Thank you everyone for reviewing! -tear- I can't believe how many people have reviewed this story! Well, hopefully this chapter won't disappoint anyone.. it would have been out earlier, but I kept adding and removing things, so today I figured I'd better post it-otherwise I would never be done with it, heh.
Disclaimer: Now if I owned it... on second thought, better keep quiet, heh. -evil smile-
--Chapter III-Painful Memories--
I'm tired of letting go all that I've tried to have
I'm tired of wasting time looking up to the wrong stars
I do believe in life and that everything is written
But life is not a book with pages wide-opened
--Look Into Yourself-by Angunn--
The night crept by slowly, unwilling to release the sky into the sun's keeping. But the cycle went on, the power struggles in the sky reflected the struggles for power below.
And caught in the struggle was a woman who had no wish to be a part of it.
Kaoru woke up covered in cold sweat. Last night had been perfectly miserable for the woman, though the knowledge that she had some protection from her pursuers gave her a little more peace than she was accustomed to. Though, this was simply another normal night for her-as far as the dreams went.
She shook her head, then covered her face with her petite hands as the memories flooded over her. Her breathing grew ragged again, and her pulse quickened dramatically. 'Steady, Kaoru. There's no need to panic.' she repeated to herself, the words becoming a mantra of sorts. Breathing deeply and slowly in an attempt to calm herself, she lifted her head to glance around the room.
A small smile played about her lips as she took in the room's contents. It seemed to have everything a person could need, and then some. 'No doubt that Misao had a hand in this,' Kaoru pondered as the room seemed to have that same flamboyant flair to it that the other woman possessed. Though, mercifully, it was definitely toned down to a reasonable level. She didn't think that she could have handled the full amount of the women's... interesting tastes. Having calmed herself down, she decided to get a shower to further soothe her frazzled nerves. Last night's activities hadn't helped any, though the dreams were, sadly, a normal occurrance. She needed a break, maybe if she ran farther-she could pretend she was a normal woman and live a normal life.
Though like beauty, normality is in the eye of the beholder. Meaning, she'd never see any part of the word that other people did on a regular basis.
Shaking off the gloomy thoughts, Kaoru climbed out of bed and was pleasantly surprised to find that she had her own bathroom. Meaning she wouldn't have to worry about someone barging in on her-she'd at least be able to sense them as they walked into the room.
A gleeful smile replace the shaken, fearful look that had been the dominant emotions before. Going through the contents of the drawers, she found enough clothing and towels for at least two people. Shaking her head at the extravagance, the woman headed for the bathroom.
Her jaw dropped at the appearance. Her bathroom at the apartment had been little more than a tiny rusting shower and a tiny toilet to match. Here, however, was a large bath/shower combination and enough room for her to walk around in. Finding a cupboard in the bathroom, she was surprised to see the many bottles of shampoo, conditioner, body wash, and goodness knows what else. 'I guess Misao was busy.'
Debating on a bath or shower, she finally decided on a shower as her stomach rumbled loudly.
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Finding the house to be a two-story building, and a large one at that, she finally found the stairs and headed down-waves of delicious smells greeting her nose.
As she walked into the dining room, whatever conversations had been going on ceased instantly, all eyes turning her way.
"Don't mind me." Kaoru muttered, feeling rather irked at the attention. She didn't want their pity, and while she appreciated their help-if they tried to ply her with pity or sympathetic looks, she'd try to find a way to get out without Kenshin finding out. Though the chances of that were slim.
Misao smiled brightly, "Good mornin'! Sleep well?"
The raven-haired woman tried to smile back, but ended up with only a half of one. "Well enough." She ignored the puzzled look this caused the group to collectively share.
"Well, sit down. Kenshin's cooking, meaning you're in for a treat." the hyper-active woman invited, openly pointing to the empty chair on her left.
"He cooks?" for some reason, this fact surprised Kaoru greatly.
"Yeah, last time I volunteered, I almost burnt the kitchen down." Misao laughed, her cheeks faintly pink with embarrassment.
Aoshi remained silent, though for a second a corner of his mouth quirked up in remembrance.
Kaoru sighed with mild relief as she settled down into the chair. The relief, however, was short-lived.
"Watch out!" a loud voice warned as a dark object sped its way towards the table. Something decidedly hot fell into Kaoru's lap, causing the woman to jump with a yelped curse. The object landed on the floor with a loud splat.
