This is actually part of a multipart storyline. This part actually lasts about two or three chapters because so much will happen. Anyway, parts of this fic is based off of fairy tales, Rurouni Kenshin, and anything else I tossed in from wherever.

Thank you so much for the reviews.

The Frog Swordsman

Part Four

By Maria Cline

It was a bright sunny day in the village of Toyo as the villagers were going around doing their usual business. Among them was a young woman dressed in a gi and hakama while other women were dressed in fine kimonos and dresses. Other women would carry flowers or baskets but Kaoru always wore a frog on her head. The others whispered about her as always about her.

"Look at her outfit. She can never get a man like that."

"Even peasant women have a decent dress to make themselves better looking."

"And what kind of woman carries a frog with her all the time. He's not even a frog prince."

Kaoru ignored the whispers as always and went to the market place. It had been six months since she and Kenshin had left her kingdom. They had settled down in the small town that was famous for having the ball where all royalty go to have a good time. The woman spent her time cleaning, learning how to cook, and even some pottery. She even spent time at a dojo honing her skills and gaining a reputation for being fast with a bokken. However, despite her new happiness, she still missed her home and her family.

"Ah, Kaoru-chan." The market vendor said as he smiled at her. "How are you today?"

"Fine." Kaoru said as she put Kenshin onto the counter. The frog started eating up all of the flies around him as Kaoru was getting her usual bread and fruits. "Thank you for letting Kenshin eat here."

The man laughed as the frog kept on eating flies. "Hey, I don't like flies and this frog is great at getting rid of them. I've tried to work with other frogs but they always wander off. There was this one time about a year ago when I had this strangely stoic frog with ice blue eyes. I haven't seen him since then but he was interesting. Anyway, eat up, Kenshin. Flies are the only thing that's free here."

"Thank you." Kaoru counted out her money and handed it to the merchant.

"So, will you go to that big ball for Prince Rudolf? You look cute enough if you weren't wearing man's clothes." The merchant said as he smiled slightly.

The woman shook her head. "No way. I... heard that Prince Rudolf is good looking but he's so boring. If I ever want to get married, I'll marry someone… interesting."

"Your loss." The market man said as he shrugged.

"So, anything else that's happening today?"

The man looked around and whispered, "There had been some violent murders last night. An insane man had been running around yelling out his name before killing people at random in front of witnesses."

Kaoru blinked and whispered back, "But if these guys know who committed the murders, why don't they arrest him?"

"He couldn't be stopped or caught. No man dared to get close to him as soon as he heard his name; The Hitokiri Battousai."

WHUMP!

The two looked to see Kenshin being held down by a large cantaloupe. "Oro…" The frog said with swirled eyes.

"Kenshin!" Kaoru picked up the cantaloupe to see Kenshin's long tongue attached to it. She pulled off the tongue and it snapped back into his mouth.

"Gomen nasai. I missed." The frog said as he bowed low. "I did not mean to try to eat your fruit."

"That's okay." The market man chuckled, "There's no way a tiny frog like you can eat an entire cantaloupe. This Battousai scared you?"

"No. Not really." Kenshin looked away.

"I'll protect you if the Battousai attacks us." Kaoru promised as she held Kenshin up to her chest.

"I wouldn't worry as long as you don't go out at night. That's when all of the murders happened."

"Thank you." Kaoru bowed as she picked up her food and walked away.

Throughout the day, Kaoru heard whispers about the murders. There were less people and less business. The woman was helping out at the Laundromat washing the clothes trying to keep her mind off of it. She scrubbed furiously with her bush getting everything clean. The former princess paused and stared at the cloth to see a hole in the middle. "Aw damn." Kaoru moaned as she tossed the brush down and nearly hit the frog. "Oh! Sorry, Kenshin!"

"That's okay." Kenshin said as he hopped up and looked at the cloth. "Are you okay? You are not normally this aggressive to clothes."

"I'm fine."

"The frog is right." Gerty said as she came up with a batch of clothes. "Are you nervous about the Battousai being in town?"

"No." Kaoru denied as she crossed her arms. "I just don't like murders."

"Well, this Battousai is no ordinary assassin." Gerty came closer and said, "I heard that the Battousai drank the blood of his victims to keep looking young."

"No way!" Dina came up and said, "I heard that the Battousai's kept his victims' heads as trophies."

