Disclaimer: I do not own Rurouni Kenshin in any way, although I do own this plot n.n

Secret Kept From Yahiko

Chapter Twelve

From last time:

He stomped over and picked me up by my spiky hair and shook me up and down. "YOU WILL PAY FOR THAT YAHIKO!" he yelled, although it didn't sound quite as threatening as it was supposed to be due to his bloody nose.

I just gave an impish grin "You asked for it, next time don't let me try out a weapon. You won't get hurt that way." I knew I was making him even madder and I wasn't in the best position to be doing that, but right now I didn't really care. I had held my own if only for a short time in my very first sword fight.

"You will regret saying that to me," he hissed in my ear, "this time your punishment will be one that you will be reminded of forever."

I wasn't quite fazed by what he had just said to me, after all he always used to make threats similar to that and nothing out of the ordinary had ever happened. 'Of course, you've never actually beaten him up before.' I thought to myself. I wondered what kind of abuse Gasuke would cook up for me this time.

He was still holding me by my hair and when he suddenly let go and grabbed at the rope that was still tied around my throat, I let out a choked gasp, having my air supply partially cut off. Gasuke dragged me back though the hole in the wall and threw me roughly into the room that I had started out in. "You'll stay here until I figure out what to do with you," he said as he slammed the door in my face. I heard a bolt click and I knew that I had been locked in.

'At least they forgot to retie my hands,' I thought as I rubbed my incredibly sore neck. 'Just too bad they didn't leave the light, it's so dark in here.' I wrapped my arms around myself as I involuntarily shivered. From cold or from fear, I didn't know which. What was Gasuke planning for me?

End Yahiko POV

Kaoru awoke feeling very refreshed after her night's rest, if still a bit sore from her horse ride the day before. She looked over towards her companions to see Misao still sound asleep with the blankets pulled over her head. Kenshin was nowhere to be seen.

With a sigh she crawled out of her nice warm futon and made her way to the basin of water that was fresh to wash her face so that she would wake up a bit more. The cold water did its trick and Kaoru became very alert. She then went behind the curtain and changed back into the kimono that she had worn the day before deciding that when she got back it would have to be washed.

She then approached the sleeping ninja girl, knowing that they had to be leaving as soon as possible, and that required Misao to get up. "Misao," she gently called while shaking the sleeping girl's shoulder to get her out of her slumber. "Time to get up."

"Just five more minutes Gramps.... Let Omasu do the breakfast dishes..." Misao mumbled as she rolled over and buried her face into her pillow.

"Misao get up!" Kaoru scolded a sharply. "We need to get going." She nudged the girl harder and when that still didn't work, she took a cupful of the water from the basin and dumped it over her friend's head.

Misao woke up with a start and yelled as she sat up, water dripping down her bangs. "What the heck was that for Kaoru? I'm trying to sleep here!"

"We need to go. Yahiko needs us." At that moment Kenshin walked into the room carrying a tray with breakfast.

After Misao had changed back into her ninja uniform, the three of them sat down and ate the deliciously prepared meal. "We should leave as soon as we finish," said Kenshin selecting another rice ball from the platter.

After their hasty breakfast Kenshin and the girls got back on their horses, Kaoru with some protest, and began to ride again towards Tokyo.

Back in his little room, Yahiko was pondering about what to do. He could always attack anyone who came into the room to try to get them out, but that probably wouldn't work. They could always call in back-up in if they needed to, although they probably wouldn't require it. Yahiko knew, even if he hated it, that he was a lot weaker than most of the men here due to his small size and weight. Although, the small factor could come in very handy sometimes.

Yahiko was still lost in thought, so when the door started to open he didn't even notice it. What he did notice was that someone had grabbed the rope connected to his neck that he had not been able to untie.

"Come along Brat, the boss wants to see ya." Soji yanked hard, and Yahiko went sprawling so that he ended up at Soji's feet. The man dragged Yahiko into a room where Gasuke was sitting on a tatami mat eating off of a plate that was loaded with food. Yahiko's mouth watered. He couldn't remember the last time he had eaten.

