Disclaimer: I do not own Ruroni Kenshin or any of the characters that are mentioned from the Ruroni Kenshin series.

Moonlighter

"What was so important that you had to do this!"

She remembered the taste of it. The smell; sweat, panting breath, the harsh feel of dirty polyester that seemed to add insult to injury. Yes, it had been a long time since Kaoru had had this dream. A long time since she thought about her past, and even longer since she had truly ever been this afraid.

Simon had called the station a few more times in the past weeks, but it seemed that he had finally given up. She was happy for that, because now she hoped that they both could move on.

Kaoru shut the door of her car and walked into what were now familiar grounds for her. As the hostess ushered her around the back she smiled at the now endearing face of the man who had quickly become one of the closest friends that she had had in a while.

"Hi."

"Hello Kaoru, and how are you doing today?"

She sat in the chair that he had pulled out for her, "I'm okay." and watched as he took his own seat. "What about you? How are you doing?"

"I'm fine Kaoru." He stared for a moment. "I don't mean to sound rude Kaoru-chan, but you do look a bit tired today. Are you sure that you are alright?"

Kaoru tried to smile, but decided it wouldn't fool him and sighed instead. "Don't worry. I just haven't been getting much sleep lately."

"Hmm."

"I've just been having some long nights." She tried to assure him. "Working part-time and going to college does have its drawbacks." She watched him nod and pick up his teacup to sip at what was now their habitual fare – Gyokuro. He was dressed a bit more casual today. Though his black shirt was still crisp and his slacks were the same, he looked just a little more relaxed this evening. "Did you have the day off or something?"

He smiled at her. "Well… yes I did. How did you know?"

"Well… you… you just look different I guess."

"Hmm."

Kaoru looked down into her tea and tried to hide the nervousness that was building in her chest. She and Kenshin had been meeting here at the Aoi Take for the past month. Every Tuesday and Thursday night, they would meet for tea and conversation. It had become something that Kaoru had begun to look forward to - being with him was something that she had begun to look forward to.

"Um… Kenshin?"

"Yes?" he watched as she nervously tapped the side of her teacup; a habit he noticed she had and made use of often.

"Well… I… I was… I have tomorrow off… tomorrow evening. And well… I wanted to know if you would like to… I don't know, hang out somewhere that's not here."

He looked at her, a bit startled and uncomfortable at the same time.

"Oh, you don't have to." She put in quickly. "I was just…"

"No, it's okay." He cut her off; "I'd be happy too." flashed a quick smile at her.

"Are you sure? You don't have to if you don't want…"

"I'd love to Kaoru-chan, that I would. What did you have in mind?"

"Well, there's a Kendo class a few blocks over. I thought that might be fun, and I really wanted to learn…"

He chuckled and she wondered if she was a fool for asking him. "Again, you really don't have to come if you don't want to. I realize that exercise is not everybody's idea of fun. It's just an idea."

Kenshin took her hands and held them in his own. "No Kaoru-chan, I'm not laughing at you. I just find it funny how much we have in common." He smiled at her. "I would love to go with you."

She couldn't keep the smile from stretching across her face. "Of course then, what time do you want to meet?"

Kaoru felt a tingle on the back of her neck. Something was wrong. She looked around the parking lot warily after giving her farewells to the hostess. What was it? Kenshin was to her left taking a phone call. No other persons were in the lot. So what was wrong?

She stopped moving, concentrating on the sounds around her. There was nothing but the sound of far away traffic - car horns, motorcycles, a loud radio; nothing new, nothing strange.

"Are you ready Kaoru? Let me walk you to your car."

Startled she glanced at Kenshin, before dazedly nodding and walking to the small green car parked across the lot.

"Good! That's it! Keep going Kamiya-san!"

Kenshin watched amazed. Matsuda-sensei was right. She was good. Apparently she was one of his top students and here he had thought that she was just learning. He watched as she brought her bokken down again, pushing the man she was sparring with back a few steps. Her feet were light, toes sliding across the floor with the ease of a natural fighter, a dancer. Her breathing was soft, almost soundless except for the grunts of strain as she pushed the power through her body to attack. She was new, there was no doubt about that; he could see it in the way her body sometimes swayed, showing its femininity, where there should be more control – in her shoulders as she moved to strike, in her hips when she shifted her balance. And though she snapped to position after her movements, they were weaknesses. Ones that cost her strength of attack and left her open to injury. But even as he thought of her flaws, he also saw her potential; he saw how good she was already. She was born for this. And this man was no match for her.

