Date started: January 5, 2005

Thank you again readers for your lovely thoughts. I appreciate the small criticism as well as praise. I hope everyone had a happy New Year. This chapter probably will take a few weeks to get out, because I am loaded down already, after one day, with homework. I do hope that at the end of the chapter, you are satisfied. I will try to make it longer than the others, because of the wait. So please, RR during this chapter.

Butterfly Kisses

By: Hotaru

Rating: R; for language, gore, and some adult material

Standard Disclaimer:

I do not own Rurouni Kenshin in any way whatsoever. I do, however, own any characters that I may introduce as my own, and this plot line. If I catch you stealing it, you grovel at my feet and beg forgiveness, or die.

Chapter 3

The biker, who had met with Shishio earlier, was now sitting in the back of a restaurant eating with a tall, large man. They sat silently, tension on the rise, appearing to concentrate on eating. However, their thoughts were elsewhere.

One spoke barely audible, "How did Shishio react, Ryu." He continued eating.

Ryu kept his vision on his rice bowl, but responded, in the same manner as his companion, "He was caught off guard about it."

"Have you found out why they have been persistent in trying to capture her, yet?"

"Iie, Hiko-sama, I am getting closer however." Ryu set down his bowl, in sequence with Hiko. They both stood up, Hiko towering over the biker.

"I need to know. From my previous observations, she has an extremely powerful ki. She could be the one who can bring salvation from the stars, and free Japan of the Juppongatana."

Kenshin sensed Kaoru was waking up. He had told her to sleep in his bed that night. He slept on the floor against the wall, with one leg pulled up to his chest, the way he always slept. He noticed her get out of the bed, and walk towards the door slowly, 'She's trying to get out isn't she?' He smiled and then shook his head as he stood up. Walking down the hall, he met her at the door, just as she opened it.

"What." She demanded sharply.

The amber eyes flashed gently, not in anger, but in amusement, "Nothing. I thought I'd better check to make sure you weren't trying to get out."

She replied with a glare and something that sounded like 'Bastard' under her breath. Kaoru walked past him and headed for the bathroom, "I'm not stupid enough to try and escape right now. I can barely fight, let alone RUN AWAY from you." She turned to look at him, "I am going to take a shower now. Would you mind giving me a clean towel?"

He took enjoyment in her attitude, "Perhaps."

She glared at him again, "For the love of god! Just give me a towel. I at least am sensible enough to bathe!"

"Oh, I bathe, that I do indeed. You were asleep I believe, when I was showering." He sharply said with slight anger. He walked past her into the bathroom and motioned for her to follow him. Kaoru merely stood at the door, "I am showing you where the towels are." Looking at him suspiciously, she stepped into the room slowly. Standing as far away from him as possible, while still remaining in the room, she watched him pull a towel out from a small cabinet on the wall, "When you are done, here's a robe you can wear." He tossed her a black yukata. The assassin walked past her and left the room.

As soon as Kaoru unwrapped her bandages, the first thing she noticed was that there were just scars left. Somehow, the wounds had healed during the night. She heard a ticking sound and looked around for the source. A clock was on the wall. It read 2:00 PM. 'Why the hell does he have a CLOCK in a bathroom!' But nonetheless, she realized it had been nearly 12 hours since she had last checked the wounds, and they had been bleeding then, "How did that happen… when they have been there a week!" Utterly bewildered, she started the shower, letting loose steaming water. Allowing the water to run for a few minutes, and then making it cooler, she stepped into the water.

Letting it run over her now healed body, she gave a sigh of relief, "Now, I can avenge Yahiko's death…" She opened her eyes that were now dark as the night sky. She closed them again. She began moving her hands in what appeared to be motions of the martial arts.

He sensed something bad was going to happen, as he felt her ki rise again. He decided he better go knock on the door. Battousai stood up, and headed for the bathroom. He wouldn't dare walk in on her, not wanting to know the consequences.
She was brought out of her trance as she heard loud demanding knocks on the door. Her eyes opened, and appeared to be their normal blue hue again, 'What was that?' The knocking continued, "WHAT!" she yelled at him.

