(Grabs Aoshi and starts beating with a mallet)
Terribly sorry this chapter took so long, but as I have been promising I finally got some Aoshi and Misao quality time going. Which is why this chapter took so damn long! The Iceman was once again being a pain in the butt!
For those of you who have been waiting for Kenshin to snap...the beginnings of it have been started and one can only wonder what exactly that means (grabs Kenshin by the ear and glares) maybe I can get him to work with me.
I am thrilled so many of you enjoyed the lightheartedness of the last chapter, can't say I know when I can work something like that in again as we are moving closer to the full moon.
Once again I have the best reviewers and a big thank you to those that have reviewed or sent me an email.
As always I don't own the Kenshin gumi.
To answer some questions:
Feelings like Aoshi/Misao are neglected? Hopefully that is fixed this chapter.
Hiko having a mate.... have not really thought much about that one. In my humble opinion he is the perfect bachelor.... But who knows?
Kaoru becoming a vampire won't happen until Kenshin bites her neck. I know that some people have it as whenever you are bit regardless but in my story the change is caused by a combination of Ki and Blood. Which means she will have to have some of Kenshin's blood as well...I promise to go into detail once the time comes.
The marks on her wrist won't fade until after he bites her neck, then the marks will transfer to her neck. They will act as a warning to anyone who tries to mark them as his after Kenshin has staked a claim and there is a certain amount of Kenshin's Ki that will be left lingering on her neck (or wrist) to make it slightly painful if anyone tries to take what is his, making it like sticking your finger in a light socket.
Feel free to leave questions if you have to any to be answered.
Ravyn
Kaoru woke three times before she finally made herself crawl off the futon to trudge up several flights of stairs to get dressed.
The first time was when a cool draft woke her, and in a natural response she turned away from it and snuggled into the warmth that was at her side. Nuzzling into what she considered a very warm pillow in her drowsy state she barely noticed the warmth that encircled her, seemingly drawing her closer to the pillow.
The second time was the sound of a shower. Grabbing her pillow, which curiously smelled like ginger, and burying her head under it after she had yanked the covers over her head solved the problem of the noise, her sleepy brain never registering why the shower would be on.
The third time was to a voice gently calling her back into the waking world, a hand stroking annoyingly at her face. Peeking one annoyed blue eye open it took a minute to register the warm violet gaze, but when she did it only took a moment to up and moving, and even less time to streak up the stairs to get to her room.
Mental note, Kaoru thought darkly as she rummaged around her room, Hit Kenshin over the head.
Of course once she had dug through the clothing to find a faded pair of hip hugging jeans and a button down shirt of dark blue, and managed to tame her tangled mass of hair, Misao had practically skipped into the room, all excited about going to some place and spending time with her Aoshi.
Breakfast was very quiet since it was made up of only Misao, Kaoru and Rei. Rei was more than happy to fill the silence with her chatter and was more than happy to tell them about all the things she planned to do in the next couple of days.
Halfway through Rei's narration, "and Rei is going to pick lots of pretty flowers", Kenshin and Aoshi walked in. Both men patiently waited till the girls where done eating and then they told them of their plans.
"We plan on making to the Aoiya by lunch," Kenshin said softly, his warm eyes watching Kaoru's interaction with Rei, who was still struggling with chopsticks and had asked for help, with a touch of amusement. "Also one of the Oniwabanshu members was passing through Tokyo and managed to clear out most of your equipment from your apartment. They also said they grabbed some clothing."
Kaoru and Misao smiled brightly at that. "Comfort clothing here I come!" Misao boomed, rising onto her chair with a single fist pumped into the air.
Kaoru shook her head and exchanged smiles with Rei. "Actually, Misao, I was thinking more along the lines of laptop...as in back to work."
Misao deflated at that and glared at her partner. "Haven't you heard Kaoru? All work for Misao and no play equals a very bad day."
Kaoru sighed in exasperation. "Did you say you are ready to go Kenshin?"
He flashed her a look that was sheer amusement, his violet eyes flashing with the emotion, causing her breath to catch. "Yes."
Misao frowned at Karou, more than aware of what her friend was attempting to do. Unfortunately the girl seemed to have acquired backup in the form of Himura Kenshin, and since she was not sure exactly how to pester Aoshi to her team at this point in time, she was forced to act like leaving sounded good.
