AN: Well, here we are again. ^-^ Thanks for being patient while I re- write "Love is.." I truly appreciate it. Read on and enjoy. tho don't forget to drop me a line and let me know what you think. *-^

Chapter Two

Her head ached almost unbearably and Kaoru groaned in quiet complaint. Why did her head ache so. badly? The werewolf! She bolted upright with a cry, barely registering the impersonal hospital room she lay in.
"Kaoru-chan, it's all right. You're safe." Sanouske's voice and arms surrounded her.
"Sanouske." She cried as she realized the full impact of what had happened the night before.
"I know; it's okay. It's okay."
He rocked her gently back forth as she cried into his shoulder. His eyes narrowed with anger at the trauma she had been through. She was the sister he had never thought he would have again. He would not lose her as he had lost Tomoe.
"Battousai." She whispered, remembering the gleaming amber eyes and the touch of his hand on her skin.
"Yes, he was the one who saved you. He called me last night after you were attacked."
"I know, but Sano," she looked up at him, puzzled. "How do you know him?"
Any answer he could have given her was interrupted by the arrival of the doctor. "Excellent, you're awake. How are you feeling this morning?"
"My head is killing me."
The doctor smiled as she stood next to the bed. "Well, that's to be expected with a concussion. You are a fortunate young woman. Neither the x-rays nor the CAT scan showed any serious damage."
"That's because she has the Kamiya hard head." Sanouske joked.
Kaoru smacked his arm. "Not funny."
The doctor smiled dutifully at the joke and then waved Sanouske back from the bed. All conversation ceased as she performed a few cursory examinations, before looking seriously at her patient.
"I'd like to keep you here for one more night, just to be safe. Okay?"
Kaoru frowned. "Sano?"
"It's for the best, you really took a blow to the head. I'll keep you posted about Kamiya Corp."
"I don't have a choice do I?"
"Not really. I'll have one of the nurses come by with a pain killer for you in just a moment." The doctor walked out of the room.
Ignoring the pounding in her head, Kaoru turned back to Sanouske. "Now, how do you know the Battousai?"
"It's a long story."
"Duh, I'm not going anywhere." Kaoru crossed her arms over her chest and pinned him with her intense blue eyes.
He sighed and held up his hands.
"All right, all right. You know my parents died when I was very young and my older sister, Tomoe, raised me. She was everything to me." A shadow of pain flitted over his face and Kaoru's heart sobbed once, knowing exactly what that pain felt like. "We never lived in a great neighborhood, but it was a good place. At least it was until the vampire clan moved in. When Tomoe refused their advances, they killed her." He was silent for a long moment. "Needless to say, at ten years old, I was going to kill them all. The only thing that saved me from getting myself killed was that Battousai was hunting them. He saved my life and then let me tag along as he destroyed the entire clan."
"He let you tag along?"

Sanouske smiled ironically. "Yep. Believe it or not the legendary killer took a liking to me for some reason. In fact after the clan had been destroyed he actually set me up to live with the couple who had hired him."
"Really?"
"Floored me too at the time. Of course after I was settled in I began to see less and less of him. I think I was around thirteen when he last came to see me. I ran into him yesterday as I was leaving your penthouse. It seems he lives right next door."
"I guess that's why he was there so quickly." Kaoru found the thought of Battousai living next door both alarming and intriguing. She frowned. "Of all the apartment buildings in Tokyo, why did it have to be mine?"
"That's what we'd like to know as well."
They both turned to see an older gentleman standing in the doorway. Sanouske rose as he stepped into the room.
"Police Commissioner Uramura." Sanouske introduced the man to Kaoru.
"Are you up for some questions Miss Kaoru?"
She nodded.
"What do you remember?" His voice was firm, but not unkind.
"Well, it was about eleven-thirty or twelve and I couldn't sleep, so I got up to get something to drink. I was about halfway to the kitchen when I heard the sound of falling glass. It sounded like it had come from the bathroom. I grabbed my bokken and went to see what it was." She stopped for a moment, angered a bit by the disapproval on his face. "I know I probably should have called security, but I live in a penthouse of a huge apartment building. I thought the chances of someone actually breaking in were pretty slim."
"Yes, well, we can take you to task for that later. What else do you remember."

