Disclaimer: Sue me or I'll sic Mibu's wolf on you. [And for all you Saitoh fangirls, (like me,) I don't mean in a good way. ^_~x ]
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Chapter 3
Why does she hurt him so? The captain wondered, stroking the boy's hair. And why does it hurt me?
Rumor had it that Battousai's wife had been killed in battle trying to protect him, and he felt responsible for her death. Seeing the boy hurt so had affected the man to the core of his being.
Himura had long since cried himself to sleep, but Haiyashii didn't leave his side. The hitokiri's breathing had evened, but his skin was still a poisonous yellow-grey, and his fever was not abating.
On top of that his men were getting restless. He could tell they didn't trust the hitokiri; they would probably try to kill him whenever the opportunity arose.
Haiyashii watched as the boy stirred in his sleep, another painful moan
escaping his lips. This is not looking good.
Captain Haiyashii mopped the boy's soaking brow with a damp cloth.
Suddenly he began to shiver violently, and gave a soft cry. Battousai was obviously in severe pain, and there was nothing that could be done now. The hitokiri woke himself with his own scream, fingernails dug so deeply into the fabric that it tore. He looked despairingly up at the captain, fighting to keep silent.
"H...Help..."
"I can't," gritted Haiyashii. He gripped the hitokiri's hand. "Just hang on, kid. Hang on."
"Taicho?" Two of the captain's men approached him cautiously. It was Tori and Takashi.
"Doshita, Takashi-san?" Captain Haiyashii turned to his men with a few last words of encouragement to the straining boy.
The man fidgeted uncomfortably. "How, uh...how's the Battousai doing?"
"He's dying," he said abruptly. "What's wrong?"
"Well, Taicho-san, that's sort of what we wanted to talk to you about," Tori explained in his usual hiss. "We need to speak to you in private."
"...Okay." The captain nodded at them, "Go. I'll be right there." He turned to the boy.
"I'll be back in a few minutes. Don't move and try to stay awake 'till I get back. Are you..."
Himura managed to nod. "-go-"
Reluctantly the man nodded and, rising, pushed aside the curtain of soaked vegetation and stepped out of the cave into the pouring rain.
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The pain was becoming unbearable.
He couldn't focus; white-hot fire was coursing through his veins,
consuming him with every beat of his heart. The hitokiri clenched his
teeth, trying to keep from screaming in agony.
Suddenly he was aware of shadows, dark shapes moving above him.
White. White cloth; a gi. And there, an arm and...no, more than
one...arm...wait.
Swords.
He struggled to sit up as the five men approached him, forcing himself up on his elbows and half rolling half-falling onto his stomach.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!" The men laughed as the hitokiri lay gasping.
He'd fallen directly onto his wound.
"What's the matter, Battousai?" one sneered. "Is something hurting you?" The man aimed a hard kick directly at the boy's injured side.
He jerked reflexively into a fetal position , muscles contracting in spasms, completely taken by the pain. He didn't dare breathe, lest his chest explode with the agony.
Another man turned him over onto his back, roaring with laughter. "Well, legendary hitokiri, how does it feel to be on the wrong end of a fight for once? Ya like it?" The man leaned his sword over his shoulder and punched Battousai in the face, knocking him into the wall. He coughed and choked up blood onto the cold stone.
The men leered at him, smirks pasted on their faces. "If you liked that,
then let's see how you like the wrong end of a sword," one said mockingly.
Okay...that...does it... Battousai forced himself to his hands and knees,
willing his shaking away. I...may not care if...I die, but...if I'm killed...by
amateurs like these...I'll be more than...a little annoyed...
He grabbed the cloak at his knees, his hands in fists. His hands touched something hard. The hitokiri's expression was tinged with surprise. What...? Without looking down he felt along the object. His eyes widened as he realized it had a handle.
A hilt.
When the captain had bent down to tell him he was leaving, he'd hidden his
daisho under the cloak. Just in case the boy needed them.
Okay, I'm starting...to like this guy...
"You'll...regret this..." he gasped. Slowly he placed his hand under the cloth,
grasping the sword's hilt. "I swear by all the Kami that...you'll regret
this..."
"Mmm, don't think so. You won't, though. You won't be alive to regret it."
The man raised his sword, ready to take the hitokiri's head clear off his
shoulders with one gory strike.
Got to time this right. One, two, three-- With a vertical sweep the
hitokiri slammed the man with the saya and knocked him backward into
the others.
Every head turned just in time to see the hitokiri seemingly murder three of their comrades.
