RK15: Hey Look, iI'm Back! and a whole hell of a lot faster than last time!! See, I can update regularly...-.-'

Cai: (shocked) wow, you actually got something up! amazing!

RK15: Stop being so condescending. That's how you scare all my plot bunnies away!

Cai: Aw poor RK. Deal.

RK15: Wow, you're grumpy.

Cai: Oh, yes, I wonder if it has anything to do with your fifty minute long nature walk at seven in the morning in high altitude?

RK15: (pout)

Disclaimer: Unfortunately, I have yet to find a way to own Rurouni Kenshin, much to my chagrin. Oh, woe is me. My favorite anime must forever remain out of my reach. Well, at least I can still own the manga...sigh.

Lucky for him, he ran into his friends not that far away. They were heading for Kaoru's house, and Sano had that blue bag over his shoulder. To avoid awkward questions if they saw his sword, he grabbed the bag from Sano as he raced by, shoving in the sakabato and stopping in one smooth motion.

"What the?????" Sano exclaimed, turning as he saw a blur shoot past. When he saw Kenshin, with his bag on his shoulder, his confusion automatically switched into, 'this is Kenshin' mode, where nothing was impossible. He shrugged off how the teen had gotten there. Unfortunately for said teen, Kaoru and Yahiko weren't thrown that easily.

"Where did you come from, why was your bag in an old dojo, and how did that man get unconscious?" Kaoru asked in rapid succession. Kenshin laughed nervously.

"One came from Maekawa-sensei's dojo, the bag was left there accidentally, and well, the man….he fainted?" Kenshin wasn't a very good liar, and the teens, excluding Sano from the picture, saw right through this.

"So, where did that cut come from, mister?" Kaoru asked, pointing to the small wound on his upper arm. Kenshin glanced down, not even realizing he still hadn't covered it up. Kenshin stiffened.

"Uh, well, one caught it on a metal wire when he was running over here. It's nothing, really." Kenshin tried to hold Kaoru off, but the girl was determined. She stalked over to Kenshin, and pulled up the sleeve of his shirt, exposing the wound to full light, much to the teenager's protest.

"Man, Kaoru sure is protective," Yahiko muttered to Sano, who was watching the scene, amused. He nodded, noticing that the red-head gave up on stopping Kaoru, instead just standing, resigned to his fate, and letting the girl look at the wound.

"Oh my god! This looks serious! It's pretty deep. How on earth did you manage to cut yourself like this?" She was saying, scrutinizing the wound. Kenshin raised a hand in protest.

"But it's really not all that bad. Doesn't even hurt, see?" He swung his arm around in circles, ignoring the pain that radiated from the wound. Just because it didn't hurt to the touch doesn't man that moving the injured arm wouldn't pain him some. Kaoru looked disbelieving, but let it go for the moment. She was still intent on making the red-head talk but she would much rather do it where she could yell a bit louder. Without a word, she turned from Kenshin and walked primly back to her house, the three guys trailing along behind her.

"So, how did you really get that wound?" Yahiko asked slyly. Kenshin looked at him, his eyes saying, 'Do you really think I'm going to tell you?' Yahiko sighed. Kenshin just kept way too many things to himself. They walked back, silent, and reached the house in about ten minutes.

Kaoru could remain quiet for only so long, however, and soon turned to Kenshin, who was sitting on the couch, immersed in a show about a dog-eared boy with a giant sword, the show itself titled Inuyasha. "How in the world did you manage to beat Maekawa sensei?" she exclaimed.

"Wha?" Kenshin muttered, dragging his eyes away from the TV. They landed on Kaoru's scowling face. "Uh, well, as this one said to Maekawa sensei at the mall, one picked up things, here and there, from different places." 'It's not really lying.' Kenshin once again reassured himself. 'Yeah, keep telling yourself that. Soon, you'll even believe it too.' The proverbial door shut with a snap.

"Right, and I'm a boy. Where did you really learn it? You can't cobble things together like that and manage to be so good, without proper training." Kenshin was sweating. Kaoru's eyes bored into his own, searching for the truth. The teen wracked his brain for a believable lie. 'You know, all you have to do is tell them the truth, that you learned when you were young. That would work.' Voice offered, opening the door with the ease of a burglar. Kenshin jumped at the lie with the eagerness of a puppy chasing his tail. Apparently his inner self was much better at the untruth than he was.

"This one learned swordsmanship when he was very young, and kept in practice over the years." Ok, so this was closer to the truth. Kaoru stared at him for a few more moments.