Karou hid a smile when Misao gave her a rather covert look, her eyes telling Kaoru it was now on. The trip back to Kyoto was going to be quite a bit of fun, or if she didn't take aspirin before she got into whatever vehicle they were going to use, painful.
Karou, some time later, was quickly blessing her foresight to take the aspirin before hand, and cursed herself for not finding a set of earplugs. Getting to the jeep had been such a noisy event, poor Rei had not wanted her 'Mi' and 'Kao' to go and in the end Hiko had to take her back inside.
Once inside the jeep, Aoshi had somehow managed to get the keys and was driving, which put Misao in the front seat, which also put her in charge of the radio. Karou had brought a book that she wanting to work on, car sickness not being something she was plagued with, but the alternation between bubble gum pop to hard banging guitars in rapid motion or the whim of Misao's choice was making it impossible to concentrate.
Kaoru had then attempted to watch the countryside go by, at quite a rapid pace as Aoshi drove more like her than anyone else, and feared leaning to close to the window since the path down the mountain was anything but smooth.
Karou leaned back with a sigh and just wished they where there already. Normally riding with Misao was not a problem, whichever one was not driving was going over paperwork or they had something to discuss and they rarely took a vehicle when they wanted to travel, walking was a much better option.
Which is why she had forgotten Misao's need for variety.
Kaoru closed her eyes and attempted to block the currant choice of Misao's, a woman who sounded more like she was high than anything else, and felt warm fingers slid around hers and a gentle thumb caress the back of her knuckles.
Suddenly the car ride wasn't quite so bad.
~*~
The Aoiya, Misao decided as she settled her bag into place, was an experience in and of itself. There was something about this place, the vampires who worked here and who had watched her so intently, that was familiar. Looking around the room Misao almost swore she knew it; knew every square inch as intimate as she knew her own room.
Running her fingers on the dark wood that made up the chests, her eyes scanned the mats and the faded colors on the walls. This place seemed old and set-aside for something, or someone, and the goose bumps on her arms told her that she might just be that person.
Misao had almost screamed in delight when she saw the clothes already in one of the trunks and had quickly dug around for her favorite jeans and sweater. A dark mint green hooded sweatshirt Kaoru had bought for her years ago was on the baggy side and hide her delicate frame but was perfect for the windy day and the chill that echoed on the wind.
Aoshi had softly asked her if it would be alright if they went around Kyoto on foot that night to check out some of the locals to see if there was any word on what Enishi's forces where up to. Misao reached down and fingered an old set of Kunai, the ones she had started this whole ordeal with as a present from Soujiro, and slipped them into the places that normally carried the weight of her Kunai.
Her fingers quickly tightened the long braid and she was ready to go. Sliding the door open and then shutting it quietly she moved downstairs to find Aoshi. Moving toward the kitchen she hid a half smile at the sight before her.
The group of women who had introduced themselves in such a flurry of names, so quickly in fact that Misao couldn't place them, had Karou in front of them and where doing a great job of clucking over the poor girl. Karou's eyes where the widest she had could remember them being, not used to such attention.
"Are you ready Misao?" Aoshi asked softly, and Misao turned and nodded. Shooting one last amused glance at Kaoru Misao turned and followed Aoshi out the door for what she could only imagine was an evening full of fun.
If she could only remind Aoshi of what that word meant.
But Misao found to her surprise that Aoshi was more than willing to talk that night. He showed her around the downtown areas calmly pointing out places that would give her refugee if she needed it; all she had to do was tell them her name.
He showed her several small restaurants that she could find information if she needed it, or places to hide in if necessary. But Misao also found out several things about him that she really didn't know if he meant to give away.
It was in the softness of his voice when he talked about the Aoiya, she didn't quite have all there names yet, the darker aspect of his voice when he talked about her needing to hide, or the gentle look that caressed the ice in his voice when he spoke of his friends.
Finally he pulled her to nice looking restaurant and asked her softly if she was hungry. Misao admitted to it, as she had been telling her stomach to stop making growling noises for the past half hour and it would have done her no good to admit other wise.
What surprised her was the gentle grasp of his fingers on hers when they walked in, her wide green eyes rising to his in question but he offered no explanation.
