Disclaimer: Don't own Rurouni kenshin some guy in some place does.

A/N: OK I'm going to be forward with you, I don't like flames and I love reviews. I wont pressure you into reviewing but I would appreciate your comment. If I right some thing to offend you or something you have written and feel I cannot use it contact me @ [email protected], but if you email me make sure you right something recognizable in the subject box or I will not read it. On to the story.

Chapter: 1

The beginning

Kaoru was a fresh young beauty just out of high school. She was searching for a good job and a respectable husband to settle down with. But in the mean time she was having fun out on the town every night and working a full-time job at a quaint little flower shop at the corner of pain and misery.  This cute little flower shop is a popular place to buy flowers for any occasion, weddings, Valentines Day, or just to say 'I love you'. Tough this happy, loving place was a good atmosphere for love to blossom Kaoru had shut her heart to all who came knocking. She refused to love after a bad experience but she needed a husband nonetheless, if she wanted to be accepted by her family and friends. Kaoru worked with two other women. One was Takani Megumi who worked there part-time while still in medical school working for Dr. Gensai (a/n: is that the right spelling?), and the other was Mikamachi (a/n: going out on a limb there) Misao, who currently is working full-time and is looking for a rich husband to pay for every whim and desire she can think up in her little head.

Every day Kaoru comes to work at 6:00 AM and works till 12:00 were she gets a hour break from the busy little shop. Then she comes back to work till 5:00 PM and goes home only to go back out on the town for a little fun with her buds. Every day seemed the same but kaoru constantly kept a smile on her face. Weather her day was going perfectly or she felt like if some one merely asked the time she would crumble into a state of depression. She always smiled even when Misao frowned; Kaoru was there with her never-ending happiness.

Kaoru spent most of her time at the shop so in time she learned to love her fellow co-workers and the regular guests. She was a best friend with Megumi and Misao in no time. Kaoru also had some regular customers that she knew very well.  Sanosuke Sagara came in one day to buy some flowers for . . . no one, actually he thought Megumi was cute so he came in to talk to her, ended up buying 4 dozen of Megumi's favorite flowers. He comes in at least once every day to see every one. Him and Megumi have been going steady for a month now. But there is one thing wrong with this cute little set up.

Behind this shop some shady fellows hang out. Kaoru has shed some light onto them by "accidentally" listening to their conversation once. She found that there were three men who would gather there every other day. One constantly kept a strait face and was extremely tall another was shorter but always had a smile, usually fake, plastered on his face, and the third was the shortest, with wild red hair and violet eyes. They usually walked behind the shop and conversed in the dark alley sending creepy vibes out to scare any one who dare pass the alley.

One day Kaoru decided she would pay them a visit. "I'll just offer them some tea, maybe I can convince them to move their business else where and not scare off out costumers." Kaoru said to the doubtful Megumi and Misao. They looked to each other and shook their heads at Kaoru, she was definitely way to friendly she needed to realize not every one takes kindly to Kaoru's ways. But they couldn't stop the determined girl. She walked out into the alley with a teapot and cups on a tray. She smiled and turned the corner to find not three but four figures. They immediately stopped talking when she turned the corner. They all glared at her as she cocked her head at their weird behavior.

"Hello," Kaoru said sweetly. They continued to stare at her trying to give her the 'I hate you' vibe, Kaoru brushed it off and took a step closer. She noted what they were wearing incase she would have to report it to the police later. The tall one was dressed in a leather trench coat with pitch-black sunglasses. The continually smiling one had a dark blue trench coat barely on with a deep red Gi on underneath, he seemed to be the friendliest judging by the bright colors. And the shortest was wearing a black Gi with black sunglasses on that shined silver in the light (a/n: hmmm . . .*drool*).  All three had swords. The fourth was tall but Kaoru could not see him, the light did not go that far into the alley. But it seemed he looked up to her direction and walked into the light saying:

"Jou-chan, what are you doing here?" Kaoru nearly dropped her tray when she saw him.

"Sanosuke! What . . .," kaoru couldn't finish her sentence. She just stood there dumbfounded. 'Sanosuke! He, he meets back here with this riffraff!' Kaoru thought. Sano walked over to her and turned her around.

"Jou-chan, you really shouldn't be here. Why don't you go arrange some flowers why don't you?" Sano whispered in her ear. Kaoru hated when he did that, it tickled.

