Disclaimer: *bawls* I don't own RK!!!!! So sad..but true, she needs only to
be thinner that one wants to get the girl and do I help them? Yes I do. No
it's happened once or twice someone-
Kami: Shut up and get on with IT!
Sujakata: maa maa Kami,
Oh yes Umm, does anyone know about the money of that time, and what amount was considered high way robbery?
RK (K+K) fics that I find you all have to read
~ TIMELESS written by marstanuki (Batt-Kaoru fic, Kaoru goes back in time and meets Batousai, very entertaining, enjoy it if you haven't read it already- Incomplete)
~When I fall in love written by KawaiiChica (Ken-Kao fic, sad and very beautifully written fic- Incomplete)
~Strings and Puppets (I think that's what its called, I cant find it since that searchy thing is offline or whatever, but it is a K+K fic, and a very good one at that)
Dedicated to:
Rekka's Angel- hehehe, more of Kenshins protective side in this chapter, and Kami says thankyou :D hmm, well I hope that you enjoy this chapter as well, it took me almost all day because I just couldn't think of the way to set out this chapter, hopefully it doesn't confuse you.
Marstanuki- good to know that your working on it :D hehehe, more Tomoe meanness yay! I don't really like her anyway. Hahaha
Val- hehehe Kenshin is going to start seeing through Tomoe, as you'll see in this chapter, and well more badness for Kaoru, but it will start to look up for her soon..hopefully. hmm, where will Kenshin sleep you wonder? Hmmm so do I hahahah, we'll just have to wait and see
Leigh- hahaha, she is in trouble, and I know, SUCKED IN TOMOE! Hahahaha, ok, well hopefully you enjoy this chapter, because Tomoe gets.dun dun dunnnnn a brush off!!!!!
Sweetaznpnia4eva- Im getting better at writing your name hahaha, hehehe, there is a cute little scene at the end of this chapter too, I think I might place in a cliff hanger in the next one since theres too much cuteness, not too sure. Hmm, well ill try and take care, not too sure if I can though, my brain isn't quite as it should be (shh don't tell anyone)
Kriska- hahaha, I know what you mean, you like her and then you don't, you don't cause she's evil and all but I like her cause she's getting Kaoru and Kenshin together, the crafty chick! I love the evil chicks anyway, well unless they mess with the hot guy, then I don't like them! Good luck with school chicka
Chibi-ken14- hahahaha, im glad that you like my fic ^_^ hmmm, well im not sure about Kenshin beating her up, but I am hoping for a real good cat fight, what do you think? Hehehe
Jason M Lee- hehehe, I'm getting a distinct feeling that you like to point out my faults *grins* not that I don't mind, hehehe, just makes me feel a little stupid @-@. Hehehe yes I know about the chest binding thing, but she's fourteen in this fic so I was thinking that it would be a good learning experience for her, since she's been brought up more like a guy and all. Thankyou for pointing out the whole Batousai noun thingy, and for the description of the word noun (I'm such a reject sometimes) and I was wondering if I could have a little help with the defining of Tomoe's character, see I saw her as a conniving chick who wanted her revenge anyway she could, even if she was subtler in Samurai X. see I'm just trying to make her character more stronger for my own evil purposes, but if you could help me then maybe I could try and make her seem less evil then she is. Whoa Nelly I think that's the longest reply I've done hehehe.
Dewey- hehehe, K+K forever, you'll see that in this chapter, don't worry
Chiruken- you'll see the protectivness numerous times in this fic, and I agree with you computers are evil, I mean wonderful creations hehehe aren't you my dear *pats computer screen* hahaha, ok well enjoy this chapter
Shizuka- Katsura makes another appearance in this chapter and he's all protective father and all. Um well hehehe Kenshin gets all angry and stuff in this chapter cause well, oh you'll find out. Um lovely little moments coming up for you and only you Shiz, though don't tell the other readers that hehehe, or they'll get all jealous. More Tomoe evilness so enjoy that hehehe, and well cant wait to hear from you again. Oh my gosh, guess what's on now! Hahaha MASH! Oh that show is so old, I think I'll go and watch it hahahaha
Kawaiichica- hehehe, well hopefully you enjoy this chapter and thankyou for putting me on your favourites list *hugs chica* ooh I feel so special :D
Princess Kaoru- heheh Kaoru will be fine, thought there are some things that happen to her in this fic, oooh I wont say any more or ill ruin the chapter :D
By Sujakata
Sacred Sword
Chapter Seven: Blood
~
Kenshin settled himself against the door, his eyes stayed on Kaoru's form the entire night, watching her breathe and ingraining her picture in his mind forever.
~
Bakumatsu 1864 Japan, Kyoto
Doctors House
It was morning, sunlight filtered through the window and settled annoyingly on Kaoru's face. She groaned and tried to roll over but pain wracked through her small frame and she gasped awake. Beautiful blue eyes opened to find violet and amber flecked eyes watching her, slight worry flickered over his gaze before it settled back to its usual mask of coldness.
"What happened?" Kaoru asked in a whisper, her throat hurt and she felt a little lightheaded.
