Chapter 4

Yahiko was the one who moved first, taking the fire extinguisher off the wall and rushing towards the flames. But Kaoru was quick to react, pulling him away and towards the shower stalls.

"The flames are too big!" she yelled.

Yahiko looked at her angrily as he threw the extinguisher to the ground. "You have a better idea?"

Kaoru blinked watching the extinguisher roll away to reveal the shattered tiles. She knelt down and started to pat the floor. She grabbed the metal cylinder from next to her and slammed it into the ground. More tiles shattered as she repeated the gesture over and over.

"What are you doing?" Yahiko yelled.

"Under the tiles!" she managed to yell in between smashing away.

Deciding his trademark arguing was not appropriate at the moment, Yahiko instead grabbed a nearby mop and used it as a lever to pull up tiles around Kaoru's smashing area.

Kaoru's eyes widen when she realized that under the tile were not layers of cement but wooden planks. Not bothering to wonder how old this part of the stadium was, she concentrated on pummeling the wood until it split.

The broken pieces of wood suddenly disappeared downward, hitting something that was obviously not solid. Looking down, Kaoru could barely make out her reflection at the bottom.

Water!

"Yahiko, jump down the hole!"

"What?"

"JUST DO IT!"

He quickly dropped the mop and slid into the hole. "I'm stuck!" he cried trying to push himself down.

"I told you not to eat so much for breakfast!" Kaoru cried pushing down on his shoulders until he suddenly fell down. She followed suit, head first feeling the rush of flames on the soles of her feet as she cascaded down into the darkness.

* * *

The fire alarms suddenly sounded, startling everyone. Someone came on the loudspeaker to inform them to vacate the area. Even though it was in Italian, it was obvious what was being said.

Kenshin looked down onto the field, trying to see if Yahiko or Kaoru had made it back. But neither of them were in plain view. His brows furrowed as Sano pulled at his sleeve.

"Come on, we need to get out," Sano said.

"I just can't see…"

"They probably went outside as soon as the alarm sounded," Sano added quickly, reading his friend's mind.

Kenshin frowned slightly. That would make sense but… but why did he has this awful feeling in his stomach?

"I'm going to go look," he stated, shrugging off Sano's hand and bounding down the stairs.

Sano sighed and looked at Misao with a sigh. She shrugged and quickly followed Kenshin down the stairs and over to the field, heading towards the locker room. She barely noticed Sano following silently behind her.

She also barely noticed the redhead hurtling towards her as the side of the stadium exploded. She dodged, which was quite a feat considering she was pushed back herself. Sano had managed to stay rooted in place, acting as a wall for Kenshin to slam into.

As soon as they regained their composure, all they could do was stare as the fire encompassed the wooden benches of the stadium and presumably two of their friends.

* * *

Megumi was attempting to sleep when she heard something. Slowly, she crawled out of bed and towards the window. Her eyes opened as she watched a slow black cloud push towards the sky.

Her eyebrows furrowed and she headed towards the door, knowing Aoshi would be doing the same thing. But her way was blocked but something rather firm.

"Hello."

Megumi froze. Somewhere her mind was attempting to tell her it was just another illusion. But the hot breath on her face slowly quieted the voice.

"Kanyruu," she said, her eyes wide open.

He smiled, glasses slowly pushing up his nose. "In the flesh."

She shook her head and stepped away but he caught her arm. Confusion flooded her face. "No, you're in jail."

"I got out."

"You're in Japan."

"I came here to see some friends."

"You're not real!"

"I'm as real as I've ever been," he said. "And you can't imagine the luck of finding my brilliant young chemist. I had a couple of people searching for you in Japan already but I guess that was unnecessary."

Megumi translated the words and realized what they meant. "I won't work for you again."

"Sure you will," Kanyruu said. "Because you're too afraid of what I can do to you."

Megumi heart began to beat. She knew he was right. She couldn't bear the thought of…

No. She wasn't sixteen anymore. She wasn't the same girl she was back then. She had survived him once, she was going to do again. And now, she had something she hadn't had back then.

She looked at Kanyruu, fire suddenly in her eyes. He balked a bit at the sight, not used to her fighting back. He paused, wondering if she was going to hit him. Not liking physical fighting one bit, he looked over to the shadows to warn the bodyguard hidden there.

