Disclaimer : Rurouni Kenshin is the property of Nobuhiro Watsuki, Shonen Jump, Viz, and Sony Productions.

Warning : This chapter is rated R for violence and mature situations.

Notes : I edited some parts of the previous chapter, so if anything in this chapter doesn't seem to make sense .. please refer back to Chapter 18.

Possession

Donna8157

Chapter 19 : Too Late

Her body felt heavy.

She didn't even have the strength to raise her head.

And everything around her seemed to be a blur.

Kaoru weakly lifted her half lidded eyes and found them staring into a pair of steel cold, dark orbs. She narrowed her eyes and wanted to scream, but her voice was muffled by the piece of cloth around her mouth. Kanryuu smirked as he watched her.

"Your owner . . Himura . . seems to care for you a lot," he started, while he reached into his jacket pocket. Kaoru's eyes followed his hands and watched him take out a small army knife. Kanryuu twirled the knife this way and that so that the reflection of the blade's light could be seen vividly. An evil grin appeared on his face as he continued to look at the object in his hands. "That night at the club . . Himura scratched my pride. I thought that he would know better than to do that."

Then Kanryuu looked back down at Kaoru who was two head's length shorter than he was at the moment. Satisfied at the situation at hand, the man continued to speak.

"It's because of you. It's your fault," he stated. With brows furrowed, his lips grew into a small snarl. "It was a big mistake if you had thought that I would not do anything after having my pride trampled upon. How big of an existence are you to Himura anyway?" Kanryuu looked back at the knife in his hands and touched the blade with his fingers. "I'm curious . . how would he react if I hurt you?"

He made his way towards her while teasingly playing with the knife in his hands. He raised it in front of her face and placed the tip of the blade against the cloth around her lips.

"If you're good, I'll take this gag off . ."

Taking her silence as a yes he began cutting off the piece of cloth with the knife in his hands. However as he did so, the knife drew a thin line of blood on her cheek. When the gag came off, Kanryuu smiled viciously.

"I like the color of blood against your skin. It's rather . . enticing."

Kaoru widened her eyes in fright as the feeling of dread only seemed to increase exponentially. But however, that feeling slowly dissipated into anger.

"You . . you bastard!"

Everyone in the room stood there in shock, surprised to see that the girl would have the gall to say such things even in her current circumstance.

"Hahahaha!" Kanryuu laughed.

Kaoru's blue eyes widened in confusion and fear when she saw his reaction.

The spectacled man roughly reached behind her head and grabbed her hair, jerking it back. Tangled strands of raven hair were clutched within his grasp. Kaoru squinted her eyes in pain as he tightened his grip on her hair.

"Doll . . don't you ever talk to me like that again," he sneered. "Remember what your position is . ."

He brought up the knife in his hands and placed the tip of the blade of the knife near her throat. The coldness of the blade sent shivers up Kaoru's body. Beads of sweat began to form on her forehead. Kanryuu added pressure on the blade of the knife against her throat. Kaoru's fast and violent pulse could be felt through the blade.

"You're sweating a lot," he observed as he brushed back a few strands of hair from her face. "Are you hot?"

Kanryuu slowly brought the knife down towards the front of her blouse. He smiled when he saw her frightened look. In a mechanical motion while keeping his eyes on her, he started to strip off the buttons of her blouse one by one with the blade. As the buttons fell off, her bra slowly came into view. Kanryuu's hand stopped as he saw her bare skin.

"White skin . . "

Kanryuu reached out his hand and placed it near her heart. The pulsing of her heart that was sent through the knife awhile ago was now being felt through his hand more violently.

As Kaoru felt his cold hand, a feeling of nausea and disgust rose in the pits of her stomach. She clenched her eyes closed. As she did so, the blood around her cheek began to gradually flow down creating a thin red trail towards her neck.

Red blood, white skin, and glossy lips . . . as these things strangely combined together, it began to arouse awkward feelings in Kanryuu. A queer gleam of light passed in his eyes. One side of his lips curled up as he slowly brought his face close to Kaoru. Frightened and perplexed, the woman turned her head away, but strength went into the man's hand that was holding onto the knife.