"Lye back down before you hurt yourself" Kenshin answered moving as if he was going to get up and force her down himself. Kaoru rolled her eyes but complied to his wish. They sat, or lied in Kaoru's case in silence for a moment, Kaoru's eyes twitched.
"Well?" her voice was louder this time, and Kenshin smirked down at her, 'she is so easy to provoke'
"It was a miscalculation on my part, that is why you were hurt" Kaoru raised an eyebrow
"Uh huh, you do know it wasn't your fault Kenshin-kun." He was about to answer and Kaoru held up a hand to ward off his insistence. "The only one at blame here is me, I couldn't protect myself from a simple Ninja!" Kaoru turned her eyes away from Kenshin as she felt them prickle with tears.
Again there was silence.
"It was an inside job, the Sake was drugged, otherwise there would have been more men in your room that night instead of just myself" Kaoru snapped her head back towards him.
"Tomoe?" Kenshin's eyes narrowed
"Nani?"
"I wonder if it was Tomoe, I mean she was serving that night, and she doesn't like me that much, so-"
"Iie, no woman could come up with that kind of plan, unless she had ties with some Ninja clan, which I doubt since her background has been checked over thoroughly." Kaoru glared at Kenshin
"That doesn't mean she didn't do it!"
"Drop it Kaoru"
"Why? Do you have a thing for her?"
Kenshin glared but couldn't help the small blush that tainted his cheeks. Kaoru's eyes narrowed even more, until only slits of sapphire could be seen.
"Do not let your mind be clouded because she is a pretty face Kenshin" Kenshin's hand went to the hilt of his sword at her accusation.
"Watch your tongue" he ground out, the air around them electrified with a hostile air.
The shoji was opened and the doctor came in, oblivious to the glares of the couple inside.
"So, how are you feeling miss?"
Kaoru looked the man over suspiciously finding something wrong with the way he was towards her.
"Fine" she said slowly, her eyes still trained on his movements. Kenshin also picked up on some sort of weird vibe that the man was giving off.
"I'll give you an injection to help with the pain." Kaoru's eyes narrowed as she felt the spark in the man's aura.
"I'll be alright, I can handle the pain." The doctor smiled thinly.
"Really?" and he knelt down in front of her and poked her wound
"HEY!" Kaoru yelled and she flinched back, trying to get away from the doctor, something really wasn't right about him. Kenshin had stood up and went to Kaoru's side and pulled her up by the back of her gi, his other hand tightly held onto his katana. The doctor eyed them for a moment.
"We will leave now" Kenshin said, his voice icy and his eyes flashed amber. The doctor nodded his head.
"The bill is one hundred Yen" Kaoru gasped at the amount and stepped forwards angrily. The Doctor used that moment of Kaoru's closeness to jab the needle into her arm and begin to pump the contents into her blood. Kenshin acted just as quickly and sliced the hand of the doctor off before running him through with his blade, his eyes a hard amber. He turned quickly to Kaoru whose legs were shaking badly and her hand was gripping at the syringe with wobbly hands. Kenshin swiftly took the needle out and placed it carefully in the folds of his gi. Kaoru fell forwards into Kenshin's embrace and held on as tightly as she could to him.
"You know" her voice was thick and her eyelids were droopy, "I'm getting real sick of this...first I get beaten up and almost drowned, then I get impaled, and now..I get drugged. Why..me?" Kenshin said nothing and brushed her bangs from her head.
"I'll find out," he said before he picked her up and cradled her against his chest once again. 'Now, where again did our doctor live?'
~()~
Katsura Kogorou rushed through the doors of Doctor Hikaya's Practise in a flurry, his eyes narrowed and a very intimidating aura surrounded him, he was not a happy man. Kenshin stood and bowed politely to his leader and allowed the older man to pull him aggressively towards him by the front of his gi.
"You will tell me everything"
Kenshin nodded and pulled himself slowly from Katsura's grasp.
"She was attacked last night by an unknown ninja, I killed him, but before he died he impaled Kamiya with his sword. I then took her to the closest doctor and he fixed her up. Then this morning when he came for his payment he wanted to give her some kind of needle however both Kamiya and myself felt something off about him and before I could kill him he injected Kamiya with the substance that was in the syringe. Doctor Hikaya has informed me that it is a potent sedative and if he had injected Kamiya with it all then she would have died."
"Do you know who is doing this?"
"It is an inside job, that I know, and all men last night had Sake whereas I did not." Katsura stood there and looked closely at Kenshin.
"This is the third time she has been injured while in your presence," he accused "if I find out you had any knowledge that you are withholding from me I will stop at nothing to have you killed, do you understand me?" Kenshin nodded his head, his eyes flashing amber. "How is she?" Kenshin looked up when doctor Hikaya walked in and bowed to Katsura.
"She will be fine, I have resewn her wound to her shoulder and put a more potent salve on her older wounds, she will be fine within the week, though, I am not sure if she will be able to use her sword again, it will be too heavy for the injury. Can she use her left hand?" Both Kenshin and Katsura looked at one another then shook their heads. "Then I am afraid that she will not fight again."
