Disclaimer: RK and it's characters are not mine, I merely borrowed them for my tale.
A.N. Whee! Chapter 13! This one came out of me in less than a day. See? Told you that once I got through the other stuff I would take less time to get the chapters out. I've already started on Chapter 14... well it's in my head so it won't be a problem. Anyways, I won't ramble anymore.
R&R!
Enjoy!
----------------------------
Chapter 13
For the first time in Kaoru's life, she felt the sickening sensation of her blade slicing flesh. She didn't know that it could be felt all the way up the sword and through the hilt. She didn't know it felt like it was her own flesh being cut. Until that moment.
Her heart clenched and lodged itself in her throat. She had cut someone with her sword. Possibly killed someone with it.
"You handle a sword quite well. But it's obvious this is the first you've ever held a real sword." A gruff voice said. Kaoru recognized it immediately. Her eyes flew open, since she had squeezed them shut tightly when she had swung the sword, and they landed on Hiko Seijiro. Standing before him was Yahiko.
"Oi! You almost took my head off, Ugly!" Yahiko cried out. The blade of the sword was stopped mere inches from Yahiko's neck. The stopping force had been Hiko's hand. When the blade came towards the boy, Hiko sensed it immediately and grabbed a firm hold of it with his bare hand to bring it to a stop before the kid was killed.
Yahiko had been relieved the second he saw Kaoru. He had made a silent promise to be nicer to her when they found her, but had momentarily forgotten that promise when she tried to take his head off. He tensed, waiting for the attack that usually came after he called her 'ugly'.
Kaoru allowed the sword to slip from her fingers, where it clattered to the floor. She immediately reached out and pulled Yahiko to her in a tight hug. Relief coursed through her whole being. She couldn't have been happier to see Yahiko in her whole life.
"I'm so glad to see you, little brother." Kaoru whispered in his hair. Yahiko felt his throat close and his eyes burn with tears. They had argued since the second they laid eyes on each other. But she was his entire life. She was his protector, his teacher, and his family. The fact that she voiced similar feelings had him hugging her in return.
"Look, this is all nice and everything. But we need to get out of here." Hiko said. Kaoru released Yahiko to see Hiko struggling to wrap his hand. Kaoru stepped around Yahiko and grabbed the bandages from Hiko. Quickly and efficiently, she wrapped the bandages around the open wound, and tied it tightly.
"You have experience with this." Hiko stated. Kaoru merely looked up at him.
"I live with your baka-deshi." Kaoru replied. That had Hiko smiling. At the end of all this, if Kenshin didn't marry this girl then Hiko was going to pound his idiot apprentice.
"Let's go." Kaoru said, turning to the other girls who still stood in the hall, gazing up at Hiko with visible apprehension and fear in their eyes. Hiko looked down at the young woman before him. She had grown in the year since he had last seen her. She had a maturity to her that had him forgetting she was over two decades younger than he was.
She motioned all the women into the room and out through the wall. The second her feet hit the ground she felt free.
"We have to be cautious. There are traps, ninja, and samurai around. We move quickly." Hiko ordered. His size and appearance were startling to the women who didn't know him. But the fact of the matter was Hiko was their savior. If it meant they would get back home to their families, then they would listen without hesitation.
Of course because of his size and appearance, they would listen without hesitation regardless.
"Where's Misao?" Yahiko asked as he jumped down out of the room and onto the forest floor.
"She's gone. There was an explosion and we tried to escape out of the hole but she was attacked so she ran away." Kaoru replied.
"Attacked by what?" Hiko asked immediately. It was his responsibility to get all the women, not all but one.
"Ninja. They chased her into the forest." Kaoru replied extending her arm in the direction Misao had fled.
"I'll leave these girls under your protection. Get them back to the river. I'm going to find Misao and we'll catch up." Hiko said to Yahiko and Kaoru. They both nodded and Hiko disappeared before them, taking to the trees as he went looking for the final girl.
"He left us! We need him!" Midori cried.
Yahiko looked over at the young girl. She was around his age, and his height. She had a terrified look on her face as she watched the empty trees surrounding them. Exhaling sharply, Yahiko untied the boken he had strapped to his back and held it out to Kaoru.
"We don't need him. We're going to get out of this alive. Don't worry. Kaoru and I will protect you." Yahiko replied. Kaoru smiled down at Yahiko as she took hold of her boken. She was very proud of her student at that moment. He had grown so much, and she could see in his eyes just how determined he was. It wasn't the first time she had seen that look, and she knew it wouldn't be the last.
