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What Keeps Us Alive

Chapter Six: The Bath Towel Incident---Part Two

//italics//- Flashbacks

Italics- Thoughts and other amusing concepts

Bold- The letters

The deathless stars are bright above;

If I would cross the shade of night,

Within my heart is the lamp of love,

And that is day!

And the moon will smile with gentle light

On my golden plumes where'er they move;

The meteors will linger round my flight,

And make night day.

Percy Bysshe Shelley

Obsession.

A reason enough for one man to come beyond the grave to finish something that had not been ended on his terms. Obsession was his own desperate reason to live, to breathe. He was nothing without it. Enishi placed a hand on the cold glass of the car window, his eyes falling the blurred scenes as they were passed by.

He wanted to win so badly.

It didn't matter that he had lost his means of family. It didn't matter that he had lost his sanity. What mattered was he would get his prize, regardless if she loved him or not.

She had now fed the desire even by the simplest bat of her eyes.

He brought his hands to his forehead, rubbing his fingers in slow circles to stop the throbbing that was surfacing in his head. He hadn't always remembered the past, but then again he never really paid attention to the future. His parents had shipped him off to boarding school ever since he could remember, preferring to indulge themselves in parties, the drinks and the jewels, along with the money. It was then years later, his first year of high school, where he had started to experiment with the hard drugs. He found a perverse sort of solace with that specific crowd. At first he had thought it had been the loneliness that had pushed him towards the drugs, but then it he began to realized it was something so much more.

It was then when the dreams started followed by the hospitalization after the accident with his parents-the fire to be more precise. Twisted of images of numerous bodies---women, men, and children all burned, beaten, and bloodied. And in the center of it all was a man with hair the color of fresh blood and eyes the color of a roaring fire with a body of a small women, hair of midnight and her last facial expression one of infinite sadness with her sapphire-colored eyes bleak of any light. It was then, that very dream, that very look, that very scream of insane agony from the red-haired man did he remember.

And he killed them all

-the women.

Then drove the men insane.

"A prize indeed," he whispered, his voice echoing against the silence of the car. This time he would not carelessly throw away---This woman, Kaoru was as precious as ever. He pulled his cell phone out of his pocket, dialing a number.

He paused and then spoke, "Go on as planned."

She would be the one to end his madness.

**

The days have begun to seem longer, Kenshin. My heart grows weary of the waiting… It's not that I have lost faith in you that I will always have, it's more of me losing a part of my sanity. Yuikishiro-san has not come near me yet and I am thankful for the chance to remain at a distance. His eyes are like the eyes of a demon. Sometimes I can see a glimmer of the sad little boy in his eyes, but then as quickly as it is seen, the anger and obsession return as replacements. I am afraid that if I continue to stay here, he's going to force me to try and give up my very soul.

And I am afraid Kenshin that I might have resort to some other means, if eventually it comes to this. There would be no other way.

I feel like I'm drowning…

**

Strange.

Strangely terrifying.

There was something in the air. It was as if a lingering force was somehow possessing her parents. It was almost the same scenario with Megumi only days earlier…

// "It's as if I'm watching one of those black and white films. Everything is slow, but at the same time unpredictable," Megumi began.

Kaoru bit her lip, watching her sister's eyes glaze over as if her mind was leaving her body into nothing more than a shell. Almost like she was trapped between to worlds. She sat down on Megumi's bed, sliding closer to her sister and waiting for her to continue.

"This woman, me in a strange sense, is so sad and so tired of just being left behind. Of all the empty promises… Of all the good-byes… So when the chance to just end all is presented to her, I mean me, I-she just takes it…"

Megumi's eyes darkened. "He left me and I wanted to punish him for it. I wanted to make him hurt as I did when he left me.

Megumi began to sob and never in her life had Kaoru felt so helpless. She knew all she could do was listen. She pulled Megumi into her arms and began to hum a nameless song, hoping to at least soothe the violent sobbing of her sister.

"They were never this bad… Right? I mean we had the scary ones when we were kids. Are we normal? It seems rather silly to being so frighten by these dreams… So silly…" //

…And then later her conversation with her mother…

// "You think she'll be alright, mama?"

Kaoru waited quietly for a response as her mother shut the door to Megumi's room. The older woman linked her arm threw her own and led her to a quieter part of the house.

