Rain
By: Psychotic Tanuki
Chapter Three: Sakabatou
I had woken up to the shrill of my doorbell. My entire body was sluggish and I felt more tired now than before. Rubbing sleep's last vestiges from my eyes, I glanced over to my alarm clock. Blurry red numbers revealed that it was 11:30. I'd slept for roughly five hours.
"Who the hell visits at 11:30?" Kicking off the covers, I stomped over to my door. Grabbing the cool steel chrome of my doorknob, I hastily unlocked the chain lock above it and flung open the door. My jaw dropped.
"Aw hell no."
"Glad to see you too." Leaning jauntily on her right leg and sporting a Colombia University tote bag, Megumi smirked knowingly. I hated that face and best friends or not, I didn't want to see it at the moment. So I did the most logical thing that came to mind; I slammed the door in her face.
"C'mon tanuki-girl. Open this damn door. It's bad enough that you forgot to meet me at Grand Central—not to mention you turned off your cell phone. I had to walk from 34th street all the way down town! Do you know how painful it is to walk half the length of Manhattan in stilettos?" Voice agitated, Megumi was loud enough to wake the neighbors. I sighed against my door; I had so hoped she would go away if I ignored her long enough.
"Bullshit. You took a cab and you know it." I reluctantly opened the door. I had forgotten that Megumi was returning from her interview in Boston today. Taking her heavily packed duffel bag from the hallway, I paid no heed to the guilt gnawing at the bottom of my stomach.
"I'm gone for a week, and this place is a mess." Sighing dramatically, Megumi's lips curled with disgust at the overflowing garbage can, piles of unwashed dishes, and heaps of clothes strewn haphazardly over the barely visible wood finish of my floor. I ran a sheepish hand through my hair as I realized the full effects of my negligence.
"You would think that Shougo dumped you." She crossed her arms expectantly, a condescending look in her dark cinnamon eyes. Withering under the glare, I fidgeted. What was I supposed to say? She was tacitly demanding an explanation, which I really didn't have.
"Actually, I dumped him."
"What? When did that happen?" Suddenly my feet were very interesting. I hadn't gotten around to telling Megumi that I had broken up with Shougo; partly because I didn't want to think about the pig, and partly because I didn't want to hurt her feelings. After all, Megumi had been the one to set us up in the first place and took enormous pride in her matchmaking abilities.
"A few months ago."
"A few months ago? Why didn't you tell me?" More angry than hurt, Megumi raked her hand through her long ebony tresses. Megumi was gorgeous—although she had taken severe pains to hide that fact. She had never liked to wear makeup, or wear stylish clothing, contrary to popular belief. With a long oval face and porcelain skin, her face was classically feminine. She could run through the mud, have her hair shaved off and still be able to get a hot date.
"You were off doing interviews, so I guess it just slipped my mind." It was true. Megumi was two years my senior and would soon be off to medical school. I had seen very little of my best friend in the last few months seeing that she was being interviewed by various medical schools.
"So then if you called it off, why are you so avidly acting out the part of 'Lonely and Depressed Single Woman Who Can't Get a Date'?" I threw my best death glare, but she only waved it off as she began to dump the heaps of scattered clothing into the hamper. Soon realizing that it would be near impossible to go to sleep now, I flicked on the light switch.
"I'm not acting like a "Lonely and Depressed Single Woman". Stuff has just been fucked up lately." Ignoring Megumi's snort, I grabbed a water bottle from the refrigerator. All this interrogating left me thirsty.
"What stuff?" I froze. What could I tell her? That one day, I decided to dump my now ex-boyfriend, run around in the rain, crash into a murderer, run away from said murderer, only to piss off a cop and meet up with aforementioned murderer again? I think not.
So I lied.
"Grades."
"…Grades." Megumi's voice was deep with skepticism. To my relief, she let it drop there.
"So how did the interview go?"
"Bad." By the time I had gotten to my interview with Tae, I had been so distraught that I had collided with a waitress and broke thirteen dishes. It would be a freaking miracle if I got the job. Then again, I had gone for the interview a week ago and had not been contacted since. Placing a sympathetic hand on my shoulder, Megumi led me over to the couch. I took a sip of my water.