Kaoru looked down and said, "Well, I heard that the Battousai was half-demon and half-human. That was why he's so fast."

"I even heard that he killed his wife because she cheated on him."

"THAT'S NOT TRUE!"

The women looked down at Kenshin who had both hands over where his ears should be. "Kenshin, what is it?" Kaoru asked stunned at Kenshin's behavior.

The frog looked at himself and then sat up and replied, "It is… nothing."

The former princess shook her head as she gently picked him up and placed him on her lap as always. "Kenshin… tell me the truth, please."

Kenshin took a deep breath and stared down. "I am just uncomfortable about what you said. The Battousai is not that vicious and his wife would never cheat on him."

Silence overtook the two as Kaoru stroked Kenshin's back. Obviously, Kenshin knew this Battousai better than he could admit. How could he know this assassin? Was he owned by the Battousai himself or something else? "I see."

Before anyone could say anything else, a tall burly guy with an eye patch walked in and said, "I need to post this notice."

"Sure." Gerty said as she stood up and bowed, "What is it?"

"Job advertisement." The burly man put the tacked notice up.

Kaoru stood up and read it, "Calling all mercenaries. Temporary work at the local palace, one night only. Pay based off of experience. Bonus offers available. To apply please contact the head of security Oolock. Sounds intriguing."

"If you know anyone, please show them this." The man said and then walked out.

"Hmmm…" Kaoru smirked as she looked at the notice again.

"Kaoru-san, you're not thinking… that's crazy!" Dina exclaimed as she came up. "I know that you're strong and all but there's no way that any prince would let a woman protect him."

"Kaoru-dono, even if this man is an imposter, he can kill you."

"I don't care. I'm going to check this out. Innocent people are being killed and I can't stand by and do nothing." Kaoru was determined. If there was one thing that no one can do, it was change the young girl's mind. There was something about this she couldn't resist. Maybe it was Kenshin's mysterious connection to the Battousai or the fact that a murderer is on the loose but she couldn't let it go.

"You are too stubborn." Dina looked down and shook her head.

Kaoru bounded her chest with bandages as she dressed up in a jacket and pants a clothes store loaned her. She gazed at herself in the mirror. With the bandages and the clothes, she looked like a young man rather than a young woman. "Not bad. Not bad at all." The girl put on a big hat to cover her face and hair.
"Kaoru-dono, won't people recognize you?" Kenshin asked, "You said you knew Prince Rudolf."

"Ha! That snobby prince only knew me as Princess Kaoru. He never saw me dressed up like this. Most people don't recognize others if they are out of the clothes they are expected. No one will expect me to be dressed up like this." Kaoru turned around and strapped her bokken across her back.

The frog looked down at the floor and then he said, "May I join you?"

"Of course." Kaoru picked up her friend and placed him in her pouch. "I can't go anywhere without you. But, you have to be careful. That Battousai might kill you."

"I… doubt it." Kenshin said from in the pouch.

Night fell as Kaoru walked up to the 'Royal Palace'. It was the main place where royalty go to throw parties for other royal members. The woman went up to a long line full of thugs, men in strange clothes, and scary looking people. In front of her was a relatively normal looking man with a green headband and several pouches. He looked at her and said, "Hello, I'm Katsu Tsukioka, are you applying for the job too?"

"Hai. I'm Kaoru… Kaoru Froog."

"Kaoru Froog?" Katsu repeated. "Interesting alias. I'm looking for a friend of mine. He disappeared some time ago and I thought he might come here." He reached into his pocket and got out a drawing of a man. "Have you seen him?"

Kaoru studied the picture and shook her head. "No. Who's he?"

"Sanosuke Sagara otherwise known as Zanza. He's a friend of mine and has this insane tendency to get into trouble. If you see him, make sure he's okay." Katsu whispered as he gave the drawing to her.

"Hai."

"Thank you."

"Next." A man grunted as Katsu came up. "Name?"

"Katsu Tsukioka."

"Age?"

"Twenty."

"Occupation."

"Artist and bomb maker. I have enough explosives to blow this building up."

The man's eyes bulged as he looked at him. "Sorry, but we are not allowed to have bomb experts here. There is too much delicate stuff here and the insurance company won't allow it."

"I see." Katsu bowed and stepped to the side.

"Next."

Kaoru came up. The man looked at her and frowned at her thin frame. "Name?"

