Hopefully you liked the first chapter, because I already wrote the second! Yay?

Kaoru's POV

I was taken aback as the man with the red hair grabbed me in his arms, his eyes ablaze. No longer a beautiful violet, now a molten gold. He ran forward, and the shock of the speed snapped my head back, and my head felt spinny. I spun around in my head for half a second, before my vision fell black.

I woke up sometime later, my mouth feeling dry, and stuffed with cotton. I actually had to open and close my mouth to make sure it was clear. Three shadows blocked the bright light shining on my face, making interesting silhouettes, and I blinked and squinted, trying to make the picture make more sense.

"There Ken-san, you've nothing to worry about, she's fine!" A soothing voice came from a young woman in a medical coat, yelling at a red haired man. It took a second, but the red haired man met my eyes and I remembered who he was, my customer. But this wasn't the restaurant… A joking voice rang in my ears as the other figure spoke, his hair spiked in such a way that he looked like a rooster.

"Hey Jou-chan, about time ya woke up, damn near scared me to death." He chewed lazily on a toothpick, grinning, and winked. Something about him reminded me of something. An odd, déjà vu feeling spreading through my stomach the second he said the words 'Jou-chan.' The affectionate name made the corners of my mouth lift up in a smile, a warm, safe effect enveloping my entire body.

A name played on my mouth for a fraction of a second, before slowly, one by one, the syllables slipped through my lips, "Sanosuke.."

I watched the man break into a wide smile, and rush towards me, crushing me in a hug. The scent of him triggered a memory, and suddenly, I was gripping him tightly, my fingers digging into the leather jacket, the 'Aku' symbol I had stitched in, so many ages ago, feeling ratted and torn, "Oh Sano, it's been years!" My cheeks hurt, I was smiling so widely.

He pushed himself off of me, and spit out his toothpick, kissing me full on the lips, laughing in pure enjoyment when my hand smacked against his cheek. How could I have forgotten this goofball? We'd been friends since we were five, and had been the best of friends until I'd turned sixteen, only three years ago. I looked at him, but something felt wrong, something in my brain didn't click. His face wasn't the baby face that it had been when he was five, it wasn't the handsome, drop-dead gorgeous face it had been the last time she'd seen him, when he'd been taken away..

Long scars ran down his face, his skin multicolored as my eyes ran down the aged and new wounds. One corner of his eyes was slightly off, and I realized that his face now seemed to hold a permanent smirk, a scar lifting one side of his mouth. A feeling akin to horror froze my breath, and for a second, all I could comprehend was the odd look he gave me, a crazy spark.

A hand grabbed the shoulder of my friend, and tore him away from me, revealing the doctor, and the serious look on her face. I peaked around her form, seeing Sano run a hand through his hair, swearing. He looked at the redhead seriously, and muttered an angry 'Thank-you' when the man pulled out a pack of cigarettes from his back pocket. I opened my mouth, about to yell at Sano for taking up such a deadly habit, when I glanced up at the doctor. Her mouth was set in a stern line as she looked me over, shaking her head.

"My goodness Ken-san, always a thing for these type of girls." I heard a growl from Sano as the doctor said these words, and a low, humorless chuckle from this 'Ken-san.' The doctor looked over her shoulder at Sano and sighed, "You know that this is for the best, Rooster-head." Her serious expression made a sorrowful smile when Sano replied with a sigh, "Yeah Fox, go ahead, put her down."

A fear gripped me and once again, I couldn't breathe. The doctor pulled off a glove and shook her head, two fingertips pressing against my forehead. A feeling of nausea ran throughout my body, and I wrenched forward, feeling every meal from the past day start it's voyage up from my stomach. The doctor reached down and held my hair back, while Sano held a bucket in-front of me. I lurched and gagged, before my body felt non-existent, and I sagged against my rooster-looking friend.

My head spun again, and Sano looked up at the doctor as my eyes began to close, before looking back at me, his chocolate brown eyes expressing every apology I knew he wanted to say.

"Tomorrow.. Tomorrow you'll know everything, Jou-chan. Just rest until tomorrow.."

My eyes struggled to stay open, and for a few minutes, I resisted the black edges around my vision for the longest time. I felt his hand run through my hair comfortingly, and kiss the top of my forehead before replacing his lips with a damp cloth. "Always so stubborn," I heard him mumble through the cotton wall that seemed to be covering my ears.

My vision darkened further, until I could barely see him. Exhaustion ran through me in a new wave, and right before the darkness of sleep overtook me, I heard one last murmur, "Damn Jou-chan, what did you do to get yourself into this mess?"

Kenshin's POV

I heard Sano enter my room, his lumbering steps giving me the perfect picture in my mind; a man slumped over, defeated. As though he could hear my thoughts, he sighed in defeat, crumpling in a beanbag chair that I had in my room just for that purpose. I ran a hand through my hair, getting the bangs out of my eyes, by the look on his face, I needed a new beanbag chair.

The shifting of the beanies was loud in the room as he made himself comfortable, his brown eyes looking straight at me. The man looked formidable as the forty-watt light bulb shone from the ceiling, just illuminating him enough so that I knew he wasn't happy. His voice betrayed his expression, and a very sarcastic remark was the first thing to come from those lips, "Goddamn Kenshin, I didn't realize I sat in this beanbag so much. Y'know, maybe you've been using it in my absence, sure feels like there's a spot her, about the size of your ass."

I could feel a grin on my face that mirrored his own, and his low chuckle echoed through the room for a few seconds, before he looked at me, his expression hardened, and I awaited the obvious question.