"All of you girls are strong. Megumi's just stressed out. You know how she gets during crucial parts of the school year. She's going to attend the university in less that four months. Your sister has definitely inherited your father's perfectionist genes."

Normally, she'd laugh at her mother's snide remarks about her father but she couldn't shake the feeling in the pit of her stomach. There *was* something wrong. Horribly wrong. Her sister was one of the most confident people she had ever know. Smart and completely capable of taking care of herself. She loved her boyfriend and her family. But never had she seen her sister in a state of mind close to a child's.

"Kaoru, don't worry about it. Onegai, I'm sure she'll be fine…"

Her mother never brushed things like these off.

Something was definitely wrong. //

Kaoru finally found her voice, stepping forward carefully. "Okaasan, otousan---What's going on?" She stepped closer to the scene, eyes downcast, afraid that if she looked she would surrender to whatever was lurking in the room.

"Kaoru-chan," responded the quiet voice of her mother. "Onegai, just go wait outside. We'll be done in here soon, I promise you. He won't hurt you again."

Her blue eyes widened and her neck snapped up. Hurt me? She turned her gaze onto the man in the corner, one hand holding up the small white towel that covered up the remaining parts of his body. This is too weird…

"This ends now, tanuki. I'm not going to stand around and watch Battousai destroy another woman because of his selfishness."

Kaoru watched in horror as Kenshin growled at her father, his eyes glowing a fierce amber. She groaned, her hands flying up to her head. I'm seen this before… Somehow… But that can't be, papa and Kenshin had never met until now--- No matter how embarrassing this is. Kaoru could not help but fear the rising sense of panic.

"Onegai, Kaoru… I know you love him and I know my husband and you haven't exactly on the greatest of terms… Demo, just let this be. Let the Battousai go. You are better off without him---"

// She watched in horror as Kenshin struggled to keep himself on steady ground. Never in her life had she'd ever been this scared. She had invited the man into her home, figuring that he was an old acquaintance or one of the many idiots here to offer Kenshin a job.

I can't take this anymore! //

"Onegai… stop, just stop… Stop this madness!"

Her body shook with violently powerful sobs, causing her to fall to her knees. Her hands were shaking, her body trembling with emotions she had no idea how to understand. Everything was so wrong. It was as if her life, her world had been pushed off kilter.

Her hands flew to her head. Voices, faces, and places made circles in her mind. She began to feel dizzy, suffocated. Strands of her ebony hair fell limp against the ground as she struggled to maintain a control over her lack of sanity.

"Kaoru," she heard her mother's faint voice. "It's going to be okay."

No, her mind screamed as her subconscious forced her to a standing position. Everything is full of lies…

"Tanuki," her father growled. "Get back."

// "Foolish woman. He'll only hurt you, he could even kill you. You have this one opportunity, take it goddamn it!"

Her hands clenched into fists.

"What would you know, Saitou? Your opinion's only going on your interactions with Kenshin and our mindless crossings. You. Barely. Know. Me." //

It was a struggle to keep her eyes open, the pain to intense for her to handle. Her arms began to lose the strength and the will to hold her body up.

// "He loves me," her voice whispered, watching as the taller man let out a maddening chuckle. It was almost as if she was convincing herself instead of her captor.

The man leaned forward, jade eyes gleaming like a predator.

"I will take what is mine." //

It was at that moment when her very will gave out, she found herself in the arms of Kenshin and her gaze on her very pissed off parents.

"Let her go, Battousai." Saitou's lean form[,] returned into the ridge stance of his unique form of the gatotsu.

A deep chuckle left Kenshin's throat. "And what good would you do, Saitou? She's going with me. And as far as I'm concerned, you can go shove it where the sun don't shine."

Kaoru couldn't tell what happened next. The striking image of her father coming at her with his great-grandfather's sword or the scream of her mother or a towel flying up into the air.

But whatever it was, she was soon greeted by black.

**

I've lost my sanity. I don't even understand how I'm forming coherent sentences, Kaoru. Maybe it's because I still hold onto that hope that you might still be out there, alive and well.

Aoshi-san broke the news of your disappearance to Misao, today. I don't think I have ever seen someone so heartbroken, let alone hear someone show how much pain they were going through. She attacked me and I took it, as the Battousai, as the Rurouni, and then simply as Kenshin. I deserved every hit---

**

"Daijoubu ka?"

Misao sighed, grabbing her books out of Aoshi's car and avoiding any eye contact with the older boy.

