AN: Long time no see, I know... Well, I'm back!
Disclaimer: I do not own Rurouni Kenshin…
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- Chapter Three -
Rescuing
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When they'd finished their breakfast Misao tugged Kaoru behind the bar, flashing Sae an impish grin as they took off through the door into the kitchens.
From where she stood up to her elbows in soap suds Tsubalme offered them a bright greeting, "Good morning Misao, Miss Kaoru!"
"You need anything from the Market?" Misao asked the girl as she threw on a coarse, dark cloak, passing a similar one to Kaoru.
Looking a little uncertain Tsubalme replied that she'd better ask Sae and went back through the door they'd just entered by.
"I reckon it's about time I showed you around good old Accorrolin Town!" Misao said with a grin. "Introductions will have to wait for this evening, almost everyone's been called out for the raid Sano's on. I know what he said, but it's not everyday we throw people in on the job the day after they get in from a journey like his."
Kaoru nodded, wondering what exactly Sano had been called off to do. She hoped he'd stay safe…
"We need some more eggs, flour and Sae says you can choose the vegetables," Tsubalme said as she reappeared.
"Great," grinned Misao, and fishing some coins out of a dusty old jug on the shelf by the door, she steered Kaoru out the back of the kitchen.
The back door left them in a dingy alley, sky obscured by the tall buildings on either side. Kaoru wrinkled her nose and drew her cloak up to cover her mouth and nose; the salty tang of sea water laced with sewage must have been masked by her exhaustion the previous day.
Misao laughed, "Yeah, the docks never smell that great; just you wait til summer!"
"So where are we going?" she ventured, as Misao skipped ahead round the corner of the alleyway. She could hear the sounds of a busy road up ahead, all shouting people and hoof beats.
"The market," answered the smaller girl, "it's only a ten minute walk."
The road to market was a busy one, with people of all shapes and sizes towering over the pair of them. Kaoru worked hard to keep up with Misao's light footsteps, darting between carts and horses, baiting street children then running back into the crowd as they retaliated. For her part Kaoru remained quiet; she'd never been anywhere with this many people before, and without Sano's strong presence behind her she couldn't help but feel a little vulnerable. Misao paid no heed to the crowd or the noise though, she skipped through it like she'd done it every day of her life, and Kaoru supposed she probably had done.
Soon enough the road widened out, and if anything the crowd got even busier. The shouting definitely got louder, and it was a struggle for Kaoru to hear Misao as she yelled over her shoulder.
"We're here! Just follow me, Miss Jenkins's egg stall should be around here somewhere…"
The shopping trip probably lasted no more than an hour, but Kaoru felt it was more exhausting that the sixteen hour trek her and Sano had endured the previous day! Misao haggled long and hard with Miss Jenkins over egg prices, and the pair of them deliberated for ages over what vegetables to bring back (they decided against potato, as it was all Sano and Kaoru had eaten in days).
They were finally heading back to the road home when three soldiers nearly knocked the pair of them down running past.
"I wonder what they're up to…" Misao pondered, looking after them, brow wrinkled.
Carefully they followed, the crowd getting more pushy and tighter packed the further they went. Whispers were breaking out, Kaoru was sure she overheard 'magic' at least a couple of times, and one glance at Misao's worried face confirmed it.
Shoving their way between two beefy men they found themselves at the front of a circle forming around four soldiers, pinning down a screaming struggling boy.
"Gerroff of me!" he yelled, kicking grubby limbs at any part of the soldiers he could reach. "I'm no mage, a lamp fell over, I didn't start any fire! LET ME GO!"
"What happened?" Misao asked, in her sweetest, most innocent little girl voice, and one of the beefy men answered quickly.
"This kid, some street rat, nicked a loaf from the Nichols' bakery, people have been chasing him for a few minutes, and they're right up on him and suddenly this fire springs up right between them! He would have got away were the guards not here! Dunno what's going on today, first all that kafuffle up by the palace, now kids magicking up fires in the street. It's just not right, I tell you. Magic in this city; it's just not right."
Misao nodded wide eyed-
SMACK!
Kaoru jumped, head whipping around back to where the boy lay pinned to the floor, still struggling. One of the soldiers was raising his leather belt again. Her jaw dropped.
SMACK!
This time the boy stopped struggling, if only for a moment; from where she was standing Kaoru could see tears in his eyes.
"STOP!" she screamed, stepping forward.
Behind her Misao's eyes widened, "Kaoru what are you doing?" she hissed, but the other girl didn't seem to hear.
