I do not own Rurouni Kenshin. Rated T for violence and blood.

Enjoy Chapter 7!

Chapter 7

"Is this the place?" asked Sanosuke, staring at the gigantic castle at the edge of a cliff. He didn't even know there were even such edifices on the outskirts of Tokyo.

"Apparently, the Battousai is being held in the dungeon," said Aoshi.

"Could you not call Kenshin 'the Battousai'? He's just Himura Kenshin now," said Kaoru, pouting.

"Sorry, old habits die hard," murmured Aoshi, his emotionless face staring at the castle.

"We better get a move on," started Megumi, shivering in the cold wind, her medicine box rattling against her thin body, "I fear for Ken-san."

Yahiko nodded. Both he and Misao were so afraid, but they did not understand why.

The six of them quickly ran to the castle, with only their friend's wellbeing in their mind.

The gigantic doors loomed over the six friends, but it proved to be nothing more than a fly to Shinamori Aoshi who destroyed the thing in a matter of seconds with his two kodaichi's.

"Misao and I will take all of the yakuza members," said Aoshi, "You four hurry down to the dungeons. The defenses should be lower as you go lower. Yamaguichi didn't want his men to get their hands on his precious prize."

"Will you be able to handle it?" asked Megumi. Though she did not like Aoshi due to her past with him, she did not wish to treat more patients when her attention should be focused on Kenshin only.

"We are Oniwabanashu ninjas! Do you think such small fry can defeat us?" exclaimed Misao.

"Exactly," agreed Aoshi, "Now go. Time is of the essence."

"See ya later!" yelled Yahiko as he ran after Sanosuke, Kaoru and Megumi. He stayed close to Kaoru, the two having impeccable teamwork when it came to defeating goons while Sanosuke stayed close to Megumi to protect her.

Surprisingly, there weren't that many people there. Kaoru assumed that since this was a secret base, only those close to Yamaguichi would be allowed in it. What few people they met were quickly knocked out by Sanosuke and Yahiko. What she didn't know, was that all of them were having a meeting with Yamaguichi up on the second floor where the two ninjas were heading.


Aoshi burst open the door to see thirty or so people sitting on the ground in front of one man who sat one a chair. Quickly, Aoshi gathered that they had extremely good timing, to have everyone gathered in one spot. That meant the pathway to the dungeons were wide open.

"Who are you? How did you find this place?" demanded Yamaguichi, standing up from his chair.

"I am Shinamori Aoshi. I have come to take your life," he said, his voice low and deadly.

Realization spread across his face, "Ah, so you've come for the Battousai. I'm afraid there's nothing much to rescue," he grinned.

"What have you done to Himura?!" screamed Misao.

"Nothing out of the unusual," smirked Yamaguichi, "Just some torture, that's all."

Misao lurched forward in anger, but Aoshi put a stopping hand on her shoulder. She glanced up in surprise and saw that the normally expressionless ninja had anger etched onto his face. His teeth were clenched tightly as he took a step forward.

"An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth," he recited as he took another step forward, "I'm going to make you wish you never chose to raise even your voice at the Battousai."

"Oh?" He snapped his fingers and everyone in the room drew their swords, "Get him," he said, almost lazily.

Then, Aoshi made his move.

Misao slid to the ground in amazement and fear as she saw the man she loved massacre everyone in the room within a matter of seconds, leaving only Yamaguichi standing in fear.

Aoshi flicked his wrists, knocking off all the blood drops on his swords, and slowly walked to Yamaguichi.

"Spare me," he whimpered, all of his bravado disappearing. He may have been a hitokiri during the Bakumatsu, but definitely nothing of Kenshin's or Aoshi's league.

"No. I am going to make you suffer."

And two gleaming swords plunged downwards.


Yahiko swung around, "Did you hear that?" he asked his friends. They had almost made it down to the dungeon.

"Hear what?" asked Sanosuke, concentrating on finding the way through his horrible sense of direction.

"A scream."

"I didn't hear anything," said Megumi.

"Me neither," said Sanosuke, "Have you seen the keys?"

"Here," answered Kaoru, holding up a ring of keys. "I found it on the wall."

"Good, now all that's left is to find which room Kenshin's in."

The four called out Kenshin's name over and over again, but they got no response, so they had to open each and every one of the dungeon doors. Aggravated, Yahiko kicked the wall after opening six doors with no avail.

"Where is he?!" he demanded.

Kaoru and Megumi shook their heads, unable to answer.

"Wait," Sanosuke sniffed the air, "I smell blood. Over here!"

He pointed at the cell far down with several bars and bolts on it. Without waiting for the three to catch up, he sprinted to the door and wrestled with the door. Kaoru had the keys but he was too impatient to wait for her.

He kicked the door down easily: the hinges were rusted with age and mold, which surprised him. Why was there such little security for the Battousai?

Then he saw his friend, and what he saw horrified him.

Megumi, Kaoru, and Yahiko saw Sanosuke stop and stare in horror, a gasp escaping him. Kaoru ran as though her life was in danger to see what had happened. She almost screamed, seeing Kenshin hanging on the wall like a broken doll. A pool of blood lay under his feet; his gi and hakama almost torn to shreds with the numerous cuts and whip marks all over his body. His face and body were filled with bruises and he had several burn marks over him. And that was just the physical wounds.

"Oh, Kenshin," whimpered Kaoru, "What did they do to you?"

Yahiko was lost for words. He had never seen the one he respected the most in the entire world so…lifeless.

"First things first," said Sanosuke gruffly, getting over his shock quickly, "We need to get him down from there. Jou-chan, stand close to Kenshin while I get rid of this shackles on his arms and legs."

She nodded, reaching forward towards the rurouni.

Sanosuke pulled his left arm back and punched the left shackle around Kenshin's wrist, breaking it instantly. Kenshin's arm fell limply to his side. Then, he turned onto the right one.

Kenshin's body fell forward onto Kaoru who sunk to the ground with his weight. Gently, she turned him around so that he was lying down on his back with his shoulders and head supported by her legs and arms. Sanosuke quickly got rid of the steel ball around his friend's leg as Megumi rushed forward to administer to him.

"Kenshin," said Kaoru softly, "Kenshin, please wake up."

But her love did not respond to her.


Kenshin could hear people calling out for him, but he was too lost in the darkness of his mind to answer them. He felt as though he needed to, but he couldn't find his voice. His body wouldn't respond. He felt more pain as someone prodded his broken bones and he felt himself stirring. He didn't want to wake up. The pain was too much. Then, he heard an angel's voice calling out for him.

"Kenshin, Kenshin, please wake up."

He knew he needed to answer this angel and he struggled hard to open his eyes. He won the fight.

Kenshin's eyes slowly fluttered open. The world around him was blurry, but it quickly came into focus, though it constantly blurred in and out.

He saw the one face that he had been dreaming about for these past six days, and his face broke into a weak smile.

"Kao…ru…do…no…" his voice rasped weakly. It was so quiet that Kaoru had a hard time hearing him.

She smiled warmly, "It's alright. You're safe now. We're taking you home."

The long nightmare was finally over, but another was about to begin.


I know there weren't a lot of details about destroying the Yamaguichi clan, but I wanted to concentrate more on Kenshin. Sorry if you wanted more fights and whatnot, but I think Kenshin is much more important. . Thanks for reading this chapter! More to come soon!

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