Glossary: Aman=lover, Aishiteru=I love you, Netsuai=love passionately,
Saiai=beloved, Shicuchi=Soujirou's unique speed, Koi=carp, Hitomigokuu=human sacrifice victim, Hinokagusuchi=God of Fire, Iroona=whore, Busu=ugly woman, Ishii=child or kid, Shinai=fencing stick, Kinai=ninja dagger, Sakobatou=reverse blade sword, Koishii=dear or darling, Kuso=bullshit or shit
Chapter Ten
The Devil Dance's in Kyoto
It had been nearly two weeks since Kaoru, Hiko, and Yahiko had arrived in Kyoto looking for Kenshin, and several interesting changes had taken place in that time.
Hiko and Saitoh had become good friends if not excellent sparing partners both with words and swords. Where one was found there the other would be also, usually bent over a pile of documents lost in deep conversation completely ignoring the world around them. Both would become coldly angry and vicious insults about intelligence and parentage would fill the air followed by curt demands to know what the disturbance was all about. It was like dealing with two caged tigers.
Captain Izukia was developing ulcers and losing his hair under the double stress. His nerves just could not take it. He had become jumpy as an ally cat with too many fleas.
Yahiko had moved to the Aoiya permanently and was staying with Aoshi and Misao. Misao had reasoned that there was more room at the Aoiya than with Hiko or with Kenshin and Kaoru, so it would be a more logical idea for him to come and stay there for as long as they were all in Kyoto. Yahiko had been easy to convince since he was not very excited about spending very much time alone with Hiko, and he really did not want to hang around Kenshin and Kaoru the way they were acting these days especially since they had announced their engagement, so he had eagerly moved into one of the empty rooms.
Ever since becoming a 'guest' at the Aoiya, Yahiko had been a constant shadow of adopted brother's. He followed him everywhere he went. From the market, to the temple, to Kenshin's rooms, and back to the Aoiya. He was continually asking Soujirou questions about anything and everything he could think of. What it was like to work for Shishio, how he learned to exceed god-like speed with the Shicuchi; if he thought he would ever pick up his sword again, and if he did, would he teach Yahiko some techniques of the Tenbu no Sai Niyour ken? Soujirou seemed to have the patience of a monk because he answered Yahiko's questions tirelessly without ever getting irritated. In fact, he seemed to actually enjoy having the rambunctious 12 year old around. Hence, Kenshin's two adopted sons started to become a usual sight together around the Aoiya and at the market place.
************
"Kenshin..." Kaoru was trying to sound stern but failing miserably. "We have to go to the market for tofu and peas this morning." She tried to wriggle away from his nuzzling nose and teasing fingers where they kept trying to sneak into the collar of her kimono just over her sensitive nape. "Stop it." Hunching her shoulders, she successfully avoided him with a breathless laugh. "If we do not hurry, all the fresh vegetables will be gone." Her eyes were beseeching, but she could see by the wicked smile on his handsome face, and the heated gleam in his deep violet eyes they would not be making it to market that particular time of the morning. "Kenshin..... "
"Kaoru...?" A perfect brown eyebrow arched with mock curiosity at her weak attempt to rationalize her way out of what he was obviously intending to do to her. "Is there something I can do for you, Koishii? You want to say something? Hmmmm.... " He was advancing on her position with meaningful steps, hands clasp nonchalantly behind his back and a devilish half smile curving his lips. As he approached within arms reach of her she feinted to one side then crouched and dashed to the other in a swift and calculated movement that caught him off guard. He leapt after her with lightening reflexes but missed her as she screeched and dove the opposite direction. Despite her efforts her victory was short lived, and he caught her in short order grabbing her around the waist with his right arm and, bending over, tossed her over his shoulder and picked her up.
"Kenshin!" Kaoru screamed in hysterical delight. "Put me down right now, you rotten ruroni! Put me down!" She was laughing and pounding her fists on his now healthier and more muscular back and shoulders. "Put me down, dammit!"
"As you wish, my Aman. You know how I hate doing anything that displeases you." His voice was filled with acute teasing humor and laughter.
THWUMP!! Kaoru landed flat on her butt and fell back on her elbows. "Ewwoooww ...!" She squawked as she was unceremoniously dumped on the futon. Kenshin looked at her with mock innocence.
"What is it, Koishii? You did tell me to put you down."
"You rat!!" She lunged at him with the intent of throttling him soundly, but only got as far as sitting up before he laughingly pinned her back down with the weight of his upper body.
"Temper, temper... I see we still need to work on that control of yours don't we." Her response was to glare at him and swing her fist at the side of his head. "Whoa!" He deftly caught the sucker punch before it made contact, and pinned both of her hands over her head with one of his hands. "Definitely." Violet eyes caressed her flushed face then lowered a fraction and watched her breasts heaving against him with her angry breaths. It did not matter how many times he looked at her, she always took his breath away with her wild untamed beauty. He met her dangerously glittering blue diamonds and could think of nothing else but...
Slowly Kenshin's head dipped downwards and his lips and tongue traced a feathery pathway of desire along the curve of Kaoru's delicate jaw line until he reached the hollow of her throat. When he reached that warm cavern within the curve of her neck and shoulder, he began pressing moist passionate kisses along the sensitive flesh, and his teeth nipped and nibbled little trails of ice and fire beneath the curtain of her hair over her nape sending waves of uncontrolled shivers through her body.
Her breath quickened and her heart thundered wildly in her chest as her flesh and emotions responded to him. As he carefully released her hands, they moved to entwine themselves into the thickness of his red hair pulling him more tightly against her. She heard a ragged breath of passion and hunger escape him when she buried her face against his neck, and slid one hand over his shoulders in shuddering need.
Their mouths met in a raging hot wet kiss of lips and tongues that forced moans and harsh breathing from both of them as the hunger between them exploded into a wild thing that consumed the world. His hands were underneath her back loosening her obi and pulling it off so he could open the front of her kimono and expose the flesh he loved so much. As his hands slid beneath her shoulders and lifted her up to him, the mouth that had so hungrily ravished her lips, released them and burned a trail of blazing passion down the front of her throat and along her delicate collar bones until it became lost in the creamy soft mounds of her full rounded breasts.
"Oooohhhh...... " Kaoru's neck and back arched upward into Kenshin's embrace in attempt to bring herself closer to his lips. Her hands were desperately pulling at his gi trying to get at the silkiness of his flesh, but unable to do so. Finally Kenshin rose up for a few seconds and shed the article of clothing giving her free access to touch his chest, back, and shoulders. A satisfied sigh passed through her lips as she slipped her arms underneath his and let her hands slid with sensuous female pleasure along the smooth heated skin of his back and sides. He felt so wonderful to her. So warm, so strong, so... Kenshin. "I love you," she said in a voice breathless with passion and need. "I love you so much."
"Beautiful Kaoru... " He rasped against the hollow of her throat as his hands stole between them and removed the rest of their clothing. "My beautiful aman. Aishiteru Netsuai Saiai. My Beloved, my beautiful Kaoru... I will love you always." Then he rose up onto his elbows and knees, and purposefully lowered himself between her thighs and joined their bodies together in that final heated embrace that would take them beyond the reaches of their emotional love bond and into the golden world of pleasure and fulfillment.
The market could wait for them. It was not going anywhere.
**************
The carriage stopped. It was carefully hidden in the dark shadows of the empty alley. A dark man leapt down from the drivers' bench and opened the passenger door. He offered his hand in a gentlemanly fashion to assist the female occupant as she stepped out onto the road. The remaining man removed himself and took the drivers seat grasping the reins. He could hear the man and woman exchanging conversation, but chose not to listen very closely. The less you knew in this business the longer you stayed alive.
"Don't tell me what I want, you imbecile!" Lady Elsbeth Katsura screamed at her cringing subordinate who was kneeling on the ground in front of her. "I told you exactly what I wanted, and it is not for you to question my reasons!" A delicate hand gloved in fine leather lashed out and struck him viciously across the face leaving an angry red welt over his cheekbone. "Now do what I told you too, or it will be you under my blade during the next moon ceremony. DO YOU UNDERSTAND?" Her beautiful face was contorted with rage, and her large gray-green eyes flashed with dangerous white and red flames as her rage built to a dangerous level.
"Y-yes, My Lady. Yes, it will be done." The large black haired, black-eyed man bowed his head until it touched the ground at her dainty feet. "A young, spirited boy just entering manhood. I will find him, My Lady. I will search the entire city of Kyoto until I find the perfect one."
Her hand lashed out and grabbed a handful of his long hair and yanked his head up hard so that his eyes met hers. "See that you do, Raul. He must be fierce. Fierce and Powerful as a Tiger. And strong of heart." Her face took on a dreamy look and she gazed up into the lightening morning sky where the stars were fading, and stared into the distance thoughtfully. "I want him to have the Heart of a Lion, the Cunning of a Wolf, and the Souring Spirit of an Eagle." The unnatural strength of her grip nearly tore the hair from the man's head. "He must last a long time, Raul. A very long time."
"Yes, My Lady." His face was creased with pain and fear. "I will find him. I swear on the Blood of the Innocent, I will find him."
"Of course you will, Raul." Wicked, evil laughter floated on the evening air like the sound of bats wings brushing against stone walls deep inside an old crypt. "Of course you will."
Black eyes filled with fear as he watched the beautiful face shift and shimmer like water in a pond. Quickly he turned and disappeared into the shadows of the fading night. This was the most difficult prey she had ever sent him after. This was no mewling baby or sobbing child. This was a young boy between the ages of 10-15, and he would not be as easily subdued as the others. He might very well make a raucous and required physical force to subdue. He wrinkled his brow in consternation; the Lady would not like it if her prey were damaged in any way. She liked them fresh and perfect, and without a single blemish or bruise.
His predecessor had damaged one child and paid for that mistake with his life. It was not so much that he was killed for his mistake that was to be expected. No, it was HOW he was killed that bothered Raul the most. He had been found hanging upside down by his left foot. His old pecker had been cut clean off and stuffed in his mouth, and he had been left to bleed to death from that wound. It had been hard to tell what had killed him. Bleeding to death, or choking on his own vomit. Either way, it was no way for a decent villain to die. Raul had made a promise to himself when they threw old Dodie to the sharks that he was not going to end up like that. No matter what he had to do.
