Disclaimer: Ok, I'm beginning to get what's so annoying about saying this multiple times…me no own RK!

Author Notes at the end! Oh and this story contains mild spoilers for the OVA, Trust & Betrayal.

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

It had been about 3 days since he had brought the woman – Tomoe – back from Otsu. She had healed quite well, save for a fever which had developed on the second day. Luckily he was quite experienced with dealing with fevers since Kenshin seemed to get quite a lot of them. The baka always hid whenever he was sick or injured which made him worse and gave him a fever. Hiko snorted thinking about it. Baka deshi.

Yet in those three days he hadn't learnt anything about her. All he really knew was that she was married to an apothecary/farmer and lived in Otsu. And had bad memories of Kyoto and carried a dagger. Considering the fact that he was the 13th master of Hiten Mitsurugi, this was just plain embarrassing. He was supposed to be good at reading people damn it! This was something he'd expect that idiot apprentice of his to do.

Now Hiko wasn't the only one that was curious. Tomoe was still trying to figure out why he had two futons. And he also seemed to be quite experienced in dealing with fevers. Perhaps he had a child? But to have a child would mean he had to be married and she couldn't see any 'womanly' touch in this cabin. Hiko seemed to go out for an hour or two every day; she assumed it was to train. Even Kenshin, back in Kyoto, trained every day, but in Otsu he neglected it, probably because of some bad memories.

So on this particular day she decided to take out her diary and write about what had happened. She wrote about Hiko, her suspicions about his supposed 'son' or family member, her worries about Kenshin finding out about her and getting worried, her confusion about who Hiko was and exactly why he seemed so arrogant all the time and generally everything that was on her mind at the time. After several days of only talking to Hiko (and only about his 'superior genius skills'), all of it came out in the form of hiragana and kanji in her little black diary. She had been so enthralled that she hadn't even noticed when Hiko entered the cabin. That was another thing that annoyed her about him; he was as quiet as a cat, surprising for such a large man.

As Tomoe thought, Hiko usually went out every day to train. Not just swordsmanship but also to meditate. He had been doing that more and more lately, since before that all his time had been taking up with teaching his idiot student Hiten Mitsurugi. When he entered, he was surprised to find her writing. He was further surprised when he looked closer and saw that she wrote beautifully, much more so than Kenshin ever had…he could swear that idiot couldn't write neatly to save his life. This once again stirred up that damned curiosity again. After a while he had assumed that perhaps the dagger was an heirloom and she carried around protection but now…it was obvious that she was well educated, more so than even Kenshin, which was saying a lot since the red-head had been educated by himself after all.

"You write beautifully," said Hiko out loud from before. Normally he wasn't one to compliment anyone but he decided that this was the only way to get any information out of her. The woman gasped and instinctively slammed her diary shut. "I surprised you," said Hiko with his trademark smirk.

"Yes. I think you may move more quietly than my husband, which is saying a lot," said Tomoe, placing her hand over her heart so as to still it. You'd think that after living with Kenshin, who left at all hours of the night, she'd be used to this kind of thing.

"How so?" asked Hiko, taking the opportunity. He often wasn't one to ask questions but this was the first time the woman mentioned her husband and he had every intention of getting more information about him. Nobody outsmarted the great Seijurou Hiko the 13th.

Tomoe was slightly startled by the question but decided to answer – with an abridged version of course. "Back in our home town people called him a ghost because he was so quiet," she said, deciding to call him a ghost rather than a demon. She had always hated that label anyway.

"Really…" he drawled. "Well I doubt he could surpass my skills," he said arrogantly. Tomoe, who by now was used to his arrogant manner, merely nodded in return. Hiko was definitely a skilled swordsman but although she had only ever seen Kenshin in action once, she knew from things that Katsura and Okami-san said that Kenshin was one of the best swordsman in Japan. His ability to be silent and 'appear' from the shadows was what first made him famous. She also wondered what sword-style he used. But she knew as both the wife and daughter of a samurai that most people did not reveal what they used. There were about two people currently alive who knew the exact name of the sword-style Kenshin used, not including himself. She, of course, was one of them and the other was Katsura.

(A/N Don't forget that she doesn't know about Hiko yet).

Hiko frowned as she got up to put her diary away. The way she answered seemed odd. For one thing she had said home-town. He assumed that this meant that she and her husband did not originate from Otsu. Perhaps they were from Kyoto? That might explain her dislike of the place, but why would she dislike her home town? And why would she leave it anyway? Unless…Tomoe – the woman – had obviously been well educated. Her husband knew how to be quiet as a ghost. To be able to truly sneak up on people then he would have to be able to mask his ki. Maybe – just maybe – they were samurai. It would explain on of her first questions about the war and what side he was on and also why she had bad memories of Kyoto. His eyes widened when he realized something else she – or her husband at the very least – might have information about Kenshin. He would never admit it to anyone, least of all a certain red-head – but he did actually care about what happened to the boy who had become like a son to him.

