The Devil's Workshop
MysticShadowWanderer
*****
Chapter Nineteen: Just One More Reason
Battousai grimaced, just slightly, as he walked down the streets of Hagi. Kaoru was tucked safely in his arms, her face nestled in the crook of his neck as she slept. It would be obvious to anyone watching, not that anyone was at this hour of the morning, just what she meant to him. But she'd been so tired these last few days, and he couldn't stand listening to her stumble over her own feet while they walked. He reminded himself that although she was a strong young woman, she was unused to walking such long distances and he had completely reversed her sleep pattern; it wasn't as though he could blame her for being weary. She looked so content, so trusting, that he couldn't bear to wake her; it had been a long time since anyone had felt that safe around him.
The main problem that Battousai was currently facing was that he didn't know where they could possibly stay. Hagi wasn't unlike other cities in the fact that it had numerous inns and taverns, but he'd been there before, and he presence wasn't particularly tolerated. For once, he had no connections, which irked him. As a general rule, he had at least one place he could stay in secret everywhere he went, but his last stay in Hagi hadn't been prolonged enough to procure one. It seemed that money would have to work its magic.
Which, of course, meant that he would be taking Kaoru to one of the less reputable places in town. He shrugged mentally; there was nothing he could do about the situation. Kaoru stirred a bit in his arms and he tightened his grip on her. It still amazed him how well she fit with him, everything about her a counter to him. Where he lacked kindness, she showed him love. His bloodstained soul set off her innocence; he frowned to think about how he'd already corrupted her so much, though that was something she'd readily accepted, and he didn't question whatever her reasoning was.
"Kaoru," he said, voice low and commanding. "You're going to have to wake up now."
With a yawn, she slowly opened her eyes. Battousai set her on her feet and watched in amusement as she straightened out her kimono and smoothed down her hair. Where they were going, it wouldn't make any difference.
***
Kaoru's eyes were constantly shifting back and forth as she sat in the darkened corner. Battousai had bid her to stay there and wait for him and, most especially, to try not to draw any attention to herself. He had followed the owner of what was at least called an inn to a private room, presumably to discuss a matter of business of some sort. Consequently, Kaoru was left to sit in extreme discomfort among a haze of smoke. Battousai had sat her in the farthest corner from the actual bar and hoped that no one would notice her.
"You want a drink, little girl?" asked a woman who wore clothes that made Kaoru flsh in embarrassment for her.
"N-no, thank you," Kaoru replied softly.
"Suit yourself," the woman said, running an eye up and down Kaoru's travel-worn kimono.
Kaoru self-consciously fingered one of the rips in the neckline that Battousai had "accidentally" created. 'Hmph. Accidentally with his teeth,' she thought.
"You're the one that came in with the redheaded man, right?" Her thoughts were interrupted.
"Oh, I... yes."
The woman looked hard at the lightly scarred flesh on the inner part of Kaoru's shoulder, visible through the tear in the cloth of her kimono, then smiled knowingly and dropped herself heavily to sit down next to the younger girl.
"So, you're the Battousai's woman?" she questioned, a strange gleam in her eyes.
"What's he like?" Her voice was hushed, as if she knew Battousai didn't want his presence known; Kaoru decided it was a wise assumption on the other woman's part.
Kaoru couldn't do anything but stare blankly, half in disbelief and half because she didn't want to upset Battousai by saying the wrong thing. It appeared that she was about to be put to the test, luckily she'd quickly been developing the skill to reveal little to no true emotion. Still, she had no idea what to say. The woman waved a hand across her line of vision.
"You okay?" she asked.
"Oh... yes. Yes, I'm fine. Sorry."
"So? Are you going to tell me anything?" This woman was relentless.
Kaoru leveled the most intimidating glare she could manage at her. Maybe it wasn't frightening as Battousai's, but it got the point across. It was difficult for her to be so rude to someone she barely knew, though, so she attempted to compensate.
"I suppose I could use a drink after all." The woman raised an eyebrow. "Just tea, if you would."
The woman rose gracefully and went off to get Kaoru her tea; she was, after all, a paying customer. Kaoru buried her face in her hands; this was not going well. She silently begged the gods to let Battousai return soon. Her wish, however, wasn't granted soon enough, and she had soon drawn the attention of several men that, on the basis of sight and smell, had had more than a little to drink. She hadn't noticed the waitress she'd been "conversing" with speaking to the men because she'd been so busy contemplating just how angry Battousai would be.
"Hey there," she heard and lifted her head.