Raul scoured his brain trying to think where would be the best place to find a boy like the Lady wanted. A place where he could grab a kid like that and not cause a lot of commotion or attract a lot of attention.
The Market Place. That would be a good place to start. It was only a few blocks away, so Raul found a nice quiet corner in a vacant alley to spend the rest of the night, and curled up in his wool coat and went to sleep. He would start watching boys today, and looking for frequent visitors with regular habits. Then he would choose one with the right personality traits the Lady wanted, and during one of his regular trips, the boy just would not go back home. He should have a suitable boy within the week. That was barely enough time, but it was still enough time.
Raul smiled. It was a good plan. A simple plan. Those were the best kind.
*******************
"Hey, look at that! Have you ever seen anything like that before??" Yahiko was running ahead of Soujirou and pointing at a vendor's stand that was selling western-American cooking and eating utensils. "WHAT are these?" His light brown eyes were full of excitement and humor. "They look like something Kaoru would use to clean the Koi pool, or dig in the vegetables with."
Soujirou chuckled. "I am sorry, Little brother, but I do not think that is what these are." He cast an inquiring glance at Misao who had joined them on their daily jaunt to the Market. "What do you think, Misao? What are these? Little brother thinks they are cleaning tools."
"That's because he's stupid."
"Hey, who you calling stupid, Busu!"
"Hey, who you calling ugly you grungy brat!!"
"Alright, alright..." Soujirou put a restraining hand on each of their shoulders as the two of them looked at if they might come to blows. "You two really need to learn to get a grip on your emotions." Then a strange look passed over his boyish face, and he started to laugh.
Misao and Yahiko looked at him in worried confusion. "Sou-san? Are you alright?"
"Yes." He looked at Misao with bright eyes. "It just struck me ironic that I told the two of you to get a grip on your emotions when I'm trying so hard to loosen the grip I have on mine. I found it... funny."
Misao and Yahiko exchanged a humorous look, and then they both started to laugh as they hugged the other man. "Sou-san, you are so strange, but we love you anyway." Misao laughed as she kissed his cheek. "I hope you don't change too much when you figure out your emotions. I like you like this."
Soujirou blushed and briefly met her blue eyes. "I think I will always be like this to some point, Misao. This has been my personality for far too long for me to change it entirely, so I do not think you will have to worry over much on that account."
She laughed again and took his hand in hers. "Good. Come on. Let's go look for some fresh fruit. I think that sounds good for lunch, don't you?" Her enthusiasm drug the blushing Soujirou behind her, and Yahiko followed close behind muttering under his breath about stupid girls and mushy crap.
None of them noticed the pair of black eyes peering out of the dusty shadows watching their interactions with each other. Nor did they observe the swarthy skinned man with greasy black hair that carefully kept pace with them during the rest of their visit to the Market.
Raul nodded with satisfaction. He liked this dark haired brat carrying the wooden Shinai who was walking with the girly-man and the ninja girl. He was the most promising boy he had seen in the last four days. When he had turned his temper on the girl, the power of his ki had been unmistakable. Even in those few short moments, and in such a small non-lethal dose the energy burst had been stinging and sharp as a mongoose bite. He wanted to see the boy with it fully unleashed. He wanted to see the power of his fury and the strength of his will.
"Tomorrow, little one." He said quietly to the retreating figure of the young swordsman. "Tomorrow we shall see what you are." And he walked away into the rising dust on the road and disappeared.
***************
The sun rose in a fiery display of brilliant reds, oranges, and blazing gold's as it climbed over the tops of the mountains and poured it's light down onto the cold earth offering it it's first taste of warmth to begin the day.
Kenshin sat very still and considered the burning horizon with a serious face and narrowed amber eyes.
"It is beautiful, isn't it? I do not know when I have ever seen such a sunrise, Kenshin." Kaoru sat down next to him handing him a hot cup of tea. He had opened the window cover when he noticed the glowing red color gleaming through the slats. "It looks like a sea of burning flame. It is glorious." She laid her head on his shoulder and drank her own tea as she looked out the window with him.
Kenshin remained stone still. He did not even taste his tea. His eyes just kept looking at the spectacle and examining it from every angle. This was all wrong and he could feel it. This should not be here.
"Kenshin?" Kaoru rose up off his shoulder and looked at his serious profile with concern. "What is it?"
"The sunrise."
She looked out the window puzzled. "The sunrise?"
"Yes, It is wrong, Kaoru. It is all wrong. It should not be here. That it should not."
"Should not be here.... ? Kenshin, what do you mean by that? How can a sunrise be wrong?"
"Look at it, Kaoru." His eyes turned and locked gazes with hers. "You said it yourself. You have never seen it so red before. It looks like a lake of burning fire."
She stared into his golden eyes as her concern mounted. "Kenshin, you're starting to frighten me."
"I am sorry, but perhaps you should be frightened. Perhaps we should all be frightened." He turned back to the window his eyes unwavering. His face unflinching. "Do you know what we are looking at, Kaoru? Do you know what this is?" His hand lifted and swept across the flaming horizon. She shook her head in mute denial, and instinctively moved closer to him as a premonition of impending doom settled in her heart.
"We are looking at "Hinokagutsuchi's Fire", Kaoru."
"What? 'Hinokagutsuchi's Fire'? I've never heard of that before. What does it mean?"
"Evil has come to Kyoto, Kaoru. The God of Fire hunts the streets of Kyoto for the blood of the innocents." He drew a deep steadying breath. "And The Devil is coming to dance in it." Kaoru gripped his arm tight and looked at the roaring flames on the horizon seeing them for what they were. "The Devil is coming to Kyoto, Kaoru. He is coming to celebrate the Autumn Moon Festival on the full moon, and he is sailing in across the lake of blood and fire of Hinokagusuchi."
"How... what... I... " Kaoru felt fear congealing in her heart.
"Someone is laying the way and making preparations for His coming even as we speak. Steps are being taken to set forth into motion all of the things that need to happen in order for Him to be able to enter this world from his own." His voice dropped to a low hissing growl of fury. "And it appears the only thing left to procure is the Hitomigokuu that will open the door."
"Sacrifice??" Kaoru's eyes were so wide with shock they looked as if they may burst from their sockets. "A human sacrifice? Dear God, Kenshin. What is going on here?? What is happening?" Her hands cupped his face and turned it so she could look into his amber eyes. "Is this something to do with what is happening in the mountains? Hiko kept mentioning 'innocents' dying, and witches, and... is this the same thing?"
Kenshin bowed his head slightly and kissed one of her hands. "I have often said you were far to intelligent for a woman, Koishii. I see that I am still right in that observation."
"Then you do think it is all connected. Don't you?"
"I know it is." He was flatly matter of fact as he returned his gaze to the open window.
"How can you be that sure?"
"I have felt these feelings before. This horrible sense of wrongness has haunted me through my dreams since before I came back from the mountains. They are old, but familiar companions that I have spent much time with." A muscle began twitching in his jaw. "They are the source of my fears. That they are."
"What can we do?" Her whisper was frightened and urgent.
"All we can do at this moment is wait. We can wait for a sign or a signal to show us where to go, what to look for, and what to do." Kaoru watched as the color of the raging flames was being reflected within the deep golden of Kenshin's amber eyes. "Blood on the Sun." She whispered in awe. A profound sense of humility filled her as she gazed at the face of the man she loved. The line of his jaw was sharp and determined. His lips were slightly thinned into a line of resolution that gave his usually gentle face a stony angry look.
There was a coldness about him Kaoru had never felt before. A coldness that was detaching him from the world, from his feelings, and possibly from her. This was Himura Kenshin the Swordsman, the warrior, the protector. He was becoming focused on one thing. Defeating what had defeated him. The strength of his mending ki was pulsing around them, and Kaoru knew it was almost time. Soon he would be ready to leave with Saitoh and Hiko.
Soon she would watch him take up his sakobatou and walk out the door to face whatever it was that waited for him out there. Her troubled eyes searched his face, and then looked with keen apprehension at the burning sky. It was out there in the fire and blood in the sky, and it was waiting for him. "How long will I have to wait before you leave, Kenshin?" She asked him quietly as her head fell to his shoulder.
"I do not know, Koishii. Perhaps Kami-sama will intervene and I will not have to leave at all."
"Do you really believe that could happen?"
"No." She hid her face against the faded pink magenta of his gi and shuddered. Kenshin kept watching the sky as the flames leapt and danced in the golden light of the rising Sun. Blood ran across the horizon in great pools and rivers bleeding in and out and between the roaring infernos. Death was coming to Kyoto. Blood would spill in the streets, and fall like red rain from the rooftops. People were going to die screaming in pain as the agonies of Hell were unleashed upon the innocent and unsuspecting. Heads on pikes would line the country roads, and great bonfires filled with the corpses of the conquered would burn for days filling the skies with dense black smoke. And the children would die.
The children would die by the hundreds and the thousands as his Iroona sacrificed them one by one to the dark King of Hell.
Kenshin closed his eyes in sorrow as his mind remembered just who that concubine was. Her remarkably beautiful face came easily to him. Long glorious chestnut hair that reached well past her waist. Oh, how he remembered that hair, and hours and hours of wrapping himself in its
silken softness as he held the beauty of her in his arms while they made love. A shuddering sigh of unwanted grief escaped him and his head drooped low. His mind was in an agony of its own. 'Why,' it cried. 'Why did it have to be you?? Why you?' His eyes squeezed shut tightly as he
fought the urge to scream the words. 'Elsbeth... What have you done, kirei? What have you done?'
******************
Raul had waited for several hours on the outskirts of the Market Place watching to see if the three young people he had spotted the day before would return. It was nearing midmorning when his efforts were rewarded. A lecherous smile showed several missing teeth in a mouth full of rotting ones. His eyes intently followed the trio as they started to make their rounds between food and supply vendors. The young boy and the ninja girl were arguing with each other again, so Raul felt it would not be too difficult to illicit the confrontation he needed to judge the boys powers. He silently kept to the outer shadows and followed the friends waiting for just the right moment.
"I told you I saw it, you deranged hyena." Yahiko was snapping at Misao. "It woke me up this morning it was so bright. I thought the Aoiya was on fire." He waved his hands in the air for emphasis. "It looked like the whole sky was burning up. Did you see it, Seta-san?" His big light brown eyes looked inquisitively at his adopted brother. "It was really cool. I've never seen a sunrise like it before."