"Stop!" The soldiers were looking at her now, and she was mentally kicking herself for speaking up, but one glance at the boy on the floor steeled her nerves.
"Stop! He's-" their eyes met briefly and he gave her a disbelieving look. "He's my brother!"
A surprised murmur ran through the crowd.
Not quite sure where this newfound confidence had come from she marched forwards and grabbed the boy's arm, tugging him away from the soldiers who seemed too surprised to do anything but let him go.
"He's not a mage, just a very stupid little kid," she shook his arm disapprovingly for effect, "I told him we couldn't afford bread this week, but he just has to run off and get some himself!" she tugged the loaf of bread out from under his arm and handed it firmly to the soldier nearest her. "I'm sorry for any trouble he's caused, and I hope the lamp he knocked over didn't cause too much damage."
And with that she turned around, met Misao's shocked eyes and dragged the boy with her back into the crowd.
"You wait one minute young lady-" snapped the guard, diving after them, but a split second later and they were already following Misao at a run through the market, ducking under stalls and rolling under carts.
"I- I don't know what you were thinking-" gasped Misao as they dashed away from the racket the guards were causing trying to find them, "but that was bloody brilliant!"
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When they finally made it back to the alley near the Aoiya, bruised, aching and utterly out of breath, Misao turned sharply to the boy, his wrist still clasped in Kaoru's grip.
"What's your name?" she demanded.
"Yahiko," he snapped back, equally uncivilly.
"How long have you known you're a mage?"
He snorted, "I'm not a mage!" but under her hand Kaoru felt his pulse quicken; he was nervous.
Misao laughed dismissively. "Yes you are, don't bother lying," she sighed. "My name's Misao, and the girl that just saved your neck is Kaoru. We're from a group of people who can help you, keep you safe."
"I don't need help."
"Sure you don't. You had that situation perfectly under control."
"Yeah, well if ugly here hadn't stepped up I'd have gotten away without anyone remembering my face! But now they'll be looking out for a kid with a loudmouth 'sister'!"
"Excuse me!" snapped Kaoru, letting go of his wrist to cuff him around the ears. "If it wasn't for me you'd be being dragged off for a hanging!"
"I could take them."
The girls stared at him in disbelief.
"Take them?" queried Kaoru. "You're half my height and there were four of them. Pray tell how you were going to 'take them'."
"The same way I'm going to get away from you!" he snapped triumphantly, leaping out of Kaoru's range and clapping his hands with an intent look of concentration on his face.
The was a soft 'boom' and a cloud of smoke appeared, making the girls cough, and stagger backwards.
Waving their arms to help it clear they looked up to the sight of Sano holding Yahiko by the back of his shirt, chuckling to himself. "What have we here, eh?"
"Misao, I've told you about this," came a cold, clearly unimpressed voice from behind Sano. Aoshi stepped forward to stamp out the tiny fire sourcing the smoke.
"But-" Misao started.
"You'll have to do better than that to get away from our guys, kid," laughed Sano. "From what we've been hearing on our way back from market, you owe these girls here a thank you."
Yahiko tightened his jaw and looked and the ground stubbornly. Kaoru huffed.
"You have got to be the rudest little boy I have ever met!"
Sano grinned, giving Yahiko a push back towards the girls. "Me and the ice man are just dropping by to pick up some kit, why don't you guys get this newcomer some lunch. Okira will want to talk to him when he gets back."
At the sound of lunch the boy perked up, looking up at Misao expectantly.
"He's not to leave the Aoiya until I've spoken with him, Misao," said Aoshi, looking at the child intently. "When Kenshin is back… Kenshin will need to talk with him too."
"Got it…" said Misao uncertainly. Glancing between Sano, whose face revealed nothing, and Aoshi in slight confusion. "Come on Yahiko, welcome to the Aoiya…"
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An hour later saw the girls sat in the bar, Yahiko well fed and helping (surprisingly willingly) in the kitchen with Sae and Tsubame.
"So what element is Yahiko?" asked Misao with a look that clearly said 'this is a test'.
"Fire…?" ventured Kaoru.
"Well duh, but would you have been able to tell from anything besides the fact that the only thing he can do with his magic is start fires?"
"Erm…"
"Look, don't worry, it's really not that difficult. Look at Sano over there," she said, gesturing to where the mage had come through the door. If you look closely at the area around his temples you should see something like what you saw in his mage scar."
"But I can only see anything in the scar when it's near their element. Like, I could see it bright and clear when we were sitting in a forest eating potatoes he'd pulled out of the ground, but right now they'd probably just be dull."
