A/N: Oh boy, I feel so loved. Reviews! Yay! Some of you were confused with what exactly Kenshin did to Mika at the end of the last chapter so let me clear that up. You know how he has that amazing ability to say stuff with his eyes? Even though he was smiling at her he still made Mika realize she did a bad thing by disturbing him and Kaoru just by looking at her. He had a little of the Battousai in him come out you know? Enjoy this!

Disclaimer a.k.a. The Mini Story: Once upon a time there was an anime series called Rurouni Kenshin. It was loved and cherished by many people. Many young guys strived to be like characters in the fantastic story. Lots of fangirls swooned over the main character because of his flaming red hair, sparkling violet orbs, finely chiseled features, and gorgeous sword. Some people even loved the series so much that they were overcome with the desire to write stories about it. These people had no intention of stealing the series, they just wrote stories to satisfy the more boring or sad parts of their life in hope that other people would read their stories and become very happy just like them! An authoress named The Mystic Firefly was one of those people. She wrote her stories and wanted the world to know that she did not own the masterpiece that was Rurouni Kenshin and that the characters she made up that were for the purpose of her stories were hers.

Chapter 6: Looking For Revenge

There was a silence around the dojo. The small sliver that was the moon shone brightly in the sky. It was very cold out and everything was still. For some reason, Kenshin felt very hot in his room. He had gone to sleep that night feeling warm. Maybe he was getting sick from staying out at night. Thud. Kenshin's eyes shot open. It had been the second time he had been awakened by a soft thud. There was another thud right after it, and another after that. By instinct Kenshin grabbed his sword and stood up. He looked out through the paper-thin walls that surrounded his room and saw shadows moving quickly and quietly. He followed them until they stopped right next to the dojo. There was no way he was going to let any person in the dojo get hurt.

"Hey, I don't think she's in there," a voice whispered.

"Yes she is, there's another room in the back," the second voice answered.

"How do you know that Akira?" a third voice said. This man had a very deep voice as opposed to the other two.

"I've been watching her go into a room in the back," Akira answered.

No. There was no way that someone had been watching them. He would have noticed them right away. That was impossible! Were his senses getting dull? No, he went out in the woods and practiced sometimes, in secret of course. Who were these people?

"Shhhh! Did you hear that?" asked the first voice.

Kenshin mentally cursed at these men. Mika had just said something in her sleep. He couldn't let anything happen. So he waited to see what the men would do.

"Come on lets hurry and get this over with. We don't need the boss mad at us," said the deep voice.

"Do you realize how immense our reward will be after we do this?" the first voice asked.

"If we don't do this now, it will be a fantastic reward if the boss lets us keep our lives," said Akira.

Kenshin saw one of them slide open the shoji. He was so used to seeing in the dark that he could see each of the men perfectly. The first voice came from a smaller man with long fingers and spiky hair. He didn't look too dangerous. All he had with him was a club. Akira was a very tall man with long hair and he had a dagger in his hand and a few tied to his leg. The man with the deep voice was also very tall but he was very muscular. Because he carried no weapons Kenshin guessed he was only there to hold Mika down. When they started to walk towards Mika's door Kenshin decided it would be a perfect time to stop them. He used his god like speed to run in front of them. Apparently they hadn't noticed because they kept walking. They were halfway across the dojo floor and they still kept walking.

"I wouldn't come any closer," Kenshin whispered just loud enough so they could hear.

"Who said that?" demanded Akira.

"That really doesn't matter right now. You aren't welcome and should leave if you know what's best, that you should." Kenshin stepped out of the dark into what small amount of light there was.

"You're that swordsman who lives here," said Akira.

"I am," Kenshin replied.

"What Akira, he's a swordsman? You never said we were going to have to fight anyone!" said the first voice.

It was then Kenshin knew that the first voice would be no obstacle. "I'm going to ask you to leave again. I'd really rather not fight. If it is a fight you're looking for why don't we just wait until morning?"

"We just want to kill that stupid girl and get it over with. Step aside," said the deep voice.

"I can't let you do that, that I can't," said Kenshin.

"Well fine, we'll just have to kill you too," said Akira.

