Author's Note: "Seems it never rains in Southern California; Seems I've often heard; that kind of talk before; It never rains in California; But girl, don't they warn ya; It pours man it pours." From "It Never Rains in Southern California". These seem to be the lyrics of the week, now even the month, for me. My JumpDrive decided not to register in my computer. Damn Lexar. My life was on that! So this might not get posted until long after I write this considering I'm trying to get the files back and I have some parts saved from the original that I want to add to this chapter. Very Frustrating. This is very frustrating, but on with the story! Hope you enjoy it!

Never did get the JumpDrive to work yet, and more has happened, it's called life. Arigatou.

Review!

Disclaimer: I do not own Kenshin, Kaoru, or any of the other characters. I also do not own JL Conrad, or her poem August I do own the idea to this story though, and I do hope you enjoy reading it as much as I've liked writing it.

Chapter 4: Standing Here

We are standing on bridge,
Have been standing on the same bridge

:- - -:

"Kaoru." Kenshin said as he approached.

"Hey, how are you?" Kaoru said, kissing Kenshin cheek as he joined her at the table in the back of the library.

"Better. A good nights rest really helped." Kenshin replied.

"I'm glad. I already found some books here in the reference section, but the librarian said that there might be some more downstairs in the basement, or up on the third level as well." Kaoru said.

"I'll go see what can be found in the basement. Meet back here?" Kenshin asked.

"Yeah, sounds good to me." Kaoru said as she left for the elevator to go to the third floor.

:---:

"Excuse me, Kinomoto-sensei? Kaoru said that there were books down here on the Battousai for our History project?" Kenshin asked reaching the circulation desk in the basement.

"Ah, Himura-kun, yes we do, this way." Kinomoto said coming from behind the desk and heading towards the stacks of old books. "The resources that we have on him are actually quite interesting. They are a set of diaries that were found in an old dojo in the older part of Tokyo by a family friend or descendent and were donated to the library just a few years ago."

:---:

"Kaoru, where are you?" Kenshin said as he walked through the third level looking for his girlfriend. In his hand he held two books. When Kinomoto-sensei had told him of the books, a first hand account of the man who was Battousai, he had been shocked to see it had come in a set. 'The other diary is that of his second wife, Kamiya Kaoru.' She had said to him as she handed him both diaries. His hand had shaken as he turned the books over in his hand, looking at the fronts of the books. He had politely told her thank you and left to find Kaoru on the third floor where she was looking for information on the Battousai as well.

:---:

"Kenshin!" Kaoru whispered as she saw him coming towards her.

"I had to find you right away. The resources were a set of diaries between the Battousai and his second wife, a Kamiya Kaoru."

"WHO?" Kaoru

"Shh. Lets go back downstairs and we'll talk about this." Kenshin said, leading Kaoru to the steps going back to the second floor where they had been sitting.

:---:

"Dr. Saito! Hi, how are you?" Kaoru said standing up suddenly. They had been

"I'm fine Miss Kaoru."

"That's great Dr. Saito." Kenshin said, standing up next to Kaoru.

"What are you two doing back here?"

"We were working on the Battousai presentation that you assigned to us." Kaoru answered.

"Really? How very interesting then that I came across you then, are you having any troubles finding enough information, or understanding any of the information that you have found?"

"We were wondering about Battousai, just before the Meiji Era."

"Really, he was quite the man. His style was the Hiten Mitsurugi technique."

"Really? That was not a popular technique at that point was it?"

"No it wasn't. Battousai and his master seem to be the only ones acquainted with the actual technique at that point. The style had never been a popular or well known technique. It was always passed from one master to the student, then that student became the master and passed it to another, and so forth."

"I see. Did the Battousai ever pass it on to his own student?" Kenshin asked.

"Battousai actually never became a master until the Meiji Era when he had to in order to save the peace of Japan." Dr. Saito said, than added, "If you have any questions, be sure to ask. I have done quite a bit of research on Battousai, and then his identity during the Meiji Era."

"His identity during the Meiji Era? Was it changed?" Kenshin asked, curious.

"You didn't add that information in your lecture about him earlier this semester." Kaoru said.

"I didn't add it because it was not prevalent. After the war, Battousai became a rurouni, his character changed completely. I have some information in my office, and they have information here in the library as well."

"Excuse me, Dr. Saito. When Battousai decided to roam, what did he go around as? He would have had a name." Kenshin asked.

"He reverted to his original name, Himura Kenshin." Saito said walking away, leaving Kenshin and Kaoru staring at him with surprised faces.

:---:

Kenshin and Kaoru had sat down several minutes ago after Saito had revealed that piece of information.

"Kenshin?" Kaoru said a question in her voice.

"Yes?"

"What does that mean?"

