Author's Note: Yes, I know. I probably deserve to be stoned to death for making you guys wait for so long… Forgive me, but work, school, and the dreaded writers block set in a dark and foggy cloud around me, and it took me this long to feel my way through it all. But now I'm out and the air is clear and crisp! Hopefully I can update more often… but we'll see. I'm sorry for making everyone wait this long, so I'm posting two chapters to make up for it. They don't seem to be up to the same caliber as the other chapters, but I tried. The writers block is still kind of sitting there torturing me…
Disclaimer: Even after all this time, I still don't own Rurouni Kenshin!
Your Azure Eyes
Chapter 6: Beautiful
Kenshin's fingers went slack as thoughts rushed through his head, and the bobby pin slipped out of his hand. The quiet thump of the pin hitting the hallway carpet barely registered to his ears, though the silence of the apartment complex was deafening. Leaving the photos forgotten on the ground, he carefully opened the wooden door, his narrowed violet eyes darting around the living room as it became visible to him.
Silently, he took his first step into the room. After slipping in, he closed the door behind him, sliding the chain through the slot and pushing the bolt across its frame, he locked the door securely.
Hearing footsteps coming from his bedroom, Kenshin quickly whirled around and darted behind the couch, leaving no trace of his former presence in front of the door.
"Alright, ya whore. Where's the stuff? Ya said that this is yer place, so why ain't it here??" The gruff voice was all too familiar to Kenshin's ears. He recognized it immediately as belonging to the man in the alley.
"I don't know. Maybe my…boyfriend got into it and took the last of the stash." The other voice was light and held a slightly seductive tone. It belonged to the woman who had stolen Kenshin's clothes earlier that day.
As the two exchanged words (the gruff man's being more colorful than that of the woman's) Kenshin began to creep over to the other side of the room. On the wall, he proudly displayed an old Japanese katana, worth quite a bit of money if he ever decided to sell it.
Suddenly, there was a loud clash and a scream. Kenshin chose that moment to dive for the katana on the wall, knocking its holder off of the supporting nail. As he turned to face the man from the alley, the wooden holder slipped to the carpet with a thud.
Narrowed purple eyes took in the situation. The woman from the café had been thrown onto the glass coffee table, smashing it into pieces. She lay unconscious atop the shards, a thin line of blood trickling from her mouth.
Kenshin's gaze returned to the man, who brandished a knife in front of him.
"What are you doing in my house?" Kenshin asked, his voice deeper than usual with a no-nonsense tone to it. When the man did not answer, he slowly pulled the katana from its sheath, his eyes flashing golden as the blade glittered in the light. He repeated, "What are you doing in my house?"
The man shook his head, stepping back a pace or two towards the door. His face had gone pale and his eyes were wide as saucers. Quickly deciding that he was well over his head, the man dropped the knife and threw himself at the door, turning the knob desperately to open his escape route.
Just as the man figured out that the door was solidly locked, but before he could slip the bolt out of its holder, Kenshin was behind him, pulling back his sword and preparing to strike. With ease he diagonally cut across the man's back. The stranger made a slight choking noise before slumping against the locked door and sliding to the floor.
Slipping the katana back into its sheath, Kenshin's eyes lightened to their normal bright purple as he crouched down next to the fallen woman. He gently took one of her hands, checking for a pulse. He found it steady, though not very strong. Seeing a bulge in one pocket of the pants that he had given her, he reached in only to find his wallet. She had apparently used the card that he kept inside with his address in case he ever lost the precious strip of leather, and used the apartment keys he had left in the other pocket. Slowly, he reached to tuck a strand of dark hair behind her ear as someone knocked lightly on the door.
"Kenshin?" The familiar voice floated through the room, filling it with warmth.
"One second, Miss Kaoru." He said quietly, walking over to the door and pushing the body to the side. Slipping the bolt out of its place and removing the chain, he opened the door, allowing Kaoru entrance.
"I came to make sure—Oh my… " Her innocent eyes grew wide with fear as she spotted the woman over the crushed coffee table, and wider still when she saw the man at her feet. "Kenshin… what have you done?" There were tears forming in those perfect blue eyes now, tears of disbelief and mistrust. She took a small step back, bracing herself against the doorframe as the room began to spin. Her vision grew fuzzy and her mind clouded over as she felt a faint coming on.
"It's alright, Miss Kaoru," Kenshin tried to calm her, "I found these two in my apartment when I got home. This man," He gestured towards the fallen man by the door, "Threw that woman onto my table. I used a reversed-blade sword to stop him from getting away before I could call the police." With this, Kenshin pulled the sword out of its sheath again, smoothing his finger along the edge that should have been sharp, but was dull as a butter knife.
Kaoru blinked away her tears and sniffed slightly as she reached out to feel the dull edge for herself. She let her fingers roll over the blade, feeling the cold steel against her skin. With a shudder, she pulled her hand away.
"Oh thank god," She muttered, "I thought you killed them both for a minute there…"
Kenshin smiled at her, taking her hand to help her stand upright again. "I'm going to call the police. If you want, you can go. But since my neighbors undoubtedly saw you walk in, you'll probably be wanted for questioning. I'm sorry to get you involved…" He apologized, the sincerity apparent in his eyes.
"Don't be sorry," Kaoru said slowly, "It's not your fault I came here to check up on you… I was worried." She finished the last part almost grudgingly. As if her mouth was unwilling to say it, but her heart wanted to. She smiled up at him; "I'll stay with you until the police arrive."
