A/N – Sorry about the Johnny Depp mix up, and sorry it took so long to update. School starting has that effect on me. Sophomore year at JHU. Go class of 2007. And thanks to all the reviewers:
Ookami-Hitomi, Hiei's.punk.rocker.girl, unknown beedee, ixchen, De Lazy Lime, genocide ex-syncin, Kuroi Tamashii, Jade Catseye, Dea Mariella, Kyia Star, paisita, Bradybunch4529, mz.amber eyes, animegurl23, rainingfruit, Poppy2, Vic'chonn, bonessasan, PrettyHoshi, Jirurianu, Zammie, kik-ting, crasyducky, shadowcat15, Sapphire Priestess, pruningshears, Keiko C. Crawford, Iram, Witchitta, Imana, BelleDayNight, Nguardian, KenshinslilAngel
Another thanks to all the readers who have me on author alert and such. You are all so patient with me. Even if that patience is against your will…
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Disclaimer – I'm bored with disclaimers. I don't own Kenshin.
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Silver Cross
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Chapter 18 – His-story
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Whose idea was it to ride out here again?Mine.
But there are Indians. I know there are.
There aren't any. Besides, you were the one who wanted to see the States.
I was thinking more like New York City or Hollywood, not middle-of-nowhere Wyoming.
Suck it up… Sano? Where'd you go?
I'm down here, Ken. Did I have to be the one to fall off my horse and into an old abandoned mine shaft?
Are you okay?
Yeah, just get me out. Oh no!
What?!
Snake!
Is it a rattler?
No, worse! A little green garden snake! Help me, Ken! You know I hate those!
-
"I swear you have a laundry phobia. What was with all the evasive maneuvers coming down here?"
"I don't have a laundry phobia. I'm not healed yet, Kaoru. I can't save both of us if someone attacks."
"Okay. I get that, but was climbing up the elevator hatch necessary? Next you'll be climbing up the garbage chute. I thought you could sense other vampires."
"I can, but a human could've escaped my senses through the metal of the elevator ceiling," Ken defended himself, dropping the basket filled with dirty clothes on the ground in front of a dryer towards the back of the laundry room. "And I'm not going to climb up the garbage chute."
"Why'd you pick this dryer?"
Ken blinked. That was a totally off topic question. "It's far from the door, and I have reaction time if someone threatening comes in." Okay. So maybe it wasn't so far off topic, all things considering.
"Paranoid," Kaoru muttered under her breath. "There could be another way to get in though," she hypothesized in a louder tone. She had nothing to do but the laundry for two hours. It couldn't hurt to start up a good-natured argument, get the blood flowing and all.
"I know. Start the laundry while I check out the rest of the basement."
Or it could be a good way to saddle herself with boredom for two hours while Ken went and amused himself scouting out the basement and doing whatever men did when they were alone. But surely he couldn't leave her alone the whole time. If he did, then how would he know she was safe? Great, now she was getting paranoid.
"At least check out the laundry room first," Kaoru protested. "There could be a mad bomber hiding in one of the dryers."
"Kaoru."
"What Kenshin? Did I say something strange?"
"There is no one in here. This room is in the middle of the basement and has no other doors or windows. No one can get in, except through the door we just entered. No one is hiding in any of the dryers."
"I know that, Ken," Kaoru tittered a little nervously. Now she really was getting spooked out. She found herself thinking of how quiet it was, or would be if it weren't for the sound of their voices. "Don't take me so seriously."
"You're telling me not to take you seriously. You can still take that back."
Kaoru rolled her eyes. "Maybe I will, or I'll never get any respect again. Go and do your little," Kaoru paused to make quotes in the air with her fingers, "security checks."
"Just start the laundry."
"You mean would you start the laundry, please."
Ken stared at her.
Kaoru tried to stare back, but ended up dissolving into laughter. Ken shook his head and headed for the door. "Wait," she managed through her giggles.
