Disclaimer: I do not own Rurouni Kenshin or any of its characters. I am just a fan girl with a wild imagination.

Three days later:

****KAORU POV*********

Kaoru watched the wind through the trees and the way it made the leaves dance.

Numb.

Kaoru was numb. She laid on her futon on her side staring out the window.

She had been catatonic the last few days.

Kenshin was gone.

He didn't give her a chance to say goodbye, or a way to contact him.

Kaoru felt the tears welling up in her eyes again.

They slid down her cheeks, following the same path that they had the past few days.

She had spent three days in her room, crying and shut off from the world.

Kaoru couldn't bring herself to function.

Kaoru was grieving the loss of Kenshin.

How had she come to care for him so much in just a few days?

This was crazy to her.

He wasn't her boyfriend; he was just some guy that had dropped in on them and turned their world upside down.

Whatever the case, she missed him dearly.

She thought back to the other day when Okina had brought her back to the house she was inconsolable.

He had given up on trying to question her and telling her to just relax and take it easy for a few days.

Withal, here she was.. destitute, sad, and isolating herself.

Kaoru heard footsteps approaching, and a female voice in the hallway. It was loud and shrill, the footsteps sounded like an army of elephants.

Which could only mean one thing; Misao was back.

Kaoru groaned and pulled the covers up to her face as she heard her door slide open.

"Kaoru? I heard what happened. I am here to check on you!"

Misao glanced down at Kaoru and paused.

Her friend looked like shit.

Kaoru's once shiny blue hair was dull and lifeless, she had bags under her beautiful blue eyes, and the spark in her eyes was gone.

Gramps had told Misao everything, and unlike Kaoru, she knew all about the wonderful world of demons.

Kaoru seemed to have fallen prey to one of the worst ones.

As a Okina's biological granddaughter, she was also member of the Oniwanbanshu.

Misao had been educated and trained as a demon slayer from a young age.

Despite having to grow up faster than most children, her boisterous personality kept her emotionally immature.

"I thought I told you to tell me when something happened!"

Misao plopped herself down to Kaoru, who was now rolled on her side facing away from her.

Kaoru remained silent but Misao wasn't one to give up easily.

"Come on Kaoru, it's time to spill the beans. What happened?"

Kaoru let out a heavy sigh before softly speaking.

"He's gone Misao, and I didn't get a chance to say goodbye." Her voice sounded hoarse.

"Didn't you walk him out to the back gate? Gramps said that's where he found you."

"Yeah, but, well. Something else happened before that." Kaoru didn't know how to tell Misao about what happened.

To say such a thing out loud…what if Misao judged her.

"Well, what happened? Spit it out!"

"He kissed me, and then things got pretty intense. Kaoru's words faded into a whisper.

Misao's eyes widened as she looked at Kaoru. This was her best friend's first kiss.

"So, how was it?"

"Wonderful, my body felt like it was on fire." Kaoru breathed.

Misao wanted to be happy for her friend, except for the fact that her friend had kissed a vile demon. Now her friend was suffering because said demon had hurt her feelings.

"Did anything else happen?"

"After we finished uh-kissing he asked me if I wanted to come with him. Then Gramps came looking for me because I guess we had been gone for a while." Kaoru blushed remembering the feel of his hand.

"He asked you to come with him?" Misao was concerned.

An invitation from a demon was no lighthearted matter.

This demon wanted much more from her friend than some tail.

"Yeah. I don't think I could go and just leave everyone yeah know? I barely know Kenshin. Now I just miss him."

"It sounds like you have a major crush on this guy. As your best friend, I wish it was anyone but him. He sounds like he's got some issues."

Kaoru huffed.

Leave it to Misao to be brutally honest and not cut the corners.

"Yeah. I just wish things could be different I guess."

***Kenshin POV****

Somewhere in Kyoto:

Perched on a small branch Kenshin, waited in a tree on a moonlit street of Kyoto.

He had been waiting here for almost three days at the suspected entrance to the swordsmith's lair.

He had discovered that the only ways to gain entrance to the infamous shop of Arai Shakku was to be let in, or find a way in.

The caveat was, that humans could come and go as they pleased, because Arai had a regular black smith shop that was open to the public.

Shit. What was he going to do?

This was not going smoothly at all.

Kenshin realized he needed to get help from his master, Hiko.

How to contact Hiko was another issue.

