Disclaimer: I think I'd be happy with just an Oro-chan plushie. ^^ I'd very much like to have katanas and bugnuks too, but ;_- they don't belong to me. Of course, I could always use my dad's Chinese sword to threaten for the rights…XD don't own the soulmate principle either (L.J. Smith), or the Hex concept (Rhiannon Lassiter).
A/N: Here's a teeny-weeny bit of Yahiko in it for everyone who's been waiting. He's waay OOC in this, because of the supernatural ability that he has. If anyone's read Yami no Matsuei, be prepared for him to act a bit like Kurosaki Hisoka. A bit more about Sou-chan in this chapter since he's been neglected coz I've been concentrating on Kenshin and Kaoru *hugs Sou* but he's got his chance to shine now! XD Thanks to everyone for the explanation on the jasmine scent thing! I get it now! ^^ :p I'll just add the vanilla bit in then! Lol. Hoo~ more WAFFYness between Ken-chan and Kaoru ^^ Slight darkishness and Sano-cursings at the end of the chapter though, so don't say I didn't warn you! Slightly shorter than the last chapter, but urgh~ couldn't right anymore at 3am in the morning, so this is what you get! Enjoy!
Reviewers' Space!
Inuyasha22 – XD Mwahah~ but of coursssse~ ^^ it's too much fun!
chris – yeah, the connection is finally kicking in, but they still have 0 idea about what's going on *snicker* but it's not like it's gonna stop them from anything though, lol! Thanks for R&Ring!
Random Reader-san – Yea, it may take some time before I get all of the primary characters in, but rest assured that they'll be there. It's just that I need to build up some elements of the story first before I start adding everyone else in. Besides, if I started off with everyone in the mix, I probably wouldn't have been able to focus on some things as much as others. I'm glad you like it! Thanks for reviewing!
Baka-Ryu – Yeah, MisaoxAoshi stuff is pretty good, but some of the fics where there's SouxMisao are pretty good too, but I think they made Aoshi too cruel o_O I think Believe Your Smile (no idea whether the title is correct or not, my memory is terrible, but I think that's it), is pretty good for a Sou-Misao fic. Thanks for the explanation!
xabie – hey there, and thanks for reading! Nah, I'm Malaysian; hi neighbour! Lol ^^ I swear the way they translated it was terrible! I remember sitting through all the episodes and grumbling to myself muttering about how this was wrong and that was right; there was only *1* episode where they got everything right, names, translations everything, other than that, everything else was *wrong*! Ooh, a Mikagami fan too? Tok/Fuu forever! XD I love that fic The Darker Side, but ;_; the author hasn't updated it for so long! Grah~ Thanks once again for reading and reviewing, and hope to see you around in the chapters to come!
PEACH ^_^ - Glad you liked chapter 8! KxK WAFF will show up when it does, but since this isn't just an exclusive KxK fic, there's other parts to deal with as well, so please be patient ne? Thanks for R&Ring!
Neko Oni - ^^ Yes indeedy. Ken-chan is running again XD but this time Kaoru catches him! Talk about embarrassment man! I find it pretty hilarious how Saitou can make everyone want to murder him because of all his sarcastic antics, lol. If I didn't know better, I'd say that he lives to irritate people :p Yeah, Aoshi melted slightly, didn't he? Hahah~ Mmm… the HalfSoul connection does have it's good points and bad points, and the mental link thingy between Kaoru and Kenshin will be pretty important in the future XD how and why is another thing! Mwahah~ Really? Lol, I looked up the uses of jasmine in magicky stuff, and get this! 'The magical properties of jasmine are: love, psychic awareness, dreams, peace and sex.' *grins maniacally* Ah, more than one use ^^;;; lol Hehe, it is quite an evil cliffhanger, is it not? XD I couldn't help myself! ^^; It's one of the great things about being a fanfic author; baiting your readers to stay on, lol! Art college? Cool? Like modern art or animation or what? I've got one friend who's going into animation, and another who's doing computer graphics. So good luck when school starts! Anyway, thanks for the detailed explanation and see ya round next time!
kakarlena – XD Yes, I am mucho evil! Mwahahha ^^ Don't worry, you'll have fun reading the chapter ^^
missaw - ^^;; sorry, I wasn't sure, so I put both yessir and yesmam in ^^; Hahha! Your mum got freaked out by the title of my story? ^^;;; oops. Considering the occupations of most of the characters in the story, I thought that it'd be pretty appropriate to name it that. ^^ Yup, update update. Thanks for R&Ring!
