Hey, guys!
As a reviewer pointed out, it's been about 48 days since I last updated. I figured now would be a good time to release the suspense—some of you wonderful fans were beginning to make threats on my personal well-being for not updating. ::grins::
Better appreciate this—I have exams I need to be studying for, goddamnit! I am taking time out of my busy schedule for my reviewers, so LOVE MEEEEEEE! ::sniff::
Yes, well. ::smile::
"…" denotes speaking.
… denotes thoughts (Italics)
DISCLAIMER: Kenshin has a few words to say. Go ahead, babe.
KENSHIN: ::with a knife pressed up against his back and looking very nervous:: Ahem, err—I would just like to—eh—confirm the fact that—um—Miss Angie DOES have rights to me! Yes! Very much! Please, do not harm me!
::smiles sweetly:: See? Kenshin agrees. He's mine.
Watsuki, though, gets copyrights to our story, so no need to sue me. (Because he obviously knows about this story's existence and is carefully monitoring me to make sure I don't steal credit. ::rolls eyes::)
This chapter is for Saito, because he's such an ass.
Note: Notice that Kenshin and Kaoru are really codependent? This was very factual, actually. Eh, we can't help it. ::smiles:: And some points will be cleared up later on, too, if they're any questions.
Chapter Six
"I'm sorry, Himura-san, but Kamiya-san was not seen by any of our night patrol." The chief of police rubbed the bridge of his nose and looked up at Kenshin apologetically. "At an hour that late, and with the weather being what it was…" He seemed terribly embarrassed about the whole thing, like the police force had never made mistakes before this one.
"So," The voice, unusually quiet and somber, came from Sanosuke. "Kaoru's gone and left us, this time by her own choice." The three remaining members of the Kenshingumi and several choice members of the police force were seated in the Kamiya dojo's dining space. Sano had propped himself against the wall facing the outside world. He let out a dark laugh as he raised his gaze to pin the police chief where he sat. "I admit, I always thought that Kenshin would be the one we'd be trackin' down after he tried to run off again…I never expected Jou-chan to do something like this."
"This is her home." There was a small quaver in Yahiko's lip that slipped out in his voice. "I mean…before all of us, she was here. It always seemed…I thought she'd always be here." He seemed about to say more, but elected instead to gnaw on his lower lip and duck his head so that dark bangs fell in front of his tear-filled brown eyes.
"I'm afraid I don't quite understand all the fuss." That cold, cold voice that still managed to sound completely sardonic in the midst of their pain sent a thrill of hatred down both Yahiko's and Sanosuke's spines. "So the tanuki-girl ran off and left you all—so what? You can't get along without her?"
Yahiko leapt for Saito's knees, nearly sinking his teeth into the man before Sano grabbed him by the scruff of the neck and yanked him back. Saito raised his eyebrow at this but did not comment, either on the attack or on the tears now blatantly streaming from Yahiko's eyes.
"She's left before, hasn't she?" He asked instead, a carefully neutral expression schooled on his face. "You've lived perfectly fine by yourselves before—do so again."
"We can't." Sanosuke spat out, and the black look in his usually wickedly amused brown eyes would have sent another man crawling. "Don't even try to understand it, you frozen bastard, 'cause you never could. But we can't get along without her. She's—" The ex-fighter-for-hire struggled for words.
"She's our home."
Everyone automatically turned to seek out the owner of the soft words. Kenshin was sitting in the partially-opened shoji door, his face turned to the outside world, his sakabato propped up on his chest. Something about the serenity of his posture sent a warning flare into Sanosuke's mind. It was too controlled, too perfect…
"Remember what happened, when Enishi—took her?" The Rurouni asked softly, glancing back at Sanosuke and Yahiko for confirmation. "None of us stayed here, and none of us stayed together, either. I went to Rakunimura, Sanosuke went wandering off to his father's home, and Yahiko was left to hunt for news of Kaoru and Enishi. She was what kept us here, gave us a home. Without her, none of us would have met—she offered me a home when I would have wandered away. She insisted on Yahiko's rescue and gave him lessons and a place to sleep. She was the one who brought us to the Akabeko that day when we met you, Sano, and she was the initial reason that Kihei hired you to bring me down. All of us owe our companionship to her, and without her—" His voice broke, and he quickly turned back to look at the outside world.