Kenshin ran over to the man who spoke first and took him out with a slash from behind. He ran back over to where he was before and let his sword shine in the light.

"Riku was nothing. I didn't expect him to do much anyway so don't get too cocky," said Akira.

"You're just a shrimp compared to me. You may have a sword but I will crush you. Come here, show me what you've got," said the deep voice.

Kenshin walked up to him and waited. The man didn't move but only stared back at him. Akira stood and did nothing. What was this guy trying to do, stare him to death? Kenshin quickly jumped back a few feet. The man had just thrown lightning fast punches and if it weren't for Kenshin's quick reflexes he was sure he would have been crushed.

"I guess you do have some skill," said Kenshin.

This time the man charged at Kenshin. His punches were fast, almost invisible, but Kenshin was still faster. Kenshin didn't have enough time to run the man around the room until he got tired. Instead he moved out of the way and tripped him with his sword. The man landed on the ground very hard.

"I may be smaller than you but I will never have to fall as hard," said Kenshin. After that he sheathed his sword and jammed the end of his scabbard in the back of the man's head, knocking him out.

Kenshin turned his head when he heard clapping. Apparently Akira was impressed.

"Congratulations, you managed to defeat one of our strongest men."

"So you must be the best then?" Kenshin said in a relaxed way.

"Of course," Akira replied. He took out one of his daggers and flung it Kenshin's head. Kenshin stepped out of the way but he was a little too careless. The dagger had just grazed the edge of his ear.

"You of all people should know never to let your guard down," said Akira.

"I didn't." Kenshin felt foolish for underestimating this man. That was going to stop right now.

"Oh, I forgot to apologize," said Akira. "I didn't mean to shoot your woman with that dart the other night. I guess I should have aimed better."

Kenshin felt a new found rage inside of him. He ran quickly across the room and managed to pin Akira against the wall using his speed.

"I'm sorry did I upset you?" Akira asked.

Kenshin didn't understand why he was still acting so casual. "You're going to pay for what you did to Miss Kaoru."

"Miss? She's so pretty I should have…" Akira was stopped because Kenshin had smacked him in the head with the side of his sword. Apparently that wasn't enough force because Akira kept talking. He must have had a rock solid head.

"Did you ever consider the fact that we were a diversion?"

"What?"

"For that couple of minutes you let your guard down more men could have come."

There was no way. Kenshin would have to hear them. "You lie."

Akira grinned but Kenshin slashed his chest and he was instantly knocked out.

Mika walked out of her room. "What is going…" She looked around the room. It was too dark to see clearly but she could tell Kenshin was standing over a man and there were two other men on the ground.

Kenshin looked up and smiled. "It's okay Miss Mika, I won't let anyone hurt you."

Mika ran over to him and hugged him but let go abruptly. She felt that it was a kind of an awkward moment.

Kenshin was wondering how in the world she slept through it all. "I'll stay outside your room just in case anyone else comes. You can go back to sleep now."

"Okay Kenshin, thank you so much." Mika went back to her room.

Just like he said Kenshin stayed outside her door and sat for a long time. He knew he had to get rid of the men but he figured he'd do it later once Mika was asleep again.

The next morning Kaoru woke up and went to the kitchen. She expected to find Kenshin making their breakfast but he wasn't. She went to his room and he wasn't there either. She was getting worried. He couldn't have become a wanderer or something again, could he? She walked quickly into the dojo and felt a sigh of relief pass through her. There he was, sitting against the wall…topless. That small factor made her blush beet red. She walked over to him after letting some thoughts pass through her mind and tapped him on the shoulder.

"Kenshin," she whispered.

Kenshin's eyes fluttered open. He looked up at her and smiled that smile of his. "Good morning Miss Kaoru."

"Why are you sleeping out here?"

"Oh, I must have slept walked or something…"

Kaoru was felt a pang of sadness when he didn't tell her the truth but tried again. "Please Kenshin, tell me what happened."

Kenshin sighed. "Well, there was another attack on Miss Mika last night."

"What, really?"

"Yes. I think it would be best if we keep this to ourselves. Mika already knows because she woke up but please don't tell anyone else."

"All right Kenshin, whatever you want."

"How about I go make us some breakfast now?"

