Disclaimer: Mine, Rurouni Kenshin, is unfortunately not.
Recap:
A dark chuckle rumbled from the Battousai as he followed me with his eyes, "You can't keep running forever, little Hunter. The purpose of the Hunt is to take down the prey."
A sense of foreboding settled in my stomach as the Battousai set his draught down on the first available surface before turning his complete attention to me. His eyes looked like a bloody sunrise, all ambers and reds.
Meiji Corporation
Chapter Seven:
Instinctively, I reached for my magic only to find a barrier between that part of my soul and my conscious mind. The barrier sent a wave of painful sparks through my blood and I jerked away from it with a slight hiss of pain.
A darkly amused chuckle drew my attention back to vampire, "You won't be using magic again, little Hunter, until you either decide to help us, join us, or die."
I felt all blood drain from my face as I stumbled backwards and into the wall. I sank down as my memories clamored again for my attention, this time I didn't fight the tide as they swept me up into a whirlwind of pain and anguish.
I was vaguely aware of the Battousai's voice as he called out to me before the first of my memories claimed my mind.
It was my first memory, even after all these years, it came in like a movie on a television screen. Clear. Precise. Agonizing.
A man was looking down at me, his name was Kamiya Koshijiro. He owned an old-fashioned dojo that taught katsujin-ken a belief that he wished to embrace with his own personal sword style, Kamiya-Kasshin Ryu.
He took me in out of the goodness of his heart and adopted me. He gave me a name, a home, the promise of a bright future. This memory hurts the most as I see what I had and what I lost. I feel the fool for not cherishing every moment that I had back then, for like all good things they must come to an end.
My memories skipped forward like they were scenes in a play. They stopped on the scene of my adopted father's death and I relived his last moments again, just like every time that I dreamed.
His hand was gentle against my cheek as he slowly faded from this world. His voice a rough wheeze in his chest as he whispered, "Don't let anyone corrupt your pure heart…"
I felt the tears again begin to fall from my eyes as the light faded from his. The turmoil of my emotions caused the magic deep inside of me to erupt anew and then the world faded to black.
I opened my eyes to find the ceiling above me with a soft cushion at my back. I shifted a little and the stiff pain that raced along my joints told me that I had been immobile for a while. I looked around slowly as I pushed myself into a sitting position. The room looked the same, but the air tingled with a magic that felt both strange and familiar.
A shift in the air warned me of Battousai's presence before he spoke in a low voice that sent shivers racing down my spine, "Your life hasn't been all sugar and sweets, has it, little oracle?"
"What would you know of my life? I've done everything I can to keep my past where it belongs, I'll not let you or anyone else- be they mortal or not- dredge up those memories!" I spat at him coldly, my anger rising quickly to deflect the fear of the pain that ghosted against my skin.
Calloused hands gripped my upper arms in a firm hold that kept me still yet wouldn't bruise. "You don't have to deal with your past on your own, little one. There are people that would be willing to—"
"To what? Help me through it? Help me deal with it? I've spent my whole life alone! No one was ever there for me, and those that were didn't stick around for more than a year!"
"So that's it? A couple of bad experiences and you lose all hope that some one will care? You're more cynical than I thought," his amber eyes had taken on a pitying look that had me struggling against his hold violently.
I twisted in his grasp to the point that he had to straddle my hips to immobilize me but it didn't stop me from hitting at him with my fists. I was so lost in my struggle that I didn't realize that I was crying until he pinned my wrists above my head and wiped gently at my cheeks.
"Stop! Stop it! I don't want your pity!" I screamed at him as I tossed my head back and forth on the pillow.
He buried a hand into my hair and stilled my thrashing. "Then how about compassion?"
"It's the same thing!"
"So you do have an education," he mused.
"Of course I do! Why do you think the Elders sent me on so many suicide missions? For my health?" I rolled my eyes to emphasize my point.
A puzzled expression crossed his handsome face, "They tried to kill you because you have an education?"
Realization of what slipped out of my mouth caused my entire body to still beneath his strong frame. A fleeting thought of my lousy self control around these vampires flitted across my mind before the Battousai demanded my attention once more.
"How many times, little Hunter?" his voice had lost its humor and patronizing tones as he looked down at me with eyes that were hard enough to cut diamonds.
This new side of him surprised me into a stunned and still silence. His eyes, though burning amber, were not directing his anger at me but at the Elders who had continuously put me in danger. His intense eyes caused my breathing to hitch in my throat, the slight noise caused the Battousai's eyes to focus on me and I watched in fascination as his eyes visibly softened and a strange violet color began to seep through the hot yellow.
His voice became a soft murmur in the darkened room, "Finally afraid of me, little one?"
His breath ghosted across my cheekbones as he dipped his head to feather kisses against my jaw. I was paralyzed by this sudden turn-around of personality. His lips pressing against the pulse point in my throat shook me out of the paralysis and I tried to distract the powerful vampire that continued to straddle my hips.
"I don't fear you. I fear nothing. Fear is a liability that I can't afford." I glared at him with as much assuredness as I could muster.
A smirk curled his mouth as he arched an eyebrow at me and loosed a warm chuckle, "Is that so? Funny, it's not what your eyes are telling me."
"Why do you care?" I growled.
"Why shouldn't I?" he counter easily.
"Because you haven't before and those who do give a damn only care long enough to get what they want," I hissed back.
"How old are you, little one?" he asked as he cocked his head to the side like a bird.
"I don't see how that matters." Confusion colored my voice and my eyebrows drew together.
"Just curious is all."
"Curiosity killed the cat," I bit out in irritation.
"Ah, but satisfaction brought him back, little kitten," he countered with amusement.
"Will you stop it with all the endearments? I'm not a child!" I snapped in exasperation.
This brought another amused chuckle from him as he murmured, "Maybe not to your race, but you are to mine."
"Leave me alone. Why can't you just leave me alone?" I asked more to myself than to him but I knew he would hear me anyway.
He lowered his mouth to my ear and whispered hot words that branded me, "Because you are mine, and I do not give up what belongs to me, Kaoru."
