Author's notes: Yet another chapter I decided to break up because it was getting too long. I really wanted to keep it together but didn't want to risk overwhelming readers. I already have the second half typed up so it should be up soon after this one. I still tried to make it feel like it's own chapter without any awkward cut offs at the end.

And thank you kaoruca for your words. My goal here isn't exactly to have the most popular story and get the most reviews XD but since this is something totally different I'm trying I'm scared at how stupid it might really be. So just reading what you said took a load off my shoulders. So thank you!

Koharu's eyes flew open as soon as she knew daylight was touching the horizon. She was wide awake and eager to begin a new stage in her life. For the first few seconds of waking up, she had thought she was going to start her new adventure with her new friend. That was until she saw he was no where to be found near her and gone from the spot she had last left him in. She was still sitting up on her side examining her surroundings carefully. Like she had somehow missed him.

"Soujiro?" She called out in a soft whisper. "Soujiro, I'm ready to go." No response. Maybe he's down by the river. Sometimes she would wake up and her first instinct would be to wash her face.

Still, she was already fearing the worst, but fought a little longer against the negative feelings. She crawled out from underneath the muddy dock, her eyes falling on the muddy footprints left behind by Soujiro and leading away from the river. They were abruptly cut off by the growing grass, having head somewhere north. Dark clouds were accumulating in the distance showing signs of rain in the direction Soujiro had left.

"Soujiro!" She yelled out in her normal voice. Her eyes brimmed with tears as she came to realize she really had been left behind. She called out his name one more time and managed to slip on the last bit of mud before the grass. She fell over her hands and knees letting out a choked cry as her hands balled in the mud. "... Soujiro?" She cried out in one last hopeful attempt.

Her eyes widened in alarm when she heard the shoji door above on the porch slide open. She had forgotten about waking the old man who dwelled there.

"You little brat! I told you to stop coming here!" By the time Koharu managed to look up, she was struck with a bucket in between her shoulder blades. She cried out as she fell face down into the mud. "Get out of here!"

Koharu scrambled to her feet and struggled to do so without slipping in the mud again. Her tears continued to fall as she scurried up the slight incline away from the river. As soon as she was out of the man's view, she plopped down on her knees and softly cried as she held her cold arms. "I should have known better. I've given him every reason to flee from me."

She looked up to see the town of Gifu covered in a layer of fog that was coming off the river. Her typical morning usually involved traveling there and searching for opportunities to have her fill of food. She usually wasn't so successful. She often tried to avoid going into the forest, but yesterday she had been desperate to find something to eat and had not found a single scrap of food to eat in days just staying in town. Even so, she had given up her only meal for the day for the sword. She had reason to avoid the forest if she could, but she didn't regret having done so yesterday. Even now she was happy she chose the sword over her meal. Despite the heartache she had caused Soujiro, she didn't regret being able to stay at his side, and being protected by him.

Staring at Gifu now, lying so dark in a layer of fog, she had no desire to take a step closer to it. In fact, she could hardly find reason to get up anymore and move forward, not even to eat even though she was physically starved. She had just wanted to go with him.

Koharu stood to her feet as she did her best to dry her tears. "I've never hated this place more than now. I can barely stand another minute here. I've been too afraid to leave...but just because I can't see him doesn't mean he's far. I'll give him a piece of my mind when I find him. I still know my way around these parts." With that, she started into a run, avoiding Gifu altogether. She didn't care to look back or give Gifu a second thought. She was done with that mudhole of a town. Instead, she followed the direction she had last seen Soujiro's footsteps take in the mud and pushed herself to run as fast as she could to catch up. "I'm not going to make this easy on you, Soujiro."

Soujiro had been traveling for about three hours before he was forced to stop because of the rain. He was still traveling off the road and was depending on the sun to get to his destination and without the sun, his journey was put to a halt once more. He knew if he really wanted to, he could risk pressing onward. However, he was still exhausted from the previous day's events. He had still slept very little and his wound has had little time to recover, even if it just meant that he should rest. This morning had started with him trying to get a much distance between himself and Gifu as possible for the obvious reasons. He leaned against a tree trying to find refuge under the branches, but it did little to stop the pouring rain from falling on him. I'm so tired of being wet, he thought as he rubbed his damp sleeves around himself trying to find warmth.

