AN- To reviewers Chris, Kiyara, Rei, and Female Hitokiri Battousai, I know the story is complicated to understand. The whole idea of what's wrong with Battousai is that he's feeling so many different emotions and he doesn't know how to control them. At first he refused to admit he was falling for Kaoru, but eventually he admits it. Even though he wanted to make her smile, he didn't know how. Plus he's completely lusting over her. Something he hasn't felt for ten years, ever since Tomoe's death. So please bear with me on my character's description on Battousai. You should notice by now all the characters in this story are completely different from the series. It only came this way, because even in time of peace, people still refused to let go of the war. And about Kaoru's past, you'll find that out in the next chapter. Please, if you have any suggestions, advices, or questions, leave them in your review. Please enjoy!

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Rurouni Kenshin series. I wish I did but I don't. : (

Planning Ahead

Chapter 6

Kaoru found herself too occupied with the cleaning. Soujiro offered to help her, but she refused his assistance. She lived by herself for so many years. She only grew up with her mother. Everything her mother ever taught her remained ingrained in her mind. One thing her mother told her was to do the house chores alone when guests were around.

Kaoru continued with her chores in the morning, not taking anything seriously. She hummed her favorite tune to keep herself company while she was washing the clothes, when a shadow appeared by the dojo gates. Of course, with Kaoru's and Soujiro's sharp senses they saw sensed a strong presence in the dojo.

"How can I help you young lady?" asked Kaoru in a gentle voice. She looked carefully at the young woman before her. The young woman was a very pretty woman. Her long raven hair was tied in bun. She wore a purple kimono with the imprint of cherry blossoms. She smiled a genuine smile. Her pleasant eyes were the color of bluish-greenish eyes. Kaoru didn't see this young woman as a threat, but her ki was extremely high for an ordinary person.

"I apologize. Actually I came from Kyoto in search for someone who helped me out a long time ago. I never did give him my gratitude. On my way here I heard people chatter about his appearance at the dojo and I thought I like to thank him for saving my life," said the mysterious young woman. She gave Kaoru a pleasant smile.

"Oh! You're talking about my good friend. Please do come in," said Kaoru as she gestured the young mysterious woman into her home. "Will you like some tea?"

"That would be kind of you. Thank you," replied the mysterious woman as she gracefully walked up to the veranda of the dojo.

"Please wait here. I'll inform my friend you are here to see him, and I'll come back with your tea in short notice," said Kaoru pleasantly, as she ran off into the kitchen to inform Soujiro of the young beautiful woman appearance and to make her some tea.

Soujiro on the other hand wasn't to please to see the young woman. He was surely mad at Kaoru for letting her in. He always thought Kaoru was too kind for her own good. She said she never cared about bad habits when it came to people. She believed every person had a good heart deep down inside them. Soujiro knew this young mysterious woman bad habit. She was deceiving and cunning in her own right.

"Misao, it's good to see once again. I say it was about five years ago since our last occurrence," said Soujiro with a cold unforgiving voice. His smile left his face to show a grim line, lips pursed.

"Hello Soujiro. I thought you would like to see your old friend. I guess I was mistaken. Look I am completely different from the last time you met me. I want to apologize for having Aoshi almost slaying you," Misao gently said. She could feel his ki rising as she continued. "I knew we had our past five years ago. I'm apologizing once again. You endured so much pain. I'm here really to ask for your forgiveness and to thank you for saving me that night from those thugs. You didn't have to but you did anyways."

"I'll never forgive you for what you did to me. Misao, I actually thought you returned my feelings. I can't believe how foolish I was for falling in love with you the way I did," replied Soujiro unkindly. Every single second his ki was rose if that was possible. Misao tried to calm him down by putting her finger to her mouth, but Soujiro kept talking. "I thought we both changed each other in many different ways, but the result about you being in love with another and only playing with my feelings was almost a death sentence. You are bold you know that? After five years you revisit me to seek forgiveness. Misao I learned from my lesson once. I'm not going to make the same blunder again. You saw that girl who invited you into her home? She's truly an angel. I warn you not to do anything brainless or else I'll give the thrashing of your life like you deserved that night."

