:DISCLAIMER: I do not own Kenshin or any of the characters created by the amazing Nobuhiro Watsuki. I am only a crazy fan of the series and am borrowing them for the sake of my story.

Chapter 4: Unforeseen visitors

Kenshin blinked.

How long had he been up? 48 hours? 62? 75? He had lost track of the days. He looked down at the sakobatou lying safely and comfortingly in his grip. The sword had become the most reliant object in his life these days. It never left his side. Taking a deep breath, Kenshin unsheathed the sword, allowing the sound of the shimmering silver metal sliding against its solid covering fill his studio. Intently, he stared back at his now refracted reflection. Dull, violet eyes peered back at him. He chuckled ruefully. His life had become as backward as the sword he kept hidden under his mattress. Life was not full of justice and compassion. It was full of ironic disappointments. No, wait. Kenshin knew exactly what it was full of.

"It's full of SHIT. That's what it's full of!" Kenshin exclaimed to the sword. As if suddenly disgusted by its mere appearance, he thrust the sakobatou to his right, causing it to seamlessly slide across the wooden floor only to collide straight into the wall closest to the entrance. Kenshin warily eyed the damage. The sword jutted straight out into the studio, with its tip snugly wedged into the point of impact. Leaning his head back to rest on the side of his bed, Kenshin closed his eyes, attempting to force sleep to take over his body once more.

A loud knock sounded, making Kenshin jump. 'Shit!' he thought. He didn't want to deal with overly polite, sympathetic visitors anymore. As if they knew what he was going through. What bullshit. Closing his eyes again, Kenshin hoped to any god up there for the stranger to leave him to his own misery.

"KENSHIN! I KNOW YOU'RE IN THERE!" bellowed a very loud and familiar voice. Kenshin reluctantly opened his eyes.

"Come in, Sano."

The door slammed open, revealing a rather frustrated looking Sano. As he stared down at the disheveled red-head, his anger softened. He wasn't used to seeing his best friend look so depressed. Kenshin was a strong man, and Sano had become accustomed to his confident and competent character. It was only at moments such as these, during his mental breakdowns, that Sano was reminded that Kenshin was only human.

"Kenshin, you look like you've been to hell and back!" chided Sano, forcing on a grin.

"This isn't hell?" Kenshin muttered. Sano shook his head.

"You can't go on like this man!" the tall man exclaimed. "You can't let yourself be eaten up by grief like this anymore! It's been two weeks and you haven't stepped outside of this studio since… since… you know," Sano paused. Kenshin looked down, his bangs hiding any expression on his face. Sano continued.

"He wouldn't have liked this Kenshin. As your sensei and closest thing to family, he wouldn't have approved of you sulking your life away. It's been two weeks already! Take action! Look for the murderer! Do something about it, god damn it!"

Kenshin's body went rigid.

"Act!" Kenshin snapped his head up to stare coldly at Sano. The brown haired man didn't like the way Kenshin's eyes were staring at him. He shifted nervously from his left foot to his right. Kenshin sighed deeply.

"Don't tell me how to act." His tone was softer, but still firm. "What do you want me to 'do' anyways? Solve the mystery overnight? That's highly unlikely, as you should already know Agent Sagara. I'll 'act' when I feel like it." Kenshin breathed deep. "You never knew Hiko. Not really. You don't know what he did or didn't mean to me. So I would appreciate it if you would leave me alone and get out of my home." And with that Kenshin closed his eyes, effectively ending the discussion. Sano ran his fingers through his spiky brown hair half in anger and half in disappointment.

"Don't think that I won't be back!" the rooster head warned. "Just because I let you off easy for all this time doesn't mean I'll let you go any longer!" And with that, Sano stalked out of the studio, kicking open the door in the process. Kenshin's body went lax. Sano was a dear friend to him, but he wasn't ready to deal with Sano or anyone else for that matter.

A loud knock interrupted his thoughts. Kenshin groaned in utter frustration. Sano would just not take no for an answer. He squeezed his eyes shut even tighter.

"GO AWAY!" yelled a very aggravated Kenshin. "JUST—leave!"

"Well, that isn't a very polite welcome, now is it?" mused a voice very unlike Sano's. Kenshin's eyes snapped open again, only to see a very determined pair of sapphire blue eyes staring directly into his own pair of violet ones. This was familiar. What in the world was SHE doing here!

