A/N: I'm so sorry for the lapse in updates! School is taking up much of my free time and I'm battling fiercely with a big writer's block. Because of an unfortunate incident, I now have one free holiday week and so here's chapter 6 of GH! I hope you'll enjoy it!

Chapter 6: Silence is Golden

The sun was beating down mercilessly on the soldiers. Sweat poured out of every pore on their skin as Elorian knights continued to march unflaggingly to the colonel's harsh pace. Despite baking within their suits of armor, not one dared to shed their protective clothing for fear of being ambushed by bandits or worse – Shishio's army.

They were marching through a small valley; the area was filled with an occasional clutter of trees that barely provided enough shade from the afternoon sun. As the soldiers tire, the tight formation of the army began to spread apart as warriors searched for more breathing space.

Kaoru and her unit hung at the back; their unit having not being relieved from their duties that morning. From time to time, the captain would have to turn on her horse to check on the caravans and make sure no one was being left behind. Aoshi stayed at the side, sharp eyes constantly swiveling from side to side as he scanned for danger.

Kaoru sighed and nudged her horse again, ignoring the twinging pain on her rear and back from sitting in the saddle for so long. She really had no reason to complain; after all, her horse was doing all the walking for her. Unconsciously, her eyes slid forward to seek the rigid back and flaming ponytail in front.

It was reasonable, she had tried to convince herself, as the leader was riding in front that her eyes would seek the one in command to watch for any signals or orders he might issue. But it was futile effort, Kaoru knew she looked andonly saw the back of one particular man. She would be lying if she wasn't at least one bit captivated by the red maned leader, though cold and often snappy she sensed there was something else underneath. For the briefest moments at the plains, Kaoru saw past the barriers he so stubbornly kept up. But it was only a brief moment, a quick flash of weakness and then it was gone – so quickly, it almost made her wonder if she imagined it.

Am I doing it again father? The captain glanced skywards, her lips pressed into a worrying frown. Her father had called it her "hero's complex" – her compassionate heart that often emphasized her desire to 'save' anyone in distress.

You have a good heart, Kaoru. Her father had told her. But a good heart does not cure all.

But I'm just trying to help, I'm not making anything worse by trying.

Sweet Kaoru, Koshijiro breathed slowly, it's a fine, fine line you walk between helping and meddling in things that shouldn't be meddled with.

A sharp cry from her left shattered her thoughts as the captain whipped around just in time to catch the sight of one of her soldiers falling to the ground.

A black shafted arrow stuck painfully out of one shoulder.

Ice shot through her veins and before she knew it, a volley of raven black arrows descended on them. Cries of agony and pain filled the air as several stray arrows found a target. From the shadows of a large clutter of trees, several black hooded figures emerged and charged towards them.

Bandits!

Immediately, the captain pulled her reins and turned her horse around. Her sword was freed from its restraints as she raised it to the air. "Soldiers to the wagons, shields up! Protect the injured and the supplies!" her command rang loud and clear and the panicking soldiers began to move quickly, given a command to follow.

In one synchronized motion, soldiers around the wagons brought up their square shields to form a barrier that deflected further shafted volleys from reaching the supplies and the injured.

As Kaoru yelled at the remaining soldiers to get into position, Aoshi galloped in, horse rearing to a stop by her side.

"Archers how many?" she demanded as she whipped her horse around.

"A dozen." the second replied swiftly without hesitation.

"Inform the colonel." Aoshi seemed to hesitate for a brief moment before giving in to a stiff nod, turned his horse around and galloped to deliver the message.

With Aoshi's quickly disappearing figure, the captain turned back to handle the situation at hand. Twelve archers, twelve arrows per volley. The captain frowned and her hand tightened marginally on her reins. Forcing out the sounds of panic, the captain dismissed the band of bandits rushing towards them as she searched the treelines.

There! Her decision was rewarded as she quickly pinpointed the archers' positions. Bringing up her sword she directed it towards the forest.

"Take down the archers first!" she managed to command before the group of bandits descended on her unit like a pack of hungry wolves.

