Disclaimer: RK isn't mine, I merely borrowed the characters for my story.
A.N. Welcome to the next chapter! As promised, we get to see some action from some important people. They rock.
R&R!
Enjoy!
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The Past Returns – chapter 20
Kaoru's whole life actually flashed before her eyes. She had heard that when faced with certain death, a person remembered moments in their life with startling clarity. It was true.
She remembered when she was a small girl, she had been a bit of a tomboy and was climbing trees. She had slipped one day and fallen. Her father had been there and he caught her before she hit the ground.
She remembered the many nights she had stayed up late training by herself. She remembered the day her father had given her assistant master status.
She remembered the day the officer came to her home and told her that her father had died in the war. She had cried for a week.
She remembered the day she first laid eyes on Kenshin, he had been a scrawny man who didn't appear to hold a lot of power in his small body. She had challenged him, only to watch him fall into a pile of garbage.
She remembered meeting Yahiko, Misao, Aoshi and the people of the Aoiya.
Her whole life. In just an instant. She had frozen at the crazed look in Midori's eyes. She could only watch helplessly as the knife rushed towards her.
The death delivering strike never came. The knife was stopped in mid swing when Kyosuke arrived and grabbed Midori's wrist. The force of his grip caused Midori to cry out and release the knife. The blade clattered to the floor and Kyosuke gave Midori a hard shove, sending her flying against the wall.
"Don't touch her, you filth!" Kyosuke roared. Bending down he snatched up the knife and started towards Midori. White hot rage blinded the man as he made his way towards the partially conscious girl. He had been choking horribly when he saw the girl stab his Kaoru in the leg. The coughing had been forgotten as he sprung into action.
His Kaoru had been injured enough. Her beauty was by no means hindered because of her injuries. On the contrary, the injuries were all the more appealing to Kyosuke since he knew that he had been the cause of them. It was his mark, his brand. He had claimed her as his own because of his inflictions.
Kaoru moved as fast as her injured legs would allow her. She launched herself at Kyosuke and grabbed hold of his arm with both of hers, using her whole body weight to stop him from killing Midori.
"Don't!" she cried. Kyosuke's swing was stopped. "Please don't."
Kyosuke heard the desperation in the woman's voice. He was very confused. She had just been stabbed by Midori and now she was putting her life on the line to save the girl. It made no sense to him at all.
Kaoru was a mystery to him, but he would enjoy learning all about her.
Not one person there expected the explosion which tore through the room and caught each individual off guard. Four bodies were sent flying like rag dolls by the force of the blast. Kaoru was torn away from Kyosuke and sent through the air.
Another explosion shook the entire building, ripping through the walls and sending them crashing down around the small cluster of people.
"The dynamite!" Kyosuke coughed through the smoke and haze. The air was choked with dirt and smoke and anything that was flammable was on fire.
Kaoru coughed roughly. She was stunned. She didn't know which way was up. There was a ringing in her ears that blocked out all other sound. She was lying on her stomach and thick smoke clouded her vision and caused breathing to be difficult. She glanced around and found herself surrounded by pieces of wood and small fires. There were dirt, rock, and tree branches littered around her as well.
Tree branches? She was outside? How was that possible? She was just inside...
Midori wasn't far from Kaoru's position. The younger girl looked unconscious. She was lying on her back with debris covering her legs and part of her upper body. There was a bloody gash above her eyebrow and Kaoru could see the unsteady rise and fall of her chest indicating that she was having trouble breathing too.
Kyosuke was no where to be seen from Kaoru's position.
Kaoru blinked a few times and pushed herself to a sitting position. She was still inside, but the explosion had blown a gaping hole in the wall and part of the ceiling. The trees and dirt that had been outside, were blown inside and littered all over the small room. The luxury room she had woken up in was gone completely, what remained was a few scraps of fabric from the linens that had been in there.
"Shit." A voice cursed. Before Kaoru could comprehend the origin of the voice a hand grabbed her roughly by the arm and hauled her to her feet. Kaoru found herself standing and being dragged out through the huge hole in the wall. The scent of fresh evening air hit her hard and she sucked in deep gulping breaths.
