Re-Posted: 11-7-10

Kenshin sat quietly in the private train compartment he had rented the day before. His sword was propped up against the shoulder closest to the door. Kaoru had been asleep since the morning before and as far as he could tell, she would probably stay that way for another day, perhaps two. Her head was cushioned on his lap and her breathing was slow and even. He had tried settling her on the other bench but when the train lurched she simply rolled off. He was now keeping close enough to keep her on the bench.

She was wrapped in a plain yukata and bundled in a blanket, but he had blurred her frame easily and they would arrive in Kyoto at night; no humans would be any wiser to her presence. Recovering from her cycle, no one would notice her ki under the steady pulse of his own. She would slip under any vampire senses easily. He let his eyes linger over the curves he memorized thoroughly over the past week and his mouth curled into a possessive smile. Her hair was a loose tangle around her pale skin and the fingers of his left hand were buried at the base of her neck.

He couldn't stop the little possessive gesture and he didn't really try to. He was learning that the part of him that accepted her as his mate craved the contact and if he satisfied it in little ways then he wouldn't have to deal with the edgy need her for all day. Driving her past her sanity was something he enjoyed, forcing her to cling to him and beg while she sobbed in her pleasure; gratifying. Cuddling, coddling, curling around her; breathing in her scent, needing her to snuggle against him; these things he was learning to tolerate.

He was not a man used to tempering his touch for anyone. He stared down at the top of her head. Her face was turned towards his knees, and the moment she was comfortable; she had bunched the material of his hakema in her small fist and sighed; as if the contact soothed her. There were going to be complications from the bonding, complications he wasn't sure he wanted to deal with. Even now he could feel her, cushioned in the back of his mind, a tight swirl of emotions and the steady pulse of her heartbeat echoing through him. There was a residue of her gift settled against his own; the blackness of his soul had fought her for a moment but then let her in and the darkness that could turn on him if he wasn't careful, settled under her. He didn't know what to make of it.

He had several things to ask his Master. The least of being of her limitations, he had noticed that she was uneasy earlier when their neighbors had gotten rowdy and he had to build a shield for her gift. It didn't fight him, but he could sense that it was wary. That amused him. Her body was his now and yet part of her was still fearful. He needed to learn how far he could push her and the only way that would work was if she was awake enough for him to take her on hunts. She would hate it, fight him on it, but as his, she would learn how to care for herself. After that if she chose to feed from him alone, he wouldn't object.

The train began to lurch to a stop and he untangled his hands and gently teased her fingers loose from his hakema and picked her up. She was a boneless weight in his arms and he made sure the blanket covered her from the neck to fall over her bare feet. He was ignored as he left the compartment, and he flashed a great deal of fang at the only vampire there that would see past the limitations he placed on the humans around him. He hadn't brought any of her things from the dojo. His mouth curled. Anything she would need he would provide for her once she woke up. He had already sent a missive ahead and his servants had her size and should have been working on her proper wardrobe. Kenshin paused for a moment as she shifted in her sleep, her nose brushing against his neck as she sighed in bliss. She might fight it when she was awake but in sleep she acknowledged his ownership and his claiming – was satisfied by it.

X

Kaoru awoke slowly, aware that she was still tired but needing to get up. Shifting against the heavy press of the quilt, she sat up slowly, her hair tumbling around her shoulders in a messy tangle. Kaoru shoved it out of her way and frowned. She hadn't forgotten to braid her hair before bed since she was a child. Looking around with curious blue eyes, she blinked in surprise. The room was set up with interesting, occasional western pieces. The futon underneath her was soft and comfortable warm. But there was a simple set of wooden chairs and tables and next to the window there was a western desk. The floor held familiar woven mats, and she recognized several other things as being Japanese and she was thankful to find herself in a familiar yukata. But how had she gotten here? Kaoru glanced outside and blinked in surprise at how light it was outside.

Tossing black the guilt she padded over to the window to overlook a well tended garden. There were large, gorgeous trees rising up, blocking the view of the window even though she could see out. She heard the muffled noise of voices and would have stood there all day if the western-style door hadn't opened and she turned to see Kenshin leaning against the door jam.

