Author's Notes: Inspiration hits me off and on, usually with the force of a hammer wielded by one of my good friends who happens to be a martial artist of higher rank than I (she hits hard, really hard). So, here's the next chapter and I hope y'all enjoy it, sorry it took so long to produce.

Disclaimer: No tengo nada. I own nothing written on this page. It all belongs to someone else. (though if it did belong to me, well, let's just say Battousai would be hanging around more often and Tomoe would be happily married to her fiance with twelve kids. Yup, yup.)

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"Hayasaka?" Megumi said, shaking her patient out of the daze she had been in as she awoke.

"Hai, Sensei-san?" the now lucid girl asked groggily, wincing as she changed position on her futon slightly so as to see Megumi's face better.

The doctor did a quick visual survey of the girl, glad to see that the bandages around her chest, arms, and face were not soaked through with blood like they had for many days before. "How do you feel? Is the pain bad?"

Hayasaka cautiously tried taking a deep breath, then another more confidently as she found she could do so with minimal amounts of pain. "I can breath better, but there's still some pain." Moving her arms slowly, she brought up her palms to her face, touching the bandages surrounding her cheeks that held them together as they healed. "I feel very little pain, how strange..."

Megumi watched the girl test her mobile abilities with something akin to awe. "Let me check your wounds." Cutting through the bandages on Hayasaka's arms, she saw that the more minor of the girl's wounds were almost completely healed. Three days before, the girl had huge, gaping wounds on her arms, chest, and her face had her cheeks ripped away. Now, the wounds on her arms were almost healed. The young doctor was completely astounded. "Hayasaka...how...?" Looking at the young woman's face, she saw that Hayasaka herself did not know what was going on.

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Saitoh decided that the toddler son of the midgit red-headed swordsman was endurable. Despite the fact he somehow pilfered a cigarette and had run to his mother to ask what it was for. Despite the fact the kid pulled his hair. Despite the fact...well, we won't go there. As it was, the kid had the spunk, but apparently none of that irrational temper that Kamiya Kaoru had. A relief to all involved with that family.

Kenshin and his wife had listened to Saitoh, Bai Ru, and the other's explainations unflinchingly. They were astonished, slightly horrified that they never guessed that any of the legends were true, but they accepted it pretty calmly. Saitoh thought Kamiya-san would go into hysterics, something she tended to be known for, but she was quicker to understand things than Kenshin. He wondered why.

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Hikou delayed telling Kenshin what he should know not a moment longer than he absolutely had to. Once Kenshin was alone, Hikou stepped into the empty room. "Kenshin?" he asked quietly, to get the younger man's attention.

"Hai, sensei?" the petite man replied softly, his eyes still unfocused as he faced a wall, his mind engaged in his thoughts.

Sitting next to his one time pupil, he said, "There is something you ought to know."

Blinking, Kenshin turned to face Hikou. Something in the older man's tone told him he was about to be surprised again. "What is it?" he ventured to ask.

"Being the successor to Hiten Mitsurugi Ryuu means two things. One, you are supposedly the only master alive. Two, you inheirit a certain...power passed from master to student for over a millenia. This power basically makes you immortal, until you are ready to die under the next master-to-be's sword during the initiation." Looking at Kenshin, he was amused to see the little man's eyes about ready to pop out, they were opened so wide in astonishment.

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Babbling Brook: Yes, I here, I'm alive. Due to the pressure of school demands, I was unable to write, though I really wanted to. I hope this chapter can satisfy you for awhile longer...it's short, I know. I'm sorry. Gomen nasai! But, that's all I have for now. Ja ne! (I'll post review replies once I go back to edit this chapter)