Disclaimer: I do not own Rurouni Kenshin. Durrrr.

.::Chapter 7::.

Kaoru burst out of the practice hall, an excited smile on her face.

"Kenshin, look at what I ca-"

And then she noticed that the spirit was having a staring match with a tall man wearing a trench coat. The stranger glanced at her, icy blue eyes seeming to look into her very soul, before returning his gaze to Kenshin.

"Ah- I think I'll go practice some mo-"

"Kamiya-san."

The way he said her name gave her pause, and she looked at him with wide eyes.

"Allow me to introduce Shinomori Aoshi, one of my compatriots from the Realm."

The tall man gave a very small, stiff bow, eyes darting towards her again.

"You are Kamiya Kaoru," he said without pretense. She stiffened.

"H-how did you know that?" she asked warily. His expression never changed, but she thought she saw a glimmer of amusement flicker behind his eyes.

"Your unusual aura identifies you as such," he replied, leaving her even more confused than before.

"Aoshi. You stray from your purpose," Kenshin interrupted, eyes narrowed and intense as his hand hovered about the hilt of his pure sword.

"My intentions are peaceful, Himura. Be at ease."

Kenshin relaxed immediately, and Kaoru looked from one spirit to the other. This Aoshi person unnerved her.

"State your business, then."

Aoshi inclined his head slightly, "Katsura-san sent me to retrieve you. He wishes for you to return to your previous post in the Realm." Kenshin's features hardened.

"Impossible. My vows are broken. I cannot return."

The taller spirit straightened minutely. "Katsura-san sent me."

Kenshin eyed the snow-spirit for a moment in consideration.

"Indeed. Still, it is impossible for me to return."

"Katsura-san will be displeased."

Kenshin's scowl was frigid.

"Unless Katsura-san can break the hold this dojo has on me, I cannot return to my former post." Understanding lit up in Aoshi's eyes.

"Aa. I will inform Katsura-san of your problem."

With a stiff, formal bow, Kenshin replied, "Please do. Is that your entire purpose here today?"

"Aa."

And with a swirl of cloth, the snow-spirit was gone.

Kaoru stared at the spot he had been before blinking repeatedly. "Um, what just happened?"

After taking several deep breaths, Kenshin turned to face her, fire burning behind his eyes.

"The Realm wants me back."

Kaoru nodded slowly.

"Is this a good thing or a bad thing?"

"Both."

"…Huh?"

"It is a good thing in that it means they do not wish to terminate me. It is a bad thing in that it means they will utilize any means possible to bring me back, with or without my consent."

Kaoru stared at him.

"You mean they would force you to take your old position back?" she asked, stunned.

"Indeed. And I would do so without complaint, usually."

The last word filled her with uncertainty.

"Usually?"

"Usually, I would be bound by vows. Usually, I would have no free will. Usually, I would not have a pupil I would be forced to leave behind," he said slowly, anger seeping into his words.

The color drained from her face.

"You're going to fight them, aren't you."

"Yes."

Unexpected. Completely unexpected.

But oh so intriguing…!

So, Battousai was going to be accepted right back into the Realm?

Soujirou's smile was wider than usual as he whisked himself back into his master's presence. He might not have been able to get past the oddly strong ki barrier on the gate, but at least he had gathered some extraordinary information!

Shishio would be most interested.

Kenshin had seen many things in his life.

A whitish-blue cloud of pure unformed ki had not, to date, been among them.

He stared at it curiously.

In response, it curled in on itself, trembling under his scrutiny.

"Remember, Himura, that you're a fire-base. If you're not careful, you could do a lot of damage to a snow-base like her."

As though he needed to be told. He brushed the memory aside and continued to observe the ki cloud.

Slowly, it stretched out towards him, tendrils of pale blue reaching for his hakama. Strands of ki wrapped around his ankles and tested his aura.

Apparently, he was acceptable, as the ki cloud suddenly thinned out and swirled around him, settling into his very aura.

It would feed off of him. It would grow in strength and experience, and then it would detach and take on a human form.

And then training would begin.

For now, he was content to let the snow-ki glean off his excess energies.

He kind of liked the feeling of being needed by someone.

He had never liked Aoshi. The snow-spirit was too cold, too unreadable.

Too different from Tomoe.

How could they both be snow-spirits? He could always read Tomoe's moods. She would always smile for him, that small, secret smile that only he saw.

Aoshi had never smiled, as far as he knew.

Seeing the snow-spirit now, after Tomoe was gone…

It was like a slap in the face.

He had hidden from the idea that Tomoe might be gone. That she was really, honestly out of his reach. He had lost so much that day that it was easy to think that if he could just get back to the Realm, he'd have his Tomoe back.

Now he had a way back to the Realm.

And he knew that he would never see her again.

He chuckled darkly to himself. Of course, now that he had a reason to stay on Earth, the Realm would want him back. It wouldn't do for life to just leave him alone.

