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Chapter Nine: Indecent Proposal
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O Rose, thou art sick.
The invisible worm
That flies in the night
In the howling storm
Has found out thy bed
Of crimson joy.
And his dark secret love
Does thy life destroy.
- The Sick Rose, Blake
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*author's note* Now we get into the fun fighting! It is finally time to unveil all the fun sword techniques I made up for Kaoru!
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Jin'eh's eyes -those strange damn near inhuman eyes- drifted over Kaoru's lithe form, pausing at the appropriate spots to pick out the gentle curves under her disguising clothes.
"I don't know how I could have missed it, now that I've looked." he grinned at her, a different sort of grin; the kind a man gives a woman who he's imagining in bed. "You know, in the proper sort of clothes, you could really be something."
Kaoru's grip tightened on her weapon. "Did you bring me here to fight or to chat me up?" she growled.
"Oh to fight, be assured little one." he cocked his head. "But now that I know you're a woman, it makes me wonder. I've heard stories in the underground about a woman with preternatural abilities; they call her the Raiden no Onna. She's said to fight with a bokken like the Yoshitsune Minamoto and that she can slice through steel with it. Before now I regarded you as a fairy-tale meant to scare little Kenshi into following their orders. 'Be good or the Raiden no Onna will come and get you in your sleep!'" Jin'eh spat to one side (an unfortunate and gross symptom of chain smoker) "Of course during the Bakumatsu there were many in the Shinsengumi, where I was stationed, who didn't believe that the Hitokiri Battousai existed either... they all died under his sword."
"I don't play those stupid name-games, Jin'eh Udo. I am Kaoru Kamiya, Master of the Kamiya Kasshin Ryu." she gritted through clenched teeth.
Really, she'd thought that stupid nickname had died already. Raiden no Onna, phaugh! 'Shades of Battousai... or worse, Tanuki no Onna.' she thought with a barely repressed shudder.
Jin'eh eyes widened slightly. "So the rumors are true, you do have the knowledge of Buddha."
"Not everything, it just seems that way." Kaoru tossed her hair. "To a mouse, who has only a mouse's view of the world, it must seem that an eagle can see and know everything but and eagle doesn't know everything. An eagle has only an eagle's view of the world."
"Very poetic." Jin'eh congratulated her. "Before we fight, I want you to tell me something... or the boy dies in a very slow and agonizing manner. Why didn't you kill me when you had the chance? I heard what my target offered for my death."
Kaoru glanced at Yahiko… but the ten year old seemed relaxed, confidant even, in fact he too looked just a bit curious as to the why and how of Jin'eh's question.
'Well, it's nice to see that at least one of us has faith in me.' Kaoru thought acerbically.
"I'll tell you what I told Sanosuke," she said slowly. "I am a Ronin, well an ex-Ronin, I am not a fair judge nor a jury nor an executioner. It's not up to me to decide whether you live or whether you die. Life is a precious gift and the sword school I grew up in taught me to preserve that gift even in others. My hands are stained and my soul is not pure, I cannot decide whether you live or die because I am not worthy to make that choice. I must, however, protect others from the harm that you seek to inflict upon them. I would be a hypocrite to 'save life' by depriving you of yours."
Jin'eh spat again, but this time it was in disgust. "Petty ideals." he growled. "I should have known."
*Author's note* Perhaps he thought Kaoru thought he was too cute to die? ^.^¿ We'll never know. Although I guess he doesn't meet many girls in his line of work.
"Petty ideals or not, that is my reason." Kaoru shifted her stance and pointed her bokken at Jin'eh. "Is that all, or can we get down to business?"
Jin'eh knocked his black kasa off angrily and stripped his yukata down to the waist. Underneath he wore a sort of stretchy black body suit. It looked shiny, could it be leather? In this weather?
