It can't be as bad as I think, Kaoru repeated to herself as the door to her apartment swung open. It can't be-

Kenshin wavered inside, Megumi clinging to his arm like a limpet, and the kendo instructor had to stifle a shriek.

It's worse.

Bad enough to listen to Sano's grudging explanation of what Exploding Orbs actually did. To see Megumi's face, even with her eyelids fully closed, with that odd sunken dip that meant there was nothing behind thin skin-

I'm not going to throw up. I'm not, I'm not...

Behind her, Yahiko gulped audibly. "Oh... ugh."

"You should be in bed," Kenshin said faintly. "Sano? Why here? I thought we would see Dr. Gensai-"

"And you will, young man." The doctor bustled in behind them, rolling his eyes. "I don't want Ms. Takani moving any more than she has to afterwards. Major healing spells plunder the body for resources; we don't need to complicate matters with a case of pneumonia simply because someone didn't wait for their immune system to ratchet back up to full speed." He waved an admonishing finger as Kenshin guided Megumi to the couch. "That means rest, young lady. None of this gallivanting across the city carried off by strange Kin. Really, I thought women's lib would have wiped out the bodice-ripper abduction fantasy genre; though I suppose that's too much to hope for..."

Megumi made a choked squeak that might have been a laugh. "I'll... try to remember that."

"And as for you-" Gensai pressed firmly down on Kenshin's shoulder. "Sit."

"Oro?" Violet blinked up from a sudden, limp sprawl of red.

"You're gray, young man. I'm surprised you haven't been attacking idiots in the street." Gensai pointed at Yahiko. "He does keep blood on hand, yes?"

"Um - ah - yeah, going..."

"I don't need-" Kenshin protested.

Gensai arched one gray brow.

Violet blinked artlessly.

Gensai intensified his scowl.

"...Oro?" Kenshin shot a pleading look Kaoru's way.

Oh no, not the innocent look. Kaoru forced her face into a firm line as she stalked over to lend a hand. "You stay right there! You look awful."

He did, too; clothes tattered and stained, scarlet hair tangled with bits of insulation and wet newspaper, scrapes and reddening marks scattered across exposed skin. Violet eyes were bruised with exhaustion, wide and stunned and lonely...

"Kaoru-dono?"

She looked away, grabbing for her bokken. "Like I said, stay put!" Um. What just happened?

Sano's whistle distracted her from that odd rush of warmth. "Well, you got dragged through a mangle backwards." He stalked over to look down at the redhead as Gensai started taking Megumi's pulse and asking her soft, low questions. "How many did you say there were?"

"I... don't know," Kenshin managed blearily. "More than a dozen... we just kept closing the holes in the world until there weren't anymore..."

"Hell, you are out of it." Sanosuke took the lidded mug from Yahiko, popped it open. "Slow. You know cold doesn't sit too well in the stomach."

"Mmph..."

"Hardest thing is going to be writing this up, you know," Sano went on as Kenshin sipped gingerly at chill blood. "DuBuccio's never going to believe it."

Kenshin licked his lips, eyes half-closed. "Why not?"

Sano rolled his eyes. "Oh, I dunno; maybe because it's supposed to be impossible?"

"Saitou could have done it..."

"Who?"

"Shinsengumi captain." Kenshin cupped his hands around the ceramic container, too tired to trust his own grip. "Werewolf... at least, that's what Battousai remembers..."

"One hell of a werewolf," Sano said faintly.

"Mmm." Kenshin let out a few, measured breaths; went back to slowly sipping his drink. "Misao?"

"Called in a little while back," Sano reported. "Looks like Shinomori mesmerized her to get on a bus and go home. She's fit to be tied. Wants to tear Chinatown up by the roots, turn it upside-down, and shake it 'til Aoshi falls out." The agent shook his head. "Aoshi's the Okashira? Are you sure?"

"Uh-huh." Violet slid closed.

Is he really okay? Kaoru mouthed at the agent.

Sano gave her a thumbs-up, but his smile looked a little forced. Especially when he pushed back red sleeves, revealing the healing bites of animated wires. "Damn it, 'Sai!"

"Looks worse than it is..."

"And how do I know that?" Sanosuke said raggedly. "The mark's gone, 'Sai! You know what I felt like, listening to that mess? Knowing that if we lost radio contact for an hour, I'd have to assume Virus got you until you could Edge and show me otherwise? I can't feel you anymore, and-" His fists clenched. "Damn it..."

"Sano?" Bewildered. Tired. Lost.

"Huh. Guess I'm just as bad as Uramura's crowd after all," Sano shrugged. "Easy not to be afraid of Kin when you know they can't Infect you."

Violet blinked open. "You can't want me to do that." Weary, but surprisingly level. "Not twice."

"Why the hell not?" Sano jerked a thumb over his shoulder. "You marked the brat."

Yahiko bit his lip.

And all Kaoru's teaching instincts shrilled something was wrong. "Yahiko?" she asked, surprised how steady her voice was. "Are you okay?"

From that quick look away, she knew the answer was no.

What happened?

"Quiet, please." Gensai swept his hand an inch from Megumi's skin, from breastbone up past the crown of her head, finally settling three inches above her brow. Whispered a soft chant under his breath, that echoed of moonlight and violets and the softness of a spring breeze...