"Fine. Sure, whatever. Don't tell me the whole truth. It's not like we're in a court of law or anything." She stalked off, nose in the air. Kenshin stared after her, thinking that girls were way too touchy. Then he turned back to his show and re-immersed himself into it.

Thirty minutes later, someone knocked on the door, the sound urgent and demanding. Kenshin pulled himself away from the TV and went to answer it, glad the show had hit a commercial and he wouldn't miss anything. Unfortunately, for him, two girls were on the other side, and one was hyperactive.

"HELLO!!!!" Misao yelled, her voice reverberating around the house and Kenshin's head, drilling into his ears and probably rupturing an eardrum. Megumi was on the other side of Misao and she was shaking her head. Her face was a picture of mock sadness, and she had given up on trying to restrain the girl.

"Her grandfather gave her a soda before I could stop him," Megumi explained to Kaoru, who had just been bombarded by a pillow coming down the stairs. Misao was jumping up and down, celebrating. Kaoru blanched, looking over at the pillow throwing monster that was, currently, flipping through channels. The teens black hair had fallen into her face and she pushed it away irritably to glare at the teen who was currently making her living room their personal trampoline.

"Ah, doesn't he know what happens when he gives her caffeine of any kind?" Kaoru asked, stammering. Megumi shook her head, then her eyes caught on Kenshin's upper arm. She walked over and grabbed it, pushing up the sleeve, despite the teen's protests, and inspected the cut, which Kenshin had yet to bandage, which he was currently hittin ghimself repeatedly for. The women in his life were way too nosy for their own good.

"Where did you get this? It's a very strange cut." Megumi looked into Kenshin's violet eyes, her own blue ones very serious. Kenshin gulped.

"This one was running and caught it on a wire. It's nothing serious, really," Kenshin said. Megumi looked disbelieving, just as Kaoru had. Kenshin sighed. No one believed him anymore.

"Right, you can't cut the nerves on a wire. It looks more like a very sharp knife or something, but even a knife couldn't do this kind of damage……" Her eyes studied the wound again. "Little to no bleeding, no pain in the general area, and nerves cut…more like a vacuum or something." Megumi was talking to herself. Kenshin heard her diagnosis, his eyes widened. So that was what that wavering was. The difference in air pressure as the sword swung down. Kaoru noticed his expression.

"What's wrong Kenshin?" She asked, walking over and peering over Megumi's shoulder. The doctor-in-training was slowly tracing the wound, then went to Kaoru's bathroom and grabbed gauze, Neosporin, and alcohol pads. Kenshin paled slightly. He hated the alcohol pads. They stung. And hurt. A lot. He started to back away slowly, but when Megumi came back out with the kit and saw Kenshin attempting to get away, she pulled out a tranquilizer. Kenshin froze.

"Where in the world did you get hold of that? I thought they were illegal." Sano commented, poking his head in to see the action. He had heard the noise and decided that whatever he was playing with Yahiko on the playstation upstairs was nowhere near as interesting as watching Kenshin get fussed over. When he saw the teen standing, frozen to the floor, he laughed and yelled for Yahiko to come see. The youngest ran for the living room, taking the stairs two at a time, joining everyone else. He walked in to see Megumi, Kaoru, and Misao struggling to get Kenshin's shirt off.

Now, to someone who had just walked in and missed everything, this was a very bad time to interrupt. He turned to Sano, who was leaning against the wall and watching with an amused expression.

"Uh, Sano? What are they doing to Kenshin?" He asked, wondering if he even wanted to know. Sano pointed to the medical kit sitting on the floor not to far away from where the struggle was taking place.

"They're trying to bandage up that cut Kenshin got. They want to check and make sure he doesn't have anymore, but he doesn't want them to take his shirt off. And for good reason too. Imagine what Megumi would do if she saw all those pretty scars he has," Sano commented. Unfortunately, for Kenshin at least, they did manage to at least tear the shirt to pieces in their attempt to take it off. Sano whistled low in throat, and Yahiko tensed, waiting for the outburst from the girls.

It didn't take long. While Misao had gone off somewhere else when the fun was over, Kaoru and Megumi sat and stared at Kenshin, who was laying, dazed and swirly eyed, in the middle of the tatters of his shirt. His stomach was a mass of muscle, overlaid with scars, small and large. His shoulders were wide for his body, and powerful, as were his arms. Scars decorated them. And one, long scar wrapped itself from his shoulders, around to his back, and then to his waist, disappearing into his jeans. Megumi's eyes were wide, pupils dilated until you could almost not see any of the original color. Kaoru's were the same. Shock had taken effect on the two.

