-Note- Hey! I'm back once again! I want to thank everyone who reviewed and for waiting patiently! Well, I will be updating Boys of Summer when this story is done, so all who read that, please wait! Now, on with the story!
Yahiko stood frozen in place, watching as Kaoru pushed the blade towards her abdomen. His vision was almost lost by his tears and everything around him was becoming misty. A loud scream broke the night and Yahiko looked up and saw Yamanote fall to the ground with a sword through him.
"I'm sorry…For killing another member of our family." Kaoru dropped her sword and Yahiko slowly approached her.
He wrapped his arms around her neck, offering her a shoulder to cry on. But no tears came, and that worried him. Yahiko pulled away and looked into Kaoru's eyes, and it was what wasn't there that sent him into a scared, angry, and sad mix of emotions. There wasn't anything there except for two blue walls, deprived of all light and life.
"Kaoru, it's not your fault. You just tried to protect me." Yahiko tried to sooth his sister, but to no avail.
The two of them sat in the darkness for a moment with nothing but the beams of moonlight and the song of the mocking birds. Footsteps alerted Yahiko, and he turned to see Kenshin, Sanosuke, Megumi, and Yamagata coming towards them.
"What happened here!" Yamagata questioned, looking around at the corpses scattered about the grounds.
Kenshin's gaze followed his, taking in the wounds, seeing the disfigured bodies, and he realized that no normal man could do this…No man could do it at all.
"Kaoru Kamiya…Daughter of Ukokia Kamiya…Granddaughter of the Battousai Okihayo Nijoymo." Yamagata looked up from Aikoku's body and shook his head.
"I somehow expected it to be you. You were always so much like your father, a pacifist, but I knew that your mother's fighting spirit would get you eventually."
Sanosuke switched looks with Kenshin then back to the police chief.
"What? How do you know this?"
Yahiko knelt down beside Kaoru and laid his head on her shoulder. He sat and listened with the others as Yamagata told Kaoru's tale.
"Several years ago, when the Revolution was still going on, I met Kamiya and his new bride, Ukokia. I had known her father Okihayo for some time before our meeting, and knew that she would probably be as dangerous as he could be despite the pleasant exterior."
Megumi had began to clean Kaoru's face off to dress her wounds, but was still listening intently. Yahiko had moved to sit beside Sanosuke, who eventually ended up holding him in his lap, and Kenshin was standing erect without moving a muscle.
"Then came the news of Kamiya's fall in battle, only I knew the truth. Ukokia had slain him after he failed to give her a son. But telling Kaoru that would only confuse her at the time."
Yamagata knelt down beside a corpse then turned to Kenshin.
"Go ahead and get out of here. I don't want the officials coming and Kaoru being here. Go, now!"
Megumi grabbed Yahiko and seated herself comfortably in the saddle, followed by Sanosuke. Kenshin walked over to Kaoru, who still sat motionless on the ground.
"Come on, Kaoru. Let's go home."
He reached for her hand, cold, pale and crimson stained. The red haired man lifted her off the ground and led Kaoru over to the horse on which he came. After assisting her up first, Kenshin followed and sat behind her. He grabbed the reins and motioned for Sanosuke to go ahead. Yamagata watched as the group road down the wet driveway, the echoing of the horses' hoofs on the ground still ringing in his ears even after they had long faded away. Several hours later, the police chief and several more officers arrived, and a wave of questions exploded into the Kyoto air.
"Who is responsible for all these deaths!" The chief questioned.
Yamagata glanced down at Aikoku's body then at his chief.
"It was Nijoymo Ukokia. Treat this as a homicide/suicide case, chief"
"What of the Kamiya girl? The one who was hired as a body guard?"
The elder man smiled with reassurance in his aging features.
"She is safe, and on her way back to Tokyo."
………………………….
Megumi stopped her horse at the train station and waited for Sanosuke and Kenshin to dismount. Yahiko had fallen asleep after crying himself into that particular state and wetting the sleeves of her gi. She had changed into a gi and hakama to ride the horse in, because riding in a kimono seemed to be an impossible feat. Sanosuke lowered his tall, lean frame from the brown mare he had ridden to and from the mansion. He stretched and gave a small grunt before turning to the doctor.
