Deadly Promise

Chapter 1

~Hate all you want and rage all you want

But it will never fill an empty heart~

___________________________________________________________________

The autumn wind blew crisp leaves into the old courtyard, scattering the last sign of life all about.  A young woman heaved a sigh as she proceeded to sweep up the leaves with a broom, all the while knowing she would get nowhere with the wind playing about.  She shivered a little as the wind grew colder with the passing of the sun.

"Oy, Jou-chan, just leave the courtyard alone, you're never going to clean it all up."  A tall young man appeared from the courtyard's doorway, hands in his pockets.  Long spiked hair brushed gently against eyes that had seen too much in the world.

"It just makes me feel like I'm doing something," the woman snapped and started to sweep harder to show her annoyance.  "Instead of waiting and waiting-"

The man walked over, grabbed the broom, and began to push his sister into the house, throwing the object into the corner.  "Baka, you'll catch a cold," he said with a smile on his face, but it didn't reach his eyes.

She took note of this quickly and turned around to face her older brother.  "What happened?  Is it father??"  Her forehead furrowed in worry as she grabbed the man's gi.  Sanosuke's mask crumbled at her question and he swept his sister into his strong arms, holding her tightly.

"Someone got him ... while he was coming home to us.  It was too late when I got there-"   His voice shook as he spoke into her hair.  Kaoru struggled out of her brother's hug, hitting him angrily with her fists but he held on tighter.

"Stop lying!  He's not dead!  He can't be! He's too strong for that!!! He's not dead! He's not dead," she shouted, her voice growing more and more panicked.  She tried to push away from him but it was no use, she stopped her thrashing and began to sob into his chest.  "Y-you're lying .... he's not dead .... he's not dead ..."

Sanosuke looked up at the ceiling, dried of the tears he had cried out when he saw his father's body lying in the road, like a piece of trash left out.

~*~

It had been a month, but it had felt like she had heard the news yesterday.  Dark bags hung under her eyes, showing the intensity of the grief in her face.  She ate only to ease the worries of her brother and smiled only to lift his spirits, if but a little.  She should have been wasting away in her sorrow, becoming nothing more than a tiny child.  But her ki grew sharper and stronger as each weary day passed by, her rage boiling in every core of her body till it filled mind and soul.  There was a tiny tap at her door and Sano walked in along with his battle aura.  It sensed her own angry ki and mingled with it, creating an air so full of tension that you could almost feel it on your skin.

"Pack up, you're going to your cousin Tomoe's castle for a while.  She'll be coming to pick you up tomorrow morning," he said bluntly, not daring to look at Kaoru's face.

"What are you talking about?  Have you drunk any sake lately," she mumbled, irritated at his visit.  Sano walked over and picked up Kaoru by her yukata, holding her up in the air effortlessly.  She began to struggle, kicking at his chest.

"Baka!  What are you doing!"  She aimed a kick at his arm and he dropped her to the ground.  Her feet were quick and she landed neatly on the ground.  "Baka!  What the heck were you doing?!"

Sano gave a broad smile at his little sister's antics.  "Good, I was getting tired of you moping around."  The smile was still there but his eyes grew serious.  "But you're still going with Tomoe, I can't have you around right now.  Too dangerous."

"Oy, what's so dangerous that I can't stay?  I'm a master of the Kamiya Kasshin Ryu," she said indignantly, crossing her arms in front of her chest.

"War."

The word was like an arrow, piercing her heart and making fear bleed out.  "War," she whispered hoarsely.

"Shishio's soldiers are massing around our borders.  He is declaring war on the grounds that we are starting a rebellion against his rule."  Sano rubbed a callused hand against his face.  "Jou-chan, please, get out while you can.  I'm not gonna let you die here, no way in hell," he said from behind his fingers.

"I'm just as strong as you!  I can defend myself when I have to," Kaoru argued.

Sano gave a groan at the tone of her voice, the tone that said she wasn't going to give up unless she was knocked unconscious.  "Shishio's got several powerful assassins on his side, ready to kill with a single command.  You will NOT die Kaoru.  I won't let you.  I promised father that I'd look out for you, so don't make me break that promise."

Her brother's eyes begged her to go and Kaoru looked to the ground at the mention of her father, knowing she would have to consent to leaving.