Kaoru straightened up and stared down at the surprised red-head and raised an eyebrow.

"What! Expecting a kiss or something!" she asked skeptically. Kenshin glared back in response.

"Kiss!" He snorted in disgust.

"Good!" the raven haired girl defiantly eyed him. Was that a faint trace of a blush on his cheeks? She must have been seeing things.

"Then I can get straight to business!"

Kenshin stared as the petite girl situated herself right in front of him on the floor. Out of her briefcase she took out multiple files, all of which she carefully stacked in some order only decipherable to herself.

"Just what do you think you're doing!"

Kaoru smiled in response and continued with her files.

"I ASKED YOU A QUESTION!" Kenshin yelled, feeling a blazing migraine in the back of his head.

"And I'll answer you when I'm ready!" the girl sharply retorted. Kenshin noticed her face scrunch up as if in disgust. Just WHAT was her problem?

"Don't you clean up around here?" Kaoru asked him. He wouldn't stop glaring. She sighed. This wasn't going to be easy. She went back to her files, flipping through a few as if in search of something in particular. Sneaking quick glances at the man in front of her, she silently took in the full extent of his present state, taking note of his unwashed hair, most likely unwashed clothes, and his disgruntled expression. She wasn't going to get anywhere with him like this. Slowly she began packing her files back into her briefcase.

Kenshin blinked twice. Was she actually leaving without tormenting him? Was there actually a god out there?

Kaoru looked up at him once the last file was back in its proper place.

"I think I'm ready to answer your question now," she said. Kenshin looked up at her confused.

"Huh?"

"You asked what I was doing here Himura-san. I was originally here to get some information from you, but as you are in a most…" Kaoru searched for the right words. "…unfortunate state… I'm afraid there has been a change in the agenda." She paused looking hard at the man before her.

"And just what is this change?" he asked tiredly. He saw a strand of hair fall into her face and had a sudden urge to push the lock of hair out of the way. Kenshin shoved the urge out of his head.

"I'm going to clean your act up, beginning with your studio and your hair!" Kaoru triumphantly exclaimed. And before Kenshin could even begin to protest, she was already up and about, throwing empty beer cans into a plastic bag she had foraged from who knows where. In no mood to get into a full-fledged argument, Kenshin stared silently as she noiselessly went on cleaning and picking up the mess in his studio.

A few minutes into her cleaning, Kaoru turned to where Kenshin was sitting and huffed in disapproval.

"Get up!"

"Why!" Kenshin refused.

"I need to clean there, BAKA!" and with a whack of the plastic bag now full of beer cans, she swatted Kenshin from his spot next to the bed. She eyed him as he rubbed his head in pain, not missing the flash of icy yellow in his eyes. Gripping the plastic bag tighter, Kaoru looked straight into his face.

"Take a shower already!" she demanded. "You reek of stale cigarettes and a hangover!"

"Like I care what you think I smell like!" Kenshin barked back. But he was suddenly aware of just how filthy he must appear. Just when had he last taken a shower? He noticed that the female agent was headed towards the door.

"Leaving?" he suddenly asked. Kaoru turned to look back at him. He almost sounded as if he didn't want her to go.

"Just leaving to restock your fridge with more healthy food choices," she answered sharply. Hesitating for a moment, she looked at him with a small smile. Maybe she should be nicer to him. He was still in mourning after all.

Once she had left, Kenshin stood up. He felt a sudden urge to take a shower. It wasn't because she had told him to, he reassured himself. It was because he felt like it. He had been in desperate need of a shower. Not because he cared what she thought of him.

He looked around his now much cleaner studio. Not bad. The image of her smiling back at him flashed through his mind. He quickly shook his head.

He didn't care what anyone thought. And he certainly didn't care what that woman thought of him.

Why would he.

Right?

Author's notes:

Don't worry. this is a KKE fic still! he's on his way!

zop: aaah. i know. it's hard to believe that a guy like hiko can be killed. but that's where i wanted the mystery to lie. and hence the title of this story. i hope you understand.so don't think that i arbitrarily picked his character to be the one to be murdered. but i understand where you're coming from. hiko is an awsome guy!

please read and review!