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The Secret Kept From Yahiko

Chapter Five

From last time: I heard light, quick footsteps approaching me and felt
someone kneel down next to me. Kenshin - for I knew who it was -
reached toward me to pull out one of the daggers in my right shoulder.
I hissed in pain and pulled away from his touch.

"No Yahiko, don't pull away. It's going to be all right."

After those words I very slightly relaxed. I felt Kenshin pull
it out and after I saw the blood covered dagger with my blood on it, I
closed my eyes and welcomed the darkness that was reaching for me.

Yahiko POV

I came back into consciousness with the painful feeling of someone
pressing against my badly injured left shoulder. I did not like that at
all and without even thinking of the consequences I was sure to bestow
upon myself I pulled away and when a hand tried to grab at me I sunk my
teeth deep into the person's hand tasting blood as I punctured through
the skin.

"ORO!!!! ITAI!!!" Seesha is bleeding! Seesha is bleeding! Oro oro..."

"Ken-San, I am having trouble working on him when you and that
rooster head Sanosuke can't hold him still!"

"Seesha and Sanosuke are sorry Megumi-Dono! Seesha will not let it
happen again!"

"You better not Ken-San! If he moves around too much he is going to
lose more blood than he already has! And Ken-San please bandage your hand
with this."

"Thank you Megumi-Dono," said Kenshin as the woman handed him a
bandage to wrap around his hand. "Yahiko certainly has sharp teeth, that
he does."

"You know," continued Megumi, "it is a wonder that the boy is still alive
after what he has gone through. I've seen full-grown healthy men die with
less injuries than him. I just hope that he can pull through. After
living through that nightmare if he was to die at a doctor's hands it
would be a shame..." her voice trailed off.

"Seesha does not think that he will die, that I do not. The boy has a
strong spirit and is not ready to give up on life just yet, that he is
not."

I was getting tired of all the poking especially since it was
inflicting me with waves of heated pain, and I had no clue of who was
doing the poking in the first place. Once again, against my better
judgment, I wrenched away from these hands again, but this time there
were two cries. The first was from me of pain, and the second I assumed
was from whoever had been poking me, probably because I had just moved.

"I think your right Ken-San. I think he will make it. If he is still
fighting now and has the strength to bite through flesh I have no doubt
that he won't not make it."

Even through my waves of agony my curiosity was getting the better of
me so I cracked my right eye open and squinted upwards so that I could
see what was going on. There were three people hovering above me. The
first one had to be Kenshin due to the fiery hair that was glinting in
the light and made him hard to look at. The man to Kenshin's left must be
the name that I had heard called Sanosuke. He really did look like a
rooster; his brown bangs were sticking up in front and he had a red
headband tied around his forehead. Neither Kenshin nor Sanosuke looked
like a doctor so where was he? Unless that woman that I had heard talking
had been her. A very pretty raven-haired lady leaned over me applying
pressure to a cut. 'A lady doctor? Guess there is a first time for
everything,' I thought.

Since my three caretakers had not seemed to realize that I was awake I
used the time to look around and study my surroundings. I was lying on
top of a futon in a very large room that was flooded with light due to
the huge windows off to my right. To my left on the wall there were
plaques hanging with people's names on them, and underneath those stacked
vertically in neat rows were clusters of shinais and bokkens all looking
as if waiting for a challenger to try and attack them. 'I must be in a
training hall... a dojo?'

The three people still had not realized me, but they found out soon
enough when the woman doctor dabbed some type of clear liquid onto one of
my many dagger wounds. Normally, I wouldn't think water would sting so
much and I decided to inform them so I yelled, "Cut that out! It stings!"

All three heads jerked up from their tasks to stare at me. Megumi
looked down at her cotton swab, to the bottle she had gotten it from, and
then back to me. "It is only rubbing alcohol to clean your injury," she
said matter or factly.

Kenshin looked at me with a small smile. "It is good to see you awake
Yahiko, that it is."

