Re-Posted 11-5-10

Lime Warning. Violence Warning. Suggested Adult Themes.

Kaoru stared at Misao. "You cannot be serious?"

Misao tilted her head. "What do I look not serious about? You needed to get out of the dojo and Himura didn't complain over lunch when I said I wanted to whisk you out. What else could we possibly want to do?"

Kaoru closed her eyes for a moment. Misao had been had been there for almost two day now, whomever she and Battousai were waiting for hadn't yet made an appearance. After her arrival, she had spent most of the afternoon sleeping. Thankfully, this morning she had woken feeling much, much better. And Misao was right. Battousai hadn't complained other than a quirk of his brow and a shift of ki that had washed over them; brushing slowly against her skin as if looking for weaknesses. Instead of terrifying her as it did before, the cold of him had settled over her skin like comfort. Shoving that thought away – nothing about that vampire was comforting – she sighed. Whatever he had done in that split second, Misao hadn't managed to prance more than three feet from her without grimacing.

And Misao pranced about a lot.

"But…" she opened her eyes stared at the fabric that Misao was holding in her hands; Misao liked to shop. She had been dragged throughout the market and in and out of a variety of stalls and now they were looking over kimono fabric. Kaoru was starting to feel tired. To think she had thought it had been a good idea to get up and move about today. Reaching up, she rubbed her face. Who knew the one vampire other than her boys she would take an instinct liking to would have the energy of a child. She was a vampire who was seemingly unafraid of Battousai and she just… turned everything into a whirlwind. Yet, Kaoru still liked her, even if Misao had marched her into a little stall with too much fabric and way too expensive prices.

"Misao, please slow down."

Misao sighed, bouncing on her toes as she considered those words before finally nodding.

"Alright. We have enough fabric for three new kimono for you and one for me. I suppose we can find a place to sit… or I can teach you to hunt."

Kaoru paled and she swallowed. "Why?"

Misao gave her a searching look before tugging her over to a quieter alley. She bared her teeth at a shadow and it slithered away. "Hunting is what you do know, Kaoru. Do you really want to be dependent on Himura for the rest of eternity?"

Misao's face was open, curious. Sano had thought the open hostility towards Megumi was due to her being made and warned Kaoru about being around Misao, but the small vampire had apparently taken to Kaoru the same way Kaoru had taken to her. But it didn't explain this sudden concern about her being able to feed.

Kaoru licked her dry lips. "I… no, but…"

"I didn't realize you were twitchy about killing." Misao said finally, crossing her arms. "Why?"

"It's… it's what I believe." She tilted her chin. "My family teaches Kamiya Kasshin Ryu… we try to save lives, not take them."

Misao tucked her brows together and chewed on her bottom lip before sighing. "Well, I don't know what to say to that. I can tell you that as nice an idea as that is, you're not always going to have a choice. Especially now. Even if Himura kills the human for you, you're still going to be responsible for that death."

Kaoru looked away. "I know."

"One of your parents was one of us." Misao said gently. "That means that they tried and failed to escape what they were. Don't make that same mistake."

"I hate what I am."

"Why? Because you have to kill?" Misao's expression was suddenly unreadable. But something told Kaoru it wasn't their conversation necessarily that worried her.

"Yes."

"Don't be. We were put here for a reason, yes? You don't think our people were made to be an evil blight to humanity, do you? Everything has natural predators Kaoru. If it makes you uncomfortable, then we'll stick to the shadier parts of town; those are people who run the risk every day of dying from a blade to the back. Fangs are just a neater, cleaner way to go."

Kaoru swallowed. "I just…"

Misao patted her on the shoulder. "Think of it this way… either I can help you learn or Battousai will. My way might be less traumatic."

Before Kaoru could find a way to respond to that, Misao hissed between her teeth and grabbed her wrist, yanking her deeper into the shadows. The world shifted suddenly, and it was as if she had stepped into a thin veil that blocked most of the light. Like the sky was suddenly overcast with the dark clouds of a storm. Her hands reached out to clutch at Misao.

"Misao?"

"I'm sorry… I… he's already here. I wasn't expecting that. Battousai said soon but…" Her voice was whisper soft and vibrated with more emotion than Kaoru would have imagined.

