It's modern day. The streets are rife with violence; corporations are corrupt; assassinations, commonplace. Himura Kenshin, known only as Battousai, is a shadow assassin for an organization so secret even he doesn't know who truly runs it. But Battousai has an even bigger secret; one that if it were ever discovered would mean more than his death...it would end in his total annihilation.
Battousai is not only the deadliest assassin to ever prowl the dark streets of night...he is also a vampire, one of the oldest still in existence…and a rarity among his kind.
He has a soul.
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Rurouni Kenshin & Samurai X Original Japanese Version ©N. Watsuki/Shueisha * Fuji-TV * SME Visual Works Inc. * Sony Pictures Entertainment
All Fanfics created by Chiruken (me) were written for the sole purpose of shared entertainment and not intended for publication or sale.
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Tears of Eternity
by: Chiruken
Chapter 7
Kaoru stared, hopelessly transfixed, captured by the enthralling golden gaze of her rescuer, encircled within his strong arms, her bruised and battered body held with surprising gentle care, a sharp contrast to the fierce expression tightening the features of the harsh planes of his face. She drew in a quick, shallow breath, heart thudding painfully within the tight confines of her chest, and winced at the sharp twinge of discomfort jolting through her injured ribs. As the moment stretched into eternity and the tense silence reigned, she began to feel decidedly anxious and licked her lips in a nervous gesture, tasting the salty sweetness of her attacker's blood and something else, something bitter and nauseating. She barely resisted the urge to gag and glared at the amusement filling the amber depths studying her with disconcerting intensity.
She turned her head away, tearing her gaze from the mesmerizing golden stare, focusing on the first thing her eyes fell upon, and gasped, paling as she felt the nausea rise up again. It was like in her dreams. So much blood… She thought with a shudder, filled with a mixture of sorrow and horror, with an underlying sense of morbid fascination.
"Yes…Great oceans of it…coaxing, beckoning to you. Can't you hear its seductive call?" She trembled at the low, purred words, her startled gaze flying back to his, and she struggled against his superior strength, uneasily aware that it was an effort in futility. "Why fight it? It's in your nature, Kaoru."
Sapphire blue eyes going wide with growing alarm, Kaoru shivered and swallowed convulsively, rising fear constricting the movement. "How do you know my name?" She whispered through trembling lips, dread filling her as he continued to stare at her with his mocking golden gaze, expression smug and knowing.
"There are many things that I know about you, Kamiya Kaoru."
Frantically, she fought to free herself from his relentless hold, panic rising with the certainty that she'd exchanged one dire and hopeless situation for something far worse. Drawing in a quick breath, she screamed for all she was worth, kicking out at the larger man's shins desperately and then pummeling his chest with her clenched fists helplessly when he lifted her off of the ground, effectively removing her leverage and ability to kick, holding her flush against his hard muscular body. His low chuckle brought her up short. She stared at him in shock, eyes wide and terrified, her labored breath coming in soft pants as she held herself rigidly within his embrace.
"Are you finished?" Carefully lowering her until her feet rested on the ground again, the man with the uncanny eyes released her and shrugged out of his dark jacket, draping it around her shoulders. He smirked at the incredulous look in her expressive blue eyes. "What? Did you wish to remain naked?"
Kaoru flushed hotly and clutched the edges of the jacket tightly together as she sank to the ground again, her knees refusing to support her weight. "Of course not!" She snapped irritably and glared furiously up at the man who'd rescued her only to threaten her and then insult her. "Who are you?" She glared up at him, deciding to cover her fear by brazening the situation our and pretending to have more courage than she actually possessed.
Before he could answer sound at the entrance to the alley drew their attention. Kaoru's eyes widened in astonishment. "Kenshin?" She whispered uncertainly, staring in bewilderment at the darkly clad man swiftly approaching, strides silent, stalking, resembling the graceful movements of a deadly predator more than those of a man.
The alert, predatory amber gaze roved over the tight confines of the shadowed alley, taking in the details for instant analysis, missing nothing, finally coming to rest on the man looming above Kaoru's disheveled form. "You!" Drawing his sword, he attacked, golden eyes narrowed and glittering with unrestrained fury. "Saito!" The snarled challenge was unmistakable, neither was the gleaming blade whistling through the air followed by the harsh metallic clang of steel meeting steel.
"It's been a while, Battousai." The man identified as Saito smirked condescendingly at the shorter man as he deftly parried the enraged swings of the sword.
Skillfully maneuvering until he was between Saito and Kaoru, Kenshin returned the other man's smirk with an icy, implacable stare, contempt evident in his uncompromising bearing. "What are you doing here?" His voice was velvet smooth, deceptively mild, sending shivers of apprehension and something more racing along Kaoru's spine.
