Disclaimer: I have never owned, or claimed to own, Rurouni Kenshin. It belongs rightfully to Mr. Nobuhiro Watsuki.
A Note: I challenged myself to write this fic without the use of fangirl Japanese, so that's why it's completely Anglicized. Yes, I also mean no honorifcs, which are actually good to use if done so correctly, but it's not a challenge if it's not hard, right? Anyway, if the lack of Japanese bothers you, I'm sorry, but I hope it won't keep you from reading.
A/N: I distinctly recall saying that this chapter would come "a LOT sooner than seven months."
I lied. It has been MORE than seven months, and for that I apologize. I can't believe the last time I updated this fic was last spring. It's awful. But don't worry, I haven't abandoned it!
I also remember saying that this chapter would be the last one. I lied again. There is one more to come, and I decided to post this chapter without the ending because it was sitting half-finished for over three months. I thought it was time to post it.
Another big thanks to my patient, prompt beta Khrysalis!
"If you want rainbows, you have to put up with the rain." -Dolly Parton
A Brush With Danger
7. "Get…Hajime."
"We have to do something," Hitomi proclaimed at once. "We need a doctor."
"No," Naruku argued. "She asked for Saitou."
"But she needs a doctor! She's having a baby!" was the shrill reply.
"Which is why she needs her husband. I'll go."
"What? No. If anyone's going, it's me!" Hitomi countered angrily.
"She's your sister," Naruku reasoned. "Besides, I know where they'll be," she added somewhat darkly.
Hitomi glared fiercely, but the finally nodded her acquiescence.
"Just keep her awake," Naruku ordered, standing up quickly and grabbing a bokken from the dojo wall.
"How?" Hitomi asked, her tone fearful.
"Keep her talking. Tell her it's going to be okay."
Hitomi nodded, unable to answer. Naruku was truly shocked to see fat, salty tears pouring down the older woman's cheeks.
"You'll be fine," Naruku said softly, though it was directed more at Hitomi than Tokio.
Hitomi nodded unsurely and looked down at her sister. In a shaky voice she asked, "W-why did you come over here?"
Squirming in discomfort, Tokio replied, "I needed…Hajime."
Hitomi's reply was steadfast and sure, "He'll be here. He'll be here soon. Naruku is going to get him for you and everything will be fine."
Approving of the strength in Hitomi's words, despite her own fear, Naruku took this as a cue and dashed out of the drill hall and down the road.
"Please let me find them. Please let me get there in time."
With the image of Tokio's desperate and panicked form in her mind, Naruku charged on, focused on that one thing alone.
-
Kenshin stood tensely, one hand hovering over his sword. His eyes were closed as though he was resting, but he was far from it. Instead he was tuning his senses to be more alert than ever.
To Kenshin's right was Sanosuke, standing impatiently, fists clenched. He cast an aggravated glance behind him where Saitou was leaning, cigarette poised immaculately between his lips.
The air was brittle; the tension could be broken at any moment. So far only two customers had entered the restaurant beside them. None had come out, and no one looking a bit like Nobu Sho had passed the alleyway that the three men stood in.
Suddenly, the crunch of someone's foot landing on gravel broke the silence. All three fighters snapped to attention, standing stock-still.
There was a pause, then a shuffle of feet. Closer. Sano's hands tightened at his sides.
More shuffling, this time closer and more hurried. The contrast to the silence was so great, the sound seemed deafening. There was a loud crash and a yell, and the three fighters were off.
Trash cans smashed noisily to the ground and a figure sprawled out from behind them.
When the dust of the collision settled, Kenshin hung back, grabbing Sanosuke and pulling him back as well.
Silence settled over them, until a low groan broke it. "Ow…"
Kenshin's hand dropped from the hilt of his sword. "Naruku?" he asked tentatively.
"Yeah, it's me," she answered, sounding in pain. She rolled away from the trash cans and heaved herself to a sitting position, groping around for her wooden bokken.
Kenshin knelt beside her and helped her to her feet, a grim expression on his face.
Naruku thanked him, brushed herself off and went to retrieve her bokken from where it had fallen on the ground.
"How did you find where we were?" Sano asked her, bemused.
"Huh? It said…the note, I mean, it said 'at the river' right? That's the name of that restaurant, right over there. The River," she answered, blinking.
Sano looked annoyed for some reason, but stayed silent.
Kenshin turned to Naruku. "You weren't supposed to come here," he told her quietly.
"I know. And I wasn't going to, but then Tokio showed up and…"
"Miss Tokio?" Puzzled, Kenshin blinked, his brow furrowed.