But it was too late.

"AOSHI!" Megumi screamed, her voice so loud that Kanyruu pitched backward and covered his ears.

That's right, Megumi thought. I have something to fight you with now. Friends. More precisely, friends with guns and short tempers.

"You bitch!" Kanyruu said, stumbling back and letting the bodyguard coming towards her. "I'm going to be put you in that little box and keep you there until you…"

Whatever he was about to say was cut off abruptly as the pounding on the door echoed loudly behind him.

"Megumi!" Aoshi called from outside.

Megumi went to call again, but the bodyguard was there, hand wrapped around her neck. She panicked a bit, the air catching in her throat before she could speak. She was trapped.

Aoshi was still calling out to her but she couldn't respond. Kanyruu reached into his pocket and produced a gun, aiming it towards the door. Megumi squirmed furiously trying to get loose and warn Aoshi.

But the gun had already gone off.

* * *

Kaoru hit the water and the first thing she realized was that it was cold. The second was that it felt really gross. And third was that Yahiko was pulling at her feet to pull her under as the flames kissed the surface of the water. Her lungs were burning by the time the initial blast faded and she struggled to the surface, pulling Yahiko with her.

They coughed out the wretched substance and tread water as they moved away from the hole in the ceiling. As soon as they were clear of the flaming debris on the water, they could both marvel at their situation.

"What the hell is that smell?" Yahiko cried.

Kaoru looked around with a confused face. "I don't know… but it kind of smells like…"

"SHIT!"

"Yeah that."

"No I mean, I'm caught on something," Yahiko said struggling a bit.

Kaoru moved towards him and dove underwater, trying to see what he had snared. A few seconds later, she came up to the surface.

"Yahiko, I don't want to freak you out or anything so just stay still a second and don't look."

"Why?"

"Just believe me."

But Yahiko was already imagining what was on him. "What is it?" he cried, panic in his voice.

"Stay still!"

But his arms were flailing and water was being splashed about as he tried to dislodge himself. Before Kaoru could yell again, he was free and the thing that snared him floated to the surface.

"Don't look!" Kaoru ordered pushing him away. "Okay, it's not pretty so don't look."

Yahiko tread water as Kaoru moved forward and carefully turned the body around. The water had saturated the skin so the face was all bloated. It was impossible to tell who it was. There was no identification present and when Kaoru tugged a bit, she realized that a long chain attached the deceased foot to the ground. There was only one thing she could see, a large ring with a symbol of a snake imprinted on it. After a moment's hesitation she pulled it off and moved towards Yahiko.

"What was it?" Yahiko asked softly.

From the look on his face, Kaoru knew he had already seen. "Let's just get out of here."

* * *

The doorknob exploded as Aoshi shot out the lock. Kanyruu ducked and moved to the corner of the room as the stone-faced man walked in, gun raised parallel to the ground.

"Put her down!" he ordered the bodyguard.

"Put the gun down," Kanyruu started "or my man will…"

Aoshi fired and the man holding Megumi fell backwards taking her with him, a thin trail of blood pouring out of the center of his forehead. Kanyruu's opened wide as he stared at Aoshi.

Realizing he was going to be trapped, Kanyruu fired the gun towards Aoshi, forcing the man to duck from the door and opening up the escape route Kanyruu needed. Without wasting a moment, he scrambling out the door and into the hall.

Aoshi didn't bother with him, instead moving to free Megumi from the dead man's arms. He checked her breathing, finding it steady but faint and waited for her to wake up.

"Kan…" she started. "Gun…"

Aoshi frowned. "He's gone. For now. But he's not going to get far."

He helped Megumi sit up and the normal reserved doctor's face started to crack. "He was going to shoot you and I couldn't do anything to…"

"Megumi," Aoshi snapped. "It will be alright."

Megumi blinked and looked up at him. She nodded softly, letting only a sniffle escape her. It should have been enough that Aoshi was safe but… she just kept hearing Kanyruu's voice.

"I'm going to be put you in that little box and keep you there until you…"

Until what? she wondered. Until I cracked and worked for you again. Her mind slowly remembered the box, the darkness, the heat, the…

"Go take a cold shower," Aoshi ordered, ushering her towards the bathroom. "I'm going to call the others and figure this out."

