1Chapter 10 - The Knife's Edge

"How are we going to find them?" Kaoru asked, digging through the supplies that still lay, untouched, in her room to find her gi and hakama. Kenshin leaned against the wall near the door, one hand resting on his sakabatou as he stood watch.

"They're not far ahead," Kenshin answered. "I will be able to track them."

"Okay," Kaoru said, finding the items she'd been looking for. She quickly bound her breasts, pulled on her gi and tied her hakama. When she reached to grab her bokken, her hand brushed against Kenji's shinai.

Turning her face, she tried to hide the silent tears that came, unbidden, to her eyes. Her precious baby boy… a flood of memories overwhelmed her. She felt the strong arm of her husband pull her against his chest and she clung to him desperately as his lips pressed against her forehead "Kenji-chan," she whispered, brokenly.

Kenshin shifted back to sit on the floor and pulled his wife forward, so she was cradled against him. Kaoru shuddered as she choked back a sob, and fisted her hands in his gi. "Cry, love."

As soon as the words came out of his mouth, Kaoru's eyes widened and she fought free of his arms. Dashing her hands against the tears, Kaoru shook her head and climbed to her feet before offering her hand to Kenshin. He regarded it with puzzlement, and Kaoru reached down, grabbed his hand, and tugged. "We don't have time. Soujiro – and Sanosuke too – said a few things while we were looking for you. And ... they're right."

Kenshin raised a scarlet eyebrow as he stood. With his thumb, he smoothed away some of the tears and kissed both of her cheeks. Kaoru threaded her fingers in his hair and returned his caress with a warm kiss that ended as swiftly as it had begun. Her hands slid down his neck, and over his shoulders, and she hugged him fiercely before breaking away.

Kaoru took a deep, steadying breath, and leaned back down for Kenji's shinai, hiding the smile at Kenshin's muttered "oro". She felt raw, but the fragility was melting away, giving way to the part of her that was smoldering, feeding on her pain and helpless anger, demanding to be released on the monsters that had caused this.

Kenshin half turned back to where she stood, the play of moonlight through the open door throwing his scarred face into sharp relief and glinting off the hilts and laquer of two swords, sakabatou and katana, that rested in the ties of his hakama. One of Kenshin's hands lay out of her sight, but the one she could see clutched the hilt of his sakabatou, white with the force of his grip. She wondered if that was to keep it away from the hilt of Hiko's katana and the deadly promise inherent in it.

Kaoru felt the edges of the bamboo she held cut into her palm, paired with the smoother lines of her own bokken curving against her back, and realized in that moment that she had to be calm. They both had to be calm. It was obvious that they were both walking the edge of a knife. She took a step towards her husband, and covered the hand that was clasping the sakabatou with her own.

Kenshin nodded, but couldn't quite bring himself to smile. "I am very glad to have you with me again, that I am."

Kaoru felt tears rising again, but pushed them aside. "So am I. Let's go kick some slaver-trader ass, shall we?"

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Drip. Kenji scrunched his nose and staggered towards consciousness. Drip. Another followed a few seconds behind the first, hauling him further away from the comforting blackness that was keeping things like crazy ladies spewing death threats and boy-eating dogs away.

A splash of wetness landed on his eye, following the trail of the first two down his nose and across his cheek. Or maybe not the first two, judging from the damp way his fringe was clinging to his face and the sodden feeling in his yukata collar. Kenji batted the annoyance away, and felt his hand smack into something that felt like wet silk.

Kenji blinked and brought the face into focus. He was greeted by the sight of a small girl with her hair carefully arranged in a ponytail, her clothes worn and dirty. She smelled kind of funny, too. Kenji wrinkled his nose in distaste. "I'm awake, that I am," he muttered, imitating his father for the sake of comfort.

"That's a silly way of talking," the girl informed him and shook her head. "At least you're awake."

Kenji looked around at their bare surroundings and wondered if being awake was an improvement. Rough stone surrounded them, with a narrow opening covered by a folding screen carved in cranes. It looked odd against the natural stone surrounding it, and the flat top of the screen left a slim gap above it where the cave opening curved. The floor was level, but gritty with powdered stone. Two other small forms were huddled in what could, loosely, be termed a corner on the far side of the cave where a few tattered tatami mats had been scooted together to form a platform away from the stone and grit.

"What is this place?" Kenji asked, confused and cold.

