"Misao," she glanced up quickly, grabbing the knives that Aoshi tossed to her. "Go help them."

She nodded, diving towards a rope that led to the warehouse floor. He glanced down at the people below, a dark haired girl was kneeling beside the redhead, trying to stem the bleeding from his wound.

Aoshi's eyes shifted over to Zanza, watching the brawler fight Shishio, arms still tied against his back. The fighter had known exactly how to react when the rock struck Shishio's sword, sending it in a glittering arc through the air to land amongst the flames. The Oniwaban leader would never admit to it, but he was surprised by the power Battosai had been able to put into that final attack.

He remembered hearing Misao muttering something earlier about Battosai throwing rocks. Apparently she'd been tailing after the redhead in search of Aoshi.

It hadn't been hard to find her really, especially with all the ruckus she was making fighting off a few members of the Juppongatanna. She had been yelling something about weaselsas well at the time. Something he made a mental note never to mention to her in fear of being on the receiving end of her wrath. Needless to say those Juppongatanna members weren't fairing to well right now.

Aoshi shook his head, dispelling his thoughts. His eyes regarded the redhead on the floor below, who now lay as still the raccoon girl. Misao hit the floor at a run, heading towards the fox like girl to see how she could help.

Zanza was, meanwhile, fending Shishio off, his hands still tied behind his back but his opponent didn't have any weapons either, that evened the odds, somewhat.

Aoshi sighed, reaching into his trench coat. There was no way he was going to let Battosai die here. He flicked open his cell phone and dialed the one number he never thought he would, 911.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

There was a roar of noises in his ears. Sounds that faded together, indiscernible discord that he couldn't comprehend. He was sure there were sirens but it was so hard to tell for certain.

He felt fingers press up against his neck. He panicked, trying to pull away. His eyes struggled open, wincing at the bright light around him.

There was a girl over him, one his scattered mind couldn't recognize, trying to calm him down. His movement jarred the open wound on his side, causing his vision to crumble away with the pain. He was trembling hard but he didn't even notice.

His breath came in ragged gasps as he struggled to breathe. He could only see small pinpricks of light as darkness edged farther into his vision. The blackness moved forwards at an alarming speed, wishing to take him back in its dark grasp.

He felt tears run slowly down his face. The girl above him gave an urgent shout, her words jumbled together into illegible tones. She sounded desperate, wanting him to stay awake, he realized before slipping back into the darkness.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The phone gave a shrill cry, demanding attention. He sighed, grumbling under his breath as he rose to answer the blaring piece of technology. He yanked it off its hanger, the scowl on his face deepening as he placed it against his ear.

"Hello?" he asked, after a moment,answering the voice at the other end. "Yes, this is Hiko." There was a long pause, his face suddenly turned deathly pale. His mouth hung open, no sound escaping his throat. He barely kept his grip on the phone, no longer listening to the person at the other end. He slowly came out of his shock, uttering a few quick words before hanging the phone back up with a shaking hand.

He stumbled back against a wall, eyes staring at nothing. This couldn't be real, this couldn't be happening. He took a shaky breath, trying to calm down. This wasn't like him. He was a police officer, he dealt with things like this all the time. The world around him suddenly felt so surreal.

He slowly pushed himself off the wall, his movements stiff as he walked down the hall to the front entrance.

This couldn't be happening, there was just no way. He'd sent the boy away this morning. He was supposed to be at the safe house, miles away from this town. He was supposed to be safe. He was-

Hiko had destroyed Kenshin's trust to keep him safe.

And now? The redhead was in critical condition in the emergency room of a hospital.

"Dammit Kenshin!" he shouted, voice echoing around the empty house. He slammed his fist into a wall. He fell against it, resting his forehead on the smooth surface.

This wasn't like him, Hiko thought. He was suppose to be composed, giving off the air of intimidation and being in charge but he didn't have any control over what was happening. Here he was leaning against a wall, unsure how to react to the news he'd just gotten. He wasn't doing anything, while Kenshin was in a battle for his life, one where a sword would be no use.

The teen could end up-

Hiko broke the thought off, he had to get to the hospital. It wasn't doing him any good just standing around here. He pushed off the wall again, heading towards the door.

Time seemed to pass agonizingly slow and yet somehow pass in the blink of an eye at the same time. Before Hiko knew it he was in the waiting room, with nothing to do but wait and hope for any news on the redhead's condition.

He'd tried sitting down at one point, how long ago that was he wasn't sure now, but found his impatience refused to let him sit still long enough. So there he was, pacing back and forth across the bland, whitewashed room, the stench of chemicals thick in the air, his mind buzzing trying to understand.

How the hell had this happened?

How had that idiotic redhead, get hurt so badly? Shishio had to have something to do with it. Hiko gritted his teeth, this should never have happened. His glower grew, his pace increasing as he marched back and forth across the tiledfloor.

"Hiko!"

He glanced up to see Megumi coming towards him. "What are you doing here?" He paused in his strides, looking down at her. His sharp eyes instantly picked up on the small bruises on her face. "What happened?"

She took a shaky breath. "Shishio attacked… Kenshin." He was surprised that she hadn't called the redhead 'Sir Ken'. Before Hiko could speak though, she continued. "Me, Sano and… and Kaoru went after him. We were captured and Kaoru… Kaoru was stabbed." She drew her arms closer to herself, eyes drifting to gaze at the empty room around them. "They're both in there, right now, Kenshin and Kaoru. He isn't doing to well. H-he's lost a lot of blood, didn't even recognize me when I was checking his pulse…" she trailed off, eyes filling with tears. "I don't know how Kaoru's doing." She took a deep breath.