"My friend, I think it's been far too long since you last got laid."
Water shot out of my mouth and into Megumi's face. She had that sort of talent; she could get under my skin like no one else could. Megumi's words had a way of cutting right to the core, and I resented her biting comments. But…from experience, deep down I knew the only reason why Megumi's words ever really hurt was because it was true. Not the getting laid part—the whole acting like a brainless zombie part. Grimacing, Megumi made way for the bathroom.
Megumi knew me very well. She knew me too well actually. She knew that I wouldn't respond to the traditional advice, or guidance—I never had. In fact, I had a penchant for disregarding good advice. The only way to get through my thick skull was to either pound it in, or to cut through. Megumi was never one for pounding.
Grabbing my water bottle, I took another sip. I never knew when I was in the middle of receiving Megumi's advice. I never knew until it had already been given; such was the case now. And after ignoring her good advice for years and suffering the consequences, I contemplated what Megumi had to tell me. Or rather, what she had pointed out that I was too blind to see.
I was running away. I was so afraid of him that I had forgotten about everything else. I had forgotten how to be Kaoru—or at least the Kaoru I was proud of being. I didn't want to face the prospect of dying, and so, I had turned myself into an insipid coward. I had abandoned all morals because I believed it would save my life.
"Well, you seem less pathetic. I believe a 'Thank you Megumi' is in order." Megumi smirked from the bathroom doorway. She didn't have to know the circumstances of my issues, to know what they basically were. Still, she irked me like no other person could.
I flipped her the bird.
"Shut up." We laughed, and a cathartic sense of relief washed over me. I haven't laughed in a long time.
Megumi had slept over, but since she had classes on Mondays, she had already left before I woke up. I, on the other hand, was skipping class to rectify my mistakes. Tying the shoelaces of my sneakers, I dreaded the task of finding that wolfish police officer. There had to be thousands of police officers in New York City—and I was looking for a needle in the haystack. On top of that, I didn't actually look forward to talking with him.
Still, this was no time to nurse my bruised pride. I walked out of the subway and towards the Metropolitan Museum of Art. It was my only clue as to where I might find "Wolfy". If I was lucky, maybe some of the museum staffers would know who he was. I didn't want to think of what I was supposed to do if I was unlucky.
My sneakers clapped softly against the stone steps. I paid no attention to the uneasiness wavering in my stomach. Without much success, I tried not to remember how he had known I had angered the policeman. Perhaps he was watching at this moment.
I grit my teeth. What did it matter if he was watching? It wasn't going to deter me from telling the police. My silence would not be the cause of somebody's death—and if he should kill me, then so be it.
Chewing my lip, I got my admission button and headed towards the gift shop. It was silly for me to expect the policeman to still be standing right where I left him. But a part of me hoped that he was. My heart knocked against my ribs as I hurried past the bathrooms and towards the gift shop.
To my dismay, darkness shrouded the tiny gift shop. It was then that I noticed the large numbers telling me that the store opened at 11:30 am. I glanced at my watch. Shit. I had an hour and forty-five minutes until the damned store would open. There was no point in returning home—the minute I returned home, I would have to leave again. That, and if I left the museum, I would have to get another admission button. And I had forgotten to bring my student ID, meaning that I would have to pay another ten dollars.
"The worst thing to waste a brilliant mind on is television." That was my father's favorite saying. Begrudgingly, the cheapest and easiest way to be near the gift store when it opened was to stay in the museum. However, I didn't like the idea of sitting in front of the gift shop for another hour and a half. Thus, I concluded that it would be a culturally enlightening good idea if I were to educate my mind by looking around the museum. Never mind that I had been here a week ago.
As a result, the next half hour was spent browsing around the ancient art of Egypt and at the end of that half hour, I found myself in the 'Arms and Armor' section of the museum. More specifically, I found myself staring at a wide collection of Japanese swords.
There was one sword in particular. Most of the swords were polished and their lacquer sheaths glistened in the museum lighting—this sword however, it was different. Its sheath was not lacquered; on the contrary, it was marred with dozens of scratches. While the blade glistened, the hilt was in a state of utter disrepair. It seemed to be a pariah among the other polished swords, which made it all the more alluring.
