Disclaimer: Rurouni Kenshin belongs to the great Nobuhiro Watsuki. That hasn't stopped me from dreaming...

Thank you to the ever-amazing aclockworKat for beta-ing this! Thank you!

This is the result of passing a housing development sign on my way home from work. That's it. Just one silly, little sign that I've passed hundreds of times before sent my imagination through a whirlwind. It took all of three seconds to evolve into the foundations for this two-shot, and I've been giggling about it ever since. I guess I've been writing too many serious things lately, so when this fun idea popped up, I just could't resist. :)

Thievery

Part I

Kaoru was beyond thrilled, and the fact that she was receiving strange looks from the stationary cars around her did nothing to subdue her enlivened dancing. The music was loud and her favorite artist was blaring through the speakers. It was night time and beautiful, crisp, autumn temperatures would reach the city within a few weeks. How could she not sing along and flail around? She certainly didn't care what everyone else thought. Especially when the song was so much fun.

Feeling the rise of energy in the song, she gripped her steering wheel more tightly and the huge grin that fought to be displayed was impossible to resist. She felt the music nestle so deeply within her bones that she closed her eyes briefly, as if the action would allow her to savor the moment more thoroughly. The lyrics tumbled off her lips as she bounced around in her seat emphatically.

Her eyes fluttered open again to check if the stoplight had turned green. It hadn't, but she noticed that the scarlet glow clung to her passenger seat awkwardly. Awkward and wrong. From the corner of her eye, she could see that the light didn't fall as flat as it should have, so she looked over.

There was a stranger seated comfortably beside her who had not been there a minute ago. He was looking at her with unrepressed amusement dancing in his eyes, and the junctions of his lips curled upward in what appeared to be genuine amusement.

Kaoru found herself momentarily frozen, her enthusiasm instantly draining from her demeanor. Only the changing color of the light brought her back to her senses. She distantly thought that the common response to a random man appearing in her car would have been to scream, but if there was a scream waiting in her throat, it never forced its way out.

His lips were illuminated in green now, and she caught a glimpse of dark, disheveled clothing and a black ski mask in his lap.

"You've got to be kidding me," she heard herself say, and only then did she snap back to full attention. Was she seriously being carjacked? How did he even get into her locked car?!

The man blinked at her rapidly as if surprised by her reaction, but then he reached to turn down the music. "Sorry," he said with a legitimately apologetic smile. "If you don't mind, I'd like you to drive now, since the light is green."

"Look, I don't know what you think-"

The barrel of a pistol was pointed at her cheek before she could so much as swallow the threat she had nearly voiced. "Please," he said calmly. "Just drive normally. I'd like for this not to look suspicious. I promise I won't hurt you."

Right. That was entirely believable. Kaoru looked at each of her mirrors, hoping that someone had seen him enter her car, but her vehicle was regretfully alone at the intersection. Everyone had already moved on without a second thought.

Kaoru cursed at the tiny voice in the back of her head that had tried to get her to take the busier, more congested streets. Was this seriously the consequence for taking smaller roads and trying to avoid traffic?

The click of the gun was loud in her ears, especially now that the music was lowered, and she visibly bit her bottom lip as she stared down the length of the barrel. Without giving herself time to hesitate, she slammed her foot onto the accelerator and effectively threw the assaulter back into the passenger seat.

"No need to be aggressive," he commented, drawing himself upright once more and rubbing the back of his head absently. "Did you even consider that you could have made me accidentally pull the trigger just now?"

Kaoru gripped the steering wheel more tightly until she felt her fingers going numb. "I'm not making you do anything. And I'll be aggressive if I damn well feel like it."

"Are you always so endearing when you have a weapon pointed at you?"

She flung a hateful glare in his direction, her volcanic eyes meeting his just over the length of his pistol. He looked incredulous and his eyes were narrowed in disbelief. His expression was that of a kid whose ice cream cone had been knocked down by an overzealous seagull.

"Oh, of course," she said sarcastically, eyes falling back on the road. "I'm this thrilled every time I get carjacked." In her rage, her tightly-gripped hands twisted along the leather of the steering wheel and emitted a sound much more menacing and satisfying than she'd have thought possible.