With one quick stroke, the flat of her blade connected with the unprotected temple of a hooded figure and sent the man slumping down. She clamped her legs around her horse, steering it around towards the ring of the group.

The sounds of battle filled the area as unit seven engaged in a violent battle against the valley villains. Kaoru managed to dispatch two other archers before she was surrounded by a group of bandits who deemed her too strong to be handled alone. Dismounting from her horse in one smooth movement, the female captain wasted no time in leaping straight into battle.

Her father's sword teachings awoke like molten lava in her veins as the captain allowed herself to be controlled by a swordsman's instincts alone. She weaved among her enemies, sword flashing and biting as she knocked one opponent after another to the ground. Her sword flashed in the air, blocking a stroke as her leg came around and collided with the offender's neck and a solid crack echoed around the area.

Swiveling on one foot, the female captain ducked a wild swing and slashed downwards on a vital ligament, drawing a spray of blood. The bandit went down with a pain filled cry, his leg no longer able to support his weight with the right ligament severed.

She barely had time to consider the villain's pain when a silver flash informed her of a coming attack and she sidestepped just in time as the sword point missed her head by inches. Swinging her arm around, her elbow caught the neck of a bandit and she allowed the momentum to flip the man over. Without a second's hesitation, she brought her boot to the side of his head and the burly figure slumped down defeated.

The fight seemed endless for it seemed whenever she dropped one bandit, two more would fill his place and the captain was starting to feel pressured. Up until then, Kaoru had been relying on the defensive sword style, reluctant to draw upon the fanged side of her father's sword. However, if the numbers kept growing…

Biting down on her grim thoughts, Kaoru focused on the combat, swiveling to the side as she dodged a fatal blow and introduced the hilt of her sword to her enemy's forehead. Blocking another strike, the captain twisted around the deadlock and freed her weapon, bludgeoning the face of another bandit with the flat side of her father's sword. Without resting, the captain fought fiercely to reduce the numbers around her until finally as her kick sent a man into unconsciousness the sounds of approaching footfalls graced her ears. She glanced up just in time to find a flash of silver - too fast to be stopped naturally - whip past the side of her face followed by a pained grunt and a splash of warmth against her back as the last bandit fell backwards, dead.

If she hadn't been so absorbed, so frightened in her place, she would've protested against the kill. She would have told him she could handle herself just fine but she was captured by fierce golden eyes and highly aware of the angry breathing down her neck.

"What." his growl, though soft was leashed with tightly restrained fury. "Were you thinking rushing off by yourself?"

"I.."

His eyes blazed and Kaoru took an uncertain step backwards, her hand clenching tightly around her sword.

"I had to take out the archers first." she tried again and was somewhat proud that her voice came out loud and clear and didn't betray her nervousness and fear as she faced the enraged colonel.

"You could've waited for the rest of the division to arrive first before charging ahead without thinking!" the man thundered and Kaoru flinched at the harsh sound.

"By then half of my unit would've been shot dead! I can't risk that!" she blurted in her defense, her anger rising to replace her fear. "I have to protect them!" her hand clenched sickeningly on her sword.

"By charging ahead to suicide?!" the redhead yelled.

"So what?!" she countered, her voice cracking as she spoke against her superior. "Should I have stood idle by the side despite having the knowledge and means to stop what is causing harm to my unit? That I should have stayed coldhearted and watched as my men suffered for my inaction?!"

His roar startled her and she stumbled back, shocked and surprised. An arm flashed out and a whip of wind buffeted her as the unmistakably sound of steel echoed through the area. There was silence and then as if time had slowed down, the trees beside the man slid slowly and fell over from a clean cut through the middle.

The death of a tree had never been a quiet occurrence; branches snapped and splintered, leaves cracked against the others and the loud groaning of an ancient life about to keel over. But despite the chaos around them, despite the dust roused from the fall of several trees, it was eerily silent and still as two Elorians faced each other on opposite sides.

For the first time in her short stay with the first division, she saw the one the others called the monster. She saw the ruthless, raging and hideous entity everyone feared.

But she saw it chained, restrained as a man fought to control it. She saw him growling and fraying around the edges - but protecting; his body bent slightly forward, his golden eyes hidden in the shadow of his bangs.