"I didn't think that girls could be fascinated by a mere sakabatou." Breath hitching in my chest, a mixed sense of relief and anxiety washed over me. Relief, that I didn't have to wander around Manhattan to find a tall spindly policeman, and anxiety that I had to talk to said policeman.
"Sakabatou?" I glanced carefully at the small information card next to the sword. A sword with its blade on the reverse side? What good was a sword like that?
"I'll cut to the chase Miss Kamiya—"
I tore my gaze from the sword to find the policeman with a smug leer on his face. He had obviously been expecting my compliance from the beginning.
"What did the killer look like?" Blood rushing, I took a deep breath. This was the point of no return—what I said now could not be taken back. The silence of the museum roared in my ears, while the air proceeded to suffocate me with its thickness. Nonetheless, I licked my chapped lips and prepared myself.
"Long red hair, slight in stature…sort of looked like he was a girl." A chill ran down my spine, as a slow feral grin spread over the police man's face. By the way his cold amber eyes glazed over, it looked as if he were experiencing a twisted version of pure ecstasy.
Those eyes were the same color as his were. He had kept them squinted until now, so I had not seen them before. He took no notice of my discomfort, and if he did, he didn't care.
"What color were his eyes?"
"Same as yours."
"Ah, so he has returned," he smirked mockingly at the encased Sakabatou, entirely pleased with himself, "It would seem that his petty ideals did not hold."
"What do you mean?" He regarded me carefully through a sidelong glance.
"The man who donated this sword is the same man who killed Takeda Kanryuu—he's a dangerous man Miss Kamiya. If I were you, I would leave the country. Because now that you've told me what he looks like," He pulled out a cigarette, "If he finds you, there won't be anyone in the entire world who could save you."
Pulling out a silver cigarette lighter, he lit it casually and slowly began to smoke it. His amber eyes that were focused on the Sakabatou now regarded me quietly. Perhaps he had expected me to be afraid by his words. I wasn't—I had known that long before he even opened his mouth.
"What about you? Won't he be after you once he knows you're looking for him?" Abruptly, a cold laugh burst from his lips, startling me. Eyebrows furrowing with confusion, my heart beat faster as I felt the knots in my stomach grow tighter.
The laughter had subsided and a sinister smile crept up onto his lips. I could tell by their glazed look that he was not looking at me, but at something else; something I couldn't see. But I didn't have to see it, to know what that look meant.
His voice took on a raspy quality, dripping with an uncultivated evil. Unconsciously, I shivered, which only seemed to amuse him more.
"I look forward to it."
"Saitoh! Get away from her!" Roughly, I felt my shoulders jerk back as someone pulled me away from the policeman. Faintly, it registered that I had heard that voice before.
"Takasugi-san. I thought roaches took better care of family." Takasugi? Uncle Shinsaku? Glancing up, I saw my favorite uncle snarling at the police officer. What was he doing here? I had thought he was in Japan visiting a friend of his…
"Shut up Saitoh. If I see you anywhere near her again…" My uncle was no small man, but the spindly policeman, Saitoh as my uncle called him, loomed over him as if he were an ant.
"It's not me you need to protect the raccoon from. Tell Katsura-san that he's getting rusty." Saitoh's eyes regarded me disdainfully, warning me not to relay what I had told him to my uncle. With that, he stalked off from the exhibit, leaving me with my uncle.
Uncle Shinsaku was the black sheep of the family. My mother had loved her older brother dearly, but the fact of the matter was that he had a shady past; one my mother never talked about. I had never really cared, nor had I ever believed my mother's warnings, but at this moment… At this moment, I was beginning to see what she had meant when she had said Uncle Shinsaku was a "dangerous man."
"Kaoru, what were you doing talking to a man like that?" Messy black hair shook as he grabbed me by my shoulders. In his dark coffee eyes, I could see a wild panic. The epitome of cool, my uncle never panicked, and I grew uneasy. I didn't like seeing Uncle Shinsaku like that.
"I was looking at this sword and he just starting talking to me. What are you doing in the States? Mom told me you were visiting a friend in Japan for the rest of the year." He ran a hand through his hair, his face contorted into sheepish embarrassment.
