Fun times. I'll try to pay closer attention to my grammar. I was cringing reading through my last chapter. Apparently I felt 'is' and 'are' were interchangeable for one sentence. Silly me. Or, rather, I are silly. XD Sometimes I think that I should pay closer attention the horrid green squigglies that infest my fics. Sometimes I think I should learn not to use sentences fragments. Only time will tell.

Basically, sorry my editing continues to be "teh suck".

I think this will end up being 9 parts in total. One full chapter and something more like an epilogue. Will try to get them out soon. Everything's all planned after all.

Disclaimer: I dunna own Rurouni Kenshin, and I dunna own the characters used within.

Chapter 7

Enishi practically stormed into the office, kicking old wood with enough force to shatter the impact points to splinters. To say he was in a bad mood was a terrible understatement. It wasn't a black mood, or even a foul one, and while murderous wasn't too far away it didn't quite eclipse just how he was practically radiating danger. Behind him a man tried not to whimper.

"This! This is all that's left of my offices here!" He sat down heavily on the corner of the desk and felt it jar as one of the legs was crushed and consequently fell off. Since this was a major port for the kingdom, Shishio had largely left it untouched so that the business infrastructure could get back on its feet as fast as possible. He wasn't stupid, he knew a kingdom needed its fields and ships. . . even if most of the people were disposable. Because of that, Enishi had been fairly confident that his operations could be resumed where he was making the most money. His assets had been frozen, of course, as soon as he had disappeared. . . but not everything he owned was legally declared. This little house that had been a temporary storage facility for smuggled goods was the main base in town which he would visit for reports of his less than legal activities.

It wasn't as if he didn't have a second in command. . . what had happened to that tightly run organization of his?

"Sorry, sir, but when you left. . . well. . . Houji and Heishin both started claiming that they were the ones who were really left in charge when you up and disappeared, Mr. Yukishiro, sir." This servile balding man had been a janitor. It seemed like he had been squatting here ever since the building had been gutted. No rent to pay. With Enishi back he seemed to be deathly afraid that the former crime lord would take out his anger on him. Enishi very nearly did.

"Let me guess, people took sides and then there was a rather pitched battle." The scars on the wall where people had been backed against it while fighting showed him all the information he needed to know about how things went. Most of the blood seemed to have been scrubbed off of the wall at least.

"Yessir."

Times like this, he wished he smoked.

"Get me some food. I don't care what it is so long as it's hot and there's a lot of it."

"Sir, I have food here. . ." Enishi gave him a glare that had him scurrying away without any more color commentary. He wasn't in the mood to hear it. And this man had to get out of his company for his own good. When did he become so kind as to dismiss underlings before he abused them for their own incompetence?

She made me weak. . .

It wasn't the first time he had thought that. There were the little things, the way he had stole some old nag from a farmer instead of a good horse when a voice of conscience he had never had before pulled him away from that sprightly looking stallion. She was there when he actually asked some farmer down the road to spend the night instead of sleeping in the barn and stealing supplies in the morning. And now that he was in the same city as her, he was determined to settle things. After all, he was still a part of the resistance and they couldn't deny him that much. There would be ways of finding out where she was. Subterfuge was largely unnecessary. All he had to do was find that Myoujin brat. Or Sagara. They would know, and either was an easy target to pump for answers.

The only problem was Shinomori. The man was like a hawk, and Goro no less vigilant. Even so, he was sure it wasn't enough. He was sure she needed him. And damn it all if he didn't want to go and talk to her, explain why he had left without speaking to her. He never explained things to anyone, but it was almost an irresistible impulse.

While he had thought he was being strong and getting a head start on the long trek back to where the new center of the resistance lay, Enishi knew he had really left because of petty jealousy. He wanted to punish her for choosing to go with Shinomori so quickly. It had been a decision fitting a monarch, perhaps, but a part of him wished she had put up more of a fight. The fire she showed him on a daily basis seemed to be dashed from her as soon as she took up the mantle of her title once more.

Damn it all if he knew why he wanted to see her again, to protect her, but he was sure if he dug down deep for the answer he wouldn't like it. So, being who he was, he went with his gut. And his gut said that he was the best person to guard her. If it was grounded in sentimentality, he excused it away as his attempt to get closer to the future monarch. It was a calculated step.

The boiling fear for her safety unsettling his sleep was simply an anomalous reaction. Yeah. Sure it was.

As he sat on the desk another leg finally gave out, dropping an entire side of the desk a little further down. Enishi sighed.

Kaoru sighed.

