I do not own Rurouni Kenshin. Rated T for violence and blood.
Enjoy Chapter 8!
Chapter 8
Aoshi scornfully kicked Yamaguichi's body to a side before he approached Misao again. He was a little wary of her, for she had never seen him so bloodthirsty before. Her wide black eyes stared at him in awe.
"Misao, it's over. Let's go find the Battousai," he said, offering a hand to help her up.
She recovered quickly from her shock, "Mou…you didn't even leave anyone for me, Aoshi-sama!"
"You were too slow," he responded. The corners of his mouth twitched, but he did not smile. He seemed incapable of this feat.
Then he heard a small weak chuckle from someone on the ground and he swung around. One man had his hand on a rope that came out of the wall.
A small rumbling erupted from the ground.
"What did you do?" gasped Aoshi in horror.
"I'm taking you all down with Yamaguichi-sama!" he cackled as he fell down dead.
Without another word, he picked up Misao roughly around her waist and jumped out the nearest window. Using his ninja skills, he landed lightly on the ground with no injuries with the help of nearby trees.
An explosion burst out in the castle and the whole place slowly started filling with fire.
"Aoshi-sama, Himura is still in there!" cried Misao, suddenly understanding why her leader had acted so rashly, but her worry for her friends was overwhelming her.
"He will be fine," Aoshi responded. He could sense that they were coming out very soon, but something was very wrong about one of their ki's. One of them was fading away fast.
"Jou-chan, we need to get going. I'm afraid that the yakuza might do something stupid. Megumi, pack up your things," said Sanosuke, the relief he felt a minute earlier when Kenshin woke up disappearing.
She nodded and quickly shoved her supplies into her box again.
"Kenshin, can you walk?" he asked, bending down to eye level with the redhead.
Kenshin slowly shook his head a little, his eyelids threatening to close again. He had no strength to stay awake anymore.
Sanosuke sighed, but reached over to slide his left arm underneath Kenshin's knees and his right arm under the swordsman's shoulders. Then, effortlessly, he lifted his friend up from Kaoru's arms, making Kenshin's head loll to the side to lean against Sanosuke's strong chest.
His eyes widened slightly as he felt the lightness and heat of Kenshin's body. He was in very bad condition. He didn't need to be a doctor to know that.
"Come on, let's go," he urged.
Then he heard the rumblings. He figured something like this was going to happen. Just like that time when Kenshin fought Shishio.
"Jou-chan, Megumi, Yahiko, this place is going to blow up. You guys need to run out of here as fast as you can. Go now!" he yelled.
Without another word, all four ran quickly back up the stairs. Kaoru, Megumi, Yahiko all quickly took the lead. Sanosuke ran much slower than normal, fearing that any jostling would cause pain to Kenshin in his arms, but they all made out in time, right when the castle exploded with fire.
By then, Aoshi had managed to return with a carriage, figuring that Kenshin was in no condition to walk the fifteen miles back home. Everyone filed in, not wanting to stay there any longer, lest policemen are attracted to the smoke and fire.
Kenshin was placed onto one side of the bench while Kaoru, Megumi, and Misao sat across from him. Yahiko sat with Aoshi in front of the carriage and Sanosuke sat on top of the carriage. Aoshi flicked at the reins and the horses galloped back into town so that Kenshin could finally get the treatment he needed.
But that was if he survived until then…
As soon as Megumi pulled away Kenshin's clothes, she could tell that his condition was even worse than she actually imagined. Along with the numerous cuts and burn wounds, his two arms were dislocated, several of his ribs were broken or fractured, his left arm was broken, several of his fingers were smashed, and his right leg was broken as well. Luckily, there were no internal injuries, but just these physical wounds were enough to worry if he would survive the night.
"Sanosuke, come here for a second," she called out from Kenshin's room. Everyone had been forced to stay outside while she worked. She didn't want anyone distracting her. Sanosuke entered and saw Kenshin lying on his futon with Megumi hovering over him. It pained him to see his friend so helpless and in agony.
"What do you need?" he asked Megumi, forcing his eyes onto her.
"Ken-san's arms are dislocated. I need to put them back into their sockets."
Sanosuke winced, "You need me to hold him down so he doesn't struggle…"
"Yes. I don't think anyone else has the strength to do it, and I don't trust Shinamori."
"Alright."
Sanosuke kneeled next to Kenshin and forced him to sit up. He held onto him tightly, preventing him to move anywhere, even if Kenshin had the strength to do so.
Megumi gritted her teeth as she held onto Kenshin's right arm, "Here we go. This is going to hurt, Ken-san…"
With a quick movement, she popped the arm back into its socket with a funny noise.
Kenshin's eyes snapped open as he cried out in pain. He squirmed under Sanosuke's grasp, but he could not move. He panted heavily, his breathing shallow.
"I'm sorry, Ken-san, that must've really hurt," apologized Megumi, "But I need to do it to your left arm too."
His glazed purple eyes widened in fear, "No…"
"Sanosuke," she said sharply.
Sanosuke shifted so that he and Megumi had switched sides. Megumi took Kenshin's left arm into her hands.
Sanosuke could feel Kenshin cringe towards him, "It'll be over soon, Kenshin," he assured, pain filling his own eyes.
"Sano…let me…go…please…" gasped Kenshin, begging with his friend.
"I'm sorry," he murmured, hating himself so much for not obliging the swordsman.
Another cry erupted into the air as Megumi snapped his other arm back into its rightful position. Kenshin fell limply against Sanosuke, the pain knocking him out.
"Oi, Kenshin…Kenshin!"
He looked up at Megumi who actually looked scared. She had checked Kenshin's pulse and breathing rate and she did not look happy at all.
"Vixen, why do you look like that?" he asked softly.
She hesitated. Then she spoke with tears in her eyes, "I don't think Ken-san will make it this time, Sanosuke…"
Cliff-hanger! I absolutely hate cliff-hangers, but if I write a story and leave myself at a cliff hanger, I find that I have more of a motivation to finish the story. Fun, isn't it? So, Kenshin got rescued, but he's going to need to fight even harder if he wants to survive with so many wounds on his body. Can he do it? Find out in the next chapters coming up soon!
chibichan38
