Author's Note: Again, a long wait… forgive me. And this time I haven't made up for it with two chapters… But I'm going to stop apologizing every chapter. It's becoming redundant. I get busy… sigh Just know from now on if a chapter comes out late, I'm very sorry. Anyway, on another note… I'm not really sure where this story is going at the moment. I've (kind of accidentally) taken it in a different direction than I originally intended. Either way… I'm not sure if the summary I put up is accurate anymore. Well, we'll see… I'll let you guys know. For now, enjoy the story!
Disclaimer: I still do not own Rurouni Kenshin…
Your Azure Eyes
Chapter 8: Smolder
"We need to get her to the hospital," Megumi stated firmly as she took a blanket and covered Kaoru's unconscious form. Kenshin had taken her to the couch, waiting while Megumi gave the girl a quick and informal exam. The nurse noted the bruises on the inside of her thighs, quickly realizing just what had happened to the young model.
"What happened to her?" Kenshin asked; his mouth set in a concerned frown.
"She was raped, Kenshin." Megumi said quietly, striding over to the phone on the other side of the room and dialing the hospital's number.
"Raped…?" Kenshin whispered the word quietly to himself, unwilling to believe what his senses had already told him the minute she had stumbled through the door. Carefully, he sat down on the end of the couch, reaching over to brush the loose strands of matted hair out of her face.
"Let's go," Megumi announced, grabbing her coat from the closet in the hallway, "I got her an appointment."
Kenshin picked Kaoru up bridal style, blanket and all. When he looked up, Megumi had already gone to hail a taxi. Slowly, he made his way to the door and then out of the apartment, cradling his fallen blue jay gently to his chest.
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When Kaoru dimly began to wake, her mind had convinced her that the entire ordeal had been a horrible nightmare. Once she opened her eyes, she would be welcomed by her own, warm room with it's light blue walls and wooden furniture, wrapped tightly in her overstuffed down comforter.
But, frighteningly enough for the young woman, when she opened her eyes she was met with the bare, whitewashed walls of a hospital room, tangled in a thin, scratchy blanket sitting atop a small bed.
"How did I get here?" She asked to no one in particular, her voice quivering as she blinked to try and clear the blurry film over her eyes.
"Megumi and I brought you," a voice to the left of the bed answered, causing Kaoru to sit up abruptly.
"Kenshin?" She asked, now rubbing her eyes to rid them of the blur. Finally focusing, she turned her head in the direction of the voice, meeting Kenshin's worried gaze.
"I'm here," He said quietly, taking her hand gently in his own. Kaoru was struck silent, unable to form words to describe her feelings. She was baffled… all of the events of the past few days seemed to be swirling together in a tornado of confusion and bewilderment. She found herself being sucked inside her own mind, drowning in the furiously swirling pools of her own mystified memories as she tried desperately to collect them.
A light tingling sensation developed in the palm of her hand, drifting up her arm. Slowly, she came back down to earth, blinking at the man in front of her. Kenshin still grasped her hand, watching her with the same, worry filled gaze. His thumb traced light circles around the inside of her hand, causing the strange sensation that was beginning to consume Kaoru's body. Quickly, she pulled her hand away.
"I… I have to leave," She stuttered, getting out of the bed. She found that she was still wearing the clothes that she had put on that morning, meaning that she hadn't been properly examined yet. Kaoru sighed in relief as she sat on the edge of the bed, pulling on her shoes.
"Where are you going?" Kenshin asked, not moving to stop her physically, but trying to with his words.
"Back to my apartment," She said crossly, as if it were obvious.
"To tell Enishi? We already called him, Miss Kaoru. He's on his way."
Kaoru froze, "What did you tell him?" She asked, feeling her fingers start to tremble as she laced up her shoes.
"I told him that you were hurt, but nothing else," Kenshin said quietly. They sat in silence for a moment, Kaoru still trying to tie her shoes, but her attempts remained unsuccessful as she was trembling too much to tie a proper bow.
Suddenly, Kenshin grabbed both her hands gently in his own, forcing her to straighten up and look him in the eyes. "Miss Kaoru…" he whispered, "Who did this to you?"
For a moment, Kaoru was caught in his deep, purple eyes. They swirled with concern and sorrow for her, but underneath she could see gold flecks sparkling every so often, as if a demon were trying desperately to break out from behind those calm orbs.
