A/N: I remember writing this chapter. It was so much fun to write! Thanks are give to Nekotsuki who my beta for this chapter! VOTE FOR HER IN THE RKRC AWARDS! -cough- Of course I mean… only if you read her story and liked it. Here's the link! Http : (slash)(slash)rkrc(dot)meijitales(dot)com(slash)

Now for the reviews!

droparmor - I do hope you realize that chapter 16 wasn't the last chapter.

Yukimi Daimouru - I hope this was a quick enough update!

WolfDaughter - Yes, Hiroko is human, and therefore will feel compassion about some things

lolo popoki - I doubt they'll ever come here seeing I live in Hicksville USA. I had to travel three hours to see Hoobstank. Also, I'm about the only one who likes System of A Down in my family, so no one would go with me and it's more fun if you have someone to go with you.

FairyMage - Laugh away!

AuburnMoonlight - Yes, beta's rock. Try asking some of your reviewers to do it. Not me… I suck. And if you have a reviewer that will do it they will be able to understand the story better.

Hitokiri Musei - Here you go! The next chapter!

Chapter 17 - Escape

Kenshin struggled as he moved through the bushes. Avoiding the roads would make discovery less likely, but trying to pick his way through the branches that reached out to scratch at him and carrying Neko was proving to be a daunting task.

The night passed and daylight slowly crept up on him. He wasn't sure how much time had passed since the night Hiroko had sprung his trap. He tried to keep his mind focused on that as he stumbled along, trying not to fall. He tried to not think about the growing knot in his side, how hard it was getting to breathe, how his legs felt like rubber, how blurry his vision was getting, or how much his body simply pained him.

As the sun rose higher, Kenshin's speed slowed. He had to pause more often to get a better grip on Neko, who seemed with each passing second to be gaining weight. It was getting harder to even lift his weary legs. On and on he pushed forward, trying to find some familiar landscape. Finally, his legs just wouldn't move no matter how much he tried.

"I'm going to put you down now," he warned, as he leaned forward and set Neko onto the ground. His back groaned in protest, and once she was safely on the ground he fell beside her, panting.

"Kenshin, are you okay?" Neko asked, concern written clearly across her young face.

He forced himself to smile. "Yes, I'm fine. Just tired." Every joint felt as if it was on fire, not to mention he felt sick and dizzy, but he wouldn't let her know that. He closed his eyes and waited for a wave of nausea to pass. They did not reopen.

"Kenshin?" Neko called out softly. "Are you asleep?" When she didn't get a response, she took that as a yes. She hugged herself and tried to stop her shivering by snuggling up closer to her angel. She was tired too; she let her eyes slowly fall, dragging her under.

Time passed and the two slept undisturbed. "Neko." A voice called out to her. Groggily she raised her head. She looked around looking for the person that called her name. Seeing no one she let her head fall back down. "Neko, you have soft hair." Once again, she shot her head up. Muroi stood just behind them with a twisted smile on his face. He took a step forward, and Neko screamed.

Kenshin was pulled from his sleep abruptly when Neko screamed. 'I fell asleep!' Panic crept in and his hand flew to his hilt. Had Hiroko found them? He looked around, but he saw no one. He looked down at Neko, who had stopped screaming. "What's wrong?"

"I… I thought… I thought I saw Muroi!" She said breathless, eyes wide.

"Muroi's dead," Kenshin stated. "You were dreaming."

She nodded, agreeing with him. "I'm sorry."

"It's alright." Kenshin sighed. "We should get going, anyway." He moved to stand, and was discouraged by how stiff his muscles were. He wrapped his arms around Neko and stood. He didn't move right away, as the world started to spin. He waited for it to slow, then pushed on.

He couldn't go as far; he soon found himself dragging his feet. More then once, he had nearly fallen. He had to stop and rest frequently. The heat of the day wasn't helping any, as sweat made his bangs stick to his forehead.

