Chapter 9 - GoodBye

"I don't understand why this injure is taking so long to heal Doctor?" – a feminine voice spoke.

"The cut is deeper than we first thought… it's going to take a little longer than usual to get back to normal. Poor girl… "- this time a male's voice took place.

"There has been three days since she is here and she never opened her eyes, not even one time. Do you think she is in a comatose?"

"Maybe..."

"Do you think the cause of her not waking up are her physical wounds? They are really bad!"

"Unfortunately Kayla, physical wounds are the only ones we can help her with… In what concerns to the emotional ones, she needs to find inner strengths to heal them on her own."

"Yes.. But she is so young…" – Kaoru felt someone caressing her face – "How is it possible for someone to do this with other human being?"

"These days are dangerous Kayla, and the lord of this place is also a dangerous man, don't be fooled by his looks… we must not trust anyone. We must treat this young woman without raising too many questions,ok?"

There was silence for a while. All she could hear were the sound of their moves around the room. After a while she understood she was alone again. They left. At the moment she opened her eyes tear drops fell from them. she was holding them unconsciously... she tried to raise her arm to wipe her eyes but moving pained her so much she end up giving up. Kaoru remembered her attacker, but even worse than her open injury on her body, were the wounds on her soul caused by the slashes from his words:

"Even if you're telling the truth he preferred to believe his friends… Maybe he dind't loved you…. He was just feeling lonely and used you… until he found someone… better."

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There were many questions in his mind. Who was this girl? He knew she worked at Aka and that her name was Kaoru, because he heard Yumiko and Yumi called her sometimes when he was at the restaurant, but what Aoshi needed to know was who was she as a person. He sent Hannya to search for personal information but all he could discover was that Kaoru used to live at Battousai's place, and spent some time with Kogoro Sakura, The leader of Ishishinshi's wife. But before that there is nothing. No parents, no friends or neighbors… nothing. It was like as if she never existed!

Apparently the attack was a revenge not against her, but against the famous Hitokiri. But, if he cared for her, why in the world would he let her go out alone at night knowing that would be dangerous?

Aoshi steeped into the restaurant and as he saw one of the girls he sent her call for Yumi. The girl nod and after a while the owner of the restaurant was in front of him. "It's not from you to came here at night,Aoshi-sama." – when the girl told her who was there she found it odd, because Aoshi always seemed so indifferent to her girls. "I have information for you."

Yumi raised her eyebrow: "Come again?" – Information for her? She didn't remember calling for his services.

"One of your girls was attacked three days ago. Her name is Kaoru." – Aoshi informed her. – "I thought you might want to know that she is still recovering from the attack."

"Kaoru,Kamyia Kaoru was attacked? By whom?" – she immediately asked

"Udo Jin-Hei."

Yumi made a disbelieving look. That pig Jin-Hei… he used to cause her trouble every time he appeared on the restaurant. "But…why?"

"Don't know." – he replied.

"No one else asked for her in this last three days?" – she asked believing that a certain Hitokiri would be searching for her.

"No." – Aoshi wasn't a very talkative man, after all he was the one who was there to find answers not her.

Another animal… When Kaoru dind't came to work on Monday, she found it odd, but after sometime she heard Battousai left the town along with a woman, off course she assumed that woman was Kaoru… "You must bring her here. We will take care of her." – she immediately said.

"No."

"Why?"

She cared about the girl, that was obvious, but he knew she was safer on his castle, also he wanted some questions answered before ever thinking of letting her go. "She can't be moved because she is still in a coma state. And even if she wakes up the doctor says she will need at least a month without moving around in order for her wounds to heal properly."

She stared blankly at him for a while. How bad was she after all? "I may see her tomorrow."

"There is no use for you to see her when she is still unconscious. I will send someone to call you as soon as she is awake." – he turned his back on her and walked away.

She stood there for a while thinking about the things he told her. Women are always a path to get to men…Tokyio was a path to revenge from Saito and Kaoru was probably used to get to Battousai... the difference between him and the Mibu Wolf was that he didn't even care.

