Author's Note: I'm so sorry that this update took like eight decades to post! I could talk about how crazy things have been and all that whatnot, but I'm not going to. I just hope ya'll are still out there, and that you'll forgive me! I promise, the next installment won't take nearly as long. Anyway, thank you for all the reviews - they keep me going! Without further ado, here's chapter four! Let me know what you all think.

Chapter Four:

an arsenal's worth of unspoken words
and emotions I forgot to feel
now they besiege my fortress
angry with injustice;

Megumi's expression was one of stone as she wrapped a bandage around Kenshin's waist. Her hands moved deftly, with little encouragement from her mind. The doctor's attention was not fully focused on Kenshin's wound anyway; rather, her thoughts darted between so many points of contention that she simply could not focus on one.

Kaoru had been taken. Yahiko had suffered only a slight concussion; many of the bones in Sano's left wrist had been broken to the point of nearly being shattered. As for Kenshin, well … he had been the receiver of a few scrapes and cuts, the worst of which was the one on his side. Megumi had also had to re-bandage the hand that he'd cut on the glass; he had ripped open the still fresh wound in his fighting.

None of these things were entirely responsible for her continued silence. Sadly, she had seen her friends in worse condition, with the exception of her favorite wanderer. The change in him had been apparent as soon as she had seen him: cold, angry amber eyes had replaced the wide violet ones she had become accustomed to. The muscles and tendons in his body now seemed to be strung together by an intense fury that burned inward and radiated out. He sat perfectly still before her, staring straight ahead as she attended to his wounds. Not once did she feel him flinch beneath her fingers; not once did he even make an attempt at speech.

Resisting the urge to sigh to herself, Megumi fastened the bandage to itself and began to gather her equipment. The sound of Kenshin's voice, taut but level, stilled her movements.

"Thank you, Megumi - dono."

She could not stifle a sigh.

"You're welcome, Kenshin."

Kenshin pulled his gi back into place just as Sano's rooster head appeared in the doorway of the room. His wrist bandaged, a tight scowl on his face, he very nearly stormed into the room. He nodded a hello to the doctor, then focused his gaze on his short friend.

"How are we going to find her?" He demanded

"Follow the trail," The swordsman answered simply, rising from the floor

"The trail?" Sano repeated, crossing his arms and then hissing in pain when he hit his damaged hand, "What trail?"

"You heard that man. Enishi wants me to come for Kaoru. He's waiting for me."

"You're not going alone," Sano said in a hard voice

"How are you going to be of any help with your hand the way it is?" Megumi interjected

"I'm better with my right hand anyway," He answered nonchalantly

Megumi wanted to argue, but held her tongue. Normally she would not have thought twice about giving the two men a verbal lashing for their apparent lack of self preservation, but this was different. This was Kaoru, kidnapped and in danger. She could not discourage Kenshin and Sano from trying to find her; rather, she would help them any way she could, even if it was only by bandaging their wounds. Her motherly chiding could wait until after they brought Kaoru home.

She glanced from Sano to Kenshin, and then back again. Between the two men, they would bring Kaoru home; Megumi only hoped they would be bringing her home alive.

"Do you have any idea where to find them?" She asked then

"No."

Kenshin's answer was simple and quick. Whatever desperation he may have felt at the knowledge that they had already hit a road block so early in their plan was well hidden and did not show in his expression.

"What's the plan, Kenshin?" The other man questioned, "Where is this trail?"

"Enishi is smart. He would have prepared for the event that his men would die - search the bodies. He must have left a clue somewhere."

Megumi stayed silent, but she could feel the disgust roll in her stomach. What kind of man sent his fellow human beings out with the intention that they would be killed? Who was this person, so hell bent on revenge and death?

"You'll stay here and look after the kid, Fox Lady?" Sano queried as he made for the door

"Of course," She answered, her eyes following Kenshin as he made his way toward the bodies in the courtyard, "And, Sano?"

The ex - fighter for hire stopped and raised an eyebrow at her to signal that he was listening.

"Watch him," She said softly, motioning to the redhead

"You know I will."

Sano leapt down the stairs and headed for Kenshin, the soft scuffling of Megumi's footsteps dying away as she retreated into the dojo. Kenshin was crouched next to the bigger man, amber eyes roving the man's fallen body.

"Check the folds of his clothes," Sano suggested, "Maybe he left a letter."

"A letter?" Kenshin repeated, blinking at the simplicity of the idea

"Why not? That's how he's communicated with you so far, right?"

