Plenty of people don't know how to fight. If you'd like, I could teach you how to use a sword though. I'll give you some free lessons!" She smiled as she looked over at Shinta. Inwardly, she felt nervous. What if he says no? What if he doesn't want to learn from a girl? I can't believe I just offered to do that!

Kenshin froze. He looked over at Kaoru in wonder. She barely knew who he was, and here she was, offering him free lessons, just to cheer him up.

But why would she do something like that for me? She doesn't even know me. I should decline, but would it look a little suspicious. 'Shinta the wimp' refusing a swords lesson?

"That's very kind of you, Kamiya-dono. This one would be very pleased to learn swords from you." And for the first time in a long while, he smiled. For real.

A week at the Kamiya dojo had proved harder for the Hitokiri Battousai to endure than the most dangerous of missions. While he knew on a certain level that the constant arguing of Kamiya and the kid was perfectly normal, being unable to locate a single trace of Shishio Makoto's whereabouts had put him in a foul mood.

Days of diligent work had turned up nothing. It was as if the man had ceased to exist. Which, technically he had, many years ago, but that was beside the point. The point was that he was so far failing his mission. And the Battousai never failed a mission.

"Shinta!" He heard a feminine voice exclaim.

"Yes, Kamiya-dono?" Automatically, Kenshin put on his 'clueless idiot' face.

"I told you, it's Kaoru!" the girl smiled.

"Very sorry, Kaoru-dono. Can this one be of some service?" Kenshin offered hopefully. Anything to ease the boredom.

"Actually, I was wondering if you could pick up some groceries for me. I have a lesson in a few minutes, and I'm really short on miso and salt. I'm making miso soup with tonight!" Kaoru beamed. Kenshin struggled to maintain a cheerful expression on his face.

"This one would be happy to pick those up for you. In fact, this one wouldn't mind making dinner as well. You have been very busy all day, and could use the break," he improvised quickly.

"Really? Sano will be thrilled when I tell him I'm not cooking!" Kaoru laughed.

"Sano?" Kenshin asked frowning.

"Yes, Sanosuke is an old friend of mine who will be dining with us tonight. He comes over all the time for free meals," she replied.

He must be desperate indeed if he comes for Kaoru's cooking, Kenshin thought.

"Well, this one must hurry to beat the afternoon rush. Sayonara, Kaoru-dono!"

With that, he pushed open the gate to the dojo, and began to walk down the path towards town.

Several hours later, Kenshin was slowly strolling around the city. After returning his purchases, he decided to enjoy the relative peace and quiet. Very few people dared to venture out in this heat. The air was heavy and damp with moisture. It would probably rain during the night.

It had been raining that night too.

The stench of blood covered the city. He had just finished a relatively minor job, 'taking care' of a business leader who supported the shogunate. As he slipped through an alley, he heard the sounds of marching feet. Cursing softly, he spun back the way he came. Darting through the narrow streets, the buildings blurred together. Still, he could hear the shouts of the Shinsengumi patrol unit he had almost stumbled on.

Skidding around a corner, he was met with a dead end. With nowhere left to run, it was time to fight. The footsteps were coming closer, and he could hear the uncertain murmuring of a few voices. Then they advanced, and the only thing he had time to see before he struck was the telltale light blue jackets. With the first swing he had decapitated one man, and sliced another in half. Before they had time to react, he launched himself upwards, and then came down in a flawlessly executed Ryutsuisen. Finally, one of his opponents had recovered enough to charge. The last thing the man would see before he died were the glaring amber eyes, half hidden beneath the scarlet hair.

The rest were quickly disposed of. In his first few moves he had sown chaos throughout the ranks, and it was child's play to pick the rest off in the resulting confusion. Straightening up from his crouched position, the Battousai wiped the blood off his blade and sheathed it. Then he calmly walked back into the darkness.

Kenshin shook his head to rid himself of the remaining vestiges of the memory. Looking around, he saw what had triggered it. His feet had automatically taken him down the route to the old Ishin Shishi headquarters. Turning around he started back to the dojo. One day he would have to face those memories. But not yet.

As he hurried down one of the main avenues, he noticed the police station. Okubo had said something about the local police working on the case as well. Perhaps they had a few leads he could use. Kenshin was furious that he was asking the local incompetents for help, but he was desperate. Aside from the casual mention of murders by that waitress, he had nothing to go on. His decision made, he pushed open the door to the headquarters.

"What can I do for you, sir?" A woman behind a desk asked.

