Disclaimer: I own Rurouni Kenshin like I own the whole of Asia…

Sano: In other words you don't own anything and you're freaking broke.

Kalasin: Oh, look! We DO have some things in common!

Please read author's note at end of chapter

Chapter 12: Steps to the Showdown

…The door to his right.

Did he dare go into that door? But that smell! It was the fragrance that always came with his visions of the blue-eyed girl…

He turned to a scowling Yahiko and startled him by asking, "What does your sister look like?"

"What does it matter? Do you think Enishi's keeping other girls here, too?! Let's just get in there and rescue her before she gets killed, stupid!"

The boy involuntarily stepped back as Kenshin's eyes burned with mystique golden incandescence, and then returned to dark violet. "Tell me. Now."

"She has long black hair and blue eyes. Oh yeah, and the ugliest face you'll ever see." Kenshin directed his gaze to the door again. He wanted to make sure, but how? How could his instincts fight against sorcery, to save someone he hadn't even met?

"Well? What now?" Yahiko asked impatiently, but Kenshin didn't reply. He squinted his eyes and saw a glimmer of green and a sparkle of silver underneath the door. He heard a whisper…from a woman…but whom?

'What are you waiting for? That door can lead to your FATE!'

He didn't know why, but without any further hesitation, he headed for the door.

***@***

Enishi whipped his head toward Kaoru.

Twelve more steps and Battousai and that pesky little boy whose annoying ki Enishi had also felt, would discover where they were. And they would die in his powerful ever-so magical hands.

Kaoru wasn't badly injured, in fact the wounds he had inflicted on her were shallow, and though because of her resemblance to Tomoe he was a mite bit hesitant in hurting her, he knew he could use her.

Why else would Battousai team up with a little boy? Now Enishi knew. Himura wanted to play the good guy, eh? He would see into that. He had sensed the change of aura in the former hitokiri, but he was willing to bet he could unleash Battousai's real form in the blink of an eye.

Nine steps away.

Enishi licked his lips and flexed his fingers.

Seven steps

Enishi turned again to the door then to Kaoru. With an unseen force coming from his outstretched arm, Kaoru's head slammed not gently backwards into the cold wall.

Five steps

She glared at him, but Enishi could smell more blood from the impact and the pain in her eyes.

Now, there were only four steps away.

Three

Two

One.

***@***

Kenshin knew the door would be blocked from the inside. He kicked it, and when it still did not open after he and Yahiko elbowed it, he himself felt as if he had been drained of all patience. Finally he drew his sword, and tried to slash the door open, when something queer happened.

He was just about to destroy the whole thing, when it opened eerily on its own. Enishi stood with his arms crossed, with a cool _expression on his face. "Welcome, Battousai."

"WHAT DID YOU DO TO MY SISTER?!" Yahiko yelled.

Before Kenshin could even glare with pure hatred at Enishi, he too noticed the girl seemingly pinned to the wall by imaginary ropes, suffering minutely from shallow wounds on her arms, but her half-open dim blue eyes and the blood on her nape told him she wasn't completely alright.

And also before Kenshin could stop him, Yahiko had already rushed, bokken raised toward Enishi. The sorcerer's fist met the boy's eye squarely, and with a hand flung him to the other side of the room, knocking him unconscious. Kenshin gritted his teeth and made his way to help Yahiko, when Enishi's sheathed sword stopped him.

"Before I draw my sword, Battousai, I just wanted to inform you; this battle? I will not let anything interrupt this, not until you've paid for her death." They both knew whom he was referring to. The rurouni's eyes became slits of murky violet, and he reacted in just the right time as Enishi aimed for him with his blade. Kenshin tightened his hold on his sakaba-tou as he was pushed farther backward.

He had not expected Enishi to be this strong. He blocked and parried, from left to right, he swung his sword until he was able to swing it underneath his foe, intending to wound him on his calf, but before he could, Enishi elbowed him on his chin, and he staggered as Enishi hit the wound on his side with the hilt of his katana. "What happened, Himura?! Did you spend too much time mourning for MY onee-san that your skills have turned rusty? Don't even use that as an excuse!"

Kenshin didn't want to succumb to Enishi's attempts to make him talk while fighting. He kept his mouth shut, and managed to aim a hard blow on Enishi's jaw with his fist and slashed him on his groin. He tried to hide his disappointment, knowing the injury wasn't enough to weaken his opponent.

The battle had only begun, and yet Kenshin felt as if it had been going on forever, like all along he had been fighting this one man and his own conscience.

'Concentrate…'  He told himself, jumping backwards and resuming his fighting stance. His wound throbbed, but he paid no mind to it, leaping upwards to avoid the wrath of Enishi's blow.

But as he jumped, Enishi flipped his body backwards, kicking with his two feet up, making them coincide with Kenshin's knees in midair. Kenshin slashed with his sakaba-tou diagonally, gritting his teeth when it clashed with Enishi's blade.

They landed on the ground, and Kenshin allowed himself to be driven backwards until he could see an opportunity, and was able to give his opponent a gash on his left hip. Pretty soon Enishi recovered from the blow, and Kenshin knew that within a split second they would start another round…

***@***

Despite the heaviness of her lids, despite the unbelievable pain at the back of her head combining with the sweat on her brow, Kaoru found herself trying to watch each move as the two men who were only a few feet away from her fought with swiftness.

She racked her mind, trying to figure out…who was it again that Enishi was fighting…? The pain in her head increased, but her memory did not fail her. "Battousai…"

***@***

Block and parry.

Dodge to the left and swoop underneath.

Sword against sword.

Fist to the air, swing to the right and aim overhead.

All these thoughts ran through Kenshin's mind as the fight went on and on, on and on. The hitokiri in him was like poison clinging to his insides, backed by the anger he felt for Enishi.

Why was he here again?

Would he be able to control himself and not kill his opponent?

But none were answered when a force of white, skin-prickling light sent him hurling backwards, smashing him onto the wall. He held his sword up as a shield, and a burning pain filled his wound as rays the color of dried blood wrapped itself around his body.

Enishi was using his sorcery against him.

A/N: YOU ALL KNOW WHY I TOOK SO LONG IN UPDATING?!

One word: exams…and boy was Biology tough. Anyway, I'm really sorry for keeping you guys waiting. Sano? Ah, yes…we'll get back to him soon enough, you'll see.

Also for those who know of my other story, In Tokyo Where the Shadow Lies, I KNOW I put in chapter 5 already, I JUST DON'T KNOW WHY but I think there's something wrong with it because no one has reviewed the said chapter when all else before it got reviews which encouraged me to continue, (Thanks:D) so I have reasons to suspect ff.net made an error or something; I'm not really certain, of course. :) So…

IF YOU CAN'T FIND IT, I advise you to just search for it, or type my penname on the search engine instead and look for it in my account. I MIGHT also move it to the R category.

And last but not the least, please do not close this page without reviewing! :D

Thanks, guys.