Chapter 10
Sano tried not to explode. The thought of Megumi being in danger once again had him clenching his teeth the entire way back. Her recklessness was going to give him a heart attack. She had already attacked his heart in one way. Now that he'd held her, been inside of her, his blood flowed with a primal need to protect her. Beyond his pride. Beyond his life. Their connection had fused, like a trick knot. The more one tried to pull it free, the more it tightened. The way her breath caught with pleasure at his ear...The memory sent a fresh shiver of lust through his body.
And yet, he couldn't completely fault Megumi for staying behind with them to see this through. She told him how useless she felt while others saved the day. He knew about feeling useless, and helpless. And he didn't want to admit that Katsu was right. They did need Megumi to navigate. Even Sano had gotten lost in Koton's compound, which had landed him in trouble, not for the first time.
He tried to focus, knowing he would need to be ready and alert more than ever. They cleared several rushing guards from the main tunnel, which felt great because Sano felt like punching things.
They found the broken door separating the tunnel from the building. Sano exchanged a glance with Kenshin. They would go first and clear the way to protect Katsu and Megumi.
There were twenty henchmen rallying in their direction, more than Sano expected.
With their combined efforts, swift attacks had them all unconscious in seconds, their heavy bodies crumpling to the ground. As Kenshin sheathed his blade, that familiar feeling of fighting together held a rush for Sano.
"This way," said Megumi, leading them down a side hallway.
They hurried alongside her, shifting forward to knock out any guards that appeared. The winding hallways felt like a labyrinth. Beyond, Sano sensed the destruction from the earlier explosion and the disjointed movement of what sounded like attempts at damage control.
"Where is their leader?" said Kenshin.
"Koton likes to rule from the great room," said Megumi.
"How kingly of him," Katsu said with distaste.
"Even though part of it was destroyed earlier, he still might be there."
And hopefully, distracted by the chaos.
As they got closer, more and more fighters appeared. And the more he and Kenshin fought, the more attention they drew to themselves. Katsu brought up the rear with his own defensive strikes. His small bombs flabbergasted those who anticipated hand-to-hand combat.
All they had left to their advantage was speed. Kenshin slashed a path down to the great room as they rushed in. Sano's blood was pumping. His wrappings were almost in tatters, but that didn't stop him from cracking facial bones and throwing bodies across the room.
A glimpse of Koton sitting at the front made his rage boil anew. The pig-nosed leader was red-faced and shouting commands like a child in the middle of a hysterical tantrum.
"This is the guy?" said Katsu. He didn't sound impressed.
Perhaps Koton didn't look like much, but this was the monster who had kidnapped Megumi, tortured her brother, made Sano sweat and bleed, and he plagued Tokyo with drugs and crime. Maybe he once knew Koton, or he never knew him at all. It didn't matter anymore.
Feeling Sano's anger from across the room, Koton's yellow eyes swiveled in his direction.
"There he is," he said to his men, his large teeth snapping. "And you've brought Megumi back. You're dumber than I thought, Zanza."
"Maybe. But I'm gonna put an end to you nice and slowly," said Sano. "What I should've done the moment I first saw you." He knocked his fists together, priming for the fight.
"So you are the leader of this group," said Kenshin, stepping forward with a knight's gallantry. "I won't let you hurt anyone else."
Koton glanced at his men. "Who the hell is this shrimp?" Laughter chorused around the large room. His followers were smudged with dirt, and stopped their various tasks of clean-up, fighting, and rushing around. They were closing in eagerly.
"He's a legendary manslayer," said Sano, giving Kenshin a grin. "And you don't want to mess with either of us."
"Legendary? I'm the only one here who's legendary!" Koton knocked back his chair and shouted in a rage. "No one is going to keep me down. Whoever kills them gets the highest yen. And bring me the bitch doctor!"
The blood drained from Megumi's face, but her eyes were hard.
"Katsu," Sano began.
Katsu threw a bomb for distraction and dragged Megumi behind a pile of crates. Sano stayed close and fought anyone that came running in their direction. His fists churned against flesh, his kicks tossed bodies away. He flowed between their swords and daggers, hearing the whizz of their blades slice through the air. But they were too slow for him.
It wasn't the fighting skill but the sheer numbers that were the challenge. Every time Sano knocked three men down, another came at him from the side.
Then a familiar fighter appeared from the pit. Kodo. He had aided Sano's escape before.
"I'm awfully disappointed to see you here," said Kodo, cracking his knuckles.
"I don't want to fight you."
"I know, but I gotta."
Sano steeled himself, remembering Kodo's special uppercut move.
They tensed with readiness, and stared at each other, waiting for the other to make the first move. Kodo's expression was unreadable. Sano hoped he could end it quickly.
Then a body went flying between them and hit the wall. They looked over.
Kenshin was a blur, his reverse blade glinting and flashing around fallen henchmen. Jin was down, his eyes rolled back into his head.
"Well crap," said Kodo, lowering his fists.
"Does this mean you aren't fighting?" said Sano, raising an eyebrow.
"Oh, I'm fighting. But I always fight on the winning side. Hello, partner." He turned and grabbed the heads of two fighters, their legs swinging frantically in the air, and knocked them together. Kodo gave him a thumbs up over his shoulder.
The numbers started to thin, unconscious bodies littering the ground. Sano made his way to Koton, who was ready for him.
"Look what you've done, you bastard." Koton spat on the ground at Sano's feet. "You'll wish you perished with the Sekiho army." Then he turned. "RUKI!."
Sano's eyes narrowed. What other tricks did Koton have up his sleeve?
A heavy gate opened from one side of the room. Everyone seemed to hold their breath.