Soji dumped Yahiko unceremoniously in front of his boss and then stepped back, waiting to see what Gasuke had decided. Yahiko started to make a move to lunge toward the open door to his freedom, when Gasuke looked up at him. "I wouldn't try that Yahiko," he said calmly as he picked up a bowl filled with soba. "I would kill you before you even reached the door." Gasuke fingered the fine blade that was sitting by his side.

Yahiko glowered at the weapon and at Gasuke before settling himself on the floor. He didn't want to die. Gasuke had very good aim and could just spear him through, and Soji was a good fighter as well. "So," said Yahiko sarcastically, "what is your brilliant plan this time? Last time it didn't work," he added smirking.

Gasuke's face turned a slighter darker shade in anger. His plan last time had been to kill the little nuisance after he tortured him for a bit to extend his suffering. It hadn't worked, however, when the red haired man had turned up and beat him, taking the brat with him. "That may be so Yahiko, but this time there is no one to come and save you. The Battousai is in Kyoto and will not be back in time to save you. Especially in these weather conditions."

Gasuke gestured with his hand toward the window in the room, and Yahiko got up to take a look. The sky was filled with ominous looking clouds, growing darker by the minute. Small flashes in the clouds was seen before vanishing back into their blanketing cover. Yahiko got a feeling of dread in the pit of his stomach about what he thought was going to come, but decided to not let his fear show and to play it out. "It's going to rain, so what? I'll be perfectly fine until Kenshin gets here."

"You will Yahiko?" asked Gasuke with an air of surprise. "I think not. Remember what we tried with you two years ago?" Gasuke watched in amusement as Yahiko paled considerably at the remembrance of a stormy night when he was eight. "Would you like to try that again?"

"No, I'd rather not. Besides you wouldn't even be able to get me on that pole. It isn't even here." Yahiko smirked in satisfaction.

"I think not Yahiko. We put up a new one for just this purpose in the back. I'm sure you are going to love it."

"Well I'm not moving from this spot, and if you come near me I'll bite." the spiky haired boy crossed his arms over his chest.

"Oh I think you will Yahiko, and sooner than you think." Yahiko was about to retort, when he noticed that Soji wasn't standing by the door anymore. He started to turn around when the handle of a sword was smashed against his skull, and then the world went black.

"Himura! We need to stop! We can't ride in this weather!" the ninja yelled to the red haired samurai who was galloping in front of her. It had started to drizzle about an hour ago and been continually picking up speed, now coming down in a fast torrent. The three riders were soaked to the bone, and could barely make out the shapes of their companions and steeds in the driving winds and water.

Kenshin hadn't heard Misao and kept riding, his intent on getting back to Tokyo as soon as possible to rescue Yahiko. Kenshin then faintly heard Misao yelling to him. It sounded like stop, sick, rest. He reined in his horse and waited for Misao to pull up next to him. Yelling above the raging winds he shouted, "What is it Misao-Dono?"

Misao leaned in next to his ear and yelled back, "the horses need rest, we are going to sick, and we can barely see three feet in front of us. We are not going to reach Tokyo like this and if we did, we would be too sick to do anything for Yahiko. We need to find shelter. Kaoru isn't used to this kind of weather and riding."

Kenshin nodded, even though it was very hard for Misao to make out. "Do you have any idea where we are Misao-Dono?"

"Actually I think I do! And we have a small problem. We are in the middle of nowhere. But I'm pretty sure that there is a forest over about to the East, we could take shelter there, the tree canopy is very thick."

"All right Misao-Dono! Lead the way!" Misao kicked her stallion into a gallop and took off in an easterly direction, Kenshin and Kaoru following. About fifteen minutes later they all suddenly noticed that the storm had gotten much quieter, and they weren't getting as wet anymore.

Misao beamed. "I told you I could find it Himura. Now we just need to find some shelter, and some food. A cave would be perfect if we could find one." The trio all hopped off of their horses and walked them through the thick underbrush as they looked for some kind of cave or outcrop.

"What's that?" questioned Kaoru pointing to a looming hole in the side of a large rock wall. "Is that a cave?"

