A/N: Sorry for the delay! Enjoy!


Kenji's eye twitched and there was something about the man that made him extremely uneasy. "All right, we'll duel outside and away from the innocent. But just remember, it's going to be your loss and not mine." Just as Kenji was about to step forward, Yahiko's arm blocked him off. Kenji glared up at the taller boy and waited for an explanation.

"The sword you use is meant to kill. And if you wish to protect the innocent, I suggest you use this instead," he remarked, loosening Kenshin's old sakabatou from his hakama belt and handing it to Kenji. He looked up in question. "Your father's ideals were perfect. He would fight for the oppressed. He would risk his life for the sake of others," Yahiko said sternly. Kenji knew that now was not the time to argue in return. "He was a man who stood for what was right. And I suggest that you follow in his footsteps and do the same. Make everyone here proud and stand for justice. Do not kill. Defend…and protect."

Kenji slowly took the sakabatou in his bleeding hands and glared at the blade as he pulled it halfway out of the sheath. "All right," Kenji agreed. He somehow felt the strength of his father flowing through him as he clenched the weapon and stepped outside to confront the man who had ambushed them not once but twice. "Even with this sakabatou…I can defeat you, I know I can."

The man laughed heartily and took hold of his own stomach. "That's a good one, kid. Like you can hurt anything with that pathetic thing you call a blade." The man was too distracted by his own laughter that he did not see Kenji's blade come into contact with his mouth. He coughed violently and momentarily dropped his weapon as he held his jaw in pain. "You…little…what the hell are you?"

"Himura Kenji. The person who's going to beat you for threatening my mother." The man picked up his sword. Kenji started up again and clashed swords. He gave his opponent an angry and intimidating stare. His usually calm blue eyes were now narrowed and sparkled with a mischievous desire to protect his loved ones. The weaving of swordplay started out rather slowly, a small rhythm forming. Kenji hadn't wanted to unleash a Hiten Mitsurugi attack unless it was absolutely necessary. The extraneous strain from said attacks would not prove to aid him in the final stretch of the battle.

The man pulled out his wakizashi from underneath Kenji's sakabatou and quickly tried to stab at his gut but narrowly missed. "Such tricks won't work on me," the redhead muttered, switching grip on the sakabatou with ridiculous ease so that he might be able to follow up with a Dou Ryuu Sen. "Hiten Mitsurugi Ryuu!" He cried out as he held his blade high above his head. "Dou Ry--" He gasped in pain as he felt something go right through his shoulder. The pain caused his entire left arm to tingle in a way he had never felt before. The man laughed wickedly at the boy's expense and prepared to attack once more.

Kenji was on the ground, clutching his stabbed shoulder. Kaoru called out for him but he remained on his knees. "A hidden katana…I should have known," he muttered through grit teeth as he stood up and held out the sakabatou in front of him. "Got anymore stealthy weapons, there?" Kenji quipped as he held out his sword. Lunging forward for the second time, Kenji carefully watched as the man tried to attack with both the katana and wakizashi. "I don't think so," he hissed as he backed up and tried to perform another Dou Ryuu Sen. "Hiten Mitsurugi Ryuu! Dou Ryuu Sen!" Kenji struck his sword into the earth, dirt and shrapnel flew everywhere.

The man had been temporarily knocked over, blinded by the debris that flew into his face and Kenji found it convenient to finish the duel with a Ryuu Tsui Sen. He leapt into the air cleanly and came down, delivering yet another blow and the only thing that could be heard was the man's groans of agony. "Please! No more!" came his begging voice.

"Would you have showed my mother decent courtesy if she had asked you to leave her alone? I don't think so…"

"Wait, boy! It wasn't me…I swear. I was only hired to kidnap her. It's all Hikojirou's doing!"

"Who?" Kenji sneered.

"Tagansai Hikojirou. The leader of our group."

"I see. Well then I'll keep an eye out for him then. Why don't you go back and tell him that, you pathetic dog?" Kenji growled angrily. So he had finally found out the name of his mother's so-called soon-to-be captor. Sheathing his sakabatou, he glared at the man, boring holes through him. "Well? Aren't you going to go and forewarn him? You should let him know that I have backup!" Kenji rubbed his nose. "That's right! Myoujin Yahiko!" Yahiko raised an eyebrow. "We'll be more than enough to kick your ass," he laughed resoundingly.

