Chapter 9: Things happen
RK doesn't belong to me.
Third Person point-of-view now and on
Kaoru found herself walking around a old—very, for it was designed like when Japan's first Japanese gardens started, so, very long ago—Japanese Garden. The cool shade, beautiful flowers, trees, bushes and waterfalls and streams filled her with a sense of calm. Miaso had asked her if she had a friend like Miki. Kaoru didn't reply and Miaso didn't push the subject.
"Thank you, Amarutsu, for not making her push it," she whispered. Nanika, her friend, was long sense dead, sense he switched his lifer for her own. A single tear slid down her cheek, but she quickly whipped it away. Nanika had told her not to cry for him, and she wouldn't, despite the fact that he was her friend. "Thank you Nanika, for being there… now, I have someone to take care of as well, my Kenshin." Kaoru smiled sadly.
"Nanika-sama? Retai-sama will see you now," spoke the soft voice of a young girl dressed in a beautiful kimono, but the design noted her as a servant. The girl was also bowing to Kaoru, or Nanika as she was called here.
"Thank you, Mina-san," Kaoru said, bowing back.
She found herself soon enough sitting on her knees, head bowed as Lady Retai drank from her cup of tea. Kaoru wouldn't speak until she was acknowledged.
"Nanika-chan… I had never expected to see you, sense you last said to me that you would only come back to train your powers, not talk," the woman begun, putting her cup of tea down onto a small table. Lady Retai was an old, thin, small and fragile looking woman with long silver-gray hair set in an oriental style hair due. Her kimono was of the finest silk, dyed in magnificent colors and the design was very elaborate. The woman's bright emerald green eyes scrutinized her, eyeing the girl with interest. "The Black Crest is a high form of elemental magic dojo, you being that of water, joined to get it out. After years of training, you left; to join the humans who you love, saying that you would only be back to train—maybe see your friends that you have made here. Tell me why? Why would you come back, for a reason not of training?"
"I was attacked," was all the girl said, waiting for the woman to ask, by whom.
"Attacked? And by who?" The woman asked, even thought she already knew that answer.
"The Black Crest."
"Rebels are back… they are getting to be very well known among those like yourself. Hunting down and attacked, just for the sake of killing those who had left to live among the humans. Killing those who they think are weak, which none of your are. All of you are quite strong; confident enough in your strength and ability to leave this dojo and live with the ones you love. I take pride in ones like you, none of those like the rebels. Show me your right wrist."
Kaoru reached out her wrist, pushing the sleeve of her own kimono out of the way. Retai took the girls hand in her own, using her other hand to trace the kanji of water on her wrist. The kanji glowed a light water blue, and Kaoru winced in pain as what seemed like fire sliced through her body.
"Mina-chan!" The shoji opened and the girl appeared, all silent while bowing. "Get me some weak ward bandages, please."
"Hai, Retai-sama," The girl said, bowing deeper before getting up and doing as she was told. She soon returned, putting the cloth next to her Lady, bowed again and left just as silently as she had come.
"These are weak wards, but the will be strong enough to cover the glow of your sign. I also suggest that you tell Sanosuke-tomodachi and Enishi-tomodachi about your attack." Her words sounded more like an order then a suggestion.
"Yes, ma'am." Kaoru tucked her hand into the sleeve of her kimono.
"Now go, I am tired of all this talk." Lady Retai waved the girl away while sitting back upon her cushion seat, her other hand going to her eyes, as if to cover them.
Kaoru bowed, her head touching the floor, before getting up and leaving her Lady to the darkness.
"Now where did I put that thing?" Kaoru exclaimed, once more searching the sleeves of her kimono, trying to find her cell phone. "Ah ha! There it is!"
She pulled out her phone, small with a silver cover. Pulling out the antenna, she quickly dialed Sanosuke's number. She had promised him long ago to, "when ever she knew something important or anything like that, she would call him first, then call four eyes."
"Hello! You've reached the answering machine of Saraga Sanosuke. Sorry, he can't come to the phone right now, but please leave a message after the beep…BEEP!" The answering machine message hardly got to her, for she started to curse the man when she heard 'answer.'
"Sano! I'm gonna call Enishi if—"
"I'm here Jou-chan! What do you want?" said Sano, his voice all sleepy, even though it was like one in the afternoon.
"The BC Rebels are back," replied Kaoru, looking about herself nervously as she was still at the Black Crest Dojo.
"Nani?! You've got to be joking!"
"I'm not, I was attacked yesterday, um, about 3."
"Did you get hurt?"
"Hai, but it was taken care of." She left out the part about Aoshi helping her; she would tell them the full details latter.
"Good, good, good…call four eyes and set up an emergency meeting with the TH. I can get to the place in say…um, about an hour and a half.
"Okay."
"Bye."
"Bye."
They hung up and she dialed four ey—Enshi's number. The day was going to be a long one.
Sano hung up the phone and sighed. Megumi looked up at him, cinnamon eyes staring into his own.
"Sorry kitsune, but it seems like out day in bed has to end," he said, kissing his woman's fore head before getting out of bed—or trying to as least. Megumi had wrapped her arms around Sano's waist. "I have to go kit—"
"What's so important?" she asked, softly.
"The matter of life and death," replied Sano.
"Whose life?" Megumi's arms dropped from his waist.
"Jou-chan's and a whole lot more…"
"What do you mean?" Megumi sat up as well, holding the sheet over her body. "What about Kaoru-chan's life?"
"The BC—Black Crest—Rebels, they're back." Sano pulled on a pair of boxers on while they were talking.
"The Black Crest who?"
"You have a DH meeting today, right? Just tell Hiko-san, 'Black Crest,' and you'll get an answer." He paused as he stood up and looked over at Megumi. "I don't have to leave for an hour… we could do something until then…"
End chapter 9
Author's Notes: DH stands for Demon Hunter. If any one out there's who reads this and goes to Bear Creek High school, notice the BC for the Black Crest and the BC for Bear Creek. I think I put it there to show that I don't really enjoy going to school there… I also added more mystery to mystery, which can be answered easily: they can use magic, of any kind. Element, sub-space pockets, time travel and dimension skipping, in which you need a certain kind of "key" (or in this case, a crystal, a very powerful one) to do so. If any one has any questions on it, ask me in a review or e-mail me and GriffnWing@aol.com. I should be able to answer it.
About the elemental power, a kanji of the element you have appears some where on your body as you get stronger. Kaoru had hers sealed by Retai-sama so she could live about in the human world as she pleases with out being considered weird because the ones who use elemental power tend to forget they can use it and freak people out when they make dancing fire figures in the air. So they ask it to be sealed, and live normally until they want it back for very strong reasons.
Retai-sama calls Sano and Enishi with the tomodachi at the end because it means friend and the two are friends of Kaoru's, so it seems acceptable. So, its like Friend Sano and Friend Enishi.
Kaoru uses the name Nanika because she doesn't want her real name to go around the place, and she is "honoring" so to speak, her "friend" who died a long time ago, his name was Nanika.