"No Sano, I just wanted to offer you and your . . . friends . . . some tea and maybe we could sit down and discuss what you all do back here." Kaoru said. They all turned to look to her interested in the tea but not the talking. Misao walked up behind kaoru, she was there to see what all the screaming was about. Misao looked from sano to kaoru, Misao smiled, she always thought that Sano was smitten with Kaoru. Then Misao's green eyes landed on him. Gorgeous, he was absolutely gorgeous, he had black hair and icy blue eyes. He was expressionless but that just made Misao want to show him how to live, how to feel, and how to love. She felt the urge to run her hands through his hair, trying to teach him compassion. And those abs! Misao just stood there staring at him, making him feel odd inside. A smile grew on her lips as she thought more and more about him.

"Would any one like some tea?" Kaoru asked as Sano poured himself a cup of tea. Kaoru poured three other cups and handed one to the tallest man one to the smiling man and one to the red haired man.  "Again, hello my name is Kamiya Kaoru, nice to meet you all." Kaoru said. They nodded sipping tea.

"Hello. I'm . . . Misao. Who are you, if you don't mind me asking?" Misao asked.

"Himura Kenshin" said the red-headed one.

"Shinomori Aoshi" replied the tall one.

"Seta Soujiro, nice to meet you."  The smiling one said happily. After the introduction there followed an awkward silence.

"So what do you do back here all the time?" Misao piped up, she didn't know why but she wanted to know all about this Aoshi. Kaoru couldn't keep her eyes off the one called Kenshin, his hair was so intriguing and she could stare into his eyes all day! But the most peculiar thing was the cross shaped scare on his right cheek. She wanted to touch it, then she laughed at herself and thought the very notion was childish but it was tempting. She hadn't realized that they were talking, she came back to reality and found that this conversation was boring. The men were just making up an excuse, she could tell, she just knew.

"Well, we were just discussing politics" Soujiro said. 'Yea politics, no one is interested in that.' he thought.

"Really do tell," Kaoru said with a challenging sparkle in her eye. Kenshin saw this and instantly began to pay attention to what was happening. This was going to get good, he knew it because she knew they were lying but he wouldn't give up the fight.

"We were just talking about how the Mafia is spreading toward this part of the town, we are just trying to keep citizens like you safe." Kenshin said.

" Really, if you don't mind me asking, how do you expect to keep the entire Mafia away from this growing town?" Kaoru asked

" Well the Mafia may be large, but only a select few are smarter than the average bum." Kenshin said with a sparkle in his eye.

" But the Mafia is to big for only four men to handle, and besides you have met here since before this shop was built, the Mafia isn't interesting enough to talk about it that much." Kaoru said. Kenshin smirked.

"Oh, but it is." He said giving a hint, though Kaoru couldn't tell what he meant she knew it wasn't going to be good for her to figure out. But she was strong willed and thick headed.

"What are you getting at?" Kaoru asked taking a step closer to him.

"Nothing at all, I am merely telling you the truth," kenshin said stepping closer as well. A high-pitched whistle rang through the streets of Kyoto and Aoshi, Soujiro, and Kenshin looked to the sky. "Farewell, we must leave. We shall meet again." Kenshin said as Aoshi, Soujiro and him disappeared. Kaoru looked around baffled by the absence of her new challenge, she loved a good challenge. Kaoru shrugged and brought the tea inside. It was late almost 5 and no one was around so she decided to close shop. She put the money in a bag locked the register and turned on the security system while locking the door. She turned down the street and took a left. She walked down the block and took a right, she walked through the door of the bank and was surprised to see all the lights off. She looked around trying to find a light switch. Once she did she flipped it upward only to see a notorious villain who had been plaguing the town for months.

Kaoru took a few steps closer until he heard her light footsteps and swung around. He glared at her from behind his mask. He was wearing a Matrix trench coat (a/n: can you tell I love trench coats?) with a black beanie and a black mask, which turned his eyes white. He smiled with his white crooked teeth gleaming in the light. He pointed his gun to her head while walking closer to her.

"Hands in the air pretty lady." the crook said. He began walking faster toward her; though a gun was pointed at her she did not show fear. Actually she was smiling a sweet smile, one that would be used when given a compliment or when you do something right for the first time. Kaoru looked this tall man straight in the eye almost glaring but not totally. This man didn't appreciate one of his victims smiling as if they knew something he didn't. "Look woman, I could kill you this very instant, if I were you id do as I say and raise your hands!" The angry man said. Every one in the room began smiling with their hands in the air. They were to afraid to lower their hands but they could help support Kaoru by smiling. This angered the man further until he raised his gun toward the ceiling and shot a hole through it. "the next person who smiles is getting the same treatment as the ceiling" the man said as a piece of ceiling dropped and crashed to the floor crashing the hopes of people keeping there money along with it.