A loud knock on the door brought both people in the cabin out of their musings quite abruptly. Hiko snorted and got up, wondering who on earth would come to his mountain at this time. Or any time at all for that matter. He opened the door and saw that it was Sho, an old acquaintance of his. Sho walked into the cabin not bothering to wait for the invitation that wouldn't come anyway.

He looked at Tomoe and raised an eyebrow. "Well, well Hiko it seems that perhaps you've finally met a woman," he said good naturedly.

"Shut up Sho, she's a woman I met and helped her by beating a few bandits. She was hurt so I brought her here so she could heal," said Hiko firmly.

Sho laughed and said, "Aw, come on Hiko this is the first person that you've been with since that student of yours left. Cant blame me for having some fun."

"Yes I can, besides Tomoe-san is married."

"First name basis now are we?" asked Sho, teasing.

Hiko would have made a retort but there was no way he would admit that he didn't know the woman's last name. So he scowled and asked the man "Did you come here for any good reason?"

Tomoe, meanwhile, was finding the exchange quite amusing. She was also pleased because she got the answer to one of her questions. So that spare futon must belong to this student of his. It would also explain how he got so good at taking care of fevers. She decided to make some dinner and leave the two of them alone however Sho's next words made her change her mind and tune in to their conversation.

"Did you hear about that Battousai the Manslayer?"

Hiko frowned at that. At first he had had no interest in this Battousai but then he heard that the so-called demon had red hair. He wasn't completely sure that it was his idiot apprentice but it seemed that it was. After all how many people had long red hair and seemingly inhuman sword skills? "What about him?" he asked casually. Sho had no idea that Battousai might actually be Hiko's student all he knew was that Hiko was interested in him so when he could, Sho brought him information.

"Apparently Battousai had disappeared into thin air. Some people are saying that he killed in the Ikedaya massacre a few months ago, but most people seem to think that he's left Kyoto. For how long? Nobody knows," said Sho.

"Who thinks that he's left Kyoto?" Hiko knew his student better than anybody. Kenshin would never leave and back out on his word. And he'd better not have let himself get killed by some half-assed swordsman at Ikedaya.

"The Shinsengumi. I've heard that they're conducting searches in a whole lot of places. Apparently they want to flush out all of the rebels and restore peace in Japan. The hypocrites," said Sho with a snort. Hiko was spared from answering by Tomoe. At the mention of the Shinsengumi, Tomoe's heart had gone cold. When Sho finished speaking she couldn't help but let go of the bowl, which then crashed to the floor. She was pale and shaking.

"Oy, is something wrong," asked Sho, concerned.

"No, I'm all right, I just need to sit down, that's all," said Tomoe, trying to regain her composure. She doubted – and hoped – that they didn't go all the way to Otsu but as for this mountain…

"Do you think the Shinsengumi will come here," asked Hiko. The question was directed at Sho while he helped Tomoe to the futon.

"Actually I'm certain of it. They'll probably be here tomorrow," answered Sho. When she heard this, coupled with the gash she had just reopened in her leg when she had been on the verge of collapsing, Tomoe fainted but luckily Hiko used his highly developed skills to catch her before she hit the ground.

"I should probably go," said Sho, for he had a phobia of blood. "I just wanted to let you know about the Shinsengumi." With these parting words, Sho left the cabin with a careless wave behind him.

Hiko nodded and helped Tomoe onto the futon. To tell the truth he was surprised by her reaction. Why would she be so afraid of the Shinsengumi? Well, he smiled grimly to himself, he'd most likely find out tomorrow wouldn't he?

((())) Authors Notes ((()))

Hey I hope you guys don't mind too much that I took slightly longer to update coz I swear I have a reason! Its just that I had a really big algebra test (which, thank goodness, I got a 98 on it) and then I've got a really big Indo test on Monday so wish me luck!

But I have good news to! I finally got my OVAs back and I read the Jinchuu/Remembrance arc so my Tomoe muse is back in full swing!

Oh and 1 more thing Hiko isn't being heartless, he doesn't think that Tomoe is in any danger or anything. So yes, the Shinsengumi are coming, Hiko tries to figure out Tomoe's secret but not yet! Soz guys you'll have to wait! Next chapter a certain red-head is trying to figure out where his wife disappeared to…

AND THANK YOU VERY MUCH TO akisu-san, kenji's girl, Kristy-chan, MikaylaMae, TeZukAb0ch0u and starfruit-22! I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! Plz continue reading and drop me another review! I truly do appreciate it (to tell the truth if it weren't for the reviews I probably would've posted on Sat…)

So anyways hope you're enjoying so far, plz drop me a review! And now its midnight and I have school tomorrow so I'll see you soon!

Amber-chick ;-)