He needed to stop again. It was getting hard to breath, but he kept going. He couldn't stop, he had to figure out where they were and get to Katsura, who he guessed thought him long dead by now. He smiled; wouldn't Katsura be surprised when he walked through the door? As he pictured Katsura's face of surprise and concern, he wavered. Pressing his shoulder into a tree, he waited for the wave of dizziness to pass.

"Kenshin?" Neko looked up at him. "Kenshin please, let's rest." He shook his head, unable to gather enough oxygen to speak. He pushed himself off the tree. "Please Kenshin, stop." He didn't get very far. He went to take in a breath of air and he started to cough. He couldn't stop the coughing. "Kenshin!" She yelled, concerned for him as he fell to his knees.

He quickly set Neko down, and covered his mouth. He fell forward and had to hold himself up with his arm. The coughing shook his entire body. It made his throat burn and his chest ache. It echoed loudly in his ears; he barely heard Neko calling his name. Finally the spell passed, but it took with it the rest of Kenshin's strength. As the last cough finally got out of his system, his arm gave out from underneath him and he fell face first to the ground. 'I'm tired.' Reluctantly, his eyes closed into a forced sleep.

"Kenshin!" Neko yelled, worried about him. She leaned over and shook him. "Kenshin!" He opened his eyes a moment, looked at her, and closed them again. She breathed a sigh of relief; he was just sleeping, he was okay. Well, for the most part okay.

When Kenshin finally woke, darkness had long ago covered the land. Neko was sitting up, running over a cut on her lip with her tongue. Her green eyes pierced the darkness as she stared at nothing. Kenshin moaned slightly and sat up. His head felt heavy as he sat there for a moment. His stomach growled slightly, reminding him that he hadn't brought any food with him. He sighed, it didn't matter; they just had to keep going. "Let's go, Neko."

She shook her head. "No, you're tired. Let's stay here." She blinked once and focused her eyes on him.

"I'm fine, we have to keep moving."

Again she shook her head. "But you'll hurt yourself. Please, can't we stay here?"

"Neko, we have to keep moving or Hiroko will find us."

For a third time she shook her head. "No, he won't! He won't find us! You have to rest! He can't find us!" Kenshin didn't listen to her and stood up. "Please sit down, please. I don't want you to get hurt! Please."

"Neko, Hiroko isn't stupid. He will find us if we don't keep moving. If he finds us he'll kill us, understand?" She nodded. "So we have to keep moving." He bent over and picked her up. He found that she was shivering. "It's alright, I won't let him find us, all right?" He said trying to keep her calm. "There's no reason to be scared."

They started off, but it didn't take long for Kenshin to start to lose his sense of balance. He stopped frequently when his eyes would blur, and his ears would burn. Again, his body gave out on him and he was forced to stop. 'This isn't good. I can't keep going.' Again, he ignored Neko's protest and pushed on. This went on all night, with the space between each stop becoming shorter and shorter.

Finally, Kenshin fell and he just couldn't get up again. He leaned against a tree and tried to push himself up, but he couldn't make his legs obey him. 'I'm done, I have no strength left.' He hated to admit it, but he had to face facts. Darkness crept into his vision; he knew he didn't have much time before he was pulled under. "Neko, I need you to listen to me. You have to do exactly what I say, okay?" The little girl nodded, looking up at him with worried eyes. "You have to go on, I know you can't walk, you'll have to drag yourself." He moaned, it was getting hard to stay awake.

"What about you?" Tears were falling from her eyes. "You're coming too, right?"

"I can't. Neko, you have to go. Just keep going until you can find someone to help you."

"No, no. You're coming too." She buried her head in his arm. "Please, I don't want to be alone."

"You have to go, I'll be fine." He closed his eyes. "Neko, go."

"Kenshin!"

He opened his eyes. "Trust me, just go." His eyes closed again. 'I don't want you to be here when Hiroko comes.' He drifted away on that thought.