"Aoshi-san," A female voice rang out, "table for two?"
Misao turned to see a young vampire with bright brown eyes and hair. She was holding two menus with an expectant expression.
"Yes." Aoshi said with his normal warmth.
They where lead through a series of table's till they reached one that was nestled into a section with a waterfall and off to the side. "I shall have Sae-san bring you your drinks." The woman mummered as she backed away.
Misao smiled her thanks while Aoshi just nodded his head and Misao buried herself in the menu trying to find something that sounded good.
"Aoshi-san, I see you have finally brought someone with you." A cultured voice commented dryly and Misao looked up in surprise to see Tae's sister Sae standing there. She had forgotten that fact that Sae had opened up a restaurant here and the fact that Aoshi knew her was even more surprising.
"Misao-chan, it is good to see you again." Sae warmly commented as she lowered a tray of cups and a pot of hot tea for them. "The house special today is tempura if either of you are interested."
Misao smiled at the second mother figure Kaoru and Misao had grown up with. "That sounds wonderful. And it is good to see you again, Sae-san." Misao told her with a bright smile.
Sae smiled back. "Aoshi, why did you not tell me you knew Misao?"
Aoshi was silent as always and Misao rolled her eyes expressively. Sae just smiled and picked up her tray. "I shall return with your food."
Misao turned to Aoshi and laced her fingers together and propped her chin up. "We are not here just to eat our we Aoshi-sama?"
Aoshi shook his head. "No. But what makes you think so?"
Misao smiled in amusement. "Tae-san is one of Kaoru's more helpful contacts and it was never a large surprise if we stopped in a couple times a week to pick up rumors or such from the woman. Sae-san was much of the same although she dealt with different area's of information than her sister."
Aoshi let a faint smile hover over his mouth. "Very good Misao."
Misao rolled her eyes. " Why thank you for your approval, Aoshi-sama."
Aoshi smiled then, catching Misao off guard. "If you don't mind, Misao, drop the
-sama."
Misao stared at him in surprise until the Tempura came and Sae sat herself down in a chair.
"I don't have much information for you Aoshi, but there is a vendor who works a couple of blocks from here who has been hinting that he has some information on some of Enishi's thugs that have been moving around." Sae shrugged. "I haven't had any contact with him since he has been known to be slightly shady but you might be able to get something out of him."
Aoshi nodded his thanks as he bit into a piece of shrimp and Sae took her leave, leaving Aoshi and Misao to digest their food and the information.
Misao finished off her tea as Aoshi laid some bills to cover the food and stood. "So, Misao, how does ice cream for dessert sound?"
~*~
Karou ran a brush over one lid as she continued to glare at her image. "How in the world did I let him talk me into this?"
After being ambushed by the women in the kitchen, all of them cooing at the fact that Kenshin and her where courting, giving unnecessary advice on how to get him into bed, something she really didn't want to talk about much less think about. As far as she could tell Kenshin was already in her bed, and if she ever decided to do more than just sleep then he was a more than willing partner.
There she was thinking about it again. Karou reached over and grasped the lone tube of mascara and groaned. And then Kenshin had come in and easily removed her from the attention of a group of clucking hens, and told her that he had a lead on some of Enishi's gang and would she care helping him check it out since Aoshi was gone.
He had waited till after she had agreed to tell her that they had been hanging out at a more popular vampire club to attempt to find willing recruits and she would need to dress appropriately.
Karou leaned back from the mirror and gave herself a quick once over. Her eyes had been faintly lined with liner, and a pale coat of smoky eye shadow brought out their color. Her thick hair had been twisted away from her face and then left down to cascade down her back and to her hips in a thick curtain.
A dark blue halter-top swathed her upper body and a leather skirt clung tightly to her hips, thighs, and backside. A pair of delicate sandals adorned her small boned feet and Karou was forced to admit that if she was attempting to hook up with some hormone driven male then she was definitely moving along the right path. Hopefully Kenshin would explain exactly why they where going to a club anyway there had to be better places to track down goons.
Reaching over Kaoru grasped her weapon of choice for such an occasion; a delicate shaped silver belt that was turned into a shorter version of her whip on the occasions that it was needed. Grabbing a small handbag from Misao as a gag gift years ago, she dropped in her lipstick, her cell phone and some cash.
