Disclaimer: I no own Rurouni Kenshin…
AN: Hello everyone! Sorry for the long wait (yet again....) For those who asked, this fic is so far a Battousai/Kaoru fic… I'm thinking that once their schooling days are over, there'll be a sequel with a Kenshin/Kaoru coupling. But that idea I'm still unsure of. Originally it was a B/K/K and then after that I kinda went off track…
This chapter is short, I know… but I'm doing my best to get back into writing. Having all your work deleted does throw you off (check my bio for a little more detail).
Hidden in Study – Chapter 14 – By Cherry Chibi
"He was looking at your scrolls… and he looked pretty upset…" Megumi said, "Do you know where he could've went?"
'Kaoru…'
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"You don't by any chance happen to be scheming something?" Aoshi questioned. He was getting suspicious of what was going on.
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"They're not safe are they?"
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"ARGH! SOMEONE HELP!"
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Battousai ran as fast as he could to try and find Kaoru. When Megumi had arrived at the hall asking about Kaoru, he immediately took off – leaving behind the two dumbfounded girls as well as his awestruck master. 'Kaoru saw the scrolls…' He cursed at himself – well, more towards Kenshin, 'You idiot! How could you be so reckless as to leave them in plain view?!'
'Kaoru? Who are you talking about?' Kenshin's voice questioned.
Battousai gritted his teeth. For a moment he had forgotten that Kenshin didn't know about Akai's true identity. It was getting stressful. 'Listen, and listen good…'
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Aya walked alongside with her older brother, Saitoh silently. Her arms crossed and she felt the shudders. She tucked her black hair behind her ear and coughed a couple of times. "Are you sure you saw her here?" Saitoh questioned her as they walked.
Aya nodded, "Yeah…" Her dark blue eyes stared around the scenery with great concern. "I heard Misao yell too… I would've jumped in to help her but… there were too many of them for me to handle… I'm such an idiot…" A sudden gesture silenced her.
"Don't say you're an idiot because you're not." Saitoh said, "Jumping in straight away wouldn't have done any good." By the look on his face, Aya knew that he too was concerned about Misao's well-being. She was so scared when she had heard the screams, it was strange though – it seemed to happen so quickly, as if it had been planned all along. The two continued walking silently and eventually, it seemed as though it would be hopeless to keep searching the area…
That was until Aya noticed a scrunched piece of paper. Bending over and picking it up, she examined it. "A note from Tsubame to Taka?"
"Who's Misao?" Saitoh questioned as he read the note also. Aya wanted to hit her head against the wall. She had forgotten that many of the others still don't know about the true Taka and Akai. She glanced up to Saitoh and he gave a nod, telling her that he had figured it out and to continue on. 'Doesn't he ever show surprise anymore?' She thought curiously to herself. Shrugging it off, she lowered her gaze at the writing. They read it in silence, both engrossed into the words and every single inch of the paper.
Misao
Come see me at the village's edge. I have something really important to tell you. It's a secret. Don't tell anyone.
Tsubame
"What should we do now?" Aya asked her older brother in a weak voice. It felt like ice had frozen every single moment in time. Nothing seemed to be moving forward or back. It was still.
"We have to tell the teachers." Saitoh replied as he took the note from Aya's hands. "It's obvious that whoever took Misao would have been watching us for quite some time since they know Tsubame is a close friend of Misao's."
Tsubame managed a meek smile, "You know, you make quite a good detective." Saitoh raised an eyebrow at her and she immediately cleared her throat as a distraction.
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'You're joking. You've got to be joking.' Kenshin's tone sounded in disbelief. 'Akai is NOT a girl. I can't have been living with a she for all this time…'
Battousai narrowed his eyes, furious at how dense his other half was. 'Believe it. Right now, I don't give a damn what you feel. We have to find out where she is or else they might get to her first.' Over time, Battousai had sensed danger around and he was aware that the past was coming back to haunt them. He was getting extremely mad about the fact that Kenshin didn't have the brains to even sense them and he was getting sick and tired of Kenshin's selfish thoughts.
While in his fury, he clashed with two familiar people. Stopping, he stared at them with a questioning look. "Kenshin? Why are you in such a rush?" Soujiro asked with a laugh. "It's not like you're going to die if you don't hurry…"
"I won't die but I know someone else who might." Battousai snapped back unintentionally crude. Without waiting for any reply, he brushed passed them and sprinted as fast as he could towards the first place that came to mind.
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Kaoru had to stop to catch her breath. She had lost track of how long she had been running for and was now trying to collect her thoughts together so that she could figure out the reason why she felt so upset after seeing those scrolls. If she was someone else, she would've simply said that it was weird. But why couldn't she think just that? Maybe it was some sort of joke.
'But whatever is happening isn't a joke…' Kaoru thought to herself. 'Whatever is going through Kenshin's brain is…' She knew and understood. Battousai and Kenshin are like clashing personalities within one body. If they keep clashing then eventually one will over power the other. Kaoru had thought about it before.
For a while, she had never even questioned whether having Battousai and Kenshin exist in one body was a good thing or a bad thing. So she concluded that the reason why she got upset from seeing the scrolls was that they reminded her clearly – one day one of them shall vanish.
Letting out a sigh she looked around at the scenery. Her heart started to pick up pace again. 'I'm an idiot for running around blindly…' There was only one word that she could use to describe it…
Unfamiliar.
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Aoshi had managed to torture the information out of Sanosuke. "I see." He said simply after the last word breathed through the Rooster-head's lips. He turned his back on his friend and headed towards the direction towards where he would hopefully find Megumi. There were a few things he would like to explain to that fox.
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It was dark. So dark. She couldn't tell where she was with the blindfold screening over her eyes. Misao's fingertips managed to scratch the surface of the earth that lay still underneath her. She had tried her best. Flailing her arms and legs as well as biting the hands that grabbed her. She had attempted to escape only to be beaten and thrown back to her spot.
Who were her kidnappers? Why did they want her? She didn't know the answers so she decided to stay safe and remain where she was. Hopefully someone will come for her. Hopefully someone will come for her safety. She hoped and she prayed for it.
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