Hi! I'm Ryan- or Ry, if you prefer. I'm Chibi's twin, and she has asked me to upload this chapter for you all. She is very grate full you are reading her story, and… well, just read her little letter right here. I don't know much about this activity of hers, so I just say bye, and enjoy whatever my little sister has concocted in that brain of hers!
Ciao!!!
Uh… what can I say, I'm truly sorry this has taken so long. Just let me give you one little piece of advice: don't think you can take on your archenemy in a fencing tournament on three hours of sleep. It results in delayed reactions, bad reflexes, loss of balance and a broken ankle. I'm still in hospital since I had to get surgery, so I asked my twin Ry to upload this. I hope he gets the procedure right…
Anyways, on a more positive note: I may finally have my laptop with me, so I can write… and the next chapter is already halfway done. I still have to work for SSS (what? Did you think just being unable to attend the lectures would make me miss all the report fun?), and the law firm sends urgent requests per mail… so, I don't have all day for writing, but certainly considerably more time than before *grins*
Again, I apologize to all who have been waiting for this chapter to come out!!! I want to thank all reviewers (can't do review responses since I haven't got any means to connect to the internet), and I'm certain Yasai is being fed well…
And now… enjoy the story!!!
"…." Denotes talking
….. denotes thinking
*~* means a change of scenery (either temporal or local, I think which one of those will be clear) has taken place
Disclaimer: I do in no way own any rights, moral or others, to Rurouni Kenshin, its characters or plot. Characters other than the characters from Rurouni Kenshin bearing any resemblance to persons living or dead are purely coincidental. I do not intend to make any profits out of this story, it's written for entertainment purposes only and any attempt by persons natural or legal to make money from it in any way is not in accordance with this author's express wishes.
Chapter 6 Within"Mou!" Kaoru exclaimed in frustration as the bandage she had tried to roll up for the umpteenth time decided it would rather stay unraveled. Megumi looked over to her, eyebrows raised in quizzical amusement as her hands deftly wrapped a long cut on a Camp guard's leg.
"You know, if it bothers you so much just go and search for him!" the doctor told the impatient girl with a twinkle in her chocolate eyes. Kaoru scrunched her face into an expression of disapproval but dropped the bandage nonetheless and sauntered off to look for Sano and Kenshin- well, for her Kenshin came first, the agent who knew her father and had such a mysterious past intrigued her beyond reckoning. She wasn't sure what 'being the Battousai' meant, even though she had related the story to her friends, for to her they were just words, and that a person as gentle and caring as the Kenshin she had met would willingly harm others was something unthinkable in her world. Still- even she, in her own little way and by her own means had detected the deep sadness and flinty hardness that lay underneath the strange agent's smiling exterior. Perhaps it was this that made her believe him when he had admitted to having been a killer… not that she minded, she quickly added.
Light steps took her around the obstructions on the road, beams that had been pulled from destroyed buildings, or just piles of wreckage scattered by the still strong wind. Her black hair was flying freely around her face and into her eyes, somewhere in the course of running to help another patient and finding clean water she had to have lost the ribbon that bound it into its high ponytail. Her blue-eyed gaze surveyed the efforts made to return the Camp to a more habitable state, searching for the one person she wanted to be all right. Among the people milling seemingly aimlessly around he was not, neither was he in the group of men tugging at a particularly nasty heap of wreckage- although, wasn't that someone she knew? She blinked, undecidedly before she resumed her careful wandering.
Sano spotted her before she could wander too far into the wrong direction. His hands released the piece of the building's ceiling he had been holding up while he watched her. Kaoru was slowly making her way towards the building he and Kenshin had been working on, and she was obviously looking for them. He waved her over.
"Oy, Missy!" Kaoru's head snapped up and she quickly came to where Sano was holding some beams with one hand, the other rose to greet her. "Doesn't the fox need you with her anymore?"
Kaoru shook her head. "I am here to check on Kenshin," she said smiling brightly, "Megumi and I both are afraid he will overstrain himself."
Sano grinned at her. "You really like the little one, Missy?"
"Mou!" was the indignant answer as Kaoru barely restrained herself from bashing the tall man over the head.
"Bet you wanna know where he is?" Sano teased. Kaoru just huffed.
