Summary:

Kaoru accidentally comes across a murder scene and becomes wanted for information. What will Kenshin do when they come looking for her? What will he do to protect her from the horrible fate that awaits her? How much will Kenshin suffer in order to protect the one he holds the most dear in his heart? Will he have another chance to say "I'm home"?

I'm new to writing fan fics, so please be kind and try not to criticize me too much, though I will appreciate some reviews. ^.^

I do not own Rurouni Kenshin. Rated T for some blood and violence.

Chapter One

Kaoru slung her shinai and kendo equipment over her shoulder as she got ready to leave. Yahiko had left before her, shopping for groceries before he himself went home. Somehow, she was feeling slightly more tired than usual, but it was to be expected, after a long week of taking care of Kenshin who had fallen ill from a severe cold. He was just about recovering, so she took the chance to get rid of her stress by practicing at another dojo, leaving Sanosuke to look after the swordsman.

She was slightly peeved, however, making Sanosuke look after Kenshin. After all, it was his fault that Kenshin had gotten sick in the first place. If Sanosuke didn't get into a brawl with his gambling friends, Kenshin wouldn't have had to step in to protect him and get pushed into a tub full of ice-cold water used for storing dead fish. Of course, Kenshin was at fault too, deciding to stay in those wet clothes until the entire situation with Sanosuke was dealt with – which was five hours later. That idiot freeloader. He should find a job and stop getting Kenshin into trouble! thought Kaoru.

Suddenly remembering how incapable Sanosuke was at doing anything caring, Kaoru decided to hurry back home to her dojo. She decided to take a shortcut, one that she rarely took unless she was with Kenshin. That path required going through many back alleys where shady things always happened, but she was in a rush today and didn't think of the consequences of going there alone.

As she entered into a particular dark alley, she could hear whimpers of a man and several other voices humming within the darkness.

"Please!" she heard a man plead, "Spare me!"

"You betrayed the boss. Do you think he will let us off if we let you go?" demanded another harsher voice.

Kaoru figured that it was another problem caused by the local yakuza. Normally, they always laid low, knowing that the Hitokiri Battousai seemed to staying in the vicinity, but Kenshin, the Battousai in his past life, had fallen sick and the yakuza's courage and stupidity had risen. They were making more problems nowadays, threatening and injuring everyone left and right.

Kaoru stepped closer, her bokken in hand. She could now make out the shapes of a man crumbled against on the wall, shrinking away from the two men with swords out, clearly threatening the injured man.

"Hiro," one of the standing men said to the one on the ground, "Why didn't you just tell the boss what you had learned about the Battousai? It was your mission to find his weakness so the boss could defeat him. Why didn't you carry through with it?"

Kaoru's ears perked at the mention of her good friend.

"Himura-san isn't a bad man, Setsuna. I have been watching him for months. All he does is be a good person! Why does the boss want to kill him?"

"Himura Kenshin is the Hitokiri Battousai. If boss defeats him, then he can make a name for himself!"

"But…"

"Hiro, why did you decide to betray the boss and steal the scroll from him before he had a chance to read it?"

The scroll? wondered Kaoru. It seemed important, so she listened in more carefully.

"That scroll was supposed to be left sealed for a reason!" cried the man named Hiro. "I stole it so that the boss could never use it against anyone innocent! Especially on Himura-san!"

"Where is the scroll now? Give it to me and I will give you a quick death," hissed the other man.

"Do we have to kill him, Netsuke?" asked Setsuna. He had been close friends with Hiro before this betrayal and did not wish to kill him, though he knew he must. The boss was a frightening man, having been a hitokiri during the Bakumatsu era.

Netsuke just glared at Setsuna who cowered his angry gaze.

"I will never tell you!" exclaimed Hiro.

"Then die!" Netsuke raised his sword before Kaoru could react and plunged it into Hiro's stomach.

It took everything for Kaoru not to scream. She knew that if she was discovered, she would be sought out and killed, even though she wanted to help Hiro so much.

Hiro cried out in pain, but it quickly faded away as he lost consciousness. Netsuke spat at the broken man in front of him and nodded to Setsuna.

"Let's go. He may not be dead now, but he'll bleed out in a matter of minutes. There's no way he can survive. The boss will need to know that there isn't a way to recover the scroll."

Setsuna nodded dumbly and followed his partner away from the dark alley.

As soon as Kaoru was sure that they had disappeared, she ran to Hiro and shook him awake.

"Hiro-san, please wake up. I'll take you to the doctors!" she exclaimed.

Hiro looked at her with bleary eyes. They were slightly glazed over. She knew from that look that there was no hope for him.

"You…are Kamiya Kaoru, no?" he whispered, his strength quickly fading away.

"Yes."

"Himura-san…is a…good man. The scroll…he needs to find it…before the boss…many…lives will be lost…if boss lays his…hands on it."

The man was fading fast.

"Where is it?"

"I hid it…"

"Tell me where it is so I can give it to Kenshin!"

His mouth moved, but she couldn't hear him as well anymore. She bent her head down towards his mouth to hear better.

"I mailed it…to you."

And then he was gone.

Kaoru quickly stood up. If he had mailed it to her, that means that it would have arrived earlier today. She needed to get it to Kenshin as quickly as she could. Only Kenshin would be able to take care of something so dangerous.

She bowed once in respect to Hiro, and then ran home without looking back once.

Little did she know, Netsuke had come back to steal from the dead Hiro and saw her talking with the fading man. Quickly, he gathered that he had told her where the scroll was and followed her back to her home as quietly as he could.

He needed to obtain that scroll, even if it meant killing her in the process.

Hope you enjoyed it. I've had this story forming in my head for months. I just never found the time to write it out, but I'm really enjoying it right now. Next few chapters should be up soon!

chibichan38