Disclaimer: I own a bunch of RK DVDs but I definitely don't own RK…

Oh yeah and this contains mild spoilers for OVA Trust & Betrayal

((())) Hiko's Cabin((()))

Seijurou Hiko sighed as he finished cooking the miso soup. Most people perhaps wouldn't believe it, but Seijurou Hiko happened to be a very good cook as well as being a master swordsman. He glanced towards the woman that he had brought to his cabin and treated the day before. If he was being honest, she was the reason he was so confused…

When he had first bought her here he treated her wounds, which were mainly shallow save a deep gash on her leg, he had assumed she was a peasant, the wife of a farmer. Albeit a very beautiful one. However, when he treated a wound on her stomach, a dagger fell out of her obi. And it was no ordinary dagger, beautifully made and obviously well taken care of, though not used very often.

The appearance of this dagger caused Hiko to wonder more about this mysterious woman. She was in the outskirts of a very small town, with a few belongings and a weapon. She was definitely married because he remember her saying just before she fainted "I'm sorry…koishi." He had no idea what she might be sorry for in the first place and that annoyed him. At the moment he just kept the dagger in the trunk where he kept all of his idiot apprentices stuff.

Idiot apprentices stuff…Hiko pushed back the feeling of nostalgia that came up at these words. Although…he had to admit that he missed the brat. It had been a year and he hadn't seen or heard hide or hair of Kenshin. Oh well, I shouldn't be worried about things I can't control. HE was the one that left ME. That didn't stop him from feeling guilty for feeding his apprentice to the wolves. A soft murmuring drew his attention away from the soup and towards the body in the futon in the middle of the cabin. It was a good thing he still had the thing since neither he nor Kenshin ever used it.

Tomoe moaned slightly as she opened her eyes. Her leg was aching slightly but other than that she felt surprisingly well considering she had just been attacked yesterday…

She looked around the room she was in trying to get her bearings. It was a small cabin and had a whole lot of pottery on the shelves. There was one big trunk in the corner and then in another corner was a large man in a white and red cape cooking something over a fire. All of a sudden she remembered the bandits that had attacked her.

"Where…where am I?" she asked weakly, trying to sit up. The man walked over to her and helped her sit up, putting some cushions behind her to lean on. Tomoe noticed that he was very large, had lots of muscle, ad black hair and dark hazel eyes. "Thank you…" she murmured.

"Hmph. How are you feeling?" he asked.

"Not to bad, considering. Is this your home?" Tomoe asked, still trying to get information. It would be annoying if she got caught by the Shogunate now…and if Kenshin got caught…she didn't even want to think about the consequences.

"You're at my cabin," he informed her. Then he passed her a bowl of soup and said, "Here, are you hungry?"

"Thank you," she murmured. "So you live in Otsu?"

"No." said Hiko, getting his own bowl of soup and sitting across from her. Then he watched her thoughtfully when he noticed that her eyes had widened when she heard that they were no longer in Otsu.

When he told her that Tomoe was no longer in Otsu, she nearly choked. Lucky for her, her mask remained intact, so she thought he hadn't noticed. (To bad for her that it was the 13th master of Hiten Mitsurugi Style that she was up against). If they weren't in Otsu, then where were they? Not…Kyoto? Oh no, I hope that we aren't in Kyoto…

"So are we in Kyoto?" she managed to choke out, worried about what the answer may be.

Hiko raised his eyebrow at the question. The more he found out about this woman, the more curious he became. The way she spoke of Kyoto proved that she had bad memories of the place, but what would an ordinary farmer's wife be doing in Kyoto in the first place?

"No, we're on my mountain." Hiko answered.

"Your mountain?" asked Tomoe.

"Yes. It's between Kyoto and Otsu. Closer to Kyoto, though," he decided to elaborate since she obviously wanted more information. "I assume you live in Otsu with your husband, Miss…?"

"Oh, I apologize for my rudeness. I am Tomoe," she answered, but decided to leave out her last name, in case he was sided with the Shogunate. "And you are…?"

"Seijurou Hiko the 13th," he answered simply.

