This chapter got a little long, but I hope you enjoy.

As a reply to one of the comments, Megumi is not immune to the drug. She's never been exposed to it. Sorry if I didn't make that clear.

The Heart

When he had heard Kaoru and Misao talking, he didn't want to interrupt, so he stayed outside. Then Kaoru started talking about him and his body moved of its own accord, needing to be near her. Misao had quickly left and Kaoru had turned to him and smiled. Normally, he would wait until she gave him permission to enter her space, but this time he didn't. He went to her and sat down next to her, pulling her into his chest. She let him, and they sat there in silence, not needing to say anything. What was there to say?

"The upper class think we are incapable of taking care of ourselves," she said after a while. He nodded, Aoshi had grumbled something along that line when he ran into him earlier.

"I might have an idea to deal with that, but I'm unsure."

"What?" he said snuggling his head into the crook of her neck and breathing in her scent.

"The same way I deal with Gohei when he is being an imbecile."

He remembered how she had gotten Gohei sick, it was the first time he saw how terrifying she could be when angry. But he didn't know how that would help, "I don't understand."

"If we could get the upper-class sick with something their fancy doctors can't fix. Then they would have to come to us for aid. Especially if some of the lower class get sick and we can help them. It would force them to recognize that we aren't idiots."

"Could you do that?"

"I practice an ancient kind of medicine. Most modern doctors, especially the ones that serve the upper-class, don't know plants. They wouldn't be able to diagnose something caused by an obscure plant."

"But you said plants have unexpected side effects," he said. The last thing he wanted was for someone to get severely sick or die because Kaoru would never forgive herself.

"Ya. It would take some research, but I could probably find something that didn't have dangerous side effects. The question is, how to disperse it to everyone. I was thinking the water system."

"Alcohol is much more effective," Master Hiko said, startling both of them. At some point, his master had come into the room and sat down. They had been too absorbed to notice him. Kaoru moved to pull away, but he held her back. He liked where she currently was, and his childish side kicked in. She grunted when he pulled her back against his chest but didn't fight him.

"Alcohol?" She asked trying and failing not to blush.

"Everyone you want to target can drink. It takes children out of the equation. They are innocent and can react more violently to sicknesses," Master Hiko said drinking from his sake flask. He buried his face in Kaoru's hair, of course his master had found a way to work alcohol into the equation. Though in truth, the only reason his master had mentioned it was for Kaoru, which made him immensely glad. His master approved of Kaoru's values, even if he saw them as childish.

"We can target a certain brand of alcohol and bring down the family that makes it as well," he added.

"How would we get some of the lower-class sick to show we can solve the problem?"

"Most of the people in charge of those businesses sell lower end alcohol to the lower-class for some extra profit," Master Hiko said.

"How would we contaminate the drink without them noticing?"

"We'll figure that out, you just find a way to make them sick," he said.

"Mmkay," she said, and he could feel her relaxing and falling asleep. As much as he wanted to let her sleep, she needed to get home.

"We should get you home before Yahiko worries, that we should," he said. She slowly got up and he got up after her. He would escort her home.

"I almost forgot," she said stopping. "Dr. Gensai met with Shura, she's the leader of the group Ayame's parents formed."

"What did they say?"

"Well, they didn't exactly agree to not help us, but they didn't agree to help us either. It's more they acknowledge what we are doing and if we need their help, they will probably help us if we agree to offer the same courtesy."

"So, they will help with specific things but now overall," Master Hiko said and she nodded.

"It's better than nothing," he said. He covered his hair, so it wouldn't cause attention, and then they left.

"Miss Kaoru," he asked as they walked. She hummed in response. "What happened to Ayame and Suzume's parents?" He didn't want to push, but he did want to know, for the girl's sake.

Kaoru was silent for a while, "They were thieves. They helped bring down the Takamori family among other things. So, as you can imagine, the upper-class wanted them dead. I don't know how their identities got discovered, but they were. Once they had a name to go off of, it wasn't long before mercenaries were knocking down their door. They had enough time to hide Ayame and Suzume before they were attacked and killed. Suzume was too young to understand what was going on but Ayame saw the whole thing." His heart sunk for the little girl he was so fond of. No one should have to witness such a thing.

"I found them the next day," she continued. "They hadn't moved from their hiding spot. Ayame wasn't in a good shape. She struggled for a long time, that's why Suzume always tries to cheer her up. She was young when it happened, and the memories have slowly faded. Now they only plague her at night. Children are strong like that." They fell into silence while he digested the information. He hated that the girls had to go through more because of their connection to him. He could only hope that he had enough strength to protect them from anything else that came.