"I pushed open the bathroom door and flipped the light switch. There was glass on the floor and the window was wide open. At that point I knew I had to call security. When I went to get the phone," she paused, shuddering as she remembered the huge wolf leaping at her, muzzle parted in a feral grin. She shook herself. "That's when the werewolf attacked me. I managed to stun it for a second with my bokken, and tried to get to the phone. I knew I wasn't going to make it, and I got slammed. I screamed and he cracked my head on the floor. That was when I heard the door crash in and his voice. The werewolf went to attack Battousai and that's the last I remember." She wasn't about to share the feelings she had when she had looked into those gleaming golden eyes. +No, that's between me, myself, and I,+ she thought
"Hmmm. I will tell you that Mr. Sagra here told us nothing is missing from your penthouse from what he could see, but that doesn't necessarily mean robbery was not the reason it was there." The police commissioner looked very seriously at her. "I hate to ask you this, but since you are now CEO of the Kamiya Corporation, does your family have any enemies that you know of?"
She stared at the Commissioner in open-mouthed shock. The thought that someone might want her dead had never crossed her mind. "N-n-no, should I?"
He chuckled and patted her arm in reassurance. "No, not at all." He turned his attention to Sanouske, who shocked expression let Uramura know he had struck a nerve with the young man. "May I speak with you in the hallway please/"
Kaoru frowned. "Hey, don't leave me out of this."
"I just need to review Sanouske's statement." The Commissioner said and grinned affably as the nurse appeared with her medicine. "Besides, you look as though you need your rest more than you need to listen to me speak with your friend."
Kaoru nodded, still suspicious, but accepted the painkillers from the nurse. She watched the two men speak as the medicine slipped through her, sliding her into dreams of golden eyes and fiery red hair.

*

"What did you want to speak with me about?" Sanouske asked as the two men stood outside Kaoru's door.
"What are you hiding from her? You know as well as I do, the Lupa clans in Japan are not into criminal activity."
"What do you mean?" He was stalling and they both knew it.
"I'm saying that a werewolf breaking in and attacking a young woman is highly irregular, especially when there are no legally declared werewolves visiting Japan at the moment. So I will ask you again, do you know of anyone who might want our young heiress dead?"
Sanouske could only shake his head, and yet a story that Kaoru's father had once told him echoed in his mind.
"I must agree with the good Commissioner on this, Sano." The voice could belong to only one person.
Both men turned to see Battousai standing right next to them. There had been no sound to alert them to his approach. One moment he had not been there, the next he was. Even though his words were for the two men, his eyes were on the young woman now sleeping in the room behind them.
"Ahhh, Battousai. You know we never did get to ask you your version of the night's events." Uramura bowed his head in acknowledgement of Battousai's involvement.
"I attacked the werewolf; it ran away." He turned back to Sanouske. "I have been able to find out that the werewolf is an American. He is also rumored to be an assassin."
"WHAT!?" Commissioner Uramura hollered, eliciting a 'shush' from one of the nurses.
Battousai pinned him with an amber glare as he withdrew a small notebook from the pocket of his trench coat. He worked only grudgingly with law enforcement. "As I said, the werewolf is rumored to be an assassin, and I believe this will help you to track him down."
The Commissioner accepted the notebook just as his cell phone chose to ring exuberantly.
"So, you're going to help us?" Sanouske asked.
Battousai smiled. "Of course. She will not come to any further harm."
Sanouske nodded in total agreement. He would not let anyone else close to him be hurt again. It was good to have the Battousai's skills on their side.
"Damn it. I have to get back to the station." The Commissioner's disgruntled exclamation broke through. "This isn't over Battousai. I assume you'll be working on this situation as well?"
"Yes. Remember to warn your men to stay out of my way."
"One of these day Battousai you are going to get in over your head." Commissioner Uramura turned to Sanouske. "I will be in touch."
They watched as the older man walk away.
"Thanks Kenshin. Are you sure Kaoru wasn't just in the wrong place at the wrong time and the werewolf was just there to rob the place?"
Battousai snorted in disgust. "Don't fool yourself Sano. It is as Commissioner Uramura explained. The two Lupa clans in this county are not criminals. I also confirmed with my sources there was a contract taken out on Miss Kaoru's life." He pinned the tall man with a steely gaze. "What aren't you telling the Commissioner."
Sanouske sighed. It wasn't truly his story to tell, but since he was the only one who knew it now, and Kaoru-chan was in danger, there was little choice.
"This isn't the place to really tell this story."
"Then let us go someplace that is." Battousai turned, his black trench coat swirling out around him
They found a small restaurant not far from the hospital. Sitting in a quiet corner, Sanouske struggled with how to explain the history of the Kamiya family.
"I'm waiting, Sano."
"Sorry. I met Kaoru's father when I was eighteen, right out of high school. After working as his assistant for two years, I thought he was training me to run the corporation, but in fact he was training me to help Karou run it. She's like a little sister to me; so working with her was no problem. Well about a year ago, after her father was diagnosed with colon cancer he took me aside and told me about the Kamiya family curse."
Battousai's eyes widened at that. *Curse?* Sanouske continued on, not realizing the other man's reaction.
"Mr. Kamiya told me that he and his daughter were the last ones carrying the name Kamiya. No one is exactly sure when, but it seems sometime ago a curse was placed on the family. Her father thinks it was because one of their ancestors angered a powerful sorcerer. Anyway, they were warned that because of the curse, one day the Kamiya line would be no more. Not one of the witches or warlocks or holy men the Kamiya's went to could lift it. Over the past two hundred years, there would be long breaks were the deaths would be of natural causes, but then there would be times where almost every Kamiya seemed to meet with an untimely death. Now its just Kaoru."
"It's not a curse." Battousai's voice was unusually soft.
Sanouske looked at him in surprise. "Of course it is."
"I am cursed, do you think I would not recognize another sharing a similar fate?" His voice became unforgiving. "Those few of us who have truly been cursed recognize each other, recognize when another soul has been touched by such a fate. No." He shook his head so his auburn hair hid his face. "The Kamiya family is not cursed. I did not sense that in Miss Kaoru's aura."
"Then what is it?" Sanouske was confused.
Battousai looked up at one of the few people he called friend. His eyes were not kind. "Someone is hunting them. Someone who has been killing them off one by one."

