Many apologies for the lateness of my posting! This weekend was pleasant little slice of hell. I had tons of fun, but oh the tiredness. Feel lucky that I'm updating this story first. My Kenshin fic is suffering horribly, poor thing -_-;;
In cooler news, everyone should go see Aye's BOTI site! Www angelfire com/droid/aye My fics are soooo on it. Cause I'm not completely embarrassed and excited at the same time or anything… yeah…
Alright! Let's see how Manji deals with our nameless little psycho, shall we? Ah yes, and I'm going to try and be creative with my weapons here. Forgive me please, and if there really is a weapon like this dude's out there, then we'll just rely on Rin's ignorance of it to explain the lack of name. It's from her perspective, after all. Oooh, and rated veeeeeery PG-13 for gore and graphic violence. You've been warned. I'd go with an R, but I just saw the new X-Men movie (PG-13), and… wow, so Wolverine doesn't hesitate, does he? And why were the men decked out in happy forest colors to invade a mansion…? Not many trees inside mansions, last time I checked.
Blurring Steel
Inwardly, Rin was screaming for her protector to run. Outwardly, all she could manage was an apologetic stare. What she did or didn't do didn't seem to affect on him, however. After a fleeting glance in her direction, he'd locked his attention onto his opponent; a moment to reassure himself that the only danger threatening her came from the man facing him with steel.
"Well, news travels fast in your group, doesn't it?" Manji drawled as he sauntered past the Itto Ryu member and plunked the bathing bucket onto the porch beside Rin.
"I just wanted to beat the crowd, that's all," the man returned with a grin as he lazily twirled his blades. Try as she might, Rin couldn't name them. She'd never come across such strange blades before, even after being introduced to Manji's multitude of unusual weapons. They looked vaguely like reaping scythes, but the grip was all wrong. The pole and the blade were both shortened and two long spikes complemented the curved blade. One was simply an extension of the wood and the other pointed opposite the scythe. The pair hung loosely at his sides now, though he flexed his grip on the hilts every so often. Rin's forehead wrinkled as she tried to guess what special advantages such weapons could give him.
"You ok, kid?" Manji's voice brought her head up. He stood next to her, one arm leaning against the beam she was tied to. His hair was damp and his clothing clung to him more snugly than usual. Rin couldn't help but feel a twinge of annoyance that as soon as he'd gotten cleaned up he would get all bloody again. She shifted the irrational thought aside. Now was hardly the time or place. With a stifled sigh, she nodded her well being to him silently and winced. Her neck was probably one giant bruise by now and her temple had started throbbing earlier in protest to its violent introduction to the ground.
It was with more than a little surprise that she watched him shift away from the pole and lightly brush his fingers against her neck. She stared at him, wide eyed in shock at the display of affection, as he turned from her to address the assassin.
"Why do you punks always have to rough her up?" he asked, voice tense in Rin's ear. Was he really saying this? Was he actually showing a little bit of extra defensiveness about her? She felt her eyes start to water and realized that she should probably blink before they dried out from staring. As she ducked her head to do so, she couldn't help the tiny smile that tugged at her lips. It felt good to be worried about. Especially since it was Manji…
"I mean, a little bug like her isn't worth swatting. I'm the one you guys should worry about," the tact-inept bodyguard went on. Rin gritted her teeth at the insult and whipped her head back up to glare at him. Why did he always have to ruin everything? One of these days she was going to forcibly teach him when to keep his stupid mouth closed.
The other man shrugged and shifted his weight a little, "I don't know about the others, but I think it's amusing. She's weak, but she's balls," he smirked at her, "if you'll excuse the analogy. She's got the loyalty of someone like you, and Anotsu seems to be intrigued by her. He hasn't killed her yet, anyway."
Rin winced at the somewhat twisted compliment; funny that the enemy showed her more admiration than her own bodyguard.
Manji laughed at the assessment and turned back to her again, placing a hand on her head affectionately, "Don't be afraid to puke if it gets to ugly," he instructed with a grin. Rin wondered what he'd do if she bit his hand when he pulled it away.