Well, Katsura-san could forget about having him back so soon. He needed time to adjust to the fact that he had indeed failed both of his masters, and his ward. He needed time to train his half-spirit. He needed time to figure out who exactly he was.

Who Kaoru was.

Deep inside himself, he knew that most of his reluctance to part with the dojo stemmed from the mystery surrounding his new ward.

What was she, exactly?

Aoshi had mentioned an unusual aura. He himself had noticed that her ki was exceptionally strong, for a human, and even for a spirit.

But then, how had Aoshi known her name, if she did not know his?

It was enough to make even his head hurt.

Perhaps he should join Kaoru in the practice hall. Meditation sounded heavenly at the moment.

"Katsura-san."

Katsura's head snapped up from his paperwork, a faint smile on his face. "Ah, Shinomori. Just the person I wanted to see."

"Battousai was unable to return with me."

Katsura's smile fell.

"What?"

"The dojo he resides in has bonded itself to him, and he is unable to leave it," Aoshi clarified.

Breathing out a sigh of relief, Katsura nodded.

"I'll leave it to you to break the bond. You have someone on your team who is proficient in that sort of thing, right?"

"Aa."

The smile returned as Katsura closed his eyes and leaned backwards in his chair. Soon, he would have the spirit he almost thought of as his own offspring back in his services. Soon.

Aoshi had not moved from his position in front of Katsura's desk.

"There is more."

Eyes snapped open. "Continue."

A tiny smile stretched Aoshi's lips. "The dojo belongs to one Kamiya Kaoru. It appears that Battousai is training her in ki usage."

Katsura nearly fell out of his chair. Eyes closing as he attempted to control himself, he replied, "I want them separated. As soon as possible."

Aoshi bowed slightly and left the room.

"Aa."

"Kamiya-san, perhaps you would care to explain to me why most of your ki is removed from your person?"

Kaoru's eyes darted around the room, in search of escape routes.

No such luck.

'Darn it.'

"Well, um, I wanted to try making another barrier and so I kind of put one on the gate. E-heh."

She wasn't quite certain if the expression on his face could be considered a good reaction.

"You mean to tell me that you are the one who formed that barrier?" he said slowly, his face still unreadable.

"Um, yes?"

Her obviously fake smile gained a little authenticity when she saw his lips turn upwards at the corners.

"Fascinating."

"…Wait, what?"

Eyes twinkling mysteriously, he turned his head towards her. "Your barrier is selective. It allows those with good intentions through, but not those with harmful intentions. It is a difficult sort of barrier to make," he explained.

It was the unsaid that spoke the loudest.

'You should not be able to do this.'

The realization disturbed her. 'What am I?'

She was snapped from her musings by Kenshin's continued explanation.

"Since you apparently already have this skill, and to such a high degree, I suggest we test your other capabilities," he said complacently, as though it wasn't unheard of for her to have these abilities. As though she wasn't a freak.

"I guess so."

His expression was not reassuring.

"Kamiya-san, we are not finished yet."

"Nngh." Kaoru was in no mood to continue. All these exercises had taken their toll on her energy. 'Maybe if he fed me…' she mused fleetingly, staring at the ceiling through half-closed eyes as she lay on her back.

"Kamiya-san…" his tone was getting colder every time he said her name. Maybe, if she teased him along, he'd turn into a snow-spirit instead of a fire base?

"Nnnnnngh," she repeated, drawing out the non-word, with an extra emphasis on the moaning quality to the sound. 'I think I've found a new favorite word.'

"Kamiya-san, if you do not cease your childish actions, I shall be forced to punish you as befits such a crime."

Ooh, was that a threat? From Kenshin? She almost giggled.

"Nngh!" she articulated once again, the sound coming out in a sing-song tone. She could feel Kenshin's ire against her newfound and over-taxed ki-senses.

"I warned you, Kamiya-san," his words ghosting through her was her only warning before ethereal fingers attacked her sensitive sides.

She squealed and curled in on herself, trying to evade the tickling sensations. "K-Kenshin! S-st-stop!" she choked out between giggles, eyes now closed tightly in laughter.

Oh, curse him. She could feel his amusement at her expense, only emphasized by his whispered chuckle.

"No."

"Mooouuuu," she complained, attempting to form a barrier around herself with whatever wisps of ki she could scrape together. It came together surprisingly quickly, considering her exhaustion.

So why wasn't Kenshin being blocked out?

"I told you, Kamiya-san, that this kind of barrier only excludes those with harmful intentions. I hardly would call this particular brand of punishment 'harmful'," he said smugly, answering her unspoken question.

A sudden image of using Kenshin as a practice dummy flitted through her mind, and she decided to thoroughly explore that idea while she was thus incapacitated.

Though it was rather hard to concentrate on much of anything when his weightless fingers were ghosting along her sides and underarms.