The enemy was still at large, and Kenshin wasn't sure if they truly believed he was dead or if they were out looking for him.

Where else would the enemy most expect him to return to other than to headquarters?

By headquarters, he meant Itochu, the most powerful trading company in Japan.

If ordinary humans knew Itochu was run by powerful demons, and the various methodologies they used to buy and sell traded goods, it would create mass chaos for the country.

Specifically; the killing, underground drug smuggling, maintaining delicate boundaries between the realms of heaven and hell.

Those issues would cause the most problems if that information was released to the public.

Within Itochu, there were also internal conflicts that created problems among employees.

The demons in the organization were assigned to their jobs based on their rank, skill set, and abilities.

Therefore, it became a system of hierarchy with older more powerful demons.

Naturally, not everyone agreed with this established order.

There were individual alliances among the demons to serve different departments and this frequently created conflict.

Which resulted in frequent opportunities for backstabbing, revenge, or 'accidental' deaths.

Kenshin had fallen into one of those situations.

A colleague, Soujiro had sent him on a suicide mission, and he had almost been killed by Shishio.

If Soujiro was still there, then returning to headquarters would be a bad idea.

Soujiro had wanted him dead for a reason.

Kenshin couldn't take him on unarmed.

Kenshin decided he would try to return to Hiko tomorrow morning.

As long as he stayed in animal form, his aura was impossible to detect.

A few days ago, he had been too injured to transform.

This was one of the fundamental reasons he had survived for so long.

Another was the fact that his master had trained him in one of the most unbeatable combat styles in the world.

His diabolical demon side with dark magic; that certainly helped things.

His thoughts wandered to Kaoru. He wondered what she was doing right now.

It had been three days since he had seen her.

Those had been the longest three days he remembered in a while.

Before he could rationalize it, Kenshin spread his wings and took off in the direction of the shrine.

In this form he could easily check up on her without her noticing.

That way, he could remain neutral and avoid causing her any more problems.

We all lie to ourselves.

Not you again. You've done enough damage this week.

I didn't hear you complaining while I made Kaoru cum for me.

Kaoru doesn't need to be manipulated to choose us. Your 'methods' were too forceful.

Here I thought I was being a gentleman by opting not to fuck her against that tree.

You will not touch her again. She needs to make the choice of her own will. That was the deal.

We'll see.

Ending the internal dialogue with his demon, Kenshin swiftly landed on a juniper tree outside of Kaoru's window.

As a bird of prey, he had perfect night vision to see and hear Kaoru through her window.

She was talking to another young girl on her futon.

About him.

"Yeah, I just wish things could be different I guess."

Kenshin eyed her from his perch. He observed her intently.

She looked drained, tired, and her eyes were red from crying.

He didn't realize how much their parting would negatively affect her.

"I understand. Say, let's get out of the house tomorrow and go do something fun. Come on, what do you say?"

"Like what? I don't feel like doing anything crazy."

"Let's go to Nishiki Market! I could go for some Takoyaki."

"Oh alright. Thanks, Misao. You always know what to say to cheer me up."

"That's what I am here for."

Misao got up to open the window to let some of the stuffiness out of the room.

Then she opted to go brush her teeth in the other room. On her way back she handed Kaoru a hairbrush.

"What's that for?"

"Uh, have you seen yourself? Girl you need a beauty routine bad!"

Kaoru laughed. Misao was right.

She hadn't done anything for herself.

Not even a bath.

Kaoru got up and started brushing her hair while pacing back and forth.

She paused and glanced out the window at the moon. It was full tonight, and it towered over her in all of it's glory.

So beautiful…

Unbeknownst to Kaoru, a pair of golden eyes watched her thinking the same thing.

Kenshin watched her go about her nighttime routine until both women settled down.

As soon as he knew that they were asleep, he tucked his head under his wing and did the same.

****Hiko Pov*****

At Itochu Headquarters:

Hiko stared out his penthouse office window on the 35th floor of Itochu.

His idiot apprentice and adopted son had been missing for almost a week now.

From his view, he could see the city of Osaka with its many skyscrapers and highways.

His mahogany desk and leather chair were close to the window for this reason.

Staring off into the distance he debated what he should do.

With each passing day, the demons under him were growing more and more restless.

With the removal of a key figure such as Kenshin, a power struggle is sure to occur.

Kenshin held one of the most desirable positions in the company.

