Kenshin dared one more glance at Kaoru as she pulled her gi back into place, laughing once more and causing the amber to force its way back into his amethyst gaze as the tip of the knife grazed his finger, drawing blood, "Before…before I do something I'll regret."

Kaoru wiped the sweat from her brow and headed towards the kitchen. Kenshin quickly went back to his task, hoping she hadn't noticed him staring at her. She poked her head into the doorway and smiled at him, "how are you doing in here, Kenshin? Do you need some help?"

"No thank you, Miss Kaoru. I have everything under control, that I do."

He was lying to her of course. He didn't have everything under control, not in his mind anyways. Outwardly he was normal everyday Kenshin to his friends, but internally he felt himself changing, becoming less and less like himself by the minute. He could feel the Battousai closer to the surface than usual and he didn't like how his darker side was making him act towards his friends. Not to mention the indecent thoughts he had been having lately of Miss Kaoru.

Kaoru smiled at him, unaware of his internal conflict, "that's good. If you need help just… oh Kenshin!"

"Huh? What is it?" he asked turning to her. Alarmed by the shock in her voice.

She came up to him and grasped his hand, "you're bleeding. Are you alright?"

"Oh that. Yes, I'm fine, Miss Kaoru. I just got distracted a moment ago is all."

"You distracted? That's unusual."

Kaoru reached into her gi and pulled out a small handkerchief and began to wipe away the blood from his finger. Kenshin looked down at her and realized that from this angle he had a rather nice and enticing view down her gi. He let his eyes linger there for a moment before he realized what he was doing and quickly looked away, looking at the knife on the counter, the vegetables, anything but Kaoru.

Kaoru noticed the sudden jerk of his head as he looked away from her, a slight flush on his cheeks. She raised an eyebrow at him and tugged on his hand to get his attention, "what's wrong, Kenshin?"

"Huh? Oh, nothing, Miss Kaoru! I just… feel a little embarrassed about nicking myself is all!"

Kaoru smiled, believing his lie, "don't be embarrassed about it. I nick myself all the time cooking."

Kenshin returned her smile, "yes but I'm supposed to be a master swordsman and I get injured preparing dinner."

Kaoru giggled and tied the cloth around his finger, "yes, but you were trained to fight with a big sword, not attack vegetables with a tiny knife. The size difference messes you up, I think."

Kenshin laughed, "That must be it. Thank you, Miss Kaoru. Sorry to be a bother, that I am."

"You're not a bother, just be careful, ok?"

"I will, thank you."

"You sure you don't want help?"

"Yes, I'm sure. I won't get distracted anymore that I won't."

"Alright, shout if you need me."

"I will."

Kaoru left the kitchen and Kenshin let out a sigh of relief. He looked down at his bandaged hand and shook his head in disgust, "I can't believe I cut myself because I was watching Miss Kaoru. You're getting sad, Himura."

Kenshin turned back to his original task and finally finished the vegetables without further incident. Out of habit he reached down to feel his sakabatou and found it to be missing. He looked around briefly, almost frantically before he remembered he'd given it to Aoshi before his battle with Ayame and Suzume. He dusted his hands off and went to Aoshi's room, tapping the doorframe lightly, "Who is it?" he heard on the other side.

"Kenshin."

Aoshi opened the door a moment later and looked down at the smaller swordsman, "What is it, Battousai?"

"I need my sword back, that I do."

"Of course."

Aoshi went to the other side of the room and retrieved the said object before handing it to Kenshin, "Thank you, Aoshi."

He placed his sakabatou back into its sheath and informed Aoshi that dinner would be ready soon. Aoshi nodded and sat down to meditate again. Kenshin quietly shut to shoji so he wouldn't disturb him and headed back to the kitchen to finish the rest of dinner. He reached down once more to make sure his blade was actually at his side before he went to work on the rice. He knew it was there before he reached for it, but it was just a bit of a comfort to actually feel his weapon and know it was within reach. It was a strange habit he'd picked up during the revolution. Back then it was easy to drop your blade during a skirmish and forget that you didn't have it when the next fight came around.

He'd made that mistake once. It was right after he'd fought Saito at the inn to defend his comrades. He and the Shinsengumi leader had managed to disarm one another and they went their separate ways before anything else could happen. Later that night he had ran into a couple of Saito's troops and reached for his sword only to find that it wasn't there. He had to fend them off with just his wakizashi and sword sheath and that had turned out not to be a pleasant battle in the least. Kenshin reached into his gi and felt the scar on his ribs, smiling secretly to himself as he traced the mark. He had gotten that scar that night and ever since then he made certain to keep track of his weapons. So every once in awhile, even if he wasn't battling he would reach down and feel his sword to make sure it was there.

