Disclaimer: I don't own Kenshin or any of it's characters, but I own many small munchkins that I like to make dance for me.

Reviewer Comments: Thanks to those few people who took the time to review in whatever fashion you preferred. I appreciate it, and I'm glad at least a few people are enjoying the story. It picks up A LOT in this chapter, so enjoy. .

Chapter 2

"Damnit, watch out!" Kaoru screamed at the oblivious city driver as he nearly plowed into her, holding a vanilla bean frappiccino in one hand and her carry-bag in the other, and doing her best not to spill the content of either. She watched with fury as the man merely flipped her off and kept on driving, all the while muttering a curse under her breath in hopes that he would total the spotless Benz that had nearly made her into roadkill. People were bad enough when they drove in the city, but assholes in expensive luxury cars always caused her migraines. She was building up to one at that moment.

Sighing, Kaoru made her way across the street without further incident and moved to nestle herself against the concrete wall of one of the nearby skyscrapers, setting her drink down on a convenient ledge before fishing through her bag. This was not the time to be coming down with a migraine of any sort…

Her boss had given her the morning off to take care of some personal issues – meaning that Kaoru was allowed to do her monthly shopping, actually sit down at a decent restaurant for lunch, and buy appropriate attire for an upcoming business formal before having to rush to the office at one o'clock to deal with rich snobs for the rest of the day. It was the only break she ever got from her job, as she made it a habit to request a vacation day perhaps… once a year.

Fishing a pill out of the prescription bottle buried in her bag, Kaoru all but threw the consumable object into the back of her throat and downed it with a sip of frappiccino. It would take some time to kick in.

The truth was, she loved her job, and she had no other way to occupy her time than when she was working. Her home was a small condo that her employer, surprisingly, rented out to her for a very reasonable fee, and she owned no television or computer of her own. When she wasn't working or sleeping, Kaoru was occupied at the private fitness center located in the basement of the office building, complete with dojo, weight room, and swimming pool – all of which Kaoru enjoyed immensely. Her life, in the eyes of most, would have been considered predictable and boring, but Kaoru cherished what she had been given. It was better than her childhood, of that she could be sure, and she owed that to her employer. She was more than happy to put her every breath into doing her best at her job.

Settling her load once more, Kaoru took off down the street with a determined stride and a proud expression. She had already been to the supermarket and back with groceries, and had managed to pick out a rather flattering cobalt-colored evening gown with matching shoes to put on hold for the weekend, while still having more than an hour to sit down for a relaxing lunch at one of her favorite cafes.

This was turning out to be a good day… despite the migraine.

She could see the café ahead on the street, its blue awning glittering beneath the midday sun with the white lawn chairs and tables resting serenely beneath. Kaoru was pleased to note that the café was only moderately busy, a few people sitting beneath the awning in groups while others lingered inside. She smiled, shouldered her bag, trashed her empty cup in a nearby receptacle, and half-jogged the rest of the way to her destination, anticipating a pleasant meal and a book she had stashed away among her papers.

She hurried in through the open double doors and moved to stand in line for the counter, already surveying both the local patronage as well as the food displayed before her in the glass cases at her right. The couple ahead was just receiving their food. Kaoru smiled at the woman working the register as she stepped up to order, rambling off her usual selection of a turkey club sandwich with an iced tea to drink, then returned to her study of the cafe.

She stopped when she recognized a shock of red hair tucked into a corner and looking straight at her with blazing amber.

Himura.

Startled and alarmed all at once, Kaoru spun back towards the cashier and forced a smile to her lips, blindly pulling her wallet from her bag in order to pay. Her eyes flickered back to the red-haired lawyer twice before her food arrived, and she quickly ducked outside of the café just as he rose from his seat and began to stalk towards her.

The man reminded her of a predator. He was some sort of exotic cat that prowled around in the places where you would see him only before he pounced. Why was he there? Could it be that he frequented the café as well?

Dodging around the corner as quickly as possible without breaking into a run, Kaoru ducked into the farthest chair from the door and all but slammed her food down. Pulling her book hastily from its bag, she opened it to the bookmark and began to skim the pages with her eyes, looking as busy as possible while watching the doorway of the café. Sure enough, a moment later the militaristic redhead appeared outside, glancing around.

Damnit, he was still coming!