"But you'd still know they were mage scars."
Kaoru glanced back to Misao, a look of confusion on her face, "Well, yeah…"
"And looking at Yahiko today, you didn't even need to think to know he was a mage, right?"
"Yeah, I guess so…" She thought of the moment she'd entered the Aoiya, the sudden awareness that she was surrounded by users of magic.
"Then that's the hard part done. You can feel the magic, you know it's there when it's there and that it's not when it's not; all you need now if to know how to see it."
"Then how do I do that?"
"Sano!" it was Megumi, dashing down the stairs.
He tall earth mage looked up from where he'd slumped at the bar.
"What's happened?"
"My part's over with for today," he said, wearily.
"And the others?"
"Kenshin's still at it, Aoshi's not due back for another few hours, and the gang's still recovering the mess they made at the palace."
"Did it work?"
"Yeah, he's all in one piece."
"You did everything I said?"
"Yes."
"And-"
"Megumi, I might not be a healer but I'm still and earth mage; the guy's fine."
"You should have bought me with you-"
Kaoru glanced anxiously at Misao who was watching the dialogue with her lip between her teeth.
"Too risky," he said bluntly and slumped off up the stairs, leaving Megumi looking confused and angry at their foot.
"What was all that about?" asked Kaoru, eyes wide.
"I don't know… Something tells me the mission today didn't go quite according to plan," answered Misao, hurriedly turning back to Kaoru as Megumi looked over.
-
As the day continued there were more banging doors, and by the time evening came around it was clear Sano and Megumi weren't talking. Aoshi came back in the late afternoon, looking exhausted and brushing Misao aside rudely when she asked how it had gone. The rest of the Oniwaban crew appeared in dribs and drabs as the shadows lengthened, each in varying states of injury, a flustered Megumi tending to them as quickly and thoroughly as she could.
"Where is he?" demanded Sano, he was at least a floor above her, but Kaoru jumped as his voiced sounded through the walls of her room.
Whatever Okira had in answer was too reasonable in volume for her to be able to hear, but Sano's reply was clear enough.
"He's our fastest, our strongest, the most feared mage in the country and you don't know?…. I know he's impossible to track, but surely if he's hurt we should have a way of finding out. He's an incredible fighter, but he's not immortal!… I'm not worrying! But we go way back, and if he needs help, I want to be there!"
There was the sound of two people descending the stairs and Kaoru heard Okira's voice for the first time.
"I assure you, Sano, wherever Kenshin is, no one can help him but himself. You must trust him, boy, he is more than capable of fulfilling the task we gave him. He will be back."
"But-"
"Calm yourself, Sanosuke. Kenshin will be fine. In the mean time, why don't you round up our new guests, it's about time I met with them!"
Sano huffed outside her door, and then knocked. Timidly she opened it.
"Sano?"
"Okira wants to talk to you and the brat."
"Yahiko?" she questioned with surprise, "I think he's still with Tsubame…" she laughed and added with a lighter tone, "I think he might like her."
Sano's face relaxed and he chuckled and nodded, "Figures. How 'bout you go find Okira downstairs and I'll round up the boy?"
"Okay," she smiled.
Okira, Misao's grandfather, was sat silently in the corner of the bar.
"You must be Kaoru," he said.
"Yes, sir."
"So from what my granddaughter tells me, you're as much of a mage as she is. Let me tell you that you're welcome here as long as it suits you to stay."
"I don't know about 'mage', Okira, but thank you."
"She tells me you can see aura's through mage scars?"
"Yes… No more than that though. She didn't manage to show me how to do it without the scar."
The old man pulled up his sleeve to reveal a deep scar in his arm; it glimmered faint purple, casting a soft glow. "What element am I?"
"Air, like my grandfather."
"That's right. Now, look at my face, right between my eyes, and squint."
"Erm…"
"Don't be shy, just do as I say."
So she did, feeling distinctly stupid in the process, and then suddenly she thought she caught something in the corner of her eye; an odd light. But as she tried to focus it was gone.
Seeing the look of revelation on her face Okira smiled. "There. You saw the same light around my temples, did you not?"
"Yes," she said, smile growing on her face.
"That is all it takes, and with practice it will come much easier, until you see it as soon as looking at a person."
"Thank you, Okira."
"Not at all," smiled the old man. "Now, tell me about yourself. You've had a tough journey, and Sano tells me you're made of far sterner stuff than first appearance might suggest."