Megumi nodded and headed towards the bathroom. Aoshi waited until he could hear the water running. He reached into his pocket to retrieve his cell phone when it rang instead. A second later, his ears were filled with a familiar voice.

* * *

"These catacombs date back to the Roman Empire. You can see evidence of the rituals associated with burial simply by looking at the… ah, yes, in the back," the tour guide said, pointing to a man in the back.

"Yeah, what the hell is that smell?"

The tour guide frowned. "Well, the catacombs are next to old sewer system but the walls should be able to prevent…" The guide paused and slowly put her hand to her nose. People started to cough and head towards the tour guide and away from the smell.

"Okay, I think we might have a small leak," the guide said, trying her best to remain cheerful. "Let's calmly move towards the exit."

"Busu!"

"Yahiko-CHAN!"

"BUSU!"

"YAHIKO-CHAN!"

The guide's eyes opened sharply as she watched the two people slowly crawled their way through a grate in the ground. People started whispering and it suddenly became apparent where the smell was coming from.

Kaoru noticed the group and let out a sigh. "I told you we'd find a way out."

"Feh, first a sewer and then an underground graveyard. I think I would have preferred being roasted alive."

Kaoru's fist clenched but she let the anger past. She needed to let everyone they were okay. She turned to the guide with a smile. "Phone?" she asked in broken English.

The guide looked at her and then back at her group who were still inching towards the door. Carefully she reached inside her pocket and retrieved her cell phone. Carefully, she extended her arm and handed it to the drenched girl, making sure that there was no skin contact between them.

"Thank you," Kaoru said, before dialing the number. "Damn, no reception."

"Well, duh," Yahiko replied motioning around. "We're in an underground tomb. Geez, Busu, didn't they teach you anything in school?"

The last bit of restraint faded and Kaoru's face went livid. "Shut up, Yahiko-CHAN!"

"BUSU!"

"YAHIKO-CHAN!"

They continued this way, heading towards the exit. The group in front of them quickly backpedaled and pilled out the door. The people still waiting outside panicked slightly, seeing the rush.

As soon as Kaoru and Yahiko emerged, everyone finally understood. Their clothes were stained unhealthy colors and the smell was unimaginable. The tourists started to distribute the story of how the two had emerged from the bottom of the catacombs after having obviously been through the sewer.

And then, the tourists did the one thing tourists are famous for.

They took pictures.

"I hate cameras," Kaoru muttered before dialing again.

* * *

The taxi was moving too slow, Kenshin decided. His eyes looked into the mirror above the driver's head and the man caught the glint in his eyes. The car began to move a bit faster.

The driver made another prayer to another saint as he sped through the roads of Rome. He should have never stopped, he realized. But it was kind of hard when someone jumps in front of your cab, almost rips off the door to get inside and orders you to get to the catacombs as quickly as possible. The moment they came into the view, the driver began thanking every saint he had prayed to that he made it there without crashing or being mauled by the three people in the back of his cab.

Kenshin didn't bother to wait for the cab to come to as complete stop. He threw open the door and hit the pavement smoothly, moving swiftly past the crowd and towards the two people they were surrounding.

He saw her, talking angrily to Yahiko as if nothing had happened. But it wasn't something he could as easily ignore. The agonizing thirty minutes were there had been no word, no sign of life, nothing but the grim thought that he had lost her and…

"Kenshin!" Kaoru cried out seeing his tell tale hair poking through the crowd.

He didn't waste a moment rushing up to her and giving her a bear hug. She gladly melted into his arms, letting the impact of things finally catch up with her and then quickly disperse. It was amazing how he could do that for her.

It was also amazing how long he stayed there before he realized something was rather…

"You guys are rank!" Misao yelled, standing away from them.

"Oi, jou-chan, did you go swimming in a toilet?"

"Shut up Sano!" Kaoru cried unhappily. At least Kenshin wasn't bothered by it. Or was he? He had tensed a bit and Kaoru sighed. "It's okay, you can say it."

Kenshin shook his head, determined not to ruin the moment by the fact that she smelled less than perfect.

"Kenshin," Kaoru stated. "You don't have to pretend you don't notice it."

He shook his head.

"Kenshin! You do laundry… everyday. You clean the house once a week. You can't pretend that you don't…"

That was about all he could take. He took a deep breath and strengthened the embrace. "It doesn't matter," he said firmly.

