----------------------Preivew from last chapter----------------------
Kenshin and Kaoru were in the black sports car, driving back to the apartment. They really hadn't spoken after leaving the building. She was in the passenger seat looking out the window, watching the world pass by her. Her mind was on the 'friend' thing. She didn't exactly know the meaning, but knew it was something special.
Her gaze fell upon Kenshin, who was busy driving. "Kenshin, this friend thing Megumi spoke of, are you and Sano friends?"
"Hai. Sano and I have known each other for sometime."
"What about Megumi, is she your friend?"
His amber eyes flickered to her before returning to the road. "No. I just met her when you were in the hospital."
She looked down and fiddled with her fingers from nervousness. Taking a deep breath, Kaoru slowed her rapidly beating heart. Her gaze went to his form once more.
"Do you consider me a friend?"
The question took Kenshin by surprise. Did he consider her as his friends? He had befriended the wolf and trusted her with his and his wife's life. She had never failed once to protect either of them. Especially, with today. Although he could've handled Ryo easily, Katsura had said not to do anything and let the man attack. Kaoru had came and protected him. Though they had different forms, they both shared the same mind and soul. So it didn't make a difference. He still trusted her with his life and considered her a friend.
He turned to her and saw hope in her eye. "Yes."
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FENIKKUSU:ALittle Bonding
Enishi strolled briskly into the laboratory equipped with different technology. The huge room was dark, but dimly lit from blinking and flashing of an encore of lights. He slowly came to a halt as he eyed the many liquid-filled glass tubes holding experiments the scientists were conducting. The white-haired man placed a hand on one of the containers with a living being inside it, white suction cups on its bare skin and a little gas mask to help it breathe. Beeps of heart monitors and other equipment resounded throughout the room. He followed the cluster of bubbles float to the top from the oxygen mask.
He was once in this same position. In the same glass container that was in front of him now. The experiment, a guinea pig subjected to horrifying and painful experiments. His own kind had made him into something. Something that was not quite man or animal, but a new kind of species. A beast. A somewhat of a hybrid. Unnatural.
'Despicable humans.' He thought seethingly. Just like many of the people experimented on, he was human. Taken from the life he had once known and given him another. Another he embraced with open arms. His past life was nothing but bleak and miserable. His only family taken away by Battousai and marrying his sister, Tomoe. He would find her again along with his wolf. 'That's one thing those pathetic humans gave that I have gratitude for. I was reborn.'
After breaking his container a few years ago, he'd killed the head scientist in charge and took over the secret organization. Instead of being the experiment, he became the experimenter. Recent research and study, Enishi discovered a more sufficient and much quicker way for the successful project. As soon as this new breed of animorphs grew and thrived, he was going to build an army of his own kind to take over this country and in time, the world. They would eradicate the filthy and stinking humans and this new species could domniate this earth.
Enishi left the container and walked to a pair of men bowing to him. He stopped in front of them, his menacing light blue eyes skimmed over the two from his tinted sunglasses.
"Where is she?"
Dr. Tachima quickly answered, "Yukishiro-sama, I have located the wolf in an apartment in the downtown area. The apartment building itself is at this address." His shaky hand outstretched before him. The silver-haired man plucked it from the scientist and let his eyes roam over the paper. "You were right, Yukishiro-sama, Battousai has her."
Enishi looked down at the two men and a slow smile crept its way to his lips. "Go get my katana and round a few men together. We're going to pay a visit to Hitokiri Battousai."
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The door of the small apartment shattered into pieces, scattering all over the floor. Men dressed in black armor ran in first with machine guns, poised to capture or shoot anything. Enishi carefully sauntered over the broken wood and eyed the apartment. It was not empty. Furniture were still in place and seemed to have not been touched for sometime.
A couple of men scouting the rest of the rooms came back. All of them saluted as Enishi approached.
"Sir, there are no residents presently living here."
Enishi snarled in frustration and turned, swinging his arm to smash an ebony lamp. The doctor that had entered the apartment stood in fear as his boss turned to him with his face contorted in pure rage.
"It took you all this time to just to find them and now, when I'd finally thought they were in my grasp, we come up empty handed." He slowly approached the shorter man with gleaming eyes. "You failed me, Tachima. Battousai no longer lives here anymore."
Dr. Tachima's body stood bolted to the floor, paralyzed with fear. "Enishi-san, please, it took longer than I had anticipated to break the codes to discover where Battousai lived. The Ishin Shishi are very careful to keep...,"
"I do not deal well with failures, Tachima. I told what would happen if you failed me again."