"Izuma! Yakuto! In!" Apparently the sensei saw it too.

The two men ran onto the mat and sprung into action. Kaoru swung, blocking her back and swiping her first opponent's legs from under him. They threw attack after attack, bearing down on her defenses, but she wouldn't fold, she kept going - throwing herself in the air kicking one of the men in his face with her back leg and launching her bokken in the next's gut and falling into a crouch. Her face was flushed and her breathing a little harder than before.

"Yoshii! Himura!"

Kenshin started and turned to look Matsuda in the eyes. He stared at him for a second and then understood. Matsuda wanted him to go easy. He would have in any case, but he could appreciate that some people were aware of the violence he could bring about.

He ran onto the mat falling a little to the side as the other man ran straight to the battle. She was now trapped, surrounded. As he walked closer he wondered what she would do. There were five of them – though some of them were worse for wear – and only one of her. 'Closer. Closer.' They started to run towards her. He watched as the man Izuma grabbed at the arm of her gi pulling the thick material away and exposing her shoulder. He had since dropped his weapon and was attacking her with his fists – a mistake he realized when she struck his forearm with a blow so hard that he screamed out loud, calling her a bitch.

He dashed in and used the momentary shock of Izuma's scream to approach with an attack. It was then that he saw her face. Saw that her eyes were glazed and that she looked more afraid than he thought anyone could in a small dojo sparring match. What was wrong? He stopped his running to actually look at her. Her breathing had turned ragged and her movements were erratic. She started to swing wildly and made an unnatural keening sound whenever one of the men came near. She looked positively feral and like she was about to break down.

Kenshin jumped in just in time to block the three hits coming toward her as she collapsed and covered her face, whimpering like a lost child.

"Stop! Stop it!" She screamed shaking her head at no one in particular.

"Stop!" Matsuda shouted at the confused men. "Kam…"

Kaoru pushed Kenshin back and crawled, scrambling from the bodies surrounding her. When she got to the edge of the mat she clumsily made a run for the doorway and before he knew it, she was gone.

"Wait Kaoru…" He glanced briefly at the Sensei before running off to see where she had gone.

He caught up to her in the locker room where she was leaning back against one of the dark wooded cubbies, her head turned up to the ceiling as if she was begging for something. Her breathing was fast, shallow and uneven and her fists were clenched together so tightly that they were bloodless and her veins were standing out.

"Kaoru…" he spoke softly, approaching her with the utmost of care. "Are you okay? What's wrong?"

She didn't look at him. She only started to breathe harder, whimpering every so often in voice that he could only describe as desperate.

"Kaoru, it's me Kenshin. Listen to me. You have to tell me what's wrong."

"I… I… I can't. I can't! I have to leave. I can't stay here, I have to go. I have to go!" She was crying now.

"Kaoru, please… just take a deep breath. It's going to be all right. I'm right here for you. I won't let anyone hurt you. I won't let anything happen to you. You don't even need to tell me what's wrong, but please, just try to breathe. Just try to breathe Kaoru."

"I… I can't. I can't breathe, I can't stay here. I have to leave." There was a wildness in her eyes as she searched blindly for a way out of the locker room.

"Kaoru, look at me." He watched the erratic rise and fall of her chest, and knew that he had to get her to focus. "Kaoru LOOK. AT. ME."

She shifted her head slightly to the right and tried to focus on him, tried to calm her panicked body just enough to look at him. And when her eyes -barely blue except for the thin ring around her dilated pupils- finally locked onto his, Kenshin moved just a little closer to her.

"Kaoru. I need you to breathe. Take a deep breath. Look, watch me." He demonstrated, using his hands in tandem with the rising and falling of his own chest so that she could follow. "See?" He raised his hands again as he took another breath and pushed his hands out palms down as he exhaled.

After a while he could tell that she was making an effort. Her breathing had slowed by just a little and her small fists were -bit by bit- loosening up. "I can't… I can't…"

"Yes you can." He said firmly, but as gently as he could. He watched as she closed her eyes and leaned back against the locker, this time breathing easier. "Are you feeling a little better Kaoru? I'm still here. There's no one here but me, but I need you to talk to me. I need to know that you're okay."

"I'm… I'm okay." she said after a while. "I'm okay."

