Lchan: Hi! I decided to give you this chapter as a gift for updating so late! Something will happen, I promise! And the last chapter (chapter 6), I assure you again, was not good for nothing. I'm not sure if I can say the same for this chapter. Why don't we all just try and see, ne? Reviews appreciated.

Counter Strike

-Which Way Again?

—Kenshin's—POV—

Oro…

Two days into my little search for peace of mind and I've already gotten myself into trouble. Just two short days into this little journey and I've already wasted the time of a WOMAN for tending to an injury I had obtained from a dagger's blade.

The two o'clock sun is radiating scorching heat waves. The trees that are around me provide bare shades. The fields to both sides of the path I walk on are empty. The people had evacuated to the coolness of their homes before the sun could toast them to ashes.

I've crossed one forest in two days, and I was just beginning to feel new stirrings of hope—but now my world is once again crashing down.

People…they basically hate me…I know that (and for many obvious reasons, too—such as my past, sword, and penniless fate), but what I CAN'T see is why I can't make just ONE believe that I can be good for something!

Okay, so maybe that IS asking too much. I'm being selfish…

The void emptiness of the man's eyes comes back to me as I gaze down at my neatly bandaged abdomen beneath the folds of my kimono.

The man had moved with amazing, almost surreal, speed, and the tip of his dagger had caught my flesh before I had the chance to evade. I resorted to using my sakabatou to fend his blows off, and even that didn't seem enough. He moved with agility, and the blankness of his face revealed no foreword of what he would do next.

The unexpected similarity had jarred my thoughts back to Seta Soujiro, the hurting boy-victim of Shishio Makoto's dire teachings, who had always managed to hide all sentiments save almost undetectable vengeance beneath a smile.

The wild screams of a woman from nowhere had stopped our combat with strange abruptness. She slapped the man with bottomless eyes across the face, and, with a reproachful glare, told him off. She conversed with him in low hisses, and, with a last snap, she had turned to me, suddenly calm.

Then she approached me with a stroll and pace that reminded me of Megumi-dono, and she'd offered, with more hospitality than I suppose I deserved for barging into their streets and causing a riot, to tend to my cuts.

I didn't say yes. She just grabbed my wrist and dragged me all the way to a little airy clinic just a few yards into the entrance of the main village.

Her name was Midori Yumi. She told me so on the way.

I miss Kaoru-dono. I don't mean to sound so sentimental, but the woman who'd offered her care to attending to me reminded me about her.

She had been more than kind and her firmness and sincerity proved true, just as Miss Kaoru's had always been. She purred like a cat and talked in that…GIRLISH fashion—like Megumi-dono. Moreover, while she spoke not without pride like Yahiko, her sometimes-tactless slips with words reminded me very much about Sanosuke Sagara.

My entire family—all in one woman…

You are asking—do I like her?

Well…yes…maybe—but only as a friend, and nothing more.

Perfect as she may sound to you, I don't feel like loving her in the same way I did Tomoe and Kaoru-dono, and if ever I DO get the urge to do such a thing, it would be impossible.

She deserves someone better.

It's strange, isn't it, but I do run thoughts like THESE into my head to keep me company in my wanderings.

However, what I don't know and understand—such as those extremely fascinating womanly habits often observed in Miss Kaoru and Miss Megumi and Tsubame-dono—more probably will remain unknown, misunderstood, and incomprehensible unless somebody would be patient enough to let me know in verbal exchange—flat-out, candid, and frank.

Sumimasen.

I do try my best to interpret the things I witness, but some things just seem a little too impossible to comprehend—such as that unavoidable phenomenon called blushing, and, for another thing, that which I consider both complicated and beyond logical: love.

Well, I just hope whoever gets Miss Yumi will be a worthier man than I've been to Kaoru-dono—a man more considerate, a man braver and truer to her and to himself than I've been…perhaps one of those dangerously rare few who qualify to deserve her…a true, genuine MAN.

I stop in my tracks. I'm surprised to find myself shaking my head in annoyance. It makes me wonder why.

A few yards and a short-lived minute of escape from the sudden difficult turn my thoughts had taken served me the answer to my own question.

Unfortunately, some questions seem to be destined to be answered with more questions.

Am I contradicting what my mind says about another man for Kaoru-dono? Moreover, mushy as I think it may sound right this moment: was what made me shake my head my heart speaking up or my selfish intuitions?

