A/N one of my shorter ones, sorry. Well it was longer but I found that if I divide them up it'll make more sense…

and i know most of you all believe kaoru's strong and all, but everyone has a breaking point, if you were her and being attacked by tomoe constantly you'll break down after this scheme too... and sorry i'm really busy and haven't had the time to reply to ur reviews, i promise i'll add them in next time or something.

Chapter 11:
Exhausted

It was great to be able to see everyone else again and I was glad that they did not shun me because of that one incident. Encounters with Tomoe today were pretty scarce. Although I was constantly being pestered to reveal the identity of the culprit, I kept my mouth sealed. I didn't want to subject Tomoe to what I had to go through in high school before Soujiro entered the picture. I wouldn't wish that kind of treatment on anybody at all, no matter how mean they were to me.

At the end of the day, I bade everyone goodbye and headed over to the corporation's underground car park, where I had parked my car for convenience. I skipped happily towards my car, jingling my keys as I went. Suddenly, without warning, I jerked to a halt, after catching sight of my car.

My wrecked car.

The windscreen and all four of its windows were smashed, with pieces of glass littered all over the ground. The body of the car was dented badly in various places, probably hit with a baseball bat. As I neared it, I noticed that all four of its tires were punctured too. I leaned my forehead against the cool top of the car, close to tears. My brand new car! I barely had it for a week! After standing motionless for about twenty minutes, I resignedly pulled out my cell phone and rang up a tow truck company, telling them to pick up my damaged car.

I trudged down the streets, my head hung low and my body lifeless. What am I going to say to the guys? All the effort that they had put in to earn enough money so that they could get me this car had gone to waste. Just thinking about it made my throat clog up and tears began to sting my eyes again. As I make my way home it starts to rain, big splashy drops, which puddle in the gutters and drip off canopies. They spatter on my hot cheeks and wet my hair and make marks on my suede black boots. But I barely notice them. I was just too upset to care.

I entered the house, dripping wet, leaving behind a wet trail as I made my way across the living room. I looked up when I heard the sound of footsteps coming down the stairs, bracing myself. Soujiro emerged from around the corner, and at the sight of me, the folder that he was holding dropped onto the floor as he ran over to look at me.

"Where are the rest?" I ask quietly.

"Out. They won't be home so early. Come on, Kao. Go up and take a shower. Then we'll talk," he says, guiding me up the stairs, as his folder lay forgotten on the floor.

I took a long, hot shower and I could feel myself relax immensely as the warmth of the water surged through my cold body. After I was done, I toweled myself and put on a pair of sweats and a long-sleeved sweater, to keep myself warm. I carefully combed my wet hair, then padded my way across the carpet to Soujiro's room.

He was typing furiously on his laptop, but when I entered, he immediately stopped whatever he was doing and handed me a glass of water. Then he left the room, telling me that he had to get something from downstairs. I sat cross-legged on his king size bed, hugging a pillow to my chest. When he re-entered the room, he settled himself comfortably next to me on the bed and handed me a box of white chocolates. Managing a feeble grin, I gratefully accepted the chocolates and popped one into my mouth, savoring the taste. Thank God for Soujiro and his thoughtfulness. We just sat together in silence, eating the chocolates.

"So, would you like to tell me what's bothering you, or do you want to just talk about things for a while?"

I paused a little before answering. "Soujiro, would it be alright if we sat out on the roof?"

"Sure thing," he says, going over to open the large windows, letting himself out first, and then turning to me to assist me. After he was sure that I was safely seated on the roof, he ducked back inside his room for a few seconds, then reemerged with a thick blanket, which he wrapped around my shoulders. I looked up at the sky, mesmerized by all the stars twinkling against the dark background.

Without looking at him, I say, "My car got smashed up today."

I could see concern written all over his face. Not concern for the car, but for me.

"Are you okay, Kao? Did they hurt you?"

I turned to give him a small smile. "I'm fine, Sou-chan. I wasn't anywhere near the car when it happened."

"Thank goodness for that," he says, breathing a sigh of relief.

"You guys must have used a lot of money to get me the car, huh? And I couldn't even keep it properly for one whole week." I could feel the tears come again but I blinked them back furiously.

"Kao," says Soujiro, putting an arm around my shoulders. "It doesn't matter how much money we used. What matters most to all of us is that you're safe. That's what's important."

