A/N: This is a fic based on the Ancient Roman Myth of "Cupid and Psyche"; however I've taken plenty of liberties with the story to make it better mesh with Rurouni Kenshin.

Standard disclaimer: I don't own Rurouni Kenshin.

Chapter One: For the Greater Good

Hiko was a powerful god, an old one, whose very name made mortals shiver and utter his name in the utmost respect. He was the god of all those who wielded the sword, warriors, scoundrels, nobles, and mere teachers. He did not care why the sword was wielded but only how well it was. He left the moral ramifications to his son, the young god was only too happy to throw himself into such a mess.

However Hiko was also an unaffected god. He had never trusted those things called humans the minute they showed up. The other gods and their constant inane quarrels, affairs, and wars were enough of a headache, and now he had a million other voices screaming at him to do this, that, or the other. Other than being unnecessarily noisy, humans sometimes thought themselves as beautiful, skilled, and powerful as Hiko and his kin.

That was the worse of all.

Long ago when Heaven was still young and humans merely an age old, a mortal had challenged Hiko to his divine right as patron of the sword. Hiko had won of course, however the battle had pushed him to the edge and left him sore and wounded for a great time after. It had shaken the proud god to his core and he vowed never again to allow such a thing to happen. Heaven was meant for those born of the Great Mother alone and he would die before it would be another way.

His son, the young god known as Kenshin, was the one the task of keeping arrogant swordsmen from eyeing his father's place. Along with his other duties of punishing those who abused the sword. So far he'd done his job well, though Hiko was never going to let him know that.

Especially with some distressing news he'd received not only from mortal prayers but from the tremors echoing through-out the secondary world. As far as he could tell his idiot son was completely unaware of the situation brewing on Earth below despite being so familiar with its inhabitants.

Sometimes even the great Hiko-sama envied that blissful ignorance, though most of the time it just made him want to throttle Kenshin.

"Kenshin-sama, your great and honorable father, Hiko-sama, wishes to see you now."

The red haired god blinked and nodded. The messenger didn't need to place emphasis on the "now", he knew his father well enough to know "now" meant "now". He wondered what it was this time, was he being too nice to the mortals again? Or maybe his father just wanted to spar with him to make sure he was up to task to being a patron of the sword, or maybe Hiko was low on sake again and wanted Kenshin to get some more. Hiko only drank a certain sake made by monks living in a secluded temple, claiming heaven's sake was too "watered down".

Because Hiko could summon any minor god to get his this sake, Kenshin liked to think that was just his way of seeing him when they had not seen each other for a while. It should be noted the patron god of good swordsmen was a great optimist.

"Arigatou," he bowed to the messenger standing up from kneeling beside the young goddesses of children, Ayame and Suzume. "This one is sorry, but father must not be kept waiting, that he shouldn't."

The two girls pouted, "Brother Ken" was the only god who would play with them whole heartedly, however the thought to Hiko-sama angry was enough to make them meekly nod in agreement. All three said their good-byes before Kenshin departed from the divine cherry orchard.

Kenshin was perhaps, a little bit odd for a god. It was not his almost constant good humor that made him strange, for not all gods were as stuffy as Hiko was, no it was more his unrelenting humility. The gods, even those well disposed to humankind, were always aware of their own superiority to those that served them, and they let humanity know it; however when Kenshin meted out divine justice it was always in the name of the greater good than himself, or even his father.

Such modesty made him a popular god among the worshippers on Earth, however only as Kenshin, and not as the Battousai who came in the night to redress those who abused the sword. Even those who had nothing to fear from the amber eyed god shivered at the thought of even catching a glimpse of the avenging demon of the night.

Moving about in heaven is easy if one knows how to do so. One just wills their presence to be there and the body follows. Kenshin opened his violet eyes on the run down potter's shack that the magnificent Hiko-sama had chosen as his divine residence. Despite his proud nature, Hiko believed in living a simple life without any of the audacious comforts that the other gods gave themselves in their celestial palaces. In this way, Hiko was perhaps the most human like god there was.

Why Hiko had chosen pottery making as a hobby Kenshin didn't know, and felt he never would. Hiko was a complete enigma unto himself. He was as arrogant as gods could come, but still liked to live like a poor human.

