A/N (Amaya): We're sooooooooooooooooooooooo sorry that it took this long! We weren't sure who was going to write this chapter so everything was out of whack! (Did I just say that… wow) Anyways! I'm going to try to make this chapter longer than the previous ones to make up for the wait and hopefully when school starts again we'll be more organized! Gomen nasai! R&R! (and yell at us all that you want… -.-;)

Forever In A Moment

Another Job

"What are you doing here?"

The cold, midnight wind rushes into the house through the open door. The howl that had once only been a distant noise was now all that filled his ears. He could see the leaves being pulled violently away from the branches that hold them. One by one they are pulled away. One by one they are blown away into the darkness.

"Can I come in?"

Kenshin ran a hand through his tangled hair. The moon makes it seem brighter than it already is. A bright flame surrounding his pale face, paler now that the light of the moon shines on it. He sighs and opens the door so that the other man can come inside. Kenshin closed the door behind the man who was already making his way to the kitchen, a route he had taken countless times before.

"What are you doing here Takasugi-san?" Kenshin repeated as he sat down at the kitchen counter. The light above the table casts a dim glow around the room. The shadows seemed to flicker as the power lines outside swayed violently in the wind. It would only get worse when the actual storm started.

"To wish you a happy birthday. Then I will go pay my respects to the dead."

"You have never wished me a happy birthday before." Kenshin closed his eyes as he said this, resting his forehead in the palm of his head. He listened to the wind howl; its scream feeling his ears as it rushed through the trees. How he wished he could scream. He would scream until the feelings went away… but he could not. He could not let go of the feelings if it meant losing the memories.

"Why do you wish to pay her your respects? You never paid much attention to her when she was alive."

"She saved your life. That is enough of a reason for me. She sacrificed her life so that the person she loved would live to see a new day."

Takasugi walked over to the fridge and took out a can of coke. He glanced over at the teenage boy before sitting down across from him. The faint glow from the lamp made him look sicklier than he already was. From what Takasugi had gathered, Kenshin had skipped the past five days of school. The old Kenshin had never missed school… but then again the old Kenshin did not blame himself for an innocents' death.

"Why did you come?"

"You already know, don't you?"

"I quit the day after I woke up."

"I know. I remember."

"Then how come you're here?"

"You are the closest person we have to the person we are protecting."

"Well to bad for them. My job got Tomoe killed. I'm not going to endanger any of my friends ever again."

"I understand that-"

"No you don't!"

He could feel her arms wrap around him as she pulled him back into the car. He could have sworn that the house had actually shook instead of his body just remembering the shock as the two cars made impact with his. He was almost positive that it was real glass that was cutting his skin, not his imagination. He could hear the sirens, the shouts, the flames as they licked away at the cars. He could see the lights flashing even though his eyelids were not closed. He could see her body on the stretcher… her silky, black hair spilling out over the sides of the stretcher.

"You don't understand at all!"

The shock that had coursed through his body when Megumi and Sanosuke had told him the news. The understanding that it was all his fault. That she would not have died had he not had his job. That the fact that no bodies were in the other car was enough proof for that.

"You've never lost someone precious to you, have you!"

"Because you're the reason Tomoe is dead."

"Anyways…" Takasugi continued, pretending that nothing had happened. It hurt him to see Kenshin like this. Before the accident Kenshin had always been strong willed, vicious when on a mission… kind and caring when he was not. The crying teenager in front of him was not the person that Takasugi had known. However, this mission might possible change that. If the reports were true 'she' might be the person who could change him.

"The person you are protecting attends your school, not to mention she's in your class. Her father was recently discovered to be the leader of a notorious gang. She ran away recently which caused her father to kill her mother, so now he will also be arrested for first degree murder when we catch him. Anyways, we have information that he has recently joined with a small, but very powerful, gang called 'The Six Comrades'. At this point the leader is unknown but we hope that you will be able to catch him as well.

"Seeing as the reason why her mother is dead is because she had begged her husband to forget about their daughter and let her live her one life, it is safe to assume that he will come after her next. We already have two people from the Oniwabanshu whom we have recently joined forces with, mostly since the two people we have working on the mission had been assigned on the mission for about eleven years now. Your mission is to protect this girl whenever the other two can't. For example, walking her to and from school if possible, and looking after her whenever she goes out somewhere."

"Get someone else to do it. I'm not needed for this job."

"Yet you wish to protect the ones close to you?"

"…Hai."