That idea had not occurred to Kenshin, but it made sense. He had assumed that Enishi would leave only a single clue, in a place that would take him some searching to find. The longer it took Kenshin to find the clue, the more time Enishi would have to do whatever it was he was planning to do to Kaoru.

He reached into the folds of the man's gi and rummaged around for the span of several seconds; he was almost surprised when his hand closed around the thin edges of a piece of paper. Clenching his teeth in anticipation, he all but ripped the note from the man's body. Only one corner of the paper had been smudged with blood; the rest was untainted, and perfectly legible.

Sano closed in, perching himself to read the offending message over his friend's shoulder. Unlike the others before it, this message was more than a single line of text.

I truly hope your skill is undiminished, Battousai, and that you find this little note. By now, you should know exactly who I am, so I won't waste time with introductions. Your Kaoru is a beautiful specimen - much like another young woman we used to know, ne? I have her with me now, on a small island just off the coast. I've even given you directions to get here, Battousai - I hope you make it in time.

The ex-hitokiri crushed the paper with an inward curling of his hand; he counted his breaths as he stared straight ahead.

"We need those directions," Sano said quietly from behind him

"I memorized them." His voice sounded hollow, even to him.

"Let's go then," Sano urged, "We're on a time limit."

Quiet and deadly, Kenshin made his way on silent feet toward the dojo gate. His sakabatou was tied securely at his hip, and Sano was only a foot or so ahead of him; the directions were burning trails through his mind. There were no other preparations to make - there was nothing else to be done. His mind was focused on only one thing now: rescuing Kaoru.

Nothing will get in my way, he vowed silently, I will get you back, Kaoru. Even if I have to leave a trail of bodies in my wake.

For the span of several moments, all Enishi could do was stare.

From a distance, the resemblance was not hard to see. Right now, in such close proximity, the resemblance was striking enough to nearly steal his breath. Her eyes were closed, long black hair working loose of the braid and spilling over her shoulders. Blood loss made her skin at least a full shade paler than it was originally. This girl, this Kaoru, reminded him of Tomoe enough for it to cause him pain. That knowledge aggravated him to no end, and the next instant he had hardened his heart again. Battousai was going to pay for what he'd done, even if that meant the death of another innocent woman. One innocent life, taken in payment for another.

"She's alive?" He asked, emotionless

"Yes," Nobu answered, "She's only unconscious."

"How long has she been in the chains?"

"Almost a full twelve hours," Came the reply

Enishi made no response, choosing instead to take stock of the woman before him. Dried blood caked the porcelain skin of her arms and legs; from the look of the small puddles below her on the floor, the spikes had cut her deeply. She had suffered no small amount of blood loss - they had to be careful now. She could not be allowed to bleed out and die before his plans could come to their culmination. That was not an acceptable outcome.

"Get her down," Enishi said icily, "Tend to her wounds. Do whatever you have to do to keep her alive."

"Yes, sir," Nobu acknowledged

The other man moved to release the young woman from her restraints. Enishi remained where he was, watching wordlessly as his minion unfastened her ankles, then moved to her wrists. Not once did the woman stir; Nobu propped her unconscious form against himself until she was free of the chains.

A black mood had stolen over the mastermind by then; Enishi felt vengeful, worse than he had felt in days. He was so close to the end, so close to avenging the wrong that had shaped his adult life!

He watched Nobu lift the petite woman, and was left staring at the place they had occupied for several minutes after they had disappeared from sight.

Kaoru ached.

At first, she could think of nothing else. As she woke and became more aware of herself, the pain was nearly overpowering. Her wrists and ankles burned and throbbed unbearably, clouding her thoughts.

She opened watery blue eyes and blinked several times. When her vision finally cleared, she found herself staring at the ceiling. For a moment she wished that the pain had clouded her awareness, so that for even just a few seconds she could delude herself into thinking she was somewhere else. That was not the case, however, and there was no way to trick herself into thinking she was safe back at the dojo. Her mind was sluggish, and the memories were slow in returning, but she remembered the devilish men and the hellish chains they had bound her in. A wave of desperation assaulted her then, and she held her breath with the force of it. Kenshin, where are you?! She silently cried. A tear slid from the corner of her eye; as if on cue, her stubborn determination reared its feisty head again. She forced her feelings aside, redirected her thoughts and focused on the immediate situation.

