Part VIII: Bloody Hell

Kaoru's entire body felt numb. Her head was empty of everything but the sight of Kenshin vanishing between the gaping jaws. His face burned itself into her vision, a cross between fearful realization and a grim focus so intense that I burned.

His eyes had looked black. Not violet, not the amber of Chiryuu's influence, but the pure dark emptiness of the void.

Her left hand rested on a skull, two fingers sticking into its eye socket, but she did not notice. A rib shifted under her knee as she tried to comprehend what she had just seen.

An insane scream burst from someone's throat, a high keening wail of anguish, but it barely entered her awareness. She did not even register that it was her own voice. She did not see the way Megumi clung to Kurama, who had put a protective arm around her as he stared calculatingly at the smug dragon. She did not see the way Yahiko started to run towards the towering beast, or the way Sanosuke laid into it with every ounce of his not insignificant being. She did not see Shishio staring down at them with utter disdain in those cold eyes. Nor did she see the way it took both Touya and Aoshi to hold back her student.

"Will someone shut her up?" Houji griped.

Chiryuu alone seemed completely frozen. His blazing eyes bore sightlessly into space, not seeing the spirit-form before him.

But Aoshi did. He stared intently at the Shishio-dragon. Suddenly he sighed. "Koenmasama. Do you see it?"

The prince of the spirit realm stared. Slow realization dawned on his face.

"The—"

Just as Koenma started to speak, Shishio tired of Sanosuke's attacks, seized the tall youth by one arm and flung him away. He bounced twice and skidded farther yet, bones rattling ominously beneath his limp body; nor did he rise.

Megumi started towards him; the arm of the demon around her shoulders did not let go. "Don't."

"But I have to –"

"Don't." The word ground out harshly between his teeth.

"If he's alive, I have to tend his wounds!" With a twist of her shoulders, she should have been able to free herself from his grasp, but it was as though his arm were turned to iron.

"Or die trying?" It was clearly Aoshi who spoke. "No. I know of the promise you made. Your death does not enter into it."

"And Kensan's does?" There was something in Megumi's eyes tha transcended simple desperation. The human in Aoshi wondered about her sanity. "Even Sanosuke deserves better!"

Yahiko tore himself free during Aoshi's distraction – but it was to his teacher's side he went. She had stopped keening and was staring blindly at the bones on which she knelt, her hands barely holding her up. "Megumisan," he said frantically, looking to the doctor. Kaoru was white, and her breath was coming in short little gasps.

"She's going into shock." Aoshi released the doctor, nudging her slightly in Kaoru's direction. "She can be helped without putting yourself on the line."

Touya was accepting something from Kurama. He caught Aoshi's nod, and the two shinobi moved as though they had planned it from the beginning. The Ice Master disappeared.

Aoshi remained in plain sight, stepping up as though to take his turn against Shishio. He had left his trenchcoat with Megumi, who was using it to bundle Kaoru up in an attempt to keep her warm.

"Nito Kodachi, Kaiten Kenbu Rokuren," Kurama noted. "Nice." Only Koenma paid attention, although Yahiko glanced up as he recognized the name of one of Aoshi's principle attacks.

"That won't work on me, foolish little human," Shishio said dismissively. Aoshi did not respond, his image flickering weirdly as he circled, his two short blades at the ready.

"I'm no more human than you are," Chihyou said through Aoshi's mouth. "And you know it fully well… Chizasori. The human is dead. His spirit should have been released from your bond."

"Do you think I would have let such power go willingly?" the creature who was not wholly Shishio hissed.

Koenma sighed. "You did it again, didn't you, 'Sasori. You chose a human too strong for you, and have gotten sucked into his machinations. You're too weak."

As though it were a cue, Aoshi's attack unleashed as the last word passed Koenma's lips. Despite the intensity of the power behind it, the crossed lines of blood spurted only briefly.

"Was that supposed to faze me?" Shishio asked. He threw back his head and laughed.

"It's done," Touya said, reappearing on Chiryuu's still-unmoving coils.

"No," Kurama replied, his grin positively vulpine. ~Damn. That much power… This had better work.~ "It was to distract you."

"Distract me?"

"Yes."

"From what?"

"From this."

Kurama knew it was far too soon for the deadly vetch he'd had Touya plant in the wound site to have any effect. He hoped that it would; in the meantime, he needed something else. A frontal attack would get him tossed aside, as Shishio had done to Aoshi. The human host of Chihyou was badly hurt but not unconscious; he staggered back to the dwindling company. Sanosuke still had not moved; Megumi desperately kept her focus on Kaoru.

