I update, once again. And I've started that new fanfiction – the whole AU thing with high-school Ken and Kao – so that's taking up time too.

I'll admit, I'm sort of depressed how that fic received more attention than this one. I kinda like this one better, because it has Battousai and mental anguish and all that, and I have very lofty ambitions for this story. And though the other story is a LOT of fun to write, it's so much more clichéd. There's got to be a hundred Kenshin and Kaoru high school dramas out there, and yet in three chapters it gets almost as much reviews as this one did in six.

Oh well. That doesn't matter much anyhow. I won't abandon you!

Disclaimer: Kenshin is Watsuki's, I don't own squat, you've heard the drill.

Chapter Seven – Watch Your Back

Shadows danced across the walls as a flickering candle lit the room. Rain pounded against the roof and wind screeched, tearing the leaves off of trees ruthlessly.

Inside the small room, Saito Hajime smiled.

"Are you sure?" He asked the man sitting across from him. "Is this his position?"

"Positive," replied the intelligent but gaunt man. "It has been confirmed."

"The Kamiya Dojo…" Saito mused, looking at the ragged map.

"It's a fairly small dojo located in the outskirts of the city. A Kaoru Kamiya teaches the Kamiya Kasshin style to an estimated ten students. She lives – or used to live - alone."

"Thank you for this information. I promise it will not go to waste." Golden eyes gleamed.

"I'm sure it won't. Goodbye, Hajime."

"Farewell, and thank you once again for this, Ryosuke. It is what I have been waiting for." Saito got up after his guest and slid the door shut, then sat down once again, staring at nothing in particular.

"A dojo, eh?" he smirked.

Battousai…I have found you…and soon you will be but rust on my blade. Fool. I will kill you slowly and destroy the grubby little dojo you hide in.

I will not stop until you are dead.

"I like the rain…but I love the morning after. Everything feels so fresh…like all of the dirt has been washed away."

Kaoru sniffed the air and sighed, turning towards Kenshin. "Don't you?"

Kenshin smiled at her, giving a short, "I suppose so, Kaoru-dono."

Kaoru shrugged. Ever since his wound had healed enough for him to get up and walk around (though not very much or very well), he had insisted in sitting outside.

I guess he likes the weather. Kaoru turned away, studying the laundry she was currently engaged with. He's a thinking man, that's for sure.

"Kaoru-dono," Kenshin said softly.

"Huh?" Kaoru looked up at him once more.

"Do you want me to start making the dinner?" Kenshin asked.

"In a sling?" she asked skeptically.

"I'm passable." He answered with a small smile.

"Okay then." Even after a week, he still hasn't trusted me enough to open up, or even talk to me in an actual conversation. And he still insists on that stupid "Miss Kaoru."

He's too damn polite.

"Kenshin." Kaoru said, firmly. Time to nip this in the bud.

"Yes, Kaoru-dono?" The honorarium following her name caused her to cringe.

"…Do you trust me?"

There was a pause.

Kenshin blinked, inadvertently hardening within himself as he looked at the young woman before him.

"…Do you trust me?"

Trust was no longer something he believed in. He had betrayed and been betrayed by so many that he never really thought of trusting anyone anymore. Nothing good came out of trust. He had trusted his parents, and they died of cholera soon after selling him to a slave trader. He had trusted his wife, and she was part of a plot to murder him.

Tomoe had trusted him, and he had murdered her.

He looked into Kaoru's eyes. They were clear and blue and in looking in them, he knew that she wanted to trust him, and that she could if he returned the favor. It was true that she had been one of the only ones – in fact, the only one to help him since he had left Kyoto. She had taken care of him when he was injured, kept him in her house, and had done countless little things that he would have thought no one would bother to do for him. Damn it, Kenshin thought, frustrated. Can't I trust even this one woman? Can't I let her trust me? Can't I give her that much?

But…

…I don't – I can't – trust, and I doubt I ever will.

Kaoru watched Kenshin's face as he struggled to come up with an answer. His brow furrowed and he studied her eyes at the same time.

His eyes were what did it.

She let out the breath that she hadn't realized she'd been holding and looked away. "I see." She paused, looking for the words to say and finding nothing. "Well…" she trailed off. Damn it.

"I'm sorry, Kaoru-dono." Kenshin seemed to hesitate, but murmured, "I'll go make the miso," and left, the sound of his footsteps fading as he walked away.

She looked up at the sky, slightly forlorn, and whispered, "It's going to rain again."

"Kaoru-chan!" Tae squealed with open arms while beckoning the young woman to her restaurant, the Akabeko.

"Tae!" Kaoru smiled warmly. She had been in the vicinity looking at the many exotic and beautiful kimonos. It was something she did every once and a while, and although with her meager income she could never afford such luxuries, it made her feel a bit majestic to finger the silken fabric and imagine herself in such grandeur. It lifted her spirits slightly but it made her feel sad as well, and saddened at her choice of life: decrepit clothes, barely enough food on the table, a reputation at being a 'masculine' and 'barely feminine' little girl…

She decided then to go to visit her friend in hopes of lifting her spirits; Tae was always good to talk to as long as she avoided the more embarrassing topics.

