"No?" Kaoru repeated incredulously. She wasn't sure what answer she had expected, but it certainly hadn't been that monosyllable spoken with such an air of finality she knew no amount of begging or threats would change it.
"You didn't even consider it!" She snapped, straightening up and gaining her feet. It had cost her every scrap of pride she had to kneel and plead with him and not even a second for him to dash her hopes. She shouldn't have expected anything less; why would the man, or demon, go to the trouble of spiriting her away to his lair only to release her for the sake of a pathetic request?
Kaoru had hoped against hope though. That perhaps he would ask her why, give her a chance to plead her case. He looked so human: the form of a man, and if his hair was red as flame and his eyes a shade of brass coin amber she knew she would never see the like of again, then at least she could pretend he owed those traits to foreign blood in his veins.
That had been her mistake: she had treated him as a human man, capable of reasoning like one. For a moment she had forgotten the ghastly retinue that had ridden with him on that wild hunt- the wolves with fangs longer than her forearm, eyes shining in the dark like cats and blue fire clinging to their tails. Goblins with hides ranging from the moss-green of a forest to so translucent she could see their inner workings plain as the pebbles on a riverbed, and other beasts so fantastical she couldn't put a name to them and hesitated to recall their forms.
Whatever he looked like, he was not human and she would not make the mistake of treating him like it again.
He- Battousai- hadn't risen, meeting her gaze unflinchingly from where he still knelt on the tatami floor. She forced herself not to step back, clenching and unclenching her fists in a futile effort to control her temper. Demon or not she knew he felt pain. She had felt the way he flinched when her nails tore into his flesh, and remembered with satisfaction the huff of air when her knee found a soft spot.
Battousai regarded her for a long moment, watching her face with an almost predatory attention to detail. Finally he spoke again, so solemnly Kaoru almost convinced herself she was imagining the glint of wicked humor in his gaze when he answered. "I have considered. My answer remains the same."
He stood at last and Kaoru permitted herself a single step back, just enough that she wouldn't have to tilt her head to meet his gaze. She would have fit comfortably just beneath his chin, and he stood close enough that she could have tucked herself there if she wanted to. Remembering the red thread she had seen on her finger, the way he had fixated on it just before he took her, Kaoru wanted to keep as much space between them as possible.
"I have a family!" She bit out, throat clamping on the words so that they sounded like a wounded growl.
Her eyes burned with tears she struggled to hold back. She blinked to clear them and cursed quietly when an errant few slipped free to glide unchecked down her face. She had half-raised a fist to wipe them away when she noticed his expression: stricken, like a man that had been dealt a killing blow and hadn't had the grace to die yet.
In the next moment his face was smooth as polished stone once more. Kaoru had been so busy studying the interplay of emotion on his face she hadn't even noticed that he raised a hand to brush the tears away with his sleeve. She froze in disbelief, shocked at the warmth of his skin and how easy it felt simply to hold still and let him touch her. Like a dumb animal seeking comfort in any gentle touch, she thought angrily as she finally remembered to turn her face away.
"Don't touch me." Low and threatening, the only warning she intended to give.
His hand dropped to his side again, flexing rhythmically. She swallowed tightly when his thumb found his little finger, rubbing the base as though playing with a ring- or that scarlet thread.
"I am sorry for your loss-"
Loss. Her brother, her friends, the makeshift family she had built for herself after the years she had spent alone; with a handful of words he dismissed them.
"But make your peace with it. I will not let you leave."
"I'll keep trying." Kaoru was proud that her voice remained so calm, if a little strained. "Over and over until I finally escape. I don't care what you do to me, I don't care what you say, I am going home."
In some of the stories those unfortunates that had been abducted returned home. Sometimes hundreds of years later, sometimes before their family had even noticed they were gone though they had lived lifetimes among the spirits. In others they lived out the remainder of their lives with the ones that had taken them, surrounded on every side by paradise but spirit withering inside until at last their Human will succumbed and they joined the host. If there was one thing Kaoru could take pride in, it was the perseverance that had seen her through everything from her father's death to this. Her spirit wouldn't break whatever the cost, and she would return home.
All these thoughts played out in her eyes, plain as day for anyone that cared to read them, her captor included. At last he bowed, a shallow perfunctory attempt that betrayed a lack of practice, but obviously meant to be sincere. Kaoru stiffened, bracing herself for whatever came next.
