Battle Of The Bands!

Chapter 6- The Big Battle!

The next day came and went quickly as everyone got ready for the big contest. The girls arrived early as Seijiro and got their usual seat in the third row as they waited for the guys to show up. About ten minutes later they came in and talked with the girls for a minute before Hiko announced that the contest was about to begin. All the bands went behind stage and started getting ready to perform. There were only four bands competing in the contest, one was Kenshin's band, The Blood Warriors, another was Shishio's group, The Manslayer and there were two other groups called Nightmare and Atmosphere. A few minutes later Hiko went and spoke to the judges in front of the stage before he came on stage and flashed his famous smile, "Welcome and thanks for coming for tonight's contest. Our judges are finally set up and ready to score so let's get this party started and bring out our first band, please welcome Atmosphere!"

Everyone applauded as five men came on stage and quickly set up their equipment before the lead singer stepped up to the microphone, "Hey there, we're Atmosphere and we're glad to be able to play for you tonight."

One of the judges wrote something down and spoke loudly so the singer could hear him, "Alright, here are the rules, you can play six songs, they can be by the same group or by other groups, you can even have ones you've made up, just as long as you have six songs total. And at least one has to be a soft song or what you would consider a love song. Do you understand the rules?"

"Yes."

"Alright then, state your songs and who're they're by."

"We're going to play three different groups, the first two songs are by Poison and they're 'Talk Dirty To Me' and 'Sacrifice'. The next two songs are by Kiss and they're 'Black Diamond' and 'Beth,' and our final two songs are by Europe and they're called 'The Final Countdown' and 'Heart of Stone.'"

"Very good, now let's hear what you can do."

"You got it, one...two...three!"

They started playing and their performance lasted about thirty minutes, getting a fair reaction from the audience after they finished their final song. After the judges wrote down their score the band left the stage before Hiko came back to the mike and smiled again, "Thank you, Atmosphere. Now please welcome our next contestants, Nightmare!"

Everyone clapped and watched as a group of four came out and set up before the singer stepped up to the mike, his voice slightly nervous and shaky, "Hey out there, we're Nightmare and I hope you'll enjoy our performance."

The judges wrote on their papers and the judge from before repeated the rules, "Do you understand the rules?"

"Yes."

"What're your songs?"

"Five of our songs are from Iron Maiden and they're 'Flight of Icurus,' 'Infinite Dreams,' 'Fear of the Dark,' 'Holy Smoke,' and '2 Minutes To Midnight.' Our final song is by Dokken and it's called 'Alone Again.'"

"Alright, proceed."

"Thank you, one... two... three... four."

They started playing and the judges continued to write down what their score was as they went from song to song. After their gig ended the audience gave a big round of applause and they took a bow before Hiko once again appeared on stage, "Thanks for the great songs, Nightmare. Now for our third band we have The Manslayers!"

Shishio and his group came on stage and set up before Shishio confidently spoke to the audience, his eyes sparkling with evil glee, "Hello everyone, it's going to be a lot of fun playing for you tonight, I know you'll have a blast with our songs so lets stop jabbering and get started shall we?"

The judges quickly wrote something down and the first judge stated the rules to Shishio before he asked the same question, "Do you understand the rules?"

"I most certainly do."

"Tell us what your songs are."

"We have five different groups, our first song is the soft song it's by Aerosmith and it's called, 'I Don't Wanna Miss A Thing.' Our second song is 'Chop Suey' by System Of A Down, the third song is Megadeth's 'Killing Road,' our fourth song is by Disturbed and it's titled 'Fear,' our fifth song is Unloco's 'Bruises,' and our final song is also by Disturbed and it is 'Down With The Sickness.'"

"Ok, lets hear them."

"Let's go gang, one... two...three..."

They started playing the soft song and everyone was amazed that the burnt young man could actually sing quite well. Their performance lasted nearly forty minutes and the audience cheered loudly after they finished 'Down With The Sickness.' They took a bow and left the stage after the judges wrote down what they needed.