She could tell he had spotted her, and Kaoru instinctually ducked lower in her chair, trying to hide herself behind the crisp pages of her book. She knew she had failed miserably.

"I'm surprised to see you here." She flinched at his voice, so smooth, yet cold to the ears. She used the reaction to make believe she had just noticed his presence, and lowered her book, plastering a very fake, very nervous, smile upon her face.

"Himura-san, how nice to see you," she lied. His face did not change, but he nodded in greeting. "I could say the same about you. Day off?" …Wait, why was she actually talking to him?

He shook his head in response. "Katsura asked me to run a few errands. I was stopping in for lunch." …Wait, wait, wait, wait… Why was HE talking to HER?

"Oh? Do you come here often?"

"No. Katsura recommended it. I prefer my own meals." AND he was offering up information about his personal life! The SCUM! …Okay, so how he took his lunch was not necessarily lewd, but it was the fact of the matter! Well, that was…

Kaoru's head spun. Truthfully, she really did not have much of a reason to dislike Himura beyond his unnerving affinity to staring at her and the creeping feeling she got when confronted with him, but the fact was that she did not trust him. Himura was Katsura Kogoro's henchman, to say the least. He had the eyes of someone who had seen more than his share of the unspeakable, and Kaoru did not put it past him to have some sort of connection to the Yakuza. The problem was that he had never done anything to even remotely deserve any animosity, and she was still reeling from his sudden decision to begin speaking to her after four years of utter silence. That his voice was like silk over steel did not help the matter.

"Ah, I see. Well, Katsura-san certainly has good taste for recommending this café. I've been coming here for years, ever since I started working at the firm. It's close to my apartment, so I don't have to walk very far. It's really quite nice, don't you think?" Idiot. Tell him you're wearing black lingerie, and that you keep the doors unlocked at night, too. That'll be just perfect for the whole 'come stalk me' scenario. She smiled sweetly up at him, her teeth clenched behind her lips, but Himura's face remained impassive. She wondered yet again if the man was made out of granite. "Would you like to sit with me?"

He shook his head. So damn straightforward. "No, that won't be necessary. I must be going. I'm sure I shall see you again soon, Kaoru—" he paused, seeming to consider something while Kaoru secretly seethed at his bold, offhanded use of her first name. "—Kaoru-dono."

She balked at him, but he was already walking away. When he stepped out into the midday crowd and disappeared, Kaoru closed her hanging jaw with a snap, still dumbfounded. Her migraine was coming back full force, despite the medicine.

Well, at least he had used an honorific this time…

Kaoru stretched languidly at her office desk before rising and turning off the reading lamp positioned there, allowing her eyes to adjust to the semi-darkness that settled over her. She had been working almost nonstop since she had arrived at the office after lunch, and now found herself buried in a pile of legal documents well past regular hours. Glancing at the clock, she noted that it was nearly midnight.

Gathering together her papers, Kaoru did a final sweep of her desk area. She had a report due to her boss by tomorrow night, an important one, and writing up the report required the presence of all former documents and filings related to the matter.

Assured she was set to go, the weary intern (for she technically could not hold any other title) grabbed up her bag and started over to the elevator, clicking off the rest of the overhead lights and stepping into the moving box as it signaled her floor. She sighed as she descended the skyscraper, eyes closed and body wavering slightly with exhaustion. Working at the firm late was the one activity that could make her feel as worn and content as a workout in the dojo. That she and her pain medication had been fighting a migraine all day only served to accelerate her exhaustion, but luckily the stubborn headache had subsided after a few hours of throbbing and dizziness.

It would be good to go home and sleep.

Her condo was only located three city blocks west of the firm, and Kaoru had always appreciated the twenty-minute walk it required to arrive there. She had no use for a car due to the distance and her lack of unaccompanied travel, and bikes were almost useless in a city where drivers plowed over pedestrians, much less cyclists. She had always walked to and from work, except for the rare days when her employer was humored enough to give her a ride, or when it was cold enough that she hopped on the metro. These days were few and far between.

Kaoru made it a habit to walk home late. There were fewer people in the business district at these times, the streets were well lit due to the financial stability of the region, and it was unmistakably quiet compared to the bustle of midday traffic. This was her favorite time of day to be outside.