Am I saying these things because I believe them…or am I just trying to convince myself I'm just a gum spitted onto the sidewalk because I THINK I deserve to feel like a gum spitted onto the sidewalk though I BELIEVE I'm not?

Do I really think deep inside that all my sacrifices are crap?

I'm unwilling to believe but something just draws me to.

Man…

Maybe I AM still a bad person.

Atoning for my sins…is that even possible!? Wouldn't that take more than a million lifetimes? Should I keep on trying? Would giving up really make such a big difference? Would NOT giving up make such a big difference?

I don't know anymore.

Old memories do die hard.

—Normal—POV—

"Whose brilliant idea IS this!?" Yahiko puffed, staggering up a hill and shifting the weight of his heavy load from shoulder to shoulder. He reached the top of the mound, halted, and then fell despairingly to his behind, sending off a cloud of dust.

"Is it our fault your stamina's a bit limited?" Sano returned, brushing past him, his bandaged hand holding on to the straps of a little knapsack he held over his right shoulder. He smirked at Yahiko and beckoned to the woman behind them. "Oi, kitsune-onna, hayaku (hey, fox lady, hurry up)."

Megumi strode over to him with ease. She had no baggage. Everything she brought she stowed in with Yahiko's things, thus explaining the heaviness of the little kid's load. She flashed a distasteful glance in Yahiko's direction and fluffed her hair. "That's disgusting."

"This is almost heaven," Yahiko argued, lifting his head and savoring the breeze that ruffled past.

"It's DISGUSTING," Megumi insisted. "It's dust, dirt, and sweat!"

"That's limited stamina," Sano pointed out, sticking a long blade of grass into his mouth.

"I need medical attention…" Yahiko groaned.

Sano laughed heartily. "My prescription is that ya little limp noodle just go on back home."

"Who asked YOU?"

"Yeah, Sanosuke—who asked you?" Megumi piped up, sauntering over to the arguing pair.

Sano puffed out his chest.

"Nobody. And I wasn't answering anybody's question either. I was just stating my own opinions. My replies may be a little too sacred for you to handle anyway, so what's the point if ever I do get the URGE to try and grace you with a teeny fraction of my intelligence?" he sounded as triumphant as triumphant can be.

Megumi raised an eyebrow. "Since when did you learn to speak so…eloquently?"

Sano's eyes blazed. "Since always, now shut up if you don't have anything nice to say!"

"Stupid rooster," Megumi said, disapprovingly. "You don't have a clue on what 'eloquent' is, do you?"

"OF COURSE I DO!!! It means something like 'fluent' and 'articulate'."

"Yay. Yay. Yay," Megumi dryly cheered. "Now, Maestro Rooster-Head—do tell me what you WHY you thought what I said was an insult."

"I—" Sano stopped. He turned away from her, defeated, and then faced Yahiko, who was fanning his sweaty face with one hand, with a sour look. "Get up, Yahiko. We need to get a move on or we'll never catch up with Jou-chan."

Megumi smiled in satisfaction and followed Sano's forlorn figure down the slope.

Ever since Kaoru had left the Akabeko, the trio, though none of them wanted to admit it, had been continually shutting out the constant gnawing feeling of remorse that tugged at their heartstrings.

Waves of guilt-ridden flashbacks washed over them, ceaselessly—even Yahiko—and Sano simply thought it sucked.

Megumi was the first one who braved whatever reaction she might get from the two and proposed they go after Kaoru before she could get seriously hurt. Sano steeled his nerves and grunted out his assent, that which didn't even cover half his willingness. Yahiko hid his own concern beneath a too casual, so-called off-hand agreement.

And the three were off the next day, therefore confirming that they WERE sort of itching to apologize.

"Do you think Kaoru went left or right?" Yahiko puffed out when they came to a portion of the road that branched two ways.

Sano had just opened his mouth to say 'left' when the lady doctor cut him off.

"Right," Megumi answered, simply, in a matter-of-fact voice, hardly faltering in her pace as she walked to follow the right road.

"What makes you so sure?"

"Womanly instincts."

"Well, I guess that makes it better than SANO'S instincts! Let's go!"

"What's that supposed to mean, ya brat?" Sano harshly drew out, spitting the blade of grass onto the dusty road. Megumi made a disgusted face.

"You were the one who got us onto that narrow bridge above the bottomless pit back when we were searching for that miracle medicine thing, weren't you?" Yahiko replied.