"The cave she keeps any kids she gets," the girl answered. "We're pretty deep in the other caves here. At least, we think so. They don't let us explore, so I don't know for sure."

"What's your name? Mine's Himura Kenji."

"Raikouji Chizuru," she sketched a polite bow then pointed at the other occupants of the room. "Those two over there are Emi and Neko."

"Neko?" Kenji echoed, confused.

"That's what we call her," Chizuru nodded. "She's ... well, you'll see. Are you a foreigner?"

"Oro?" Kenji opened his eyes wide. "Of course I'm not!"

Chizuru narrowed her whiskey-colored eyes at him. "You've got that funny hair and you talk weird."

"My father has hair like mine and I don't talk funny!" Kenji said, pushing himself up on his feet.

"Well, I think you do!" Chizuru said, also standing up and putting her hands on her hips. "So ... is your father a foreigner?"

"No! He's Japanese!" Kenji told her, exasperated. "Just like the rest of my family! Why do you care, anyway?"

Chizuru made an annoyed huff and looked away without answering. "Because her father's one." Another voice answered. The argument had woken one of the girls in the corner. She blinked at them with ink-dark eyes as she shifted carefully away from the other girl, who still slept.

"What's the big deal?" Kenji asked.

Chizuru's mouth dropped open. "I… Some people don't like me because I'm not Japanese."

Kenji shrugged. "That's a stupid reason not to like someone. At least you don't pretend to be nice and then drug other people's family in an inn."

"Is that how she got you?"

Kenji nodded and dropped his eyes to the ground. "Do you think they're okay?"

Chizuru shrugged and tilted her head to one side in curiosity, her eyes betraying subdued sympathy. "Did she get your parents?"

Kenji shook his head. "Don't think so ... Kaasan had a sword and Tousan's ... Tousan. But they got Yahiko – he's my big brother – and Sanosuke. Soujiro too, and Shishou."

Chizuru snorted and earned an affronted glare from Kenji. "It's what he told me to call him!" he defended. "Everyone else calls him Hiko-san. I think he's my grandfather. Shishou trained Tousan. Tousan's first family he lost," Kenji said, a frown on his face. "I don't know if I'm supposed to talk about this. Tousan never does."

Chizuru drew Kenji with her towards the wall and sat down. "Tell it like a bedtime story."

The little girl called Neko opened her eyes and smiled… although the smile was a bit off and the eyes a bit bleary. "I like bedtime stories."

"I don't know much about it," Kenji told them. "But I ..." Commotion from the direction of the door screen cut him off, and Chizuru's eyes widened in fear. She grabbed his wrist and dragged him, stumbling, to where Neko and Emi knelt on the tatami.

Neko turned her sightless eyes toward them as they crowded closer together, but her attention remained focused on the scraping sounds of the screen being pushed aside.

Kenji too turned his attention to the sounds, but he couldn't get a grasp on who was coming or how dangerous they were. For the first time since arrival in the chamber, he began to feel a sick fear twisting itself in his stomach, just like the ki of the people walking into the room. It was impossible to read them, and he couldn't tell if that was a good thing or not.

A smooth voice said something unintelligible, but Kenji immediately recognized as the okami of the inn and anger crowded out the fear. A sharp yank on his hair drew a surprised yelp out of him, and he looked over to find Chizuru's pale brown eyes glaring at him. A second set of hands grabbed him by the shoulders and pulled him further back, knocking him to the tatami next to Neko.

"What?"

"Be quiet. Don't say anything unless she asks you a question," Chizuru hissed.

Kenji glared at her and started to ask another question, but he was silenced by the eerily calm Neko. "Hush. You don't want to attract her attention."

Kenji almost asked which 'her' as the okami glided through the drawn screen in a rustle of silk followed by the crunching steps of the woman who'd threatened to feed him to the dogs. Chizuru and Emi rose and bowed politely while Neko remained still and silent beside Kenji on the tatami.

"You were right, Keiko-kun. He's a very attractive little child," the okami said in a deceptively mild tone of voice, lowering herself to her knees in front of the tatami. With two fingers, she lifted Kenji's chin. "And I suspect you, little one, have a very famous father."

Kenji's nose wrinkled in confusion. Well, of course his father was famous. Everyone he'd ever met knew who Himura Kenshin was. Even the tofu merchant. "Um... I guess so?"