"So, do you think Kaoru's going to be ok?"
His November brown eyes had lost the childish essence Megumi had grown so used to seeing, and in it's place a more mature sense came into being.
"There is a lot of damage, more mental than physical. I can heal the cuts and broken bones, but she'll have deeper scars that no one can see."
She turned from Sanosuke and saw Kenshin approaching them with their tickets in hand.
"Let's get Yahiko and Kaoru home. They need rest."
The younger observers noticed how Kenshin's face had grown paler, his eyes had lost the light. But it wasn't the light of life like Kaoru's had lost…
It was the light of love.
He handed Sanosuke the tickets and turned back towards the bench where the ebony haired girl was seated. Her silence seemed to be louder than the bustling of the crowd behind him. The thin blanket draped around her shoulders covered the tears and cuts in her clothing, flesh, but they couldn't hide the ones in her soul.
"Come on, Kaoru. Let's go home."
Kaoru went to stand, and upon getting to her feet, dropped the blanket from her weak hands. People stopped and stared at the torn girl that had seemed to appear from no where. Small children pointed at her and questioned their mother's about her, then were quickly pulled behind their life-givers. Kaoru ignored the stares and made her way to the train. The crowd began to murmur, the voices blending together to sound like a hive of bees. A few comments reached Kenshin's ears as they passed.
"What happened to that poor girl"
"That red haired man probably did it"
"No, he doesn't look capable of such damage. What about the spiky haired man?"
Kenshin was able to ignore the comments, but only barely. Sanosuke, however, couldn't. Kenshin turned in time to see his friend leaping into the crowd, and unleashed a barrage of punches on the man who had voiced his thoughts.
"Sanosuke! No!" Megumi yelled.
Several of the man's friends leaped onto Sanosuke's back. Yahiko awoke from all the noise, still wrapped in Megumi's warm embrace. Kenshin rushed past Megumi and yelled to the black haired woman.
"Get Kaoru on the train!"
He ran into the brawl and began to shove people off of the brown haired man under them. Kenshin finally reached Sanosuke, who was still putting up a fight. So much of a fight that he socked Kenshin and sent him flying back. He shook it of and grabbed Sanosuke by the wrist and yanked him to his feet.
"Let's go!"
The five angry men ran after the duo, and even tried to get on the train. The conductor stopped them as they reached the entrance to the car.
"Tickets, please."
Kenshin practically threw the tickets at the man and ran through. He prevented the five men from boarding, then Kenshin heard the man yell.
"All aboard!"
Sanosuke and Kenshin wandered around the cars until they found Megumi, Yahiko, and Kaoru near the end. Kaoru was sitting in her silence, Megumi had gotten Yahiko a drink, and the young boy sat sipping at it. Kenshin sat beside Kaoru while Sanosuke took his place beside Megumi. Kaoru's condition seemed to be getting worse. Megumi had draped the blanket back over her, but she didn't even have the strength to hold it around her. Kenshin leaned over and pushed her hair from her face.
"Kaoru, why don't you try to get some sleep?"
She turned and looked at him with her emotionless blue eyes. Kaoru didn't have to speak, he realized that look all too well. Years ago, he had been afraid to sleep because of the visions that would haunt his slumber.
The blood…
The screams…
The bodies that scattered the ground…
He sat back in his seat and lowered his head. Would he ever have a life with her now? Now that her life had taken a turn for the worst? A tear rolled down his cheek, followed by another, and another…Soon, silent sobs shook his entire body. He reached into the sleeve of his gi and pulled out the small golden band he had bought while she was away. He stood and turned to face her.
"Kaoru…"
She turned her eyes to him and watched as he lowered himself down on one knee.
"Will you…Marry me?"
Megumi, Sanosuke, and Yahiko watched silently. Kaoru turned away from the man and looked out the train window.
"No."
END! MWAHA! Oh, the torture…Don't worry! I will update when I can! PEACE! Lemme know what you think about the chapter!