Very slowly, his words slid out and she could hear the anger he was trying to control. His body, tensed and corded with muscles shook with his frustration but his tone was soft and even gentle.

"Are you hurt?"

She shook her head mutely, scared to breathe too loudly and shatter the tensed silence, yet her heart thumped much too wildly in her ribs for her liking.

From behind him the remaining bandits were fleeing as the rest of the division caught up to the rear and outnumbered them, though neither side seem to notice the two in the forest.

"You're bleeding." His eyes were up again and he was frowning with the thousands of masks piled on.

Kaoru was surprised and looked down to find the clothing on her sword arm stained wine red. Curious, she thought dumbly to herself, I didn't even feel the cut.

"It's a superficial wound." She said finally, as her hand rose to touch the small cut on her arm to find that it had already stopped bleeding.

Dim yellow searched hers for a long moment before the connection was shattered as he turned away.

"Get it checked." He walked back without another word leaving Kaoru bowing in the darkness as she received her orders.

x x x

In the end, they managed to protect their meagre supplies without being looted.

However while there weren't any deaths, unit seven suffered most as they were the first to engage the bandits. Thankfully, most sustained only superficial wounds and the one who took an arrow to the arm had dodged it quickly enough that it didn't hit any vital spots.

Kaoru should feel proud of the report and the overall status of her unit. She should feel happy, relieved that her unit survived their first trial without any major casualties. But instead, the female captain felt weighed down and conflicted.

Part of her blamed herself for not noticing the bandits sooner but most of her felt guilty after the spat with the colonel - because what he said had truth.

How could she feel proud of her achievements when she had acted so rashly? She had underestimated her enemies and charged ahead, determined to bring an end to the fight even before it started, but had she considered if she were to lose? What of the men following her? Not only would she be felled because of a thoughtless action of hers, she would be made a liar by breaking her own promise to her unit.

She looked up and saw the back of the colonel leading in front.

After the ordeal with the valley bandits, the units had decided to travel closer together and not risk taking any more chances. The colonel was the only one who never really moved from his spot. His back was ever confident, ever rigid and straight.

Kaoru made up her mind.

"Look after them." she told Aoshi and snapped her reins.

x x x

"What do you want." he was not in the mood for company, much less hers.

"I just want to say I'm sorry."

Kenshin said nothing. He had nothing he wanted to say to her - not to a stubborn, irrational captain who would risk jeopardizing her own life chasing some fool's illusion. He would, as her colonel, have to lecture and punish her for her actions later but for now, he loathed talking to her. He nudged his horse faster.

"It was stupid of me to rush ahead without considering the consequences of my actions." her voice was soft and he could hear her honesty, her remorse but also strength and a spark of stubbornness carefully veiled. "I only wanted to protect my men but I've pushed more danger onto them by leaving them alone."

He turned to her, golden eyes assessing the wary slump of shoulders and the lowered head. Her eyes did not meet his but instead were turned to the road ahead. Then suddenly there was a shift in her demeanor. A small one - the slight stiffening of shoulders, a stubborn tilt of her head - and somehow, Kenshin knew what was about to come next.

"But, I would probably do it again if there's a next time."

Kenshin couldn't help the snort from coming out as he rolled his eyes and applied pressure to his steed's side. The soft clip-clopping told him the captain had followed after him, unwilling to be left behind - not when she had much more to say.

"My decision was made hastily and risky, but I do not regret attempting to take down the archers first. If it happened again, I would probably charge ahead again," then after a sheepish pause she added softly, "though this time I would bring company as well."

Kenshin wanted to let out a long, suffering sigh. His opinion of her hadn't changed, she was still the childish, ignorant fool she was since she arrived but she was learning - albeit slowly. He refused to acknowledge the small twinge of amusement in his chest, a flutter of emotions as part of him wondered over this strange creature by his side.

"You're a fool." He told her and she smiled widely.

"I am."

He rolled his eyes at her acknowledgement of his claims but did, somewhat slow his horse down, no longer attempting to draw distance between them. He listened to the sounds of a thousand footfalls echoing by his side, counting down the seconds till -

"May I ride with you sir? For a few moments?" she asked hesitantly.