"Then why would Kamiya Kaoru be an exception."

Thunder rolled in the distance as Kenshin looked up to see Takasugi staring at him. Kaoru was the daughter of gang leader? 'Well that would explain the scars,' Kenshin thought as he continued to stare at Takasugi.

"She can take care of herself. I saw her practice at the Kendo club."

"She's not as fast as you. She wouldn't be able to dodge a bullet."

"From her scars her father won't use a bullet."

"You've seen her scars?"

Kenshin was wondering why Takasugi was staring at him like he was a freak. All of a sudden it struck him and he turned ten different shades of him. "Not like that! I don't know about you but I'm not a pervert!"

"Right…" Takasugi said in a disbelieving tone. His appearance would have been perfect if it wasn't for the smile that kept on tugging at the corners of his lips.

"I'm telling the truth. As I was saying, her father won't use bullets. He would want her death to be slow and painful, that way she would understand how wrong it was for her to run away."

"She won't fight back. For years she hasn't fought back. Why would now be any different? The fear is too great."

Kenshin stood up and walked out of the kitchen, Takasugi close on his heals. Takasugi rounded the corner, only to see Kenshin slipping on his sneakers, his sweatshirt draped over his right arm which was on the door handle.

"Where are you going?" Takasugi asked as he checked to see if he had everything. He was pretty sure that Kenshin wouldn't let him stay in his house while he was outside.

"I need to think." Kenshin dawned his sweatshirt in the open door way, pulling the hood over his head so as to keep his hair form getting wet. The rain was falling in sheets outside. Lighting lit the sky for a brief second before disappearing the sky, thunder following shortly afterwards.

"I'll be back in a week. You can give me your answer then," Takasugi said as he headed towards his car. Kenshin watched until his car was out of sight before he turned to his left and started walking away.

"Promise me something Kaoru-chan," her mother said. She took Kaoru's hands in her frail ones and clasped them in a surprisingly firm grip for someone so weak.

"What is it Okaa-san?"

"Promise me that no matter what, no matter what happens, promise me that you will never kill."

"Even if it's in self-defense? Even if he is the one attacking me?"

"Hai. Even if it is against him."

"I'll try." Kaoru gave her mother a quick kiss on the cheek before hefting her bag onto her shoulder and walking towards the front door.

"Kaoru-chan!"

Kaoru stopped at the door, her hand already twisting the handle as she waited for what her mother had to say.

"Kaoru-chan! Promise me you won't kill him."

Kaoru stood there in silence for a little while. Eventually she sighed and opened the door all the way. "I don't know if I can."

"Kaoru-chan! Kaoru-chan!"

Kaoru closed the door behind her, silencing her mother's cries. She began the long trek down the driveway, away from the house that she would hopefully never see again.

Kaoru woke up in a cold sweat. She evened her breathing as she rolled over in bead. She glanced at the glowing numbers on her clock and groaned when she realized it was only ten o'clock. She had only been sleeping for an hour before she had that dream. Hopefully she would be able to get a decent amount of sleep tonight.

Why did she keep on having this dream now? Was it because her father was loose? Was it because she was not sure if she would be able to do the last think her mother asked from her?

Kaoru rolled out of bed and crashed onto the floor in a tangle of blankets. Once she was free, Kaoru stood up and found her way towards the kitchen. She stumbled towards the refrigerator. She covered her eyes, slowly spreading her fingers apart so that she could adjust to the light. She rummaged around before she grabbed a can of Dr. Pepper. She closed the door and moved around the kitchen counter and towards the living room, grabbing a bag of Doritos on the way.

Kaoru plopped down on the couch. She opened the Dr. Pepper and took a sip, her eyes glancing at the picture on her mantle. Most of them were pictures of Megumi, Sanosuke, and her. She had some pictures of Kenshin and herself but they were fewer since he had been skipping school this past week.

No one at the school seemed to be surprised; it was as if everyone was expecting this. Megumi and Sano were reluctant to tell her much about what was going on. All she could understand that someone named Yukishiro Tomoe died. So why was that so much to keep Kenshin away from school for a week?

She could understand that he would be upset if she had been his girlfriend… but if that was the case why was he allowed to skip so much school? Wouldn't the teachers be angry with him?

Kaoru ripped open the Doritos bag and stuffed a handful into her mouth. 'Why does this bother me so much? I barely even know the guy and I'm suddenly worried about his well being.' Kaoru sighed and leaned over to grab her laptop which she had left by the couch earlier that day. She lifted it up carefully, making sure that the power cord didn't knock anything over.