Her bravado was partially earnest, but to some extent she also used it to serve as a mental reinforcement. A reminder to not buckle in front of a strange man with a ski mask who had somehow broken into her car. She glanced over at the passenger door and didn't know whether to be grateful that he hadn't smashed her window. It was nice to have her vehicle intact, but that solace came with a grain of salt. Apparently it was possible for him to pick a lock in the seconds she'd been waiting for the light to turn.

As she pulled her eyes away from the door, she scanned his face and was horribly disappointed. Eyes the color of the horizon minutes after a setting sun gazed back at her curiously from underneath a mess of flame-colored bangs. His face was flawless and had the deceivingly innocent curves and shadows of someone who was polite and warm and fun to be around. Someone young and happy. Someone who she would have eyed in a coffee shop and hoped with all of her being that he would ask for her number.

Shaking her head clear of the ridiculous notion, she gnawed on her lip and tried to consolidate her options. After a few blocks, he finally spoke again. "Take this right, please," the man said authoritatively, but even as he vocalized the words, his features slid into a soft smile.

"Yessir." She glared at the road in front of her, but did as she was told, whipping the wheel to the right at the last second.

The action managed to throw him off balance again, this time sending him straight into the passenger door. Grimacing, he pulled himself upright once more and readjusted the gun to line up directly with her temple again.

"Trying to make me hit my head to knock me unconscious is among the more effective strategies you could have opted for. However, I'd appreciate a little subtlety. I'd hate for you to get a ticket for carelessly swerving all over the road."

Kaoru felt the junction of her lips rise by the tiniest degree, so she quickly forced herself to frown. A ticket. What a wonderful idea…

Automatically, she began eying all three of her mirrors and the side streets she was passing. If she caught sight of any police vehicles, she'd begin swerving and weaving in and out of traffic. That would get her pulled over for sure, and then she could somehow convey her situation to the officer!

She frowned, as he would have expected, but her eyes kept scanning.

"Please don't be difficult," he sighed, but then gave her further instructions as an afterthought. "Keep going straight and take the fourth left."

"Where are we going?" She hoped her tone was as icy as she intended for it to sound. She needed for him to believe that she wasn't up to anything, and that would take some solid acting. And a lot of talking.

He shrugged his shoulders. "I was planning on taking you to the Fourth Street warehouses, where I could kill you."

Kaoru slammed on the brakes, sending the man flying forward and into the dashboard.

"I'm kidding!" he confessed loudly, rubbing his head and quickly moving his gun away from her grasping fingers. "Honestly… can't you take a joke?"

"NOT FROM SOMEONE WHO BROKE INTO MY CAR AND HAS A GUN AND A SKI MASK!"

"Alright, alright," he said, holding his free hand up in a placating gesture. "Look, I'm not going to hurt you. I don't know how many times I have to say that for you to believe me." Her fiery glare gave him pause, but he quickly recovered. "Honestly, you're being more of a danger than I am. Your chaotic driving really isn't safe, you know? All you're trying to do is injure me, but you're not even considering other vehicles on the road."

Kaoru flung a finger at her windshield, her narrowed eyes never leaving his. It took him a moment to realize that she wasn't pointing at the windshield, but rather at something that could be seen through it.

A red stoplight. Which was why she had slammed on her brakes.

Touché…

"And I will not take blame for you not wearing a seat belt!" she shouted.

"Right- you have a point. In that case, I won't accuse you of intentionally making me fly into the dashboard. You wouldn't be so rude to your passengers, would you?" He visibly suppressed a laugh at her incredulous expression. "And anyway- how are you that reckless when you have a gun pointed at you? I could have accidentally pulled the trigger half a dozen times by now with all of your swerving."

"You already did!" The genuine confusion that swept across his features was almost attractive on his youthful features, but Kaoru's blood was too heated to reflect on it. She felt like she was seconds from exploding. Or ripping her steering wheel in two. "You already pulled the trigger when I took that last turn! I heard the click, you punk! It's not loaded!"

The man stammered for a few long seconds, both impressed that she'd been so observant and angry with himself for being so careless. "Of course it's not loaded," he finally confessed, eyeing the gun with disdain and placing it on the floorboard between his feet. "I would never aim a loaded weapon at an innocent."

