I would like to thank:

Allin656 Thank you so much for your wonderful review! You have no idea how happy it made me. I was beginning to think that the story wasn't worth writing anymore. Thanks to you I want to keep writing it. Thank you. I'm really glad that you like the story. Kenshin will show up in this chapter but he won't be introduced to Kaoru just yet. Hopefully you'll keep reading to find out what happens next!

Disclaimer: I don't own Rurouni Kenshin

Protector

Chapter 6

The phone rang. Misao opened one bleary eye and looked at the clock next to her bed. Too early, was the only thought that made its way across her mind. But that stupid phone kept ringing. She slid one hand out from underneath the covers and bought the phone to her ear.

"Hello?" This was spoken tiredly, around a yawn.

"Good morning, Sunshine!" Came an overly cheerful voice from the other end of the phone.

"Unngh." Was Misao's response. She wasn't exactly a morning person.

"Wow, you must really be tired. It's not like it's that early. What happened to bouncy Misao, my little weasel girl? Stayed out too late last night?" Keta's voice finally penetrated Misao's sleep-fuzzy brain and her mind focused in on one word in particular.

"WHAT?! WEASEL? Don't call me that! Geez, how many times have I told you that? It doesn't make sense anyway." The last part was slightly muffled and then she continued. "And it is early! Ten o'clock in the morning constitutes as early in my book!" Misao huffed listening to the girl on the other end apparently collapse in hysterics.

"Okay. Whatever. You know I get up early to practice every morning. You know my Uncle Hiko. Discipline is an essential part of becoming a good swordswoman and so on. At least you're on your way to waking up. So, how did yesterday go? Nobody answered at Kaoru's house or her cell when I called." Kate asked.

"Oh God." That was all Misao said. Everything from the day before came rushing back to her. Her panic, the blood, the limp bodies.

"Hey? What's the matter? Misao?" Keta's concerned voice came through the phone and infiltrated Misao's foggy mind.

"It was horrible." Misao said slowly. "She was yanked away from me and I had no idea what happened. I realized that she was gone and saw a man dragging her through a side door and then her bodyguards followed them. I ran for security and told them that my friend had been kidnapped. We found one of the bodyguards dead, no perpetrator and the other bodyguard was holding Kaoru bleeding in his arms. She looked at me and then passed out. She's in the hospital right now. I wasn't allowed to see her and her father sent me home."

"Oh my God. We have to go see her. I know that visiting hours start at twelve, so I'll meet you there in two hours. That should be enough time for you to get your lazy butt out of bed, right? Keta took charge, ordering Misao around. "I'll see you there." With that, she hung up.

"Wait…How is she going too get there?" Misao asked the air. "I always drive her everywhere."

An hour and forty five minutes later, Misao was scrambling to find her elusive car keys and get to the hospital. She knew she was going to be late. The drive was at least twenty minutes if she didn't hit any traffic along the way. Maybe she could make it if she broke just about every traffic law she knew.

She burst out of the house, barely remembering to close the door behind her. She jumped over the door of her ca and settled into the drivers seat. She jammed the keys into the ignition and backed out of the driveway.

As she drove, she mulled over the past day's events. The initial shock had worn off and she knew that her friend would be fine, just minor injuries, or so she had been told. She knew that Kaoru would be upset though. It was in her nature to take the blame. Kaoru was a very accepting and understanding person and she was also very strong willed. Misao decided that she would be her usual energetic self for Kaoru. To help cheer her up.

Even now she was bouncing in her seat, waiting for a stoplight to turn green. She was wearing overall shorts. She knew that the outfit was little kiddy and made her look much younger than she was, but it was comfortable clothing. A plain t-shirt and sandals completed her casual attire. Her air was pulled back into its usual thick braid and her sunglasses were slipping down her nose. She shoved them up and turned the radio on. It blared, startling the driver in the car next to hers. She instantly turned the volume down and smiled widely at the stranger before driving away.

Finding a parking spot in the crowded parking garage was proving to be quite the challenge. She finally managed to squeeze into a spot on the top level. No one wanted to park up here because the sun blared down and heated the cars almost unbearably. It was the best she could find though, at least actual hospital building shaded her car slightly.

She looked at the small building to the side of the lot. An elevator came up to the third level. 'Probably for handicap drivers, although I have no idea what they would be doing parking up here.' Misao thought to herself. She looked at the closed doors and decided that it wasn't worth the wait. She moved to the door next to it labeled 'Stairs' and ran down them hopping two, sometimes three at a time.

Inside the main entrance she made her way to the front desk. It was nice and cool, a wonderful temperature for the weltering month of June. 'The miracle of air conditioning.' Misao was thinking as she patiently waited for the women at the desk to finish speaking on the phone in front of her.

