"Kenshin?" Kaoru's voice rang clear in the morning air, echoing across the dojo. "Kenshin, where are you?" Walking through the house, she stepped in front of Kenshin's room, quietly sliding open the door. "Kenshin?" Quieter now, she realized that Kenshin wasn't in his room. Instantly panic surged through her, and her mind flashed to the worst possible scenario: Kenshin had left.
Running out into the yard, not even putting anything over her sleep yakuta, not bothering with her sandals, she spotted him, standing in the middle of the grass, his sword in hand, staring at the dojo gates. "Kenshin?"
"Hush, Kaoru." His eyes slid briefly to her, then refocused on the gates once more. All at once, she felt why he was so intently focused on the gates. She couldn't describe the feeling, but she knew something was happening; something or someone was headed towards them. "Get Sano and Yahiko." Kenshin's voice broke through her single-minded concentration. "Go, Kaoru, now!"
Finally completely breaking free, she ran back into the house, crying for Sano and Yahiko. Sano, despite the amount he had drunk the night before, jumped up immediately.
"What is it Kaoru?" She pointed towards the outer door, unable to explain what was going on. Understanding, Sano headed outside.
"Yahiko!" Kaoru burst into his room, and ran to shake him awake. "Wake up, idiot!"
"Kaoru, it's the middle of the night!" Shaking her head, she threw his clothes at him, and headed back outside, remembering to put on her shoes this time.
When she got outside, both Kenshin and Sano were staring up, over the walls of the dojo, and, following suit, she too looked up, and was aghast at what she saw. The sky was red, smoky, with almost a painted look. As she watched, every so often, bursts of light further illuminated the sky, like some brilliant western show. A black ball rose quickly to her left, closer than any of the other flashes.
It was then she noticed the smell. The smell of wood burning, and faintly of flesh burning. She heard the sounds, all of a sudden, of people screaming, of cracking timber, and of explosions.
"Kenshin?" He turned to look at her.
"Get whatever is entirely essential, and what you have to save above all else. We leave as soon as possible." He turned to Sano. "Please help her, Sano." Nodding his assent, Sano headed towards Kaoru.
"Come Kaoru, let's get whatever we need." Casting another look towards Kenshin, Kaoru turned about and heading inside.
"Would you please get the plaque from the Dojo?" Know exactly what she wanted, Sano turned towards the dojo, letting Kaoru get whatever she needed from inside. Kaoru stepped inside, and was abruptly run into by Yahiko.
"What's going on?"
"Get whatever you need. We are leaving now."
"But-"
"Now, Yahiko!" Her tone brooked no argument, and with a confused look on his face Yahiko turned to get his things.
After a few minutes, Yahiko and Kaoru met back up with Sano and Kenshin in the yard. Before Kaoru could get a word out, the gates burst open, and Megumi ran inside, Tsubame by her side. "We have to go... Oh. You already know." Shaking her head for a moment, she continued. "We need to go. Now. We were only a few minutes ahead of all of it."
Rather than asking what exactly it was, Kaoru nodded to Megumi and moved to walk by Kenshin. "How did you know, Kenshin?" With a shrug, Kenshin lead them all out the gates and away from the Dojo.
"How did you know Kaoru?" Momentarily stunned by the fact that she had just now realized he had not used any honorifics the entire time since she had found him in the yard. "Kaoru?"
"You weren't in the house." A flicker of amusement crossed his face before he turned back to briefly survey both their small party and how close the disaster was to them.
"Megumi-san, tell me what you saw."
"It was a madhouse. Tsubame made it to the clinic, but it was several minutes before I could get a word out of her." Shifting a glance to Tsubame, Kaoru realized Tsubame had yet to speak, in fact, she seem as though she would rather zone everything around her out for the time being. She was in shock. "She told me we need to leave. Fast. She said, 'They're dead. They're all dead. The fire...' That's the last thing I was able to get out of her. When we left, I saw she was right. We had to go through some of the worst parts of the city to get to the dojo. People were in the streets, charred, one person was on fire when we passed. There was nothing we could do..." Megumi's voice trailed off, leaving Kaoru to realize that being unable to help a person in need was one of the worst cruelties that Megumi could face.