"I was. I came back a few months ago. Bad stuff happened in Japan, so I brought my friend over to get his mind off of things. You'd like him; He's even better than I am at kendo." Uncle Shinsaku laughed nervously under my disbelieving glare. It had to have been more than mere coincidence that my uncle was here, at this moment. Sobering from his panic, Uncle Shin's face grew solemn.
"Kao-chan, that man is a very dangerous man—"
"He's a policeman, how dangerous could he be?" Yes, this Saitoh person was scary, but he was a policeman. His civic duty was to protect the citizens…right?
"Very dangerous," Uncle Shin's eyes glittered with apprehension, "If he approaches you again, run. Run as fast as you can, and don't hesitate." With that, my Uncle wrapped me into a bear hug, one that I couldn't bring myself to return.
Something was wrong with this picture. Somehow, Saitoh, my uncle and that man were all connected; and by the way things looked, I couldn't trust Uncle Shin either. We were still standing next to that Sakabatou, and my eyes drifted towards the small information card.
Donated by K. Himura.
I didn't understand what was going on, but this time, I wasn't going to run away. Who was K. Himura, why did he kill Takeda Kanryuu, why did my uncle know that policeman? But more importantly, what the hell was my place in all of this?
K. Himura…
Carefully, I returned my uncle's hug with my eyes fixed on that name. Perhaps he really was the key to everything.
AN: Phew. That was longer than I thought it would be. Originally there was more to this chapter, but it was getting a little too long, so I decided the rest of it would get stuck into the next chapter. And I think rating might go up later on, but I'm not too sure. Ah, well we'll see.
It's a little hard to write a full blown plot through only one person's point of view, so you have to read between the lines of Kaoru's blurred perception, and her tendency to let emotions cloud her thoughts. I dropped about four or five hints as to Kenshin's background in this chapter. These things will be revealed later on as Kaoru finds out for herself what Kenshin's actual past is. Kaoru's suspicious, but she doesn't really know anything—she only has a hunch. And no, he doesn't have the scar—at least…not yet.
As for the Kaoru/Megumi relationship, I think that's what was portrayed in the manga and the series. All those times Megumi scolded or had a riff with Kaoru was because she was really guiding her; pointing things out that Kaoru couldn't see. Hopefully that came off well.
Thanks to XxSilentxDreamerxX, Kenshin's-angel, flaming amber, Ayame in Kouga-hating mode, the evil witch, Nguardian, kenjutsu priestess, blue jeans, reignashii, starstoryteller, blond goth, kuroi tamashii,
Poppy2- XD, I'm glad you think I'm doing well with my depiction of Kaoru. It's kind of hard since a real person is not just a set of characteristics, but a bunch of facets that each have their time in the spotlight. Each chapter is sort of like that, and a different facet of her personality surfaces.
Jouko-chan- Kaoru and Sano XX;. Ah well, I'm glad you liked the Sano/Kaoru interaction, He'll be showing up again soon with a role more important than you can even guess. As for OCC…I'm not too sure. I know that OOC means "out of character" and I think OCC means along the same lines. XX;
girl from ipanema- I grew up with grammar lessons, so I should hope its reflected in the fic. I'd be pissed if it didn't. As for a lemon…oro…I don't know if I have it in me to write such a scene. I had to write one in a writing group and nearly died of embarrassment and ended up implying it instead. I frankly don't know if I'm mature enough to write a lemon, but we'll see. Hope you still read the fic even if I don't have the guts to write one ;;
Omata- I agree that the best romances are the ones that happen gradually. Although I might take painfully long. As for my choice with Shougo…I couldn't use Enishi because…he has other uses, and Shougo was the only choice from either anime or manga that I could just use and discard easily.
Kean- ahahahahaha ; I'm glad for your constructive criticism, so no need to worry. I kind of felt that way about it too, but Chapter two and three were really kind of mixed together but it didn't fit well, so I had to chop them up in two, and ended up having to do the same with chapters three and four. I think it came out weird because of that. shrug ah well…
Livia- ; I really appreciated that you pointed out what lines confused you and what lines you liked. You were right about my choice of wording in slaughter—it was a way of foreshadowing. :D