When they got back to her place and Yahiko wasn't there, Kaoru was instantly worried. Considering the time and their track record, she had every right to be concerned. When they got to the gym, the concern only grew. The signs of a fight were obvious and there was blood on the ground. Kaoru was too shocked to move. He put a hand on her shoulder to steady her.

"We'll find him." He said. He pulled out his phone and contacted the other's. Having part of the police force on their side made contacting each other without being caught much easier.

Once she had met Raku's slave, Raku found it fit for him to be around almost every time they hung out. She had taken to calling the man Tau in her mind, since she refused to keep referring to him as the man or Raku's slave. Some might find it disturbing, that she named her ex-best friends slave after her murdered brother, but it worked for her. It kept him human, kept his pain fresh in her mind. And most of all, it stopped her from ever becoming something like Raku.

They were currently in Raku's room getting ready for the ball. Sano was waiting patiently outside. After that night things had gotten better. He stopped acting cold towards her. In public, he acted like her body guard and kept his distance. But he was well attuned to her feelings and always found a way to get closer to her when she was struggling. When they were away from prying eyes, he showed a kindness she had never seen before. He brushed her hair for her on occasion, held her when she needed it, and slept next to her, keeping her fears at bay. She was now immensely glad he was there, he kept everything barrable.

It was awkward, having Tau there while she was getting dressed, but she pushed the feeling aside. There wasn't anything she could do about it and she did see him avert his eyes when she was mostly naked. In a very short time she had formed a rather strange relationship with Tau. He seemed to understand she didn't want to hurt him and found way of communicating his needs to her through small gestures. She was then left with the task of helping him without Raku noticing.

"This is going to be so much fun," Raku bubbled as they did their makeup.

"I just hope I don't embarrass myself," she joked. "I haven't danced for quite some time."

"If something happens, just blame it on the man. It's always the man's fault," Raku said, she laughed. She would have to tell that to Sano later.

Makeup done, the left for the ball. She was mentally prepared, but she still gasped in awe when they got there. She forgot just how grand these balls could get. She directed Sano over to the side where he would watch from the sidelines, before heading with Raku to mingle. She felt bad for him, guards were stationed close to where the slaves waited, Tau among them.

She worked from group to group, chatting with everyone and dancing occasionally. Thankfully, her body remembered how to dance fairly well, so she didn't make a fool out of herself. By the time dinner was served, she was ready to sit down. She was seated next to two older men. The message was clear. The host didn't believe she deserved the attention of the younger, single men. She didn't care, the older men were her targets any way.

"Mr. Takeda, it's been a long time," she said in greeting.

"So, it has," he said with a creepy smile. "You look well."

"Raku has been most generous in helping me get back on my feet."

"She is a sweet girl."

"And a good friend. So how have you been? Is your business still doing well?" She asked politely. He ran a pharmaceutical business. There was no doubt in her mind that he was connected to the slave business.

"As good as it always is. Medicine is always needed. I believe we even sell to the hospital you work in." He said, easily steering the conversation to what he wanted. She would have to check later whether what he said had any merit. The last thing they needed was for him to taint medicine being sent to the hospital.

"I wouldn't know. My job is quite small." Now it was hear turn to steer the conversation. She waited to see if he took the bait or changed the topic.

"So, I've heard. If you don't mind me asking, what do you do there?"

"I help get rooms ready and keep the patients comfortable," she said demurely.

"Is it true you work with the partly trained slaves?"

"That is correct. I feel sorry for the poor creatures. Being torn away from something so good is hard on them. I do what I can to soften the blow," she said, using what she learned from Raku.

He nodded, "We've tried to stop the police from doing that, but it seems like the miscreants have their claws into the police."

"I wouldn't be surprised," she said, feigning disgust. "You saw their mark we ever you went down there. It was prolific."

"Let us hope they are caught soon," he said holding up his glass. She forced a smile and touched her glass to his in agreement.

Their conversation divulged into much less interesting topics. She pretended to look interested while part of her brain listened to other conversations. She hoped Sano was hearing something more interesting than she was.

After dinner, she danced with Kanryu before going and mingling some more. She was in the middle of a conversation when the room quieted. She turned to the front of the room where their host, Mr. Shibumi stood with a microphone.

"Thank you all for coming," came his croaky voice. "I have a very special surprise for you. A rare specimen has just arrived, so I would like to interrupt the festivities with a bit of business."

