A/N: Thank you sooo much, reviewers!
StormHornet – Yeah… heh… poor Hotaru…
Sonia/Sunny – Sonia! YAYZ! I'm glad you love this the best, and yes, probably (the Maggie thing)!
Danni – Everyone hates Hotaru… -sweat drop-
Rurouni-maxi – Yes, she is rather dim… and well, with the whole Daemon-not-stopping-Kenshin thing… he didn't need to, as you will see…
Arielle – That's a pretty name… anyway… yes they are! YAY!
royal blueKitsune – Indeed he is! -grin-
Recap –
"I thought we were in l-love, K-Kenshin-san!" Hotaru blubbered.
"What? Kenshin, who is this girl?" I turned on him, growing angry.
The Color Black-Red – Chapter 9
"No, no! Girls! Please!" Hotaru stopped crying and I stopped yelling for a second. "Alright. Hotaru, I don't know what you thought was on between us, but we are just friends. And Kaoru," he shot a guilty look at Hotaru, "you know how I feel about you." He went over to me and hugged me.
"What…?" Hotaru came over and latched onto Kenshin's free arm. Grrrr… this girl was just like Raikoji Chizuru. His other arm was holding me round the waist. "But… we spent so much time together, Kenshin-san! Can you tell me all that meant nothing to you?"
Kenshin looked at Hotaru. "I'm sorry."
"Please! You saved me from the darkness and I love you!" Hotaru buried her face in his arm. "Please!"
Kenshin looked at her guiltily. "I am so sorry, Hotaru-san. I love another and I am sorry."
"No! Please!" Hotaru let go of Kenshin's arm and curled into a ball. "You saved me from the sands beasts! You saved me from death! You saved me from misery and I love you! You cannot tell me that you have absolutely no feelings for me after we spent the journey together!"
"I am your friend, Hotaru-san," Kenshin said sadly, "not your lover."
"Hotaru…" I felt pity for the girl and angry with myself for how I had misjudged her. I knelt over her. "I'm sorry…but… the reason Kenshin was in the Sands of Shadow in the first place was to find Daemon and rescue … me."
Hotaru sat up and blinked. "How old are you?" she asked, her voice shaking with what emotion I know not.
I looked at her, surprised. "I am nineteen."
"Nineteen?" Hotaru spat, and turned to Kenshin. "And, Kenshin, how old are you?" I could see this girl was getting slightly desperate.
Kenshin knelt next to me and held me round the waist. I felt guilty. I knew of the pain Kenshin and I were causing this girl. "I am twenty-three. Why do you ask?"
"I am eighteen. Eighteen is a much more suitable age for Kenshin-san," Hotaru said matter-of-factly.
I shook my head and closed my eyes.
Kenshin sighed. "I am sorry, Hotaru. It cannot be."
Hotaru stood up on the verge of tears. "You are … Kaoru, are you not?" she asked me. "You are the one Kenshin-san was searching for all this time. You are you the reason why Kenshin-san came to the Sands of Shadow. You are the reason Kenshin-san found me. I thank you." She bowed, and then straightened up, fresh tears on her cheeks. Then she slapped me hard across the face. "And I curse you." Then she stood, head bowed, tears falling upon the carpet.
"Miss…" I felt my cheek and felt the angry red welt she had left. "Please…"
"Hotaru!" Kenshin was getting angry, I could see. "You have no idea what danger Kaoru was in! You couldn't understand! Kaoru could have been killed by Daemon at any time! Any time!"
I heard a whispered, "Gomen nasai." I could see Hotaru's lower lip trembling. Then her demeanor changed. She was no longer sad, but angry. "Kenshin," she said quietly, "how could you be so…so cruel? So unfeeling? Do you know what pain I am feeling? No! No you do not! Neither of you know how much it hurts! First I lost my family, and then my heart is so cruelly broken? Neither of you knows how it feels to lose a loved one!" she shouted.
My face clouded. Oh, I knew the feeling well.
Kenshin looked at my faraway expression. He turned to Hotaru and said, "Both of us know well how it is to lose a loved one! When I was a small boy my parents," he took a deep breath, "were lost to me. Cholera took them."
Hotaru bowed her head. "And her? What tragic past does she have? My… my parents… they were taken by slave traders…and she couldn't possibly know the pain!"