It had been a week since she had arrived and already it was too cold. It was only mid-autumn, but a cold snap was making it feel like winter. She tried to be gloomy, to drown herself in the melancholy of cold weather, but most days she was pretty happy if a little bored. If she needed something, Misao was always in attendance. Misao was nice enough, even if her favorite topics of conversation seemed to consist of Aoshi, complaining about the dance classes, Aoshi, and sometimes the glamour of court life. And of course Aoshi. For someone Kaoru had never thought too much about before she felt like she was privy to nearly everything that had happened to him since he was old enough to carry a sword. Misao was an expert at coaxing out information, or she must be, if she knew so much about the man.

Misao would ask questions about Kaoru's life as a princess, seeming to think that it was something fraught with romantic encounters, rich food, and pretty dresses. Kaoru tried not to focus on those past endless attempts at tutoring her in conduct and academics, or the stifling sense of loneliness that her elevated position had given her. She tried to be positive, but when Misao launched into her hypothetical musings about how wonderful her life would be when Kaoru was queen, Kaoru would always avert her eyes or look out a window. At first she had been searching for someon. . .something. Now she just didn't want Misao to see her honest confusion over the future.

Being queen didn't seem like such a great honor. It was just all that was left for her with her almost family busted up and revealed as guardsmen. It hadn't been so great a surprise when Aoshi had finally realized who she was, and she had felt mighty foolish for thinking they could be anything but trained fighters from the start. She had even convinced herself that they were related. How gullible could she be? What woodsmen forced their little brothers to practice sword drills endlessly, or who had to confer with one another over the proper way to fix a table? They didn't know anything about the daily running of a house, but she remembered them stifling an argument about fighting styles as she rounded a corner.

Admit it Kaoru, you just didn't want to see it.

What had been even more demoralizing than reclaiming her title was the revelations she was treated to about Enishi Yukishiro, one of the kingdom's most wanted and most notorious criminals before Shishio had shown his face. Could she imagine him capable of the things Misao had told her about (most likely prompted by Aoshi)? Yes. Certainly she could. She lived with the man for several months. He was just as Misao warned her, a suspicious, lethal, opportunistic, revenge obsessed, villain. But people are more than the sum of their reputation, and Kaoru knew the Enishi who had been on the verge of opening up, of talking to her, and she would never forget the Enishi she had kissed. Two years was a long time to be away from the criminal underground. People were not the same people after two years, and to judge him by what he had been would be like. . . Misao's blind adoration of her mythical life as a princess. It was just more assumptions.

However, the bastard hadn't contacted her yet so she vilified him out loud to her heart's content. It wasn't entirely false, on her part, since she was truly angry. But once she calmed down, she knew her comments were not sincere. She missed the jerk.

"Kaoru!" Misao burst into the room. They had done away with the formal titles quickly because Misao couldn't seem to decide on just one and Kaoru had been answering to most of the variations she had thought up, such as Your Sereneness, and Your High Grace. In Misao's arms were boxes, and Kaoru had a sinking feeling she knew what was in them. After expressing the desire for some warmer clothes, Misao took it upon herself to dress Kaoru up like the princess she thought she should be. Somehow this translated to "gaudy color explosion, with lace trim".

"I told you I didn't need any more dresses, Tokio gave me some of her old ones and they'll do for now. Stop wasting your money, Misao!" Kaoru felt that thrifty side of her bristle, but even worse she felt like a charity case.

Misao drew out a bunch of see through undergarments, most of them probably more fitting for women of questionable virtue. Kaoru was intrigued but couldn't wear such things even if she wanted to, it was too cold.

"I found the best stuff today, all night clothes and stuff. I got all this before I found something really pretty." Misao held a box over her head like a trophy and then set it down carefully amid the explosion of clothes to pull out a rather beautiful long nightgown. It looked like silk, and was a creamy pink that drew Kaoru's eye. "The lady who I got it from said it was fit for a princess, and I got a killer deal since it was the end of the day and she was packing up. I can haggle like a pro when I want to."

Kaoru examined the lacing in the front, happy to have something nice to sleep in. Silk was one of those things she did miss from her old life, only because of its beauty and the smooth feeling of it against her skin. "Thank you, Misao, really."

"I'm glad you like it." Misao grinned fit to split her face. "You've been the walking dead for like two days."

"I have not!"

"Have so!" Misao pulled herself up straight and put her hands on her hips. "I have to give full reports to Tokio and Aoshi about you every day. And you've been, er, droopy. You want to see an impression?" Misao sighed, then slumped her shoulders and dragged herself over to the window. After she sighed again and draped a hand theatrically across her forehead, Kaoru pelted her with undergarments.

She laughed a little. "I'm not that bad, am I?"