"I'm not sure; maybe Saito gave us the project for that reason." Kenshin answered her.

"I was thinking…no it couldn't be possible." Kaoru said.

"What couldn't be possible?" Kenshin asked.

"That we might find the answers we're looking for right here in this presentation." Kaoru said.

:---:

"Takani Megumi, medical student, nice to meet you."

"Kamiya Kaoru, art major, nice to meet you also Takani-san." Kaoru said, extending her hand to the other girl.

"Are a big partier?" Megumi asked, as both girls moved to their desks to start organizing the office supplies, papers and books that sat on each desk.

"No, I haven't been. I didn't have many friends during high school. I taught kendo lessons at the dojo my family owns, so I spent most of my time there. And if I wasn't teaching, I was studying it seemed." Kaoru answered. "What about you Takani-san?"

"No. I've always been very academically centered. My years here are important, but like you, I didn't have many friends during high school."

"Maybe college will change that for both of us." Kaoru said, smiling at the girl.

Megumi turned back to her desk, simply nodding.

:---:

"Your Kaoru, right? My name is Misao Makimachi. I think I live in the room across the hall from you. It's nice to meet you." The short girl with a long black braid said, coming up to Kaoru.

"Yes, I'm Kamiya Kaoru, Makimachi-san."

"So, are you a freshman, or a transfer student?"

"Freshman, I went to school here in Tokyo."

"Really? I'm a freshman too, but I grew up in Kyoto with my Grandfather. Well, he was my Grandfather's most trusted friend. My parent's died when I was young, so when Grandfather died just a few years after that, he made arrangements for me to stay with Jiya, and everyone at the Ayioa." Misao said, sitting down at the table in the chair next to Kaoru. They were sitting in the dorm lounge area, a floor meeting for all of the girls to learn the rules and the resident advisors for the hall. "So, you have any friends here?"

"Not really, how about you?"

"No. Well, there is Aoshi-sama, he's a sophomore. I know him from home. His parents died when he was young and knew Jiya as well, and was kinda adopted by Jiya."

"This Jiya guy sounds like he's really nice."

"He can be. He's a real pervert sometimes though. The girls run from him in the market. He always wears this annoying pink bow in his beard. It's really long. He's definitely eccentric. What is your family like?

"My parents died 5 years ago, I was in my first year of high school. I inherited the dojo my family ran and kept that up for income. A family friend, Dr. Gensai helped me out until now. I was able to get into here on excellent grades and scholarships." Kaoru answered her, feeling comfortable with the girl. That she had the same experiences than Kaoru had.

"I'm sorry. I know what loosing parents does to you, it's tough." Misao said. "I've noticed you always wear those gloves, is there a reason?"

"Yes. But I'd rather not say the reason."

"That's fine, I don't mind." Misao answered. As the meeting began she leaned over to Kaoru, "Lets be friends though, okay?"

Kaoru nodded her head and smiled at the girl. This was good.

:---:

"Takani-san, this is Makimachi Misao from across the hall." Kaoru said, bringing Misao into their room.

"Good afternoon Makimachi-san." Megumi said, briefly looking up. "Sorry for my rudeness, I'm working on a project here and getting frustrated with one of the boys in my group."

"What's his name?" Misao asked.

"Sagara Sanosuke. The most annoying guy on the entire earth."

"I know him! He's in my math class! He's a Physical Education major." Kaoru said. "He does get pretty annoying, I sit next to him. It's the second week of classes and he already has a nickname for me, Jou-chan. Won't even consider using my actual name most times."

"Sounds like the one and only. You don't mind if he comes over to work on this though, do you? If you do, we can go to the library." Megumi said, turning.

"No, doesn't bother me at all."

"I'm glad. It would be easier to work on it here, all the supplies are here: colored pencils, markers, computer, ruler; all of those good things."

"No problem. Let me know if I can help though. I am an art major." Kaoru said.

"I might need your opinion a couple of times."

"I'd be glad to be of service."

:---:

"What were you thinking of Kaoru?" Kenshin asked as they walked hand in hand through the campus.

"The past." Kaoru answered dreamily.

"What about it?"

"When I first met Misao and Megumi. Without them I don't know how I would have gotten through these last two years."

"Ahh. How long did it take for them to figure out about your ability?"

"A couple of months. Megumi was my roommate, and she often told me that I was tossing and turning in my sleep, or mumbling something, but then something happened at the end of the fall semester of our freshmen year. It gave me away."

"What happened?" Kenshin asked.

"We were getting ready to go out with Aoshi and Sano. Aoshi and Sano were roommates, and were slowly become the most strange pair of friends anyone had ever seen. Sano had class with Megumi and I. Aoshi had grown up with Misao practically, so it was natural all of us would hang out. By this time Sano had asked Megumi out at least twice, and her first boyfriend of college, a guy named Umeda, had broken up with her shortly after they had started going out."