"Yes, Little brother. I saw it." Soujirou's face did not reflect the enthusiasm of his young companions. The flaming bloody sky had left him feeling uncomfortable and unsure of what to think. The emotions it brought out within him were irrational. He felt uneasy, wary as if he were being hunted, and he felt... afraid. He wanted to talk to Himura-otan about this odd phenomenon because it had left his ki so unsettled and confused.
"What did you think, Sou-san? It was really beautiful, wasn't it? It looked like... "
"I already told him what it looked like, Busu. He doesn't need a dumb girl like you to say it all over again. He's not deaf or stupid." Yahiko deftly ducked beneath Misao's swinging fists. "Ha, you missed, Weasel Girl." TTHHWUMP!! She caught him on the side of the head on the back swing and he stumbled drunkenly for a few feet.
"Ha, now who's dumb you loud mouthed isshi?" Wicked high-pitched laughter pricked the young swordsman's pride, and he charged Misao.
"Don't call me a kid!!" He came at her his Shinai pulled at the ready to smack her into respectful submission. "I am not a little kid anymore!!" As he swung a carefully aimed attack slash at her, his Shinai was easily captured in the powerful grip of Seta Soujirou and yanked out of his hands.
"Soujirou??!" he roared in outrage. "What did you do that for? I almost had her that time."
"That is precisely why I did it, Little brother." Blue eyes danced with tolerant amusement. "I am trying to save you a sound rousting in front of the entire Market."
"Sa.. Save me??" Incredulity filled the angry young voice.
"Yes."
"From what? A stupid Weasel Girl?"
"No, from me when I would have to intervene and stop the fight between the two of you. I could be forced to hurt you in order to get you to relinquish a possible advantage over Misao, and I really do not want to do that."
Yahiko considered this information for a few moments then looked his older adopted brother in the eye. "I... ahh, maybe you're right." He looked down a bit shame faced. "But, why do you want to protect her?" The emphasis on 'her' was so noticeable Soujirou had to smile.
"Because she is my friend and part of my family."
"But aren't I your friend and family too?"
"Yes."
"Ok, I don't understand then. Why save her and possibly hurt me in the process?"
"You misunderstand my brother," Soujirou placed an affectionate hand on Yahiko's shoulder as he met the younger mans confused sherry colored gaze. "I would, in effect, be saving you both from each other, and using the least amount of force possible."
"Oh." Duh. Yahiko suddenly felt very stupid.
"Baka-deshi." Misao's playfully sarcastic tone reached Yahiko's embarrassed ears, and he was immediately angry again. Grabbing his Shinai from Soujirou's surprised hands, he ran after the giggling girl with the purpose of beating her soundly.
Soujirou sighed and shook his head as a resigned smile crossed his boyish features. Himura-otan was right. Some things would never change.
He was glad. Some things should never change.
Raul's eyes glittered like the twin obsidian orbs of an indigo snake as it stalked an unsuspecting mouse. It was time to spring the trap and start pulling the boy into the squeezing coils of his destiny. He carefully drew his short sword and stepped from the shadows into the bright morning sunlight. This would be a grand display. He was sure of it.
A dark swarthy man dressed in the black garb of a desert nomad emerged from behind the shadows of several thin elm trees. His appearance was so sudden and so startling that several women screamed grabbing their children to ran away in fright.
Yahiko, Misao, and Soujirou turned around abruptly at the sound of the commotion, and gasped at the sight of the huge strangely dressed man holding a dangerous looking short-blade sword. He was standing in the middle of the street, dust clinging to the dense black material of his clothing.
"Kami... " Misao's voice was hoarse with her undisguised fear and wonderment. He looked like an immovable black mountain, and it looked like his was moving straight for... THEM! "SOU-SAN??!!"
"I see him, Misao. Get behind me. You too, Yahiko. Get behind me until we find out what this man's intentions are. We do not want a conflict here with so many innocent people around us who could become involved. We must stay calm." Soujirou's voice was it's customary bright and lilting manner, but there was also a strong undertone of authority and concern.
"I am not an isshi, Soujirou." Yahiko stormed as he tried to take a defensive stance beside the older man. "I can fight. I've done it before." His voice was a little shaky from the strange emotions he was feeling since hearing Soujirou call him by his given name instead of his pet name. "I won't let you fight alone... Soujirou?"
"I know you can fight, young one. I remember, but this is not the Aoiya, and we do not have many comrades and weapons to help us. There are only you, Misao, and I; your Shinai, and her kunai. I no longer carry my sword." He purposely shifted Yahiko behind him. "And this is a very large man with a practiced blade. I will not allow you to put yourself in danger, my brother, simply to appease your pride. Now, do as I say. Stay behind me."
As his body crouched low into an attack stance of the battou-jusu, Soujirou felt a surge of protective emotions rush through his body even as the adrenaline pumped into his muscles. Misao and Yahiko both gasped in astonished wonder as they felt the sudden rise of power in their friends' ki.
Yahiko was taken aback. This was not like Kenshin's ki, which was hot and scorching like the inside of a volcano. This was more like the feeling of being caught in the ferocity of a typhoon with the sensation of the powerful winds pulling and tearing at every living thing trying to rip them from the face of the earth. He could almost hear the roaring of the great upright violently twisting funnel winds as they tore a pathway across land and water conquering every obstacle in their path.
Soujirou was becoming the essence of a living-breathing storm of furious proportions, and Yahiko discovered a deepened feeling of respect and honor for his adopted brother than he had previously known. This was the ki of an incredible warrior, and Yahiko felt insignificant next to it.
Misao had drawn her kunai and knelt in a spring-ready crouch behind Soujirou. She could feel his ki as well, but rather than be overwhelmed by it like Yahiko was, she pushed herself into it and became part of it letting it enhance her natural strengths and steady her panicked emotions. 'Whatever comes, Sou-san,' she thought. 'We will face it together.'
Soujirou remained unmoving in the face of the slowly advancing man in black. All of his senses were attuned to the fact that the man was indeed intent upon engaging them in some sort of altercation although Soujirou could not guess why. This was the first time in over a year he wished he had a sword in his hand. He was afraid if he used the Shicuchi to out maneuver the man, he may be putting his young companions in danger by leaving them unprotected, but he needed to find a way to either obtain a weapon of his own or disarm the man. Unfortunately he was not given the chance to do either. The man in black suddenly lunged at the trio with remarkable unearthly speed. His short-blade held low and to the side.
Soujirou tried to counter by throwing Yahiko and Misao sharply to the right of the man's attack while launching himself high over the mans head to the left. The man in black let loose a guttural battle cry and swung his blade violently upward over his left shoulder trying to catch a piece of the allusive man, but found nothing but air.
Soujirou landed deftly on his hands and one knee, sharply casting a look at the man in black watching as he came to a thundering halt in a cloud of powdery dust. Another look assured him that he had thrown Misao and Yahiko well out of harms way. He slowly climbed to his feet and faced the massive man without any sign of fear or intimidation.
"What do you want with us?" he asked in a loud voice that carried clearly across the distance. "We do not know you. You are a stranger to us. I would know why do you attack us unprovoked?"
The dark man's swarthy face split into a disgusting smile of broken and missing yellow teeth, and his harsh laughter filled the air around him. "You are not in the position to ask questions, girly-man." His voice was thick with an accent Soujirou had heard before but could not quite place at the moment. "I suggest you find a way to defend yourself little pretty-boy, before I make you into sushi and swallow you for my supper." More foul laughter erupted through out the stunned Market square as the man in black shifted his footing and prepared for another attack upon the unarmed Soujirou. "Tell me Girly-man. Who are the little ones you so selflessly sacrifice yourself for? Is the pretty little girl your whore, or is it the other way around?" He guffawed raucously at the look of embarrassed fury that colored Misao's face. "Her red face gives her away. She is your whore. Ha ha ha. And you with such a pretty face." When Soujirou did not respond or react to his blatant insults, ink black eyes narrowed lasciviously as they bore hard into his constantly amused face.
"Why do you smile so much, girly-man? You think I am so funny, ehh?" Raul was misunderstanding the expression on Soujirou's face as one of mocking him, and he became angry. "How dare you mock me, you filthy little slut-boy." Things were not going quite as he had planned. This silent smiling man in front of him was causing too many problems. It was time to get rid of him. "I have grown tired of our association, Girly-man. You are beginning to bore me. Perhaps your little-boy companion over there will offer a more stimulating... engagement."
Soujirou's eyes narrowed, the only indication that he was affected by the suggestive words.
"You see," the man's voice was low and held a slimy evil quality to it. "I like little boys. I like them very much, and, even though you look like a boy in many ways, you are not, are you?" His mouth curved dangerously. "And although you have proven you have some fighting skills, you remain pathetically unarmed. You are a pitiful excuse for a man." Slashing his short sword through the air in a vicious display of prowess and skill, the man in black spat on the ground and then sneered in Soujirou's face. " In fact, I would consider it a moral service to society to remove you from existence. You are an insult to all men, and their man-hoods with your pretty face and girly voice." An evil chuckle rumbled in his throat. "I wonder, does a girly-man like you even have a manhood? Lets us find out, shall we." And he sprang forward at Soujirou feinting to the upper left, even as he dropped his sword to the lower left crossing it over and up searching out the vulnerable hamstring on the back of his opponents leg.
The steely blue-gray eyes of the Tenken watched every movement of the man in black as he charged, and he saw the feigned movement with the sword held low. Springing to the left with the action of the blade, Soujirou spun around behind the larger man avoiding the blow and allowing himself to land a significant strike to the base of the man's skull with the sharp point of his elbow before dropping deftly to the ground. He leapt out of reach as soon as he landed, but turned in the air abruptly and smashed the flat of his foot squarely into the swarthy features hearing the fragile bones of his attackers nose break beneath the force.
The man in black roared with pain and furious frustration as he continued to miss his smaller more agile opponent while Soujirou, in turn, rained blow after blow upon his antagonists' vulnerable unprotected head and neck.
Setting off to the side, protected by a vendors stall, Misao and Yahiko watched in horror as Soujirou fought the man in black with nothing more than his fists, feet, cunning, and speed. The larger man was bleeding from his broken nose and a split lip as well as numerous small cuts around his chin and jaw. Soujirou had yet to receive a single injury in the fray.