A little bit later everyone sat down to eat and chatted about this, that and the other. Yahiko turned to Misao and asked, "So why are you guys here anyways?"

"Lord Aoshi is here to see a sick friend of his and I came along to visit you guys. You got a problem with that?"

"Yeah, putting up with one ugly girl is bad enough. Now I have to put up with you and Kaoru."

"What did you say!?" Kaoru and Misao shouted at him.

The men laughed and Kenshin cleared his throat, getting everyone's attention, "I wanted to apologize to everyone."

"For what, Kenshin?" Sanosuke asked as he shoved a rather large bite of rice into his mouth.

"For the way I acted earlier. I haven't been myself lately and I said some strange things earlier and I just wanted to say that I was sorry, that I did."

"Oh don't worry about it, Kenshin. We know you were just teasing. Besides you didn't say anything we haven't heard before." Kaoru reassured him.

"Yeah, we just never heard it from you before, Himura. We just figured that we'd finally rubbed off on ya." Misao joked.

Kenshin smiled at her, "I suppose I have been hanging around with Sano too much lately, that I have."

"Hey! Watch it, red!" Sanosuke tried to threaten but with his mouth full of rice it came out muffled and non-frightening.

Kenshin chuckled at him and turned back to his meal but as he tried to take a bite a sharp pain suddenly shot through his head. He dropped his chopsticks and grabbed his head, getting a worried look from Kaoru and the others, "Kenshin, are you ok?" she asked softly.

"Yes, just a headache is all."

Kenshin forced himself to smile and picked up his chopsticks and began to eat again, simply ignoring the throbbing in his skull as he chewed.

Kaoru sighed. She figured he would say that. He never did admit it when he wasn't feeling well, that's just how he was. He hated people to worry about him so no matter how badly he was hurting from an injury or how horrible he felt from a cold he would never tell those around him just how miserable he was. Every time they would try to get him to say what was wrong he would simply shrug them off, smile and continue with whatever he was doing at the time.

After dinner was over everyone decided to turn in for the evening and said their goodnights before going to their rooms. Kenshin took the dishes to the kitchen and set them in the washtub. He leaned against the counter and groaned. The pain in his head had gotten worse throughout dinner and now it was almost unbearable. It had been a long time since he'd fallen ill and now it seemed that this cold was making up for lost time. Kenshin sighed and shook his head, "It's just a headache, get over it and do the dishes then you can go to bed." He ordered himself.

He started to roll up his sleeves when a familiar voice from behind reached his ears, "What're you doing, Kenshin?"

He turned around and met Kaoru's gaze, smiling softly at her, "Oh Miss Kaoru, I thought you'd gone to bed already."

"No, I wanted to check on you. Are you alright?"

"Yes I'm alright, that..."

A cough suddenly came over him and he turned away from her, his body shaking with the force of it. Kaoru placed a hand on his back and rubbed between his shoulders, trying to ease the cough. When it finally subsided he looked at her, his rurouni smile still in place, "Sorry about that, Miss Kaoru, I got chocked up that I did."

Kaoru frowned at him. She could see his face was flushed and his eyes were tired and it was obvious that the man didn't feel well. She raised her hand and placed her palm against his forehead, gasping slightly, "Oh my! Kenshin you're burning up!"

Kenshin shook his head, "I'm alright, that I am. It was just a cough is all."

"Kenshin, for once stopped being so evasive and just tell me how you really feel!"

Kenshin looked into her deep blue eyes and his smile softened. He could never deny her anything, even if it meant appearing weak to the young kendo master, "I feel horrible, that I do."

Kaoru smiled, "thank you. Now off to bed with you!"

Kaoru started to push him out of the kitchen towards his room, getting a protest from the rurouni as she did so, "But what about the dishes, Miss Kaoru?"

"The dishes will be there in the morning, Kenshin. You are going to bed and resting!"

She stopped in front of his door and he turned to face her, "But Miss Kaoru, I…"

Kaoru placed a finger to his lips and shushed him. She opened his shoji and pointed into his room, "Bed mister! Now!"

Kenshin smiled and gave her a mock solute, "yes ma'am!"

Kaoru laughed and pushed him into the room, "goodnight Kenshin. If you need anything come and get me."

"I will, goodnight Miss Kaoru."