"Do as you will until you are satisfied. I will not come to you again until you call for me."
"Then we should say our farewells now, because I never will."
He glanced up, molten gold eyes transfixing her as surely as if she had been bolted to the floor. "Be careful. The words you speak here carry more weight than you know."
I don't care. Kaoru swallowed the words before they slipped free, gut churning with anxiety. That was another thing the stories were all very clear on: one had to speak carefully with these creatures, they had existed since before time itself and were exact in their dealings. A Human that spoke too much could unwittingly give all their treasures and secrets away.
"Leave." She whispered instead, calming somewhat when he actually turned as though to obey her.
He paused at the door and she tensed again, waiting for the finishing blow to fall; she was not disappointed. "Be careful where you wander. There are beings here even I do not cross lightly."
Then mercifully he was gone, leaving Kaoru alone in the room with only her own thoughts for company.
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"Aoshi." No sooner had the final syllable left his lips than the nekomata was before him, looking thoroughly unimpressed at his summoning as per usual. Battousai was surprised at the twinge of annoyance he felt, long enough forgotten now that it felt new and almost pleasant.
"My lord." Stiff and formal, nearly a mockery of respect. Aoshi had perfected the natural insolence of his kind, but it had never interfered with his duties. He was the only one that used Battousai's title so readily, and the only one who could intone it as though he spoke to an equal.
"I want a watch set on the woman in Megumi's quarters. She is looking for trouble." She is looking for an escape."I don't want her alone." For her safety or his sanity, the reason didn't matter, not to Aoshi and certainly not to him.
In the privacy of his own mind Battousai worried at the problem; it had been easy enough to take the woman, but keeping her? She was not a pet he could lock away, not the sort of prisoner he could wear down with interrogation and deprivation. The thread about his finger felt painfully tight, the damn thing wrapped about his heart and every other fiber of his being to squeeze the life right out of him. It had only tightened as she grew more anxious, when her smoldering resentment flared back to life at his denial he'd had to clench his teeth and remind himself to ignore it. Pain was nothing new, but this was a kind of agony he had never experienced before.
Aoshi considered, gaze turning inward for seconds that soon turned into minutes that might as well have been hours as far as Battousai was concerned. Impatience too felt new. Kaoru was moving around in the quarters behind them; he could hear drawers opening, cloth shifting, light tapping that suggested she was looking for any secrets the room's usual occupant might be keeping. He was sure there were a few. Megumi had always been exceptionally secretive, even for a fox.
"I will share the duty with Soujirou."
As far as protection there was no one better suited than Soujirou unless it was himself. There was something lacking in Soujiro though, and one had only to be in the same room as he to feel its absence. Soujirou felt… hollow. As far from Kaoru's overflowing life as Battousai could imagine. Reluctantly he nodded his approval. These early days would be the most dangerous while Kaoru struggled against her fate and deliberately sought out the boundaries of his kingdom. Souji could keep her safe even there until she called for Battousai at last, a summon he was certain would be a long time in coming.
"Don't let her see you unless you must. Give her as much freedom as you can reasonably afford. If you risk your safety, you risk hers." That he would not tolerate, yet the bonds of his vow to her were wound tight enough that he could not intercede even then. He cursed himself for the impulse that had made him offer it. The memory of her relieved glance was equal parts pain and satisfaction; his promise was the beginning of trust between them whether she realized it or not.
"We will do what we must." The words didn't need to be said, but Battousai seized on the promise anyway.
In his memory there had never been such a match as this. Fate was a cruel mistress, but tying a guardian spirit to a Human girl was beyond the pale. How could they ever be equals? How was he supposed to keep his charges in check with her emotions constantly assaulting his hard-earned detachment? The bite of jealousy when she had admitted to having a family had been real enough that he would not have been surprised to find bloody fang marks. Of course she had a family. At her age, Kaoru probably had a couple children waiting for her at home; daughters whose eyes sparked with the same defiance or sons with that same proud way of holding themselves.
Worse, a husband who could even now be looking for her. Undoubtedly. Kaoru's spirit burned bright enough that it didn't take magic or preternatural senses to see it; it was an exceedingly rare quality in Humans, and one his kind had always sought in their hunts. No one would surrender her easily, even another Human who couldn't possibly recognize how very rare that spark was.