"You should be careful . . It's foolish to lose your life by resisting. And with the effects of the medicine, even if you wanted to move . . you'd have to wait awhile longer." A sickening smile was plastered on Kanryuu's visage as he enjoyed his position as the upper hand in these matters. Kaoru shuddered as she looked at him, his was face was only a few mere inches away from her.

Kaoru shut her eyes tightly as she saw his face coming towards her. She tried to avoid him, but her body wouldn't listen.

When he placed his lips on hers, the metallic and brackish tang of blood began to spin inside his mouth and he could feel her soft lips shaking severely. As he felt the strange ecstasy, he started to delve into her mouth more roughly. At that moment, something hot dropped onto his cheek.

Blinking open his eyes and releasing his lips from hers, he pulled back. Kaoru's tightly shut eyes came into Kanryuu's sight. Her long eyelashes were damp and trembling slightly.

"Kanryuu?" Kaede, who had been watching Kanryuu's actions with suspicion, tapped him on the shoulder.

"Huh?" Kanryuu was surprised by Kaede's touch and quickly came back to his senses. He took the knife away from her skin and walked away. He waved his hand at the others as a signal to start. At his command, the people in the room started to surround Kaoru's body.

"Where is she?" Kenshin murmured under his breath.

Kenshin, Sanosuke, and Soujiro had split up and started to search every corner of Kanryuu's estate. It was such a large place that they could not seem to find her. As Kenshin looked around, worry seemed to grow in the pit of his stomach. He remembered that look that Kanryuu had in his eyes when he was gazing at Kaoru. He guessed that the bastard was planning something, but how could he have lost sight of her so easily? Wasn't she standing right behind him? He racked his brain as he tried to remember the last time he had seen her.

At that moment, someone came into his line of sight. Different from the other people having fun at the party, this person had a stiff face and his movements were rather awkward and suspicious. The man must have felt Kenshin's eyes on him for his eyes met the other. But when he saw him, the man quickly looked away.

Thinking that something was indeed wrong, Kenshin rapidly strode over to where the other man was located. When the man saw him approaching, he started walking in the other direction.

"Did you find her?" Sanosuke asked Soujiro as they bumped into each other in the midst of searching for Kaoru. Soujiro shook his head in response. They quickly realized how serious the situation was becoming.

Sanosuke clenched his fists tightly as he furrowed his brows in anger and fear. "If . . if this is all Kanryuu's plan . . . I won't let that bastard get away with it. Never!!" He slammed his fist into one of the adjacent walls. The people around them quickly turned around with widened eyes, surprised by the sudden motion.

Soujiro looked around and realized that he had to calm his friend down or it may arouse unwanted attention. He placed a hand on Sano's tense shoulders. "Let's go find Himura-san. He may have perhaps found some information."

The spiky-haired man grimaced as he nodded slowly.

"Hurry up and tell me . . I'm not that patient," Kenshin warned as he glared at the man that he had been following. The red-haired man had a firm grip around the other person's collar and threw him against the wall. The man cried out in pain as he slumped down. His face was already bloodied and beaten to an almost unrecognizable state.

"Th-third floor . . th-third floor room," the man said through raspy breaths in an almost inaudible voice. "She . ."

Without listening to the rest, Kenshin started to run towards the main living space where the stairs were located.

Please don't let it be too late.

"Ugh . . mm . ."

"Is it over already? That was boring," one man commented as he crossed his arms in front of his chest, his lips were partly turned down in an unsatisfied manner.

CRASH

The door was kicked down and someone entered. With his breathing heavy, the man went straight towards Kanryuu. The spectacled man was bemused by how quickly the other had come and a smug smile appeared on his face.

"What's wrong Himura? Why do you look so tense?"

"Where is she?!" Kenshin demanded as he stood in front of the other.

"Who?" Kanryuu asked flippantly as his smile grew wider. Seeing this, Kenshin's face began to contort with anger.

"Where is Kaoru?!" he almost shouted. He could barely hold the rage that had been boiling within him.

