A/N: Well, we're officially off the appetizers and on to the first course.

Chapter Four

Kaoru collapsed on the forest floor when her legs gave out, all strength sapped from her body from the violent sobs wracking her body. She hardly moved to break the fall, merely turning slightly so that her shoulder hit the detritus covered ground instead of her face. The wind was pushed from her lungs, briefly silencing her ragged gasps. There she stayed for several minutes, the cool dirt soothing her overheated cheek, allowing her to gain a modicum of control. Curling in on herself, she stilled her quaking limbs and pressed her fists to her mouth, smothering her ragged gasps. Soon all movement stopped. Kaoru's eyes were too swollen from tears to close, so she stared unseeing at a root pushing up from the dirt near her face.

She hated him.

In two days, when the new moon rose, she would be subject to him forever and it terrified her. The thought forced her exhausted body into action. She pushed up off the ground and sluggishly rose to her feet, looking around and trying to orient herself to the surrounding area. After the…argument, she'd fled haphazardly to the mortal world, neither paying attention nor caring where she ended up, as long as it was away from him. Brushing a leaf from her ear, Kaoru finally noticed a faint sound coming from nearby. A rhythmic scraping, like that of digging was echoing through the trees. Ready to think about anything other than her own situation, she followed the noise to its source.

The forest ended abruptly upon a field filled with bodies. It looked like bandits had set upon a caravan. In the center of the carnage, a young boy was using a flat stone to scrape the thin dirt into a shallow grave. At first, she thought the setting sun gave his long, ragged mane the color of blood but as he heard her approach and turned, she realized he was not Japanese and it was his natural coloring. The child was nearing collapse. Kaoru approached him with a hint of trepidation. That hair reminded her too much of…

'Are you with the other?' The boy's words shook her out of the thought.

'Other?'

He turned back to his grave digging. 'It doesn't matter.' His breathing was shallow and he stumbled with the movement, falling to the side. Kaoru had no tears left, but her heart twisted in sympathy. She ran over to the boy and took his head in her lap. His eyes were closed, his lips pale and she gently brushed his bangs from his face.

'What's your name?'

'Shinta.'

Rain was drumming on the roof as Kaoru woke from the dream. Although she was conscious, the only movement came from the slitting glance of her eyes taking in the room through her bangs. The storm gave the room a shadowed, gray cast through the paper screens. Her futon lay untouched, still folded against the wall. Kaoru had long ago accustomed herself to sleeping upright against the wall; slowly flexing the stiffness from her muscles, she finally stood, catching the sword resting against her shoulder with a hand and returning it to the sash at her waist. The past had been haunting her more aggressively since she'd decided to rewrite it. Dismissing the dream for the moment she straightened her clothing, a black kimono, dark gray hakama and navy gi. The only luxury she allowed was loosening her hair at night, which she corrected now by reworking the hair into a samurai's tail at her crown, minus the blue ribbon. There was no need for prettiness in this life.

Slipping out of the rented room, Kaoru considered the risk she was taking today. Although Kaoru knew she'd been effective so far disguising herself from Aoshi or anyone else with the skill to track her, it was only a matter of time. Shishio would only delay him. Unknown to Shishio was that he was her decoy, set up to hinder Battousai in his search, but he was less than a pawn in this game because Kaoru knew he would eventually betray her. He would break under the full power of Battousai and tell Kenshin what he knew, precious little thankfully, but enough to point him in the right direction.

Kaoru wasn't making eluding capture any easier on herself, being in Tokyo. Today was close to the same time she'd met Kenshin, and naturally, after talking with Shishio, this was where he would look, in the most obvious place first. Kaoru knew he'd find her eventually. The final confrontation was inevitable, and in fact, she was counting on that confrontation to accomplish her goals; but she had to delay it long enough to put certain events into order for her peace of mind. Specifically, the event was the day she'd met Yahiko.

There were many times Kaoru had wanted to grant immortality on individuals over the decades, but all her power had been wrapped up in making sure Kenshin stayed put in his prison, quite a challenge since every gaijin had taken to showing up to either try and defeat Battousai while he was supposedly vulnerable or trying to remind him through combat who he'd been before. Even if she could grant the gift now, Yahiko was too young; she doubted he would appreciate being 10 forever. But that didn't mean she would let the Yakuza have him. She hadn't allowed it then, neither would she allow it in this life. Yahiko was hers, and she would make sure he was well cared for, regardless of personal risk.

Yahiko was still making a fuss over her presence. He kept denying he knew her, but considering the amount of information she knew, the denials fell flat. Kaoru could only imagine Yahiko's confusion, after all, he was telling his gang the truth; he'd never set eyes on her before she'd casually strolled into the Shuei Syndicate's headquarters and demanded his release. Through the years, Kaoru had weighed several options for saving Yahiko. One included sticking as close as possible to the original scenario, but Kaoru refused to walk the streets while she jangled her coins as bait, waiting for Yahiko to pick her pocket. Another was simply to slaughter everyone, but she suspected that would do little to win Yahiko over to accept her as his caretaker. In the end, she compromised.