She waited for the elevator doors to open before shouldering her bag and stepping out into the massive foyer of the building, walking assertively towards the broad entrance of glass doors. She could see the usual security guard, an American named Solan, sitting lazily behind his desk while glancing between the camera monitors and a crossword puzzle. He glanced up as she passed by and smiled what Kaoru thought was a rather handsome smile, brown hair streaked with gray framing a middle-aged face. He was good-looking… for an older man.

"'Night to you, little bird," he said with a precise Japanese accent, careful in his pronunciation of the language that was so natural to Kaoru. Kaoru returned the smile, which quickly turned into a grin at the familiar nickname. He had been calling her by it since the first day she had walked in to the firm at fourteen.

"Good night, Solan," she responded, pleased that he was one of the few people with whom she was on a first-name basis.

She stepped through the metal detectors positioned by the desk, and continued on towards the doors just as the glass moved aside to reveal one of the firm's top lawyers, one of the oldest still employed. His name was Koroku Mitsu, as far as Kaoru could recall, and despite his age he was one of the sharpest men she had ever met. He was also one of the kindest. She saw him sparingly around the office (he was a busy man, after all), but he always had a gentle smile on his lips, and a kind word at the ready.

His expression was different this time.

Kaoru paused as he stormed in through the doors and right past her. For all she could tell, he was glaring daggers at the air in front of him, and her previous smile dropped from her lips.

"Koroku-san?" The businessman did not seem to hear her, but kept on his way, ignoring Solan altogether as he passed through the metal detectors and on towards the elevator. He slipped inside wordlessly and disappeared behind the doors, leaving the guard and intern to wonder after him.

Exchanging both puzzled and worried glances with Solan, Kaoru reluctantly turned away yet again, gripping her bag tightly in her fist. Whatever the problem, it was not her business to ask Koroku-san about his problems. She exited the building with a frown marring her face, beginning the short walk in the direction of her condo as she mulled over what had just happened. She did not bother to look back towards the building that she was quickly leaving behind, figuring perhaps that the elderly man simply was having an issue with a current case he was working on. She had never seen the lawyer in such a state.

It was not until she was almost halfway home that Kaoru glanced down into her bag and realized that she had forgotten one of the most important documents of all concerning her report: a small, thin testimony by the prime suspect concerning the murder of a known crime lord. Swearing violently, Kaoru turned and jogged back to the firm. What had started out as a decent night was just getting worse by the moment…

She re-entered the building ten minutes later while still mumbling to herself about reports, trials, and drug lords, her head bowed down in irritation and thought. She was pretty sure she knew where she had stashed the document, but…

Kaoru halted for the second time that night in the middle of the foyer, looking towards the security desk. No Solan. Her eyes took a quick sweep of the plate-glass windows that made up most of the barrier separating the front entrance from the elevators, but the grinning security guard had not risen from his desk to venture across the room, and there was no one around the metal detectors that acted as the only doorways past the glass. Kaoru's frown deepened. It was not like him to desert his post during night duty.

"Solan?" She called his named tentatively, but no answer came. Perhaps he had gone up to check on Koroku-san? Solan was well known for his amiable nature, and his affinity for pulling emotional conversations out of the most conservative, tight-lipped lawyers. Would he have ventured to work his magic on Koroku-san? Kaoru passed through the metal detectors with her eyes locked on the elevator, noting that the numbers indicated it was stopped on the highest floor. It was her floor, as well as Koroku-san's.

Curious and suddenly worried all at once, she pushed the button on the elevator and watched as the light quietly descended down the floors toward the bottom. Upon arrival, the doors slid open like normal and Kaoru stepped in, turning as they closed after her. She pressed the button for the top floor, and waited patiently as she ascended the building. Her stomach did little flip-flops inside; something felt wrong.

She was used to being in the building with only a handful of people left inside – meaning that she usually only saw Solan after a certain time of night – but for once the silence and the emptiness seemed oppressing, foreboding. Perhaps it was the fact that Solan was not at his desk, ready for any moment she might need him, but to Kaoru the reason seemed somehow deeper. There was a chill in the air. The elevator came to a halt, and the flip-flops turned into knots.

Kaoru stepped into darkness, the lights of the floor still shut off. She instantly wondered why Koroku had not bothered to turn them on. The elevator closed silently behind her, her only source of illumination gone. She stood blindly for a moment, allowing her eyes to adjust and unsure exactly what she was doing before remembering her desk and the document she needed to retrieve from its surface. She made her way through the dark, navigating through the cubicles and desks by memory, before stopping at her own office space. It was only then that she turned on the small desk lamp she used in the evenings.