Kaoru turned to see who she was looking at and paused. He was head and shoulders taller than almost everyone else on the street. His lean figure cut a swath through the crowds; face carved in sharp lines with dark a hair that fell messily across his forehead. Kaoru couldn't see his eyes but the impression he gave was cold and uninviting.

"He can't see us, but he knows I'm here. Let's head back to the dojo so I can lock myself into a room and pretend I can't feel him." Misao dragged her forward.

"Where… what is this?"

"This? Oh… these are the shadows. My gift is to be able to walk through them. It's one of the gifts ninja clan breed. If you see anything really big, sort of like an oily cloud… just sort of avoid it and let me know, okay?"

"What? Why?"

"They tend to feed on souls. And gifts, now that I think about it, but they don't leave enough soul behind to matter… but there very nice to look at!"

Kaoru tightened her grip on Misao.

X

When they returned to the dojo, only Sano and Yahiko were there. Or at least, they were the only visible occupants. So she managed to catch Yahiko and had him running through some rudimentary drills. She was forced to watch as she didn't have a pair of the gloves that Yahiko used. She had already felt the affects of wood poisoning once and didn't want to do it again.

Walking back down the hall, she jumped in surprise when someone slid up behind her. Twisting around, she found herself almost nose to nose with Battousai.

"Would you not do that?"

Before he could answers, a flash of movement in the courtyard had her looking over his shoulder to see Misao squaring off against the tall man from the market. She couldn't see Misao's face but his was flat and hard.

Before she could go and help, Battousai hands settled on her arms. "You were considering finding gloves to play with those silly pieces of wood."

Her attention snapped back to him immediately. "Yes."

He lifted a brow at her, eyes glittering. "That is not a wise idea. The wood is as dangerous to you as it is your enemies."

"I don't care."

The edges of his lips curled and she was suddenly very uncomfortably aware, suddenly, of how alone they were in the dojo. "You will use a katana, Kaoru."

"I don't…"

His body shifted against hers and suddenly her back was flat against the wall and his lips brushed her temple with every word.

"I don't care. A silly piece of wood will not save you if you need to defend yourself. You will use what I give you."

She shoved him and he stepped back, expression amused. Before she could decide where she wanted to start, he pulled the second sword she hadn't noticed away from his belt and tossed it to her. She caught it on reflex alone.

"That will do until we can get to Kyoto. Defend yourself."

Her eyes widened as he unsheathed his own blade. She barely had time to bring the sheathed sword up to block his blow. Her fingers went numb from the force of the strike.

"This is not wood, so it will take impact differently. I suggest you figure out how and soon." Battousai drawled as he used the leverage his longer arms gave him to hold her in place.

She slid the katana free and moved away from him, eyes narrowed. What was he doing? Whatever point he was trying to prove, he was much faster than her. He held his strikes back but she still faltered as she tried to adjust to the new weight and balance of the weapon in her hand. She barely had time to think. Swearing mentally, she ducked under another strike and tried to track him with her eyes.

Just as something sparked in the corner of her eye, he flattened her up against a wall, the edge of his blade lightly pressed against her cheek. To her disgust he was hardly breathing hard. She wasn't sweating as badly as she should have been, but her muscles and hands felt the vibrations still.

Those strange sparks at the corner of her eyes were making it hard to see and she realized with a shock that those sparks were gathering close to Kenshin. Was… ki? She was seeing his ki? With her gift?

"You have a lot to learn, but your basic form is solid." He sounded amused. Without thinking she grabbed at those lines and sparks and shoved. He staggered back, something flickering across his face too fast to catch.

Then his eyes narrowed into slits of hot yellow and he raked her with his gaze. Suddenly nervous, she tilted her chin and stared at him. The edge of his mouth kicked up in a way that made her feel something else entirely and then he was sheathing his blade and moving away.

What had just happened?

Sliding down the wall, she curled her knees into her chest and sighed heavily. Running her fingers through her bangs, she grimaced. For the first time that she could remember, she wasn't breathing hard after a bought of hard work. Shivering, she stared fiercely at the wood floor and just tried not to think.

