Summary: When Kenshin hears about Shishio's betrayal at the hands of the Ishin Shishi, he is determined to find the truth about his former comrade's death. His quest for vengeance leads him to several top members of the former revolutionary outfit, but when someone starts beating him to the kill, Kenshin realizes all is not as it seems. BKK.

Disclaimer: I do not own Rurouni Kenshin. I just like to spin stories about the characters.

Rating: T

The Battousai's Return

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Chapter Three

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Recap

He sat down on the bed, waiting for her to wake up. She wasn't just any girl. She was the key to all his answers. Kaoru turned till she was facing him. She moved her head slowly from left to right in relative discomfort. She frowned and her eyelids fluttered as they tried to adjust to the light.

As the world reeled back into focus, a splitting pain raced through her head and she saw the beautiful eyes that had seduced her from the safety of her friends last night, in front of her own.

"Hi", a velvety smooth voice spoke, "you're finally awake."

End of Recap

Kaoru blinked. She recognized his face. She tried to open her mouth to speak but her lips stuck together. Her tongue and throat felt parched. She closed her eyes as the pain in her temples throbbed once more.

"Water…" Her voice sounded raw and raspy. Cool fingers cupped her chin and tilted it slightly up. The man held a glass saucer to her lips and gently tipped the contents into her dry mouth. The cool water trickled into her mouth slowly, sliding down her tongue into her throat. Kaoru drank it greedily, eager for more. She heard a soft chuckle as the man refilled the saucer and held it to her lips again.

"Take it easy…the water's not going anywhere."

Kaoru stared at him. She licked her lips and shut her eyes once more. She opened them once again, and blinked in bewilderment when he didn't vanish from her sight. She gazed back blankly at the face leaning over her. It was him. The man she had danced with the night before. And how she had danced, without a care in the world, with complete abandonment. Without realizing what she was doing, she smiled as she remembered tossing glances back and forth, the dancing, that unexpected kiss. Her smile widened and her eyes softened at the memory.

Kenshin was enthralled as he watched the expressions flitting across Kaoru's features. She didn't seem to realize that she was a captive in a stranger's house. Perhaps she didn't realize the fact that she was in a very precarious position right now. She should be shocked, scared, or angry at the very least. Instead, this girl was staring back at him and smiling. She really was astonishing. He had been prepared for screaming, kicking, shouting, and hysterics, but he really hadn't expected to be faced with this. He frowned. The color of his eyes deepened into indigo and even as the smile slowly disappeared from her countenance and her senses joined together in screaming danger, she felt an inexplicable calm.

Not for long. The gentle face of the man who had asked her to dance disappeared beneath a smirking mask. The man who leaned across her pulled his lips into a feral grin, and spoke.

"I was beginning to think you intended to sleep all day."

His voice and words jarred against her nerves. It was not a voice of the man who had swept her off her feet; the smoothness of his voice hid a hardness she had never felt in a man before. She blinked once again, and the dream plunged into a nightmare. Her body stung, like she'd spent the night sleeping on a hard wooden plank. Her sides felt sore and there was a throbbing pain in her wrists. Speaking of which, where were her hands? She suddenly became aware of a blunt ache between her shoulder blades and felt her arms straining. It was only when her elbow hit her face, that she understood that her hands were, in fact, tied by her wrists above her head, effectively explaining the pain she felt in her limbs.

Kaoru's eyes widened in shock. Horror seeped through her veins and pulsated through every cell in her body. She turned sharply on her side, and tried to sit up. The man sat back, calmly watching as she sat up and started to tug at the tape that bound her wrists to the bedpost. She thrashed around, pulling desperately on the tape. She let out a sound of extreme frustration. Her pulse quickened as repeated attempts to pry her hands loose failed. She pulled this way and that. Flailing her arms and legs, trying to break free. Finally she sat still, completely still, without moving a muscle.

Kenshin waited silently for her to speak. He had stopped Misao from jumping forward and helping Kaoru calm down. If Kaoru saw her now, she would be devastated. It was a betrayal that would shatter her. Eventually she would find out that Misao was not her friend, she had never been. Misao's role in this tale was to deliver Kaoru into his hands, and that role was fulfilled. Kaoru would know this soon enough, but there was no reason to shatter her misconception about the petite girl just yet.

He needed Kaoru to understand why she was here. She had to cooperate with him. He had no intention of hurting her. She was free to leave and continue with her life once he had the information he needed. He would never cross her path once that was done. But for that, she would have to do exactly as he asked; there could be no compromise on the issue.

Kaoru lifted her eyes to look at him once again. Cold fury simmered in her eyes. She tossed her head back to get her bangs out of her eyes.

"Where am I?" She spoke coldly. Kenshin smiled. It was a smile without emotion and meaning. The corners of his mouth had simply turned upwards. So it begins. He took a deep breath.

"Tokyo. This is just a rented apartment." He stopped. Kaoru waited for him to continue, she leaned her head forward in expectation. But he was finished talking.

She gaped at him incredulously. "That's it?" She sputtered. "That's the big explanation? Thanks for letting me know Captain Obvious! Why am I here…and who the hell are you and…. you kidnapped me you jerk! What the hell is wrong with you!"

Kenshin replied silently. "You don't need to know."

"What! Are you out of your mind? You just kidnapped me! Of course I need to know! Who are you! Answer me." Kaoru's voice shook slightly with rage.

He stood and walked over to the table. Pulling the chair out, he sat down, eyes trained relentlessly on Kaoru. "My identity does not matter. The only thing that you need to be concerned with right now is that you will be allowed to leave once I have completed my task. You will not be harmed provided you abide by my rules."

