Disclaimer: I do not own the Rurouni Kenshin series or any of its creations. However, I do own Mina, Chanelle, Kenka and Toya. ^-^x
Code Catfight – Chapter 4 – By Cherry Chibi
'Close One'
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A young Kaoru at the age of six fell onto her hands and knees, her right hand held the hilt of a wakizashi. She coughed out blood "…Mother…" Her small voice was merely a whisper. Tears were drooling down her cheeks and blood oozed from minor cuts on her face. "…I can't… I don't… I don't want to…" Kaoru entered a coughing fit.
Her mother was standing before her with a wooden sword in one hand. Her long flowing black hair reached just above her waist and she had the exact same sapphire blue eyes as Kaoru. Her face was expressionless. The woman looked like she was twenty six years old. "Get up Kaoru! You'll never be strong if you're like this! Get up!"
Kaoru trembled as she stood; her day had already been painful. She didn't go to primary school; her father taught her, her mother would teach her kenjutsu after. She was only six but she was beginning to get used to the hardship. It had almost been two years since her mother started teaching her kenjutsu.
..-*-..-*-..
Beep, beep, beep…
A quick withdraw of breath. Feeling a warm presence nearby, Kamiya Kaoru woke and felt that she was still in her clothes and her weapons were removed and placed on the bedside table on her right. Kaoru was about to sit up when someone pressed a hand against her chest to push her down. She narrowed her eyes. With quick, swift movements, she pulled out a dagger from its pouch on the bedside table, sat upright and pointed it to a direction.
"Awake so soon?"
Kaoru turned her head to glare at the person. Instead of intimidating the person, she was intimidated. He was the last person in the world that she would have expected to see at her bedside. Kaoru swallowed, she slowly, yet hesitantly lowered her weapon, ignoring the great stabs, stings and twists around her stomach area.
"Even after you're knocked out you are still on the alert," Kenshin muttered, "and still very violent." He was sitting beside her with a very calm and collected look. His red bangs shadowed over his amber eyes. He wasn't facing her but she knew that he was watching.
Kaoru opened her mouth to retaliate but decided against it. Instead, she settled for sitting upright and stared at the wall opposite of her. There was a long period of silence. "I went alone."
"I know."
"Don't say that I was being futile," Kaoru interjected quickly but quietly. Her hands touched and played with the edge of the blanket.
"Not everything is about trying to live up to the expectations of your mother," Kenshin said calmly, "You'll never get anywhere if you're like that."
Kaoru cringed at the thought. "Don't say that, you don't even have a clue on what my life has been like." The corners of her lips slightly twitched into a sad smile. "It's not like anyone would ever understand. They won't see through my eyes ever. They would try but they would never come close." She dropped her head with a shrug.
Kenshin finally turned his head to get a better view of her. She wasn't crying, more like thinking. He couldn't understand her situation, that he admitted, but he knew well what she felt. The feeling when you know that everyone looks up to you and expects you to be the best when you really aren't. The feeling knowing that you'll never fulfil the expectations. It was complex.
"I haven't got a clue why I would tell you this… but… I guess that you might be the only person who is closest to know what it feels like," Kaoru said, "Since I was five, my mother taught me kenjutsu, although I don't really know why she was so hard on me, I had new bandages everyday, bruises, psychological problems as well." She paused as if trying to find words to say.
"When I was eight, my parents argued often, by then I had mastered what I needed to know. However, my father was the one who gave me my schooling so he couldn't get away from my mother. He loved me that I know and he wanted to provide as much as he could for me." Kaoru sighed, "However, they always argued and often took their anger out on me. Training kenjutsu with my mother was more intense and hard while the academic side with my father was getting further and further beyond normal."
Kenshin felt sympathy for her but he didn't show it. But he listened to her intently.
"Four years. Four years filled with violence, hatred, anger… you name it. When I was thirteen, I was in deeply involved with attending counselling sessions, I met Hiko one day and we got to know each other, I had a foster father but he was murdered when I was sixteen. Hiko had been main person to take care of me through high school years…" Kaoru closed her eyes and leaned her head back against the wall. "You're right you know…"
Kenshin looked confused at Kaoru. She smiled at him and closed her eyes.
