Kyaa Kyaff here!
Disclaimer: RK doesn't belong to me.
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'…' Kaoru thoughts
*…* Kenshin thoughts
"…" Dialogue
------ indicates flashback
Facing Adversity
Chapter 14: Facing Shishio
"What's this all about Sano?" Kenshin felt dread take hold of him, adding as if to reassure himself. "We don't work for Shishio."
Sano closed his eyes for a moment before looking directly at Kenshin.
"Yes…we do."
Kenshin felt his mouth open but nothing came out. Sano had to be kidding. There was no way it could be true.
"But that doesn't make any sense. What about Tenken…? He works for Shishio. He's our enemy."
Sano sighed looking reluctant to speak. "He's competition, not our enemy. He wants to be Shishio's right hand man, but…so do I."
As Kenshin tried to process this information, Enishi shoved him out of the way.
"Have your little conversation later. Tell me where to find Kaoru."
"I wouldn't be a very good right hand man if I told you that," Sano replied.
Kenshin was still trying to understand everything he had been told. It was hard to believe. He despised that man more than anything, and his best friend had lied to him about working for Shishio. And Kaoru…what had happened to her? His eyes landed on Sano, no longer holding the warmth of friendship. He was in front of Sano in a second. Sano was startled for a moment before he was back in control, aiming his gun at Kenshin.
"Where is she? What happened?"
Sano shook his head. "I can't say. You knew who she was. I told you to be careful."
Kenshin grabbed Sano's gun pressing it against his chest right over his heart.
"You either shoot me now, or tell me where she is," Kenshin stated calmly.
Enishi stood watching the two men, letting what would happen, happen. Sano tried to move the gun away, but Kenshin held on tight. His eyes were full of anger, but beneath that was an underlying sadness at the betrayal of one so close to him.
"You better tell me where to find that sick fuck, Shishio. I'm not in the mood for games."
Sano's face became grim. Kenshin didn't even flinch as Sano's finger moved to the trigger.
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Tomoe continued to brush her fingers through Akira's hair, soothing him in anyway she could. She prayed Kaoru was unharmed. She tried to stop herself from worrying. It wouldn't do her or Kaoru any good to work herself up into a frenzy. She could only hope Kaoru didn't do anything risky, which knowing Kaoru, she wasn't going to sit around and wait. Akira moved suddenly groaning in the process. Tomoe felt her heart lift a little as his eyes opened, landing on her.
"…Tomoe…"
Tomoe caught the hand he brought up to touch his face. "Careful. You have a couple of bruises."
Akira grimaced. "I noticed. Help me sit up."
Tomoe maneuvered around with Akira, who was still weak. Once he was sitting he looked around their surroundings, his brow furrowing.
"Where are we?"
"I'm not sure," Tomoe frowned. "They have Kaoru."
"What?"
Tomoe sighed. "I'm worried."
She raised a hand to delicately touch his cheek, smoothing back some stray hair. He took her hand in his, giving it a reassuring squeeze.
"How long have I been out?"
"I'm not sure. For a little while. You had me real worried."
"I'm sorry," Akira frowned. "Damn these legs. I can't even protect you properly."
Tomoe scooted closer to Akira wrapping her arms around him. She rested her head against his chest listening to his heartbeat. It comforted her greatly. His arms wrapped around her as well, as he rested his cheek on the top of her soft hair.
"Don't say that. You did what you could. There was no way anything could be done. We were outnumbered," Tomoe closed her eyes. "It's okay. I'll keep faith. We will get out of this."
Akira chuckled. "Always so optimistic. I love you for that."
The sound of the door opening interrupted anything else that might have been said between the two.
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Kaoru trailed her eyes around the room she had been placed in for the third time. There were no visible windows and only a chair, table, and lamp adorned the room. The floors were bare, and it reminded Kaoru of an interrogation room. All that was needed now was the big glass window. Standing up, she began to pace the room, lightly tapping the walls. There was no difference in sound and as Kaoru reached the door, she rested her forehead against it. She hated sitting there idle. There had to be someway out of the room that she had yet to find. Kaoru turned sliding down and leaning her back against the door. Reaching a hand up out of boredom she began playing with the doorknob. Dropping her hand, she started to listlessly bang her head against the door. She was annoyed trying to figure out what to do.