Kaoru slowly began to raise her hands, his smile grew wider and wider. The higher she raised them the wider his smile got. She got half way up when she quickly moved to the side grabbing a broom she quickly unscrewed the broom part leaving only the wooden stick. Kaoru jumped just as his trigger finger twitched shooting a bullet at the spot she was just seconds ago. She raised the stick over her head and swung it down with all her might right on top of his head. The man staggered a bit and fell to the ground in a large black heap. Kaoru landed nimbly , back faced toward her target,  smiling from her victory. She reached in her pocket and whipped out her cell phone. Dialing '911' she put the phone to her ear.

"Hello, hi, there is a man here trying to rob this bank. Yes im at 5/2 bank on the corner of I'm and Hurt. Thank you," Kaoru said as she hung up the phone walking up to the open window. Everyone moved again acting as if nothing happened. Kaoru deposited the money from the store, just as she walked out the police came. Kaoru picked the man up and walked out into the open air. She shook a cops hand and lay the man down on the cement 'accidentally' bumping his head on the sidewalk. "Oh, didn't mean to. This is the man who attempted robbing the bank, in self-defense I knocked him out." Kaoru said as the she left the amazed cop standing, mouth open, dumbfounded. Kaoru walked back down the street called hurt, until she got to the road called maimed were she stopped to walk through the park. Yes, it was a detour but she loved doing this and she could use the exercise.

After walking trough the park for a while she comes upon the spot her and Enishi had their . . . violent break up.  All the unpleasant memories came flooding back and a rush of emotions came over her like a tidal wave.

* * *

"Enishi, I am so sorry, but I can't stay with you my love."

"Kaoru, why? I love you, you love me, can't you just move to Nevada with me?"

"I'm sorry but I can't leave my family, the budget is getting tight and they need me to keep food on the table."

"Kaoru your coming with me, I have to go to Nevada for work and I can't live with out you or my job!"

"I know, Enishi, I know but my family needs me so much now. Maybe when you come back we can pursue this relationship further but now isn't a good time."

"I don't care when it's a good time for you! You are coming with me now or things will turn ugly!" Enishi said as he slapped her across the face bitterly. Kaoru fell to the floor, looking at all the worried faces surrounding her. No one moved a muscle to try to help her. Enishi kicked her viciously while she was on the ground. She curled up in the fetal position holding her now bruised stomach.

"Get up woman!" Enishi cried. Kaoru stood up shaking from the coming cold and her suddenly abusive boyfriends attacks. He punched her three times in the stomach and hit a horrid elbow attack to the back of the neck. She luckily turned her head just enough that he missed a fatal blow but, she wasn't able to miss the fatal blow and get knocked out from this horrible nightmare. She stayed conscience through a few more kicks but then it stopped. She was being saved; a man was fighting Enishi, and appeared to be winning. He was able to defeat Enishi leaving him wounded but able o walk only to have Enishi move to Nevada for good knowing someone out there cared about Kaoru and would risk his life for her. Kaoru never caught his name or even what he looked like because after the awesome spectacle she was unconscious only to wake up in a hospital bed three days later.

* * *

Kaoru shuttered at the thought. 'Because of him I never want to love again. I need a steady husband but not a steady lover. Not only did that attack teach me not to trust the dirty male race but, it taught me that I need self-defense. Thanks to him if any one tries to attach me like that again he's got another thing coming.' Kaoru thought bitterly as she sat down on a bench deep in thought. As if a male god himself were upset by these thoughts a man sat down gingerly next to Kaoru. He was dressed in a black Gi and black sunglasses that shined silver in the light. 'Wait a minute I've seen that before . . .' Kaoru thought as she looked up to see Kenshin.

"Kenshin?" kaoru asked, not really remembering if that was his name. But, who could forget that hair and those eyes and . . . this list could go on forever. He looked toward her eyeing her suspiciously.

"Are you ok?" he asked a little forward, to forward for Kaoru's tastes. She glared at him.

"And what do you mean by that?" Kaoru asked angrily. Kenshin shook his hands infront of him with his eyes closed and him smiling.

"Miss Kaoru I didn't mean anything by it you are just . . . I thought  . . . well you are crying." Kenshin said handing her a handkerchief.  She took it slowly not sue of what he was talking about but once she brought it to her eyes she realized it was wet and so was her cheek. She was crying, I guess she is just emotional when thinking about him.

"Thank you, I didn't realize I was . . ." Kaoru stopped and began to laugh at how pathetic she was. Kenshin chuckled a little also but soon stopped. "What are you doing here?" Kaoru asked. Kenshin looked at her and cocked his head a little to the side.