"Until you started spouting utopian idealism, I thought you might be a formidable woman, but now I see that's all you are; an idiot woman." he flexed his muscles, they rippled under the tight black leather. "I had ideals once too, but I learned quickly just how useless they are... allow me to do the same for you."
Kaoru saw his head twist to face Yahiko... she knew what would happen next.
"NO!"
Jin'eh gaze snapped back to his opponent when the rise of static electricity in the air caused the hairs on the back of his neck to rise up.
Kaoru threw a sleeve over her eyes. "Inabikari!" she shouted and the grotto was flooded with blue-white light that blinded both Jin'eh and Yahiko. The young boy threw his own arms up to shield himself from the light.
The second the light faded, Kaoru dropped her arm and charged Jin'eh, who was furiously rubbing at the after-images painted on his temporarily useless retinas.
"Arashi no Makaze!" she shouted as she launched a flurry of sweeping blows on the helpless assassin (okay, that sounds wrong)
Yahiko, having covered his eyes before Jin'eh, regained his eyesight almost immediately after Kaoru executed her 'Inabikari'. He blinked the last few hot pink and purple ghosts away to see Jin'eh fall under Kaoru's attack.
The fight, however, was nowhere near finished.
"Yahiko, keep your eyes covered!" Kaoru snapped at him. "Don't make eye contact with Jin'eh, he uses a ki-induced illusion but he can't do it unless he sees your eyes!"
'then I can't see the fight!' The younger part of Yahiko's mind whined before the older part hushed it up. 'I'm already a liability to Kaoru as it is, I've got to trust that she knows what she's doing. I can't do anything even if I wasn't tied up except run away...'
An idea struck Yahiko like the lightning in Kaoru's aura. He slammed his eyes shut and began to work his way out of his bonds. He didn't need his eyes to slip the clumsy knots Jin'eh had tied.
Jin'eh bent his back into his fall and back flipped to his feet, katana at the ready-- his eyes were still fuzzy but he could see again, if only a little.
"BITCH!" he bellowed at her. "Now I -will- kill you! And when you're dead I'll tear the brat apart, then I'll go to that dojo and kill everyone there! No one does this to Jin'eh Udo the Kurogasa!"
Kaoru's eyes narrowed slightly, but she didn't otherwise visibly react. Instead she returned to her heady stance and charged again, Jin'eh whipped his katana up and parried.
Yahiko could hear the clash of wood and steel as well as the occasional grunts and threats from the combatants. He got his hands free and began work on his feet. 'Beat him, Kaoru. You've got to beat him, I can't help you!'
Suddenly hands emerged from the darkness and Yahiko felt the bonds slip away. A hand clamped over his mouth and he felt warm breath tickle his neck.
"Be quiet and do not move, when I let you go run for Tokyo as fast as your legs can carry you and do not look back. Worry not for your Dojo and your friends, should your Master fail then we will step in. Go!" the hands released him and Yahiko wasted no time in following orders.
Out of the corner of his eye, Yahiko could see a gaunt white face with wicked yellow fangs retreat into the darkness of the forest.
Jin'eh, however, spotted him as he ran. "You won't get away!" he threatened and abandoned his attack on Kaoru to lunge for him.
Kaoru, seeing Jin'eh's back turned to her, poured all her remaining strength into one last attack. "Yoha Inkaten!"
The four simultaneous blows hit Jin'eh in both shoulders and hips. He hit the ground and despite his endeavors, he could no longer move his arms and legs.
"You... you dislocated my limbs!" he snarled up at Kaoru, who was daintily slipping her bokken back into her belt.
"Indeed I did." she agreed perkily. "Yahiko, go wake up another night watch man. Tell him we've caught a dangerous sword welding criminal."
"Hai!" Yahiko beamed at Kaoru. "I knew you would win."
"Is that why you were running away?" she prodded, when the boy's face fell she laughed. "Mou, I know why you ran and I'm proud you have such good judgment. Go on, we have a date on the veranda we don't want to miss."
