Author's Notes: An update so fast? Well, for me anyway. I know, I know...I'm proud too. Anyway I really felt like writing today. What better to write than my newest story, right? Just as a couple notes, thanks for the tip in repeating myself by Evening Lilacs. I don't usually do that...so that was kind of odd, lol. Thanks! Also, to eternal-nostalgia thanks for the addition to your favorites!

General Notes - If I make it any pairing, it will be a Kenshin Kaoru fic. I just can't write Kenshin and Megumi...not that I've tried, lol. They just do not make a good couple, especially here, since she's older than him. She'll still be rather flirty though, haha. Of course! Kenshin torture is thebest! Lol!Yes, Kenshin is now in Edo/Tokyo. Everyone, except Kenshin of course is in the dojo like normal. If there are any other confusions, I'd be happy to answer!

This chapter kinda skips around a bit, so just to let you know!

"Not anymore," Sano questioned, finally breaking the silence of the group. "What do you suppose that means?"

Megumi sighed. "Maybe it means he isn't Battousai anymore."

"Haha," Sano sneered at her with an eye roll. "What if he never was? He could just be delirious."

"And so this is who? His good twin?"

Again Sano sounded his mocking laugh. "You're so funny Kitsune," he said in a sarcastic drawl. He knew there was no way to beat her but he wouldn't go down without a fight.

"Glad you think so," was her final comment, and Sano's downfall. She smirked as he threw his hands up in the air and walked out of the room. The three remaining people in the room heard him muttering something about sneaky foxes while storming down the hallway.

Megumi let out her trademark laugh and turned back to look at the once more unconscious soldier. Her eyes held a sort of pity, but also showed curiosity. If this was indeed the Battousai, they would have their hands full. What if he truly was insane? Were the people in the dojo in danger?

Things would all work themselves out, but right now, she needed to stretch. She had either been sitting on her knees or leaning against the wall since yesterday afternoon. She stood, taking one last glance at Battousai.

"Just stay here..."

Sano was in the kitchen, sitting at the table with a pout on his face. Megumi was having an extremely difficult time to not smile as she saw him. She glared at him instead.

"Hungry?"

"Yes, get to cooking," he said with a grin. His grin fell then. He looked like a deer caught in headlights as he blinked and stared, waiting for her to explode.

All she did was let out a sly smirk, causing him to become even more afraid. "Oh I wasn't planning on cooking Sano."

He paled. "Uhh-is Kaoru cooking?"

"No."

This was even worse. "No breakfast!"

"You cook it if you're so hungry! I'm not so why would I trouble myself just for you," she shouted back at him.

Sano looked defeated. He didn't rightly have an answer for her. Suddenly, a grin spread itself across his face.

"Well, because, it's your duty as a woman."

Sano didn't even have time to ponder the consequences of his words. He would have been lucky if it had been rice balls that she had decided to use. Instead, he found a large cooking pot flung at his head. Unfortunately for him, Kaoru had also been passing the kitchen at the exact moment those words had left his mouth. She had grabbed her bokken and was heading for the training hall but spun around and advanced on Sano, knowing this would be far more fun.

Even poor Zanza couldn't fend himself off from the two angry women. Words were flung at him as well as various objects and Kaoru's very wooden and very painful bokken. By the time they were through, Sano had several bruises already forming and had gone temporarily cross-eyed.

"You cook breakfast today Sano. You can also bring all the water from the well today, since that's your duty as a man and later..." Kaoru paused for emphasis while placing a grin on her face. "You can go shopping!"

Both of the women started laughing now, not only at their little "punishment" but also at how Sano reacted to the news. He seemed to be taking things fairly well, but at the word "shopping" he sat up and glared at the two. Words of defiance were making their way out of his mouth, but he quickly stopped himself and held them in.

"I feel better, don't you," Megumi asked with a smile.

"Indeed I do," Kaoru replied with a giggle. Both of them turned now and exited the kitchen, shrieking with laughter.

Once again, that feeling of helplessness and pain washed over him. His right side burned and his head throbbed. His throat felt itchy and scratchy as well. Again, he had great difficulty with just peeling open his hazy eyes.

This time, when he'd finally succeeded, he noticed he was alone in the room. He had no idea what time of day it was, but frankly, he couldn't care less. He was tired, exhausted in fact and wanted nothing more than to give into the temptations of a painless and dreamless sleep.

