Chapter 6
Three prongs of the devil were coming straight at her and Misao couldn't do anything. All the training went out the window when she was suddenly faced with her childhood fear.
But before the three snakes could attack her, Misao found herself surrounded by water and two firm hands. She turned her head around and looked up at Aoshi, the light on her head catching his profile in the dark water. He was looking up, watching as the snakes swam past.
Misao tugged at his sleeve as her oxygen ran out and he quickly kicked back to the surface. He pushed her behind him as she started gasping for air. The snakes were still moving away, having lost their original prey but sensing ripples in the water from rats swimming ahead.
"Misao, go back outside," Aoshi ordered, pushing her towards the ladder.
"What about you?"
"I'm right behind you."
Misao nodded and started to swim towards the exit. Aoshi made sure she was looking ahead before he turned back to the body. Mentally, he cursed at himself for not realizing that when Kaoru was photographed outside the catacombs, the people responsible for this would realize the body had been exposed.
He reached down at his ankle and retrieved the knife there. One quick check for Misao saw her light slowly receding into the darkness.
"Aoshi!" she called, her voice echoing off the walls.
"I'll be right there," he responded, turning back to the body.
Taking the floating hand in his, he began to slice through the dead man's finger. After some pulling, he finally managed to separate it. Without sparing a second look, he swam away, headed after Misao.
The catacomb walls seemed to crawl as Misao's head light swung across them. Shadows writhed back and forth and no matter how many times Misao told herself that she was being ridiculous, she could still feel the edge of panic creeping up into her. This place with a tomb… it had almost been her tomb. And she was completely terrified.
"Let's move," Aoshi said, passing her by and walking towards the exit. Misao waited a beat as she considered whether she should tell him what she was feeling. Deciding it might be better to voice her fears outside of this place, she quickly followed him to the surface and towards the black rental car.
She was stripping off the wetsuit when she tried to talk to him. But he was lost in thought, a bit of anger etched on his face. Silently she stepped into the car and turned on the ignition, letting the heat hit her and seep into her skin. The chill was still there.
As soon as he entered the car, she released the parking brake and reversed the car. The traffic was light so Misao was not forced to focus all her attention on driving. Besides, she had a death grip on the wheel and if she didn't calm down, she'd have an accident.
"Aoshi," she said quietly.
"Kaoru," Aoshi said quickly into his cell phone. "Are you all right?"
Misao watched him have a quick conversation with Kaoru, quickly determining that they had already run across trouble. He barked a few orders and shut the phone down. Not saying anything more, he stared out the window.
Misao followed the road back to the hotel and pulled to a stop in front of the door. Aoshi stepped outside and closed the door of the car, turning towards the doors. Before he could react, the car squealed and Misao pulled away at full speed.
* * *
"I understand… I said I'd be careful! Okay, fine, we'll meet you at the station."
Kaoru slammed the phone shut and tossed it on the bed. Megumi looked at her with a raised eyebrow and sighed. She didn't need to ask who the call was from. And she could hardly disagree with Aoshi's chastising. After they finally related the story, Megumi was sure she agreed with whatever Aoshi had just said.
"He's so… so…"
"Right," Megumi completed.
"What?"
"Whatever he said is right," Megumi said firmly. "You know that."
"It doesn't mean I have to like it," Kaoru muttered, crossing her arms.
Megumi rolled her eyes. "You never like it."
"He's so overprotective!"
"And he'll never change, so get used to it," Megumi replied. "He's always going to worry. And he's probably going to blame Kenshin when he gets here."
Kaoru sighed. "It wasn't his fault," she finished sitting on the bed, letting his feet dangle off the edge. "Not like Aoshi'll care. He never likes it when…" Kaoru trailed off.
"He's getting worse, isn't he?"
Kaoru nodded. "What with Misao, I guess he keeps thinking the same thing will happen with her that happened with his mom."
"But he's not five years old," Megumi retorted. "And Misao isn't going to just abandon him for another guy. She's attached to him by the hip."
Kaoru shrugged. "Doesn't make it different in his mind. I mean, his mother just left him with a friend after his father died and had another family with another guy. People don't get over things like that. I keep telling him, Misao won't do that. That I wouldn't just leave him if I ever got…"
Kaoru trailed off as Megumi's eyes widen open. "Wait a minute… what were you just about to say?"