"Those who become too strong will forget their purpose for life, and may make such a great mistake that they lose that purpose." Kaoru recited. "My stubbornness and my pride blinded me and then I killed so many people through my time serving as Akurei. When I was young, I wanted to help others, help find a light in their lives… instead, I did stupid things…"
A woman entered, she had waist length black hair with red foils which was tied back into a braid and violet eyes. She looked exhausted. Mina smiled at Kenshin. "Thank you Battousai, you saved Akurei's life, you have everyone's respects and well wishes." Mina turned to Kaoru, "Akurei, would you like something to eat or drink?"
Kaoru shook her head. Mina smiled at her before leaving the room.
"Why would you tell me all of what you just said? You could have told your people." Kenshin said calmly.
"They would only worry about me more than they already do." Kaoru said. She slipped out of bed and started strapping and slipping her weapons into their usual places.
"You should get some rest."
"Don't start sounding like a mother… no… a doctor here, there is something that I have to see too." There was a tone of seriousness weighing heavily on Kaoru's voice. Her ambers eyes glowed death, "I won't run away like I did before." She walked to the window and slid it open. The cold air whipped her skin as she slipped out of the window with swift and smooth movements.
Kenshin walked over to the window and followed suit a moment later. Something was going to happen and he knew that he wasn't going to like it. Code Catfight was something that gangs outside of that code didn't even understand, as far as he knew, it held deep rules, obligations, instructions or whatever. It was going to be ugly.
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(A/N: Whoa… sorry about the long blurb about Kaoru's life, I thought that I had to explain it some time so sooner is better than later, *puts more room for carnage and blood and guts and gore….)
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Kaoru ran along the path. She was almost at the Trials, a place where women who have committed or breached against the rules and regulations of the code were to be decided upon. 'My mother hasn't done anything wrong… I think… she isn't that kind of person…' Kaoru's eyes flickered into swirls of amber. 'Why would she want me to run? She wrote that letter addressing to Kenshin that he has to take me away from this city, why? Why doesn't she believe that I can help her?'
She skidded to a halt in front of a warehouse building. Quick, even steps were made toward the building. 'I'm not going to let her die,'
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On the centre of the warehouse stood a woman with waist length black hair which was tied back into a braid. Sapphire blue eyes and a navy blue uniform with a print of a burning phoenix on her back. She looked like she was 38 years old, visibly; she was armed with a sword.
Other leaders were up on the railings, surrounding the woman, or either forming a circle around her. They were all seated except for her.
"You know you have committed a crime," A woman with white hair said calmly, she was around 40 years old and clearly, one of the elders. "Treason against the code is something that is undeniably unacceptable, especially if you're one of those people who enforced it in the first place."
"I know what you're saying Persephone," Blair replied, "But I haven't done anything wrong to even be here tonight."
Whispers gathered in the atmosphere, seated in the shadows was her gang, 'Phoenix Claw', they were watching intently and also looking nerve racked. Their beloved leader was on trial and they knew that it was all rigged but they couldn't say or do anything.
"Silence! We have proof that you were the one who tried to deal with outsiders, telling them everything they wished to know about us, telling them our weaknesses, revealing to them all of our systems!" Persephone rose from her seat and approaches Blair. "You disgrace us all,"
Blair glared at Persephone, "I disgrace no one. I still have my honour and I know that all this is to frame me and disrupt the code." She was staying as calm as she possibly could.
"Your daughter isn't fully registered in the code is she? Why is that Blair? She is eighteen years old; she should have registered last year." Persephone's tone was ironic. "Your daughter, Akurei, hasn't been seen or heard much. She doesn't even live up to the claims that you have made. I laugh at the thought that you actually trained her to become strong. She has taken the path of her father."
"Leave my daughter out of this." Blair spat. "She has nothing to do with this trial."
"You are a valuable member of this court understand? Therefore, we can't afford to kill you off; your daughter shall be your punishment. She will be executed tonight by your hands!" Persephone announced.