Dragona – Ah yes, WAFFYness rox ^^ I will!
Rapyer2986-Malik's Mika – No problem, I'm open to suggestions or advice of all types ^^ Lol, I know, I spend a lot of time reading fics after midnight as well ^^;; And sometimes even writing fanfiction, which is why there may be errors here and there. Guilty as charged! Yea, they do seem more Schwarzy-ish, don't they? All the paranormal powers and all. Except, for the fact that they're doing a Weiss job instead of the Schwarz job. Schu rocks! ^^ He is soooo evil! I think Ran's cool too, but sometimes he's such a jerk; it's like he has a permanent stick up his ass or something! (Excuse the language :p) Ah…okays ^^ lol, history about martial arts is alright; anything is better than taking the subject itself! I'm glad you enjoyed the KxK interaction; I had to rack my brains for the later half of the chapter because they couldn't exactly jump straight into personal details so fast, ne? Lol, our dear Oro-chan ^^;; loves to run (hey, that rhymes!). Anyway, thanks so much once again for the explanations and everything, and thanks for reading and reviewing!
CurlsofSerenity – Mm…okays. Gotcha!
Now…on to the fic!
Chapter 9: Silent Plea
Thoughts are in ' '
Speech is in " "
Telepathy is in italics.
Computer/Hex commands are in bold.
'Can anyone hear me?' A young boy with sorrowful brown eyes turned his head to the ceiling, deaf and blind to the voices and people around him who milled around his bed. There was nothing in his world but emotion; so much emotion that it was much too much. Their mouths opened and closed, but he could not hear a word that was coming out of their mouths; he had shut off his hearing senses a long time ago, to protect himself from the pain. It didn't seem to matter somehow, because that was all that he seemed to feel; pain, sorrow, hatred, loneliness. He was resigned to the miserable life that he held on the bed in the clinical laboratory. Experiment, experiment, experiment everyday. The days when he used to play in the streets seemed so far away now, like a fleeting dream, something unreal that did not exist in his current life. His eyes were open, devoid of emotion, but inside…
His soul was being torn apart.
'Please…someone…help me…'
~*~
Soujirou was back in the basement among all the computer equipment, now that the sofa incident hoo-haa had died down. He shook his head to himself, smiling at how much more interesting the household had become after the arrival of one Himura Kenshin. The household was much livelier now, and he was happy that Kenshin seemed to be doing wonders for his sister; although she did seem to get embarrassed a lot more because he was around, she was also happier than she had ever been in ages.
The computer screen flickered on, glowing slightly in the musky darkness of the basement. Soujirou rested his fingers lightly on the panels on either side of the keyboard that were nothing more than computer parts linked up by wires to the hard drive of one of the many computers in the room. Although the others in the house often went down to the basement to work on computer assignments or mission reports, they, like ordinary people, used the keyboard, and not the bare panels of computer circuits (1). Kaoru and Sanosuke were good hackers, and could work well if they were required to hack, but Soujirou's Hex ability set him apart from them because he could go directly into the Internet network without being detected.
In other words, he could have been a walking, talking, human computer himself.
The nickname for his paranormal hacking abilities had been taken from a gaijin book that Kaoru had read once about people with genes that allowed them to access all computer systems. Those people were known as Hexes, and that was what Soujirou's ability was named as, after they found out what he could do. As far as he knew, there were no others like him, and he himself had no idea why he had such an ability, but he did (and Kaoru didn't) (2).
He could, of course, hack into a computer the normal way by using a keyboard, but it was so much faster to just enter the computer network with his consciousness, and then get out again with the information that he needed. Besides, Bakufu's security wasn't all that easy to get into, and the time limit that a normal hacker might have to break the code would probably not be enough, and the line could easily be traced back to them.
Soujirou's eyes fluttered shut as his consciousness entered the system, and suddenly he was surrounded by repeating number patterns of 1 and 0, computer circuits and millions of kilobytes of information. Soujirou made his way smoothly through the sea of information, easily finding his way to the information that he wanted to know.
Search: Sylven Laboratories
He zoomed past all the irrelevant information, hanging on to the search pattern that guided him to the 'gates' that he had to go through before he got get what he needed. The security programme went on alert at his presence.
?who It demanded.
accepted user It was too easy to fool the security programmes.