"Can we get this started, please?" the other man demanded, growing impatient at the delays.
Manji smirked and shifted to take his position across from the assassin. Rin paled as her annoyance was smothered by the return of almost paralyzing fear.
"Manji," she called urgently. He paused and looked down at her expectantly. Rin bit her lower lip in concern and to try and keep the quaver out of her voice, "This guy is really dangerous," she cautioned, "Just…" her eyes misted over and she scowled at him to cover her threatening tears, "Be careful. I don't like having to put you back together."
He stared at her blankly for a moment before a wry sort of smile crossed his face, "One of the hazards of my employment," he reminded her as he turned away and moved to meet his opponent.
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Annnnnnnnnd, end! Hehehehe ^_^ I am so evil! ::eyes the mutinous crowd:: ^_^;; Ok, ok, I'm joking! Although this is a good scene ending… but I owe you guys for being so long in updating….
The two men circled each other, each flexing grips and shifting muscles as they waited for the other to reveal a weakness. Rin looked on miserably, feeling completely useless. She shifted her wrists against the bonds holding her captive and winced as a splinter of rope lodged itself in her skin. Reaching into her sleeve, she tried to find her small blades. If she could get free maybe she could be of some help. Her breath hissed through her teeth sharply as more splinters abraded her tender skin. The assassin had bound her wrists tightly and awkwardly. She couldn't quite twist her hands in the proper position to reach her weapons.
The sudden clang of metal brought her focus back to the fight. She watched in fascination as the beginnings of a brutal dance unfolded before her. It was rare that she actually had a chance to watch Manji fight. He usually made sure she was otherwise occupied… or unconscious. Rin followed the violent twisting of bodies and steel with widened eyes. The assassin was a blur of arcing slashes, his curved blades catching the rays of the late morning sun and turning them to blood. However, he wasn't what amazed her.
Rin stared at her protector in undisguised awe. He was a transformed man from the fallen samurai she'd watched last night. The skill of his opponent seemed to draw his own talents closer to the surface and the results were almost beautiful in their savagery. She couldn't help but notice how the dampened state of his clothing perfectly outlined every flex of his muscles as he moved.
She decided it was probably time she continued to work on her own situation. Tearing her eyes away from the stalemate battle, Rin once again tried twisting her hands to grasp the little wasps that would set her free. She gritted her teeth as she realized that her gentle methods weren't going to work. With a deep breath she steeled herself and roughly twisted her right hand up and against the rope, thrusting it inside the opposite sleeve and grabbing the hilt of a blade. Her gasp of pain was drowned out by the labored breathing and angry clash of weapons. Rin whimpered as she gingerly slid the blade out and positioned it to cut herself free. The rope dragged against her raw and bleeding flesh and it was all she could do to keep from screaming in pain. In a way she almost wished she'd been stabbed instead. Deep wounds were never as painful.
A strangled cry that mirrored her internal one brought her head up with a snap. She shrieked and threw herself to the side as Manji's blade flew past her head and clattered onto the porch. A quick glance behind her revealed his hand still clutching the hilt. She dragged her gaze back to the field, terrified by the sudden silence.
"What's the matter, immortal?" the assassin drawled, flicking his blade to the side to get the blood off, "I wouldn't think something like losing a little hand would bother you anymore. It probably feels like a mosquito bite."
Manji's laughter was harsh as his remaining hand gripped its blade tightly, "Yeah, something like that."
Then they were nothing but a blur of flashing steel again, but the shift in balance was clearly seen. Rin hacked furiously at the ropes that bound her, ignoring the few times she missed and pierced her already bleeding flesh. She was more intent on the battle before her and the growing number of small wounds spilling her bodyguard's blood onto the ground, making the grass slick.
Then it was over.
Rin watched in horror as the assassin slipped through Manji's guard. He slid under the handless arm, bringing the scythe up and into the immortal's gut. The blade finished its arcing slash, ripping free of Manji's flesh by tearing through the right side of his abdomen. Rin screamed.