*

"What do you mean she is still alive!!" The voice rose to a hideous shriek.
Her servants shrank in fear.
"This unworthy one thought he had hired the best killer, but there was another who defeated him." Mirimo prostrated himself on the floor before her.
"Who?" It was a sibilant hiss.
"According to Wolf it was Battousai the Slayer, Mistress."
She shrieked again in rage. She was so close! To be thwarted at the last moment and by HIM. Battousai was one of the very few humans their kind outright feared. He was a killer with as little mercy as they.
"Leave me, I must think on this!"
"Yes Mistress." Silently, swiftly her children vanished.
She stalked around the room, her anger and fury pounding through veins that no longer carried blood.
"I have not been this patient and this careful to be stopped by HIM. Kamiya Kaoru will die and my revenge will be complete." Mistress hissed.
The humiliation of her past was still as fresh and painful in her mind as if it had happened yesterday instead of almost two hundred years ago. She could not stop herself from replaying it over and over.
The name she had then, she could barely even remember, but she had been *still was!* beautiful. She had had so many suitors, but of course she wanted the one she could not have, Kamiya Kassijuro. Son of a samurai, he was so handsome, kind, and perfect. He would have been the perfect complement to her own beauty! How could he have chosen that farm brat!! Miyro Sachiko. Mistress hissed in anger. He had even rejected her to her face, after she had offered to arrange a meeting between their fathers. Her claws flashed out and slashed through heavy curtains. She would not fail!