"OK, I'm stopping. He's on the other side, just around the corner and-"
A cry stopped their conversation.
Kenshin had dragged himself to his feet using the splintered plank he still had his hands on for support. Aoshi's silent glare followed his every movement, slightly creeping the agent with its intensity.
"Battousai. Why do you still hesitate to attack me?"
Kenshin stood still, panting with the effort of standing up only. One hand slowly wiped away the trace of blood that had formed in the corner of his mouth after Aoshi had punched him in the face. "I do not wish to fight, that I don't."
"Then meet your demise." Void of emotion Aoshi raised his weapons and rushed at the exhausted figure of Kenshin. The stroke of his sword was barely avoided, however, the price for Kenshin was high as he tumbled towards the ground once again, just barely catching himself on his left hand and grunting as the weight of his own body impacting on his injured shoulder reopened his wound. Not wasting a second Aoshi pressed the attack against his downed opponent, yet once again his kodachi hit air only.
"Why… do all of those who arrived yesterday fight… with swords?" Somehow, Kenshin found the strength to not only dodge Aoshi's next attack but to also speak while doing so.
"Why don't you fight back?" was his answer.
"I don't have a weapon, that I don't." Another near miss sliced the fabric of Kenshin's shirt on his right side.
"Yet you persist. I can see the Agency really invests into training their own."
That it does- or at least Shishou did… I don't think every agent undergoes a training like I did, that I don't. Yet all the training in the world wasn't enough… nor will it ever be… there will always be those I fail to protect… I am truly not worthy of being called the 'best'… I am not worthy of being called anything but unworthy... Try as he might, even in the middle of a desperate fight Kenshin could not shake his fears, his doubts.
"You seem distracted, Battousai. Did you finally find I was right all along?" A slight pause in the attacks allowed the agent to catch his breath. The way his lungs were burning it was a miracle he hadn't passed out yet from constant use of god-like speed. Shishou would have my hide for being so clumsy, he grimaced when his foot caught on a lose root.
"And you… still haven't answered my… question yet, Aoshi… that you haven't. Why… are there… swordfighters in the… Regime forces?" His erratic breath chopped his speech far more than he had thought, its hacking rhythm grating into his ears.
No answer, only a changing in the pattern of his opponent's movements. It was getting harder to escape unscathed from Aoshi's attacks, even though some moves seemed slower they also started to blur together, like images on the tranquil surface of a pond shadowed by cherry trees.
"You are weak, Battousai. And because you are weak, you will die now. The others were wrong to think there was a worthy opponent hiding in one of the Camps. You have reached the end of your path. This is the true technique of the Oniwabanshu Okashira- Kaiten Kenbu, the dance of the sword. Movements flowing like water, so fluid you cannot tell one from the other." Aoshi's voice seemed to echo from all around Kenshin. Distraught, the agent closed his eyes, extending his sixth sense to find where Aoshi was at the moment, but strangely even the Okashira's ki had adopted the flowing quality, enveloping him and smothering his senses.
"Kyaaahhhh!" he desperately screamed and whipped up the wooden plank he had held onto all this time.
A blink of an eye later it was over. Kenshin lay on his back, a few feet from where he had been standing moments before, three gashes in his shirt slowly staining red. Aoshi calmly sheathed his kodachi. "For being the strongest you sure were weak. The Regime was wrong to assume a danger in the agents trained in the old ways- they wouldn't have needed to build our special force. Go to hell, Battousai."
"Kenshin!" a man's voice bellowed out. Aoshi slowly turned so he faced the new arrivals.
"Oy! Who are you?" The man certainly was rude. Beside him, a flustered little girl buried her face in her hands in horror. Her indigo ribbon had come partially undone, leaving her hair flowing around her face in a beautiful wave of liquid dark strands as she ran to the side of the fallen agent.
Before she could reach him, however, he started to rise. Aoshi whipped around faster than ever before when he heard the soft moan escape from his rival's lips. The redheaded agent knelt on the ground for a second before getting up, his face strained but no obvious effort was exerted.