"This one is looking for the man in charge," Kenshin stated.

"I'm sorry sir. There's been an accident in the business district, and most of the police force is down there investigating. Lieutenant Fujita will be there for sure."

"Thank you," Kenshin turned, and left. An accident? It hardly sounded promising, but at least it was something to do before returning to the dojo. As he approached the district, however, it was clear that this had not been merely an accident. Groups of people were clumped together, talking in low, hushed voices. Kenshin quickened his pace.

A body was covered in a blanket, and several officers were kneeling next to it, examining something. As he approached, Kenshin could see that the cause of death was a bullet wound in the side of the skull. He began to edge closer, trying to get a better look. In the process, he bumped into another bystander.

"Watch it!" A voice growled crossly. Kenshin looked up to see a man in a white jacket glaring down at him. The man had messy brown hair, and had a fish bone hanging out of the corner of his mouth. Sensing the man's threatening aura, and anxious not to draw attention to himself, Kenshin bowed apologetically, and moved away. If he could not examine the corpse, he could always look for other clues. The bullet had hit the man at a downward angle, which meant the assassin had been firing from above. The best guess would be the low rooftop across the street. He ducked into a nearby alley, so that nobody would notice him making gravity defying leaps onto buildings.

Gauging the distance to the ledge, he began to build up speed. The end of the alley was rapidly approaching, and just as Kenshin was about to spring into the air, he saw a flash of metal. That was his only warning before the sword came slamming down towards him…

Fortunately, years of intense combat had honed his reflexes to near instantaneous. He shot his own sword out of its sheath, and barely managed to parry the blow with an overhead block. As he strained to hold off the mounting pressure from above, he glanced at the face of his assailant.

He was a police officer with a dark blue cap. From underneath, several strands of black hair poked out to hang in the man's face. His most striking feature were the narrow yellow eyes that were now intensely concentrated on overpowering Kenshin's block. It was not a face easily forgotten. And Kenshin had definitely not forgotten.

Fearing that his arm was about to collapse, he disengaged his sword and jumped backwards into a defensive crouch.

"Saito Hajime. It's been a while." Kenshin said as the man moved into his signature Gatotsu stance.

"Five years, Battousai." He answered, smirking. "But now we can finish this once and for all."

"I'd love to fight you, but I'm afraid this isn't the right time or place. I'm a little busy right now," Kenshin spoke mildly, but his eyes were still gold.

"Interesting. You wouldn't happen to have anything to do with the string of murders, would you?" Saito asked, his sword still raised.

"Well, I'm looking for someone thought to be dead. Perhaps you've heard of Shishio Makoto?"

"Hmph. I've been looking for the same man," Saito scowled as he sheathed his sword. "I was told to expect a government agent, but they never told me it would be you."

"Believe me, I am equally surprised," Kenshin glared, also sheathing his sword. "However, if working with you will hasten the capture of Shishio, I'll endure it."

"So, how much has the government chosen to inform you?" Saito asked, as he reached into his pocket for a cigarette. Finding one, he brought it up to his mouth and lit it.

"Rather little. I know he's hiding somewhere and plotting something. And that he has an army of followers." Saito gave a mirthless chuckle.

"Well that's about what we have. We know that Shishio himself is not necessarily in Kyoto. However, most of his elite band of followers, the Juppon-Gatana, are. There are about ten of them, and they are living relatively ordinary lives, while relaying information back to him, and making the odd murder or two. His plans are nearing completion, and we still have no idea what they are. However, once these plans are complete, he will return to Kyoto, along with the rest of his army."

"So, in the mean time, we're reduced to trying to guess the identities of the Juppon-Gattana from the murder scenes. How exciting," Kenshin responded sarcastically.

"Where do you plan to stay?" Saito shifted the conversation.

"I'm staying in the Kamiya dojo, on the outskirts of town. Just in case you wish to contact me, I'm calling myself Himura Shinta."

"I'm Lieutenant Fujita Goro. It's probably best for now that you keep a low profile. The last thing we need to do is to alert Shishio to your presence," Saito pointed out. "I'll be able to check up on any suspects for you from the police records."

"Fine. I must return to my lodgings before people start wondering where I am," Kenshin turned, and slipped out into the open street.

"Shinta! Finally you're back!" Kaoru exclaimed when she saw him in the doorway.

"What took you so long?"

"This one got lost, Kaoru-dono," Kenshin laughed sheepishly.

"Well, I'll have to hurry to get dinner ready in time for Sano," Kaoru began to head to the kitchen.