Misao scowled at Aoshi before turning to watch Himura walk past them, his expression thoughtful. From what little she of the fight she had watched out of the corner of her eye, Kaoru had managed to hold her own in there; even if it had been clear that Himura hadn't been pushing hard. Since she had seen vampires train for most their lives falter at even that much effort, she was impressed.

"She's better than I thought."

She wasn't surprised when Aoshi didn't respond. Aoshi hardly ever bothered to respond to anything she said. Mouth tightening in anger, she curled her fists. Once Aoshi had arrived, the bindings Himura had used to hold to the Dojo and to Tokyo had faded, giving her back her freedom.

"Misao."

Misao stopped walking, her back to him. "I don't like you right now. In fact, if I could somehow drag you into the dark real and feed you to one of the soul-eaters, I would. I don't want to talk to you, I don't want to see you and I refuse to allow you to hunt for me. We've had this talk, remember? Why are we having it again?"

She felt him move closer, until the heat of him was pressing along her spine.

"You are mine."

Misao shook her head. "You rejected me."

Long fingers brushed against her hair and she scuttled forward, turning to face him.

"You think I will let you escape again?" His tone was mild, eyes cold.

"You think you can make me obey you? Follow you? Bind me to you?" She asked fiercely, power putting strength in her words. "I won't. You tried to sell me!"

"You cannot hide from your instincts forever."

"I won't have too." She said flatly before stepping into the shadow of the tree, and disappearing. Aoshi watched her go.

"You are mine, Misao."

X

He stood there, watching the wind twist small piles of leaves around in vague, slow circles. "I do not like failure. We have lost one of our best spies and I want to know why. She wants to know why."

He didn't have to turn to know that the vampires behind him were groveling. There always seemed to be an endless cycle of men and woman lusting after his power, his gifts. He was strong enough to take on their enemy – Battousai – and he would. His plan was perfect.

"It was the girl. It had to be the girl. Battousai should not have been able to find him."

Enishi turned eyes hard. "Kamiya should not have had the power to hurt him. Not with her giving Jineh the boost he needed to hide completely."

"I would never doubt the Lady's skills but it is true. Kamiya had to be linked to Battousai somehow." The round, sweaty face was strained. "We just haven't been able to discover how."

Enishi frowned. Kamiya was supposed to be human. There were only a few ways to be linked to a vampire and Enishi didn't see Battousai taking a human to his bed. He had changed the last human who had caught his attention. "I want her killed. Do it tonight."

"But Battousai's defenses…"

"Should be easily dealt with by your creatures – if she did somehow interfere with Jineh, then she needs to be dealt with. If she is human as you say she is, it will be easy. If she is not…" Surely Battousai didn't make himself a mate…

"I shall send the men tonight." He licked his lips. "Surely she will be weak after Jineh, easy to kill."

Enishi shrugged. "Perhaps. Report as soon as they return. I want to know what the inside of that dojo looks like."

He needed to know who Battousai had with him before he could strike. Narrowing his eyes, he watched the fat little man bow and exerted his gift. If Battousai managed to follow those creatures back, it was best to be sure he found nothing.

X

Kaoru muttered as she limped down the hall, her bruises from her training session still lingering even as her new healing abilities kicked into high gear. Battousai hadn't really tried to hurt her, but his tendency to slam her into walls left her back aching. Sano had shown up for a few minutes, something troubled in his eyes before he headed off to look into something for Battousai. She didn't know how she felt about him becoming messenger boy or whatever it was that he was doing, but she hoped he stayed out of trouble. At least that path had eased some of the more prominent muscles aches. Turning the corner she gasped as she bounced into something hard. Calloused fingers closed around her wrists, holding her against the hard, warm surface.

"Look what I caught." Kenshin's said softly in her ear, his teeth nipping at the rim. Kaoru froze, suddenly aware of the way he had released her wrists too settle a hand at her hip, the other playing with her carefully knotted obi.

"Battousai…" Kaoru whispered her eyes wide as she looked for someone to walk by. Kenshin's reply was to laugh into the sensitive skin behind her ear and yank her into a corner. In the very open hall.

"I thought I told you to call me Kenshin, Kaoru." His tone was chiding instead of sharp and she swallowed. "I might have to punish you." The way his tongue brushed the skin of her neck had her insides jumping.

"Let me go."

