Disclaimer: I don't own Kenshin, or any of its characters, blah, blah, blah, so on and so forth. Ya get it?

AN: So, I can't really say I'm totally thrilled by this chapter, but it works for a transition, which is what it generally is. The story will pick up again next chapter, so no worries. I hope you enjoy it, though. I tried hard. See you for the next chapter!

Chapter 3

Damnit, he'd been careless! Why had he not noticed her approach? Furthermore, why had he let her live?

The questions plagued the red-haired assassin as he paced around his apartment, bloody coat still resting securely over his shoulders even as the sun began to peek over the horizon and through the window.

He had been shocked to see her there, standing beyond the doorway; her eyes wide as she screamed and watched him decapitate Koroku. When she had started to run, instinct had kicked in, and he had followed her, all the way down the stairwell until he managed to corner her on one of the landings, and yet…

WHY?

His true surprise had come when she had suddenly confronted him in the stairwell, no longer running, obviously injured and alarmed, and yet resilient and hopeful. She had not been afraid, simply observant and understanding of her situation. He was an assassin; it was only logical he would kill a witness, and she had accepted that even when she had fled from the office. He had seen it in her eyes. So then why had he done it that way? Why had he not struck her down, as was his assumed duty?

WHY?

The questions bothered him, haunted him, drove him insane as he had returned home in the shadows, still caked in drying blood and looking as though he had done exactly what he had: brutally killed someone. Two people, actually. The security guard had been an unfortunate necessity when he had stumbled upon the scene, worried after his superior when Koroku had seemed upset. Himura had caught the concern when he had first crept into the building himself, but had brushed it aside, figuring the American would remain in the main foyer with her. That had not been the case, and in the end he had been forced to kill the congenial man instead.

But he had not killed that girl. He had not killed Kaoru.

WHY?

Against his instinct and training, the agitated assassin started angrily when the phone on the wall rang, and he carefully removed one black glove so he could retrieve the receiver.

"It's done?" He heard the calm, familiar voice on the other line, and instantly his mind reverted to a state of rigorous control.

"Yes," he responded monotonously. In his line of work, he had learned to look at all 'assignments' with a feeling of detachment. It was not killing, it was simply a duty fulfilled.

"Good. I expect you here at the usual time this morning. I'm sure we'll be getting a call by midmorning concerning this latest incident. I believe I have no need to tell you to be on time, Himura."

"Understood." It was the same as always. Preparing to hang up, expecting no farewell, he raised a brow when he heard the voice speak up again.

"I was faxed a report ten minutes ago concerning an emergency admittance to Takayoshi General. One Kamiya Kaoru. We will discuss this upon your arrival." There was a pause, then, "Women are dangerous, Kenshin. You should know that by now."

He felt his body tense. What else had he expected?

"…Yes, Sir." He heard the other line click and go dead, and finally set down his own receiver, looking up to stare out the window at the coming sunrise. However, his eyes did not see the soft golden shafts of light streaming through the glass.

She had looked so determined and bold when she had questioned him in the stairwell, moon-like eyes blazing with a sort of icy fire while trying wretchedly to buy some time. If he had wanted to, he could and would have cut her down even before she had the chance to start babbling, but for reasons he could not explain he had stayed his hand. He had spared her, though not without a warning, and a reminder. He had not been bluffing when he had said he would come back to finish the job.

And yet…

"Enough," he chided himself verbally, turning away from the phone and the matter. He forced his unusually turbulent thoughts to subside and be pushed to the back of his mind, regaining his cool exterior in the span of a moment. It was no longer his concern as long as the girl kept quiet.

He was sure that she would.

Everything hurt. No, wait, that wasn't even the right description.

It was like an explosion of pain, across her eyes, through her entire head, and straight down one side of her upper body, festering especially in one area of her waist. It even decided to surround and crush her right ankle, and she had to restrain her body from mechanically moving her foot in response to the thought. Oh God, but it hurt!

She groaned at the feelings coursing through her body, shifting to exercise stiffened limbs and only vaguely becoming aware that she was lying down on something soft. Her mind felt fuzzy and heavy-laden, and she was unable to focus her thoughts on anything but the screams of her skin. It was only with great concentration and will that she managed to open her eyes, only to shut them again as quickly as possible with a whimper.

Migraine… A migraine… It was knowledge summoned up only from numerous painful memories, instead of a cogent thought.

"Kaoru? Kaoru, are you awake?" She knew the voice, she was sure, but it sounded so distant, and she would be damned if she opened her eyes again to the blinding light… And, anyways, she was far too tired to bother with someone right now. Why wouldn't anybody leave her alone? Everyone knew not to disturb her when she had a migraine, and… Wait, why was someone inside her house? Who was it again that was speaking to her? Why did the voice sound so muffled? "Kaoru? …I think she's still out of it."

Yes, she most definitely knew that voice.

"Misao, how many times have I told you to leave her alone when she's having an episode?" came a second, sharper, older voice. Kaoru was sure it was female… at least, that's what her muddled brain was translating it as. It certainly seemed like it should be female. Men made her head hurt worse when she had a migraine, after all, but… but… But what?