She slammed her foot on the accelerator, which caused the assaulter's head to hit the passenger headrest. He bit his lip in irritation, but refused to buckle up. Kaoru figured he preferred the option for a quick getaway, even if it meant he'd have to deal with a minor concussion.

"If you knew it wasn't loaded, why were you trying to get it away from me just now?"

She spat out her honest answer without a blink of hesitation. "So I could pistol-whip you in the face."

The sound of mirthful laughter rang out. Not ridiculing or disbelieving. It was a genuine, hearty laugh that could have easily been in response to a good joke.

"What?" she barked. She somehow knew that he wasn't laughing at her, but his deep-throated chuckling did not match the situation. Normal people didn't break into people's cars, aim empty guns at the driver, and then laugh like they'd been friends for years. It made her uneasy, and she clung onto her anger like a shield. The more she gave away about herself, the more he could use against her.

"You're quite simply the most delightful chauffer I've ever had." His eyes were still gleaming in happiness as he finally returned his attention back to the road, trying to determine exactly where they were. "Also, you're not as subtle as you think. Keep both hands on the wheel, please. We can be civil here and not act like we're back in high school, right?"

"I don't know what you're talking about!" Kaoru retorted defensively.

"Your phone," he stated bluntly, casting her a knowing glance. "You've been trying to pull it out of your back pocket for a full minute. I'd like for you to place it in your purse here," he said, indicating the bag that was situated between them.

"Oh, come on!" she shouted, but still complied by ripping her phone out of her back pocket and all but slamming it into her purse, before bringing her not-so-stealthy hand back to the wheel. "Just tell me what you want so we can be done with it! I'm not in the mood to play games!"

Her eyes fell to the fuel gauge, but once again she was disappointed. Her tank was half-full, so claiming that she needed to fill up was also invalid.

Why? What had she done to deserve this?

"Right now, I'd like to know your name."

"François." She could feel his gaze on her and her face contorted in disbelief. "Seriously?! You seriously think I'd give you my real name?"

"I'm just trying to relieve some of your stress by showing you that I'm more amiable than you think. Is it so wrong to attempt to be civil?"

The resulting string of expletives and threats that streamed out of her mouth left the man wide-eyed and admittedly impressed. "Alright, alright," he said, holding out his hands complacently. "Really, I'm not that horrible. I just needed some transport-"

"And the logical reaction would be to break into someone's car and hold the driver at gunpoint!? Honestly– is that how you're rationalizing this? What happened to taxis!?"

"Vehicles typically used for taxis don't accelerate as quickly as this one, and a quick getaway could actually be quite useful for me right now. Also, taxi drivers could be less compliant if asked to evade the authorities."

The deliberately slow way she turned to lock her eyes on his made him noticeably bite back a snort of laughter. It seemed like every outburst amused him more and more.

"For all this hostility, I wouldn't expect you to be the kind of woman to own a polka dot purse," he said, eyes returning to the bag sitting innocently between the driver and passenger seats.

"I don't think you're in the best position to be passing judgment right now."

The fire in her tone was enough to make him hesitate. He recovered quickly enough. "Do you mind if I take a look at something?" he asked politely, indicating her purse.

"If all you wanted was my money you could have asked for it back there without making me go on this joyride!"

"Don't be ridiculous," he said easily, pulling out her wallet and opening the flap. "I'm not a thief." He stared at the contents briefly, snapped it shut, and then placed it back inside her purse without ever removing anything. "See?"

Kaoru grumbled to herself and flexed her fingers along the steering wheel. How dare he act so calmly about all of this?! Either he was serious and intended on robbing and possibly killing her, or he was going to use her as a hostage. There was absolutely no logical reason for someone to have gone through everything he'd done, to simply pick on her and then be on his way. All she wanted was the truth about his intentions. Then she'd be able to plan accordingly and have some kind of comfort to lean on!

"I'd like for you to take this right, please." Once she had moved the car into the appropriate lane and turned onto the perpendicular road, he took on a very calm tone that was clearly meant to reassure her. "Don't take this the wrong way, but we're going to go to your home now."

"Excuse me?" she squealed. "No, we're damn well not!"

"Yes, we are. It really is the best option, at this point."

"Okay."