Quickly wrapping a silver necklace around her neck with a large square in the center and matching square earrings in her ears, and one quick spray of jasmine and she was ready to go.
Kaoru clomped down the stairs her eyes searching for Kenshin so she headed back for the danger zone known as the kitchen to find something to snack on. It was going to be a long night and she figured that food was not something she was going to get in great quantities that evening so it was best to get something in her stomach while she could.
Luckily no one was in the kitchen so Kaoru managed to rustle up some leftovers from lunch in a less than painful manner. Since she had no idea when Kenshin wanted to leave Kaoru ate everything cold and cleaned her mess up quickly. Heading out of the kitchen she wandered back to the room she had discovered she and Kenshin where going to be sharing and froze one she had opened the door.
Kenshin was standing in a pair of dark slacks, his blood red tresses piled into a high tail instead of the low one she was used to, his shirt unbuttoned to the waist talking to what she could assume was Aoshi.
"Thanks for the tip, Aoshi." Kenshin softly said as he leaned against the window watching the people move around outside. "Kaoru and I will head that direction and check things out. See if you can find anything else out."
Kenshin reached down to pick something off the floor and then rose up, smiling at the woman he knew was their since he had started to talk to Aoshi, and as he rose he let his eyes wander up her long legs.
Mine, Kenshin thought dangerously as he took in her form, the long midnight tresses framing her pale skin and large eyes. "Are you ready to go?" Kenshin questioned lightly amazed that he managed to keep the possessiveness out of his voice.
Karou nodded her head. "Whenever you are."
Kenshin nodded, setting the object on a trunk, as he finished buttoning his shirt, attempting to keep his smirk from appearing at the way her eyes moved over his bare chest, and then he reached down to pick up what he had almost forgotten.
His Katana.
"You're taking that with you?" Kaoru questioned in surprise.
Kenshin nodded as she slide his sheath into his belt and smiled slightly at her confused expression. " This is a Vampire club we are going to Koishii, and with the trouble that has been stirred up lately I won't be the only one there with a weapon. Besides we are really going to make a statement more than anything else."
Karou frowned. "So were going to be seen I thought we were going to check out the recruiting habits."
Kenshin nodded his head. "Yes. If we wanted to be subtler we would be sending Yahiko and Tsubame down there, as they're the least recognizable out of all of us. I, with my hair and eyes, are the most. Besides this is also a way to warn Enishi that anything else he sends against you won't be tolerated." His eyes glittered dangerously at the memory of her being surrounded by zombies and a lone wolf. "We are not necessarily going to check out the recruiting but our presence should warn most of the Vampires in this area that Blood Ki is fixing to not be tolerated."
Karou sighed. "As long as this does not turn into some testosterone driven trip I guess I can live with it."
Kenshin shook his head deciding it was best to leave that comment alone and quickly changed the subject. "Do you know how to handle a Katana?"
Karou wrinkled her nose. "I hate Katana's."
Kenshin sighed. "But can you handle one?" He pressed the point because he needed to know if she was able to defend herself at all, once she started getting the combative memories back she would be much better off, but until then he was a little uncertain of her steel wielding capabilities.
"I can defend myself if that is what you are asking." Karou muttered darkly. "Soujiro made sure of that."
Kenshin nodded. "Good." Moving over he gentle grasped her hand and led her down the stairs. "Because if anyone does decide to be stupid, you may find yourself facing one."
Kaoru sighed. "It's better than bullets."
Kenshin gave a faint smile and shook his head. "If you say so Koishii."
~*~
Misao desperately licked at her cone as she waited for Aoshi to come back from talking to the creepy looking guy who ran one of the vendors. This was there second stop; the first had led him to call Kenshin with the information that they might find something at some club or something.
This caused Misao to grin rather wickedly, because last time she checked Karou was not to fond of the club scene. A couple of bad drinking experiences and one bad ex boyfriend and Karou rarely did anything that involved alcohol and dancing mixed.
Biting into the cone Misao looked around and sighed in exasperation at the two thugs they where moving in her direction. Her eyes quickly scanned for Aoshi, but he was no where to be seen so once again it was up to her to deal with the riff raff.