"Good morning ma'am." Misao said when the women had hung up the phone and asked what she could do for Misao. "I was wondering what room that Kaoru Kamiya was staying in."

"One moment. Let me look that up for you." The women tapped the keys of the keyboard and looked up at the computer screen. "She's staying in room 398 on the third floor."

"Thank you very much." Misao said and turned around and move away from the desk to allow the person behind her to move forward. She scanned the entire lobby, looking for her friend's familiar figure. Then she felt a hand on her shoulder.

"Hey." Keta said as she came into view.

"Hi! Come on, Kaoru's room is on the third floor, room 398, I think." Misao said brightly.

"Yeah I know. I also found out that visiting hours start at eleven, not twelve. We should have been here an hour ago! You're also ten minutes late. Let's go." She walked off in the direction of the elevators.

"I know! I know! It was traffic and I'm parked on the top level and my keys decided that they wanted to play hide and seek this morning!" Misao burst out, following Keta. "How did you get here anyway? Even with your license I didn't think that your parents would trust you enough to drive their car safely." She added as she remembered her previous thoughts.

"My cousin drove me." Keta said, a sour look replacing the frowning one from before. "And I'm a fine driver. I don't see what's wrong with the way I drive, I just tend to go a little fast, but that's all!" She continued, grumbling as she punched at the elevator button angrily.

"You don't have any cousins who can drive. I thought that you were the oldest." Misao said.

"No. I do have one older cousin. He's eight years older than me. I saw him a lot when I was younger, but when I was seven, he was fifteen at the time, he and my uncle got into a huge argument. It was an extremely serious situation even though I can't remember what it was about, but he left. Then, this year he came back. I don't know where he went or what he did, but he wanted to make up with my uncle. He stays with us though. I'm not sure why, I never asked." Her gaze became thoughtful as they both steppe into the elevator. Misao pushed the button for the third floor before Keta could do anymore damage.

"That's sad. I couldn't ever imagine leaving home and not seeing my parents. He was two years younger than us too. Wow that takes al lot of guts." Misao commented. The elevator dinged and they both stepped out into the plain, white hallway. The air was thick with that too clean hospital smell and the two girls wrinkled their noses slightly.

"Yeah I know. I just wish he had visited or something. We were pretty close before he left." Keta said wistfully. Misao just nodded sympathetically. Then she looked around.

"I'm not sure which way to go." Misao told Keta.

"That's okay, we can just ask somebody a the Nurse's Station, over there." Keta pointed and the two girls walked over. An attractive women in a doctor's coat was leaning over the desk to get some folders as Keta stepped up and asked the nurse behind the desk where Kaoru's room was. She turned and looked at the two girls.

"Are you girls here to see Kaoru?" The doctor asked, interrupting the nurse as she said she would check the computer.

"Yes. We're her two friends. We're here to cheer her up!" Misao said, reverting to her natural state of a hyper, overly energetic teenage girl.

The doctor just raised an eyebrow. "Umhm. Follow me then. I'll show you what room she's in. She woke up a little while ago. I'm her doctor Megumi Takani." The women said leading them down one of the hallways.

"It's nice to meet you." Both of the girls responded. "I'm Misao and this is Keta. We've known Kaoru since we were really little. She's okay right?" Misao chimed in afterwards.

"Yes. She will be fine. She just needs to rest and she was just questioned by some police officers, so you have to be calm around her." She pointed to the door leading to room 398. "Just try not to talk her to death, okay?" She received nods. "Then everything should be fine." She walked down the hallway.

Misao moved to open the door. She leaned against it with her hand on the knob and turned to Keta. "She'll be okay, won't…Whoa!" Misao never finished her sentence because the door was pulled open and she went flying forward.

To her extreme embarrassment she landed right on top of the man who had opened the door. She looked into a pair of startled, icy blue eyes, before she scrambled up, stuttering out an apology. She attempted to help the poor man to his feet, avoiding his eyes all the while. She fidgeted nervously and glanced up at him. His gaze was steely, but she could see the hint of amusement and kindness in their drowning depths. She quickly looked away.

"I apologize as well. Just be careful next time you attempt to open a door." Came his voice. He walked past her and past Keta who was cracking up behind her hand. The other man in the room apologized and walked out as well.

"That was so embarrassing." Misao groaned to her friends, who just continued to laugh. She shrugged it off. 'Oh well,' She thought. 'It's not like I'll ever see him again.'

Mr. Kamiya excused himself and went in search of some food to let the girls visit. Misao sort of zoned out as Keta talked with Kaoru about the yesterday's events. Her friend was pale and she had bandages wrapped around her head and her arm. The color was returning to her cheeks as she spoke, so Misao wasn't too worried. 'It's just too bad that this had to happen again.' Was her only truly concerned thought. Misao didn't notice that her friends had stopped speaking.

