In the smoky streets of London, a battle is brewing. Kenshin is a former business man who has just discovered life in all its varied forms. Kaoru, a vampire, is running for her life when a certain red-head stumbles into it. COMPLETE Modern-Day AU.
Summary: In the smoky streets of London,
a battle is brewing. Kenshin is a former business man who has just discovered
life in all its varied forms. Kaoru, a vampire, is running for her life when a
certain red-head stumbles into it. Modern-Day AU.
Disclaimer: I don't own Rurouni Kenshin. I am making no
profit by writing this fan fiction. It is intended for recreation purposes
only.
Rating: R for language and violence
Pairing: Kenshin/Kaoru, Aoshi/Misao, and Sano/Meg
Chapter Two: On Hallowed Ground
"I thought you said no one knows where Kaoru sleeps!"
Kenshin had to yell into the wind to make his voice heard over the roar of
Sanosuke's motorcycle. They tore through Blackfriars
at near sonic speeds. Kenshin rode behind Sanosuke with his arms wrapped around
the other man's waist. Katsu had his own bike and he followed at a more
leisurely and legal speed somewhere back in King's Cross.
"They don't!" Sano hollered back. "I have a good idea where
she'd go though, if Katsu's information was right and Yukishiro's going after
her during the day too!"
As they continued on, Kenshin began to realize what Sanosuke
had meant. They were on the Thames now, close to large
amounts free running water. Most supernatural creatures couldn't abide by it.
Undead Vampires and Black Witches couldn't even get near it. Kenshin didn't
have a problem with it and neither did Sanosuke.
Unfortunately the Riverfront covered a large amount of
territory, but Sanosuke seemed to have a definite point in mind. The pulled up
in front of a ramshackle church.
Sanosuke put down the kickstand and killed his engine. "My
pack has heard rumors that the Were-rats have been unusually active around this
area. One of Kaoru's pet witches noticed that they've attacked this place at
least twice. A Cleric priest once lived here and put up some fairly powerful
wards, so they've been repelled each time."
Kenshin hopped down from the bike. Sanosuke un-strapped two
long narrow bundles from the saddlebags and handed one to Kenshin. The package
opened to reveal a wickedly curved blade and gleamed pale in the moonlight.
Kenshin carefully tested the edge and hissed when it burned his finger.
"Careful." Sanosuke warned him. "The metal has a high silver
content."
"I'll keep that in mind." Kenshin sheathed his blade and
shrugged into the bandoleer it came with. When he tested the draw it came out
smoothly over his shoulder. Sanosuke crept up the front doors, careful to keep
to the shadows. Kenshin took the other side, ready to defend his friend in case
of attack.
White ward glyphs lit up around the edges of the doorframe
as they approached. Kenshin held his bare hand up to one and it glimmered
orange as it tested him. Kenshin felt an odd ruffling in his aura, as though
his spirit was a book and the ward was skimming through it. After a moment, the
glyph changed to a cool blue and they all faded away.
Kenshin shook his head to clear the remaining vestiges of
the glyph. "We're acceptable." He muttered. "Those wards are strong although
they haven't been maintained in years. The priest must have been strong in his
faith. What happened to him?"
Sanosuke shrugged. "I think a demon ate him."
Kaoru heard the floorboards creak in the distance. She sat
up and listened hard. The wards were still active. She could feel their
protection wrapped around her like a mother's embrace.
Male voices drifted through the air to greet her sensitive
ears. One voice she'd have recognized anywhere. "Oh, Sano."
She breathed, unsure whether to be glad he'd come or terrified that he'd be
hurt.
Either way, she wouldn't hide from him. Kaoru stood and let
the blanket fall. For better or for worse, her friends had come for her.
She slid down the bell-pull and landed silently on the
landing below. Quietly she crept through the corridors until she could feel
Sanosuke's aura burning in the darkness like a guy fawkes doll. It was funny, but she'd remembered him
being dimmer than that.