"Excuse me, but don't think that a stupid injury will stop me from using the Kamiya Kassin Ryuu to protect people" all three men turned to look at Kaoru who was leaning against the wall for support, her eyes still slightly glazed over with sleep.
"You should be resting miss Kamiya" the doctor tsked while going over to her to put her back to bed. Kaoru complained slightly but gave in as her father gave her a stern look.
Once the shoji had closed Katsura turned back to Himura.
"I have an assignment for you that will take you a few days, your information will come to you as it usually does." Batousai nodded his head and he turned his amber eyes to the shoji once again as he heard a crash and then the feminine yell of Kaoru, Katsura shook his head and dragged a hand through his hair. "You are dismissed" Kenshin bowed and stalked from the room.
'I don't understand why he thought I had something to do with Kaoru's injuries, yes I know I was supposed to protect her, but what if it wasn't me looking after her, she would be dead already, I am not trying to kill her.' He glared back at the doctor's practise his hand going to his remaining katana in reflex. 'I would hurt her, I couldn't.' frowning at himself he continued on his way back to the Ishin Shishi inn 'and what did she mean by not letting my mind be clouded? It hasn't has it? Iie, I would never allow that to happen, never.' Kenshin stormed through the doors of the inn and brushed passed Tomoe who looked at him with a small smile.
"Himura-sama, where were you last night?" Kenshin turned to her, his eyes cold and searching.
"Why?" Tomoe lowered her eyes and looked up at him through her bangs.
"I wanted to speak with you" she said and allowed a small sultry smile to grace her lips. Kenshin frowned deeper, as he realised exactly what Kaoru had been saying, he watched as Tomoe walked closer to him, and knew that before the warning from Kaoru he would have stood there and probably smiled like an idiot as the scent of white plums overpowered him, now however he could feel the underlying tones of hatred and scorn in Tomoe's aura as she neared him. Kenshin stepped back.
"Then speak" Tomoe frowned slightly 'what is going on?'
"I was wondering if you would like to go to dinner with me?"
"Iie" he said and turned to go, Tomoe gripped his arm slightly to stop him "take your hands from me" he growled out, his senses knowing that the hold Tomoe had on him was a slight threat.
"Where is miss Kaoru?" she asked innocently, while the spike of violence in her aura alarmed Kenshin.
"..." 'So Kaoru was right, or to a point, Tomoe doesn't like her at all, but I wonder why, maybe she feels jealous? No, then why would she try and threaten me...' Kenshin roughly pulled his gi away from Tomoe's grasp and continued towards his room to think.
Tomoe glared at Batousai's back 'I will get that Kaoru, she is stopping my chances of revenge, I tried to warn her, I didn't want to kill anyone other then Batousai, but, a girls got to do what a girls got to do.' Smiling at the men that walked passed her Tomoe continued with the laundry, she had easily gotten rid of the men who had hired the Ninja by her ties with Iizuka, all she needed now was a Batousai free plan to kill the Tanuki girl.
~()~
Her father had left saying he would get Iizuka and someone else to come and pick her up, since it was only a short walk from the Doctors to the Inn Katsura thought that the less men seen with a lone girl the better. Kaoru pulled her gi on and tucked it into her new grey Hakama, her Sakabatou tied to her right side so that she could use it with her left hand. 'I wonder where Kenshin is..I thought that Otou-san would send him to get me, but I don't think Kenshin is in Otou-san's good books at the moment.
There was a polite knock on the Shoji and she pulled it open to see Iizuka's ugly face. Kaoru withheld her grimace and stepped out.
"Ready?" he asked her while looking over at where the other man stood, Kaoru hadn't seen him before, but didn't worry about it, soon she'd be back in the comfort of her own home.
"Hai" Iizuka then walked out in front of her while the new man walked behind. Kaoru felt slightly odd, as if something again wasn't right. 'Oh please, don't let there be another attack on me.' Iizuka led then down an alleyway and continued forwards, his pace quickening, now Kaoru knew something was wrong, everything was getting slightly darker and the houses looked to be abandoned. Kaoru looked up to find that Iizuka had vanished. Cursing Kaoru spun around to face the new man to find he had a katana out in front of him and was in a battle stance.
"What are you doing?" Kaoru asked, her eyebrow raised and her left hand going to her Sakabatou
"My job" and then he lunged at her, Kaoru glared and pulled her Sakabatou out and held it in front of her.
~()~
A little ways away sat one of the Yaminobu Ninja's, he face in a frown. Iizuka and that lady to come and kill the little girl who was fighting very poorly had hired him. He had been told that his brothers attempt on her life the night before had failed, but he could see that the little girl would forever hold that scar on her body, as he could tell she was usually a right hander.
He held no grudge against the little girl, he had seen her around before and she looked so very lively, and he hated to kill the young ones. Sighing he knew that he would have to relieve the other man of killing the girl. Standing the Ninja jumped down from the roof he was on and landed in between the girl and the man. He held out his sword and stood, watching the girls amazing blue eyes. She glared at the new arrival with such loathing that the ninja chuckled.