There was a long silence.
"But why all this blubbering?" Saito asked eventually, managing to look completely unimpressed. "I notice you all aren't wandering away now, but you look almost as lost as when Enishi stole her."
"Because this time, she chose to leave us. There's no kidnapper dragging her away, no urgent quest, no one in peril. She left because she didn't want to be with us anymore, and that hurts more than anything else in the world could." Kenshin's voice was darker and deeper than his normal tones. Sano sharply glanced in his direction, but the wanderer would not look at him.
Again, a long silence fell over the room. The police chief was looking at Kenshin sympathetically, but wisely offered no comment. Saito, of course, had not even blinked at this declaration. He opened the breast pocket of his uniform, unfurled a small sheet of paper and a pouch of tobacco, and began to make himself a cigarette.
"I would ask that you not smoke in here, Fujita-san." Kenshin said without looking back at his old nemesis.
Saito glanced up unconcernedly at him. "What are you going to do about it, Battousai?" He inquired, the familiar old smirk rising again on his face.
"I will remove your testicles and send them to Tokio, for starters." The wanderer replied calmly. "If you persisted in your disgusting habit, I would proceed send the rest of you in a body-bag."
Everyone gaped at the Rurouni in complete shock. Even Saito blinked once or twice before regaining his usual composure. "Bit tense, aren't you, Battousai?"
Kenshin turned his head and stared at his long-time enemy. The wanderer's eyes were bloodshot and swollen from too much crying and not enough sleep. The lavender color had deepened and darkened to the color of the underbellies of storm clouds. They fixated on him unwaveringly, not even blinking, boring into him with an intensity that the policeman hadn't seen since their fight before Kyoto. The only reassurance that Kenshin's darker traits were not surfacing was the fact that no matter how dark his eyes looked, the color still remained violet. There was no hint of burning gold in his chilling gaze, and Saito found himself half-relieved of that fact.
Yahiko let out a tiny squeak, his eyes wide and frightened.
"Jesus, Kenshin." Sanosuke whispered, his fingers digging into the tatami mats.
Kenshin turned to look at him, and the color drained away from the ex-fighter-for-hire's face. A look of concern passed over Kenshin's features, and his eyes softened. "I apologize, Sano. I did not mean for you to see that."
"Intended only for me, eh Battousai?"
"Don't flatter yourself, Mibu's Wolf."
The other ones in the room fidgeted slightly, unnerved by the powerful and dangerous undercurrents of the room. Almost unconsciously, Kenshin and Saito were slipping back in time over eleven years, to a fight left unfinished in the darker alleys of Kyoto. Kenshin's polite demeanor was disappearing into pain and rage, and Saito's aloofness was being forced aside by a rising battle fury. The fight came suddenly, though no swords or words were used. Their spirits clashed together, furiously driving against each other in movements that made the air spin. One could almost see their swordsman's spirits entangling and ripping at each other.
Then, as quickly as the fight had begun, it was over.
There was a thin line of sweat on Saito's brow as he relaxed back. "Well, that was interesting." He remarked, slipping the newly made cigarette back into his pocket to be used another time.
"Indeed." Kenshin's voice was soft and high-pitched once more. "Does that satisfy you?"
"It does." Everyone else in the room blinked at this odd exchange, but both Saito and Kenshin ignored the questioning looks thrown their way. "What do you want from us?"
"From the police force," Kenshin turned to look at the police chief, who was clearly nervous but controlling it, much to his credit, "this one would appreciate you sending some men out to patrol the roads immediately. Kaoru's probably well out of Tokyo by now, but there's no harm in checking the outskirts, that there it not. Perhaps some clues may be picked up if anyone saw her past."
"We'll get on it immediately, Himura-san." The chief said firmly, rising from his seat and bowing to the petite ex-hitokiri before quietly withdrawing his men from the room.
"And from you," Kenshin said, fixing Saito with a stern gaze, "I would appreciate some answers."
Saito raised an eyebrow. "Oh?"
"What did you say to Miss Kaoru last night?" Kenshin asked quietly.
"Yeah!" Yahiko jumped in, glaring up at the police officer. "She went pale as a ghost afterwards—what didja tell her?" He shrunk back slightly as the policeman's cold gaze fell on him, but did not lose the angry expression on his face
His other eyebrow raised at the kid samurai, but Saito did not snort or dismiss Yahiko's question as he might have another time. "I told her that it wouldn't be that easy to find forgiveness." He replied neutrally.