"Answering a call for assistance." His eyes narrowed briefly, taking in the protective stance of the other man, noting the possessive gleam in his narrowed eyes with dry amusement. "You?"
"That is of no concern to you, Saito Hajime." His eyes flicked briefly over the corpse of Kaoru's attacker, seeing the unkempt appearance, knowing that this was the man who had threatened her. His gaze paused over the pool of blood before moving back to the gaping wound where his throat used to be, quickly sheathing his sword with a fluid motion, turning a little away from Saito, his hand hovering over the smooth hilt. "Your work?" He asked softly, low tones permeated with quiet menace as he focused entirely on the taller man standing a short distance from him.
With a sharp nod of affirmation, Saito shifted his stance, becoming tensely alert, leading leg straight, the other partially bent at the knee supporting the majority of his weight, sword held parallel to the ground, and prepared himself to spring forward in his specialized powerful thrusting attack to meet the smaller man's own attack head on. "It seemed necessary." His lips curved into a deliberately mocking smirk, intentionally goading his opponent in a blatant attempt to unnerve him enough to take away his edge.
Kaoru watched the exchange with wide, frightened eyes, uncertain how her sweet and mild mannered neighbor could suddenly be displaying what appeared to be homicidal tendencies. She blinked in surprise and shook her head sharply, a blurred image from her dreams entering her mind, stunning her with sudden horrified understanding. "You!" She cried, scrambling to her feet. "It was you!" She began to hastily back away when Kenshin's narrowed amber gaze moved to her briefly before swinging back to watch the taller man warily.
Slowly, Saito lowered his blade, shaking his head with an amused smirk. "Well, well…You've been careless, Battousai."
"Shut up." He focused his attention fully on the other man, clearly irritated by his amused, drawling observations. "What re you doing here?" His stance relaxed minutely, his hand slowly moving away from the hilt of his sheathed sword as he straightened to glare at Saito.
Kaoru's retreat was halted by a wall signaling the end of the alley. With a scowl she pressed herself against the cold, damp bricks and watched the exchange between the two men with narrowed eyes. There was no doubt in her mind now that the man she'd witnessed in her dreams killing in the dark shadows of night was Himura Kenshin, her neighbor and a man to whom she still owed a cup of sugar. Somehow she knew that the dreams hadn't just been symbolic…they'd been real. "Oh God…" She whispered. "I'm attracted to a psychotic nutcase!" Two pairs of amber eyes swiveled to face her with identical incredulous expressions in their golden depths. She blinked, a hot flush of embarrassment creeping up her neck into her face when a low chuckle echoed through her mind.
Attracted to a psychotic nutcase? Such an accurate description, my dear.
Kaoru glared at the tall man wearing the mockingly amused expression. "Stay out of my head." She didn't know how she knew it was him, but she was certain that the hateful words belonged to the man named Saito.
Kenshin turned back to his rival. "What do you think you're doing, Saito?"
Kaoru drew in a sharp breath in surprise as an image of an enormous stone wall appeared within her mind's eye. She focused on Saito again when he began to clap slowly, sword sheathed again, lips curved into a taunting smile. "Impressive. You've improved, Battousai. However, " All pretense of good humor fell away, eyes hardening as he stared at Kenshin. "Your feeble attempts at telepathic blocking can't keep me out…not if I wish to be in." Kaoru frowned uncertainly, assuming Battousai to be Kenshin, not understanding the odd exchange, but recognized it for the blatant challenge between two rivals that it was. "Shall I demonstrate?" Kaoru gasped in sudden pain, grabbing her head as unbearable shards of light stabbed through her mind, paralyzing her with excruciating agony.
Slowly she sank to her knees, a soft cry escaping her parted lips, and blinked in surprise when strong arms caught her up in a gentle, comforting embrace. "Stop, Saito! She has done nothing to deserve this!" Weakly she rested her cheek against Kenshin's shoulder, breath coming in harsh pants as she tried to overcome the nausea threatening to empty her stomach. Dimly she was aware that his hand was moving over her hair, smoothing the dark strands tenderly, his arms a protective barrier around her, sheltering her from the other man's attack as best he could. She trembled at the odd thoughts she was having about a man she suspected to be a murderer.
"Then do not presume to challenge me on this level, Battousai!' Saito released his hold over Kaoru abruptly. "In this you will never be my equal."
**To Be Continued…**
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Author's Notes:
1.Hehehe! Guess it wasn't Kenshin rescuing Kaoru after all!!! (Not that he didn't want to, of course!)
2.Another chappie, Jo! Look! I actually REVISED! Amazing, huh?
3.I have a nasty tendency to not want to revise, feeling that if I do I'll end up changing the meaning of the chapter.
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Response to Reviewers:
Jason M. Lee: Hehehe! What do you think? Good ol' Saito to the rescue…not Kenshin (though it wasn't for lack of wanting to!). I had to include Tomoe in here somehow (but since it's a K & K…er…B & K?…fic, she couldn't very well be alive…).