Ken halted with his hand on the door. "What?"
"I think your laundry phobia is kind of cute. You should act ridiculously overprotective more often."
Ken left without saying anything, but Kaoru hadn't really expected an answer. She thought she was starting to figure him out now. Of course, when she'd thought that before, he'd done something to prove he was the polar opposite of what she'd envisioned. Since there was nothing else to do, she decided to actually start sorting the laundry. After all, she'd been the one to beg to come and do it in the first place. If Ken had had his way, she'd be wearing last week's wardrobe, sporting the food stains to match.
In a way, it was sweet that he was acting so overprotective. In another way, it was ridiculously annoying. It was mostly ridiculously annoying, but she couldn't bring herself to hold it against him, when he obviously had only her in mind, even if he wouldn't admit to that fact. A couple weeks and he'd loosen up. A few months and she could potentially figure the guy out. Scratch that delusion. He'd been alive for over two hundred years so far. All those running and laying low habits wouldn't go away in a couple months, no matter how relaxed he tried to be. Assuming they even had that time. Though Kaoru usually looked towards the sunny side of life, she couldn't help but feel an inkling of doubt creep in. Ken was so serious about the threat of the dark one, it scared her. Somehow, it hadn't seemed real to her until he'd come back hurt. Sure, those unknown vampires had shot at them in NYC, but neither of them had even been grazed. Kanryu Takeda had tried to hurt her, but the temple vampire had saved her. It had seemed to her like the good guys couldn't possibly lose.
But things didn't always turn out like they did in Hollywood, not even most of the time. And Ken really had been injured by Tomoe. He moved slower. It wasn't so noticeable now, but he'd been off the night he'd come back, and last night when Myojin had visited. That was part of the reason she disliked the Juppongatana leader. It didn't seem right that he'd seen Ken that way, weaker and injured, and knowing he couldn't put up much of a fight. Even Ken's natural grace was a little off. She'd noticed when he went out the door just now. His sleeve had brushed the doorframe. Kaoru regularly bumped into the doorframe, but Ken's sleeve never brushed against the door frame. She probably only noticed because she'd been around him so much the past few days, but he never let himself come in contact with inanimate objects by even the slightest touch. That was a characteristic that aided in his silence. Kenshin still gave the impression of strength and dominance. His gaze was still as firm, as steady, as confident as it had been since she'd met him. But something was definitely a little off.
The washer lid slammed and Kaoru jumped. She'd been so distracted, she hadn't really realized what she'd been doing and she was already done loading the clothes and adding in the detergent. She fished around in her pockets for enough quarters to start the machine. The noise of the washer starting was familiar and reassuring, until Kaoru realized the degree to which the background dimmed her sense of hearing. Was Ken rubbing off on her a bit too much, or was that background noise extremely unpleasant all of a sudden?
Hearing the door open, Kaoru sank down onto one of the benches, half because it would be easier to duck if someone came in shooting, and half because she was plain tired. She'd never quite shaken her jet lag, and she had to cope with the added pressure of reversing her sleeping schedule as well. Thankfully, it was Ken.
"Find anything suspicious?" she asked, straightening in her seat as she watched him walk towards her.
He frowned. "Everything's fine. I don't sense any vampires in the immediate area. I'll check again in an hour."
"I guess this means we can't just go upstairs and come back in a half hour when the clothes are washed, switch them to the dryer, go back upstairs-"
"No, Kaoru. We already went over this," Ken sighed, sitting down next to her. Would she ever give up pushing her way?
"Well stop trying to be an overprotective parent and start seeing reason. Things would be a lot simpler if we did them my way."
That was a negative. "I don't have any kids, Kaoru."
"I should hope not, because you're not doing a very good job babying me."
Ken decided he might as well argue with her. There really was no one around and he wasn't really interested in listening to the laundry machine. "You do more with kids then just baby them."