He was probably angry or wired up for a fight. That would
explain the intensity of his aura. No one burned brighter than Sanosuke,
although there was a second person with him who came close. It was probably
Katsu.
Then a voice she barely knew and would never have expected
in a million years rang through the darkness.
"Miss Kamiya, are you here?"
Kaoru swayed on her feet in shock. Of all people… perhaps
Enishi wasn't being paranoid at all. Maybe he'd seen something she hadn't.
"I'm here." She managed to school her voice into some
resemblance of normalcy. She stepped out of the corridor and into the room
where she'd sensed his aura.
Kenshin Himura stood beside Sanosuke and not Katsu. Of
course, if she hadn't identified his voice she might not have recognized him.
Gone was the expensive suit and concealing hat. He wore an ankle length leather
duster over black jeans and a thick gray woolen. He wore boots that had only
just been broken in and showed scruffs from motorcycling.
Even his hair was different. Before it had lain flat and
smooth, now the thick stuff fought against the leather thong he'd used to tie
it back. Moreover, his entire demeanor had changed. He was charged with energy
and his eyes had gained a surprising intensity. They were gold now instead of
the violet she recalled.
Mr. Himura had settled in with his beast very well and it
showed.
Sanosuke pushed past Kenshin to pick Kaoru up and give her a
rib cracking hug. She smiled wanly and tried to show some enthusiasm. Hastily
she cast a glamourie over herself to keep them from noticing the ravages the
past week had played on her.
As usual, Sanosuke didn't even notice, but Kenshin looked at
her oddly with a little worry wrinkle on his brow as if something were bothering
him.
"Moon's blood, Kaoru, you're like ice!" Sanosuke wrestled
out of his jacket and wrapped it around her. Then he pulled her up against his
chest to share his body warmth. "Have you eaten since you got in here?"
Kaoru shook her head, but didn't pull away from Sanosuke's
warm body. She hadn't realized until now just how cold she'd become.
"We'll get some IV packs from McNally's." Kenshin said,
naming the pub where Kaoru had taken him on his first night in London.
He looked Kaoru over, his eyes lingered on her dress, the same one she had that
night and her bare feet. "We'll take her to my place. I have a spare bedroom
where she can stay."
"What's wrong with my place," Sanosuke wanted to know.
"She'll have the entire Sekihoutai to watch her back."
Kenshin eyed him coldly. "Your house is invested with fleas
and so are you for that matter."
"So?" Sanosuke groused as he scratched behind his ear.
"She's crashed on my couch before and never complained."
"Enishi knows where you live." Kaoru pointed out.
Sanosuke had no answer to that one. So when Katsu arrived,
Kaoru went home with Kenshin.
Katsu and Sanosuke dropped Kaoru and Kenshin off at his
apartment. It was an old warehouse that had been converted into several floors
of expensive flats. An elevator provided access to all the levels, although one
required a key to open to door unless someone was inside to answer the buzzer.
The elevator let off right into Kenshin's living room.
Kaoru entered slowly, still wrapped in Sanosuke's leather
jacket. For a second she just stood on the entrance and soaked up the heat.
Kenshin hung back and watched her. He could practically see her absorb the
warmth from the air.
The flimsy illusion she'd wrapped around herself gained
substance as the chill left her, although Kenshin could still see the raccoon
circles under her eyes and the unnatural pallor of her skin.
"There's a bath in back over there by the kitchen." Kenshin
pointed it out once he had Kaoru's attention. "Leave your dress in the hamper
in the hall and I'll find you something to sleep in."
Kaoru nodded, but didn't speak. She hadn't said a word since
they'd recovered her from the Chapel. She followed his directions and Kenshin
watched the bathroom door close behind her. A few seconds later he heard the bath
water begin to run.
Kenshin ducked into his bedroom and hurriedly began throwing
laundry into his closet. The room wasn't messy by any means, but there was a
fine layer of clothing that lay discarded on the floor.