Omochi: I took a bit of poetic license with the blood thing. My hubby has low blood sugar, so I kind of based what he feels when he's low and went from there. And yup! Kaoru's feeling the beginnings of those cravings that mark her as being different… It appears that I kind of goofed a little on the flashback thing…I'm not very good at those. I probably should've made it a little clearer that that was what was going on. Sorry 'bout that.
Colleen: Yeah…poor Kaoru. Nothing's prepared her for the symptoms of the Awakening and of course it would be very difficult to understand. Too bad Kenshin hasn't had that little talk with her yet, eh? I've GOT to work on my flashback scenes to make them flow more evenly. Sorry.
Marstanuki: I wish I could write better WAFF…if I could, I'd definitely put more of it in. **whispers conspiratorially** I wrote part of the chapter in December when I first began working on this fic…I just couldn't find a place to put it until this chapter came up. **grins** Too bad not all the chapters could flow this quickly!
Rekka's Angel: Glad you're enjoying! I'm pretty impatient myself when it comes to reading stories that I like, so I can understand…and to tell you the truth, I'm also impatient to write this particular story. I also want to see what's going to happen next! (I never know from chapter to chapter what's going to happen, so I'm just as surprised as everyone else when it finally comes out.)
Kyanos: Thanks bunchies for continuing to read…I really appreciate it!
Val: Er…not quite Kensin. :D The changes taking place within Kaoru's body are subtle at first, but they are definitely growing…especially since she doesn't understand what's happening and can't take proper care of herself. He just wouldn't be Kenshin without the terrible trials he's had to endure in life. And I agree…he has to explain pretty darn soon 'cause Kaoru could definitely get herself into a lot of trouble with her undisciplined telepathy. And her health problems can be easily avoided…if Kenshin gets off his hiney and explains a thing or two to her! (I'm going to have to work on that, aren't I?)
Shizuka: I'm planning on going into more detail with Kenshin's past at some point in the story…I'm just not sure where yet. Yes, Kenshin did hear her…but so did someone else! (Probably a whole lot of someone else's!) I've said it before, but I have to say it again…I'm SO sorry about not making the flashback thing clear! I promise to work on that in the future. I had no idea that it would be that weird to find a flashback scene in the middle of a chapter. (I'll have to check out some other techniques to use in this…)
Jo: As much as I love "Oro-chan", I must agree! I like a more assertive Kenshin much better! (Too bad I can't take lessons…)
Yui: Thanks for reading and leaving a review. I hope you decide that you like it after all! :D
Lizzie: Thanks! You're right about the soda and candy thing…though I do have a little story to tell about the pitfalls of quick fixes like that (happened to my hubby actually…he has low blood sugar problems and used the candy and pop solution…until he started passing out and stuff…turns out that he was putting too much strain on his pancreas and it was shooting his insulin out willy nilly to the point of overload! Scary, huh?), but thanks for the medical tip! It's always nice to get constructive input! I'm glad you liked it! And as a point of interest, there'll be more hints and stuff about Kenshin's past in future chapters.
Isis 13: Hope this chapter answers some of your questions…and in your opinion, who should be Kaoru's Mentor: Kenshin/Battousai or Saito? Or should it be both to varying degrees?
Kasshoku: Er, sorry to say, not quite…Saito had the honors or rescuing our fledgling vamp, though Kenshin definitely was on his way to do so! Wow! You're right! That's the way it is with the Awakening: Kaoru puts forth what is commonly called a Beacon (attracting other vamp's to her, in this case Kenshin) and his proximity will act almost as the trigger for her latent vamp tendencies. Cool, huh? And you know, I hate to admit it, but I almost forgot about poor Misao! Must've been the excitement of introducing Saito into the story!Lady_annor: **blinks in surprise as a slow grin spreads** Wowzies! I think you may actually be the only person who guessed that it wasn't Kenshin! Gosh! You were SO right on this one. Amazing. I thought I fooled everyone! Thanks for reading my stuff! ("A Meiji Murder" will continue as soon as I find all the notes for it…so far I've found the ending and the first few chapters, but everything in the middle is still in a shambles.)
UnearthlyEmperor: Here's the more! Hope you like it as much as the rest.
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Question to Reviewers:
This is where I'm going to humbly ask for advice concerning certain aspects of the story and/or plot, etc.
Who should be Kaoru's Mentor*? Kenshin, Battousai or Saito? (I listed Kenshin and Battousai as two separate people mostly 'cause Kenshin is a tad nicer and Battousai a tad sexier.) Or should it be a combination of all of the above?
*Mentor: A guide and teacher to a new or inexperienced vampire; the one who helped him/her through the Awakening. (definition obtained from: sanguinarius.org )