Yahiko and Sanosuke stared at him.
"Okay, what the hell does that mean?" Sanosuke demanded. "Not that easy to find forgiveness for what? What was the easy path?"
"Moron."
Sanosuke visibly twitched. His fingers curled like they were wrapping around the policeman's neck. "What?" He asked dangerously.
Saito gave him a patiently bored look. "I do believe that you heard me the first time, judging by your reaction, so please do not inquire when you already know the answer." Sano spluttered in outrage as Saito continued. "Look, I do not know Kaoru-san as well as you three do, and I have no real desire to. But from what I can tell of her character, this entire situation would hit her extremely hard."
"It did." Kenshin assured him, catching Sano's shoulder with a firm hand.
"The police had already determined the dead man was a criminal by all accounts, so for his death there would be no punishment, no matter who the killer was." Saito paused to give Kenshin an ironic look, but the wanderer did not rise to the bait. "Kaoru-san, I believe, was expecting to serve jail time as penance for her sins, but we could not allow her to do that. Our jails are already full with those who could not fully 'adapt' to the times, and there are still those who run free who need those cells far more than she does."
Kenshin's eyes narrowed in assent. "Go on."
"So therefore, since she was denied the chance to suffer our prisons, I merely warned her that she would have to find her own means of atonement for her crimes." Saito's fingers twitched towards his breast pocket for a moment before he clamped them down again on his knees.
The three remaining members of the Kenshingumi stared at him.
"That…that actually made sense." Yahiko whispered.
"That actually seemed nice." Sanosuke muttered in a completely shell-shocked tone.
"Believe me, had I known that that conclusion might be drawn, I would never have even dreamt of assisting her." Saito said dryly, giving Sanosuke a withering look.
"Ah…" The sigh echoed around the room, and some of the tension behind Kenshin's eyes eased. "So. Not leaving because she could not stand others' company, but because she didn't want us to suffer her company. Leaving for peace, not for conflict."
"And what else did you think she would do?" Saito inquired. "She's not a very selfish girl when it comes to making you three happy, it seems—she wouldn't want to burden you with her pain. And with you constantly oro-ing and cleaning laundry under her roof, where else would she look for ideas on forgiveness? Obviously she would make you an exemplar of what she should do, take your path for forgiveness, and hit the road."
Kenshin rubbed at his temples. "Yes, she would, wouldn't she?" He leaned his head back and let the tendrils of his bangs slip forward and cover his eyes again. Suddenly, he let out a hoarse laugh. "Ah, Kaoru, Kaoru, you clever girl…"
"If that's all?" Saito asked pointedly, beginning to rise. "I would like to be able to get back to my work, now. The hunt for Kamiya-san will begin promptly, and I'll probably be asked to head one of the squads." He waited for a moment, glancing about the room, and when no one objected, he tipped his hat and turned away.
"Saito." Kenshin's voice had deepened again. The Lieutenant halted, not turning back but clearing listening. "Kaoru…that is, Miss Kaoru…is a very smart girl. Tell your men to look very carefully."
"We'll look as carefully as possible, Battousai, but we don't know her like you do." Saito responded neutrally. He craned his head to give the Rurouni a last glance, then slid back the shoji door and was gone.
Another hoarse laugh tore out of the Rurouni's throat. "I do believe Saito-san is going soft, that he is." He remarked, a strange smirk twisting his face.
"Whaddya mean?" Sanosuke asked suspiciously.
"He just pointed out a fact that I was overlooking."
"And that was?"
"That no matter how hard the police force searches, Miss Kaoru has quite a few brains in her head. She'll give them a merry chase, and the chase itself will make her feel even more like a criminal and raise her guilt."
"Oh, shit." Yahiko breathed.
Sanosuke cuffed him lightly on the back of the head. "So are we taking the wrong measures with this? Should we call the police force back and ask them to just let it go?"
"I hardly think they'd heed our request." Kenshin replied. "Kaoru is legally considered a lost person, and it's the police's duty to find missing people. Besides, it isn't healthy for her to be left alone with nothing but her thoughts to comfort her, what with the state her thoughts must be in right now."
"You did." Sanosuke pointed out.
