Chapter Three

Recovery

Kaoru's POV

"I'll break you doctor." Rough hands roamed her body, burning her with his bruising touch. A dark chuckle fell from his lips as he pinned her beneath him. His knee pushed her legs apart "Don't act so coy girl." Shishio ordered as his fingers found a taut nipple and squeezed it hard. Kaoru yelped. She was terrified.

"Please stop." She pleaded through her uncontrollable sobbing "Please..."

Kaoru opened her eyes quickly, and closed them almost as fast when soft sunlight invaded her vision. Draping her arm over her eyes Kaoru bit her bottom lip in an attempt to stifle the whimper that threatened to escape. Silent tears rolled down her cheeks as the events of last night played through her head again and again. "Help!" She gasped. Thick blankets fell to her lap, and smooth, black hair cascaded over her shoulder as she sat up. It wasn't a dream. Looking around her simple, military standard room Kaoru reminded herself that she would have to put last night behind her. She had too many responsibilities to be a victim. She stretched her arms above her head "Oww!" She winced as every inch of her skin stung with the stretch.

Curiously Kaoru slipped from her yukata robe and examined her exposed flesh. Dark purple bruises wrapped around her waist, thighs, and just below her breasts. How had that happened..? Did Shishio do this..? Gently prodding at one of the bruises Kaoru determined that the handprint shapes had come from him. With all that adrenaline in her system she must have not noticed just how hard he had held her. Tears welled up in her eyes once more, but she forced them back. She couldn't do this, not now. She had patients that should definitely come first. Pushing herself to her feet Kaoru shoved her feelings into the pit of her stomach. They would just have to wait. Crossing the room to a cherry wood dresser Kaoru pulled out a plain deep purple kimono, and hid her body away in it. Fastening a white obi belt around her waist she faced her shoji screen. Time to face the world.

The moment she stepped out of her room Kaoru could tell something was wrong. Everyone in the hallways had passed by her without so much as a glance in her direction, and when she arrived in the dining hall all the previous chatter fell to an immediate silence. It had made her so uncomfortable that she had to take her breakfast to the recovery room. It was the only place in the entire Tea House that she could get a break. However, by the time she was out of sight she had lost her appetite completely. So there her breakfast set, untouched at her desk in the front of the room "Hey Doc." Kaoru turned from the patient she was currently checking up on to the cot behind her. A rather tall, lanky man with spiky brown hair, and a boasting smirk lay there in an assortment of bandages. He jabbed his thumb toward the front of the room "You need to stop worrying about us and eat." Kaoru raised an inquisitive brow at the cheeky soldier. He sent her a shit-eating grin in return "If you don't take care of yourself how can you take care of us?"

Glancing at the bowl of rice on her desk Kaoru simply shrugged in return "I can take care of everyone here just fine." She replied simply as she finished her checkup.

"Well what about when you get so fatigued from starving yourself that you pass out?"

Kaoru hid a small smile behind her hand, and shook her head at the man "I won't starve from missing one meal." She told him as she checked his chart. This was the man that she had patched up last night. The one with the diced up intestines. "How are you feeling today mister uh...?" She quickly tapped his name from the chart "Sagara?"

"Fine except for this hole in my stomach. I'm so hungry that I just might steal your breakfast! That is if you don't eat it soon." He held on to his stomach and made a scene about how he was starving to death.

"Why are you so obsessed with me eating that bowl of rice Mr. Sagara?" Kaoru asked a little irritable.

He shrugged "Just watching out for a pretty girl." He reply with a flirty little wink. Kaoru narrowed her eyes at him, but any intimidation was lost to her blushing pink cheeks. He laughed whole-heartedly "Awe Doc don't be embarrassed." Sagara teased lightly.

Kaoru turned her back to him as her cheeks burned bright red "I'm not embarrassed." She scoffed indignantly "However I am simply trying to be professional Mr. Sagara."

"Sano. My friends all call me Sano."

Sighing Kaoru turned to face this ridiculous man "If I eat some of my breakfast will you leave me alone?"

He gave her a high thumbs up "Sure thing Doc, that's all I wanted." Rolling her eyes Kaoru retrieved the bowl of rice and took a few bites "You need to eat more than that." By now livid with irritation she marched over to his cot, and planted herself in the chair beside him where she then continued to scarf down the entire bowl of rice. Sano chuckled "That's more like it Doc."

"Are you happy now Mr. Sagara?"

Sano shook his head and crossed his arms over his chest "Nope." Kaoru opened her mouth to protest his answer, but he quickly cut her off "I wish you'd call me Sano. Mr. Sagara is so uptight."

Did he just call her uptight? Giving him a blazing glare Kaoru huffed and rolled her eyes "Excuse me Mr. Sagara, I have other patients to attend to." She grumbled as she stomped off to the other side of the room to tend to a sleeping patient. The boy had come in with a nearly severed arm. She had been able to save the limb, but whether or not the soldier would be able to use it again was another issue all together. Kaoru gently pinched his finger tip and frowned when he didn't even flinch. It was obvious that his feeling was still gone, and the chances of that arm working again were steadily slipping away.

Battousai's POV

Katsura sit behind his desk with a stack of papers spread out in front of him. He had been furiously scribbling away on one of the sheets, apparently angry about some kind of information he had received. Some days the Battousai would worry about Katsura. He had always been such an honorable, respected man, but this war was driving him mad… Then again wasn't that what war did to all men? Drive them to the darkest part of their souls and leaving them there to suffer in the agony of their sin? That's certainly what it had done to him. Again that empty smile came to mind. The slayer frowned. He had killed hundreds of men. Slit their throats in cold blood, and not a one of those murders had bothered him. Not until last night. Not until that girl. Stifling back a shiver though the room was warmed by the mid-spring breeze, Kenshin veered away from his thoughts and back to his commanding officer.