He breathed a sigh of relief at Kaoru's sign of submission.  "I'll feel a lot better when you're safe and away from this war.  Tomoe will be able to protect you from where she is, so don't worry about anything.  She'll be here early in the morning so pack only what you need, she'll have everything else."  Sano clapped a hand on her back and was about to say something else when shouts from the courtyard caught his attention.  He cursed under his breath and quickly ran out to meet them, Kaoru following right behind him.  She gave a gasp, the five men that had run in were soaked with blood and were barely standing on their own two feet.  She began to tear her yukata for bandages as one of the men reported.

"They just started attacking for no reason, yelling about a rebellion at hand!  They were too fast Sano!  They were prepared for everything," the man gasped out as Kaoru tightly tied the makeshift bandage.  Sano's face was grim as he began to clench and unclench his fists.

"Kaoru, quickly take care of these men's wounds, we leave tomorrow at dawn."  He whirled around and stormed off to his rooms, obviously going to strategize and think of what to do when the enemy is your own king.

~*~

The carriage gave another uncomfortable bump and Kaoru winced at the pain on her rear.  Her cousin, Tomoe, looked at her from across and gave an apologizing smile, looking as if she was sitting in a comfortable armchair.

"I'm sorry Kaoru-chan, but Sano said speed over comfort."  She paused, waiting for Kaoru's answer.

"It's ok, Tomoe, it's that baka's fault, not yours."

Tomoe gave a grin and her elegant face brightened at her cousin's good humor.  She leaned over to tuck a renegade strand of hair behind Kaoru's ear then looked outside of the tiny window.

"Suiko is a lot more beautiful than I thought.  I don't think I've visited your land for years.  Hakuho's forests aren't as thick as yours."  Tomoe chatted away about where she lived, Hakuho, and all the little spots she would take her cousin to visit.  Kaoru listened with half a ear as her thoughts turned to her brother.  He had given her a stiff and brief hug before quickly leaving with the group of men to the opposite direction.  He didn't even look back for one more goodbye, though his sister did to catch one final glance of the last male in the Kamiya legacy.

"Kaoru," Tomoe's soft voice cut through her thoughts.  "Are you alright?"  The woman's eyes were sincerely worried and Kaoru gave a small smile for her.  Relieved at the smile, Tomoe began to relay her worries of the war.

"If Shishio is attacking your land, what is he going to do to all the other nobles' lands?  I sent as many troops as I could to aid your brother, but I'm afraid that Shishio might look to my own borders next.  I don't want to loose Hakuho, it's the last part of my heritage," Tomoe fretted, pulling at her fingers in anxiety.

Kaoru took Tomoe's hand and grasped it.  "No matter what, I'll always be there to help Tomoe, so don't ever worry.  Let me do that," Kaoru added for good measure.  Tomoe flung herself into the girl's arms.  When Kaoru had first met her cousin, she was nervous about the stunning and mannerly woman who had stood before her.  Though they were the same age, Kaoru felt they were leagues apart.  They had been the fondest friends years ago, but as time passed by, they saw each other less and less.  But Tomoe's kind words broke the ice and she could feel the old friendship from childhood appearing again.

She was rhythmically rubbing Tomoe's back when there was a loud thump on the roof.  The carriage gave a sudden lurch and stopped.  They weren't supposed to stop anywhere till they had reached Tomoe's home; what had happened?  Kaoru took her bokken out from her travel bag and motioned Tomoe to get behind her.  She couldn't hear anything, but she could feel someone out there, moving towards the door.  She held her breath and raised her bokken, waiting for the intruder to open the door.

When the door opened to show a stranger and not the driver, Kaoru swung without another thought.  A sword appeared from the stranger's hand and slashed the bokken in half before it could touch him.  The sun's light created a bright glow around him, making it hard to see who he was.  Kaoru inched back, still protecting her cousin with her body.

"Who are you," she demanded with an unperturbed voice, proud that it didn't show the fear quaking inside.

He raised the arm holding the sharp katana and pressed it lightly against Kaoru's throat.  "Kamiya Kaoru and Yukishiro Tomoe, I presume," said a cultured voice.  "If you could step out of the carriage."

Kaoru opened her mouth to argue, but he pressed hard enough to open a small cut, letting blood trickle down.  She tried to ignore the sting and slowly moved out of the carriage, still trying to shield Tomoe from the katana.  When she saw the swordsman, she wanted to laugh.  The figure that stood before them was a short man, maybe a few inches taller than herself, with bright auburn hair tied low in the back.  His garb was assassin-like, all black.  But her urge to laugh stopped when she saw his eyes, pale gold and the emptiest she had ever seen.  'He wants to kidnap us,' Kaoru suddenly thought, her fear growing.  'I have to protect Tomoe, I have to!'  She threw the piece of bokken at her captor's head and turned to run, dragging Tomoe with her.  A dark blur zipped past and Kaoru ran into a hard chest.  She ricocheted and fell back but strong hands grabbed her shoulders.