End Yahiko POV

Kenshin POV

It was amazing. Yahiko was actually awake. He had even used the same
tone that he had used with Kaoru-Dono and me earlier. This boy truly is a
spirited fighter. But asides from my knowing that his name is Myojin
Yahiko none of us know anything about him. Who is this strong willed boy?

I froze. The boy was looking me directly in the eye as if daring me to
laugh or make a comment at the predicament that he was in. I would never
do anything like that. Something that astounded me far greater though was
that he had looked me in the eye. Very rarely did anyone ever look at me
like that, and never in my life had I received that look from a child who
could not be more than eight years old. Or at least he looked eight. He
was so skinny that I could see his ribs quite plainly poking through his
bronze colored skin. He looked so frail that Sanosuke could most likely
break him in half if he tried.

From the looks of it Megumi-Dono had finished cleaning up all of his
dagger wounds and had sewn the deeper cut ones with neat, careful
stitches. Without even giving the boy a word of warning, Sano picked him
up and flipped him over so that Megumi-Dono could work on his back.
Yahiko let out a whimper, but after that one he did not utter another
sound. 'A high pain tolerance,' I thought, 'is that good or bad?'

There was an intake of breath from Megumi-Dono when she saw the entire
extent of the boy's back injuries of whiplashes that were crisscrossing
the boy's back like snakes. She immediately set to work.

End Kenshin POV

Megumi POV

Oh my Kami! Ken-San never said anything about his back. That poor boy! 'Is this what he has grown up with his entire life?' I made a mental note to talk to Ken-San later when I had time. Yahiko, as Ken-San had called him, was not making a single noise past that whimper when Sanosuke flipped him around so that I could work on his back. Who would want to hurt anybody, especially a little boy, this badly? And what could the boy have done to receive such extensive injuries?

"Kaoru, I need water now! Hurry and bring it here!" I called.

The raccoon girl ran in with a bowl of cold water that was sloshing up dangerously close to the bowl's rim. She set it down beside me and looked up to see me now washing off his back with the nice cold water that was beginning to expose the whiplashes that the boy was wearing. "Oh Kami," she said just above a whisper, "what happened to him?"

"I honestly have no idea," I replied, "but I intend to find out. Besides if you think that this is bad you should see his front. He is just covered in dagger punctures and his whole body is black and blue."

I gave a quick nod to Sano who turned the boy back over so that his face was not breathing into a pillow. I wrung out a new cloth in cold water and laid it gently on Yahiko's burning forehead.

"He has a relatively high fever," I said to the questioning looks that I had just received. "Just let him rest. Lots of rest." I got up and walked out of the room Ken-San and Sanosuke following.

End Megumi POV

Kaoru POV

I stayed behind as the other three left. I looked down at the sleeping child who looked nothing peaceful. He wore a grimace of pain in his slumber and he was moving around just enough for anyone looking closely enough to tell that he was having a nightmare of some sort. Of what, I have no idea.

I couldn't help but wonder if this was the same boy that I had tackled and accused of being a pickpocket even though her was. It couldn't be. This boy had absolutely zip, zilch, and zero of the spirit that that arrogant and bratty boy that I had met. But it was. After one last glance at him I stood up and followed my already gone comrades.

End Kaoru POV Yahiko POV

I awoke feeling comfortable. That was new. The tatty blanket that was fraying everywhere and was filled with holes definitely wasn't very comfortable and neither was the hard cold floor where I slept when I had been with the Yakuza. Before I moved in with them, Mother and I had lived in a nice one-room house. Not the best to say in the least, but it felt like home and had a cheery feel about it. Plus, the blankets were nice and warm.

My mother. A once beautiful and vibrant memory that was slowing starting to disappear into the recesses of my mind. I missed her so much that it couldn't be put into words. I remembered her voice that sounded like birds singing and I could reminiscent of her touch when it would hold me close and tell me stories of how someday everything would become great and we'd be happy. We'd live in a big house with servants, and horses, and everything. That never did come true. Instead we got caught up in the Shuei Yakuza Syndicate. But that didn't really matter that much anymore. All dreams and memories were fading into nothingness.