"Oh please," she scoffed. "You're the type of guy who would spoil his kid rotten and make the mom the bad person who has to tell the kid no all the time."
Where had she gotten that particular idea from? He would deal with kids just like he dealt with other vampires, fair and just, no favorites. Besides, it wasn't like he was going to have kids anyway. That became impossible the moment he 'died' and became a vampire.
"You're delusional."
"No, just misinformed."
Uh oh. Ken didn't like the sound of that. It sounded like she was blaming him for her misinformation. She scooted closer to him on the bench until they were hip to hip, all the while with an intense look on her face. Ken resisted the urge to scoot away. Damn, but she was intimidating when she wanted to be.
"Who are the old ones?"
Such an innocent smile. No doubt cruel and unusually severe punishments were even now forming in her mind of what she would do if he didn't answer her questions. Ken wondered why he was scared when she couldn't really do anything to him. At least she'd asked a safe question he had no problem answering. It would be better if, as a mortal, she didn't know. But it had become too late for precautions the moment she'd come to New York with him and turned her back to the human hunters.
"The old ones are the first vampires that were made. They live mostly in Africa."
"And they don't care about the dark one because?" Kaoru prompted.
"They don't want to have anything to do with the Americas and could care less who's ruling them."
"And who is ruling them now?"
"Groups like the Juppongatana control the vampires in their respective territories. They meet every few decades to debate any necessary changes."
"What happened ten years ago?"
Before she'd asked that question, Ken had been staring at the washing machine in front of him. Kaoru supposed he'd made up his mind that it wouldn't hurt if she knew this and had ceased caring much about what he was saying. After all, surely even the newest vampire knew the answers to the basic questions she was asking. But this question was different. This one was personal.
"Why are you asking?"
"Because I get the feeling that while you're one of the most respected vampires, you're not one of the most liked, that's why I'm asking."
Ken smirked. "That's a nice way of putting it."
"Well I want to know why."
"It's none of your business." He was guarded now, wary, alert, as if she was the enemy or something. He was beginning to radiate hostility, which was intimidating, so Kaoru stood to gain the height advantage.
"I've been hanging around you for the past week plus. All the other vampires group us together. I group us together. Why shouldn't I know something that directly affects my person?" she argued.
"It doesn't affect you," Ken replied evenly. "The other vampires won't hurt you, only the dark one's people."
"Who will be after you soon enough, and the easiest way to go after you is through me because I don't stand much of a chance against even one of them. I know this has to do with the dark one. You must have done something that most vampires think was wrong, but Myojin obviously isn't one of them. So this means that it's not common knowledge that you redeemed yourself or whatever. What happened?"
He was surprised that she was actually thinking along the right lines, but in retrospect, she'd been given enough hints to come up with something close to the truth.
"You said you used to work for the dark one before you knew what it was. Is that why everyone hates you, because they don't know that you didn't know?" Kaoru asked. She was becoming a little unnerved that he was practically glaring at her and had been since she'd started guessing what happened.
"That's why."
Wow. He'd actually confirmed her guess. Too bad he still wasn't giving her any information. She had no clue what had gone on to make him so alienated from the rest of his people. "So when did you find out?"
He didn't want to tell her. He was still half-ashamed that he'd been manipulated so easily by the dark one for four years.
Kaoru continued. "Before or after Sano died?"
Ken winced inwardly. She knew the right questions to ask alright: the ones that stung the most. He didn't know why he was so reluctant to tell her. He didn't have a hard time trusting Kaoru with big things. Letting her have access to his defenseless body during the day was a hell of a big thing. She probably didn't realize how hard that had been for him at first, how panicked he'd been when he'd woken up and sensed another person near him. This was a big thing. It was no surprise that he was angry and still sensitive about the issue, even after ten years. Trusting her with his life was much more drastic an action then telling her what she wanted to know. Why was he so angry that she wanted to know, when it was obviously only because she cared for him? Why didn't he want her to know?