Kanryuu raised a fine brow and he chuckled humorously. "Ah yes . . your doll." Instead of giving Kenshin a direct answer, he turned his eyes towards where the group was standing. Kenshin's eyes moved as he followed Kanryuu's gaze. The group of people that had been standing close together slowly started to move towards the side.

Kenshin's eyes widened when he saw what lay in between. Her outer clothes had been torn to shreds, her hair was disheveled, there were dark red spots of blood soaking her pale skin, and her body was limp as if she had lost consciousness. Seeing this sight made Kenshin's mind empty into whiteness.

Finally, the two people that were supporting Kaoru's arms let her go and moved to the side. She fell onto the floor feebly without uttering a sound.

Kenshin's eyes were only fixed on Kaoru who lay crumpled on the ground. It seemed as if time had stopped and the only thing in his sight and in his mind was the girl in front of him. His body felt completely numb from everything else that was happening around him. He wanted to go over to her and see if she was okay . . . if . . if she was still alive, but he was frozen in the same spot. Still in shock.

It was then that Kanryuu's voice broke Kenshin's thoughts.

"The guys were real unsatisfied by how weak she . ."

Kenshin's fists started trembling as he stared at Kaoru's body lying on the floor unmoving.

Without warning, the red-haired man threw a fist in Kanryuu's face. Hearing what the other man had said had made Kenshin lose his last string of control.

Kanryuu fell back from the impact of the punch and his hand went to his bruised cheek. Shock was written all over his dark eyes. As he watched Kenshin, he noticed with horror how his lavender eye color slowly started turning into a shade of amber.

Kenshin couldn't think about anything else, his only thoughts were about Kaoru who had been beaten into this current state. His feelings were in such an uproar that he began lashing out violently against the others in the room. The people in the room couldn't seem to do anything and were completely helpless to the oncoming onslaught of punches. Even when they tried to fight back, Kenshin seemed to block everything. One by one they were thrown onto the ground. It was beyond their capacity to win against Himura, who had already lost control.

"Kenshin!!" Soujiro and Sanosuke shouted their friend's name in a hurry as they entered the room.

However, Kenshin was oblivious to their cries and couldn't stop himself. He continued to throw punches at the people that had caused Kaoru harm. He was not going to forgive them that easily. One by one the perpetrators fell to the floor sputtering and coughing up blood.

Himura-san . . he's completely lost control. He could kill someone.

Realizing this, Soujiro rushed behind his friend and embraced him from the back. As Kenshin continued to throws his fists not being able to hide his rage, the boy only held him tighter to try to calm him down. Fortunately, Kenshin stopped struggling and the blue-eyed man slowly started to let go of him feeling a bit relieved.

When Kenshin stopped, he turned around and stared at Kanryuu with his amber eyes as he breathed heavily.

Kanryuu returned his stare with the same sort of intensity. His face was already bloody and his glasses had been broken and lay crooked across the bridge of his nose. Neither of them moved.

"Jou-chan!!!" Sanosuke finally saw Kaoru's form near the corner of the room. His face distorted into worry and fear as he rushed over to her side. Soujiro also ran over to her alarmed by the sight.

Sanosuke gently proper her up with his arms and looked for a pulse. Luckily, it was still strong. Then he looked over at Kanryuu. Sano seemed as though he too was about to lose control and hail blows upon the other man at any second.

"It's not the time to do this," Soujiro calmly said through a strained voice. He held onto Sanosuke's arm and warned him to not act out brashly at this time. The taller man displayed his patience by clenching his teeth and moving his gaze away from Kanryuu. This would have to wait for another day.

But right now . . Jou-chan . .Kaoru . .I'm worried about you.

He carefully lifted Kaoru up in his arms and held her against his body. Surprisingly, her body seemed to be so light. Then Sanosuke started to walk out of the room. As Soujiro followed Sano out, he tapped Kenshin, who was still standing there like a stone.

The red-haired man was still glaring at Kanryuu and his hatred for him seemed to speak volumes to the others in the room. "It'll be good if you never appear in front of me again. Keep that in mind," he spat out coldly as he turned around.

