Disclaimer: I do not own Rurouni Kenshin

Summery: After Kenshin dies; Saitoh shows up to kill everyone at Kamiya Dojo, but finds himself unable to harm anyone. Is it Kaoru's guardian angel.... or Kenshin's dying wish?

A/N: Thanks to everyone that reviewed, you all are great!

=Chapter 3=

The apprentice of the Kamiya Kasshin style was practicing with his bokuto in the backyard of the Kamiya Dojo. It was early in the morning, dew still littering the ground, and no one else was awake.

Lately, Yahiko's slumber had been troubled more than everyone else's and he was constantly trying to stay up at night, but the irregular sleep was taking its toll on him.

"I...have to keep...going...," said the boy between gasps, "I won't...fall asleep...I won't!" With renewed energy Yahiko slashed continually at the air in front of him, putting so much force into his swings that a whistling sound broke the morning silence with every swing.

Eventually the physical exertion was too much for Yahiko's small body and he was forced to cease his exercise so he sat down.

"I hate this....," he muttered. All of the sudden, the early morning sunlight disappeared and a thin rain cascaded down towards the earth. "Dang it!" Yahiko ran back towards the dojo entrance and had just hopped onto the porch as the drizzle turned into a torrential downpour and lightning ripped across the sky.

The boy sat down and watched the rain while the anger he had been holding from the day before boiled to the breaking point.

"Why the hell did you have to die, Kenshin?! You left us all here alone! Sanosuke won't talk to anyone and left to who knows where, Kaoru's crying herself to sleep at night, Megumi's trying to hide everything, and I-I-I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO ANYMORE!"

Huge tears ran down Yahiko's face unbidden.

"WHY THE HELL DID YOU GO AND DIE, DAMMIT?! YOU'RE KILLING US, KENSHIN! IS THAT WHAT YOU WANT?! DO YOU WANT US TO JOIN YOU?!" He then fell to the ground and his body started shaking with the racking sobs.

"Yahiko...," Kenshin muttered as he instinctively reached out to comfort the boy. But, as one would expect, as soon as his hand made contact with the boy's shoulder, it went through the boy.

However, Yahiko's reaction was completely unexpected. His eyes rolled into the back of his head, his legs gave way and he fell to the floor, and he started having violent spasms. Kenshin watched the boy helplessly.

"What-how did I-what the....?" stuttered the red-haired swordsman, "What happened?!"

At that very moment Kaoru ran out, having been awoken by Yahiko's screaming. She was still pulling her hair out of her face so she could see properly before she saw her apprentice. "Yahiko!" shouted the woman as she fell to her knees and tried to stop the boy's spasms, "What's wrong? What happened to you?! Yahiko?! YAHIKO?!"

=End Chapter 3=

A/N: I know it's shorter than most, but this chapter does have a point. It shows that Kenshin can not touch any of his old friends even if it is only to comfort them. Yes, I'm evil. I'm also in a bad mood. I do that a lot nowadays, but can you blame me? I'm going to be the oldest of SEVEN kids in early January and my father is still stuck in Louisiana for a whole year because he's in the army! (coughs) Okay, that's enough ranting. Go ahead and yell at me for the shortness.