Because he was afraid she would blame him. The important people, the ones that really mattered, hadn't blamed him. None of the leaders at that conference had blamed him for being dumb, for making that mistake, for causing those deaths. He'd redeemed himself instantly afterwards, saving more lives than had been lost. But he still blamed himself, and he was afraid Kaoru would blame him too. And then he'd lose her, not that he wasn't going to lose her anyway, eventually, but he was afraid of loosing her now because he didn't want to face the dark one without her support. Hell, he didn't want to face the next few hours without her support. And to think that telling her could make him lose her? But one look at her told him that not telling her would mean he'd lose her for sure. She'd think he couldn't trust her and would stop trusting him in turn.
"After." Ken trained his eyes on the washing machine again, at anything but her face. He heard her sit down next to him again, heard her curl up with her feet on the bench, felt her lean her back against his shoulder.
"Tell me what happened?"
Not allowing his brain to think, he launched into the story.
"Sano and I slit up in 1980 because Sano wanted to join an organization called the Sekihoutai. Ayame had started her restaurant four years before that, so it was just me again, for the first time in a hundred years. At first it was refreshing, being alone, but then I got bored. I was starting to feel what Sano had felt without a purpose. In 1988 I met a rising vampire named Katsura and swore him my allegiance. He had charisma and a goal I felt was worth trying to achieve."
Kaoru felt him shrug. She closed her eyes.
"There are deeper reasons for why I joined with him, some even I don't know," he paused. "I became well-known in the vampire world since Katsura brought me with him as we traveled the Americas and Europe a few times. By 1992 things weren't as straight-forward as they'd been when I'd first joined him in '88. He'd become hazy about some of his dealings and no longer entrusted me with each detail of his travels. That's why the other vampire groups trusted me. I think he distanced himself from me on purpose, so they would trust me. I had no territory and no real loyalty to anyone but Sano by that point.
"In November of '92, I was given the honor of organizing a conference of all the leaders in Las Vegas. A few hours before it was to take place, I heard from Katsura that Sano was dead. He'd found the dark one, but lost his life, as his team before him had in '89. I was in shock as I tried to make myself believe my best friend was dead. I didn't feel I could be the unbiased chair of the meeting. I was too broken up, so I told Katsura all the details of the conference that only I had known previously so he could run it. He didn't know I'd planned on attending the meeting in the background. It turned out that if I'd told him a lot more people would have died. A couple hours after the meeting had started I received word from a spy in the hunter community that the hunters knew the location of the conference through a vampire contact and were on their way to kill us all.
"That's why most vampires hate me now. They think I betrayed them. In a way I did. I should never have turned the conference over to a man who had so much to gain through the deaths of influential people. I should have postponed the meeting or just gone ahead with it, but my pride prevented me from doing so. As a result not all the vampires were able to leave in time, but I did manage to save lives. That's why vampires such as Saitou hate me. They've sworn allegiance to a leader and were barely able to preserve that leader's life under the attack of the hunters. Many died trying.
"It wasn't until a year later that Myojin told me it had been discovered that Katsura was the dark one. I knew he was a traitor, since only he could have informed the hunters of the conference location hours ahead of time, but I didn't know he was Sano's killer. He must have planned that all along. So I swore I'd kill him for revenge. The vow only deepened after I realized what a threat he was to vampires as a people."
Ken ended his narrative abruptly. Now she knew.
"If the dark one was just using you, why hasn't he let you find him and killed you?"
Ken exhaled. "I don't know."
"Why do you call the dark one it?"
"I thought Katsura was a vampire, but he wasn't. No one knows what he is. He can walk in the day without pain, unlike any other vampire. Only the old ones can stand the sun, but not for long periods of time. Katsura switches vampire bodies. At the time I knew the dark one, it was in the body of a vampire named Katsura, but it's also surfaced as a woman. I have no clue whose body it's using now, and neither does anyone else."