After Shishio left the stage he went past Kenshin and smirked, "Beat that Battousai."

"I plan to."

Shishio chuckled and knocked Kenshin in the shoulder before he joined his band. Kenshin simply smiled and turned to the others, "You guys ready?"

"Definitely."

"Alright then, let's put Shishio and his gang back where they belong."

"Yeah!"

They gave each other high-fives and took a deep breath to calm themselves as Hiko came up to the microphone and laughed softly, "I didn't expect any of those songs tonight, thank you Manslayers. And now, the moment you've all been waiting for, they're last but certainly not least, the band you all know and love, please put your hands together for The Blood Warriors."

The audience cheered loudly as Kenshin and the guys came on stage and calmly set up their equipment, tuning their instruments briefly before Kenshin stepped up to the mike, his face bright and happy as he shouted into the microphone, "What's up Seijiro?" everyone cheered loudly for a moment before Kenshin continued, "It's always an honor to be able to play here for you and we're more than happy to be here tonight. We have some different songs for you tonight but I know you're gonna love them. Now let's get this party started and make some music!"

Everyone cheered and the judges spoke amongst themselves for a moment before they wrote down something. The first judge repeated the rules to Kenshin and asked, "Do you understand the rules?"

"Yes sir."

"State your songs."

"We have six different songs from six different groups. Our first song is by Fuel and it's called 'Won't Back Down,' our second song is 'Bound' by Disturbed, the next song is 'Trust' by Megadeth, the fourth song is by Crawlspace and it's called 'My Ruin,' our fifth song is 'Because of You' by Nickelback, and our final song is Motle Crue's 'Without You.'"

"Alright then, let's see how you guys do, start when you're ready."

"Thank you," Kenshin turned around and looked at the others, " you ready guys?"

"Yeah!"

He turned to the audience and grinned as he shouted into the mike again, "Are you ready Seijiro?"

Everyone cheered and yelled before Kenshin smiled to himself, "Alright then, this first song is dedicated to some old friends of mine, they know who they are and I hope they like it, it's a song we all know, it's Fuel's 'Won't Back Down!' Let's go guys, one... two... now!"

They started playing and after they finished they went straight into 'Bound,' not noticing the glares Shishio and his band was shooting at them from backstage. After they finished their finale song Kenshin smiled and shook his bangs out of his eyes, "Thank you, Seijiro! It was so much fun to be able to do this, me and the guys thank you all so much. Have fun tonight and get home safely, goodnight everyone."

The audience cheered loudly and Kenshin and the others moved off to the side of the stage and waited as Hiko stepped up to the microphone, "Thank you, Blood Warriors, and thank you Sanosuke for keeping your shirt on," all the girls cheered and Sanosuke just shrugged before Hiko continued, "Let's welcome back our other bands, give a big round of applause for Atmosphere, Nightmare, and The Manslayers!"

Everyone clapped and cheered as the other three bands came back on stage and waited for the judges to make a decision. After a few minutes one of the judges handed a piece of paper to Hiko and he cleared his throat before speaking again, "Alright, the moment we've been waiting for. The winner of tonight's contest is..." Hiko paused to give a dramatic feeling to the situation before he smiled widely and turned to the bands, "The Blood Warriors! Give it up for them everyone!"

The audience exploded with applause and the guys cheered and patted each other on the back before Kenshin went up to the mike, "Thank you so much everyone! I have to tell ya, the other bands put up one hell of a fight and they were awesome! Make some noise for Atmosphere, Nightmare, and the Manslayers!"

The audience cheered and the bands all bowed, grateful for Kenshin's mention of their performance before he continued, "It was awesome getting to play tonight, thank you all for being here. Have a great night thank you Seijiro!"

The bands took one last bow before they all left the stage, the audience giving them a standing elevation for quite some time until the DJ started playing, everyone moving out onto the dance floor and dancing to the beat of the loud music. Misao and Megumi made their way through the swarm of people and ran up to Sanosuke and Aoshi, hugging them tightly, "Congratulations! You guys were great!"