Kenshin apparently realized it to, because he waited a little while before he posed his next question. "Outside of the fire, was anything else out of the ordinary?"
"Men." Megumi answered quickly. "Men who are not from here. With guns and swords." She paused as if in thought. "Not from the government."
Absorbing the information, Kenshin nodded, and focused on the road in front of them.
After a little while, Kaoru glanced back once more, noting Sano staring at Megumi, Tsubame staring at her feet, Yahiko's arm around Tsubame, supporting her. "Kenshin, we need to stop as soon as possible." She whispered.
"Why?" He glanced at her.
"Look at Tsubame's feet." He turned back once more to look at Tsubame, and for the first time he noticed how burnt Tsubame's feet were. She had forgotten her shoes. Or, more likely, hadn't had time to grab them, even if she could have.
"We'll rest for a moment." Kenshin stopped and turned back to his small group. "Tsubame-chan, come here, please." Obligingly, Tsubame stepped forward, still looking at the ground. "Sit, please." Kenshin sat at the same time Tsubame did, and reached forward to grip one of her legs at the ankle, inspecting her feet. "Megumi, do you have any ointments with you? Anything that will help this."
Turning to face Kenshin, and finally looking at Tsubame's feet, Megumi's eyes widened. "Oh my god." She cried, her eyes moving to Tsubame's face. "Tsubame-chan, why didn't you tell me?" With no response from Tsubame, not that Megumi had expected one, Megumi knelt next to Kenshin, pulling a jar of ointment from her sleeve, and the few bandages she had managed to grab, and nudged Kenshin out of her way to go to work on Tsubame.
"Sano, can you carry Tsubame from here?"
Even as Sano nodded, Yahiko said, "I'll carry her." Seeing the resolve on Yahiko's face, Kenshin nodded.
Kenshin turned and looked into the woods, truly noticing his surroundings for the first time since they had left, and wondered why he hadn't noticed something as simple as Tsubame's feet.
Kaoru stared at Kenshin, wondering if she should say anything to him, wondering what had caused this sudden mental separation from the rest of the group.
"Where are we going, Kenshin?" She finally asked. Jerking Kenshin pivoted and faced her.
"I don't know yet Kaoru. For now, I think we should get off the path and get some more sleep, and continue when the sun comes up." Nervously licking her lips, Kaoru nodded.
"Okay Kenshin."
"I'm done." Megumi said, raising her head to look at Kenshin, then Yahiko. Tsubame's feet were completely bound, and Megumi's supplies were put back somewhere in the abyss of her Kimono. "Her feet will heal, but it won't feel good in the process." Attention shifted back to Tsubame, she continued. "No rubbing them, no itching, and no removing the bandages without my say-so." A nod, barely perceptible, was Tsubame's response. "She's in shock. She needs sleep to let everything sink in, to come to terms with what has happened."
"Yes, I know." Kenshin returned, and gestured to the woods. "We're going to find somewhere to sleep out of sight for the rest of the night. We're far enough from the city to be relatively safe. But we still need to stay out of sight."
Yahiko headed for Tsubame, and stooped to pick her up. "Just tell me if you get tired, Yahiko." Sano spoke for the first time on their short journey.
"Stay close." With those woods, Kenshin picked a spot and plunged into the dense woods, holding his hand out for Kaoru to grab. Beckoning for the others to follow, Kaoru took Kenshin's hand and allowed him to lead her, reveling in the simple, familiar touch that he allowed her.
After they had traveled a couple hundred feet into the forest, Kenshin led them into a clearing, where he took off his pack and relieved Kaoru of hers, opening them to begin digging through both for some form of bedding.
End Chapter1
It's been a long time since I've written anything. Three years (or more) ago, I used to write as Alysandrya, however, I have forgotten the password for that account, and no longer have the email address connected to it. If you'd like to read anything I wrote from then, Alysandrya is written as one of my favorites in my profile.
As I said, it's been a long time. Therefore, please don't blast me for mistakes: tell me how to correct them. It would be much appreciated. Also, any ideas are appreciated too. I have no editer, it's just me and myself and MS Word Spell check, so please understand.
Let me know!
Lyssa