'Hah!'

A flash of light crossed his eyes, the flash coming from his own sword.

'Hah!'

He saw a body fall, crumpling to the floor in a lifeless pile of flesh and bones. Blood was everywhere. On the ground, on the dead bodies, even on him. It seemed to seep through him magically, as if he was being swallowed up by it.

'Hah!'

Another body slumped to the ground. He couldn't breath anymore. He couldn't see. There was red everywhere. It blocked his sight, his hearing and finally his air. He dropped his sword, it clattering to the ground. That was all he saw. His sword falling on a bloodstained background.

"Hah!"

The voice became more distinct now.

"Hah! Come on, keep those swings even!"

It was feminine. Not the voice of the doctor woman, but that of another. His forehead was sweating from the earlier hallucination. It was so strange and so very annoying how a simple word could send him back to the horrors of the revolution.

"Hah!"

The sound persisted and he became vaguely aware of younger voices, repeating the sound. They were quieter and at first he hadn't noticed them. But now they were plainly there. He looked down and saw he was covered in blankets. Good thing too, for he was rather cold.

Trying to avoid his aching body, he carefully sat up and peeled back the blankets. His movements were painfully slower than usual and he wanted badly to just sleep again. He knew he couldn't just lay here though. He steadied himself, and with swaying motions made his way over to the sliding door.

Once it was open, he stepped out into the hallway. He took in his surroundings and instinctively searched for the nearest escape route. There was no one around which he found rather odd. Upon further investigation, the former hitokiri discovered he was in a dojo.

He turned down the hallway, following the voices. Each training yell made his mind dangerously wander back to the revolution. With each yell, his already golden eyes burned intensely. He wouldn't lose this mental battle though. He was done with that. He absently reached to his side.

The emotion he felt when he realized his swords were gonewas unexplainable. He was glad that it was gone, so he could do no more damage, but now he also felt helpless. His swords were his one way of defense, especially now. He could barely think straight.

Finally, he knew exactly where it was coming from. Not far ahead was a training hall, which was currently in use. The leader of the session was obviously a woman. This fact alone made him go even closer until finally, he peaked around the corner, masking his Ki and watching the actions of the people inside.

Kaoru rested her hands on her hips as she stood at the front of the dojo. She was pleased with each student's progress so far. These were her more advanced children. Even these though, had a long way to go before becoming a master of the Kamiya Kashin style.

"Ah, ah," she warned a boy who was sparing with another. "Remember to use his strength against him."

She continued on to look over the couple kids who were practicing their swings. "Think about who or what you're protecting. That's what this style is all about," she reminded them.

The group nodded and continued their swings, increasing their power quite a bit at her reminder. She gave a smile.

His golden eyes drank in the scene before him. Each sword stroke caused his mind a world of misery. Oh, why did he have to be brought here? He gave a slight groan and leaned against the back wall, closing his eyes tightly. He wanted to forget...he wanted to forget so bad.

If only it was possible to become a new person. To start over completely. He would do that for sure. He didn't know if he could live like this. It would probably only grow worse as he grew older. Things weren't supposed to be this way. He wasn't supposed to live through the war. He was supposed to die an honorably as he could, in battle along with his comrades.

That wouldn't have been likely anyway, since he was merely a tool; a shadow assassin that did his job in the masking protection of the night. The thought disgusted him now. With his eyes still closed, he slid to the floor letting his head drop.

Kaoru picked up on the groan immediately. She hadn't even thought it could be the young mysterious stranger, but nevertheless, she turned around and looked out of the door. No one there...

She stepped out and jumped back, holding her bokken straight out in front of her when she saw him against the wall. When she realized who it was, she lowered it and rushed to his side. She gently shook his shoulder, not expecting a respone.

He lifted his head, scarred golden eyes meeting with innocent blue ones. She blinked and stared back into his. Were these the eyes of a killer? The only emotion they showed were pain. Surprisingly, it was both physical and mental. She backed up a bit and removed her hand, afraid to offend him.

"Umm," she started. "Well what are you doing out here? Are you okay?"

Obviously he wasn't, but she didn't know what else to do. 'Just talk to him' she told herself. 'Don't let him think we mean him any harm.'

His eyes moved past her at the students in the training hall. All were so concentrated on their practicing they were oblivious to the predicament their master faced. She turned and followed his gaze glancing back at him occasionally. She just couldn't seem to connect her students and him.