It was easy enough to find the document, and Kaoru quickly stashed it away in her bag and turned off the desk lamp, ready to make her way back downstairs. It was then that she heard a sound that was enough to freeze her blood.

It was like a strangled sob or gurgle; the type that Misao uttered every time Kaoru dared joke about her crush on a certain stoic, dark-haired bodyguard that worked at the firm. The sound was a mixture between surprise, pain, and shock, but the manner in which she heard it now made Kaoru stop cold in her tracks, her breath suddenly still in her throat. She waited, unsure where the sound had come from or who had uttered it. Nothing more followed.

This time, as she started walking, Kaoru was cautious and silent in her movement, glancing around the pitch-black office for anything that could give away the source of her alarm. She had not yet seen Koroku-san, but she knew that his office was tucked away in the next corridor off the main section of the floor. She found that it was towards this corridor that she was creeping, and as she approached, Kaoru could see the dim traces of light echoing into the hallway from an open doorway out of sight. Too curious and terrified to ignore the hint, the wary intern slipped into the hallway until she was at the very edge of the corner, where she could peek around to see the rest of the passage.

Her heart stopped.

Blood. Everywhere. It was as though someone had slit a vein and watched as the lifeblood splattered along the walls, making sure to cover as much as possible. There was a large, black puddle on the floor, and something that Kaoru could only dimly make out, but feared as the worst possible outcome. She chose to avert her eyes from the unusual lump in the midst of the dimly lit hallway, noting that it was positioned almost directly outside of the office of Koroku Mitsu. There were several pieces strewn about.

The doorway was only partially open, thus still leaving the hallway in almost complete darkness, but Kaoru could hear subtle sounds still coming from inside the office. Against her better judgment and the screaming of her mind to get as far from the office and the building as humanly possible, she made her way to the very edge of the doorway, careful to avoid the still unidentified mess that lay so very near her feet. She had to fight down a wave of nausea.

"I s-should have f-f-figured it'd be someone like y--." A voice, strangled and choked almost to a point where she could not understand, resounded out through the crack in the door. Kaoru quickly knew the voice, despite its warped nature, as that of Koroku. She tried to see into the room, but found that she could only catch sight of the edge of an over-turned desk. The only way to tell what was going on would be to move inside the room. "You little… b-b… bastard… No wonder he picked you up… from the gutter. You're still trash—" the rest of the words were halted by a hacking, gargling cough that made Kaoru cringe.

"Trash or not, I'm not the one impaled on a sword." The second voice made Kaoru's heart jump into her throat, and she quickly covered her mouth against a strangled cry of disbelief and alarm. There was a moment of icy silence, where Kaoru did not doubt the men were glaring daggers at each other, one a kindly old man who did not seem so kindly anymore, and the other… "Koroku Mitsu, I have come for your life."

She threw open the door without thinking, violet-blue eyes wide with fear as she found herself looking upon two men, one kneeling on the floor and clutching his bleeding stomach while the other towered above, katana in hand and raised to strike. A scream tore through her throat as the katana came down, and Kaoru watched in a daze as the head of Koroku Mitsu tumbled to the ground beside his own desk amidst the remnants of his office.

She felt sick, so sick. But Kaoru was unable to register this feel within her before the assassin turned to regard her; an assassin with flaming red hair and golden eyes that tore through her like a knife through paper walls. It was only then that she realized where she was, and what had just occurred.

Something flashed in those amber eyes, but Kaoru did not take the time to try and decipher what it was as she suddenly scrambled back out of the room, tripping over her own feet and something solid and spilling out onto the blood-soaked floor. She choked back violently on vomit and tears as she found herself staring down at Solan's open-eyed corpse, but forced herself back to her feet and down the hallway as she felt the presence of the red-haired assassin descend upon her from behind. She fled for the stairwell as quickly as possible through the maze of cubicles, knowing only that she had to get away.