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Kenshin and Kaoru sat silently in the waiting room of the hospital. After finding out that the mysterious woman that lay unconscious in his apartment had no living family to speak of, Kenshin had agreed to follow her to the hospital and pay for any medical expenses. Kaoru had also decided to go with him for company.
Kaoru had picked up a Vogue magazine off the rack and was now half-heartedly sifting through the pages. Kenshin watched, amused, as she skipped purposefully over the large article in the center of the magazine containing a nice photo spread of her and an interview.
"Why don't you read it?" Kenshin asked, staring at the white wall across the room as if he hadn't been watching her. "They might have twisted around something you said in the interview. You wouldn't know unless you read it."
Kaoru wrinkled her nose in disgust, "Exactly," She said firmly, "If I don't read it, then I'll never know. I'm saving myself the mental anguish."
Kenshin smiled slightly, "What if they airbrushed a face onto one of your pictures?"
Kaoru giggled at this and elbowed him slightly. Kenshin, finally turning to look at her, smiled at well. Their eyes caught for a moment. Kenshin realized that the idea of someone airbrushing this woman's face in a magazine was impossible, as no mortal human could ever replicate something so downright perfect.
The two were interrupted as a doctor coughed slightly in front of them. Kenshin looked up, his eyes met by a tall, dark haired man with broad shoulders and narrowed eyes.
"Doctor?" Kenshin asked, rising from his chair to shake the man's hand.
"I've come to tell you that you can visit Miss Takani now," Kenshin saw the doctor's left eye twitch slightly, as if the name of Megumi Takani sickened him to the very soul, "she's come out of her coma, and she'll be fine." With that, he turned on heal and continued down the hall.
"What was that about?" Kenshin felt Kaoru's hand touch his sleeve gently in question. He shook his head. Together they proceeded towards the woman's room.
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Kaoru had agreed to stay outside the room while Kenshin went in to talk to the mysterious woman. They had learned from the doctors at their arrival that her name was Megumi Takani, and she was a nurse at the hospital.
"Miss Megumi?" Kenshin asked, gently patting her arm to rouse her from her dreamlike state.
"Hmmm…?" She mumbled, opening her eyes slowly and blinking in the harsh light of the hospital room.
"I was wondering if you were up for some questions from me… I would like to find out why exactly you took my clothes and broke into my apartment." Kenshin said quietly, sitting down in the chair next to her bed.
The woman groaned and covered her face with her hand, "It's a rather long story."
"Well, I have until visiting hours are over," Kenshin replied.
Unable to get out of it now, the woman grudgingly began her explanation, "Three years ago I worked for a hospital on the other side of town as their head doctor. I practically ran the place, but it was a poor hospital, and they couldn't pay me very much. So when a guy came to the hospital with a knife wound to his chest and an offer I couldn't refuse… well, I didn't refuse it." She smiled wryly at this and continued, "I gave him prescription drugs in return for cash. I can only assume that he sold the drugs on the street, because I wasn't getting him enough. He started to threaten me. After I refused to give him any more drugs, he told the hospital about the deals I had made with him… and they fired me."
Kenshin studied her face, making sure that there was truth in her words. Her eyes had lost their sharp, commanding glint. They were now clouded over, with a faraway look to them. The lines in her face had also deepened, the light wrinkles around her frowning face apparent under the bright lights of the white room.
"They didn't take you to the police?" He questioned.
"No… I was well respected there. They did me a favor and just fired me instead of getting the police involved. Afterwards, I changed my name. I got a job at this hospital, but it wasn't long before the drug lord found me again. He's been threatening me for weeks now. After I took your clothes and found your keys in your pocket and your address in your wallet, I decided to take the drug lord there and hope that you would show up and save my pitiful existence again."
Kenshin frowned, watching her with concern, "And you have no where to go? No family?"
"I had an apartment, but it was ransacked not too long ago. I've been too terrified to go back to it, so I've been spending my nights in central park," She spoke quietly now, her eyes drooping in fatigue. Kenshin could hardly see how much better it could be sleeping in the park rather than an apartment that had been broken into, but he decided not to say anything about it.
"Then I have no choice," Kenshin said, standing up from his seat and patting her arm again gently, "You'll stay with me until you can get back on your feet again."
The woman's eyes widened, brightening up with their former luster, "Are you sure?" She asked, watching him walk towards the door, "I wouldn't want to impose…" Kenshin opened his mouth to reassure her that his mind was made up, but she beat him to it,
"…If you insist!"
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"Is she going to be alright?" Kaoru asked as Kenshin stepped out of the room, closing the door quietly behind him.
"She'll be fine," He reassured her, "But because she doesn't have anywhere to go, I offered to let her stay at my apartment for a while after she gets out of here."
Kenshin noticed that Kaoru's smile faltered ever so slightly as she nodded her approval. Her manner suddenly became uncomfortable, and she fidgeted in front of him.
"Well, I better get home… Enishi is probably wondering where I am." She said quietly.
Now it was Kenshin's turn to be uncomfortable. Even the slightest mention of that man made him uneasy. "Alright. Be careful going home. I'd walk you, but…" He looked over towards Megumi's room.
"I understand," Kaoru said, turning around, "I'll see you tomorrow at work. Good night!" She called off as she trotted down the hall. Kenshin watched her retreating form until she disappeared behind a corner. Slowly, he turned in the direction of his new charge and walked back into her room.
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Extra Author's Note: If there's anyone left, please review! I like to know what you think! Thanks!