?authorization
authorization given
password
password given
The resistance melted away in front of him, and Soujirou flowed through to the next security programme. It was easier to get through the system than he had thought, and within microseconds, he was through all the security procedures and in the database of the Sylven Laboratories.
entry granted. Database records/programmes/operating specifications at your disposal
Database open/records/Empath/experiments
The information flooded back to him in a matter of seconds, and he thumbed through it easily.
Search complete. 1 result/Myojin Yahiko/12/Empath/found in Shinjuku, Tokyo/entered compound 2000/results of capture in database/?indepth search
Soujirou followed the rest of the information.
?siblings=0/?parents=deceased/?open experiment results
He steeled himself as he entered the flow, knowing that it would be more than horrifying. The results imprinted themselves on his memory.
His eyes widened.
~*~
Yes.
Her voice echoed in his mind as he touched his lips to hers, revelling in her response as his lips meld themselves with hers in a sweet dance of passion. He was unprepared for the clarity of longing in her eyes as they kissed; their eyes were wide open. Kaoru's hand slipped from Kenshin's and she wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him closer to her; his arms in turn enveloped her slight waist as electric sparks jumped between them, the silver cord shortened, but grew thicker than before.
Kaoru's fingers tangled within Kenshin's hair, marvelling in the softness of his crimson locks, and her eyes locked with his even as the world melted around them into the silver mist again, and they were back in the recesses of their minds. Here he looked ethereal, red locks loose, wide eyes a mix of swirling amethyst and gold; a mixture of both a child and an angel to her eyes. She felt the comfort of his arms, an encompassing warmth that she hadn't known she had been searching for and acceptance in his eyes. Colours flashed around them as they clung to each other like lifelines, afraid that if they let go, then they would be lost forever. It didn't matter they were no longer in the world of reality; here they were safe in each other's arms, and that was all that they needed. They pulled away from the kiss, coming up for breath at the same time, faces flushed pink from the heat and the lack of oxygen (3). Even then, they kept their eyes locked together in a spellbinding gaze, arms still locked around each other. Kaoru rested against his chest as he pulled her closer, and Kenshin rested his chin lightly atop her hair. Emotions swirled around him; contentment, happiness, comfort; emotions that he had forgotten so very long ago. He couldn't tell whether these emotions were hers or his own, but everything fit together like a well-fixed puzzle. Everything felt so right. As if they belonged together.
Wow. Her voice tickled his mind and he smiled. She snuggled deeper against him and he hugged her tighter in his embrace. Kenshin could feel her happiness. Now that is what I call a kiss! His chest rumbled as he chuckled at her innocence. 'So sweet, so innocent…so very much mine.' The edges of her happiness tinged slightly with the pink of embarrassment as she heard his thoughts. Mou! Don't make all the decisions by yourself! One hand left her waist to tilt her chin up, and he stared down into shining blue eyes.
And what do you suggest? He teased her. Her eyes darted away from his and she muttered a very fast thought that he could barely catch. Hmm? He prodded her. Her eyes met his, before her lids lowered slightly. If you're going to stake a claim on me, then I'm going to stake a claim on you! She ducked her head again, unsure of what his answer would be. She could barely understand how she had changed from a hardened assassin in one second to some kind of high school girl in another. Kaoru had never felt so much…affection for any guy before, but Kenshin was a totally different matter. It was as if she was melting, the way fire burns a candle to soft wax. The moment he cupped her face in his hands, she realized that she needn't have worried, because he apparently felt the same way as her; she could see his emotions reflected in his eyes. His edges of his lips curled up into a tiny smile.
That's absolutely fine by me.
He bent down to capture her lips in another kiss, shivering slightly at the look in his eyes. Kenshin's eyes were half-lidded as their lips played, and he slowly, slowly shut his eyes as she did the same. No words were required between them; emotions shimmered all around, and they revelled in each other. The kiss was cut abrupt as Soujirou's voice entered their minds.
Everyone down to the basement now, please.
Kenshin raised his head from Kaoru's, and they were back in his room again. He would have been annoyed at Kaoru's twin, had it not been the fact that his mental voice carried a sense of urgency and barely concealed anger that was threatening to boil over. He wondered what could have made him so mad. He looked down as Kaoru disentangled herself from him; he nodded, understanding what she wanted; there would be time enough for this later, but right now they needed to go and see what was happening.