A blue-white glow swept from outstretched fingers to tear-stained skin, sinking into ravaged flesh like rain.

The doctor sighed and stepped back, rubbing at a light headache. "Bed rest, Miss Megumi. I must insist on it."

Brown eyes blinked open, whole again, and Megumi all but sobbed with relief. "I will."

"And as for the rest of you," Gensai shook his head. "Ordinarily, I'd keep this under doctor-patient confidentiality. But given you've all been in extremely close contact under hazardous conditions, and given Kenshin's apparent instinct to heal first and think about it later-"

The redhead seemed to shrink.

"An instinct which I cannot fault in the least," the doctor went on, more gently. "Sagara has a very stable aura, Kenshin. Much like Ms. Takani's, or most other Witches I've known. Energy moves through it without shifting its nature. Your mark didn't affect his humanity before; I doubt it will now."

Kenshin's fingers clenched on ceramic.

"As for your brother... when an ordinary, non-mystical virus infects one family member, it's at least four times as likely to be able to spread to another," Dr. Gensai stated. "Yahiko is vulnerable to Battousai's influence. Not as vulnerable, evidently; I've examined his wounds. They're healing well, but not as they should if he were truly Infected. His aura is..." Gensai paused, searching for words. "Well, oddly enough, it seems almost as though he's become your Familiar."

"You can't take humans as Familiars," Megumi objected.

"And he's not exactly a Sorcerer or a Witch, is he?" the doctor said testily. "How should I know what he can do? I'm having a hard enough time wrapping my mind around the idea that a sword-spirit can heal in the first place!"

"Sword-spirit?" Megumi said faintly.

"Uh, yeah?" Yahiko gave her a wry look. "What are you, the last Crowley in New York who didn't know?"

Megumi's mouth worked. "...I think I want to sleep now," she managed at last. "Maybe even for a few days."

"Excellent idea." Dr. Gensai touched her forehead. "On one, two, three-"

"Hey!" Kaoru darted forward to catch Megumi's boneless slump, easing her down onto the couch. "You didn't have to do that!"

"Oh yes, I should have let her stay awake and risk tempting me into something I might regret in the morning," the sorcerer bit out. "Gods, Kaoru, you heard what she's done!"

"It's not her fault."

Wheeling on the redhead, Gensai sucked in a swift breath. "How can you-"

"It is her responsibility, yes," Kenshin said in a voice like steel. "But it is not her fault."

The doctor started to say something, stopped. "That's a very fine line to tread, Himura-san."

"My life has become fine lines," Kenshin said softly. "She was trapped. She was alone. There was no one to help her."

"That's no excuse!"

"There are no excuses." Violet glinted, barely touched with blue. "But she has stopped, Gensai-isha. Would you punish her for that, and leave her nowhere to turn but Kanryuu?"

"I..." For once, Gensai truly did look old. "I don't know."

Kenshin bowed his head. "Thank you for caring."

"Don't thank me until after you get my bill," the doctor said tartly, giving Sano a dark look. "Your agency is picking up the tab, yes?"

"...Ow?" Sano managed.

"Hmph." Gensai headed for the door. "Good night, sleep well, and try not to kill anything else before morning, hmm?"

Slam.

"Money?" Sano said, as if he still couldn't believe it. "The man really knows how to hurt a guy."

"Hit you below the belt, all right," Yahiko muttered. "Freeloader."

"Hey! I chip in!"

"On the pizza you eat half of?" Yahiko rolled his eyes. "Yeah, sure."

"Why, you-"

"Miss Kaoru." Stepping around the growing scuffle on her living room floor, Kenshin made his way to her side. "Are you all right?"

Kaoru shook her head. "I've never seen him that angry before."

"Are you all right?" Kenshin asked again, eyes straying to where a safety pin had restored some semblance of modesty. "I felt... your heart, I wasn't sure if we had done enough..."

"I'm fine." Kaoru smiled, and was surprised to find she meant it. "Well, I will be fine. In a few days."

"Miss Kaoru, I - what?"

Giggling, Kaoru waved the bit of pink fluff she'd plucked from tangled scarlet. "You're still wearing a roof!"

"Oro..."

"Just wait right there." Dodging a flying fist, she headed through Misao's attempt at remodeling. Ooo, when I get my hands on that imp! But I guess we might as well use it until we fix the wall...

The apartment layouts weren't that different. Not to mention she'd been in and out of here ever since they'd moved in; she knew exactly where to find what she was looking for.

Picking it up, though, her breath caught. Oh, Kenshin.

Red hairs laced through the top layer of bristles, shimmering like flame as they caught the light. Under them, though, were still laced shorter bits of brown.

Clean out the brush? Or hang onto what you can? Kaoru shook her head, and turned- "Eep!"

Kenshin flung up empty hands. "It's only me. What-"

"You're all tangles," Kaoru said in a rush, before her nerve failed. "Let me help."

He blushed. "You don't have to-"

"I know I don't have to." She gave him an evil look. "We could just wait until the whole mess sets, and cut it off."

He flinched. "But you're hurt..."

"It's a hairbrush. Not a life-or-death duel." Kaoru snapped the fingers of her free hand. "Come on. Give."

Gingerly, Kenshin sat down edgewise on his own couch. "Yahiko-"

"Is going to be gnawing on Sano's head for at least another ten minutes before he even knows we're gone." Sitting behind him, Kaoru undid the leather tie holding the mass of red together, and started at the tips. "Just relax."