"Take slower breaths."
Kaoru nodded and complied with the instruction. She recognized the voice immediately and she was mildly surprised at its owner.
She never thought that she would be rescued by Saito.
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Kenshin had patched Yahiko up as best he could. There were no bandages left to cover the large gash on his forehead, but Kenshin had managed to stop the bleeding. Yahiko picked himself up off the ground and went to retrieve his shinai. His head was killing him and he felt nauseous from the pain, but he wouldn't give up until Kaoru was rescued.
Standing, Kenshin glanced over at Aoshi and Misao. He started towards the pair when Aoshi turned and glanced over at Kenshin. The look in the man's eyes had Kenshin running towards them.
When he got closer, he saw what caused the worried look. There was blood coming from Misao's mouth. Kenshin's steps faltered and he came to a standstill. Aoshi's hand was pressed firmly to Misao's stomach, the cloth used to stop the blood was coated in the red fluid. Aoshi's hands were bloody, as was Misao's uniform. There was blood on the grasses where Misao was lying and drops of blood were visible on other greenery.
"Misao." Kenshin said softly.
"Kenshin... Kaoru-san." Misao whispered.
"She needs a doctor... now." Aoshi said firmly. Kenshin nodded.
"Take her to one." Kenshin replied. "We'll get Kaoru back."
Aoshi nodded. He gathered Misao in his arms and stood up. Kenshin could see the blood dripping out of her and landing on the ground. His heart all but stopped. Misao, usually so full of energy and life, was dying right in front of his eyes.
"Go fast." Kenshin said, knowing he didn't have to. The look on Aoshi's face was one he had never seen on the tall mans face. Fear. Aoshi was frightened. In the blink of an eye, Aoshi was gone.
Kenshin turned and locked eyes with Yahiko who stood just a few feet behind him. Yahiko looked scared and concerned.
"Will she be okay?" Yahiko asked.
"I don't know." Kenshin replied honestly. "We need to get Kaoru back. Let Aoshi worry about Misao for now, and let's go."
Yahiko was grateful for his honesty, but fear gripped him hard when he saw the amount of blood on the ground where Misao had been lying. Yahiko couldn't picture the world without Misao in it. Yet there he was, standing before a stain of blood, wondering what it would be like if she did die.
Shaking his head, Yahiko tried to cast the horrible thought out of his mind. He didn't succeed but he did manage to concentrate on rescuing Kaoru a little more. Turning he started to follow Kenshin who had begun to walk away from the area.
Focused entirely on getting Kaoru back, Kenshin kept walking. He started back towards the house where it had all started.
Back to where the girls had been kept captive.
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"You stabbed me."
"You asked me to!"
"I didn't actually think you'd do it!"
"Well now you know for future reference that if you ask me to do something that will inflict bodily harm on you, I'm going to do it!"
The argument between Hiko and Sakura was constant and unending. It was a testament on how much they disliked each other.
"You drive me insane." Hiko snorted.
"Feeling is mutual!"
Silence.
Once Hiko had been mobile, they started to head towards the house where the girls had been originally held captive. It seemed the most logical place to go. It could be a total waste of time, but it was all they had to go on.
"Did you have to stab me in the leg?" Hiko growled. He was limping slightly as he walked through the forest. When Sakura had driven the blade of her sword through his thigh he had been thankful to feel the pain. However in hindsight it wasn't the most convenient of places to be injured.
"It was the best spot on your muscle bound body! I could have stabbed you in the arm and that would have rendered you useless in a battle. At least this way you can still be useful!"
"I am always useful, girl. You'd do well to remember that!
"Will you stop calling me 'girl'! I'm not that much younger than you!" Sakura roared, turning on Hiko. The pair came to a dead standstill and Sakura stood before Hiko, yelling up at him. Inwardly, Hiko smiled. She was an interesting woman, that was for sure.
Sakura glared up at Hiko and hated the fact that she respected and trusted him beyond words. He was an arrogant, self-centered, egomaniac. But he was a good man, she couldn't deny that.
Hiko glanced up from Sakura and saw the corner of the house. They had made it to their final destination.