He had done all he could to push Koharu from his mind and had thought distancing himself from her would make it easier, but it hadn't. Guilt was still tugging at his heart because of how he left her. Not just because he left her, but the state he left her in. In some ways, the state she was left in had reminded him of himself as a child. He had often been left to care for himself even when he had a family meant to take care of him. It was because how they abused him he had to learn to care and treat his own wounds and they had done it because he was born a bastard and were stuck with him. Koharu had no family treating her in such a way, but she was treated indifferently because of how she was left to fend for her self. Soujiro couldn't be blamed for being born as he was, just as Koharu couldn't help being homeless, yet they are treated as being condemned for who and what they are.

"It's not my problem," he told himself repeatedly. He let his back slide down the trunk on the tree when he decided to rest. I figured it out. She can learn just the same. Not even Shishio helped me. She will managed if she is strong.

As he settled against the wet ground, he heard a soft chime emanate from his pocket. He raised his head, at first perturbed by the gentle sound, but then dropped his head into his knees. "Oh I forgot about that stupid music box." After a moment of trying to resist, he reached into his pocket and pulled the strange contraption out. He examined it closely trying to find out exactly what it was, and where she could have possibly stolen it from. He assumed it was stolen. Don't you wind up music boxes? He asked in thought as he turned the lever slightly. The contraption played a few notes as he turned the lever once. This you have to keep turning. The more he examined it, the more he concluded it couldn't be a product of Japan. It looked more like something that would come out of Europe. It only added to the mystery on how it got to be in Koharu's hands. It doesn't matter, he thought as he put it back in his pocket. I'm not traveling back just to give it to her. If it meant that much to her, she would have realized it was gone earlier.

That was his last thought on the matter before his eyes darkened and he finally fell into a deep sleep. Even as he finally slept, his mind began conjouring up the memories he fought so hard to keep locked up.

"Stupid brat! I told you to move a hundred bags of rice into the barn! Can't you do anything right?" Glass shattered as the father of the adoptive family hurled his drink into Soujiro's skull. "You're sleeping outside tonight!"

"Dad! Soujiro ruined another bag of rice."

"What?" The father screamed as he slammed the shoji door open. "How many of those do you think we have brat? Can't you do anything right? I'm not letting you get away with it!"

Soujiro was forced to relive one of the most vicious beatings he had received from his adoptive family. The father never spared him any mercy, but seemed to get a sick joy from beating Soujiro senseless. He had enjoyed it and for that reason, it didn't take much for Soujiro to give him a reason to lash out violently against him. The nightmare didn't end there like many nightmares might. Often, they ended when the nightmare was at its climax and about to cause the worst of the pain. The last thing Soujiro would remember was seeing his younger self approaching the water well like he did most nights. He had a rag over his shoulder as he began drawing water from the well to quench his thirst and tend to his raw wounds. Perhaps it was the worst part of the dream, because he knew the events in just a few short hours were to be repeated. He would work hard, the father's sons would get him in trouble and he would be beaten senseless once more. He was crying softly as he put the wet rag to his cheek and cringed from the pain. However, instead of feeling the cold, dampness of the rag, he was surprised to find how warm and soft it was against his skin. It seemed to melt all the pain away and encourage him to keep it held close. Even at that young age, he had never known such a gentle touch.

It was then Soujiro's eyes finally opened to the present. His hand was still over his cheek, but it wasn't his skin he was touching. He also found he was no longer sitting upright against the tree, but had fallen to his side against the ground. It had no doubt happened in a hopeless attempt to try and cover himself from the blows his adoptive father were inflicting upon him within the nightmare. He turned his head upwards to meet the worrisome eyes of Koharu. She was on her knees beside him and touching the back of her hand against the cheek of his face. "I think you're running a fever." It was when she moved her hand to touch his forehead Soujiro realized he had been holding her hand. "We need to get you out of the rain."

Soujiro finally got his senses straight and sat up abruptly on his side. He grunted in pain as he clutched his side he had forgotten he injured.

"Are you okay?" She reached her arms out for support.

"Get away!" He finally managed to yell. He tried to push away but was stopped short with a tree behind him. "What are you doing here?"

Koharu's face immediately twisted to one of resentment. "I came here with every intention of being angry at you for leaving me behind. That was until I saw you passed out and shivering."

"I wasn't passed out," he grunted as he got to his feet. He had finally slept, but he wasn't feeling any better. Who would after a dream like that in the rain? "How did you find me?"