"You're awake." He stated quietly, his eyes flicking down to her bare ankles and rising up slowly to her flushed face and wild hair. Kaoru blinked at him in confusion and slowly nodded.

"Where are we?" Kaoru asked finally. She didn't recognize the taste of the air so there was no way they were in Tokyo.

"Kyoto," He informed her lazily. "You need a bath."

Kaoru brushed a hand through her hair and gave him an indignant look.

"I was aware of that, thank you." Her tone was clipped and he looked amused. "I have no idea where the bathhouse is!"

"You could ask." He sounded even more amused and Kaoru bit down on the urge to hit him. He looked… looked… far too possessive of her in that moment. His eyes gleaming in his face with that little smile curving his mouth into something dangerous, as if he knew something she didn't.

"You could volunteer the information." Kaoru returned right back, feeling slightly uneasy around him. The part of her that had snaked under her skin was uneasy as well, but the part of her that Yukishiro had unleashed was rolling back and sighing in contentment at having him this close. In fact, she realized with a start, that somewhere inside her she felt a small spark that hadn't been there before. It was hot and dark and pulsed to a different beat than her heart. Something clenched in her stomach.

He simply shot her another one of those lazy, covetous expressions and moved forward. Kaoru watched him move with a bit of hesitation, and when he reached her he moved so his lips brushed her ear. "Don't get too comfortable. I will send a maid to help you bath and then you are going to learn how to hunt for yourself. Then," his teeth nipped her ear. "I will remind you of a few things."

A masculine breathe of amusement and he was leaving her with her mouth slightly parted in surprise. He had…played with her? Kaoru swallowed as images from the past week rushed over her like a warm wave. Kenshin. Kenshin watching her from a curtain of loose hair while she begged for…Kaoru turned bright red and covered her face with her hands. She felt something stir inside her and she ignored it. It was that same little wicked part of her that had enjoyed watching Jineh struggle while she ripped him to pieces. It was stronger now, and she had the feeling that it would continue to grow and that Kenshin would be encouraging it. Shaking now, she looked up startled at the knock and saw a woman who looked as young as she was but her eyes were dark with years.

"Follow me, Himura-dono," she said in a cultured, utterly subservient voice. "I will be honored to help you with your bath."

Kaoru was going to argue that she could bath on her own, but there was a look in her eyes that suggested that this woman would be utterly polite and submissive to everything she said, but if Kenshin gave an order, it was being kept.

What had she woken up to?

X

Misao dropped next to Yahiko so quickly it startled the boy. "They arrived in Kyoto a day ago." She told him. "Kaoru will probably sleep a bit longer but I don't doubt that he will bring her by when he has to go out."

Yahiko looked at her. "Why?"

Misao paused. "The Oniwabanshu has served Hiko for many, many years and now that Himura has been named his heir, we serve him as well. We would do many great things to keep her safe and he knows it."

Yahiko gave her a thoughtful look. "You say 'we' but you don't follow Aoshi as your Okashira."

Misao grinned. "My sire was the leader of the Oniwabanshu for many years. I could probably make a pretty good argument that I should be in charge, but Aoshi, for all that he is a cold bastard, is actually a very good leader. My disagreement with him has nothing to do with his running of my family. If he gave me an order as my Okashira, I would obey without thought. It's the orders he gives me as my mate I can't stand."

Yahiko grinned. "So you admit he is your mate but you don't want anything to do with him?"

Misao laughed. "You're catching on. Aoshi has a lot of crawling to do before I consider taking him back." There was a distant expression on her face. "There was… a long time ago. Perhaps twenty years or so… I knew he was my mate before he even acknowledged me. I used to think that it was because he didn't want to see me or perhaps he had other things to worry about; even worse, perhaps it was because he had buried his instincts so far into himself to protect himself during the purging that he didn't know I was."

"What was it?" Yahiko asked. "That last one is possible. Battousai killed a lot people during the purging."