Kaoru was thrilled and leaned into him again. After a few minutes, she sighed. "You're going to have to breathe sometime, you know."

Misao sighed and turned away, dialing Aoshi's number to fill him in on what happened. He answered almost immediately and she quickly launched into what had happened, making sure he knew well in advance that Kaoru was okay.

"So don't come rushing over here," Misao said. "We'll be bringing them back to the hotel real soon."

"I need to talk to her," came Aoshi's reply.

"I told you she's fine."

"Just give her the phone," he ordered.

Misao frowned a bit but relented. There was something in Aoshi's voice that made her realize that she shouldn't push the issue. Turning around, she saw Kaoru on a wild 'Kenshin no baka' spree as the poor redhead sat on the ground getting pummeled, his restraint finally breaking.

"Kaoru," Misao said, coming in close. "Aoshi wants to talk to you."

Kaoru looked at the phone with a sigh and grabbed it from her. Her face quickly fell from annoyed to worried. "No, I understand, we'll be right there."

* * *

Kenshin sat on the bed, his hair still a bit damp from the shower he took. He turned over and looked at the clock realizing almost an hour had passed since they returned to the hotel. Aoshi had explained what happened but it seemed only Kaoru and Yahiko had fully understood. Leaving them behind to wash up, Aoshi had recruited Sano to do some rounds through the area and asked Misao to stay behind with Megumi.

Kanyruu. He knew the name. A drug lord, brought down several years ago by the Tokyo PD. But his connection to Megumi was a bit fuzzy. He knew from his first discussion with Gensai-sensei that she had been in trouble before meeting the Kamiyas. Perhaps that trouble was with Kanyruu.

There was a knock at the door and Kenshin walked over opening it and welcoming the sight of (a clean and jasmine smelling) Kaoru. She smiled a bit pointing at her wet hair.

"Took about a dozen shampoos but I think…" she trailed off with a shrug and entered the room, taking a seat in a chair by the window. Kenshin followed silently, moving to the hotel's coffee maker to make something warm to drink.

He turned around and found her in the exact same position, a wistful look out the window as the sunlight faded and the artificial lights of the city swelled and filled the sky. He put a mug in front of her, watching as she blinked and came back to life.

"Are you sure your okay?" he frowned.

Kaoru nodded. "Yeah… I've been through worse. Well, I think so anyway. I mean, I'll be fine," she smiled.

Kenshin nodded, knowing that she would bounce back. So if she wasn't worried about herself then it was rather obvious who she was thinking about.

"Megumi is alright?"

Kaoru nodded. "Sure. When I left, she and Misao were watching a bad soap opera on TV."

"Wasn't it in Italian?"

Kaoru laughed. "Yeah. I don't think it mattered though." She fell silent again and picked up the mug, looking into it. "You probably want to know what's going on."

Kenshin sat down on the bed without a word. "It might be helpful in trying to find Kanyruu."

Kaoru nodded. "I don't feel right about telling you this. You know we don't like to dwell on the past in our little group. But I know I can trust you not to tell anyone."

He nodded and reached out to take her hand. She looked at him and took a small sip. "See, it started with Megumi's family…"

* * *

Sano let out a deep breath as he walked down the hall. Half across the freaking city and not a trace of the bastard. The Italian police were on the hunt now, having identified the dead bodyguard as a member of one of the local Mafia families. Hotel security had been stepped up too so for the most part, everyone should be safe.

Well everyone but Kanyruu because the second he found that son of a bitch he was going to…

Sano's steps slowed as he reached the door of his shared room. It was opened a crack and he could laughter inside that could only belong to Kaoru. He stepped close, listening in to the conversation to make sure he didn't interrupt anything.

"I don't feel right about telling you this. You know we don't like to dwell on the past in our little group. But I know I can trust you not to tell anyone."

He frowned, about to step away from the door when he heard the next sentence Kaoru spoke.

"See, it started with Megumi's family. They were this genius family," she laughed. "Father was on his way to winning a noble prize in chemistry, mother was a brilliant geneticist. Their kids were all smart but it was their youngest daughter that had everyone excited.