Easier said than done. Pink fluff, bits of oily paper, one or two short strands of horribly familiar wire - Kaoru picked those out of knots near the scalp, and shuddered. Too close.

But eventually the scarlet flow started to behave like ordinary hair, and she was able to switch to longer, smoother strokes. Nice, Kaoru smiled to herself. Very nice. Oh, what I wouldn't give for a blouse just these colors-

Purr...

She paused mid-stroke, startled at the sudden vibration under her arm. What the-?

Kenshin made a muffled noise of protest, turning to snuggle against her.

Eyes wide, Kaoru brushed again.

Purr...

Her hand never faltered, though she wasn't quite sure whether to gasp, yelp, or break down giggling. Though plain-old gasping won a lead when clawed hands found her knees, kneading cloth and flesh like a kitten.

Big kitty. Kaoru kept brushing, mostly out of dazed reflex; rational thought was starting to blur at the edges. A nice, warm blur, even if some shred of paranoid self-preservation was jumping up and down about this being a Very Bad Idea. If those hands start moving, I'm going to have to do... something...

And then they did move; she felt the wash of wind as they suddenly dipped and lifted-

And there were fangs on her throat.

Gently. Only pressing on unbroken skin. But there.

Purring.

Lethal weapon... makes brains melt... "Ken-"

The world whited out at the edges as sharp canines moved, nibbling and purring up and down the column of her throat. Up. And down. And up...

Some kind of - pattern to it, Kaoru thought fuzzily, distantly registering that the claws weren't idle either, kneading along her ribs in a way that should have been ticklish, but only seemed to add to the odd rhythm tugging at her soul. Like a sword-kata; something in you has to move.

And something inside her was moving, slow and stubborn as a rock rooted down by time and moss. Something that tingled in her throat, in her heart, in the healing mark on her wrist...

"Hey, Kenshin, what do you feed this kid? Innocent bystanders- whoa!"

Quick as thought, she was embracing empty air.

Mouth still partly agape, Kaoru stared at the incredulous agent and equally incredulous kid brother.

Yahiko stared at her, then her neck, dark brows climbing as he tilted his head for a better look. "Is that a hickey?"

That's it. Somebody dies!

---------

We stopped. Battousai blinked inside Kenshin's mind, gradually surfacing from the blissful haze of feeling loved and cherished and perfectly, utterly comfortable in his own skin. Why did we stop?

Rooftop. A hot summer night's breeze, brushing over his bearer's shivering body. The thorny tightening of guilt and fear-

:Kenshin?:

"We - w-we almost-"

:Almost what?: Battousai searched their recent memories, looking for anything that could have spawned this night-dark horror. Kaoru had been brushing them - oh gods, that tender touch! - melting all the terror and turmoil of the night into jeweled moments of body-thrumming joy. Joy he'd wanted to reach out and share, plying tender skin with teeth and claws until she, too, could lose the fear that haunted them, if only for a moment-

Sano. Of all the cursed luck.

"We almost marked her!"

:...What?:

"Couldn't you feel it?" Kenshin clenched his fists, claws prickling against his palms. "We were trying to shift her ki! Like-"

Like Yahiko, Battousai felt the unvoiced thought. Tensed at the implications, and dug deeper into blurry memories. There had been something... something beyond the simple desire to share bliss with the young woman who had become his dear friend. Something that hadn't moved within him in a very long time.

Instinct.

Usually, ki manipulation required thought. Conscious decision. Yahiko's hadn't taken much thought, true - but the boy was the same blood as his bearer. Kenshin was used to protecting him, to trying to guide him into growing well and whole. It didn't take much in the way of rational thought to extend that behavior to the new energies available to him.

But Kaoru...

I wasn't thinking. No more than Kenshin was. We were just with her, our friend, our sharer-of-joy-

And we wanted her to stay.

Kenshin's shoulders slumped. "We tried to Infect her."

:No,: Battousai said softly. :No, we only tried to draw her closer to us. To protect her. As I protected Ame...:

"Ame?"

Frustration; even hearing Kenshin speak it, the name slipped through his grasp like mist. :I don't remember-:

Bloody rain.

A cherry-patterned umbrella, dropped by a wind-stirred puddle.

Violet eyes, wide and determined as they took in claws and fangs and the steady crimson gleam of a blade.

Should I... kill her?

A wind of years; the relief that the Revolution and the dying was done, the heart-stopping joy and terror as clawed hands held newborn innocence with those same unforgettable eyes...

Ame's cub. My cub.

Kenji.

Only then did he feel the tears.

:I'm sorry...:

"It's all right," Kenshin said thickly, face buried in his hands. "She was your wife. You loved her." He scrubbed away tears, drew a shuddering breath. "You loved her... and you changed her."

:We all change each other,: Battousai said softly. :But... I think that you are right. Her ki was strong when we met; it only strengthened as we drew nearer to each other. Still. She was human, Kenshin. I know it.:

"I can't do that to Kaoru."

:We should definitely ask before she brushes our hair again,: Battousai agreed. :She should know the consequences.:

"The consequences? We can't do that to her!"

:If we lose ourselves in the joy of her, I do not think we will be able to avoid it; any more than we could refrain from biting, should she choose to honor us with her bed. You felt it, Kenshin; it was like breathing rainbows...: Battousai savored that memory, set it reluctantly aside. :So we should warn her.:

"I won't do that to her."