He was on her heels, she sensed it even as she slammed her way through the emergency doorway, but Kaoru was not naïve enough to look back to see how close he was. Instead, she depended on her skills as a swordswoman and listened, sensing her surroundings as she went, adjusting to the flood of light in the stairwell. Mere seconds after she was through the doorway, another, much more silent, presence passed through as well. She vaulted the railing just as she felt wind rush past her, swearing she felt a blade brush over her skin. She landed with a jarring force two levels down, and knew instantly when her foot twisted awkwardly beneath her, but Kaoru ignored the sensation and pressed on. Human instinct kicked in alongside her kendo training, and now she simply wished to survive this deadly foe she was facing. He followed her down to the landing. Kaoru was sure he had not twisted his ankle.

She was limping badly now, but she took the stairs as quickly as she could, hopping the last batch of stairs to reach the landings faster. However, she could already tell that he was two steps ahead of her, and her stomach lurched in confirmation as, suddenly, the wind rushed past her yet again and she suddenly found herself confronted with those fierce golden eyes.

Himura.

Her eyes swept over him, and she knew his were doing the same. He looked awkward standing before her in something other than a business suit, holding a bloodied katana that still seemed to be thirsting for flesh in his palm. His hair, normally worn low at his neck, was in a high ponytail so that it was swept back, away from his face. He was spattered in blood, but wearing a black jacket made of a material she could not identify. It reached down to his ankles, but the arm wielding the sword revealed the dark slacks and shirt beneath, both made of what would probably be an easily washed fabric. Blood looked only like dark splotches or stains upon the cloth.

Kaoru knew she was cornered. If she ran, he would catch her. Or his sword would. In the strange, fluorescent lights of the stairwell, the redhead looked like some angel of death ready to take her down to hell with him. It was not so far off from the truth.

"So, it was you? You're the assassin everyone's so afraid of?" she demanded suddenly, knowing it was simply her way of putting off the inevitable. Would he kill her quickly, like he must have done with Solan, or slowly, like with Koroku-san as blood was pouring through a hole in his stomach?

Himura did not answer, but instead stood there as stoically and silently as she had ever remembered. It brought chills to her spine.

Slowly it was.

Seeing that he was ill to reply to her first series of questions, Kaoru tried again. "Are you going to kill me like you killed Koroku-san?" She was not sure it was fear coating her words, but her voice sounded strange in her own head. It was not the most intelligent question to ask, but perhaps it would merit a response.

"Do you want me to?"

Ur… Well… Not the response she had figured, but better than nothing…

"No! Of course not!" She fidgeted in place, feeling the pain in her ankle as she shifted from one foot to another. His eyes scared her tonight of all nights. For once, his gaze was not just piercing as he stared at her from across the distance; it was shredding, tearing her to pieces before him in every way possible. She felt exposed beneath that gaze, naked. How much did he know of her already? What was he planning on doing to her now that she knew who he was? She had thought she would be already dead, but…

He turned his back on her, started to walk away, back up the stairs. Startled, Kaoru limped after him.

"Wait, where are you going? You're just going to leave me here! What if I go to the police? What if I tell them who you are?" She was an idiot, she knew it. Probably a suicidal idiot, for all of her questions and her eagerness to pursue her potential murderer, but she was suddenly confused and irritated all at once. What kind of assassin just left witnesses alive to tell the tale?

He paused at the bottom of the stairs, but did not turn back to address her.

"You won't."

Kaoru sputtered. "Wha-- … Why the hell wouldn't I? You just killed a man! TWO men! Why in the world wouldn't I—" Suddenly, he was there in front of her, his arms yanking her forcefully forward until her body was flush against his own. He felt like a wall against her, and she could smell pine and… a scent she could not quite identify coming from his hair and body. One hand gripped her upper arm so harshly she cried out. There would surely be a bruise later. Those deadly eyes blazed before her, directly into her own violet-blue orbs, and she felt his breath tickle the hair near her ears as he whispered into one lobe.

"You won't, because if you do I'll come back to finish the job I started tonight." His voice chilled her to the bone: calm, collected, and totally in control. She did not doubt that he meant every word. Her life was now at stake.

He pulled back slowly, his hand still crushing her arm, and she noticed for the first time that he had a cross-shaped scar upon one cheek. It was the last thought Kaoru had before fire seared across one side of her body and something came down hard upon the back of her head, leaving her in darkness once again.

AN: So, there's chapter 2 for you. Finally a bit more plotline going on. Happy day! For a little while, I was seriously considering maybe discontinuing this story, but I'll let it go for the time being and see what happens. We'll see how it turns out.Thanks for reading, everyone!

-Sar