"My leader wants a word with you," he said, looking straight into her eyes.  The warning was clear, come or get hurt.  But she wasn't going down without a fight; not if he intended to hurt her or Tomoe.

"Forget it!  My cousin and I are already late, now if you'll excuse us," Kaoru said politely, moving to the side.  He took a step to the side and moved in front of her.  She went right, he went right.  She went left, he went left.

"Kora, you must be idiosyncratic, because we refuse to be threatened to do something we do not want to do.  And I am not meeting your leader under any circumstances.  He may schedule an appointment if he wishes to talk instead of sending some kidnapper such as yourself to do his dirty work," Kaoru gushed out in one breath.  She waited for her captor to loose his cool and get angry, but he just stood there with an amused look on his face.  As if she was a one person kabuki theater, if that even existed.  With Tomoe still protectively behind her, she waited for a response.  Kaoru opened her mouth.  "I'll take that as a ye-"

He reached behind Kaoru and yanked Tomoe to him.  Kaoru yelped and tried to pull her cousin back, but he tugged Tomoe out of her hands.  He led her to the carriage and gently pushed her inside.  Kaoru could see Tomoe struggling to get out, but he pushed her back in.  He talked to her and Tomoe nodded, letting him close the door.  And right on cue, the unconscious driver woke up from his little nap.  He looked around him, somewhat disoriented, but snapped to attention when the kidnapper gave the driver the reins.  The redhead's mouth moved, giving directions to the driver, and the driver gave a quick nod, slapping the reins.  The carriage took off in a faster speed than before and Kaoru watched it zip by with a dropped mouth.

"Tomoe," she screamed, hiking up her kimono to start running after her cousin, but a hand grabbed the back of her clothes.  She tried to slap the hand away.  "You idiot, my cousin needs me," she yelled at him, smacking him with every word.

"My leader requires your company.  He has, however, given me permission to take further measures if you didn't come quietly.  Unless you want those measures to be used on your cousin..."  Another warning.  She gave a scowl and stopped her wild hitting.

"Lady Kamiya, if you will follow me, there is a horse grazing nearby."  His voice was painfully polite as he spoke, the ultimate epitome of a court noble.

"I take it that I'm a hostage," Kaoru muttered while following the man to his horse.

"Unfortunately so," he answered without turning.

"Why are you so polite?  Shouldn't you be aggressive and arrogant while swinging your sword around," Kaoru asked curiously.

"I'm a noble, not a brigand."  He pushed aside some bushes to reveal a chestnut brown horse munching on some grass.  At the sight of his master, the horse trotted over.  Kaoru slowly looked up from the hooves to the tip of it's ears.

"Eh .... um .... just to let you know, I'm not a very accomplished rider ... and .. eh?"

The man had kneeled down on one knee and offered her his cupped hands.  She looked at him for a moment, and then gave a sigh.  She placed one geta in his hands and he lightly tossed her onto the horse's back.  Without a sweat, he gracefully jumped behind her, putting her in a rather intimate embrace as he reached for his reins.  With a tap of his heels they were off, going on some invisible trail through the thick forests of Suiko.  A question was poking at Kaoru's thoughts and after a period of silence, she finally decided to ask.

"If you are such an honorable noble, why are you kidnapping me?"

"Who says I'm honorable," he whispered, his breath tickling her ears and sending shivers down her spine.

She jerked it to the side, angry at her reaction and his words.  "So you are an dishonorable man," she pressed further.

"Honorable in some respects....though not all."  His voice dropped at the last bit, as if he was remembering a reluctant memory.

Kaoru's ears perked up and her conscience began to peek through.  He sounded almost sad through his court drawl.  "What are you remembering," she asked softly.

"Nothing for you to know," came his gruff reply, the first hint of emotion she had heard in his voice.  This drove her curiosity more, not to mention her inner need to help others.

"I just wanted to help."

"Nobody can help me."  His voice of emptiness was back and Kaoru leaned back against his arms.  A battle lost.

_____________________________________________________________

~I've been kind of on and off with my Kenshin stories, but I'm hoping that I'll be able to regularly update this one. So what do you think of this story? Long reviews are welcomed! (though I hope they are not flames). And I'm making Kenshin be painfully polite in this fic, though not all the time. kaoru will be sure to break him of that.