Bad enough Sano had interrupted one of the most pleasant moments Battousai had had in over a century. This line of reasoning was starting to make him distinctly cranky. :Should that not be her choice?:

"She doesn't know what she'd be giving up!"

:And I know too well what we would be giving up!: the sword snapped back. :Will you never touch another again? Never love again? Never simply be with one who wishes you nothing but well?: He felt the answer, and flared with rage. :By all the kami - why?:

"People die when I love them!" Fury, and pain - and under it all, a thin thread of fear. "And it's my fault. All my fault..."

Not fear of death, but fear of what could have been, Battousai judged, tracing that faint trail of emotion. A fear that could yet come true. Not his parents, then. Which left only- :Who threatened Yahiko?:

"I did."

For a moment, Battousai couldn't believe that soundless whisper. :You... could not have been in your right mind...:

"I wasn't." A bitter laugh. "And that's my fault, too."

:How?:

Kenshin hugged himself, mind aching with the darkness of trying not to remember. "I let her touch me."

:Who?:

"Tomoe..."

---------

"For the last time, I did not drug your brother!" Radiating an Aura of Death scary as any Kin bent on mass destruction, Kaoru planted her fists on her hips and glared at a fuming Yahiko. "Why on earth would you think I would?"

"Oh, come on! What, you think 'cause I'm a kid, I'm blind? You let him think you're interested; you let him work up enough nerve to actually talk to you like a person instead of a customer. And then you jump him? That's just what she-" Yahiko bit off whatever he was about to say.

Peeling himself off the floor, Sanosuke debated his course of action. Ask, and get both of them on top of me. Don't ask - leave these two at each other's throats over what I'm pretty sure is just a little Kin-instinct glitch. Not to mention, miss something very important to Kenshin.

Damn. Sometimes I hate being a responsible partner. "Who's she?"

Two glares intersected on him.

One spontaneous human combustion coming up, Sano thought wryly. "And before you two start soft-pedaling whatever the hell it is - was that a hairbrush on the floor?"

"Ah-" Kaoru couldn't seem to find her voice.

"Figures." Sanosuke shook his head. "Lucky you. Found his soft spot in one go."

"Guh?" Yahiko said incoherently.

"'Sai's got a thing for hair," Sano shrugged. "Kind of like lad- ah, people in bad moods have one for chocolate." And how. A pissed-off Misao after deep, dark chocolate; Battousai after a willing soul with a hairbrush. He'd back either of them, naked, against all of Red Moonrise's slavering hordes put together.

Which was one of the other reasons Ward had kept his hair short.

Can't be tempted if there's nothing there to tempt, Sanosuke thought darkly. Lucky for 'Sai, Kenshin's not a masochist.

If it was just luck. Except for rare instances when Ward had been wounded and needed more than just physical care, the sword had suffered through decades of involuntary self-denial already. Sano wouldn't put it past Battousai to keep his mental lips firmly buttoned about something he wanted until... well, until an opportunity like this came along.

Sneaky little piece of steel, he is. Sano stifled the grin, pasting his best serious expression on top of it. "So? Start talking."

Yahiko went white, then red, clenching and unclenching his fists. Looked at Megumi still out cold on the couch. Bit his lip, and blew out one explosive breath. "You think this is the first time Kenshin came home covered in blood?"

Pale, Kaoru fumbled her way to a chair and sat down.

Sano's jaw worked, brain thrown into sudden crash-and-burn. He's saying... but I checked the cops' records on Kenshin, there's nothing... but Yahiko's never lost it, even when any kid his age ought to be screaming for Mommy, and you just don't get those kind of nerves dropped straight into Kin mayhem, nobody does... "Say what?" he finally managed.

Yahiko glanced at him, gave his teacher a reluctant, guilty look. "Kenshin told me I could take kendo so I could get a grip on - on what happened to our parents. But I don't think that's really why. I think he wanted me to know something he didn't. Just in case."

Kaoru sat up, blue eyes intent. "In case of somebody drugging him?"

"Yeah." Yahiko looked down. "It was two months before the accident..."

---------

"Beautiful," Kenshin said softly, resting his cup of soda on the arm of the park bench as he watched the violet skeins of sky darken over the distant lights of the Bronx, an amber moon rising full and bright through full-leafed branches on this peninsula of Pelham Bay Park.

"Thank you."

He reddened a little at Tomoe Yukishiro's soft voice, gaze skipping over her matching cup, past the red-dyed feathers woven along her black silk vest and the left side of black hair, to lift to fathomless brown eyes. "...You, too." He leaned on the green-painted metal bench, registering an absence of other chattering voices on the river-scented wind. "Are we early?"

Tomoe gave him a quiet smile, stepping soundlessly through the dark underbrush to look around this sculpted clearing. "A little. James didn't call you?" She waved it off gracefully. "No, he wouldn't have, the meat-head... he had a late exam. He won't be able to bring the others out for another hour."

A very late exam. He'd thought they were all done by now. But then, Regreening the Apple had a lot of oddball student members. James Sureh was a classic example; a brawny, hairy, mostly night-class non-traditional student with a quick laugh and a serious dedication to bringing wildness back into the concrete canyons. Not to mention an appreciative eye for Tomoe's quiet charms.