The scent of lavender drifted through the air and made
Kenshin smile. She'd found the bath salts… good. She'd looked like she could
use them. He contemplated telling her where he kept the bubble bath and scented
soaps for his hypothetical female visitors, but he decided she deserved some privacy.
After sorting through his drawers, Kenshin came up with one
of his old snap-up dress shirts and some thick winter socks. He made a note to
check the size of her dress in order to lay in some
feminine articles of clothing. She obviously hadn't been able to access her own
belongings in a while and there was no telling how long she'd be staying with
him.
Kenshin laid the clothes outside the bathroom door and
knocked gently. "I'm leaving you something to change into in the hall." He
called inside. "I'll put your dress into the wash."
"Thank you!" Kaoru's reply was muffled by the door, but
audible. Her voice had gained strength. Kenshin took that as a good sign.
Kaoru's red dress lay crumpled in the bottom of the hamper.
Kenshin lifted it out with an aggrieved frown. He hadn't recalled it smelling
so bad when it had been on Kaoru, but they'd been in the wind before that. He
carried it to the laundry at arm's length and dropped it in quickly. He dumped
in some of the laundry from his bedroom and put in extra detergent. As an
afterthought he put in a double shot of fabric softener.
As the washing machine ran, he leaned against it and thought
about all he'd seen that night.
Kaoru Kamiya didn't look like a woman who'd merely been on the
run for a week or so. Yes, her fatigue probably dated from around that point,
but from what he'd been able to see she'd been on the streets longer than that.
There was an interesting hypothesis forming in the back of
his mind, but Kenshin wasn't sure he liked it.
Kaoru stayed in the bath until the water faded from scalding
hot to lukewarm. Then she drained it and turned on the shower to scrub her body
pink. She felt a little guilty about using Kenshin's hot water, but it had been
so long since she'd had the luxury of an uninterrupted bath that she couldn't
help herself.
She washed everything twice and took unabashed advantage of
the feminine toiletries on the second shelf of Kenshin's medicine chest. They
were all still sealed from the store and Kaoru could sense no traces of anyone
in the apartment but Kenshin.
When she had dressed in the clothes her host had left, Kaoru
carefully stripped the illusion from her face and examined herself in the
mirror. Dark smudges marked her eyes and despite the false flush her bath had
lent her, her skin was still far too pale. Her eyes stood out in her face,
large and vulnerable.
Kaoru applied a new, more thorough illusion. Kenshin had
almost seen through the last one, which just went to show how thin she'd spread
her powers.
Damp dried and re-glamoured, Kaoru padded into the living
room to find Kenshin mixing himself a drink at a half-bar by the open kitchen.
She glanced around the apartment, taking in the deep cream carpet and the suede
furniture. The windows were drawn and covered in thick chocolate drapes. There
were some modern art pieces on the walls, done in blacks, deep browns, and
greens.
He looked up as she entered and his eyes glimmered gold
before settling back down to violet. "Would you like something to eat?" he
asked and nodded towards the kitchen. "It's mostly bachelor food, but it can be
hot and filling in five minutes."
Kaoru shook her head. "I can't eat solid foods." She wrapped
her arms around her waist and leaned across the counter.
"Then you only drink blood?" Kenshin guessed, but Kaoru
shook her head.
"Ideally I could. My body absorbs the nutrients in human
blood. If I drink from a healthy human who keeps a balanced diet then I don't
need to supplement my diet with anything else." Kaoru laughed softly. "Mostly
my kind drinks blood for the iron content. Our system wastes iron like you
wouldn't believe."
"What can you
have?" Kenshi started to move to his kitchen.
"I can have fruit or vegetable juice, smoothies, and water.
I can also take vitamin pills if they've been ground up and mixed with liquid.
I have a little trouble getting enough protein." Her fangs flashed in a quick
smile. "If you have some hot chocolate, I could use the sugar boost."
Kenshin grinned back at her. "That I do, Miss."
