by Hotaru
Chapter 3: Deep River
You reach out with your eyes
I was blind
I cannot see
Through the rain
And the memories.
Dr. Yukishiro had entered the laboratory, scanning the room with cold, blue eyes. Seeing that the last technician had left and he was alone with the girl, he approached her warily at first, then more confidently, as her face came into full view.
"Kaoru…" he whispered, touching her face with feather-like lightness, his fingertips grazing her cheek as it would the most fragile glass. He sucked in his breath, closing his eyes…
"Y-you…" the voice said weakly, forcing the young, silver-haired doctor to open his eyes in mild shock.
The girl stirred slowly, sapphire blue eyes piercing him through the semi-darkness. "T-take y-your han-hands of-f-f…me…"
He smiled at that, ignoring her futile attempt to push his hand away.
"Even in pain, you struggle…" he whispered to her, his face only inches away, their noses almost touching. "How pathetic, yet admirable…such strength in so small a creature…"
His hand went slowly to her neck, encircling it, grasping the soft flesh of her nape and pinching it with aching fondness…
"G-get away f-from m-me…y-you b-bas-t-t-ard…"
"Aahhh… so childish, this refusal of yours to submit to your inevitable fate…"
He continued rubbing her cheek, feeling the tears come.
"I think a gentleman should know when he's not wanted…"
Dr. Yukishiro turned and came face to face with amber eyes.
"You…"
"Me…"
"Indeed" the doctor-scientist said, lowering his glasses. "So, we meet again…Battousai…"
. . . . . . . . . .
"Hello? Katsura-dono's office?"
"Yes, ma'am. May I know who's calling, please?"
"This is Tomoe. Yukishiro Tomoe. I need to talk to your boss."
"I'm sorry but he's in a meeting right now… Would you like to leave a message?"
"Tell him Tomoe Yukishiro will see him tonight at eight. At the Himekami teahouse."
"I'm sorry ma'am, but that's just not possible…Hello?"
The line was dead.
. . . . . . . . . . .
Tomoe walked silently in the shade of the sakura trees lining the avenue, her face thoughtful, concerned. Kenshin had not tried to contact her even once since that morning, and she was getting worried, anxious, and no matter how she denied it, angry. She knew she had no right blaming him, he had a life before she met him, and though he never asked that she change hers for his sake, she can't say the same of her. Kenshin's past as an ex-assassin was not easy to accept, and though she had successfully won his case in court by breaking even her own rules, she can't say she approved of his life and the world of madness around which it revolved. That doesn't mean, of course, that she regretted having met and loved such a man. Kenshin is—damned she may be to admit it—everything to her. No matter how difficult, he tried to live a normal life, keeping his heartaches and frustrations to himself while giving so much of what little humanity was left in him—his love, his loyalty, his trust. The ex-assassin trusted no one, and it took years before she was able to break down that barrier of indifference he would raise whenever his emotions threaten to break out.
She remembered the ring he gave her last night, the quiet resolve in his eyes when he asked her to marry him, and she thought that was enough, that they have arrived at the beginning of the end, and are ready to start anew…
But he had left her instead. Left her behind without a clue…
Only that word goodbye…which is hardly enough…
She hugged herself, feeling the softness of the violet cardigan he gave her on her birthday last month. It was the color of his eyes…and feeling it close feels like he was with her again…
Time to wake up to the dark cold reality woman… her inner voice whispered unsympathetically. He may have given you his heart and body but you could never own his soul…
She fought the tears that came, brushing them with the tip of her fingers. Souls? she bleakly thought, watching the graying sky. She never believed in soul-mates anyway…because if there was such a thing, he would be here with her right now, watching the sakura fall, holding her in the warmth of his eyes…
. . . . . . . . . .
Battousai stared down the scientist with smoldering amber eyes, his hand steadily grasping the hilt of a long Japanese sword sheathed beneath the long black coat he wore. It was not the strange presence of the sword however that drew Enishi's eyes to him, but something else in his face…
A soft sigh escaped Enishi's lips as he smiled at the red-haired warrior.
"I see that that scar of yours has not yet healed, Battousai. Not that it could EVER heal. Consider it a souvenir, a little token from my sensei who had built his Empire on the great future of this science—the science of reinventing the human mind…a future you could have been a part of, if you weren't so stupid as to resist."
The red-head glared back, lips twitching just ever so slightly.
"Troubled, Battousai? Did I awaken old memories?"
Kenshin flinched, eyeing him disgustingly.
"No matter. Those memories will serve you well Enishi…because I have a mind to carve your grave right now, thanks to those memories…"
The sword slid out of its sheath smoothly, soundlessly, the metallic gleam matching the ex-assassin's eyes.