*

"What do you mean I'm not staying in my penthouse?" Kaoru stopped dead in the center of the lobby.
Sanouske turned to look down at her. "There are reasons Kaoru. We felt it better that you stay somewhere else."
As the "we" most likely implied both Sanouske and the silent, brooding Battousai next to him, she felt her temper rising. "What's with the 'we' and what's with the reasons?"
"Well. it's not something to talk about right here." Sanouske realized as soon as the word were out of his mouth that it was the wrong thing to say.
Kaoru dropped her bag onto the elegantly carpeted floor and crossed her arms over her chest. "I am not going any further until you tell me what's going on."
Her stubbornness drew a reaction she was not expecting. Battousai growled under his breath and stalked over to stand directly in front of her. Her breath caught in her throat at the intensity of his amber gaze. He was just a few inches taller than she, but the sheer power he radiated made her knees weaken.
"You are in danger and I have made it my business to protect you. You will be staying with me in my penthouse where I can best keep an eye on you." His voice was a low growl.
Even with his eyes flashing warningly at her and her own breathless reaction to him, Kamiya Kaoru was not used to being told what to do.
"But." was all she was able to get out. She suddenly found herself swung up and over his shoulder like so much baggage. She was too stunned to even squeak as he headed toward the elevator.
"Sano, will you get her bag?" Battousai's voice was very neutral as if he threw girls over his shoulder all the time.
"Sure." Sanouske shook his head. *This is going to be interesting.* He added silently as he followed the two into the elevator.
"Can you please put me down now?" Kaoru asked, still trying to decide whether she should be furious or mortified that he had just thrown her over his shoulder and carried her off like a pirate in a bad adventure movie.
"Of course."
With strength greater than his slight frame implied, Battousai let her slide slowly down his body. Her breath caught in her throat at the feel of his hard muscled frame against hers. She barely felt her feet touch the floor as she stared into his smoky amber eyes. Neither one registered the chime announcing their arrival and only when Sanouske coughed loudly did Kaoru snap out of the spell woven around her. Blushing furiously, she snatched up her bag and stomped out of the elevator. *What was he thinking!? What am I thinking?!* A gentle hand on her elbow brought her up short and she looked up into Sanouske's dark brown eyes.
"His penthouse is this way." He pointed in the opposite direction she was walking.
Feeling her cheeks redden even more, she followed him to where Battousai impatiently waited, the door to his penthouse open. Inside was very much like she imagined dark and sparsely furnished. Done in blacks, creams and golds, she guessed he had hired an interior designer to decorate. A small smile tugged at her lips at the thought of Battousai choosing furniture and paintings. She walked to the large black leather couch and dropped down.
"Okay. We're here now. Can one of you please tell me what's going on?" She asked.
"Sano." Was all Battousai said as he took her bag into one of the two guest rooms.
Kaoru looked pointedly at her childhood friend. Sanouske sighed, wondering how he had gotten into this mess, and sat down beside her.
"A few months back your father told me about what he thought was a curse on your family." He held up a hand, forestalling Kaoru's outburst. "I know it sounds crazy, but hear me out. The story he told me was of an ancestor angering a powerful sorcerer or witch about two hundred years ago and that the name Kamiya would one day die out as a result of this curse. Now, over the past two centuries the number of mysterious and accidental deaths in your family is huge. How they managed to keep it hushed up I'll never know. Anyway, when I spoke with Kenshin, he believes that it's not a curse, but instead someone seeking to wipe out the entire Kamiya line."
Kaoru could only stare at Sanouske as she absorbed what he had just said. Someone was trying to kill off her family? But her mother and father had both died from natural causes, well if one could call cancer a natural cause. Yet as she sat there a little nagging voice pointed out that she had no aunts or uncles or cousins on her father's side.
"Okay. let me get this straight. Someone is trying to kill of my family, err, has killed off my family just to get revenge? Revenge for what?" She shook her head. This was unreal. "I don't believe it."
"Whether you believe it or not is irrelevant." Battousai's voice came from behind her. "I have received confirmation that a contract has been taken out on your life. I'm still working on who it is."
Again Kaoru could only stare. Her brain was having difficulty comprehending what he was saying. That someone was not only trying to kill her, but had been hunting her family for two hundred years. That meant. "vampires?" Unconsciously she spoke out loud.
"We don't know for certain, Kaoru." Sano answered her thoughts. "There are others who have extremely long life spans."
"It is because we don't know for certain that you will be staying here with me." Battousai's tone allowed no arguing.