"I said I wandered for ten years to find forgiveness; I never said that it was the right thing to do or that I ever found it." Kenshin responded, somewhat ironically. "In the end, Miss Kaoru was the one who led me to Tomoe's smile and forgiveness, not ten years of being miserable and alone. The wandering was informative and soothing, in some aspects, but if I had told her story ten years sooner, I might have been healing this scar of mine ten years earlier." His fingers trailed over the cross-shaped scar for a moment.
"Okay, so her wandering is not good for her, but if the police try and get her back, it'll be even worse!" Sanosuke growled in frustration. "Both of our choices lead to bad ends, damn it! What're we gonna do?"
"We're going after Kaoru ourselves, that we are." Kenshin said calmly.
The two other freeloaders stared at the wanderer for a moment.
"Okay." Yahiko whispered finally. "Okay. Yeah. Yeah! We'll go after her!"
"We know her better than any other." Sanosuke muttered, letting the plan wash over him. "We know where she'd be likely to hide, where she's like to go…we're the best ones for the job!"
Kenshin slowly uncurled himself, stretching up and out until he was fully upright and alert. "We're going after her." He repeated. "Sano, Yahiko, get your things ready. I'll pack up some supplies. Go quickly, and be back here as soon as you can."
Yahiko scrambled off immediately, slamming back the shoji door with a whoop of excitement. As his footsteps pattered down the hall, Sanosuke shot Kenshin a suspicious look. "You sure this is in Kaoru's best interest, Kenshin?"
The wanderer still had his eyes mostly hidden beneath his hair, but Sanosuke got the distinct impression that he was being given a very unfriendly stare. He held up his hands. "Che, take it easy, Kenshin. I'm not saying it's a bad thing if you want her back—in fact, that's almost as good a reason as for her welfare. I mean, hell—it's about time things started moving between you two." He beat a hasty retreat, relieved to not be able to feel Kenshin's cold eyes anymore.
Kenshin watched Sanosuke exit, then quietly moved into the kitchen. He reached up to one of the higher cabinets and drew down a small, dusty brown package that seemed to be rather heavy for its small size. He unfurled the top and opened it up, peering inside.
Several hundred yen notes lay inside, crumpled and wadded together. Kenshin allowed himself a tiny smile as he plucked most of them from their hiding hole and stuffed them into the front of his gi and into the small knapsack at his side. That affair with Shishio had had only a few benefits. A large thank-you payment from the people of Kyoto had been one of them. He had kept it for a rainy day, hidden out of reach of Sanosuke's money-hungry fingers and Kaoru's accidental searches. And if this wasn't a rainy day, then he would pack up and move back to Rakunimura for some sunbathing.
He managed to be back in the room, looking no different for the small fortune caught between the cloth and his chest, before Yahiko and Sano returned. He was amused to see Yahiko carrying two bokkens, one strapped to each side of his waist, and that Sanosuke had managed to freshly bandage his hands. "Ready?" He asked, hoisting the knapsack on his shoulders.
"Ready!" Yahiko cried eagerly, an irrepressible grin rising on his face.
"Ready." Sanosuke agreed, slamming his bandaged fist into the opposite hand and cracking his knuckles slightly. "And you, Kenshin?"
The Rurouni didn't answer for a moment. He drew in a deep breath and let it out slowly, tasting the air currents and letting his feelings sift and settle. To find Miss Kaoru, he was going to need to change his outlook on the world a tiny bit.
To find Miss Kaoru, I must be able to empathize, that I must.
Sanosuke started as the air temperature in the room palpably changed, dropping just enough to cause a chill in the air before returning to normal. A wind whistled around the dojo, and the shadows of leaves danced against the shoji door.
Kenshin raised his head, and Sanosuke found himself looking into the golden eyes of a man with the scars of his soul freshly awakened and staring him in the face.
"Let's go."
Please review.
NOTE: The reason Kenshin has reverted to his darker instincts is because he needs to be able to understand Kaoru more and derive her motives and possible routes of escape. His "Battousai-half" is better for this, because that part of him is more readily aware of his crimes and sins and knows what HE would do in the situation Kaoru's in right now. And also, I don't believe the Rurouni and Battousai are two separate people like many claim. They're both the same guy—they're both Kenshin, and he's not a schizophrenic. Battousai is just the darker part of Kenshin's psyche. So there.