Kenshin sat up, rubbing his head, and glared over at the girls. Then, when he saw their faces, he realized he didn't have his shirt on anymore. He started to blush, and ran upstairs into his room, and slammed to door, leaving the shell-shocked girls on the floor. Sano and Yahiko walked over, shaking them back to the real world.

The first thing Megumi did was open and close her mouth a few times, trying to say something, anything. "Did you know he had all those scars?" Kaoru managed to articulate. Megumi shook her head, but Sano and Yahiko backed away. Kaoru glanced over at the, noticing the looks on their faces.

"You two knew, didn't you?" She asked them, already knowing the answer. They nodded, then ran for Kenshin's room and knocked furiously.

"Hey, Kenshin, old buddy, old pal, old friend, let us in before the girls kill us! PLEASE!!!" Sano shouted, staring back at the stairs where said girls were making their way up to them. A noise, like someone shoving something somewhere, came from inside, then the door was opened and the two teens collapsed inside as Kenshin re-shut the door and locked it.

The teen had a new shirt on, and his face was solemn. When he turned to the two intruders sitting on the floor, they could tell that he was upset, though at what, they weren't sure. Kenshin turned away from them and sat on his bed, fingers running the length of the cross shaped scar on his cheek. His eyes were distant. Sano and Yahiko stood up and walked over to him, sitting next to him.

"Hey, kid. You ok?" Sano asked, shaking Kenshin out of his trance. He shook his head to clear it, then looked over, smile plastered on his face. "Yeah, perfect. Just a little shaken up, that's all. Didn't actually expect them to get my shirt off. Sort of startled this one when they saw them all. Now they'll want to know how, when, why, etc." Kenshin sounded resigned to his fate. Sano and Yahiko were concerned. They had never really heard Kenshin sound depressed. A little down perhaps, but not depressed.

"I have an idea! I used to run in here when Kaoru got mad at me, cause she has a key to every other room, and decided, in case I got stuck in here again, I would put stuff in here. There's a TV, Xbox, games, and movies!" Yahiko pulled out each as he spoke, though the TV caused him a few problems because it was a pretty big one. Sano cheered instantly, and even Kenshin smiled.

"AWSOME LITTLE MAN!!! WE HAVE EVERYTHING WE NEED!!" Sano patted Yahiko on the head. They helped him set the TV and Xbox up, then chose a few games and a couple movies, Kenshin picking Inuyasha ones both times; he had become obsessed with it. Yahiko pulled out three controllers, and a cord that plugs in and then lets three controllers play. Kenshin didn't even bother with a vote on which game to play; he just grabbed the Inuyasha one, placed it in the Xbox, and started the machine. Yahiko and Sano sat and watched as Kenshin took on a crazed expression as the screen came to life and sword appeared on the set.

Blip beep bip bop boup InuyashaThe animatronic voice filtered out of the TV. The menu came up, and Kenshin scrolled down to 'New Game'. The next page was where you picked your character. Kenshin automatically chose Inuyasha, leaving Sano and Yahiko to choose from Miroku, Sango, Kagome, and Shippo. The two of them sighed. Kenshin was mental. They didn't even know what Inuyasha was, much less who the characters were. Sano looked closely at the screen, carefully choosing, and ended picking the monk, at Kenshin's insistence. Yahiko's person was also Kenshin's choice, and he ended up being a little fox thing.

"Uh, Kenshin, we don't even know what this whole thing is about? What is Inuyasha?" Sano asked. Kenshin looked over, surprised. Then he proceeded to give them a detailed history of Inuyasha, leaving the two others even more confused then before, though they nodded in understanding to avoid more explanations.

About thirty minutes into the game, Kenshin was yelling at the game. "You stupid thing! Kikyo is supposed to DIE!!! NO! NOT THAT WAY!! GODDAMMIT!!! MOVE!!! KILL KIKYO!!" He was shaking his fist at the screen as his character walked up to a lady in white and red, and preceded to talk to her and hug her. Sano and Yahiko watched, shocked, as Kenshin proceeded to get on his feet and stalk towards the TV.

"You know, I think we might want to get him, before he breaks the TV," Yahiko commented. Sano nodded his assent, but both of them just sat and watched, to amused to do anything else. Finally, just as Kenshin reached the Xbox, Sano reached over and turned the TV off. Kenshin spluttered a moment, then stared at the now blank screen.

"Where did my Inuyasha go?" he whined, looking like a petulant child. Sano got up and walked over to him.

