Hehe… Whoo another chapter!

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Chapter 21

 'What the hell is this?' Kat stepped out onto the porch and picked up the newspaper. She read the title allowed, "Katsura Okamimure: Another Affair?" She glanced over the page to read that some asshole had leaked out information of Dark. 'It must have been one of the maids.' "DAMN IT!" she cursed loudly, startling a few songbirds from a nearby tree. She proceeded to storm back inside and toss the paper into the fire.

Her ears picked up something, "What is that?" Kat walked around the mansion searching for the source of the noise. Eventually, her ears lead her to the music room. 'That's odd; no one's been in here for years…' Kat slid through the doorway and made her way to the center of the room where she could see Kenshin sitting, back towards her, with a guitar neck sticking up from his lap.

The sound that greeted her ears was strange but none the less beautiful. 'It sounds like a koto…' Her feet glided across the wooden floor and she kneeled beside Kenshin. Her eyes glided over how he played the guitar and she burst out laughing.

Kenshin stopped playing, "Do my notes amuse you?"

"Kenshin, your notes are beautiful but you play that guitar with a koto pick!" Kat took the guitar from him and proceeded to play 'flight of the bumblebee'.

Kenshin watched amazed at how fast her fingers glided over the strings of this odd instrument. He felt a bit foolish that he had tried to play it. This new world was confusing to him and he guessed that it hadn't yet completely dawned on Kat that he knew almost nothing about it. 

"I bet you're itching to get your daily practicing in," Kat said as her fingers stopped sliding over the strings.

"Perhaps I can join a dojo in this time?" he asked.

"No, your skills exceed any person or sensei that could teach you… Except for me. I have an idea, follow me," Kat stood and called Rei to her.

The wolf appeared before her. "We're going to the hut," Kat paused. "Kurama, I know you can hear me, are you ready to go?"

The demon appeared next to her and nodded, still a bit tired, "Where's Inuyasha?"

He left. I don't think we'll be seeing him again for a long while… Rei summoned Dark, who was still sleeping, to the room. His limp body hung in the air, suspended by magic, a blanket draped over him.

Before anyone could blink, they found themselves in the past, standing on the porch of the hut.

'I never thought I'd return here…' Kat thought to herself. She shook the memories away and barked to Kenshin, "Clean the floor of the dojo. It's in the east corner of the house. I'll join you in a minute."

 Kat watched as Kenshin swiftly headed in the direction she had sent him off in. She turned to Rei, "Is Dark somewhere in the house?"

Yes, he's in the large bedroom still sleeping his injuries away. Rei said as she trotted into the house.

Kurama rested a clawed hand on her head, "It brings back many memories doesn't it?"

Kat nodded, "I better go help Kenshin clean the floors."

'There is no time for grief or sorrow. Time stops for no one and passes us by at a rate faster than most can grasp.' Kat was stirred from her thoughts as her mind returned to the task at hand. She dipped her scrubbing brush into the bucket in front of her and continued to wash away the silt that had built up since she had last seen the dojo.

Kenshin ran past her, feet thudding lightly on the wooden floor, a wet rag pinned under his hands acting as a mop.

Kat stopped scrubbing and smiled at him. Kenshin could see her smiling out of the corner of his eye and he hesitated, wondering what this strange woman wanted from him.

"I think that's good enough," Kat said as she tossed her brush into the bucket. "Let me change into something more suitable."

Kenshin blinked in confusion as her outfit changed from jeans and a sweatshirt to hakama and a tank top. A sword appeared in her hand and she unsheathed it.

Kenshin's eyes narrowed as he noticed that it was reversed bladed. 'What is she doing with that piece of shit?'

Kat smirked at his confused expression and flipped the blade over to its cutting edge, "This belonged to you at one point. It was mage by the best of the best and this is the master forge sakabatou so I assure that it is not a piece of shit." Kat tensed and a leaf split in half before Kenshin's face.

'She's fast!' Kenshin had barely even seen the strike and he now listened closely to what she had to say.

"Your fate was changed the first day I met you. It seems that no matter what happens your life was always filled with pain and death to the very end. I cannot tell you of the former past we shared together mostly because it is now irreverent. What I can tell you is that we were once married and had a child," Kat said.

"Why did it not work out?" Kenshin asked golden eyes curious.

 "You'll have to fight me for an answer," Kat said, her own golden eyes gleaming.

His eyes narrowed. 'She's a woman. I cannot fight her no matter how good she thinks she is.'

"Then I'll fight you!" Kat said as she attacked.

Kenshin blocked her attack with a bit of difficulty. It was only then that he began to realize the true extent of her powerful swordsman ship. Before he could even blink, she attacked again, this time faster and harder.

"Show me what you're made of! Don't be afraid to fight me! Let me see what the legendary Hitokiri is all about!" Their swords clashed and rubbed against each other. Kat ducked an attack and landed a foot on his ribs.