I leaned my head on his shoulder, letting the tears drop, one by one, as the stress from the events of the past few days all resurfaced at once.

I woke up the next morning feeling a little feverish, but nevertheless, I got dressed and headed downstairs to the kitchen to eat my breakfast.

"Morning Aoshi. Morning guys," I say, yawning, as I took a seat at the table. I spread some butter onto a piece of toast, took a bite, the put it down again.

"Kao, are you alright?" asked Aoshi, concern evident in his eyes.

"Yeah. Don't worry. I just don't feel like eating. You guys go ahead without me," I say, taking a few sips of my orange juice.

"Anyway, Kao, do you still want to continue working at Hiten Mitsurugi Corporations after all that had happened to you?" asks Aoshi. "I really wish you'd come and work with us. That way, I can keep a look out for you and not worry my heart out all the time. Even Akira and Sou-chan worries about you constantly."

I was silent for a few moments, deep in thought. Finally, I said, "I'll think about it."

"Right. Take your time. There's no rush. Anyway, I've hired a driver for you. He will send you to work or anywhere you wish to go. He will be on standby at all times, until you come home. Apart from that, he will also act as your bodyguard and ensure that no harm comes to you while you're out."

"Um…don't you think that's overdoing it a bit?" I ask.

"Nope. Not at all. In the light of recent events, I don't think I'm overdoing it." Aoshi turned to look at me. "You're the only person I have left, Kaoru. If any harm comes to you, what am I going to do?"

I smiled warmly at him. "Thanks, Aoshi. I know you mean well…but do you think we could scrap the bodyguard thingy? I really don't want someone following me around everywhere. Please?"

He laughed and ruffled my hair. "Alright. If you insist."

"Please hold the lift!" I yell, running towards it, my arms loaded with files.

As the day wore on, I could feel myself being drained of energy and I was beginning to have a killer headache. My complexion had become chalky white and I was feeling awfully cold. I stumbled into the elevator, leaned my forehead against the walls and closed my eyes in the hopes that it would be able to stop the world from spinning around in my head.

As fate would have it, the elevator ground to a sudden halt and the lights overhead flickered for a little while. The only other person in the elevator began cursing under his breath. I could hear him yell into his cell phone to tell the management department to send people up to fix the problem and get him out of here. This wasn't the first time someone had got stuck in an elevator during a power cut. It usually took about two hours to get the whole system up and running again, and until then, the person was stuck inside there.

Too tired to continue standing, I slid onto the floor of the elevator, the files dropping out of my hands in the process. I hugged my knees to myself and buried my pounding head in my hands, wiping away the cold beads of perspiration that were beginning to form on my forehead.

"Kaoru," says the guy. "Are you okay?"

The voice sounded oddly familiar but I couldn't place my finger on who it belonged to. The pounding in my head became worse with each passing second, and I didn't even have the energy to raise my head to look at the guy. I shook my head slowly, as though I needed a lot of effort just to do that simple action.

I heard him mutter a string of colorful expletives under his breath, then felt a warm jacket being wrapped around my shivering body. Then, he positioned himself next to me so that I could rest my head on his shoulder. All I could think of before I drifted off to sleep was that when I was feeling well again, I had to thank this guy thoroughly, whoever he is.

Normal POV (well considering she's out cold)

Kenshin sat there, staring down at her sleeping profile. Upon closer inspection, she wasn't as mature and fully bloomed as all the other model-like girls that he had dated before. Nevertheless, he still felt a deep attraction for her, though he hardly showed it.

He lifted his hand to brush her damp hair away from her forehead and froze, when she stirred. He let out the breath that he had been unconsciously holding when he felt her relax against him again.

He opened his eyes from his nap when he felt the elevator moving again. Carefully, without waking Kaoru, he lifted her up into his arms and carried her all the way to his car, ignoring everyone's curious stares as he went. There was only one thing on his mind right now and that was to get Kaoru to the hospital.

He drove as fast as he could, expertly weaving in and out of traffic. Bursting through the double doors that led into the hospital, he yelled to one of the nurses standing nearby to help him. He slumped down onto a seat nearby and loosened his tie after she had safely entered the doctor's room to be examined.