"You are not getting away this time." He murmured in her ear as her obi loosened and fell from her hips, the kimono she had changed into falling open. "I promised to teach you a lesson. Besides, I owe you for that little stunt in the dojo."

Kaoru trembled at the amused tone in his voice. She could feel his ki around them and she swallowed as it seemed to mute the outside world. Kaoru was aware of the laughter coming from the front porch, the sounds of Misao and Yahiko bickering, but it was muted. Swallowing, she tried to swat at his fingers as they glided down her hip, encouraging the fabric to part before he started tugging on her breast bindings.

"What are you doing? Kaoru protested. She didn't think this lesson of his could lead to anything good.

"They won't see us." Kenshin promised as he raked his teeth along her jaw. Kaoru tried to ignore the way her insides leapt at his touch, the slow shift of sparks under her skin.

"But…" Kaoru tried just before his fingers came up and cupped her full, bare breasts in his hands. Kaoru stifled her moan and placed her hands flat on his chest in an attempt to push him away, but only succeeded in grasping his shoulders for support as he ran his thumb over her sensitive nipples.

"You might as well give in to me." Kenshin purred as his head rose again, sucking lightly on her ear. "Your body wants to."

Kaoru could only moan as he shifted, pressing his chest against hers, bracing her against the wall as his hands continued to wander and her knees weakened. She attempted to find the breath to argue but his hands were everywhere. Kenshin caught her mouth with his as Yahiko ran by, oblivious to the man and woman carefully hidden in the long shadows of the dojo. Kaoru struggled to hold in a whimper as his hands ran along her spin before digging in her backside and trailing down her thighs before his tongue stroked a path along her throat, were he found the pulse point he had been looking for.

Lips pressed against her throat, he smiled when her pulse jumped as she cried out, nails digging into his arms when he finally pressed his fingers against the warmth between her legs. Hooking the back of one hand under her thigh; he held her open as he explored – soft touches and lingering strokes that left her trembling.

Kaoru's body felt over heated as each stroke of his hand set off small streaks of lightning in her blood. Her gift was crawling inside her like something living and she was struggling for something. A long, slow brush of his tongue and then those fingers slipped to the back of her thigh as he lifted her off her feet completely, settling between her legs so that she could feel him. Eyes wide, feeling dazed and over sensitive, she bit her lip as she shivered. She felt… wanting, as if he had been pushing her body towards something and then just… stopped.

"I told you your body would yearn for mine." Kenshin informed her, his eyes glinting. He continued to hold her, fingers wrapping around strands of her hair. Kaoru couldn't seem to look away and her knees and legs felt weak. Leaning forward, he brushed his lips along her chin and the promise in his eyes made her heart pound.

"When we finish this, you will be under me and calling my name. Only then will I give you what your body wants."

Then he was setting her down, helping her tuck her kimono back into place as her fingers trembled. His hands were quick, deliberately efficient as he avoided touching her in any way that would ease the aching warmth or the heaviness in her breasts. Once her obi was tied he watched her for another moment, amusement heavy in his eyes before he turned and left her there.

Kaoru shook slightly as she worked to calm her body. Shutting her eyes, she swallowed. He was right. He could make her body want him. Damn her if she ever admitted to it. But she knew that every glance, every touch from him was going to be a deliberate reminder of this… of what he had done, and what he hadn't. Kaoru covered her mouth and told herself not to cry.

Double checking to make sure she was covered, she headed back into her room. She couldn't face anyone like this. Not when she knew her gift was wildly churning and she could still feel the heat of him all over her body. After she changed into a clean yukata she slipped beneath her covers and shivered. The memory of his fingers brushing against her so intimately, the press of his mouth against her throat, the wicked glints of gold in his eyes…

Shutting her eyes tightly she forced herself to find her calming center before her body would relax. She lay there for long moments, her mind refusing to calm down even when her body was content to remain motionless. The soft sounds of Misao's voice as she padded to the door, softly knocking, went unanswered. Eventually the ache in her body lessened into a feeling of discontent. Growling in frustration she tossed and turned before moving to her shoji and pushing it open to stare at the clear sight of the stars above.