Even through the pain, Kanryuu let a small smirk appear on his lips. "It's a surprise," he started as he gazed at Kenshin's back. "that the Himura Kenshin who had never lost confidence in any situation, can be seen out of control like this. Aren't you overreacting a bit? After all, it is just a master-servant relationship. Could it be . . that you have fallen in love with someone as lowly as her?"

Soujiro turned around with his blue eyes flaming with controlled fury. "Takeda, I would be quiet if I were you."

Soujiro grabbed onto Kenshin's arm and pulled him out of the room. "Himura-san, let's go."

Kanryuu's face that had a sardonic smile just a while ago stiffened. He had thought that Himura would have come after him at any second after saying such a comment, but his lack of action surprised him. Kenshin just seemed to stand there absent-mindedly as if he were shocked.

Could it be something that he said?

As the four of them came down the stairs, everyone in the room had a look of shock and horror written on their visages. Their gaze seemed to go towards the person in Sano's arms covered with blood. Sanosuke ignored them, worrying only about Kaoru's health and safety. He walked faster wanting to get out of Kanryuu's house and thinking that he had to get Kaoru to the hospital as soon as possible.

Soujiro followed Sanosuke and threw a look behind him to see Kenshin trailing a bit farther behind. His face was deathly pale.

"Are you okay, Himura-san?" Soujiro asked with worry. Kenshin nodded his head mechanically and started to walk faster.

When the four of them left, the commotion inside the house only seemed to get louder.

The inside of the limo was disturbingly quiet and only the sound of light breathing was heard. Sanosuke was sitting in the back with his arms around Kaoru's body. His eyes were full of worry as he watched her intently for any signs of discomfort.

"Aa . .yes, we'll be there in ten minutes." Soujiro hung up the phone as he finished the call to the hospital. He had called in advance so that the doctors could prepare for the operation. The young man looked over at Kaoru's limp form and sighed heavily. He clasped his hands together as he wished that she would be all right.

Meanwhile, Kenshin sat in the front with his eyes looking blankly at the road in front of him. For some reason the words that Kanryuu had said to him, struck some nerve.

"Aren't you overreacting a bit? After all, it is just a master-servant relationship. Could it be . . that you have fallen in love with someone as lowly as her?"

He looked in the rearview mirror and saw Kaoru. His eyes stirred for a moment and he quickly took his gaze away from her. Kenshin closed his eyes as he tried to banish the thoughts from his head.

The second they arrived at the hospital, Kaoru was rushed to the emergency room. Again the three of them were sitting outside waiting for news of how she was doing.

"Damn . ." Sanosuke tightened his fist and punched the wall. A dull sound reverberated inside the hallways of the hospital. Not being able to bear with the frustration that he had been building up inside of him, he walked over to Kenshin and pointed at him accusingly. "This is all your fault, Kenshin!! If you didn't treat her like some object from the beginning then nothing like this would have happened!"

Kenshin sat on the chair, unfazed by Sano's words.

Creased lines appeared on the spiky-haired man's forehead when he saw no reaction from Kenshin. "You . . how great of a being do you think you are? How could you have thrown her around like that? She's not some doll!" Anger only seemed to continue to rise in Sano as he remembered all the times he had seen Kenshin mistreating Kaoru in the earlier days.

The countless times where Kenshin had forced Kaoru to drink liquor.

The times when Kenshin had slapped Kaoru.

And the time when Kenshin had lost control and pushed Kaoru through the glass door.

Sanosuke's fingers began to tighten around one another into a fist as those scenes replayed in his mind. Those times he had been helpless to save her. And now . . and now . . she was back in the emergency room once again. He glared at Kenshin who sat in front of him and in a quick motion took a hold of the collar of Kenshin's shirt. He pulled him up from his seat by the collar and shook him to try to get some reaction. However, the red-haired man didn't seem to respond.

"Sagara-san! Get a hold of yourself!" Soujiro cried out in shock as he rushed over to the two of them. "Kamiya-san is inside there having an operation and we're all worried. Don't cause trouble."