"Why did Myojin tell you Katsura was the dark one?" Kaoru asked.
Ken had a feeling she was waiting to pass judgment. He only hoped he passed. "Saitou, Myojin, and his wife were trapped by hunters when everyone was trying to leave the convention center. Saitou would have died defending them and Myojin would have died defending Tsubame if I hadn't stepped in. Myojin told me to pay me back for saving his life."
"And why wouldn't you tell me this before?" Kaoru asked.
"You didn't need to know."
"You didn't think I needed to know," Kaoru repeated in an incredulous tone, leaning away from him to sit up. "I'm living with you, supporting you because of something that happed when I was nine years old, tolerating the crappy attitudes you get from other people and dish out to me, and you didn't think I needed to know?"
"The less you knew, the more protected you were. I should never have brought you to L.A. New York was fine, because it's the Oniwaban, whose leaders I have always supported, and the ninjas weren't even there, but there's too much conflict here."
Kaoru practically slammed her feet down on the ground. "And me being poor, defenseless little Kaoru who can't take care of herself, it's too dangerous or something? Even if I do get hurt it's not the end of the world. Don't regret that you brought me here. I don't."
Ken took his gaze from the washing machine and made his eyes hold hers. "I'll regret it if you get hurt."
Kaoru practically melted. It wasn't every day that Ken said something that revealed his feelings so clearly. So he didn't come out and say it, but it was true enough. Still, there was something else she had to know. "Why didn't you join the Sekihoutai with Sano? I know you said you'd had enough of secret groups before you became a vampire, but why didn't you just join the Sekihoutai instead of Katsura?"
Ken sighed. "I resented them a little for taking Sano away. It was petty jealousy that got him killed."
"Hey, the dark one would have just used someone else. You did save lives, Kenshin. I know you must blame yourself, but I could never blame you for being manipulated."
She reached for his hand and held it in hers.
-Hey, can I have $20 dollars? I'll pay you back after I go to the bank tomorrow.
…
I'm not a leach. I swear I'll pay you back.
Well. Okay. Here.
Thanks. I'll even remind myself on this note to pay you back.
Fair enough.
Hey, can I have some tape to put up the note?
I don't have any.
Oh.
What kind of tape?
Any kind.
Oh. I still don't have any.
Then why'd you ask me what kind?
Just curious.
-
"I swear I'm not a hunter!"
"Then what were you doing with a group of hunter's kid? Tell me quickly before I kill you."
"I was sent by Makoto Shishio-"
"Shishio!" The vampire tightened his hold around Soujiro's neck.
"I'm his nephew," Soujiro managed to squeak out. "He wants to talk to your leader and entrusts you with my life as a testimony to his honesty."
To Soujiro's horror, the vampire brought his bared fangs closer to his neck. To Soujiro's relief, he simply smelled his scent and didn't bite.
"You do smell like him."
The vampire seemed to have believed Soujiro's statement, because he loosened his hold around the human's neck so he could breath freely again and began murmuring into a microphone on his collar.
"Where's your uncle now, kid?"
"He's waiting for the Juppongatana to contact him at the Hilton Hotel downtown. He's in room 604."
The vampire ignored Soujiro and went back to whispering into the microphone. That was fine with Soujiro, he was too busy taking the man in. He didn't seem much different from regular humans. His skin was a little pale for a California-ite, but he could have passed for normal if he was on the east coast and could easily pass for a tourist in L.A. If it wasn't for the blatant confidence he exuded in the dangerous L.A. night, and the iron-fast grip he had around Soujiro's neck, Soujiro himself would have mistook him for human.
Then another vampire emerged out of the night in front of them.
"He's not going anywhere. You can let go of his neck," the new vampire commanded in a lazy tone. "If we're going to work together for a day or two, I don't think Shishio wants his nephew damaged."
The other vampire nodded, releasing a wide-eyed Soujiro, who took a step back, rubbing his hand hesitantly across his neck. "He won't go anywhere, anyway."