"She is already restless… and someone may come looking for her." The words burned his throat, bitter and sharp on his tongue. It wasn't easy to reach their realm, not so simple as wandering into the right shadow or dipping a toe in a deep lake, but humans had found their way in before. A handful had even found their way out again with priceless treasures in hand, but that had been before his time and none of those treasures had been solely his. Kaoru was, and he wouldn't allow even her to pry herself from his grasp.
Aoshi needed no further instruction; Battousai left him in the hall, already melting back into the shadows from whence he had come. He had duties to attend to himself, however much he might want to be here for her first steps into this world. The unpleasant feeling settling in his gut, coiling in the back of his throat until he almost wretched was fear, he realized with shock. It was a feeling he had surrendered as soon as he assumed his title, but it was seeping into him now. Someone was certainly looking for her, and with Kaoru herself seeking a way back to them it would make it far more difficult to keep her.
Battousai drew a breath, forcing his newfound fear out on an exhale. He had one more task to complete, yet another drain on his power he could ill afford at the moment, but worth it in the end if it kept her busy. He had promised to let her do as she willed, but there were ways to ensure she couldn't wander too far.
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Kaoru hesitated barely a second after the door was pulled to before exploring her erstwhile quarters. Her cell, whatever Battousai had said. In any other circumstances, she would have been enchanted. Everything around her was designed to delight and entice, all of it appointed exactly how Kaoru imagined a princess would desire. The tatami beneath her feet was ruthlessly clean and pleasantly warm, unnaturally so in direct contrast to the cool air. The futon on which she had slept was firm, its sheets… she knelt once more to rub them between her fingertips incredulously, wincing when her callouses caught on the fine silk. Silk. To sleep in.
She glanced to her left, the black-lacquered dresser just tall enough that her own face reflected back at her in a mirror so clear it could have been still water, or a blade polished to a wicked sheen. Nothing here was harmless, and she needed to remember that. She made her way to the dresser, kneeling before it to open the small drawers: tortoiseshell combs, steel hairpins with elaborate, richly colored gems of sapphire and ruby, a hairbrush so soft it would not have hurt an infant's skin.
Most of it was utterly useless, but Kaoru couldn't deny a pang of envy at the thought of the lady who could confidently wear those pins. Elegance was something foreign to her nature, but she had always admired it from afar. Carefully, with a mental apology to the owner of all these fine trinkets, she picked up a fine toothed comb. If she so much as sneezed she thought the teeth would snap, sharp as needles and every bit as slender and delicate.
Laying it aside, Kaoru reached for the brush under it, intrigued by the gleam of silver and more importantly by the almost invisible crack where the head met the handle. It looked too regular to be damage, but what manner of craftsman would deliberately include a flaw? On a whim she tugged, unsurprised when a small, thin blade slid free. Beautiful and lethal. A letter-opener at first glance, but too sharp to be anything less than a weapon.
She tucked some of the sturdier pins into her waist, but laid the knife aside; she wasn't a killer, even now. But then… there was no way for her captors to know that, and she was desperate. With a mumbled apology she snatched up the knife again, careful of its wicked edge as she slid it between the pins. Remembering Battousai's parting words though she was not about to venture outside without some sort of protection, and her own weapon was long gone.
All the drawers neatly arranged as though they had never been disturbed, Kaoru made her way to the door with steps as light as a cat's. She hovered beside the door, listening for movement or voices, but all she heard was her own rapid pulse and shallow breaths echoed back at her. That didn't mean Battousai wasn't watching, only that he was being clever about it.
Careful not to make a sound she slid the door open, glancing quickly left and right before darting into the empty corridor.
Even this place felt strangely normal. Polished oak wood gleamed up at her, lit by some unseen light. There wasn't even a scuff on it. If Yahiko had been with her- He wasn't. Thank whatever good fortune she still had that he wasn't. Kaoru resolved not to so much as think his name; who knew what powers these creatures had?
She pressed the ball of her foot down, relieved when the wood didn't creak beneath her weight. Her first impulse was to run; the corridor seemed to stretch on interminably in either direction, and she didn't know the rules of this place. Perhaps even the hallways were like time here, infinite. Left. Forcing herself to walk normally, Kaoru set off. Was she underground or above? The walls gave no indication, firm as stone beneath her hands but colored an inoffensive snowdrop white.
