Deadly Promise
Chapter 1
~Hate all you want and rage all you want
But it will never fill an empty heart~
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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.
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~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.
