Chapter 18: Determination

When she slipped back into consciousness, she was laying under some blankets in the room where Megumi first discovered her secret. Apparently Saitou wasn't around to say she couldn't.

"Kaoru," Megumi said, leaning over her.

"Megumi…" She whispered. "What… happened…?"

"You passed out," Megumi said, helping her into a sitting position.

Kaoru held her head and steadied her vision. "How long have I been out for?"

"Nine hours."

"NINE HOURS!"

"Calm down," Megumi replied. "You'll bring your fever back up."

"Wh-where's Kenshin? He was with me before I lost consciousness…" Kaoru blushed, sighing.

"He went back out to train."

Kaoru pulled herself onto her feet, stumbled slightly, then looked at Megumi. "I have to go out there!"

"You're not going anywhere," Megumi replied seriously. "You need rest."

"I need to get out there and get to work or the leader's going to be pissed!" She replied, surprising herself with her words. They were so… boyish.

"He can be pissed all he wants!" Megumi yelled. "You're not going to kill yourself out there!"

Kaoru stared at Megumi hurtfully. "-but… I…"

"You won't achieve anything if you die," Megumi said, standing and putting her hand on Kaoru's cheek.

"It's… just… it's not fair that I get to lay in here and sleep the day away why they're all out there training so hard even though they're just as tired as I am… I…" She hung her head in shame. "I can't do that."

Megumi's eyes widened slightly. "Kaoru."

"I'm not Kaoru while I'm here," Kaoru replied, noticing her clothes laid out across a rolled up futon. She was still bandaged of course, and she had on her undergarments, but that was it. She started putting her clothing back on. She'd made up her mind, and Megumi wasn't going to change it.

The door slid open. Kaoru let out a little squeak of a noise, but when a small waft of cigarette smoke filled the air, she knew she was safe.

"Shoji-sama has let us quit early today," Saitou said flatly, almost as if he wanted to be out there longer.

"What?" Kaoru pouted. "How come he's only a good guy when I'm not around."

"Oh, trust me, he's not. He let us quit early because Himura protested him," Saitou replied.

Kaoru beamed. "That's Kenshin for you! Where is he?"

"Shoji told him that he could do the training for the guys if they were too tired, so he's outside."

Her smile faded. She passed him and went out the door, and Megumi glared at him. "I was close to getting him back into bed."

"You're not fooling me, I know that's the Kamiya girl," Saitou shrugged.

"WHA-!"

-

Kaoru ignored people calling to her as she ran out the front door and hurried down the steps. She could see Kenshin swinging his sword against imaginary opponents and Shoji sitting back and watching.

"Can't you work any faster, Himura?" Shoji mocked.

Kenshin was soaked in sweat and panting, in nothing but his hakama, socks, and shoes. His small frame could only take so much. He turned and glared at him with golden eyes, then looked away, trying to brush his dripping, crimson bangs out of his face.

Kaoru continued down the steps until a freezing aura froze her in her steps. It was like ice in her veins, and it made her want to throw up. This was not her sickness but the sickness of a man mentally… Two. It was the atmosphere of two cold-blooded killers who would slice without even hearing the screams of their victims… One was Battousai… and the other… was this man… Shoji. How could she never notice…!

Shoji looked as if he was laughing on the inside at the exhausted Battousai, the way his eyes glittered so frostily. "Put your back into it, Himura! I know you're stronger than that."

Kaoru knew that Kenshin had been working twice as hard as any of them… and he was about to snap.

He tightened his grasp on the blade. "KENSHIN!" She screamed, shutting her eyes.

When he looked at her, his sword was inches from Shoji's neck. Though it could not kill (as of that moment), she knew it would injure him, and she didn't want him to be punished any further.

Her heart pounded in her chest as she stared into his eyes, and he looked into hers. He lowered his head and averted his eyes away from her, sheathing his sword.

"Sessha can't do anymore…" He mumbled to Shoji. "Sessha is tired."

Shoji stood, looking all too pleased to hear that. "Then you know where to go. Let's go, Battousai."

He started leading him up the stairs, and as he passed Kaoru, she whispered, "His name is Kenshin."

"Did you say something, Kasuhige?"

"I said his name is Kenshin, sir… Not Battousai," She replied sternly, not looking at him but far out onto the battlefield.

"You have a smart mouth, boy," Shoji said angrily.

"At least something here is," She responded, narrowing her eyes.

"You little brat…" Shoji took hold of the hilt of his blade and drew it so quickly that even Kenshin seemed surprised. His swing was equally quick, and he was aiming for her neck on the right side. Kenshin's eyes widened greatly and turned golden.

"NO!" He screamed.

Shoji swung down, his eyes glimmering with blood-lust.

The clang of two blades colliding silenced the scene. Somehow, Kaoru had drawn her blade as well and blocked his attack by propping it upwards in her hand. Her eyes rolled to the sides to look at him though she did not move a muscle. "Put away your weapon, sir."

"I should be telling you that," He retorted.

"I can't put mine away until you move yours, sir."

A tense moment of silence passed, and he surprisingly sheathed it and walked away, completely forgetting about Kenshin.

"Kahei, are you stupid!" Kenshin yelled, grabbing her between the elbow and the shoulder.