"What about your unit?"

"Aoshi is looking after them, I trust him." she paused then added softly. "I could go back if I'm bothering you."

"You're not." the words slipped out before he could stop them.

Sapphire eyes widened with surprise before a stunning smile broke through and filled her face and suddenly the will to retract his words died down.

"So I can ride with you sir?"

He grimaced at the childish bubble to her voice and gave in to a resigned sigh. "Aren't you already?"

Her amused laughter tinkled in the air as she nudged her steed faster to pull up at his side.

"Thank you."

And they rode together in silence for the rest of the day.

x x x

It was nighttime and Kaoru was just finishing her last round of patrols around the area.

They chose the open plains to camp, underneath the spread of stars and away from the demons lurking in the shadows of the forest. Her entire unit was asleep, wrapped in their blankets and snoring softly other than the soldiers that were given night duty.

She had sent Aoshi to his bedroll, dismissing him from his duties despite his insistence on staying by her side. She needed time to think.

Kaoru scanned the area again. The night was still and campfires dimmed as fire fed on the last unscorched stretch of wood. Most units were sleeping, huddled into separate groups and around their own campfires. She had noticed unit two's captain standing by his unit, yellow eyes opened and keeping watch over his men as a wisp of smoke curled from his cigarette. They shared a brief acknowledging nod as she passed by. Most unit captains chose to stay awake for night duty after their brief encounter with the bandits, too tensed and wary to risk any loss of their rapidly dwindling supplies, if they were to be attacked again, they wouldn't be unprepared this time.

Upon finishing her fifth circle, the captain noticed the surprising absence of the colonel. While the leader often secluded himself from his division, he was often within easy sight of his captains. Kaoru frowned and decided to look for him.

She barely took a few steps to the forest when her senses flared and the captain twisted around, unsheathing her sword in the same movement as she deflected a flying dagger.

Sapphire eyes narrowed and immediately turned towards the shadows of the trees, pinpointing the huddled attacker crouched on one of the lower branches.

"Who are you?" she asked calmly, fingers twitching on her unsheathed sword. Her senses told her that there's only one intruder and one that she could handle by herself without waking up the whole division.

The shadow detached itself from its high perch and landed softly in the moonlight, revealing a lithe and small figure.

"You're not bad!" a peppy, young voice chirped.

Kaoru felt her eyes widened slightly in surprise to find herself faced with a short girl with long hair twisted into a braid that swung behind her like a scorpion's tail. She was dressed strangely, with little to no armor on her body but the sounds of steel clinking together informed the captain that the girl, though scantily clad, was not at all defenseless.

"I'll ask again, who are you?" she demanded a bit louder this time, tensing up when the mysterious visitor stepped forward.

The girl chuckled lightly, holding her hands out as a cheeky grin stretched across her face. "Woah, I'm part of the division too. Makimachi Misao, the first division's scout and fantabulous ninja spy at your service Ma'am." the young female sketched a low bow.

Makimachi Misao? Her sword lowered slowly but she kept her eyes on the short girl. The name rang a dim bell.

Her eyes widened with understanding as it came to her. "You were the captain of unit seven."

"Temporary captain please." Misao clicked her tongue, crossing her arms behind her back as she leaned her weight onto the balls of her feet. "I'm not really captain material see?"

Kaoru frowned, still uncertain if she could trust the words of a stranger who appeared out of the shadows.

"Prove yourself." She said carefully, sapphire eyes narrowing sharply as she raised her sword in a silent warning.

The young scout's peppy expression turned into one of great exasperation as if she couldn't believe that Kaoru was really asking her to prove herself. "Fine, fine, fine, does war make everyone paranoid?" the girl rolled her eyes and crossed her arms lazily over her chest, one finger tapping her chin in a thoughtful way.