:---:

"Kaoru? Can I borrow that green silk halter top of yours?" Megumi asked as Kaoru walked into the room from taking her shower.

"Yeah, hold on." Kaoru said, going to her closet, setting her shower kit down and grabbing the shirt. "Trying to look nice for Sano tonight, hmm?"

"For my own good. Umeda's sudden break up with me kinda bowled me over, I need to get out and have fun." Megumi said, taking the shirt from Kaoru's hand.

"Kaoru? Kaoru?" Megumi said a moment later as she started to stir. Misao had been called over, and was sitting on the other side of Kaoru.

"What happened?" Kaoru asked, sitting up.

"I took the shirt from you and then suddenly you went stiff and went down to the floor."

"I'm fine. I'm sorry for worrying you." Kaoru responded.

"Kaoru? What's going on? Is this why you always wear gloves?" Misao asked.

Kaoru stood facing away from her friends for a few moments, then started to get clothes out. "I guess it's about time you guys found out. We don't know what's wrong with me, well that's not a great way to say it, but it works I guess. Since I was little, I've had this, this ability caused by human contact. The gloves break the contact enough not to cause any problems. When I touch someone without my gloves, I see their memories, their past, things like that." Kaoru said, turning slowly, white kid gloves now covering her long thin fingers. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner, people usually think of me as a freak when they find out."

:---:

"They didn't see me as a freak obviously." Kenshin said, pulling Kaoru close to his side.

"No. At first they just stared at me, then got up off the floor and hugged me, went to my closet and picked out my clothes for the night. After that it was only mentioned between the three of us, then when Aoshi and Sano became even closer and then started going out with Meg and Misao, I told them.

:---:

"Maybe you should just go out with him Megumi." Kaoru said. Kaoru and Misao were sitting on her bed, while Megumi paced between the two beds stomping and yelling at how Sagara Sanosuke was the biggest baka on the campus.

"He has been asking you out since last fall." Misao said.

"He ruined my relationship with Umeda this winter, he's forever annoying me, and he just won't go away!" Megumi yelled, turning towards her now two best friends.

"Are you sure you want him to go away?" Kaoru asked.

"Yes." Megumi said immediately.

"Megumi, are you really sure?" Kaoru asked again.

Megumi stopped and turned towards her two friends. They looked at her as she looked back at them.

"Let me say something first, before you answer." Kaoru said. "When you are with Sano, I see you the happiest I ever see you. You smile, you laugh. The way you look at him betrays what you are telling us."

"I hate him. We always fight, Kaoru."

"He loves teasing you. You pay attention to him at those times." Misao told her.

"He loves you Megumi, you can't better than that. He's been trying for almost 6 months for to go out with him. At least give him a chance." Kaoru said.

"He does not love me. I'm a conquest, a challenge."

"Do you see his eyes when he looks at you? He loves you." Misao told her, hopping off of the bed. "I just wished a certain someone would look at me like that."

"He will someday Misao. Don't fret." Kaoru said, looking at her small friend. Aoshi had been with Misao many times the girls hung out, and Sano, being Aoshi's roommate, often came along over the last few months.

"One date won't hurt you Megs."

"He calls me Fox!"

"One date." Kaoru responded.

"One date?"

"One date."

"Dinner and a movie, bowling. Cliché first date." Misao answered.

"One Date." Megumi said, tapping her foot for a moment, then going over to her computer and bringing Sano's screen name up, and simply typing yes and sending it to him.

:---:

"Kenshin?" Kaoru asked after walking in a few minutes of silence, "When did you first notice your ability?"

"I was probably about 8." He answered. "My parents had died a year earlier, Hiko had been friends with my father since college. I didn't have any relatives alive, so my parents had asked Hiko that if anything ever happened them that he would take care of me. I had been staying with him for about year, I was having a hard time at school with bullies and I didn't have any self-defense. I just let them beat me up. Hiko decided that I should start Kendo, or really a sword technique to help me defend myself and give me more strength and confidence. His one many greats-grandfather had been a master of Hiten Mitsurugi, and he had learned some of the technique. He started teaching me what he knew, but I quickly surpassed him. When I was stances, I remember a feeling in my blood, in my bones, something I didn't know, but was Hiten Mitsurugi." Kenshin said, being quiet for a few moments.

"What did Hiko said? When he first noticed it?" Kaoru asked.

"Hiko knew the first day, I didn't but he was picking up on it even then. As a beginning my strength with the Bokken he gave me surprised him, he told me later. He never knew what to think of the ability.

"I was so scared when we first started to notice mine. It was so hard not to be able to touch anyone, kids at the playground, family, even strangers going through the market."

