Sorry, this is cut short. I have no more, so I thought I'd just offer up what I had. Sorry to cut it off so abruptly!
Chapter four: The Red Dragon Attacks!
A Red Dragon ninja sat up in a tree observing the Kamiya Dojo, he watched the Kaoru girl exit the house and remove her facemask. He smiled to himself and disappeared into the shadows. He knew now that it was the Bottosai who was ill and tonight would be his last night to live.
The rest of the Aki-Ryu were waiting in an alleyway close by. He nodded at the leader, a British man by the name of Giovanni, and they took off, toward the Kamiya Dojo.
"He'll pay for killing my wife."
Megumi was on her way back from the well, when she heard a knock on the gate. She set down the water buckets and walked up to it, "Who is it?"
There was a pause, "It's Sanosuke, who else? What's with the 'quarantine' eh Megumi?"
She sighed, "You can't come in. Kenshin's got Pneumonia, I can't risk it spreading through the city."
"Pneumonia huh? That's not good…"
Something I his tone made her question, "Why not…besides the obvious reasons?"
"Well Missy, if someone wants to pummel Kenshin…this would be a good opportunity, don't you think? So you better let me in."
"Poor excuse… yeah okay come in," She lifted the heavy wooden brace that kept the door closed, and Sano strolled in.
"You should really take that sign off the door," He grabbed it and broke it over his knee, "it really draws suspicion. Just lock it."
Megumi rolled her eyes, "Do it yourself."
"Yes ma'am," he went to lift the board, but dropped it with a gasp when a short sword thanked into the other side, "Who's there?" before he could react something flew in his face, blinding him, "AH!"
The red dragon group stepped out of the shadows, and clubbed the fighter over the head.
"Sano!" Megumi gasped, but soon she was blinded as well, "KAORU, KENSHIN! WE'RE UNDER ATTACK!" A hard crack to the head soon had her on the ground as well.
Giovanni smiled down at their bodies, "You cannot defeat me. I will kill your friend, to revenge him killing my wife. I'm sorry."
"Hold it right there!"
Kaoru stood in front of the door to Kenshin's room, her arms outstretched, "You can't come in, you'll have to get through me first."
Kenshin's sleep was heavy with bad dreams, he awoke to a strange male voice outside his room.
"Step aside little girl, I'm here for the Battosai's head."
"I won't move!"
"Kaoru…" The pain in his chest was growing more painful and he still had considerable trouble breathing, but he tried to struggle to his feet.
"Then you'll die!"
"I won't let you get to Kenshin."
"Then DIE!"
Kaoru flinched, her hands trying to cover her face.
"KAORU!" He cried, "NO!"
The blade never hit, Yahiko blocked the blade with a metal bar that had been in the shed, "Leave Kaoru alone you big bully."
Kenshin summoned his strength and turned over, reaching to grasp his sword. The room spun in a sickening way.
"Kaoru…AHHH!" His scream broke painfully in his throat. He fought over the pain in his chest and managed to tip over the sword and then grabbed the hilt. He struggled to his feet, coughing the entire way.
"I can't…" All he could see was Kaoru in his nightmare, dying in his arms, with condemning words on her pale lips.
"I must!" He straitened and walked shakily to the door, flinging it open, "Leave them alone…Yahiko!"
Giovanni had his sword to the young man's throat, "Let me go you bastard!"
"Take one more step Bottosai, and I'll kill him."
Kenshin fell to his knees and coughed roughly into his hands, "Leave him alone!"
Kaoru touched his shoulder, "Kenshin."
"Get inside Miss. Kaoru. I can't let anything happen to you."
"You're in no condition to fight."
Giovanni handed Yahiko over to one of his ninja's, "Hold the brat," he reached down and grabbed Kaoru around the neck, lifting her off the floor, "This one's mine," he kissed Kaoru's cheek, "Japanese women are so beautiful," he tore her hair ribbon off and threw it on the ground.
"Let her go! If you want my life, take it, but leave Miss. Kaoru alone," he had another coughing fit.
"No Kenshin…"
Giovanni put hand in his pocket an pulled out some dust, he threw it in Kaoru's face, she screamed in pain, then went slack.
"Miss. Kaoru! Miss. Kaoru speak to me!" He couldn't yell very loudly and his voice was hoarse.
He dropped her and she collapsed in a heap, "She is dead."
"NO! Miss. Kaoru…" He crawled painfully to her side, and pulled her onto his lap, "Oh no…" He began to cry, raw, rough sobs shaking in his throat, "I'm sorry Miss. Kaoru," He hugged her to his chest, "I'm so sorry," he began to rock back and fourth slowly, "No…no…Miss. Kaoru…I'm not strong enough for this."
Giovanni sneered, "You killed my wife Battosai, now you die!" He swung his sword down, and jumped back when Kenshin parried.
"So you do have strength left?"