"You're... wrong, Aoshi." His voice hadn't changed; it still was the harsh, chopped whisper of someone who is short of breath. "It is you... who is weak, that it is. You... are clinging to..." he couldn't finish his sentence as a coughing fit interrupted him, leaving him doubled over, one hand clutching his midriff, the other held out as if to steady himself.
The girl, who had stopped in her tracks when Kenshin had suddenly started moving, hurried to his side, taking his hand and helping him to keep his balance. "Kenshin, you... idiot!" Was she crying?
"I'm... all right, that I am," his opponent smiled pulling his hand from hers and starting towards Aoshi.
"Stop, Battousai. Even though I can now see why you are called the 'best' there is- after all no one ever escaped this attack alive- I do not intend to leave any witnesses to our fight. Remove them, or I'll kill first you and then your friends."
"Oy! Watch it! You can't kill me!" Sano exclaimed and smashed his fists together. Kenshin, however, stopped him with a pleading look from his delft blue eyes.
"I won't... allow anyone to be hurt, that I won't. You... have me in your hands, Aoshi. If you... report to the... Camp authorities or to your fellow... swordsmen you'll... be able to kill me. But they... have nothing to do with our past, that they don't. Let them... go and I'll... continue fighting you. Or just... tell the Camp manager. He'll kill me for you, and nothing will stand between you and your title of 'best'."
"That would not be satisfactory," Aoshi countered icily, "I need to kill you with my own hands in order for my men's death to be avenged. I do not wish for unnecessary deaths. We will meet again- Battousai!"
"If you wish so, that will be." Kenshin stood, watching warily as the tall man with the ice-blue eyes left without once looking back.
"Kenshin?" Kaoru cautiously approached him again. She was a little shaken, confused and miffed at him for pushing her away, but overshadowing it all was a deep concern. Her small hand reached for him as though she was trying to coax him into relaxation. "Kenshin, what was this?"
Shining blue-violet eyes settled onto her face. "It was only an argument, that it was." His voice, though still more quiet even than usual, had lost its choppiness, his breathing calm and controlled again.
"Oy, what did you think getting into a fight without me?" Sano barely restrained himself from slapping the agent on his back.
"Fight? What fight? There was no fight, that there wasn't..." Kenshin tried to say.
"No fight? Then why did that man talk about killing you, Sano and me? And why the hell do you have those bruises on your face? And why are you bleeding if there was no fight?" An angry Kaoru was a reasoning Kaoru, and a reasoning Kaoru meant trouble for redheaded agents caught red-handed.
"Uh... well, it was a violent argument, that it was..." he drifted off, his eyes glazing over as the aftereffects from the fight took their toll on his body.
"Violent argument, my ass," grumbled Sano but slung one of Kenshin's shaking arms over his shoulders. "You're going to sleep now, that you are," he mimicked his friend's speech patterns.
"Wait!" Kenshin freed himself of Kaoru and Sano's grasp before they could even bat an eye, "there are still five people trapped underneath the rubble, that they are. I have opened a way for the air to get in to them, that I have, but I need to do one more thing before we can reach them, that I have."
"Just tell me what to do, Kenshin." Sano said, blinking a little stupidly at the speed of Kenshin's movements.
"I'm very sorry, Sano, but you cannot do this, that you can't. This is something I have to do myself, that it is," Kenshin replied painfully polite before grabbing another piece of plywood lying conveniently next to him. "Please stand back."
Under normal circumstances he wouldn't have let anyone see his techniques since his days as an assassin had ingrained into his very being the knowledge that an opponent knowing one's movements was thrice as dangerous as one seeing them for the first time. However, he was tired, his brain kept wandering aimlessly between the past and the present, and the shadows and ghosts of his deeds had come back to haunt him, obscuring the bright light he felt his friends emitting.
Thus he didn't even think twice before striking at the Earth with his makeshift weapon, sweeping up deadly fast projectiles of clay and splintered wood which proceeded to pepper the obstructions in their way with so much force that half of the building was simply blown away. His move was- in spite of the power behind it- executed with such accuracy that not a single piece of debris ever came in danger of hurting Sano, Kaoru or Kenshin himself, and the building would not collapse into itself after the dust had settled.
"Now... they can get out, that they can."
Kaoru and Sano just stood rooted to the spot, their jaws almost touching the floor.
"What the hell was that?" Sano blurted out.