"Let's see… You're Kamiya Kaoru, new to the division, pissed off our dearly beloved colonel several times and haven't learned to back off when he's in one of those moods. You shouldn't really have pissed him off in the forest if you value living a bit longer and dear god, why do you sleep with that hideous looking blanket? Have you seen its state? How can you live with cuddling with-"

Kaoru held up her hands with a grimace. "Ok, ok, I believe you." The captain frowned at the mischievous grin on the young scout's face. Not many knew what happened in the forest or the reason behind the colonel's frustration after the scrimmage with the bandits. And the little mischief just had to bring my ugly camp blanket into the conversation didn't she?

"Where were you these few days, why is tonight the first time I learn of your existence?" the captain sheathed her sword slowly, her stance relaxing but there was still a slight bit of doubt in her tone. Thankfully, it didn't seem Misao seem to have minded or noticed for she rocked gently back and forth on the balls of her feet with a cheerful and relaxed expression on her face.

"Oh, Kenshin told me to gather intelligence beforehand and since I travel faster on foot, I moved out before the division did. I have been traveling near the division ever since I came back!"

Kenshin? The captain frowned at the unfamiliar name when she finally realized that Misao was referring to their colonel.

"So that's his name…" Kaoru muttered softly to herself, tasting the strong name with her tongue and finding it ironic that they had never really formally traded names.

"Darnit, Megumi had to be right too…"

"Huh?" Kaoru was drawn back to Misao, confused when she couldn't make sense of Misao's words.

"What are you doing?" she asked warily as Misao circled her, green eyes glancing up and down her body like she was observing some unique piece of art. It made Kaoru feel somewhat self-conscious.

"But hey you do have a nice butt so I'm not completely wrong too!" Misao chirped happily to herself.

The captain felt blood rush to her face in embarrassment at the comment and whipped around immediately, hands flying instinctively to cover her rear. "W-what?" What does that mean?!

"Ah, me and Megumi had a deal. I said that the new captain would be another burly man but with a hot butt! Because hot butts makes all the difference and come to think of it, your second in command does have a hot butt."

Aoshi's hot butt. Somewhere in her mind, something broke, her childhood friend's grim image forever ruined. The captain shook her head furiously feeling her blush deepening from the onslaught of weirdness. She found it amazing she actually understood what the young spy was saying as Misao was speaking without pause.

Though I'm better off not having heard that last comment.

"It's nice to know there's another girl around here. It gets kind of boring with all these knuckleheads, so I support you girl!" Misao laughed, giving the captain a thumbs up.

"Thank you, Misao." Kaoru muttered softly, not sure if she should feel delighted or scared that she had the division's exotic spy supporting her back.

If possible, Misao's grin widened even more as she leaped forward and grabbed her hand before she could protest. "Let's be friends kay? You need someone in the shadows to watch your back, I'll be there!"

As Misao shook their linked hands furiously, Kaoru felt her own lips twitch in response. Though a bit weird, somewhere in her heart Kaoru felt the beginnings of a new friendship. Kaoru felt her hand tighten around the smaller palm of the energetic scout, sealing the deal.

"Oh and the first thing you do as my friend is introduce me to your hot friend."

Kaoru laughed softly and nodded. "Of course, Misao." As their hands disjoined, the young ninja spy waved and disappeared into the shadows of the forest, not before flashing a smile that promised that she'll watch over her unit as she slept tonight.

Smiling into the darkness, the captain turned away and walked back to her campfire, settling down on her camp blanket. Friends in war huh? Kaoru turned the dying embers, awakening the sleeping fire, wonder what father will think of this? She smiled.

She threw a few more twigs into the fire to keep it burning through the night and settled into her blankets. Her eyes opened marginally as soft footfalls drew her attention and Kaoru lifted her head to find the colonel settling down with his back to a tree.

As the captain fell back to sleep, she couldn't help but wonder where the redheaded colonel had disappeared off to.

To be continued…

So what do you think? I'm pretty proud of the beginning of the chapter and then that pride slowly drained away xDD It happens when you reread your writing several million times and start to get bored of your own writing. Oh dear.

If you're feeling nice, feel free to tell me what you think of the developments in this chapter or just criticize me for my lateness in my updating xDD that's fine too 3

What do you think will happen next? Will Kenshin ever change his opinion of Kaoru? (In fact, is his opinion already changing?)

Till next chapter/update!

~IOD