"Yahiko?" Kenshin could hear Kaoru's frantic voice inside the dojo. "Yahiko!?!" He hurried his steps and went inside to find her.

"Kaoru? What's going on?" In her panic, Kaoru seemed to have totally forgotten what had happened earlier, and the fact that her kimono was still sopping wet.

"It's Yahiko! He's gone! He's taken his bokken and left a note and he left! Kenshin, what if he-" She shuddered, not even wanting to voice her thoughts. "We have to find him!" Kenshin nodded to her.

"Pack the essentials, no more than you can carry. He's got two hours lead time on us, and he's fast. We'll leave in fifteen minutes." Kenshin watched her as she hurried to do his bidding, rushing off to change her clothes, grab a fresh set and pack some food. He hadn't given her much time, but, she realized, he had given her more time than he should have, than he needed.

Kenshin headed to get his sakabatou, and what little he needed to take with him. Less than five minutes later, he was ready, and she was already in the kitchen grabbing whatever she could to take with them. He read the worry on her face, could see the emotions coloring her chi. Though she didn't even think Yahiko liked her, she was ready to search for him, ready to put herself through whatever it took to get him back, safe, where he belonged.

Kaoru turned to see Kenshin scowling at the floor, deep in thought. "Whenever you're ready, Kenshin."

"Nine minutes. Not bad, Kaoru." Together, they headed towards the gates of the dojo, Kaoru with a note in hand to pin on the wood, should anyone show up.

"It's been months since I had to lock these gates." she murmured, more to herself than him.

"We went towards the river, so he's headed the other way." Kenshin said. Kaoru nodded, then stopped herself, realizing.

"I'm not so sure about that. That's exactly what he'd want us to think, what he'd expect us to think. I think he went the way we did." Kenshin nodded. She made sense. Yahiko would know what Kenshin would be expecting him to do, and he'd try to do just the opposite. It made him just as easily trackable.





Two hours later, Kaoru felt like they had travelled twenty miles already. Her legs hurt, her back was stiff, and her arms ached. She had just had to bring the extra clothes, right? And the extra shoes, the brush, comb, hankerchiefs, bandages, blanket, matches, and water, right? Right? She kept asking herself why she didn't just dump the entire thing. Surely she'd walk easier without it.

But, in the end, pride won out over physical pain, and she kept it on. She didn't want Kenshin to think that she wasn't strong enough to carry her own, to be able to deal with her own plight, and so, despite the stiff back, aching arms, shoulders, and next, despite the hurting legs, she kept on, carrying her pack.

"We shall stop here tonight. We'll have to rest. Yahiko will too. We'll leave again at first light." She nodded, and stopped, pulling her pack off of her shoulders and setting it down on the ground. She needed water, a blanket and sleep. Food she'd worry about before they left in the morning.

Wrapping the blanket around herself, she fell asleep, knowing she'd wake up with a ton more aches and pains in the morning.



Kenshin simply watched Kaoru's sleeping figure for the better part of the night. His memory flashed back to the first time he met her. Her courage had stood out to him. That had been the first thing she had noticed. The second was her beauty. Smiling, he recalled the way that she had taken on the 'Hitokiri Battosai', knowing full well that the imposter had killed and injured many of her townspeople. Kaoru had honor, and he respected that. But she also had a sunny disposition, a good sense of humor, intelligence, common sense(part of the time).. and then.. there were her physical aspects - her beautiful face and stunning profile, her...

Kenshin realized what he was doing, thinking all these thoughts about Kaoru, and shook his head, as though trying to shake some sense into it. Finally, seeing no other option, he stood and walked towards the river.



"K... Kenshin?" Kaoru opened her eyes and glanced around. He wasn't there, but his sakabatou was. She stood and headed towards the river. She had to carefully step; she couldn't even see the ground it was so dark in the forest, and, when she finally found moonlight, she knew she was at the river. She glanced up and watched the stars for a moment, wondering at their majesty, before glancing around for Kenshin. There, about twenty feet away, was all of his clothing.

Alright, then, she thought, he couldn't have gone far without his clothes... so where is he?

A gentle splashing alerted her to where he was, swimming in the middle of the river. All she could do was stand there and watch him, watch the man with the incredible speed, the amazing strength, languidly swim in the river. What she couldn't hear was his muttering to himself. "Forget about it, Kenshin. Just put it out of your mind. It's obviously not meant to be. She doesn't want you. So why do you want her so bad?" He shook his head and dove under the water again, trying to cool himself, and his thoughts down. So why wouldn't it work? Why, just now, did it feel even worse than before, like she was there with him?

And then he saw her, watching him, her eyes wide and innocent, just watching. Nothing else. A couple of days ago, she would have stolen his clothes and headed back to camp, now she just watched. And wondered.

The man was gorgeous, there were no two ways about it. He was beautiful. "Kenshin." She said his name softly, as though she were hesitant, then turned back and headed back towards camp. She had seen too much, went too far, and pressed too deep into his privacy.