Quit that, Kenshin told himself firmly, finishing off the cup. He'd have to buy the sodas next time; fair was fair. She may have been friendly with him when you all started the year, but even if they were together then, they're over now. You're not a high-school idiot anymore; just because she might have liked him before she liked you is no reason to feel jealous.

Not that he'd ever had much chance to feel jealous back then. Small, shy, shorter than everybody, and perennially busy with Wonderful Things and schoolwork, he just hadn't had the time.

And those few times he thought about it, he wasn't sure he was jealous at all. More like... uneasy.

She's taller than I am.

It doesn't make sense.

Granted, doubling up degrees in business and art history, not to mention helping out with Yahiko and at Wonderful Things, didn't leave much time for sorting out the current social scene. Even the twice-monthly meetings with Regreening were a significant chunk of his free time; which had made his quiet conversations with Tomoe all the more poignant.

But Kenshin had been immersed in history of one kind or another all his life - and history said tall women did not pick small men for dates. No matter how many interests they shared.

Post-exam paranoia. Quit it already. Kenshin closed his eyes a moment, feeling pure relief. One way or another, he was done with school. Now... well, they'd just have to see. He had already put out his resume to a few other places around the state, though of course his father and step-mother had offered to let him stay on at Wonderful Things until something came through...

"You still don't like Sarah's plan, do you?"

Kenshin opened his eyes, startled that Tomoe was within arm's reach. She moves like a ghost. "I don't think it's feasible, I don't think it's honest, and I'm not getting involved," he said firmly, thinking of the fervent young brunette ecologist. "I really hope we can talk her out of it."

Tomoe gave him a slow blink. "Feasible, yes... but how can protesting fur not be honest?"

"She drinks milk."

"You drink milk."

"Which is why if I did get involved, it wouldn't be honest." Kenshin shook his head, wondering why so many seemingly intelligent people couldn't take a thought to its logical conclusion. "We're working to make things better for wild things living in New York, right? We can't do that and not have more wild things dying as well. Nature doesn't work that way."

Tomoe smiled at him.

Wow...

"You were right the first time."

Huh? "About what?"

"This." She said in that calm, even voice, gesturing toward the park, the elements of unruliness creeping through the casual trimming meant to make this spot a place people could linger in the semi-wild. "It's beautiful. I help keep it that way."

"You volunteer with the park?" Kenshin said doubtfully. Where do you find the time? Then again, now that he thought about it, he had no real idea what she did outside of classes and the club; just a vague recollection of her mentioning part-time work in some florist's shop elsewhere on the island. He certainly spent enough hours on the train and in Wonderful Things to fill two part-time jobs...

"Not exactly."

Nerves, Kenshin told himself firmly as Tomoe leaned on the bench next to him. Just nerves. He'd never liked full moons, not since his mother-

Don't think about it.

"You might say," Tomoe went on, "I inspire it."

Word-games again. Ordinarily Kenshin found their verbal battles of wits fun, but tonight... no. Easy. Remember how Dad taught you to calm down. In and out. Easy. He hadn't really lost his temper since grade school, and he wasn't about to start now.

Especially when there's no reason to be ticked off, Kenshin told himself firmly. You're here, she's here, it's a lovely night...

It's a full moon. Damn it.

Get back on track. Keep up. "You breath life into it?" He gave Tomoe a smile back. "You must have a lot of life to go around."

"It can be found."

Kenshin backed off an inch. "Found? Life is." Or is not. Ah, Yoda I am thinking of, yes. Which, all of a sudden, was definitely where he'd rather be; stealing a bowl of popcorn back and forth with his brother while lightsabers clashed. What's wrong with me?

She scooted right back in. "And life feeds on life. Yes." Dark eyes warmed. "But you already knew that. I thought you might, when James told me about you... but I had to be sure."

James told her- forget it, he's not here. And she is. Focus. "You feed life to the park," Kenshin said carefully. You feed lives to the park? No, it can't be. It can't.

"It's the way of my people," Tomoe nodded. "Here, nature feeds me. I have to feed it, too."

"Ah... last I checked, your people were from San Francisco," Kenshin said delicately. And if San Franciscan Japanese-Americans had ways like that, I think somebody would have heard about it!

"Not that people."

Oh, I am so out of here-

"Just listen to me," Tomoe said softly. "I know you'll understand."

Kenshin forced a smile. "Of course I'm listening." Stall. Whatever it is, stall.

"I don't really work for a florist."

...Oh, I am so stupid...

"I work in Dr. Vesalius' clinic," Tomoe went on. "As one of the healers. We do good work. We bring people back to themselves." Brown eyes were steady on his. "I want you to be one of us, too."

"Bad idea," Kenshin said lightly. "Just ask-" Don't mention Yahiko! Don't! "-any of my roommates. Horrible bedside manner. I wave tunafish under the nose of people down with the flu. That kind of thing."

"No, no, it's a good idea," she said patiently. "Don't you see? This way honor and duty are fulfilled, and we all get what we want. You. James. Me."

Kenshin had the sudden sense of stepping onto solid rock, only to see it vanish into draining sand. "What honor?" he floundered. "What does James have to do with this?"

"James' family and mine are allies. We have been for decades." Tomoe shrugged gracefully. "And you're a Himura. You owe James a life."