"Can I help you?" Misao questioned keeping her eyes on her dripping cone.
"We are looking for information." A voice that was attempting to sound inviting and failing answered. "And we where hoping you could answer a few questions for us."
"Depends on the question." Misao retorted.
"We want to know where the Battousai is." The second hissed in vexation. "We know you're with Shinomori and we want Himura dead."
Misao took another bit of her cone and chewed thoughtfully. "Can't say I know where Himura-sama is, not that I would tell you; mind you, but care to explain why you want him dead?"
The first one was about to answer when a phone rang and he answered with a smirk. "Never mind new orders." He nodded towards Misao and snarled. "Time to die precious."
"Is there a reason you are threatening what is mine?" Aoshi's darkly controlled voice questioned from behind them. Misao hid her smile by taking another bit from the fast melting ice cream.
"Shinomori!" Idiot number two hissed. "You have not marked her, she is not yours!"
Aoshi sighed. "You yourself said you knew she was with me and yet you still attacked her." The deadly sound of a Kodachi being unsheathed cut through the silence.
Misao turned and started walking as she heard the sounds of flesh meeting steel. A few moments later Aoshi was walking beside her again. "Aoshi, what did you mean by me being yours?"
Aoshi sighed softly, he had hoped she would have let that one slide. "Misao..."
Misao tilted her head up to look at him, strangely serious for once. "Is there something you want to tell me Aoshi? Such as the reason why you don't seem to want to court me? But have no problem telling others you consider me mine?"
Aoshi stopped and gently took her by the shoulders. "Misao its not that I do not wish to court you, it's just that I can't." Releasing one should to rake his hair he sighed. "It is perhaps more of...I wish to court you in the way your people would first Misao."
Misao tilted her head to the side in question. "What do you mean."
Aoshi sighed. "I want to show you all the aspects of my world, Misao, all of them, before I ask you to let me court you the way my people do. I want you to be able to say you don't want any part of me before I dare give you part of my Ki in return for your blood."
Misao chewed on the inside of one cheek. "So you do want to court me, just in the way of my people."
Aoshi nodded his head. "Yes."
Misao sighed. "Then why did you not say anything?" She frowned at him. "Did you think I would turn you down?"
Aoshi opened his mouth but Misao cut him off. "Oh just shut up and kiss me Aoshi."
Aoshi, more than happy to comply, reached down and kissed her softly, one hand sliding to her waist, the other sliding to the nap of her neck. Pulling back he brought the hand that rested at her hip to her face and stroked her smooth cheek.
"As much as I would love to kiss you all night, Misao," Aoshi softly told her, "I am afraid Kenshin and Karou might have walked into a trap."
Misao froze. "A trap?"
Aoshi had a definite frown on his face. "You remember how I fed that information to Kenshin about the club having a possible group of Enishi's men?"
Misao nodded her head. "Yes."
Aoshi turned and starred at the direction that Kenshin and Kaoru where in. "He was a plant. I found the body of the real vendor in that alley, I had thought something was off and I should have followed my instincts. Someone had decided to play us for fools, Misao." Aoshi narrowed his eyes in the look that could rival Kenshin for dangerous. "I do not like being played."
Misao took of into a sprint and wished that they had taken a car, because it would take fifteen minuets to get there and it had gotten dark some time ago.
"Shit."
~*~
Kaoru grasped her damp hair and twisted it into a low tail and panted slightly as she and Kenshin headed back to the table they had sanctioned as there. Much to her surprise, why she wasn't sure, Kenshin had turned out to be a very good dancer. He also seemed to appreciate the fast beat of the music and the excuse to keep his hands on various parts of her body.
Karou shook her head with a sigh. "Kenshin I will be right back." Karou told him over her shoulder and was stopped by a firm grasp on her wrist.
Amused violet eyes. "Where?"
Karou growled at him. "I am going to powder my nose."
Kenshin shot her an amused smile. Karou jerked her wrist loose and grumbled as she moved towards the ladies room to relieve her aching bladder. Keeping her glower in place Karou managed to keep most of the male population from reaching forward and grouping her.
Of course the dark gaze that was sending shivers up her neck, produced by a set of warning golden tinged eyes, was also managing to keep her from having unwanted attention.