An explosion erupted from the house. Hiko watched the wall they could see peeking through the trees explode into pieces just before Sakura's body slammed hard into his. The force of the explosion had flung Sakura forward directly into Hiko's larger frame, and the two of them continued to fly backwards several feet.
Hiko landed hard on his back with Sakura landing on top of him. The rain of debris and dirt coated the pair and Hiko could hear Sakura's hard coughing. He also noticed her wheezing.
"Are you okay?" Hiko asked. Sakura's response was another harsh cough. She pushed herself off Hiko and lay on her back beside the man. Her breathing was much more difficult than normal.
"I'm fine." She replied.
"You're lying." Hiko replied, sitting up.
"I'm fine." Sakura repeated. Standing, Sakura brushed the dirt off her clothes and started towards the remains of the house. She wavered slightly when her vision darkened for a second but continued on her way. Hiko followed behind her. He decided to humour her for the time being and let her think he believed that she was fine. He was well aware that she was not fine.
They made their way to the house in silence. Sakura climbed into the charred and broken room through the hole in the wall and found herself staring through the house and into the central yard. The explosion had torn the whole house apart.
There was a soft coughing from the debris of the house. Sakura followed the noise to a young girl who lay trapped under a fallen wall. Scrambling, Sakura started to clear the rubble away just as Hiko entered into the room the same way Sakura had. He saw her clearing away some debris in an attempt to rescue a small girl.
Hiko recognized the girl immediately. He had seen her with the other women when he rescued them from the house in the first place. He went to Sakura's side and helped lift the wall off the girl as Sakura dragged her out.
"Hey, are you okay?" Sakura asked, laying the girl on her back and brushing some dirt off her face. The girl coughed and slowly opened her eyes.
"Kyosuke-sama?" she whispered. Sakura froze.
"Did she just add –sama?" Hiko asked.
"Kyosuke-sama!" she cried, sitting up.
Midori found herself looking up at a huge man she recognized as a friend of Kaoru's. Next to him was a woman wearing a blue haori. Anger flared in Midori. How dare that woman wear the colours of Shinsengumi! Women were not worthy of the shinsengumi blue. Only men such as Kyosuke-sama were allowed to wear the honourable colour.
"You bitch! Take that off now! You don't deserve it!" Midori screamed, launching herself at Sakura. The older woman was taken off guard when the young girl flew towards her. Midori never reached her target, however, because Hiko reached out and grabbed her by the back of the neck, stopping her cold. Midori struggled in vain against his hard grip.
"What the hell!" Sakura exclaimed.
"Take it off! Take it off!" Midori screamed, her struggling continued.
"You'll see that my influence is total when it comes to women." A harsh voice said. Sakura and Hiko turned to see Kyosuke emerging from the smoke that came from several small fires. He looked worse for wear, finally. His clothes were scorched and had burn marks on them. The large gash on his cheek was bleeding. And he was weaponless.
"What did you do to her?" asked Sakura. Kyosuke merely smiled.
"I taught her the truth. She is a woman. She is meant to serve me. Totally and completely." Kyosuke responded. Sakura unconsciously put her had on the hilt of her sword, flicking her thumb and partly unsheathing it. "I wouldn't do that, Sakura-san."
Before she could breath. Before Hiko could react. Before either samurai could move, Sakura had a blade against her throat.
Hiko couldn't believe how stupid he had been to allow the enemy to get so close to him. But the girl squirming in his grasp was strange. The ferocity she fought with distracted him. The smoke and haze distracted him. Sakura distracted him.
"It also helps to have the servitude of such strong men." Kyosuke replied with a smile.
"Sometimes servitude can backfire on you." Sakura replied evenly. She looked over at Hiko and the pair locked eyes. Hiko read the message loud and clear and released the still squirming Midori.
The girl flew at Sakura, blinded by the rage she felt towards the haori-wearing woman. The ninja didn't know what to do. They knew Midori was Kyosuke's servant, making her off limits to them. Sakura took the attack full on, allowing Midori to knock her to the ground. When the small girl hit her hard the blade of the sword sliced a shallow wound into Sakura's neck. The two women hit the floor hard and Midori sat on top of Sakura attempting to scratch the haori off her.