"Have a seat," Hiko said, leading her to a chair. She plopped down and Hiko sat next to her. They sat like that in silence for a while, the clock on the wall slowly ticking away the time.

"I wish there was more I could do to help," she whispered, staring down at her hands. "I'm aspiring to be a doctor, little good it did me back there." She sighed. "I wish…… but wishing doesn't help. I hope they pull through this." She gazed off at the far wall. Hiko remained silent, tapping his foot. "Hiko?" she began after a while, looking back up at him.

"Yes?"

"Is… is Kenshin really… Battosai?" She held her breath unknowingly, awaiting a response.

Hiko's expression never changed once as he answered. "Yes, he is."

She was silent for a long while, her mind running over his answer. "Then, all this time we've been… hanging around the beast of the Juppongatanna."

"He's not like that anymore."

"You didn't see him, Hiko. He wanted nothing more than to kill Shishio." A cold shiver ran down her body. "He was completely different." She was silent for a while. "Aren't you going to say anything?"

"What can I? I wasn't there, like you said. You'll have to decide for yourself how you're going to treat him from now on."

Megumi opened her mouth to reply when a thought entered her mind of what Kaoru had said earlier that day, it felt like a lifetime ago now.

"Kenshin… he looked me right in the eyes and… I was scared of him."

"Kaoru knew he was Battosai and she didn't know how to react. I don't either. Who could have guessed it? Sir Ken a knight in shining armour, is really Battosai…. He's changed since I first knew him and I don't mean just by what I saw today. He saved me from a few members of the Oniwaban who were harassing me when he first came to our school. He didn't even know who I was and still, he helped me. Then, when me and… Kaoru were kidnapped, he came after us." She fell silent for a while. "He's a kind person but… today…"

"I think what you saw today was something Kenshin never wanted you or any of his friends to see."

"But I did. None of us can change that."

"Do you know how Sano's taking it?"

"Not so well," she sighed, rising to her feet. "I should get back to him." She started heading out of the room.

"Megumi." She turned to look back at Hiko. "This is something you have to figure out for yourself."

"I know," she answered quietly. "I'll see you later, I guess." With that she left.

Hiko sighed, slowly rising. He couldn't sit still any longer. He began to pace around the room again, waiting. That's all any of them could do- wait.

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"Wait, Battosai."

"What do you want Tomoe?"

"You're going to face Shishio."

"I have to do this. He's divided the Juppongatanna with this feud, he must be stopped."

"Please listen to me, just for a moment."

"Let me go, Tomoe."

"You're walking into a trap. Shishio won't play fair, don't think that for a moment."

"I already know that. I know how his mind works."

"Do you truly?"

"Tomoe-"

"You don't know anything about him. You're playing right into his hands, right into his trap."

"Tomoe please, I have… I need to do this. I've been entrusted to deal with him. This can't be left alone any longer, you know that as well as me. Shishio has to be stopped."

"But why must you do it?"

"Because I'm Battosai. It's my duty."

"Do you truly believe that… Kenshin?"

"Let me go Tomoe, I won't ask again."

"What will you do? Hurt me? Strike me? Force me to let go?"

"Let go!"

"…Wait, Battosai."

"You can't stop me Tomoe."

"Promise me."

"What?"

"I… want to make sure you'll come back."

"Tomoe…"

"Please, just this one thing. I want you to come back."

"Why?"

She pulled away then, not giving me the answer. It wasn't until she lay dying in my arms, the same word on my lips did she answer.

"Promise me you'll live… I wan..t you.. t…o…… K…"

That sadly… is not a promise this one can ever make.

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Hello once again! I can't believe how long it took me to get this posted! I kept running into problems like the power going out, the site refusing to let me upload the chapter, I kept changing Hiko's scene after the first time I wrote it. It feels like ages since I wrote a scene with him in it, I think I'm getting rusty... but yes finally Ch20 has been posted huzzah! (throws confetti) Now to start working on the next one…

Anyway, just incase it isn't exactly clear about the whole rock thing at the beginning of this chapter, Kenshin picked up three rocks way back in Ch16- Invisible Marks.Two of which that were thrown at poor Misao while the other he pocketed for later, that one was just used now.

Many big thank you's to my five wonderful reviewers!

MikaylaMae: Thank you, it's great that you found the last chapter interesting.

Reignashii: Voila another chapter and another cliffhanger, man I'm getting good at those.

Summer Star: I had so much fun writing the fight scene hee, its soo fun being mean to Kenshin.

Stella-neko: Heh, more horrible cliffhangers for ya. I was a bit worried about that scene in the last chapter, I did try to make it clearer when I was editing, I', thinking about editing this story after I finish it, clean it up and fix that spot then. I'm pleased you liked the way it portrayed Kenshin's confusion though.

Anonymous but very interest…(sorry if there's more to your username, couldn't get my computer to show itHope you enjoyed reading the new chapter. Some of your questions have been answered, as for the others well… you'll just have to keep reading. ;)

Oops almost forgot to put this, till next chapter guys with more wonderful cliffhangers! Mwahaaaaaa!