"They still haven't found the mastermind." Misao absently commented before shaking herself free. "I knew that wasn't the case when he came back from facing Shishio. He and Himura had made their alliance and nothing would break that. Unless he betrayed Himura," her mouth curled into a mocking smile. "He knew I was his mate, I saw it in his eyes. He knew what I was. I guess after 700 years of living alone he decided he didn't need me. He arranged for me to be bound to someone else until my death and… and…"

Her expression was dark. "Some would think I am being too hard on him but he broke me that day. So I fled to pick up the pieces and learn who Misao was outside of the Oniwabanshu and to find out how weak I was. I found various teachers who took outrageous advantage of me, but I lived. I learned. I am who I am because of all of that and if he thinks I am going to run into his arms because he now realizes he made a mistake, he is a bigger bastard than I originally thought. He was the only one who left me, so I guess me finally leaving him surprised him." She shrugged.

Yahiko nodded his head. "You remind me of Kaoru." He told her quietly. "She has a sad past for living so few years and Battousai only makes it worse."

Misao smiled a slow, happy smile. "He won't always. He doesn't realize it himself, but Kaoru is better off with him than anyone else." She assured him. "He won't let anyone else abuse her gift, and no one else can say that. Don't worry about her. She will learn to take care of herself as well."

Yahiko looked at her in disbelief. "Sure."

Misao threw her head back and laughed, clutching her sides as she gave into her hilarity.

"Oh Yahiko," she said wiping her eyes. "When all this is over and Himura wants to go and drag Kaoru around Japan, you should stay here and train as Oniwabanshu. I think you would do very well."

Yahiko went still and then his expression went distant. "I had forgotten he had another decade or so of travel."

Misao looked at him, suddenly sober. "I know. It hurts to be left behind or to leave those you care for behind. The good part is, Yahiko, that you both are going to live for a long, long time and that you won't have to worry about losing her anymore. Who is going to kill Himura's mate?"

Yahiko sighed and sat back, an expression on his face suggesting he didn't want to know.

X

"You mean she is here?" The voice was excited and the woman on the floor shivered with fear. When he was excited she normally found herself tied down to the floor and beaten so he could absorb her pain. He loved to gloat and her family gave off residue sweet enough to be jellies. Hate surge in her heart towards the girl who had escaped. She should have been there as fresh blood, to take away the sting on her own shoulders. Her nails didn't protect her fingers as she dug into the wood.

"I felt residue that isn't from one of ours." She whispered. "She is young and healthy and she bares the stench of our blood." Stench, because they were cursed but there had been something darker in the taint; something that had lurched at her and left her weak. She shivered at the remembrance of yawning darkness.

"Very good, little one," a hand patted at her hair. "We shall have to make plans to trap our little bird that has flown away. See to it at once."

She fled, both from the hatred that seeped in her bones at his contact, and the knowledge that for every second she was in his presence, he ate away at her gift and added it to the storage of power that he kept hidden away. He wanted their gifts and he was slowly stealing them.

Nothing could beat him. Not even death could claim this man.

He sat back when she left and turned to the man they had brought to him three days ago. His hair was dark blond with sweat and grease and his eyes burned in his tan face. "I want all the information you can give me on this…Kamiya my little escaped bird. Once you do and once you take care of Battousai and his foolishness; then you shall rise above your kind as my heir and we shall take down the last of the High Lords. Shishio could not do this, and if you fail me your fate will be the same as his." He smiled then, a dark cold smile. "Do not fail me."

Enishi dropped his head and nodded, a cold smile on his lips. "I long for the day I bend my knee as your Heir. Shishio was a fool and I will bring Battousai down, regardless of what it takes."

"See that you do."

X

Kaoru tugged at her obi with a bit of apprehension. The dark grey colored material was a nice contrast to the water jewel green of her Kimono and matched the pattern of swallows. The Egyptian cotton was soft against her skin and she ran her fingers over the precise, gorgeous stitching. All morning she had dealt with seamstresses in and out of her rooms for fittings. She had been slightly horrified when she found out that Kenshin had dragged her across Japan in only her yukata. The woman – who had refused to give her name – had been extremely helpful, even if her idea of bathing was the scrub her skin raw. She had been asked for a scent preference before being somewhat man handled and tied into this kimono.