She remembered sitting in this same spot, watching the shooting stars with her father. What would he think of her now? A vampire who needed someone else to live? Perhaps he wouldn't be so condemning, since her mother had to have been one as well. Kaoru tilted her head when she caught the sight of shadows shifting in the courtyard. There it was again… perhaps Misao was practicing her shadow maneuvers.

Feeling something brush against her ki she jumped to the left just as shiny, bright pieces of silver slammed into the wood. Kaoru scrambled backwards, her gift flaring to life under her skin with her panic just as the naked blade swung at her head a second time. This time she had to roll away from that near-invisible attacker and lunged to her feet to run. The sounds of someone moving down the hall bounded in her ears as she ducked another swing of the open blade – this time not quite fast enough; the blade bit into her shoulder and she cursed loudly. Her gift flared outwards in a wild arc and the world spun for a moment in a wild, turbulent rush as sparks flared around her. Misao burst into the room and tossed a fistful of small, sharp daggers towards the brightest of those sparks.

"Shadow dwellers!" She warned before her small body melted into the floor and appearing behind whatever was moving back towards the sword it had dropped.

Like hell…

Kaoru dove, her fingers locking around the sword hilt and bringing it close to her body as she rolled away, keeping the sharp edges away from her flesh. It burned in her palm, but her gift pulsed through her hand and quieted the sword's reaction. For a moment, she wondered if it was alive. Feeling the sword pulse, she spun to meet the steel coming at her head with the blade in her hand. To her surprise, it felt like the sword was reacting to the man's movements before she could formulate her own responses. Somehow, it sensed the shadows attempting to strike at her.

Then the door was torn off its edges and Battousai was there.

Misao was suddenly pulling her out of the way. Battousai's ki was a malestorm of furious black shadow that twisted around and around. Thick, black strands of it clung to his sword and moved like ropes around his body. His eyes were the color of blazing suns and he moved so fast that Kaoru could only watch where he had been.

"He uses his gift to suck them out of the Shadow plane, where the physical forms operate, and then he kills them." Misao informed her as they watched.

"How?"

"They're attracted to death and destruction, and Himura bathes in it. They can't stay in their plane when someone like him is around. He could rule them, take over, but in return they would feed from him constantly." Misao replied.

Kaoru shivered and was relieved when her gift suddenly settled back into her skin, leaving her feeling weak. Looking up she watched her now normal-looking… mate… stand over a man who was even paler than Battousai. Kaoru dropped the sword she was holding and watched it disappear back into the shadows.

Battousai was saying something, leaning over with his entire body broadcasting his fury. Kaoru brought her hand to her aching shoulder, which was already knitting and she scowled at the mess her room was. Her right wall was shattered and her Shoji had been torn almost in half when Battousai had entered. Splinters were everywhere and her bare feet were in danger if she moved again.

Blood littered the floor in thick, greasy black puddles.

"Those in the kitchen were a distraction," Shinomori said as he entered, his eyes scanning the room. "They were after the girl."

"Her name," Misao said softly, "is Kaoru."

Battousai looked up from where he was wiping his sword clean, his tongue snaking out against the thickly coated blade. Kaoru felt slightly ill at that, since the blood was…so…

"His body can pull the remaining human blood cells out of what was mutated." Misao murmured low enough so that Karou's hearing could barely pick it up. "I really don't think it's healthy for other vampires, but I don't think anything can really kill him."

Her arm no longer hurt, so Kaoru pulled her hand back and stared at the sealed wound. Her hand was sticky with blood and she needed to clean her arm. Sighing, she looked around and frowned when Battousai walked over and caught her wrist. Instead of bringing her bloodied hand to his mouth like last time, he simply handed her a soft cloth before looking at her bare feet and leaving.

"He can't…lick you until he cleans all the toxins from his blood," Misao guessed. "He needs them in his body to track where they came from."

Kaoru, in the process of cleaning the blood from her skin, rolled her eyes. "I am…ah!"

Her feet were swung out from under her and she was staring at a familiar throat as Battousai carried her out of the room and into another, with a futon and fresh quilt laid out.

"Go to sleep." Kenshin said firmly at her temple and then disappeared.