Just as Soujiro finished saying what he had to say, he walked past Kaoru and went into his room. He wanted nothing more to do with Misao. He couldn't believe he fell in love with her in the first place. He closed his eyes to let his past haunt him once more.

Flashback

Walking in the cold damp streets of Kyoto, Soujiro could remember every bloody detail the place had to offer him. He couldn't believe after five years of returning to Kyoto how the place still looked the same to him. He was weary from the whole day of traveling. He surely was glad to get away from the forest and find himself a place where people lived, but he didn't want to find himself in Kyoto once again.It was then he remembered Kaoru and her mother. He wondered how they were doing. He missed them a lot, especially Kaoru. Kaoru was more like his sister then his best friend.

"Soon, I promise you, I'll come to you my little sister, and my best friend. Just stay strong, and have faith in me. I'll be there when I accomplish my wandering," he whispered as the rough breeze carried away his words into the dreary night, to the stars in the heavens above.

Soujiro continued to walk his pace when he heard a scream coming from across the streets. Four large men held a young woman by her throat. She held terror in her bluish-greenish eyes. Her clothes were all torn, shredded almost to pieces. They were tears falling from her eyes. This young innocent woman didn't deserve this kind of treatment. She never did. As Soujiro got closer to help the woman, he recognized her immediately. She was the same troublemaker who he fell for. He couldn't stand to see her in the vulnerable position she was in. She looked tired, worn out. The men wouldn't leave her alone. Their hands invaded her body, making her shriek out for help. She called some name but her voice was to weak.

"Let her go or suffer the consequences," said Soujiro in a lethal over protective voice. He saw Misao looking at him with tears in her eyes. Her battered body, made him even angrier. He wanted to kill the four thugs for laying a hand on a young woman, especially a woman he loved.

"What you're going to do, kill us with your katana?" asked one of the men. His dark eyes mocked evil laughter. The other men laughed hysterically while enjoying their power on the young helpless woman.

"No I'm not actually going to kill you, but I am going to make you pay for what you did to her. She is nothing but an innocent young woman. By you laying your dirty filthy hands on her and marking her with them will make you dire pain," said Soujiro with a toxic low voice.

The men stood there and laughed. Soujiro sickened by their expression, took his primitive strike. He shed his sword from its case and with a blink of an eye; all the men were laying on the floor, completely dumbfounded at what happened. Soujiro made sure he took his time torturing these men, but making sure he never did take their lives. The next thing that happened was the police reached in time to arrest them. He saw the police take Misao into their custody. After making sure he fulfilled his duty he left knowing Misao was all right. He thought that was the last time he would ever see her again.

Present

Ever since that night, Soujiro never returned to Kyoto. Nor did he plan it either. He thought his wandering days came to an end. After all it did feel good to have a place called home, where someone cooked great food, and people cheerful enough to converse with. Soujiro had to admit that night he learned a bad experience from Misao, but she never deserved to be raped. Actually he wished he could've reached her in time to fend her off from the thugs. He regretted the bad experiences that she had to go through, but he knew she could endure pain.

As he continued to ponder his thoughts about his past with Misao, he decided to go check on his new friend. According to what he heard from Kaoru, Yahiko went through a lot. He lost so much in one day. The best way for him to heal is for someone to be there for him, for someone to mentor him through his situations. Soujiro was glad to have a good affect on the boy; he only had to make sure to keep up his good work.

"Is this all you ever do?" Misao asked looking around in the big kitchen as Kaoru cooked some good food for Yahiko, Soujiro, Misao, herself, and of course Battousai.

"Yes, since I've been living here I've been in charge of the house and the things that go on in it. You could say I'm like the house wife," answered Kaoru with a big smile on her face yet Misao noticed the smile never reached her eyes.

"So are you and Soujiro are married, I mean is he your husband?" asked Misao with a kind voice, but deep down inside she felt herself hold a grudge against the woman who was cooking her food.

"No. We are not married. We don't even look at each other like that. We are more like brother and sister and like best friends."