Suddenly, the cracking of bones, fur and claws growing, once a man was now a beautiful white, blue-eyed wolf. His mouth pulled back into a snarl, revealing gleaming white incisors. The man's eyes grew wide as the creature leapt at him, grasping his throat and knocking him to the carpeted floor. The other men stood, their bodies rigid and stiff, watched and heard the horrifying scream and tearing of flesh in front of them.
Once the vicious scene ended, bones crackled and popped again, the wolf turning into the stunning man. Enishi glared at the mauled body of the doctor. Crimson dripping from the side of his mouth was wiped away with his gloved hand. He spat the rest of the metallic liquid onto the floor.
"I'll just have to locate my sister and my wolf myself, then." The blue-eyed male faced a few guards. "Clean this mess. We're leaving."
They saluted and immediately got to work at the order given to them while Enishi exited through the door and into the hallway. He pressed a button for the elevator, waiting for it to arrive to the floor he was on.
'I will find you, my Kaoru.' He entered the open doors and turned to have a smile. 'Just you wait. I'll make sure Battousai never takes you or my sister away from me again.'
The doors slid together as the elevator went down.
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Two days later after the meeting, Katsura had given his top assassin a few weeks off so that he could care for his companion and train her.
Kenshin was sitting on an ebony recliner cleaning and polishing his swords. Kaoru sat on the leather couch facing the big screen television. Instead of watching the pictured box, she glanced at him once in a while. She was intrigued by how he moved with precise and graceful movements. The slide of his hand with a cloth down the shapened silver blade and the sheathing of the wakizashi as he turned his attention to his other sword.
Kenshin knew she was watching him. For the past two days he'd been feeling a little awkward around the new form of his companion. He didn't know how to feel or act around her. She was like a stranger to him. Knowing that she and the wolf were the same being brought some comfort, but now she could talk and walk like a human. Oddly enough, for some strange reason, he didn't feel so...alone anymore.
Kaoru sensed his discomfort when he was around her. She didn't want him to feel like that. The young woman had a hard time dealing with it herself in this new form. Sometimes she felt like she was invading his home, his life. Not being able to take much more, she turned to him.
"Kenshin, would you feel more comfortable if I were to turn back to the wolf?"
Kenshin abruptly stopped the cleaning of his blade, the question catching him off guard. He lifted amber eyes to sapphire. There was a sort of sorrow in them. An unfamiliar ache in his chest started blooming at her question. A small part of him wanted the wolf back but the rest needed that human companionship. He'd been in isolation so long, away from his own kind that he longed for the presence of another he could trust. The red-haired man would get use to her and accept for who and what she was.
Just when he opened his mouth to answer, there was a light knocking on the door. Both turned to it. Kenshin rose from his seat with the katana in hand, ready for anything just in case. His senses picked up a slight ki, nothing threatening. All his years of fighting had taught him not to trust the simplest looking people that did not look harmful. He gave he a silent warning to be prepared and to stay where she was. The woman nodded her head in understanding and watched as he quietly traveled to the door. Kenshin looked through the peep hole and rolled his amber eyes, giving an annoyed grunt not wanting any visitors as he placed his hand upon the scanner mounted next to the door on the wall. It made a sound and unlocked it. He stepped back as the door swung open.
Megumi gave a startled gasp, placing a hand over her rapidly beating heart. "Himura-san, you scared me half to death. I came over to see how Kaoru is doing and to check her wound." Her eyes roamed a little over his form. He was dressed in a navy-blue turtle neck and black slacks with his hair tied into a high ponytail. His amber eyes gleaming and the now cross-shaped scar on his left cheek accentuated his hard facial features. A hint of pink crept to her cheeks and looked away.
Kenshin demonic eyes narrowed a fraction, not paying attention to her scrutiny. "How did you know where I lived?" His tone brought a chill down her spine.
The doctor felt uncomfortable under his hard gaze. She entwined her fingers so not to start playing with them.
"Katsura-san wanted me to check on Kaoru. He gave me the location."
Kaoru, hearing the familiar feminine voice, emerged to stand next to the assassin. A smile appeared on her face.
"Hello, Takani-san." She bowed slightly.
Her smile seemed to ease Megumi's discomfort and returned one of her own. "Hello, Kaoru-san. I came over to check your wound."
Kaoru wasn't sure if she was allowed to let the doctor inside so she lifted her gaze to Kenshin. He seemed to read the silent question and stepped aside, letting the woman in. He peered into the lighted hallway and scanned the area for movement or another ki other than the ones he recognized as his neighbors that also worked for the Ishin Shishi. Not sensing anyone, he closed the door and watched as the two women entered the livingroom.
Megumi turned to Kenshin. "Do you have a private room we could use?"
"Down the hall to the left."
She thanked him and gently took hold of Kaoru's hand. The sapphire-eyed woman glanced at Kenshin. She looked apprehensive. He strolled to her, putting a comforting hand upon her shoulder.