"Inuyasha had to go away now. He had to go bye bye. But now, we need to go downstairs and eat something, okay? We've been up here for an hour, and the girls most likely have dinner done. Ok Kenshin?" Sano said in a voice used for little kids. Kenshin nodded.

"Okay." He turned from the room and left, head hanging. Yahiko was laughing so hard he was silent, tears streaming down his face. After Kenshin left, Sano turned to the other boy, who had regained control of himself. "I think we shouldn't let Kenshin have anymore Inuyasha for a while. That was scary." Yahiko nodded. Quickly, they took any and all Inuyasha CD's, DVD's and games they could find and hid them on the highest shelf in Yahiko's room. Satisfied, they turned as one and headed downstairs, where the clink of silverware being put on the table was accompanied by the sounds of cooking. Their eyes widened, and they looked at each other in horror. If Kaoru was cooking….

Both let that thought trail off as they rushed down the stairs. They slid into the kitchen, panting, and saw a girl with long black hair at the stove.

"AH! Kaoru's cooki…." Sano and Yahiko were on the floor in an instant, hit in the head by Kaoru, who was standing behind them, holding a wooden sword in her hand. Kenshin glanced over, holding a stack of plates in his hands.

"Payback for not telling us about Kenshin," Kaoru muttered, looking down at the boys now swirly eyed with large bumps making themselves known.

"Well, that takes care of them until dinner," Megumi commented from the stove, her hair pulled back in a pony tail to keep it out of her face.

"What's all the noise about?" Misao asked, bounding into the kitchen and almost stepping on the two boys laying, sprawled, on the ground. "Oh, I see." She bounced back out, leaving three confused teens to stare at her back.

An hour later, after Sano and Yahiko had woken up and eaten in sullen silence, they crowded around the TV, Kaoru holding up two movies while Misao bounced around the room, though it was apparent that the sugar was wearing off.

"Ok, I don't care which movie we watch, so, who wants to watch Pride and Prejudice? Raise hands." Only Megumi did. She lowered it gloomily. "Who wants to watch Pitch Black, then the Chronicles of Riddick?" six hands shot up. "Pitch Black it is. And Yahiko? You can only vote once." The boy glared at her.

Kaoru put the DVD into the player, then ordered her young charge to go get popcorn while she started the movie. Yahiko stuck his tongue out at her, obviously unimpressed at having to do all the slave work, but when Kaoru gave him a fierce glare and a thrown wooden spoon, he stomped off to do as she asked. The rest of them settled on couches, or the floor, as the sounds of popcorn popping and the aroma of fresh popcorn reached them. Sano lifted his head and sniffed.

"Ah, I love popcorn."

"Yes, we know. Especially after you ate all of it available last time we watched a movie over here. Actually, you didn't even wait until it was popped. You just downed the whole bag un-popped, then spent the rest of the evening throwing up. Rather interesting, really." Sano glared at Megumi, who had stated all this in a calm voice. Kenshin looked, amused, over at Sano.

"And you say this one is obsessed." Sano gave Kenshin a withering look.

"When you start yelling at a game and then try to break the TV in half because Inu-something or other is hugging Kikyo, or whoever, then you're obsessed." Kaoru raised an eyebrow at the red-head. Kenshin glared at Sano, who was looking rather superior.

"Not any worse then the time you got in trouble in math because you were asleep, then hit the teacher when he slapped your book on your desk." Kenshin retorted. The mocking looks were given now to Sano, who turned to the smug teen.

"Oh, yeah, and the time when you were called up in Mr. Shiko's class to demonstrate how to do a proper pushup, and he put six books on your back. And you still managed to do over a hundred in under….oh, let's see, three minutes or so." Sano knew where to hit. Kenshin hated being the center of attention because of something he did.

"What about the time you almost ran into a car walking to school." The comebacks kept getting stupider, and weirder, as time wore on. Finally, when it got to the point that they were calling each other names and 'yo mamma jokes' were being exchanged, Kaoru hit both of them on the head, told them to sit down and shut the hell up, then went to get Yahiko, who was taking way to long to make popcorn.

She came back, dragging said boy by the ear and holding the bowl, full of popcorn, in her free hand. She practically dropped both on the ground, and the only reason the popcorn didn't spill was because Sano lunged for it, catching it right before it hit the ground, upside down.

"Aha, saved," He rejoiced as Kaoru started the movie. They all got quite as it started, eyes glued to the screen as they watched Riddick and the rest of the survivors' fight their way through hordes of flying man eaters on a distant planet. Megumi shuddered and hid her face behind Sano as the blood started to pour. Kenshin watched with morbid fascination as the creatures began to eat the people unlucky enough to get caught. He was silently cheering on both Riddick and young Jack, who was a girl, to make it off alive.