Her next thoughts were of the tall police officer she had bumped into. 'He was hot.' She thought, realizing too late that some thoughts were best kept inside of one's head. She had unconsciously spoken that last thought out loud. 'Uh oh. They'll never let me live that down.' She thought nervously as her friend's heads both snapped simultaneously in her direction. "What!?" Her tone was defensive.

"There were two of them. Which one are you talking about?" Keta's voice was choky and Misao knew that she was trying to stop the laughter. Kaoru's face was turning red as she too fought her laughter down.

Misao sighed. "The one that I knocked over. He was so tall and handsome and his eyes were a beautiful, deep blue." She drifted away from her friends to the stranger. She came back just in time to hear the end of Keta's sentence.

"…definitely has to be in the mid-twenties. You're only seventeen!"

"So, it's not that much of a difference." Misao said. "Anyway, it's not like I know his full name or that I'll ever see him again. I only said that I liked the way he looked." Then Kaoru decided to be cruel.

"Actually, I know his full name." Misao pounced on her friend. She just had to know the man's name. She knew that she would never, ever see him again, but something about him made her want to find out every possible detail. A name was a good place to start. She waited patiently for her friends to stop torturing her.

"Okay, okay. Calm down, it was just a joke. His name was Shinomori. Aoshi Shinomori." Kaoru told her.

"Oh what a beautiful name." Misao sighed. Kaoru and Keta rolled their eyes at each other behind her back. It wasn't like she was blind or anything. She did have eyes.

"No stalking him or anything else weird like that, okay?" Keta said, but her voice fell on deaf ears. 'I love his name.' Misao thought, allowing her friends to continue talking. Misao came out of her reverie when she saw Mr. Kamiya at the door.

"Hey, Kaoru, your dad's here!" She said brightly.

"Father, Keta has someone that she thinks will be a good replacement, for the bodyguard." Kaoru told her father excitedly. "I know you said that you couldn't find anyone and I told Keta and she said she knew someone. Her cousin and he's here right now!"

"Well, that is good news. I'll need to speak with him and set up a formal meeting, if he would be willing to accept the job. It would take a lot of stress out of my life right now." Kaoru's father said as he sat down in the chair next to her bed. "That would be really great if he would be willing to take it on."

"I'm sure he'll say yes. I can speak to him right now if you want." Keta was enthusiastic. "I'll do that, Misao come with me, I haven't introduced you to him yet anyway. We'll be back in a few minutes." Misao followed her friend out the door. It looked like she was going to get to meet the cousin that Keta had told her about before. 'I wonder if he looks anything like Aoshi.' She thought to herself in the elevator. 'No one could possibly be as handsome though.' She squirmed at her own thoughts. She was becoming slightly obsessive over someone she had only seen for a few seconds.

She and Keta walked out of the elevator and into the lobby. Keta made her way across the floor toward a man who's bright red, waist length hair shone out as one of the brightest things in the room. Short, but taller than her. The same height as Keta. Misao mused over these thoughts as Keta tapped her cousin's shoulder.

"Hey Kenshin." She said as the man turned. Misao found herself amazed at his eye color. She had never seen that shade of purple before except for people with colored contact lenses.

"Hello Keta. Is this the friend you were telling me about on the way here?" His voice was light.

"Yeah. Misao, this is my cousin, Kenshin Himura. Kenshin this is Misao Makimachi." Keta introduced them.

"It's nice to meet you Mr. Himura!" Misao said, reaching out to take the hand he offered.

"Please, call me Kenshin. I'm not ready to be called mr. yet. It's a pleasure to meet you too." He said, laughing slightly.

"Okay!" Miaso said. She glanced around the lobby as Keta talked to her cousin.

"Guess what? I think I might have landed you a job if you're up for it." She said brightly. "I know you did some bodyguard jobs and Kaoru's father is really desperate. I told them about you and said that I would ask. If you want, I can ask Mr. Kamiya to come down here and talk with you." She added quickly.

"That might be a good idea. I haven't done this in a while, but it would be an opportunity I should take. I would like to speak to him, but he doesn't have to talk to me right now." Kenshin said.

"I'm sure Mr. Kamiya will be fine with it. He's a really nice man and he loves Kaoru a lot." Misao chimed in.

"We're going back upstairs to talk to Mr. Kamiya, okay Kenshin? I'll be down later." Kate waved goodbye and the girls headed upstairs to tell the good news.

Hi everyone! I didn't expect to write such a long chapter, but here it is for your enjoyment. I hope that anyone who reads it enjoys it and I hope that you'll leave behind a review giving your opinion. I like to know what people think. Thanks!

Keta Himura