Sanosuke narrowed his eyes and roughly let go of Kenshin's collar. "Forget it. You're not even worth it," he said gruffly as he looked at his friend who slumped back into the chair.

The spiky-haired man turned around and walked away towards the opposite end of the hall and slumped down on the floor. He brought his legs up to his chest and closed his eyes with both of his hands grasping his head in pain.

What are you doing, Sano?, he berated himself. If only I didn't take my eyes off of Jou-chan, this would never have happened. If I searched for her when I couldn't see her around . . . if I could've found her sooner.

It was late at night. Sanosuke was sitting next to the bed where Kaoru was lying in and was lightly holding onto her hand with Soujiro sitting on the other side. Because it was such an exhausting day, the two of them had quickly fallen asleep once Kaoru was released from operation and put into a room. However, there was one person who was awake. Kenshin sat in the small room sinking into his own thoughts as he felt numb to everything that went on around him. His mind kept drifting to what Kanryuu had said to him earlier.

It was making him confused. He wanted to deny it strongly, but the more he denied it, the more it became engraved into his heart and only agonized him further. He looked up at the bed in front where Kaoru was sleeping soundly. The doctors had told them that a few of her ribs and her left shoulder were fractured. However, with rest she should be able to heal properly.

Kenshin clasped his hands together tightly as he closed his eyes. The sight of her hurt him. There were bruises all over her body and white bandages wrapped around her bosom and shoulder. He remembered Sano's words to him earlier.

"This is all your fault, Kenshin!! If you didn't treat her like some object from the beginning then nothing like this would have happened!"

It was his fault that she was in the hospital once again.

"Mmmm .. mm"

A pained moan flowed out of Kaoru's mouth. It was a small sound, but because the room was quiet Kenshin looked at her surprised. As he felt his heart subside from her thin moan, he got up and looked at her. He thought that she was going to wake up, but she went back to sleep. Kenshin sighed in relief and sat back down after making sure she was okay.

Soujiro, who had awoken from the sound, watched Kenshin secretly in surprise at his change in attitude towards Kaoru. After coming to the hospital, Kenshin had not reacted to anything, but he had gotten up in shock when he heard Kaoru's small moan. His friend also had a look of relief after checking that she was asleep. Soujiro's blue eyes looked interchangeably between Kenshin and Kaoru.

Could it be that what Takeda said was . . true?

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- To be continued

Author's Notes :

Please read and review! Thanks so much for reading and I hope you enjoyed the chapter. One note though in case you're wondering: No, Kaoru was not raped. Well, I should get the next chapter out soon.

Sanosuke/Kaoru/Kenshin

Yes, Sano likes Kaoru. And yes, there's a love triangle going on . . . well, it's in developing, or has it already developed? =)

Special thanks to Oni Tokage, HitokiriSky, Ryoga, Chikn, Eternal-Senshi-S, saotome, Crazyperson, De Lazy Lime, Lendra-chan, Sammi, Himura-chan, MizzLee, Vejitagurl, Mizu no Yami, Ochanoko, cyjj, Angel of loneliness, rkfan246, Kaoru4, Katherat, BabyKaoru-sama, Raeyn-chan, tintin-chan, samuraiduck27, RKfan86, Sugar-Crazy-Fox, Coodle, Boomerang-chan, Piper, Kitsune Kenshin, kik-ting, Chibi Kiki, kimi.the.water.spirit, nobody, bonessasan, Nekotsuki, ;) britty, cutie-chan-XD3, Falconess106, flaming-amber, psychotic-catster, Anonymous T, Kiichi Dazai, Mallory, Fuu, Reignashii, Angela Himura, Kaze Kitty, Nakashima-Michiyo, Sakura22, erica6060, Tenshi-no-Hana-chan, Mz. Amber Eyes, Kaleia, kate, Kaoru gal, tiaravball15, Inu N Kenshin Lovr, Charmed18, Katana Midori-Falling Shadow, Miaka, spike-faye, chibi frog, S3R3nity, AmayaSaria, and Serendy 4ever for reviewing! ::hugs:: thanks so much! ::passes out little Shinsengumi logo erasers::