Kenshin began to speak, but I cut him off. "I can understand well. When Daemon took me from a village to this castle a battle had been going on. As I watched, my father and my sister were cruelly massacred. My mother died when I was smaller, and I have no idea where my brother is, and if he is alive or dead."
Hotaru looked at me. "B- but…"
I took a deep breath and ran out of the room, struggling to stop myself from crying.
Kenshin looked after Kaoru, her long black dress swishing behind her. Then he turned to Hotaru and said, "Do you understand?"
Hotaru's tears fell down her face. "Yes. I am so sorry. I grew angry and I made no sense… I am so sorry, Kenshin-san."
Suddenly they heard a scream.
"Kaoru!" Kenshin cried. They raced down the stairs to find Kaoru hanging in mid-air, seemingly unharmed. Daemon stood next to her.
"Kenshin!" she cried, fighting her invisible bonds.
"Kaoru!" Kenshin cried and rushed to Kaoru. But, alas, as soon as he got near, her body racked with pain - hurt by an unseen power.
It hurt so much. I wanted to scream, but in my final moments I would not give away any dignity I still had.
I managed to speak for the final time, "G-gomen nasai…"
Then suddenly the pain seemed to lessen. I drew what I knew was my last breath and fell to the floor. I neither felt nor heard any more.
"Kaoru…" Kenshin whispered, his face betraying his anguish as Kaoru fell to the black marble floor, lifeless. He could hardly believe her last words. 'I'm sorry'? What did she have to be sorry for? He rushed over to her and cradled her head in his arms. "Kaoru…" he pleaded. "Say something. Please. You can't be dead. No! After all this… Kaoru… you can't be dead!" he kissed her and his tears fell on her face.
Hotaru gasped and covered her mouth with her hands.
Kenshin shook with anger, towards Daemon, and grief, toward the passing of Kaoru. "Kaoru… please! Kami please…" his tears streaked her face and his as he hugged her lifeless body to him. He let go and she fell limp on the marble. "Daemon. You cannot have committed a more heinous crime," he said, his voice clouded with remorse. "I – I will kill you!" Kenshin took a running charge at Daemon who simply flung out his hands and created a force field, which hurled Kenshin back. Kenshin landed on his feet and said, blood dripping from a corner of his mouth, "Let us fight this like men," he growled.
Daemon laughed. "Silly man. But yes, I will agree to your request. The fight is far more fun when I stab my sword into your stomach and you drift to the realm of the immortal dead. You then shall join your love."
Kenshin smiled grimly. "Then if I lose there is a bright side. However, when I win – and I will – I will kill you and find some way to bring Kaoru back!"
In Daemon's hands a grand sword appeared. He stood in the fighting stance of the ancient Shizura. The Shizuramu Zen Ryu was a deadly technique. "Remember, Himura Kenshin, that this fight will take one move alone. The one, the one who is not dead, the one who is still standing, wins the battle."
"Fine," Kenshin said monotonously. Then he looked over to Kaoru and said, "Daemon… you slew her, and now I will slay you on Kaoru's behalf."
"Was it really I, Himura Kenshin? Or was it you?"
Those words slashed across Kenshin like a blade. "No!" he cried. "Let us fight, Daemon. Your style is old. I shall defeat you!" he relaxed into his fighting stance, the Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu. Then he ran forward, tears to his eyes at the thought of whom he was fighting for, and shouted, "Amakakeru Ryu No Hirameki!" He saw visions of Kaoru. Kaoru sad, Kaoru angry, Kaoru sleeping, Kaoru screaming in fear of what Kenshin could not protect her from. He had never been able to protect her. His burst of anger sent him spiraling forward with such power Daemon could not believe. His last vision was of Kaoru, smiling and hugging him. Tears sprang from his eyes as he delivered his ultimate move. They crossed each other in battle, and now one would fall. Kenshin felt Daemon's blade slicing into his skin, but Kenshin also sensed his katana making contact with Daemon as well.
They stood frozen, until Kenshin clutched at his side, the wound gushing blood. Then Daemon staggered, and blood burst from his torso.
"I have… been beaten… by this man?" Daemon uttered, feeling his open chest. Daemon's gaze snapped to Kenshin. "Himura Kenshin! I swear that I will drag you down to hell one day soon!" Then Daemon coughed up blood and fell forward, dead.
TBC…
A/N:
Poor, poor Kaoru! Poor Kenshin too! SOB!
Review please!