A few questions for myself. Why did my mother suddenly decide to pop into my head and where the heck was I? I looked around the room and I recognized it as the one that I had seen in my dream - or was it a dream? Maybe this was reality or maybe I was still dreaming or maybe I was dead and this was a room in Heaven.

I sat up and gave myself a hard pinch. I was alive and awake. And I had to be leaving. Whoever was taking care of me probably wanted something in return. Well, since I was not planning on stealing anything in the future near or later I should just skip out now while I still had the chance.

I very carefully stood up using the wall to my left for support. As soon as I was standing I got a sudden light-headed feeling and my legs were shaking like jelly and seemed to tell me that they did not want to support my weight.

I inched along the wall and slid open the shoji door. The bright light made me immediately squint my eyes shut to block out the sunshine that was bugging me. 'That's right. The curtains in that room had been drawn most likely to not let any light in.'

I looked down at myself. I was covered in bandages and wearing my dark green pants. No shirt. I couldn't walk down a street in just these. I needed to find a top. I let my gaze wander slowly back into the room that I had just exited. Sitting next to the futon I had left conveniently sat a crisp, clean, and white shirt that looked just my size. 'Perfect.' I tottered over towards the shirt and very carefully slipped it over my head.

I looked around the room that had served as my resting place. I gave a small but genuine smile and said softly, "Thank you." With those words I left the room and started walking across the neatly cared for lawn towards the front gate. I had absolutely no idea where I was headed or what would happen to me, but I guess I would find out when I got there, wherever there was.

End Yahiko POV

Kaoru POV

I was in the middle of washing a pan from my rice-cooking lesson taught by Kenshin. He is a good cook and as much as I hate to admit it better than me, so I was taking as much advice as I could get my hands on. My rice was actually starting to come out of the pan only half-burnt.

It wasn't my fault I was such a bad cook. I was just easily distracted, that was all. Watching nature in action which included singing birds, playing squirrels and chipmunks, and the big, beautiful, endless sky that stretched on for miles was much more interesting than stirring rice so I tended to forget to stir.

I happened to look up and glance out the window - I could do that while washing - and I saw a very unbelievable sight. Yahiko was walking across the yard with a purposeful stride toward the front gate. How was he walking and why was he leaving?

"KENSHIN!" I yelled, "He's escaping! Catch him!" I watched as Kenshin barreled around the house running at top speed with bubbles flying off of him at a rapid pace. 'He was doing laundry again? I never will understand him, but at least I'm not doing it.'

End Kaoru POV

Yahiko POV

I saw Kenshin headed toward me and I had the bad feeling that he did not want me to 'escape' as that ugly girl from earlier had put it. I did the one thing that seemed most reasonable at the time to get away from him - I ran. I could feel the stitches tearing at their seams due to the strain that I was applying to them and it was everything for me not to stop and collapse from the pain.

I could feel strong arms wrap themselves tightly around my upper body and pick me up so that I was hovering several feet off the ground. "Let me go! Put me down!" I shouted quite loudly. I struggled vainly to get loose - Kenshin sure did have a good grip despite his small size.

"Gomen Yahiko. I am afraid that I can't let you go. You need to stay here and get better."

"But... but.. I... can't," I sobbed. And with those few words that I'm not even sure he understood the pain that I had just inflicted on myself along with that dizzy feeling caught up to me and I just sunk into the endless black void that ran up to grab and drag me into its clutches. Nightmares again.

End Yahiko POV

Kenshin POV

After the boy's sentence had been said along with pauses I felt him go limp in my arms. It was then that I noticed that both myself and Yahiko were covered in blood from Yahiko re-injuring his injuries. 'He needs to see Megumi-Dono again, that he does.'

