Opening Notes

Midi: Okay, bleh. I'm not in the best mood right now, but I just watched the 1996 version of Romeo & Juliet and now I'm up to writing romantic, depressing things. You see, I got flamed last chapter, and it was definitely the...worst...one by far. That is to say, I've only been flamed thrice...er...three times...for PintheP, but it really got to me. I was going to go off on another immature rampage, but then it hit me - why act like a bratty little kid when I can just prove him or her wrong by writing a really, really good chapter?

Hmm, I just knew ya'll would agree with me.

End of Opening Notes

Drown:

Chapter Nineteen

Revive Me

It didn't surprise her to find that she was crying. Sobbing, she huddled into a ball and fall over onto her side in the white, white snow. Perhaps it wouldn't be so bad to die here, amongst such beautiful white snow...

And that's how the Battousai found her half an hour later.

Battle worn and soaked in blood, he stood out sharply in the world of white. The injuries had already started to become numb from the cold, but when the hitokiri saw his...just what was she exactly?...lying pale and unconcious he felt his heart begin to numb over as well.

"K...Kaoru...

A coldness like he had never known but once swarmed his being. Emotion, something he was both enemy and stranger to, was his only companion, and the emotion that kept him company was...what? Fear...helplessness...and something deeper. And it was that something deeper that made him drop his sword for the second time in his existence.

Forgetting all about his lost weapon, Battousai threw himself to the ground beside the younger girl, very near panicking when he noticed that her usually pale pink lips were tinged with blue. Suddenly he found himself terrified at the prospect of Kaoru dying from hypothermia or some other such disease brought on by the cold.

Carefully, he laid a hand against her cheek for the barest of an instant but drew back almost immediately. Her skin...it was like ice! The bubble of fear within him burst and he did something he hadn't done since he was a child - he panicked.

Eyes widened in fear for his charge and forehead creased, he leaned forward to scoop her up into his arms. Where was he supposed to take her to get warm? Surely not back to the hotel. They'd be looking for him now. "Fuck it!" he cursed quietly, hunching his shoulders and drawing Kaoru's limp body closer to his own, trying to share his body heat.

After his murderous rampage, he realized that staying anywhere in this town was probably not the most intelligent idea. And it would be utterly stupid to even try to stay on the road tonight. No, they needed somewhere quiet and out of the way. Somewhere they wouldn't be found. Searching his memory, Battousai desperately tried to remember where he'd stayed a few summers back when he was on the run from the police. He'd stayed in a house...with...was it Makimochi? No, no, the girl's name had been Makimachi. Yes, that was right. Maybe she still lived in that house outside of the town and would be willing to help two less fortunates...

ooo-----ooo

Makimachi Misao was not at all happy. Coughing loudly, she waved her hands around in the air, desperately trying to guide the smoke away from her face. "Crap!" she exclaimed over her ruined chicken casserole, whipping off her oven mitts and throwing them on top of the disaster-that-was-dinner.

"Why does this always happen to me?" she raved, pacing the kitchen and warding off the swirls of unpleasant-smelling smoke. "Why? I just don't get it! I follow the recipe to a-"

Before she could finish her little tantrum, there came a distant but loud series of bangs from the front hall. Arching an eyebrow, she untied the apron from around her waist and threw it onto the kitchen floor carelessly before making her way to the door.

The bangs continued all the way there. "Yeah, yeah, coming!" she yelled, a little perturbed for being disturbed so late into the evening.

Misao quickly fixed an evil frown onto her face. Throwing the front door open, she greeted, "Yeah? Whaddya want?" only to be greeted with a sight that made her gasp. A strangely familar, middle-sized man in his late twenties was standing on her porch. Crimson hair streamed down his back in silken locks, adding to his feminine, beautiful appearance. Glowing eyes stared at her with a panicked look shining in their depths. A young girl not much older than herself rested snugly against his chest. Misao didn't have to look twice to see that she was unnaturally pale. Her skin was tinged blue.

"Makimachi Misao?" This came from the man. She nodded, eyes not leaving the unconcious girl. "I don't know if you remember, but I stayed here for a few nights two or three years back... and was wondering if you would...please...prove yourself to be an even more generous person and help me once more."

