Eternal Bonds of Fate
Chapter 3: Fiery Reunion
The sorcerer smiled maliciously at all of them before it came to rest on the raven haired kenjutsu shihondai standing protectively before a spiky haired kid. He licked his lips.
"Hello Sakura Mizume… long time no see, I hope you still remember me…"
A cold smile made its way to Kaoru's lips. "Hello to you too, Amano Yuchimiko."
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Sano looked at Kaoru to the man before them, Shit. That's Amano Yuchimiko?
Kenshin tightened his hold on his sakabatou, positioned and ready to attack at any moment.
Yuchimiko took one sweeping glance in the room and smirked. "Nice place you have here, priestess… although I have to admit it is quite a surprise to find you with Hitokiri Battousai himself." He chucked darkly again, "I guess I really don't have to be surprised now, don't I? After all, as they all say, birds of the same feathers, flock together." At those words, he lifted his hand until a bright light emitted from his hands, it continued to grow and grow until its clear white color changed into a fiery red hue. Lowering his hand before him, the red orb floated in his hands.
"Let's just say that I want to leave you a gift, my lady…" he whispered before he threw the orb directly into Kaoru and Yahiko's path.
"Jou-chan! Move it!" Sano yelled out loud at the same time Kenshin tried to move to get them both out of the orbs path, but found to his dismay that he could not move. Despite everything he did, the spell that held him paralyzed was too powerful for him to overcome.
"Kaoru! Get the hell out of there!" he screamed
Yahiko tugged at Kaoru's hand and looked up to her face in fright only to find her smirking coldly. At her reaction, some of Yahiko's fear dissipated and he couldn't help but stare at her. This was something they have never seen before on his sensei… a different part of Kaoru… a part that's been hidden to them, just as the Battousai have been kept carefully hidden by Kenshin.
Kaoru merely tilted her head to the side and merely smirked at Yuchimiko. A soft whisper from her lips frightened the little self proclaimed samurai as he clutched at the edge of her kimono as he slid down to the floor.
"Pathetic little human…"
Kaoru's silver eyes shone and the orb hurtling towards them disappeared in a glance. Yuchimiko's eyes widened in shock as he took a step backwards, I can't be… I thought that she had left behind her skills right after she left her clan… but why does it seem that it has grown even more through the years? he thought frantically
A silvery soft laughter echoed in the dojo, Kaoru merely pursed her lips and grinned at him. "How pathetic can you get? Do you think that you can kill me that easily? I could have killed you easily years ago, but I didn't. You managed to live because I wanted to toy with you… now you've come here to wreck havoc in my quiet life because you think I've let myself grow weak?" another malicious laugh, "You do know that you don't stand a chance against me… don't you?" she whispered quietly
Yuchimiko held his ground and smirked, "You're right… I don't stand a chance against you alone… but I doubt that would still be once I get along with my other clan members." With those words he hurled a kodachi towards her, only to be deflected by a sword.
His eyes widened even more when he recognized the man holding the sword. Beating a hasty retreat, he threw a crystal to the ground enveloping the entire grounds with smoke. When the smoke cleared, the spell that paralyzed all of them disappeared as well. Kenshin and the others ran towards Kaoru and Yahiko.
"Brother…" came the soft whisper releasing her from the insanity of the past.
All of them stared at the man standing with the sword in hands. He had silver eyes and his hair was just as black Kaoru's which was tied up in a high ponytail. As he faced them directly, they saw a red crystal on his right shoulder that held the symbol of fire and on the left shoulder was the insignia of the Hizuchi Clan. He tilted his head and a rueful chuckle emanated from his throat. Megumi couldn't help but flush lightly when he spoke… his voice deep and gentle.
"Sorry about that… we have been trying to prevent this from happening but that little creep seems to evade our every move…"
His silver eyes looked at each and every one of them until it rested on both Kenshin and Kaoru standing side by side. "Nice to see you again, Battousai."
Kenshin could only nod back at him in surprise. "Nice to see you too, old friend. What are you doing here?"
He chuckled when the raven haired girl turned to look at him and to the man beside her. "Hello, Kaoru-chan."
