Kaoru woke up later that morning to find Hitokiri Battou-sai in her bedroom.
 When she opened her eyes for the first time that day, she looked at the
ceiling, thinking that she only had two more days of lies to go.  In two days,
she would've earned all the money she needed to pay the back taxes and a bonus
as well.  With that, she planned on treating the whole family at Akabeko.  She
smiled drowsily and leaned forward to sit up, stretched her arms above her and
yawned.  As her gaze moved from the ceiling to the wall before her, she almost
didn't realize that she had company till her eyes met those of Battou-sai.
 Surprised, Kaoru's hands gripped the bed covering before her as she studied
the man before her.  She didn't know what it was about him, but she definately
wasn't scared of him.  When her eyes met his, instead of the cold, blankness
of the Battou-sai she'd seen before, these eyes were hot and smoldering.  As
if he was more of a man than a killing machine.  As if he was a man who
definately wanted--Then again, all of that could've been her imagination,
because when she blinked, Kenshin was Kenshin again.
 "Good morning, Kaoru-dono."  Kenshin's greeting did little to abate the blush
that had risen from all the heat she had imagined earlier.
 "Um..good morning, Kenshin." Already flustered, she couldn't even ask him why
he was in her room at all.  She grew even more flustered when Kenshin's eyes
closed and he told her, "Kaoru-dono, perhaps if you made yourself a little
more presentable, we could talk."
 She looked down at herself to discover that the robe she slept in at night
had loosened enough to create a very plunging neckline.  Shyly, she brought
the sides together till she felt comfortable and sighed, "Alright, Kenshin,
what did you want to talk to me about?"
 Kenshin's eyes opened slowly and it almost seemed as if he was scared of what
he would see next.  Kenshin moved his sakaba sword from the shoulder it had
been resting on to the floor before him.  "Kaoru-dono, tell me what you know
about Kawasaka, please."
 Kaoru's first thought was, does Kenshin know that Kawasaka-san kissed me?
Kaoru's cheeks were ablaze and her eyes lowered as she tried to gather her
thoughts together.
 "Um..well.."
 "Kaoru-dono, is something wrong?"  The urgency in Kenshin's voice encouraged
her to meet his gaze.
 "N.no, not at all."  She smiled blandly before going on, "Um, Kawasaka-san
is, I guess a very nice person for the type of businesses he runs."
 "What type of businesses?" Kenshin inquired.
  Kaoru shrugged. "Well,he has the tavern, his um...upstairs business, and I
think he may work for the government, too. I saw some papers. I'm not sure..."
 "Kaoru-dono, how do you know about these papers?"
 "Well, when I was in his room waiting for him, I noticed some papers with the
government seal on his desk."
 "In his room?"  Kenshin's usually pleasant demeanor evaporated to be replaced
by a hard look, "Kaoru-dono, what were you doing in his room?"
 Kaoru looked at the tatami that served as the flooring of her room, "Well, I
heard he wanted to see me..so...I....went."
 "Did he touch you or hurt you in anyway?" Kenshin's voice lowered even more,
Kaoru knew he wasn't happy with her, she just couldn't figure out why. She
nervously answered,
 "No, he didn't hurt me! He barely touched me..at all."
 Kenshin knew she was lying, again. Tired of her lies, he decided to confront
her. Kenshin rose to his feet menacingly and came to stand besides Kaoru
before kneeling beside her.  Though the look in his eyes was hard, his voice
was gentle when he spoke,
 "Kaoru-dono, you must tell me the truth about this.  Did he hurt you?"
 Kaoru's eyes were awash with tears as she shook her head negatively, not
trusting her voice, but speaking anyway, "No...but-"
 "Please, tell me Kaoru..dono."  Kaoru felt herself melting into
his eyes, but the guilt of the kiss with Kawasaka stopped her from allowing
that of herself.  She lowered her eyes to the floor where she could see her
hands, so close to Kenshin's.  Brokenly, she whispered,
 "But..he did kiss me." Kaoru's hands covered her face in shame
and guilt.  With her eyes tightly shut against any reprimand from Kenshin, she
miserably sat, lonelier than she'd ever been before.  She then heard the
rustle of cloth next to her and her wrists were held gently before being
pulled away from her face.  Surprise caused Kaoru's eyes to snap open and to
meet Kenshin's.