Saitou snorted. "Idiot woman. Came all the way over just for company, I suppose. It figures."
"Hey!" Naruku snapped. "That's your wife you're talking about you 'idiot,' and she just happens to be having your baby right now!"
Saitou visibly paled, his aloof attitude draining out of him.
"So you see, I'm just trying to retrieve her husband for her so she can have her baby," Naruku concluded.
"You should have gotten a doctor," Kenshin retorted, shaking his head.
Naruku's eyes flickered downward. "Maybe," she answered softly. "But Miss Tokio asked for Saitou. I'm not going to let her down." She cast her eyes back up, but not on Kenshin. Instead her pleading gaze was focused on Saitou.
He grunted uneasily as Sano and Kenshin followed Naruku's gaze. They waited for a reply.
"All right," Saitou conceded at last.
Naruku thanked him silently and gave Kenshin an apologetic look.
"Just hurry," he mouthed to her as she trotted off, a couple steps behind Saitou.
"I will," she said fiercely aloud, turning back to sear her determination into Kenshin.
She spun back around and gasped sharply when she almost ran into the towering form of Nobu Sho.
A scream died in her throat as he drew back to strike her. She lunged away, missing his fist by inches and plummeting in a heap to the ground. Her knees scraped roughly against the ground and the bokken was knocked from her hand, clattering noisily somewhere to her left.
Frantically, she reached for it and had almost closed her hand around the hilt when Nobu Sho's foot smashed her hand into the ground. Unable to stop herself, Naruku let out a loud shriek of pain that was cut short as a beefy hand clamped around her jaw, picking her up as effortlessly as a rag doll and shoving her against the wall with equal ease. She winced as her head smacked against the hard surface of the wall and her eyes began to water from the pain.
Behind her, Kenshin stood, his eyes wide with fury, one hand clamped over the hilt of his sakabatou.
"Himura," Saitou said slowly, his eyes trained on the scene in front of him.
"Just go," Kenshin replied in a strangled voice, his eyes on Naruku alone. "Go to Miss Tokio."
Saitou hesitated, his eyes burning into Kenshin. Then without a word he swept away.
"Kenshin!" Sano broke in.
"Get Miss Megumi," Kenshin instructed, his voice now level. "And bring her to Miss Tokio. I can handle this."
Hesitating for only a second, Sanosuke took off close behind Saitou. He had to trust Kenshin this time, because there was more going on than just that fight…and he would have to suppress his desire to beat the crap out of Nobu Sho and instead trust that Kenshin would accomplish this for him.
"I suggest that you take your hands off her," Kenshin said icily to Nobu Sho, his hardened expression showing no remorse.
Naruku was frozen in terror, her spine pressed uncomfortably against the rutted wall behind her, tears edging out of the corners of her eyes. Her desperate cries were muffled and nearly stifled by the large hand that wrapped around her jaw.
"Well, well," Nobu Sho said at last, looking from one face to the other. One was frightened, the other livid. Both completely at his mercy. "Battousai and the little brat. I hope you don't think you can get away with what you did to me last time we met."
"I don't want to repeat myself," Kenshin seethed, partially unsheathing his sword so that Nobu Sho could see the tiniest glint of metal between the hilt and the scabbard. "Let her go."
Nobu Sho smirked. His hold loosened marginally on Naruku, but she wasn't sure if that was intentional or simply because his focus had been directed toward Kenshin. "Well, I can see you like this wench a lot, though personally I don't see why, but clearly she means something to you…so what if I, just…let her go, like you ask?"
Kenshin didn't dare move. Nobu Sho was taunting him, letting Kenshin know who held the dice.
"Of course, it wouldn't be too much to ask if you two simply…disappeared, now would it? And perhaps the police might receive a valuable tip-off about my whereabouts, somewhere far west of here. What do you say, Battousai?"
He let go of Naruku's jaw, now cupping her chin in his hand, jerking her face upward so she stared directly at Kenshin.
"I won't touch a hair on her head, but you have to let me go, and make sure no one follows," Nobu Sho offered with a cruel smirk.
One look into Naruku's terrified eyes, and Kenshin knew his answer.
"I cannot do that, that I most certainly can't," he spoke, his tone and his eyes both steady as to not betray his apprehension. "If I let you go now, you will repeat these actions somewhere else, somewhere I won't be able to stop you. It is far too late to make bargain, Nobu Sho. You have already harmed Naruku, and for that, among other things, you will pay."
Before Nobu Sho could so much as sneer, Kenshin's sword was out, raining down on Nobu Sho with impeccable speed and power.
Nobu Sho was forced to release Naruku, his only bargaining chip, in order to stop Kenshin's attack.