'I can't just sit here and wait. Anything could happen in that time!'
Arching her neck back she looked up at the ceiling and did a double take. The ceiling was paneled, which meant she could push them aside and…maybe…she could get up there. Hopefully there were sturdy support beams; otherwise she'd be out of luck. Standing up she went over to the chair and got up on it. Her fingers just brushed the ceiling top, not enough to move the panel. She tried stretching again but still she couldn't reach. She got off the chair in a huff, looking at the table that wasn't much higher. Grabbing the chair she placed it on the table.
"Ah there we go."
Climbing up on the table, she carefully climbed back onto the chair. Easily moving the ceiling panel aside she frowned. There was a lot of space up there, but there didn't seem to be anywhere to go. Not that she could see much anyway. Another idea hit her. As hard as she could, Kaoru kicked the chair off the table while pulling herself up, making sure to stay on the support beams above that were thankfully sturdy enough to hold her. Hearing the commotion, Kaoru hoped the guards might want to check on her. However, they must have thought she was throwing a fit because they didn't come to check.
"Damn it all!"
She frowned surveying her surroundings. Her eyes narrowed as she realized the ceiling extended past the room she was in. Kaoru couldn't believe her luck. If the guards weren't going to come to her, she was going to go to them. She carefully maneuvered around on top of the beams of wood so as not to knock down a panel. She would fall right through if she wasn't careful. Reaching her destination she had to press herself further down. The roof above her sloped down and cut off halfway. She didn't understand how the structure worked, but she knew it worked in her favor. Kaoru had enough room to get through.
'I just have to knock the guards out before they alert someone.'
Slowly biting her lip in the process she carefully managed to lift one of the panels and move it away to give her just enough space to look out. At the moment all she could see was one guard directly below her. She sensed the other was nearby. Kaoru shrugged deciding there was nothing else for her to do but use the element of surprise. Positioning herself feet first she took a deep breath first before pushing off. A quick rush of air and the sound of tearing clothes was accompanied by the sound of a grunt as Kaoru landed on the guy below her. She instantly jumped up still disoriented and lashed a kick at the guy next to her. She caught his jaw with the back of her heel sending him into the wall.
The other guy wasn't finished and she quickly silenced him, making sure the other guard was unconscious afterward. As fast as possible Kaoru grabbed their guns and whatever else she thought might come in handy before taking off. Allowing her sense of direction to take over, she slowly made her way to where she thought Akira and Tomoe might be. Looking around the corner she saw a group of men walking in her direction. Backing up she noticed a door to her right and went for it. Thankfully the room was empty, and she listened to the men walk by.
Once they were all past, Kaoru gave a sigh of relief and stepped out.
Closing her eyes she concentrated again. Starting out in the direction she believed to be the right one, Kaoru began to feel like she was being watched. She remained calm though pretending as if she didn't notice. A step closer to Tomoe and Akira was better than alerting the unknown person.
'Stay cool. Breathe. You can do this.'
When and if they chose to attach, she would be ready. Slowly with all her senses alert she crept around, avoiding those she could, shooting the others dead. Kaoru wasn't going to gamble when Tomoe and Akira's life were at stake. What scared her most was the fact that she felt no remorse in killing the men. Already an alarm had been raised. Still relying on her sense of direction she came to a heavily guarded door. That was when the unknown person decided to strike. A warning shot scrapped past her cheek, leaving a thin line of blood to well up and drip down. She didn't even have time to react.
"Now stay right there, and you won't be harmed."
Kaoru's eyes narrowed recognizing the voice. The other men having heard the commotion ran over as Kaoru raised her weapon up at the man coming from around the corner of the hall.
"Drop your weapon. You're surrounded."
Kaoru aimed right between the man's eyes. "Kenshin here too?"
"Actually he is," Sano seemed to grimace, his face becoming blank a second later. "You'll see him soon."