She swallowed thickly, guessing where this might be headed. Her fears were confirmed when a covered cadge was rolled up next to the man. She was mentally prepared for what was about to happen, but it took every fiber of her being to keep her mask of indifference in place when the cover was removed to reveal Yahiko. She was too far away to see his exact condition, but he looked dazed. She hoped dearly that the drug hadn't broken him.

"Now, any takers?" He said with a sickly smile.

She was about to open her mouth to speak when she noticed something, no one else was speaking. Normally people would be shouting over each other. Glancing out of the corner of her eye she saw people watching her. Maybe not directly, but they all seemed to be waiting to see what she was going to do. It was a test.

Once she realized that, reason started to make its way back into her mind. He hadn't been missing long enough for the drug to break him and he was still young, the drug would take longer if it worked at all. He was probably drugged with some other drug to keep him subdued. And it was highly unusual for things like this to happen at a ball. This was all for show to test her. She had no idea what would happen to him later, but she would worry about that tonight, when everyone wasn't scrutinizing her.

She flipped her hair and took on a look of boredom. Risking a glance towards Sano. He was tense, but he didn't move. She only hoped he wouldn't do anything stupid.

"No one?" Mr. Shimbumi said.

"He's a little young," Raku said looking bored.

"Is he even trained?" Someone else said.

Mr. Shimbumi smiled, "Good eyes. He's still being trained. I just wanted to give you a sneak peek, so you are all ready once he is fully trained." People stated laughing at this, she forced the laugh through her teeth as she watched Yahiko being taken away. Forgive me Kaoru, she thought.

The rest of the night dragged painfully on. It took everything she had to keep her cool and act happy. Sano was off to the side fuming. She just hopped he didn't hate her, though she hated herself. She had chosen the mission over her friend's student. She didn't know if Kaoru would ever forgive her.

"Why didn't you do anything?" Sano asked the moment they were in the safety of her home.

"It was a test. If I had done something they would have known. None of us would have gotten out alive." Sano ground his teeth but didn't say anything. "Is there any way you can get in contact with the others and let them know about Yahiko?"

"I'll see what I can do," he said and stormed off.

The next morning, they sat silently while they digested breakfast. Sano had successfully gotten a message out. Now all they could do is wait and hope. Neither of them had slept well. There was a knock on the door and she opened it to find Tau standing outside.

"I have come to deliver a message from Miss Raku," he said, she motioned for him to come in.

"What is it?" she asked trying to sound gentle but not in the mood to deal with her friend.

"Miss Raku is going to an auction and was wondering is Miss Megumi would like her too keep an eye out for any merchandise. She was unsure of your tastes."

She swallowed the bile in her throat, "Please tell Raku that I appreciate her thoughtfulness, but I would like to wait until I have a home of my own before…" She hated herself, "Before acquiring merchandise."

"I will deliver your response," he said, and she expected him to leave but he just stood there, looking at his feet. He glanced around before opening his mouth again, "That boy, you know him?" He asked softly.

The statement was so unexpected that it took her a second to realize what he said. Once she registered his words, she didn't know how to respond. Was this another test? When she didn't respond for a while he glanced up at her, meeting her eyes for a second. She felt her own eyes widen in shock when his eyes weren't vacant like she was used to, but full of life.

"They didn't break you," she said softly. His eyes returned to his feet.

"Given enough time, that which is broken can be mended," he replied just as softly.

A thousand questions bubbled into her mind, but she pushed them to the side, now was not the time. He was already risking so much, revealing this to her. "Yes, I know the boy," she said, hopping she wasn't making a mistake.

He nodded, she could feel he also had questions he didn't voice. The less the other knew, the safer they would all be. His posture returned to the way he had been trained. With a bow, he left.

"Who was it?" Sano asked as she returned to the dining room.

"Raku's slave. He had a message from Raku," she said. She would keep their quiet conversation to herself for now.

"Bout what?"

"Nothing pleasant," she said, and he didn't push.

She let her mind wander back to what Tau had said. He had regained part of himself. How had he done that? How long had he been a slave? Were there others like him? Why didn't he try to escape? None of the other slaves she had worked with had done what he had done. Why had he trusted her? It was a huge risk to take on someone he barely knew.

"What's on your mind?" Sano asked.

"Tau."

"Who?"

"The slave, I call him Tau."

"Interesting name."

"It was my brother's name," she said, and Sano's eyes widened. "I'm afraid of becoming like them. The name helps me remember his pain."