He held up a small, rather wimpy looking bit of plant and began walking forward.

"Are you trying to make me die laughing?" If Shishio had been contemptuous before, the ridicule in his tone could hardly be misinterpreted.

Seeing the plant, Chiryuu shifted rapidly back to his humanoid form, backing away from the Fox Demon with clear trepidation. He still seemed to be in shock and stumbled, nearly falling to his knees. As soon as those perched on his body realized what was happening, they jumped away.

"This is dragonsbane," Kurama said simply, and continued walking forward.

Shishio shook his massive head. "What an obvious ploy." He snaked the plant away from the apparently startled fox demon with his forked tongue and swallowed it whole.

Kurama blinked, cocked his head, sighed, and said, "Well, that's that I guess." Turning around as though unconcerned, he made his way back towards Megumi and Kaoru, where Yahiko hovered anxiously.

"Sword," Kaoru was whispering. Megumi could only hear a few of her words. "Kenshin… Need sword…"

"Kensan has his sword," she said softly, trying to keep her tone level. Doctors did not fall apart in front of their patients.

"No," Kaoru said, her eyes fixed on the dragon that was Shishio.

"Kaoru, you can't wield a real sword," Yahiko said, trying for his natural flippancy. His tone fell short.

"For Kenshin," she said, slightly more clearly.

"The only one of us who has a real sword is Aoshi," Yahiko said.

"Chihyou, give her one," Koenma said, nodding. He seemed to understand what Kaoru wanted. "It's the only way."

"No," Aoshi replied. "There is another."

All eyes but Kaoru's turned to the slight figure that seemed to be still in shock.

The demon's wings were folded tightly around himself. The flames of his eyes seemed faint, and the Blood Dragon-Demon Chiryuu appeared to be trying to shrink in on himself.

"Enough of this," Houji said snappishly. "Shishiosama, it's better to keep moving. If we can take them unaware –"

"You idiot," Yumi said. "Who do you think that little boy is?"

Houji shrugged. "Maybe that youko's kid. Who cares?"

Yumi glared at him, showing every bit as much disdain as Shishio had for his old enemy. "You idiot," she repeated. "Didn't you hear what they called him? Koenma. He must be Enma's son… Heir to the Spirit Realm."

"No, I hadn't." The man looked at the woman thoughtfully as he processed the information. "He's the key," Houji said, a new plan occurring to him in that moment. "He's clearly not a fighter. If we could take him…" He sank back into thought.

Yumi nodded thoughtfully. "Shishiosama, I think that – Shishiosama?" Her thoughtful pose turned to concern, then alarm as she turned to face the spirit of the man she loved.

He was clutching at the site of his injury. A look of irritated confusion sat oddly on his draconic features as the pain spread. From the open wound, Yumi could see the tendrils of a young plant growing far too rapidly for nature.

"The distraction… So you think a plant can best me?" Shishio sneered and began clawing at his own scales, opening the wound and beginning to pull out the developing branches.

What happened next made very little sense to Yumi. Megumi, too, was unable to understand exactly what happened next.

"Chizasori…?" Chiryuu said at last, still staring uncomprehendingly at Shishio.

~It's working,~ Kurama noticed with relief. ~The plant is spreading faster than he can remove it… Now Koenma can cast his spell and I can go home.~

Kaoru pushed past him, the shock having given way to a cold determination that was as unlike her previous state as Chiryuu's current state was foreign to him. She had thrown off the coat and Megumi's ministrations and took the gleaming katana from the unresisting demon's scabbard.

"What are you doing?" Yahiko demanded, watching his sensei hefting the heavy blade. Indeed, she wielded it awkwardly, though her step was surprisingly sure as she raced toward the looming figure across the bones.

The only thing that saved her was Shishio's distraction with his growing inability to move, and the need to remove the branches before he locked up completely. As it stood, the deadly vetch was still spreading throughout the massive body, only slowed slightly by the effort to remove it. It was beginning to spread into his upper limbs as he tore. Yumi and Houji were attempting to help, but their strength was inadequate to the task.

Kaoru aimed lower than Kenshin had, aiming for the underbelly of the great beast.

"Jouchan, don't!" Sanosuke had at last regained consciousness; he raised his head just in time to see her raise the sharp blade and drag it along Shishio's stomach. Her hit connected and left a long scoremark in the softer scales but did not pierce them completely. "Jouchan!"

