Saying she had a headache didn't come close to what she felt. It was like a hundred tiny pins were embedded behind her eyes and mercilessly hitting every nerve. It took her several minutes just to open them and the light made her cringe slightly.
Finally things began to come into focus. Kaoru uncoiled a fist and felt rope dig into her wrist. Moving her ankles revealed the same thing. She experimented with arching her back only to find that it was latched to the back of a chair as well.
She sat back with a sigh and tried to remember what happened. One minutes she was watching Kenshin fight, a dead body at her feet, an open closet door and then… darkness. Someone had kidnapped her… again.
"Shit," she said, resorting to curses to express her frustration.
"I have to agree."
Kaoru froze. The voice was right behind her. Something shifted across her back and she realized that the person was sitting on a chair right behind her. Someone with a familiar smelling perfume. And a familiar voice.
"Oh you have got to be kidding me," Kaoru said softly.
"What's the matter?"
"Of all the luck," Kaoru mumbled.
"What?"
"Okay, let's get one thing straight," Kaoru stated angrily. "I don't know what you want with Kenshin but he won't do it! Why can't you just leave him alone?"
"What are you talking about?"
"Come on, like you haven't tried using me as leverage against him before!"
"Actually… no I haven't personally."
"Fine, then let me go!" Kaoru cried.
"Well… I would if I could."
"What?"
"Look over your shoulder."
Kaoru shifted slightly and turned to see a mass of black hair. She slowly followed it down to where the other woman's hands were. A rope bound her wrists to the chair. It took a minute for Kaoru to realize what the meant. And before she could stop, she started to laugh.
"It's not funny," the other woman stated.
Kaoru managed to regain her composure and sighed. "It's just, I didn't think Tokio Saitou was the type to let herself get tied up."
Tokio smiled slightly. "Not unless I asked for it."
"Well, that was way more information then I needed."
"Then don't say stupid things," Tokio snapped. "Now help me get out of these ropes."
"Why should I?" Kaoru asked.
Tokio paused. "Oh, I don't know. Possibly so we can get away from this prison?"
"Well… how do I know you're not going to kill me the second you're free?"
"Are you still hung up on what happened in Vegas?" Tokio asked, struggling a bit. "That was when you were getting in my way. Now, we're in the same situation and I just want to get free."
"So no killing anyone?"
Tokio let out an undignified snort. "I'll leave that to Hajime. I just hope he left some of my bodyguards out of traction. Now, can you bend your right wrist to the left? I think that should give me some slack on my hand."
"Like this?" Kaoru said.
"Yeah, just hold it there for a second…"
Tokio struggled against her bounds, feeling the wrist beginning to slip free but at the same time, feeling the warm blood trickling down her fingers from the effort. She ignored the pain and continued to pull against the ropes. Just a little bit more and she should be free.
The door slid open and Tokio stopped moving as their new guest walked in.
"What's going on?" Kaoru asked, her vision restricted to the back wall.
"I should have known," Tokio snarled.
"Oh, such hostility," Yumi smiled. "Really, Tokio-chan, you shouldn't bear your teeth like that. It is most unladylike."
"I'll show you unladylike," Tokio smiled. "Just untie me."
"As amusing as that would be," Yumi replied, "my orders are to keep you here."
"What do you want with us?" Kaoru called out, recognizing Yumi's voice.
"You? Nothing from you. Just sit here and be good prisoners."
"Then why did you kidnap us?" Kaoru asked.
"Well, you see, we've been having problems staging proper operations with
your male counterparts interfering all the time. So we decided to keep you as
insurance to prevent them from interfering in our new plans."
Kaoru wanted to say something, but Tokio beat her to it. "You mean to tell
me that your grand plan to keep people from interfering in your plans it to
capture their women? That is the stupidest plan I've ever heard."
"Come now, every man's weakness is his woman."
"Women are not a weakness," Tokio snapped back. "They are strength. And I know the Hiten family will not back down just because I was captured."
"Well I think you're wrong, especially since Hiko himself contacted us a few minutes ago."
Tokio's eyes narrowed. "And what exactly did he say?"
Yumi smiled. "Exactly? He said he was 'grieved' that you were captured and would like to negotiate."
Kaoru mentally cringed waiting for Tokio to respond. But instead, she felt her loosen her grip against the bounds.
Yumi smirked. "Thought so. Now be a good little girl and sit tight." She laughed a bit and walked out the door.
Kaoru waited a few minutes after she was gone. "Tokio-san?" No response. "Tokio-san? Should we keep working on the bonds?"
Tokio smiled. "We should wait a bit. No reason to rush now, especially since they'll be here to help us in three days."