"Do Ryu Sen." Kenshin didn't find the will to say anything else.
"You... this is your technique?" Kaoru was awed. Having been trained in kendo herself when she was a child the girl still couldn't grasp what the agent had done. Never before had she seen this much power in just a single blow.
"It was one of my techniques, that it was," Kenshin answered truthfully. No matter what, he wouldn't ever lie to those he considered his friends. Omit some things, yes, but never lie- not the way he had lied to her, back then...
He grimaced as Sano suddenly decided to give him a friendly slap on the back, remembering too late why he hadn't done so in the first place.
"Sorry, Kenshin."
"I need to go... help the... five people get out from the building, that I... do. I'm... alright...that I-"
"You're not alright- I'm getting you to Megumi right now. You will rest. Sano can help those trapped. Now come."
Kenshin didn't resist being pulled away. His thoughts had wandered off again, leaving his body stumbling on behind Kaoru while his mind recalled faces long since faded into oblivion, events long forgotten... it was a strange feeling, seeing the Camp while not seeing it at all, trapped within himself yet moving freely... On a metalevel Kenshin wondered if he was showing signs of insanity, yet he couldn't help but remain where he was... within.
*~*
"You're going out again today?" her face was hidden behind the curtain of her long hair, her black eyes invisibly burning into his soul. His heart clenched as he thought of what he had wanted to do this evening and what he had to do.
"I have to. This is our only chance to get to the Vice President of the Regime Intelligence Agency. Please, don't be angry, Tomoe." His voice was subdued, the angry amber of his eyes fading to a softer, golden hue.
"Why should I be angry? It's after all only the third dinner date you've cancelled, Kenshin." She was always so calm, always so perfectly ladylike. The only way he could tell that she was angry was because she kept avoiding his gaze. "Now go, and be safe."
Oh well, this was another way. She omitted any mention of 'darling' or 'love' from her speech. Sighing, he put the sheath of his katana through the belt of the black trousers he was wearing.
"I'll be back soon, Tomoe my love, I promise." She still refused to look at him, even when he pulled her into a stiff embrace, which she didn't lean into. He had hurt her tonight, he knew, but he didn't know how he could have avoided it. After al, it was his duty to follow whenever the Agency called on him... He released his hold on his partner. "I promise."
With this he left the secret base the Agency had established in a run-down warehouse at the edge of the city. Being a neighboring country to the Regime didn't exactly do wonders for your economy, so it was no surprise that the city's size had dwindled considerably and with it had gone its prosperity and liveliness. All that was left was a gray echo of what had been, a sad reflection in a distorted mirror of time.
Kenshin lengthened his strides as he walked along a street that had once been teeming with life. Now, only the occasional broken neon sign lent the night a bit of flickering light. He found it strange that a Regime general would take up residence in such an area, yet he had come to expect the unexpected and not be concerned by what stemmed from his actions.
That's what you're telling yourself, his conscience whispered. His only reaction was a hardening of his amber eyes. He couldn't allow himself to have a conscience; he was the shadow assassin of the Agency. He was Battousai, and he was merciless, never thinking twice about killing any witness to his deeds.
Except this one time... and look what it gave you: it gave you Tomoe, the most wonderful thing ever to happen to you. Angrily, he shook his head. He didn't want to think about mercy, hell, he didn't want to think at all. He wanted to make this a clean and fast job, so he could return to his partner and soon-to-be fiancée- he had planned on asking her tonight, but as usual the Agency had screwed up his planning.
Halting his steps, Kenshin realized he was already standing before the large abandoned villa that allegedly housed the general and his staff. His senses didn't pick up anyone on the street, but there were five people just behind the wall- guards, he guessed by the fierce blazing of their ki. Crouching ever so slightly he tensed for a second, then his muscles uncoiled and carried him to the top of the wall in one soundless jump. Before the guards could react to the rasping sound of his katana being unsheathed they had died by the hand of the amber-eyed demon of the night.
The villa was silent when Battousai entered. So far everything had been going according to plan, no alarm had been raised and progress had been smooth for the assassin. After having killed the five guards he had avoided any encounters, though it had been close once when he had barely ducked out of the line of sight of a night patrol guard strolling along a corridor he was planning to use. He had hidden himself in a closet and waited until the young man had passed- even though he was Battousai he detested unnecessary bloodshed.
