Disclaimer: I do not own the Rurouni Kenshin series or any of its creations.
Code Catfight – Chapter 2 – By Cherry Chibi
'Gang Clash'
* * * *
Next day, Kenshin had left early in the morning to avoid having to meet up with Kaoru especially after that awkward position that Kaoru had placed him in. 'I have to tell my men about the new arrangements,' he thought as he entered the warehouse where he, and his gang members stayed. He was welcomed respectably by his men before entering his office and sitting down on the leather chair.
Outside of the building, it looked tacky and abandoned but inside, it was occupied by a group of twenty to thirty men who had their own room. Kenshin however, had his office and rarely took any sleep. Someone had to always stay on guard because of their tough rivals: the Oniwabanshuu (Aoshi's gang) and the Street Fighters (Sanosuke's gang). It was all odd to him, the fact that the few female gangs out there were only interested in killing one another rather than interfering with other gangs and that male gangs were killing one another only; ignoring the fact that when the period of time the female gangs cease their wars they would be a threat.
It was all part of Code Catfight. The term made up for these female wars. It was 'tradition' that a female leader has to lead her gang into defeating another during the month or at least avoid getting destroyed by another. But the catch was that one has to kill a member from their rivals or else they would be considered weak and they, themselves, will be killed by their own people.
"Sir, last night there was another conflict at the edge of your territory, it was between the Poison Ivy and Vixens, the Vixens lost and now Megumi has taken over and is leading the Poison Vixens," A man reported, "This is all insane, why do the ladies all have to grab each other's necks when they can settle peace with one another?"
"Do you think we, the Dark Blood (Thanks for the ideas Rei), can ever settle peace with the Oniwabanshuu or Street Fighters?" Kenshin asked, his worker shook his head as a reply, "That would explain it. By the way, tell everyone that our forces are combining with the Rising Sun. Kaoru and I will be both standing as the leaders from now on."
Awe struck the man's face, "You mean… that chick that scored 95 percent on her exams? Isn't she the one who your Uncle is being a guardian to?" Kenshin glared at the man. "Oh sorry sir, I better get going," the man ran out of Kenshin's office.
* * * *
Kaoru was seated on a crate with her legs propped up on of the railing in a warehouse. She watched the men polish their guns and fix their weapons a distance away. Not one of them had noticed her presence. She smirked. 'They're all hopeless, how can Battousai even hire them? I've been sitting here for… hm… half an hour.' A group of Five women were seated or standing behind her. All keeping their eyes open for any sudden threats to their leader.
The women were in uniform of black pants and shirts that held closely to their skin for easy combat, fingerless black leather gloves, knee high black boots that had images of flames rising from the heels, and belts with several weapons connected to them. Most of the women had fire-coloured foiled hair.
Kaoru was wearing similar clothing but she was the only one who wielded a sword which was a sign showing that she was the boss.
"Akurei (Demon), should we cause a stir?" A woman with red hair and green eyes asked Kaoru.
"Not yet Chanelle, I would like to wait another minute, then I should have a bit of fun," Kaoru replied coolly. Chanelle was Kaoru's close friend, they met a couple of years ago when Chanelle came as an exchange student, Kaoru hosted her.
"Akurei, I'm bored," A woman sitting on a crate behind Kaoru whined, she had very short black, blonde tipped hair, "Can't I go outside and kick someone's butt? I know that we've joined up with Battousai's Dark Blood gang but there are so many, surely we can kick their asses to kill some off."
Tsubame gasped, "Toya! That's not very nice!" Tsubame had short chin length black hair which had single small plait on the left side. She was the youngest in the six. "Besides, Akurei doesn't want to kill anyone yet."
'Three… two…' Kaoru counted down in her mind, 'One.' She stood up and stretched. "Alright girls, let's go and cause a panic! We should teach these guys that they should be more alert." Smiles stretched across everyone's face. Kaoru unsheathed her sword. "Try not to kill anyone either."
"Yes Akurei," The five women said respectfully.
* * * *
Kenshin's eyes flared amber, something wasn't going well outside. Everything outside had gone noisy. He could hear his men shout things like:
'She's over there!'
'How many are there?'
'Six?!'
'Only six?! They're damn good! Somebody help!'
Kenshin stood from his chair and drew out his sword. 'No one messes with the Dark Blood and gets away with it.'
* * * *
Kaoru, Toya, Chanelle, Tsubame, Mina and Kenka stood at the centre of the warehouse. Men sat around the edges exhausted.