So far that evening they had only been able to feel the lingering effects of some very strong blood Ki, but Kaoru had been sporting a very bad feeling. There was something besides gold tinged eyes watching her, and it was beginning to creep her out.
Kenshin placed on hand on his palm as he watched the doors that Karou had disappeared to. He had felt something nagging at his senses all night, a type of warning, but this place was filled with drunk Vampires who didn't know how to shield properly and some even that where drunk on Blood. Blood Ki made it extremely difficult to sense what going on, as it had the tendency to blend into the Ki around it.
Kenshin frowned when he felt Aoshi and Misao approaching in quite a bit of a hurry. Standing up he began to weave his way towards them, his eyes narrowed in question.
Misao burst through the doors and Kenshin did a double take at her appearance, it appeared they where not there for the club. "Misao?"
The girl brushed by Kenshin not even really pausing to say anything and tore to where Kaoru's Ki thrummed in its normal pattern. Kenshin froze as he felt the malevolent Ki shift, increasing in a rate that should have been impossible. Moving quickly he followed the Ki and attempted to track it down, a sense of warning pounding through his blood.
Karou sighed in relief as she stepped back out onto the floor. The bathroom had been dingy at best and it reeked at the worst so the smoky air of the club was much better suited to breathing.
"KAORU!"
Karou turned her head in surprise to see Misao charging at her full force and knitting her brows together to holler back when a hand wrapped around her throat, picked her up, and cool hard metal was pressed against her temple.
Karou grappled with the hand holding her several inches off the floor but it just tightened in response. Kaoru struggled to breathe around the firm grip on her throat and kicked vainly. Whoever it was apparently had planned this because he easily walked with her to the middle of the dance floor, allowing just enough room for her to drag in slightly ragged breaths.
"BATTOUSAI!"
Kenshin's head jerked over, his red hair cascading down his shoulder. As his eyes took in the sight in front of him his Ki slowly began to expand outwards as his eyes flashed a dangerous gold in fury.
Aoshi took a step away from Kenshin, his eyes on the small woman not six feet from where Karou was being held. Her blue-green gaze was shooting sparks and in one fist was a handful of Kunai but as long as the gun was pointed at Karou there was no way she could throw then without him setting the gun off.
"Battousai, I have a message for you from Enishi." The man hissed, his hand tightening once again on Karou's throat. He was so filled with Blood Ki Aoshi was afraid he was going accidentally break her neck. The man's stance was arrogant had carried the attitude of one who knew he was not going to leave but could care not.
Kenshin narrowed his gaze and felt the darker half of his soul step forward to play. "Let her go." There was so begging, just a point blank order in a voice so low you felt it more than heard it.
"Oh no Battousai." The man mummered, "I am not so stupid as to let her go now, but when I do release her it will be to let her dead body hit the floor."
Kenshin crossed his arms, his face dark and his Ki slowly reaching dangerous levels. The hair on the back of necks and arms of Vampires all around the room raised at the level that was being displayed, each one carefully moving away from the furious Prince.
"Tell me, Battousai, how many times will you lose her?" He questioned a cocky smile on his face. " When will you be able to protect her? Will you always loose her the way you did last time? Or will you accidentally set off and kill her like ...Tomoe?" The man's tone was arrogant and slightly slurred from the stolen blood.
Kenshin snarled at that, his fangs slowly dropping from his mouth, biting into the soft skin of his lower lip. "I will kill you."
Misao shuddered as she took a good look at Kenshin. The man practically seethed power, the Ki rolling in dark, angry waves off his shoulders. She understood why he was the Dark Prince; no being should have the amount of killing Ki wrapped in there being as Kenshin did.
"Enishi wants to know how you will protect her...because she will die." With that the man's hand tightened on the trigger and Kenshin let out a slight howl when it pulled.
Click.
Karou squeezed her eyes shut even as her world slowly turned fuzzy. Apparently the man had decided to play. Forcing her tearing eyes to open she caught Misao's furious expression.
Kenshin growled low. "Let her go."
"I wonder where the bullet is Battousai. Just how long does your precious Kaoru have to live? It doesn't matter if you kill me or not; Enishi whishes you to loose what is most precious to you once again."
Kenshin lazily lowered his lashes. "The first thing I am going to do you is remove that trigger finger." The man's first mistake was to place only one bullet in his gun and to take his time in killing Kaoru.