"Don't space out like you just did!" The red head shouted through the door.

She shouted angrily back at him, "How the hell would you know what I was doing? Let alone spacing out!"

"Hurry up, and don't concentrate on your revenge right now. It will enable the enemy to find you again! You don't want that now, do you!"

"FINE! Just leave me the hell alone right now. I can't even take a shower in peace!"

"Hurry up. We have to go somewhere."

She angrily retorted, "I will take as long as I want!"

As soon as the assassin walked away from the door, the phone rang. Picking it up he yelled into the receiver, "What!"

As voice came in a slight chuckle, "Damn Battousai, what's got you all riled up?"

"Hiko! How the hell am I supposed to live with this girl! She's a pain in the ass! What ever made you think I was the one to be responsible for her!"

"Jesus Christ, settle down man. I have news on the situation. I talked with Ryu last night. Shishio was definitely caught off guard about you capturing Kamiya-san. It was definitely a surprise. Ryu is still working on why Kamiya has been chased after for so long."

Kenshin squeezed the receiver tightly. He was still pissed about the earlier incident. That girl just had to have an attitude about everything. She didn't seem to be all that much afraid, even though she knew whom she was dealing with, "Well, I think I know some things."

Hiko answered surprised, "Really?"

"She has an extremely powerful ki, if you could not tell last night. She tends to space out every so often, and when she does, it seems as though she is taken over by something. And this only happens when she is concentrating on how she wants revenge for Yahiko."

"Well, try to get her to control the ki, or Shishio will be able to sense it. He may have already. Let's not take any risks." He then added, "Don't forget, 6:00." With that, he hung up the phone. Kenshin set the receiver down on the hook and then went in the kitchen. He figured she would be hungry, and the only way to keep her healthy was to keep her fed.

As the door to the bathroom opened, a billow of steam flowed out. Kaoru stepped into the hallway towel drying her long hair. She had put her clothes back on, not wanting to walk around in nothing but the lightweight yukata. She felt much better now, even though she was still angry with her captor.

Kaoru walked into the main room and saw that the red head was putting food on the counter of the bar that divided the kitchen from the living room.

"Eat."

She looked suspiciously at him, "How do I know you haven't poisoned it?"

"If I had intended to kill you, you would already be dead." He stated, keeping his eyes focused on hers. He noticed they were not the shade of blue that they had been the first time he'd looked at her; they were slightly darker, and she looked paler, "If you don't want to get sick, eat. We have to go somewhere tonight."

The young woman walked towards the bar and sat in one of the tall chairs. She glanced down at the plate of food. It was a simple bowl of steamed rice and gyudon, but it smelled good. Kaoru was battling inside of her mind, and she was glad to be able to concentrate on the food and not what was going on within. She grabbed the chopsticks and began to eat.

Battousai silently watched her eat. He took notice of the way she ate, how she moved her hands, her long, smooth fingers moving the chopsticks in their quick motion. He thought, "Perfect hands… they would be perfect for controlling a weapon… a katana."

He was brought out of his thoughts by a knock on the door. Kaoru stopped eating immediately and tensed up. Kenshin walked over to where he kept his swords, and grabbed the shorter of the two. He glanced through the peephole in the doorway, and then opened it quickly, ready to strike. He was met by silence. Looking left and right he saw no one in the hallway. After a moment, he looked down, and noticed a small white envelope with a red heart sealing it on the back. Leaning down, Battousai studied it suspiciously with his now cold, amber eyes. He flipped it over, and saw to whom it was addressed: Kamiya Kaoru.

To be continued…

A/N: Whoo hoo! I finally have this damn thing typed up and out! I am soo happy. I am really sorry it took so long. I suffered about two weeks worth of writers block, and then I had school to tend to. I had the flu last week, so I decided I would finish writing this thing up, and well, I did! Anyway, thank you so much for being patient my readers. Let me know how you like it so far.

Finished: February 13, 2005