Hi, I don't really know how far this story's going to go, but for right now tell me if you like it. Rurouni Kenshin and the characters represented in it are not mine!

Ch.1

She couldn't breath. He had done the impossible, risked everything just for her…and she couldn't believe it. Tears dripped from her face, sobs threatened to be released. Everything he had worked for, everything that he lived for, was now gone. All because of her.

Why couldn't she defend herself? If she could have, then none of this would have happened. Pushing herself up on her knees, she watched on in horror. Her beloved Kenshin was fighting fiercely with her abductor, his eyes a brilliant golden color.

He had released the Battousi when he saw the condition she was in. He had seen her broken body and gone into an uncontrollable rage. If she had only been stronger, she could have fought back for herself. She wouldn't need him to come to her rescue every time a man threatened to hurt her.

More tears dripped from her face as she saw the battle. The battle was close, but she knew who would win. No one could beat the Battousi, and this battle was just like all the others.

This time, though, she feared that she wouldn't be able to prevent him from breaking his vow. This man had hurt her worse than the others; he had tried to break her pride and spirit. He had almost succeeded but she was saved by Kenshin's arrival.

'Dammit, what is the Kamiya Kasshin Style for, if I can't even protect myself? I'm supposed to be able to protect my loved ones, but I can't do that if I can't even protect myself!' Kaoru thought in agony.

The Battousi had knocked the sword from his opponent and was going for the final blow. The blow that would kill the man instantly.

"NOOO! KENSHIN, DON'T DO THIS!" Kaoru yelled, her voice breaking in the middle of her scream. The only sign that he heard her was the falter in his final swing of his sword. She pushed herself to her feet, almost falling back down, but her stubbornness refused to let her.

"Kenshin, stop. You don't want to do this. Not for me." She vainly tried to reason with him, but she knew he wasn't going to listen.

He lifted his sword higher in the air and began to bring it down. His opponent's head was bent ready for his death.

'No, I can't let this happen. I wouldn't be able to forgive myself.' She thought with determination.

Gathering the rest of her strength, she sprinted towards Kenshin. Doing a tumble, she managed to pick up her abductor's fallen sword, never breaking her sprint.

"Now, you die!" She heard Kenshin yell, and watched as the sword was brought down in a lightning move.

The sound of swords clashing was all that was heard. Kenshin blinked in surprise as Kaoru appeared in front of him.

Sweat dripped from her flushed face, and her eyes were lit with determination. The hand holding the sword of her abductor shook badly, but she kept her position.

"Kenshin, I don't want anyone to die because of me." This time her voice was soft and calm.

"Kaoru, move out of the way. He needs to be punished for hurting you!" He didn't know how he was going to get her out of his way without hurting her further. His eyes began to flicker between violet and gold, when he saw how exhausted she looked. But still, she held her defensive stance, standing over the man that just recently hurt her.

"Let the authorities handle him, you don't need to anymore." Her reason was beginning to get through to him, she could tell. His grip began to loosen on his sword's hilt, and his stance began to relax. She sighed in relief when he completely brought down his sword to his side. She, too, brought down her sword.

"Kaoru, nooo!" Kenshin screamed. Her abductor had been completely forgotten during their exchange, and he had used that to his advantage. He had grabbed Kaoru from behind and in his hand was a hidden knife which was held against Kaoru's neck, piercing it ever so slightly that a thin line of blood had formed.

"Kenshin" Kaoru whimpered.

'Great, Kamiya, now you get yourself into even more trouble. You are such a fool.' She berated herself mentally.

Tears managed to leak from the corners of her eyes as her throat burned like it was on fire.

"Let her go." Kenshin growled his eyes once more a brilliant golden color.

"Why? She was so much fun before, I think I could go for another round" Her abductor sniffed her hair, smiling at the reaction that got from the Battousi.

Kaoru kept her eyes to the ground; she didn't want to hear Kenshin's reaction to the news. She had hoped he would never find out what had happened to her during her capture.

"Fumiya! This is your last warning, let Miss Kaoru go. If you do, I will let you go peacefully." Fumiya laughed, making Kaoru cringe.

"Do you think that I am a fool, Battousi? I'm having too much fun with 'Miss Kaoru' right here." He said stressing her name.

Kaoru looked up, right into Kenshin's eyes. 'I'm sorry, Kenshin.' She fervently thought, hoping he got the message.

Relaxing into her captor's grip, she waited until he loosened up a bit, thinking she had given up. Then, using the last of her remaining strength, Kaoru stepped on her captor's foot and used the surprise to break free of his hold.

She cringed as the knife cut a little bit more deeply in the process. Rolling on the ground, she got out of the way of the two men's colliding paths.

For what seemed like hours, she lay on the cold ground with her eyes closed. She hurt everywhere and right now couldn't bear to see if Kenshin had killed Fumiya or not. It seemed like days since this whole mess started.

'If only I hadn't run away. I shouldn't have gotten jealous over them kissing. Kenshin's not mine. No, if I only I had been more careful..'

Right before everything faded into oblivion, Kaoru could have sworn she heard Kenshin calling out her name.