A/N: I am back. Arigatou gozimasu to all of my wonderful reviewers, despite the fact that there is very few of you. You guys all ROCK maaaan. Ignore me. I just had three cups of coffee. @_@ Oh, by the way, how the heck do you do stuff like make the text bold?!? It's driving me nuts. Help me out and I'll give you sweet snow. (Any YYH fan knows what I'm talking about. If you're not a fan [it's a great show. Check it out. Cartoon Network, weekdays at 6:30pm EST], then "sweet snow" is what Hiei calls Ice Cream.) Speaking of YYH, did you guys notice that they're starting the series over again? GAH! We may never get to see Yusuke kick Toguro's arse. ::sighs:: Wow, I'm way off subject now. Here's the chapter.
Koori no Kaji
Chapter 3: Touhi (Escape)
The shoji slid open easily. The room was empty except for a man who appeared to be in his mid to late twenties. He was short, not much taller than Misao actually, and had messy brown hair that fell in his face and hid his eyes. He was holding a katana.
Misao glared at him, "You must be Haku."
"Hai. But you certainly cannot be the Okashira," His face contorted in confusion.
"I am."
"How old are you, girl?"
"I'm sixteen, kaeru-chinou.* Now where is Aoshi…san." She decided to drop the honorific.
"Oh don't worry, weasel. He's alive. For now anyways. Beat me and I'll tell you where he is. If I win though, I won't only kill you, but Aoshi too, and THEN take over the Oniwaban!" He laughed maniacally.
"Oh trust me. You won't win. There is a reason I'm the Okashira after all."
"Then bring it, girl."
~*~*~
As soon as the door closed, he began to work himself free of the ropes. His hands were numb from lack of blood, but he needed to get himself free or that sadistical bastard was going to kill Misao. After ten long minutes of struggling, Aoshi dropped to the floor like a rock, landing in his back. He gasped in pain and lay still for a moment before forcing himself upright.
He quickly realized that his captors were a.) extremely stupid, and b.) not planning for his escape. The simple wooden door was locked, but there were no guards. The man, Haku, had not only left the whip in the room, but his kodachis and coat as well. To top it all off, he knew exactly where he was. It wasn't really a cell, just a small dungeon-type room in the basement of the house behind the temple where all of the monks lived. He picked up his coat and hung it by the ropes from the ceiling, so that if anyone should happen to peer inside, it would look as though he were still hanging. Carefully, he slung his kodachis over his back and examined the door.
It was a straightforward wooden door with metal supports running across it horizontally dividing it into thirds. Towards the top was a window that was 12 inches square. The window had two bars in it that were about an inch thick. The door was the only way out.
Aoshi frowned. This was quite a predicament, because he had to somehow open the door and escape without their noticing. Even with his weapons, he was at a severe disadvantage; he was outnumbered at least ten to one and he was already injured. He considered slashing at it with his kodachis, but that would both ruin the door and be loud. 'Perhaps,' he thought. 'I can use the whip to beak the hinges when I pull the door backwards....wait! The hinges!' Quickly he glanced up at the ceiling. Perfect. The ceiling was lined with little hooks like the one he'd been hanging on. And there was one right over the door.
Wasting no time, he tied the end of the whip to the bars in the window as tightly as he could. Then, he jumped up and looped the whip over the hook, creating a pulley. Jumping up again, he put all his weight on the whip, pulling it downwards. The door creaked quietly and then slid upward off its hinges (A/N: Picture the prison escape scene from Pirates of the Caribbean. Different method, same concept.). The door fell backward and hung from the improvised rope. Aoshi lowered it gently to the ground and raced out of the cell. Then, using the whip, he pulled the door back into its original position, but did not put it back on its hinges. Then he slipped the whip back inside the cell and undid the knot holding it to the bars. He stepped back and surveyed the scene. It looked as though nothing was out of the ordinary.
Now he just had to get out of the house and to the temple.
~*~*~
A/N: I would like to thank my friend (who knows who she is) for the insult "Kaeru-chinou." It means "frog brain." Thanks to my few reviewers. PLEASE REVIEW!!! It's a great moral booster. Also, I'm working on setting up a small Rurouni Kenshin fan site. Please check it out. It's small, but it's got some midis and images and wallpaper. And some of my fan fiction. I'm gonna post this story there when I finish, actually. But, if you check it out and submit something I'd be a.) forever grateful and b.) happy to post whatever is sent. Provided its not NC-17. The address is
Ja ne!