"Kaoru Froog."

"Froog?" The man repeated confused, "Oh well. Occupation?"

"I'm a wanderer and a all around helper."

The man stared at her and then leaned on the table. "You look a little small to be a fighter. How old are you?"

"Seventeen."

"Ah… don't worry, you'll hit puberty yet."

The exiled princess seethed as she grabbed her bokken. "I can handle myself just fine."

The man got up and went around the table. He rolled up his sleeves and went into a fighting position. "You got spunk. I can give you that much credit. Tell ya what, if you can give me a good hit, I'll let you in. Fair enough?"

"Sure." Kaoru took a deep breath, swung her bokken with all her might and slammed the poor man across the room and into the wall. The girl gasped as she put down her bokken. "Are you okay?"

The man pulled himself from the wall leaving a huge indent. "You're hired!"

Kaoru bowed and then noticed everyone else was backing away slowly. "What?"

"Well, this is interesting." Kaoru said as she looked at the various fighters who passed the test. People were keeping their distance from her with wide eyes. "Why are they so nervous?" She asked Kenshin who was still in her pouch.

"You're small and strong. That is a dangerous combination." Kaoru looked up to see a tall man wearing Chinese fighting clothes. He had white hair, sunglasses, and was balancing a plate of frog legs on one hand.

"Do you need help?" The woman asked as she stood up.

"I'm fine." The man bowed as he sat beside her. "Frog legs?"

Kaoru paled as she shook her head. "No thanks. I'm… allergic."

"Fine." The man tossed a frog leg into his mouth and pulled out the bone.

"I'm Kaoru. Kaoru Froog. What's your name?" Kaoru asked as she held out her hand.

"Enishi." The man accepted her hand. Deep in Kaoru's pouch, Kenshin stiffened.

"So, you're here to guard the prince?"

"No, I'm here to find the imposter." The man replied as he smirked.

"How do you know he's an imposter?" Kaoru asked interested as she sat closer.

Enishi shrugged and said, "I've met the Battousai, I know how he thinks. He was not the type to go around announcing his name while killing others. Also, if there were witnesses, he would've killed them too. That man who had killed last night was not him."

"Oh. I bet the real Battousai would be mad and kill the fake."

The man got up and grinned furiously. "He would be mad but he can't do anything about it."

"He's dead?"

"Worse than dead." Enishi laid back and popped a couple of frog legs into his mouth and smirked. "My stepsister hated the Battousai as much as me. She made sure the Battousai could never hurt anyone again."

"Oh." Kaoru's eyes widened at the idea of someone actually hurting the Battousai. "So, what happened to him?"

The man gazed at her for a long moment. "It's better if you don't know. The less you know the better you will be. I don't want a lovely woman like yourself to get hurt."

"Why thank-" Kaoru stopped and stared at him. "You… you know that I'm really a woman?!"

"It's a gift. I better go now." Enishi got up, bowed, and walked off leaving the plate of frog legs behind.

"Wow…" The former princess shook her head as she got up and went to a distant corner and got out Kenshin who was shaking. "That Enishi is interesting. I'm glad the real Battousai's gone."

Kenshin stared down and nodded. "He… was a bad man."

The cool air nipped at his cheeks as Enishi wandered through the roads. An elderly woman came up and said, "Hello, young man, would you like an apple?"

The man stared at the apple and said, "Drop the act, sister. No one is around."

The elderly woman vanished and a beautiful woman with bright green eyes and long red hair appeared. "So, did you see the Battousai?"

"No. I checked the ponds and fountains. I even ate a good amount of frog legs and nothing."

"He's alive and near, I can feel him." The red haired woman said as she put her hand to her chest. "The power it takes to keep the curses in check demands more of my energy every day. I am wearing thin."

Enishi wrapped his arm around her and held her. "I won't let that happen, sister. You are the only family I have left."

"We must find out why that is. Something is threatening to break the spell and we can't let that happen. I can't see what or who because a strong magical presence blurs my vision." Rose said as she closed her eyes.

"I don't see anything odd besides a woman dressed as a man."

"We must find the imposter first. We must not have our sacrifices be in vain because some idiot decided to take on the Battousai name." Rose said as she put on her disguise and held up her apples.

"Let's go." Enishi and Rose walked off into the shadows.

To Be Continued…