Kaoru looked around the area she had been escorted to. Westerners had such odd ideas about houses. The walls were thick and the doors were odd. They had wanted her to wear a soft-shoe inside but she had simply pulled on tabi; she had a pair of sandals somewhere. Kaoru looked around and almost jumped out of her skin when she noticed Kenshin. He was watching her from eyes that gleamed.

"Let's go," Kenshin ordered as he turned away. He was wearing a dark grey gi that almost matched her obi, and black hakama. Kaoru thought he looked good in those colors, but didn't understand why they were both dressed so. Kaoru hurried to catch up and sorely missed her own training clothing. She just knew he was going to make her prance around in constraining woman's clothing for the rest of her life. Narrowing her eyes, she promised that she would get her hands on something else if she had to drag Misao in for help. Kaoru stopped mid-step and blinked in surprise. Misao, Yahiko, Sano…were they here in Kyoto too?

"What?" He asked, turning to give her an impatient look.

Kaoru moved to catch up with him. "I was wondering what happened to the others after Yukishiro grabbed me." His eyes flared at her question, and something dangerous flickered in his eyes; Kaoru was startled by the fact that she knew that danger wasn't pointed at her.

"They're with the Oniwabanshu." He turned and headed down the steps. "Don't fall behind."

Kaoru glared at him before attempting to do as he said, swearing under her breath with the most vile words she could think of. This damn kimono was giving her all sorts of grief. It wasn't like the comforting clothing she had worn at home to remind herself that she was a girl, but this was for someone far grander than she was. She felt like a child playing dress up and was thankful they had let her keep her plain hairstyle.

"Kenshin," Kaoru tried as she finally caught up with him, annoyed at his gait. "Will you please tell me where are going? And will you please slow down? I can't walk properly in this damn thing."

His eyes flickered to her face and he did slow down and she sighed in relief that his next words killed. "We are going to teach you to hunt."

Kaoru wasn't sure when she had clutched his arm, but she was suddenly a lot closer to him, his muscled arm trapped between her small hands and she was staring at him. "What?"

Kenshin gave her an amused looked that twisted into seriousness before she could blink. "You are going to learn how to make your own kills. Its time you learned."

Kaoru felt sick. "You want me…"

He put one hand in the small of her back and began to push her forward with an ease that should have been impossible with her digging her heels in. He didn't even seem to notice her efforts, and Kaoru suddenly had a sickening feeling as to why she was in gray and green. She blended in better.

"You don't have such a problem taking blood from me, Kaoru." He informed her softly as he pushed her towards an alley.

Kaoru gave him a horrified look. Once they were hidden he let her go. "This is how it is going to go. You can pick someone out, using your gift if you wish and help put them out of their misery by killing them; or, you can let me pick someone out, who I think will taste better for you." His eyes flickered. "I prefer young, healthy, and female."

Kaoru gave him another horrified glance.

"It's better, if you learn how to control you gift now." He told her lazily. "So start scanning."

Kaoru stared at him. "Scanning?"

He gave an impatient little noise and sighed. "What I mean, is that you need to open up your gift like you did with Jineh. Learning how to catch your own kill will also teach you how to control your gift. Right now I am shielding you. I am going to drop those shields layer by layer and you're going to see how each layer feels in your mind."

She didn't understand what he was saying but something inside her shifted in warning but before she could say anything she felt something curl away from the part of her that was always reaching and she went still. It was like… looking through a glass at someone and seeing something besides their reflection. Like this was the other side of the still pond.

Kaoru's breathing quickened as she watched the people walk by. Just small things, like annoyance or displeasure whispered through her emotions. Kaoru gripped the side of her kimono when she felt him curl back another layer and this one was worse. It was like someone had thrown a rock into the pond. The image shattered and bounced along and where there were groups of people it was dizzyingly bright. Lust, envy, love; these were coming off them in clouds and waves and mixing. She swayed a bit on her feet. Kaoru almost cried out in disbelief as he dropped the next one. It was like being thrown into the middle of a stampeding crowd of horses. Kaoru stumbled back, as if she had been physically slapped, her eyes only seeing the clashing of rays and thundering of emotions that were suddenly pounding in her head. Behind her there was darkness, thick and rich and whole and she buried herself in it to block the sounds, the ragged pulling, and whimpered low in her throat as she clung to whatever was so quiet.