"What are you doing?" he asked, eying the gas station she was beginning to turn into.

"Stopping so you can tell me what the hell it is you really want."

"Not here," he said firmly, his voice sounding serious for the first time all night. When her course of action didn't change, he looked over her shoulder to check for traffic and when he saw the way was clear, he wrapped his fingers around the steering wheel and confidently turned the car back out of the turning lane.

"Have you lost your mind!?" she shouted.

"Really, that was nothing worse than what you were doing a few minutes ago."

"I always look before I move into a different lane!"

"I do, too. A populated area like that is just not a good idea right now, alright?"

She watched as the bright lights passed into the distance in her rearview mirror. There were half a dozen cars there. It's not like she would have expected much to happen if she'd just rolled down her window and started screaming, but at least someone might think twice about it and call the police. Or, at the very least, the security cameras would have captured her license plate number and the man's face who was sitting beside her. If he really did abduct or kill her, at least Misao and Aoshi would have something to go off of.

She clamped down on her tongue, and she wasn't entirely sure if the taste of copper flowing across her tongue was purely her imagination.

Sending him another withering glare, she eyed him more carefully. He was dressed in dark clothing that hugged his torso and legs closely, all of some strange material that looked like it was straight out of a spy movie. The ski mask was splayed over his knee and… what was that smeared on her glove compartment?

"Are you bleeding?"

Alarmed, he followed her gaze. "Huh," he said, looking slightly annoyed. "I suppose I am. That's inconvenient."

"Why are you bleeding?" she asked, alarm settling in deeper. Sure, she'd slammed on her brakes a few times, but that hadn't been enough to bust his skin open.

What if he wasn't a car thief, after all? What if he had already committed his crime earlier, and she was his getaway? Is that what he meant about potentially needing to evade the police?

"It's just a minor wound," he explained evasively. "Really nothing to be concerned about. Although, I will have to clean this properly…"

"Minor wounds don't leave globs of blood all over the place! The hospital is where we need to be headed." She glanced over her shoulder and made to switch lanes, but his hand shot out and kept the wheel straight with an impossibly strong grip.

"We're going to your house," he said calmly. "To get there, we need to stay in this lane for now."

"And what the hell makes you think that?!"

His response was patient. "I just looked at your license, remember? You live on Sunlight Ave, and since there's only one Sunlight Ave around here, I think it's safe to assume that would be the correct one."

How he recognized the name of her little side street was beyond her. Sure, it was not too far off the main road they were on, but how many people actually paid attention to the dinky little offshoots that were only taken by people who lived on them?

How many people read, let alone remembered, the ingredients to a tub of ice cream? No one! All people care about is the ice cream! Not the damned ingredients that compose it!

Ok. Keep it together.

Chauffeuring some bleeding lunatic to her doorstep was absolutely not an option. She'd prefer crashing the car altogether.

The man retracted his hand slowly and flexed his fingers, as if very clearly understanding her expression. "My name is Kenshin and I am not a thief, like you think I am."

She snorted at the absurdity of the statement.

Kenshin, huh? At least she'd have a name to place with his face as she would crash the car. She'd drive until she found a half-decent ditch, and then plow into it before scrambling to grab her sweater from the back seat, and then she'd hold it over his mouth. She considered if she'd have it in her to asphyxiate him.

No.

She'd knee him in the groin first. Then adorn him with a series of colorful bruises, and then asphyxiate him.

"Look," Kenshin said calmly. "The only reason- the only reason," he repeated deliberately, "for me to even consider going to your place is to ensure that you don't end up stranded somewhere in the middle of the night. I'm honestly one of the safest people you could run into."

The woman laughed earnestly. "Right. If you consider yourself safe, I think I'll take my chances."

Kenshin ignored the bitter comment, instead focusing on the roads and ensuring that she took all the appropriate turns. At one point, he made her take a U-turn because she'd intentionally passed her road, but aside from that, she suddenly became very cooperative.

This only made him suspicious.

Within minutes, she pulled onto Sunlight Ave. She passed several apartment complexes and finally pulled up into a tiny driveway that ran alongside a small house.

The man- Kenshin- looked out his window as he eyed the home carefully. Kaoru knew by now that he soaked in as much information as possible- the scum- and that he'd take a few extra seconds to survey her house.