'I don't want to be indebted to you!' Yahiko spluttered.

'Kids should be quiet.' She murmured. She had already settled herself to throw the dice, ignoring the yakuza members' lewd stares.

'If you lose—'

'I won't lose.'

Of course, Yahiko still switched the dice and was caught, leaving Kaoru once again facing off against Gasuke the 'manslayer'. Unlike the first time however, Kaoru was neither obligated to follow the Kasshin Ryu, nor did she carry a wooden sword. Kaoru had lived through the revolution. Her blade had caused the sky to bleed red. This fool was no match for her. She might have rolled her eyes at his ridiculous posturing, if she hadn't have been so concerned with Kenshin catching up to her. Instead, she merely repeated what Kenshin had done originally—sending Gasuke's head through the ceiling before addressing the boss.

'It would be better to give me the boy than suffer the embarrassment of having all your members defeated, by a woman no less.'

Five minutes later, she carried Yahiko out by his collar over her shoulder, and for whatever reason, he wasn't as adverse this time around to learning swordsmanship from her.

Trapping Kenshin in Shinta's body had been an unplanned event. The child had been near death. She'd been upset. It wasn't an excuse, only a reason. She'd only wanted to delay Battousai's control over her. Unfortunately, Hiko had been nearby and felt the tremendous use of power it had taken to pull Kenshin in and lock him within a conscious being. Inhabiting a mortal body was not unusual. Beginning the habitation after birth was. Gaijin either expended copious amounts of their individual power to exist on the mortal plane in their immortal form (For example, Hiko never lowered himself to be born. He always appeared in his immortal form, if only to prove how powerful he was.), or were born into mortal bodies; the latter being the preferred method, because, after all, when one is immortal, a couple decades spent in childhood mean nothing.

Kaoru had almost been caught in that field of death, but she'd managed to flee back to the gaijin reality before the sword-master showed up. Being who he was, Hiko had immediately recognized Kenshin within the human boy. The nature of Kaoru's spell had practically destroyed Kenshin's memory of his immortal life however, so all Hiko could do was take the boy in and try to remind him, through the Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu, who he was. Unfortunately, to a certain extent, Kenshin did remember. He remembered enough that he became the most feared assassin during the revolution. The stone Kaoru had cast was responsible for not only destroying Shinta with her actions, but all those who the Battousai killed also, sending ripples throughout the mortal world. He killed so many people in fact, that Kaoru began to fear he would escape the bonds of his human body and she made the decision to enter the mortal world, just to keep tabs on him.

Then he disappeared. No one knew why he had abandoned his role in the revolution, and as the time he remained missing grew, so did her anxiety. So she made her second mistake.

The charred remains of Shishio's body were hardly recognizable in daylight. Kaoru approached the prone corpse, slowing as the nauseating smell struck her. Despite the stench, she pushed forward. It had been difficult to come here and she wouldn't give up now just because the smell of burnt human flesh was unfamiliar to her. The man who was her father in this life rarely let her out of his site since his wife died, and although Kaoru felt a measure of sadness for the woman who had acted as her mother, his constant attention and demands to practice the Kamiya Kasshin Ryu reminded her a bit too much of someone else. Such reminders only enforced her reason for being here and she might not get another chance such as this.

Despite being shot in the head and burnt alive, Shishio was still breathing; the strength his immortality lent him sustained life, but he wouldn't last much longer. His neck no longer obeyed his demands to turn his head, the spine having fused together in the heat of the fire, but his eyes were still mobile in their sockets, and they fixed on her. It took him a few moments to recognize her, as she was only in the seventh year of her mortal life, but she knew the instant he did, because he forced the blackened skin around his mouth, not lips—those had been burnt off—to smile, a horrible, gruesome expression and he hissed the words, 'Kaoru-chan.'

His eyes remained unwavering, the only means of communication he still possessed. He may not have been able to speak effectively, but his eyes told her everything. Rage filled him. Not only from the betrayal of the government he helped establish, but also from having the chance to challenge Battousai stolen from him by mere mortals. Kaoru knew that he would give anything for a second chance, and perhaps if she sold her soul to grant his wish, he could grant hers.

'Kaoru? Are you okay?'

Kaoru blinked, banishing the memories once more. 'Gomen, Yahiko. I was just thinking.'

'You shouldn't think so hard, you get really ugly when you do.'

'Why you little--!' She took a half-hearted swipe at his head with her fist.

Yahiko slipped just out of her reach laughing and Kaoru dropped her eyes to hide the smile there. They were still in Tokyo, much to the detriment of Kaoru's nerves. Despite knowing it was best to find somewhere permanent and stable for Yahiko to live, she was having difficulty motivating herself to look for an appropriate home. Perhaps she had simply been alone too long.