"Hey! I thought Shinta said he was gonna cook!" Yahiko blurted out.

"That's right! It was almost forgotten that this one would cook!" Kenshin hurried off before she could react. Fortunately, she had other things on her mind.

"Is there something wrong with my cooking, Yahiko?" she asked, her eyes gleaming dangerously…

Triumphantly, Kenshin carried out a few bowls of soup, along with rice and other small bowls with various dishes in them. The soup was steaming hot, and the vapors rising from it smelled delicious. The first thing he noticed was the new addition to the table.

"Shinta, I'd like you to meet Sagara Sanosuke. He's a friend of mine who moved here from Tokyo a year ago. He's not good at keeping a job, and likes to freeload," Kaoru finished up.

The man who Kenshin had bumped into earlier that day rolled his eyes.

"Give it a rest, Jou-chan. Anyway, Shinta and I already know each other, sort of. We ran into each other this afternoon." Kenshin winced.

"This one is truly sorry, Sagara-san."

"Call me Sano. It was probably my fault," Sano replied. "This looks great! Better then Jou-chan's cooking skills for sure."

"Uh-oh, rooster head. You're in for it now," Yahiko muttered under his breath. Sure enough, Kaoru's screeches of protest could be heard echoing throughout the room.

After dinner, Kenshin politely excused himself.

"This one has had a long afternoon, and would like to get to bed early," he said.

"No problem. Yahiko will get the dishes," Kaoru answered, eliciting a squawk of outrage from Yahiko.

Kenshin hurried to his room, where he changed into a pair of gray hakama, though he kept on his normal blue gi. It was time to see if he would have better luck with a night patrol than his daytime scouting. He soundlessly slid open the door, and climbed outside. He then set out at a jog for downtown Kyoto.

His first act was to return to the alley where he had been interrupted by Saito. He jumped the roof easily, and landed with cat-like grace. Bending down, he examined the shingled surface. It would have been easy enough to fire a gun into the crowd below. However, the assassin would have had to make a quick escape. The easiest way to do that would have been to turn around, and jump along the roof tops.

Kenshin began acting out his thoughts, taking the first gap at a run. The alleys were narrow, and any athletic man would have little difficulty. The problem was that the roofline was easily visible from the main streets. To get away, the attacker would have had to beyond fast. Even with his god-like speed, Kenshin doubted he would have been able to pull that off.

Sighing, he descended to the ground. His return visit hadn't been so successful after all. He had one unknown man who could use a gun, and was incredibly fast. The shot hadn't been particularly complicated, so even an amateur would have been able to kill the victim, provided the gun didn't misfire. Which left Kenshin right where he started. With nothing.

"Hey!" Kenshin stiffened and looked up. "Shinta! What are you doing out here? I thought you were asleep," Sano called out cheerfully.

"It was too hot to fall asleep. I thought a stroll might tire me out a little more," Kenshin answered shortly. He didn't feel like making small talk with this tori-atama, when he had a hitokiri to hunt down.

"Some stroll! You're on the other side of the city! Well, I guess I'll see you around," Sano waved, and continued on his way.

Overly cheerful ahou, Kenshin thought as he began the walk home.

Sano quietly slid the door closed as he entered the small house, so as not to wake his friend Katsu. His run in with Shinta had been kind of weird and creepy. The guy had seemed so soft spoken at Kaoru's place, with his "this one" and "dono". Shinta had almost glowed with happiness and joy at dinner, but when he saw him in the street, he seemed like a completely different man. Sano had felt a wave of depressing feelings hit him when their eyes met. Shinta seemed to have a cloud of darkness following him.

Could this Shinta truly have been the same guy he had met at dinner? Sano had never had training in sensing auras, or chi, or what ever it's called, because he had learned to fight on the street. But he had felt something radiating off Shinta when he saw him in the street. Perhaps it was darkness or power? It seemed like some of both. But it was different from the man he had met at dinner. But then again, when they had bumped into each other at the murder scene, he also seemed a bit darker then at dinner.

Not only that, the Shinta at dinner had violet eyes. But even now, as he lay in bed, Sano could still see that burning amber glare…

A/N: Well, thus ends another chapter. Like always, please review! Feel free to leave thoughts and comments, and if you have any good ideas for our story, also feel free to email us! Ciao!

Next Time on Hikari:

After yet another murder, Kenshin is still unable to find any good leads, except for a completely destroyed wall. But when Sano sees Kenshin at the murder site, might he start having suspicions of his own?