"Damn, there went my breakfast!" a boyish voice whined dejectedly, gazing miserably at the remains.
"Your breakfast!" Kaoru growled out, anger soaring to a peak. "What the hell were you doing tossing your breakfast around like that!"
"Trying to beat your record, Yahiko-chan?" Misao smiled sweetly, "If you were trying to do that, I hope you realize that you missed by a mile. The plate was over there." She pointed to the spotless white plate laying on the table.
"Stop calling me that!" he yelled, obviously in a foul mood thanks to his ruined meal. "If that hag hadn't been sitting there, I wouldn't have to worry about it! Besides, I wasn't trying to beat my record." he added defensively.
"Who're you calling a hag, little boy!"
"You, you hag!"
"I'm going to kill you!" Kaoru stood up, her infuriated ki blazing like a wildfire. The boy backed up slightly, then frowned, "As if! You couldn't even touch me." he bragged.
A dangerous smile curled itself upon Kaoru's lips, "Watch me." She raised a hand, causing the boy to eye her warily. A confident smirk returned to his face as he saw that nothing had happened to him.
Suddenly, he felt himself being lifted into the air and sent flying backwards into the wall. A loud crash caused everyone to look on in alarm except for Kaoru. Her eyes had turned to a glowing crimson red shade, clashing eerily with her delicate features. A cruel smile was upon her mouth, bloodlust burned brightly in her eyes as she stepped forward to finish the job.
Next thing Kaoru knew, she was being restrained by a pair of strong arms. Struggling slightly, she turned her dark gaze to her captor. "Let me go." she commanded in a cold tone.
Kenshin was shocked to say the least, but it didn't escape to his calm features. "What are you doing, Kaoru? He's just a child."
She froze, the last words echoing hollowly in her mind. How many times had she heard those words? They hadn't helped her any, so why should those same words help him. Kaoru fought against the almost over-whelming need to kill the whelp. He hadn't done much to her, so why did this... bloodlust come back? "I'm sorry." she gasped as her body shuddered violently then went limp in Kenshin's firm hold.
Kenshin looked at her, then glanced at Aoshi who nodded almost imperceptibly. "What did they do to you, Kaoru?" he asked softly, trying to repress the rage he felt welling up inside him. As soon as the Oniwabanshu found the bastards that had done this to her, he would kill them. Slowly.
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"You can't do this to her! She's just a child!" a man yelled at his compatriots.
The other men glanced at the quivering girl lying fastened by her wrists and ankles to a table. One of them spoke up, "We need to proceed with the project. She's showing positive reactions to the... treatments."
"This could kill her!" the first man pointed out, obviously distressed over the fact that they were using a child as a guinea pig.
"We must do what needs to be done." a third man stated calmly.
"But if this takes over her entire mind, she could turn on us and-"
"Finish the treatment." their leader commanded.
Kaoru tossed and turned, scalding tears slipped out from underneath her eyelids as she lay in bed. Kenshin sat by, feeling helpless for the first time in his life. He hated the feeling.
He growled deeply as he noticed the steady increase of tears that slipped down her pale cheeks. Restraining his rapidly increasing temper was becoming a quickly escalating challenge.
Stalking out of the room, he sought out the Okashira. "How much longer?"
Aoshi glanced up from the many papers he had been going through, "Two days, maybe more."
Kenshin answered with a curt nod and left, his stiff and angry steps leaving no doubt in the Okashira's mind that whoever had done this to Kaoru would probably be begging for their deaths by the time Battousai found them.
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Misao tended to the brash young boy's injuries, shaking her head at the damage. Her hands glowed with a soft oceanic blue glow as she healed his injuries. "You're lucky to be alive." she stated more to herself than to him as he was still unconscious.
The boy had suffered a broken arm, a broken leg, cracked ribs, head trauma, and several other injuries. Yahiko was lucky that Kenshin had stepped in. So very lucky.
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--END NOTES--
Okay, if you haven't noticed-I love Angunn's lyrics. : )
That aside, I know I need to slow down the addition of characters... which is part of why I kept redoing this chapter. -sigh- But I needed Yahiko in here to cause that reaction in Kaoru, I mean, who else besides Sano ticks her off that quickly?
But if I put Sano in here right now, that would mean I would need to include Megumi-and you see where this goes. Please review and tell me what you think!