'Oi! Kaoru, are we going to eat today or what? I'm starving!'

She managed to not roll her eyes. Some things couldn't be rewritten she supposed. Tossing him her coin purse she nodded in the direction of town. 'Why don't you go pick us up something to eat, brat? Not tofu!' Kaoru had to yell since he'd broken into a sprint the moment her money was in his hand. A brief wave was the only response she got from that distance.

Given his appetite, maybe she should try the Akabeko, but she doubted he'd be interested without the draw of Tsubame. According to Yahiko's description of the restaurant, the little girl had yet to join the staff. Information had been a problem after the revolution. Kaoru hesitated to show her face in populated areas, in case anyone came asking after her. One of the benefits of having Yahiko around was his ability to go to town without suspicion. That and he hadn't batted an eye at her past. The past she'd created; the one where she was the most feared hitokiri during the revolution. She found it slightly ironic that in this life, she bore the title of the man she'd feared for so long.

With the final surge of power before the new moon, when the gaijin Kenshin had formally been dubbed Battousai, Kaoru had thrown herself back to the period just before the revolution, trapping her own energy in a vessel that could not be traced. In order to stay hidden, Kaoru had taken Kenshin's role in the imperialistic movement. As long as events stayed the same, it would be hard to locate her presence. So she had counted on killing whom he killed, sleeping where he'd slept, and dressing how he'd dressed.

What Kaoru hadn't counted on was coming face to face with Saitoh ten years ago in a Kyoto back alley. He shouldn't have been there. In the original timeline, Saitoh had doubted Kenshin's strength—defeating mortals was no great feat according to the Mibu wolf—so he had shown up during the revolution to see how Kenshin faired against another gaijin. The stalemate had apparently satisfied Saitoh, because he hadn't made another appearance until Shishio resurfaced. Ever since Kaoru had created this reality, she's avoided attracting the attention of any of the gaijin; even those searching for her. None had any reason to be in this reality, let alone relive their experiences here.

She had been about to kill him without knowing who he was. Her knees bent slightly and her body turned to the side as she prepared to unsheathe her katana. Saitoh's sword was drawn when he recognized her; his eyes flashed at her hitokiri raiment in the night, gold and eerily similar to Kenshin's, but he didn't sheathe his blade.

'So…this is where the tanuki is hiding. No wonder he hasn't found you yet. This is more clever than I would have given you credit for.'

His words startled her out of attacking him, but not out of her stance. She finally realized who he was. So this was the Saitoh Kenshin had known; Kaoru had to admit, he was quite striking in his Shinsengumi attire and long hair. The Fujita Goro guise was the only form she'd ever seen him in as a gaijin.

'What are you doing here, Saitoh?'

'That is none of your business.'

Kaoru narrowed her gaze at his abrupt reply. Always aware of his ability to nettle her, he continued. 'I can only imagine his reaction when he finds out what you've been doing.'

'Are you going to tell him?'

'He hasn't asked me.'

'Maybe I won't give him the opportunity to.'

'Do you think you're strong enough little girl?'

He took up the Gatotsu stance. 'Come then.'

Kaoru sprung at him, the humming of the air over her blade the only warning her weapon had even been drawn. He blocked her strike. Barely. She skidded to a halt several feet behind him. He touched a finger to the thin trail of blood she'd left on his cheek.

'So the tanuki does have claws.' Then Saitoh shocked her by sheathing his sword. 'You might avoid killing Tomoe's fiancée. I'm sure that's a drama you'd rather avoid in this life. As for us…I'll leave you to the Battousai. He's the one who really wants you after all. It would be unfair of me to deny him the pleasure.'

Kaoru had let him walk away. Killing Saitoh there had meant killing him for good. That would have attracted unwanted attention from her fellow gaijin. She'd followed his advice though...and avoided any distinctive facial marks. Soon after, she left the revolution, and faded into anonymity.

Her confrontation with Saitoh had marked an end to keeping the timelines similar. Combined with the fact that it was the same year Shishio was supposed to have been assassinated and wasn't, the two events must have sent up huge warning flags for Aoshi to see. She grew more paranoid with each passing year since, showing herself in town less and less, never staying two nights in one place, giving pseudonyms wherever a name was asked—all to misdirect the Battousai.

Maybe the few days here in Tokyo had put her more on edge than she gave credit for. It might explain the way her thoughts dwelt on her past life, and on the shortening span of this one. She'd wanted to wait for Megumi, but upon consideration, without Aoshi and his Oniwaban group, the fox would have little trouble escaping Kanryu.

That decided her. As soon as Yahiko returned, they would leave Tokyo.

A/N: Well, I hope that wasn't too horribly confusing. The italics are all flashbacks to the timeline in which the events in the anime occurred. The scene with Saitoh occurred in the new timeline Kaoru has created. If this all seems a bunch of nonsense, let me know and I will try to fix it for the next chapter. Your reviews have been amazingly generous and encouraging! Thank you everyone so much!