Jin'eh was quiet until Yahiko was out of earshot. Kaoru sat herself down on a handy rock and prepared to wait until a policeman came.
"You may have defeated me, but this doesn't mean those pretty exalted ideals of yours won't fail you one day." he said, almost sulkily.
Kaoru cocked her head and looked down at him. "Mou, I've been a Ronin for thirteen years. My trials may be nothing compared to those of some but I've born an illegitimate child as the result of rape, I've starved and frozen on the road side, I've been jeered by pretty foreign housewives for my dressing habits, I am a thirty year old Japanese woman who is not married, and I have not failed in my faith. Life in all its wondrous forms is sacred. One fight with one assassin will not do what all that has not." she leaned down to whispered in Jin'eh's ear. "I'll share a secret with you Jin'eh; Our pretty ideals don't fail us, we fail our pretty ideals."
When the police officer arrived (with an escort of five other guards) Kaoru answered the same questions about a hundred times and finally was allowed to take Yahiko home around 6 am in the morning.
The sun was rising as they both trudged through the streets of Tokyo. Considering the night before it, the sunrise was actually rather pathetic.
"Mou!" Kaoru huffed, albeit wearily, as she saw the watery pale light crawling it's way up through a dirty gray sky. "You'd think that it might be more impressive."
Yahiko gave a wholehearted sigh and faltered in his steps. Kaoru caught him with one hand and held him up. "Ano! You had better go to bed as soon as we get home, I guess we'll have to save tea on the veranda for another day." she caught herself on a yawn. "Come to think of it, I'm tired as well!"
Yahiko yawned a yawn that made his mouth take up most of his face. "Gomen... you think they could have at least gotten us a rickshaw or a carriage after keeping us up all night!" he complained.
"Mou!" Kaoru sigh and laughed weakly. "As odd as this sounds, not all policemen are as kind as Fujita-san."
Yahiko choked on his laughter and the two had to stop as he doubled over with it.
"Hey look! There she is!"
"Eh?" Kaoru and Yahiko looked up at the sound of a man shouting.
There was a man pointing towards them and waving to a group of others, Kaoru noticed Enishi and Sanosuke among their number.
"Kamiya-sensei!" Enishi shouted and forced his way to the front. He reached her first and fell to his knees before the exhausted pair. He checked them briskly for injuries, rather impersonally.
The people were, Kaoru belatedly realized, the neighboring people who lived around the Dojo. People who a mere week ago made signs against evil as they passed the front gates.
How... odd.
"Are you all right?" Sanosuke asked breathlessly as he caught up to Enishi. "That bastard psycho didn't hurt ya, did he?"
Yahiko stirred to life. "No way! He didn't even land a single blow one her..."
"Ano, Yahiko! I thought you were exhausted!" Kaoru protested without much hope but the young boy didn't stem the flow of praise.
An old woman who lived next door to the dojo and ran an okomoniyaki yatai was the first to shut Yahiko up. "Your sensei looks like something the cat dragged in, no matter how good her performance it's obvious she hasn't slept in a while." she paused to squat down by Kaoru with much creaking of bones and examined her face critically. "See, you! You've got smudges beneath your eyes! You'll never keep your husband looking like that! You two!"
Enishi and Sanosuke leapt to attention.
"Take these two home and don't let them out of their futons for at least twelve hours!" she barked.
Kaoru sighed a put upon sigh as Sanosuke picked her up and began to bear her home. Still-- it was better than walking home.
Although she had to feel smug for a minute, Sanosuke would -never- have carried Kenshin home like this.
***
"Mou, Megumi, why do I have to wear your clothes!?" Kaoru complained from her spot on the veranda (from which she was not allowed to move I might add). "and doing laundry is my chore!"
She fell into sullen silence under Megumi's death glare.
