Blood Sullied Hands
By: Gothic Lust
Disclaimer: I don't own Rurouni Kenshin.
Chapter 4:
Kenshin awoke the next morning to a silent house. He rolled off his futon and dressed quickly, stacking everything in its appropriate place before grabbing his sword and exiting his room.
He walked down the hall towards the room their mysterious house guest was staying. The shoji door that divided the entrance of the room to the hallway was open, the futon in the middle of the room in disarray as the occupant no longer slumbered within its sheets. Kenshin narrowed his eyes and thought for a moment what this meant.
The dojo was too silent for this time in the morning, dawn hadn't even broken over the horizon and their guest was gone. The usual snores of Yahiko were misplaced, and Kaoru was not sitting at the side of the young woman's now empty bedding, caring for her as she slept her illness away.
Fearing the worst Kenshin ran to the room that Kaoru and Yahiko shared. He opened the screen with such force that it came off the track. Within this room as well were no occupants. The bed rolls were disturbed and a thick metallic scent hung in the air. It was a recognizable stench that Kenshin was all too familiar with. It was the scent of blood.
He entered the room and over turned the futons, searching for the source of the smell. Underneath Kaoru's bedding was a small smear of blood. He took off quickly, passing the front doors of the dojo and turning sharply to the left. He made a fast pace to the row house district where Sanosuke spent his nights.
Once within sight, he picked up his pace, seeing the lights to Sanosuke's part of the row off and silent. Kenshin called out his friends name as he entered, spotting Sanosuke in the corner, snoring loudly and clutching a large gourd of cheap sake. Kenshin called his name once more, pulling the thin covers off his friend to expose a nude chest to the chilly winds of the night.
Sanosuke mumbled something unintelligible and turned over to his side, searching with his right hand for the missing covers. Kenshin pulled him from the futon, the gourd falling from the man's grasp and shattering on the floor. The sound didn't rouse his friend at all; he simply slept as he shook him.
"Sanosuke, wake up." Kenshin yelled before punching his friend hard in the cheek.
Sanosuke sputtered and fell backwards. His left hand flew out and grasped the collar of Kenshin's top and swung his own punch towards the red headed man. He dodged expertly and landed another hard blow to the half-awake young man.
He fell back once again, this time he was coughing loudly and turned to his right side and coughed some more, clutching his stomach before lifting himself from the old futon to aim at his attacker once more. Kenshin dodged the second attempt and grabbed Sanosuke's arm.
"Sano, wake up—Kaoru-dono and Yahiko are gone, and the woman is missing as well. They all very well may be in danger."
Sano sputtered again and fell to the ground. "Kenshin?" He blinked a few times and rubbed his eyes with the palms of his hands. As the sleepiness departed from his systems, Kenshin's words entered, registering within his mind.
"What did you say?" Sano stood quickly, towering over the small swordsman.
"This one woke not long ago to find them missing and that's not all," Kenshin paused for a moment tossing Sanosuke his shirt. "One of them is injured. This one found blood beneath Kaoru-dono's futon."
"They must be quite skilled to kidnap the missy, Yahiko and the other woman from you without alerting your senses."
"This one is worried that the kidnappers are more skilled then we may anticipate."
"Don't worry so much Kenshin; I'm sure that they are okay. Now let's go search for them. Any idea's where they could be?"
"This one has one doesn't know. We may need to enlist the help of old allies."
"I am not pairing up with that…"
"We may have no choice." Kenshin then took off out of the room, not allowing for Sanosuke to voice anymore complaints. The time was running down and he didn't wish to waste any more.
They made fast time to gather their next ally, though convincing him would take some time that they did not have. Dawn had broken as Kenshin struggled to wake Sanosuke from his deep slumber and now time was not something they could afford to waste. They entered the large station quickly, passing men shouting for them to stop. They made a few turns to an office at the end of the hall. The room inside was rather dark for the early morning hours. Maps, papers and old books were thrown haphazardly across the table that man was sitting at smoking a cigarette, search through the information quickly.
He looked up at the two that just entered and took a long drag from the cigarette before putting it out in a small ash tray on his cluttered desk. "To what do I owe the pleasure of this early visit, Battousai?"
"This one needs your help Saito." Kenshin put it quite bluntly and he heard Sanosuke snort from behind him.
"Oh, and to what are my services so greatly demanded for?" Saito narrowed his eyes and stood from the chair behind his desk, pushing the pile of papers on his desk forward a bit. He stood tall and proud, awaiting for what the once assassin wished of him so he could tell him no, before gladly throwing him and the punk out of his office. "What ever it is, I have no time to play hero. There is a case that demands my attention, now if you will…"
"Saito, there has been a kidnapping." Saito looked up at them sharply. "Kaoru-dono, Yahiko-kun and a young woman that was taking shelter at the dojo were kidnapped last night."
"Right below your very nose, am I right Battousai? Have your skills so greatly decreased after the battle with Shishio?" He rounded the desk, bringing with him a pile of papers he was sifting through. He pulled out a sheet and handed it to Kenshin.
"Would there happen to have been any blood?"
"Hai, it was…"
"Below one of the woman's bedding was it not?"
Kenshin's eyes narrowed. "Hai. Have there been any more cases like this Saito?"
"Wait a minute, are you telling me we're dealing with a series of kidnappings?" Sanosuke shouted from his reclined position against the door frame.
"He must have gained a brain over the last year." Saito said rather calmly, pulling out a cigarette and lighting it. He took a small drag and let the smoke out from his mouth. "There have been a series of kidnappings, all virgin women and young male children."
Kenshin and Sanosuke stared wide eyed at the news.
"So we're…" Sanosuke began.
"Dealing with a cult." Kenshin finished. His eyes narrowed, a gold glint forming over his once violet eyes.
"Hai, and with their three new victims, they're only missing one more." Saito grabbed an old leather bound book from his desk and flipped through the pages and handed it to Kenshin. "They're planning on becoming the demons of myth. They're missing a woman, a priestess with spiritual power."
"Don't tell me you believe in all of this hocus-pocus stuff. Where the hell are they going to find a priestess?" Sanosuke nearly cringed with the thought of magic actually put into practice.
"This one doesn't believe they need to find a priestess per say, but a woman of pure heart and body."
"Than that would eliminate the little missy and fox lady, those two are so selfish." Just as those words left his mouth, both stopped breathing.
"Megumi-dono!" Kenshin took out of the room following Sanosuke as they exited the police station. Saito was right behind them.
"How could you possibly think that conniving woman is the priestess they need?" Saito asked the running pair in front of him.
Kenshin turned his head back to answer him. "It is not that she is the priestess they need, but at times she is quite selfless. This one believes that it that they would believe her to be their priestess. Doctors normally are selfless in their actions and it would be understandable for them to think her so."
Saito nodded and sped up his pace, easily falling into step with Kenshin as they rounded another street towards Dr. Gensai's clinic.
I hope you liked this chapter. I know I'm sorry for not updating, but I normally get caught up in so many things. I plan to update this one again soon, so please read and review.
Gothic Lust