"Thanks, Misao, where's Kaoru?"

"She's making her way over here, she has to beat through the crowd."

A few seconds later Kaoru made it to the bar and hugged all the guys, "Great job you guys!"

"Thanks Kaoru."

Kaoru spotted Kenshin beside Kenji and hugged him tightly, "Way to go, Kenshin! I'm so proud of all of you!"

"Thanks Kaoru."

Kenshin suddenly froze up and Kaoru looked at him with concern, "What's wrong?"

"Nothing, I have something to take care of. Take care of Kaoru for me until I get back, Kenji. If anything happens to her I'm gonna kill you."

"Got ya, big brother."

Kenshin made his way through the crowd and shook a few people's hands when they came up to him and congratulated him. He went up to Shishio's group and Saito spoke up first, "What do you want Himura?"

"I wanted to say that you guys put on one hell of a performance, honestly I didn't think we'd beat you."

"Well you did and as much as I hate to admit it, you're a pretty good musician. Thanks for putting up a good fight."

Shishio held out his hand and Kenshin smiled, shaking his hand firmly, "Thanks for the battle, Shishio."

"Anytime Battousai."

"I agree with Shishio, anytime you want to fight, whether it's with music or with swords we're all more than willing to oblige you."

"I'll keep that in mind, Saito, who knows, maybe one day I'll pick up my sword and fight again, after all it's part of who I am, right?"

"That'll be the day. I have to go, until we meet again Battousai."

Shishio, Saito and Jine left, leaving Enishi and Kenshin alone to talk to one another. Enishi glared at Kenshin and there was a moment of uncomfortable silence between them before Enishi spoke, "Great performance."

"Thanks, you were great out there. And you don't have to be polite to me, if you have something to say just say it, you have the right."

Enishi shot daggers at him but started talking, "No words can ever express the hatred I have for you! You took away my sister, the only thing I had in the world! She died because of you and you don't even feel guilty about it!"

"That's where you're wrong Enishi, I feel the guilt everyday when I look into the mirror. The scar on my face is a constant reminder of my mistake, each day I'm forced to remember what I did to my best friend and you and no amount of repentance can ever take away the pain I have. I know you hate me, you have the right to but I still think of you as a second brother, Enishi, if you ever need anything you can come to me. I promised Tomoe that I'd look after you and I will but only if you want me to, if not I'll stay away from you."

"What if I decide to show up one day and kill you?"

"Then you'll kill me, I'll fight you but I won't win, my guilt won't let me. Enishi if my life will give you some amount of healing than I give that to you."

Enishi's eyes went wide as Kenshin closed his, he knew Enishi had a knife in his pocket and was fiddling with it as they were talking, if he truly wanted to kill him now was his chance. Enishi looked at him for a long moment then he suddenly saw Tomoe instead of Kenshin, he was so much like her in so many ways and that's when he realized it, he hated Kenshin because he reminded him of his sister! Enishi lowered his head and his voice came shakily, "Open your eyes, Kenshin, I can't kill you, Tomoe wouldn't want us to hate each other over her death."

Kenshin opened his eyes and smiled softly at Enishi, "I know, I miss her as much as you do but she's still with us."

"You have a reminder of her! You have your scar I have nothing!"

"Here," Kenshin reached behind his neck and pulled off something before he took Enishi's hand and dropped something into it, "this is yours."

Enishi looked in his palm and saw a silver necklace with a golden dagger dangling from the chain, his eyes went wide as he looked back to Kenshin, "What is this?"

"It belonged to Tomoe, she gave it to me when I was eleven, it was my birthday present. She felt bad because she didn't get me anything so she gave me her necklace, it rightfully belongs to you and I think you deserve to have it. Now you do have something to remind you of her, just as I do."