The sound of weapons was loud in the cave.
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"Tori, what is it? I refuse to walk much further," Captain Haiyashii demanded angrily of the two men.
"It's only a bit more, Taicho," the man answered. "Just a little more--"
"No. We will talk here," the captain said firmly. "We're already well out of hearing range. I won't ask you again. What is going on?"
"Captain, we've been talking with the other men, and...we've come to a decision. We can't let Battousai live."
"Yes you can and will. I decide whether or not we kill prisoners."
"Yes Taicho, but as of now you are officially stripped of your position. You are disobeying direct Shogunate orders, and we can't allow you to let the satsujin escape. Imagine, the Shogunate leaders watch as we march triumphantly into headquarters, carrying hitokiri Battousai's head in on a spear; delivering him to them on a silver platter. We'd be key officers in the government, of the highest rank and title, and the benefits would move up from there."
Takashi gave a greasy smile. "Yes. It's just too bad that you can't share that with us. You and your stupid notions about the murderer; you couldn't just do as you're told and kill him."
"Taicho, we're here to give you one last chance. If you agree to join us now then you'll share all the benefits and you won't have to get your hands dirty."
The captain had remained composed until that statement. His eyes flashed. "And you think that I'll leave him because of money."
"So damn stubborn. For years you've been at the head of the line slaying men for the Shogunate; merciless, cold, killing the 'innocent', and doing your job. What is so different about this one?!" Tori spat.
The captain gazed at the men steadily. "...Because he is myself. I have a chance to correct the mistakes that I made. Mistakes that are now being made again."
He stood resolutely, his hands in fists at his sides. "If you think for a moment that I'll pass that up for a worthless pile of money than you're a lot more of a bastard and a fool than I took you for."
"Peh. Still clinging to the laughable honor that was so prized in the
revolution's prime. Well Taicho, I'll tell you something. Now the Bakumatsu
knows better than to fall for useless ideals like those. You should learn
that as well."
The man drew his katana, Takashi following with his wakizashi and ken.
"It's a shame you won't have that priviledge."
"...Don't bet on it."
WHAM.
With one blow from his nanchaku the two were dead. The captain looked
down at the bodies with disdain, red dripping from the weapon in his
hands. "But even though I have the chance, I won't learn a lie." Then he
sprinted for the cave, praying the boy had been able to hold out with the
daisho.
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Every man had attacked at once, and he couldn't have run. He'd had no
choice. That's what he kept telling himself.
So why did he feel that awful pain near his heart?
Kenshin lay where he'd dragged himself in the rain, watching the pouring sky, blood blurring his vision although none of it was his. Men were piled inside the cave almost waist high, the stone floor slick with dark red blood, swords randomly scattered about.
The hitokiri's right hand was clutching weakly at his wound now. He didn't
have the strength to scream, nor even to tense his body. If he had he'd be
deaf, and probably dead.
I hope the...man...Haiyashii...hope he made it...
As if on cue, he heard the swift sound of footsteps heading for straight
for him. Well, that answered that question...
"Hey kid, you alright? Kid?!" The man sounded frightened. Slowly he
reached for a pulse.
"H...hello to you too..."
"Ahh! Jeez, don't scare me like that!" The boy couldn't help giving a pale smile.
Haiyashii's eyes went dim. "The men. Are they..." Himura closed his eyes. There was a silence as he let it sink in.
"You gonna kill me for killing your men?" he asked quietly.
The captain gave a small smile. "Kid, I couldn't if I tried to. Is there
anyplace nearby I can take you? Some kind of Ishin shelter, maybe a
village?"
"Th-there..." The hitokiri strained to point to a cluster of houses in the distance. It was toward the base of the mountains, nestled in its shadow.
"But that's too far, you won't last 'till then," he cried, staring at the winding path which led to the village.
"It's the only...place we can...both be...safe..." Suddenly his eyes rolled back
in his head, closed, and he went limp in Haiyashii's arms. "Himura. Himura!"
He shook the boy, trying to get him to wake up.
It was no use.
"Gods help us," he gritted, lifting him in arms and tearing away towards the village in a run.
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Thanks, Reiken-san! You can send as many reviews as you want, or you can
e-mail me if you want to. Both are fine with me!!
Thank you, everyone! (sniff sniff)
And I quote K.A. Applegate: "I know, I know, it's rotten of me to leave you
hanging..."
(thinks) Hmmm...Shinsengumi.
Maybe I'll go ahead and...