The instant Sakura was free of the blade at her neck, Hiko flew into action. He unsheathed his sword and sliced cleanly through the offending blade before the blood on it could drip off. He threw his elbow into the ninja's face sending the man flying. Whipping around, Hiko flipped his blade just before it connected with another man, knocking him to the ground.
Two ninja sprung into action and attacked Hiko. Both men were thrown back by the force of Hiko's Do Ryu Sen. The air reverberated from the force of the blow that Kyosuke felt it and he stood quite a distance away.
He knew he was no match for the cloak-wearing man. By no stretch of the imagination.
Sakura hit the ground with Midori landing on top of her. She felt the warm trickle of blood coming out of the cut on her neck. She let Midori claw at her for just a short second before she grabbed the girl's wrists, stopping her attack. Rolling, Sakura pinned Midori under her and delivered a blow to the girls head. Midori let out a small cry and stilled under Sakura.
"Sorry." Sakura mumbled to the unconscious girl, feeling a twinge of guilt for causing harm to the poor girl.
Sakura left the ninja to Hiko and launched herself straight for Kyosuke. He saw her coming and turned to run. He wasn't armed, and even though Sakura was a weak woman, she still bore a weapon that could cause damage.
The woman never made it to him. Kyosuke saw one of his samurai emerge from the forest and step between Sakura and himself. The samurai drew his sword and blocked a blow from Sakura. Another fight had begun.
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Kenshin and Yahiko ran through the forest, heading towards the sound of the explosion they had heard minutes before hand. As they ran the smoke from the explosion was getting thicker. Yahiko recognized the area they were in. Both he and Kenshin were heading back to the house.
They had been running since Aoshi and Misao had left. But the explosion caused them to pick up the pace.
Kenshin wasn't running as fast as he normally could, but he was impressed at the speed they were moving. Yahiko had become faster in the last year of his training and it was showing. He was also becoming a better swordsman. Kenshin couldn't help but be proud of the young man. Yahiko was growing into a fine man.
Yahiko watched the back of Kenshin as they ran. It was odd watching the back of the man he respected the most without seeing the long red ponytail swaying with each step he took. Yahiko had noticed the missing hair the first time he saw Kenshin that afternoon. It was hard not to notice the absence of almost a foot of bright red hair.
Yahiko was about to open his mouth to say something when Kenshin stopped dead in his tracks. The stop was so sudden that Yahiko almost ran right into him. Peaking from behind Kenshin, Yahiko spied what had caused Kenshin to stop dead in his tracks. Directly in front of them was the charred and burning remains of the house. They could see the back of one samurai wearing a blue haori, and the sound of swords clashing was echoing across the forest.
The smoke and haze from the explosion was still present. Kenshin didn't need to see who was fighting though. He could feel it. Somewhere beyond the smoke that clouded the scene, were Hiko and Sakura.
Movement from the corner of Kenshin's eye pulled his attention from the scene in front of him to several ninja stealing their way through the forest towards the fight. Kenshin sprung into action and made his way on swift, silent feet towards the ninja. They didn't know he was there until he was on top of them, drawing his sword and bringing it crashing down on his opponent.
Yahiko wasn't far behind Kenshin. He brought his shinai out and attacked another ninja, cutting off the attack that was sure to come from the masked man.
Kyosuke heard the commotion from behind him and saw several more of his ninja were locked in a battle with the Battousai and the kid. He was thoroughly confused. Why was Battousai still fighting? Why had that girl arrived with the big man? Wasn't she Battousai's woman?
Realization dawned on Kyosuke as he turned back to watch the fight before him. The girl was female. She was a whore. She obviously had many men who considered her their property. She had done quite a good job manipulating two extraordinarily strong men. That being said, she was quite strong herself, Kyosuke had to admit that at least. She had suffered a great deal of physical and emotional turmoil at his hands and still came back fighting. She was quite an adversary.
Shaking his head slightly, Kyosuke forced his attention back to the most important matter. His Kaoru was missing. He had lost track of her after the explosion when she had been thrown off his back. He stole a quick glare at Midori's unconscious body. She had meddled in his plans, causing him to lose Kaoru. If he had his sword he would have killed her right there. But he lost it in the explosion as well.