Finally, he reached the room the general should be sleeping in if the Agency had retrieved correct information. His photographic memory had led him well. A sliver of light was shining through the sliding door. Silently opening it and peering inside Battousai could distinguish two forms in the dim light of the night-lamp. At the same moment, whispers of a conversation reached his ears.
"... given that to my fiancée. She will know what to do." The voice of a young man, perhaps in the middle of his twenties. A strong voice, used to ordering people around.
"Will you ever see her again? I mean, rumors are she has turned traitor..." This one was older, but also more subdued, a little squeaky in its tone and higher than the voice before. Presumably, he was a subordinate of the first speaker.
"Don't talk about her like this! Iris will never betray me or our country!" The man Battousai presumed to be the general roughly backhanded his underling.
"I'm sorry, General Kiyosato! I didn't mean to insult you or Lady Iris. Please, forgive me." This was the squeaky voice.
So the first speaker was the general, his target, the one to die tonight by his hands. Battousai contemplated his options. He could either charge right now, which meant he would have to kill both of the room's occupants, or he could wait until the underling left his general, thus reducing the number of kills.
It turned out the decision wasn't his to make. The patrol guard he had let pass earlier came into the range of his senses once again. Cursing his luck Battousai slid the door fully open, coming face to face with the general who by now had a name added to his title. Before he could cross the entire room, however, the general had his weapon drawn and ready.
Sloppy stance, weak wrist, lack of control... Battousai assessed his opponent. The underling stared ashen-faced at the slight redheaded man in black who had just barged in.
"Who are you?" was the general's sharp demand while he leveled his sword to line up with Battousai's throat.
"I am Battousai, and I have come to bring Heaven's Justice." How he could keep his voice this icy was a mystery to Battousai himself. The act of killing didn't appeal to him, and he recoiled from having to slay yet another man, adding to the stain on his hands, but he just couldn't allow himself to show any of his thoughts. Fixing his amber glare upon the second occupant of the room, he advanced.
The underling shrieked, a sound cut in half when his katana sliced the unfortunate man's throat. The general sneered at him, but Battousai could see the knuckles of the hand grasping his weapon were white and he was sweating as well.
"You won't kill me! I have to live! I have to live for her- for Iris, my love, my life... you... RAAAAAAAGH!" The general charged at his killer, murder in his eyes. Battousai evaded his attack- or so he thought. With a dexterity not foreseeable even by the great Battousai General Kiyosato- that had been his name, hadn't it? - changed the angle of his attack. Battousai ducked out of the way, but even he wasn't fast enough. A stinging pain on is left cheek and the wetness dropping onto his shoulder told him that at least part of the general's attack had found its target.
"You will die now. Find peace and happiness in your next life."
Battousai would never admit it but it cost him all of his iron will and presumed coldness to actually stab General Kiyosato after flashing his katana out of its sheath with the speed of his Battoujutsu. As his target's body collapsed to the ground the assassin found his right hand straying to his cheek against his will. Slightly wondered by the sight he watched his fingers glistening ruby red with his own blood in the flickering, unsteady light. He slashed at the air once, watching in morbid fascination as the drops of the general's blood falling in an arch from his blade were joined by his own blood flung off his fingers before both simultaneously hit the ground. Touching the wound on his cheek once more he let his right hand rest on the hilt of his now-sheathed katana.
"You had a strong will to live, General Kiyosato, that you had... but you were not strong enough," were his last words to the dead man before he vanished through the window, cushioning the three-story fall with cat-like grace. The night patrol guard's alarm barely even reached Kenshin's ears as the young man raced through the night back to where his heart was.
The pavement was a blur underneath his swift feet. He couldn't wait to get back to Tomoe. He had to make up with her, somehow... Something caught his eye. Halting his dash he bent down to pick the delicate flower that had blossomed in the cracked wall of yet another factory left to rot. "Poppy..." the assassin thought, the red color of the flower in his hand visible even in the dark. He noticed the stain on the stem, and remembered too late that his hands were still coated with his own blood. No way to undo this now, he sighed before speeding up again, I hope she will accept this nonetheless.