"Is she trying to help him or hurt him?" Yumi wondered as she watched Kaoru's effort before returning to assist her lord.

But Koenma knew. "Hyou! Give Kurama one of your kodachi. Both of you help her!" The pacifier seemed to be glowing and the little prince, who had resumed his younger form, looked rather tired; he tugged on Megumi's sleeve and held up his arms, silently imploring her to hold him. She complied without thinking about it, and he cuddled up close to her, planting his head firmly on her breast. Although she echoed the sentiment, the beginnings of shocked outrage colored her expression at the way he cuddled up close.

He was saved from her incipient wrath, however, by Aoshi's compliance with his instructions. He had tossed one of the short-bladed swords to the silver Fox Demon, and the two were running forward to assist Kaoru's blind assault on the now-thrashing Shishio.

"What are they – they'll all be killed!" Megumi blurted, coming close to panic. Unconsciously, she clutched the little prince closer. Had she seen his expression, she would not have been amused; his eyes reflected equal parts of pleasure and panic. The latter was both for the heavy battle going on and for his burgeoning inability to breathe.

"No – they're going to cut him out!" Yahiko's eyes lit with a fierce expression between determination and joy. His hands tightened on his bokken as he began to look around for another blade.

Touya had made his way to Sanosuke's side and was helping the tall youth to rise, bringing him back to the doctor's side for the medical attention he desperately needed.

Kurama and Aoshi reached Kaoru at nearly the same moment, standing on either side of her and hacking away at the heaving scales of Shishio's exposed side. The beast was wider than they were tall; finding the target was easy. Finding the same target repeatedly was harder, especially considering the way Shishio thrashed in pain. Additionally, it seemed that the section they attacked seemed to be trying to attack back, heaving outwards in a grotesque response to their attentions.

Perhaps by chance, Kaoru had chosen a position that kept them from being noticed by Shishio's still-human companions. Yumi and Houji were both screaming, mostly yelling frantic directions at one another as they tried valiantly to pull the spreading demon weed from their beloved leader. They were drowned out completely by the thrashing, roaring dragon, whose anger was becoming more apparent with every futile tug. His upper limbs were still responding to his will but slowly; it was becoming more and more difficult for him to remove the plant, although had Kurama been paying strict attention, he might have noticed that even the vicious vetch was slowing down, unable to cope with the sheer immensity of the Spirit Plane body the former human had created for himself.

Shishio kept tearing at it, his roars of rage and pain incoherent.

When Touya appeared, balancing precariously on top of his heaving bulk and materializing an ice blade in order to assist in the assault on the belly of the beast, Yumi noticed. Already feeling the futility of her attack on the weed spreading itself throughout Shishio's body, she screamed anew, a twisting cry of incomprehensible emotion. If despair had an angry, vicious twin, it possessed the former courtesan in that moment. She grabbed Houji's arm and directed his attention to the scene they'd missed.

"Shishiosama!" His hoarse cry carried only marginally better than had her own. Thoughtlessly, they rushed headlong towards the armed trio. Kurama whirled to face them.

His silver hair flowed around his face, whipped by the winds created by the fire dragon thrashing behind him. Raising his bloodied sword, he stared at them.

"You shall not pass."

They did not heed his warning, instead running straight at him.

A great tear sounded as three blades – no, four – tore through the tough hide at last and an ichor-coated figure collapsed through the hole.

"I tried to warn you," Kurama said with a heavy sigh that conveyed no regret whatsoever. With a smile he raised the blade.

"No! No killing!" Kenshin gasped out, falling to his knees.

"KENSHIN!" Heedless of his condition, Kaoru tossed aside the blade she had appropriated from the still-catatonic Chiryuu and moved to him.

Only two paces stood between them. Two little paces. She took one step, another, moving as quickly as she could.

It was not quick enough. Shishio, feeling the way the spreading lethargy had slowed, had mustered enough strength (if not control) to flail at his assailants. His blow caught her in the back. She went flying.

~I can't move. I can't -~ Kenshin's thoughts failed him as the world threatened to go dark. Something moved, flickering at the edge of his narrowing vision.

Two voices cried out as one. One was the hoarse croak of a man at the end of his strength; the other, the sibilant scream of a demonic dragon given something not unlike human flesh.

"KAORU!"

[AN] No, I am not systematically trying to kill everyone off. Stop arguing and go read the next chapter. [/AN]