When the movie ended, and Kaoru popped out the disk, the three visitors looked at the clock. Well, actually, only Sano and Megumi looked. Misao had fallen asleep, to everyone's amazement, during the movie.

"We need to call home, ask if we can sleep over." Sano said. Megumi nodded, agreeing. "And we'll call Misao's grandparents for her. They should let her." Sano walked over to the phone, picked it up, and dialed a few numbers, then handed it off to Kaoru. 'MISAO'S' he mouthed to the girl holding the phone. She nodded in understanding.

"Hello, is this Mr. Okina?" Kaoru asked. She waited a second, listening to the reply. "This is Kaoru Kamiya. I was wondering if Misao could sleep over?" she paused. "Well, the reason Misao isn't asking you herself is because she, well, she fell asleep already." She stopped, and laughter could be heard clearly on the other line. "Thank you. I'll send her home tomorrow morning at ten or so. Bye." Kaoru hung up the phone, then walked back to the couch Misao had fallen asleep on. "God, you're more trouble then you look, you know that?" the sleeping girl shifted, then turned over, muttering something about the muffin man.

"Ok, my turn." Sano lifted the phone off the hook. Six minutes later, after both Sano and Megumi had gotten consent to stay, Kaoru lifter up the next DVD in the series.

'This is the Chronicles of Riddick: Director's Cut. Want to watch it?" The only person who didn't was, naturally, Megumi. She was outvoted though, and was stuck watching another action movie. The film started, and everyone still awake was absorbed instantly, with the exception of Megumi, who was hidden once again behind Sano.

"Not afraid of the dark, are you?" Sano whispered in a hushed voice. The only ones awake were Kenshin and Sano. The others had fallen asleep long ago, and the movie was over. The two looked at each other, then the clock. It was midnight.

"Maybe we should go to bed." Sano yawned, his jaws creaking. Kenshin nodded, and waited until the tall teen leaned against the side of the couch. He was asleep in an instant, snoring lightly, Megumi laying on his side. The former hitokiri looked slowly around the room, at people who were more than happy to call him their friend. It was simply amazing what the human heart could accomplish, Kenshin thought.

Just remember what you're hiding from them boy. You know they will eventually come after you. They didn't want you to leave in the first place and running from them was not such a good idea.

You think I don't know that already you stupid voice? I know what they will do. I just don't know if I can leave behind the only people who have looked at me like I was a human being for the past seven years.

Are you willing to risk their friendship on your shady past yet?

Kenshin sighed deeply. I don't know yet. I really don't know.

You are going to have to figure it out sooner or later. If you want them to know, you're going to have to deal with the consequences.

Just, shut up for now voice. Just shut up. With a sigh, the boy slammed the door on his voice and locked it tight. Glancing at the clock, 2:45, Kenshin stood up slowly and walked quietly up the stairs. He tiptoed back down, his sword in hand. He never slept without it, no matter where he was. He leaned up against the wall, sword propped on his shoulder, and fell into a light sleep.

RK15: I must say, I'm glad I'm getting this out faster than before. Yes, this was a filler, more or less, and I think the only purpose it solved was to ground Kenshin's friendship with the rest of the group. Sorta. And just for fun. Yes, Kenshin was a little OOC. Deal.

Thank You To:

Chosha Kurenai: Maybe. That seems like the most viable option at the moment. That scene will probably show up within the next few chapters, I hope….-.-'

Randa-chan: Arigato!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

MadzCheesyfied: Appreciate it!!! Thanks!!

starfruit-22: You know it! I'm glad, though I'm not sure I'm as big as you seem to think I am. I value that though! It always makes my day when a reader likes what I write!!!

RK15: THANK YOU TO ALL REVIEWERS!! YOU GET POCKY!!! Oh, and I'm looking for reader input. I have a few ideas. Vote for the one you like the best, please!!!

1.The government sends an old friend out to track Kenshin down and bring him back to the government.
2.Kenshin leaves of his own accord after his secret is revealed to all of his friends.
3.Voice manages to gain control and takes him back to headquarters.

And what the Kenshingumi do about it is……

1. Attempt a full scale rescue mission solo.
2. Gain the reluctant help of one Hiko Seijuro to get Kenshin back.

Any other ideas are more than welcome. I have a rough idea where I want to go with this but I would love to see what you all want!!!!!

Ruruken15 a.k.a. Kuroi-chan