Standard disclaimers apply, I don't own Rurouni Kenshin, or related characters.

*Lines with-in the stars (*) are thoughts.*

Shadow's return - Chapter 8: Destruction

*What a night.* Kenshin thinks as he approaches the Kamiya dojo. Now mid-morning, he had left Tengoku under the supervision of Megumi and Genzai-sensei. As he walked, he couldn't help but wonder what was going to happen next.

*All of this is so far from where my knowledge lies.* he thinks, walking down the street. *Taiyoryu is still out there somewhere, as are the Akumu Minzoku. Both are after this strange artifact.* He plays over everything he knows, trying to decide where his next move would be.

*Should I wait for them to make another attempt on my life?* he wonders, knowing that they had already made one attempt, which nearly succeeded.. He had been poisoned and was falling. A mysterious benefactor appeared and slew several of the Akumu Minzoku. He firmly believed that it was Taiyoryu that had done this, though he doubts the "Akumu" would admit it.

Kenshin could do little more than shrug. He barely knew the warrior who is called the Akumu, the nightmare, even by his own people and companions, as well as his enemies. With-out knowing him, the rurouni could do little to predict his actions or find his hiding place. Even as these thoughts cross his mind, even as he reaches for the gate to the dojo, a soft voice catches his attention.

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"Now, you have to rest this arm." Megumi says, leaning over the boy, wrapping his arm tightly. "It isn't broken, but it's badly strained."

The boys mother nods appreciatively, thanking the woman doctor, as Genzai walks into the room.

"That other patient of yours is acting up." the older doctor says to her. "He's demanding his sword."

Megumi sighs. "I'll go check on him." Standing, she bows to the boys mother before walking into the back room.

As she steps in, she sees Tengoku forcing himself to his feet, clutching the side of a table. "Where's my blade?" he demands.

"Get back to bed." Megumi demands right back. "Your sword is in the building, but you're in no condition to use it."

"You don't understand, Megumi-sensei." he says, almost pleading. "The Akumu Minzoku are here."

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Kenshin was running as fast as he could. Sanosuke, who had been at the dojo expecting to mooch lunch, was not far behind him, with Kaoru and Yahiko struggling to keep up with the fast Kenshin and long legged Sanosuke. Even as they approached the clinic, they could tell something was wrong.

Dark shadows, darker than usual, could be seen around the building. With a sudden burst of movement, they all entered the building. Screaming could be heard for blocks.

The sakabatou leaps from it's scabbard into Kenshin's hand as he leaps up the stairs into the small hallway, approaching the first door. A sudden grunt of excursion proceeds the limp form of an Akumu Minzoku soaring through the open door, crashing into the wooden rail, bending in a sickening fashion. Looking in the door, the former hitokiri sees Tengoku, despite his wound, standing with his heavy blade in his hand, surrounded by four dark warriors.

Bursting into the room, the battousai hears the skull of the first crack under the sakabatou before crushing three ribs on the next attacker. When two of their companions fell in the blink of an eye, the two remaining warriors turned reflexively to the new comer. Tengoku, never one to skip a chance, cleaved his sword halfway through the nearest of the two, even as Kenshin snaps the blunted 'edge' of his sakabatou into the chin of the remaining warrior.

Tengoku plants the blade into the wood floor, leaning heavily on it and breathing hard. "How..." That's all he manages to get out before a fit of coughs, bringing blood to his mouth, strikes the man.

"Taiyoryu warned us that our friends might be a target." Kenshin answers. "Where is everybody?"

Tengoku points back towards the room that most of the patients are seen in as his coughing fit subsides.

"Help with the evacuation of the clinic. We're taking them all to the dojo." the battousai says.

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"Get everybody out of here!" Sanosuke yells to Megumi, even as he strikes one of the dark warriors with the futae no kiwami in the head. The warriors head erupts in a shower of blood, ichor, and bone fragments.

"To the dojo." Kaoru adds. "It's protected."

"Ayame-chan and Suzume-chan are still here somewhere!" Megumi yells.

Kaoru nods. "I'll find them! Start getting these people to the dojo!"

Kaoru runs out of the room, checking the clinic, room by room, looking for the two little girls. She nears a corner in the hallway, hearing metal on metal. Raising her bokken, she prepare for the fight to come.

As she actually rounds the corner, though, she doesn't find quite what she had expected. Ayame and Suzume stand huddled fearfully in a corner, surrounded by six Akumu Minzoku. *So, what was the sounds of battle I heard?* she wonders for a moment, until she notices that one of the Akumu Minzoku had his back to the girls and was actually fighting his kin. Already, several bodies littered the floor, a testimony to his skill.

"Taiyoryu?" she said curiously. She had never really seen his full face before. It had always been hidden by the hood of the cloak he wears. His eyes glance her way for a moment. Even as his eyes reach hers, the warriors attack.

Taiyoryu's blade moves so fast that the adjacent master of the Kamiya Ryu can't follow it. The only people she had ever seen move that fast before were Kenshin and his shisho. One of the attackers falls away, clutching his throat, while his other attackers step back cautiously. Kaoru is about to run to his aid when four more dark warriors appear.

*Eight on two.* she thinks.

The look on Taiyoryu's face tells her what he thinks of their odds. Reaching blindly behind him with his free hand, he grabs the front of Suzume's kimono. With a snap of his arm, he sends the girl soaring, screaming, towards Kaoru. Nearly dropping her bokken she carefully catches the child.

She is about to set her down, ready to catch Ayame, when she sees Taiyoryu leaping towards her, Ayame under one arm. Landing next to Kaoru, he pauses only long enough to block a downward strike from a nearby swordsman, sending a kick into his mid-section.

"Go." is all he says, still holding Ayame tightly under his arm. As the two sprint through the clinic, they find that the only ones left in the building were Megumi and them. Megumi, upon seeing the girls carried past them, follows them out as fast as possible.

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Kenshin blocked a strike from a wakizashi as one of the dark warriors came in hard. They were fast, but not as fast as the battousai. Still, he could not fend them all off forever. Dodging to his left, Kenshin spins, turning the dodge into a momentum strike, which lands hard in his enemies rib cage. He hears several ribs crack as the fighter falls. Snapping his sakabatou hard left, then right, he blocks a series of strikes from two opponents who seem to work well as a team.

The sudden removal of one, as Sanosuke levels a round-house kick to the head of one, bouncing him hard off the ground, throws his partner off. Kenshin takes full advantage of this, first slicing straight through his enemies blade with his own, then connecting hard on the fighters head with the return swing.

"Oi, Kenshin!" Sanosuke yells. "I think we're winning!"

"Aa." Kenshin agrees. "So it seems. But be careful. It sounds like Taiyoryu was expecting something we haven't seen yet."

"Che. We can handle anything these baka-yarou throw at us!"

Even as Sanosuke yells this, they see Taiyoryu come around the corner, skidding to a stop. Starring into the shadows of a nearby building, his eyes go wide.

"Oisogi!" he yells, still staring into the shadows. "Back to the dojo, before it's too late!"

Even as he speaks, the clinic behind them explodes, sending wood and fire over the three.