Blair's eyes widened and her face paled. "I refuse to accept such an unjust decision!"
"Either that, or lose your son too!" Persephone warned, "Zanza hasn't even got a clue about Code Catfight does he now? I'm sure that this street fighter wouldn't even be able to defeat a single person present."
Blair shook her head in disbelief.
"Mother!" Everyone's eyes swatted towards the door. Kaoru stood there with angry amber eyes. She walked towards the middle and glared at Persephone. "You dare include my brother in this? You even dare to make my mother kill me with her own hands?! You're the one who disgusts me the most! Code Catfight is all bull shit and you know it!"
"Kaoru!"
"Shut up mother! You wrote to Battousai, you seek HIM for help and not me! Don't you have any hope in me? If you think that I'm so pathetic then why didn't you abandon me years ago?" Kaoru's voice was rising as well as her ki. A light on the far wall exploded, causing a stir amongst the crowd.
"You're a wise child to come here to face your death," Persephone said.
"Shut your bloody mouth!" Kaoru glared at the woman. "I'm not here to die, I'm here to fight for the honour of my family, and I will never let anything get in my way, not even the stupid code!" She drew out her sword and thrust it at Persephone. Persephone dodged.
Four women stood. They all had the same uniform of white with wolves on them. They looked fierce. Drawing out their weapons, they prepared to fight. "No one insults Persephone and lives!"
"Bite your tongues! If you want to fight, come and fight!" Kaoru said as she got into a stance. Blair unsheathed her sword and prepared to fight as well.
"Some things never change…" Blair muttered with a small smile, "You've proven yourself Kaoru."
"For the sake of the Mibu Wolves… Kill them!" Persephone ordered.
The four wolves charged forward with their swords and clashed against mother and daughter. The others who were present at the court stood and left swiftly, it wasn't their fight so therefore, best if they stayed out.
Kaoru gripped her sword tight. She dodged one of the wolf's attacks and thrust her sword into the woman's chest, directly at where the heart was. Crimson oozed, sprayed, drained and dribbled. Her fierce amber eyes showed no mercy as she stabbed her sword through the next victim's head via neck. After a shower of blood, she pulled the hilt of her sword and sliced open the wolf's head. Two down.
* * * *
Blair dodged Persephone's attack. "You think you can beat me?"
"Of course." Persephone smirked. "I'm far better."
"Bitch." Blair charged forward and leapt into the air. Upon bringing down her sword, a swift realisation made her deflect her own attack to something or someone behind. She missed and landed on the ground. "You play dirty."
"Who said that I didn't?" Persephone said. She had caught a dagger that had been thrown from behind.
* * * *
"Argh!" Kaoru kicked the last person the chest and rammed her sword straight through the woman's body. Blood sprayed onto her face and the ground. "No mercy," She turned around and locked in a scream.
Blair was lying on the ground, chest heaving, coated with perspiration, drenched in her own blood and with several blades stabbing her in all directions. The stench filled Kaoru's nose. She turned to the shadowed corner to find more members of the Mibu Wolves surrounding the Phoenix Claw gang.
"You are nothing, you have weakened, withered over the years Blair, end your life in misery," Persephone muttered, "Watch as one by one, Phoenix Claw cease to exist."
Kaoru turned her attention back to Persephone with rage pounding every nerve in her ecstatic body. "Persephone, you-,"
"All part of the code Akurei," Persephone laughed, "What else is better than defeating the strongest?"
"Don't… kill… them…" Blair said hoarsely as she struggled to get up. Persephone kicked Blair in the chest. Pools of blood formed around Blair.
Kaoru stood there, her body was frozen in its place. She had to make a choice, her mother, or her mother's gang. "Kaoru… save… them…" Blair was looking pleadingly at Kaoru.
Kaoru gritted her teeth. She was not softened by Blair's sudden soft emotions, more like enraged further. "I will kill you Persephone, I won't rest until I'm sure that I've taken your life and tortured you in the worst possible ways."