"So, what's this I hear about a mysterious and handsome young man staying at the dojo, hm?" Tae asked her excitedly after sitting Kaoru down to a back room.

So much for avoiding touch subjects.

"Shouldn't you be out front with your customers?" Kaoru asked, looking behind her at the passageway leading to the front.

"It's not a very busy business day, and Tsubame is quite capable of handling the few regular customers we have today. Quit changing the subject – what's this man like? Megumi tells me he's very handsome, although rather short."

"Well…" Kaoru knew she couldn't get out of it now. "He is very handsome, and he's only an inch or so taller than me."

"And?"

"He has thick red hair held in a high ponytail, and…" Kaoru paused. What color were his eyes? She remembered them being a sort of amber color…but later, she noticed that they were a light, calm blue when he spoke to her gently. She cleared her throat. "And his eyes are blue."

Tae blinked at her, clearly not satisfied.

"He's pretty muscular, but he's thin. And…that's what he looks like," she finished lamely.

The woman sighed and asked impatiently, "Well, what's his personality like?"

Kaoru groaned at the older woman's doggedness. "The first time I met him – the first time he woke up, I mean - he was rough and cruel. He grabbed me and his grip was like steel." She held out her wrist, where the ugly bruise had faded but was still very obvious on her pale skin.

Tae gasped. "Kaoru! Are you sure he's not dangerous? You should throw him out of your house!"

"No…the thing is, afterwards, he became a lot calmer, and more polite. He's been helping me cook, and he's been a great help. He's been nothing but civility, except for that one time." Somehow, she didn't want to think of Kenshin as being a dangerous criminal, or wanting to harm her, seemed completely wrong. He isn't like that, she thought. Kenshin wouldn't hurt me.

"Kaoru, look at me." She looked into Tae's worried brown eyes. "Answer this as honestly as you can for me."

"Can you trust this man?" Her friend's words stung her and made a flood of questions fill her mind. Could she trust him?

Kaoru watched Kenshin's face as he struggled to come up with an answer. His brow furrowed and he studied her eyes at the same time.

His eyes were what did it.

He doesn't trust me…so I can't trust him. I can't trust him. How much do you really know about him, anyway? Who is he? What is he? Kaoru's heart ached. I can't trust him.

"No." Kaoru's voice was clear, although inside she was anything but. "I can't trust him." She saw Tae's face relax, and the other woman reached out and held her tense hand.

"Alright, Kaoru. You're a grown woman, and I trust you to make the right decision. Just – don't make a decision that you're not sure about. You don't know what this man is capable of, and the way he acted when you got that," she gestured at Kaoru's angry bruise, "but you know that the way he acted then is a part of him, and that it always will be. You'll never know when that part will come out."

"All right," she replied quietly, absorbing the advice that she knew would help her later on. "I think I must be going now. Thank you for your advice."

Tae sighed. "Good-bye, Kaoru-chan. Just – be careful."

Kaoru laughed bitterly to herself. That's what everyone's been telling me lately. "Okay, Tae-san. Good-bye." She exited the Akabeko with her spirits not lifted but lowered even more.

She's right. Kaoru thought. I can't believe anything he tells me, because I don't know anything about him. Her brows knitted in agitation. But…I want to believe him! I can't believe that he'd try to harm me, even if he doesn't trust me.

Well, I'll just let what happens happen until I need to make my decision…she sighed and began to walk faster as the skies darkened.

"Kenshin?" Kaoru asked the silence. "Are you there?" She stared at the silent dojo for a moment longer, than shrugged. I guess he's resting some more.

She plucked at her kimono and sighed. "Guess I have to change again-" then she paused.

She sensed a very faint battle ki. One moment it was there, whispering in the air to her, and the next moment it was gone, as fleeting as the wind. She frowned. Her skill at reading ki was lacking, and she had no way of knowing if it was someone just walking by the dojo or just her mind. Still, there are people who can mask their ki…Kaoru shrugged it off.

But she could not shrug off the chill running down her spine, nor the sense of impending disaster.

Kenshin lay in bed, eyes closed and hand rubbing his side where the bandages masked his gaping wound. How long will I be like this? How long will I have to stay here?

Suddenly Kaoru's face flashed in his mind, and he winced. He couldn't shake the guilt that had marred him since he had since that look on her face, that disappointment in her eyes as she understood. But he couldn't –

What?!

Kenshin's eyes shot open in shock. But – it couldn't –

He had sensed a ki. One full of war and bloodlust. It was slightly hidden, as though it had been masked, but Kenshin, as experienced as he was, could feel it as if it was punching him in the arm.

Oh shit. Could it be the Shinsengumi? Their information networks were unrivaled. They could easily have found out that a young woman had allowed a red haired, scarred swordsman into her dojo. But if that was the case…

Kaoru-dono! The Shinsengumi were ruthless swordsman who left no one alive at the scene of the massacre. And with her mild training, there was no way Kaoru would be allowed to live in case she could recognize the sword style. She would be left dead, and Kenshin with her.

"Kaoru-dono!"

A/N – Ooooh, cliff hanger. I'll leave you here – I'm feeling better about this chapter. Personally, I'm proud of it. And I've begun to remember my original plot idea and edit it, so that's got me in a good mood…Advice welcome, so please leave some.