The sakabatou hit Nobu Sho squarely in the arm, just as Naruku was slipping away. As Nobu Sho fell, she narrowly avoided being crushed by his heavy body. He stumbled back, into the wall, and reached a flailing hand out—by chance, grabbing Naruku's leg.
She was tugged forcefully backwards, slamming down into Nobu Sho. He stood up swiftly, dragging her up by the arm with him. His hand stayed clamped around her shoulder, the other pressing uncomfortably against her mouth, keeping her from uttering a word. Once again, she was at his mercy.
Nobu Sho started to laugh, his grip tightening on Naruku. He had the upper hand again. Naruku was between him and Kenshin.
The swordsman was frozen, shaking, doing nothing but glaring at Nobu Sho, and more importantly, at the girl in his arms who wore a grimace.
"What will you do now, Battousai?" Nobu Sho chuckled, despite the throbbing pain in his shoulder. "Oh, I can see it in your eyes, you'd like to hurt me very badly, wouldn't you? But unless you'd like to cut through your pretty little wench, you can't do anything, can you?"
How much Nobu Sho was right, he would never know. An almost uncontrollable fear overtook Kenshin's body.
He'd been in this position before, with the woman he loved between his sword and its target. Seeing it again, just like it had been before, frightened him. He could not, would not, hurt Naruku. But he couldn't let Nobu Sho hurt her either.
"What to do, what to do?" the beefy man taunted. Deliberately, his eyes locked on Kenshin's, he ran a hand crudely up Naruku's thigh, and then brought it up to stroke her cheek. Naruku's expression tightened and she tried futilely to jerk away from him. "Are you thinking about my offer now, Battousai?"
Kenshin didn't answer, his gaze locked anxiously on Naruku. He was waiting—waiting for a moment when it would be safe to strike Nobu Sho. Waiting for Naruku to find a way, to give him that opening. He trusted her, and knew she trusted him.
So, ignoring the hand that was slowly exploring her skin, Naruku stared right back at Kenshin, her expression steeled. He could count on her.
"So, while we're waiting for you to come up with a decision, Battousai, I have a question for you," Nobu Sho continued in the same leisurely tone. "Just how many times have you had this broad? She can't be nearly as scrawny as she looks."
Kenshin's eyes flashed in fury as Nobu Sho moved his hand to Naruku's breast. He was so intent on Kenshin's reaction and his own sick amusement that he didn't notice what Naruku was doing until it was too late.
She bit the hand on her mouth hard—perhaps hard enough to draw blood.
As Nobu Sho cried out and withdrew, she whirled around, attempting to make a break for it, but she hadn't anticipated Sho's arm to fly out and hook her back into him. Their faces only inches apart, Nobu Sho began to laugh again, this time at Naruku. "What should I do with you now, dear? Any ideas, Batto—"
In one hard jerk, Naruku did the one thing she knew would have any man down for the count—she kneed him in the groin, and hard. With a grunt, she drove her elbow down into Nobu Sho's already injured shoulder, and he plummeted to the ground.
As Nobu Sho's arms went slack from around her shoulders, Naruku pushed herself away from him, thrusting herself backwards and somehow stumbling into Kenshin.
His arms shot around her, bracing her fall and holding her tightly to him. Blearily, Naruku curled her arms around his shoulders and pressed her cheek against his collar, right where it met with his throat. She could feel each deep gulp of air he took, matching her own quick breaths, and each vibration as he spoke, telling her it was okay.
A high, sharp whistle interrupted Kenshin's stream of comforts—this was his signal to the police force that were posted down the road. As he waited for the sound of their tumultuous footsteps, he dipped his head down next to Naruku's ear.
"Were you scared?" he asked quietly.
"Yes," she answered, whispering the word into his skin and letting the confession sink in there and only there, letting it be Kenshin's alone.
Heart rate speeding again, Naruku flicked her eyes to meet Kenshin's, concerned and understanding above her.
"Were you?" she asked, the question quieter than her shameful answer had been.
Eyes diverted from her probing glance, Kenshin swallowed, and Naruku could feel it running down his throat.
"Of course," was his answer at last, and he turned his eyes back to meet hers.
His gaze was somber and unmoving; Naruku found it hard to look away. This was something Kenshin wanted her to know. That he was scared for her, for what could have happened and how he could have failed.
"I was so scared of seeing you get hurt again," Kenshin whispered, dipping his head lower so their noses brushed and pulling her against his chest even more closely.
Without even thinking about it, Naruku closed the distance between them and caught Kenshin's lips in a mind melding kiss, sending jolts that were both hot and cold down Kenshin's back.