"Megumi wasn't just smart, she was amazing. Her father used to read her chemistry books until she learned to read for herself. And from then on, she just sucked up everything she could find. Chemistry, math, biology, her parents could barely keep their library stocked with enough books.

"She was twelve when Tokyo University said that she should consider going there. It was a dream come true, really, and the media made a big deal about it."

There was a long pause and Sano shifted his feet slightly, wondering what the problem was.

"A few weeks after that happened, the media found itself covering another story about the family… only this one was…"

"It's okay," came Kenshin's voice.

"There was a fire," Kaoru continued, her voice cracking a bit. "In the middle of the night, near the bedrooms. It completely consumed the place in under an hour. There were investigations afterwards and it was obvious it was set on purpose. But they could never figure out two things. Who had started it and what had happened to Megumi's body.

"Four years later, my father was working with the Tokyo PD and they broke Kanyruu's ring at their headquarters. One of the goons there told my dad that there was someone he had to help. So the guy took him to this room in the back.

"There was a large box there, placed on top of heating coils. He could crying and when he opened the box, he found Megumi in there."

There was a bit of silence as Kaoru composed herself a bit. "He found out later what had happened. Kanyruu had approached Megumi's father and asked him to devise a… super drug or something to sell on the black market. Of course, he refused and Kanyruu promised he would pay.

"So he and his goons set the fire. They never expected anyone to survive. Once the fire fighters had put out the flames, a couple of them went in disguised and found Megumi in the remains of a kitchen cabinet. I guess she went down to get something to drink and when everything happened, she hid there.

"They took her away before anyone realized what had happened. When they explained the situation to Kanyruu, he realized that she was the same girl from all the articles. And he realized he had someone who might be able to do what he wanted. Megumi might have been shocked by all that happened but she was still clear headed enough to refuse.

"So he devised a way to break her. A box, about the size of that cabinet, placed on heating coils so she could relive the day over and over again until she…" Kaoru trailed off.

Sano was already walking away. He didn't need to hear the rest of it, he had a pretty good idea what was going on. And he realized that he wasn't just going to hurt Kanyruu when he found him. He was going to kill him.

* * *

"Venice?" Megumi asked, looking down at the ticket.

"Yes, first thing in the morning," Aoshi stated.

"I thought we were going to wait for Yahiko's games to be finished."

Aoshi shook his head. "With the fire at the stadium and all that happened in the hotel, they're moving the tournament to Treviso. You'll be able to go back and forth to see the games easily."

Megumi nodded. "So we're all going there?"

"I'll stay here with Misao for a while," Aoshi replied. "But everyone else will be going with you so you have nothing to worry about."

"I feel so… useless," she said under her breath.

He frowned not knowing what to say. But she stood up quickly and walked out the door, obviously not looking for an answer. She had made it half way back to the room before she ran into Sano.

"Watch where you're going!" she snapped.

"Sorry."

The world stopped for a moment. Megumi blinked. "What?"

"I said sorry."

"I know. Why the hell did you say it?"

Sano blinked. "What do you mean?"

"Why are you being nice?"

"What… Why… ARGH! You are SO INFRUIATING!" Sano finally cried out.

And Megumi smiled a bit. "And don't you forget it," she said walking past him and into her room.

He watched after her with shock on his face. Geez, couldn't he see that he was just trying to make sure she was okay?

And then, somewhere in the depth of his brain, a little voice came out, one rarely heard in Sano's brain. It was his common sense.

BAKA! it said. Of course, she knows what you were getting at! But you know what a proud person she is! The worse thing you could do is treat her any different because of what happened. She probably feels bad enough.

And Sano heard the voice and actually listened. He smirked and turned at her retreating form. "Oi, Megitsune!"

"What is it tori-atama?" she demanded, turning half way around.

"Next time you want to feel me up, don't pretend to run into me, just ask."

Megumi snorted and shot him one last look before disappearing her room. And in that brief look, he didn't just see her normal disdain but the bear hints of a smile.

* * *

Author's note : Well considering this is late as it is, I'll spare you much banter here. People have noted that this story is a bit darker then the others and I guess it's because I really wanted to tie up loose ends. Everything was hinted at in the past so now everything is coming out now.

More chapters should come out pretty quick now that I'm over the holiday rush and everything. So I hope you'll see more fast and possibly a new story too. Just trying to decide between starting a comedy or a drama one first.