Letter of Marque
Sequel to Between the Devil and the Deep
A Rurouni Kenshin AU Fic
by Gemini

Rated R: For cursing and other naughty things

Disclaimer: This Rurouni Kenshin franchise is owned and operated by Earl "Nobuhiro" Watsuki,
Tim "Shonen" Jump and "Sony" Jones. There are also a few silent partners I can't recall.


The events in this story take place one year after the end of 'Between the Devil and the Deep'


Chapter 5: Promises


The warehouse district ran for miles in either direction; blocky non-descript buildings stretching as far as the eye could see. The buildings abutted the harbor and served the large shipping industry that kept the country's coffers and the pockets of unscrupulous businessmen and politicians filled with money. Some of the structures were well-maintained and belonged to legitimate companies, while others seemed more than a little sinister.

Tsunan Tsukioika, better known as Katsu to his friends, the few of them that there were, was currently housed in one of the more dilapidated buildings in the district, one that belonged to Admiral Kamo Serizawa. He had no idea how long he had been there, days and nights seemed to blend together into one long moment of pain and agony. Sometimes, he even forgot who he was, which frightened him. But those moments were brief, followed almost immediately by clarity, telling him who he was, why he was being tortured and, most importantly, why he would not talk.

The names and faces of his tormentors changed often. The only one he ever recognized was the Admiral. It was the Admiral who was the most brutal, demanding answers to his questions and punishing Katsu horribly when he refused to answer. Katsu knew the Admiral would have no choice but to kill him eventually, he knew too much. But the young man also understood that the Admiral was worried, perhaps even terrified that there were more people out there with knowledge of his dealings. If there were, if Katsu was part of a larger conspiracy, then there was a very good chance that his entire empire, one painstakingly built over years of graft, theft and lies could crumble. And he would not allow that.

So Katsu was kept alive, though barely, and repeatedly tortured for information, which he would not give. Somewhere out there, he was certain, Kaoru was looking for him. He had missed an important meeting with her, an annual gathering he had never missed since its inception. She would be worried and she would try to find him.

He wasn't certain if she would be able to locate him before the Admiral tired of his tight-lipped silence, but he was sure that, in her search, she would discover just why he was missing and do something about it. Admiral Kamo Serizawa's days of living above the law were numbered, he just hoped that he would live long enough to see justice done.



"You really should have said no, Kaoru." Aoshi glared at his captain, who sat across from him in the clattering carriage which was rocketing across the pockmarked and hard packed dirt road towards Maiko's home.

"And risk exposure?" She shot back angrily.

"Captain Himura would never willingly put your life in danger, you know that." Her navigator replied, exasperated.

"No, but he would have started poking around, which could be even more dangerous. He promised to stay out of it if I agreed to have lunch with him. A simple request in exchange for his silence."

"He's a danger to this mission, Kaoru. You should have seen his expression when you were with Admiral Serizawa. He almost lost it right then. If I hadn't intervened, he might have done something stupid. You need to end this little infatuation right now before it gets out of hand. There is no room in your life for him." Aoshi said flatly.

Kaoru leaned forward, her expression dark. "You have no right to say such things, Aoshi." Her voice was low, dangerous.

Maiko, who was seated beside her, looked at the young woman with alarm. She had never heard Kaoru sound so angry and unlike herself.

"Kaoru, darling, just what is going on between you and the Captain?" she asked quietly.

"Nothing at the moment." Kaoru replied, her voice resuming a more normal tone as she leaned back into the plush cushions of the carriage.

"It should stay that way." Aoshi muttered.

"Aoshi, I tolerate your occasional lapses of decorum out of respect for our many years of friendship. But do not forget your place. I would hate to be forced to remind you where you stand." Kaoru said quietly, her sapphire blue eyes glimmering in the dark carriage.

Aoshi frowned but remained silent. No one spoke during the remainder of the carriage ride.

The moment the footman opened the door Kaoru was gone, sweeping up Maiko's driveway and into the house. Aoshi and Maiko followed suit, but with less speed. As they reached the door, Maiko reached out and stopped Aoshi with a hand on his arm.

"Aoshi, what is going on?" She asked quietly, her face drawn with concern.

He rubbed a weary hand over his face and sighed. "It's complicated." He replied.

She frowned. "I think you and I should talk, sir. I promised Kaoru's mother that I would look after her and I've been remiss in my duties up until now." She gestured in the direction of the sitting room, her expression leaving him no room for protest.