"Watch that tone!" Kaoru reprimanded.

"That kid's got a mouth on him, that's for sure," Yahiko mumbled, adding his two cents.

By the time that Kenji walked back to his mother and Yahiko, the man had already retreated and cheers were heard throughout the Akabeko. "Kenji-san, you were great!" Tsubame complimented as her eyes morphed into crescents. Kenji sheepishly put a hand behind his head and blushed.

"Yeah, runt, you're getting better," Yahiko grinned.

"Who are you calling a runt?" Kenji muttered in embarrassment.

He turned around and folded his arms. The swarms of people who had watched the fight had now subsided for the most part. However, Kenji's eyes widened as he spotted someone he knew. She stood there, blatantly standing out in front of all the rest in the dismal crowd. "C-Chizuru-san?" He murmured as she made eye contact with him.

"Hello, Kenji-kun!" Chizuru cheerfully replied, walking over to greet him as well as his mother. "And it's nice to see you, Kaoru-san." Kaoru smiled and patted Chizuru on the head. "Ano…I saw you fight that frightening man and I just wanted to say that…um, you did very well," she remarked shyly. Kenji blushed.

"Heh, we all know that every warrior needs praise from his woman, right?" Yahiko remarked, slapping Kenji on the back. If it were possible, Kenji's fierce blush would surpass the hue of a tomato. "Look at you! All flustered! Jeez, I guess Kaoru and I should leave you two alone." Kaoru put a hand over her mouth to suppress a giggle.

"Mother, please…not you too…" Kenji moaned. Kaoru and Yahiko started to walk off and Chizuru only chuckled slightly. "Well, now that that's over…" he whistled. Chizuru nodded and she let her eyes trail down to his shoulder when she suddenly noticed his wound. Her eyes widened in shock, and to this, Kenji noticed her state of panic.

"Your shoulder! And your hands! Kenji! What happened to you?" He stared into those worry-filled eyes and smiled.

"It's all right."

"Please let me help, Kenji," Chizuru asked, holding onto his navy blue gi. He was tempted to smile but remained as serious as he usually was. "You couldn't possibly benefit from this blood loss," Chizuru added, determined to help him. Kenji sighed heavily and closed his eyes. "Ohh… did I do something to upset you?" Kenji's eyes widened when he realized that he appeared to be in a troubled state of mind in front of Chizuru.

"Aah, I'm sorry…" he said as he smiled lightly. "No, no, you didn't do anything." She smiled back at him. "I'm…fine, you really don't have to dress my wound."

Chizuru merely nodded. "But, would you like to come back to the doujo with me?" Kenji asked politely, feeling as though the butterflies in his stomach were about to emerge any second. Chizuru hadn't yet let go of Kenji's gi and as he started off in the direction of the doujo, something fell to the floor, its almost inaudible sound had caught both Kenji's and Chizuru's attention. "Oh no!" Kenji thought as he bent down to casually pick up the book.

"What is that?" she inquired as she stood on her tiptoes and looked over his shoulder.

"Um…it's uh," Kenji fussed, tripping over his words. He couldn't even string together his sentences properly let alone tell her that it was his father's journal. Chizuru blinked. "May as well tell her the truth and not lie…" he thought in the back of his mind. "It's a journal I found at home. It belongs to my father," he concluded as he averted his eyes from her large ones.

Chizuru was aware of how much Kenji disliked Kenshin. He had told her many times prior. But the thing that she hadn't understood was that if he disliked Kenshin so much, why would he possess something that belonged to him. "Where did you end up finding it?"

"In the kitchen at night when I was making my mother some tea. It was out of place…how could I not see something like this and just disregard it?"

"Yes I know. I understand that it may have had some sort of allure what with it being out of place," Chizuru remarked, her eyes not leaving the decrepit journal all the while. "Have you decided to read this to see what kind of man he was back when he was younger?" Kenji nodded. "I know you say he is a bad man who has left for all of this time but I am sure, Kenji…that he cares about you. Why else would he come back?"