Persephone laughed. "Akurei, listen to me, you're going to die anyway, there is no way you can defeat me," Persephone turned her back on Kaoru and walked towards the exit. "Kill them all wolves."
By instinct, Kaoru charged with lightning speed at the Mibu Wolves. Slaughtering, beheading, stabbing, thrusting, slicing… she defended her mother's gang. Not letting any one of them to be touched. Blood rained. Dropping and pouring like a dust storm.
When she had slaughtered the wolves that surrounded the Phoenix Claw, the women in Phoenix Claw rushed to Blair. Tear reddened eyes, whispers, and trembles of pain created an image that would stay in Kaoru's mind for a very long time. She glanced over her shoulder towards her mother's direction, "I… I failed you…" Bitter tears welled up at the rims of Kaoru's sapphire eyes.
"Blair!" A young woman screamed; she held her leader by the shoulders. Blair was no longer there, no longer in the very shell of her body. Mourns and cries filled the atmosphere.
Kaoru's titled her head forward, her bangs hid her eyes, "Zanza… how am I going to explain this? Mother… I never… really… ever…. Had been able to say how much I loved you even though life was hard on me." A clear crystal emerged and swirled and combined with the ruby before falling. Shoulders shuddered, which led to a sob, a sniffled. It was unbearable.
She leaned against the bloody wall. Resting her head on her hand and just letting the river flow. Not making any sounds besides the occasional sob. She felt a warm hand on her shoulder. A cold voice managed to reach her.
"Kaoru," Kenshin didn't know what to say, he hadn't arrived in time to save her mother and felt partly responsible.
Kaoru violently pushed Kenshin's effort of comfort away. "I don't need your help! I don't need anyone's help got that?!" With those harsh words, Kaoru sprinted out of the warehouse.
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A/N: Ah… a nice long chapter… (it's hard to believe that I used to write chapters 25 pages long… now… 7 pages is pretty long for me…*shrugs*) Hope you guys enjoyed it! Next update will be on this coming Monday or Tuesday. I've got camp coming up so I have to update early. *sighs* And thank you for the wonderful reviews!
Chris37: Oh my God! I'm so sorry that I didn't acknowledge your review last time! *Bows a million times* So sorry! I just had so many emails (about over 60) But I thank you so much for them! And sorry if you found it confusing for so many names… these next few chapters are going to have one or a couple of the Rising Sun members in so that you can get used to what they look like and their attitude. ^-^x And the Mibu Wolves? Hahahaha… you gave me an idea… oh and how you commented on how Kaoru's growing up years must have been bad, you haven't got a clue what I have in store, 'cos Kaoru's bad times haven't ended yet… muahahahaha!
Ina no Miko: Thank you for your review! ^-^x Hope you liked this chapter as well.
Rurouni Kaoru Kenshin's Love: Hi! Welcome to this fic! ^-^x Thanks for the encouragement! I hope that you'll update your fics soon; I'm having fun reading them.
Sess9: Haven't seen you before, *waves* Hi! Hope that you'll enjoy this fic as much as I enjoy writing it! ^-^x
Val: *smiles* Thanks for the review! ^-^x
Hells-Angel8: Hope that this chapter satisfied your wishes. Thanks for your suggestion. Broke my writer's block. ^-^x
MP1: I know that Sano is the only one who calls Kaoru, 'Jou-chan' but I've got something coming up that would explain why Hiko suddenly started calling her that. They'll be getting more involved in coming chapters. Anywayz, thanks for reading!
Arizosa: I tried my best to put more bloodshed into this chapter… more later that's for sure as well. And sure, I'll get around to checking out your fics too! I'd love to read them. (especially if they're RK). Thanks for the review!
Elizabeth65: You don't need to thank me so much… *blushes* Anyways, hope you liked this chapter! ^-^x
Billabong Bob: Ah… I see you like blood too? No probs. More coming!
Remember that I value all of your comments good or bad! If they're reasonable of course. I welcome any ideas as well. ^-^x
Thank you all and until coming Monday or Tuesday-
~Cherry Chibi