Kaoru was left staring at where he had been, uncertain at what she thought she had felt from him for just a moment. Shivering slightly, she curled into the futon and covered herself with the blanket. Now that the fight was over, she was trembling. Curling in on herself a little, she pressed her hands together and willed them to still – why had he carried her in here? Was he just trying to avoid healing her for the second time if she stepped on wood? Before she really had any time to sit down and think about what had occurred, a swearing Misao was pushed firmly into the room by a grim faced Shinomori. Misao spun on her heel, stared at the walls and for a moment, Kaoru thought she would just go through the thin, rice-paper walls.

"They warded the room!" Misao growled, dropping into a cross-legged position. Kaoru could see the faint outline of her ki arching around her and Kaoru sighed. "I'm older than that overly-tall friend of yours, and they ward me into a room!"

Kaoru sat up a little, curling her blanket around her shoulders. "Misao?"

Small hands were curled into white knuckled fists. Kaoru sympathized. She knew what it felt like to be left behind or worse, forced to confirm to what someone else wanted you to be. But even grumpy, she was relieved that Misao was with her.

Finally, the small vampire blew out a long breath and turned to face her. "Sorry. He just manages to infuriate me on so many levels."

"What happened in there?"

Misao frowned for a moment, head tilting to the side like a small bird. She pressed her lips together for a long moment, before walking over and sitting next to her. "Are you okay?"

Kaoru nodded, her nerves starting to settle. "Yes."

"The attack seems to be a message to Himura that they know he is here and that they aren't afraid of him. When Kyoto broke after the Bakumatsu, a lot of the younger vampires that couldn't hold their territory fled to Edo." Misao tapped her fingers on her thigh for a moment. "I suppose it makes some kind of suicidal sense. But I don't understand how they know about you… other than our shopping trip; you haven't been out and about in the markets. One visit shouldn't have given them the time to figure out what the exact nature your connection to Himura is."

"But what does that have to do with the attack?"

Misao tilted her head. "Himura has claimed you as his mate. If they kill you, they might cripple him. It's was risky, because they failed and know he knows someone thinks he is weak enough to attack. I just don't understand how they knew."

Kaoru looked at her hands. "Are mates so important?"

"Yes."

Misao's simple response gave her something to think about. There was a conviction there mingled with a little bit of hurt. Taking a deep breath, she finally managed to work her hands lose of the blanket. "What do you know about why… Kenshin is here."

"Not much. Soujirou was pretty closed lipped about the whole thing while he was dragging me this direction and your two friends have really refused to talk."

Kaoru grimaced. "I was kidnapped by a vampire named Jineh."

Misao's eyes widened. "I thought he was dead."

"What?"

She shook her head. "I'll explain later. So someone used Jineh to kidnap you?"

Kaoru wrapped her arms around herself. "I don't know. I haven't… managed to ask what the reasons were. He seemed very focused on Kenshin in the little time we talked." She took a deep breath. "You don't think these two events are connected?"

"I don't know." Misao looked perplexed. "I cannot imagine someone stupid enough to challenge Himura twice but… I wish I could look into this myself. But they've done their best to hamstring me."

Kaoru considered telling her that she hadn't been a full vampire at the time or that Kenshin only mated with her because he wanted to use her gift, but she held her tongue. Misao obviously believed that mates were something important and she was too tired to dig deeply into that right now. Or why she couldn't shake off the way Kenshin had carried her over the shattered wood pieces to protect her feet.

Flopping back down, Kaoru re-arranged the blanket. "I'm going to try to get some sleep. You should too."

"Aren't I the elder here?" Misao muttered as she went and crawled under the blanket with Kaoru. Once Aoshi got back, she was going to hurt him. Kaoru had finally gained some of her color back and there was weariness behind her eyes that would have compelled her to stay behind even if Aoshi hadn't locked her into the dojo again. The fact that Soujiro was keeping watch in the courtyard was even more annoying – as if she wasn't capable of protecting Kaoru!

X

Enishi frowned as he listened to the report. So, Battousai had killed his shadow warriors and protected Kamiya. Knowing Battousai, he probably had ingested some of the Shadow blood and was going to be tracking them down to find out who had sent them.

Battousai would be hunting ghosts. Perhaps it was time to change the plans. It was clear that Kamiya was important. Just the leverage he needed. If you wanted something done right, you did it yourself.

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