"I wasn't sure I was going to, " she started. "That should tell you how sick you are. But you should know that I know this forest pretty well. You left behind some footprints. No one else would be traveling alone so far off the main road in such weather. It was easy to conclude it was you."

Had Soujiro been in a better mood, he might have been impressed.

"Listen. You need to be more careful. You shouldn't be sleeping at this hour in this part of the forest, " she looked around as if someone might be watching. "Even out here your sword will draw attention. You're lucky I found you first."

"There's nothing I can't handle out here. You might as well as turn around and go home. You're not staying with me."

"You mean back under that muddy porch?" She spat out angrily.

"Yes!" He raised his voice and started to trudge pass her.

"You said I could come!"

"I had to say something to get you to shut up!" He whirled around one last time to lash out at her. It was not even in his nature to talk in such a way, but not having quality rest had taken its toll on him.

Koharu did nothing to ease his sensitive mood. She was still sitting on the ground and had clutched a ball of mud as Soujiro had yelled at her. When he finished, she reacted by taking the ball off mud and stood before hurling it straight into Soujiro's face as he was getting ready to turn around. She immediately regretted it when she saw the anger lit his eyes like she had never seen before. He used his already wet and dirty sleeves to brush the mud from his face before approaching her menacingly to put her in her place.

Koharu stepped back, raising her arms defensively. "I'm sorry! I didn't mean-"

He clutched at her injured arm and shoved her against the closest tree. Koharu cried out from the pain and even more so when she saw the steep drop on the other side of her. "Soujiro! Please, I'm sorry!"

"Here's something you need to know about me, Koharu. I kill for a living. I'm on the run because I've killed a lot of people and I've done it without giving it a second thought," even as he spoke, he knew he was partially lying. He had even admitted to Kenshin he didn't want to have to kill. Even so, he drew his sword swiftly from his side and held it at her neck. "I will not lose any sleep slitting your throat right here. You're leaving me little choice. "

Koharu was using her free arm to clutch at Soujiro's wrist gripping at her arm. "I just want to go with you," she cried out softly. "What's so wrong with that?"

Soujiro could hardly believe she was still expressing her desire to stay with him after giving her a harsh truth about himself and threatening to kill her. She was more afraid of the steep drop behind her than of his own blade against her throat. If anything, it made things more simple for him. He sheathed the sword and painfully grabbed her other arm. "Don't follow me. This is your last warning or I will kill you." With that, he shoved her back and released his hold on her so that gravity took over on her fall.

"No!" She hollered out and attempted to reach out for him, but he would not catch her this time. In fact, he even stepped further out of her reach and watched as she fell a few feet before striking the side of the earth and tumbling the rest of the way down. She didn't even make it to the bottom of the steep hill before her body struck a tree growing out from the side.

Soujiro remained standing there for a moment when she made no further movement. He was sure the impact hadn't been life threatening, but she still was making no movement. He finally decided to turn his back on her after remembering she would pass out over her detrimental fear of heights. He convinced himself she would be fine, and left her behind once more.

But Koharu had not passed out. She had at first started crying silent tears that eventually turned into a sob. She lay on the ground for the next few minutes drowning in her tears before making any attempt to move. Seeing there was still some distance between herself and leveled ground did nothing to ease her crying. She looked up to where Soujiro had been standing and fell back against the awkward growing tree she had struck. "Help..." she cried softly. "... Please." But she knew he would not be coming back even if she screamed the words out. Her breathes turned into soft pants as she turned to face the rest of the steep drop below her. She hugged the tree as she carefully begin slipping her foot around. Her foot slipped and her whole body twisted around to the other side of the tree. She whimpered out loud as she struggled to find any footing against the slick ground before finally losing her hold completely. She let out a scream of fright as she slid down on her side the rest of the way down. When she finally made it safely to leveled ground, she was overwhelmed with another wave of tears and hugged her knees into her chest to cry into them.

"Still quite the whiner, are you Koharu?" A new voice interfered. Koharu 's head shot up from her knees to see a young man and boy standing nearly in front of her. "You couldn't even hear us coming."

"Where have you been hiding all these months, busu? (ugly woman)" The younger boy questioned.

Koharu sat back on her palms before the eldest stepped forward, thrusting his foot into her chest to pin her on the ground. "No! Let me go, Itsuki!" She beat her fist into his foot.