Arriving at the Agency headquarters he froze, the flower dropping to the floor unnoticed, a red stain on the gray-black pavement.
Part of the building had collapsed, there was a fire raging, and in the frenzy of activity only one thought was able to permeate the haze of his mind. Tomoe!
Her ki signature was coming from underneath the jumbled pile of the wing that had housed their room. He didn't wait for the rescue team to clear the way before whipping out his katana.
"Do Ryu Sen!" He didn't care that men tripped while jumping out of the way of the wall of earth that came rushing at them with supersonic speed, all he cared about was her as he ran after his own attack, disappearing into the hole he had ripped into the collapsed side of the building...
*~*
He blinked, daylight too bright for his sensitive eyes. Nonetheless he tried to establish his whereabouts, but all he could see was one dark gray mass... clouds... the sky? Hadn't he just...?
"So you're awake again."
No. He was at the Camp, not in some border city. And that voice- it belonged to Agent Takani. Kenshin narrowed his eyes and tried to get up, but some unknown force restrained his movements. Letting his gaze wander across his body he found Yahiko sitting on his legs.
"You are not getting up, Ken-san. What did I tell you? You should not overexert yourself? Well, you've done it again, and I will have Yahiko sit on you until you promise to stay put!" the doctor chided, concern in her deep brown eyes as she leant over Kenshin's prone form.
"Busu there scared us to death, you know. Wailing and crying for Megumi to come..." Yahiko said with a smirk on his face.
"Who are you calling Busu?" So Kaoru had decided to come back to the 'hospital' as well, and she was even kneeling beside him... Kenshin smiled.
"I am really sorry for worrying you, that I am. I didn't want to do so, that I didn't. I hope you will forgive, me, that I do..." he winced when Megumi applied pressure to his chest. Yahiko watched silently, his eyes big as saucers. Apparently, the boy had never been at the hospital before today, and never this near to an injured person. Trying to reassure him Kenshin molded his features into a slight smile even though Megumi's actions sent ripples of agony through his strained muscles.
"How did you get yourself cut again?" the doctor asked. Kenshin averted his eyes. He wasn't ready to tell them.
"I met someone from my past, that I did." Yahiko snorted disbelievingly.
"That must have been an interesting reunion," Agent Takani remarked in a caustic voice before following a call from a worker who had a profusely bleeding gash in his arm. Kenshin just closed his eyes, too tired to think of anything to say to the leaving agent. Sleep was bliss, calling him just one step away... now if only the weight of the little boy sitting on his legs wouldn't numb them so much...
"Why did he attack you?" Kaoru suddenly asked. His eyes snapped open again, piercingly cobalt in hue.
"Why do you think he attacked me, Miss Kaoru? It could have been the other way round, that it could. You know who I am, that you do..." he trailed off, unwilling to take out his tiredness and irritation at having been confronted with his own past once again on the young woman who was so trustingly gazing at him with her eyes the color of the midnight sky, or the boy flinching under his gaze.
"I know who you were, Kenshin. But I don't care about the past, it's gone and done with, and I know you as a kind soul... someone who risks himself to protect others. You are not the assassin any more," she whispered, trailing a hand along the sleeve of his shirt that was, even though just received, once again trash since it had been cut by Aoshi's attack. His gasp of surprise was quickly masked as a cough, and he enjoyed the feeling of her hand on his forehead as Kaoru checked whether he was running a fever- which he was, if his own assessment of his body was any good. He hadn't quite overcome it yesterday night, and straining himself while fighting Aoshi had raised his temperature again.
"You should sleep, Kenshin." Megumi softly advised, returning to his side. Kenshin smiled brightly at them, covering his emotions.
"I am quite alright, Miss Megumi, that I am. I would really like to go on helping Sano, that I would." Sleep could, after all, wait for the one or two hours the day still had. The pitiful cries of the weak and injured grated on his nerves, and he wouldn't forgive himself if he didn't do everything he could to help.
"Do you think you can help anyone the way you are?" Agent Takani's head seemed suddenly topped by fox ears, giving Kenshin a clue as to why Sanosuke called her 'Foxy Lady'. "No, you are going to lie still while I treat you, Ken-san!" Laughter pearled from her mouth while Kaoru silently fumed next to her, involuntarily gripping Kenshin's long red hair a little too tight. He carefully pried it from her grasp before throwing Yahiko off his legs with a sudden maneuver.