"Excuse me," says the doctor, coming out of the room. "Are you her family or relative?"

"Neither," he answered. "Anyway, how is she?"

"I'm sorry, but I'll have to speak directly with either her family members or her relatives."

"But…but…I sent her here. Can't you at least tell me what her condition is?" giving one of his desperate looks, he doesn't know it but he looks like a begging puppy when he does it.

The doctor looked torn. Finally, with a resigned sigh, he says, "Alright. She has a very high temperature and it seems that she hasn't been getting enough sleep in the past few days. If you would like to see her, she's in room 542."

Kenshin headed over to room 542, and knocked softly on the door, so that he would not wake her up in case she was sleeping. Hearing no response, he pushed the door open and let himself in, as quietly as he could. He stood there, looking at her fragile form on the bed feeling somewhat guilty not knowing why. Then, whipping out his cell phone, he punched in Soujiro's number.

Soujiro jogged down the hallway, frantically searching for room 542. He flung the door open and ran over to the bed only to find that Kaoru was sleeping. He placed his palm over her forehead and immediately pulled his hand back, after realizing how hot it was. He pulled the blankets up higher, tucking it securely under her chin.

Then, turning to Kenshin, he says in a very cold voice, "Let's go out."

"What happened?" asked Soujiro, his voice steely.

"The elevator broke down and we were trapped inside it. Suddenly, she just crouched down in a corner and after I realized that she wasn't feeling well, I sent her here immediately as soon as the system started working again."

"This is all your fault, do you know that? If it weren't for you and that stupid cow who goes by the name of Tomoe, Kaoru wouldn't be in here at all."

"Take back what you just said, Soujiro," Kenhin says, his voice low and menacing.

Although both him and Tomoe were no longer together, he still felt protective towards her. He hated people who insulted her, especially when they say it right to his face.

"No," says Soujiro firmly, and at his words, Kenshin's fist came flying at him.

Thanks to his quick reflexes, Soujiro was able to duck from the punch. Regaining his balance, he shoved Kenshin as hard as he could by the shoulders.

"What gives you the right to hit me? Huh? What?" Both guys stared at each other, their face full of hatred.

(Get ready for a list of accusation that Kenshin's about to find out)

"Let me tell you something, Himura Kenshin. Ever since Kaoru started working at your bloody corporation, she's never been happy at all. She came home every night, upset. Why? Because your precious girlfriend wanted to make her miserable by making life a living hell for her while she was working there. She hardly gets enough sleep. Do you know why? She was too stressed out by everything that had happened. First, there was the incident about her stealing the watch and then the other one about her pouring wine all over Tomoe's dress. Oh, and not forgetting the time when Tomoe made her type more than twenty documents, giving her a dateline by the next morning. She couldn't photocopy any of them because Tomoe had deliberately made thousands of typing errors in there, so to help ease her burden, we decided to help her. We ended up staying up all night trying to finish typing all of it by the given dateline. We, as in me, her, her cousin and her brother. And do you want to know why she's lying in there feeling so ill? Because somebody smashed up her car in the parking lot yesterday, so she walked home in the pouring rain, feeling guilty. Do you know what she was worrying about? She was worrying about how we would take it. Why? Because we bought her the car as a birthday gift and she felt really bad because we had used so much money getting her the car and she couldn't even keep it in tip-top shape for a week. She cried to sleep over it yesterday night. Did you know that? Huh? Did you? And unless I miss my guess, I bet Tomoe was the one who did it."

As Soujiro vented out all his frustration and anger by shoving Kenshin roughly with each accusing statement, Kenshin just stood there, stunned at what he was hearing. (wow soujiro actually mad?)

A/N: know you're saying this was too short but I looked at the word count, and it was almost the normal length, just didn't have that many dialogs. I'm sorry, been too busy lately, but I'll get started on the next chapter right now. i exhausted all my thoughts... i had an outline for the story, it's suppose to end very soon, but i got new (and very unorginized) plans so it'll be longer but from here it's harder to write so excuse me for longer updates please... don't get mad ;

Next Chappie: Kenshin takes Tomoe's side when they come to ask Kaoru for forgivness. Kaoru doesn't know why her car is smashed up. Kenshin, being a confusion towards everyone. More on Soujiro and Kaoru's relationship and their characteristics.