…What were they talking about again?

The pain was unbearable…

"Kaoru," the older voice started gently, much more quietly than the first voice. "Kaoru, if you're awake then you have to sit up so I can give you your medication. It will help ease the pain."

It was enough incentive for Kaoru to attempt to squint open her eyes, only to no avail as another wave of nausea and blinding pain swept over her at the source of light. Faintly, she heard something between a groan and a whimper escape her own lips, "Too bright…"

"Misao, the lamp." She heard a distinctive click, and beyond her closed eyed registered an absence of light, and tried once again to open her eyes.

This time, Kaoru succeeded in the task and attempted to glance around the dark room with groggy, blurred vision. Immediately, she could see two figured hovering over her: one a younger girl with a long, dark braid and a ready smile, the other an older woman dressed in a lab coat, her long hair hanging over one shoulder as she leaned close, offering when Kaoru made out to be a cup and pills. Kaoru managed to offer a small smile to them, which quickly warped into a wince as she forced herself to slowly sit up, something wretched biting in her side, and take the cup and pills with shaking hands. The water inside the plastic container sloshed around dangerously, but Kaoru noted as her senses slowly returned that the doctor was wise enough to only fill it to a halfway point. Carefully, she sipped at the water before dropping the pills on her tongue and flushing it all down her throat with another sip and a wincing gulp. Every movement seemed like she was slamming a hammer into the side of her head.

However, Kaoru was not so pained as to not realize she was somewhere other than her bedroom as she finally took a good look at her surroundings. Unfortunately, she more than recognized the whitewashed walls of the darkened room in a clinic where she had been more than just a patient in years past.

"Good girl, now lay back down. You need rest." Turning to face the older woman, Kaoru looked at her in confusion as she conceded to the command, lowering herself back down to the bed.

"Megumi-san, what-?" The dark-haired doctor shook her head, effectively silencing her patient.

"Not now, Kaoru. I'll explain after you rest."

"My side…"

"After, Kaoru. Go to sleep." Kaoru was not satisfied with the obvious aversion to her questions, but found she could not disobey as her eyes began to droop. Even though she had just woken, she was exhausted, and her body easily fell into the patterns of sleep as the doctor and the delivery girl looked on.

When Kaoru opened her eyes next, it was to see sunlight streaming through a window on the far side of the hospital room, her eyes unafflicted by their previous pain and her migraine reduced to a dull throbbing at the temples. The room was empty of any other people but herself, with a two chairs left huddled around the bed where her friends had obviously been sitting while she slept. Near the window was a small table, a file sprawled out with a few other papers here and there -- most likely Megumi's notes on her condition -- with yet another chair upon which clothes were laid out. Next to the bed -- the place where Kaoru immediately turned upon her awakening -- she found a small nightstand, complete with telephone and notepad, upon which was scrawled a note in sharp, delicate kanji.

Kaoru,

Misao went to school and I was called away by a patient. Aoshi should be in to check in you sometime during the day, and I left some of your clothing on the chair. I expect you to be here when he comes. Do not strain yourself, and be careful of the stitching in your side. If you get hungry, you know where to find the clinic kitchen, but I would suggest you stay in bed. I'll come see you tonight and explain everything then.

-Megumi

Kaoru read the note with a small smile before frowning suddenly in confusion.

Stitches?

Sitting up with difficulty, Kaoru pulled up the edges of the pajama shirt she now wore (she assumed either Misao or Megumi had dressed her) and looked down at her side. Sure enough, she found it heavily bandaged and felt a definitive stinging pain even as she stared down at it, assuming that even those sensations were dulled by painkillers.

How in the world had she managed to require stitches while having one of her migraines? All she had been doing was working at the office and leaving to go home, talking to Solan. How had she managed to—

Her eyes widened suddenly as the events of the previous night came rushing back to her, and her hands flew to her face as she suddenly felt herself grow sick with the memories, bile threatening to rise in her throat as she pictured the mutilated bodies of both Solan and Koroku-san. She saw them sprawled out over the floor in pieces: an arm here, a head there, intestines spilling from a stomach, and blood staining the carpet and walls a deep crimson that she guessed would never come out. Amongst it all there was a sharp glint of silver and amber, and then she realized that not all of the crimson was blood, but the pooling red of unusual, silky hair as it cascaded over black-clad shoulders in a high ponytail.

Himura.

Ignoring the stabbing pain that accompanied her movements, Kaoru scrambled from her bed and all but fled to the bathroom adjoining the small bedroom, retching violently into the toilet as the memories flooded her mind. Those amber eyes were predatory, stalking her even in her thoughts. What had happened after she had passed out? Why was she still alive? How had she gotten to Megumi's clinic? Who else knew about what had happened? Where was Himura?

The last question scared her the worst, for somehow she did not doubt that the man she now knew to be the notorious shadow assassin was currently following Katsura around the office as he always did, never the worse for wear. And, if this were true, it meant that Kaoru would be faced with the assassin more often than she was comfortable with: never.