Kaoru blushed and put a strand behind her ear. "Nothing," she said.
"Oh… wait a minute, I sensed that you were about to say a word," Megumi said, standing up and putting a hand to her forehead. "I sense that… Kaoru is not telling me something."
"I'm not!" Kaoru cried indignantly before realizing she had fallen in deeper.
"I'm sensing that someone was thinking about the 'm' word…"
Kaoru grabbed a near by pillow. "I was not," she said chasing after Megumi with it.
The older woman ducked and grabbed her own pillow. "Kaoru wants to get married, Kaoru wants to get married," she sang, dancing around Kaoru's blows.
Kaoru made contact with Megumi's head and she cried out indignity. "Tanuki, that actually hurt."
Kaoru leaned forward to see the damage and Megumi followed with a quick pillow hit to the face. Kaoru gasped in surprised and looked at her.
"Oh… you are so getting it for that," Kaoru cried, chasing after her. Megumi laughed and quickly ducked as Kaoru pitched a pillow at her. They were so caught up in their game that they did not notice the door opening to their room.
"Ororororo…"
Megumi and Kaoru looked over at where Megumi's pillow had just landed and burst out laughing. Kenshin had been taken by surprise and was sprawled on the floor. An amused Sano looked down at the fallen redhead.
"Che," he said reaching down and pulling Kenshin up to his feet. "We were going to get you so we could grab lunch downstairs. But I think you need sometime to get ready."
He closed the door and Megumi and Kaoru looked at each other. A second later, they erupted into laughter again.
* * *
"Che… women. One moment they're all serious and upset, the next they're acting like five year olds."
Kenshin smiled at Sano's remarks and took a sip of water. He was glad to see them laughing. Lately everyone had seemed so down, which was not surprising considering the events that had occurred on this trip. Kaoru worse then most of them. She had to worry about Yahiko, Aoshi, Megumi and… well, him too.
She didn't have to voice the concern, he could see it in her eyes. The clueless act got him out of things most of the time but as they got closer, he knew she wasn't falling for it anymore. They were reaching the point where he knew that things were going to start to change.
It getting serious and as the days went by, he began to realize something. The fear he had that she would leave him because of what he had done in the past was slowly fading. Now it was a greater fear that she would leave him because of who he had become. It was easier to take rejection because he was a killer. He knew that anyone in their right mind should do that.
But what if what he was now, wasn't enough? How was he supposed to keep going if she ever rejected this side of him?
The smart thing to do would be to get out first but he knew he'd never be able to do that. The second was… well… maybe to take a chance and see if maybe they couldn't find a normal life in a little house in the suburbs with…
"Oi, Kenshin? What's with the goofy look on your face?"
Kenshin coughed and turned away, shaking his head. "Nothing, Sano. I was just thinking."
"About jou-chan?"
"Aa."
"Thinking of asking her to marry you?"
Kenshin choked on the mouthful he had just taken and looked up at Sano with surprise. Sano just sighed and put his feet on the table. "Che, you're too easy to read."
"Sano… it's not like that, it's… difficult."
"Hai, anything involving women is difficult," Sano replied.
"That's only because you men make it so hard."
Sano blinked and looked up at the young woman standing in front of their table. Her hands were on her hips and she stared at them unhappily.
"Sorry?" Sano said.
"I said you make things difficult," she said.
"Who are you?"
The woman cleared her throat. "My name is Solita, one of the waitresses here," she smiled. "Would you like some coffee to start?"
"Sure," Sano said slowly.
"Great! Hey, Marina, three coffee over her, make mine decaf!" She turned the two guys. "I'm trying to cut down."
Solita reached forward and grabbed Sano's feet, pulling them off the table and dropping them to the ground. "Okay, here's the story," Solita started.
"Ah… excuse me," Kenshin started, "but we have a couple of people joining us and…"
"Good, then I'll make this quick since you too are obviously completely lost," Solita said, taking the cup of coffee and putting it in front of her.
"I've lived her for five years," she said, "and I'm getting sick of people coming to a completely romantic place like this and blowing every chance at furthering their relationships because they're idiots."
"OI!" Sano called out indignantly.
"Look, let's face it," Solita said turning to Sano, "you obvious have no skills in dealing with women. You probably insult the one you really like because you never evolved past the kindergarten approach of things."