A ten minute jog found her standing before the door of her prison once more. Kaoru growled in annoyance, turning on her heel and setting off in the opposite direction; she had to be certain, even if the exercise ultimately proved fruitless.
It was. Though by the time she arrived at the door once more a quarter hour had passed. Spitefully she kicked the wall, immediately regretting it when pain shot from the ball of her foot to her knee. She swore loudly, steadying herself on the blasted wall to cradle her injured foot and hurl every curse imaginable at the interminable corridor and its master.
Gleeful laughter assaulted her ears, quiet but unmistakable. Kaoru froze taut as a bowstring, the snide laughter only fanning the embers of her frustration.
"Go ahead and laugh, but I don't see you showing your face." She snarled. Almost immediately the laughter stopped, leaving a silence that was far less pleasant for knowing she shared it with something else. At least she would have someone to fight if she was attacked, an obvious obstacle to overcome instead of an impenetrable riddle to solve. Kaoru had always loathed riddles, never one for word games or unsolvable puzzles. She wished she had taken the time to learn the art of them now.
"My, but you are disagreeable. A little clumsy too."
Kaoru leapt back, hands falling to the hairpins at her waist, her makeshift claws. The woman before her was as far from the fearsome demons she had seen in Battousai's retinue as anyone could be: tall and graceful, pitch black hair gleaming softly in the light, tumbling lightly down her back to her waist in striking contrast to the mauve komon she wore.
Kaoru didn't pull the blade, but she wasn't quick to lower her hand either; the woman tutted softly, combing impatient fingers through her hair, lips pursing with displeasure at Kaoru's obvious hostility. Her eyes darted to the little finger of Kaoru's hand, and for a moment her eyes lit with an interest hastily concealed.
"After sleeping in my bed and stealing my things, I think you owe me a little more courtesy than this, thief." Kaoru immediately clamped her hands before her, fighting down the beginnings of instinctive guilt. It was survival, she reminded herself. A bit of thievery was hardly repayment for an outright abduction, and she had taken only what she needed.
"It takes some spine to call me the thief when you abducted me."
A smile crept back across the woman's painted lips, amused and a little sly. Kaoru glared mutinously back, resisting the urge to shift her weight. She already knew there was nowhere to run, and for all she found the woman's smile unpleasant, she couldn't say she felt threatened by her so much as disconcerted by her sudden appearance and knowing air.
"Not I." The woman's eyes twinkled with merriment; Kaoru couldn't help but feel she was the butt of a joke she couldn't begin to comprehend. "I am as eager for you to leave here as you are."
A trap? Possibly, but still better than running herself ragged in circles."Then point me in the right direction and I'll be on my way."
The woman yawned ostentatiously, covering it with a smooth, well-manicured hand. Kaoru ignored the pang of embarrassment at her own disheveled appearance, moving her hands to clasp them behind her lest the woman see her rough, broken nails and the smattering of scars and freckles.
"Even if I did you couldn't see it." She tilted her head, holding out the insultingly perfect hand in offering, "But I'll take you where you need to go, if you like."
Kaoru eyed her open palm like it was a spitting viper, leery of taking it but desperate for even a chance at freedom.
Her companion sighed impatiently, "Come, I want you out of my room. You want out of this place. There is only one way out, and I am prepared to take you there. What do you have to lose, girl?"
"My life, for one." Battousai's warning flashed through her memory even as Kaoru tentatively began to reach for the stranger's hand.
Delighted laughter rang out again, "You have nothing to fear from me."
Despite herself, Kaoru believed it or maybe her hope blinded her, either way she took the hand offered, wincing with surprise when the woman clamped it in a vice-like grip. For a moment the world tumbled around her, turning every which way until Kaoru thought she might vomit. The next she stood on solid ground in a much larger hall; at least the walls no longer felt as though they were closing in on her. The tatami beneath her feet was far more worn than the room from which she had come, the cloth joining faded in places. Before them was a fusuma, decorated simply with a sprawling tree set across an amber backdrop.