Kaoru was dressed in a dark blue kimono with black and silver swallows swooping all over the obi and the sleeves. The doctor had even swept her dark hair up into a simple yet elegant coif that kept the hair off her neck. A cup of tea sat on a tray beside her with some of Megumi's coveted o-hagi.
Megumi was kneeling before a wash bin that contained every scrap of clothing Kaoru owned. "Because." she snapped irritably. "You were out all last night and most of the day before playing heroine and if you think I'm going to let you play house maid today you've got another thing coming!"
"Mou." Kaoru sulked. She knew it was Megumi's way of showing that she was glad Kaoru was alive, it's it's own way it was more endearing than the eternal glomping and chasing.
Even more unsettling to Kaoru, Megumi's protective behavior was a sign that the doctor's feelings were no light matter.
'Sessha think that she might be in trouble, de gozaru.' Kaoru thought. 'Orororo...'
"Hey, Kaoru!"
Kaoru smiled and waved to Sanosuke as he vaulted over the back gate into the dojo courtyard. "Good morning." she greeted him.
Sanosuke gave an approving whistle as he looked her over. "You -do- clean up pretty! No one's going to mistake you for a man now, eh?"
Kaoru twitched. Sanosuke had apparently heard that part of the story as well...
"Keep your hormones to yourself." Megumi threatened Sanosuke, who backed away from her dramatically stumbling over his own feet. Both women laughed with Sanosuke when he really did trip and fall on his butt.
"You here for a reason, rooster-hair?" Megumi asked giving Sano the evil eye as he tossed himself on the veranda by Kaoru and stole some of her o-hagi; although to be fair he did leave her the lion's share. "or are you just gracing us with your presence?"
"I'm gracing you with my presence, but I also saw ol' spider-face headed this way." He turned serious. "You think that Kurogasa might have gotten out?"
"I doubt." Kaoru sipped her tea and chewed thoughtfully on one of the o-hagi Sanosuke had left her. "Especially not if Saitou's back in town."
"That's right, Spider-face wouldn't be as forgiving as you. Ugly-hat would be dead by now if he'd gotten out. Think he might have another job for us?"
Kaoru sighed. "Mou! I hope not!"
Sanosuke eyed the last o-hagi mournfully. "Oi, Megitsune! Is there any more of that?"
Megumi sighed. "I was going to make some more for when Enishi, Yahiko, and Kaori get back from practice at the Maekawa dojo."
She stood and patted off her kimono, a more common one with plainer colors and pattern than her normal get-up's; plainly suited to housework. As she passed Sanosuke she smiled. "In return for me making o-hagi for you, you can finish the laundry. Kaoru can tell you what to do if you forget how!"
"Eep!" Sanosuke looked like he'd swallowed a bug. "Oi, wait! The o-hagi isn't that..." but Megumi didn't listen. Making o-hagi was more fun than laundry any day.
"And don't let Kao-san leave that spot! She's resting today whether she wants to or not! Doctor's orders!" Megumi yelled over her shoulder.
Sanosuke drug a hand through his bangs and cursed, but he squatted down in front of the laundry and began scrubbing the clothes.
"Oi, Kaoru, are these yours?" he asked as he got familiar with his work.
"Hai." Kaoru murmured. "Megumi decided that the best way to keep me chained to the dojo was to take all my clothes and stuff me into one of her kimono. After she's dried them she's threatening to mend them all just to keep me still for another few hours."
Sanosuke guffawed. "Well remember this next time you want to spend the night fighting a crazy swordsman from hell. The Kitsune's gonna get you!"
Kaoru sweat-dropped, but didn't reply. Saitou chose that instant to appear at the rear gate.
"Good morning, Kamiya-san." he said, tipping his hat.
"Good morning Fujita-san." Kaoru replied. "won't you come in?"
"Thank you, you look very pleasant in feminine clothing. I almost didn't recognize you." Saitou glanced down at Sanosuke. "Finally working for a living, are we?"