Kenshin laughed a bit into his cup and pretended to clear his throat after Sano shot him a death glare. "Listen here, jou-chan," Sano stated, "I'm not the one who needs to do 'evolving'. Its women who never gives us any idea of what we're supposed to do!"
"You need an instruction book?" Solita asked.
"Considering how unreadable your sex is most of time… YES!"
Solita sighed, Kenshin looked like he wanted to crawl under the table, and Sano was very flustered.
"No you don't. You just make it too difficult," Solita said. "The solution is the same for both you. Now follow closely, because I know this is novel idea and all. Ready?" Both men looked her with furrowed eyebrows as she scanned around the place, leaned in and whispered the next statement.
"Just tell them how you feel."
Solita sat back and took a sip of coffee. She frowned a bit. "Damn, it's not decaf," she stood up and looked around. "Hey, Marina! I thought I said decaf!"
The other waitress looked at her strangely. "Decaf? What's that?"
Solita sighed and wandered off to lecture her friend on the existence of non-caffeinated drinks, leaving the two men to just stay after her in confusion. Before they could say anything more, the two girls joined them.
* * *
Misao slammed on the car door shut and walked into the café. She was early, she knew that, but she needed to get away, even if just for a second to clear her mind. If she had stayed, she would have just said something she regretted.
Misao understood, or at least she told herself she did. Kaoru and Megumi were important to Aoshi. She didn't want to replace them, she wanted to be something more. And maybe that's why it hurt that she had been completely terrified and he had been more worried about the other two.
"You look freezing."
Misao blinked and looked at the back table, coming eye to eye with a smiling face. She balked a bit before sitting down across from Soujirou. She was even more surprised when he handed her his coat.
"Thank you," she said mutely.
"You seem to have come here in a hurry," he smiled. Misao frowned and looked away. "Something is wrong," he stated firmly.
"Nothing's wrong," she replied put her hands on the table.
A second later, his hands covered her. She looked up into his shining eyes and was startled to find compassion in them. What was going on? He was a member of the Juppongatana, a notorious killer! Why was he looking her like that?
"It's all right to be afraid," Soujirou said with a smile. "Everyone is afraid of something."
She looked up at him. "Even you?" she asked softly.
His smile faltered a bit and he pulled his hands away. "You're not staying in Rome," he said firmly. "The rest of your friends have already left."
"How do you…"
"If I know it, then the Juppongatana do," Soujirou said firmly. "I will meet you in Venice in two days."
Misao nodded and stood up slowly. She walked out to the car and mechanically drove it back to the hotel. Aoshi was there in the lobby, watching her come in and staring in confusion at the jacket around her shoulders.
* * *
"Higher megitsune!"
"Sano… oof… if you… oof… call me that… oof… one more time!"
Sano slowly lowered the pillow and looked over at Megumi. She took a few deep breaths and put her hands on her knees, feeling the cotton fabric of the sweatpants absorb the moisture from her hands.
"That was pretty good. But stop punching so low. You're not going to do any damage punching at their chest," Sano replied. "Either hit the stomach or the neck. You're a doctor, you should know that."
Megumi glared at him. "I'm sorry if I was taught how to put my knowledge of anatomy towards helping people."
"It gives you an advantage on most fighters," Sano retorted. "You know how to hurt them without doing real damage."
Megumi frowned a bit. "I guess that could work."
Sano nodded and tossed the pillow on to the bed. "We can stop there for the night. We should probably get some dinner."
"I'm starving," Megumi agreed.
Sano paused and looked at her. Megumi caught his look and raised an eyebrow. "Uh…" he started. "Maybe we should go out… to a nice place or something."
Megumi was startled. She looked at him, looking for a glimmer of insincerity or humor or anything to indicate that he hadn't just asked her out on a…
"Take some pictures," Sano added. "You know, for your colleagues back home."
Megumi's face never faltered but she nodded quickly, muttering something about taking a shower before hand. She walked into the bathroom and turned the water on full blast. She turned to face the mirror and just shook her head.
What had she been expecting? A date? Sure there had been some bonding in the past couple of days, but let's not forget the true reason for this trip. She needed to give her colleagues some proof about their marriage. And then when she got home, she'd file for divorce, tell them he had slept with someone here and then it was over with.