There was a line of bar stools lined up by the counter
dividing the kitchen from the living room. Kaoru curled up on one and watched
Kenshin put on a pan of milk to heat. He sifted in cocoa, sugar, cinnamon, and
vanilla. The result was a smooth light-brown fluid that he poured into two
ceramic mugs. One he set down in front of her and the other he cradled between
his large rough hands.
"Thank you." Kaoru said suddenly, although she wasn't sure
whether she meant it for the cocoa or the hospitality. Kenshin accepted her
thanks with a graceful nod.
"You're welcome, please feel free
to stay as long you like." He smiled. "You'll definitely stay until this all
blows over." It wasn't a question.
Kaoru dropped her eyelids and shrugged lazily. "I don't have
anywhere else to go. You know who is after my blood, don't you?"
Kenshin nodded and took a sip of his cocoa. "Sano told me,
although I don't follow Vampire politics. My kind tends to ignore the world in
general."
"I thought so." Kaoru murmured, ignoring Kenshin's sharp
look. She chuckled, but didn't explain herself. "So you've settled into London
then? I'd meant to check up on you, but somehow I never got around to it."
"Sano and his Sekihoutai made me welcome. You chose well,
they've been good friends to me," He paused to take another drink. "I've been
trying to find you, but you're a difficult woman to track down. I should have
asked Sanosuke for help sooner."
Kaoru cocked her head and took a leisurely sip of her cocoa.
"Did you need something?"
"No," Kenshin shook his head. "I actually just wanted to see
you. You left rather abruptly last time I saw you. Why was that?"
"You were going to invite me in." Kaoru dropped down from
the barstool. "Dawn was coming and you knew it. I had enough of Chivalry during
the renaissance when it came back in vogue for a few years."
"I thought I was being polite, but pardon me if I insulted
you." Kenshin didn't sound sorry, but he didn't sound offended either.
Kaoru snorted. "You don't know much about Vampires, do you?"
"Not really, but I'm willing to learn. Why shouldn't I have
invited you in?" Kenshin followed Kaoru into the living room. She folded her
long legs into one of his armchairs and he took a place on the couch across
from her.
Kaoru sipped her cocoa thoughtfully for a while before she
spoke. "The myth that you have to invite a Vampire into your home is complete
bunk. The Undead started it because of a Law our kind keep. A vampire can't
kill a human in their home unless they've been invited to do so and there is a
precedent for 'mistaking' a human's invitation to enter for an invitation to
have a 'snack'. The law's been twisted over the years and as it stands now, if
you'd invited me in that night I'd have been obligated to feed on someone
there."
Kenshin's brows lifted in surprise. "That's an interesting
point of view. Are there any other esoteric vampire laws I should know about.
I'd hate to make another faux pas."
"There aren't many. Most of our laws are open to
interpretation." She paused to laugh. "Our 'Laws' are more like guidelines or
suggestions. The basic structure of Vampire Law is more like common sense,
involving how many people you can feed off in a day or in a given area. The law
applies more to the Undead than my kind. After all, I don't have to kill to
live."
"Beg pardon?" Kenshin frowned. He cocked his head. "You
don't, implying that others of your kind do?"
Kaoru nodded. "Yes. It is reason we feed on humans instead
of getting our iron from other sources. Haven't you ever wondered why so many
humans die after a vampire attack? We don't drink more than a pint or two.
Humans donate more than that. An Undead vampire feeds off the death of his
victim as much the blood he takes. As a living Vampire, I don't drink death
because I never died. However I do partake of the psychic energy a human's
emotions produce."
"Is that why Undead vampires go
insane?" Kenshin leaned forward with his elbows on his knees. His cocoa lay on
the table between them forgotten.
"You've got the gist of it." Kaoru drained her mug. "Their
mental stability is damaged when they're brought over. My pet theory is that
they experience something too horrible to comprehend as they cross into Death
and back out. Then years of feeding on the pain and terror of their victims
erode what reason they have left."
"When was the last time you ate properly?" Kenshin asked
suddenly.