Megumi watched as Sano negotiated with the waiter. She turned away to look at the water that was across from the café they had chosen. It was hard to imagine Sano not only asking to pick the place but then finding out it wasn't a complete hole in the wall. In fact, looking at the people seated there, it looked quite nice.
The waiter nodded to him and ushered them to a small table at the edge of the restaurant. Megumi followed, the camera in her hand a constant remainder of what this dinner was really about. She needed a few pictures to show the people back home. Some form of proof that the honeymoon had been enjoyed before…
She nodded to the waiter as he handed her a menu. Scanning it, she recognized a few dishes and settled on something simple. Her stomach wasn't going to take much more. She put the camera down on the table and took the glass of water in her hand.
"This doesn't have to uncomfortable you know," Sano said, looking out at the people walking by.
"What makes you think I'm uncomfortable?" Megumi snapped.
He smiled a bit. "Your knuckles are turning white and I don't think that glass can take much more pressure."
Megumi frowned and put the glass down. She looked away from him and tried to regain her normal composure. But she couldn't find that sense of calm like usual.
This is so stupid! This is Sano! The big dumb rooster head you've know for over a year! Why are you getting nervous? Why can't you think of anything to say? Just say something… anything for…
"Megumi?"
Megumi blinked and looked over at Sano, seeing his brow a bit furrowed. "What?" she asked.
"I asked if you were ready to order," he said. "Is everything okay?"
"Yes, it's fine… I just…"
"We don't have to do this tonight," Sano said. "If you're tired or something..."
"I'm not tired," Megumi replied. "I was just thinking."
"About what?"
About how this doesn't feel wrong, she said to herself. About how sitting across from you does feel wrong at it. I thought it would, I thought that even a fake date like this would just be wrong… but…
"It's not," Megumi said softly.
"What's not?"
Megumi blinked up and looked at Sano. She shook her head. "Not the right dish," Megumi said. "I just realized I translated something wrong."
"Oh," he replied.
The waiter appeared and started taking their order. He watched them for a minute before pointing to the camera. His English was broken but the words "Newlywed" and "picture" was universal.
Megumi nodded. That was why they were here after all. The waiter nodded happily and positioned his face behind the camera. He motioned for them to get closer and Megumi slowly pushed her chair until it clanked with Sano's.
"Sorry," she said looking up at him as her hand brushed against his and catching his glance at her.
Things suddenly froze as two shades of brown met in the middle of a crowded Venetian café. The camera flashed, capturing the moment on film and the waiter smiled as he placed it on the table.
Megumi blinked and looked away, putting her hand over the camera and excusing herself for a moment. She dashed into the back of the restaurant and into the bathroom in the back.
Looking in the mirror, she frowned at her reflection. The traces of pink still on her cheek already told her what the beating heart in her chest did. She was completely insane. She was completely and utterly out of her mind. She was anything but in love with… with…
Megumi Takani does not fall in love. She gave up everything when Kamiya-sensei took her in. She wasn't going to risk everything for…
She put the camera on the dish and turned the water on full blast. Her fingers dove under it and she brought her face under the cool spray, trying to push the last bit of blush out of her cheeks.
She had yelled at him and he yelled back. She insulted him and he insulted her back. Nothing she threw at him had phased him. Nothing until this whole marriage fiasco. But suddenly he actually got hurt when she stopped talking to him. He actually offered to take the blame for everything and save her honor.
The stupid stupid idiot! Who did he think he was actually caring about her honor! Or getting hurt by things she did. She didn't want him to get hurt. She liked their verbal sparring. She liked the way his eyes flared when he was about to answer her retort. Or the way he laughed when she said something that amused him. She liked him when he was happy. Because when he was picking on her or smiling at her…
She heard something behind her and quickly straightened, her eyes level with the mirror. There was movement behind her and she barely had time to react as the hand reached around her mouth.
To Megumi's credit, she struggled valiantly. She landed a good kick to his knee, scratched the living hell out of his hands and tossed her head back a few times but couldn't make contact.
Sano would have said she did her best but suddenly that wasn't enough. Not now. Not when she was just starting to see between them thing clearly.
She knew what was on the cloth, she recognized the smell. And darkness was starting to over take her. There were noise outside and she knew her struggle had alerted people outside.
But they wouldn't get inside in time. There was only one thing left to do.
With the last bit of strength she reached forward and grabbed the camera. She felt her fingers wrap around the shutter button and she pressed it quickly just as darkness over took her.
The assailant cursed, momentarily blinded by the flash. His grip loosened a bit and her body clattered the ground, the camera skidded across the ground under a stall. He cursed again, watching the door start to give on the assault outside.