As a part time intelligence agent, and consultant, he had many freedoms to come and go as he pleased.

Still, Hiko knew that if Kenshin was truly dead, he would have felt it.

He had been Intune with Kenshin for so long that his passing would alert his demonic senses.

As a fallen demi-god and shadow demon, he could easily see the passage of souls from the world of the living and the dead.

A soul as large and as old as Kenshin's was sure to cause a ripple effect felt by every powerful demon.

Hiko wasn't limited in his powers the way Kenshin was.

He had become a demon long before Kenshin, and was in full control of himself.

Hiko was free to use to his demonic or remaining demi-god powers at any time.

A long time ago it had been necessary to separate Kenshin from being ruled by demonic side to protect his life.

That was a story to reminisce on later.

A tap on his window alerted Hiko's attention.

He noticed a rather large Harris hawk with familiar golden eyes staring right at him.

Watching the hawk, he noticed it's lack of hawk-like behavior.

It tapped on the window with its beak and then stared at him as if it was awaiting a response.

After a few more seconds of awkward eye contact, it would repeat this behavior.

Hiko chuckled and opened his window.

This hawk was not a hawk at all. It was his son coming back to report to him.

"Come in, it took you long enough to return...Idiot."

The hawk flew in and landed on the back of the guest chair facing Hiko's desk. It seemed to glare at him.

"Don't be stupid and transform into a human here. You'll be discovered instantly."

The hawk tilted its head to the side and questioned him.

"Oh, come on, figure it out. Transform into something that can talk. Get creative."

Before his eyes, the hawk shifted into the shape of a beautiful red and blue macaw.

Upon seeing Hiko's nod of approval, it squawked at him.

"Much better. Now, tell me what happened." Hiko sat down and leaned forward in his chair.

Kenshin from his parrot form realized that full sentences were not within his range of capabilities.

Broken sentences would have to do.

Here goes nothing.

"Shishio. Ambush. Squawk." Hiko guffawed at his apprentice's difficulty with speech.

"No shit there was an ambush, what else?"

"Shishio is alive."

"Tell me something I don't know."

"Sword is broken."

"What?! You broke the sakabato shinuchi? You really are an idiot!"

"Shishio broke it. Shishio broke it. Squawk!"

"Even so, you are practically useless without it. Have you tried going to Arai Shakku?"

"Can't Enter. Secret Entrance."

Hiko put his forehead in his hands and glared at the parrot from his side of the desk.

"You always seem to come to me with complicated problems. In that case, I will contact him for you."

"Can't enter door. Can't get sword. Squawk!"

"I heard you the first time. We can figure that part out later. We may have to employ a human if you can't go pick it up."

Hiko picked up a carafe of sake and poured himself a glass.

He knew having parrot Kenshin in here much longer was a risk. He would need to send him off soon.

"So where are you staying? You can't return to our lair just yet. We aren't sure who we can trust right now."

"Big red shrine. Kyoto."

Hiko spit out the sake in his mouth hitting bird Kenshin in the face. The parrot flapped his wings in annoyance and squawked again in disapproval.

"You?! At a shrine? The irony. HAHAHA." Hiko's large frame shook with the force of his laughter.

"No choice. Mask Aura."

"Ah yes. Now I see. Well, you better get back to that shrine. I will summon you when it is time to pick up your sword."

"Squawk! Then what."

"Then we will get you back into headquarters and restore order among the cretins here. We can't send you after Shishio or Soujiro right away. That would be foolish."

The parrot simply nodded at him before transforming himself back into a Harris hawk.

Hiko opened the window and swept his arm out motioning for the bird to leave.

"See ya later bird brain!"

The hawk took off and Hiko watched his form fade into the distance.

After closing the window Hiko groaned.

Getting ahold of the ancient swordsmith was going to be a pain the ass.

That guy was old fashioned and virtually cut off from the modern world.

***Author's Note***

So I revised this chapter a little. I want to stay away from Christian versions of demons and angels, I want to focus on demons, goddesses, demi-gods, and deities in Japanese mythology. Additionally, I made Kenshin a more of an investigative agent than an assassinator. That doesn't mean that he doesn't collect information by force or kick ass though.

When his battousai side talks about being an assassin, that is an identity that he will never disassociate himself from, even if he isn't currently killing a bunch of people. He does still occasionally kill people here and there.

I hope my revisions make it easier to understand with the new chapters in the story.