When Kenshin returned, he found Sanosuke sitting crosslegged by a tub, scrubbing clothes.  Kenshin walked to Sano and sat down beside him, "Sano, what are you doing here?  And why are you doing laundry?  I thought it was Yahiko's turn."
 Sano looked at Kenshin, allowing Kenshin the chance to see his eye, now turning black. "That girl is going to get it one of these days...and I can't wait till it happens."
 "What happened?  Why did Kaoru-dono hit you?"
 "I don't want to talk about it."  Sano winced when he tenderly probed the swelling area around his eye, "I can't believe I let her hit me."
 "Why did you?"
 Sano looked at Kenshin seriously, "Cause she needed to.  Kenshin, do you know what this weekend is?  It's the anniversary to the day she was told her father died."  At Kenshin's look, Sano continued, "Hey, I found out when I overheard the tax collector talking to her yesterday.  She has to find someway to pay for the last couple of months or the government's taking the dojo.  You and I both know that this dojo is all that Kaoru has left-"  Sano stopped when Kenshin suddenly stood up, "Hey, where are you going?"
 "You need to finish the laundry, Sano.  And I'm going to find Kaoru-dono."  Kenshin walked way, hearing Sanosuke muttering angrily.
 "I heard that, Sano!"
 "Fuck you, Kenshin!"  Kenshin chuckled as he turned the corner.

    * * * *
 "Damnit, HAG, ease up!" Came Yahiko's yell as Kenshin entered the practice field.
 "Hag?!  HAG?  Who the hell do you think you're calling HAG?!  You wouldn't get hurt if you'd CONCENTRATE!"
 "Well it's kinda hard to concentrate with you pounding all over me!"
 "What?!?  Do you think that when you're in a fight, your opponent's going to give you the opportunity to plan a damned strategy?!  Now, PAY ATTENTION!"  Kaoru advanced on the boy, using the most basic of moves, but no matter how much the boy tried, he couldn't counter all of them.  Finally, in disgust, Yahiko threw his practice sword to the ground.
 "Damnit, I've had enough!"  With that, he turned and tried to walk away from his instructer.  Instead, Kaoru grabbed Yahiko's arm and tried to pull him back, "Come back here right now and take up your sword, you little brat!"
 "No way in hell, you wrinkled old BAG!"
 Smack.
 Suddenly everything was quiet as Kaoru looked at her hand in amazement.  It was red and began to swell, but not as much as it's matching print on her pupil's face. "Yahiko...I'm...I. I don't know what to say...I'm so sorry-"
 "Shut the hell up!  First Sano and now me!  What are you trying to do, kill all of us?!"  Yahiko yanked his arm from Kaoru's grasp and ran a few feet before turning back, his brown eyes hard with anger ,"I hate you!" he spat out as he turned, and ran out of the clearing.
 Kaoru, who was still in shock, looked after Yahiko, not even trying to chase him.  She gingerly held her injured hand as tears began to fall from her eyes.  She tried to blink the tears back, when she realized that her legs wouldn't hold her.  She fell to her knees. Breathing in a ragid breath, she was startled when a towel appeared before her.  She looked up to find Kenshin looking down at her.  Instead of accepting, she stood and walked over to Yahiko's sword, picking it up.
 "Are you alright, Kaoru-dono?"
 "I'm fine."  Kaoru began to walk to the dojo.
 Kenshin stayed where he was and watched Kaoru slam the door behind her.  He looked at his hand which still held the towel.  He made a fist with this hand before letting the towel  go.  He took a step towards the dojo, then stopped.  He knew that he shouldn't follow her.  No matter how much he was enjoying the second chance that life has given him to be Himura Kenshin again, he still knew that any day now he may have to kill.  Then, he'd be Battou-sai again. A hitokiri, an assassin.  And when that day came, he couldn't leave Kaoru knowing that the man she cared about was dead.  For as surely as he killed another man, he was killing himself.  He hurt enough now knowing that he couldn't help her.  And if he let her know of his feelings for her, his inevitable departure would cause her unbearable grief.  Still, he couldn't stop himself from walking towards the dojo, nor from opening the door and quietly closing it behind him.  He watched her as she clutched her father's boukin to her chest and cried.  Her little frame was shaking with the force of her sobs.  Without thinking about the consequences, he began walking to her.