"Kenshin!" Her yell didn't wake him this time. She shook him. "Kenshin?" She sobbed, her nose running as she screamed. "Kenshin please don't leave me! Wake up! Wake up!" She started to cough, her panic only made it worse. She whined and snuggled up to Kenshin. "I can't go."

She sat there for a while, listening to Kenshin breathing. "Over here." She lifted her head. She heard a voice. "There's a broken branch over here." Her heart pounded in her chest. "Come on."

"Kenshin." She hissed, shaking him. "Kenshin, we have to go. We have to get out of here." She could hear footsteps getting closer; she shook him harder. "Kenshin!"

"There's someone over there. Hurry up!"

"Kenshin!" They were getting closer. "Wake up!" Her stomach churned.

"There they are!" A few men made their way through the bushes; they were Shinsengumi members. Neko was too afraid to scream. "It's the Battousai."

"He's asleep."

"Look, a girl." One of them walked over to her. "Someone call Hiroko-san."

"No! Go away!" She shouted at them. The one closest to her placed his hand over her mouth.

"Shh." With his other hand, he picked her up and moved her away from Kenshin. "What should we do with her?" He asked the others as he held her. His question went unanswered as Hiroko stormed into the clearing. Neko would have screamed if her mouth had not been covered.

"Where is he?" he asked, looking around.

"Over there, sir."

Hiroko turned towards Kenshin, who was still asleep. He reached down for the sword in his belt. "This isn't yours. So you're a thief as well." Hiroko unsheathed the sword and gazed at it a moment. "Wake up, Kenshin." He took a good hold of the sword and plunged it into Kenshin's right shoulder, pinning him to the tree.

Kenshin cried out in pain and woke up. His eyes were wide with pain and fear. He quickly looked around at all the Shinsengumi members around him, then to the sword in his arm. "Hiroko," he growled. Fresh blood trickled down his arm.

"I've found you, and now I will make you and Neko pay!" he yelled. Kenshin grabbed at the blade of the sword and tried to pull it out. The sharp edge cut through his palm. "No you don't!" Hiroko yelled, as he grabbed his own sword and Kenshin's arm. He pushed Kenshin's hand to the tree and ran his blade through his palm. Kenshin yelled out in agony, blood quickly spilling from the new wound. Tears flowed down his face as the unbearable pain coursed through his body.

"Stop it!" Neko cried, trying to wiggle free from the man that held her. "You're hurting him! Stop it!"

Hiroko turned to her. "You don't want me to hurt him?" he asked, as a twisted smile grew on his face.

She nodded her head. "Please, please stop."

Hiroko turned to one of his men and took his sword. "Alright, I'll stop hurting him." He knelt down next to Kenshin.

Hiroko's body hid Kenshin from her vision, but she could still see his face and she watched it closely. His eyes were closed to block out the pain. Hiroko made a quick jerk of his body and Kenshin's eyes snapped open, a pained yell coming from his throat. 'What happened?' she wondered frantically, as Kenshin's eyes looked back fearfully at her. After a few moments of tense silence he coughed, blood pouring from the corners of his lips. Hiroko stood, revealing a sword sticking out of Kenshin's chest. "KENSHIN!"

He smiled slightly at her, the blood trickling from his lips taking away the purpose of the smile. "It's alright, Neko," he whispered, his eyes dimming.

She didn't know what to say. She felt empty as she watched Kenshin's life flow out of him. Hiroko grabbed the hilt and started pulling the sword out of his chest. A loud cracking was heard as he wriggled the blade free. Kenshin gasped when it finally came loose. Without another thought, Hiroko turned to Neko. "This is the end." He said, raising the blade covered in her angel's blood into the air. "Now, you die." She screamed as the blade was run across her throat. The man holding her let her fall to the ground. She landed hard but she didn't even feel it. She put one hand over her throat; she could feel her slippery blood draining from the wound. She could feel it yet, she wasn't in much pain.

"Ken…shin," she moaned, groping the ground with her other hand as her eyesight dimmed and then left.