When she felt Kenshin's ki brush against hers she whimpered again and then whatever had been blocking the incredible noise the crowd had been giving out was gone and all that was left was the faint throb of the first missing layer. Kaoru stayed were she was, gasping into something warm and pulled back only when she felt the first stirring of impatience. Looking up she stared at him in surprise, and he was giving her a look that was both calculating and amused.

"Why were you so quiet?" Kaoru asked her voice hoarse as if she had been screaming.

Kenshin reached up and played with a lose strand of hair. Then he smiled a crooked, dangerous smile that had her stepping away. His hand tightened and she stopped, feeling uncertain even as she felt the emotions he was feeling run through her like water to a sieve.

"Death is always quiet. Pick your target."

Kaoru stared at him opened mouthed, but she could feel the drum of his ki around her and she gulped. It was ready to go out and feed. Kaoru wondered if his gift fed off the deaths around him and she suddenly remembered Sano mentioning him getting stronger from deaths of the Bakumatsu. She could feel the lingering blood on the ground here… it had only been ten years and she could still feel it. Kaoru raised her eyes to his face, confused.

"What happened here?"

He looked slightly startled before his eyes flicked around and a smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. "The fifth division of the Shinsengumi died here."

Kaoru hesitated and then licked her lips. "I never understood why you choose to fight for the Ishinshishi."

Kenshin gave her a sharp glance and then the corner of his mouth curled up. "It's simple. They were the least likely to win and while I could have cared less who would have won, the Shogun's targets were hardly out in the open. With them I could slaughter at will and once I had built up the reputation I wanted; they wanted me to slaughter." A dangerous smile curved along his mouth. "If the Shogun could have offered me more death or the single rights to kill that the Ishinshishi did, I would have fought for them just as easily.

"There was an added benefit I hadn't expected. With all this talk of 'peace' and 'no swords' in a few years Japan will be helpless against our kind. No more samurai's with their ability to sense ki. I am sure some will keep up the old traditions but most of the population will be mine for the taking."

Kaoru bit her lip and watched the way his eyes re-focused on her instead of the past.

"You have half a candle mark to pick a target." Kenshin said, turning to look at her with all the shadow in his eyes. "I already have mine picked out and marked. That is your last warning."

Kaoru licked her lips and turned to the crowd, her heart hammering in her ears. Her teeth bit down on her bottom lip as she worked to concentrate on the crowd and not that wonderful darkness behind her. She wanted to go and crawl into his chest and that irked her. She didn't know how long she stood there, her eyes flicking back and forth, side to side, before she finally found something that might work. She knew, without knowing, that if she picked something horrendous then Kenshin was going to hand her the body of a fresh young girl. She was going to have to eat something…healthy; like a child drank milk.

That sent a shudder down her spine. It was a girl and that ate at her stomach, but she was depressed and dangerously so. Her bearing suggested that she was going to take her own life within a matter of hours, and while Kaoru couldn't say how she knew this, she did know that that girl would die a lot less painfully at her fangs than by ramming herself with her father's katana.

"Good choice." His breath feathered in her ear. "She is strong and healthy. You need all the energy you can get after last week."

Kaoru turned and glared up at him. "She is going to kill herself anyway." Kaoru couldn't stop the twinge of pain in her voice and he gave her a look.

"You're going to have to learn to move without being seen. Move through their blind spots; use your gift to manipulate how they see you. You control their emotions. Make them believe that you are unimportant."

Kaoru licked her lips. "That's…impossible."

He gave her a hard glance. "I mean it. Imagine what it would be like if all those people were under you, couldn't see you, and for damn sure couldn't touch you." He waited until she looked like she was complying before pressing a hand to the small of her back and shoving her forward. "If you want to eat, you will manipulate your gift to cover a broad space. Through the shields, and if you don't, you will not eat until you figure it out." His tone was flat. "Go get your dinner."

Kaoru stumbled into the crowd. As she stumbled she reached for both the instincts she had learned as a human and the gift that writhed under her skin. It danced up and she struggled to make it understand what she wanted, what she needed.