"We have to get him out of there, Misao." Yahiko's voice was filled with terrified urgency. "If we don't, that guy is eventually going to get to him and start hacking him to pieces."
"I know." Was her horrified response. "But what do we do? How do we get him out without getting ourselves killed in the process? Sou-san would skin us both alive if we got hurt trying to save him."
"I don't give a shit about that, Misao. He's my brother and I have to help him no matter what happens to me. I don't care!" And jumping from his hiding place, he drew his Shinai and fiercely ran into the battle his eyes gleaming blood red and his voice ringing out his battle cry.
"Yahiko!!" Misao screamed after him as he raised his Shinai and attacked the man in black just as he was launching himself at Soujirou again.
"Yahiko!?" It was Soujirou's voice screaming his name. "Get out of here!!!" But Yahiko was not listening to anyone anymore. His heart and soul were filled with the pulsating power of his need to protect and save. The wooden Shinai crashed down with a ferocious amount of force across the large man's back and he grunted in pain and surprise as he was thrown off balance and sent staggering to one knee. Struggling to his feet, he violently swung his short sword in the direction of the attack only to find himself the victim of another deadly blow that caught him in the soft muscle plexus between his neck and shoulder. He fell to his knees beneath the impact as pain lanced through his chest and upper body. The deadly short sword dropped to the ground as his right arm and hand turned numb and useless. He was trying to grasp the hilt of the sword with his clumsy left hand when the third blow came. It crashed down on his other shoulder with the same incredible crushing force, and as the white lights of pain induced unconsciousness exploded before his eyes, he crumpled to the ground. He never saw the Shinai being lifted high over his head for the final blow.
"Yahiko, stop, stop...!" Soujirou rushed to the younger man and grabbed his wrists halting what would have been the fourth blow. The deathblow. "He is down. He is beaten, my brother." Soujiro was trembling. He had never felt a ki like Yahiko's before. And the wild look that had appeared in his eyes, as they turned red as fresh blood, had sent shivers of fear up his spine. The boy sank to his knees dropping his shinai and burying his face in Soujirou's light blue gi.
Frightened blue-gray eyes met Misao's concerned ones as she ran up to the two crouched men. "Is.. Is he all right?" Her voice was a shaky whisper of confusion. "Sou-san?" She touched Soujirou's arm in alarmed astonishment. "Did you see his eyes?" She was frightened too. "Did you see them?"
Soujirou leaned over the shaking body of the boy he called brother, and held him tightly against his chest. His eyes were clouded with confusion when he met Misao's gaze again. "Yes, Misao. I saw them, but I do not understand what I saw. I do not understand any of what I have just seen." He shook his head. "It was not a reasonable engagement. The man in black should have out matched Yahiko. Even though he is an exceptional fighter for his age, the skill of the man in black was exceptional, and a young boy with only a shinai should not have been able to over power him even with a surprise attack." Bewilderment colored his quiet voice. " Yahiko attacked him like a lion attacks its prey. He went for the most obvious vulnerable spot on a target of that size. His back, then the plexus between his neck and shoulder on both sides, which would numb both of his, arms and stun him to his knees. That left the man in black a completely helpless target for the final death blow."
Misao looked at Soujirou with stunned disbelief. "You mean he... he was going... he was... "
Soujirou nodded quietly. "It was in his heart, Misao. He was prepared to kill the man in black to save my life, and I believe he would have followed the attack sequence to its final completion if I had not stopped him."
"Kami-sama... Yahiko?" She touched the soft black hair on the boy's temple. "I never thought.... " Her eyes were wide with awe.
"There is a wildness about him, Misao. A wildness in his ki that made him strong. It made him stronger and more powerful than the man in black. More powerful than me I think. And maybe..." He met her eyes again. "Maybe even more powerful than Himura-Otou."
"More powerful than Himura?" She shook her head in denial.
"Yes. His ki was so strong, it pushed me away and kept me away until the adversary was subdued and no longer considered a threat, but a dead enemy."
"Kept you away?"
He nodded. "It was like I had been shoved aside by a huge hand, and then held back by that hand. I was unable to move, Misao. I could not move at all. Yahiko was keeping me out of harms way while he destroyed the enemy."
Misao was taken aback and found herself speechless. Yahiko? An unnaturally powerful ki? More powerful than Sou-san and Himura? Would he be more powerful that Aoshi-sama? She looked thoughtfully at the form of the young man where he sat held tightly against his adopted brothers chest. A rush of gooseflesh suddenly ran across her arms and down her back. It was almost too big of a concept to digest.
WHAMMP!! THWWUUMMP!!! CLLONNK!!
Soujirou and Misao fell over into the dust of the road unconscious as the man in black shoved their heads together several times knocking them out. Yahiko turned a stunned and frightened face upwards and met the inky black pits of the swarthy mans eyes. He had time to gasp once before the man struck him soundly on the crown of his head with the hilt of his sword.
Raul scooped the black haired boy up into his arms and looked around. Since the fighting had stopped, people had gone back to their usual activities as if nothing had happened. So no one took notice of the man in black when he disappeared into the dusty dank shadows of the fish market carrying an unconscious boy in his arms. Neither did anyone really notice the two people lying in the middle of the street. This was the Market place. Everything happened here, and no one was ever really surprised by any of it.
******************
"Slow down. You aren't making any sense, Misao." Aoshi took a deep breath and solemnly regarded the tearful young girl setting in front of him. "Why don't you let Seta-san tell me what happened. I think he can relay the information much more rationally than a hysterical girl. Now be quiet and do try to stop crying." His voice had its usual flat toneless quality, but his eyes were slightly gentler than was common to him. "It does not suit you." Then he turned to face an obviously distraught Soujirou. "Tell me what happened, Seta-san."
With his head bowed in shame and sorrow, Soujirou relayed every detail of the morning's strange events to Aoshi including the unnatural strength and ferocity of Yahiko's ki and what had happened because of it. Aoshi was stunned and intrigued as well as deeply worried.
"You believe it was his intention to take Myojin-san from the very beginning?"
"Yes, Aoshi-sama. I believe the entire confrontation was orchestrated to judge his power and strength. Misao and I were simply there to be participants, or perhaps catalysts to help manipulate him into the performance required of him by the man in black."
"I see. I am inclined to agree with you, Seta-san. Otherwise, there is no logical reason for the man in black to render both you and Misao unconscious and kidnap Myojin-san." His handsome and usually expressionless face took on a look of deep concern. "We must discover why he took Myojin-san, and where he took him, and we must do it with utmost speed and secrecy." Fierce jade eyes met those of his two friends. "Misao, you must alert the entire network of the Onniwabanshu in Kyoto to watch and listen, and Seta-san, you must go to Himura and tell him what has happened. We must find Myojin-san... before it is too late."
"Too late? Aoshi-sama?" Misao's voice was a frightened squeak.
"Yes. The burning and bloodied sky this morning has left me with the feelings that there is a great and terrible evil coming to Kyoto in the very near future. An evil so horrible and of such tremendous proportions that Hell itself may cross over into the world of men and consume every living thing... unless a way is found to stop it."
"Aoshi.... " Misao could hardly say his name. "What are you... how can... I... "
"How do you know this??" Soujirou was shaking his head in emphatic denial. "We know nothing about this man's reasoning for taking my brother. We know nothing."
"Nothing? Seta-san, you said it yourself. The man was carefully judging the boys' strength and power, and this morning the sky burned and bled with the fires of Hinokagusuchi. The lake of fire burned across the horizon for all to see. The God of Fire has descended into our midst, and that can only herald the coming of tragedy for the souls of mankind. We are being prepared for the coming of something terrible." Aoshi's voice took on a tense conspiratorial tone. "When I was joined with Himura's mind, I saw many things including the reason his ki was so badly damaged." Thin black brows furrowed in deep thought. "He saw many horrors that not only stripped him of his ki, but nearly robbed him of his sanity as well."
"What kind of things, Aoshi-sama?" both Soujirou and Misao looked to their elder in shock.
"Himura saw the Devil with his own eyes, and it nearly killed him." Jade eyes bore into astonished blue and blue-gray. "He witnessed the human sacrifice of a child, and all manner of unclean blasphemy." Aoshi turned introspective. "It takes the blood of an innocent spilt upon a consecrated alter during a specific ceremony to open the door between Earth and Hell. That is the only way the Devil can enter into this plane of consciousness. The more pure in heart the child, the longer the door will stay open. So, what would be needed if the door had to stay open for a very long time? Perhaps indefinitely? How would one go about achieving that?" His intense gaze moved to rest on his two shocked friends. "What would you need to do that?"
"An especially pure child... " Misao replied in a shaky choked whisper.
"Yes," Aoshi agreed. "But the child must be more than that. The child must be able to stay alive for a much longer time that any of the others. So you would need a very strong child."
"A willful, powerful, fierce child." Soujirou's voice was filled with agony and sorrow.
"Yes. A child with tremendous emotional attachments and a heart that would be willing to fight to the death for the ones he loved... without a thought for himself. A child whose ki would carry him far beyond his own physical limitations and exceed the humanly possible."
"A wildling...? "
"Yes, Seta-san. A wildling. A natural born warrior with a ki limited only to whatever control he has over his own emotions."
"That would make Yahiko a... almost a monster." Misao's eyes grew huge. "He could be almost unstoppable if he ever completely lost his control."
"If indeed he is this wilding, yes it would. He could have a ki strength liken unto nothing any of us have ever seen or are likely to see again. A power like that could have the ability to break bones and crush organs without ever physically touching an enemy. He could kill with his thoughts and emotions, and never even draw his weapon, and the essence of such a ki could render a doorway to Hell open forever if channeled properly."
"Kuso."
"Dear God." Soujirou rose to his feet. "I will go to Himura-Otou. He must know about this." And he walked away towards the front gates. Misao could only sit and stare at a nonexistent spot on the wall as she contemplated her young friend.
"Yahiko? A wildling? A super-ki?" It was still hard to digest the fact even coming from Aoshi-sama.
"He could be the force used to bring about the complete destruction of the living world as we know it. We must find him and stop this while there is still life in his body."
"Are you saying we might have to kill him? Aoshi-sama?"
"I hope it never comes to that, Misao. But whatever must be done must be done. It is for the greater good that we must fight for here. If we can save Myojin-san, we will. If we cannot, then may God have mercy on all our souls... and may we have the strength and courage to do what we must to save his."