"NO! YOU KILLED HER!" His rasping voice was frightening, his eyes narrowed, but they were not those of the Manslayer, they were the eyes of a man in desperate physical and emotional pain.
He swung at the Brit with a wild swing, off balance from his illness, Giovanni blocked the blow and it was all Kenshin could do to stay upright. Then he realized something a fraction of a second too late. His katana wasn't the only weapon Giovanni had. He slashed at the swordsman's middle with his dagger and cut a long, deep gash along Kenshin's chest.
The former Battosai struggled to stay on his feet. Desperate to survive.
"We'll kill you and this brat just like we killed the others," Giovanni pointed at Megumi and Sanosuke's bodies, still laying were they had fell.
"You killed them?" Kenshin's voice was low and dangerous, "why? WHY?!"
He struck again and was rewarded with a kick in the head. This time he did collapse, curling in upon his wounded stomach and aching lungs.
"Why?" Kenshin croaked, "Why?"
"You don't remember?" Giovanni said resting the tip of his sword on Kenshin's temple, "You killed my wife Bottosai. She was the love of my life, and we came here to try to help stop the war during the Meiji revolution, and you slaughtered her when I was out. I never even got to say goodbye. I've been searching for you for nineteen years, and now I have you in my grasp."
"Hey, we all have problems, but don't you think this is a little extreme for something that happened so long ago?" Came Sanosuke's voice from behind Giovanni, he and his men turned and looked at the fighter, surprised.
"Sano…" Kenshin smiled at him.
"You're all in big trouble now…"
Sanosuke started in on the men and looked like he was having the time of his life. Kenshin couldn't help but grin, he has such strange friends.
Giovanni turned away from Sanosuke fighting his men, back down to the fallen crimson haired man, "You will live tonight, but I am taking this woman with me."
He picked up Kaoru's body, and ran toward the gate.
"SANO, MISS. KAORU! He's getting a…way…" Blackness took over Kenshin's vision, and he gave himself up into it, "Miss. Kaoru…"
"Kenshin wake up!" Sanosuke's voice broke through the dark.
"Miss. Kaoru…" he didn't have breath to ask the whole question, but knew Sano would know what he meant.
"I couldn't catch him Kenshin, I'm sorry."
Tears filled Kenshin's eyes, "Miss. Kaoru…"
He was still laying outside, Sano kneeling beside him, "Yahiko?"
"They got him too. Megumi's okay though, just a bump on the head."
He nodded, summoned his strength and pushed himself up onto his elbows.
"Kenshin what the hell are you doing?"
He began to crawl toward the Dojo, blood dripping from his wound.
"Miss…Kaoru…"
"KENSHIN! Take it easy would ya? You're going to kill yourself."
The small man collapsed and then picked himself up again, continuing to crawl until he finally could go no further. He fell, his arm outstretched and he took Kaoru's ribbon in his hand, "Miss…Kaoru…"
Sano ran to his side and picked him up, the swordsman's body was slack, but he still held on to the ribbon, he was struggling for breath, his mouth wide open in a desperate search for air.
"Shit, I have to try to wake up Megumi," he ran into the Dojo and lay Kenshin on his futon and ran into the courtyard.
Megumi's eyes were already open.
"Megumi, Kenshin's in trouble, he needs you. I've gotta go find the Missy and Yahiko. Megumi? Can you hear me?"
She nodded, "I'll be fine Sano, you worry about Kaoru and Yahiko, I'll worry about Ken-san."
"Right. Keep him alive!"
"I'll do my best."
Kaoru opened her eyes slowly, the world was unfocused and spinning, "Kenshin."
"You awake Miss?"
Kaoru's face focused on Giovanni's sad, lined face.
"You! Leave me alone! Where's Kenshin?"
"I think he's probably dead," he said.
"NO!" Kaoru cried, "Why? He's not the Battousai anymore. He's a wanderer, a Rurouni, he's no harm to anyone. How could you do this?"
The man's face grew still more sad, "You love this man? This man who killed so many innocents?"
"He didn't kill innocents, he killed evil people…"
Giovanni's eyebrows drew down as he cut her off, "My wife was not evil. You are misinformed, or maybe delusional. All the Battousai did was kill people his master thought should die. There is no justice in that."
It was Kaoru's turn to get angry, "I know that. And Kenshin himself would be the first to admit that. If your logic is right, you should kill his master, not him. He was used, he was an instrument of death. They played upon his youth and idealism and," she touched her ring, "They pulled him down, and corrupted his heart. But he's not that man anymore, his heart is pure, he's a changed soul, you can't do this."
"I must…I made a promise to myself and my late wife that I would avenge her death."
"By spilling more blood?"
"If I must."
"Then your no better than the Battousai."
He raised his hand as if to strike her, and she flinched, but his hand never fell.
"I'm sorry Lady Kaoru. Very sorry."
She fiddled with her enagement ring, "You really killed him?"
"I don't know, but he wasn't moving when I took you."