Taking advantage of his distracted assessment, she unbuckled her safety belt, flung the door open, and ducked out of view.

She heard his voice calling after her. "Honestly," he chided. "There's no need for that. I'm a man of my word."

Right….

Blatantly ignoring him, Kaoru bolted into the shadows, silently thanking the poorly-spaced street lamps. She'd always criticized how much space was left in between each lamp post, but the shadowed areas left between them were actually proving to be useful. She made a mental note to never complain about them again.

There was a single goal in mind as Kaoru darted along the side of her house and into her backyard, and the plan was perfect. It would be the first thing that would go right since the lunatic broke into her car.

In addition to it already being dark and difficult to see, he'd begun staring around wide-eyed like an idiot, which meant that his pupils had soaked up as much light as possible. He'd be momentarily blinded in his pursuit, and least of all expecting to be stabbed in the foot with her hedge clippers. Once he'd fall to the ground in agony, Kaoru would hop back into her car and drive straight to Misao's.

It was foolproof.

Perfect.

What was-

Was he running after her?! How had he already caught on to her heading?

HOW WAS HE THAT FAST?!

Ok, change of plans. She would never make it to the shed in time…

Without giving herself time to hesitate, Kaoru dove at the shovel she'd thankfully left there from gardening earlier, and spun around to face him, whipping the shovel in an forceful arc.

To her supreme displeasure, the metal end of the gardening tool narrowly missed his face, instead slamming into the outer wall of her home with an ear-splitting shriek. How had he ducked that quickly?

"Don't you think that was a bit uncalled for?" Kenshin asked. Before she could so much as pull the shovel back for another swing, he dove at her and brought her with him to the ground. Their limbs tangled, thanks to her wild flailing, but she still ended up secured in his grasp.

His breath ghosted across her ear as he spoke, causing her to shiver against him. She could feel his muscles rippling against hers, fighting to keep her still. "Look," he said in a low, raspy tone. "All I want is for you to go inside calmly, and I'd like for you to lock your bedroom door behind yourself. That's it," he said. The darkness devoured them, and Kaoru unsuccessfully attempted to swallow her apprehension. "That's all I want. Just go into whichever room makes you feel the safest and lock the door behind yourself. I promise that I will leave you alone tonight once you do that for me, alright?"

Kaoru remained frozen, not entirely sure if she was unwilling or unable to move.

"Alright?" Kenshin repeated a bit more forcefully.

Knowing that her voice would betray her, she nodded. Slowly, he began releasing his grip on her, though still ready to subdue her if she started flailing again. They finally stood and she brushed herself off.

Moving slowly and deliberately, she made her way to the front door. His right hand hovered directly over the small of her back in a silent reassurance that he would stop her if she tried to run again.

She considered escaping. She knew that if it were anyone else, she'd be able to outrun them without straining. But he'd already demonstrated exactly how fast he was, and she knew that he'd capture her again within seconds of fleeing.

When she reached the door, she placed her hand in the air, her palm flat and facing skyward. He dropped her keys into her waiting hand, and she instinctively wrapped her fingers around the metal before sliding the correct key into the lock and turning it.

"Go inside," he said beside her ear when she hesitated, "and straight to whatever room you want. Just lock the door behind yourself."

With a final spurt of daring courage, she turned to face him. She knew that he'd been standing directly behind her, but seeing exactly how close he was sent her heart pounding painfully. She swallowed a bubble of trepidation. "What was the point of any of this? I don't have anything worth stealing."

"I just needed help escaping, Miss Kamiya."

Her eyes widened at the chilling reality of this lunatic knowing her name, and her anger was quickly doused. Her address was one thing- she could move if need be. But her name…

"Go now," he murmured.

With trembling fingers, she turned the door handle and then stumbled inside. Though deeply afraid now, she was still ready to deliver a solid kick to his groin if he tried to come any closer. To her surprise, he remained where he was, unmoving. Without giving him the opportunity to change his mind, she slammed the door shut and locked it firmly.

Kaoru ran to her kitchen without hesitation and grabbed two meat cleavers, before spinning around and holding them up defensively. She was actually mildly surprised that the man- Kenshin, he'd called himself- wasn't behind her. Peeking around the corner, she found the door still locked, exactly as she'd left it.