"You won't become like them," Sano said without hesitation.

She laughed humorlessly, "You fear it too."

"I did. But then I realized just how good you are at acting. How you need to act the way you do so they trust you. If you had a chance of becoming like them, you wouldn't be so horrified at sleeping in the bed he was forced onto. And, I have no intention of letting you become like them. If you slip, I'll be here to pull you back up."

Looking into his eyes she could see that for the first time he was being serious about his feelings. No beating around the bush and turning everything into a joke or argument. He was being completely serious. He wasn't going to let her go. She didn't know why his words caused a change, but they did. For the first time in a long time, she looked into the eyes of a man and her heartbeat increased. A warmth spread from her stomach to the rest of her body.

Before this moment she had seen him as something more than a friend, but not a lover. She was aware of his feelings, but she found herself uncapable of returning them, no matter how much she wanted to. Fear from her past mistake kept her from taking that step. In his one statement he had melted the fear that had held her in place for so long.

She didn't hesitate as she walked over to him and kissed him. If he was surprised, he didn't show it. He pushed her against the nearby wall, deepening the kiss. He held her tightly, but she knew if she pushed him away, he would move. Desire rolled off of him in waves, but he held himself back, letting her take the lead. He let her know what he wanted, liking her lips, but the choice to open her mouth was hers and she knew he wouldn't push.

Opening her mouth, she let his tongue enter. Moaning as he pushed her harder against the wall while his tongue explored her mouth. She clung to him as his tongue caused lightning bolts to lance through her body. It felt good and she wanted more. Surprisingly, it was Sano who broke the kiss first. Taking a step back he rested his forehead against hers while they caught their breath.

"Easy now fox," he said softly. She found herself unable to say anything. Her actions, while pleasant, had been unexpected. "I don't want to go too fast."

Her old attitude came back, and she smiled, "Sure your capable of patience rooster?"

"For you, I'm capable of anything," he said seriously. Taking her breath away. He sighed and placed his head on her shoulder. "This isn't the safest place for such things, no matter how much I want it."

It was then that the reality of their location hit her. If Raku had anyone spying on them, there would be problems. Not that she suspected Raku of doing that, since she and Sano had been sleeping in the same room for a while now and spying wasn't Raku's style. Sano was right though, it wasn't safe.

"When this is over fox…," he whispered in her ear before moving a respectable distance from her. The unsaid promise hung in the air, causing her legs to feel like jelly. It took her a few minutes before she was stable enough to move away from the support of the wall.

Kaoru was dying again, and he couldn't do anything. His body was frozen in place. "Yahiko," she whispered through bloody lips before the light left her eyes. He screamed.

The scene shifted, and he was a child, locked in the tunnels of Akira's home. It was too dark to see, and he imagined monsters living in the dark, only this time there were monsters. Hands reached out and grabbed him, dragging him further into the darkness where the monsters bit into his flesh and tore him apart.

Once he was nothing more than a bloody heap on the ground, the scenery changed again. He was standing with Dr. Gensai, the girls, Megumi, Tae and Tsubame. He moved towards them, but they avoided him. Glaring at him. He could do nothing as he watched them walk away, leaving him alone. He sunk to the ground in tears, not understanding what he had done to drive them away.

"Get out," he looked up to see Kaoru standing over him with a disgusted look on her face. "Get out, I never want to see you again." She said before lifting him up and throwing him out the door onto the street. He curled up where he landed, sobbing.

It felt like the pain had been going on for ages, but the rational part of his brain pointed out that it had only been a few hours. He had been practicing in the dojo when a bunch of men came in and grabbed him. He put up a fight, but a few well-placed blows incapacitated him. When he woke up he was in a cadge. They forced him to drink something that made his body numb. Then his cadge was moved out into a bright room full of color and noise. He couldn't focus his eyes or move, and his brain seemed to have turned to mush. Then he had left the room and been taken somewhere where. Something bitter was forced down his throat before he was thrown into the dark place he was in now. That's when the endless cycle of nightmares began.

The rational part of his brain that was still working pointed out that it was the slave drug, but the rest of him was in too much pain to care. He just wanted it to stop.

There was a click as someone opened a door. He didn't move but the rational part of his brain told him to keep his mouth shut, so he did. Someone lifted him up and forced his mouth open. His brain was too battered to put up much of a fight. He chocked until he realized they were giving him water, then he gulped it down with gusto. His throat was raw and sore from screaming.