Click.
"The second thing I am going to remove is the hand that is touching her." His voice was a low hiss of rage and Misao nodded slowly at the look Aoshi was giving her. The second mistake was to taunt him.
Click.
"And then I am going to carve a message for Enishi in your back and let you live long enough to take it to him." Kenshin breathed out, his thumb clicking his sword out, ready to be drawn. His third mistake was to give him any time.
Kaoru gave a weak mewling noise as she attempted to draw in air, her eyes locking with Misao's, and seeing the message that slide through them, closed her eyes.
The man screamed with pain as a Kunai buried itself in the joint where shoulder met arm and Kaoru dropped to the floor like a dead weight. Kaoru rolled weakly away from the man as she heard him scream.
The lackey never stood a chance. Two quick moves and there was one finger and one hand on the floor, and sheath to the back of the knees and one kick to roll him over, and there was a lovely cross shaped scar engraved into the man's back.
Kenshin leaned down and growled in the moaning vampire's ear. "Never. Touch. What. Is. Mine. Tell Enishi that, and tell him that I am coming for both his and Shishio's bodies."
Kenshin brought the handle of his sword down on the mans head, quickly knocking the man out. Kenshin rose and gave the rest of the Vampire population a dark warning glance.
Walking over he gently picked the gasping Karou off the floor. "Koishii," Kenshin whispered into her hair, his voice holding all of the dark possessiveness of his Ki.
Karou coughed against his shoulder for a few seconds before bobbing her head up and down, to indicate she was fine. One of her hands had fisted into the fabric of his shirt and Kenshin shifted her in his arms as he turned and headed towards the door.
"Do you two want a lift?" Kenshin asked softly, his eyes glowing in the dim lights of the club, his expression hard and angry. Aoshi simply nodded and Misao walked over and jerked her Kunai out of the vampire's arm and cleaned it on his body.
Jumping up she walked towards the door and froze at what she saw. Yumi, the red haired woman who Misao figured was more of a poltergeist than anything, was standing in front of Kenshin her red hair dancing around her shoulder with a evil glint in her eyes.
Right behind her was what bothered Misao, for there had to be close to twenty Vampires pumped with both the rising Blood Moon and enough Blood Ki to launch an attack on the refuge they had just left.
And directly behind them sat ten older werewolves with Blood Amulets held onto their necks by gold chains, their fangs dripping with the poison of their kind. With Kaoru still recovering from being tossed like a rag doll and cradled in Kenshin's arms, this fight was suddenly looking very bad.
"Prepare to die, Battousai." Yumi hissed her eyes glinting with a demon light. "Attack."
Aoshi stood next to the small grave that had been laid not two days ago, the flowers he had brought still clutched in his hands, the knuckles white as he crushed the stems in his hands.
"Misao." Aoshi breathed as he allowed his fingers to trace the symbols of her name. "Misao."
Two days, she had been gone for two days and already he felt like someone had taken his soul and carved it into tiny pieces. His normally cold eyes and turned into a landscape of ice to match his heart.
If the world thought madness had touched his heart at the death of his friends Shikijou, Hyottoko, Beshimi, and Hannya then they knew nothing of what he could become with out Misao.
Lowering his head he laid the flowers on the still soft earth, his feet slightly sinking into the earth. He would hold his darkness back, but he would find the Battousai, knowing that Kaoru's death would unleash the same hate filled rage in the Hitokiri that it had unleashed in him. Their kind did not hold to lost mates well claimed or not. He would add in the destruction of Shishio's would and bring Enishi to his knees.
Turning he stopped at the sight that met his eyes. It was what was left of the Oniwabanshu group; all of them standing in Ninja uniform with expression of determination.
Okina stepped forward and bowed slightly. "Its time for you to take the reigns back as the Okashira. To do that we have all decided that those who would follow you should be changed."
Aoshi blinked at them for a long time.
"Okashira," Omasu said simple. " The Oniwabanshu takes care of their own, and Misao was ours. In order to avenge her we must be changed, and we are willing to do that. We are willing to bring the fight of the Oniwabanshu to a different realm."
Aoshi sighed. "So be it."
I told you cliffhanger...terribly sorry. (snickers)