Okay. That was good. All she had to do was call Misao and-

Mother f-

Her cell phone was in her purse, which was in the car!

Damn this day and age when home phones were pretty much non-existent!

Heaving out a terribly exasperated grumble, she held up both meat cleavers, ready to slash away at the tiniest sound or most miniscule movement. She inched her way to the front window, half-expecting him to come barreling through the glass like some crazed villain. Once she was close enough, she paused, very nearly hyperventilating, as she gathered the courage to peek outside.

'You can do this, Kamiya!' she goaded herself. Okay.

One. She took half a step closer.

Two. She raised the cleaver to the curtain.

Three. Ever-so-slightly, she moved the cloth to the side… only to see a pair of eyes hovering in the window, staring directly back at her.

The shriek that tore itself from her lungs only seemed to amplify her sheer terror, and she stumbled backward as quickly as she could. Only the wall at the opposite end of the room stopped her hasty retreat, and when she blinked the world back into focus, she realized that two large knives were poised in front of her, gripped very securely in her quivering hands.

He still did not try to enter, but after a moment, she heard his voice calling inside through the window. "Please go into one of your rooms, Miss Kamiya." She was very, very grateful that the curtain was once again shielding her face from him, because her eyes widened and her chest heaved up and down more rapidly than before. "And don't forget to lock the door!"

Before she knew what was happening, she found herself racing to the opposite side of the house. There was no way in hell she was going to barricade herself in and close off all possibility for escape. That was NOT an option!

She darted into the living room, hell-bent on flying outside through the door that led out onto the back porch. But when her eyes locked on the door, she saw the same pair of lavender eyes staring back at her. Kenshin's expression was a strange cocktail of amusement and annoyance. He gripped his abdomen with his left hand, and even from the distance that still lay between them, Kaoru could see scarlet liquid beginning to stain his fingers.

"A bedroom, preferably," he called through the door. "Or bathroom."

Without a word, she turned on her heel, the walls blurring past her as she ran. When she caught her breath, she found herself crouched on the ground in her office. Belatedly, she realized that she'd locked the door behind herself, and that she was alone in the dark, windowless room. Shaking, and not knowing what else to do, she crawled along the plush carpet and all but dove underneath her desk. The bottom part of the desk had solid backing that shielded her from the office door, so she leaned against it, her meat cleavers held out at the ready, waiting for him to barge through her only exit.

Many tense moments passed, but nothing else happened. Slowly, she began to lower her weapons, and after several minutes, her fists were resting on the ground, her breathing finally relatively even. It was clear at that moment that he was not interested in pursuing her.

That notion was only slightly comforting. She was grateful that she was alright, but what would happen now? He knew where she lived. He knew her name. He… he… he had her keys! Her keys, which she had stupidly left in the lock outside! That meant he could very simply just strut inside whenever he pleased! And her car… he could drive away with her car without a single worry! Her purse was in there… her wallet, her cell phone- everything!

Fighting the overwhelming build-up of tears and the choking need to bawl her eyes out in terror, she once again clutched onto the knife handle and stared out into the darkness that saturated her office, waiting for any kind indication that he'd broken in. A lot of time passed- hours, she guessed- and her eyelids began drooping, her fight to combat her paranoid exhaustion finally giving out. Curled in a ball, knives still clutched in her fists, Kaoru finally lost the battle to remain alert, and she plunged into restless sleep.

Kaoru woke the following morning.

Quickly enough, she'd recalled why two meat cleavers were sprawled out before her and why she'd fallen asleep underneath her desk in the first place. Wiping her tired eyes, she felt more alert than ever before, and very cautiously, she peeked around the side of her desk to see if the office door was still closed.

When she confirmed that it was, she carefully crawled out and instantly began stretching her cramped limbs. She shouldn't have expected anything less than shooting pain her legs and back, but imagining the ache while falling asleep was entirely different from actually feeling it the following morning.

After groaning quietly to herself and stretching properly, she stood, extended her muscles satisfyingly for the third time, and then grabbed her knives once more. Since the office had no windows, she couldn't peek outside, so, much to her dismay, she'd only be able to find out how much damage the lunatic had done after she'd opened her door.