Feeling a little uncomfortable again Kaoru looked at her knees. "My village was burned down by soldiers. I escaped and ran as far as I could. I met Sano along the way and he helped me, and bought me here. That's it really…"
"Your family?"
"They're all dead, sir."
"And why aren't you?"
Good question, she thought. "I was lucky, a friend told me to run, and when I saw him die I did."
"Can you fight?"
"Yes."
"Well?"
"I made my father very proud, sir. I can use a sword, and fight hand to hand. I can hunt with a bow and arrow too."
"That's impressive for a girl so young."
"I'm nineteen, sir, and I've been training since I could walk; it's not that impressive at all."
"And modest, I see. Excellent, excellent," Okira chuckled. "I have a proposal for you, Miss Kaoru."
"Oh..?"
"How would you like to continue your training here? We have a suitable hall on the third floor, and a well stocked armoury."
Kaoru was shocked almost to silence by that. She wasn't sure what she was expecting but it certainly wasn't this. "Sir, that would be fantastic! Are you sure?"
"Or course I am, my dear, I will alert Misao to introduce it all to you tomorrow if that suits you."
"Yes, definitely!"
To be able to train again! She'd been so conscious of her muscles losing strength on the journey, but food had been scarce and before long continuing to drill herself with exercises burnt up more energy than she had to spare. The confidence fighting had once bought her was something she hadn't noticed she'd left behind before it was suggested that she could have it back so soon.
The old man smiled, "That is the happiest I have seen you look since your arrival, Miss Kaoru, I am glad the idea pleases you."
They made polite small talk for another couple of minutes, and Okira effortlessly blocked Kaoru's attempts to find our more about the raid everyone was so tense about. Soon after there was a knock on the door and Sano strolled in with a grumpy looking Yahiko in front of him.
"Miss Kaoru, it has been a pleasure," smiled Okira, rising from his seat.
Nodding her thanks Kaoru took her cue to leave, hoping to see if she would have any more luck quizzing Sano about his earlier mission, but he just grinned at her and ducked into the kitchen, leaving her out in the hallway with nothing to do but return to her bedroom and try to sleep.
-
With all the tension in the house Kaoru had tossed and turned for hours before giving up on sleep entirely. She headed back down to the only other part of the building she didn't feel like an intruder in, the bar, and poured herself a glass of water from the jug on side.
She'd been sitting there for a good half an hour before a slight sound outside caught her ear.
There was a soft thump against the door and she started, placing her glass down and sliding off her seat. Picking up the first thing that came to hand as a potential weapon, a broom, she edged towards the door, and heard a coarse voice rasp out the entrance charm. The handle turned and as the door swung open the broom fell from her fingers; she dashed forward to catch the injured figure before he hit the floor.
It was Kenshin, the slight mage Misao had pointed out behind Aoshi in the bar. The one Sano had been worrying about all afternoon. He was much heavier than he looked and she lowered him gently to his knees, trying to catch his eyes in reassurance; he didn't look up from the floor once.
And then suddenly it hit her.
It was a sensation she related immediately to watching Katsu demonstrate the product of his research. He'd been blowing up a patch of rock, just east of the village, blasting a new entrance into a cave; Kaoru had gone to watch with Healer Gensai and her father, along with a few others. There had been a staggering bang, combined with a blast of heat that sent her tripping back into her father, but after that she remembered something that wasn't quite smell and wasn't quite taste but somewhere between the two, it caught up in her throat and made her want to gag while her veins hummed with it.
Magic.
Raw magic.
She stumbled away from Kenshin as he stepped slowly to his feet. The smell-taste was everywhere, filling her lungs, making her skin crawl.
"Fetch Megumi," It was a command, not a request.
Kaoru ran.
The stairs creaked agedly as she leapt up them two at a time, "Megumi!" she yelled, banging on doors, trying to find the one the healer would be resting in. "Megumi!"
She knew the noise she was making wasn't necessary, but it was reassuring, grounding her senses while all the while her nerves burned with the magic that clung about Kenshin. Whatever he'd been doing it took more magic than Katsu had used to blow through ten feet of rock. The very thought of it made her quail.
"Megumi!"
"What?" came a snapped reply, the other woman stepped out of a room down the hall, tying a gown at the waist.
"It's Kenshin," Kaoru rushed, breathing hard, "He's downstairs. Hurt."
There was a moment's pause, and Kaoru saw the taller woman's intake of breath. Megumi dashed back into her room before sprinting down the stairs with her healers pack under her arm.
Not quite sure what to do next Kaoru followed.
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