"Hai," she lied. Misao wanted nothing more than to crawl under the covers of her bed and sleep through the entire weekend. Then maybe all these weird feelings would go away and leave her alone. "Arigato for the ride home. I could have walked home, it was a nice day today."

"You're avoiding the topic," countered Aoshi.

She said nothing, walking quickly up the path to the front door, very aware that her partner was indeed following her. Why the hell did he have to pick today out of all days to be persistent? Or even talk when she had nothing to say?

"Just leave it be," she spoke softly, wringing her hands nervously. "I'll call you when I get the timeline finished." Misao rumbled through her purse. "I'll call, not like-"

Misao turned around to motion Aoshi to come inside. Atop of Kayaku High's most renowned serious student and captain of the soccer team, lay a small bath towel still wet from the owner's shower.

Aoshi looked pissed beyond comprehension. His hair clung to his face and the corner of his lips turned downward into a frown. The front of his school uniform was drenched, giving her a tiny peek of his muscular chest.

She didn't know whether or not to drool like a typical teenager…

Or laugh hysterically.

But she didn't have the time to do either. Before she could prepare herself to respond soundly, a large blur knocked her down onto the grass of the front lawn. Her eyes widened.

**

The Many Thank Yous

To every single one of you. Your support means so much. Thank you for all the lovely reviews. I'd write all the names down, but laziness prevents me from doing so. ^_^;; Special thanks to my fantastic editor chibi angel. Your such a brilliant help to me. And to my mother, who's completely paranoid that I'm writing stories about her non-existent attitude problem. It's completely worth mentioning.

The Lame Question and Answer Sessions

Also dutifully known as "When Eve mushies important questions together and gets…"

Okay, so I do have a reasonable excuse for the long period of waiting for you all. *clears throat* I GRADUATED!! Sorry, just happy that I'm done high schooling for a short period of time. I'm basking in all the glory, don'tcha know.

Anyhow, few things that do need to be address as of thus far. Yes, that's Kenshin's towel on top of Aoshi's head. I really couldn't help myself. *giggles* Straight face, yes well I couldn't help it! Could ya blame me? Onward to bigger issues, I am in now way *trying* to drive Kaoru, Misao and/or Megumi insane. I adore them all, especially Kaoru. I just want people to really grasp the emotional gravity of the situation at hand. Yes, they did die horribly. But what drove them and the present situation at that time is something that is obviously really, really bad… I plan to address it somehow in the next couple chapters with a lot of the plot finally picking up. But I will guarantee an *entire* chapter without flashbacks that is devoted to the actually events. I'm excited.

Ah yes, and the letters. Right now, their purpose is to confuse the hell outta everybody. J/k, actually they're trying to give more color to the boat load of emotions I've got kicking around the place. That and well, scaring the crap out of Kenshin and Kaoru. Their purpose will lie more on guidance, but that's a coming later.

Enishi's purpose has become a little darker than I originally intended to. But I do like bastardizing him for some godforsaken reason. I do feel bad when I do, so don't lynch me. A cruel author with a heart. ^_^ About his role I'll just say something to this degree, he's not a genius kid running the mob. Yes he did all those horrible things and yes, he does use people unmercilessly.

And lastly, the final commentary, Shogo and Saitou/Tokio's roles. I was bloody pissed at the end of Shogo's lovely lil' story. For me, it seemed too damn easy to end like that! I did swoon over the K+K WAFF, but I wanted to smack Shogo and strangle Sayo most of the damn time. Jesus, a villain without a backbone. He got over his demons or well better, he got a second chance at the snap of someone's fingers. My lil' rant there, I apologize really. But ye, Shogo is evil in this story and Sayo well I don't know what exactly I'm going to do with her yet. Put it this way. I feel the same way about Sayo as do I feel about Sylvia Noventa from GW. And I *blew* Sylvia to pieces in my last fic.

MEGUMI RULES!!

*coughs* Graduation hysteria…

Lastly, Saitou and Tokio also share a major role. Tokio's is interesting really, she falls into the same category as the other girls in terms of knowing, but she does have some feelings of her own. Saitou's role can only be explained in one phrase:

Saitou's well, Saitou.

*shrugs*

What can you do…. I hoped I've honestly answer the big chunk of questions. If not drop me a line and I'd be happy to answer questions…. Review to your hearts content!