"Battousai?"

Again, the word snapped him back to reality and he looked at her, pain clear in his eyes.

"Please, not anymore," he rasped out. Kaoru looked shocked. It sounded as if he was begging.

"What then, should I call you?"

He didn't answer right away and Kaoru knew better than to try and pry him from his thoughts. He would come back soon enough. Finally, old recognition seemed to dawn on his face and he turned back to her.

"Kenshin...just Kenshin."

She was about to ask for a last name, but when he said "just Kenshin" she realized this was information she probably wouldn't receive at the time.

"Well then Kenshin, shall I get Megumi?"

He shook his head but Kaoru knew better.

"Well I think she should see you. Now that you're awake she'll be able to treat your wounds better."

This time, he didn't protest but didn't offer any agreement either. Still Kaoru stood and watched him for a moment. "Let's get you back to your room okay?"

She bent over and grabbed his arm. His flinch was completely unexpected and caused her to back up and hit the other wall of the hallway.

"Oh-I'm sorry-I didn't," she began.

"No."

"Pardon me?"

"Don't be sorry. It's not your fault." Now, the odd boy refused to make eye contact. Kaoru nodded her head slowly.

"Can...I help you up now?"

Kenshin waited a moment before finally standing, refusing to have fallen so low he needed help to stand from a mere dojo trainer. She gave him a worried glance but just sighed and walked down the hallway gesturing for him to follow.

"So what happened exactly," Megumi asked Kaoru outside of the room.

"I don't know. All I heard was a groan so I went to find out who it was and I saw him. He was leaning against the wall, down on the ground. There's something weird about him..."

"Maybe it's the fact that he is a killer Kaoru," she reminded.

"He doesn't want to be. I-I called him Battousai and he asked me to call him Kenshin, just Kenshin."

"No last name?"

"None that he told me," she replied truthfully. "He also flinched when I touched him. I don't know if he's insane or just hurting," she added.

Megumi nodded and turned towards the door, placing her hand on the handle. "Thank you Kaoru," she said before sliding it open and stepping inside.

Kenshin heard the hushed voices outside of the door but didn't care or understand what they were saying. That sword woman had insisted that the doctor come and check up on him. He hadn't protested, but did not agree with the idea. Finally though, the door slid open and a slightly older women stepped in.

She gave him a warm smile and walked closer. He didn't move from his cross-legged position on the futon. He only kept his head down and refused to speak first, if at all.

"So, Kaoru tells me your name is Kenshin," she said breaking the silence.

He nodded.

"Do you perhaps have a last name?"

He chose to neither nod or answer that time. Just ignore it was what he told himself.

"Not much of a talker are you," she asked softly. "Well, I'm going to have to check your wounds and make sure everything else is okay...last night I wasn't really able to do so."

He blinked but showed no other sign of recognition.

"Kenshin..." she tried again. Nothing. She sighed lightly. "Okay, you don't have to talk. Would you please remove your Gi?"

She said it as if it were as simple as asking him to remove a sandal, as simple as removing a sock and giving it to her. Sure, she did this almost everyday but Kenshin sure didn't. He looked up now, watching her to see if she was joking and if not, tell him he didn't have to. She turned around again, expecting to see him without a Gi and raised an eyebrow when he wasn't.

"Well come on. I can't rightly examine you with your top on." She turned again, fixing something on the side of her own kimono. A loose thread or something.

Kenshin gave a sigh and finally, hesitantly untied the Gi. He still had the bandages wrapped around his middle. Odd, he hadn't even noticed those. When she turned back to him she smiled and stood to walk over to his other side. Carefully she undid the bandages so that he was bare-chested in front of her.

"Kami-sama...are these all from the war," she asked referring to his scarred chest. She didn't wait for an answer, but proceeded to check the wound at his side. "Good news! I think you can do without a bandage. If it starts bleeding again, we'll wrap it up again. Now..."

She turned her attentions to the several scars crisscrossing themselves on his upper body. At one particularly large one, she reached out and checked it to make sure it was fully healed.

"More good news. Your other injuries are-"

She stopped when she saw a look of embarrassment cross the young soldier's face. She let out a laugh.

"So you're a shy one are you," she asked cheerfully. "Well isn't that cute?"

When his face didn't lighten up, she shook her head sympathetically. Apparently, he could slaughter men he didn't know in a second without another thought, but couldn't handle a little doctor's examination.