No time. No time to do anything but drag the body outside. He moved quickly and by the time they had finally opened the door outside, all that remained in the bathroom was a half broken camera.
The door closed silently as Misao moved towards the bed. She slowly slid the jacket off, trying to block out the lingering traces of cologne on it. She let it fall on the floor and sat on the bed, arms clutching her sides to keep what little warmth she could inside.
He wouldn't even look at her. He just walked in and sat on a chair on the opposite side of the room. The silence was overpowering but Misao wasn't sure what to say. He didn't honestly think that she had something going on with another man? How could even imagine that?
"She left me," Aoshi said suddenly.
Misao blinked and looked up. "Who left you?"
"My mother," he said. Misao's brow furrowed. "She just left one day and didn't come back."
"She died?"
"No," he said shaking his head slightly. The frozen expression on his face never changed but the color of his eyes looked somewhat different. "She just left me with a friend after my father died. Never said goodbye, just went away and got a new family."
"Aoshi…"
"It doesn't bother me," he said firmly. "I told myself that the moment I realized she wasn't coming back. Nothing would bother me. And it worked for a long time. Only one day, Kaoru moved into our area…"
"Leave him alone!" the little girl with pigtails cried. "Stop pushing him!"
The bullies shut a glance over their shoulders and smirked. "Why? He doesn't care!"
"But I do!"
"Shut up new girl! Who cares what you think!" they said, turning towards her and ignoring the little boy in the dirt.
"…and I met Kamiya-sensei…"
"Is there a problem here?" the older man asked, his blue uniform pressed perfectly.
The bullies stepped back as they looked at the officer. After a moment's pause they scattered quickly.
"Are you all right, Kaoru-chan?"
The little girl nodded. "I am daddy. But I think they hurt him," she said pointing to the little boy on the ground.
Kamiya looked at him with concern as he bundled his daughter in his arms. He walked over and reached a hand down to the boy. "Come on, I'll take you home."
"I didn't want to get involved with them at first…"
The little boy shook his head and Kamiya frowned. He felt Kaoru squirm in his arms and put her on the ground. She kneeled down and looked at him with a bright smile. "You can come to our house! Daddy made chocolate cookies last night."
"There should still be some left, if Kaoru-chan has eaten them all."
Chibi-Kaoru frowned. "And I have a new goldfish… only he's silver so I call him Icy. Do you want to meet him?"
The little boy looked up at her and the man next to her. His face never changed but he nodded slowly.
"But it was impossible not to. They slowly replaced what I lost."
"So you want to be a police officer?"
"Hai, Kamiya-san."
The man looked at him, putting a few fingers to his graying beard. He stared at the teenager critically for a few moments before breaking into a smile. He moved quickly and enveloped him into a hug.
"I was proud of you before. This makes me prouder than I ever thought I could be."
"But you know what happened. It was just the same as before. He left one day."
"Aoshi-chan, I am so proud of what you have become…"
"Stop talking like…"
"Please take care of Kaoru, she'll be all alone now. Tell her…"
"You'll tell her yourself," Aoshi said, breaking out of the building's door and jumping on his motorcycle. "You're going to be…"
"Tell her… tell her I love her and Yahiko and Megumi very much, I loved all of you so much. And tell her. Tell her she must tell Neechi that it wasn't his fault…"
"Kamiya-san…" Aoshi said, gripping the handles of the bike as the tears finally broke.
"… I loved you all so much…so… very… much…"
"So I promised to take care of her. So she wouldn't be like I was after my father died. And it worked well. Only last year things started to change again. Not her meeting Himura and falling… I knew that one day that would happen. I wanted it to so she wouldn't be like me."
Misao watched him, looking for any change and started to see it. His fingers tensed, his eyes grew more animated.
"I met someone…"
"This is Detective Shinomori," the officer said
motioning to Aoshi. "This is… ah…"
"Makimachi Misao," she said with a bow and a smile.
"Makimachi-san said she has some information about what happened at the club
tonight," the officer said.
"I have lots of information," Misao said with a smile. "But… I haven't had
dinner so I can't really remember things so clearly…"
Aoshi frowned and moved forward. "Let's go get some food then," he said walking
towards the door, Misao following close behind.
"At first it didn't affect me at first. But somehow…"
Misao was still there, sitting on Aoshi's bike, slowly turning a helmet in her hand. She looked up with a small sigh and threw it at him.
"Come on already," Misao said. "We'll miss our flight… partner." He walked up to her and looked down at her for a moment before slipping the helmet on and taking a seat on the bike.
"Somehow…"
Misao looked up, her hands clutching her sides. She forced a smile, the same one she used every time she got in trouble and knew she was about to be yelled at.