"Good going Kaoru, and look, the horses will even fit!" Horses and humans entered their temporary dwelling to find a great surprise indeed. There was a fire pit dug in the center of the cave along with a large pile of wood and kindling in the corner. There was also a large wooden chest and upon inquiry, Misao found large sacks of rice and a pot along with bowls, chopsticks, a large spoon, and matches. Best of all, the cave was huge, with plenty of room to occupy three people and horses.

"From the looks of it," said Kenshin evenly as he looked around, "someone made this for a storm shelter for anyone who got stuck outside. Before we leave tomorrow we will replenish the wood supply in case anymore unfortunate people show up here."

The girls nodded in agreement and Misao went out with the pot to collect water so that they could cook some of the rice for dinner. When she came back, wetter if that was at all possible, carrying the water and some grasses she had picked for the horses to eat, she found Kaoru attempting to untie a bag of uncooked rice.

She placed the grass in front of their mounts and smiled sweetly at them. "I do hope you all like wet grass." The horses all sniffed at it and turned their heads away. "Now what are you supposed to eat?"

"They can have some dried rice if I could get this blasted gab open," huffed Kaoru. "Misao could you help?"

"Sure thing Kaoru." The younger girl padded over and took out a kunai, neatly cutting the tie off of the bag. The kendo instructor then poured some of the rice grains into the pot and brought it over to Kenshin who was feeding a growing fire.

"Kenshin, would you mind moving so I could cook the rice?" A somewhat worried expression crossed Kenshin's face when the young woman he had started to care for offered to cook. The frown was quickly replaced with a rurouni smile.

"How about I cook Kaoru-Dono? You and Misao-Dono can go feed the horses while I get supper going."

Kaoru gave a small smile. "That might be a better idea Kenshin, I don't really want to burn it." The raven haired woman trotted over to where Misao was hand feeding Dusty the uncooked rice.

"Hold out your hands Kaoru." Kaoru did as she was told and Misao poured some of the rice into cupped hands. "Now go offer that to Smokey. Mind that she doesn't eat your finger with it. That would not be good."

Kaoru paled slightly at the thought of one of her fingers getting eaten, and then tentatively held out her hands to the chocolate covered mare. "Good Smokey, now please hurry and take the rice."

The mare's rough tongue snatched up the rice and then looked at the empty hands as if saying, "can I have some more now?" Kaoru reached into the bag and fed the horse about a dozen times before Smokey decided that she had had her fill and closed her eyes. Misao had finished feeding Dusty and took what was left in the bag and stuck the bag around Storm's mouth as a feedbag.

"I don't want him to eat me," she said in answer to Kaoru's questioning look. "He can get sort of vicious if he doesn't get his food fast enough.

"Kaoru-Dono, Misao-Dono! Supper is ready!" Kenshin called from across the cave as he spooned rice into three separate bowls. "Hurry and eat it while it is hot! After the three had finished off the pot of rice Misao got a thoughtful expression on her face.

"You know, we still have two problems. One," she said counting off her fingers, "we don't have any blankets or anything to sleep with. Two, we are all still wearing wet clothes which is not good for our health. Now what to do about it?"

The three of them looked at each other, not really wanting to get undressed in front of each other. Kaoru broke the silence. "We really didn't plan ahead of us, did we Kenshin?"

Kenshin bobbed his head. "I guess we will all just take off what we can," the rurouni voiced. He then took off his fuchsia colored gi. Kaoru's face turned a bright red at seeing Kenshin only half clad. Misao raised her eyebrows at this. It looked like thenooki had a crush on the smiling rurouni. Kaoru, still blushing, removed the outer layer of her kimono to reveal a long slip.

"Normally I don't wear one, but I didn't know what we were getting ourselves into, and if I needed to fight...."

The Itaci girl smiled. "Good thing you did Kaoru. At least your things will be drier in the morning. No if you excuse me I'm going to go to bed." Misao yawned loudly and was halfway across the cave when Kaoru called out to her.

"Aren't you going to take any of those things off Misao? You'll catch a cold if you don't."

"I would if I could Kaoru, but I can't." Misao smiled sheepishly. "I'm not wearing anything else. But don't you worry, I'll be just fine." She continued walking over to where the horses were bedding down for the night and curled up next to Dusty. "I'll be fine...." and with that Misao was asleep.