"Sure, but um…"

"Yes Miss Kaoru?"

"You may want to put more clothes on before you use the stove."

"Oro?" Kenshin seemed to notice for the first time that he wasn't wearing much. "Oh, I think that would be a good idea, that I do."

After breakfast the members of the Kamiya dojo thought it would be a good idea to go down to the market. When they got there they were terribly shocked. There were rotting fish all over the place. It was as if someone had dumped catches of fish everywhere and just let them sit there to rot. Many of the shop owners were busy removing fish from their stands. Some were sweeping the fish into piles. The stench was horrible beyond belief.

"Wow that's a bad smell," complained Yahiko.

"Oh this is all my fault!" said Mika. "How could one person's family cause so much hate in a man. I just don't understand! He escaped death!"

"The killing of that other fish market owner probably would have caused him to gain a lot of money and power. Because your father turned him in he was stopped form achieving that goal. Now he must have all that bitterness aimed towards the family that caused him to lose his power," said Kenshin.

"It's okay Mika, Kenshin won't let anything happen to you," said Kaoru.

Mika smiled. "That is a very reassuring thought, thank you Kaoru."

Yahiko ran up ahead to the Akebeko. When the rest of the group arrived there they found Tae running around the restaurant very distraught with Tsubame right behind her.

"Tae what's wrong?" asked Kaoru.

"We were supposed to get a new shipment of fish today but because of what happened that isn't going to happen. This is not good at all!"

"Miss Tae, do you know how it happened?" Kenshin wanted to know if she saw any of the people who did it.

"No, we just woke up this morning and there was rotting fish everywhere!"

"That is just plain weird," said Yahiko.

"Well, I guess we should help you clean up Miss Tae, that we should," said Kenshin.

So they all helped clean out the fish at the market. A local fisherman was taking fish and dumping it out in the water. Other people with boats also joined in. By four in the afternoon everything was pretty much cleaned up. The smell had lessened but it was still pretty bad. Kenshin had gone around asking people if they had seen anything strange the night before but they all answered the same way Tae did.

"Any luck Kenshin?" asked Kaoru. She was currently trying to keep cats off an old woman's cart.

"No, everyone's answers are all the same."

"That man is truly crazy if he went through all this trouble to get one girl."

"He assumed that she would be dead by now Kaoru."

"Oh, I forgot about that."

"It's all right. I just hope we find him soon. He is starting to get on my nerves, that he is."

"Hey Kenshin!"

"Yes Yahiko?"

"Please don't cook fish again for a while. I don't think I could take it!"

"Yahiko, how could you possibly be thinking of food at a time like this?" asked Kaoru.

"I'm hungry!"

"You are always hungry, eat something later. You should be helping!"

"I'm helping more than you are ugly!"

"WHAT DID YOU CALL ME?"

"I said you're ugly!"

"YAHIKO!" Kaoru ran past Kenshin and proceeded to chase Yahiko down the street.

Kenshin shivered. Every day was getting colder. It hit him that it would probably snow soon. That would make the stench die a little faster. Once everything was cleaned up as best as it could be everyone started to head home. As soon as they got to the dojo they all went to their rooms. Kenshin was heading towards the front porch when he heard Mika scream. He ran to her room as fast as he could.

"Miss Mika what's wrong?"

"Look Kenshin!"

There was another fish sitting on her futon with a note stuck through it. Kenshin recognized the dagger that was pinning the note to the fish. It was Akira's.

You may have won this time but we will get her.

Just then, Kenshin sensed some danger was approaching. "Mika move!" Kenshin grabbed her and pushed her out of the way. A second later another dagger flew through the room and landed in the wall. Another note was attached to it.

I'm sorry did I upset you?

Kenshin ran outside just in time to see a rustle in the top of the tree accompanied by a thud and the patter of feet from someone running away.

A/N: This was a very difficult chapter to write and I'm not way too sure why. I really hope that it was okay. Please don't flame me. You guys have spoiled me with nice reviews so I don't think I could take the flames. This story does have a set plan and it will be achieved…eventually. So if things don't make sense now they will later. Feel free to aslo review the very long disclaimer that I promise I will never do like that again. So...how was it?