"I… I…" She stuttered, needing some kind of quick lie to get her out of this, but her eyes could not leave his, and once she was lost in those deep pools, it was as if all of her senses were sucked in.
She forcefully pulled her hands from his again, willing her eyes to look away and fix on a slightly yellow spot on the ceiling just above his head.
"I'm going outside of the hospital to wait for Enishi to take me home," She said firmly and slowly, as if she were talking to someone who was rather slow, "I'm fine. Nothing happened. Okay?"
Slowly her eyes traveled down from the ceiling, pausing over his red hair, and then moving down to his mouth, skipping over those intense eyes. She could see his lips set in a frown, but not an angry one. He was genuinely concerned for her.
"If that's what you want, Miss Kaoru," he ground out with effort. If it had been up to him, he would have tied her to the bed and forced her to stay for the exam to make sure that she was okay. But she was a grown woman and fully capable of taking care of herself. There was nothing he could do.
"It is," Kaoru replied, standing up from the bed and walking to the door. She paused in the hallway, looking back to see Kenshin staring mournfully at the floor. Kaoru was struck with a sudden pang of guilt and fear at the same moment. She would have liked nothing better than to jump straight into Kenshin's strong arms and never let go; to have him protect her from everything that had gone wrong, and to help her rebuild her shattered life.
But if she told Kenshin the truth, neither of them would be safe again. Enishi was a strong and ruthless man. Once his mind was set on doing something, he worked every fiber of his being to attain it. He would find her sooner or later… and the consequences would be far worse than they would be if she went crawling back now.
"I'm sorry," She whispered so quietly that only her ears caught the sound. Then again, perhaps it wasn't meant for Kenshin… Perhaps she meant it to herself; a quiet apology to her body, and a silent prayer that it would keep going.
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"What did you tell them?" Enishi demanded as he drove swerving back to their apartment. Kaoru could tell that he was drunk, as the stench of hard liquor drifted through the car.
"I didn't tell them anything," She said quietly, staring at her fingers entwined nervously in her lap.
"Then why did you go there? Why did they take you to the hospital?" The man continued his onslaught of questions.
"I was scared!" Kaoru yelled, feeling tears well up in her eyes, "I didn't know what to do, so I ran! I must have collapsed in their apartment and they took me to the hospital because of all the bruises." Kaoru felt her blood firing up with fury towards her boyfriend. Suddenly, all of the pain and torment she had gone through in the past day came pouring out in the form of pure rage.
"Do you know what you did to me?" She yelled, "You raped me, Enishi! I could have you sent to jail for that! I could call the police and they'd—"
He slapped her. Hard.
"Shut up, wench."
Tears streamed freely down Kaoru's cheeks. Her face stung where he had hit her, and she brought a trembling had up to try and rub the pain away.
"Why, Ensihi? Why?" She sniffled, trying to wipe the tears away with the back of her other hand.
There was a slight pause before he firmly stated, "Because you are mine."
They drove in silence until they arrived at the apartment complex. As Kaoru opened the door and stepped out of the car, Enishi grabbed her arm hard enough to cause a bruise, causing her to yelp and drop back down into the seat.
His eyes flashed dangerously, emphasizing his point, "If you ever try to leave me again… I'll kill you."
Kaoru felt her throat go dry. Slowly, she nodded, licking her parched and cracking lips nervously, tasting blood from the old wounds that had reopened. Stepping out of the car was painful for nearly every inch of her battered body. She dimly wondered if the rest of her life was going to be like this… Hiding bruises and trying to act normal in front of the neighbors even though it felt as though her body were on fire.
She questioned now if things could have been different. Perhaps she could have avoided all of this pain if she had heeded the advice of her former photographer and dropped Enishi the first time he had ripped those pictures? But no, she hadn't believed her trusted co-worker, and now she was trapped with a man she thought she knew, in a world she didn't know.
There was nothing she could do now. Nothing.
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Extra Author's Note: It's far from the end! There's still plenty of hope for Kaoru if Kenshin has anything to do with it! He's not going to just sit there and take it! We'll see what happens… I'll update ASAP! (Oh yes, and please review!) Thanks a bunch!