 Kenshin looked deeply into Kaoru's eyes, lifting a hand to pull a strand of
hair back behind her ear. Then he brushed her bangs from her eyes. He watched
Kaoru watch him.  He smiled gently and wiped the remaining tears away from her
face. Then, he looked down at his hand and sighed before he stood up and
returned to his original spot.  Again he placed his sakaba sword on his
shoulder and kept his gaze to the floor, "Kaoru-dono, are you aware that last
night a couple of government officials were killed by the same samurai who
have been murdering the people who approach the city by the north road?"  When
Kaoru shook her head negatively he continued, "Well, I have reason to believe
that Kawasaka Ikeda is behind it."  At Kaoru's look of shock, he continued, "I
believe that Kawasaka has been murdering innocent people because that shields
him and his group from when they actually want to assassinate government
officals.  With so many murders on the north road, the government will
consider it bad luck that the officials were murdered by disgruntled samurai
and not an actual political group who are intercepting government documents."
 Kaoru could only think back to last night when she'd seen the wound on
Kawasaka's back.  A hand went to cover her mouth in dismay. She had been by
herself in a room with that...murderer...he had KISSED her, no less..shocked
beyond belief, she closed her eyes before tears could escape them.
 "Kaoru-dono, do you know a Maku who works at the tavern?"
 Kaoru's eyes opened slowly, "Yes...I know her."
 "Who is she?"  Kaoru tried to keep her growing panic to herself.
 "She's a singer." Kaoru watched Kenshin's reaction.  He seemed almost
surprised before turning serious again, "I believe she may be in danger.  I
recieved a...clue from Kawasaka that she could be a victim if I don't do
something about her.  I found this clue
outside the dojo, so he knows that I'm here."
 He knows that I'm here, too, Kaoru thought. And he knows who I really am!
 "So, Kaoru-dono," Kenshin continued, "I don't what you going back to that
place,it's too dangerous for you."
 Dangerous, Kaoru thought, what rights did he have over her to tell her what
was dangerous for her? Upset,Kaoru used the shock of finding out about
Kawasaka as well as her guilt for lying to Kenshin and turned it into anger.
Anger that all her hard work singing may not be paid, anger that this baka-
red-head here didn't even realize that she was the same WOMAN who kissed him
and made him blush almost a week ago. Angry that Kawasaka had the
nerve to kiss her after committing an act of murder, then tried to sweet talk
her into leaving Kenshin for him! Kenshin!  It's hard to leave what you'll
never have, she thought bitterly and at the bottom of all these thoughts was
the terror of losing the one home she's ever
had. The only thing of her parents that had survived as long as she had.
 "Kenshin.." Kaoru's voice was cold like the wind, "Please leave."
 "Kaoru-dono?"  Kenshin could almost see the storm brewing around Kaoru, he
could feel her emotions stronger than he ever could before.  He stood up, glad
that he carried the only sword in the room.  "Now, Kaoru-dono, are you
alright?"
 Kaoru stood up and pushed Kenshin towards the door, "No, I'm not alright! Not
that you care! Get OUT!"
 Kenshin planted both of his feet firmly to the flooring and refused to budge.
With Kaoru still pushing on him, he had no other option than to put his arms
around her to still her movements.  Startled, Kaoru stopped pushing and just
stood still.
 "Shh. Kaoru-dono, it's going to be alright." Kenshin's whispered words
strangely comforted Kaoru and she nodded against his chest.  When Kenshin was
sure that Kaoru was more calm, he stepped away from her.
 "Kenshin..I need to go back one more time to get my money. I'll go with
Megumi, but I have to go back on more time. I don't want Kawasaka suspicous. I
have to-"
 Kenshin nodded, "Okay Kaoru-dono. I'll go with you and Megumi tonight."
 "NO! I mean..no, you need to go to the north road tonight to make sure no one
else is hurt.  I'll be fine.  You could send Sanosuke and Yahiko with us.."
 Kenshin looked at Kaoru and noticed that her gaze didn't meet his, She's
still hiding something, he thought.
 "Alright, Kaoru-dono.  But I want you to be careful."
 Kaoru nodded, "Thank you, Kenshin. I will be."
 Kenshin nodded in return before leaving Kaoru's room.
 Kaoru waited for the door to slide completely shut before she sighed and sat
down on the floor.  If Kawasaka didn't pay her, she would lose her dojo and
land to the government.
 "Hm..." she mused aloud, "I wonder how much returned government documents are
worth.."