She kissed him harder, not afraid to take control, not afraid to dominate him wholly and completely, as she'd done from the start. She'd taken his heart long ago, and now she took his mind, leaving him only with his body's impulses, uncharacteristic as they were. He crushed her to him, his hands splayed across her back, and groaned slightly as he felt her fingers run through his hair, her other hand spread out on the back of his neck.
Their kiss continued, fierce and unyielding, until a clanging crash was heard from the other end of the alleyway, effectively startling both Kenshin and Naruku apart.
"Himura-san!" called a voice from the other side of the alleyway.
Relinquishing Naruku from his grasp, Kenshin glanced up and saw the police chief Uramura scurrying toward them.
Embarrassed, Naruku took a step back, her eyes down and refusing to meet Kenshin's.
"Chief Uramura," Kenshin greeted.
The chief of police nodded at the greeting and sighed, "Once again, Mr. Himura, it seems you've done our job for us." But he was smiling.
Kenshin's answer was sincere. "It was not my intention to get involved, Chief Uramura," he bowed respectfully. "Unfortunately some things are a little out of my control."
"And Miss Katsura," Uramura turned to her. "You were once again able to assist in our capture of Nobu Sho. The police department of Tokyo owes you our thanks. We are indebted to you and Mr. Himura."
Naruku, who still hadn't recovered from her earlier embarrassment, blushed luminously and dipped her head, denying Uramura's praise.
"But where has Inspector Fujita gone? Wasn't he supposed to be in charge of the re-capture?" Uramura asked, looking behind Kenshin and Naruku as if Saitou was skulking somewhere in the alley, out of plain sight.
"Something very urgent came up and Mr. Fujita was called away," Kenshin answered carefully.
"How could it be more important than the arrest of one of the most feared criminals in Tokyo?" Uramura wanted to know. He shook his head, not asking for answer. "Still, this puts me in a difficult situation. There is no arresting officer present."
Kenshin and Naruku both looked somewhat surprised.
"What about you Mr. Uramura?" Naruku asked. "Surely you could handle Nobu Sho's re-arrest."
Uramura shook his head again, firmly this time. "I cannot take the credit for what you and Mr. Fujita have done. You were the ones who found Nobu Sho, and you were the ones who—"
Naruku was about to protest, but Kenshin spoke quicker. "I think, Mr. Uramura, that we're all just glad to have this taken care of. There should be no quibble over who the credit goes to."
Taking his lead, Naruku followed up, "That's right. As long as Nobu Sho goes back where he belongs, that's all any of us need."
It left little room for disagreement, so Uramura made the arrest. Nobu Sho's complete disorientation thanks to Kenshin and Naruku's combined attacks only made the job easier.
Kenshin and Naruku didn't wait around while Nobu Sho was carted back off to the police station.
Like a summer's wind they left the scene tracelessly and whisked back to the dojo, where five very frantic individuals awaited their arrival.
Sano and Hitomi were the first ones to greet them at the dojo gate. They didn't say a single word, nor did they take notice of Naruku and Kenshin's mussed appearances, but simply ushered them inside.
In the drill hall, Tokio was lying on her back across one of the spare futons and breathing quite hard. Megumi knelt, cool as ever, by her side while Saitou stood in the corner, looking distinctly ruffled.
"How is she?" Naruku asked, swooping to Megumi's side.
"In labor," was the wry response. "But she'll be fine. Contractions are hard."
Naruku nodded and gazed at Tokio who, even in the throes of childbirth, looked beautiful. Her hair was damp with sweat and her mouth was open, taking huge, wheezing gasps of air. Her eyes turned to Naruku's and she attempted a smile.
"Thank you…" she said arduously, between breaths. "For…getting Hajime."
Naruku pushed a lock of Tokio's sweaty hair back from her face. "Shh…" she said quietly.
Tokio closed her eyes at feeling Naruku's cool fingers on her face. When she opened them, they were set with determination.
Satisfied, Naruku stood up and came back to Kenshin's side. She did not miss the glance that Hitomi threw them, nor did she ignore the anger that flashed across the older woman's face. But, as Naruku stared ahead of her steadily, she knew there were more pressing matters at hand, and everything else would just have to wait.
A/n: I'm happy to finally get this chapter out, and I hope there are a couple people left after my huge hiatus that will read it! I am currently trying to write a 50,000 word novel before the end of the month, and December is going to be a pretty wacky month for me, so most likely no fanfics will get updated until after the new year. Hopefully I manage to get something out before then, but for now I'm going to be safe and say 2007 is the year.
Hope everyone is enjoying the holidays!