The exterior of Captain Kenshin Himura's home was calm, bucolic; it gave no indication of the chaos that reigned within. Servants bustled about, under the watchful eye of Saya, Kenshin's slightly hysterical head of household. Saya was not normally hysterical. In fact, she was a solid, practical woman with an almost impregnable air of calm about her. Except for the times when her master woke her up in the middle of the night to inform her that an important guest would be joining him for lunch and that everything had to be perfect for her arrival. Then Saya's veneer of calm shattered and she became like a woman possessed.

It wasn't that the Captain's home was messy. Far from it, in fact. Saya kept a clean house. But great portions of it were dusty and unused. Rooms needed to be aired out, rugs beaten, trinkets, such as Kenshin had, needed to be dusted, silver had to be polished, windows cleaned and lord only knew what else. With a staff of only six people, Saya was hard pressed to make her noon-time deadline; so hard pressed that she drafted Yahiko into service preparing the luncheon.

Her master was not around to be forced into work. He had disappeared the moment the sun had risen on some sort of mysterious errand. He returned an hour before lunch and locked himself in his office, ignoring the hustle and bustle in his home.

The chaos ended shortly before noon. By the time Kaoru's borrowed carriage rattled up to the front porch, Kenshin's home was quiet and peaceful. His guest would never know the pandemonium that had preceded her visit.

The footman opened the carriage door and helped Kaoru out. Before she could even take in the scenery around her, the front door flew open and Yahiko came barreling out.

"Ka…er, I mean, Keiko!" He hastily corrected himself as he wrapped his arms around her in a bear hug.

"Oof!" Kaoru hugged him back, laughing breathlessly.

"Let me take a look at you, kid." Kaoru gently pushed him away so she could see him. "You've gotten taller." She said with a smile, ruffling his hair affectionately.

He puffed up with pride. "I'll be taller than Kenshin in no time!" He said with a grin.

Kaoru opened her mouth to reply, but a movement by the door caught her attention. Kenshin was leaning against the doorjamb, his arms crossed and an undecipherable expression on his face that for some reason made her feel rather uncomfortable.

"Welcome." He said, his expression clearing to something more neutral. He smiled and stood up straight. "Please, come in."

Yahiko looked from Kaoru to Kenshin, a knowing grin lighting up his face. "I'll just go and see if Saya needs any more help." He said, running off before anyone could say anything.

Kaoru turned and dismissed her driver. As the carriage pulled away, she turned and offered Kenshin her hand. "Lead the way, Captain." She said primly, desperately trying to ignore the small jolt she felt when he took her hand and raised it to his lips for a chaste kiss.

"I want to show you something." He said. Instead of leading her inside, as she expected, he took her down the steps and around the house to the back of the property. She gasped as the cliffs came into view.

"This is where I go to think." He murmured, watching her closely to gauge her reaction.

"It's amazing." She breathed, stepping closer to the edge and watching with appreciation as the waves broke against the cliff below them.

"This view is the only reason I bought the house." Kenshin said quietly.

"I can see why." She turned and gave him a dazzling smile, which he returned. They stood together, comfortable in their silence, for a long while. Kenshin reached for Kaoru's hand and was pleased when she didn't pull away from him.

"Captain, lunch is ready." Saya's voice boomed out across the lawn.

Reluctantly dropping Kaoru's hand, Kenshin turned and acknowledged his housekeeper with a nod. "We'd better go in. Yahiko and Saya have been working all morning on this lunch. They will be upset if we don't show them our appreciation."

An hour later, Kaoru set her fork down and immediately began showering Yahiko with praise. "Your cooking has only gotten better, kiddo."

Yahiko blushed and looked down at the tablecloth, embarrassed. "Saya's taught me a few things." He replied modestly.

"They both tried to teach me, but I'm afraid I'm hopeless." Kenshin said with a rueful smile. "I nearly burned down the kitchen the last time."

"It's not that bad." Yahiko protested, desperately trying to seem sincere. "That soup you made once was okay."

Kenshin sighed. "It wasn't supposed to be a soup." He said sadly. He made a face at Kaoru who was unsuccessfully hiding her giggles behind her napkin.

Saya and two servants reappeared and began clearing the remains of lunch.

"Yahiko, don't forget that your lessons are today." Saya reminded the boy as she took his plate. "Madame Sekihara would be most annoyed if you failed to remember again."

"Madame Sekihara? The same one from last night?" Kaoru asked curiously.

Kenshin nodded. "Tae graciously allows Yahiko to share lessons with her daughter and her daughter's tutor."

Saya grinned wickedly as she swooped down to take the last of the serving dishes away. "And it allows Yahiko time to be near the lovely Miss Tsubame." She teased, her smile widening at Yahiko's blush and mortified expression.

Kaoru raised an eyebrow. "Miss Tsubame, hmmm?"