"Oh damn," she muttered under her breath.
"Here's your tea," came the voice of the waitress.
Kaoru's head was beginning to ache, this was all too much at once for her to deal with. 'Where the HELL is Battousai when I actually need his help?' She took a sip of her tea to attempt to calm her nerves while semi-effectively ignoring the three obnoxious men that were starting to encroach on her personal space. When the liquid in her cup first touched her lips, she paused and sniffed at it. A devious smile was sent in her direction by a certain scantily attired waitress. Brows furrowing in annoyance, Kaoru shot an almost murderous look back. She sighed heavily and resigned herself to sipping at the drink again. It was tea, or at least mostly tea. But Kaoru was young, not stupid. She knew alcohol when she tasted it.
'What could it hurt? It's not so much, and it's not as if I've never had sake before.' Still, this sake tasted a bit odd. She shrugged and continued to drink it, after all, she was no expert on things like that.
"What the hell'd you give the poor girl, Yuki?" the bartender asked.
"Eh, some of that American import stuff, the cheap shit you get on less-than-legal terms."
The bartender frowned; Battousai would not be pleased.
Knowing well what went on in these types of places, Battousai hadn't had much hope that he wouldn't have some sort of trouble. He hurried the gruff-looking innkeeper along, grumbling at the price it would cost to keep his identity concealed. Death threats wouldn't work this time, there were too many people. Battousai swore as he handed over a generous amount of money and then quickly made his way back out into the bar.
"Get the fuck away from me!" Battousai knew that voice easily, but also knew that it was not quite the same as usual.
"Oh ho! So the pretty little thing has a mouth on her, does she?" He didn't recognize this voice, but could tell that whoever it was, was drunk. This didn't promise to be a good situation.
"If you don't want to have your mouth detached from your face, I'd suggest you leave me the hell alone!" She slurred her words slightly, never a good sign. Battousai couldn't help but grin at what she'd said, though, she still had the fire he'd come to love.
Battousai slunk closer, cutting a stealthy path through the smoke-filled room, fingers lightly tapping at the hilt of his katana. 'Perhaps I should have left my wakizashi with her. It would have been interesting to see how she'd have handled them if I had.' Part of him eagerly wanted to see her kill again, though he doubted he would have let it get that far.
"Come on, pretty." Battousai frowned; he didn't like her being called that by any other man. "Let's see what that dirty little mouth of yours can really do."
"Like hell!" came her raising voice.
"Usually I like them feisty, but you're a bit more of a fireball than you should be, you little bitch." Battousai could see them clearly through the haze now; he was only about ten feet away, figure half in the shadows.
Smirking as Kaoru's fist connected directly with the man's jaw, Battousai stepped forward to stand next to the man, who was now clutching his face and bleeding over his fingers.
"Excuse me," Battousai said quietly. "I believe the lady said something to the extent that if you didn't leave her the hell alone, she'd take your mouth off."
"Yeah? What are you going to do about it, little man?" Apparently they were more drunk than Battousai had first thought, because they didn't seem to notice who he was or even the fact that he had swords hanging at his hip.
"My, my," he said, the picture of utmost calm. "You are a drunk bastard, aren't you?"
"What?! Who do you think you're messing with, buddy?"
Battousai smirked and made his intentions overly obvious as he flicked his katana up with his thumb. His voice dropped to nearly a whisper. "The lady would take off your mouth..." He paused. "I would make a trophy of your head."
The men started backing up, noticing the slightly bloodthirsty glint in the redhead's narrowed eyes.
"Now I'm quite sure you don't want that," Battousai said with a feigned smile. Suddenly his mouth set into a line and he growled, "Get the fuck away."
That was more than enough for the three very drunk and very confused men. Like beaten dogs, they turned tail and bolted out the door. Battousai spun just as Kaoru stumbled into his arms. With a firm, and slightly painful, grip on her elbow, he dragged her to the bar.
"Who?" was all he asked, having already assessed the situation. He saw one waitress looked slightly guilty, and he glared at her. "You, take us to a room."
Yuki snapped to attention. Normally she only worked in the bar, but she would rather defy the devil than the Battousai. With her eyes fixed on the floor, she led them down the hall to the room she'd been told was theirs. Bowing, she attempted to make an escape, but Battousai's glare pinned her to the spot.
"Go inside and wait," he said softly, directing his words to a swaying Kaoru. "For the gods' sakes, go sit down before you fall down."