"I'm sorry," a disembodied voice said. "I can't risk you making noise." With that he felt something get shoved into his mouth. He started to struggle but they were far stronger than him. "Please," the voice pleaded, and he stilled. There was something in the voice. He didn't think the voice meant him harm.

There was a rather odd sensation then, like he was floating. It took him a second to realize that he was being carried. He rested limply against the mysterious person as the nightmares scrabbled back into the forefront of his mind.

She never got time to talk to Aoshi. Yahiko went missing and they had all gone out to search. Her concerns and feelings for the man were pushed to the side. She could only hope the young boy didn't suffer like she had.

After searching all night and the next day, there was no sign of the boy or where he had gone. She was resting at the house, needing to regain some energy before going out again. Aoshi had shown up and was eating with her, but neither of them spoke. It wasn't because of her ignoring him, simply because neither of them wanted to speak. It was then that a message had come from Sano, finally giving them an idea of where Yahiko was.

Aoshi left a message for the others and then they had left. That was how they had found themselves in their current, rather awkward position. They had been searching the basement of Shibumi Nishi, when the room had flooded with men. They had taken cover in a small nook. They had fit, but their bodies were rather close. She couldn't help the blush, despite the situation. They stood in the shadows, hoping to whatever force that had kept them alive so far kept them from being seen.

When some of the men approached their hiding spot, Aoshi stiffened and pulled her closer to him, causing her heart to beat out of her chest. She tried desperately to keep her mind on the task at hand. They were in danger and Yahiko was missing, she told herself. But to no avail, her mind slipped back to Aoshi. How could it not? She was flush against him with him breathing in her ear.

Her heart seemed to be beating twice as fast as it humanly could. She frowned, focusing on her heart. But really, she thought, how was her heart beating so fast without her passing out? It was then that she realized that it wasn't just her heart. Aoshi's heart was beating fast too.

She figured it was just due to adrenaline, until she looked up and met his eyes. To most people, his eyes were unreadable. To her, they were like an open book, telling her what he could not say. What she saw caused her jaw to drop. There was the need to protect, that was obvious. But past that there was an intense possessiveness. Under that, there was a hint of desire. Finally, she saw what Kaoru had been pushing her to see. He did not see her as a child, of that she was now sure.

His sudden openness surprised her. She was elated but unsure. What now? She wanted to communicate back to him that she cared for him too, but she didn't know how. These feelings, they were all still new to her. She needed Kaoru there to tell her what to do, but Kaoru wasn't there. She looked away, suddenly shy and scared. Aoshi stiffened and did what he could to put space between them. He had read her reaction wrong and now he was hurting.

We know what heals and what hurts, Kaoru's words echoed in her mind. She had hurt him, but she could fix that. She reached up and curled her hands into his shirt, still too afraid to look him in the eye. She prayed he understood her. He was still for a long time before he wrapped his arms back around her and pulled her close. She sighed, her message had been received.

"Report," someone barked. Slamming them back into reality.

"Transport was uneventful. The kid was still drugged when we dropped him off. No one interfered," another voice responded. So Yahiko had been moved. Great, all this for a dead end.

"Were you followed?" The first voice said.

"No."

"Good. Dismissed."

"Still can't believe they went to such lengths to test a single woman," a new voice said as the men started to mill about.

"We must be careful. She spent a long time with them. We needed to make sure she was on the right side," the first voice said again.

"What was the verdict?" Someone pipped up and asked.

"She was indifferent to the boy, she's on our side," the first person replied.

So, they had kidnapped Yahiko to test Megumi, she thought. She was glad that Megumi hadn't been found out, but also slightly concerned. Megumi must have seen Yahiko, but she had acted indifferent? How had she done that? Was she still on their side?

It took a while for the men to leave but eventually the room emptied, and they emerged from their hiding spot. "We should get back and inform the others. We were gone longer than expected, they'll be worried," Aoshi said. She nodded and followed.

"Don't mention what we just heard to the others," Aoshi said. "She's still on our side, it was something she had to do to gain their trust. Megumi is smart, she would have realized it was a test. The others, especially Kaoru, don't need to know about it though. It could destroy their friendship."

She hated herself, but she had to ask, "How do you know she's still on our side?"

Aoshi sighed, "You still have much to learn about trust. If you cannot trust Megumi, then at least trust Sano. He would not stay with her if he thought she had changed sides."

"I'm sorry," she said softly.

He turned and gently brushed her cheek with his hand before turning back and continuing forward, "This world is not very good at teaching us how to trust."