"What?"

"Don't you remember your mother?" Tomoe's smile flickered. "I saw a picture of her. Hard to believe anyone that full of life could hate us so much... she killed part of James' pack. Permanently. He couldn't do anything then; the Pox held him mindless. But we finally healed him. So he's paying back his debt to the clinic, by giving me the debt you owe." Her eyes warmed. "You'll love healing."

You... want me to heal the people who killed my mother... None of this made sense. Kenshin tried to grab onto a fragment of sanity. "You don't own me!"

"Of course I do," she said in that calm, even voice, tracing her fingers across the back of his hand in an uncanny shimmer of green. "You're human."

And the world - came apart.

Everything slipped and slid; the sky itself bled, even as a green aurora wrapped Tomoe's skin like fire, draining life and breath from his body until he lay limp and helpless on cropped grass...

And fury boiled up from a chasm in his soul.

No one owns me!

There were voices. Part of him recognized James, calling to Tomoe, who gave a silver laugh; but it was a small, lost part, battered by the boundless sea of rage.

They'd meant to hurt him. They had hurt him.

He wouldn't let it happen anymore.

The bench screamed free of concrete, easy to whirl as the shop broom. Tomoe went down without even time to gasp.

In the slippery web-work that twisted the world, Kenshin saw Sureh's jaw drop. Spread empty hands. Start to back up, saying - something-

But a ghastly wolf-mask seemed to fade through Sureh's skin, and it was all Kenshin needed to see.

Kill!

Fast. The man was fast.

The man was furry.

Interesting problem...

"-Killed her! Son of a bitch!" The fanged, sharp-nosed young man shook a furry fist at Kenshin. "You're supposed to be a damn pacifist!"

Resting the bloodied bench on the ground, Kenshin dropped to check the limp neck, never taking his eyes off his remaining enemy.

His fingers brushed back feather-woven hair, feeling at still-warm skin. No pulse. Good.

"You should be screaming," Sureh growled, clenching and unclenching his claws. "Why the hell aren't you screaming?"

Why should I, little prey? Kenshin's fingers dropped from throat to vest pocket, hidden by the twist of his body. I want you upset. I want you curious.

I want you to come to me...

Rage burned through his veins like a wave of acid. Kenshin rode it; focussed it, as he had everything in his life, on the ultimate goal. Not a grade. Not a sale. Not even the mix of pride and hurt that was weaving through one more conversational battle with his stepmother. Only one burning desire, that before now had only lurked in his nightmares.

Death. Yours. Now.

"Hell with this." A dark nose stretched into a snout as the wolf-man slunk closer. "Carve you up enough to slow you down; we can heal you after you rise- hah!" Smirking, he dodged the steel arc of the bench.

Right into a face-full of pepper spray.

Tomoe always did say she'd give a rapist the fight of his life...

He grabbed a coughing, furry form, pulling it with a yank that should have dislocated his shoulders. But bones and tendons held, driven by unnatural fury, and he slammed his enemy's body to the ground. Again. And again. And again...

Blood was red and thick as cherry sauce on his hands.

Pretty...

He wiped it off on living green, admiring the contrast. Frowning, as a furred chest struggled to breathe.

No. I won't let you.

Insanity ruled the world, yes, but even that had its own rules. Strangulation didn't kill werewolves. The only thing that would was-

Silver. But I don't have any.

And then again...

A chillingly calm smile touched his lips, as he scraped a dime over fur. Flesh and hair smoked.

Ah. Now, where did Biology say the heart was again?

Three scorching handfuls of change plundered from Tomoe's pockets later, fur finally stilled. Shrank back into skin, leaving only a twisted human form on the ground, smoke still rising from the hole between the third and fourth ribs.

Maybe he should do something to the other body, as well...

No. No, this was... wrong.

But I like it-

No! He had to stop, now - somehow-

Move. He had to move. He had to be... away from here. Anywhere away.

The world was slick and echoing as glass. It hurt. Things spun and jumped; he wanted to lash out at them, wanted to scream and snarl and kill-

But he wouldn't. Because more than anything else, he wanted the world to go away - and there was a place where it would...

"-Kenshin?" A door closing somewhere, and a sharp intake of breath. "Oh, shit..."

Quieter here. Not still, but quieter. Better. Just one thing making noise, and he could stop it-

Choking gasps. Fists banging on his arm in terror.

No! That's Yahiko!

He leapt away, slamming into his brother's bed, fear and shame eating at him. But it wasn't enough to beat back the rage. Nothing was enough.

I'll hurt him - no! I won't! Run, must run-

"S-stay there!" Yahiko coughed, pulling something hard and wood and safe between them; a chair? He couldn't tell; the world was flickering in and out, melting with fury. "Just - stay over there..."

Stay here. While Yahiko was... over there. Yes. That was good. That might work...

The world cut out.

Kenshin blinked, and the world was back. Only... different.

It's daylight.

He was lying on the floor of Yahiko's bedroom, sleeping bag tossed on top of him, and a throwrug tucked under his head. Something wet swiped over his hands, as a very angry, very scared kid brother dumped yet another bloodied paper towel into a trash bag.

And he hurt like hell.

Yahiko saw him blink. Jumped back, sprawling on the floor. "Shit!"

"Dad's going to fine you quarters if you keep that up..."