"Come on guys! That was pathetic!" Mina broke the silence. "We're not going to kill ya!" Mina was, like the others, quite lively. She was twenty two years old. "Hey, Kenka, what do ya think?"
"I'd say pathetic too, what on earth did we expect from twenty eight men?" Kenka said, rolling her eyes. She tucked her dagger back into its leather covering. She searched around their surroundings. "There were supposed to be two more, Dark Blood has thirty members."
"Watch it!" Kaoru unsheathed her sword and stopped a blade before it could hit Tsubame, "That was a close one." She glared at the guy who looked like he was seventeen years old. "You're going to pay for that!"
"No! Akurei! Let me handle it!" Tsubame interjected. The others looked at her uncertainly. "Don't worry! You can trust me with him! I know who he is…"
"Alright Tsubame," Kaoru said, "But you'll need a sword,"
"No I won't," Tsubame said with a smirk, "I can't beat him with combat." She stepped forward towards the guy and smiled innocently at him.
'She's learning too much from me,' Kaoru thought to herself.
The guy looked smugly at Tsubame. "I can beat a girl anytime!" He got into a stance. He looked as if he wasn't going to hold back at all. This concerned the other five. Tsubame however, she looked confident, too confident for her own good.
"Whatever you say…" Tsubame said, "Yahiko-chan." She smiled innocently again at Yahiko's face.
"What did you just call me?!" Yahiko said outraged.
"Yahiko-CHAN!" Tsubame repeated. "I knew that would get you annoyed." She got charged forward and leapt over Yahiko. She kicked Yahiko's back, sending him flying through the air and hitting the ground. She landed with her back facing him. "Come on, you can do better."
Yahiko grabbed the hilt of his sword and stood up. He charged forward and missed hitting Tsubame in the arm. 'This is not going to work,' he dropped his sword and punched Tsubame in the back.
She counterattacked by elbowing Yahiko in the stomach and then kicking him in the chest. Yahiko once again fell on the concrete.
'She's been practising,' Kaoru thought, 'and has improved.' A soft metallic sound caused Kaoru to look up in alert. She smirked and drew out her sword; counterattacking Kenshin's move. Kenshin landed in front of her with a stern face.
Mina, Kenka, Toya and Chanelle had their weapons drawn, ready to protect their leader. Kaoru glared at Kenshin for a few moments.
"How long have you been here?" Kenshin asked coldly; sheathing his sword.
"How long do you think?" Kaoru said, following suit. "I thought that I should drop by and check out your base. It's a good place I must admit. However, your men are all too weak," She leaned towards Kenshin's ear, "All of them seem to be stupid as well. I have been here in an obvious spot and they couldn't even see me or my people."
Mina and Kenka snickered.
"I haven't been impressed Battousai," Kaoru said as she backed off, "Toya, Kenka, Mina, Chanelle and I will enforce a training program." She turned around to the others, "Come on girls, let's not waste another moment here, we have a tournament against Black Hearts tonight." They started walking. "Yahiko-CHAN you better take care of Tsubame. I'll kill you if you hurt her!" Kaoru warned.
Kenshin turned around, a sixteen year old girl was bandaging Yahiko's arm. 'She must be Tsubame. Why would Kaoru let the youngest stay here?'
"You alright? I didn't mean to go so hard on you," Tsubame said as she tightened the bandages. Yahiko smiled weakly at her. Her cheeks turned a slight pink. "Akurei allows me to talk to you."
"Are you saying that there is some sort of Code of Conduct in the Rising Sun?" Yahiko asked. Tsubame nodded. "That's weird, I'll never get it, all of the female gangs are just… illogical." He saw Tsubame's face lose its smile.
"It's not like that…" Tsubame stood up and walked towards the exit to catch up with Kaoru. "IT'S NOT!" She picked up pace and ran. Yahiko ran after Tsubame and caught her by her arm. "Let go of me!" She pulled her arm away. "This is why gangs like the Rising Sun are the way they are! Because most of the other gangs believe that the females are weak and that we're the ones who are useless! You do not know how hard it is to grow up in a life like mine! Men like you will never understand!"
"Whoa, settle down, I didn't mean to hurt anyone's feelings," Yahiko said, "So just calm down!" His face was turning slightly pink from embarrassment. "I know, to make it up for you, how about I take you out for lunch OK?"
Tsubame looked at Yahiko strangely, "What on earth is wrong with you?!"