"Why are you doing this? Is this for money? Well, you chose the wrong person. You'll get nothing by it. I'm not even rich."

Kenshin glared at her. Kaoru glared back. Who the hell does this guy think he is? The two of them kept staring at each other venomously for a few moments.

Kaoru frowned. "You're wasting your time with me. Nobody is going to pay you a ransom for me. I don't have any family. You just went and committed a serious crime for nothing. There's no money where I'm coming from, nothing that would interest a kidnapper."

"Be quiet."

"You can still stop this madness. Let me go and perhaps I won't press charges."

Despite his grave demeanor Kenshin found himself controlling an urge to laugh. She really had no idea who she was dealing with. She seemed to think he was some two-bit criminal looking for easy pickings by kidnapping a girl.

But his crimes were far grimmer than that. The things he had done, those crimes were not something he could wash away by spending a few years in prison. His criminality was born from the tears and blood of those he had murdered. Those deaths, mere drops in the oceans of blood he had unleashed in the madness of the Revolution. Atonement, he had believed he could atone for the lives he had taken but…. the truth of those actions would haunt him to his grave. There was no atonement for a man like him. He was a Hitokiri, and would remain one till he died.

He reserved no pity or forgiveness for himself but he needed to know what had happened to the only man who had treated him like a human being. He needed to know what had happened to Shishio. Shishio who was his comrade in arms, his successor, and the silent witness to his tortured nightmares.

Kaoru bent her head. She spoke with a deathly calm voice. "You don't seem to realize, but you're in serious trouble."

Kenshin quirked an eyebrow up. "Is that so?"

"Yes. If I'm not home soon, my friends will call the police. And all the people at the club have seen you. They know your description. When the police start looking around for you, you will be caught in no time."

"Your friends…yes…. that does seem to be a problem." He walked over to the window. "Don't worry about your friends. I've already arranged it so they aren't disturbed by your absence." He turned towards her with a wry smile.

Kaoru froze. The sinister smile on his face chilled her blood. "You didn't…you didn't hurt them, did you?"

He leaned against the wall. His bangs fell across his eyes, but she felt his gaze locked on her. "That all depends doesn't it?"

"You bastard! You're blackmailing me!" She tugged at the tape again.

"No. I'm telling you not to act stupid. Your friends are safe as long as you act like a good girl and don't do anything that would provoke me to show you just how nasty things can get."

"Why are you doing this?"

"…."

"What…could you possibly gain from kidnapping me?"

"…"

"What do you want?"

He stood still, eyes staring away into the distance. The wind blowing in from the window caused his bangs to sway. He seemed oblivious to everything around him. It was as if the reality in which he was living was a distant dream and the dreams of the past his reality. Misao watched in silence as Kaoru's lips trembled, and her voice hitched in her throat. She bent her head, and the strength she had shown till this moment crumbled. Kenshin did not respond.

Misao looked on helplessly as Kaoru cried, softly at first before bursting uncontrollably into sobs. She didn't think any less of her for crying. In fact she was surprised that Kaoru had held out this long. It was natural in her circumstances. Kaoru was angry and confused. She was being used like a pawn on a giant chessboard she couldn't see, in a fight she knew nothing about. If she could, she would tell Kaoru everything but…. she couldn't. Kenshin would never agree to it. She had taken a vow of secrecy. If she broke it, Aoshi would never forgive her. And she couldn't live with that…she just couldn't….

"Miss Kaoru." Kaoru snapped her head up. He was speaking. She didn't how but she knew in her heart that the next few words this man spoke were going to change her life. Forever. "You will not be harmed, no matter what happens. I know you're confused, and angry. You have every right to be. But…. this needed to happen. If I had another way, I would never have used you. But I don't. You can hate me for what I am about to put you through. All I can tell you is that it'll be over soon. And when that happens, you can go back."

"I can go back? Don't give me that crap! Don't…. insult me by telling me that you had no choice. You're just weak!"

Misao clapped her hand over her mouth. She stared at Kaoru in shock. It was over. She had called Kenshin weak…. the Battousai would never allow such an insult to go unpunished. Never. She waited for him to move. She waited for his katana to let loose, for the unfinished scream, the shower of blood.

Nothing happened.

Kenshin didn't even turn around. He just bent his head slightly. "Perhaps. But while you here, you will do what I say."

"Humph! I'm not a puppet. There's no way I'm going to silently go along with whatever you want."

"You will."

"Why?"

"Because you don't want your friends die."

"…."

"You are essential to my plan therefore I can't kill you. Your worthless friends are an entirely different matter."

"You wouldn't dare…"

"You know I do."

"…"

"Don't make it any harder than it is."

"I hate you."

Kenshin swallowed. He looked up at the sky. It seemed bleak. "That's alright." He turned. She looked away.

"Tonight. Tonight you will speak to Kogoro Katsura. Do you understand?"

She heard him. She did not speak. The pain she had felt when she woke died. The numbness that engulfed her after listening to him was more painful. Her dream, the dream that brought him to her strangled her senses. He was the man she had held in her arms last night and yet he wasn't.

He was a criminal. She should hate him. He threatened to kill her friends. She should hate him. He was using her to blackmail her uncle. She should hate him. He tricked her. She should hate him.

So why…why did it feel like a lie?

Why did she see pain in his eyes?

Why did she want to believe that it was all a mistake?

Why did she hope?

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Author's Notes

Finally, I get an update out. I am so sorry this took forever to update. I hope it wasn't too disappointing. Please review…. I need to know what you guys are thinking about this.