That would break her naïve soul… she sighed. She had seen the story being repeated over and over. Women must never fall in love, or they became a toy in someone else's hand… she had learnt in the hardest way… Yumi made her way downstairs to the bar but in the middle of the way she felt someone was watching her. "I didn't knew you were here Saito."

"Who was the girl Jin-hei tried to kill?"

Jin Hei killed the woman he liked and that was still driving him crazy because all he wanted to do was to kill him, but as he saw Aoshi there he had a feeling that it was just a little too late to do it. He had lost his chance. But he needed to put this on clean plates. "Who was this girl and what was the purpose of Jin-Hei on her death? "

Yumi knew well that some information must stay secret, after all, she didn't knew Saito True intentions: "I don't know. You must wait until she wakes up, as I will do." – she heard a noise coming from the bar and she immediately forget Saito and ran downstairs to know what was happening.

She stared and the mess her bar was.

"You bastard! How can you talk about our country like that?" Apparently one man was causing all this trouble. Yumi took a good look at him. Even with everyone else in the room arguing with him he seemed relaxed. He took a sip of his red wine and answered: "I am just telling the truth. But you are so blind for the lies they have told you, and the ideals of greatness you want so much to believe, that you refuse to see your real situation."

"You are a samurai! How can you say our country is weak? You should be the first one to be willingly to give your life for this country!" – another one shouted.

Once again his composure seemed unbreakable: "Oh… But I have given my blood for this country many times…" – once again he tasted the wine, but then, as he put the glass on the table he got up and walked in their direction. Then a smiled appeared on his lips: "But if you want to prove me wrong" – he put his hand in one of the swords on his hips: "If you really believe you are strong enough to defend this country, then… fight with me, and if you win, means I am the weak, and as weak people deserve to die, I shall die by your hands, but if not..."

Tension built up in the room because it doesn't matter of how they wanted to fight him they all knew him well enough to know they were no match for him. Sensing that, Yumi stepped into the scene: "Gentleman… my girls upstairs are bored because all of you seemed more interested in debating than in having real fun. " – she walked towards them – "Please, this subjects can wait, but my girls… well you know what they say… you should never leave a woman hanging on, because she will get tired and end up leaving..." – she stared at them… so eager to use her girls also as an escape to the discussion and as an excuse to their weaknesses.

She sighed watching them leave upstairs. She was tired of that life, of being strong all time… Also, even if she didn't show, there were a few things that scarred her. She shook her head. Don't be silly. You've managed to take care of yourself for all these years… You're not going to get all sentimental and let fear drive you now.

"What kind of woman has the ability to drag a crowd of man like those, that minutes ago were craving to defend their ideals with all of their strengths" – she had fail to notice she wasn't alone in the room. The guy who started the fight a few minutes ago approached and sat next to her - "To totally forget the discussion and lead them to act the way she wanted them to? "

Surely he was one of a kind. His eyes were brown but she could swear she had seen them with tones of red as he challenged the others a few minutes ago, his presence was strong and imposing and his deep voice… it caused a shiver down her spine as he talked directly to her. But she was never an easy woman so she composed herself and answered: "One that knows men's nature very well."

He grinned: "We are not one and the same, Miss…"

"Yumi, Komagata Yumi."- she took a good look at him and decided to ask: "Do you really think that?"

"That what?" – he took a sip of the wine he was enjoying before.

"What you said about our country being weak." – It was strange to see a man like him, a samurai, a symbol of the nation, talking about his country in such a disrespectful way, but, she could easily made his words hers.

"I am a man of my word. If I said that it's because I see things that way." – the way he looked at her was so intense. He wasn't forcing himself to please her by all means, he was just being himself, talking to her like she was equal to him.: "And I can tell you agree with me."

His assumption made her smile: "Do you? And why so you assume that such thing?"

He enjoyed the wine in his mouth for a while and then, he licked his lips and look at her intently: "Because you're no naïve, your cleverness and intelligence made you own them. You made them respect you, but you don't like them, not even a little. You know they are only pieces on a chess game."