"Yeah, but that wasn't so bad!!"

"Sure it was, you dope! Yutaro almost fell in!"

"But I was the one who saved him, wasn't I?"

"Yeah, but we could have avoided it!"

"Yeah, I guess, but—"

"See??"

"I change my mind, Sanosuke," Megumi sighed. "You DON'T speak eloquently."

"WHAT???"

"Hush, okay? This sun's ghastly heat and your bickering are giving me a very serious headache," she said, and although the words were rather harsh, the scorn in her voice had dissolved into acceptable dressing-down range: soft but solid, it does wonders with verbal arguments. "I think it will be good for everybody if we all just shut up."

A grunt.

A nod.

A secret smile of content.

And the three walked on in silence.

* * *

"This place is creepy…could Kenshin really have passed…here?"

Kaoru shivered.

The road was overshadowed with ancient trees with trunks as fat as five to ten poles clumped together, with drooping leaves and branches, and all sorts of unidentifiable hidden creatures lurking behind thick weeds that bordered the wide, stony path, squeaking and purring all sorts of noise that melded into one creepy sound.

It was a very lonely part of Japan, that's for sure.

"Well, the man at the rice fields told me he took this path, unless my ears failed me," she muttered on, nervously, her eyes flitting from shadow to shadow, from weed to weed, from leaf to leaf, from echo to echo. She bit her lip and mumbled some more, determined to stay calm.

"The man didn't just fool me, did he? He was nice, he couldn't have! Don't be silly, Kaoru…heh-heh…uhm…yeah…he was a nice man—ahh!!"

She nearly jumped out of her skin as a rat bounced out of the bushes to her left, crossed the road in front of her, and skittered to a clump of weeds to her right.

She pressed a hand to her racing heart and tried to calm down, begging herself not to cry. Her blue eyes were wide and frightened, her breathing fast and tense. She couldn't keep her fear from rising.

"For Kenshin…for Kenshin…for Kenshin…" she chanted, drinking in huge gulps of breath. "Okay…okay…you'll be fine…you'll be fine…Kenshin did this…you can too…you're Kamiya Kaoru…Kamiya Kaoru is brave…you're brave…you're very brave…so do NOT worry!!"

Worry…worry…orry…orry…rry…ry…

Her voice echoed in the creepiest way. It freaked her out.

She burbled on anyway. "Ah…heh-heh…nice echo, I mean…sure, you weren't Battousai before, and you have a bamboo sword instead of a sakabatou, and you're not a master of the Hiten Mitsurugi Ryuu, and you weren't a wanderer before unlike him, and now you feel totally lost…but what difference does that make, huh!?"

Huh…huh…huh…huh…uh…

She stopped in the middle of the road and took some time to look around her.

"See? Who're you fooling? There's nobody around and of course ghosts don't exist. Ha-ha-ha, do not be silly, Kaoru. A headless, bloody mess of an old man won't gallop out of the bushes behind you!! No, of course not, heh-heh…I'm being ridiculous, I'm—"

A crackle, a crunch, and a noisy rustle in the bushes behind her made her shriek and jump! The hairs at the back of her neck and arms stood on end.

"AAAHHHHH!!!!" she screamed at the top of her lungs.

Aaahhhhh…! …Aahhhh…! …Aahhh…! Ahh…ah…hh…

That was more than she could bear!!

She grabbed her suitcase and catapulted from her position, bulleting forward, her free hand grabbing at her kimono's skirt so she could run faster—and she ran faster—faster than she could ever remember she'd run her whole life.

Her heart pounded mercilessly against her ribcage. Images of poltergeists chasing after her, their bony hands clawing at her clothes, skin, and hair, were enough to supply her with an over dosage of adrenaline—if not make her drop out-cold right there and then!

And Kaoru just ran—ran and ran and ran, fear chugging fresh and going full-blast in her heart.

"KENSHIN!!!!!!!"

* * *

tbc

Lchan: Well how about that? Kaoru's lost! Figure that out…

Was the chap okay? I think it's kind of…scattered. Too rushed? Stupid? I dunno. What do YOU guys think? And the Kenshin-part: cryptic? OOC? Weird? It SHOULD be just a little (OOC), 'coz…naw, I'm not spoiling anything! Comments, compliments, and cordial flames welcome! I'm always happy to have you on the reviews page! I'll probably be updating late again so be prepared for a long wait!! Wuv u!!!