Enishi smiled for the first time, a real smile and let a single tear fall from his eyes, "Thank you, I guess I can't hold onto the past forever, can I? I've hated you for ten years because you reminded me so much of my sister. I guess I never grew up, huh Kenshin?"

"No one ever truly does grow up, a part of us remains a child, some of us are just more so than others."

"So I guess we should call it even then, truce?"

Enishi held out his hand and Kenshin took it, "Truce."

"I need to go."

Enishi turned to leave but Kenshin's voice stopped him, "Enishi, I know it means nothing to you but... I'm sorry... for everything. But I meant what I said, if you ever need me you know where to find me...kid-bro."

Enishi smiled at the use of his old nickname and turned to Kenshin, "See you later... oni-chan."

Enishi walked away and Kenshin went back to Kaoru, a smile coming to her face when she saw him, "Where'd you go?"

"To talk to Shishio and them. Enishi and I reached a truce."

"Good, maybe you two will become friends."

"Maybe," he listened to the song that was playing and smiled at Kaoru, "Want to dance, beautiful?"

"I'd love to."

They went to the dance floor and embraced each other as they listened to 'Anytime' by Brian McKnight. After the song ended they went back to the bar and sat down, talking about nothing in particular. Kenshin looked around the bar and suddenly realized that none of the regular waitresses and bartenders were there, not even Hiko, he had just disappeared after the contest. Kenshin stopped the waitress near him and she smiled politely, "What can I get ya, Mr. Himura?"

"Have you seen Chizuru or Hiko?"

"Chizuru is out on the dance floor with Kenji and I don't know where Hiko is, he went into the back about ten minutes ago and I haven't seen him since."

"Thanks."

The waitress walked off and Kaoru giggled, "What evil plan are you concocting now, Kenshin?"

"I'm going to find Hiko and torment him."

Kenshin gave Kaoru a quick kiss and snuck off to the back. He knew which room was Hiko's and he tapped on the door. When he didn't hear an answer he opened the door and went in, "Hey Hiko! What're... you... do...ing..."

He froze right where he was and his jaw hit the floor when he saw that Hiko was... busy at the moment. He was kissing a woman with long black hair and he pulled away to look at Kenshin, amusement in his eyes, "Hello Kenshin, do you need something?"

"Umm... no... I... I'm sorry for... interrupting you... I'll just... leave now, bye!"

Kenshin practically ran back to Kaoru and she smiled as he hastily sat down, "Did you find him?"

Kenshin groaned, "Yes and I saw more than I ever needed to."

"What's wrong Kenshin?" Kenji asked as he and Chizuru came and sat next to them.

"I went to annoy Hiko and I found him off in the back... making out..."

"Hiko? Making out? No way! With who?"

"I didn't ask."

All of the sudden Kenshin felt an arm wrap around his shoulders and heard Hiko's laugh, "I thought I taught you to knock before entering my room."

Kenshin flushed and started stammering, "Sorry... I never suspected you to... actually... have a soft side."

"So who is she, Hiko?" Kenji asked smiling at his former master

"Her name's Omasu, she's an old friend of mine and she dropped in for awhile."

"Is she planning on staying?"

"If I have anything to do with it she is, I'm very persuasive."

Kenshin and Kenji looked at each other then got a look of disgust, "EWWW! That's too much info!"

Hiko laughed and Kenshin pushed him away before smiling up at him, "Sorry about walking in on ya."

"It's alright, I'll get even with you eventually... Lizard Boy."

Kenshin turned blood red and glared at Hiko as Kenji laughed. Kaoru looked over at Hiko and asked, "Why did you call him Lizard Boy?"

"When he was a kid he..."

"MASTER!"

Hiko looked over and saw Kenshin's bright gold eyes glowing ever so softly in a warning, "Don't you have a visitor to attend to, Master?"

Hiko smiled, he understood the warning in the way Kenshin said 'master' and decided not to press his former student any further at the moment, "I most certainly do, see you later kids."