"A cold-blooded killer," Amaya continued, releasing Kenji's face and sweeping several steps away. "Famous for the blood he so effectively shed. But, it makes me wonder…." Her voice trailed off and a smile danced across her face before it disappeared. "It makes me wonder which whore he finally begat you with, little demon." Kenji growled at her. Whatever a "whore" was, it didn't sound very nice. "He's become quite a nuisance, in fact. And you are just what I need to call the demon of Kyoto off the hunt."

"Killin' him's still more effective," Keiko snorted. "Brat should give us enough time for a clear shot."

Kenji tried to rise to his feet and bare his teeth, but Neko grabbed his sleeve and raised her face. "Kenji-chan, who is there?"

"What, have you gone deaf now too?" Keiko asked sneeringly. "You remember me, I should hope."

Neko cringed and seemed to shrink back, but Kenji grabbed on to her hand. "You leave her alone! She can't even fight back!"

"It's your fault she's like that!" Chizuru snarled, straightening from the subservient bow she'd held until now. Her entire form trembled in fury as she advanced a step towards the harsh woman. "Your fault, you monster!"

Keiko's grip shifted on her weapon from casual to deadly, and the shaft end lashed out, catching Chizuru across the side of her chest. Chizuru tumbled, flung away from the others and into the wall with a sickening thud. "Far enough, little miss."

Emi ran to Chizuru, and ran an assessing eye over her. Kenji felt paralyzed by his grip on Neko's hand. He wanted to move, but knew the girl would not be able to hold on to her calm if she didn't have an anchor.

Amaya clapped her hands together twice. "You never fail to amuse me, Keiko-kun. I've seen enough for today and I've made my decision. We have business to take care of elsewhere."

Keiko still stood with fire in her eyes, her gaze moving from Kenji to Chizuru and back again. "Yes, Amaya-san," she said, and then smiled chillingly. "Anymore lip from you two, and I'll finish what I started with Hitomi. She won't have any appendages by the time I'm through with her. Understood?"

Keiko received three glares – murderous, pained, and calculating – in answer. She smiled and turned to follow her mistress. The screen slid closed after them with soft finality, and Neko released Kenji's hand. "Bring her here," Neko said in her quiet, bell-like voice as she nudged Kenji towards where Emi was helping a hissing Chizuru sit up. Between the two of them, Emi and Kenji managed to part-carry the wounded girl back to Neko and the Tatami. "Chizuru-chan, you're going to break something."

"Takes more than her to break me, Neko," Chizuru grinned weakly.

"Mmmhmm," Neko hummed noncommittally, as she ran her seeing fingers over Chizuru's face and arms. "Where does it hurt, Chizuru-chan?"

Chizuru grimaced as Neko's clever fingers bumped a bruise on her side. "Ouch. Definitely there." Neko's lips tugged down in a frown of concentration as she probed the bruised skin, checking the damage.

"I don't think you're broken, this time," Neko announced, finishing her poking inspection before shuffling back from Chizuru, and folding her hands in her lap.

"We've got to get out of here," Kenji declared and rose to his feet, walking over to the screen. "It's not safe, and those ladies are evil."

Chizuru reached over and gave Neko a wordless hug before turning to Kenji. "We know it's not safe. What we don't know is how to get past that screen." She pointed at the door to their prison. "The guards are always there, and they can hear us coming."

Kenji thought for a moment. "I need a stick."

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LadyChi's Notes: I guess, first and foremost, we need to state that, despite all appearances, Chizuru is not ours. She's actually the property of Watsuki, who has stated that she is the future wife of Kenji. We've just... taken great artistic liberties with the model we were provided. Emi and Neko are based on friends of ours, and we do own their characters. Have a fabulous New Year, everyone! I wish you all the best for 2007.

Kat's Notes: Probable future wife. Watsuki hinted strongly that they would eventually end up together. Why are we bringing it up? Because we have nothing else to talk about! But, funny incident from the writing of this chapter. We were discussing who was stuck in there with Kenji, and decided that it would be amusing to stick him in with a bunch of girls. Almost immediately, we both IM'ed one another with "You know what would be fun? Making one of the girls his future girlfriend. Wait ... didn't she have a name?"

It truly sounded like Pinky and the Brain. "Are you pondering what I'm pondering?" Emerald Dragon, our beta, then choked when she "Emi". Oddly, the next question from her was "are you going to kill her?" Emy trusts us not. (Well, she probably trusts Chi. She knows better than to trust me.)

Anyway, now that we've taken up enough of your time, thanks for reading! See you in a week or so.