Kaoru shut the shoji and waited until she heard him sit down and get settled before heading to her own room for the night. She loved Kenshin but there were times that his stubbornness irritated her and tonight was one of those times. She hated to see him hurt or sick, especially when he downplayed it so much. It had been obvious to everyone that he didn't feel well all day and his recent fever only confirmed that fact. If he didn't improve by in the morning she planned to go to Dr. Gensai and have him or Megumi come check on him and give him some medicine. If she had to make Yahiko and Sanosuke do some chores for once she would. If it meant that Kenshin could rest and get better she could put up with their whining and complaining for a day or two.

The next day went by as usual. Yahiko and Kaoru practiced and Sanosuke lazed about and chatted with Kenshin as he did the dishes left from the night before. Aoshi had left to visit his friend and Misao decided to help Kaoru and Yahiko practice, getting protests from the youngster as she continually outdid him move for move.

After lunch Kenshin managed to escape the chattering Sanosuke to finish the previous day's laundry. He had left it because he hadn't felt well and it needed to be done. He still didn't feel well but for the time being it was tolerable. After hanging up the last gi he sighed and released his sleeves from their tie, allowing them to fall back into place over his arms. Kenshin went and looked at the clock in the main hall and sighed. It was getting late and he still needed to prepare dinner but he was just so tired!

He had wanted to take a nap all day but he wouldn't allow himself to do so. He thought it was bad enough that he was lazy the night before and coped out of doing the dishes, he wouldn't do it twice in a row. Kenshin sighed and started down the hall towards the kitchen when a sudden wave of dizziness overtook him. He grasped the side of his head and leaned against the wall for support, his legs feeling that they would give out at any moment.

"I feel horrible… but I need to fix dinner for the others. Maybe if I lay down for a moment… no! You're fine! Just forget about how you feel and cook dinner as you're supposed to."

Before he could move away from the wall he felt a small gentle hand rest on his shoulder. He turned and smiled when he met a pair of worried blue eyes, "Oh hello Miss Kaoru. Is something wrong?"

"Besides you being sick?"

Kenshin straightened himself up and forced himself to stand tall, ignoring the swimming sensation that coursed through his aching body as he did so. "I'm alright Miss Kaoru, that I am."

"No you're not. You're still sick. Why don't you go to bed and let me cook dinner tonight?"

"There's no need for that, Miss Kaoru, that there isn't. I'm just a bit out of breath is all, nothing to be concerned about. And anyways, I got out of the dishes last night so I need to keep up with the rest of my chores so I don't get too lazy, that I do."

Kaoru shook her head, "Kenshin, please, go to bed. You look awful!"

Kenshin smirked slightly, feeling flecks of gold coming into his eyes, "well I know I'm not the most handsome man in the world Miss Kaoru, but isn't awful a bit harsh?"

Kaoru rolled her eyes and smacked him on the arm, "don't joke Kenshin! You don't feel well, go to bed!"

"I will just as soon as I finish dinner, Miss Kaoru. You shouldn't worry, that you shouldn't."

Kenshin turned away from her and headed down the hall, ignoring the groan he heard escape Kaoru's lips as she watched him leave, "I swear Kenshin you are the most…"

"AAAAAAAAAWWWWWWWWWWWWW!!!"

Kaoru gasped upon hearing the loud scream, "That sounded like Misao!"

Kaoru quickly ran to the other side of the dojo, rounding the corner to see a frantic Misao standing on top of poor Yahiko's head. Before she could ask what was wrong Kenshin came from the other side, hand on his sword and ready to attack, "Miss Misao what's the matter?!"

"KILL IT, KILL IT, KILL IT!!!" she screamed, pointing to the ground.

"Kill what Misao?" Kaoru asked, confused by the young ninja's sudden outburst.

"THE SNAKE!"

Kaoru's eyes widened when she heard that word, looking around herself now, "Snake?! What snake?!"

Kenshin sighed loudly, relaxing a bit, "you were screaming like that all because of a little snake, Miss Misao?"

Misao turned to Kenshin, "It's not a little snake it's the size of Yahiko! So just shut up and kill it, Himura! You're the one with the sword after all!"

Kenshin smiled and shook his head. Never in his life had he seen someone have such a reaction to a reptile before. He knew that most women didn't like them but he never did understand that particular type of fear. He used to play with snakes all the time when he was young so they never bothered him but he could also see why Misao was afraid. And it was amusing seeing Yahiko turn different shades of blue and purple as Misao tightened her grip ever now and again.

Kenshin was about to try and calm down the young girl when something caught his attention out of the corner of his eye. He looked over at Kaoru and saw the slippery little culprit just at her foot. Kaoru was looking at Misao and trying not to giggle at the predicament, not noticing the snake at her feet, "Miss Kaoru?" he called softly.