Katsura had finally dropped his brush back into the inkwell "I heard that there were no complications with last night's mission." He began glancing in the direction of Battousai's hiding place. Due to his paperwork distraction it took Katsura only a minute longer than usual to realize the assassin was hidden in the shadows. Though with how quickly he had found him, the slayer couldn't help but wonder if he had been aware of his soldier's presence the entire time.

Battousai stepped silently out into the room, and balanced his katana against the closet wall. He bowed low to his commanding officer "The girl is dead."

"I see." Katsura had known that his assassin wouldn't like this recent assignment, but the commander had also known that the Battousai was the only man for the job. The only one who could finish it.

"What was her name Katsura?" The fiery golden glare in his eyes told the commander that now was not the time to beat around the bush.

"Her name was Tomoe Yukishiro."

Kaoru's POV

Today had moved at a rather fast pace. Kaoru had attended to all her patients at the expense of her own sanity, as Sano Sagara never once stopped talking the entire evening. However, no matter how annoyed it made her, she couldn't help but feel a little relieved. Sano's endless chatter was part of what had gotten her through the day. Being in the recovery room with anything but, the overwhelming silence that was painfully present on most days was good for her. In some ways it was like a fresh breath of air for the doctor, and she would take all she could get of it.

Sighing into the cool spring night Kaoru put aside her thoughts of Sano Sagara and his many, many stories of his rowdy family, and slid her kimono from her shoulders. The dress fell to the slick oak flooring below her in an array of dark purple silk. The night sky sparkled brightly against the hot spring in front of her, reflecting against the steamy water. This was the one thing she looked forward to every single night. Ayame had been the one to introduce her to this place her second week at the Tea House. A small bathing spring hidden just behind the expansive structure. A small piece of heaven for all the current residence.

Kaoru slid off of the porch, her bare feet sinking into the soft grass below her. She wasted no time in closing the distance between her in the natural hot spring. A small smile tugged at her pale, pink lips as the warm water lapped against her ankles, then her thighs, and eventually her shoulders. She sunk deep into the gentle water, allowing its relaxing nature to envelop her sore body. Wading her way to the side of the spring, she leaned against a nearby rock and sunk deeper into the healing water. Her body slid effortlessly deeper into the water, and she held her breath tightly as her head slipped under. The bruises that randomly marked her body stung in the warm water, but Kaoru didn't mind. It simply meant that they were healing. Which in her perspective was a great thing. The faster that those horrible reminders of last night faded away, the faster she could forget about the entire incident.

Popping up, out of the water Kaoru pushed away raven black hair from her eyes, and took a deep breath of that cool night air. It stung in her throat, but this was oddly reassuring for the doctor. It meant she was still living. Despite what could have happened last night she had made it out alive, and that in itself was good enough fortune for her.

Closing her eyes she brought forth the events of last night. He had undoubtedly singled her out. No one was ever in that garden after dark, not unless they had a good reason to be. Most of the men were already in bed at that time of night. Usually tucked away with one of the service women. Kaoru shivered, despite the warmth of the water that surrounded her, as she recalled the rank smell of sake on his breath and that bruising touch. She had thought that something seemed off about him. The way he had eyed her throughout the time she had spent stitching him up had been eerie enough. His dark eyes had looked at her as though she was some kind of irresistible, rare creature. A creature that he wanted to dominate wholly and completely. It was a look of pure, unwavering lust. Tears burnt trails down her pale cheeks. Had he planned last night? Had he stalked her waiting for the right moment to attack her?

She shook her head, wiping away her tears. She didn't want to think about that right now. Kaoru simply didn't think that she could handle such a thought. What kind of man would just attack an unwilling woman like that? Especially when there were so many other women who were being paid for just that. A rolling, sick feeling churned her stomach. Perhaps he didn't want to pay for something so precious.

"Miss Kamiya!" Ayame burst through the shoji screens, her dark brown hair falling messily over her shoulders, and her dark green eyes a little wild.

Kaoru shot out of the water (partially because the girl had scared the hell out of her, and partial because she had nearly finished her bath anyway) "What happened?" She asked in alarm as she closed the distance between her and the shallow end of the spring.

Ayame had a fresh kimono in her hands, ringing the thing nervous between her small fingers "Put this on." She murmured quickly as Kaoru stepped out of the spring. Ayame began to help her into her clean clothes and began to catch her up as they hurried inside "I didn't mean to let this happen. I only stepped out for a moment or two, and when I came back he was just convulsing on the table… God there was just so much blood."

Kaoru froze mid-step as a sinking feeling flooded her stomach. She snatched Ayame's sleeve, bringing the panicked girl to an immediate halt "Who is he?"

The poor girl burst into tears "Sano Sagara."

Shock. Pure shock is what filled her now numb body. What had happened to put him in a relapse like that? Sano had been healing up so nicely. Had she missed something? What had happened to him? "Let's go Ayame." Kaoru muttered as her legs started up on their own. She rushed through the hallways, taking a sharp turn here and there, until she came to a set of familiar painted screen doors. She ripped them open and all but flew to her patient. His body was shaking violently, rattling the entire cot with his convulsions. Warm blood seeped through the torn bandages at his side. He was going into serious shock. "Ayame get my scalpel." Kaoru ordered "I need in there."

A/N: Please comment any thoughts below, thank you for reading :)