Yahiko turned redder. "It's not…she's…I mean…well…" He stuttered, much to the amusement of the adults.

"Ah, young love." Kaoru fluttered her eyelashes and pressed a hand to her heart dramatically.

Kenshin snorted in a decidedly un-gentleman like manner.

Yahiko stood up quickly, his hands balled into fists. "Like either of you should talk!" He yelped before running out of the dining room.

Kenshin's laughter died immediately and Kaoru took an unusual interest in the table cloth.

Saya took the awkward silence as her cue to leave and she hustled the other two servants out with her. "Ring if you need us!" She called over her shoulder before vanishing into the kitchen.

"Well, that was awkward." Kaoru said after a long moment of silence.

Kenshin grinned ruefully. "Just a little."

Kaoru pushed back her chair and stood, stretching like a cat, arms raised over her head, before turning her attention to Kenshin who was staring at her with something very close to lust.

"What?" She asked, slightly disconcerted by his expression.

"You almost popped out of your dress." He replied solemnly.

She turned bright red and looked down at her corset. "Dammit. I told Misao this thing was all wrong!"

"I like it." He had a slightly wicked grin on his face now.

"Pervert."

He was pleased to note that she didn't look too upset.

"Is that the only reason you asked me to come here today? To leer at me?" She had her hands on her hips and was effecting a rather disgruntled expression that he found charming.

He smiled at her and leaned back in his chair, studying her for a long moment before replying. "Among other things."

She scowled. "I suppose you also want to ask me about Admiral Serizawa."

The smile dropped off his face abruptly. "Among other things." He sounded decidedly less amused.

The sudden change in his manner made her nervous. Clenching her fists to hide the shaking in her hands, she raised her chin and looked down on him haughtily. "Well then, ask."

"What were you doing with him last night?" Kenshin asked quietly. He tilted his head forward, his bangs hiding the expression in his eyes.

"I can't tell you." She replied.

He propped his elbows on the table and used his hands as a cradle for his chin. "I see." He paused for a minute, marshalling his thoughts. "Might I hazard a guess or two?"

"You might." She wished her voice was a little less tremulous.

"Would all your flirting have anything to do with the Admiral's various and sundry illegal activities?" He asked, watching her closely.

She looked worried for a moment, but her expression cleared and she frowned at him. "I have nothing more to say on this matter."

He stood up and was standing in front of her so fast she scarce had time to register his movement.

"Once again you have put yourself into a situation that is entirely too dangerous." He hissed, his eyes flashing with anger. "I won't allow it."

"Allow? You won't ALLOW it?" She stepped back a few paces and regarded him with incredulity. "Who are you to tell me what to do?"

"Kaoru, I…" He began, but she held up a hand to stop him.

"Aoshi was right. This will never work." She shook her head emphatically. "This is…this is an infatuation, nothing more."

"I think it is something more." Kenshin took a step forward, reaching out to take her hand, relieved when she didn't pull away. "I've spent the past year consumed with thoughts of you. All the women Tae has tried to marry me off to have paled in comparison to you, Kaoru. I refuse to believe this is just some silly infatuation."

She reluctantly pulled her hand away. "What else could it be? It's certainly not sensible. There is no way this could ever work."

"Kaoru, I can't just let this go." Kenshin sounded pained. "Nor can I let you knowingly put yourself in danger."

"There you go again. Telling me what you'll let me do." Her voice took on a harsh edge. "Just who do you think I am? Some useless husband-hunting ninny like your so-called fiancée?" She scowled. "I am a pirate, captain of my own ship. I command a hundred other brigands and I hold their respect. I've killed many men and wounded more. I don't sew or embroider or sing. I read ship logs, not poetry and the day I play some pretty little waltz on the piano is the day Sano wears a dress." She paused to take a deep breath. "I have absolutely nothing to offer you, not even my maidenhood, so I don't understand how you could possibly be in love with me."

Kenshin looked as though he had been struck. He took a step back from her, a frown tugging on his lips.

'There.' Kaoru thought to herself. 'I knew throwing in that bit about my virginity would get him.' She ignored the pang of sadness and shame she felt at his sure rejection and concentrated on the fact that what she was doing was right, even if it wounded them both in the process.

"Kaoru, I'm a bit hurt that you think so little of me." He replied slowly, as though reading her thoughts.

She stared at him in wide-eyed shock. 'That didn't work?' Her mind shrieked.

"I know exactly who you are and what you've done. And while some of it is a little hard to accept, the fact is that I do. Accept it, that is." Kenshin pulled her into his arms and buried his face in her hair, breathing in its clean scent.

"You idiot. I was trying to let you off easy." She muttered into his shoulder before reluctantly returning the embrace.