"Have you come to kill me too?" she asked, holding her Sakabatou out in front of her, ready to defend herself. The Ninja nodded his head and then lunged at her. Kaoru knew that she couldn't hold up for much longer, she was still recovering from the sleeping drug, and she was sore all over. She did not notice when her hand twitched and switched the side of the blade, nor did she notice that her body reacted all on its own, all she was thinking was that she was tired of fighting to save herself. Her body ducked under the much larger man and turned to the side to dodge the blade of the ninja's sword and her left hand angled upwards to the mans stomach. Kaoru was just as surprised as the ninja when her sword continued on its way through the mans flesh and out the other side of his body. Blood rained over her small figure and she looked up at the older man who was staring into her blue eyes.
He knew that he hadn't wanted to kill the little girl and he knew that was the reason why she had gotten passed his defences, he felt absolute sorrow as her large blue eyes teared up and he realised that this must have been her first kill. He dropped his katana and cradled her small face in his large hand.
"Its alright-"
"Gomen, gomen ne, I-"
"Shh, little koneko" the ninja was about to say more when his eyes narrowed and he pushed Kaoru out of the way, pulled her Sakabatou from his wound and killed the other man who had been charging at Kaoru. The Ninja flicked the blood from the Sakabatou and turned to look at the little girl. "Go home koneko, go home" Kaoru looked down at her hands, blood dripped from then, dark and red, her breathing went shallow and she stayed where she was. The ninja was slowly loosing his life, but he wanted the little girl to get away before that Iizuka man came back to see if he had done the job.
He bent painfully down and picked the small girl up to stand on her feet, and then he gave her the sword that had mortally wounded him before giving her a nudge in the direction of the main streets.
"Hurry home and don't stop, you did nothing wrong" the ninja's voice was a hoarse whisper and Kaoru sniffed, her blue eyes were on his.
"May I know your name?" she asked in a soft whisper. The ninja smiled down at her and brushed her bloodied bangs from her face.
"Zenrai Jitsoyu" he said and then again pushed the girl, she complied this time and quickly ran from the alleyway. The ninja sighed and sat down on the ground, his lifeblood still flowing from him, and he closed his eyes, seeing the beautiful blood covered little Koneko with the tearful eyes. He smiled one last time as his spirit left him.
~()~
Kaoru stumbled inside the gate of the Ishin Shishi inn her sight blurred from her tears; the only person in her mind was the red haired Hitokiri, her friend. He was there, on the porch as he usually was when he didn't have anything else to do. She watched as he stood abruptly and hurried over to her.
"Are you hurt? Where? What happened? Who did this?" at any other time Kaoru would have been amused with his questioning, but not right now. She lunged into his arms and wept like there was no tomorrow, her soul felt so black, so tainted with blood, she had done something she had vowed never to do in her life..
"I killed this day," she whispered into his neck and she felt his hold on her tighten. Kaoru looked up at him and saw the steely look on his face; he pulled out of her hug and gripped her arm gently before bringing her over to the well. Kaoru stood with glazed eyes as he hulled the water into the bucket and then dumped its contents on top of her head, allowing the water to start washing the blood away. She looked up at the angry amber eyed young man before her "it wont wash my soul" she whispered, her eyes haunted. Batousai stopped and looked at her, his entire being was in a rage 'Iizuka and Utario were supposed to have kept her safe, I will not forgive them for making Kaoru kill, they tainted her soul,' he was just so angry, he knew what killing could do to a person.
"No, it will not" he sighed and brushed the water off of her face, his hand coming back covered in blood. She looked up at him, her blue eyes dull and unseeing.
"His name was Zenrai, I killed him and he saved me. Why?" her voice was so anguished that it tore at Batousai. He put the bucket filled with water onto to side of the well and pulled Kaoru into his arms, he had never comforted another before this girl,
"I do not know Kaoru, I-"
"How can you live with yourself? With this feeling? It's eating at me Kenshin, I did something unforgivable, I killed a man." Kenshin gripped Kaoru's chin and lifted it up to look him right in the eyes. Sapphire clashed with amber
"I live one day at a time, you must live for all those you have killed, live their life Kaoru, that is all you can do" she pushed away from him
"You are hitokiri, how can you talk about living when every night you could die!" Kenshin looked at her sadly
"That is life Kaoru, we are in a war, everyone must die" Kaoru shook her head.
"I will live, but you must live as well, to help me" her voice was a whisper but there was such command in her voice that Kenshin could not deny her this. He nodded his head.
"I will live, but you must live as well..to help...me" Kaoru smiled through the thinned blood at his promise to her with her own words, they would live together, as friends, to give each other the strength they needed to get through this war alive. She lent forwards and hugged him and closed her eyes to try and rid her mind of the blood that still caked her body.
"Together" she whispered.
~()~
Sujakata: ahh, strong friendship has been established, excellent, now on to the romance!!!! Yay! Oooh Kenshin is getting suspicious of Tomoe and Iizuka, hehehe, I wonder if he will find out..
Read through by Kami, you can again kill her if need be.