Kaoru blinked, her mouth dropped open and she couldn't
reply. He couldn't have known what he'd done. It was considered very… intimate
to inquire after a vampire's feedings. Most Vampires considered each other
smart enough to keep themselves fed. The only people with any right to inquire
were family members and spouses.
'… and lovers.' Kaoru's memory
prodded her.
She should have corrected him then, but instead she found
herself shrugging. "I'll be fine." She said cryptically.
Kenshin snorted softly. "You don't look fine. I doubt that
glamour you're keeping up is helping anything. I probably should have mentioned
before, but I can see right through it.
Kaoru flinched. "I can go another few days before I need a
full meal, Mr. Himura. Thank you for asking, but I really am fine. I just need
rest."
Without a word, Kaoru's host stood and crossed the space
behind him. Kaoru didn't favor him with a reaction when he leaned over and
placed both hands on the armrests of her chair, effectively caging her. "You're
a lousy liar, you know that right?" he said huskily. "You don't have anything
to fear from me, so let me help you."
"I do not need that kind of help, sir." She replied coldly.
It was a lie. She did, but she didn't want to admit that she didn't have enough
strength to feed properly. It would take another day of rest and regular foods
before she could filter out the pain for her prospective victim. To feed she
had drop all her personal defenses to enter her victim's mind and partake of
the energies she needed. She would be too vulnerable during a full feeding. A
successful meal demanded that the vampire be in control of her victim's
reactions at all times. Kaoru knew she couldn't control a gnat at the moment.
Kenshin didn't reply, but she wasn't terribly surprised when
he lifted her out of her seat and settled her into his lap. She was his guest and
bound by the laws of hospitality so she didn't claw his eyes out, but she did
put up a token struggle to show she didn't want to be there. He ignored her.
"Relax!" he hissed into her ear. "You're making this more
difficult than it has to be. I'm here and I'm willing to give you what you
need. You helped me when I needed you. Let me return the favor."
Kaoru quieted her struggles. "Is that what this is about?
You feel obligated to me for sponsoring you?"
"Not entirely." Kenshin admitted. "I genuinely want to help
you, but if I have to call on that favor to make you act sensibly then so be
it."
His voice echoed pleasantly in Kaoru's ears. For a second
she fancied she could hear the gentle rumble of some large beast underneath it.
It did feel good to held in his lap with his arms wrapped around her cradling
her against his chest. It struck her as odd that the feeling was so unfamiliar,
but then she was normally the one draping herself over her male friends. They
never actually went after her.
'I must be insane,' Kaoru decided.
"All right," Kaoru's voice sounded soft in her ears, but
Kenshin heard her. Wordlessly he offered her his wrist. Kaoru accepted it, but
turned his arm so that the back of his wrist stood up rather than the hollow.
She avoided major veins as a rule.
Carefully, she pierced his skin with one of her elongated
incisors and drew a deep line across the back of his wrist. She could feel his
pain flutter against her mind like a trapped moth, but she ignored it in favor
of running her tongue over his wound. Her saliva soaked into the gash and she
waited a few moments for the natural anesthetics and antibiotics to take
effect.
When Kenshin's grip on her relaxed a bit, Kaoru knew it had
taken effect. The anticoagulants in his system kept the wound bleeding freely,
but Kaoru was careful to keep the blood from dripping down his arm.
As she fed, Kaoru dropped the first tentative layers of
shields on her mind to reach out to Kenshin. His mind had surprisingly few
barriers as she entered, but as Kaoru drifted through his thoughts and feelings
she realized it wasn't so much that they weren't then as he'd let them down so
she could enter.
Something large and powerful brushed through her then. Kaoru
realized it was Kenshin's beast. It didn't attack her though, but rather curled
around her leaving her with a sense of peace and well being.
They drifted like that for an incalculable length of time
before Kaoru gently untangled their minds and retreated into her own head.