Saiai=beloved, Shicuchi=Soujirou's unique speed, Koi=carp, Hitomigokuu=human sacrifice victim, Hinokagusuchi=God of Fire, Iroona=whore, Busu=ugly woman, Ishii=child or kid, Shinai=fencing stick, Kinai=ninja dagger, Sakobatou=reverse blade sword, Koishii=dear or darling, Kuso=bullshit or shit
Chapter Ten
The Devil Dance's in Kyoto
It had been nearly two weeks since Kaoru, Hiko, and Yahiko had arrived in Kyoto looking for Kenshin, and several interesting changes had taken place in that time.
Hiko and Saitoh had become good friends if not excellent sparing partners both with words and swords. Where one was found there the other would be also, usually bent over a pile of documents lost in deep conversation completely ignoring the world around them. Both would become coldly angry and vicious insults about intelligence and parentage would fill the air followed by curt demands to know what the disturbance was all about. It was like dealing with two caged tigers.
Captain Izukia was developing ulcers and losing his hair under the double stress. His nerves just could not take it. He had become jumpy as an ally cat with too many fleas.
Yahiko had moved to the Aoiya permanently and was staying with Aoshi and Misao. Misao had reasoned that there was more room at the Aoiya than with Hiko or with Kenshin and Kaoru, so it would be a more logical idea for him to come and stay there for as long as they were all in Kyoto. Yahiko had been easy to convince since he was not very excited about spending very much time alone with Hiko, and he really did not want to hang around Kenshin and Kaoru the way they were acting these days especially since they had announced their engagement, so he had eagerly moved into one of the empty rooms.
Ever since becoming a 'guest' at the Aoiya, Yahiko had been a constant shadow of adopted brother's. He followed him everywhere he went. From the market, to the temple, to Kenshin's rooms, and back to the Aoiya. He was continually asking Soujirou questions about anything and everything he could think of. What it was like to work for Shishio, how he learned to exceed god-like speed with the Shicuchi; if he thought he would ever pick up his sword again, and if he did, would he teach Yahiko some techniques of the Tenbu no Sai Niyour ken? Soujirou seemed to have the patience of a monk because he answered Yahiko's questions tirelessly without ever getting irritated. In fact, he seemed to actually enjoy having the rambunctious 12 year old around. Hence, Kenshin's two adopted sons started to become a usual sight together around the Aoiya and at the market place.
************
"Kenshin..." Kaoru was trying to sound stern but failing miserably. "We have to go to the market for tofu and peas this morning." She tried to wriggle away from his nuzzling nose and teasing fingers where they kept trying to sneak into the collar of her kimono just over her sensitive nape. "Stop it." Hunching her shoulders, she successfully avoided him with a breathless laugh. "If we do not hurry, all the fresh vegetables will be gone." Her eyes were beseeching, but she could see by the wicked smile on his handsome face, and the heated gleam in his deep violet eyes they would not be making it to market that particular time of the morning. "Kenshin..... "
"Kaoru...?" A perfect brown eyebrow arched with mock curiosity at her weak attempt to rationalize her way out of what he was obviously intending to do to her. "Is there something I can do for you, Koishii? You want to say something? Hmmmm.... " He was advancing on her position with meaningful steps, hands clasp nonchalantly behind his back and a devilish half smile curving his lips. As he approached within arms reach of her she feinted to one side then crouched and dashed to the other in a swift and calculated movement that caught him off guard. He leapt after her with lightening reflexes but missed her as she screeched and dove the opposite direction. Despite her efforts her victory was short lived, and he caught her in short order grabbing her around the waist with his right arm and, bending over, tossed her over his shoulder and picked her up.
"Kenshin!" Kaoru screamed in hysterical delight. "Put me down right now, you rotten ruroni! Put me down!" She was laughing and pounding her fists on his now healthier and more muscular back and shoulders. "Put me down, dammit!"
"As you wish, my Aman. You know how I hate doing anything that displeases you." His voice was filled with acute teasing humor and laughter.
THWUMP!! Kaoru landed flat on her butt and fell back on her elbows. "Ewwoooww ...!" She squawked as she was unceremoniously dumped on the futon. Kenshin looked at her with mock innocence.
"What is it, Koishii? You did tell me to put you down."
"You rat!!" She lunged at him with the intent of throttling him soundly, but only got as far as sitting up before he laughingly pinned her back down with the weight of his upper body.
"Temper, temper... I see we still need to work on that control of yours don't we." Her response was to glare at him and swing her fist at the side of his head. "Whoa!" He deftly caught the sucker punch before it made contact, and pinned both of her hands over her head with one of his hands. "Definitely." Violet eyes caressed her flushed face then lowered a fraction and watched her breasts heaving against him with her angry breaths. It did not matter how many times he looked at her, she always took his breath away with her wild untamed beauty. He met her dangerously glittering blue diamonds and could think of nothing else but...
Slowly Kenshin's head dipped downwards and his lips and tongue traced a feathery pathway of desire along the curve of Kaoru's delicate jaw line until he reached the hollow of her throat. When he reached that warm cavern within the curve of her neck and shoulder, he began pressing moist passionate kisses along the sensitive flesh, and his teeth nipped and nibbled little trails of ice and fire beneath the curtain of her hair over her nape sending waves of uncontrolled shivers through her body.
Her breath quickened and her heart thundered wildly in her chest as her flesh and emotions responded to him. As he carefully released her hands, they moved to entwine themselves into the thickness of his red hair pulling him more tightly against her. She heard a ragged breath of passion and hunger escape him when she buried her face against his neck, and slid one hand over his shoulders in shuddering need.
Their mouths met in a raging hot wet kiss of lips and tongues that forced moans and harsh breathing from both of them as the hunger between them exploded into a wild thing that consumed the world. His hands were underneath her back loosening her obi and pulling it off so he could open the front of her kimono and expose the flesh he loved so much. As his hands slid beneath her shoulders and lifted her up to him, the mouth that had so hungrily ravished her lips, released them and burned a trail of blazing passion down the front of her throat and along her delicate collar bones until it became lost in the creamy soft mounds of her full rounded breasts.
"Oooohhhh...... " Kaoru's neck and back arched upward into Kenshin's embrace in attempt to bring herself closer to his lips. Her hands were desperately pulling at his gi trying to get at the silkiness of his flesh, but unable to do so. Finally Kenshin rose up for a few seconds and shed the article of clothing giving her free access to touch his chest, back, and shoulders. A satisfied sigh passed through her lips as she slipped her arms underneath his and let her hands slid with sensuous female pleasure along the smooth heated skin of his back and sides. He felt so wonderful to her. So warm, so strong, so... Kenshin. "I love you," she said in a voice breathless with passion and need. "I love you so much."
"Beautiful Kaoru... " He rasped against the hollow of her throat as his hands stole between them and removed the rest of their clothing. "My beautiful aman. Aishiteru Netsuai Saiai. My Beloved, my beautiful Kaoru... I will love you always." Then he rose up onto his elbows and knees, and purposefully lowered himself between her thighs and joined their bodies together in that final heated embrace that would take them beyond the reaches of their emotional love bond and into the golden world of pleasure and fulfillment.
The market could wait for them. It was not going anywhere.
**************
The carriage stopped. It was carefully hidden in the dark shadows of the empty alley. A dark man leapt down from the drivers' bench and opened the passenger door. He offered his hand in a gentlemanly fashion to assist the female occupant as she stepped out onto the road. The remaining man removed himself and took the drivers seat grasping the reins. He could hear the man and woman exchanging conversation, but chose not to listen very closely. The less you knew in this business the longer you stayed alive.
"Don't tell me what I want, you imbecile!" Lady Elsbeth Katsura screamed at her cringing subordinate who was kneeling on the ground in front of her. "I told you exactly what I wanted, and it is not for you to question my reasons!" A delicate hand gloved in fine leather lashed out and struck him viciously across the face leaving an angry red welt over his cheekbone. "Now do what I told you too, or it will be you under my blade during the next moon ceremony. DO YOU UNDERSTAND?" Her beautiful face was contorted with rage, and her large gray-green eyes flashed with dangerous white and red flames as her rage built to a dangerous level.
"Y-yes, My Lady. Yes, it will be done." The large black haired, black-eyed man bowed his head until it touched the ground at her dainty feet. "A young, spirited boy just entering manhood. I will find him, My Lady. I will search the entire city of Kyoto until I find the perfect one."
Her hand lashed out and grabbed a handful of his long hair and yanked his head up hard so that his eyes met hers. "See that you do, Raul. He must be fierce. Fierce and Powerful as a Tiger. And strong of heart." Her face took on a dreamy look and she gazed up into the lightening morning sky where the stars were fading, and stared into the distance thoughtfully. "I want him to have the Heart of a Lion, the Cunning of a Wolf, and the Souring Spirit of an Eagle." The unnatural strength of her grip nearly tore the hair from the man's head. "He must last a long time, Raul. A very long time."
"Yes, My Lady." His face was creased with pain and fear. "I will find him. I swear on the Blood of the Innocent, I will find him."
"Of course you will, Raul." Wicked, evil laughter floated on the evening air like the sound of bats wings brushing against stone walls deep inside an old crypt. "Of course you will."
Black eyes filled with fear as he watched the beautiful face shift and shimmer like water in a pond. Quickly he turned and disappeared into the shadows of the fading night. This was the most difficult prey she had ever sent him after. This was no mewling baby or sobbing child. This was a young boy between the ages of 10-15, and he would not be as easily subdued as the others. He might very well make a raucous and required physical force to subdue. He wrinkled his brow in consternation; the Lady would not like it if her prey were damaged in any way. She liked them fresh and perfect, and without a single blemish or bruise.
His predecessor had damaged one child and paid for that mistake with his life. It was not so much that he was killed for his mistake that was to be expected. No, it was HOW he was killed that bothered Raul the most. He had been found hanging upside down by his left foot. His old pecker had been cut clean off and stuffed in his mouth, and he had been left to bleed to death from that wound. It had been hard to tell what had killed him. Bleeding to death, or choking on his own vomit. Either way, it was no way for a decent villain to die. Raul had made a promise to himself when they threw old Dodie to the sharks that he was not going to end up like that. No matter what he had to do.
