Truth, Lies, Betrayal and Love

Chapter 1

Well folks, here's yet another disturbing story from the depths of my sick little mind :), hope you like it so read and enjoy! (or try to, lol).

The Kamiya dojo had been relatively quiet for the past several months, aside from the usual arguments amongst themselves and the occasional, yet very amusing, confrontations between Saito and Kenshin. There hadn't been any battles for quite sometime but they weren't complaining, in fact, everyone was actually enjoying the temporary stand still. But, as they say, the calm comes before the storm and what the Kenshingumi didn't know was that one heck of a storm was heading directly their way.

It was a beautiful sunny day in Tokyo, there wasn't a single cloud in the sky to block the shine of the sun as it watched the hustle and bustle of the city below. Kenshin had gone into town to retrieve some things for a celebration dinner, Misao had decided to pay them a visit and announced that she and Aoshi were engaged to be married. Sadly, he couldn't join them because he had fallen ill but the ever hyper Misao had enough excitement to make up for his absence. Kaoru and the others were sitting around on the porch catching up on the gossip going around Kyoto, laughing as Misao happily told the details, "Then Gramps actually had the nerve to ask the girl out! It was so funny when she slapped him and knocked him down!"

"I bet it was I wish we could've seen that one." Sanosuke laughed heartily.

Kaoru nodded in agreement, "I agree, Sir Okina does have the tendency to annoy the young girls, but I do feel badly that he doesn't have someone."

"Oh don't worry, Gramps is just fine being single, and speaking of being single, how are you and Himura doing, Miss Kaoru?"

Kaoru flushed and looked to the ground, "Well… we… hold hands once in awhile but… that's about it, there's not much to talk about there, I'm afraid."

"You mean to tell me that Himura still hasn't asked you out! That man is so dense, can't he see that you care for him!"

"I don't know, Misao, I think Kenshin just…"

Everyone froze in place when they heard a shout off in the distance. They realized it was outside the gate and quickly got up to investigate the situation. When they got outside they saw a man on the ground struggling to get away from several large men that were trying to grab him. Kaoru quickly ran back inside and grabbed her bokken before returning to face the men alongside the others, "Leave that man alone! It's not fair to gang up on someone like this!"
The men stopped for a moment and one of them snarled at Kaoru, "You stay out of this girl, this doesn't concern you."

"It does now so leave him alone."

"Yeah, unless you want to fight all of us!" Misao stated with a confident smile.

The man on the ground took the opportunity to use the distraction and kicked the man next to him before rolling away and drawing a saber from his sash, "Do as they asked and leave me be."

The supposed leader of the group took a step towards the man and chuckled, "We have orders to retrieve you and that's what we're going to do."

"If you feel that you are strong enough to defeat me in battle then by all means come and try, I accept your challenge."

The leader suddenly looked frightened and looked at Kaoru and the others before snorting harshly, "We'll be back and next time we won't leave without you!"

The men took off down the road and the man sheathed his saber before grabbing his side and falling to one knee in pain. Kaoru ran up to him and rested a hand on his shoulder, "Are you alright sir?"

"Yes, thanks to you and your brave friends, I am indebted to you, Milady."

It was then that they noticed his strange accent, his voice was deep and smooth, his accent only adding charm to that voice, he sounded like he may have been from a high class family but they couldn't tell since his face was shielded by the hood on his black cape. Kaoru helped him to stand and he had to lean on her for support as another wave of pain overtook him, "Let's get you inside and see how badly you're hurt."

"No, I don't want to intrude upon you by any means, I'm sorry for appearing so weak but I am alright."

"No, get in here, come on."

Before he could protest she lead him into the dojo and took him to the kitchen where he leaned against the wall, sighing a moment later after he finally caught his breath, "I can't thank you enough, I apologize for our unusual meeting."

"It's alright, don't worry about it, but are you sure you're alright?"

"I am, thank you."

Sanosuke came up to him then and stood next to him, "That's good and all but why were those guys after you?"

"They… were sent after me because I escaped."

"Escaped? From where?" Misao asked

"That's not important at the moment, but I do need to leave before they return and hurt you, thank you for your time and help."

The man bowed politely and tried to leave but Sanosuke stepped in front of him and pushed him back into the room, "Hold it buddy, you expect to just leave after we saved your butt, aren't you even going to introduce yourself?"

"There's no need for that, I will most likely never see any of you again."

"Oh yeah? What're you hiding under that cloak, huh?"

"Nothing, why?"

"Then take it off."

"I… can't."

"Why not?"

"I just can't, now excuse me, sir."

The man tried to leave again but Sanosuke caught his wrist and pulled him back but he easily twisted out of the stout hold and moved away from the retired fighter for hire. But Sanosuke was persistent and grabbed his cloak and threw him to the ground before pulling back the hood, "Now we can see who you… are…"

Everyone let out a gasp when they saw the man's face, his waist length, blood red hair falling about his shoulders as he looked up at them with violet colored eyes.

CLIFFIE! I know, that's your favorite part of a story, right? Any ways, if you want me to go on let me know and I'll finish the next chapter soon, 'k. Till then, you'll never know… (aren't I just evil :)?)