"Pretty close. Cheer up, right? Hey, you want some dinner, I was going to raid the kitchens."

"That's fine, I ate not too long ago, and I was going to turn in early tonight."

Misao looked concerned about this. Kaoru had been sleeping an awful lot since she got here. Even she was beginning to realize how unhealthy it was, but right now she didn't want to deal with it. After gathering up the one nice nightgown, Kaoru dumped the rest of the pile on Misao who wandered out trailing bloomers with pink bows and black see through stockings behind her.

"G'night Kaoru."

"Night, Misao."

It wasn't even eight o'clock yet and she was thinking about turning in. Ah well. At least she had something nice to put on. Rain began to pound outside, creating a lulling sound. Not cold enough to snow yet, but close, and it would probably be like ice outside tomorrow when the pre dawn temperature dip hit. Shivering in the room, Kaoru got out of her clothes and into the nightgown as fast as possible. There was lacing up the front and she hastily pulled at it, tying a loose bow and climbing under the covers of her bed in the corner.

Her shivering was stopping, but she noticed that she had left the lamp lit on the other side of the room. With a sigh she got up and began to cross when she noted she felt a little short of breath. Kaoru pulled at the lacings but they held fast, even tightened as she fought to inhale deeply enough. By the time she realized she was in real trouble of having her rib cage crushed, she couldn't take a deep enough breath to cry out. Tears of anger began to form in the corners of her eyes. It was a stupid way to die, suffocated by a nightgown.

She gave one more wheeze, which was all she knew she'd get at the rate it was tightening. There had to be something in the room to help her. This was blindingly painful, and one of her nails broke as she sawed at a glossy pink ribbon. She could see spots. Had she struggled to the window, it was suddenly colder. Maybe if she could make enough noises. . . no it was raining hard, no one would hear unless she could break that lamp loudly enough.

At once she was freed, and she gasped like a dying fish as precious oxygen was drawn back into her body. Something dripped onto her face and soaked through the side of her nightgown before she felt like she was being crushed again. Arms around her shook slightly as her savior pulled back, to reveal aqua eyes under a mottled grey and dark brown camouflage mask.

Kaoru coughed and tried to put her wits back together while Enishi pulled off his mask, letting his hair spring free. The angry tears that had been threatening to fall became relieved ones and she gave a hiccupping sob mixed with her continued gasping while Enishi examined her face with a mixture of anxiety and anger.

"I knew they couldn't protect you properly. Shinomori and Goro think like army men, not criminals. . ."

Of course, at that moment Misao had to enter with a steaming cup of something that hit the floor as soon as she opened the door. It was easy to misread the situation, Kaoru reflected, unable to explain as her ribs continued to insist she was being crushed. Enishi, dripping wet and obviously an intruder, was perched over her, knife in hand. Kaoru was sobbing and gasping under him, nightgown sliced down the middle. Throwing stars seemed to practically materialize in Misao's hands as the small woman threw a small arsenal in Enishi's direction. He dodged easily enough. . . behind Kaoru.

"You coward! Let her go, you'll never get out of here alive!"

"Misch-hurgh." Kaoru had almost gotten a word out. Her panicked breathes had turned more steady and she would be able to get something going in the communication department. Until then, she held out her arms in front of Enishi, shaking her head.

"Kaoru! What are you doing!" Misao looked hurt. Kaoru held up a finger, asking for a moment or two, and she felt Enishi's arms wrap around her waist, holding scraps of silk to her and hiding her modesty while being entirely indecent at the same time.

They stayed in silent tableau while Kaoru found her breath again and then she said simply. "He saved me."

"What?"

"I don't know how, but this nightgown you gave me had some sort of a. . .a. . . spell on it." She gasped, a sentence even that long was a lot of effort. "Why are you here?" Kaoru twisted her face to try to catch Enishi's eye.

Misao still looked poised to strike if he made a move. Enishi regarded her with amusement, and Kaoru wished he wouldn't. He had enough enemies in this household as it was.

"I ran into Sagara who is most upset he wasn't given guard duty for you. It didn't take too much of a runaround to get a name, and then all I had to do was follow the braid girl around town until she stopped here." Enishi stroked the side of her jaw. "Good thing I did too. The rain was particularly lucky, since any noises I made were sure to be covered up. Is that enough for you? I'm not going to hurt her." He snapped that last bit at Misao who was looking unsure but still very agitated.

"Kaoru?"

"It's. . .ok. Just go get Tokio." Misao didn't need to be told that twice and was gone in a flash. "And. . . hurg. . . you. Outside. Now."