"Don't worry, I'll be here. She won't do anything." The sound of his voice, so gentle against her ear, helped her relax. He nodded towards the doctor and gazed as they disappeared into the hallway. He resheathed his katana, setting it on the couch.
'I'm sort of thankful Takani-san came over. It would've been awkward to answer Kaoru's question.' He thought as he heaved a sigh and shook his head. There were already too many things on his mind to think about..
"Maybe cooking something will clear my mind a little."
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The two women sat on the bed of the guestroom. While Megumi went through her medical kit to get whatever she needed, her patient fidgeted with her fingers feeling nervous. She did not quite trust the woman to be in the same room with but she didn't want to hurt her feelings and said nothing.
"Kaoru, lift up your shirt for me." She obediently did what she was told. Slender fingers gently peeled the large bandage until the area of the wound appeared. A small gasp escaped from between Megumi's lips as she saw nothing. No wound. Not even a blemish of it ever being there. Just smooth ivory skin.
"Unbelieveable. Your completely healed."
To make sure she wasn't halluncinating, she ran her thumb over the soft tissue. Wide chocolate eyes looked at her.
"Is that bad?" Kaoru asked, rather urgently.
Megumi shook her head and cleared her throat. "No, it means it's good, even wonderful. There's no sign of infection or a scar. It's like there wasn't even an injury."
'I would have to share this information with Katsura-san. This is remarkable.'
The female doctor decided to change the subject. "Do you like Himura-san?" She started putting her supplies back into the kit.
Kaoru tilted her head, clearly confused. "What do you mean like?"
Megumi put a finger to her chin while she thought of a definition for the 'like' she was talking about. "What do you feel towards him? A friend or a lover?"
The raven-haired woman was taken a back by the question. "Um...,"
Before she could answer, Megumi spotted a photo on the dresser. She crossed the distance and picked up to study it. She knew Kenshin and Kaoru were in there because she was the wolf sitting in front of the couple, but not the woman standing with the redhead's arm around her.
Turning around to face her, she spoke while looking at the picture. "Who is this young woman?"
Kaoru looked away, tears forming in her beautiful eyes. "She is someone we lost a few months ago. Now that it's just Kenshin and I," She paused. "He's all I have left and I'm going to keep the promise I made to Tomoe."
Megumi raised her eyes from the picture to settle upon the woman. "That's her name, Tomoe? What promise did make to her?"
"Just before she died, she told me to take care of Kenshin and to protect him. I agreed to do it."
"What was Tomoe to Kenshin?"
"Tomoe was Kenshin's wife."
'I never knew Himura-san had a wife.'
"What...," Her question was stopped when Kaoru held up a hand.
"Please, I don't want to talk about this." She rubbed her teary eyes and sighed to relieve some of the feelings that arose.
Megumi stood abruptly and bowed low. "Gomen nasai, Kaoru-san. I did not mean to pry and cause you pain."
Kaoru waved it off and shrugged before smiling. "It's alright, Megumi-san. You were just curious."
The doctor shook her head sitting back down on the bed and wrapping an arm around her slender shoulders. "No, it's not alright. It wasn't any of my business to know. I assume this happened a little recently."
She nodded numbly.
"Well, if ever you feel the need to talk to someone about it, I'm here to listen. You can't keep all this bottled up inside. How do you expect to help Kenshin cope with this if you haven't yet?"
The question caught her off guard. This had her mind thinking. How was she going to help Kenshin get better if she was still dwelling on it?
"You're right, Takani-dono. I'll talk to you when I'm up to it."
Megumi grinned satisfyingly. "Good. Just call me, Megumi. We're friends now, Kaoru. Using my last name makes me sound old."
She made a face that had Kaoru giggling. "Arigatou, Megumi."
"No problem."
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They emerged into the livingroom and smelled the wonderful aroma in the air. Both turned to see Kenshin working his magic in the kitchen. Kaoru walked Megumi to the door with the assassin behind her, wiping his hands in a towel and flipping it on his shoulder.
The doctor turned around when she entered the hallway. "Just consider what I said okay, Kaoru?"
"I will, Megumi, and, thank you."
"My pleasure. I'll see you later. Bye."
Kaoru waved as she watched her friend disappear around the corner.
Kenshin looked down at her with an arched eyebrow. "What were you two talking about?"
She brought her gaze to him, smiling brightly. "Nothing, just bonding."
With that, the sapphire-eyed woman walked back into the apartment leaving behind a confused Kenshin. He shrugged it off and closed the door behind him.
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I know there isn't much action in here but I've been pretty generous with the exciting stuff. I just took it easy in this chapter a little. I promise the next chapter will be good. Until then, sayonara.
Britt