A hulking man came out from the gated alcove, fresh light revealing his gargantuan form. Black slanted eyes and silver hair. Upon seeing Sano, the thing roared, creating a gust of wind across the room. The giant's muscles grew bigger and expanded, his veins bulging along the ridges of his arms. His black eyes glowed red. And his teeth seemed to sharpen. It was like a nightmare come to life.
His fist, the size of a house, slammed on the ground, making a deep hole in the earth. The tremors almost knocked Sano off balance.
"Sano," said Kenshin, a warning in his voice.
"I can handle him."
Fresh adrenaline flooded Sano's body. His senses sharpened, taking in more information. The murmuring of fighters. Koton's rage edged in worry. The rubble of rocks and fallen walls. Particles of dust in the air. And Megumi...watching him like her life depended on it.
If this was the last weapon between him and Koton, then no one was going to take this fight away from him.
#
Megumi had heard about these giants from Yahiko. After fighting the Juppongatana at the Aoiya, a giant man had fought Hiko Seijūrō. Part of her thought Yahiko had embellished the excitement of the fight. But seeing one before her now, she couldn't deny the existence of such a being. And she was terrified for Sanosuke.
He'd faced large fighters like Hyottoko from the Onibawan group, but she still worried. He had been fighting for days, with little respite. The human body could only endure so much. She knew better than anyone that people weren't ever superhuman. They were only extremely athletic in their strength and skill. And eventually that strength gave out.
"My most prized weapon," Koton announced, settling further into his chair with fresh glee.
The giant's steps dented the ground as he and Sanosuke started to move.
Megumi's stomach churned. She didn't know if she could watch. Yet she couldn't look away, frozen in her spot.
The thing swung its heavy fists. Sanosuke's muscular, lithe form weaved through the attacks with controlled grace, the tails of his red headband flowing with the movement. It was David facing Goliath. At times she lost track of where he was, the giant whirling a path of destruction around them. But he was too slow, and let out a frustrated roar, so deafening and filled with rage, it curdled her insides and stripped her nerves bare.
Her eyes looked around wildly for Sanosuke. He was behind the giant. And it sensed him the same time she did. His hulking form twisted to face his tiny opponent.
In that moment of delayed reaction, Sanosuke had an opening, and the brute force of his power seemed to roll up through his body and concentrate into his right fist. Futae no Kiwami. Sanosuke released it.
The giant's skin rippled as he was struck in the chest, the force of the punch creating a burst of pressure that went through to his back. Likely shattering his ribs on the way out. His body went down with a deafening crash, bringing down part of the wall.
Silence descended around the room, tighter than a drum. Megumi felt stunned relief. Sanosuke was powerful, his strength making something hot and tight curl inside of her belly. And her heart opened, tenderness overwhelming her.
Sanosuke's eyes glimmered with resolve. A thrill of delicious danger hit the air. This was his chance to stop Koton. There was no one else left. They all knew it.
Then a gunshot rang out, splitting the silence.
Everyone startled like a hive of bees. Megumi looked around to see where the sound had come from. She heard Katsu gasp beside her, and followed his gaze.
In the middle of the room, Sanosuke looked like a ghost of himself, his eyes wide and shocked. Then he fell back. Moments seemed to stretch into an eternity—long and horrible—as his body hit the ground.
Time stopped. Megumi's body went numb, her lungs clamped down, and the sounds around her faded. Instead, a rush filled her ears. This couldn't happen. She barely registered the man holding the smoking gun, a politician in a green suit.
"He was mine," said the man. "I paid for him–"
Of all the ways this could play out, she refused to believe this was how it would end. That a dirty politician would cut the life of a rebel who'd spent his entire adult life fighting the government's corruption—and yet, for the utmost frivolous reason. That he'd paid for Sanosuke, like he was nothing more than a commodity, and didn't acquire what was promised to him. A failed transaction.
Kenshin flew into the air, his sword raised, revealing the intensity of the manslayer inside him. His eyes glowed, nearly possessed. His cry was enough to startle Megumi back to the present, the howl of his fighter's soul blasting through her paralysis.
The gun now aimed at Kenshin.
She wrenched a bomb from Katsu's pouch, igniting it, and threw it at the politician. This was for her friends. For her world. And for Sanosuke. The small blast knocked him back like a rag doll, and the blunt side of Kenshin's blade made sure he stayed down.
Koton started to escape, but Kenshin reacted faster, swinging his sword in a full arc. His reverse-blade pressed mercilessly against Koton's spine, stretching it horribly in the process of flinging his body across the room. He was knocked out, the vacant whites of his eyes rolled back and his mouth ajar with spittal residue. A long, bruising slash dented his mangled form.
Megumi could hardly rejoice at Koton's defeat. She rushed to Sanosuke's body, her fingers frantically moving over him, searching for how to undo his wounds, how to bring him back. Her vision blurred with tears.
"Sanosuke…" Her chest ached.
"If you would stop tickling me…" Sanosuke rasped.
His eyes were half open and he began to sit up. The bullet had gone through his shoulder and blood pooled from the wound.
"Are those tears for me, Megumi?" He had the nerve to give her a small grin as she was fighting emotional life and death.
She grabbed his headband and ripped it off of him.
"What's that for?"
She unfolded the cloth and wrapped it around his shoulder. Not being gentle in the least.
"Ow!"
"Serves you right for scaring me." She vowed to murder him as soon as he recovered.
He reached out and cupped her cheek, slowly brushing the pad of his thumb along her skin. She stilled as he wiped her tears away. Their gazes held.
Katsu and Kenshin approached. He dropped his hand.
"That wound doesn't look good, indeed it doesn't," said Kenshin. He was back to his tranquil self.
Sanosuke gave them a thumbs up. "I've never felt better."
In the timeline, Kenshin isn't supposed to succumb to his manslayer "thirst" anymore, but I've always liked that side of him.