"Overconfident, aren't we Himura?"
"Confidence has little to do with it. You will release Kamiya and give up, Enishi."
A grin.
"Give up? You didn't even say the magic word…"
"I have no time for stupid games, Enishi. Hand the girl over and I will let you live. Those were my orders. Don't let me improvise or things will get ugly."
"Indeed? That is just sad," Enishi told him.
In one swift, unexpected move, the silver-haired man pulled the girl strapped on the bed rudely, wires snapping as her arms left the bed, sending her wreathing in pain, her agonized moans filling the room.
Kenshin gritted his teeth, pulling his sword halfway out of its sheath. "Why you son-a-fa-"
"Bitch?" he cut him rudely, eyes mocking, teasing. "Hai, this bitch shall be your undoing, Battousai!!!"
Deftly, Enishi pulled out a thin microchip planted at the back of the girl's head and wordlessly embedded it in his own, wincing slightly as he felt the warm trickle of blood against skin. Kenshin watched indifferently as the scientist began to stagger backwards, his eyes seemingly unfocused, turning from blue to dull gray, even as he clutched his head between his hands. Kenshin would have used his enemy's momentary distraction to his advantage, but thought otherwise. The Battousai may be a cold-blooded murderer, but he will never attack an unarmed man…
It was then that the girl, now clutching her arms and hugging her body in a tiny corner of the room began to shriek, and as she did, her body spasmed, eyes going white, as she convulsed, feeling shockwaves course through her nerves…
"K-Kamiya???" He had never seen the girl before, but his gut tells him she is the one.
She was heedless to his call, even his touch, as her head flung back, her chest heaving violently, throwing back the loose gown that covered her small body.
Kenshin tried to pull back the gown to cover her, despite her hands' repeated, violent attempts to get them off. He could only do so much though, as her fingers clutched and tore at anything within its reach, giving him countless scratches on the cheek as he leaned forward, trying to calm her.
It was futile. Her gown had completely come loose, torn beyond saving, and she was beginning to kick as well, hitting him at the chest and almost knocking the breath out of him.
He knew he had to try something more drastic, even as his eyes guiltily acknowledged her state of undress, and the implications of what he will do to her might cause, were she to remember this incident afterwards.
But he had no choice.
With agonizing gentleness, he angled his thighs over hers, putting down the weight of his body on her lower body as she screamed, not from the pain of his weight on her, but from some indescribable sensations running up and down her spine, forcing her to hit her body against the cold floor in spasmodic force. With only the slightest hesitation, Kenshin grabbed both her wrists in one hand, and pressed the other around her waist, increasing the pressure of his weight down her hip and thighs to keep her from throwing him off and hitting herself with the force of her convulsions.
He didn't in the least feel comfortable doing this to her, but he had no time to think of alternatives, his thoughts racing towards Enishi's presence across the room, and then back to the girl whose blue eyes remained blank and unseeing, tears marring her cheeks as she submitted to the will of her battered body.
Just then, Enishi started to laugh maniacally, forcing Kenshin's attention back to him.
"Kamiya knows you… and she will help me win this battle by reading every single move you make…"
Kenshin looked back at the girl, his eyes wide with apprehension. In the pit of his stomach, he knew exactly what that meant…
The chip Enishi had removed was his access to the mind of the Kamiya girl, allowing him to redirect all her knowledge and memories towards his own consciousness, thereby giving him unlimited access to her deepest secrets, her intuitions, her reflexes…
And that of the Battousai, with whom she had shared countless battles, countless secrets, countless memories of those dark, desperate assassinations, and the techniques he used to carry out each one…
Kenshin felt his muscles contracting, sensing sudden danger. In a battle such as this where your opponent can read your every move, only one conclusion is acceptable.
It is a good time to die.
. . . . . . . . . .
"I normally do not accept invitations on such short notice."
Tomoe acknowledged that comment, bowing her head slightly. "Gomen, but a desperate woman does not have too many choices…"
Katsura beamed at her directness. She is a woman with grace and bearing, and she can be direct without sounding overbearing and rude. He admired that.
"So, what urgent matters do we need to discuss, or need I ask?"
Tomoe smiled thinly, her eyes meeting his. "I want to know where Kenshin is."
Katsura had expected much. "I'm not allowed to discuss the details of his occupation, in much the same way you can't allow your client's case to be discussed over dinner when it's not to his advantage."
She gracefully picked out a crisp radish with her chopsticks, relishing its taste as she turned to look at him with serious, coal-black eyes. "I agree, demo…" she paused, looking at the General through thick lashes, eyes merely pinpoints of silver "…your analogy, if I may say so, is misleading. Kenshin is not your client, and we're not discussing a court case."
