Grace

by Dragonsdaughter

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.

5. Silver Chains and Shadows

Grace

A Rurouni Kenshin Fanfiction

By the Dragon's Daughter

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 Five: Silver Chains and Shadows

---

Misao rolled out the Shadow Realm and landed in the broom closet at Akabeko. A second later, Tsubame opened the door with a smile to help her up.

"I thought you'd be dropping by." The young clairvoyant chirped.

The young vampire accepted the hand up with a tired grin. The Shadow Realm always knocked the wind out of her.

The Café was closed down for the night and in the back break room Tae had the shades drawn and a pouch of blood warmed and ready for her. Tsubame draped a blanket around Misao's shoulders and guided her to the couch.

Tae didn't say a word, but that was nothing new. Misao felt her knock politely at the outermost barriers of her mind and she obediently dropped the first few layer of her shields so that Tae could read her short term memory.

The telepath hummed softly as she sifted through Misao's thoughts and reactions then settled back in her chair and nodded. "I'll keep an eye out for him." She promised. "Tsubame drew the bath and Yahiko is waiting upstairs. Come down later and we'll cut your hair."

Misao nodded. As usual, Tae was all business. The haircut would change her features enough to deter any image-related spells he might bring to bear. If he had name-magic powerful enough to use on her then he'd have done it to bring her out of the Shadow Realm instead of screaming melodramatically.

Tsubame led her up the stairs and waited outside the bathroom door while Misao stripped. With the ease of long practice, the young girl caught Misao's soiled clothes as she tossed them out the door.

"Thank you, Tsubame!" she called out and heard Tsubame murmured something unintelligible in reply. It sounded like 'you're welcome' so Misao took it that way.

The bath was piping hot and banished the remaining chill of the Shadow Realm from her soul. Misao sat in it for a long time idly sucking on her blood before she got down to the serious business of washing.

First she scoured her skin until the bath water turned gray. Then she drained the back and turned on the shower. She soaped up, rinsed clean, and then unbraided her hair. Twenty-two years had gone into the growth of her hair and now even when braided it hit the back of her calves. It took a lot of shampoo to wash it clean, but Misao was used to it.

When she was done she left her hair unbraided and wrapped up in one of the fluffy bathrobes Tae kept for her 'refugees' as the telepath affectionately referred to the motley trio of Kaoru, Misao, and Yahiko. Misao stifled a sigh at the memory of Kaoru.

The Elder Vampiress had been there for Misao when no one else was, not even her closest friends. It had been Kaoru who'd given Misao a shot a survival when a group of Vampire bikers had chosen her for their Blood Sport, which was when a nest of Vampires stalked a single human and drove them crazy with fear before changing them halfway and making them into a ghoul.

Ghouls were more animal than human, all instinct and the need to feed. They haunted abandoned cemeteries and fed on the corpses there or the occasional visitor dumb enough to visit after dark.

Misao shuddered at the hellish days that had predated her meeting with Kaoru in a dingy bar in Surrey. She'd had to run away from home, lest her tormentors attack her family and friends. Now that she had some years under her belt, she realized it had been purest luck that the vampires had been too stupid or too crazy to have thought of that before she did.

She wasn't stupid, she knew that the only reason she hadn't ended up just as crazy or as stupid was because Kaoru had gently eased her through every stage of her transformation. She'd never been allowed to forget the things she had to live for.

Kaoru had become a mother of sorts to Misao in place of the one that had died at her birth. Kaoru had taught Misao how to live cleanly as an Undead and just plain how to live. Misao had never appreciated the stars in the night sky or the neon noir of downtown when the parties started.

When she'd been alive, Misao had been a reluctant student with a chip on her shoulder the size of the Rock of Gibraltar. She'd gotten stuck in the 'rebellious stage' and spent most of her time skipping classes and smoking things best left unnamed. That was how she'd drawn the attention of those Vampires. If she'd been in school, she'd probably be safely skipping out on a college course right now never any wiser than she'd been in High school.

It was because of Kaoru that Misao had found a way to go back to school by taking correspondence courses from the local university under an assumed name. She'd never get a real diploma, but the knowledge counted for more in Misao's book.

Some people thought Life ended with Undeath, but not Misao. Her life hadn't begun until spat in Charon's eye and stubbornly clung to the trappings of mortal life. The only thing she had to regret was the people she'd left behind. Her grandfather had probably died of heartache, but Misao had never given into the impulse to check. She had enemies of her own who would love to know she had living relatives.

Yahiko was waiting in Tae's living room when she entered, curled around a copy of Moby dick.

Here was another one of Kaoru's children. Yahiko was a full human who'd been steeped in the supernatural world since he was a baby. His mother had been a witch and his father a werewolf, but he hadn't inherited either of their special natures. The only thing he had to boast of was improved reflexes and some second sight that came and went. Both of his parents had died when he was young and he'd hopped in and out of Foster Homes until he turned nine, got disgusted with the system, and turned ten on the streets.

The boy probably would have been another statistic if he hadn't discovered the abandoned Underground and a nifty little condemned station where two vampires made their nest. Kaoru had found him first, which was good for him since Misao would have just edited his memory and ditched him on the street without waiting for an explanation.

Kaoru's word was law and she said that he would say so Misao found herself with a little brother of sorts whether she wanted one or not.

"Hey, punk." She greeted him softly and sat down on the couch by his feet.

"Hey, Bitch." He replied and set down his book. "You look like crap." He observed.

"That's good, because I feel like crap." Misao told him. "Aside from that, I found Kaoru. She's laying low with a friend until her twenty-four hour Grace begins. After that it's all over."

Yahiko relaxed. "She's okay then?"

Misao nodded. "Yeah, she's safer where she is than she could ever be with us and for the moment…"

"We're safer without her." Yahiko scowled. "I know that. Is she still going to call on you to attend her?"

"Get real, brattling, who else is she going to call on, huh? She's got my blood, who else is the Grace going to recognize?" Misao snapped.

It was true. Misao was Kaoru's only sireling and she seriously doubted that she'd taken blood and done a full mind meld with anyone else. Well… maybe that hottie who'd answered the phone at the place she was staying, but that was beside the point.

The Grace was an ancient spell tied to the rituals of the Blood Council. Once someone was recognized as a full member, they came under the Grace. Once the Council bell rang on the day before the meeting took place the Council Members were Untouchable. This kept the day-to-day politics from interfering with Council Business and allowed the Members to cross borders without obstruction.

She'd stories of people who been killed by the Grace for threatening a Council Members and they still brought chills down her spine.

"I ran into some bad business on the way home." Misao told Yahiko. "Whoever he was, he pulled an old friend out of my head and wore his face so… look, if anyone you knew before comes up to you acting weird, run like hell, okay?"

"You know what they want?" Yahiko asked, looking pensive.

"Not a bleeding clue." Misao replied. "I don't think its Yukishiro's doing, the man's aura was too clean for that. I don't trust him though. Stay on you toes. I'm going downstairs so Tae can give me a haircut."

"He saw you?" Yahiko immediately cottoned on to what she hadn't said. Kaoru knew how to pick the smart ones.

Misao nodded. "Yeah so I guess I'm getting bangs out of this. You lie down, you look tired."

Yahiko nodded absently and picked his book back up. Misao stifled a chuckle. In about ten minutes he'd be out like a light. Yahiko was still in that 'drop wherever he happened to be' stage.

With a final fond glance at Yahiko's dark head bent over his book, Misao left the room and slid down the banister. Tsubame sat by the couch with a towel spread across her knees and a pair of scissors.

---