Custody
Even without her ki sense, she knew Gasuke was different from the other thugs the moment Yahiko hobbled in from his room down the hall and started to malign her in earnest.
"That ugly hag's got nothing to do with this. She's just another easy target." He shrugged. He was clean and wearing new clothes, but beneath the bandages and poultices she had so carefully applied, the scrubby, street-hardened urchin was back. "She's so gullible, I've been bumming free food off her for days."
Gasuke looked skeptical.
"Her cooking really sucks, too."
"That's enough, Yahiko." She already saw through him and though she appreciated the effort, there was only so much she was willing to hear. She turned to address Gasuke. "When I found Yahiko, he was being beaten by a group of your men. I cannot return him to your care. Please leave."
He eyed at her bokken, lips twisting slightly. "Is that a challenge?" He slid into a slightly wider stance and rested his hand on his own bokken. It seemed an uncharacteristic weapon for a yakuza enforcer, but there were some who preferred the drawn out suffering they could inflict through blunt trauma. "I accept."
She charged. The glint of steel caught her eye: too late, she realized he wielded a hidden blade. In the back of her mind, she wondered if she had finally picked a fight too great for her skills. To take his weapon at face value and assume he would fight honorably had been a naïve miscalculation, one she would pay for dearly. Twisting, she managed to protect her body, but only at the expense of her bokken. Half of its length clattered to the floor.
His next blow caught her on the temple, and the floor rushed upward to greet her face.
A/N: A large theme of this story is an exploration of what if...in this instance, what if Kenshin hadn't been around to save Yahiko? I think the way Kaoru went about it in the anime was rather foolish (in general, I find her anime counterpart lacks the maturity and wisdom she shows in the manga, although she gets a few more fight scenes). However, in the manga, I think it's implied that she sends Kenshin to go fetch Yahiko, so she clearly does care.