"What do you think we should do about the diaries?" Kenshin asked as they walked past the History building lights from the offices lighting the sidewalk.

"Well we can use them as a source possibly for our presentation, a first hand account, either while he was Battousai or after the Meiji started and he became a wanderer." Kaoru stated.

"His thoughts on the new era, why he joined the fight, things like that would add an interest factor to the presentation." Kenshin said.

"Yeah. But on a personal level, maybe these are the answers we are looking for.

"The only way to find that out is to read the diaries." Kenshin said.

"There shouldn't be a problem with that, should there?" Kaoru asked, looking up at him.

"I doubt it." Kenshin responded.

"Let's go back to the apartment, everyone should be there, and that's where the diaries are anyways, we can start on it tonight." Kaoru said as they reached the corner to turn and leave the campus.

:---:

"What are you doing?" The young woman asked the younger male who sat across the table from him in the diner he was sitting in.

"I'm doing what is best for our futures, sister." The young man replied.

"How do you know this is the correct path?"

"He stole you from me. He made sure that I would never be able to meet you again in a future life."

"He didn't know Enishi, he wasn't even driving. Didn't even know me." The woman told him.

"He didn't have to kill you!"

"It was an accident, a simple accident." The young woman said, laying her hand on his bigger one.

"I can't let your memory be tarnished by the blood on his hands, sister. The blood he spilt from you has to be too washed away from you and he."

:---:

"So you found these today when you were doing research for Saito's class?" Sano asked, holding Kenshin's diary in his hands, flipping it over.

"Yes. They were in the basement. Kaoru had said that there were a couple sources down there, when I asked about them, Kinomoto-sensei gave me these." Kenshin explained.

"Well, lets think about this. What do you know already about this Himura Kenshin?" Aoshi said.

"During the Meiji Era he was a wanderer, but before that he had fought as a Hitokiri, the Battousai." Kaoru said.

"The Battousai?" Misao asked.

"Yes, the same one."

"Jiya often talked of him, is that what you were thinking of Misao-chan? The stories?" Aoshi asked her.

"Uh-huh! I wonder if any of them were true." Misao exclaimed.

"I doubt it."

"How did Jiya know of Battousai?" Kenshin asked. They were all very familiar with the older man that had raised Aoshi and Misao since the times when their parents died.

"Kyoto was filled with stories of the Battousai, since that was where he did his, well, work I guess." Aoshi said. "Jiya loving stories, and a fan of Battousai was full of them constantly."

"Maybe you should go to Dr. Saito, he's bound to know more." Megumi suggested.

"He's already told us some, he was the one that told us Battousai's real name. I just don't want to go to him until we have to, mostly because I dislike the man, there's something about him, and I don't really trust him and his reasons for giving us the Battousai project." Kenshin said.

"Maybe he knows something you don't, and wanted to push you into finding out." Sano said.

"I think the best bet is the read the diaries." Megumi said. "Write down and link the information that you gather there and in your presentation to find out what he might want from you."

"That's what we were going to start tonight. We thought that would be the best course of action." Kaoru said.

"Wait! I have some poster board I'm not using, you use it to put your information down on." Sano said.

"That's a good idea. Thanks Sano." Kenshin answered as Sano went back the hall to his bedroom.

:---:

"I need him to be on my side, so you will not kill him, young man." The boss said to the teenage boy standing in front of him.

"Yes Sir." The young boy said, nodding. "I just want to make him feel sorry for the death of my sister.

"What happened boy?"

"He was in the car that killed my sister, that's all you need to know."

"Was he the driver?"

"No, but he was the cause of the accident, he's the one to blame." The young man answered, his eyes hidden behind his stylish sunglasses

"How do you know that?"

"I knew it when I looked in his eyes when I saw him at the funeral."

"So this is your assumption?"

"No, it is the truth."

"I see."

"May I ask you one question?" The young man asked, tilting his head down to look at the man in the eyes.

"Go ahead."

"Why do you need him on your side?"

"He has a special power, a special ability that will further his career and make mine more prestigious. That is all you need to know."

"You want him to work for your company to further its prestigious? He brings trouble where ever he goes. It follows him in the shadows, lurking until it can strike."

"That may be, but he needs this company, and this company needs him." The Boss said, standing up. "Please go, we are done now."

:---:

"You want to fight for the revolution?" He asked the redheaded boy in front of him.

"Yes." He answered simply.

"Show me your skill, boy." He told him, pointing to the practice field.

The young teen stepped away from him and used the wooden post in the field as an attacker, showing his many moves that he had learned, and the ability that he had already achieved in the past few years.

"Very well done, I think I'll keep you on, boy. What is your name?"

"Himura Kenshin."