A/N: Konichiwa! Arigato for the AWESOME reviews! Sorry got tired of writing this chapter… so this is kind of short… I mean, I really, really got tired of writing this chapter. I WANT to get to the good part but I have to build up to it…. And I am just not doing it….

Battousai(s)?

Midnight Practice

Kenshin looked away from Sanosuke. It was right, he was right. The battousai… was correct. Kenshin would wait no longer. He walked to the dojo. Kaoru and Yahiko were sparring. He now felt foolish. He used to think that Yahiko was a good match for Kaoru, that one day he'd surpass them. He used to think that day was soon but now Kaoru was different. She was stronger and her strength, Kenshin wondered how strong she really was. Kenshin watched her sweat. She worked so hard it seemed. She couldn't possibly be working that hard.

"Kenshin, what are you doing here?"

Kenshin broke his thoughts. Kaoru looked rather upset.

"Gomen, Kaoru-dono. I didn't mean to upset you," Kenshin said apologizing. "I just wanted to tell you Sanosuke was here."

Kaoru sighed.

"That freeloader," she said.

Seta Soujirou stayed at the Kamiya dojo for the next few days and showed no sign of leaving. Yahiko had heard stories of the tenken and thought that Soujirou wasn't possibly him. But then again Kenshin wasn't much of a presentation either but he was the battousai. So was it possible that he could actually be the Tenken? Yahiko was afraid to find out. Sano said that Kenshin almost lost. Was that true? Kenshin never lost! Yahiko didn't like the sound of an opponent that could beat Kenshin. He wondered how Kaoru would take it.

When he told her about it he was shocked to know she was familiar with him. She said that she was well aware of Kenshin's dealings with Soujirou and wanted to see if there was anything she could do for him. She then gave Yahiko a weird smile one she never gave to him before and told him to get back to work. Kenshin was listening and didn't know what to do. As much as he wanted Kaoru around he wanted Soujirou to leave even more. Something about his presence made Kaoru change. Battousai's advice of course was "ravish, ravish, ravish," however Kenshin have severe feelings for his Kaoru never would he do something so careless.

Soujirou thought Yahiko was interesting. Loud and quite obnoxious but had a strong will to live and prove worthy. But then again being truly strong and acting tough is completely opposite. Soujirou walked down the corridor to the dojo for a while. Sounds of fighting and determination were heard faintly. Kaoru was practicing by herself. It was about eleven-thirty. Soujirou stood by the door for a while and listened to Kaoru's sounds. After a few minutes more he slowly slid open the door. Kaoru, who was in the middle of her swing stopped and turned around. Soujirou looked at her with a curious look to his face.

Kenshin couldn't fall asleep. He was tired yes, but a nagging thought kept him awake. Besides that, Seta was awake so how could Kenshin possibly sleep? He had been watching him for a while, unable to figure out him at all. During his match with Shishio he broke his façade but it seemed he had gained it once again, this one being much harder to break. Kenshin got out of his bed. He was worried for Kaoru for she too was up. Her ki was flaring, but not out of anger. Soujirou's was too. What were they doing? And why were they both together? Kenshin walked down the same corridor Soujirou had to go to the dojo. He heard sounds of working and laughter. He felt Kaoru in the dojo. He remembered the way she truly felt, the way she smelled, the silkiness of her hair and her soft skin. He remembered her voice as she moaned and looked simply divine as she couldn't back away from him. Kenshin then shook his head thus freeing his mind of the thoughts. The battousai inside of him moaned in disappointment.

"You are no fun," the battousai said angrily. "Let those images through."

"Not in your lifetime," Kenshin thought bitterly.

Kenshin still remembered that he was spying on Soujirou. Why was he with Kaoru?! He heard hushed voices. Phases shut off by "shh" and "hush"! Kenshin quietly sat down. He opened his senses but didn't raise his ki.

Kaoru, inside the dojo, was sitting next to Soujirou. He began to speak quietly knowing Himura was there. Kaoru too could sense it. Soujirou told her of becoming weary of her fakeness, of her constant lie. Knowing of what he said…made he slightly upset. She wanted him to be happy but at the same time she wasn't ready for Kenshin to know the real her. Soujirou was her master though…. So it was only right to please him. To surpass him… was her only goal. That was the real reason she went away… the reason she lied. Would Kenshin hate her… if he found out? Soujirou looked at her uncertainly.

"I know you don't want to Kaoru but you have to, you know this right?" he asked.

Kaoru nodded.

"I know Shishou," she said. "But I am afraid of you know…"

Soujirou smiled- but this one was loved filled.

"Don't worry I'll leave," he said, "after you surpass me course."

Kaoru glared.

"You know very well I can't do that!" she said loudly.

Kenshin focused his attention. What was that…?

Soujirou smiled.

"Sounds like we need to practice! Don't worry, I won't go as hard on you as I did last time."

Kaoru sweat-dropped.

"That doesn't make me feel any better you know," she said sighing.

Kenshin was confused. Train for what he wondered.

Kaoru and Soujirou left the dojo. Kenshin already went back to his room and went into his bed. He didn't understand what was going on with Soujirou and Kaoru. What were they talking about? Midnight practices….

Morning came and Kenshin was making breakfast. Kaoru walked into the kitchen and smiled. She had a little training session with Soujirou earlier that morning and felt refreshed. Even though he worked her really, really hard and he didn't let up in the least, she still enjoyed it. Kenshin eyed her suspiciously. As much as he didn't want to invade her personal space he wanted to know if anything happened even more.

Voices in his head constantly telling him to learn of her secrets to truly figure out all she was hiding. Kenshin with relief he noticed noting out of the ordinary was on Kaoru. She smiled at him and said good morning. Kenshin set the table and placed to food on it. He was upset, of course but wouldn't show it. He smiled at Kaoru as she walked in. And much to his despair so did Soujirou. Shouldn't he be starting his journey by now? What was keeping him?

"Ohayogozaimasu, Himura-san," Soujirou said cheerfully. He was fully aware that Himura wanted to know and he was ready for her to tell. As much as he liked his little student, he wasn't going to allow her to lie to Himura. Of course it wasn't fair to him he had a right to know.

Author's note

I don't like how the story is going, you guys… I might change it a little…. Sorry for the extremely long wait and please be patient…. I'll make it better… I might be a while though… I'll be restarting from… here….

Kaoru was training by herself. She had to get stronger. She let them come at her. She let the hurt Yahiko. Even if one needed experience to become stronger Yahiko hadn't learned yet to be fully on guard. The element of surprise was very, very new to him. The Juppon katana were fierce and Yahiko defeated one, but in reality… it was only one…. In reality he would be dead…

Kaoru thrust her bokken into the side of the tree she twisted her food to the side providing her other foot with enough room to push forward and attacked the tree relentlessly. She kept switching the position of her feet, moving them faster. Matching the strength of her leg work was hard because of her constant use of wooden swords. She stopped for a few minutes and looked to her side. She picked up a sheath. She wasn't used to the weight. She unsheathed it.