It twisted out of her like ribbons of fire, the dancing of colorful fabric in a summer's sweet wind. However, as she struggled, beads of sweat falling down her forehead in small droplets of water, she was ignored by the people around her.

Kaoru stared at the girl who was glaring at the flower stand. How on earth was she supposed to do this? She didn't understand this whole mind control concept and she didn't understand… Kaoru paused mid-thought. Chewing on her bottom lip for a moment she sent out a tentative trailer and attempted to remember how Yukishiro had entered her mind. He didn't use the same approach Kenshin did… but he had used something that was a cold echo of her gift; so if hers was an emotional level of Yukishiro's…

Kaoru was sweating profusely by the time the girl moved and seemed to drift into the alley, her expression blank and cold. Kaoru licked her lip before following. Kaoru felt something sick lurch in her stomach and Kenshin's words only made it worse.

"Good. That was unexpected, but I will show you a few different ways next time." He sounded satisfied. Then his heat was pressed up against her spin, hand warm against her hip. "When you feed, you will drink until you feel the change in her blood – it becomes sweeter just before death. No matter the gift, all vampires can feel a life force dying. Some more than others. You must drink her until she dies."

Kaoru gave him a horrified look, and he just watched her before slashing open the girl's neck so she could smell the blood her body had been starving for. Kaoru gave him a furious glance but walked over and bit down and drank deeply. It tasted… different than Kenshin and not better. She didn't know how long she drank but Kenshin was right the blood did start to taste richer and then…

Kaoru dropped the girl like a sack of rice and stumbled backwards. If she hadn't crashed into Kenshin she would have landed hard. His hands caught her arms firmly and he whipped her around to glare at her. Kaoru gave a gasp struggled to breath past the sensation of her own lungs and heart shutting down. Struggling past the feeling she barely recognized the feel of his wrist against her lips but she bit down on reflex when the blood touched her lips. As soon as the warm blood touched her tongue it was immediately easier to breath and the feeling of suffocating ended. It took another warm mouthful to let go and then she stumbled into the wall and slid down it while he stared at her with a blank expression on his face. Kaoru ignored him and tucked her knees to her chest and fought against the tears that were gathering behind her eyes.

Kenshin said nothing, and for that Kaoru was thankful. The girl was on the ground was gasping for air, and Kaoru knew, her stomach churning, that she was struggling to breathe. There was the sound of a katana unsheathing and then the girl was quite. Kaoru was thankful he was strong enough remove the head in one strike. Suddenly, she was pulled upwards and a pair of hands were grasping her forearms and steadying her.

"Pull yourself together." He ordered quietly. His voice was firm, not harsh and she watched him with dazed eyes. "I am shielding you again. Next time we will see if that happens when I shield you from her death. You will learn to hunt on your own. There might come a time when I cannot feed you, Kaoru."

Kaoru swallowed hard, the rush of his blood in her mouth so much more addicting than the taste of the girl. It was the note of what might have been concern in his ki that told her this wasn't one of his games. Licking her lips, she realized she had been crying. Reaching up, she swiped at her cheeks. Even more surprising was when he handed her a soft cloth to wipe her face clean.

"I killed the girl, so I won't need to feed. We're heading back." He paused, fingers rubbing hair between his fingers for a moment before he sighed and pulled away. Kaoru stared at his back helplessly for a moment before she followed.

X

Megumi quietly went over all the herbs and bandages that she had on stock in the Aoiya. Her hands moved with practiced ease as her mind drifted to other places. Batts was back in town. She had felt the change in the air two days ago when he stepped back on soil. After healing him for the ten years she had became attuned to his presence. She had felt the moment that he began to absorb darkness echoing along lines of power that crisscrossed along Kyoto; they always held an echo of him. She doubted that there was a dark alley that he hadn't used his dark gift in, where he had taught it to kill; taught himself control.

"Collecting herbs?" Sano's mocking drawl echoed in the almost empty room. Megumi allowed her eyes to slid shut and taped down on the rising emotion in her. Part of her wanted to be furious at him, wanted to give a scathing remark; she had gotten good at those. Another part rippled in hurt and frustration and that was the part she attempted to mentally destroy.