It was Kenshin's look. The look Kenshin had in his eyes when he was fighting with every ounce of his being to protect those around him.
"Now let's go." Yahiko announced, and started off into the forest. Kaoru stood in place, waiting for all the others to start following Yahiko. Midori hesitated slightly and Kaoru gave her a nod of reassurance. Following the women, Kaoru took up the rear of the group, to protect them from attacks. Taking a deep breath, Kaoru set off into the forest.
She knew that if Yahiko was here, then Kenshin wasn't too far away. She would see him soon and she would tell him about Sakura.
He wasn't far away. In fact, Kenshin was standing about 100 yards away, next to Saito, and facing 3 Shinsengumi samurai. Saito glanced at the three men, and drew a cigarette out of his pocket. Lighting it, he sucked in a deep draw and exhaled the smoke. At the rate he was smoking, he was going to run out of cigarettes before they got back to Kyoto.
Damn.
"Three? Seems a little unfair." Saito grumbled.
"Don't worry; we'll go easy on you. We'll kill you quickly." One samurai said to the pair.
"I don't have time for this." Kenshin said evenly. "Three of you come at me at once."
"Three on one? Seems a little unfair." Another replied, drawing his sword, sneering out Saito's previous statement. Saito exhaled smoke again.
"It is unfair." Saito replied. He heard the flick of Kenshin unsheathing his blade slightly with his thumb. "For you."
Saito's words ended at the same instant Kenshin sprung into action. The three Shinsengumi were obviously ill equipped in both training and experience to take on Kenshin. The red head covered the ground between them in seconds, knocking out the samurai who had unsheathed his sword earlier by unsheathing his sakabatou and knocking him in the chin with his hilt. The samurai flew backwards and landed on the ground, unconscious.
Kenshin swung around, bringing his sword with him. The second samurai had begun to draw his sword out, barely clearing its sheath when Kenshin's sword slipped between the gap of the sword and sheath and slammed the reverse edge into the man's side. Kenshin felt the cracking of bones through his sword and brought his elbow up to connect with the man's face. More bones cracked, blood spurted from the Shinsengumi's broken nose, and the man collapsed, unconscious.
The third and final samurai was momentarily shocked when the first of his comrades was knocked out by the smaller man. He reacted at the same time his second comrade drew his sword. Swinging his sword around he sent it straight for Kenshin's head. It didn't go unnoticed, and Kenshin ducked out of the way, then spun on the ball of his foot.
"Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu – Ryushosen!" Kenshin cried, springing up and connected his sword with his enemy's chin. The force of the impact sent the man flying. It was only a moment or two, but Kenshin had taken out three of the Shinsengumi.
In the span of one inhale and exhale, Saito watched Kenshin defeat the three samurai.
"Not much of a Shinsengumi squad. They are sullying our good name." Saito snorted, throwing his butt to the ground and stepping on it.
"I agree." Kenshin said as he re-sheathed his sword. It was then that he noticed his hair was down. The leather strip Kenshin always used to keep his hair tied back was in pieces on the ground. It was well worn, and had snapped because of the speed Kenshin had just moved. Saito glanced over at the samurai, then back to Kenshin. Out of the five men in the clearing, Kenshin was the only one with long hair. No hope of another piece of leather to tie his hair back.
"Are you planning to wander around here looking like a girl? They might try to kidnap you too." Saito snickered indicating the three unconscious men. Kenshin glared over his shoulder at Saito. That man could be so infuriating at times.
Yahiko had a feeling in the pit of his stomach. He wasn't quite sure how to describe it, but it wasn't a pleasant one. He knew something was wrong when the hairs on his arms and the back of his neck stood straight. He whirled around, to face the women following him and opened his mouth to call out to Kaoru. His instinct was right, because Kaoru saw his reaction in time to whirl around herself and found herself face to face with Kyosuke.
Yahiko didn't know who the man was by Kaoru, and he didn't care. He acted in adrenaline alone and sprung into action. He had his shinai gripped firmly in his hands and was blocking a blow from another samurai who attacked from the side. The women screamed and started to run in all directions.
In mere moments, 5 of the 6 women were gone. Midori was rooted in place, fear frozen in her face as she stared at the shinai and sword that were inches from her face. Yahiko placed himself between the frightened girl and the samurai, and glanced over at Kaoru.
Kaoru had acted immediately and brought her boken around to attack the man who had caused her much terror over the last two days. She felt much more confident since she had her feet on the ground and her boken in hand. She felt much less fear when faced with Kyosuke as well.