Kami: ooooohhhhhh. So its back to killing me again is it? Man you are so mean. Hey and you made more spelling mistakes than usual I might add.oooooo yay! K&K romance soon! They are so cute together! :]
Kami: Shut up and get on with IT!
Sujakata: maa maa Kami,
Oh yes Umm, does anyone know about the money of that time, and what amount was considered high way robbery?
RK (K+K) fics that I find you all have to read
~ TIMELESS written by marstanuki (Batt-Kaoru fic, Kaoru goes back in time and meets Batousai, very entertaining, enjoy it if you haven't read it already- Incomplete)
~When I fall in love written by KawaiiChica (Ken-Kao fic, sad and very beautifully written fic- Incomplete)
~Strings and Puppets (I think that's what its called, I cant find it since that searchy thing is offline or whatever, but it is a K+K fic, and a very good one at that)
Dedicated to:
Rekka's Angel- hehehe, more of Kenshins protective side in this chapter, and Kami says thankyou :D hmm, well I hope that you enjoy this chapter as well, it took me almost all day because I just couldn't think of the way to set out this chapter, hopefully it doesn't confuse you.
Marstanuki- good to know that your working on it :D hehehe, more Tomoe meanness yay! I don't really like her anyway. Hahaha
Val- hehehe Kenshin is going to start seeing through Tomoe, as you'll see in this chapter, and well more badness for Kaoru, but it will start to look up for her soon..hopefully. hmm, where will Kenshin sleep you wonder? Hmmm so do I hahahah, we'll just have to wait and see
Leigh- hahaha, she is in trouble, and I know, SUCKED IN TOMOE! Hahahaha, ok, well hopefully you enjoy this chapter, because Tomoe gets.dun dun dunnnnn a brush off!!!!!
Sweetaznpnia4eva- Im getting better at writing your name hahaha, hehehe, there is a cute little scene at the end of this chapter too, I think I might place in a cliff hanger in the next one since theres too much cuteness, not too sure. Hmm, well ill try and take care, not too sure if I can though, my brain isn't quite as it should be (shh don't tell anyone)
Kriska- hahaha, I know what you mean, you like her and then you don't, you don't cause she's evil and all but I like her cause she's getting Kaoru and Kenshin together, the crafty chick! I love the evil chicks anyway, well unless they mess with the hot guy, then I don't like them! Good luck with school chicka
Chibi-ken14- hahahaha, im glad that you like my fic ^_^ hmmm, well im not sure about Kenshin beating her up, but I am hoping for a real good cat fight, what do you think? Hehehe
Jason M Lee- hehehe, I'm getting a distinct feeling that you like to point out my faults *grins* not that I don't mind, hehehe, just makes me feel a little stupid @-@. Hehehe yes I know about the chest binding thing, but she's fourteen in this fic so I was thinking that it would be a good learning experience for her, since she's been brought up more like a guy and all. Thankyou for pointing out the whole Batousai noun thingy, and for the description of the word noun (I'm such a reject sometimes) and I was wondering if I could have a little help with the defining of Tomoe's character, see I saw her as a conniving chick who wanted her revenge anyway she could, even if she was subtler in Samurai X. see I'm just trying to make her character more stronger for my own evil purposes, but if you could help me then maybe I could try and make her seem less evil then she is. Whoa Nelly I think that's the longest reply I've done hehehe.
Dewey- hehehe, K+K forever, you'll see that in this chapter, don't worry
Chiruken- you'll see the protectivness numerous times in this fic, and I agree with you computers are evil, I mean wonderful creations hehehe aren't you my dear *pats computer screen* hahaha, ok well enjoy this chapter
Shizuka- Katsura makes another appearance in this chapter and he's all protective father and all. Um well hehehe Kenshin gets all angry and stuff in this chapter cause well, oh you'll find out. Um lovely little moments coming up for you and only you Shiz, though don't tell the other readers that hehehe, or they'll get all jealous. More Tomoe evilness so enjoy that hehehe, and well cant wait to hear from you again. Oh my gosh, guess what's on now! Hahaha MASH! Oh that show is so old, I think I'll go and watch it hahahaha
Kawaiichica- hehehe, well hopefully you enjoy this chapter and thankyou for putting me on your favourites list *hugs chica* ooh I feel so special :D
Princess Kaoru- heheh Kaoru will be fine, thought there are some things that happen to her in this fic, oooh I wont say any more or ill ruin the chapter :D
By Sujakata
Sacred Sword
Chapter Seven: Blood
~
Kenshin settled himself against the door, his eyes stayed on Kaoru's form the entire night, watching her breathe and ingraining her picture in his mind forever.
~
Bakumatsu 1864 Japan, Kyoto
Doctors House
It was morning, sunlight filtered through the window and settled annoyingly on Kaoru's face. She groaned and tried to roll over but pain wracked through her small frame and she gasped awake. Beautiful blue eyes opened to find violet and amber flecked eyes watching her, slight worry flickered over his gaze before it settled back to its usual mask of coldness.
"What happened?" Kaoru asked in a whisper, her throat hurt and she felt a little lightheaded.