She glanced around to see six other guns pointed in her direction. Her arm steady she shifted her gaze back to Sano. Instinct urged her to throw her gun down, but another part of her screamed to shoot this man down. Closing her eyes she tossed the gun to the ground and was immediately grabbed by the surrounding men. A blindfold was pulled across her eyes, and she was roughly dragged away from the area she had been in. Kaoru had nothing else to do but go willingly. After a few minutes they must have reached their destination.
The blindfold was taken off. She was in what appeared to be a training room, but she wasn't alone. Hanging by their hands, feet just barely able to touch the floor was Akira, Enishi, and Kenshin. Kaoru tried to pull away from the man behind her, but she was merely hit down into a kneeling position. Shishio, who had been standing off to the side, started to pass the men but stopped in front of Enishi.
"I was surprised one of my puppets showed up. And Yukishiro Enishi," Shishio said. "You've been hunting me down from the beginning."
Enishi's eyes rose to look at Shishio with pure hatred.
"Let them go!" Kaoru screamed angrily.
"Shut up!" the man behind her said shoving her further to the ground.
"Kaoru! Kaoru!"
Kaoru turned her head to see Tomoe being escorted into the room. Kaoru bowed her head trying to fight off the rising sense of despair.
"Since you are so eager to fight me," Shishio said grabbing a sword and throwing it at her. "We'll have a match now. Release her."
Kaoru fell forward breathing unevenly. Her forehead lightly touched the floor in front of her as she tried to fight off tears.
"Pick up your weapon and die with some honor," Shishio ordered. "Your father died like a dog. Will you follow his footsteps?"
Kaoru felt her teeth grit in anger. This man had killed so many and would continue to do such. What could she do? There was no way she could possibly be strong enough.
"Let's see what Saitoh taught you."
Kaoru grasped the hilt of the sword in front of her.
"Fight me you bastard!"
Kaoru looked up to see Kenshin struggling.
"Battousai," Shishio laughed. "How does it feel to know you worked for me the entire time? Zanza is loyal to me."
"I'll kill you myself!"
"After I take care of this one, Battousai," Shishio replied.
"You fight her, because you are afraid to fight us!" Enishi yelled. "You pick on woman."
Kaoru, despite the situation was starting to get mad. So she was a woman. What was that supposed to mean? Enishi was a good fighter, but she got him a couple times when she had practiced with him.
"He's facing me!" Kaoru yelled.
Shishio smiled. "That's better."
"Stop this!" Tomoe said. "Please…"
Shishio pulled his sword free. "Let's begin by testing your abilities."
Kaoru blinked as he blurred in her vision. She'd seen Saitoh use a similar technique and quickly jumped forward, whirling around and meeting her blade with Shishio's.
"Good. Not as pathetic as I thought you'd be."
She watched as his eyes narrowed and he moved away, but not before slicing her upper arm. She hissed in pain keeping her eyes on Shishio. The cut was not deep and it was more to distract her for the attack that was coming next. Again her blade just barely met his, stopping the slash of his sword that would have killed her. He brought his foot up and kicked her right in her middle sending her reeling back. She slammed into the wall slumping forward.
"This was interesting. Unfortunately you could not provide any real entertainment."
Shishio walked up to her pointing his blade right at her.
"No! Please. Stop! Stop, don't hurt her. Oh god!" Tomoe pulled against the man holding her.
Raising his sword, he plunged it straight for Kaoru's throat. Quicker than before her blade flashed by. Both grunted in pain. His sword dug into her shoulder, hers into his side. Mouth thinning with anger, he backed up putting a hand to his side.
"Amusing."
Slowly Kaoru stood up gripping her shoulder. "I won't go down that easy."
"You made me bleed," Shishio frowned. "Enough playing. This time I will kill you."
He came out her again. Their swords clashed, sending fire racing through Kaoru's shoulder. He shoved her away, and before she could regain her balance he was on her again. By sheer luck Kaoru missed getting her head chopped off.