"Oh! So how is it you know him?"

"Well, Misao we know each other from childhood. He taught me some swordsmanship. He was a brother who looked after me when others teased me, or bullied me. Without him, I don't know how far I could make it through life."

"To me you made it pretty far without him, because the last time I met him he was still a wanderer."

"Well don't worry. Through hard struggles in life, we hope for others not to suffer what we went through. From looking at you Misao, I could say you went some tough times, but somehow you managed to find your way out either with help or without help. Whatever the case, you learned to live," said Kaoru smiling as she took the beef stew from the pot and put it into a large bowl. It smelled delicious.

As Misao watched Kaoru continuing her activities in the kitchen, she couldn't help but feel affected by her words. Kaoru was right about her. She lived through numerous difficult times. Eventually with the help of Aoshi, her beloved, her anata, she found a reason to live. Even though she couldn't change her past, she was able to make a better future for Aoshi and herself.

Misao watched Kaoru looked at her with trusting blue sapphire eyes. She admitted Soujiro was right about her. Kaoru was extremely kind hearted, a person who gives her trust very easily. Looking into her innocent sapphire eyes, Misao began to wish she wasn't sent on this mission. She felt bad what was going to happen to the people in this home, especially the kindhearted sapphire eyes angel. If only she knew.

Battousai snuck into the house without anyone sensing his ki. He entered his room and set aside his katana. He came back as soon as he could to check on Kaoru, because he sensed a new powerful ki in the dojo. At first he thought it was one of her old friends she knew from the past, but as he came closer to the dojo he realized it was the danger he'd been sensing for a while. Just as he was about to release the cord from his hair, he felt her lovely presence filled his room.

"Battousai, I thought you'd be hungry. I'll leave this for you and come back later to pick it up if you don't mind," whispered Kaoru as she set his food tray by his futon. She bowed down to him, hiding her sapphire eyes, so Battousai couldn't read her expression in them as she continued whispering. "I'm sorry to intrude. I'll try not to disturb you for today."

Kaoru was about to retreat from his room, when she felt his hand on her wrist. He did this not only to stop her retreating form but also to talk to her as well. He wanted to get to know her better.

"Why? Why did you save me that night?" Battousai asked very gently. He could feel her body tensed. He could see her muscles stiffened. Her breathing became irregular. It took sometime before she could answer him.

"I saved you that night because I thought it was wrong to leave someone there to die. I couldn't leave you in front of my dojo on a cold rainy night. It's the worst way for someone to die," she answered softly. Her sapphire eyes met with his amber eyes.

"Even after you knew who I was, you still let me stay. Why? Why are you being so polite to me after all that I did to you?" he asked. His amber searched her sapphire eyes for the truth.

"Yes I may know who you are but that won't stop me from opening my doors to you. I know you had your difficulties in your past. I don't know about now, but I don't have the heart to throw someone into the streets and leave them there to rot," she whispered. Her sapphire eyes looked away from his. Tears threatened to fall from them. He was the man who took away her happiness, the man who put her through hell. He was the man; the most feared man in Japan, yet he was staying in her dojo. "You are who you are, and I can never change that. All I could do is offer you what I could offer you and hope you take it in return. Please let my home be your home."

She never got to finish speak. Battousai held her in his embrace whispering soothing words to her. He stroked her beautiful raven hair, encouraging her to cry. For the first time in her life she felt safe in his embrace. She felt well protected, cherished, and most of all comfort. Thinking about how it was like to be in his embrace, Kaoru felt something she never felt before, a true sensation, a feeling from her heart. It was from then did she realize she was falling for Battousai, the manslayer.

In the dark, quiet night, Misao waited in the woods for her lover to appear. He told her to tell him everything about the first day, and tell him any information about their enemies. As Misao waited for her lover to appear right in front of her eyes, she couldn't help but remember today's events.

"Ah love, there you are," greeted a familiar voice. Misao turned to see the mysterious man who took her breath away. "How did your first day go?"

"Well," said Misao, smiling a mischievous smile. "It's going to be a lot easier then we planned anata."