'She doesn't know? I'm supposed to meet some one here to give me the smuggled ex. to give to the boss. It has to be her she is sitting at the same bench I was specifically assigned to wait at. She even came to the alley today I thought for sure she was there to talk to us. Damn.' Kenshin thought. "I'm waiting for some one. Why don't you just leave woman." Kenshin said his eyes giving way to a hint of amber when thinking of work. Kaoru looked shocked, first he is all nice and sweet then he is as mean as all get out!

"Excuse me? Why don't you leave MAN! Who gave you the right to talk to me like that?" Kaoru asked.

"I don't have time for you." kenshin said plain and simple.

"Maybe I don't have time for you Jerk!" Kaoru fumed.

"No need for name cal . . ." Kenshin started before being cut off by Kaoru.

"Jack ass!"

"Stubborn woman!"

"Bastard!"

"Bitch!"

"Dick!"

"Wench!"

"Piss off!" Kaoru said as she stood up ready to leave. He watched her as he hoped to dear god she didn't have the drugs he was looking for. He waited in the park for an hour more until he realized the person wasn't coming. Kaoru began walking home fuming at what Kenshin said to her, she hated that little erg. . . She couldn't stand him. She walked out of the park and walked down Maimed street until the intersection. After looking both ways she crossed and walked up her driveway to her house on the corner of Maimed and Twitch.  She put the key into the keyhole and turned it unlocking the house. She stepped in turned on the lights and started warming up a bath for herself. She heated up some left over Chinese food and ate while watching That 70's Show. The bath was warm enough in a few minutes she stripped of her clothes and settled into the hot water that matched her temper. She was still mad at Kenshin for calling her woman the way Enishi did in almost the exact same spot he beat her for the first and last time.

'How could he? Earlier today he seemed nice with an edge but now he is just like all the other men in my life, malevolence.' Kaoru thought. Kaoru washed up, and stepped out of the tub drying off and dressing into a thin, long pajama shirt. She walked to her room and fell asleep still angry with Kenshin. The next day she woke up refreshed and totally forgot about Kenshin. Kaoru stretched across her bed and smiled. She jumped up and dressed in a long sleeved white shirt underneath a red tee shirt with blue jeans. She wrapped her apron around her slim waist and over her head. She walked into the kitchen and started her coffee machine. She opened the cabinet and  got out a cereal box of peanut butter crunch. She poured herself a bowl and began eating it humming a nice little ditty. The coffee machine beeped and she stood up.

"Every morning I wake up! Take out my smiley face cup," Kaoru sang as she held her coffee cup with a smiley face on it as she poured some Foldgers coffee into her cup.

"Get a little pour from youuuuuuu!" Kaoru sang on the top of her lungs as her voice shook a little but it still sounded wonderful. Her neighbors always were silent when she sang; they loved it, and treasured it. She drank the strange substance in her coffee cup but enjoyed it nonetheless. Kaoru finished her cereal and brushed her teeth and hair into a ponytail. She walked out of her house to get the paper. Scanning the headlines for anything interesting she found that Kyoto was boring.  She walked next door to Sano's and knocked on the door. A few minutes later a groggy Sano stepped up to the door and opened the screen door to find a happy Kaoru.

"Hey Jou-chan, what's going on?" Sano asked. Kaoru smiled at him.

"Sober, I see." Kaoru said. She took one step into his house and took a whiff of the air in his house. "And you are not high, that's the third time this week. I'm proud of you." Kaoru said mockingly. Sano just looked at her like she was weird for checking him every morning to see if her was drunk or high.

"Look, Jou-chan just because I came into your shop once drunk and high and thrashed the place doesn't mean every morning you need to make sure I never have fun again." Sano said. Kaoru gave him the paaalease look. Sano smiled and rubbed the back of his head. "You have to admit that me being sober isn't as fun as when im drunk." Sano said as Kaoru smiled and laughed. She nodded but gave him a stern look.

"That doesn't mean you can be drunk or high or both when in our shop! Got that? By the way ill be paying that kenshin guy a visit today so tell him to shape up or ship out!" Kaoru said becoming mad again. Kaoru stepped outside and it began to our. Not just a light sprinkle but a down pour like the heavens opened up and dumped all the water up there down here. Suddenly the streets had an abundance of water and there was a flash flood warning.  Kaoru was about to walk home but Sano pulled her back inside.

"What do you think your doing?" Sano asked as Kaoru asked the same question to him. "Jou-chan, im going to sound like my mother but, you'll catch your death out there." Sano said.

A/N: OK do you like it?