Kyosuke caught the wooden sword in his hand and smiled down at Kaoru. She was breathtaking to him. There was a fire in her eyes that drew him towards her. Her silky black hair flowed like a waterfall down her back. When she whirled around he could see her soft neck for a split second. Even the scratches on her face, her split lip, and the bandages around her neck were erotic to him. They were marks left by him. Marks that he felt claimed her as his own.
"Now now, more damage to you and you won't sell for much. Then again, if you don't sell, then I could have you all to myself." Kyosuke said. Kaoru was horrified at his statement. He wanted her for himself? She felt sick to her stomach. She didn't see his fist until it plowed into her face. She was thrown to the side by the force of the impact, but kept a firm grip on her boken.
"Kaoru!" Yahiko cried. He saw her get hit and fall to the ground. His stomach clenched in rage and he fought back against the man who was insisting on attacking Midori. The man wasn't even trying! He was a diversion only so that Kyosuke could get to Kaoru.
Yahiko grit his teeth and stepped away from the man, ending the stalemate they had continued. The man brought his sword high over his head to strike Yahiko down, but the boy was faster and he stepped forward, jabbing the man in the gut with the tip of his shinai. There was a grunt and the man doubled over. Yahiko stepped back, then forward again, bringing his sword down on the man's shoulder, at the pressure point that causes unconsciousness. He slumped over and fell to the ground. Yahiko rounded to see that Midori had run away, and Kyosuke was towering over Kaoru.
He took one step towards the pair when another blade streaked out from the thick forest and nicked his neck. Yahiko reacted in time to save his own life by jumping backward and saw another samurai coming from the forest. He stopped for a moment. He knew they were surrounded by samurai. Those women were being hunted one by one. And there was nothing he could do for any of them.
Kenshin and Saito stood next to the three unconscious men when they could hear the screams of several women. Turning towards the source, Kenshin and Saito left the area in search of them.
Between the trees, they could see a flash of colour. It was unmistakably yellow. Possibly a kimono. Kenshin and Saito came face to face with two women, girls really, who were absolutely terrified. Behind them were several samurai giving chase. There were no words spoken between the men, they simply attacked.
The girls saw two men coming towards them. One had bright red hair and a cross shaped scar on his cheek. Seeing them caused both women to freeze in their place. The two men coming towards them passed right by and attacked the samurai that have been chasing them. In seconds the three were unconscious and the red head was back to their side.
"Are you okay?" Kenshin asked, resheathing his sword. The girls nodded.
"Kaoru!" a voice cried. Yahiko's voice. Kenshin turned towards the sound, fear gripping his heart.
"Go." Saito ordered. Kenshin turned back to him. "I'll take care of them. Go!" Kenshin hesitated only a moment before he was running again. Running towards Yahiko.
Towards Kaoru.
Kaoru was momentarily stunned when she felt his fist slam into her face. She recovered quickly and scrambled back to her feet. Kyosuke smiled at her, and looked over at the kid she was with. He had managed to knock out one of his samurai, and was currently locked in a fight with another. He frowned. The fact that a kid had managed to knock out a Shinsengumi was unforgivable. He would properly punish his man once the women were back in their proper places.
Kaoru used the opportunity Kyosuke had presented to her. With his head turned, he let his guard down and Kaoru gripped her boken tightly.
She swung the sword around and it connected with his temple, causing Kyosuke to falter and hit the ground hard.
"Don't let your guard down!" Kaoru cried to her student, then turned and ran. Yahiko could take care of himself, she knew that. She left him in order to protect herself, and him. As long as they were together then he would continually be attacked. She didn't want that.
Her thoughts were cut off when she tripped over a wire and fell. The next moment kunai were flying everywhere. One sliced her leg, and another imbedded itself in the ground next to her head. Kaoru scrambled to her feet and ran again. She took two steps and realized her boken was still on the forest floor. She didn't have a moment to get it back. She needed to get away from Kyosuke and all the other samurai.
She could hear the footsteps of samurai as they made their way through the forest, looking for her and all the other escapees. She had to stay ahead of them. She was alone and unarmed, she needed to find a weapon. She continued to run further from her boken, knowing that she couldn't go back that way.
Glancing over her shoulder, Kaoru could see the flashes of blue as samurai followed her. It was probably Kyosuke. She wished with all her might that she could get up high in the trees like Misao. At least then she'd have a fighting chance.