The assassin was up and on him almost before Manji hit the ground. One knee pressed his chest to the ground while the other pinned his good arm. A quick flip of his scythe removed the remaining hand, eliminating any remaining threat. He slammed the top spike of the left blade into Manji's chest, leaning down on it to secure him even further. Rin's hands shook violently as she desperately tried to free herself, tears frozen in her eyes. She was too shocked by what she was seeing to cry.
"Like I told the little girl earlier," the assassin grunted as he flipped the scythe in his right hand to press against Manji's throat, "this is nothing personal. I can't help that you're both immortal and on the Itto Ryu bad-list."
"Well that's a relief," Manji's voice cracked as he smirked up at the man, his teeth stained pink and blood dribbling from his mouth.
The assassin stared at him for a moment before throwing his head back in a laugh, "You two really are a pair, you know?" he chuckled and leaned in, the scythe slowly pressing through flesh, "Now let's see if that rumor I heard was true."
Rin's felt herself snap as the rope finally gave way to her knife. Without thinking, she leaned back and grabbed Manji's forgotten sword, hand and all, and then hurtled herself from the porch. The garbled screams of the man slowly being decapitated drowned out her approach. The assassin was intent on the death throws of the immortal, eyes wide with fascination and mouth twisted in a grin.
Time seemed to slow down as she reached the pair. Manji's one good eye was glazed in pain as it stared blankly at the sky, his mouth wide and blood streaming from the corners. His free arm was braced against the hand digging the blade through his neck, the other writhing against the knee holding it down. The complete absorption of the assassin's face in his task sent a chill down her spine. He was enjoying every moment of Manji's pain.
That was what really enraged her. He was torturing her Manji, the stupid oaf she couldn't help but love. A primitive voice inside her was screaming for vengeance, to protect him. It demanded the blood of the twisted bastard who was torturing him and she was only too willing to comply. A detached part of her mind that wasn't consumed by her bloodlust reminded her that she wasn't thinking very clearly. Rin ignored it. Everything from the past two days had just been too much for her. She was buckling under the weight of all the stress and fatigue. This idiot was just the last straw.
Her scream of rage brought the attention of both men to her. Manji's eye rolled in her direction in surprise, the pain-glaze lifting slightly. The assassin's head came up, eyes widening in disbelief.
Rin gripped Manji's hand and his sword between her own and swung.
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BAM! Some nice gore going on there. Hehe, Manji's a stupid oaf ::snicker:: One more chapter! Woot! But… I don't quite know what to do with it yet ^_^;; I'm wondering how much fluff there should be… if I should resolve some relationship things (making it divert from the real storyline) or just leave things "as usual" (the story becoming a sort of long-lost chapter)… hmmm, any thoughts?
ALSO! So… yeah, this fic is wrapping up and my Kenshin fic won't be too much longer in the writing, and… I don't have any ideas for what to write next, heh. So if any of you people have any challenges or ideas you'd like to see fleshed out by yours truly, let me know either by email or in a review (wink). I've seen and/or read lots of stuff, so don't be shy or conservative with the series choices. Chances are I know it. I'd be sure to give credit to the idea master, of course.
A moment to say thanks to my, ah, staunch reviewers:
apsara – Hehe, please forgive my often-times sadistic sense of the dramatic. Nice to know I'm keeping you on the edge of your seat, though ^_^
chewy-baka - ::sparkly eyes:: You like my style?! ::dance of joy:: Ha ha! An admirer! Take that, ah… ok, so I don't show my work a lot and its therefore not really had a chance for criticism ^.^;; My personal editor, a girl by the name of Fox, beats me over the head with grammar books (oh how I hate commas) but says little else negative. Anyway, thanks for the praise and good luck with finals! I rocked my Japanese oral. So good.
CloverTear - ^.^;; Please don't cry! I will update with the swiftness! Promise! Hehe. Only one more chapter to go, so no worries.
To Everyone Else – Hehe, thanks for all the great praise! I enjoy pleasing my audience. It was really great to see so many reviews (and not one flame among them, blessed joy!) so quickly. Until next time, then…