"Do ya know what happened to Kaoru?" he murmured seriously, leaning forward in the beanbag chair, his hands clasped together. I looked at him silently for a second, steeling my expression when I saw his knuckles begin to turn white. His fingers clenched into fists half a dozen times before he sighed and slumped back, "Damn it all." He took a deep breath, screaming out at the top of his lungs, "DAMN IT ALL!"

I sighed and walked over to him, every step towards him, I could feel his aura more clearly, an ache hit me in the chest, and for a second, I didn't breath, I just walked, and put a hand on top of his head. He looked up and grinned at me, but there was no humor in the expression. His chin twitched once or twice, before he avoided my gaze. There was a light sheen over his eyes that was obvious even in the dim light.

I reached forward and rested my hand on his shoulder, and he slumped forward, groaning softly. I saw him reach up to wipe under his eyes and shake his hair, "No.. No.. Kaoru.. Kaoru…"

Tomoe.. Tomoe..

I heard a soft knock on my door, and I looked up, seeing the unmistakable silhouette of Megumi. "Come in," I murmured softly, looking pointedly at Sano. He nodded and faced towards the door, wiping under his eyes in a single, swift moment.

The tall women sighed before she opened the thin door. Her hair was let down from her earlier ponytail, and I noticed the bandages around her arms, "Nothing's wrong with her physical form, and even then, if there had been, her numbers wouldn't have changed like that." Megumi shook her head, pinching the bridge of her nose, and I automatically looked at the top of her head.

45 years, 7 months, 24 days, 13 hours, 56 minutes, 37 seconds.

I threw a cursory glance at Sano as well, noting that his number identical to hers, only the minutes and seconds were slightly off. I watched as Megumi grinned and teased Sano good-heartedly, teasing his red rimmed eyes. I barely heard their words as they insulted and teased one another, until Sano was laughed and grabbed Megumi, spinning her around. The twinkle in his eyes matched hers, and for a second, I knew they forgot I was there.

They were going to die together, a secret I had kept from them ever since I noticed how close their numbers were to each other. Some things are meant to be secrets, and undying love, I suppose, is one of them. And I had kept the secret from all but one person, Tomoe.

Tomoe.. Tomoe..

An ache spread in my chest, and I leaned forward, feeling slightly ill, as though Megumi had touched me. I gripped my shirt, was it getting harder to breathe? Was there sand in my eyes? I blinked several times, trying to keep from tearing.

"Ken-san, did you hear me?"

"No, Megumi-dono, it seems I spaced out for a second, what was that?"

Megumi flipped her hair, wrinkling her nose in annoyance, and I wasn't blind to how Sano's eyes watched every black strand. I also noticed how his expression softened, and how a corner of his lips went up in a smile. "Are you sure that her numbers fell?" Megumi's voice invaded my thoughts, and I nodded.

I ran my hair though my hair again and she rolled her eyes, throwing me a hair tie. As I busied myself with tying my hair up into it's ponytail, I saw her bite her bottom lip. Her hands wrung together, before she slipped off her doctor's coat, handing it over to Sano. I watched as she wasted time, adjusting her dress, before murmuring softly. I barely heard her, and from her expression, I knew that she wished I hadn't. "Didn't the same thing happen to Tomoe-san?"

I heard Sano's sharp gasp as Megumi said the words that needed to be said. I swallowed slowly and looked to the side, not wanting to remember how it happened, not wanting to feel the pain as it shook through my body.

Black eyes looked at me, her face pale with fear, her face splattered with blood. She stumbled forward, and I rose my sword, about to strike, when I noticed her numbers. 45 years, 5 months, 29 days, 32 minutes, 5 seconds. I felt my sword fall out of my hands as I realized, this woman wasn't supposed to die here. She pitched forward, and fall on the ground in front of me. I reached down, picking the young woman up, bringing her back to the inn.

2 months later

I heard her scream as she flung herself in front of the man's blade, and my sword hit her. I watched as her numbers went from 45 years, to 2 minutes, 56 seconds. The man attacking me fell, instantly dead, and my arms wrapped around Tomoe's form, watching as the seconds slowly ticked away, her black eyes slowly losing their awareness, until the numbers over her head all went to zero, and her expression went completely void, her body limp.

Tomoe.. Tomoe..

Megumi snapped her fingers in front of my eyes, and I jumped slightly, blinking a few times until I realized I'd been crying. I wiped the tears off my face, growling softly, "What? What does Tomoe have to do with this?"

Megumi gave a solemn smile, and I heard another sharp intake of breath from Sano, and I heard him fall down as emotions completely overtook him. He screamed out in frustration. Whatever he and Megumi knew, I wasn't getting.

"Do you think that, perhaps, you're making her numbers go down?" Megumi murmured, patting and running her hand along the top of my head, trying to calm me down as I froze, reality sinking in. I was the reason her numbers were going down, I was going to kill her. My world spun around me for a few moments, and my knees felt weak. As the ground raced toward my face, I heard Sano's frustrated voice. "Goddamn Jou-chan.. Goddamn.."

Indeed, goddamn.

Kaoru's POV

I woke up to see Sano sitting next to me, smiling sadly. His eyes were red, and I opened my mouth to ask him what was wrong, and ask where I was. He shook his head solemnly, and grasped my hand, intertwining my fingers with his. His lips brushed the top of my forehead, and I saw his chest shake, "Kaoru.. Kaoru, please forgive us.. We've killed you.."

We've killed you…

A/N - Read and review!