Very slowly, Kaoru pulled herself into a sitting position. Her blood pounded in her ears, and her head felt as though it were ready to explode; she took several deep breaths, and then took stock of her injuries. Bandages glared at her from where they had been wrapped around her wrists and ankles; although the material was still mostly white, she could see patches of red where she was starting to bleed through. The bandages had been wrapped several times, creating a thick barrier around her wounds; the fact that the blood was starting to seep through the layers made a shiver run up her spine. That's a lot of blood to lose, Kaoru thought to herself. She ignored the implications and continued to survey herself. Had there been any doubt in her mind before that her left ankle was broken, it had now been erased. She could tell just by looking at it that the bone was close to breaking skin; the man - Nobu, his name was - had forced her to walk on it, no doubt the final act that broke it. Although the area just above her ankle had been bandaged where the spikes had bit her, she noticed that her ankle had been left alone.

They want to keep me alive to torture me, Kaoru realized then, they're doing this to punish Kenshin. The thought made her stomach churn; the cruelty and madness of these men was almost unbelievable. She steeled her resolve again: no matter what they did or how they tried, Kaoru could not break. She would not give them what they wanted. She had to find a way out of this, as quickly as she could.

Either because she was lost in her own mutinous thoughts, or because the blood loss was slowing her reflexes, she did not hear the footsteps that signaled another person's approach; only when the door slid open to reveal the hideously deformed face of Nobu did she notice his arrival, and she visibly jumped.

"I'm glad to see you awake, my pet," Nobu greeted, grinning his nearly toothless grin

"I'm not your pet," Kaoru spat out, but her voice sounded whisper soft

"We must cure you of that pride," He said with a shake of his head

Nobu crossed the distance between them in just two strides, and Kaoru held her breath as he kneeled down next to her. Without a word, the man grabbed her arms and pulled them toward himself, forcing her to extend them. Sore muscles screamed in protest; a small whimper of pain squeaked from her throat of its own accord. Nobu made no acknowledgement of the sound, only continued to stare at her bandages.

"So much blood," He muttered to himself, "Do you always bleed so easily?"

"No, but I've never been bound and stabbed with metal spikes before," She hissed, narrowing her eyes at him

Nobu actually laughed at that, but the sound seemed as strange and twisted as his face. Kaoru only averted her eyes and focused on counting silently to herself. She had only made it to fifteen when she felt the pressure around her right wrist begin to lessen. She turned her attention back to the man, and found that he was unwinding the bandage. Fresh strips of cloth were sitting next to him on the floor, and although she had not thought to question his reason for visiting before, it was now apparent that he was here to change her bandages.

With an almost morbid fascination, Kaoru watched the bloodied cloth fall away from her ivory wrists. She sucked in a breath with an audible gasp when the last of it was pulled up: the dried blood had caked the bandage to her skin, and it was not without pain that it was now separated. When she saw the damage underneath, the evidence that the spikes had left on her skin, she very nearly vomited on the man in front of her. The spikes had left not gashes, but actual holes in her skin, spaced an even half an inch or so apart. Her wrists were small; she counted only five holes all together, but the effect was sickening. Dark, dried blood caked her skin, looking almost black where it had congealed in the open holes. Fresh blood, brighter red in color, had started to push its way to the surface; her arms and wrists were a myriad of red and black, swirling and meshing together in a grotesque picture.

"It's too much," Nobu said to himself again, "You're losing too much blood, and too quickly. The master will not be pleased. I do not think you will survive the second round, my pet."

Kaoru would have blanched, if only she'd had enough blood left in her body to do so. Second round? They were going to put her through it all again? Every iota of her being rebelled at the thought - already her blood was boiling with adrenaline from the fear. The doubt began to eat at her then; she was broken and bloodied, weak and powerless. Even if she had been in perfect physical condition, the odds of her getting away from these men were not in her favor. Now , she had a broken ankle, and she was slowly bleeding out. There was no way out - she was going to die here, at the hands of these monsters.

Her mind filled with pictures of her friends' faces, memories of each of them flitting across the open blankness of her mind. She was never going to see any of them again. The tears were collecting behind her eyes, the thickness of them closing her throat. Even now, in the face of her impending doom, Kaoru fought them back. She could hear perfectly Megumi's voice, telling her to quit crying because she was going to have to be strong for Kenshin, and she held onto that thought. Kenshin. She would hold it together for him; if she had to go, then she would go in a way that would make him proud. Kaoru Kamiya was going to die with her head held high, her wide blue eyes open and clear, and her heart as full of love for her family as it had ever been. There was nothing else she could give them now.