She looked at him, "yes?"

"Don't move, Miss Kaoru." He warned, holding his hand up to emphasize as he stepped towards her.

"Why Kenshin?"

Kaoru suddenly felt something gliding across her foot and she looked down, her eyes going as wide as saucers when she saw Misao's snake slithering lazily across her toes. She whimpered, tensing up to flee or scream but Kenshin's voice halted her actions, "just stay calm Miss Kaoru and hold still for a moment more, ok?"

Kaoru nodded and tensed up even more as the snake tried to slither up her leg. Kenshin knelt down in front of Kaoru and slowly reached out towards the snake, "Don't move Miss Kaoru."

Before Kaoru could reply she felt a slight touch on her shin and the snake was gone, held tightly in Kenshin's grip as he smiled at the critter, "oh this is just a little garden snake, Miss Misao it wouldn't have hurt you even if he had been the size of Yahiko, that he wouldn't."

"I don't care what kind of snake it is get rid of it!" both girls shouted at him.

He couldn't help but smile, holding the snake up near Kaoru, "you wanna touch him, Miss Kaoru?"

"EW! NO! GET THAT AWAY FROM ME, KENSHIN!"

"Alright, alright. I'll put him out that I will."

Kenshin headed to the gate and cracked it open, releasing the snake before shutting the gate back into place. He returned to the others and smiled, "the snake's gone now, that he is. Are you alright Miss Misao?"

"Yes, thanks Himura."

Misao jumped off of Yahiko's head, knocking him down as she did so. Kenshin chuckled softly, "why didn't you kill the snake Miss Misao? Don't you have your kunai with you?"

Misao flushed, "I forgot I had them ok, so sue me, Himura! Besides you said you want to protect the innocent and I needed protecting from the snake!"

Kenshin laughed, "that is true, Miss Misao. Oh by the way, sorry for grabbing your leg earlier Miss Kaoru."

"Huh? Oh that's ok, Kenshin. I didn't even feel it. Thanks for getting rid of the snake."

"You're quite welcome. Well now that that's over with, I'm going to go finish dinner that I am."

He started back down the hall and rounded the corner to the kitchen. As he reached the doorway his vision clouded over and a horrible wave of dizziness took over him. He had to thrust out his hand to stop himself from falling and shook his head to try and clear up his vision. Bad idea. Shaking his head had made it worse. Now he was nauseous and his vision became worse, feeling the darkness pulling at him.

"M… Miss Kaoru!"

Kaoru came around the corner and gasped at seeing Kenshin's current state. She ran up to him and rested a hand on his shoulder, "Kenshin are you ok? What's wrong?"

"I… I don't know… I don't feel well…"

"I knew you didn't. Come on let's get you to bed and I'll go and get Miss Megumi."

Kenshin pushed off the doorframe but dizzy as he was he stumbled. Kaoru had to catch him to keep him from falling, tears of worry coming to her eyes as her rurouni forced himself to stand up once more, "Kenshin look at me."

Kenshin raised his head and looked at her but all he could see was a blur. Kaoru rested a hand on his forehead and gasped lightly, "oh no, you're fever's back."

"M… Miss Kaoru…"

"Yes?"

"I… I'm sorry… Miss… Kao…"

Kenshin suddenly went limp and fell into Kaoru's arms, forcing her to drop to the ground with him, unable to support his full weight alone.

"Kenshin! Kenshin answer me! Kenshin!"

Kaoru shook him and lightly smacked his cheek to awaken him but he didn't stir. Fear clutched her chest as she shouted to the others, "Sanosuke! Yahiko! Misao! Help me!"

They appeared a moment later, their eyes widening when they saw Kenshin on the ground, "What happened Missy?"

"I don't know! He said he didn't feel well and just passed out! Help me get him to his room, Sanosuke."

Sanosuke bent down and scooped the small swordsman into his arms, carrying him to his room and laying him on the futon after Kaoru rolled it out. Kenshin groaned in his sleep and the others looked on worriedly, "he doesn't look too good."

"I know Yahiko. Misao, you finish dinner while Sanosuke and Yahiko watch after Kenshin." Kaoru ordered as she turned to leave.

"Where you going, Kaoru?" Yahiko asked.

"I'm going to get Miss Megumi. I'll be right back."