She laughed:"A chess game? That's something I never learnt to play!"

He laughed as well: "Oh yes you do… You may not know But you are the owner of the game."

She stared at him in disbelief. Why was her heart beating faster? Was this place getting hot?

"How may you call you?" – she desperately needed to know his name, to know something more about him.

"Makoto, Shishio Makoto."

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For the first time in years he was physically tired. They walked for two days without stopping and she wasn't the best companion in the world. In opposition of Kaoru, this woman was quiet, more like a feminine version of himself. But that annoyed him, because he wanted something to distracted him, something to take his mind away from the woman he left.

"I need you to stay away from a while, we are all going to different places from now on. You should wait until I call you again. I am sending Tomoe with you because a couple call less attention than a man alone…people will assume you're just married and moved into town to start a new life. It will be safer. "

He remembered Katsura's words. He never talked to him directly about what happened with Kaoru… he never told her she was the one betraying them, but also because he never believed she was alone on that. And, if someone needed to be punished that person wasn't Kaoru, but the one who forced her or lead her into play such a dangerous game.

Once again she was monopolizing his thoughts.

"I have the info you asked." – Saigoro took him apart from the others

Since he searched for her at the restaurant but he found out she wasn't there, Kenshin secretly asked Saigoro to use his sources to at least know where she was staying at. When the old man told him what happened the samurai felt a huge guilt. On top of everything he had orders to leave the town… How was he going to take an eye on her from so far?

::

"You must not pass from here on. My job is to protect this castle, Battousai." – Kenshin wasn't in the mood to talk… The masked man was just obeying orders, but Kenshin needed to do that before leaving…

"Hannya… I must not forget your name." – Kenshin pointed him his sword – "You're a very skilled fighter, but I have something very important to do. And you're in the middle."

They were fighting for a while, and Kenshin already had various opportunities to kill him, but these people were taking care of her, so he refrained himself.

"Then you have to take me down." – the answer was clear. He needed to find a way to knock him down without killing him. "I will."- Kenshin replied.

As he used do ryo sen in order to make him lose his balance Kenshin striked the man's throat and he fainted.

:::

He was sure that was her room, because that sweet scent of jasmine was coming from there. Kenshin opened the door and stepped in.

Kaoru was sleeping. There was no smile on her face, like she used to have. Even when she was sleeping sometimes he found her smiling, but now, her expression was changed. She was in deep slumber and probably wasn't going to hear a word of what he was about to say, but he needed that to calm his tortuous soul.

He kneeled beside her, his eyes focused on her face: "I am sad things ended up this way. But it was the you wanted to be… You know, part of your mission has succeeded, because half of me died on that day Kaoru. " – he shook his head to the contradictory feelings inside of his chest. "I still… I still love you." – as his fingers touched her skin he desired her to be awake, so that he could take a look into her eyes again and realize what went through her mind to do something like that: "I am keeping this hope… that maybe someday your actions will not hurt me anymore and I will be able to search for you again." – he took a look at her trying to figure out what kind of wounds she could have, as he heard it was a violent attack, but since all of them were concealed from his eyes he had nothing else to do but wish she could recover soon: "I am sorry for not being there to protect you and kill that animal who did this to you… but I heard someone else did my job…" – he grabbed her hand, and as he pulled her to kiss her palm her sleeve slide back and he was able to see a laceration on her arm, caused by a sword. He gritted his teeth in anger: "And it doesn't matter how devastated that mades me feel because I wanted to do it myself, I am glad such person (Jin-hei) is not walking around you anymore."

"I will move on with my life as I know you will do to yours." He approached his face to hers and kissed her cheek. There were so many things he wanted to say, but he was bound both by his job and his honor not to let his feelings control him. Half of him hoped her to wake up but the other half was afraid of that… so he got up and walked to the door decided to leave, but stopped just to look at her one more time. His next words sounded heavy on his heart because usually you only tell them to someone you lose to death.

"Goodbye… anata."