Kenshin politely announced himself though he knew Hiko was fully aware of his presence. The older god merely grunted his greeting and Kenshin entered the modest dwelling. His father was absorbed in stoking a fire in the central cooking fireplace. However given its tepid aura, Kenshin knew Hiko didn't have roasting fish on it in mind.

He knelt across from the white cloaked god, and bowed lowly, waiting for his father to speak first.

After a few minutes of deep contemplation, Hiko found what he was looking for, and broke his concentration to look at his son smiling at him. Now, anyone else who saw that would just think that was Kenshin's default "happy face", but Hiko knew it was actually his curious, pondering face when he didn't want other people to know he was unsure.

Despite how unabashedly stupid his son often acted, Hiko knew to never underestimate him, ever.

"Kenshin, I want you to listen closely to me because I have a serious task to ask of you and I cannot have you going about it like a carefree fool," Hiko said finally breaking the silence.

Kenshin's face changed from default happy to a more serious expression, his father often called him a "fool", "idiot", or "stupid", but his tone showed this was no sake run.

With a sweeping gesture the fire morphed from a low pleasant flame to a blaze that stopped just below Hiko's head. "There is a mortal on Earth I need you to 'take care of'. "

Into the cool fire a shape emerged, a female shape, young and fit, then the details of the face shape, hair style, and clothing became apparent. She wore men's clothing, very odd for the region her costuming decried her from, and held a sword with an assured grip. The final details on her face formed and Kenshin found himself looking into the two most beautiful blue eyes he'd ever seen. After a few seconds he realized his father was still speaking to him and in confusion he let out an uncharacteristic, "Eh?"

Hiko's left eyebrow twitched, how was he ever going to complete the job if he couldn't even listen to the instructions! "Pay attention," Hiko snapped and made Kenshin jump back a few feet, but also a lot more attentive.

"This woman, called Kamiya Kaoru, has an exceptional talent with a sword, however it is not her alone I fear. Her abilities have caught the attention of a very ambitious lord that is rumored to be ingesting an elixir that will give her and him immortal life." The flames now shifted to show a middle aged man who for all the world merely looked like a prosperous man from the region, however in his eyes held the glint of want for an even greater, more terrifying title, "He wishes to make this woman his eternal bodyguard, and the last thing we need is an un-killable sword wielder with a psychotic patron running around. Already he has managed to kill a forest god in that region and looks to slay more gods to add to his growing powers."

Hiko looked closely at Kenshin, "I want you to kill them both before this becomes even more of a problem."

"But the young woman, Kamiya Kaoru, does she agree to do such an evil thing?" Kenshin asked, he could not believe those lovely, kind eyes held any sort of malice in them.

"It doesn't matter, her lips have already tasted an elixir of immortality and such a thing must not be attained by a mere human." Hiko answered coldly.

Kenshin looked away, "This one's heart is troubled at the thought of slaying an innocent young woman."

"Then let the Battousai handle it, that is what he is for" Hiko countered. His son's dual nature had never exactly been an easy aspect of their relationship. Despite Battousai's…"efficient" ways, even he, the immovable Hiko-sama, preferred the cheerful swordsmen over the raging slayer. However he also knew the Battousai was a just as important part of his son.

"She is also not free from taint, she is stronger than any other mortal woman now and is on her way to becoming a god, and then she will be nearly impossible to kill if she decides to use her strength for evil," Hiko harshly reminded him.

Kenshin let his scarlet bangs hide his eyes and Hiko knew this was a sign of inner turmoil. It was not the first time Hiko had ordered him to kill a woman, however it was the first time he had ordered him to kill one that was merely an accomplice to an offense to the gods. Nevertheless, the world, even heaven, was not a place of bliss and innocence.

Hiko stood up and dumped a water pail onto the sacred flame, dousing it, and it died with a smarting hiss. "It is for the greater good," he said looking at his son through the rising steam who's eyes would still not be shown to him. He then turned on his heel and left his own dwelling, leaving Kenshin to wrestle with his conscience alone, as he went to traverse the fields of heaven. He knew Kenshin would obey him, because even though the young god was an idealist, he knew the words to be true

I thank you for reading, and even more if you leave a review.