The blow knocked him back and he fell onto his knees. Kat was over in an instant, sword poised in a fatal position above his head. She thrust downward with all of her power and was surprised when her sword was sent flying out of her hand. She sped over to retrieve it and skidded to a halt in time to see Kenshin open his eyes. They were devoid of all emotion except anger and rage.

"Wonderful," Kat said to him. "You've stopped holding back."

"Bitch," he spat. "You're the one who's holding back!"

'He knows that if I wasn't holding back I would have killed him by now. This must make his really angry.' Kat smirked and lashed out, sword catching the tip of his and knocking away his attack.

CRACK

'He used his sword to distract me and his sheath to attack me!' Kat could tell that he had fractured some of her ribs and she could feel his anger dissolve. "It's not over yet," she hissed as her ribs mended themselves.

Kenshin's eyes narrowed and he drew his second sword.

"I can see you don't want me to hold back but if I don't, then there's a good chance I'll kill you," Kat informed him.

Another attack was thrown at her and it took all of her agility to dodge it. 'He's going to force me to fight him! He knows that there's a battousai locked away with in me.'

Kat felt the next attack slice a piece of her arm. 'If that's the way he wants it, so be it!'

Kenshin felt her power double as something stirred and awoke inside her. He caught a glimpse of her eyes and had a chill run down his spine. Kat's usual golden eyes had gained a red tint and they blazed with anger and the desire to kill.

'Shit! Not only did I release the battousai but Inuyasha's demon form too! I'll end up killing him!' Kat knew that until her now clawed hands dug into flesh and felt blood that she wouldn't be able to return to normal. 'At lease Kurama's side hasn't awoken…I can only pray it doesn't…' Kat felt her mind cloud completely over as she lost absolute control of her thoughts and body.

Kenshin felt a spike of fear rise with in him and this only fueled his rage. He positioned for his next attack. His fingers clenched to his sword so tightly they began to cramp up. He waited for Kat to rush him before striking. He knew that this would be the final attack, the one that would decide who lived and who died.

  'It reeks of blood.' Kat lay face down on the floor she was lying on, face pressed into a puddle of cold thick blood. Her body was numb and ached all over and she couldn't remember what had happened. This scared her the most, she knew that she was lying in a puddle of her own blood but she couldn't remember why.

As her mind regained consciousness, she sat up and noticed the cause of her discomfort. A gleaming katana had been driven straight through her chest and was protruding out the other end. Kat snorted in surprise and gripped the handle of the sword. In one swift movement, she tore the sword out of her and tossed it aside. She doubled over in pain and felt more blood gush down her front but in a few seconds it healed and the pain died away.

Kat looked around and noticed that her blood wasn't the only one spilt on the floor. She smelled fox demon and human. Then she felt a presence behind her and she turned swiftly, kicking up droplets of blood to see Dark standing in the doorway surveying the scene. He looked much better but Kat could tell that he was still injured. She attempted standing but her legs proved too wobbly and she collapsed back into the puddle of blood she was lying in.

"I cannot believe that you created such chaos, and to think that you still had more tricks up your sleeve than this too," Dark spoke to her. He didn't run over to help her stand but just watched as she tried again.

Kat glared at him and made her way across the room on wobbly legs. She blinked to clear her vision and the sight before her surprised her to no end. The first thing she saw was Kenshin, lying limp in a puddle of blood like she had been, minus the sword that she had been impaled with. He was beaten up pretty badly though.

The next sight she picked up was Kurama, who was slumped against the wall, impaled with two swords, her own and the other one Kenshin had been using.  Kat staggered over and collapsed to her knees beside him. She tore the swords out of him in one swift movement. Not liking the grating sound they made as they scraped against bone and organs.

Kurama fell forward, no longer pinned to the wall by the two swords. Kat could hear his bones and tissue slowly repairing themselves. She felt ashamed that she could do it ten times faster than he could.

His eyes fluttered open and he glared at Kat with a disgusted look, "How could you let yourself go like that?! You would have been killed!"

"Kurama's right, if he hadn't stepped in at the last moment, you'd both be dead," Dark commented.

Kurama snarled at her and bared his fangs. Kat took offence, adrenaline still rushing in her veins, and snarled back at him, "I didn't awaken your powers!"

Kurama stepped down, "I know but I'm still angry with you."

Kat seemed to let out a mix between a hiss and a snarl but backed off and let herself calm down. She stood again and hobbled over to Kenshin, flipping him over to access the damage.

"He'll be fine," Dark said as Kurama passed him on his way out. "Will you?" he asked Kat.

She summoned her powers and changed Kenshin out of his bloody clothes then sent him back to his room. "Am I ever fine?" she asked then went to wait for Kenshin to wake up. 

 "I don't know, are you?" Dark asked her retreating form.

(A/N: Whoo another chapter! Still strange but whoo! PLEASE REVIEW!!!)