He smiled. "You saw through my argument. That's admirable in a lawyer."
"And you, dear Katsura-dono, are changing the subject."
He laughed, noticing the familiar honorific only the Battousai would insist upon, by force of habit and convention. The implications would have been troubling, given THAT hint Tomoe just threw his way, but he was a better politician—a veteran at that—and if there was anything veterans are good at, it's letting neither friends nor enemies see through their disguises…
"I admire so many things about you, Yukishiro-san, and I will not hesitate to tell you that your meeting with Himura was a relief. He needed someone like you to keep him on a leash. A pleasant confinement, if I may say so, since a restless assassin is the last thing we need after the operations have been so abruptly terminated. Anyway, as I've said, I'm not free to discuss Kenshin's current occupation with anyone, even if you are, as I take it, more than just an anybody in his life, Yukishiro-san. I hope you understand."
She seemed to take his explanation lightly, choosing to pay attention to stirring her tea. She leaned her head sideways, the soft curtain of raven hair falling on one shoulder as she did. "That's the problem with us women, I guess. We always understand, even at the expense of reason. But I will not give up on Kenshin. And I will not let you have him completely. I have ways of getting the information I want, whether from you, or from some lowlife out there who's willing to get paid. And I will not stop until Kenshin is safe with me. Because he belongs here. With me. And there's nothing you or anyone can do to change that."
Katsura looked at her, amazed at the calmness yet strength of her words as she spoke. This Yukishiro is a woman nobody messes up with. He knows that now.
. . . . . . . . . . .
Enishi began to approach, holding a long, slender metal pipe, which he tore from the tanks strapped to the girl's bed. It didn't matter which weapon he chose to fight the Battousai. Knowing each and every strategy the ex-assassin can use to attack him puts the former at a clear disadvantage, making the choice of weapon an insignificant factor in the outcome of the fight.
"Come, Battousai. Or are you afraid to see how accurate my thoughts are of you?"
Kenshin stood up, sensing that the Kamiya girl had suddenly relaxed underneath him the moment Enishi had regained his composure. He darted a look of sharp indifference at the silver warrior, taking note of the length and weight of his weapon, and making calculations as to how his sword might best counter it.
Enishi laughed. "So cold and calculating aren't we Battousai? Attack and you will see!!!"
The Battousai had no choice. He had to make the first move.
He flew up and above Enishi, blue sparks flying as their auras met and clashed in the semi-darkness, each as eager as the other in his resolve to kill. Or so Enishi assumed. He wondered vaguely when Kenshin drew back, not meeting his weapon where he should, but twisting in mid-air to land a few feet from him, his eyes a mask of emotions.
Enishi drew back… The Battousai's eyes. They are not amber, but of the deepest purple…
Kenshin smiled. "Perplexed Enishi?"
"Huh… why should I be, Battousai?" he drawled, his lips thinning into a smile. "So long as Kamiya's memories are in here" he pointed to the side of his head, "I know you like the back of my hand…"
"You're forgetting something though" Kenshin told him darkly, sheathing his sword in preparation for his new improvisation of the classic battou-jutsu technique. "Since I'm not fighting as Battousai, Kamiya's memories cannot help you at all…"
Enishi's veins bulged as he stared at the red-haired raven, his eyes just slightly confused.
"Not as Battousai? You are nothing more than a merciless killer, you freak!!! And I made sure you stay that way!!!"
"You're wrong…" Kenshin calmly objected, trying to relax his grip on the hilt of his sword. "This scar, Takeda Kanryu's experiments… they prove little about the success of your program. I would have to admit though, that for a while, as Battousai, I was exactly what Dr. Yukishiro dreamed me to be—a mindless machine whose choices have been bought at the cost of so many lives…Demo…even with that realization, I was glad something happened that forced me out of that meaningless existence…something that forced me to move on even if the old compulsions remain… And that is where your error lies, Enishi Yukishiro…"
A grim smile crept into the ex-assassin's lips, arm muscles flexing as the sword dropped into a position of defense.
For a tiny second, Enishi held his breath, fear creeping up his tense shoulder muscles as they moved in synchrony with the tiny adjustments the ex-assassin was making with the position of his sword.
"Did you say error?" he hissed, eyes watching the black-cloaked figure's shadow move against others, making itself almost invisible if not for the eyes that glimmered like a cursed cat's.
"You want an explanation?"
He wanted time. But he was not going to say that.
"Pray, enlighten me, Battousai."
The ex-assassin drew the sword vertically, showing the full length of the weapon that reached from his chest, down to the edges of the long coat that swished around his knees. The length gleamed in the semi-darkness like a ray of blue light, flickering depths reflected in the assassin's eyes as he stared at the scientist, yellow irises shifting to purple.