"Good. Good." He closed his eyes, let out a deep breath and rubbed his forehead. "Kaoru…"

"I have to go."

He opened his eyes again, worried. "No, Kaoru, you don't have to…"

"Kenshin, I'm fine. I really am." She sighed. "I need to go home now. I really can't go back in there."

He looked at her.

"And I really can't talk about this with you right now." She walked across the room and out the inner door. When she came back she opened her locker and took her gym bag out. "Here." She handed him the key. "Could you this this back to the front desk please?" She swiped her hand across her eyes and sniffled a little. "I'm really sorry Kenshin, I…" She couldn't look him straight in the face. "I… It just happens sometimes. I can't control it."

"Kao…"

"Iie, I can't talk about it now. I'm sorry. I just can't."

He moved to touch her and she turned abruptly.

"I'll see you later." And with that she left.

"Konbanwa minna-san. I want to welcome you on this beautiful Monday evening to 95's Jingo's Session; where we talk 'Real Issues in Real Time'. I'm your host Jingo and the topic of the day is a continuation of last week's 'Health: You are What You Eat.' Today's topic is "Stay Healthy – Stay Asleep". Yamamoto-sama is back on board as our guest speaker and life guru. But Before I start, as always, I'm going to play my song of the day. Today it's a song by The Pillows, one of my favourite bands. Check it out, it's called "Nowhere" and it's from their album 'Little Busters'. Enjoy!"

"Yes minna-san! We Need Sleep! I know it may be hard, especially for the average overachiever or party animal, and especially for those of us in college. I know I hardly sleep anymore, between my classes and work, I barely get enough time to change clothes, BUT we must change regardless! Aside from eating healthy, we must treat our bodies like the temples that Kami has made them to be. Rest is a part of that mold. Try for at least a full 6-8 hours a night guys. Am I right Yamamoto-san?"

"Hai, Indeed you are Jingo-san."

"Arigatou Yamamoto-sama! NOW, it's time for me to open up the airwaves guys! Feel free to call and tell me about your sleepless college experiences, or to ask out local guru here for some advice. Standard courtesies apply. Your questions must be related to the topic, and your language must stay shiny clean."

"Konnichiwa."

"Hai, you're my first caller…"

"Hai. I wanted to know from Yamamoto-sensei, how do I sleep if I keep having night terrors?"

"Sensei…" Yamamoto opened his mic.

"Well, if you are having nightmares there are a variety of ways to handle them. First, there are sleeping pills that you can take, but I always like to say that you should try to cure the problem, not just treat the symptoms. You might want to talk to someone about it, your nightmare I mean, and if you can't find anyone to talk to, someone that you trust, then maybe you should try a session or two with a therapist."

"I think I can do that… I'll try it. Arigatou Yamamoto-sensei."

"Douitashimashite! It makes me happy to help the young with their problems. Makes me feel just a bit younger myself." He gave a gruff laugh and then quieted as he watched his hostess stare off into the distance behind the cool blues of her glass window. "After all" he said softly as he continued to watch her. "there are so many lost souls out there who need our help."

Japanese:

Hai, Aa – Yes

Iie – No

Gomen – Sorry

Gyokuro – A type of Japanese tea.

Aoi Take – 'Blue Bamboo' – The restaurant's name

Douitashimashite – You're Welcome

-dono – shows deep reverence. Example: Lady, Miss… etc.

San – shows respect to someone unfamiliar or older than yourself.

Sensei – respectful call for teacher or someone of importance

Hi guys! Sorry for the delays! I've been working really hard this year, it's around graduation time and I hardly find the time to eat/ sleep/ breathe, much less carry out my love of writing for you my readers. But I'm trying to carve some time out especially for you! Love you guys! I hope you continue to review! If I get a lot of reviews I promise to upload new chapters faster! Hey I might even start to give you guys sneak peaks! OOooooooooooo Ahhhhhhh…. Lol.

Thanks in advance guys! R&R for more!

Bytheway: If you're into Yugioh or even if you're not, you should check out 'The Token'. Great writer and very non-conventional when it comes to her writing and her pairings. Looking for a fresh perspective on that scene, take a look at her stuff for sure.

Sneak Peak! - You thought you had to wait for it right?

Do I see a little KenxKao action coming up? Maybe… But I do see a little confrontation. Between who? And what? Who's that? His mother?

Stay tuned for the next chapter of Moonlighter!

Love Ya,

G&T