"I'd prefer it if you stop being upset," Yahiko said. "Let's go, I'll pay." He took her hand and led her out.
* * * *
Kenshin walked back into his office and his eyes flared ambers when they met with another pair of amber. "I thought that you went,"
"Who said I went?" Kaoru asked coldly, "Anyway, Tsubame is still here, well, she was." Kaoru was sitting on the edge of Kenshin's desk. "On the serious side of things, tonight I'm going into a conflict against the Black Hearts, you know who they are don't you?"
"Misao Makimachi's gang." Kenshin replied coldly.
"At least you know who's who," Kaoru said scornfully, she stretched and jump off the desk. "Tell your men that training starts at two in the afternoon, the girls and I will be here." She walked progressively towards the door, "Tell them to also expect unwanted Black Hearts to drop by as well,"
"How do you know that they're going to attack?" Kenshin questioned, annoyance and anger clung on his tone, making Kaoru shudder.
"It's all in the timetable." Kaoru replied. She made sure that she kept her cool.
"I'll never understand you women, you PLAN who fights?"
Kaoru shrugged, "It has worked." She left the office.
Kenshin glanced at his desk and found an envelope. 'What now?'
* * * *
Later, at 2 o'clock, Kenshin was watching with his amber eyes from the top of the stairs as Mina, Kenka, Toya, Chanelle and Kaoru trained his men. To be honest, they must have trained like machines. 'Kaoru must have gone through a lot to become the leader of an elite group,' Kenshin thought, 'How many must have she killed?' For a moment he thought that maybe there will be someone who would be able to understand him but he dismissed that thought.
"Another 1000 push ups guys!" Chanelle shouted. "Come on! Toya, Kenka, Mina and Kaoru are beating you!" She snickered when she heard groans from the guys. "Quit your whining! You've only done 9000! Look! The girls haven't even shown any sign of giving up yet!"
"Done!" Toya stood up, she shook her arms and loosened up her body. "That was great fun!" She did a couple of punches through the air. "Come on guys! If you get through this we'll go and have a drink!"
Kenka and Mina got up and rolled their eyes. "She means binge drinking," Kenka muttered.
Kaoru jumped onto her feet and stretched upwards. "Right! You all can take a break! After another 50!" She crossed her arms and smiled to herself. This type of training reminded her of when she was thirteen, her father never went easy on her. She learned kenjutsu from him and combat from her mother. She looked up and made eye contact with the one who was known as the legendary Battousai. She smiled at him and ran up the stairs.
"Hey, why don't we train? Kenjutsu. No one else knows." Kaoru said.
"No," Kenshin replied coldly, "How am I supposed to protect the Dark Blood when you and your people have already tired them out?" He turned his back on her, "Besides, I have better things to do."
"You JERK!" Kaoru side kicked him, "You didn't have to say it in that tone!"
The members of the Rising Sun gang looked up in alarm. Kenshin's men snickered.
Kenshin stood up fuming. His eyes flared amber. "Fine."
"You'll fight?" Kaoru asked. She saw his glare and smirked. "Let's go! To the rooftop!"
* * * *
A/N: Wow! I can't believe how many reviews I got already for this fic. Well, sorry if this chapter wasn't as good as I would've hoped for. I realised that I had introduced Kaoru's close gang members… well, I tried my best not to make it all dull and boring. Thanks for all of your reviews.
Rei: Thanks for your ideas! I actually jumbled your two suggestions together. ^-^ And I'm happy that you love the story! Let's hope that this story is successful. *Fingers Crossed*
Val: Yeah, I thought that there were a few too many fics that had Kaoru as the damsel in distress, it's nice for a change hm? Hope you liked this chapter! ^.-
Arizosa: I've decided that this story will mostly be Battousai with a few parts with sweet Rurouni. *Eyes flash white* (Shadow's Tear has resurfaced) Battousai is surely hot…Lol.
FireKitsune: Thanks! You've reviewed my stories heaps of times and I'm so grateful! (Bows) Well, I hope that you'll like this fic. It seems fun to write.
MP1: Nice to see you in this story! ^-^ Well, hope that this chapter was good too.
Thanks a lot guys! ^-^x Well, I want to add one thing just in case someone is deciding to flame be, I'm not being sexist! I'm planning to get a plot where I get some understanding going on (if anyone understood what I meant). Well, hope you stay for the next chapter. Here are a couple of obvious hints:
Binge Drinking
Sword Fight
Gang Clash
Well, Ciao!
~Cherry Chibi