"I know. Go check the perimeter. Our resources are spread thin tonight."
The first vampire nodded and strode off down a park path.
"Have a seat, kid," the new vampire commanded, nodding towards the closest bench where it sat under the only streetlight in this area of the park.
Soujiro did as he asked, surprised when the vampire took a seat next to him.
"What's your name?"
"Soujiro Seta." The vampire blinked, making Soujiro feel he had to explain the relationship with his elder. "Shishio is my uncle on my mother's side. That's why we don't have the same last name. Sir, I have to speak with the leader of the Juppongatana."
"The Juppongatana are one, what difference does it make if you talk to the leader or not? Tell me your message."
Soujiro mentally shrugged. Telling this vampire was probably the only way he could relay his message anyway. It was ambitious of his uncle to assume Soujiro could get an audience with the influential leader. "The hunters have united under my uncle and have decided to team up with the Juppongatana against the dark one. They recognize it as a threat greater than that of a vampire. My uncle put my life in your hands as a statement of his trust."
"I doubt your uncle cares much about you, Soujiro. If he did, he would have come himself instead of mixing you up in business which could get you killed. I give you this advice as if you're not a hunter, but don't assume I believe that part of your story."
Soujiro forced his eyes to stay locked with the brown ones of the vampire seated next to him. His eyes were the same as any normal human's. Somehow he'd thought they would be red. What was the difference between human and vampire? Soujiro wasn't sure why he felt there had to be a difference. He'd been too angry and it had been too dark to notice Kaoru's vampire. But even so, Soujiro had come away from the encounter convinced there had been subtle differences between the species that Kaoru was overlooking because she was Kaoru, albeit slightly brainwashed.
"I know he doesn't trust me, but I he'd never give the order to kill me. It's true that compared to all the hunters he's leading I am the most useless in a confrontation. This way I can be of some service to Shishio. As long as I am useful, he will keep me alive."
"Do you really believe that, kid?"
"You don't look much older than a kid yourself," Sou commented in his defense. As soon as the words were out, he regretted them. He wasn't here to argue, which was usually against his nature, but he felt cornered, alone, and vulnerable. Lashing out was instinctual.
A hint of amusement tugged at the corners of the brown-eyed vampire's mouth. "I was young when I was turned. I still can't say I trust you, Seta."
And then it happened. Soujiro's throat gave a particularly painful throb. His stomach gave a vicious twist of nausea. He couldn't breathe. He ducked his head between his knees as his coach had advised him once before when he'd been about to puke after track practice once.
Footsteps rushed towards him, bursting from the bushes, but he couldn't look up to see who it was because if he did, he would puke all over his shoes. A male voice cried out in rage, the voice of the man charging towards him. The vampire next to him was standing in front of Sou. He could see the man's feet in a low stance. Another rustling emerged from the bushes. A body dropped. The nausea passed.
He wasn't dead.
Sou sat up hurriedly with a wince. The vampire was staring not at the body at his feet, but at someone in the bushes to the right. Sou stood and brushed past the vampire.
It was Jineh lying dead on the ground. Jineh who held a knife in his hand, caught in his death grip. But the sight of the knife in his hand was eclipsed by the sight of the knife in his chest, in his heart. His eyes were open.
The nausea rose again and Soujiro turned around and puked all over the bench.
-
What?
How'd they get it here?
I guess they shipped it from Hokkaido or something.
No. It wouldn't last that long. Maybe they enchanted a train car and filled it with the stuff and then the enchanted car flew it here.
I assure you, that didn't happen.
Then how did they do it? It wouldn't last all the way here from Hokkaido
It's called electricity to make an artificially cold environment.
What? That's a myth. And if they did do it that way, it's witchcraft!
Let me eat your bewitched ice cream then.
-
"Enishi," the brown-eyed vampire called firmly to the man in the shadows.