"Nothing about this relationship should be easy, Kaoru." He murmured, holding her tightly.

"This is wrong." Her voice lacked conviction.

"It is." He affirmed. "Very wrong." He pulled back and cupped her face between his hands, absently brushing a thumb over her lips.

Her eyes darkened slightly. "Kenshin, stop that." She commanded.

"No." He lowered his face to hers and kissed her gently, mere brushes of his mouth on hers.

Kaoru sighed. "Oh, I give up." She said when he moved his mouth to her jaw.

"Good." He replied, trailing kisses down her throat to the tempting swell of her cleavage.

She inhaled sharply when she felt his tongue move lazily over her exposed collarbone. 'Ooh, that's nice…that's very nice.'

'You need to end this little infatuation right now before it gets out of hand. There is no room in your life for him.' Aoshi's words from the night before suddenly popped into her head, quite unwelcome. She frowned. 'Get out of my head, Aoshi!' She yelled mentally.

She almost succeeded in banishing all thoughts of her navigator and her responsibility and pretty much anything else from her mind when she felt Kenshin's hands rise to cup her breasts through the stiff fabric of her borrowed dress. She moaned low in her throat and threaded her hands through his fiery hair to hold him at his current position.

'He's a danger to this mission, Kaoru.' Aoshi intoned.

'God damn it!' Kaoru's nice hazy lust began to recede and her better sense started to take over again. 'Why can't I ever have a nice moment to myself?' Her frown came back. 'Because I am captain. I have to put my crew before myself. I promised.'

"Shit." Reluctantly, she pushed Kenshin away.

He stared at her, surprise mingling with desire in his eyes. "What's wrong?"

"You have to ask?" She straightened out her dress and patted her hair to see if it was in relatively good shape. "I can't be doing this. I have to find Katsu."

"Katsu?" Kenshin pushed his hair back, recently loosened from its neat ponytail by Kaoru's wandering hands, and secured it back into some semblance of its former self. He gave himself a mental shake to focus on the unexpected and unwelcome turn their tête-à-tête had taken.

Kaoru sighed. "Tsunan Tsukioika. He's my brother…sort of."

"Sort of?" Kenshin looked quite confused.

"My father adopted Katsu and Sano, unofficially, of course, but he considered them to be his sons. We all grew up together on the Kami Kaze." Kaoru explained.

"And now he's missing and it has something to do with Admiral Serizawa?"

Karou nodded and plopped wearily down onto the nearest chair. "I suppose you're not just going to let me leave it at that, are you?"

Kenshin sat down next to her. "Of course not. Save me the aggravation of having to pry it out of you and just tell me."

She rolled her eyes. "I suppose if I refused then you'd just go poking around some more and make trouble for me, right?"

"Naturally."

"Damn Aoshi. He's always right." Kaoru muttered. "He'll never let me forget it, either."

Kenshin tapped her hand with his finger. "Explain."

She frowned slightly. "Well, it's difficult to…" She trailed off for a moment before gathering her thoughts and beginning again. "Let me start with Katsu. He left the ship about a year or two before my father died. He didn't like the pirate's life, so he apprenticed himself to a printmaker. Fortunately, or unfortunately, depending on who you ask, Katsu was heavily influenced by my father and his deep distrust of the government and the navy, so he became involved with radical political groups on the mainland. Eventually, he set up an anti-government newsletter that he printed and distributed."

Kenshin interrupted her. "Which one?"

"The People's Voice." Kaoru replied, feeling a bit of pride. "It's not like the other anti-government papers, always screaming about conspiracies but never backing up anything they say with facts. Katsu's always been very careful about verifying information and he never prints anything he can't prove." She paused.

"I know the 'People's Voice'. It's ruffled quite a few feathers." Kenshin murmured. "Some people consider its publisher to be a very dangerous man."

Kaoru grinned. "That's my Katsu."

"He probably has many enemies." Kenshin said seriously.

Kaoru's grin vanished. "Of course. But he's always been very careful, up until now. He's always kept a low profile, living under assumed names, moving around a lot, he's a hard man to keep track of, even for his friends and family."

"Then how do you know he's in trouble?"

"Every year on the anniversary of my father's death, we all get together, no matter where we are or what we're doing. Katsu and a few others who knew my father meet us at my father's favorite tavern. Myself, my crew and these friends of ours, we all have a drink in his memory. Most of us have more than one." She smiled wryly. "It's become a tradition. People have been delayed or have had to miss it in the past, but there's always been a letter or message, so we know. And Katsu's never missed one. Not until…"

"Not until this year." Kenshin finished for her. She nodded solemnly.