"Kenshin?" Brown eyes went wide with relief. "You know where you are?"

"Home?" God, his throat was dry. "Did I... I hurt you-"

"Shut up! Just shut up!" Yahiko yanked up one of his damp, shredded shirt sleeves, then the other.

"What are you-?"

"You don't drink, you don't smoke - you don't do dumb things!" the teenager said fiercely, glaring at scratched-up arms; small, healing rips, as if he'd tangled with a pack of Pomeranians. "No needle-marks. How the hell did you get hopped up on coke?"

"I... was drugged?" It made chilling, awful sense. Much more sense than green-glowing hands, and werewolves.

"Out of your damn skull," Yahiko bit out. "Just like Bad-ass Brown, only you didn't have a gun-"

"What?" Robert Brown was a perennial school bully who seemed to like going after Yahiko, yes, but a gun?

"You were in the middle of mid-terms. Mom and Dad didn't want to worry you." His brother's eyes were all but shooting sparks. "So I guess they don't need to worry about this. Yet. Did you know that bubble-brain Sarah called here looking for you? Said Tomoe and that creep James called club night off, and she didn't know if you'd heard. And I know you didn't, 'cause if you did, you'd at least have dropped by to help with the restocking before you headed out to the library. And then you come in at midnight like- like- damn it, what happened?"

"She gave me a soda," Kenshin said faintly. "Everything went crazy."

And I think I killed her.

---------

"We just didn't know what to do after that," Yahiko finished. "I mean, I didn't think Kenshin would ever... but there was so much blood..." He shook his head. "He was my big brother, my aniki, and he was so sick and scared. I couldn't call the cops. Just as glad I didn't, now. 'Cause Tomoe must have dumped in LSD or something on top of the coke. She called the next damn night." He rolled his eyes. "That's when Kenshin stopped answering the phone."

"And then?" Sano asked neutrally.

What do you mean, and then? Yahiko gave the agent an exasperated look. Maybe Sano was more understanding than your average adult about little things like not reporting an assault, but this was still weird. "He's an optimist. He's not stupid. He didn't go see her again. Period. Didn't go anywhere he thought she might be looking. He just hid out at the apartment or the shop. Usually the shop," Yahiko muttered, thinking of too many nights leaving his brother behind on a lonely sleeping bag.

"That'd make sense," Sano said, half to himself. "Natasha and Uramura were saying something about a Ward there."

"What?" Yahiko scowled at his teacher, silently asking for some kind of explanation.

Kaoru was no help, teeth gripping her lower lip as blue eyes glazed in thought. Then sharpened again, skewing a sober look at Sano. "What kind of Kin was she?"

"Say what?"

"Inuit, sounds like," Sanosuke stated, ticking off on his fingers. "Green glow, wears feathers, Drains life-force, tends to go after new people to Infect on full moons. And even if the Infection doesn't take, Infected victims go complete and utter homicidal psycho." He shrugged. "Used to be regular Native American nature spirits, but they can take anybody human. You and your brother either have the best luck out there, or the worst."

"But..." Yahiko protested. Not a hallucination? No way. "There would have been a body!"

"There was, kiddo. Talk of the Target Alpha water cooler. First time we'd seen a werewolf nickel and dimed with... well, nickels and dimes." Sano gave him a dark grin. "For a while there, we thought some new stake organization with a sadistic bent was going after Red Moonrise. And y'know, gee, we just couldn't get broken up about that..."

Yahiko shook his head, denying what couldn't be true. "But Kenshin wouldn't do that!"

"Knock the wax out of your ears, brat. Or did the words 'homicidal psycho' miss a turn somewhere?"

"But if that always happens when they Infect someone," Kaoru swallowed dryly, "why was she surprised?"

Sanosuke let out a slow breath. "Okay. I'm guessing here, but... sounds like she Drained Kenshin down to just barely able to walk. Which should have kept him pretty quiet. Ordinary victims, when they get Infected, they just lose it. Like somebody taking the lid off and squirting in pure evil. They rant, they rave, they attack everybody in reach. And given Inuit can float like a butterfly-" his hand described a fluttering arc upward "-that's not hard to dodge.

"Only ordinary people aren't hitokiri. Sweet as he is, deep down, your brother's like 'Sai. And Battousai doesn't have a lid. He's got a safety catch."

"She took off the safety," Kaoru gulped.

"Pointed it at her face, and pulled the trigger," Sano shrugged. "Not Kenshin's fault she got an Uzi instead of a rubber-band gun." He smirked. "Damn! tBuku's going to have to pay up after all!" He rubbed his hands together. "Take that, Gensai!"

"Pay up?" Yahiko said darkly.

"Huh? Oh, yeah, you don't know," Sanosuke nodded. "The guy you called Sureh? Lab IDed him when we hauled the body in. James Rip'n'Tear, one of the Red Moonrise rugs who tried to take out Lady Liberty about seven years back. We got a standing bounty on those guys. Nice chunk of change."

"That's sick," Kaoru whispered.

Sano snapped his mouth shut. Gave her a hard look. Sighed, and looked away. "Kaoru. Kamiya-sensei. If some sons of bitches with paper on them tried to gang-rape one of your students, and she fought back, and won - would you tell her not to take the reward?"

"That's not the same thing!"

Sano canted a glance at her. "Why not?"

"I..."

