Author's Note: People, please review…seriously.

Broken

Chapter 4: Crushed

Kenshin kept running for what seemed like forever. It had also been a few minutes since he lost track of the guy. Apparently his legs felt a lot better already. Then it occurred to him that the guy might not have outrun him after all, but rather just detoured elsewhere. It took a few more minutes to find him, exactly where he was before, except that this time he was fumbling through corpses, apparently looking for something.

"You know."

Startled, the man turned toward Kenshin, wincing in pain. His face was pale, sweaty and tired, yet his eyes were filled with resolve and determination. Certainly an amazing trait considering his current condition.

"Normally people wait until they recover to burst out of the hospital like that"

"I'm sorry, but I have to get it back."

He turned and kept looking at corpses one by one while this red haired stranger simply watched him idly.

Then he found it.

It was a rather thin package, although ridiculously long (about six or seven feet easy), with bandages wrapped all around it.

He stood up and held it over his head in a sort of triumphant stance. That's when Kenshin noticed that his wounds were severely reopened, if not bigger. Of course he ended up taking the guy back to the hospital.

He sat in front of the building that night, sipping slowly his steaming cup of herbal tea when the doctor came out of the room.

"He's finally asleep, although I must say the guy's got guts, running off like that."

"How is his mental state" Kenshin asked staring at the distance.

"Ever since he got that package back he's shown some improvement. Whatever that is must mean the world to him because it's really amazing."

Silence.

"Give me a holler if you need anything."

And the doctor walked away, leaving Kenshin on his own.

It had been a while now. Had Kenshin dosed? Not quite sure really, but surely enough it was already late. He went inside and checked on that guy again. It wasn't until then that he realized that he has been helping this complete stranger and he doesn't even know his name.

"Maybe I should ask him tomorrow." He whispered to himself.

On his way out of the room he spotted the strange item lying beside the bed. What was it that made it so important, enough to make this man risk his life so much? Overcome by curiosity, he was already strolling toward it even before he knew it. Just like a little kid hiding something he crouched and grabbed the item with extreme care. Kenshin removed the wrapping very slowly, occasionally remembering to breathe. At first his eyes caught a hint of blue. More like bluish silver really. It went on for a long while, until he finally felt something else rather than that cold metal.

"Yes, it's a sword."

He bolted upright in surprise and almost drew out his sword instinctively.

"Hey, calm down."

It was "the man" who was now sitting on his bed. He was barely visible, but it was still possible to tell that he hadn't slept for quite a while. His eyes were red and slightly swollen, probably even sunk inside their sockets but the little light didn't help THAT much.

Kenshin turned his attention to the item in his hand. If this was indeed a sword then it was impossible to wield. The blade was very light, probably mythril (where would this guy get such a rare metal anyway? Some even say it doesn't even exist) but still it's massive length made it way too heavy to use.

"We should probably go to sleep; I'll fill you in tomorrow."

He lay back on his bed and slid the covers over him.

Kenshin started toward the door, but was stopped yet again by the man's voice.

"By the way…"

A few seconds passed.

"My name is Guy…Miyamoto."

"Himura Kenshin."

He almost thought that Guy smiled at him, but the light was not very helpful yet again.

"Thanks, Himura."

Author's Note: Remember, little box in the corner…review…NOW! Or I'll steal your food…insert cheap horror movie theme song here