"No note, no message, nothing. Sano and I, we went to the last place he had been living and found the place burned to the ground. Nothing was left. So, we started poking around. Katsu was," She frowned and corrected herself, "is a paranoid guy, so he never keeps all his papers in one place. Sano found where he had stashed some of his stuff and we discovered that he had been working on something that would not look good for Admiral Serizawa. One of the anti-government people he had been working with remembered seeing Katsu with a guy who matched the Admiral's description. So, he is the only link we have to Katsu's whereabouts."

"Hence, the reason why you're trying to get into his good graces." Kenshin said with a frown. Things were occurring to him that he did not like.

"Of course. Like I would let such a disgusting man anywhere near me otherwise." She sniffed.

"And just how far are you willing to go to get on his good side?" Kenshin asked, his expression dangerous.

Kaoru turned slightly red. "Not that far, I hope. I think I'd scream if he touched me." She glared at Kenshin. "Not that it's any of your concern."

He pounded his fist on the table in a sudden display of temper that frightened her. "God damn it, Kaoru, of course it's my concern. I don't want anyone else touching you! You're mine!" He spat.

Her eyes flashed. "I don't belong to anyone but myself, Kenshin." She replied, a warning in her tone.

His anger deflated immediately and he looked, for a moment, so sad and weary, that she wanted to take back what she had just said, even if it had been the truth.

"Although I appreciate the sentiment behind your offensive words." She offered.

He sighed and smiled sadly. "But do you return them? It occurs to me that I'm the only one who's ever said…"

She laughed, quietly, silencing him. "Isn't it obvious?" She asked with a small smile. "If any other man had even attempted some of the things you've done to me…he'd be shark bait."

Kenshin allowed himself a rueful smile. "I'd still like to hear you say it, just once."

She turned to face him fully and took his face in her hands, like he had done to her earlier. "I do love you." She whispered, dropping a chaste kiss on his lips. "Against my better judgment, I might add."

He sighed into her kiss and pulled her closer for a deeper one.

"Let me help you with this, Kaoru. I can't stop you, but let me help." He murmured.

She pulled away slightly and regarded him for a long, thoughtful moment. "You'd betray your duty, your station for me?"

"I would. For you, I would do anything." He said, smoothing her hair.

Kaoru felt so many different emotions at his words that she couldn't even begin to untangle them all. She drew a deep, if somewhat shaky breath. "All right. I accept your help."

"Thank you." He said, kissing her again.

She pulled away and smiled slightly. "I should probably go. Lord only knows what kind of gossip will come from this unescorted meeting." She needed to get away from him, needed time to think.

Kenshin grinned, his good humor restored by her acquiescence. "Well, you know Kaoru, if your honor is in anyway compromised by today, then I would not hesitate to do the honorable thing."

"And what's that?" She asked archly, regaining much of her earlier confidence.

"Marry you, of course." He replied evenly.

Her confidence fled, leaving her weak-kneed at his words. "Marry me?" She whispered.

"Of course, I might be tempted to do that anyway." He smiled, violet eyes full of mischief.

She blinked at him, dumbfounded. Finally, she shook herself out of her stupor and glared at him. "Quit that."

He merely continued to smile his Cheshire cat smile.

She sighed and gave him another dark look. "Never mind all that. Listen, meet me tomorrow night, around 10, at the Cat O'Nine Tails Pub."

He stopped smiling. "What's going to happen tomorrow night?"

"You said you wanted to help, right? Well, tomorrow you're going to help. I'd suggest dressing down and disguising your appearance somewhat. The Admiral has spies everywhere." She replied.

"Tomorrow night, then." He said, rising from his chair and offering her his arm to escort her from the room.

She took his arm, and gave it a squeeze. "Oh, and one more thing, Captain, if you mention this marriage nonsense to anyone else, I will tie you to my ship's anchor and drag you around the harbor, got it?" She said sweetly.

He gulped. "Yes ma'am."

A/N: Ah, the chapter that took me 30 years to write! Ahahahaaa! *Ahem* Anyway, some of you insisted on more WAFF and I do like to keep my readers happy.

So, there you go. WAFF-tacular. How was the flow? Did it jump around too much? I'm having to do without my BETA reader, Moonspark as she has found herself a real-life bishounen and is currently shacked up with him with no sign of ever coming up for air. Go Moonspark! (Lucky!) I'd send her the chapters, but it would take forever to get them back, so I'm relying on you guys to point out anything you find amiss.

Hmm. There seems to be a plot. despite all my attempts to subvert it. Oh well.

I've given up on Orlando Bloom. I will now accept cookies, pie and naughty bishounen pictures. That is all.