Without a word, Misao opened the door all the way and allowed the stranger and the sick girl access to her home.

ooo-----ooo

Katsura was not ahappy man. Things were not going his way. They had been for a while...for years, even. But they'd been ruined. By that fucking Battousai and Kamiya Kaoru. Gripping the railing of the staircase, he clenched his fingers until his knuckles shone white in the dim light.

Damned hitokiri, they always seemed to get in the way. There was the shuffling of shoes against marble behind him and he released the railing. "Report."

The messengers nodded and kneeled before their boss. "The assasination squad you sent after the Kamiya girl and the Hitokiri Battousai was...defeated, sir."

Katsura's eyes widened for the barest of an instant before his face returned to a passive state.

"I see." He was calm for another moment, before he slammed his hand rather unexpectedly into the closest wall, startling his two underlings. "GOD DAMNIT!"

ooo-----ooo

The Battousai squeezed all remaining water from the wash cloth in his hands before resting it gently back onto Kaoru's forehead. Taking his seat by her side once more, he sat motionlessly for a time, aware of Misao standing at the other end of the room.

"So...what happened to her?"

Her words were not a surprise. "I...it's a long story," Battousai said finally. Misao said nothing further and left soon after.

Internally sighing, Battousai finally allowed himself to relax a little. Leaning forward, he tentatively took Kaoru's hand in his own and slowly ran his thumb across her palm. His caresses were soft, but apparently enough towake Kaoru momentarily from her sleep.

"B...Battousai?" she mumbled, eyes remaining closed.

The hitokiri struggled for a voice. "I...I'm here."

That seemed to qualm Kaoru's fears. A small smile graced her lips.

Battousai found himself staring into the now very familiar blue eyes of Kaoru. Without even noticing, his expression softened and he realized that he was smoothing her hair away from her forehead.

"What happened?" she asked, curious.

He shook his head once. "You fell asleep in the snow. When I found you, your skin was blue. I brought you to a safe, warm place where you can get some proper rest." His words were stiff, but this time it was because Battousai was finding it very hard not to lean forward and pull the girl into his arms.

But, apparently, that wasn't his decision to make, because the next thing he knew, Kaoru had thrown her arms around his neck and buried her face into his hair. "Thank you. For...for coming back." Her voice trembled with a mixture of exhaustion and something else, something Battousai found it almost impossible to identify.

"Did you think that I wouldn't?" The question was out before he could stop himself.

Kaoru drew back, shocked. "You...you..."

The hitokiri was pretty shocked himself. His first question in ten years...he almost snorted. Who would have thought.

By the time his thoughts were clear, Kaoru seemed to have recomposed herself. "Well...I admit that at first I wasn't sure. I was...I was scared. I was scared that you were going to leave me. That you were finally going to kill me like you said you would." To the Battousai's horror, tears began to well up in her eyes.

A sort of tension began to build inside his chest as Kaoru speedily grew more and more hysterical. "And I w-wasn't s-s-sure you w-w-wanted me around anymore! I...I...oh, please just don't hate me! Don't make me go away!" Her grip around his neck tightened along with the tension inside the man she was clinging to. "Please, I don't want to leave you! Please...don't...please...I want to stay with you..." Her words faded into gibberish and finally into sobbing. The tension exploded.

Without a second thought to his actions, the Battousai firmly planted his hand on the back on her neck, raised her head from his chest, and covered her mouth with his own, lips gently whispering across Kaoru's. After a few moment of this gentle pressing of the mouth, Kaoru overcame her initial shock and locked her arms in place once more, leaning her head back a bit. Battousai's tongue brushed almost imperceptibly against Kaoru's lower lip before drifting quickly across her top. Slowly they seperated. Kaoru was quiet as she stared softly up into Battousai's eyes, which were swirling with violet.

"B...Battousai..." she whispered, eyes filling once more with tears. "I love you."

And he smiled.

Midi: Well, fifty-three reviews over qualified us for everything! I tried my best. :D I swear to God, it felt so wierd to write a kissing scene, just because I've never written one before. Tell me how I did.

Larcenciel: Well, you guys, I almost hate to say it, but...we're nearing the end! Can you believe it? Midi sure as hell can't.

Midi: -squeals- This is so exciting. I expect lots of encouraging reviews, ya'll!