She pressed the power button and ate some more chips as she waited for the computer to boot up. She smiled when she saw the picture she was using as her background. It was a picture of Sano chasing Kenshin around Kenshin's apartment while Megumi just sat on the couch eating popcorn.

Remembering what she wanted to do, Kaoru made sure that her wireless connection was working before she opened up a window for Internet Explorer. She then went to Google and searched for 'Yukishiro Tomoe'. She clicked on the most promising looking link and read the article that popped up.

Last night, at around eleven o'clock, four friends left the ever so popular restaurant called Akabeko after celebrating seventeen year old Himura Kenshin's birthday. After saying goodbye to their two friends, Sagara Sanosuke and Takashi Megumi, Kenshin and his girlfriend, Yukishiro Tomoe, got into Kenshin's car in order to go home. Unfortunately neither of them got that far.

From what the police could gather from the evidence at the scene, a gun had been fired twice, puncturing the rear wheels and causing the car to come to a stop. Then two cars came from behind and crashed into the two teenager's car.

"No one could have thought that this would happen," comments Sagara Sanosuke on yesterday's accident. "The streets had been empty since basically everyone was home. Neither of them deserved to be killed, but maybe if there had been more people on the streets this wouldn't have happened."

According to the medical reports, Himura Kenshin was barely alive. Pieces of glass were embedded all along his body and his arm was broken from where it had been stuck in between one of the oncoming cars and his. Yukishiro Tomoe had died on impact, her skull smashed by the other car. However, Tomoe's body is probably the only reason why Kenshin is alive today.

"Tomoe was a kind girl," Takashi Megumi comments tearfully. "She was fun to be around and so carefree. I know that me and Sano will miss her greatly since she was like a sister to us, but Kenshin and Enishi, Tomoe's brother, will miss her ten times more than we do. Kenshin and Tomoe were perfect for each other, I wouldn't have been surprised if they got married immediately after high school. Tomoe was Enishi's only living relative. He'll be completely miserable and lonely without her."

Luckily paramedics were close enough to reach the scene of the accident before the cars exploded, in which case both of the teenagers would have died instead of just one. No bodies were found in the other two cars. Attempt on murder for either of the two occupants is likely. That train of thought is being investigated by the police.

'Oh Kenshin,' Kaoru thought as tears slid through her eyelids. She cried for her new friend for the rest of the night, all thoughts about her mother last wish disappeared from her mind.

'So she's found it, huh? Soon she'll get closer to the truth. Soon she will realize that he was the reason why the only important person in this world is dead. All I need to do is push her in the right direction…'

His glasses gleamed in the dark room, reflecting the light of the computer as he continued to watch, wondering if Kamiya Kaoru would search for anymore information that night. The phone rang and he picked it up immediately. "This better be worth my time."

'Takasugi Shinsaku appeared at his house today. They talked for no more that fifteen minutes, but I'm guessing that the topic disturbed him greatly because he came out of his house for the first time in five days.'

"Anything else?"

'When he went outside he walked over to that Kamiya girl's house.'

"I see… interesting…"

'Is there anything else I can do fore you sir?'

"No that's all. You can come back now."

'Hai.'

He continued to watch the computer for any sign of activity as he listened to the rain outside, his thoughts muddled and unclear. He couldn't figure out. What would disturb that despicable boy so?

"What did you tell him Takasugi? What did you tell Hitokiri Battōsai?"

'Why am I here? Why did I come here of all places?'

Kenshin stared up at the dark windows of the house now belonging to Kamiya Kaoru. He had no reason to be here, none at all. So why was he here?

You're worried about her.

'Why should I be?'

Her father wants to kill her.

'She can take care of herself.'

Then where did the scars come from?

'She has two people to protect her now. I'm not needed.'

According to Takasugi-san they were there before. If you weren't needed then they would have been able to protect her before.

Kenshin sighed in frustration and turned his head to the sky, letting the rain fall down on his face. His bangs were plastered to his forehead but he didn't need to see. He could get anywhere he wanted to in a ten block radius without sight. So he let the rain fall on his face. He let it slide town towards the back of his neck, cooling him off.

'I'll see what happens,' Kenshin finally decided, looking back at Kaoru's dark house one more time before heading back to his apartment. 'I'll decide after one week.'

You already know the answer's going to be yes.

Kenshin ignored the annoying voice in the back of his head, although he had to admit that he was most likely right.