With that thought a sword flew out of no where and embedded itself in the floor at his feet. Kyosuke looked around for a moment to see that Hiko had disarmed another of his samurai, sending the blade flying. Kyosuke didn't hesitate as he pulled it out of the wooden floor and turned, leaving the fight behind.
Kyosuke disappeared into the smoke, unnoticed by everyone fighting.
Hiko took care of another samurai when he heard a crash of blades directly behind him. Turning he saw Sakura blocking another sword. He focused on her for a second and could see she was exhausted. Both of her hands were gripping the hilt of her sword and her arms were shaking from exhaustion.
Hiko took two strides and grabbed the man attacking Sakura by the throat. Shoving back, he slammed the man into the unstable wall, and pushed him through it. The man hit the ground hard, and didn't get back up.
"Stop fighting." Hiko ordered, turning around to Sakura. She opened her mouth to protest when a clash of blades caused her to freeze.
Standing next to her was another samurai. He had gone unnoticed by her and had managed to get close enough to strike. Beside him was Kenshin, his arm extended and his sakabatou blocking the blade.
Hiko had seen the impending attack, but he had also seen his baka-deshi approaching.
Sakura's vision darkened. She blinked for a second and cleared her vision once again. She was fighting off unconsciousness ever since the explosion occurred minutes beforehand. Admitting defeat for that moment, Sakura lowered her sword.
"Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu – ryu sho sen!" Kenshin yelled, knocking his opponent out completely.
Kenshin nodded to his master and turned back to the enemy. Yahiko was still outside the house, fighting the samurai as best he could. Kenshin sprung into action. He would not be defeated here!
Sheathing his sword, Kenshin pulled out the kunai he had kept hidden in his sleeve. Turning he threw it at a ninja attacking Yahiko. The man found himself pinned to a tree and struggling to free himself. Yahiko looked from the ninja over to Kenshin.
Kenshin grabbed his sheath and pulled it from the ties at his waist. He turned towards the last few fighters and left Sakura's side, heading towards them. Two men launched an attack on the red head. Without batting an eye, Kenshin unsheathed his sword fluidly and gripped his sheath tightly. He stepped forward and swung both arms.
Using the sheath as a blade, Kenshin attacked. Parrying the attacks, Kenshin thrust and blocked at the same time. He pivoted on one foot, blocking a blow with his sheath. Swinging with every bit of force he could, Kenshin brought his sakabatou around, with the sharp edge forward, and cleanly sliced straight through the samurai's sword.
Kenshin turned and quickly sheathed his blade, flipping it and allowing his hand to hover just above the hilt. He took the stance that had Yahiko pausing in anticipation. Kenshin's battoujutsu was unlike anything he had ever seen.
The last man standing saw the stance and moved in for the attack. He knew who Kenshin was. He knew what the smaller man was capable of. But he also knew his own strength, and the fact that Kenshin carried a reverse blade sword would surely slow the drawing of the blade, and slow the speed of the battoujutsu.
Kenshin watched the man approach, his hand hovered over the hilt of his sword. He waited for the exact moment, when the man entered into his reach. One step.
Hiko smiled. Yahiko and Sakura watched in amazement.
Kenshin grabbed his sheath and attacked with it first. In the same instance, he pulled the sword from its confines and spun around, completing the sword strike by connecting his blade with the samurai's arm. Just as the case with Jinei, Kenshin broke the bones in the samurai's arm.
"What the hell was that!" Yahiko breathed, unsure of what to think anymore. He had thought he had seen all of Kenshin's moves. But he knew he had never seen the rurouni attack with the sheath first during a battoujutsu.
"Sou Ryu Sen – Ikazuchi." Hiko replied watching his former student resheath his sword. A light drizzle started to fall and quickly turned to a heavier spring rain.
"Time to end this." Kenshin said firmly.
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A.N. Well, it's not so much of a cliffhanger, but still a bit of a cliffhanger. The story is coming to a close! There's only a few chapters left! Until next time!
Sakura-san