Raul scoured his brain trying to think where would be the best place to find a boy like the Lady wanted. A place where he could grab a kid like that and not cause a lot of commotion or attract a lot of attention.
The Market Place. That would be a good place to start. It was only a few blocks away, so Raul found a nice quiet corner in a vacant alley to spend the rest of the night, and curled up in his wool coat and went to sleep. He would start watching boys today, and looking for frequent visitors with regular habits. Then he would choose one with the right personality traits the Lady wanted, and during one of his regular trips, the boy just would not go back home. He should have a suitable boy within the week. That was barely enough time, but it was still enough time.
Raul smiled. It was a good plan. A simple plan. Those were the best kind.
*******************
"Hey, look at that! Have you ever seen anything like that before??" Yahiko was running ahead of Soujirou and pointing at a vendor's stand that was selling western-American cooking and eating utensils. "WHAT are these?" His light brown eyes were full of excitement and humor. "They look like something Kaoru would use to clean the Koi pool, or dig in the vegetables with."
Soujirou chuckled. "I am sorry, Little brother, but I do not think that is what these are." He cast an inquiring glance at Misao who had joined them on their daily jaunt to the Market. "What do you think, Misao? What are these? Little brother thinks they are cleaning tools."
"That's because he's stupid."
"Hey, who you calling stupid, Busu!"
"Hey, who you calling ugly you grungy brat!!"
"Alright, alright..." Soujirou put a restraining hand on each of their shoulders as the two of them looked at if they might come to blows. "You two really need to learn to get a grip on your emotions." Then a strange look passed over his boyish face, and he started to laugh.
Misao and Yahiko looked at him in worried confusion. "Sou-san? Are you alright?"
"Yes." He looked at Misao with bright eyes. "It just struck me ironic that I told the two of you to get a grip on your emotions when I'm trying so hard to loosen the grip I have on mine. I found it... funny."
Misao and Yahiko exchanged a humorous look, and then they both started to laugh as they hugged the other man. "Sou-san, you are so strange, but we love you anyway." Misao laughed as she kissed his cheek. "I hope you don't change too much when you figure out your emotions. I like you like this."
Soujirou blushed and briefly met her blue eyes. "I think I will always be like this to some point, Misao. This has been my personality for far too long for me to change it entirely, so I do not think you will have to worry over much on that account."
She laughed again and took his hand in hers. "Good. Come on. Let's go look for some fresh fruit. I think that sounds good for lunch, don't you?" Her enthusiasm drug the blushing Soujirou behind her, and Yahiko followed close behind muttering under his breath about stupid girls and mushy crap.
None of them noticed the pair of black eyes peering out of the dusty shadows watching their interactions with each other. Nor did they observe the swarthy skinned man with greasy black hair that carefully kept pace with them during the rest of their visit to the Market.
Raul nodded with satisfaction. He liked this dark haired brat carrying the wooden Shinai who was walking with the girly-man and the ninja girl. He was the most promising boy he had seen in the last four days. When he had turned his temper on the girl, the power of his ki had been unmistakable. Even in those few short moments, and in such a small non-lethal dose the energy burst had been stinging and sharp as a mongoose bite. He wanted to see the boy with it fully unleashed. He wanted to see the power of his fury and the strength of his will.
"Tomorrow, little one." He said quietly to the retreating figure of the young swordsman. "Tomorrow we shall see what you are." And he walked away into the rising dust on the road and disappeared.
***************
The sun rose in a fiery display of brilliant reds, oranges, and blazing gold's as it climbed over the tops of the mountains and poured it's light down onto the cold earth offering it it's first taste of warmth to begin the day.
Kenshin sat very still and considered the burning horizon with a serious face and narrowed amber eyes.
"It is beautiful, isn't it? I do not know when I have ever seen such a sunrise, Kenshin." Kaoru sat down next to him handing him a hot cup of tea. He had opened the window cover when he noticed the glowing red color gleaming through the slats. "It looks like a sea of burning flame. It is glorious." She laid her head on his shoulder and drank her own tea as she looked out the window with him.
Kenshin remained stone still. He did not even taste his tea. His eyes just kept looking at the spectacle and examining it from every angle. This was all wrong and he could feel it. This should not be here.
"Kenshin?" Kaoru rose up off his shoulder and looked at his serious profile with concern. "What is it?"
"The sunrise."
She looked out the window puzzled. "The sunrise?"
"Yes, It is wrong, Kaoru. It is all wrong. It should not be here. That it should not."
"Should not be here.... ? Kenshin, what do you mean by that? How can a sunrise be wrong?"
"Look at it, Kaoru." His eyes turned and locked gazes with hers. "You said it yourself. You have never seen it so red before. It looks like a lake of burning fire."
She stared into his golden eyes as her concern mounted. "Kenshin, you're starting to frighten me."
"I am sorry, but perhaps you should be frightened. Perhaps we should all be frightened." He turned back to the window his eyes unwavering. His face unflinching. "Do you know what we are looking at, Kaoru? Do you know what this is?" His hand lifted and swept across the flaming horizon. She shook her head in mute denial, and instinctively moved closer to him as a premonition of impending doom settled in her heart.
"We are looking at "Hinokagutsuchi's Fire", Kaoru."
"What? 'Hinokagutsuchi's Fire'? I've never heard of that before. What does it mean?"
"Evil has come to Kyoto, Kaoru. The God of Fire hunts the streets of Kyoto for the blood of the innocents." He drew a deep steadying breath. "And The Devil is coming to dance in it." Kaoru gripped his arm tight and looked at the roaring flames on the horizon seeing them for what they were. "The Devil is coming to Kyoto, Kaoru. He is coming to celebrate the Autumn Moon Festival on the full moon, and he is sailing in across the lake of blood and fire of Hinokagusuchi."
"How... what... I... " Kaoru felt fear congealing in her heart.
"Someone is laying the way and making preparations for His coming even as we speak. Steps are being taken to set forth into motion all of the things that need to happen in order for Him to be able to enter this world from his own." His voice dropped to a low hissing growl of fury. "And it appears the only thing left to procure is the Hitomigokuu that will open the door."
"Sacrifice??" Kaoru's eyes were so wide with shock they looked as if they may burst from their sockets. "A human sacrifice? Dear God, Kenshin. What is going on here?? What is happening?" Her hands cupped his face and turned it so she could look into his amber eyes. "Is this something to do with what is happening in the mountains? Hiko kept mentioning 'innocents' dying, and witches, and... is this the same thing?"
Kenshin bowed his head slightly and kissed one of her hands. "I have often said you were far to intelligent for a woman, Koishii. I see that I am still right in that observation."
"Then you do think it is all connected. Don't you?"
"I know it is." He was flatly matter of fact as he returned his gaze to the open window.
"How can you be that sure?"
"I have felt these feelings before. This horrible sense of wrongness has haunted me through my dreams since before I came back from the mountains. They are old, but familiar companions that I have spent much time with." A muscle began twitching in his jaw. "They are the source of my fears. That they are."
"What can we do?" Her whisper was frightened and urgent.
"All we can do at this moment is wait. We can wait for a sign or a signal to show us where to go, what to look for, and what to do." Kaoru watched as the color of the raging flames was being reflected within the deep golden of Kenshin's amber eyes. "Blood on the Sun." She whispered in awe. A profound sense of humility filled her as she gazed at the face of the man she loved. The line of his jaw was sharp and determined. His lips were slightly thinned into a line of resolution that gave his usually gentle face a stony angry look.
There was a coldness about him Kaoru had never felt before. A coldness that was detaching him from the world, from his feelings, and possibly from her. This was Himura Kenshin the Swordsman, the warrior, the protector. He was becoming focused on one thing. Defeating what had defeated him. The strength of his mending ki was pulsing around them, and Kaoru knew it was almost time. Soon he would be ready to leave with Saitoh and Hiko.
Soon she would watch him take up his sakobatou and walk out the door to face whatever it was that waited for him out there. Her troubled eyes searched his face, and then looked with keen apprehension at the burning sky. It was out there in the fire and blood in the sky, and it was waiting for him. "How long will I have to wait before you leave, Kenshin?" She asked him quietly as her head fell to his shoulder.
"I do not know, Koishii. Perhaps Kami-sama will intervene and I will not have to leave at all."
"Do you really believe that could happen?"
"No." She hid her face against the faded pink magenta of his gi and shuddered. Kenshin kept watching the sky as the flames leapt and danced in the golden light of the rising Sun. Blood ran across the horizon in great pools and rivers bleeding in and out and between the roaring infernos. Death was coming to Kyoto. Blood would spill in the streets, and fall like red rain from the rooftops. People were going to die screaming in pain as the agonies of Hell were unleashed upon the innocent and unsuspecting. Heads on pikes would line the country roads, and great bonfires filled with the corpses of the conquered would burn for days filling the skies with dense black smoke. And the children would die.
The children would die by the hundreds and the thousands as his Iroona sacrificed them one by one to the dark King of Hell.
Kenshin closed his eyes in sorrow as his mind remembered just who that concubine was. Her remarkably beautiful face came easily to him. Long glorious chestnut hair that reached well past her waist. Oh, how he remembered that hair, and hours and hours of wrapping himself in its
silken softness as he held the beauty of her in his arms while they made love. A shuddering sigh of unwanted grief escaped him and his head drooped low. His mind was in an agony of its own. 'Why,' it cried. 'Why did it have to be you?? Why you?' His eyes squeezed shut tightly as he
fought the urge to scream the words. 'Elsbeth... What have you done, kirei? What have you done?'
******************
Raul had waited for several hours on the outskirts of the Market Place watching to see if the three young people he had spotted the day before would return. It was nearing midmorning when his efforts were rewarded. A lecherous smile showed several missing teeth in a mouth full of rotting ones. His eyes intently followed the trio as they started to make their rounds between food and supply vendors. The young boy and the ninja girl were arguing with each other again, so Raul felt it would not be too difficult to illicit the confrontation he needed to judge the boys powers. He silently kept to the outer shadows and followed the friends waiting for just the right moment.
"I told you I saw it, you deranged hyena." Yahiko was snapping at Misao. "It woke me up this morning it was so bright. I thought the Aoiya was on fire." He waved his hands in the air for emphasis. "It looked like the whole sky was burning up. Did you see it, Seta-san?" His big light brown eyes looked inquisitively at his adopted brother. "It was really cool. I've never seen a sunrise like it before."