 When Kaoru entered the dojo, she calmly replaced the practice swords that she used earlier.  Then, without knowing why, she went to a shelf which held a long wooden box.  She carefully lifted the box and walked to the center of the dojo with it.  Once there, she sat down and lifted the lid.  Inside, on a bed of soft wool sat a wooden sword.  It had a dark cherry stain and Kaoru's eyes misted as she imagined her father and the many times he'd practiced with it.  Tenderly lifting it, she found the message her father had carefully carved into the blade, close to the hilt.  "Ai no wa, mamotte."  She wiped her eyes with the back of her hand as she thought of the meaning.  "Protect the ones you love."  In a broken whisper, she asked the sword, "But, who was there to protect you?"  Kaoru closed her eyes as she felt a wave of grief come over her.  Vaguely, she wished that Kenshin could be with her.  But, she firmly pushed that thought away.  He's afraid, her mind whispered, he's afraid that he'll have to leave a part of himself behind .  The closest he'd ever come to cracking that wall around him had been when Jinnei had kidnapped her.  And then, he'd almost turned back to being hitokiri.  Kaoru knew that Kenshin wouldn't come to her, and her pain was all the more potent for that.  She not only cried for her father, but for a happiness he would've wanted her to have.  She knew without a doubt, that her happiness lies with Kenshin because she would never love anyone as she did him.
 She was so deep in misery that she didn't hear the door open or close.  Neither did she hear the hesitant steps leading towards her.  What finally did startle her was the pair of arms gently closing around her.  In shock, she looked up into a pair of clear blue eyes.
 "Ken..shin?"  her eyes were wide with hope and despair.
 "Shh, Kaoru-dono."  Kenshin gently brought her head to his chest and lightly caressed her head as new sobs began to rise out of her.  He closed his eyes and wished that he could remove the pain from her soul as he held her.
 Shocked tears of relief flowed from Kaoru's eyes as she marvelled at the strength and gentleness of the arms that held her.  Oh god, she thought, amazing as this may sound, this is enough.  She felt a little smile at the center of her soul where all the pain once was.  She felt herself relax in Kenshin's arms.
 Kenshin was having some difficulties.  He was very confused about what to do next.  He tried patting her head a few times, but it was just too damned awkward.  When Kaoru's body began to relax in his embrace, he panicked.  "Um, Kaoru-dono..Um, I don't know...um, what to do next.?"  He grew alarmed when the body he held began to shake.  "Kaoru-dono...are you alright?!"
 He was expecting...well, he didn't know what to expect.  But the laughter that tumbled out of Kaoru confused him.  Is she hysterical? he thought.  He pulled her slightly away from him to get look at her face, and froze at what he saw there.  Her face was wet with her tears, yet the look on her face was so warm and happy that he almost kissed her then and there.  He didn't, but he truly wanted to.
 Kaoru was loving it!  The fact that Kenshin, the strongest samurai in the world was totally clueless ....she sat up to face him.  The look of confusion on his face only added to her mirth.  After wiping the tears of laughter from her eyes, she calmed down and sighed, "Oh Kenshin, I love you-"  After which,  she froze in shock of saying it aloud.  At Kenshin's lowered eyes, she reached for her father's sword but stopped when Kenshin's hand wrapped around the hilt.  Kenshin stood and gripped her father's sword in both hands as he practiced swinging it.
 "Kaoru-dono, where did your father get this sword?"
 "He made it himself, why?" Kaoru was still a little embarrassed, but embraced the new topic of conversation eagerly, "Is there something wrong with it?"
 "Not really.  It just seems a little heavier than a regular boukin."
 "I think it's because of the wood."
 "Hmm.."  Kenshin finished his swings and offered the sword back to Kaoru, hilt first.  She took it from him and replaced it in the wooden box.   While going to the shelf to return it, she had hoped that Kenshin would take it as his cue to leave.  But when she turned around, he was still there.  And in far more control of his emotions than she was, Kaoru observed.  Sighing, she placed a balled fist on her hip and looked at Kenshin askance.  "And you're still here because..?"
 "How much money do you need to pay for the taxes?"
 Both of Kaoru's eyebrows arched then lowered as looked at Kenshin with what she hoped was an innocent face, "What do you mean?"
 "You know exactly what I mean, Kaoru-dono.  The back-taxes.  How much to do you owe?"
 "Oh..THAT!  Well, not that much-"
 "How much, Kaoru?"  His voiced dropped and he took a step forward to indicate that he was quite serious about their disccusion.
 "About..15 hundred yen. But I have most of it."
 "How much more do you need?"
 "Don't worry about it, I've got it covered.  I..got a job."
 Kaoru held her breath, hoping that Kenshin wouldn't ask the next logical question that she knew she couldn't answer.
 "Where?"
 She sighed to herself and answered.
 "In a restaurant, and no, I won't tell you where.  The last thing I need is for you, Sano, and Yahiko to come and annoy me, so..there."
 "Fine.  Since you do not wish my help, I will wish you luck."  Kenshin looked at Kaoru a moment longer before crossing to the door.  After opening it, he looked back to find Kaoru facing away from him, "You wouldn't lie to me, would you, Kaoru-dono?"
 A small reply came back to him, "About what?"  For some reason, he didn''t think that she was talking about the taxes.  He slowly closed the door behind him and set off towards the house.  His eyes narrowed as he went over his conversation with Kaoru.  No, she didn't lie...but he wasn't told the whole truth, either.  Grim faced, Kenshin decided that he was going to have to find out the truth himself.  He also wondered why he felt so angry about the whole situation

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