Kenji sneered. "You have to know the person he comes back to…my mother. And she's the one who waits for only his return. I have known that fact all my life. I know that my mother has faith in him and that he seldom returns…" Chizuru felt her eyes soften as she looked at the anger on Kenji's face. "But I have to discover just what kind of man he is on my own. For the most part anyway. And that's why I have to read this journal. I have to know how Himura Kenshin lived his day-to-day life. Regardless of the fact that there's no room in his heart to care for me."

Chizuru clutched harder onto his blue gi, "Don't say things like that. There are plenty of people who do," she said as she pouted at him. Kenji laughed inwardly.

"I'm sorry for dwelling on something like this," he remarked shyly. And then he held out his hand, momentarily forgetting about the wounds on his fingers and palms. He blushed. "Well, I was going to hold out my hand to you, but I'm sure that you wouldn't want to grab hold of it now." Chizuru laughed. She was both glad and surprised that he had made such an attempt. Kenji smiled before burying his hands in his long gi sleeves. "Shall we go?"


Kenji winced as Chizuru cleaned his hands with fresh well water. She looked attentive as she stared at his palm and tried to remove the dried blood that formed around his wounds as well as the minute amounts of fresh blood that seldom escaped from his deep gashes. Kenji had finally given into Chizuru's worrying and had let her dress his wounds. As she worked, Kenji noticed the look of care in her eyes. He could see it and it was blatantly obvious to him. "Next time Kenji," Chizuru remarked slowly, jolting Kenji out of his reverie provided by the silence in his home, "please be more careful. I don't mind doing this for you. But jeez…"

"What is it? Go on," Kenji laughed.

"You must have a high tolerance for pain."

"Yes, I suppose it's true. Maybe it's because I had wanted to seek ultimate strength. W-well, I still do… but I have to take care of my mother first and…you know how it is," Kenji muttered, biting off his last words as his large blue eyes slowly met up with Chizuru's. His heart thumped within his chest as he watched her expression slowly morph into a small smile. "And I uh, well… y'see… I will end up going and traveling to Kyoto to perfect my Hiten Mitsurugi Ryuu but for now, I can say I'm content with being around my mother, Yahiko, and you of course, Chizuru-san."

"Well, well, well, Kenji!" Kaoru suddenly exclaimed happily, walking into the training hall and glaring suspisciously at her son. Kenji had nearly jumped out of his skin with such a resounding entrance, courtesy of Kaoru. "I always knew that you felt strongly for Chizuru-chan!" Kenji blushed fiercely, averting his captivating gaze from both his mother and Chizuru, who at the time sat politely on the floor, trying her hardest not to blush as well. "I was only teasing. Well, anyway Kenji, I just wanted to let you know that I'll be going to the market to buy some tofu for tonight's dinner."

"Mother…it's getting late. I'll go instead."

"Don't be silly, Kenji. You have a guest here to entertain, do you not?"

Kenji sighed and stood up, pulling back his hands to examine the job that Chizuru had done. "I'm fine. Well, we're fine. We can both go together, can't we, Chizuru-san?" She nodded happily. "It's just that I worry for your safety even more so now because of today's battle. Mother, you're very important to me, you know." Kaoru smiled genuinely at her son. She was in many ways, extremely proud of him. "And now that it's late…"

"I will be just fine," Kaoru reassured. "And besides, I still know of my Kamiya Kasshin Ryuu so I'm not a lost cause am I?"

Kenji smiled, "No, I suppose you're not, then…" He looked down at his hands momentarily before promptly seeing his mother walk out the door. "And if you're in danger, how will I know of it?" Kenji shouted after her as she waved a hand off at her overprotective son.

"She'll be fine, Kenji…don't worry about her. She's right though, she still does practice swordsmanship so she'll be able to take care of herself."

"But still… that man… the one that I dueled today at the Akabeko…" Kenji muttered inaudibly to himself. Chizuru blinked. "I could tell that he was holding back a great deal of his strength. For what reason, well, even I am not sure. Perhaps the reason that he did hold back was to show everyone that he played no threat as long as I was there to fight with him. I don't know. But this is why I am very worried for my mother, Chizuru-san. Very worried…"

A/N: I just felt like I should add Chizuru in this fic since is lacking her character so much. And I'm not so sure how to portray her...seeing how she was in the Seisouhen for not even a minute at the end, but that's beyond the point anyway. Thanks for reading, and I hope you review! I hope to have the next chapter out soon! Domo!

Son Christine