Enishi looked at her like he couldn't believe what she had said, his arm tightening painfully around her.

"I need to change. . . urg. . . and just because you saved my life. . . ahhh, ow. . . doesn't mean you get to see me naked!"

"Oh really?" He nuzzled his nose against her neck, but it wasn't his cold skin that made her shiver and she was glad she was already obviously out of breath.

"OUT!"

"Shinomori is having a fit."

"As well he should, my dear, since you exposed our precious puzzle piece to danger."

Tokio bit into a pear and snorted at her husband. "The danger she was in was nothing of my doing, and not something I could have prevented. And I knew Yukishiro was on the grounds the whole time."

"I did wonder why he wasn't slashed into small pieces by now. You treat that girl like she was your own daughter."

Now Tokio sat up and gave him a dangerous glare. "If that were true she'd be yours too and maybe you'd think of her as more than a strategic gain but as a person too."

"Changing the subject won't get you out of explaining why you allowed Yukishiro within a thousand feet of the princess. You know how unpredictable he is, and we can't have random factors messing things up at this stage."

"I had a feeling," Tokio looked levelly at Goro. "And you haven't been the one living with a mopey princess for the better part of a week."

Goro narrowed his eyes, their pale yellow irises not unlike the wolf he had often been accused of being. "You endangered the princess, let someone who was ordered to be strictly kept away from her into her company with no idea of his motives, and all because you had a feeling and were annoyed?"

"Before you pretend you have enough high ground in this discussion to demoralize me, I would like to point out some important facts to you." Tokio set the pear down on the table next to her and leaned back in her chair. "I know for a fact that you watch over your soldiers and make sure they are performing up to standard, but you have something far more important than any one soldier occupying a space in your house and you can barely think of her as something beyond a symbol. We need her to be inspirational, we need her to be willing, but what we don't need is a colorless and spiritless shell of a person just poised to discourage our soldiers on the eve of battle!"

Tokio picked up her fruit again, and took a bite.

"Besides, I like Yukishiro. He's got guts to try to sneak into my house."

"Our house."

"When was the last time you were back there?" She gave him a more concerned smile. "And when was the last time you had a full night of sleep?"

"No sleep for the wicked, my dear." Goro tried to smile, but it faltered on the way to his lips. "Will the princess be in a state to address the troops by the end of next week? I wanted to get them fired up before the attack. There's such a small window before the first snow."

Tokio gave a glance to her husband that said it was a surprisingly stupid question to come from him. "Of course she will; she's the princess. She knows her duty as well as we know ours." Goro continued to look skeptical.

Yumi paced about her room looking as perfect in her beauty as she ever had, and yet she burned with the knowledge that she was still a far second behind. . . Kaoru. More than a week ago, when she had asked the mirror her usual question she had gone into hysterics when someone who should have been a picked over corpse appeared to be riding a horse at breakneck pace across the countryside. It was impossible. The girl's heart had been practically enshrined in the trophy room next to the heads of great horned beasts and snarling many toothed fishes. She had confronted Soujirou who calmly smiled and told her that he had never lied to her. The princess had been escorted out of the kingdom and he had brought her back a heart.

When she struck him, her nails had left claw-like gouges on his youthful face. He had not ducked, and he gave her the usual cordial bow when she stalked back to her room. Infuriating boy. Impossible and unpredictable. She would kill him if he weren't so useful.

She almost thought she recognized the man traveling with Kaoru, but Yumi had often flirted with handsome men and they all ran together until Shishio came along. It took constant vigilance at the mirror to figure out where Kaoru was, and who she was with. All Yumi could see was Kaoru and her immediate surroundings, so it took a while.

As soon as she had an idea, she formed a plan. She had one of her ladies in waiting take a number of clothing items she had spelled with various deadly charms and travel to sell them to Kaoru's lady in waiting, the girl with big eyes and a long braid down her back. Yumi had waited, neither eating nor sleeping while she watched the mirror for signs that her trap would spring. Then when the braid girl brought in the nightgown, Yumi had crowed with relief. Here was victory. . .

. . . that was snatched from her grasp by a white haired interloper.

It seemed Yumi would have to leave the palace and take care of things personally. What a distasteful prospect. She would question her lady in waiting as to where she had encountered the braid girl and then figure things out from there. Shishio need not know, he had his own troubles lately. When she came to him with certain knowledge that the princess was dead then maybe he would look upon her kindly for easing some of his burden.

The last attempt had been too hasty. The next try would need to be subtle. Something lingering, something painful. . .

Something disfiguring.

Yumi laughed until she fell down into a faint, after days of no food and sleep, and mercifully she did not dream.