"You shouldn't bite the hand that heals you." She returned carelessly. She kept her expression carefully neutral and she turned and looked at him. "I don't have any oath that says I must put you back together when Battousai leaves you in small, bite sized pieces."

Sano's mouth curled into a mocking smile. "Because I insulted his pretty little play thing."

That hurt. Megumi took a deep breath and laughed her voice harsh. "You know nothing of it and I think it's time you leave."

He stepped closer. "Why," he demanded his tone careless and frosty. "Soujiro is back on his feet, completely healed. We're waiting on Battousai to make an appearance – to see Kaoru, since he decided that we would all be staying here. You don't seem to be doing anything important. Why should I leave?"

Megumi pushed everything back into its compartment carelessly, promising herself she would be back to organize it later. Instead she went to move around him. His hand snapped out and caught her wrist. It wasn't a painful hold and it scent little sparks of need flaring down her wrist at the contact. His brown eyes were moody at they met her startled ruby eyes.

"So," Sano said quietly, eyes dark. "You know too."

Megumi jerked out of his hand and left with as much dignity as her retreat allowed and locked herself in her room. She clamped her hands over her ears so she wouldn't have to listen to his footsteps walk away or possibly; his voice telling her to let him in. He was almost her enemy. His animosity towards Battousai was noticeable enough to her and she had no formal training in ki sensing. Now that… Kaoru was here, he would probably be dragging Kaoru around the corners of Japan. That was a relief, but he would demand her where he could keep in contact with her and there was no way she was going to escape him.

Sano…. Sano was the opposite of the nightmare she had learned to live with. He was passionate, hot-headed, reckless, and distracting. Battousai's passion was a cold passion, his movements deliberate to extract that most pain possible from his victims, and she feared him more than she did anything. She had seen the way Kaoru fought against him, both tooth and nail, gift and fang; had seen the way he watched her from his lashes. He had never offered to take her battles, never taught her to fight, and only kept her alive because she was necessary to him.

Now Sano had come along and he…

Megumi pressed her lips together. It wasn't going to happen and she wasn't going to think about it. Sanosuke Sagara would never see her as more than Battousai's 'plaything'
and she would never attempt to make him see otherwise. Soujiro was healed but they were all waiting to see how Battousai would handle the situation. He did not take betrayal lightly. Shinomori had spent several days reinforcing the Aoiya's wards and checking everyone for mental weaknesses. He was taking Yukishiro's escape personally. Shinomori was the oldest vampire Megumi knew, and while Battousai was death and dangerous; there was little Shinomori didn't know something about.

He and Misao would make a good couple; as good as there kind could be. She didn't hate Misao, even for the scars she still bore. Megumi opened the door and went back to her herbs. If Battousai was as determined to kill Yukishiro and anyone he was connected with, as he had been to destroy Shishio, then there was going to be a lot of dead bodies.

X

Kaoru followed Kenshin back to their current home. She was quiet on the way back, careful to shield her thoughts in that curious shadow that was in her mind. Part of her feared that the shadow had something to do with Kenshin and his endless darkness, but he never turned, never wavered; Kenshin would never offer her the comfort of her thoughts deep in himself.

It had to be something else. She just didn't know what it was. Just that it was quiet and safe from the tremulous backlash of her emotions. That was worth more than anything else that anyone could give her, and since she had found it during the agonizing moments of feeling the girl's death pool in her own lungs, she hid there.

He said not a word as he led them to the bedroom. He didn't pause or say a single word to the woman who opened the door and who closed it behind them. Instead he moved to the window and uttered a word that seemed to echo and the room seemed a bit darker as the shades fell into place. He still didn't look at her as he calmly turned to her. Only once he had pinned her under those moon-glow eyes did he say anything.

"Tell me what happened."

Kaoru stared at him for long moments before she took strength from that quiet shadow.

"I do not want to talk about it." Her voice was soft in the room. Quiet because she didn't fill the room with her words the way he did. Quiet because there was a deathly silence after her spoke declaration.

"Don't want to talk about it," his voice was low with temper and he moved forward, a whisper soft glow of predator silk. "I don't remember giving you a choice about it."

Kaoru's chin rose. "You will not bully me."