Kaoru came up solid against something hard. Hands lashed out and grabbed her, hauling her close to a body. The next moment she was airborne. She opened her eyes and saw black. She found herself in the arms of a masked man. A ninja.
"Kyosuke-sama wishes to see you." The man said. Kaoru struggled in his embrace; her feet barely grazed the tree branches as the man carried her back the way she came.
"Well I don't want to see him!" Kaoru cried. Resorting to the lowest blow possible, Kaoru brought her knee up between the man's legs. He grunted and she felt his hold on her weaken. She took the opportunity, struggled more and managed to free herself. Lucky for her she fell very shortly and slammed against a thick branch. She gripped the branch and hoisted herself to stand on it. Looking upwards she saw the ninja pull out a stick and light the end of it.
To Kaoru, it looked like a firecracker, only larger. If it was a firecracker then it exploded, and if it was bigger than a firecracker, then it would have a bigger bang. She had no where to run. The ninja dropped the stick and Kaoru braced herself for the explosion. She had no clue how powerful it would be until it exploded overhead. The force sent her flying. Falling more like it. Before she fell she saw the ninja light another stick and throw it towards her. The next explosion was closer.
There was a third explosion just as a pair of arms grabbed her and stopped her fall. She found herself standing on a branch, her back pressed into the thick trunk of the tree and a man with both hands on either side of her head stood pressed against her, keeping her held captive.
Kaoru fought back. She couldn't see much except dark spots in her vision. There was a ringing in her ears that was giving her a headache, and the wound on her lip had reopened causing her to taste blood in her mouth. Firm hands grabbed her shoulders and shook her hard, just once.
"Kaoru!" someone shouted. Kaoru froze. The shout sounded far away, but she knew the voice. She blinked a few times and her vision cleared to find herself staring into concerned amethyst eyes.
"Kenshin."
It was her. Kaoru. His Kaoru. She was in bad shape. There were scratches on her face, dried blood on her kimono collar, and blood spotted bandages wrapped around her neck. Her hair was down, and tangled and her lip was cut and bleeding. Her kimono was torn and bloody around her left thigh. Her blue eyes welled up with tears when her vision cleared and she saw Kenshin standing before her.
It was him. Kenshin. Her Kenshin. She didn't hesitate and threw her arms around him, hugging him close. Kenshin stiffened slightly at the sudden movement, but he was too relieved to have her back in front of him he took the opportunity to bring her close to him in a hug. She was alive, a little worse for wear, but she was alive and that's what mattered.
Kaoru cried in his arms. Relief wasn't the word to use to describe her feelings at that moment. She was every positive emotion she could think of, and more. It was Kenshin. She was with Kenshin again. Her feelings of euphoria were replaced with dread. She made a promise and she intended to keep it. Pushing away from Kenshin, she wiped her tears away.
"Kenshin, its Sakura." Kaoru said. Kenshin froze. The look on Kaoru's face was not a good one.
"What about her?" Kenshin asked.
"She's dead." Kaoru blurted out. Kenshin felt dread wash over him. Kaoru continued, her words coming out rapidly and tearful. "They took us, and she killed a man. When we got here he took her away and I never saw her again. He told me he had killed her, oh Kenshin I'm sorry I couldn't protect her! She died and I'm so sorry!"
Kenshin's dread changed to relief. He silenced Kaoru with a hand and then proceeded to rip off a piece of his gi from his sleeve. Using the scrap of fabric he gently dabbed at the cut of Kaoru's lip, cleaning it as best he could.
"Sakura is not dead. I can't explain anything else right now, but I will soon I promise. She's around here, helping us get you back." Kenshin said softly. Kaoru was silent. For the first time since she laid eyes on him a short while ago, she really looked at him. He had referred to himself as "I" several times in that last statement. Something Kaoru picked up on immediately.
He was different somehow. Worry was etched in his face, but with every passing moment it was easing away. He smiled slightly down at Kaoru as she scrutinized him. He was different, and it dawned on her how.
"Your hair." She said softly.
When his leather strip broke, he was left with hair all the way down his back, getting in his way. He had nothing to tie it back with, so he took out the kunai Aoshi had given him and cut it short. His red hair was now to his chin, the same length as the hair he could never get into his ponytail. And there were three samurai unconscious in the middle of the forest with a pile of red hair next to them.
To Kaoru, he looked older now. Still no where near his actual age, but he seemed to look older, and defiantly more masculine. Now he looked like a man, rather than a boy... or girl.