Kaoru sat silently for a moment. It still didn't seem quite real, even with the gnawing ache in her head and the bruise on her forehead from its impact with the floor. She sighed. The infamous Hittokiri Battousai, she supposed, was not one to act on idle threats. If he said someone was out to kill her, then perhaps she'd best believe him. "All right. I'm still not sure I'm dealing with all this just yet, but I'll stay here. I am, however, going to work tomorrow."
Gathering her nerve, she stared hard into those warm amber eyes. Was it her imagination or did she see a flash of approval?
"Well, since you're agreeing jou-chan, I need to head back to my apartment. I will pick you up tomorrow morning 'bout seven-thirty, okay?"
Kaoru panicked for a moment. He was leaving her alone in the penthouse with HIM? *Get a hold of yourself Kamiya.* She took a deep breath. "That's fine."
Sano smiled wryly at the young woman. He hated to leave her, but he knew Kenshin would keep her safe from harm. He looked up at the Hittokiri to find him staring intently at Kaoru. But who would keep Kaoru safe from him? Sano sighed; hopefully Kaoru's independent spirit would be enough to keep the obviously besotted Battousai in line.
"Kenshin."
"She will be safe."
Sanouske nodded and after giving Kaoru a quick hug, left the penthouse for his own grand apartment a few miles away.
The door shut with resounding finality and Kaoru jumped a bit at its sound. They were alone. She turned to find Battousai staring at her with a heated intensity. Unconsciously she put a hand to her throat and took a step backward. She had had men stare at her, but never with such blatant desire burning in them. He took a step toward her and she was never so grateful to a couch as she was just then. It stood, steadfast, between them. She tore her gaze away from his and looked down at the floor. Her temper flared briefly when she heard him chuckle. *Say something. anything.* She thought angrily.
"Why does Sano call you Kenshin?" It was the first thing that came to mind.
He frowned at her unexpected question. "It's my name, Himura Kenshin. I prefer Battousai though. Himura Kenshin is someone who has not existed in a long time."
The phone chose that exact moment to ring. He growled in frustration and stalked away into the kitchen. Kaoru sighed and sagged into the couch. Events were happening so rapidly around her; she was having a hard time catching her breath. She owed one of Japan's almost legendary figures her life and was being hunted for revenge against something a family member had done so very long ago it was now forgotten. "Where do I go from here?" She asked herself softly.
"I need to meet someone now." His voice broke through her thoughts. "You are coming with me."
Kaoru looked down at her sweatshirt and leggings. "Where are we going?"
"To meet someone."
"Can I at least change clothes?"
He was silent for a moment. "Hurry up."
She leaped up of the couch and ran to where he had put her bag. *Going out. going out.* She thought rifling through the clothes Sano had pack her. She yanked out a pair of black jeans and dark purple silk blouse. She threw her sweatshirt and leggings onto the bed and wished she had time to put some make-up on, but knew he wouldn't be that patient. Her nimble fingers braided her long black hair into a single plait down her back as she hurried out to where he waited. She followed him as he walked silently back out to the elevator. Part of her was relieved, part of her was disappointed that he scarcely paid any attention to her.
"Have you ever ridden on a motorcycle?" He asked suddenly.
"Ummm. once when I was about twelve." She realized they had stopped in front of a Kawasaki motorcycle.
He handed her a helmet. "You can hold on around my waist and don't try to lean with me in the turns."
"Okay." She donned the helmet; grateful she had braided her hair. "Can I ask where we're going?"
"To meet someone." He answered, pulling his hair up into a samurai knot to keep it out of his face.
She frowned. "You're not going to tell me are you?"
"No. Now get on."
She sighed and swung up behind him. This was going to be a long night *
Battousai heard her sigh and frowned. What was it about this young woman that both attracted him and frustrated the hell out of him? He looked forward to exploring the riddle of Kamiya Kaoru, but tonight was business.
He waited until she was holding his waist before he kicked the engine to life and raced through the parking garage. He grinned as he felt her grab on tightly to his waist. He curved the motorcycle easily around the corner and out into the Tokyo night. The moon was full and brilliant in the sky and if he had been anyone else it might make him inclined to romantic thoughts, but he wasn't just anyone. He was Hittokiri Battousai, the Slayer and instead he found his thoughts drifting over the trials of the past few months. He had been hired to track down and destroy a rouge vampire terrorizing the Paris underworld; it had not been easy, nor had it been pretty. Of course the fact that it would be extremely difficult was one of the reasons he had accepted the contract in the first place. He was the best at what he did and his reputation allowed him to pick and choose his contracts. Yet, after two centuries of hunting and killing he was slowly becoming tired of it all. He growled softly at the direction his thoughts were taking and forced himself to focus on the drive. He suddenly realized that Kaoru was humming happily behind him, and felt himself grin at the song she was singing. It was the infectiously cheerful "Jeremiah was a bullfrog". Life suddenly didn't seem so bleak.

On an endnote I'd really like to thank Baka-Ryu for taking time during her finals to beta-read for me!! It is much appreciated.