Taking a deep breath to prepare herself for her furniture and electronics to have vanished, she pulled the door open and quickly held up her knives in defense. There was no sign of movement and no sounds to be heard, so she stepped out into the hallway very carefully. Kaoru paused to listen for any strange noises, and when she heard nothing, her confidence grew slightly.

Honestly- what would a burglar still be doing in her house so many hours later, anyway- and in the daylight, no less?

Feeling better and better with each step she took, she finally rounded the end of the hallway and emerged in her living room. The tv was there. The speakers, the stereo system, her DVDs… all there, untouched. She pondered this for a few brief seconds, but finally attributed the fact that the lunatic from the night before hadn't stolen that stuff because it was too big for his puny butt to carry outside.

Outside… to his getaway vehicle-

Eyes widening, Kaoru started sprinting toward the front door. He'd left everything alone inside her house because he'd stolen her car! Oh, Kami help him if she ever-

Her threat was cut short by the sight perched innocently on her kitchen counter.

It was her purse. Her silly, polka dot purse which Misao had insisted wouldn't appear too girly and awkward on her.

Looking around once more, she cleared any places where the lunatic could have been hiding before finally approaching her purse. Kaoru carefully inspected the bag, and was shocked to find both her wallet and her cell phone inside, just as she'd left them. A quick examination of her wallet indicated that he hadn't stolen anything- none of her credit cards, not her license, and not even the cash that lay in the back pocket. Not like it was much cash, but he'd clearly noticed it last night when he was furtively discovering her address in the first place. Why hadn't he taken easy, untraceable money?

And…

… Were those her keys sitting openly on the bar ledge? They were perched on something white. Something inoffensive. A…. was… was that a note?

Fingers trembling, she realized for the first time that although she was happy to see her purse and its contents present, the purse still had to come from somewhere. It had been very deliberately been placed on her countertop, and for that to have happened, the man had to have entered her house.

Was that why he'd demanded her to lock herself in a room? So he wouldn't have a chance to hurt her?

Or had he waited long enough to assume she'd be asleep before entering her house?

Breathing heavily, Kaoru eyed the note, refusing to touch it, worried about soiling any evidence that Misao and her colleagues would be able to glean from the crime scene. Leaning over slightly, she read.

'Miss Kamiya,

I am so terribly sorry for frightening you tonight, and for ruining any plans you may have had. You've helped me tremendously, and I appreciate the time you took to drive me to safety. I imagine that you're worried about me having made a copy of your keys, but please believe me when I say that I have done nothing like that. Not like you'd actually believe me, because you're so stubb-

That last part had been scratched out, as it was written in pen, and Kaoru glowered at the paper hatefully.

Anyway… please forgive me for breaking into your car. And please don't be alarmed anymore. There's no need to call the police. Everything has already been transferred over, so it's all settled. No need to worry about a thing- just consider it as a 'thank you' for putting up with me.

-The Thief'

What. Was. He. Talking. About?

WHAT had been transferred?

Her eyes flew all over the place- her television again, her computer, her-

Kaoru's gaze floated back to the keys that were resting atop the note. She'd simply glanced at them earlier… hadn't taken a proper mental inventory of them- WHAT WAS THAT BLACK THING DOING ON HER KEY RING?!

Anger sliced through her apprehension and she suddenly found herself standing outside on the cobblestone path that led up to her front door.

Situated proudly before her was a dark, sporty car with professionally tinted windows and a polished shine so beautiful that she felt slightly envious.

That wasn't the point. The point was that, although very similar, this was NOT her car, damn it! What had he done with it? Was this what he meant by something or another being transferred?

Son of a-

He'd really had a means to do it, too! He'd had access to her wallet- her license, her birthdate, her insurance information… he seriously could have stolen her car and replaced it with this beautiful, shining, horrible thing!

"KAMI HELP YOU," Kaoru screamed into the rising sun, the echoes bouncing off the empty street.

Resolved to take him down and slam his face into the concrete, Kaoru stomped inside, closed the door, locked it, and fished her phone out of her purse. A few rings later brought Misao's beaming voice to Kaoru's ear.

"I'm going to murder him, Misao. I swear it."

Keep an eye out for part two! :)