Kaoru nodded vaguely and slipped inside the room. When the shoji shut with a snap, Battousai grabbed Yuki's bare upper arm.
"You're lucky I don't make it a practice to kill women," he snarled.
"W-what are you going to do to me?" she squeaked.
"Why did you do that?" he asked in return, ignoring he question completely.
"I-I d-don't know."
"You lying bitch." He tightened his grip, it was most definitely going to leave a bruise. "Tell me the truth."
"B-because..." Yuki gulped. How was she supposed to tell him she got his woman drunk because she wouldn't spill anything about him, not to mention the fact that she'd instantly found him attractive and was going to attempt to seduce him?
"You will tell me now," he said, very slowly, with emphasis on every syllable. "Or I won't hesitate to dislocate your shoulder."
"Okay, okay!" she yelped, and spilled the entire story to him, omitting the fact that she'd brought those men to pester the girl.
"Fucking whore," he muttered as he released her abruptly. "It would be in your best interest if I never saw your face again."
Stumbling backward and nodding furiously, Yuki beat a quick retreat; Battousai could see her limbs visibly trembling. It didn't really bother him, she deserved it. He slid the shoji open and stepped inside to see Kaoru sitting on the floor, leaning against the wall. When Battousai came in, she stood, only to be caught by him a few seconds later when she fell Kicking at the futon, he sloppily unrolled it and laid her down. After he dug through her things, which he'd had sent to the room earlier, he pulled out a yukata. Carefully, he untangled her dirty, tattered kimono, gently unwrapped the bindings from her breasts, and slipped her into her yukata. With a kiss to her temple, he laid down and pulled her into his arms.
"Why did you drink it, sweetling?" he asked quietly as she twined her fingers with his.
"It was only one cup," she said; he rested his head on her shoulder. "It's not as if I've never had that much."
"Mm," he agreed. "This wasn't sake, though." He went into the entire story, and explained that what she had been drinking was wholegrain whiskey, illegally imported from America. By the time he'd finished, she was fast asleep. He kissed her softly and, removing his arms from her, propped herself on one elbow. An almost-smile reached his face. He thought of getting up to sleep against the wall like he usually did, but the temptation to hold her through the night was too strong. He laid back down with a soft sigh.
"My stupid, beautiful girl," he whispered. "You don't know just how much you've changed me."
*****
MysticShadowWanderer
*****
Chapter Nineteen: Just One More Reason
Battousai grimaced, just slightly, as he walked down the streets of Hagi. Kaoru was tucked safely in his arms, her face nestled in the crook of his neck as she slept. It would be obvious to anyone watching, not that anyone was at this hour of the morning, just what she meant to him. But she'd been so tired these last few days, and he couldn't stand listening to her stumble over her own feet while they walked. He reminded himself that although she was a strong young woman, she was unused to walking such long distances and he had completely reversed her sleep pattern; it wasn't as though he could blame her for being weary. She looked so content, so trusting, that he couldn't bear to wake her; it had been a long time since anyone had felt that safe around him.
The main problem that Battousai was currently facing was that he didn't know where they could possibly stay. Hagi wasn't unlike other cities in the fact that it had numerous inns and taverns, but he'd been there before, and he presence wasn't particularly tolerated. For once, he had no connections, which irked him. As a general rule, he had at least one place he could stay in secret everywhere he went, but his last stay in Hagi hadn't been prolonged enough to procure one. It seemed that money would have to work its magic.
Which, of course, meant that he would be taking Kaoru to one of the less reputable places in town. He shrugged mentally; there was nothing he could do about the situation. Kaoru stirred a bit in his arms and he tightened his grip on her. It still amazed him how well she fit with him, everything about her a counter to him. Where he lacked kindness, she showed him love. His bloodstained soul set off her innocence; he frowned to think about how he'd already corrupted her so much, though that was something she'd readily accepted, and he didn't question whatever her reasoning was.
"Kaoru," he said, voice low and commanding. "You're going to have to wake up now."
With a yawn, she slowly opened her eyes. Battousai set her on her feet and watched in amusement as she straightened out her kimono and smoothed down her hair. Where they were going, it wouldn't make any difference.
***
Kaoru's eyes were constantly shifting back and forth as she sat in the darkened corner. Battousai had bid her to stay there and wait for him and, most especially, to try not to draw any attention to herself. He had followed the owner of what was at least called an inn to a private room, presumably to discuss a matter of business of some sort. Consequently, Kaoru was left to sit in extreme discomfort among a haze of smoke. Battousai had sat her in the farthest corner from the actual bar and hoped that no one would notice her.