"Found one already?" Another voice was entering the scene. Koharu's eyes widened in a new found fear at the sound of the man's voice. "Hisato..."

"Something better," Itsuki grinned evily.

The older man appeared over the boy's shoulders and pushed the younger aside once he recognized Koharu. "Why Koharu, it's nice to see you decided to return back to us. I'm surprised you've lasted this long all by yourself."

"I am not coming back! Let me go!" She clutched a rock and rammed it into Itsuki's big toe.

"Ah!" Itsuki clutched his big toe that was bleeding through his sock. "You're going to pay for that, busu!"

Koharu had rolled away and leapt to her feet to make a run for it. She was cut off by the younger boy holding his arms up tauntingly like he was playing a game with her. "Where do you think you're going, busu?"

Koharu let out a frightening whine as she turned around to find herself cornered with the large man and Itsuki. She bent down quickly, clutching another rock and hurled it at the large man. It probably would have broke his nose had he not manage to catch it. "That trick is getting old, Koharu. You might have been able to hide from me all these months but by the time I'm through beating you, you'll be too afraid to take so much as a step without my permission. Get her!" He ordered the other two.

Koharu finally spun around to face the steep hill she had fallen down from and scrambled her feet to start climbing back up. "Soujiro!" She began to cry out. "Soujiro! Help!" She cried out more frantically the second time. Her eyes were now so focused on where he had been standing before that she was not paying attention to where she was stepping. She was too eager and much too confident that he would reappear to save her. She lost her footing and was thrown on her stomach before she went sliding back down. She frantically started climbing again. "Sou-" A hand was slapped over her mouth before she was pulled back against the man's torso.

"Who's Soujiro?"

Koharu opened her mouth and bit hard on the man's finger until she could taste his blood. The man cursed out loud and threw her forward against the ground. When she attempted to get up, he slammed his foot down on her back. "Soujiro, please!" She choked out as she fought against the pressure of the man's foot bearing on her back.

"Answer me, wench! Tell me and I may go easy on your punishment later. Is he carrying any valuables?"

Koharu balled her fists into the dirt as she yelled over her shoulder: "You better pray you never face him, Hisato!" But she was secretly praying they all would. She looked to the top of the hill one more time for her savior, but he never came. The man known as Hisato lossed his patience and thrust his foot into the side of her skull before she finally went limp against the ground. He turned to face the other two as he pulled Koharu up by her gi and threw her over his shoulder.

"Itsuki. Kaito. Find this guy and kill him while I deal with this brat. Show him what happens when he enters my turf. Relieve him of any valuables."

'Sure thing, boss, " Itsuki said, eagerly grabbing a knife at his side. "It will be my pleasure. Come Kaito. This shouldn't take long."

Soujiro had just heard his name being called out by her as is echoed through the forest. He stopped momentarily and faced the direction he had left her in. If I go back now, she'll never leave me alone. She needs to learn to survive on her own. Just as he started pressing forward, she screamed for him again.

"Soujiro, help!"

He stopped, detecting the stress in her voice more clearly. She wasn't simply trying to call him back, but she was clearly in trouble. Finally, at its loudest and most desperate, she called to him again.

"Please!"

He remembered her mentioning that his sword would draw attention, even out here. He didn't think anything of it until now. She somehow knew they might not be alone out here. She had been concerned about his safety, but now he was thinking she had wanted him as the protector all along. It's probably why she never left Gifu until she met me. She probably figured I could give her safe passage through. I can't say anything about her using me after using her as cover though, he thought. He continued to try and press forward. "It's not my problem. She should have never left Gifu in the first place." He still barely managed to take the next step forward. His heart had been heavy in his chest since first leaving her and the weight was growing to be too much. He was starting to go through the motions like he had in Kyoto when he held the police officer's life in his hands. It was when all of Kenshin's words came flooding back to mind as to why he was on this journey in the first place.

Soujiro realized even now he was still talking and acting how Shishio would. But to do the opposite would be to do it Kenshin's way. Soujiro had wanted to somehow discover his own way. To save Koharu would be admitting that Shishio should have saved him when he had tried calling to him for help.

When you believe lie heaped on lie, you have to break them all down at once, he admitted to Yumi once. That was the point of this journey was to discover and here was an opportunity now screaming at his face to turn back. A chance to discover one of those important truths. He closed his eyes and exhaled as he faced the opposite direction where Koharu was. He opened his eyes. "All right, Himura. We'll try things your way, just this once." He said and started into a eager run back for Koharu.