"Lye back down before you hurt yourself" Kenshin answered moving as if he was going to get up and force her down himself. Kaoru rolled her eyes but complied to his wish. They sat, or lied in Kaoru's case in silence for a moment, Kaoru's eyes twitched.
"Well?" her voice was louder this time, and Kenshin smirked down at her, 'she is so easy to provoke'
"It was a miscalculation on my part, that is why you were hurt" Kaoru raised an eyebrow
"Uh huh, you do know it wasn't your fault Kenshin-kun." He was about to answer and Kaoru held up a hand to ward off his insistence. "The only one at blame here is me, I couldn't protect myself from a simple Ninja!" Kaoru turned her eyes away from Kenshin as she felt them prickle with tears.
Again there was silence.
"It was an inside job, the Sake was drugged, otherwise there would have been more men in your room that night instead of just myself" Kaoru snapped her head back towards him.
"Tomoe?" Kenshin's eyes narrowed
"Nani?"
"I wonder if it was Tomoe, I mean she was serving that night, and she doesn't like me that much, so-"
"Iie, no woman could come up with that kind of plan, unless she had ties with some Ninja clan, which I doubt since her background has been checked over thoroughly." Kaoru glared at Kenshin
"That doesn't mean she didn't do it!"
"Drop it Kaoru"
"Why? Do you have a thing for her?"
Kenshin glared but couldn't help the small blush that tainted his cheeks. Kaoru's eyes narrowed even more, until only slits of sapphire could be seen.
"Do not let your mind be clouded because she is a pretty face Kenshin" Kenshin's hand went to the hilt of his sword at her accusation.
"Watch your tongue" he ground out, the air around them electrified with a hostile air.
The shoji was opened and the doctor came in, oblivious to the glares of the couple inside.
"So, how are you feeling miss?"
Kaoru looked the man over suspiciously finding something wrong with the way he was towards her.
"Fine" she said slowly, her eyes still trained on his movements. Kenshin also picked up on some sort of weird vibe that the man was giving off.
"I'll give you an injection to help with the pain." Kaoru's eyes narrowed as she felt the spark in the man's aura.
"I'll be alright, I can handle the pain." The doctor smiled thinly.
"Really?" and he knelt down in front of her and poked her wound
"HEY!" Kaoru yelled and she flinched back, trying to get away from the doctor, something really wasn't right about him. Kenshin had stood up and went to Kaoru's side and pulled her up by the back of her gi, his other hand tightly held onto his katana. The doctor eyed them for a moment.
"We will leave now" Kenshin said, his voice icy and his eyes flashed amber. The doctor nodded his head.
"The bill is one hundred Yen" Kaoru gasped at the amount and stepped forwards angrily. The Doctor used that moment of Kaoru's closeness to jab the needle into her arm and begin to pump the contents into her blood. Kenshin acted just as quickly and sliced the hand of the doctor off before running him through with his blade, his eyes a hard amber. He turned quickly to Kaoru whose legs were shaking badly and her hand was gripping at the syringe with wobbly hands. Kenshin swiftly took the needle out and placed it carefully in the folds of his gi. Kaoru fell forwards into Kenshin's embrace and held on as tightly as she could to him.
"You know" her voice was thick and her eyelids were droopy, "I'm getting real sick of this...first I get beaten up and almost drowned, then I get impaled, and now..I get drugged. Why..me?" Kenshin said nothing and brushed her bangs from her head.
"I'll find out," he said before he picked her up and cradled her against his chest once again. 'Now, where again did our doctor live?'
~()~
Katsura Kogorou rushed through the doors of Doctor Hikaya's Practise in a flurry, his eyes narrowed and a very intimidating aura surrounded him, he was not a happy man. Kenshin stood and bowed politely to his leader and allowed the older man to pull him aggressively towards him by the front of his gi.
"You will tell me everything"
Kenshin nodded and pulled himself slowly from Katsura's grasp.
"She was attacked last night by an unknown ninja, I killed him, but before he died he impaled Kamiya with his sword. I then took her to the closest doctor and he fixed her up. Then this morning when he came for his payment he wanted to give her some kind of needle however both Kamiya and myself felt something off about him and before I could kill him he injected Kamiya with the substance that was in the syringe. Doctor Hikaya has informed me that it is a potent sedative and if he had injected Kamiya with it all then she would have died."
"Do you know who is doing this?"
"It is an inside job, that I know, and all men last night had Sake whereas I did not." Katsura stood there and looked closely at Kenshin.
"This is the third time she has been injured while in your presence," he accused "if I find out you had any knowledge that you are withholding from me I will stop at nothing to have you killed, do you understand me?" Kenshin nodded his head, his eyes flashing amber. "How is she?" Kenshin looked up when doctor Hikaya walked in and bowed to Katsura.
"She will be fine, I have resewn her wound to her shoulder and put a more potent salve on her older wounds, she will be fine within the week, though, I am not sure if she will be able to use her sword again, it will be too heavy for the injury. Can she use her left hand?" Both Kenshin and Katsura looked at one another then shook their heads. "Then I am afraid that she will not fight again."
