A/N: Sorry for the delay folks. Personal issues have prevented me from continuing the story. This was the chapter I was working on earlier this year and I decided to post it due to a reader's email. I still have all good intentions of finishing the story, but unfortunately, my creative flow is slow to trickle back. It may be a while between updates. Again, I apologize for the wait and for the rather abrupt chapter end. Hope to be back with everyone soon!

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Hearing the cry of pain that signaled Kaoru's return to consciousness, Yahiko twisted from Sano's grasp, darted the few remaining steps to her room and jerked the screen open.

Although it was a little embarrassing to have been outmaneuvered by a ten year old, Sano was slow to drag the boy back out. He wanted the opportunity to see what was going on.

Kenshin hovered over a pale, bandaged Kaoru, his hands on her shoulders to keep her from moving. The two were staring into each other's eyes with a frightening intensity; not necessarily an unfamiliar scene to Sano's eyes. In his previous life, Sano had teased Kenshin about the way the rurouni had looked at Kaoru, especially when Kenshin watched Kaoru practice with Yahiko in the drill house, saying that if Kenshin didn't let up, Kaoru's hair would catch on fire from the heat in the redhead's gaze. From the way they were gazing at each other now, you'd think the glances they gave each other before were between brother and sister for the comparative intensity.

In hindsight, it was a bit stupid of Sano not to realize immediately that Kaoru was gaijin, or that she and Kenshin had a past...

Kenshin's head dropped so that his eyes were hidden behind his bangs and he spoke in a low voice. 'Sano, there is something you should know.'

'The title that I hold, Battousai, gives me the right of rule over the gaijin world, but it does not give me the ability to control it alone. Because of the balance or symmetry—however you want to define it—my position grants me governance over only half of the power supporting our existence. This void exists because Kaoru and I had a…misunderstanding.'

Sano's eyes were wide. 'Ah.' He replied calmly, then, 'Wait. What? How does Kaoru have anything to do with this?'

Kenshin frowned, then turned an exasperated look on Misao. She stuck her chin out defiantly. 'I was going to explain, but all he cared about were the kitchens!' Turning back to Sano, Kenshin continued. 'Kaoru commands the other half of the gaijin world.'

'And without her here, our world eats away at itself.' Misao interjected, gesturing needlessly at the black void hovering behind them. Sano let this information sink in for a few seconds. Pulling a toothpick out of his pocket, that hadn't been there earlier, and sticking it between his teeth thoughtfully, he regarded the three before him. Being immortal, they seemed to think themselves play acting when in the mortal world but Sano saw little real differences in their personalities. He didn't need to be around for a hundred years to understand their characters. Aoshi remained gloomy, Misao bouncy, Shishio an asshole, and Kenshin? Still couldn't seem to keep it together around Kaoru. Jo-chan was never one to avoid conflict, and according to the giant black swirly hole? This was one hell of an argument.

'So. Kenshin. What exactly is this…misunderstanding with Kaoru about?' Although Sano's posture remained casual, there was a certain edge to his tone that had the others subtly leaning away. Kaoru may be endangering his never-ending food supply, but she was still his Jo-chan, and heaven help the person who hurt her—even if it was someone as powerful as Battousai. Kenshin's eyes narrowed, but a faint flush rose along the bridge of his nose.

'No one else will have what is mine. I will be Battousai, Kaoru.' For moments, she only stared at him, breathing heavily. He hadn't meant to say it that way, so possessively, but knowing that Shishio had been spending so much time with her recently, behind closed doors…just thinking of it now made him furious all over again.

The day Hiko had brought Kenshin into the gaijin world and introduced him to Kaoru, he had been lost—love struck him harder than the force of a thousand thunderbolts. Unfortunately, Kaoru knew exactly why Hiko had turned him immortal-- Kenshin had been somewhat of a last resort; of the existing gaijin, Shishio was easily corruptible and Saitoh…well, oil and water described Kaoru and Saitoh perfectly. Hiko needed a successor to take his place as the next gaijin Battousai. While Kaoru wasn't initially hostile to Kenshin, being under pressure herself, she wasn't overly pleased at Hiko's high-handed interference, nor at his flippant, 'Third time's a charm!'

Hiko's past, because he was the oldest gaijin, was a mystery. How he came to be immortal, dubbed Battousai, or the reason he was the only gaijin for so long was a story they'd perhaps never hear. What Kenshin did know was that Hiko, through sheer strength (and a perverse nature), had tried to maintain the gaijin world alone, and mostly succeeded, but because this was in direct conflict with the way the immortal universe operated and a balance was necessary, he was forced to bestow half the power on another. That person ended up being Kaoru, for she was the first Hiko had seen fit to turn immortal, even before Shishio and Saitoh, and was therefore the more capable of controlling half the gaijin world. The complication came when the castle began merging Hiko and Kaoru's rooms together--while they were sleeping.

According to Saitoh, Hiko's scream had been just as loud as Kaoru's upon the discovery the next morning and the trauma may have had something to do with Hiko's current alcohol consumption. It became clear that the balance was not just about splitting the gaijin world between two people, but about a union between two in which power was shared. Hiko was left little option but to pass his title off to someone else, and force Kaoru into a bond, regardless of her wishes, as soon as possible.

Perhaps if Kenshin had been given more time, he could have overcome Kaoru's uncertainties, but ironically, despite the fact he was immortal, time was something he didn't have; and then, of course, there was Shishio.

Shishio was after power and Kaoru was his key. When the final decision came down, it wouldn't matter who Hiko wanted; only Kaoru's choice mattered and Shishio meant to leave her with no option but to choose him. So he started hinting that Kenshin was only pretending affection for her, that what the redhead really wanted was power, and much to Kenshin's frustration—she listened. Not because she trusted Shishio, or even liked him necessarily, Kenshin eventually realized, but because the two had an odd rapport from having been turned gaijin at the same time. Better the devil you knew and all.

Kenshin had no attachment to the title of Battousai, but he would let no one else have it—not when it meant that person would be bound on such an intimate level with Kaoru. Shishio had been whispering his lies in her ears continuously though; Kaoru was practically convinced Kenshin only wanted power. And outbursts like this didn't help him; he knew she wouldn't take it well. This was confirmed when she drew back a hand and slapped him hard enough across the face to loosen a molar. With his ears still ringing, she had vanished to the mortal world in a fury, where she had apparently shortly afterwards stumbled across a child named Shinta…

'Excuse me for being confused, but hasn't that particular misunderstanding been cleared up? I didn't dream you two being all lovey-dovey and getting married did I?' Sano interrupted in an incredulous tone.

Kenshin explained his rurouni deception briefly.

'Oh man. This is so fucked up.' Sano rubbed a despairing hand across his eyes.