Hiko left and Kenji laughed at Kenshin's glare, "I forgot about the lizard, should I tell Kaoru?"

Kenshin reached over and put a hand over Kenji's mouth, glaring playfully at him, "You tell her and I'll rip your throat out. Why don't you go home and play with yourself? Or even better, take Chizuru somewhere and play hide and seek."

Kenji pulled away and flushed slightly, "Not a bad idea, come on, Chizuru, I need to get you home, see ya big brother, see ya, Kaoru."

"Bye Kenji, bye Chizuru."

They left and Kenshin turned to Kaoru, chuckling softly, getting her to raise an eyebrow, "What is it, Kenshin?"

"Look behind you."

Kaoru turned around and screamed when she saw Sanosuke standing directly behind her making a weird face. Sanosuke laughed and hugged her, "I'm sorry, Missy, I couldn't help it."

"It's alright."

"We're heading home, you guys coming?"

"In a minute."

"Ok, we'll take the guys home, see you, Kaoru."

"Bye Misao."

Aoshi, Misao, and Megumi headed for the door but Sanosuke stayed behind and whispered in Kaoru's ear, "You want to know about the Lizard Boy thing?"

"Sure."

"Sano, don't you dare!"

Sanosuke grinned and told his story quickly, "When Kenshin was ten he got drunk and kissed a lizard then slept with it like a teddy bear."

"SANO! YOU'RE A DEAD MAN!"

"Gotta go, bye Missy."

Sanosuke ran to the door and Kaoru smiled at Kenshin, "You kissed a lizard?"

Kenshin turned the color of his hair and put his head on Kaoru's shoulder, "I was drunk!"

"Was he cuddly?" Kaoru asked playfully, running her hands through his hair.

"Well... until I rolled over on him."

Kaoru started laughing and Kenshin moved his head up to look at her, "Don't laugh at me."

"I'm sorry." Kaoru laid her head on his shoulder and hugged him.

They stayed that way for several minutes until Kaoru let out a soft yawn. Kenshin caught this and kissed her forehead, "You tired?"

"A little."

"Come on, I'll take you home."

They left Seijiro and Kenshin drove Kaoru home. He walked her to the door and hugged her, "Thank you for being there tonight."

"No problem, I'd do anything for you."

"I know, thank you, my sweet Kaoru."

"Goodnight Kenshin."

"Goodnight."

Kaoru kissed him and smiled, "I love you."

Kenshin smiled as she stepped inside and shut the door. He went back to the van and drove home, locking the door after he got in. He went to Sanosuke's room and didn't bother knocking before he opened the door, "Hey Sano, I need you to..."

Sanosuke looked up and Megumi waved, "Hey Kenshin, what you need?"

"Umm... never mind... I'll come back later, see ya, Megumi."

"Bye Kenshin."

Kenshin shut the door and shook his head, "That was more of Megumi than I ever needed to see."

He went to Aoshi's room and decided to make sure it was safe before entering this time, tapping on the door, "Aoshi?"

"Yes?"

"Is Weasel Girl in there with you?"

"I'm not a weasel!"

Kenshin smiled and laughed, "Never mind then, I'll ask ya in the morning, have fun."

"We will."

"Aoshi!"

Kenshin chuckled and went to Kenji's room, tapping on the door, "Kenji?"

He didn't hear an answer and cracked the door open, smiling when he saw Kenji. He and Chizuru were embracing each other and exploring one another, their lips entangled in a passionate kiss, "Way to go little brother, have fun."

Kenshin shut the door and went to his room, flopping down on the bed with a happy sigh. After staring at the ceiling for a few minutes he reached over to his dresser and pulled out a small black box from the drawer, smiling to himself as he spoke to the air, "Soon Kaoru, I'll make you happy, I promise you."

Chapter 6 done! There's a couple more chapters to go so hang in there with me and tell me how I'm doing. Sorry this chapter was so long, I got hold of sugar again :). Any ways, more to come! Enjoy!