In the meantime Misao had reached the dojo. She quickly ran inside shouting for Megumi and Kenshin, who had already turned round before the first shout, feeling that a strong ki was coming towards them.

"Wh- ??"

"No time to explain!" Misao cut off. "Come with me immediately! It's Kaoru: she needs help".

"Kaoru-Dono?"

"I'll explain on the way. Megumi: can you come with us? We'll catch up with you on our way back"

"OK"

"We met yesterday in Tokyo.... Huh huh... and she told me about her plan ... you see... huh huh" said Misao wanting to start her explanations while running.

"You'll explain later. Show me the way" Kenshin cut off.

Misao reckoned that this was probably not the most appropriate moment for explanations. There was only thing that mattered to Kenshin now: find and save Kaoru.

They continued to run as fast as they could.

When he saw the first trees Kenshin accelerated and outran Misao, as he could now perfectly feel Kaoru's ki.

Suddenly his attention was drawn by the familiar sent of jasmine mixed together with the smell of blood.

"Jasmine... Kaoru dono!"

There she was, lying on her right side on the leaves. "Kaoru!" he shouted dropping the honorific for the very first time.

Her body was so still and motionless that he couldn't stifle a cry, thinking it might already be too late.

But hearing her name cried out loud Kaoru regained a little bit of consciousness and she painfully moved one of left hand's finger, from behind the coat that was covering her.

'K - Ken...'

He ran to her, his heart now pounding hard. "Sssh...I'm here, I'm right here". He carefully removed the coat.

He couldn't believe his eyes when they came to the deep wound in her stomach. He glanced at the coat and at the piece of cloth that had fallen on the floor. Both were tainted with her blood.

Misao was surprised and relieved to see Kaoru had been covered with a blanket. She immediately noticed that the Diary had disappeared

"Could it be ...?"

Kenshin noticed Kaoru's nowhere-looking eyes. She was stretching her arm to reach out for some comfort.

Kenshin immediately took her hand with his' and put the piece of cloth back in place and hold it there with his other hand.

"E - Enishi, he ... he won't bother you anymore...". She was taking a deep breath before each word and winced when Kenshin moved her body.

"The plan! It worked!" shouted Misao with tears in her eyes.

"Plan? Kaoru...what did you do ? Who did this to you ?" he said without really awaiting an answer from her, only bothered by her condition.

Misao quickly gave Kenshin some explanations before Kaoru could open her mouth.

"Kaoru, ... I'll bring you to Megumi-Dono" said Kenshin while gazing at her pale face.

He very gently lifted the upper part of her body with his left arm. Kaoru emitted a small cry while immediately reaching for her wound, placing her hand above Kenshin's.

"Shikkari shite, Kaoru Dono!" cried Kenshin with a voice full of anxiety, fear and regret for not having being able to protect her.

Her eyes were empty but she sensed he was looking at her intensively.

Kenshin had now lifted her completely in his arms and was standing looking desperately at her, contemplating the disaster.

She had had to endure everything Enishi had meant for him.

He rolled her a little closer to his chest so she could take hold of his gi while he was carrying her through the forest back to the dojo.

"Hang on to me Kaoru!", no longer taking care of using the honorific anymore.

He had been running for more than an hour with her in his arms, followed by Misao. He suddenly halted, sensing that she was loosing her grip on his gi.

"Shikkari shite, Kaoru". "Hold on Kaoru, Onegai!".

Again he rolled her over a bit towards his chest to help her regain her grip on his gi.

She lifted her hand a bit, but her hand fell to the side before she could reach it.

Soon after that they came across an out-of-breath Megumi, carrying her medicine box.

Kenshin stood still upon seeing her and softly uttered: "Megumi-Dono".

Her hand flew to her mouth. Kenshin didn't say any more word; his eyes full of despair. He was simply standing desperately waiting for Megumi to give him her instructions.

"Ken-San !" The former hitokiri was now placing all his hopes in her hands, and she knew it.

"Lay her down Ken-San" she ordered. Kenshin laid her down softly on the leaves his eyes not leaving her face. Megumi started by removing the piece of cloth which was now soaked with her blood.

Although he had seen a lot of swords wounds in his past Kenshin swallowed at the sight. Kenshin stayed a few feet away from Kaoru and Megumi, not wanting to disturb her in her work.

Megumi noted his concerns and anxiety. She invited him to hold Kaoru's hand while she was working on her.

"Could you please hold her hand Ken-San. That will help keep her calm. I do not want to give her extra medication if I don't have to."

She started by cleansing the wound and then stitched it together. While working on Kaoru Megumi was constantly glancing at Kaoru's face to check if she was waking up from her light coma, and so was Kenshin. "Ken-San, help me bandage her!" Kenshin immediately raised Kaoru in a sitted position and hold her against him. He couldn't help but noticed the sweat drop on Megumi's face.

"That should enable her to hold until we reach the dojo. Let's go! We need to carry her to a warm place where she can rest as soon as possible!", she instructed while wiping the sweat drops from her forehead.