"Well, I apologize for the inconvenience, Hiko-san," said Tomoe, deciding not ask about what the '13' meant. "And I thank you for helping me against those men." She was trying to find a way to find out his loyalties without being obvious.

"Please they were nothing. What were you doing in an alleyway on your own anyway Tomoe-san?" he asked.

"I was supposed to go and stay with another woman in Otsu. She will be worried. I hope she doesn't inform my husband…" she said, the last part mainly to herself.

Hiko once again raised his eyebrows at the last part about not wanting her husband to know. He suspected that there was more to her story. Perhaps she was running away from her husband? It would explain her hesitancy to divulge her last name.

He decided to just be blunt. "Are you running away from your husband?"

Tomoe looked up at him, surprised. "No! Of course not."

"So why don't you want your husband to know?" he asked, wanting to get more answers about this mysterious woman.

"My husband is very overprotective. I just don't want him to worry," she answered.

"I see. Perhaps I can write him a letter, what is his name?" asked Hiko.

Tomoe knew that she really shouldn't divulge this kind of information to a man she barely knew. Even if he didn't side with the Shogunate, there were many that wished harm on Kenshin. So she decided to dodge that question for now.

"Oh no, don't worry about a letter. My husband and I live on our own, outside of Otsu and only go into town to buy supplies or sell medicine," she answered, skillfully dodging the second question.

"Selling medicine?" asked Hiko, curious.

"Yes, my husband is an apothecary. We also grow some plants," she answered.

"I see…" said Hiko. Well that explained why she seemed to have such a good vocabulary and was so much more polite than normal farmers, she and her husband must at least be slightly educated to be able to make medicine. However it still didn't explain why she carried a dagger. And she also seemed quite young to be married…

Meanwhile Tomoe had her own questions. This man was obviously a skilled swordsman, perhaps nearly as skilled as Kenshin to be able to kill those bandits so easily. Yet if he was such a skilled swordsman, why did he live in a secluded cabin up on a mountain? All of the pottery, did that mean he was a potter? But why would a swordsman become a potter? She was just as confused about Hiko as Hiko was about her.

She decided to ask him. "Are you a potter?"

"Yes."

"If you don't mind my asking why such a strong swordsman would live up on a secluded mountain when they're skills may be needed in the war that is going on?" she said calmly, looking at Hiko with her deep brown eyes.

She was perceptive and not afraid to speak her mind. Reminded him slightly of a certain red-head. Speaking of that red-head… "I am a free sword. I will not wield my weapon for either side of this political game," he answered shortly, talking about the war brought back bad memories of his fight with Kenshin.

"I see…" said Tomoe. So Hiko didn't side with the Shogunate. That at least was a relief. But he also wasn't an Imperialist. However she doubted that he would sell her out to the Shogunate. But she was still worried about Kenshin. She hoped he didn't find out what happened to her.

"You should rest now," Hiko told her. He didn't have nearly as much information as he wanted, but somehow he doubted he would get much more. He didn't know whether she avoided his questions on purpose or by accident, but it was annoying.

"Are you sure, I don't wish to intrude, surely you have a family or something," said Tomoe, not wanting to make herself a burden.

"I live on my own. I have no family," said Hiko. Not since Kenshin left anyway… "At the moment the most important thing is for you to get better and return to your own family."

"I see," said Tomoe simply, lying down slowly on the futon so as not to aggravate her injuries. Then a thought struck her. She was lying on a futon but there was another futon in the corner. She doubted that Hiko had 2 futons for his own use, so that meant that he did have some kind of family. But who?

So, up in the cabin in the mountains, two people, one trying to sleep and the other clearing up, were both thinking the same thing…Just who is she/he?

((())) Author Notes ((()))

Hey! Slightly longer chapter this time! I hope you enjoyed this chapter, I tried my best to get it out quickly! I hope that you're enjoying this story so far.

Thank you soooooo much to akisu-san and kenji's girl for reviewing! I hope you enjoy this chapter as well.

Oh and I just wanted to ask…does anyone want me to add the Shinsengumi (Saito and Okita) to this story? If you do then please let me know!

So please review and I'll upload more soon!