"I h-hate yo-you," she growled. Her sides hurt from laughing, her mouth hurt from smiling, her brain hurt from thinking and her soul hurt from over-expenditure.

Stupid obsessive fire-spirits.

"Mm," he hummed, ceasing his attack and withdrawing. With a start, she realized that she missed his close proximity.

'That can't be good.'

Slowly, with one hand on her head, she sat up, eyes closed.

"So, are you ready to continue now, Kamiya-san?" he said with a smile in his voice, putting emphasis on the 'san'.

"I hate you."

"Indeed. You have said as much already."

"I really, really hate you."

"You wound me."

"Good," she declared sullenly, crossing her arms over her chest and turning her head away from him haughtily. Now, where had her bokken gotten to…

At least one good thing had come of today's excessive training. Kenshin had shown her how to put a ki signature on objects or people for ease of location in the future, and she had chosen to test out her abilities with that on her bokken.

So she'd put a little bit too much ki into the mark. At least it was really, really easy to find now!

And with a sadistic grin on her face, she called the bokken to her by pulling on the ki marking. It was time to pummel some fire-spirit.

Some time later, a thoroughly satisfied Kaoru strode out of the practice hall, bokken propped up on her shoulder.

'Ow.'

He supposed he deserved that. She truly had been exhausted earlier. But at least he'd seen what he wanted to see.

'So she does have reserves.'

And very deep ones, at that. Even with all of her usual energy gone, she'd managed to draw on her inner reserves to give him a very thorough thrashing.

Something was very, very off about that girl. Very. She was more spiritually strong than half the spirits in the Realm, yet she walked on earth as a human. It was inexplicable. Was she spirit, was she human, or was she neither? She couldn't be simply half-spirit. And why had Aoshi known exactly who she was?

Kenshin smelled a plot, and he didn't like it.

"Himuuuuura, stop frowning. It's not good for you," a sing-song voice practically bursting with energy chastised him.

'Kami, no. Not her.'

He opened his eyes slowly, as though he could hold off the inevitable.

"Makimachi-san. What a pleasant surprise." His voice was deadpan, and the frown she had complained about had been replaced by an expression of nothingness.

'Eh, it's a start.' "Aw, is that all the thanks I get for coming down all this way, without my Aoshi-sama, I might add, just to break the bond you have with this dojo?"

"Yes."

"You're no fun."

"I'll agree with you there."

The spirit whipped around quickly to face the doorway, her braid smacking Kenshin across the face in the process. Kenshin's plaintive 'oro' was ignored.

"Oh, you must be Kaoru-san! I've heard so much about you!" she said happily, shimmering for a moment before reappearing entirely too close to Kaoru's face for comfort.

"Er, you have?" Kaoru said hesitantly, attempting to back away from the large bright-green eyes directly in her field of vision.

"Mm-hmm! Aoshi-sama talks about you sometimes - but I think you weren't supposed to know that, so just give me a moment and - there we go," she said to herself as she touched Kaoru's temples lightly. "Hey, what's the last thing you remember?"

Kaoru blinked. Was this girl insane? "You just said that someone named Aoshi told you about me." The spirit's face fell.

"I did? Oh dear. Oh dear oh dear. That's not good at all. Should I try again…?"

The green eyes turned skyward as the strange spirit contemplated, her brows furrowed.

"Oh well. No use crying over spilt milk!" she said brightly, eyes closing in apparent happiness. "I'm Makimachi Misao, and I'm here to break Himura's bond!"

Kaoru's heart stopped.

"Oh. Hi."

She glanced past the beaming spirit, now identified as Misao, to gauge Kenshin's reaction.

His expression was frigid, with anger simmering behind his eyes.

'You're going to fight them, aren't you.'

'Yes.'

'Let the fight begin.'

--

Glossary:

Dojo- A school for training in Japanese arts of self-defense. In this fic, kenjutsu

Aa- Affirmation used by guys

Battousai- Kenshin's alias, meaning something like "Master of lethal sword drawing"

Ki- One's life energy, or aura

Hakama- Basically samurai pants

Mou- Kaoru's favorite word of exasperation, kind of like "Geeze!"

Bokken- A wooden sword

Kami- God, spirit, deity

Oro- Kenshin's ever-popular non-word, used in situations where he's either confused, surprised, or indignant

AN: Yes, I know how late this one is, and no, it is not my fault. I hereby lay all blame solely on Misaoshiru.

…I gave her the file, like, a month ago.

And I'm sure she'd blame DeathNote and Black Cat if she was asked for a reason why this chapter took so excruciatingly long to beta.

She'd probably be right.

Anyway.

I personally hate this chapter. Let's pretend I did not shamelessly pack it full of useless fluff and make Misao out of character.

I've come to the conclusion that I suck at writing long stories. One-shots and two-shots look to be my limit. Beyond that, I drag things out too much and my characterizations start going to pot. Oh well.