~*~
In a few minutes, all of the members of Black Dawn, including Aoshi and Misao were down in the basement. They looked expectantly at Soujirou, who had pulled out of the computer system; he had saved the information to his eidetic memory (4) and then returned to his physical body, converting the information into a readable form that didn't involve numbers and circuits onto the computer so that everyone else could read it. What he had found had shocked him to know end, and he was more than outraged to find that such experiments of inhuman nature were being conducted on a 12-year-old. By the pale look of his face and the fake smile that was now plastered on, everyone could tell that the situation was more serious than it looked, and Soujirou had indeed found something utterly and totally horrifying.
Kaoru was the first to break the uneasy silence. "What did you find, Sou-chan?"
He gestured to the screen wordlessly, and she took a step closer to look at it. Her face twisted into a mask of anger when she scanned the first few paragraphs and she stepped back muttering angrily. Through their HalfSoul connection, Kenshin could feel that her emotions had changed suddenly from peaceful to murderous rage, and he was more than wary of the information that Soujirou had found. He himself took a step forward to read the information; in seconds his eyes were turning a deadly shade of amber that reflected that of murder, and his ki could barely be restrained.
The experiments that had been conducted on the young Empath had been explicit enough. The 12-year-old had been subject to electrocution, burn torture, whipping and had been injected with more than several drugs. A photograph that accompanied the report had shown a young boy bedridden in a hospital bed, blank eyes open as if he was dead, with IV drips and machines of all sorts that were wired up to him. The boy had suffered not only physical abuse, but definitely emotional and mental abuse as well. There was no question as to the boy's mental state; he would be lucky if he hadn't become brain-dead after all those brutal experiments had been done to him; death would probably have been far more preferable in comparison to the living hell that he was in.
Aoshi was the next to look at the information, and rage flared on his face for a moment before his icy cold mask slipped back into place. "The Oniwa Banshuu will take this mission." He replied. When Misao moved forward to have a look, she stopped when he gave her the glance that told her in a dead-straight manner that she would be better off if she didn't look. She nodded back; it must have been really bad if he agreed to bring the Oniwa Banshuu into the mix with just a look at the computer.
Sanosuke was more vocal in his thoughts when he had read the report. "The fucking bastards! Who the fuck do they think they are to do this to a small boy?! I have every mind to kill all the assholes who would dare do this to a 12-year-old, mission or no!"
The computer beeped, and Soujirou clicked on the new e-mail that had just arrived. He read it out to the other occupants of the room.
"It's some extra details on our mission. In addition to retrieving the boy, we have been given orders to kill on sight if we see any other people there, be they scientists or guards. The boy is to take up residence with us, as said earlier, for an indefinable amount of time. Old methods are to be used." A bitter-sweet smile lit his face. "We also have orders to blow the place up when we're done."
Everyone nodded grimly at the sound of this; for once, they would only be too happy to comply.
Dictionary
Bakufu – yakuza group/rivals to the Ishinshishi/responsible for all the evil thingies that are going on in Japan
Ki – aura
Oniwa Banshuu - The spy organization that Aoshi and Misao are in.
Notes:
(1) Well. Where ordinary people like us use the keyboard to do our hacking (I don't know anything about hacking, so don't lock me up!), Soujirou can easily jump into the network system just by inserting his consciousness there. He is a Hex, and therefore is able to do this, while normal people can't er…sic their mind into a computer, see? Well, not unless you wanted to spoil the computer, but that's something else altogether.
(2) You would think that since Kaoru and Soujirou are twins that they would share the same gifts right? They both have the gift of telepathy, but only Sou has abilities as a Hex. *Shrug* It just happens that one of the genes in Sou got slightly mutated, and the genes in Kaoru stayed normal, so that's why he's got it and she doesn't. End of story.
(3) They are still in the recesses of their mind hear, not back to the world of reality yet.
(4)
Eidetic memory. Think photographic memory. Only well, computer
information goes in. Most people who have Hex abilities have eidetic
memories; Sou is no exception ^^
A/N: Ta-dun dun dun~ so ya see? Yahiko will be showing up pretty soon. I know the end of this chapter is probably way darker than the others have been, but don't worry, it won't be totally dark for the rest of the fic; there'll be some light-hearted bits in off course. I hope KxK fans enjoyed the WAFFYness that was in there ^^ it was fun writing it. Well, see ya'll in the next chapter ne?
*Suggestion – for those who enjoy science fiction, I'd recommend you to read the Hex trilogy by Rhiannon Lassiter, which is where I got the Hex concept from. It's really good stuff!