Kaoru left without another word and the others set out to do as they were told. Misao headed to the kitchen, Yahiko went to fetch some dry cloths and Sanosuke went to get some ice. As they left to complete their tasks they missed the words that escaped Kenshin's unconscious lips, "Kaoru…"

Kaoru ran as fast as she could to the clinic, reaching the door just as the sun began to disappear behind the horizon. She ran inside, calling out loudly, "Miss Megumi? Dr. Gensai? Where are you?"

When no one came she became worried and went to look around to see if anyone was there. After a brief search her heart dropped when she found the clinic to be empty.

"I have to find something to help Kenshin! There's got to be something already made around here!"

Kaoru looked through the numerous cabinets and finally managed to find a small box that read "fever". She opened it up and smiled when she saw it was filled with pre-measured amounts of medicine in it. She took a few from the box and left a note for the doctors saying that she took some of the medicine for Kenshin and to come to the dojo as soon as possible.

Kaoru hurried out of the clinic and started a mad dash towards home. On the way she heard some laughter ahead of her and saw three men standing around talking. When she got close to them one stepped in front of her and stopped her in her tracks, "Hold on there, pretty lady. Where're you going in such a hurry?"

"Please get out of my way! I need to get home to my sick friend!"

She pushed past the man but he caught her wrist and pulled her back, "don't be in such a hurry. Your friend will be there whenever you decide to get back."

"Yeah so why not stay and have some fun?" his partner said mockingly as he leaned down towards her.

Kaoru frowned and slapped him when he planted a kiss on her cheek. The man growled angrily, "You little witch!"

He returned Kaoru's slap, sending her head to the side as blood started to trickle from her now busted lip. She twisted her wrist away and kicked the man who had hold of her, stepping back into a fighting stance, "I told you I have to get home! And besides, I wouldn't 'have fun' with you all if you were the last people of earth!"

"Oh really?"

One of the men pulled out a dagger and held it in front of him threateningly; "you'd better be nice if you know what's good for you, little girl!"

Kaoru backed away and looked around frantically for something she could use as a weapon. She happened upon a stick thick enough to use as a makeshift sword. She picked it up and held it at the ready, "I'll give you one more chance to back off and let me pass!"

The men laughed, "check it out, the girl thinks she's a swordsman!"

"Well then lets teach her how she's not!"

One of the men came at her and she sidestepped, knocking him in the back of the head with the stick. He growled and came at her again but she hit his shoulder and thrust into his stomach, sending crashing into his friends. Kaoru smiled, this would be an easy match if all of them fought like this.

Her pride was short lived however as the men drew their swords, which had been concealed within their gis. Kaoru held her ground and blocked one of the men as he swung out at her. She managed to hit him in the face with the stick but his friend came at her from the side and cut her stick in two. Before she could react she was pushed into the wall nearby, screaming when all three men descended upon her, "get away from me!"

"You'll pay for all the trouble you've caused us, you little brat!"

The apparent leader started to tear her gi away from her shoulder, ignoring her protests as he did so. Before they could go further they heard a cold voice call out from behind them, "let her go."

They all turned and saw a man in a dark colored gi standing a few feet away, his face hidden from view by the shadows of the tree he stood under, "who the hell are you?"

"Just a traveler but I suggest you let her go."

"Or what?" the leader challenged the stranger boldly.

"Or die." Came the simple, icy reply.

"Get lost! This has nothing to do with you!"

The man turned back to Kaoru and put his hand into her gi, a cry escaping her as his palm made contact with her stomach. Bad move. In a flash the stranger was next to him, grabbing him roughly by the shoulder, "I said let her go!"

The man was flung away from Kaoru with a flick of the stranger's wrist. The other two were knocked away just as easily as he threw one into the other and away from Kaoru entirely. Kaoru sighed in relief and pulled her gi back into place, "are you alright?" he asked softly.

"Y… yes."

"Good, just sit tightly for a moment. This won't take long."

Before Kaoru could ask what he meant the man charged forward and drew the sword at his side, slashing at the three men with god-like speed. A few seconds later all three were unconscious and no longer a threat to Kaoru. The swordsman flicked his wrist suddenly, as if slinging blood from his blade before he sheathed it. He turned to her as the last ray of light from the setting sun hit his face for a second, letting her see a small scar on the bottom of his cheek. Kaoru could see his golden eyes glowing in the fading light, like a demon's eyes.

The man considered her for a moment and looked down at her shattered weapon, a smile coming to his face as he looked back into her eyes, "Oh so it's you."

"What?" Kaoru asked, confused by his words.

"It's been along time… little master."

FINALLY! Please forgive me for taking so long in getting this up! Please don't hunt me down and kill me! I'll have the next chappie up ASAP so just ponder over my ever-recurring cliffies until then.