"You want a drink, little girl?" asked a woman who wore clothes that made Kaoru flsh in embarrassment for her.
"N-no, thank you," Kaoru replied softly.
"Suit yourself," the woman said, running an eye up and down Kaoru's travel-worn kimono.
Kaoru self-consciously fingered one of the rips in the neckline that Battousai had "accidentally" created. 'Hmph. Accidentally with his teeth,' she thought.
"You're the one that came in with the redheaded man, right?" Her thoughts were interrupted.
"Oh, I... yes."
The woman looked hard at the lightly scarred flesh on the inner part of Kaoru's shoulder, visible through the tear in the cloth of her kimono, then smiled knowingly and dropped herself heavily to sit down next to the younger girl.
"So, you're the Battousai's woman?" she questioned, a strange gleam in her eyes.
"What's he like?" Her voice was hushed, as if she knew Battousai didn't want his presence known; Kaoru decided it was a wise assumption on the other woman's part.
Kaoru couldn't do anything but stare blankly, half in disbelief and half because she didn't want to upset Battousai by saying the wrong thing. It appeared that she was about to be put to the test, luckily she'd quickly been developing the skill to reveal little to no true emotion. Still, she had no idea what to say. The woman waved a hand across her line of vision.
"You okay?" she asked.
"Oh... yes. Yes, I'm fine. Sorry."
"So? Are you going to tell me anything?" This woman was relentless.
Kaoru leveled the most intimidating glare she could manage at her. Maybe it wasn't frightening as Battousai's, but it got the point across. It was difficult for her to be so rude to someone she barely knew, though, so she attempted to compensate.
"I suppose I could use a drink after all." The woman raised an eyebrow. "Just tea, if you would."
The woman rose gracefully and went off to get Kaoru her tea; she was, after all, a paying customer. Kaoru buried her face in her hands; this was not going well. She silently begged the gods to let Battousai return soon. Her wish, however, wasn't granted soon enough, and she had soon drawn the attention of several men that, on the basis of sight and smell, had had more than a little to drink. She hadn't noticed the waitress she'd been "conversing" with speaking to the men because she'd been so busy contemplating just how angry Battousai would be.
"Hey there," she heard and lifted her head.
"Oh damn," she muttered under her breath.
"Here's your tea," came the voice of the waitress.
Kaoru's head was beginning to ache, this was all too much at once for her to deal with. 'Where the HELL is Battousai when I actually need his help?' She took a sip of her tea to attempt to calm her nerves while semi-effectively ignoring the three obnoxious men that were starting to encroach on her personal space. When the liquid in her cup first touched her lips, she paused and sniffed at it. A devious smile was sent in her direction by a certain scantily attired waitress. Brows furrowing in annoyance, Kaoru shot an almost murderous look back. She sighed heavily and resigned herself to sipping at the drink again. It was tea, or at least mostly tea. But Kaoru was young, not stupid. She knew alcohol when she tasted it.
'What could it hurt? It's not so much, and it's not as if I've never had sake before.' Still, this sake tasted a bit odd. She shrugged and continued to drink it, after all, she was no expert on things like that.
"What the hell'd you give the poor girl, Yuki?" the bartender asked.
"Eh, some of that American import stuff, the cheap shit you get on less-than-legal terms."
The bartender frowned; Battousai would not be pleased.
Knowing well what went on in these types of places, Battousai hadn't had much hope that he wouldn't have some sort of trouble. He hurried the gruff-looking innkeeper along, grumbling at the price it would cost to keep his identity concealed. Death threats wouldn't work this time, there were too many people. Battousai swore as he handed over a generous amount of money and then quickly made his way back out into the bar.
"Get the fuck away from me!" Battousai knew that voice easily, but also knew that it was not quite the same as usual.
"Oh ho! So the pretty little thing has a mouth on her, does she?" He didn't recognize this voice, but could tell that whoever it was, was drunk. This didn't promise to be a good situation.
"If you don't want to have your mouth detached from your face, I'd suggest you leave me the hell alone!" She slurred her words slightly, never a good sign. Battousai couldn't help but grin at what she'd said, though, she still had the fire he'd come to love.
Battousai slunk closer, cutting a stealthy path through the smoke-filled room, fingers lightly tapping at the hilt of his katana. 'Perhaps I should have left my wakizashi with her. It would have been interesting to see how she'd have handled them if I had.' Part of him eagerly wanted to see her kill again, though he doubted he would have let it get that far.