She laughed proudly. "I won't take any more shit from him!"

Kenshin stared at her blankly. "Oro… Weren't you ill?"

"Oh…" She said, going limp in his arms. "…I am…"

-

When she awoke again, she as on her own futon instead of the one in Saitou's room, and Kenshin was sitting next to her with his sword leaning against his shoulder and his eyes closed.

Though by the open door she could see how it was still daylight, all of the men were either fast asleep or close to being so, curled up in their little corners and playing a game or two of poker or go-fish.

Kaoru pulled her blanket up over her nose to hide her blush. She couldn't help but be giddy with the fact that Kenshin was watching over her even when he didn't know it was her. How she wanted to hold his hand or something since he was so kind, but she knew that it would make for a very awkward moment.

She was starting to feel a bit better, especially with Kenshin there beside her. It was like back at home in her dreams… some of her dreams. The other ones were wild fantasies that she had the tendency to have more often as she got older.

She reached out and patted his knee and shook it slightly, snapping him out of his nap.

"O-Oro?" He mumbled, blinking his eyes drowsily.

"You can go upstairs and lay down," Kaoru said quietly.

He smiled at her. "I was just standing guard," He whispered, leaning in close to her. "You know, in case that bastard Shoji wanted to take another whack at you when you were sleeping."

She giggled slightly. "I can assure you that I'd handle him fine."

"You certainly did earlier," He commented in an impressed tone. "Sessha didn't get the chance to thank you properly for helping him."

Kaoru blushed, raising up. "Well… I uh… I guess I just err… Aw, it was nothing!"

Kenshin patted her head. "You're a brave kid. Sessha hopes you live a long and prosperous life filled with happiness."

"Hearing you say that is a start," She muttered.

"Eh…" Kenshin responded, looking a bit flustered from the comment. "S-sessha wishes a good, happy life on everyone."

"Except Shoji," Kaoru replied bitterly.

"Yes," He joked. "Except him."

The two sniggered, doing all they could not to wake anyone up.

"Hey, keep it down you lovebirds," One of the guys complained.

Kaoru let out a little squeak of a noise and turned bright red.

"Hey, man, leave him alone. He's just a kid," His friend told him drowsily, turning over on his, futon away from them.

Kaoru laid back down and covered her face with her blanket in embarrassment.

What she didn't notice that Kenshin was blushing too and looking a bit angry at that comment of theirs. He looked back down at her and smiled calmly and stood. Heading back up the stairs to his quarters, he looked back down at Kaoru who was close to being asleep again already and whispered, "Sleep well, Kahei."

For once she actually did, unburdened by nightmares or dreams that were less than appropriate for the moment. She did dream of course, but this time… it was of home.

How she longed to be back at her house in her own futon, away from all these other men that always seemed to have an eye on her. At home, she would not have to lie her way out of everything, she could eat as much as she wanted, sleep as much as she wanted, and train only if she wanted to… Ah, and in this dream, she would snuggle with her lover -Kenshin, of course- and stare at the stars before they both went to sleep. Sano would bum food off of them while Yahiko complained about various things and eventually stepped out to visit his girlfriend. Even Megumi was welcome in her dream, and she would flirt with Kenshin as usual, but then they'd all laugh it off… It was truly a dream however, for Kenshin was not her lover, and she was certainly… not at home…

Sano looked up from his lousy hand of cards and glanced at her, raising his eyebrow while she smiled in her sleep. "Something about him is too happy. He's got way too much spirit. It makes me tired."

"I just hope him and Himura-san don't hook up," One of the men playing against Sanosuke said. "That wouldn't leave anyone remotely pretty for us."

"You guys are stupid," Sano laughed. "We shouldn't even have to think about those sorts of --flinch-worthy-- things. We'll be back at home with our women before we know it."

"Too bad you don't have one, eh, Sano?" The third of his four-party of poker-players joked, and they all snickered.

"Hey, shut up! I'm just… waiting on the right girl… That's all…" Sano mumbled, blushing and looking away. It seemed as if on cue Megumi came trotting down the stairs with her kit in hand, digging through it to make sure she had everything. Sano stared at her with that look in his eyes, and all of his companions looked at each other and grinned.

"You know, Sagara," The second man whispered, nudging him. "We're men. We're not supposed to wait on the girl if she's standing right in front of us."

Sano's eyes widened, and his face turned a bright shade of red that would put even the color of his bandana to shame.

"By the way, your hand sucks," The man finished, and they all sniggered again.

"You cheated," Sano growled, looking back at them.

"So? You cheated through all the rest of the games."

"I don't know how you knew tha--- I mean, no I didn't!"

"We all saw you," The third member said calmly. "You're a lousy cheater, Sagara."

"Hey, listen here, Kiseki," Sano threatened. "I'll beat you quiet."

"Why don't you go talk to Takani-dono instead?" Kiseki said, winking and pointing to her. She had gone out onto the porch and seemed to be sitting, relaxing.

Sano pouted but got up and sauntered away casually, and all of his poker buddies looked knowingly at each other.

"Hey, Megitsune," He said, plopping down next to her and putting his arm around her.

Kaoru snoozed away while Kenshin too slept, dreaming not of home, but of his dear Kaoru and not having the slightest idea how near she was.