Kaoru could learn to hate the color. She turned to demand where they were, whether her escape could truly be as simple as this- of course the woman had vanished like she had never been. Grumbling under her breath, but wise enough not to lash out this time she laid a tentative hand on the door. If her hostess was to be believed, this was where she needed to be, and Kaoru hadn't sensed anything particularly threatening. After years fending for herself, she took pride in her instincts, and while she had found the woman's presence nerve-wracking there had been no outright malice in her.
Or so she hoped.
The door slid open quietly, gliding along waxed wood without the slightest catch. Kaoru lingered on the threshold a few seconds, letting her eyes adjust to the dimness of the room beyond.
Another room. A dead end. She huffed with annoyance but stepped inside anyway. Hadn't the woman said she couldn't see the way? What if she just hadn't been looking in the right places? This world didn't have to share the logic of her own. So she gathered her courage and stepped inside, sliding the door closed behind her again lest she be discovered.
To her right was a low desk, the cushion behind it hardly worn though it was piled high with papers and its inkstone was worn from many uses. She drifted toward it curiously; if the characters were any sort of language at all then she couldn't decipher it. None of this mattered; she needed to get home and no pile of paper or books was going to help her unless there was a conveniently printed map in any of them. She rifled through them quickly, unwilling to sacrifice even that frail hope.
No map, but she paused on a page of the only bound book in the mess, tracing a slender scarlet thread with her finger that wound around one of the foreign words and draped down the page to twine about the figure of a man. Kaoru's gut clenched; she had seen such a string before, wrapped about her smallest finger. Her neck hairs prickled with dread. Anyone might be interested in such a fanciful story, but the way these papers were arranged, the room around her that was so devoid of any personal touch all suggested this was meant to be a serious study, not some scholar's leisurely hide-away for enjoying children's stories.
Who else but her would suddenly be interested in such a phenomenon? Kaoru made an educated guess: "Battousai."
Instantly he was there, so close he would have stumbled over her if she hadn't leapt back. Damn, she had called his name after all, and apparently appearing from nowhere was a skill he shared with his woman.
"How did you-" He cut off, effortlessly catching the book Kaoru had hurled in her surprise and snapping the cover closed sternly.
"How did you find this place?" He finished with a growl that had Kaoru reaching for a weapon- only they was gone. Frantically she patted herself: hairpins, knife, everything gone. The woman. The woman whose name she didn't even know. Her room, her weapons, all of them neatly reacquired and Kaoru none the wiser. Leaving her alone and unarmed in what her captor obviously considered a forbidden domain.
"Your lady brought me." She snapped, edging behind the desk for lack of any better defense. The papers, the inkstone, the desk, her bare hands; none of them seemed promising against a creature who carried his sword at his waist like its weight had become a part of him.
"My lady?" For a split second Kaoru swore she saw confusion flit across his face. Then he muttered a name under his breath, though it sounded more like a curse. She gave silent thanks as he finally looked away long enough for her to draw a deep breath.
"She and I both agree I don't belong here." Kaoru added caustically, courage returning with every moment he didn't fly at her sword bared for daring to invade his sanctum.
"Megumi is not my lady." There was an undercurrent of dry amusement in the words, though Kaoru couldn't share in it. "But since you two have found so much in common, perhaps you would like to keep her for a companion. Call on her whenever you like." The quirk of his lips might have been the beginning of a smile, but it shared none of the typical warmth of that expression, only the sort of satisfaction she had seen on the faces of cats when they had finally caught their unfortunate prey.
Kaoru swallowed tightly, "I don't want a companion." She spat the word hatefully, Megumi's betrayal still a bitter taste in her mouth.
Battousai relaxed, bending to lay the book on the desk without caring that his furious captive stood near enough to bash him over the head if she dared. Her fingers twitched reflexively, but he straightened before she gave in to the useless impulse.
Slowly Kaoru backed away from the desk. If she could leave the room without him following her, it would give her a chance to find the path that had led her here. Or, more importantly, a way out. Megumi had said there was only one, and that it was here beyond the door, but either she had been lying or Kaoru hadn't explored enough to find it yet.
"Why would you ask Megumi to bring you here?" Battousai's voice was mild, no edge of anger to it, but Kaoru flinched anyway. She didn't want to admit that she had no idea where 'here' was or that she hadn't so much asked as been tricked into it. So far Megumi was her only frail chance of getting anywhere but her room, and the last thing she wanted to do was alert him that she'd had help.