"Come on, pretty." Battousai frowned; he didn't like her being called that by any other man. "Let's see what that dirty little mouth of yours can really do."
"Like hell!" came her raising voice.
"Usually I like them feisty, but you're a bit more of a fireball than you should be, you little bitch." Battousai could see them clearly through the haze now; he was only about ten feet away, figure half in the shadows.
Smirking as Kaoru's fist connected directly with the man's jaw, Battousai stepped forward to stand next to the man, who was now clutching his face and bleeding over his fingers.
"Excuse me," Battousai said quietly. "I believe the lady said something to the extent that if you didn't leave her the hell alone, she'd take your mouth off."
"Yeah? What are you going to do about it, little man?" Apparently they were more drunk than Battousai had first thought, because they didn't seem to notice who he was or even the fact that he had swords hanging at his hip.
"My, my," he said, the picture of utmost calm. "You are a drunk bastard, aren't you?"
"What?! Who do you think you're messing with, buddy?"
Battousai smirked and made his intentions overly obvious as he flicked his katana up with his thumb. His voice dropped to nearly a whisper. "The lady would take off your mouth..." He paused. "I would make a trophy of your head."
The men started backing up, noticing the slightly bloodthirsty glint in the redhead's narrowed eyes.
"Now I'm quite sure you don't want that," Battousai said with a feigned smile. Suddenly his mouth set into a line and he growled, "Get the fuck away."
That was more than enough for the three very drunk and very confused men. Like beaten dogs, they turned tail and bolted out the door. Battousai spun just as Kaoru stumbled into his arms. With a firm, and slightly painful, grip on her elbow, he dragged her to the bar.
"Who?" was all he asked, having already assessed the situation. He saw one waitress looked slightly guilty, and he glared at her. "You, take us to a room."
Yuki snapped to attention. Normally she only worked in the bar, but she would rather defy the devil than the Battousai. With her eyes fixed on the floor, she led them down the hall to the room she'd been told was theirs. Bowing, she attempted to make an escape, but Battousai's glare pinned her to the spot.
"Go inside and wait," he said softly, directing his words to a swaying Kaoru. "For the gods' sakes, go sit down before you fall down."
Kaoru nodded vaguely and slipped inside the room. When the shoji shut with a snap, Battousai grabbed Yuki's bare upper arm.
"You're lucky I don't make it a practice to kill women," he snarled.
"W-what are you going to do to me?" she squeaked.
"Why did you do that?" he asked in return, ignoring he question completely.
"I-I d-don't know."
"You lying bitch." He tightened his grip, it was most definitely going to leave a bruise. "Tell me the truth."
"B-because..." Yuki gulped. How was she supposed to tell him she got his woman drunk because she wouldn't spill anything about him, not to mention the fact that she'd instantly found him attractive and was going to attempt to seduce him?
"You will tell me now," he said, very slowly, with emphasis on every syllable. "Or I won't hesitate to dislocate your shoulder."
"Okay, okay!" she yelped, and spilled the entire story to him, omitting the fact that she'd brought those men to pester the girl.
"Fucking whore," he muttered as he released her abruptly. "It would be in your best interest if I never saw your face again."
Stumbling backward and nodding furiously, Yuki beat a quick retreat; Battousai could see her limbs visibly trembling. It didn't really bother him, she deserved it. He slid the shoji open and stepped inside to see Kaoru sitting on the floor, leaning against the wall. When Battousai came in, she stood, only to be caught by him a few seconds later when she fell Kicking at the futon, he sloppily unrolled it and laid her down. After he dug through her things, which he'd had sent to the room earlier, he pulled out a yukata. Carefully, he untangled her dirty, tattered kimono, gently unwrapped the bindings from her breasts, and slipped her into her yukata. With a kiss to her temple, he laid down and pulled her into his arms.
"Why did you drink it, sweetling?" he asked quietly as she twined her fingers with his.
"It was only one cup," she said; he rested his head on her shoulder. "It's not as if I've never had that much."
"Mm," he agreed. "This wasn't sake, though." He went into the entire story, and explained that what she had been drinking was wholegrain whiskey, illegally imported from America. By the time he'd finished, she was fast asleep. He kissed her softly and, removing his arms from her, propped herself on one elbow. An almost-smile reached his face. He thought of getting up to sleep against the wall like he usually did, but the temptation to hold her through the night was too strong. He laid back down with a soft sigh.
"My stupid, beautiful girl," he whispered. "You don't know just how much you've changed me."
*****