"Yes, Little brother. I saw it." Soujirou's face did not reflect the enthusiasm of his young companions. The flaming bloody sky had left him feeling uncomfortable and unsure of what to think. The emotions it brought out within him were irrational. He felt uneasy, wary as if he were being hunted, and he felt... afraid. He wanted to talk to Himura-otan about this odd phenomenon because it had left his ki so unsettled and confused.
"What did you think, Sou-san? It was really beautiful, wasn't it? It looked like... "
"I already told him what it looked like, Busu. He doesn't need a dumb girl like you to say it all over again. He's not deaf or stupid." Yahiko deftly ducked beneath Misao's swinging fists. "Ha, you missed, Weasel Girl." TTHHWUMP!! She caught him on the side of the head on the back swing and he stumbled drunkenly for a few feet.
"Ha, now who's dumb you loud mouthed isshi?" Wicked high-pitched laughter pricked the young swordsman's pride, and he charged Misao.
"Don't call me a kid!!" He came at her his Shinai pulled at the ready to smack her into respectful submission. "I am not a little kid anymore!!" As he swung a carefully aimed attack slash at her, his Shinai was easily captured in the powerful grip of Seta Soujirou and yanked out of his hands.
"Soujirou??!" he roared in outrage. "What did you do that for? I almost had her that time."
"That is precisely why I did it, Little brother." Blue eyes danced with tolerant amusement. "I am trying to save you a sound rousting in front of the entire Market."
"Sa.. Save me??" Incredulity filled the angry young voice.
"Yes."
"From what? A stupid Weasel Girl?"
"No, from me when I would have to intervene and stop the fight between the two of you. I could be forced to hurt you in order to get you to relinquish a possible advantage over Misao, and I really do not want to do that."
Yahiko considered this information for a few moments then looked his older adopted brother in the eye. "I... ahh, maybe you're right." He looked down a bit shame faced. "But, why do you want to protect her?" The emphasis on 'her' was so noticeable Soujirou had to smile.
"Because she is my friend and part of my family."
"But aren't I your friend and family too?"
"Yes."
"Ok, I don't understand then. Why save her and possibly hurt me in the process?"
"You misunderstand my brother," Soujirou placed an affectionate hand on Yahiko's shoulder as he met the younger mans confused sherry colored gaze. "I would, in effect, be saving you both from each other, and using the least amount of force possible."
"Oh." Duh. Yahiko suddenly felt very stupid.
"Baka-deshi." Misao's playfully sarcastic tone reached Yahiko's embarrassed ears, and he was immediately angry again. Grabbing his Shinai from Soujirou's surprised hands, he ran after the giggling girl with the purpose of beating her soundly.
Soujirou sighed and shook his head as a resigned smile crossed his boyish features. Himura-otan was right. Some things would never change.
He was glad. Some things should never change.
Raul's eyes glittered like the twin obsidian orbs of an indigo snake as it stalked an unsuspecting mouse. It was time to spring the trap and start pulling the boy into the squeezing coils of his destiny. He carefully drew his short sword and stepped from the shadows into the bright morning sunlight. This would be a grand display. He was sure of it.
A dark swarthy man dressed in the black garb of a desert nomad emerged from behind the shadows of several thin elm trees. His appearance was so sudden and so startling that several women screamed grabbing their children to ran away in fright.
Yahiko, Misao, and Soujirou turned around abruptly at the sound of the commotion, and gasped at the sight of the huge strangely dressed man holding a dangerous looking short-blade sword. He was standing in the middle of the street, dust clinging to the dense black material of his clothing.
"Kami... " Misao's voice was hoarse with her undisguised fear and wonderment. He looked like an immovable black mountain, and it looked like his was moving straight for... THEM! "SOU-SAN??!!"
"I see him, Misao. Get behind me. You too, Yahiko. Get behind me until we find out what this man's intentions are. We do not want a conflict here with so many innocent people around us who could become involved. We must stay calm." Soujirou's voice was it's customary bright and lilting manner, but there was also a strong undertone of authority and concern.
"I am not an isshi, Soujirou." Yahiko stormed as he tried to take a defensive stance beside the older man. "I can fight. I've done it before." His voice was a little shaky from the strange emotions he was feeling since hearing Soujirou call him by his given name instead of his pet name. "I won't let you fight alone... Soujirou?"
"I know you can fight, young one. I remember, but this is not the Aoiya, and we do not have many comrades and weapons to help us. There are only you, Misao, and I; your Shinai, and her kunai. I no longer carry my sword." He purposely shifted Yahiko behind him. "And this is a very large man with a practiced blade. I will not allow you to put yourself in danger, my brother, simply to appease your pride. Now, do as I say. Stay behind me."
As his body crouched low into an attack stance of the battou-jusu, Soujirou felt a surge of protective emotions rush through his body even as the adrenaline pumped into his muscles. Misao and Yahiko both gasped in astonished wonder as they felt the sudden rise of power in their friends' ki.
Yahiko was taken aback. This was not like Kenshin's ki, which was hot and scorching like the inside of a volcano. This was more like the feeling of being caught in the ferocity of a typhoon with the sensation of the powerful winds pulling and tearing at every living thing trying to rip them from the face of the earth. He could almost hear the roaring of the great upright violently twisting funnel winds as they tore a pathway across land and water conquering every obstacle in their path.
Soujirou was becoming the essence of a living-breathing storm of furious proportions, and Yahiko discovered a deepened feeling of respect and honor for his adopted brother than he had previously known. This was the ki of an incredible warrior, and Yahiko felt insignificant next to it.
Misao had drawn her kunai and knelt in a spring-ready crouch behind Soujirou. She could feel his ki as well, but rather than be overwhelmed by it like Yahiko was, she pushed herself into it and became part of it letting it enhance her natural strengths and steady her panicked emotions. 'Whatever comes, Sou-san,' she thought. 'We will face it together.'
Soujirou remained unmoving in the face of the slowly advancing man in black. All of his senses were attuned to the fact that the man was indeed intent upon engaging them in some sort of altercation although Soujirou could not guess why. This was the first time in over a year he wished he had a sword in his hand. He was afraid if he used the Shicuchi to out maneuver the man, he may be putting his young companions in danger by leaving them unprotected, but he needed to find a way to either obtain a weapon of his own or disarm the man. Unfortunately he was not given the chance to do either. The man in black suddenly lunged at the trio with remarkable unearthly speed. His short-blade held low and to the side.
Soujirou tried to counter by throwing Yahiko and Misao sharply to the right of the man's attack while launching himself high over the mans head to the left. The man in black let loose a guttural battle cry and swung his blade violently upward over his left shoulder trying to catch a piece of the allusive man, but found nothing but air.
Soujirou landed deftly on his hands and one knee, sharply casting a look at the man in black watching as he came to a thundering halt in a cloud of powdery dust. Another look assured him that he had thrown Misao and Yahiko well out of harms way. He slowly climbed to his feet and faced the massive man without any sign of fear or intimidation.
"What do you want with us?" he asked in a loud voice that carried clearly across the distance. "We do not know you. You are a stranger to us. I would know why do you attack us unprovoked?"
The dark man's swarthy face split into a disgusting smile of broken and missing yellow teeth, and his harsh laughter filled the air around him. "You are not in the position to ask questions, girly-man." His voice was thick with an accent Soujirou had heard before but could not quite place at the moment. "I suggest you find a way to defend yourself little pretty-boy, before I make you into sushi and swallow you for my supper." More foul laughter erupted through out the stunned Market square as the man in black shifted his footing and prepared for another attack upon the unarmed Soujirou. "Tell me Girly-man. Who are the little ones you so selflessly sacrifice yourself for? Is the pretty little girl your whore, or is it the other way around?" He guffawed raucously at the look of embarrassed fury that colored Misao's face. "Her red face gives her away. She is your whore. Ha ha ha. And you with such a pretty face." When Soujirou did not respond or react to his blatant insults, ink black eyes narrowed lasciviously as they bore hard into his constantly amused face.
"Why do you smile so much, girly-man? You think I am so funny, ehh?" Raul was misunderstanding the expression on Soujirou's face as one of mocking him, and he became angry. "How dare you mock me, you filthy little slut-boy." Things were not going quite as he had planned. This silent smiling man in front of him was causing too many problems. It was time to get rid of him. "I have grown tired of our association, Girly-man. You are beginning to bore me. Perhaps your little-boy companion over there will offer a more stimulating... engagement."
Soujirou's eyes narrowed, the only indication that he was affected by the suggestive words.
"You see," the man's voice was low and held a slimy evil quality to it. "I like little boys. I like them very much, and, even though you look like a boy in many ways, you are not, are you?" His mouth curved dangerously. "And although you have proven you have some fighting skills, you remain pathetically unarmed. You are a pitiful excuse for a man." Slashing his short sword through the air in a vicious display of prowess and skill, the man in black spat on the ground and then sneered in Soujirou's face. " In fact, I would consider it a moral service to society to remove you from existence. You are an insult to all men, and their man-hoods with your pretty face and girly voice." An evil chuckle rumbled in his throat. "I wonder, does a girly-man like you even have a manhood? Lets us find out, shall we." And he sprang forward at Soujirou feinting to the upper left, even as he dropped his sword to the lower left crossing it over and up searching out the vulnerable hamstring on the back of his opponents leg.
The steely blue-gray eyes of the Tenken watched every movement of the man in black as he charged, and he saw the feigned movement with the sword held low. Springing to the left with the action of the blade, Soujirou spun around behind the larger man avoiding the blow and allowing himself to land a significant strike to the base of the man's skull with the sharp point of his elbow before dropping deftly to the ground. He leapt out of reach as soon as he landed, but turned in the air abruptly and smashed the flat of his foot squarely into the swarthy features hearing the fragile bones of his attackers nose break beneath the force.
The man in black roared with pain and furious frustration as he continued to miss his smaller more agile opponent while Soujirou, in turn, rained blow after blow upon his antagonists' vulnerable unprotected head and neck.
Setting off to the side, protected by a vendors stall, Misao and Yahiko watched in horror as Soujirou fought the man in black with nothing more than his fists, feet, cunning, and speed. The larger man was bleeding from his broken nose and a split lip as well as numerous small cuts around his chin and jaw. Soujirou had yet to receive a single injury in the fray.