"Think about it. Before you talk to Kenshin." Sano rolled up his sleeves. "I got a clay statue to get under cover."

---------

You'd think red hair would be easier to spot, Kaoru thought, tip-toeing across the roof toward the gesticulating swordsman. If she'd seen someone acting like that on the sidewalk, she would've given them a wide berth, convinced they were talking to monsters visible only in their own mind.

But this was Kenshin. Which meant the invisible was quite real.

Twenty feet. Good place to stop. "You planning to come down any time tonight, or should I just send Yahiko up to toss a sleeping bag over you?"

He started. Whirled, violet wide and panicked-

"Whoa. Whoa!" Kaoru held her hands out palm down, spread and calming. "I don't know who you're mad at, but I'm not them!"

"I'm... not mad..."

More like terrified, Kaoru thought practically. Even more dangerous. "I'm not her, either."

"Her?" He tried to keep it bland, but dropped his head so red bangs hid his eyes.

Good luck trying to lie, buster. I learned all your tells from Yahiko. Who's a way better liar than you on his worst day. Scary. "You mean you weren't thinking about your ex? Your brother is."

Kenshin started, and looked guilty. "I was having an argument about the dubious merits of arson applied to unlicensed medical facilities."

Kaoru tried not to grin at the sword. "So which of you wants to burn down the Vesalius clinic?"

"Ah..."

Both of them, huh? Not good. Well, sort of not good, Kaoru thought wryly. Don't get sad, get even. "I bet Sano would help. Place full of Inuits, some of them maybe kidnapped into it... sounds like the kind of place Target Alpha keeps an eye on."

Violet widened. "You - you know?"

"Your brother's a pretty good witness," Kaoru nodded. "You know?"

"Battousai and I just figured it out." Kenshin crossed his arms, hugging himself. "I thought I was hallucinating. That it couldn't have been real..." A faint, wry smile touched his face. "I guess... now I know why I didn't just freeze when C Spot went after me. I'd seen werewolves before..."

Kaoru meant to wait him out, but impatience bit. "So this 'we do good work' line. She was lying, right?"

"Yes," Kenshin said reluctantly. "And no. They do heal Pox Zombies. But to do it, they need a lot of life energy. Sometimes, they can find donors. But sometimes... they have this habit of kidnapping people to feed to their patients. Vesalius calls them 'lifestyle volunteers'. Drug dealers. Rapists. Prostitutes - well, not so many of those anymore. Battousai caught one of their Inuits who made a habit of Shunting from ladies of the night, temporarily killed him, and dumped him into a shipping container headed for Saudi Arabia."

"...Erk?"

"You can't kill an Inuit unless you destroy their power source; their area of nature," Kenshin explained. "But if you can keep them away from that place for over a month, they weaken. They don't die, not unless something else kills them a lot more times - but I doubt that one will be back in New York any time soon. If ever."

Kaoru let out a slow breath. "So unless something burned down Pelham Bay Park..."

"If she was telling the truth about that," Kenshin noted. Shook his head slowly. "I wouldn't count on it."

"I'm not Tomoe," Kaoru said plainly. "I won't do that to you."

"But I almost did to you."

A chill shivered down her spine.

"I didn't know... before Sano walked in, I wasn't thinking-" Kenshin looked down, shoulders slumped and miserable. "I almost hurt you. I'm sorry."

Yeah, you are. You're also stalling. "What happened?" Kaoru asked practically. "What's got you so jumpy you're not listening to your own ears?" She gave it a second to sink in, then thrust home. "What can't you tell Sano?"

"It was like that night."

A whisper; she dropped her voice to match. "What was?"

"Leaving him to die."

Some of what she'd overheard from Sano settled into a new and terrifying shape. "You... left him?" I thought he just wasn't fast enough. That they were overrun.

"Battousai did. I didn't have a choice." Kenshin paced the roof, looked out over the night. "In the Bakumatsu... prostitution was regulated. Taxed. Women had access to medical care. Legal rights. Maybe not many of them, but no place like that - that hellhole would be allowed to exist." Claws clenched. "And as for anyone so lost to honor as to even consider using the people there-" Kenshin shook his head. "I can see his point. But... even if that man was evil, he was still a human being. And I wanted to save him. I wanted to stop myself, and I couldn't... again..."

What do I say? What can I say?

But violet blinked before any words came, startled. "Oh."

Kaoru quirked a brow up, silent question.

"I think I just got an apology."

She raised the other brow.

Kenshin waggled a hand back and forth; sort of. "For the possession. He still thinks the man was scum."

Yeah, that sounds about right, Kaoru thought wryly. "Are you okay?"

Kenshin started to say something, stopped. "No," he admitted.

"Do you want to come inside?" She drew her fingers through strands of black hair. "I wouldn't mind a little brushing. If you keep the fangs to yourself."

Silence.

"Kenshin." Kaoru glared at him. "Breathe."

Flushing pink, he looked away from her fingers. "I'd like that, Kaoru. Truly. But first, there's something I need to tell you..."

---------

Translations and info:

Familiar - animal ritually bound to a Sorcerer or Witch, sharing mystical abilities and assisting in spells.

Nickel and dimed - Kin killed by silver. Whatever the actual silver content of modern coinage might be, NightLife rules that it does affect lycanthropes.

Paper - warrants.

Rug - werewolf.

Stake - hunter of Kin.