"Kaoru-Dono," I called pleasantly not wanting her to see my concern, "could you please go get Megumi-Dono or Dr. Genzai? Yahiko needs a look over. Most of his stitches have popped."

At that exact moment Sano came up the path happily munching something that I can only guess came from Akabeko where he had probably snatched it. 'Poor Tae-Dono. Sanosuke has a mile long tab and will probably never earn the money to pay it back.'

Sano took one look at me and Yahiko and asked quite plainly, "You want me to go get the fox?"

"If you could..."

"Gone."

Within five minutes Kaoru-Dono and I heard yelling and the pounding of feet running up the road towards us.

"Rooster, what is the meaning of this? You come running into my office and take me out without a word of warning! I have patients to tend to. Bring me back NOW!"

"I'm sure Genzai can handle it without you Fox. Why don't you take a look at Kenshin?"

Megumi-Dono looked down at me from her position in Sanosuke's arms and gasped. "Ken-San, what happened? Put that boy down and let me get a look at you."

"That is not necessary Megumi-Dono, that it is not."

"Look at yourself Ken-San! You're injured!"

"That is not my blood Megumi-Dono. It is Yahiko's that it is."

"Good God! What happened? No hold that thought. Set him down. Kaoru go get me cold water and no spilling."

End Kenshin POV

Megumi POV

As soon as the rooster put me down I flew over to where the boy was lying. His breathing was ragged and harsh and once again I told myself to ask Ken-San what had happened.

I pulled off his shirt which proved rather difficult for the fact that I knew I was hurting him plus his shirt was sticking to him because of the blood. After I had gotten the shirt off it was an Oh God moment. If anything he looked worse than he had the first time I had seen him. Most if not all of his stitches had popped which was letting the blood run off in rivulets like miniature rivers.

Kaoru came running with water and thankfully did not spill any. I immediately took a wet rag and started washing off the blood that was coating his chest like a thick red slime. It was a good thing that he was out of it. Of course he was probably still in very unbearable pain.

About two hours later I had finished cleaning and re-stitching Yahiko back up. This was not good for his health. He would just get sicker if he kept undoing himself like this and his fever would never go down. Speaking of fever how bad had it gotten?

I dipped my hand in the soothing water and went to lay it on Yahiko's forehead. To my astonishment, the water droplets that fell off of my hand before I got to him landed on his forehead, sizzled, and disappeared.

As my hand made contact it was like playing with fire. My hand flew off of him and plunged itself into the water bowl.

"Sanosuke! Ken-San! Kaoru! Come quickly!" I yelled feeling the panic well up in my throat. The urgency in my voice brought all three of them running around the corner of the house as fast of their legs could carry them.

"Megumi-Dono?"

"Megumi?"

"Fox?"

"What's wrong?" they asked in unison.

I looked up sadly. "His temperature is to say the least, at least 110 degrees and rising." A single tear dripped down my cheek. "If a miracle doesn't happen soon he is not going to make it."

Author's Notes:

MWAHAHAHAHA! Gotcha there didn't I? What a cliffy!! Holds up shield to evade rotten vegetables reviewers are throwing

Yeah! I got internet upstairs so now I can finally upload this chapter!

I heard from a friend that the astriks and squiggle things aren't working. So just keep an eye out for spacing!

One more thing! The first half of the chapter the spacing is messed up. It gets better towards the end. That's what you get for having pages from two different computers

Reviewer's Comments:

Bloody Akiko Nagi the Insane: I see you changed your name! This is my first fic and I love doing POVs which is good cause I stink at the overall kind! Hope to see you next chapter!

Aragorn821: Thanks for the compliment! I try my best! Really glad you like it!

StarofFoam: He probably couldn't have, but your right, it is fiction and anything is possible.

IcyPanther: My paragraphing should be fixed next chappie Stupid PC screwed it up! I am evil what can I say? You are too!

tocole: Yes I do like to torture him So do you! Hope you update really soon!