"I know, I know," she said weakly.
"Misao…"
"I shouldn't have…"
But she trailed off, finding herself engulfed in a yellow suited hug. She blinked and tried not to get upset. It must be really bad if Aoshi was acting like this. She looked down at her tiny hands, almost lost in the fabric of his suit and tried to ignore the lumps that were forming on them.
"It did. More than I thought possible."
She turned again and let out an exasperated sigh. What was wrong with this stupid pillow? It was like rocks were driving into her neck.
"What's wrong?"
Misao blinked and looked over at Aoshi's open eyes. "Sorry," she said softly. "I just couldn't get comfortable."
"Do you want another pillow?"
"No," she sighed. "This one is uncomfortable enough! I mean, what the heck did the stuff this with?" She picked it up and was about to fluff it when she caught sight of the source of her aggravation.
Placing the pillow to the side, she reached forward and tentatively wrapped her hand around the little black box there. She paused and looked over at Aoshi, finding him already concentrating on her. Slowly she opened the box and there in the middle with the golden band with a nice sized diamond.
She looked over at him and if she wasn't already half blinded by the happy tears that were starting to form, she would have sworn he looked almost nervous. His eyes locked with her, relaying a message he didn't need to speak. And a second later, she gave him her answer.
"Maybe more than it should."
"No," Misao said suddenly, her voice cracking as she knelt next to him. "Don't think that… please, never think that."
"I can't do that anymore," he said, his eyebrows furrowing as if he was confused by the reason why. "I just can't let it not bother me anymore."
"I understand," Misao smiled sadly. "And that's not a bad thing."
"It is," Aoshi replied softly. "Because if I can't prevent it bothering me… I don't know if I could survive it when you leave."
"I'm not going anywhere!" Misao emphasized, grabbing his clenched fists in hers. "You have to know that."
"But you can't tell me where you have been going."
Misao's grip loosened a bit. "Aoshi… its work. That's all. It's something that could help us so much that it could change things, help us win this fight that we've been waging ever since I met you. Do you understand? I don't want you to be afraid for me but sometimes, things have to be this way. Do you really want me to sacrifice everything we've worked for?"
"I…"
"Think Aoshi," Misao said looking at him. "Not just what I would do, but what you would do. Think of the way you protect Kaoru and Megumi without even thinking of yourself. Do you tell them when you are in danger for them? No, you just do it. You have been for most of your life. So why can't I do the same for you? What if this was a way to keep all of them safe? To help us win?"
He looked at her, watching her eyes slowly swell up with tears. He looked at her and suddenly he understood.
The sun began to set, the orange flames of the dying day set the waters on fire and turned the entire city gold. Kenshin blended in at time like this. For this brief moment, his appearance became one with the world. There was only one thing that marred his perfection. A strand of black wrapped around his hand that he gripped tightly.
"I understand Misao. I understand that I was wrong. I tried to protect them by taking it on my own. By always blaming myself when something happened to them and always trying to live up this impossible expectation that I could protect them."
The door exploded into splinters and Sano ran in, looking around and calling out her name. The open window blew wind into the room and he looked outside, catching the ray of the setting sun in his eyes. When he managed to blink them away, he saw the tell tale tire tracks that could only mean one thing.
His fists clenched and he looked back in the room, searching for some clue for what happened to her. He could see the signs of a struggle and he knew she had tried. But it hadn't been enough. She couldn't do anything to help herself, he thought. That was until he saw the camera on the floor.
"But they didn't need my protection. They didn't need my sacrifice. They needed my support, my help and my… love. I shouldn't have been their silent guardian. I should have been their friend. Their brother."
Kenshin looked up and watched Sano approach the hotel, the camera in his hand and the streetlights creating shadows across his face. Their eyes caught and seemed to say all the words that hadn't been said yet. The feeling of loss, the failure to protect what was theirs, it oozed off them like a thick fog.
"No one person can fight against what we are fighting against. The only chance we've had is when we were together. And I don't think that's changed. If this fight is going to end, then it will because we did it together."
The two men looked up suddenly at the car that pulled up. The driver opened the door and stepped out, his long form unfolding from the seat. He turned to face them, yellow eyes glaring at them as he did. The passenger side door opened and the other man followed suit, his long black hair billowing almost as much as his cape.
The four of them locked eyes and there was a silent agreement. They walked in silence into the hotel, without another word.
"Fighting things by yourself means you end up by yourself. I don't want that to happen to any of us. We'll go to Venice and get everyone together and tell them everything. And then we'll come up with a plan to win. No one is going to be a sacrifice this time. When this is over, we'll go home together. And we'll be free."