"Excuse me, but don't think that a stupid injury will stop me from using the Kamiya Kassin Ryuu to protect people" all three men turned to look at Kaoru who was leaning against the wall for support, her eyes still slightly glazed over with sleep.
"You should be resting miss Kamiya" the doctor tsked while going over to her to put her back to bed. Kaoru complained slightly but gave in as her father gave her a stern look.
Once the shoji had closed Katsura turned back to Himura.
"I have an assignment for you that will take you a few days, your information will come to you as it usually does." Batousai nodded his head and he turned his amber eyes to the shoji once again as he heard a crash and then the feminine yell of Kaoru, Katsura shook his head and dragged a hand through his hair. "You are dismissed" Kenshin bowed and stalked from the room.
'I don't understand why he thought I had something to do with Kaoru's injuries, yes I know I was supposed to protect her, but what if it wasn't me looking after her, she would be dead already, I am not trying to kill her.' He glared back at the doctor's practise his hand going to his remaining katana in reflex. 'I would hurt her, I couldn't.' frowning at himself he continued on his way back to the Ishin Shishi inn 'and what did she mean by not letting my mind be clouded? It hasn't has it? Iie, I would never allow that to happen, never.' Kenshin stormed through the doors of the inn and brushed passed Tomoe who looked at him with a small smile.
"Himura-sama, where were you last night?" Kenshin turned to her, his eyes cold and searching.
"Why?" Tomoe lowered her eyes and looked up at him through her bangs.
"I wanted to speak with you" she said and allowed a small sultry smile to grace her lips. Kenshin frowned deeper, as he realised exactly what Kaoru had been saying, he watched as Tomoe walked closer to him, and knew that before the warning from Kaoru he would have stood there and probably smiled like an idiot as the scent of white plums overpowered him, now however he could feel the underlying tones of hatred and scorn in Tomoe's aura as she neared him. Kenshin stepped back.
"Then speak" Tomoe frowned slightly 'what is going on?'
"I was wondering if you would like to go to dinner with me?"
"Iie" he said and turned to go, Tomoe gripped his arm slightly to stop him "take your hands from me" he growled out, his senses knowing that the hold Tomoe had on him was a slight threat.
"Where is miss Kaoru?" she asked innocently, while the spike of violence in her aura alarmed Kenshin.
"..." 'So Kaoru was right, or to a point, Tomoe doesn't like her at all, but I wonder why, maybe she feels jealous? No, then why would she try and threaten me...' Kenshin roughly pulled his gi away from Tomoe's grasp and continued towards his room to think.
Tomoe glared at Batousai's back 'I will get that Kaoru, she is stopping my chances of revenge, I tried to warn her, I didn't want to kill anyone other then Batousai, but, a girls got to do what a girls got to do.' Smiling at the men that walked passed her Tomoe continued with the laundry, she had easily gotten rid of the men who had hired the Ninja by her ties with Iizuka, all she needed now was a Batousai free plan to kill the Tanuki girl.
~()~
Her father had left saying he would get Iizuka and someone else to come and pick her up, since it was only a short walk from the Doctors to the Inn Katsura thought that the less men seen with a lone girl the better. Kaoru pulled her gi on and tucked it into her new grey Hakama, her Sakabatou tied to her right side so that she could use it with her left hand. 'I wonder where Kenshin is..I thought that Otou-san would send him to get me, but I don't think Kenshin is in Otou-san's good books at the moment.
There was a polite knock on the Shoji and she pulled it open to see Iizuka's ugly face. Kaoru withheld her grimace and stepped out.
"Ready?" he asked her while looking over at where the other man stood, Kaoru hadn't seen him before, but didn't worry about it, soon she'd be back in the comfort of her own home.
"Hai" Iizuka then walked out in front of her while the new man walked behind. Kaoru felt slightly odd, as if something again wasn't right. 'Oh please, don't let there be another attack on me.' Iizuka led then down an alleyway and continued forwards, his pace quickening, now Kaoru knew something was wrong, everything was getting slightly darker and the houses looked to be abandoned. Kaoru looked up to find that Iizuka had vanished. Cursing Kaoru spun around to face the new man to find he had a katana out in front of him and was in a battle stance.
"What are you doing?" Kaoru asked, her eyebrow raised and her left hand going to her Sakabatou
"My job" and then he lunged at her, Kaoru glared and pulled her Sakabatou out and held it in front of her.
~()~
A little ways away sat one of the Yaminobu Ninja's, he face in a frown. Iizuka and that lady to come and kill the little girl who was fighting very poorly had hired him. He had been told that his brothers attempt on her life the night before had failed, but he could see that the little girl would forever hold that scar on her body, as he could tell she was usually a right hander.
He held no grudge against the little girl, he had seen her around before and she looked so very lively, and he hated to kill the young ones. Sighing he knew that he would have to relieve the other man of killing the girl. Standing the Ninja jumped down from the roof he was on and landed in between the girl and the man. He held out his sword and stood, watching the girls amazing blue eyes. She glared at the new arrival with such loathing that the ninja chuckled.