Because that's the thing to do? Right?
The only response she got was a dim reflection in the fogged over mirror.
* * *
"It's so beautiful!"
Kenshin smiled as he watched Kaoru marvel over the glassware in the store. She reached out to touch a small crystal cat and he made a note of it to pick up later.
"There is demonstration upstairs," the shopkeeper said in broken English, pointing upstairs.
Kenshin nodded and put his hand on Kaoru's waist giving her a slight push towards the door before she saw the larger sized glass cat that he wouldn't be able to afford even if he worked for five months straight. She giggled as she felt him push her and headed up the stairs to see what was there.
A large oven burned brightly in the middle of the room, increasing the temperature by several degrees. A small crowd of tourists stood around a soot covered man who was holding a long metal rod with a bit of molten glass at the top.
He put it in the first and began to twirl the rod, explaining briefly about how the glass was heated and spun to create a basic shape. He pulled out the glowing rod and brought it towards the crowd.
Kenshin watched as the man arced it towards him. There was something wrong. The man was saying one thing, but the glass was not a shape. It was just a lump on the end of the staff. His instincts took over immediately and he push Kaoru out of the way as the molten glass came hurtling straight at them.
Kenshin spun away and headed towards the glass blower, watching as the man's face changed into rage. He swung his weapon again and Kenshin felt it hit his hair. The ends of red were suddenly encased in glass.
Kaoru didn't say a word, didn't even wonder what was going on. She reacted, quickly pushing the tourists down the stairs and yelling at the owner to call the police. Turning, she hefted a spare metal rod in her arms.
"Kenshin!" she called throwing it at him.
He grabbed it and struggled under its weight for a moment before gaining his balance. Slowly, he spun the rod like a Bo and got ready to defend himself. His opponent snarled and charged forward, the metallic clang almost deafening them both as Kenshin countered.
Kaoru moved towards the back of the room, looking for anything that might be of use. She pulled at the door of a closet and fell backwards as a body fell on top of her. Kaoru's eyes opened wide as she struggled from underneath it. Turning it over, she saw a man dressed similarly to the one fighting Kenshin. It must be the real glass worker, Kaoru realized as she started searching him for anything useful.
Kenshin was doing well considering that he hadn't trained with a Bo in several years and that his opponent had the advantage of a molten end to really hurt him. He was concentrating on blocking any attack from that end and the result was that his opponent was landing quite a few blows with the other end of the staff.
Battered and bruised, Kenshin was getting angrier by the minute. His eyes started flashing to amber and he attacked with speed that the other man couldn't hope to counter. But just when it seemed Kenshin was assured victory, he felt his staff get stuck in the molten mess at the end of his opponent's. He pulled at it but the glass was already cooling and the two staffs were determined to stay stuck together.
Kenshin and his opponent looked at each other in surprise. And then continued to pull on their end of the rod. The tug of war lasted a few moments before they both realized how ridiculous it was. Dropping the rods, they attacked each other with hands and feet.
The man was Italian but he's training in the martial arts was superb. Each punch and kick was thrown in rapid succession leaving Kenshin no time to get in an offensive attack. He concentrated on blocking, knowing that no matter what skill the other man possessed, he would get tired eventually.
Finally there was a hole in his attack and Kenshin used it, a swift punch to the nose to get his attention, followed but a low cut to his stomach and finally a leg swept sending the man crashing to the ground.
Kenshin waited for the next attack but his opponent was out cold. Kenshin took in a deep breath and let his anger abate a bit.
"Kaoru are you all right?" he called, looking over at the open closet door. But there was no one there. "Kaoru?"
He walked over slowly, seeing the dead body and making the same connection she had. He looked into the closet but it was empty.
"Kaoru?" he called to the room. He was about to run downstairs when saw it. A long strand of black hair was on the floor, coiled up like it was a snake. His heart stopped and he knelt down, picking it up gingerly and smelling in the faint traces of jasmine.
* * *
Author's note : I get to whine here because it's my story. I really struggled with this chapter. I had to be sort of a bridge to what's going to be building up to the main climax and for whatever reason, I just couldn't get it written. Now that it's done, I like maybe about 10% of it.
Sigh, apologies for a lackluster performance in this one. Hopefully the next couple of chapters will be better.
