Excerpt from previous chapter:

"Oiii what's that smell? I know Jou-chan doesn't cook that well!" Sano walked in the room and suddenly froze when he spotted the infamous Seta Soujiro.

"You!" Sano stood in shock as he saw the boy who he thought he would never see again, at least not so soon.

"S-Sano!" Kaoru exclaimed.

"What the hell is this bastard doing here?" Sano pointed to Soujiro as he walked towards him dangerously.

"Sano! That's rude!" Kaoru was beginning to get mad.

"What's messed up is that this punk is your house," Sano grabbed Soujiro by the collar.

"Put him down!" Kaoru ran over.

"It's okay Kaoru, this was my fault. Please excuse me for disturbing you Sagara-san, if you'll put me down I'll leave peacefully." Soujiro smiled.

"You and that freaking retarded smile, tch." Sano put down Soujiro, only out of respect for Kaoru. Soujiro walked towards the door as Kaoru followed.

"Soujiro, don't leave-" Kaoru grabbed on to his sleeve.

"No, really I must. It's alright," he gently removed Kaoru hand.

"Are you leaving for good?" she remembered that he was only staying in Tokyo for a limited time. " I, I don't want to say goodbye this way," Kaoru looked saddened which made Soujiro laugh at her innocence. This scene made Sano sick to his stomach. Had Kenshin's absence made her go crazy? How could she forget the fact that he almost killed Kenshin?

"Don't worry Kaoru-san, we'll meet again before I depart, I promise," Soujiro remembering how Kenshin had left her and how she was still in the wake of that tragedy added, "I won't leave without saying goodbye." Soujiro smiled and bowed, even to an angry Sano in the background and left. Kaoru regained her composure and walked towards Sano. Kaoru knew that she had gotten too attached to him too soon, acting boldly, which she never had with Kenshin, but she couldn't control her actions, she just did what her heart moved her to do. She felt that this was due to the fact that they needed each other and filled each other's void for companionship.

"Why the hell did you treat him like?" Kaoru was very angry and Sano clearly saw that she didn't understand.

"Who was that Sano?" Yahiko was now very curious as to who exactly was this person for Sano to treat him so harshly.

"You are so ignorant. Don't you know he fought Kenshin right before his battle with Shishio?"

"Yea, you guys told me that he was a troubled boy who didn't want to kill!"

"That's what we think, we don't know for sure, it could have been an act. Don't you see the possible danger? Geez…sometimes you are too careless." Sano looked to the side waiting a scolding.

"But that's exactly what Kenshin was and he isn't a killer anymore!" Kaoru, already frustrated by everything shed a tear but quickly wiped it away.

"Yeah, but that is a one in a million chance. He could kill you in a second. How do you know he isn't using you to get close to you just to kill you and get back at Kenshin? Think about it, Kenshin was there when someone close to Soujiro died, he might even think Kenshin killed him, why wouldn't he take revenge? Since you are the closest person to Kenshin and the person he most cares about it makes just that much easier. That's just common sense, you're too gullible." Sano knew that he was a little harsh but he had to make sure she saw the point.

"What are you talking about? You haven't even talked to him! You don't know him. Besides, if I am the one who means the most to Kenshin then why does he leave me without a single word! Not even a promise of return. Soujiro who barely knows me could promise me that much! I'll take my own risks, you don't need to protect something that Kenshin doesn't regard," Kaoru looked in Sano's direction but could only see the outline of his figure, her tears had welled up so much that they had blocked her vision.

"Jou-chan," He said tenderly feeling her pain, "consider why he might be gone, don't automatically assume-"

"Yahiko, go to the dojo, I am going to change and then I'll meet you there," Kaoru stormed off.

"Damn she's so stubborn. Yahiko, if you ever see that guy around here again, send him away and don't tell her, he is only trouble." Sano too walked out; he was going to find out more information about Kenshin's disappearance and now he had a clue. It was too convenient that Kenshin was acting odd and Soujiro's sudden appearance, now it was time to find out the correlation.

"Will anybody just tell me who the jerk is!" Yahiko began to become frustrated as Sano also walked away.

"So you say there is some guy walking around Tokyo with a 'freaking retarded smile' on his face? That could be anybody! Try again," A man with long, shoulder length brown hair said.

"Ugh, you know, that stupid kid that used to hang around with the flaming idiot, Shishio. Raise," Sano put down two coins.

"Evens, you lose. Oh that kid! What about him? Evens or Odd?" The man put down three coins and held the dice in his hands.

"Odds. Is he the one who has been causing the rumors?" Sano put down the same amount of coins down.

"I'm not sure, I'd have to find out. I know the man isn't very tall and that he is quiet young and has even been reported to be friendly with people. Evens, you really stink," The man smirked as he collected his pot.

"Can your write down that description for me? Bastard! Are you rigging this? The last ten have been against me!"

"How else am I suppose to get my commission for giving you information? You never pay me!" His friend chuckled and quickly collected the money and then wrote down the description of the man. "That's all I know, when I find out more I'll let you know."

"Alright, I'll come around here later, next time we play for real, bastard," Sano smirked and waved his hand in the air as he walked away.

'So that idiot is probably involved, I knew it. Kenshin is probably trying to find who the person is and doesn't know that he was in his own home, tch. And that stupid girl went out and found him and is being all friendly with his fake ass. I kind of feel bad for her though…damn it.'

Excerpt from the following chapter:

" 'Kaoru-san….Kaoru-san….Kaoru…'Soujiro poked Kaoru's dreamy face. He noted her fair complexion and how peaceful and serene she looked under the setting sun and shade of the trees and before he noticed his face was moving closer and closer to hers, some magnetic force was pulling him towards her, to feel this patch of serenity."