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Sano watched from above as the fight ensued. It was obvious Kaoru was no match for Shishio. He was toying with her. Sano had seen this before. His gaze was drawn back to Kenshin. He had told him where to find Shishio after all. He knew Kenshin would despise him even if he told him where to find Shishio, but Sano could not keep it from him.
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Sano's face became grim. Kenshin didn't even flinch as Sano's finger moved to the trigger. His eyes never left Kenshin's. He knew without a doubt that Kenshin was not afraid of him pulling the trigger. Slowly he released the gun completely. It clattered to the ground.
"You can't go there. It's so heavily guarded. You'll be caught right away."
"Tell me where it is," Kenshin said calmly.
So Sano had told him. Enishi and Kenshin had immediately took off without another word. They would be caught though. Sano was sure of it. Kneeling down he picked up his gun recalling the look of betrayal that had flashed across Kenshin's face, his only friend.
"What kind of friend am I anyway?"
He had to look out for himself though. No one had ever cared about him before Kenshin. Dropping the gun on the counter he made his way to the back to get the special weapon he made and go report to Shishio. He knew a quicker and more direct route.
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Sano hadn't turned them in. He had only explained a few things to Shishio after Kenshin and Enishi were captured as he predicted they would be. The two had taken out a lot of men, but they were no match for the sheer number of people that came for them. At that moment looking down at Kenshin, Sano hated himself. He hated himself with all he was worth. Kenshin had always been there for him no matter what happened, no matter what he did or who challenged him. If the odds were against them he would smile and laugh. At first Sano had been using Kenshin, the infamous Battousai, but now…He would repay Kenshin. He couldn't go through with this. Maybe one day Kenshin would forgive him and trust him once again.
Sano smiled raising his gun up.
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A shot fired off near Shishio's foot startling everyone and interrupting the current fight.
Sano's voice called out from above. "Now I missed on purpose, but next time I won't miss."
"Zanza. What do you think you're doing?" Shishio hissed out.
"Seems I do have a conscious after all, and it's telling me to save these guys here. I got this baby supped up. It's a lot faster than my old one and it'll punch a hole through you before you can move." The red light danced a little on Shishio. "Tell your men to release the others."
"Find Zanza and kill him," Shishio ordered.
One of the men went to move and was shot dead. The small red dot was already back on Shishio.
"No one else move or you end up like that guy. Don't force me to kill anybody else."
A tense silence followed as Shishio seemed to contemplate this. Finally he shrugged.
"Release them," Shishio commanded. "You won't get out of here, and if you do I will hunt you all down and make sure a gruesome death awaits you."
"You do that."
Shishio smiled as Kaoru scrambled away, while holding her shoulder.
"You could have been by my side Zanza."
"Yeah but who wants to work for a walking corpse anyway."
No one moved for several moments to let them go for fear they would be shot.
"You and you," Sano said indicating the men with his light. "Release them."
They immediately set into action first unchaining Enishi, who then helped Akira down. Kenshin was next. Kaoru had run over to Tome and was now hugging her tightly as Tomoe finally allowed herself to cry. Carrying Akira, Enishi came over to the two women, Kenshin following close behind. Cautiously they made their way past Shishio. His eyes remained locked on Kaoru, and as she passed him he spoke.
"I will kill you personally."
Kaoru's fists clenched. "I'll make sure to stab through your black charred heart next time."
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I'm sorry! For the very late update with such a cliffhanger. I apologize cause though I've been inspired, I haven't been home or had access to a comp to write. I'm going to be moving soon, so I'll be making as much updates as I can between then and now! Please have patience with me! I hope you enjoyed the chapter, even though it wasn't that long.
Thanks goes out to JML, Ame Kurayami, Omochi, Azura Dea, I won't tell, donna8157, Gypsy-chan, flyinangel777, silky3, genocide ex-sync*in, EEevee, Briar, CharlieTheOtakuNymph, Lolly, Lynx, Clemen, Crystel, teddy grahams, Nicolette, april, Leigh4, The Girl Who Cried Oro, redroseprincess678, Lost Anime Angel, icebluedragon, Jade Catseye, and wolf for the encouraging reviews.
Til next time,
Kyaa ^o^