"Have you come to kill me too?" she asked, holding her Sakabatou out in front of her, ready to defend herself. The Ninja nodded his head and then lunged at her. Kaoru knew that she couldn't hold up for much longer, she was still recovering from the sleeping drug, and she was sore all over. She did not notice when her hand twitched and switched the side of the blade, nor did she notice that her body reacted all on its own, all she was thinking was that she was tired of fighting to save herself. Her body ducked under the much larger man and turned to the side to dodge the blade of the ninja's sword and her left hand angled upwards to the mans stomach. Kaoru was just as surprised as the ninja when her sword continued on its way through the mans flesh and out the other side of his body. Blood rained over her small figure and she looked up at the older man who was staring into her blue eyes.
He knew that he hadn't wanted to kill the little girl and he knew that was the reason why she had gotten passed his defences, he felt absolute sorrow as her large blue eyes teared up and he realised that this must have been her first kill. He dropped his katana and cradled her small face in his large hand.
"Its alright-"
"Gomen, gomen ne, I-"
"Shh, little koneko" the ninja was about to say more when his eyes narrowed and he pushed Kaoru out of the way, pulled her Sakabatou from his wound and killed the other man who had been charging at Kaoru. The Ninja flicked the blood from the Sakabatou and turned to look at the little girl. "Go home koneko, go home" Kaoru looked down at her hands, blood dripped from then, dark and red, her breathing went shallow and she stayed where she was. The ninja was slowly loosing his life, but he wanted the little girl to get away before that Iizuka man came back to see if he had done the job.
He bent painfully down and picked the small girl up to stand on her feet, and then he gave her the sword that had mortally wounded him before giving her a nudge in the direction of the main streets.
"Hurry home and don't stop, you did nothing wrong" the ninja's voice was a hoarse whisper and Kaoru sniffed, her blue eyes were on his.
"May I know your name?" she asked in a soft whisper. The ninja smiled down at her and brushed her bloodied bangs from her face.
"Zenrai Jitsoyu" he said and then again pushed the girl, she complied this time and quickly ran from the alleyway. The ninja sighed and sat down on the ground, his lifeblood still flowing from him, and he closed his eyes, seeing the beautiful blood covered little Koneko with the tearful eyes. He smiled one last time as his spirit left him.
~()~
Kaoru stumbled inside the gate of the Ishin Shishi inn her sight blurred from her tears; the only person in her mind was the red haired Hitokiri, her friend. He was there, on the porch as he usually was when he didn't have anything else to do. She watched as he stood abruptly and hurried over to her.
"Are you hurt? Where? What happened? Who did this?" at any other time Kaoru would have been amused with his questioning, but not right now. She lunged into his arms and wept like there was no tomorrow, her soul felt so black, so tainted with blood, she had done something she had vowed never to do in her life..
"I killed this day," she whispered into his neck and she felt his hold on her tighten. Kaoru looked up at him and saw the steely look on his face; he pulled out of her hug and gripped her arm gently before bringing her over to the well. Kaoru stood with glazed eyes as he hulled the water into the bucket and then dumped its contents on top of her head, allowing the water to start washing the blood away. She looked up at the angry amber eyed young man before her "it wont wash my soul" she whispered, her eyes haunted. Batousai stopped and looked at her, his entire being was in a rage 'Iizuka and Utario were supposed to have kept her safe, I will not forgive them for making Kaoru kill, they tainted her soul,' he was just so angry, he knew what killing could do to a person.
"No, it will not" he sighed and brushed the water off of her face, his hand coming back covered in blood. She looked up at him, her blue eyes dull and unseeing.
"His name was Zenrai, I killed him and he saved me. Why?" her voice was so anguished that it tore at Batousai. He put the bucket filled with water onto to side of the well and pulled Kaoru into his arms, he had never comforted another before this girl,
"I do not know Kaoru, I-"
"How can you live with yourself? With this feeling? It's eating at me Kenshin, I did something unforgivable, I killed a man." Kenshin gripped Kaoru's chin and lifted it up to look him right in the eyes. Sapphire clashed with amber
"I live one day at a time, you must live for all those you have killed, live their life Kaoru, that is all you can do" she pushed away from him
"You are hitokiri, how can you talk about living when every night you could die!" Kenshin looked at her sadly
"That is life Kaoru, we are in a war, everyone must die" Kaoru shook her head.
"I will live, but you must live as well, to help me" her voice was a whisper but there was such command in her voice that Kenshin could not deny her this. He nodded his head.
"I will live, but you must live as well..to help...me" Kaoru smiled through the thinned blood at his promise to her with her own words, they would live together, as friends, to give each other the strength they needed to get through this war alive. She lent forwards and hugged him and closed her eyes to try and rid her mind of the blood that still caked her body.
"Together" she whispered.
~()~
Sujakata: ahh, strong friendship has been established, excellent, now on to the romance!!!! Yay! Oooh Kenshin is getting suspicious of Tomoe and Iizuka, hehehe, I wonder if he will find out..
Read through by Kami, you can again kill her if need be.
Kami: ooooohhhhhh. So its back to killing me again is it? Man you are so mean. Hey and you made more spelling mistakes than usual I might add.oooooo yay! K&K romance soon! They are so cute together! :]