"I want to help, that I do... oro?"
He found himself on the ground again, pushed over by a mere shove of Megumi's right hand. Kaoru had jumped up and was glaring daggers at him while Yahiko was ready to once again securely fasten his legs to the floor. Kenshin sighed. Giving up his struggle, he settled himself into his customary sitting position, but not before discarding the blanket he had laid upon.
"I will stay here, that I will. Maybe I could help Miss Megumi and Miss Kaoru a little, that I could... and please give this to someone who needs it more than I do." He held out the blanket. Kaoru frowned.
"You can help to make bandages," Megumi said dumping a load of cloth stripes into his lap. She knew that the stubborn redhead would be up and around the first second nobody watched him, claiming he was fine and doing things he shouldn't do, all in order to alleviate the suffering of the Camp residents around him. It's a safe occupation at least. It doesn't require him to move...
"I'll help you... Kenshin." Kaoru quickly offered blushing before settling down beside him. Yahiko made gagging noises.
"Go fetch some water, Yahiko!" Megumi ordered shoving the boy away. "And you- don't do anything that will force Ken-san to strain himself!" Once again Megumi's clear laughter rang out.
Kaoru blushed madly, and even Kenshin couldn't keep his cheeks from reddening. "I won't..." she stammered embarrassedly.
"Well, I just wanted to remind you!" Megumi stated haughtily before hurrying off to yet another emergency being brought to her makeshift hospital.
It was late at night when the workers and guards finally retired. Since only four buildings were intact enough to offer shelter against the biting cold, the sleeping conditions were even more cramped than usual. Kenshin had refused to be given one of the rare cots. Together with his friends he occupied one corner of the damp, smelly barrack, leaning against the wall while cradling an exhausted and snoring Yahiko against his chest. His tiredness had evaporated into thin air when he noticed several guards joining the workers for their rest. He didn't trust them, and thus was resolved to stay awake.
His senses were working on overdrive even though he had dropped into a light dozing. He knew he would be a pitiful line of defense should any of the 'special force' attack at night- he was aware of his limits and that his bodily condition was not pristine. Still... the five sharp ki signatures just one barrack away gnawed at him. One of them was especially aggressive, dark, dangerous, making him withdraw and dull his own ki until it barely covered himself and his friends. He had a feeling he knew the person to whom it belonged, had a feeling he even knew him well...
"Kenshin?"
His restlessness had awakened Sano. The man didn't seem capable to actively pick up others' ki, but was quite adept at doing so subconsciously. Kenshin's withdrawing must have alerted him.
"Everything's fine, Sano, that it is," he whispered, but Sano shook his head before he had finished his sentence.
"No, it isn't. I have a bad feeling about this. I know you hate this, but I think we will have to abandon the Camp as soon as possible. There is danger here."
"You are right, that you are." Kenshin admitted, trying to ignore the sinking feeling in his stomach at the thought of leaving so many lives in such desolate conditions. "I would have liked to take more with us, that I would. But..."
"Tsubame, Tae and Sae will follow as well. When you fell asleep this evening Kaoru told them."
Kenshin's eyes briefly blazed a bright amber before settling down into flinty blue-gray.
"That was a risk, that it was," he stated flatly.
"They know how to cook- and besides, they are nice. I know them. They always let me have some extra if they could arrange it."
Kenshin sighed. There was no need to be angry. Everything had worked out well.
"When do you think we should leave?" a sleepy female voice asked.
"You're awake too?" Sano blurted out, turning to Kaoru who was slumped against the wall next to Kenshin, her head on his shoulder.
"I think it should be the night after tomorrow, that it should," Kenshin whispered, his senses attuned to very shift in the ki of his friends.
"What will be the night after tomorrow?"
Sano and Kenshin's head whipped around at the sound of the sharp voice, their breath stuck in their throat.
... to be continued...
Okay… I hope I got this right… if not, complain to Chibi. Anyways, please tell her if you enjoyed her little concoction- and I'm off! Bye!
Ry in the name of Chibi