"I told you I'd keep looking for a way out."
"And your search led you to my quarters." Voice thick with disbelief, he stared her down.
His quarters. Megumi had led her right into the belly of the beast. Words deserted her and she gaped mutely at him.
"You are welcome in my rooms, but it's the last place I expected you to summon me."
He considered for a second, stepped closer, side-stepping the desk. Kaoru immediately stopped her retreat, unwilling to cede even a single footstep lest he think she was intimidated. "I didn't mean to."
"I warned you to watch your words." Cool and matter-of-fact. Another step closer too, but Kaoru didn't quail from him. "Be more careful in the future."
He held out a hand and Kaoru froze rigid, half-expecting him to touch her again. Instead he waited patiently, hand extended palm up, waiting for her to take it.
"I'll take you to your room." He offered, unmoving.
Kaoru stepped away and to the side. No way was she going back to the beginning when she had already come this far.
"I don't want to go back to Megumi's room. I thought you said I was welcome in yours?"
His brow wrinkled, the beginning of a frown gathering about his lips as his hand dropped to his side once more. "She won't bother you again unless-"
"Then I'm not welcome here?" Kaoru finished, "After you promised I was. After you said I could do what I wanted."
Battousai shrugged, and the unthinking grace of the gesture had her hackles rising again. "You said you would never call for me again."
"It was an accident." She snapped.
"You also said you were going home, and now you want to stay in this room? You won't find your escape here."
"I don't believe you." Kaoru folded her arms defensively, fixing him with a defiant glare.
He met her eyes squarely but she couldn't read the expression in his gaze; her breath caught in her throat, the silence almost a living thing between them.
"Stay then." He turned his back on her dismissively, gliding to the fusuma across the room and pulling it open just enough to slip through before pushing it to again.
She was alone in his study, far from her cell with no one to watch her. Exactly what she had wanted, yet she couldn't help but feel she had lost whatever game they had been playing. For a few seconds more she waited, but he showed no sign of re-emerging. She had the room to herself, and wasted no time in beginning her exploration.
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Battousai wasn't sure which he wanted more: a fox-skin banner for his hunt or to shower Megumi in all the pretty, exotic baubles she so prized in gratitude.
Kaoru had called for him by name mere hours after assuring him she never would. She had found her way into his rooms on her first night in his realm, had chosen to stay even when he offered to return her to her own. It had cost him dearly to offer her that escape when she had finally wandered precisely where he had hoped to coax her with his labyrinthine blind, but now she stayed here, convinced it had been her own idea.
His burden had not rested so lightly on him in more years than he could count.
The string wound about his finger no longer felt as though it was cutting into his skin, trying in vain to pull them near again. She trusted him, not much, just enough to believe he wouldn't attack her and not so much that she noticed it herself, but enough that the jagged edge of pain had dulled. He envied her the blindness that protected her from that even as he gave quiet thanks for it.
If she learned even half of what he had poring over those old manuscripts scattered across the desk he wasn't certain he could ever have lured her near him again. Though of course their fate would have demanded it.
Now that she had demanded to stay though, he had no intention of offering her another way out again. She would be safe here, behind some of his nastier wards that he would set whenever he had to leave, careful not to catch an unwitting and too curious human. Aoshi could still stand guard, and Soujiro when he needed rest, Megumi would keep her company whether she wanted to or not.
Of course Kaoru couldn't fault him for wandering his own quarters, couldn't object to sharing the space.
Even, perhaps, a meal.
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Well this should have been out months ago. Apologies, but I thought I would stop at the second draft. This is the fourth. I'm still trying to work on description, and characterization will always be a concern. Concrit is as always welcomed and appreciated!
And thank you everyone for the lovely reviews. I see I left a few unanswered; I frequently get lost in my own little world, so if there are any questions/concerns please feel free to PM.
That aside, I'm going to try not to sprinkle Japanese everywhere but some words just seem to work better without the translation. A 'Fusuma' is a room divider, sometimes painted with still-lifes or other designs. There are several nifty articles on Japan-Talk if anyone wants to check them out.
Next chapter: Meals are shared, Aoshi is annoyed, Megumi is plotting and Kaoru explores her world.