Her back hit the wall with enough force to jar her as her teeth clacked together painfully. Once her body recovered from the abrupt change of direction, she had no choice but to meet the darkness in his eyes with her own fire. As always her gift sprang to her command without her thought and his eyes narrowed and she felt as he pulled away his shields, all but the last, leaving her disoriented and dizzy.

"If you wish to use your gift against me, Kaoru," he breathed in her ear, "you're going to have to learn to control it yourself."

It writhed under her skin like a living thing and his grip on her arms tightened a fraction as if something surprised him.

"Now, you will tell me what happened."

Without his control keeping her wild gift tame it reacted violently. The emotions, the sensations of drowning in her own blood, the blackness that reached up to swallow her flared in her blood and pressed into him from their connection. He went still, as if he was unable to move and she struggled against the sensations of an emotional death that had started on the inside of her and rushed into the black-hole that was his gift.

"Stop," he ordered her fiercely, catching her jaw and meeting her eyes with his. "Leave it."

Kaoru felt bile rising in her throat and he shifted the palm of his hands so that they were pressed against her bare skin of her neck. The contact soothed some part of her, but her gift flared at him until she went blind with it, and then it was over. She was standing with her hands pressed into the gap of his gi, her cheek resting against him. One of his arms was wrapped around her waist, holding her up and the other was tangled in her hair. He made no move to tighten his grip or disengage her so she stayed there for a moment, feeling the coolness of his gift cushioning her from the worst of her memory.

"How interesting." With her ear against his chest she could almost feel stable. Her gift was still there, still un-caged, but it seemed to be alright now and wasn't attempting to leap from her skin like a mad, wild thing. "How very interesting. I wonder if you're aware of what you just did."

Kaoru raised her eyes to his face. When she spoke, her voice was raspy. "What are you talking about?"

"Your gift just forced me to re-live the same feelings you had." His voice was calm, thoughtful. "Your gift took the emotion of death, turned it into a living, breathing memory, and you shoved it into me like I was filter."

Kaoru swallowed. "I…"

His fingers came to trace her jaw line and there was an edge in his eyes that could almost have been violence. But he made no move to strike or hurt her. Instead his eyes churned with small sparks of anger – but it didn't feel directed at her.

"It will be interesting to see what else you can do." There was an edge of thoughtfulness there that bothered her. Her gut clenched and his mouth curved into a smile.

The knock on the door was her saving grace.

"Sorry, Master. Your apprentice is here."

Kenshin nodded. His thumb moved across her hip for a moment, eyes watching her face before he stepped away. Kaoru couldn't begin to explain why that look had caused her mouth to run dry. Taking a deep breath, she forced her knees to work and followed.

Soujiro was waiting for them. He had bowed low to Kaoru and then given his report, maintaining his half bow. The wording had been clipped and she had the impression that Soujiro was recovering from sort of chest wound and decided to ask Misao about it later.

"Shinomori has reworked my mental shields." Soujirou said quietly. "It is the thought that it is possible to track Yukishiro through the residue he leaves in the minds of those he controls even for a short period of time. Shinomori would like me to be present during the hunts in the hopes that I might react in some way to a use of his power."

Kenshin's eyes narrowed. "I have yet to receive a satisfactory report detailing how Yukishiro escaped, leading to the necessity of finding him. Inform Shinomori that I will require a meeting later this afternoon. I have a few things that must be taken care of but we will be residing at the Aoiya for the duration of this hunt."

There was a note of dismissal in his voice and then Soujirou rose from his position and Kaoru caught a fluttering of pain as he straitened and then left. He turned to her and gave her a considering look. She wondered what he was looking for.

"Go get cleaned up. You're staying at the Aoiya tonight with Misao. I don't have the time to teach you to keep up your shields. She is the next best to teach you. When you're ready for me to lower the shields, I am sure you can figure out how to contact me." There was an edge of amusement to his voice and Kaoru had the instinctive thought that in order to contact him, in the way she thought he was suggesting that she was going to have to give something of herself up first.

That was the way it always seemed to be with this vampire.

As she went to bath and change out of the bloody kimono, she wondered if this was how the rest of her life was going to be. She would learn how to control her gift. Then maybe she could have some peace.

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