He didn't have to run far before he decided to come to a halt, his hand over the hilt of his katana. "All right, show yourselves. I know you're there." His hand slid off the side of the hilt and he stood straight when a young man, near his age and a younger boy revealed themselves, each behind a tree. They had been planning to ambush Soujiro.

"How did you know we were here?" Asked the young man. Soujiro didn't bother to answer the question. He wouldn't understand.

The younger stepped forward eagerly, his eyes falling on Soujiro's weapon. "He has a sword. Hisato will be pleased with that."

"Are you the ones who attacked Koharu? Where is she?" Soujiro questioned.

The young man pulled fourth his knife and the younger followed suit with a knife of his own. "I'm afraid you just missed her. Why don't you go ahead and surrender that sword of yours and we'll kindly be on our way?"

The younger looked at the other confusingly. "I thought we had to kill hi-"

"Shut it, Kaito!" He punched him in the skull.

Soujiro stood his ground, uninterested in that their purpose here was to kill him. "I'm only going to ask one more time, where is Koharu?" He placed his hand back over the hilt of the sword as they neared him.

"If you won't hand that sword over I'll just have to take it off your dead body, " the young man yelled as he lunged at Soujiro first, attempting to slit his throat open.

Soujiro removed his hand from the hilt of his sword and had too much time to dodge to the side before reaching out and clutching the man's wrist in front of him and clutched his other hand around the man's throat. "First of all, if I'm carrying a sword, don't you think I know how to use it? Second, charging at me with a knife is no different then me trying to charge a gun fighter head on."

"Then why didn't you draw your sword?" The boy questioned.

"Shut up, Kait-" he tried speaking before Soujiro tightened his hold on the man's throat. He kicked the man in his stomach and threw him across the ground on his back.

Soujiro now held his knife and threw it behind him. "It's not worth drawing my sword against you amateurs, that's why."

"What are you standing there for, Kaito? Kill him!"

The younger boy attempted to do just the same as the older and swung his knife at Soujiro. Soujiro caught his arm just the same but this time, twisted the arm behind him and forced him on his knees.

"Ow! It hurts!"

"If it didn't work the first time, why would you think it be any better the second time?" Soujiro questioned irritably. "I tried asking nicely about the whereabouts of Koharu and you've two insisted on wasting my time with your imprudence." Soujiro put just a bit more pressure and twisted the boy's bent arm until a loud pop was heard from his shoulder joint. The boy craned his head back with a scream as Soujiro forced him to sit straight on his knees using the boy's own knife to hold at his neck. He did nothing to muffle the boy's cries of pain so the man had to watch. He looked at the young man on the ground, who was staring with his mouth dropped as far as it could go over what Soujiro had done.

"What's your name?" Soujiro asked the man.

"It-Itsuki."

"And I assume this here is your brother?" He gave the boy's arm a twist, making him holler out from the pain.

"Ye-yes."

"Well, Itsuki, if you don't want to see your brother's blood give these leaves a fresh coat of crimson, you'll take me to Koharu." He smiled as he made the threat.

"Our boss, Hisato, has her. He's taken her to our hideout. He'll kill us if we take you there!"

"I'll kill you both and continue the search myself if you don't agree. I am in quite the rush, however, and would prefer a guide." He pressed the tip of the blade into the boy's throat making his face cringe in anticipation of the blade making a clean slice. "Are we in agreement?" At this rate, I'll never reach north before winter. However, Itsuki finally gave into a reluctant nod. "Great!" Soujiro smiled in satisfaction of his handiwork. He forced the boy to his feet while keeping his arm twisted behind him and the knife at his throat. "Lead the way, Itsuki."

"Ha-hai," Itsuki said nervously and began leading them back.

I guess this isn't exactly doing it Kenshin's way, Soujiro continued to smile.

AN: I purposely didn't go into much detail with Soujiro's nightmare (Aka his past) because if you're reading this, you should know what went on already in his childhood so I kept it brief for that reason. Plus nightmares are unpredictable so the blur feel of the events together just kind of adds to that nightmare effect. Hopefully that makes sense. ^-^'

Also I went ahead and drew a cover for the story! You can see it up close in detail here. art/Let-Me-Stay-With-You-646767690

Yes I'm embarrassed by it but oh well.