Kaoru blinked and blinked. "Tatsu? What are you doing here?" came the strangled question
"Tracking down Yuchimiko. Unfortunately, looks like he got ahead of us and found you first."
Kaoru blinked again and couldn't but help grin from ear to ear. Launching herself to him, she hugged him tightly. "Nii-san!"
Gentatsu chuckled and lifted her in his arms and twirled her around in the air. Gently settling her down on her feet, he wrapped his arms around her and hugged her tight. "How are you hime-chan? Its been so long…" he whispered
Kaoru lifted her head from his embrace and smiled up at him through watery tears. "I thought you weren't going to show yourself around here no matter what…"
"Yeah, well… this situation is different. Can't ignore it… even if we wanted to…"
Kaoru leaned her head into his embrace and sighed. "Is this going to be just like before, nii-san?" she whispered dejectedly
Gentatsu looked down at her and sighed. "I'm sorry hime-chan… but I'm here to bring you back…" he whispered.
Looking up, she sighed and looked back at all of her friends and back to him. "Demo… nii-san… I can't leave them here, what if that jerk comes back?"
Gentatsu looked at Kaoru's new family and nodded. "Don't worry. We'll bring them along with us."
At his response, the young priestess beamed happily up at him. A slight flush infusing her cheeks, Kaoru then turned to her friends to introduce the new comer. "Minna, this is Gentatsu Hirekaiwa Kamiya, cousin of mine and head of the Hizuchi Clan."
Yahiko gaped at the man standing beside Kaoru. Hurrying to his side, he looked at Gentatsu up and down. "Wow… and I mean Wowww…"
The sorcerer sweat dropped at Yahiko's reaction while Kaoru held back her chuckle from behind her hand. He chuckled then and looked at his sister. "I think all of you should pack now. I'll take care of the area guardians around the dojo." At his words, he nodded politely to Kenshin and the others before he left the room.
"Where exactly are we going jou-chan?"
Kaoru turned to the rooster head and grinned ruefully. "I'm sorry minna. But, you guys are in this as well now. I can't go back to Fukushima if you guys decide to stay here… that vile creature might return and I don't know what he'll do this time. He almost tried to kill Tae, Tsubame, Dr. Genzai, Suzume and Ayame. I can't take the risk of leaving the rest of you behind."
Megumi nodded. "Does this mean we'll all have to leave?"
"Hai." turning to look at the door, Kaoru frowned. "And I vote that we leave as soon as possible. Yuchimiko has just laid down his threat… and I have to go back to our head quarters and train if I want to make sure that all of this stop."
Kenshin frowned and nodded. "Alright. Everyone, lets get ready and we'll accompany Megumi-dono and Sano back to their place so that they can get the necessary materials needed for this trip."
A gentle smile from Kaoru made everyone hurry to do their jobs. With one last regretful look at the engraved insignia of their clan on their wall, she lifted her hand to bring the shrine back to its usual place.
Twenty minutes later, everyone met at the front yard of the dojo. Kaoru was the last to come out of her room. Yahiko gaped openly at the sight Kaoru which caught the attention of the others. Kaoru was dressed in her usual yellow kimono. But the difference was that she let her hair cascade down her back and the arsenal of weaponry that she held. she grinned at her friends with a slight flush on her cheeks. Wrapping the lace on her waist, she then tucked the twin metal fans behind her back. The twin swords she then hid behind her, completely hidden from plain sight by her cascading midnight black hair.
"Ready for battle, hime-chan?" Gentatsu asked in an amused tone.
She merely grinned at him and took the cape that he held out for her. As they moved out of the doors of the dojo, Kaoru took one wistful look at her home just before her brother locked the doors and sealed it with a protective barrier.
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Index of Japanese Terms:
Sakabatou – Kenshin's reversed edged sword
Jou-chan – Sano's nick name to Kaoru meaning "little missy"
Kodachi – a type of Japanese sword
Nii-san – Big brother! ;p
Hime-chan – little princess
Minna – everyone / everybody ;p
Hai – yes
AN: Hello minna! This is the third chappie and I hope that you like this one! Hope to hear some reviews from you… (crosses fingers) Ja ne!
Aoi-chan