"I assure you Ken-san, you have nothing I haven't seen before," she said with a sly smile. She had hoped to make him feel a little more comfortable. Unfortunately, he only reddened in the face a bit and looked away again. This time Megumi put on her serious face.

"Okay, I guess you truly are a bit shy...I promise I'll try and make you as comfortable as possible, but please cooperate, okay? I'm a professional doctor so don't worry. Perhaps though, if you would feel more comfortable with Dr. Gensai coming over, I could ask him to come by."

He shook his head slowly. "No, I'm sorry."

"It's quite alright."

She smiled now and continued, checking wounds that might look bad or could reopen. He was still very tense, but had relaxed at least a little bit and this in Megumi's mind was a positive step forward. Finally, she was finished.

"Here, you can put your Gi back on again. One question, do you know if you have any lower injuries, other than your upper body?"

Kenshin immediately shook his head 'no' and even answered to reassure her. "No, I'm quite positive I don't."

She laughed. "Okay, I'll take your word for it." She sat back and looked at him for a moment. "So, you must be terribly young. I would have to say 16, but that would mean you started killing when you were only 12...that's amazing."

Kenshin looked up at her, slightly amused. "You're closer than most. Most say 14."

"You could probably pass as 14, but I am a doctor. So...how old are you really," she asked, relieved to know he hadn't started at the age of 12. Poor thing.

He hesitated only a moment.

"18."

Oh, not much better. So he had been 14. No wonder he was so...odd. "You poor thing," she said out loud. She looked at him quickly. "Oops, sorry."

"No, it's okay."

She stood, and headed towards the door again. "Well for now, I think you're out of the danger zone. You still have a slight fever which is why you're so cold and have goose bumps. Perhaps you should come outside with the others. They're quite anxious to meet you," she said while smiling. "The sun might do you good as well."

He certainly was pale. Well, what could you expect from a shadow assassin? She wondered how long it had been since he was in the sunlight. To her near surprise, he actually stood up and followed her when she went out the door.

"Are you hungry," she asked.

"No thank you." He paused, before continuing. "You never told me your name..."

"Oh! Forgive my rudeness! I'm Megumi Takani, but please, just call me Megumi."

Oh yes, Megumi. Kenshin remembered Kaoru mentioning that. He must've been to out of it to register the information. He nodded to show he understood and they continued their way outside. The students were still in the training hall with Kaoru and as they walked past, several students stopped to stare, their eyes going wide. Kaoru promptly yelled at their lack of attention and they forgot all about the "Battousai look-alike".

Sano was outside already as well as Yahiko. Both of the boys were lounging around on the porch. Sano had a piece of grain stuck between his teeth and Yahiko had a trail of drool coming from his mouth. Megumi gave a sound of disgust.

"Just look at them," she said gesturing at them with her hand. "You could never tell they were asleep only about two hours ago."

She extended a foot and nudged both of them in the side hard. Sano gave a loud snort of surprise and Yahiko awoke, sitting up straight, whimpering,

"I'm sorry Kaoru." He looked around and saw Megumi standing before him. He laid back down, leisurely resting his head on his hands. "Oh, it's just you Megumi."

She was about to kick him again, but he quickly sat up again when he saw Kenshin standing next to her. He stood up followed up Sano who both tried hard not to stare...to much.

"Uhh, Mr. Battousai? I-"

"It's Kenshin you idiot," Megumi said while rolling her eyes. "Mr. Battousai..." she muttered. "Of all things."

Yahiko snickered. "Kenshin then. Say, you wanna grab something to eat in town? I'm sure you have lots of cool and interesting stories to tell!"

"Yahiko!" Megumi sounded appalled. "How dare you!"

His grin was replaced by a look of pure terror and he looked back to Kenshin.

"S-Sorry Kenshin! I didn't mean anything! Honest!"

He only shook his head, not really paying attention to the frightened boy. Yeah...interesting stories alright...

Author's Notes: Dumb Yahiko...well someone had to be the idiot here! Lol.

Okay, huge feminist here, so the Megumi/Sano scene kinda reflected my own views on people who are sexist! I can't stand it! Lol! Thanks for reading! I would really appreciate some reviews! Thanks so much guys! I wish I could respond to each and every one of you but then I would never get these chapters out. I read and love them all though!