"She's going to get sick, isn't she Kenshin?," Kaoru asked worriedly.

"Misao-Dono will probably get a small cold, we should move her to the fire. But then again the horses are giving her their body heat, hopefully she will be okay."

Kaoru gave a small sigh of relief before a worried frown crossed over her features. "Kenshin, I'm worried about Yahiko. Do you think he is okay? How will we find him when we get back to Tokyo? Are we going to get there tomorrow?"

"Do not worry Kaoru-Dono. Seesha is sure that Yahiko is okay, that I am. He has amazing willpower and will fine until we get there. If we leave first thing in the morning we should get there by mid-afternoon. But we do need to get some sleep, that we do."

Kaoru relaxed visibly at the positiveness of Kenshin's words. "You're right Kenshin. Yahiko will hold out. Or I'll kill him myself for making us worry so much."

Kenshin nodded absently as he laid their clothes next to the fire to dry. He then curled up on the ground. "Good night Kaoru-Dono, get some sleep."

"Good night Kenshin," mumbled Kaoru already falling asleep as she was rushed off to dreamland.

Yahiko woke up when a drop of water hit him on the nose. He knew things at once without even opening his eyes. The first was that he was tied to a metal pole by metal chains, and second, Gasuke was standing right in front of him.

With a groan the last living Myojin opened his eyes to be met with the face of a leering Gasuke. "Ready Brat? Cause we are ready for some entertainment. And feel free to yell as loudly as you like, no one will here you. Except us that is." With an evil and manical laugh Gasuke walked back towards his residence calling over his shoulder, "Have a nice night Brat."

Yahiko struggled vainly to get loose from his manacles. This was not happening. He was not in the middle of the yard waiting to be electrocuted. If he just closed his eyes he could pretend that this was not happening.

The rain started to fall faster and in minutes Yahiko was soaked from head to toe. 'Sapphire!' he mind-yelled, 'Help! Can you do something? Anything?' No welcoming answer greeted his plea and Yahiko hung his head against his chest.

"Kenshin where are you?!" Yahiko yelled up into the Heavens as if waiting for an answer or some kind of miracle. His response was a bolt of lightning coming down from the sky and hit the ground about twenty feet away from where he was hanging, bits of ground flying in differnt directions, one piece soaring away from its companions and hitting Yahiko in the face.

The boy was openly sobbing now, knowing that the rain was hiding his tears. Why him? For Kami's sake, he was only ten years old! Why did he have to grow up like this? Why couldn't his mom still be alive? Why did his father have to die before he had even met him? Why wasn't Kenshin here yet? Why was he tied to a metal pole about to become a human lightning rod? Why? The questions went on and on, but there was no one there to answer them... no one. Yahiko was alone again.

Author's Notes:

I loved the ending line! I don't know if you guys did, but I sure did! n.n In case any of you are wondering, if you didn't know already, this is going to be a Kenshin/Kaoru ficcy. I have very cute idea for them in the beginning of the next chapter, but you'll have to wait to find out!

School has been going okay I guess... only bnad thing is that I got an F on my last geometry quiz. T.T That hurt. At least I'm still getting a C since I got an A on the first one. Weird, huh? Anyone taking Spanish? That is a fun class!

Tonight is Wolf's Rain and Inuashya! CN took out YYH and teen Titans to put in stupid Star Wars and Samurai Jack. Cher dies this week, I'm so sad! T.T And next week Tobow dies... I don't want him to die!

Reviewer's Comments:

StarofFoam: Glad you liked the prologue and very glad you didn't crash. n.n Poly Sci is actually quite interesting since we have the presidential election coming up in November!

Tocole: Cross country? Good for you n.n I don't run lomg distance well, but during track season I'm in badminton so no time there. Have fun in college! So who does Yahiko get to fight in your story? Update as soon as you can!

IcyPanther: Sometimes I'm too lazy to login too... Yes I did notice that some of it was in the wrong tense, but w will just overlook that. n.n Not sure if ninjas ride horses, but this group does!