"We have to get him out of there, Misao." Yahiko's voice was filled with terrified urgency. "If we don't, that guy is eventually going to get to him and start hacking him to pieces."
"I know." Was her horrified response. "But what do we do? How do we get him out without getting ourselves killed in the process? Sou-san would skin us both alive if we got hurt trying to save him."
"I don't give a shit about that, Misao. He's my brother and I have to help him no matter what happens to me. I don't care!" And jumping from his hiding place, he drew his Shinai and fiercely ran into the battle his eyes gleaming blood red and his voice ringing out his battle cry.
"Yahiko!!" Misao screamed after him as he raised his Shinai and attacked the man in black just as he was launching himself at Soujirou again.
"Yahiko!?" It was Soujirou's voice screaming his name. "Get out of here!!!" But Yahiko was not listening to anyone anymore. His heart and soul were filled with the pulsating power of his need to protect and save. The wooden Shinai crashed down with a ferocious amount of force across the large man's back and he grunted in pain and surprise as he was thrown off balance and sent staggering to one knee. Struggling to his feet, he violently swung his short sword in the direction of the attack only to find himself the victim of another deadly blow that caught him in the soft muscle plexus between his neck and shoulder. He fell to his knees beneath the impact as pain lanced through his chest and upper body. The deadly short sword dropped to the ground as his right arm and hand turned numb and useless. He was trying to grasp the hilt of the sword with his clumsy left hand when the third blow came. It crashed down on his other shoulder with the same incredible crushing force, and as the white lights of pain induced unconsciousness exploded before his eyes, he crumpled to the ground. He never saw the Shinai being lifted high over his head for the final blow.
"Yahiko, stop, stop...!" Soujirou rushed to the younger man and grabbed his wrists halting what would have been the fourth blow. The deathblow. "He is down. He is beaten, my brother." Soujiro was trembling. He had never felt a ki like Yahiko's before. And the wild look that had appeared in his eyes, as they turned red as fresh blood, had sent shivers of fear up his spine. The boy sank to his knees dropping his shinai and burying his face in Soujirou's light blue gi.
Frightened blue-gray eyes met Misao's concerned ones as she ran up to the two crouched men. "Is.. Is he all right?" Her voice was a shaky whisper of confusion. "Sou-san?" She touched Soujirou's arm in alarmed astonishment. "Did you see his eyes?" She was frightened too. "Did you see them?"
Soujirou leaned over the shaking body of the boy he called brother, and held him tightly against his chest. His eyes were clouded with confusion when he met Misao's gaze again. "Yes, Misao. I saw them, but I do not understand what I saw. I do not understand any of what I have just seen." He shook his head. "It was not a reasonable engagement. The man in black should have out matched Yahiko. Even though he is an exceptional fighter for his age, the skill of the man in black was exceptional, and a young boy with only a shinai should not have been able to over power him even with a surprise attack." Bewilderment colored his quiet voice. " Yahiko attacked him like a lion attacks its prey. He went for the most obvious vulnerable spot on a target of that size. His back, then the plexus between his neck and shoulder on both sides, which would numb both of his, arms and stun him to his knees. That left the man in black a completely helpless target for the final death blow."
Misao looked at Soujirou with stunned disbelief. "You mean he... he was going... he was... "
Soujirou nodded quietly. "It was in his heart, Misao. He was prepared to kill the man in black to save my life, and I believe he would have followed the attack sequence to its final completion if I had not stopped him."
"Kami-sama... Yahiko?" She touched the soft black hair on the boy's temple. "I never thought.... " Her eyes were wide with awe.
"There is a wildness about him, Misao. A wildness in his ki that made him strong. It made him stronger and more powerful than the man in black. More powerful than me I think. And maybe..." He met her eyes again. "Maybe even more powerful than Himura-Otou."
"More powerful than Himura?" She shook her head in denial.
"Yes. His ki was so strong, it pushed me away and kept me away until the adversary was subdued and no longer considered a threat, but a dead enemy."
"Kept you away?"
He nodded. "It was like I had been shoved aside by a huge hand, and then held back by that hand. I was unable to move, Misao. I could not move at all. Yahiko was keeping me out of harms way while he destroyed the enemy."
Misao was taken aback and found herself speechless. Yahiko? An unnaturally powerful ki? More powerful than Sou-san and Himura? Would he be more powerful that Aoshi-sama? She looked thoughtfully at the form of the young man where he sat held tightly against his adopted brothers chest. A rush of gooseflesh suddenly ran across her arms and down her back. It was almost too big of a concept to digest.
WHAMMP!! THWWUUMMP!!! CLLONNK!!
Soujirou and Misao fell over into the dust of the road unconscious as the man in black shoved their heads together several times knocking them out. Yahiko turned a stunned and frightened face upwards and met the inky black pits of the swarthy mans eyes. He had time to gasp once before the man struck him soundly on the crown of his head with the hilt of his sword.
Raul scooped the black haired boy up into his arms and looked around. Since the fighting had stopped, people had gone back to their usual activities as if nothing had happened. So no one took notice of the man in black when he disappeared into the dusty dank shadows of the fish market carrying an unconscious boy in his arms. Neither did anyone really notice the two people lying in the middle of the street. This was the Market place. Everything happened here, and no one was ever really surprised by any of it.
******************
"Slow down. You aren't making any sense, Misao." Aoshi took a deep breath and solemnly regarded the tearful young girl setting in front of him. "Why don't you let Seta-san tell me what happened. I think he can relay the information much more rationally than a hysterical girl. Now be quiet and do try to stop crying." His voice had its usual flat toneless quality, but his eyes were slightly gentler than was common to him. "It does not suit you." Then he turned to face an obviously distraught Soujirou. "Tell me what happened, Seta-san."
With his head bowed in shame and sorrow, Soujirou relayed every detail of the morning's strange events to Aoshi including the unnatural strength and ferocity of Yahiko's ki and what had happened because of it. Aoshi was stunned and intrigued as well as deeply worried.
"You believe it was his intention to take Myojin-san from the very beginning?"
"Yes, Aoshi-sama. I believe the entire confrontation was orchestrated to judge his power and strength. Misao and I were simply there to be participants, or perhaps catalysts to help manipulate him into the performance required of him by the man in black."
"I see. I am inclined to agree with you, Seta-san. Otherwise, there is no logical reason for the man in black to render both you and Misao unconscious and kidnap Myojin-san." His handsome and usually expressionless face took on a look of deep concern. "We must discover why he took Myojin-san, and where he took him, and we must do it with utmost speed and secrecy." Fierce jade eyes met those of his two friends. "Misao, you must alert the entire network of the Onniwabanshu in Kyoto to watch and listen, and Seta-san, you must go to Himura and tell him what has happened. We must find Myojin-san... before it is too late."
"Too late? Aoshi-sama?" Misao's voice was a frightened squeak.
"Yes. The burning and bloodied sky this morning has left me with the feelings that there is a great and terrible evil coming to Kyoto in the very near future. An evil so horrible and of such tremendous proportions that Hell itself may cross over into the world of men and consume every living thing... unless a way is found to stop it."
"Aoshi.... " Misao could hardly say his name. "What are you... how can... I... "
"How do you know this??" Soujirou was shaking his head in emphatic denial. "We know nothing about this man's reasoning for taking my brother. We know nothing."
"Nothing? Seta-san, you said it yourself. The man was carefully judging the boys' strength and power, and this morning the sky burned and bled with the fires of Hinokagusuchi. The lake of fire burned across the horizon for all to see. The God of Fire has descended into our midst, and that can only herald the coming of tragedy for the souls of mankind. We are being prepared for the coming of something terrible." Aoshi's voice took on a tense conspiratorial tone. "When I was joined with Himura's mind, I saw many things including the reason his ki was so badly damaged." Thin black brows furrowed in deep thought. "He saw many horrors that not only stripped him of his ki, but nearly robbed him of his sanity as well."
"What kind of things, Aoshi-sama?" both Soujirou and Misao looked to their elder in shock.
"Himura saw the Devil with his own eyes, and it nearly killed him." Jade eyes bore into astonished blue and blue-gray. "He witnessed the human sacrifice of a child, and all manner of unclean blasphemy." Aoshi turned introspective. "It takes the blood of an innocent spilt upon a consecrated alter during a specific ceremony to open the door between Earth and Hell. That is the only way the Devil can enter into this plane of consciousness. The more pure in heart the child, the longer the door will stay open. So, what would be needed if the door had to stay open for a very long time? Perhaps indefinitely? How would one go about achieving that?" His intense gaze moved to rest on his two shocked friends. "What would you need to do that?"
"An especially pure child... " Misao replied in a shaky choked whisper.
"Yes," Aoshi agreed. "But the child must be more than that. The child must be able to stay alive for a much longer time that any of the others. So you would need a very strong child."
"A willful, powerful, fierce child." Soujirou's voice was filled with agony and sorrow.
"Yes. A child with tremendous emotional attachments and a heart that would be willing to fight to the death for the ones he loved... without a thought for himself. A child whose ki would carry him far beyond his own physical limitations and exceed the humanly possible."
"A wildling...? "
"Yes, Seta-san. A wildling. A natural born warrior with a ki limited only to whatever control he has over his own emotions."
"That would make Yahiko a... almost a monster." Misao's eyes grew huge. "He could be almost unstoppable if he ever completely lost his control."
"If indeed he is this wilding, yes it would. He could have a ki strength liken unto nothing any of us have ever seen or are likely to see again. A power like that could have the ability to break bones and crush organs without ever physically touching an enemy. He could kill with his thoughts and emotions, and never even draw his weapon, and the essence of such a ki could render a doorway to Hell open forever if channeled properly."
"Kuso."
"Dear God." Soujirou rose to his feet. "I will go to Himura-Otou. He must know about this." And he walked away towards the front gates. Misao could only sit and stare at a nonexistent spot on the wall as she contemplated her young friend.
"Yahiko? A wildling? A super-ki?" It was still hard to digest the fact even coming from Aoshi-sama.
"He could be the force used to bring about the complete destruction of the living world as we know it. We must find him and stop this while there is still life in his body."
"Are you saying we might have to kill him? Aoshi-sama?"
"I hope it never comes to that, Misao. But whatever must be done must be done. It is for the greater good that we must fight for here. If we can save Myojin-san, we will. If we cannot, then may God have mercy on all our souls... and may we have the strength and courage to do what we must to save his."