"We need to go. We have to catch up with the others and get out of here." Kenshin said. Kaoru nodded in agreement. "I believe this is yours."
With that Kenshin produced Kaoru's boken from the ties at his waist. It had been next to his own sword. She took it gratefully and smiled at him again.
"Thank you." Kaoru said. Kenshin smiled and took a step closer to her. Wrapping an arm around her waist, he hauled her against him. Before Kaoru had a chance to be nervous Kenshin stepped off the branch. They fell to the forest floor below them and Kaoru felt no fear as the ground rushed up to meet them. Kenshin alighted on another branch, and another until they landed on the ground in one piece. He released her and stepped back.
"Let's go get Yahiko." Kenshin said. Kaoru nodded and started back the way she came.
Yahiko wasn't too far from the pair, but he was up to his eyes in samurai. He was completely surrounded by 4 men. They all wore the blue haori of Shinsengumi and they all wielded swords. Yahiko's only option was defense, he had no opportunity for offence. When one finished an attack, another started. Yahiko knew when he was being played with, and he knew he was going to have to get serious.
A risk was needed to be taken. Yahiko knew it. He braced himself. Ready for the next attack. The next opportunity.
It came, swift and deadly. The blade rushed towards Yahiko's head. He was ready. Shifting his weight, Yahiko stepped towards the blade and reached out. The blade sliced his cheek and cut his hand open when he grabbed it by the base, near the hilt. He flipped the shinai and rammed the hilt into the samurai's throat.
The man coughed blood before his eyes rolled back into his head and he slumped over. Yahiko straightened, still holding his shinai, as well as the other sword. The three men stood stock still, shock registering in their faces at how bold the boy had been. Then rage gripped them and the three attacked at once.
Silence fell on the group.
Yahiko stood with his hands crossed over his head, a single blade caught between them. Another blade was driven into the ground by a wooden sword, and the final blade was sliding against a sakabatou.
Kaoru stepped backward, releasing the sword she had pinned to the ground. She stepped forward with a simple thrust and caught the man in the wrist with her boken. His sword fell from his grasp and she delivered a knock out blow to his head. Kenshin brought his sheath out from his belt and knocked the third samurai across the face with it. Blood and teeth flew out of his mouth and the man fell to the ground.
Yahiko slid his hands down the blade until his hilt connected with the guard of his opponents sword, throwing his weight behind his sword, Yahiko pushed the sword back far enough so that he could force his own sword up and hit the man with his shinai's hilt, directly on the chin.
It was the Kamiya Kasshin Ryu secret technique. One he had not mastered quite yet, but he got better with it each time he used it in battle.
"Where the hell have you been!" Yahiko cried out, rounding on Kenshin and Kaoru. "I've been fighting for my life here and you ran away! Lucky for you I'm such a great swordsman or else I'd have been dead by now!"
"Listen you ungrateful little twerp, we just saved you! And it's thanks to my training that you can even hold a sword!" Kaoru exclaimed, slapping him on the head. Yahiko felt the ground shake under his feet at the same instance Kaoru gave him the slap. The three of them froze.
The ground was shaking, and there was a loud rumble coming from nearby.
"That happened a little while ago too, near the house." Yahiko commented. "Then there were those three blasts really close by. What's going on?"
"Dynamite." Kenshin responded. "It's an explosive they're using. Very destructive." Kenshin looked up into the mid-afternoon sky. The sky was darkening, not from the setting sun, but from the billow of black smoke that was forming. Worry creased his brow again. Everyone was still out there. Had anyone been in that explosion? Where was Misao? Sakura? Hiko? The women?
"We'll only find out if we go." Kaoru said, coming up behind Kenshin. He nodded his head, and started towards the explosion, with Kaoru and Yahiko following close behind.
----------------------------------
A.N. I hope you enjoyed the chapter. It's fun getting into the nitty gritty of the fights I have planned. Yes…. Fights. :) I went with the K&K reunion like I did cuz I didn't want to make it too unbelievable, you know? I mean I've already got him acting OC a little and I didn't want to go overboard with it. I like Kenshin the way he was originally written. So I'm trying to keep him that way as best I can.
Anyways, for you Aoshi/Misao fans they're reunion is next chapter.
I hope the jumping from character to character wasn't too confusing for anyone. I separated each jump with a break so hopefully it won't be too bad. The next chapter will be similar so if there's too much of a problem with it then I'll do my best to ensure the next chapter is better. :)
Sakura-san