Kenshin made a soft noise of protest and pulled her back close, but Kaoru
quickly raised her barriers.
Before letting go entirely, Kaoru pulled spit from her
secondary saliva glands and smoothed it over Kenshin's wound. He hissed in
reaction and she sympathized with him. The stuff burned like nothing else, but
it would close the tear and protect it from scarring and infection. Considering
his were healing abilities, he'd probably be healed by morning.
"Is it always like that?" When she finally looked up and met
his eyes, Kenshin was staring at her with simmering gold eyes. He didn't let
her off his lap.
"No." she admitted. Kaoru had never fed from someone she
hadn't rolled before. Usually she was the one soothing fears and offering
solace. She should have been in control, but she hadn't been. Kenshin had
dominated the experience from the beginning, but he hadn't so much as scratched
her. "I usually don't let my food remember me."
"Funny." His golden eyed danced. "I thought vampires liked
to play with their food."
"Not this one." She said shortly.
Kenshin traced his thumb across her bottom lip, but just as
he started to move a heavy pounding came from the elevator door. Someone was
kicking it, and when Sanosuke's voice followed it they knew why.
"Open the damn door, Himura! I've got my hands full with a
whole box of crap here!"
Kenshin had a strong impulse to let Sanosuke rot in the
elevator, but mangy mutt had blood from McNally's. As much as he'd enjoyed
Kaoru's feeding, he doubted that he'd be able to experience it again in the
near future. Their encounter had been intensely intimate, but not in a sexual
manner. He knew things about her now, things that couldn't translate into
everyday speech.
Just the way she'd behaved while in his head told him
volumes. She'd held nothing back from him, but had restricted her access to him
to the topmost layers of his psyche. His control hadn't been as good as hers
and his beast had gone exploring through her.
Reluctantly, Kenshin let Kaoru slide off his lap and went to
go help him friend. Kaoru started to follow him, but a golden glance of warning
had her back down. One of the things he'd learned was how much she'd been
downplaying her condition and for how long. It was a good measure of how tired
she was that she obeyed. Normally she'd have gotten up just to irk him.
Sanosuke pushed past Kenshin into the apartment, dripping
water. Apparently it had rained while he was out. Kenshin honestly hadn't
noticed, but then he'd been distracted.
The werewolf had a wooden crate with him. It was full of
women's clothing with a few bags of sealed blood tossed on top. Kaoru's scent
drifted up from it teasing him with the faintest hint of jasmine.
"I brought some of the stuff you left at my Den." Sanosuke
called over to Kaoru who favored him with a dazzling smile. Kenshin stifled the
lance of jealousy that shot through him at the sight of it. One day she'd smile
at him like that, but not right now.
Kenshin removed the blood pouches from the crate and
occupied himself by putting them in the refrigerator. There were three bags of
A positive; enough for a few days. While he was in the kitchen, he made a note
on his on-going grocery list stuck to the refrigerator door: 'Blood for Kaoru-
type A'.
"You look better, girl. Did Ken find you someone to eat?" He
heard Sanosuke exclaim in the living room. Kaoru's reply was muffled, probably
by Sano's chest. Kenshin was beginning to find Sanosuke tendency to hug Kaoru
on sight to be more than a little aggravating.
Kenshin stepped back into the living room to pick up the
crate. "I'll put this in your room, Kaoru. It's the one across from the
bathroom."
Kaoru nodded to him over Sanosuke's shoulder. She was
currently curled up the werewolf's lap. "Thank you!" That light airy quality was
back in her voice, but Kenshin suspected it had more to do with Sanosuke's
presence than her full tummy. Funny, but he'd preferred it when she'd been
speaking candidly with him. She'd seemed far more natural. Now she was just in
character. Sanosuke's voice and Kaoru's soft laughter followed him down the
hall and into the guest bedroom.
It was probably a good thing Kenshin liked Sanosuke as well
as he did. He was beginning to suspect that if anyone else acted similarly
towards Kaoru then he'd have to kill them.
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