"What Kamiya knows is the dark side of me trapped somewhere in that past, in that oblivion you intend to force upon the helpless as your sensei had likewise done so… Demo, since all my previous battles depended on the Battousai's skills rather than Himura's, all Kamiya's memories of me are irrelevant to this battle, because I'm not fighting you as the assassin of before, but as the me that have survived Kanryu's insanity, Enishi…"
"Your drama is comic shit!!!"
"Say what you want, but I will not die here, not in this godforsaken place…"
"We will see about that, you arrogant bastard!!!"
His mad swing however, as Kenshin had predicted, was aimed at the weakness of the battou jutsu technique, which he had deftly altered by bringing the swing not vertically downwards, but horizontally, his sword arcing wide and deep, cutting a deep gash as it slid across Enishi's torso, slicing a piece of his uniform to shreds. He looked down at his stomach and clutched it wildly, seeing the blood trickle, then ooze down the deep wound, making him numb for a few seconds.
Scowling madly at Kenshin, he lunged forward, this time with the brute force of his fists coming down at him, punching at any opening he could find, forcing Kenshin to block with both arms.
Kenshin jumped back, forcing Enishi to lunge wildly at him, knuckles meeting the hilt of the long sword which the ex-assassin used as a shield, bleeding and scarring his enemies hands in more than a dozen places, as the punches grew more frustrated, aimless, and disoriented.
He had a mind of ending the fight by kicking him in the gut and hitting his jaw with the battered hilt, but decided against it. There was no need to make the miserable man's life an embarrassing living hell…
Not yet at least. Right now, the movement in the corner of the room seemed more important.
The girl was stirring, her eyes going wide with shock when she passed them over her disheveled and brutely exposed appearance. Flinching slightly, perhaps due to the cold, perhaps due to her apparent state of undress, she struggled to cover herself with the tattered laboratory gown, pulling it up to cover the upper half of her body.
He might have found that almost childish gesture interesting if a punch on his right eye did not make the vision a gray blur…
"You WILL die here Battousai, and I will make sure you and I meet in HELL!!!"
Ba-Battousai…??
Hell…??
She looked at the source of the commotion and for the first time registered the actual, physical presence of the man she had only seen in the darkness of her mind, in the countless nightmares she had fought and survived.
She looked at him, bruised and battered from Enishi's punches, but holding on, his face a picture of deep calm and quiet resolve.
She had not taken her eyes off him when his eyes darted to hers, quickening her heartbeat…
For two seconds, sapphire met amethyst…
Somewhere, in the consciousness of that single moment of awareness, she felt that a deep river had been bridged, making way for two distant souls whose journeys are just about to begin…
. . . . . . . . . .
Author's notes: Yeah , yeah, I was trying to put in some OOC there, but hey, I love Enishi the way he is, including K&K of course, so I decided to stick to their original character, at least in this chapter. Again, Tomoe remains spunky, and if her possessiveness offends—well, I think this part of her is NOT new really, since I'd like to believe that behind the repressed superficiality of the characters in the OAV, there are complex and multidimensional shades to their behaviors, which are only too well hidden… For example, wasn't Tomoe being possessive when she decided to hunt Kiyosato's killer to avenge him (which is duh, because anyone in his right mind would know that a killer as good as the Battousai can't be beaten by a man, much less a woman without sword skills) then gives her life to the next guy she falls in love with? I mean, doesn't her expression of love seem to border on the extreme (almost obsessive-like, which I guess had to be toned down in the OAV because women are not allowed to show outward signs of passion)? So you see, if there's something Tomoe is extremely good at, it's fighting for her man, and despite flaws that other fans see in her character (frigid, boring, dark and brooding like Rei-Ayanami or Kikyo), I think she has some strengths buried under the layers of that repressed consciousness of hers. So for Tomoe fans out there, don't flame me, I'm trying my best to be fair to her, even if I'm a fanatic K&K fan. Anyway, the next chapter ought to be good since there'll be more K&K interaction and some other characters will be showing up as well like Sano and Megumi, and Aoishi. It's getting pretty hard to maintain distance from their original characters though, but I will try my best.
So, depending on my mood, I might have more OOC thingies in the next chapter (but sorry, no lemons yet—gee I'm getting nervous). Flame me if I'm going overboard, but I doubt I can do that, since I love the original characters too much!!!
Oh, and by the way, notice my titles? I always take them from the last sentence of each chapter (Boo, boo, my originality sucks!!!).
Again, thanks for reading this far!!! Don't forget to send me your comments!!! Until the next chappie, Bye!!!