"Unlike some people I could mention." The yojimbo snarled back.
"Is there a reason for this visit, Fujita-san?" Kaoru asked gently, breaking up the fight-in-progress. "If I recall, Shinnosuke-kun doesn't start his lessons here until next week."
Saitou withdrew a folded note from within his smartly tailored coat. "Jin'eh Udo, code named Kurogasa, committed suicide last night."
Kaoru started and frowned. "why are you telling me this?"
Saitou handed her the note. "He left you a message. It was originally written in blood on the wall of his cell but I took the liberty of copying it down for you."
Kaoru shuddered and accepted the note. "I have a sinking feeling that I know what this letter says..."
"You would be surprised." Saitou said delicately and coughed.
'To Kaoru Kamiya of the Kamiya Kasshin Ryu, Raiden no Onna, and my dear defeater. The officer who brings you to this, if they do at all, will probably have told you what I have done. I imagine you'll be angry with me, having sullied your ideals; but don't be. I was going to die anyway, there's an officer here who came to my cell door and whispered three words to me this evening; 'Aku, Soku, Zan'. Another pretty idealist, although not quite like you.
I would have liked to break that illusion you have, life is sacred, we would have been good together. I might even go so far as to say that I wish I had met you before I became what I am now. Wishes are all very well and good but a hitokiri is a hitokiri from the second he is born amidst blood and carnage to the day he dies. I am a hitokiri so I know of what I speak. You may have been right in what you said to me before your student brought the night-watch. Even so I must ponder it in hell, which is where I will wait for you. I'll be watching you from the very edge of the pit to see how long until you too fail your ideals. When you do, we'll fall into the inferno together.
Until then.'
Kaoru put the letter down and indulged herself in a good long shudder. Sanosuke snatched the letter from her limp hands and scanned it. Then he too put it down and shuddered.
"Man... that's just... sick."
Kaoru took back the letter and folded it up carefully. Saitou raised an eyebrow as she tucked it into her kimono.
"Don't get me wrong." she told him. "I don't believe that I will fail myself as he predicts... but." she put a hand over the spot in her kimono where it lay. "but maybe one day I might need a reminder. Now I have it."
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End Chapter Nine
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Seiyuu; Okay, the post-mortem love letter from Jin'eh might have been pushing it.
Here's descriptions of the attacks Kaoru used in this chapter.
Yoha inkaten - flash point aftermath
This attack is loosely based on the Kuzu-ryu-sen. Kaoru isn't nearly as fast as Kenshin so she wouldn't be able to pull off the Kuzu-Ryu-sen and hit the seven killing points all at once. Instead, she developed the Yoha inkaten, which targets only four disabling points instead of seven killing points. The yoha inkaten targets the shoulders and hips and, if done correctly, dislocates all four major ball joints rendering the opponent helpless until someone puts him back together; usually that someone is a prison physician.
The doctors in Tokyo get very familiar with the Yohan inkaten. It's her favorite move.
tokkan inazuma- lighting flash attack (rough translation)
this attack is one that Kaoru uses more frequently than the others. In fact she uses it all the time and some could argue that it is her favorite skill. This is when Kaoru 'sheathes' her bokken in combination of her own ki and the air pressure of her attacks. With the tokkan inazuma she can use her bokken against a metal sword. Depending on how good her opponent is Kaoru can use more or less of her ki to protect the bokken. Against common street punks she would use very very little and against , oh say, Saitou she would use much more.
Arashi no makaze - Devil's tempest (rough translation)
this move is based loosely on Kenshin's ryu son sen (not one of his more favored attacks, he preferrs one shots like the Ryu sui sen) Kaoru takes a two handed grip on the bodken and uses the lightning speed to land several sweeping blows. This is actually a rather crude attack and is really nothing more than standing in front of an oppenent and beating on them with enough speed that they can't retaliate. This isn't one of Kaoru's favorite moves either although it does get the job done.