What would he do? What would she do?

"Hitokiri Battousai."

Kaoru froze at the sound of the voice, her body trembling uncontrollably as she gripped the porcelain of the toilet, sprawled on the tile as she was. She turned slowly until a tall, imposing form came into view as it approached her from the doorway and crouched down beside her. Large, callused hands rose to pull her hair aside and offer her an unexpected cup of water to rinse the bile from her mouth, and she took it gratefully, even as her newest visitor finished his thought. "That's the name they're calling him since last night: 'Hitokiri Battousai.' What happened, Kaoru?"

"Aoshi-san…" Unfortunately, his words only brought a new wave of memory of the gruesome murders she had witnessed, and Kaoru found her stomach was not yet prepared to yield and she once again vomited. He was patient, waiting silently beside her until there was no more left for her stomach to return, before helping her as Kaoru attempted to stagger back to her bed. Her side was on fire with pain, and Kaoru supposed she had already earned a fine tongue-lashing from Megumi for the day.

Once returned to her blankets and settled beneath them, Kaoru looked up with sunken eyes at the man known as Aoshi, watching as he readjusted one of the chairs by her bed and seated himself in it.

"Aoshi-san…" She tried his name again, as it had failed the first time, and noted that his only response was to watch her more intently. That was Aoshi's way: observe and learn, never act without understanding. She was used to it by now.

Kaoru had been having migraines since before she could remember; severe, mind-wrenching migraines that often left her crippled until given medication. Ever since she had started working at the firm, she had been brought to see Takani Megumi: a personal acquaintance and trusted physician for her employer. Megumi owned a small clinic in the city that was often associated with Takayoshi General Hospital, and even Kaoru had to admit that she was well worth her reputation as a doctor. The medication with which she had provided Kaoru for her migraines tended to prevent most occurrences as long as she took it regularly, and Kaoru found life better for it when she was not afflicted by the terrible attacks of pain as she had once been. These days, she could not remember how she had dealt with the pain before she had met Megumi.

Aoshi and Misao had haphazardly stepped into the picture one day when she had experienced a particularly brutal 'attack' (as they had come to refer to them as). Unfortunately, it had happened in the midst of a board meeting when she was still new to the firm and attempting to learn all she could about how everyone functioned together. The pain had been building steadily throughout the day until she could barely see straight and was trying hard not to let her employer know she was struggling. She had not yet explained the migraines to him at that time, and was afterwards embarrassed to do so, but, nevertheless, she had attempted to rise from her seat in order to retrieve a folder from another office, only to collapse.

Misao had been delivering lunch that day, and Aoshi had accompanied her from the Aoiya for one of his rare visits (Kaoru had yet to find out his true occupation, despite the years they had known each other now), and much to Kaoru's luck, the tall, stoic man had caught her before she could crash to the floor and injure herself further. That had been the day she had first been sent to see Megumi.

Now, Aoshi seemed to push aside time in his schedule to visit her after, and sometimes during, each attack, claiming that it was for Misao's sake as much as Kaoru's. Kaoru, however, merely smiled at his awkward way of showing concern for a friend, and never said anything averse to it.

"Did you see his face?" The question was sudden, and Kaoru's initial urge was to answer in the affirmative, until Himura's words stayed her tongue.

"What if I go to the police? What if I tell them who you are?"

"You won't, because if you do I'll come back to finish the job I started tonight."

"No… No, I didn't. I ran, and he caught me by surprise. I never thought to look." It was only a partial lie, for Kaoru truly had not thought to look upon the assassin, as much as simply known him for who he was. Even so, it was better she did not tell, not even Aoshi. Somehow, Kaoru feared more for what Himura might do to someone else to whom she had told his secret, than for what he might do to her.

"I see…" Kaoru watched Aoshi as he looked on her for a second longer than necessary, studying her, before dropping his gaze. Did he believe her? She doubted it. Aoshi was more perceptive than most, ice blue eyes appraising everyone they came across – her and Misao especially. The dark-haired man held a special affection for the young delivery girl, and, she supposed, for Kaoru herself, and did not take their words lightly. It was hard to fool Aoshi, but he often left it to them to reveal the truth instead of inquiring after it. That seemed to be his decision now.

"Anyways, I should get some rest. Aoshi-san, would you…?" She stopped, feeling embarrassed and childish, but he knew before she even asked what her request might be.

"Aa. I will be here until you wake."

Kaoru smiled gently and eased herself back down into the bed, pulling the covers up around her. She closed her eyes, still showing him that smile, before rolling over unto her uninjured side and away from the eyes of the peculiar man, the smile dying on her lips.

All she could see was amber and crimson, both colors flooding over into her dreams. She would not sleep well tonight.

Next Chapter: 4, Megumi tells Kaoru how she was discovered and what is known about the assassin now called "Hitokiri Battousai". Afterwards, Kaoru leaves the clinic and returns to work at the firm, apprehensive of when she will see Himura again. Meanwhile, Kenshin is having a hard time justifying his decision to Katsurain sparing Kaoru. Until then!