"Enishi!" Soujiro echoed. "You killed him." His voice sounded lost even to his own ears. "Why? I thought you were working for him."
Enishi emerged from the shadows where he'd thrown the knife that had killed his employer. "Jineh Kuragosa went against Shishio's wishes. We want to work with your people, Myojin. Shishio sent me to watch after his nephew. Pardon my leader for not trusting you." He stopped underneath the street light.
"I wouldn't trust me either. Are the hunters so divided that you're reduced to killing each other to maintain order?" the vampire asked scornfully.
Surprisingly, Enishi grinned. "Jineh went a little crazy. I blame the Battousai for driving him to it. He's been on the hit list for a while. I assure you; any other hunters who did not agree with the plan were not invited to the meeting or taken care of in a similar appropriate manner. I merely let Jineh live this long to prove our sincerity."
Was the hunter-vampire world really this cruel? Sou wished he could see the vampire's eyes. Did the man have any remorse for the fallen human at his feet? If humans were like this, what ethics code did vampires abide by?
"I'll discuss the terms of agreement on neutral ground," the vampire stated after a pause.
"Agreed," Enishi nodded. "Keep in mind I know you could have taken care of Jineh yourself, thickly armed as you are, though you probably wouldn't have escaped without scars from the holy blade he's holding." He gestured to the weapon still clasped in Jineh's limp hand.
The vampire was armed? He looked normal to Soujiro.
"I'm glad you're not underestimating me. You're living up to your reputation. How does tomorrow evening sound?" the vampire asked.
"Will you have time with the dark one's attack so imminent?"
"My people will be in touch with you. I trust you're staying at the hotel with Shishio?"
Enishi nodded. "Yes. I'll be leaving now." He looked past the vampire and met Sou's gaze for the first time since he'd emerged from the shadows. "Your uncle congratulates you on performing your task and asks that you stay with the vampires until you're reunited tomorrow."
Sou swallowed nervously. Stay with the vampires? He almost laughed. It wasn't like he had a choice. "Sure." His voice came out sounding weak.
"A diplomatic move," the vampire commented. "He'll be taken care of. You handle disposal of the body. I'll be in touch tomorrow night. Follow me, Seta."
Soujiro caught the barest of glimpses of the vampire's eyes as he walked past Sou. What he saw there, disgust, exhaustion, determination, erased the last vestiges of hate he'd just discovered he'd been harboring. That was why Kaoru was with the Battousai, because she'd seen he was human. Why she was with him and not with Sou remained yet to be discovered, but that was a matter for another day, when there was relative peace and actual time to talk.
He glanced to Enishi. The man who had just committed murder was staring at him with eyes hidden behind his ever-present shades. He nodded to Sou and made a shooing motion with his hands. As if everything was normal. As if everything was peachy-keen. As if there wasn't a corpse lying at Soujiro's feet. As if there wasn't vomit dripping down his chin.
Enishi walked forward, his eyes on the body.
Sou didn't want to know what he was going to do. He whirled around – too fast, almost puking again – and stumbled after the vampire.
"Catch."
Apparently his reflexes still worked, because he caught a towel. Wrapped in the towel were a couple baby wipes.
"We'd rather have you smell like a baby's ass then puke. Keep on walking."
And surprisingly enough, the first vampire, the same one who'd had his hand around Sou's neck five minutes ago, now had his hand on Sou's arm and was guiding him towards a black car. The brown-eyed vampire he'd talked with was already opening the door to the driver's seat.
"What'd you say your name was?"
Sou blinked as he wiped his face unsteadily with a baby wipe. "Soujiro Seta."
"Unuma Usui. Don't worry kid, you're well protected. When we get to base, I'll introduce you to the person who'll be watching over you. Sorry about the neck thing."
Sou blinked again as he noticed that the hand holding the baby wipe was trailing unconsciously up to his neck. He forced it back down to rest at his side. "I suppose you thought it was necessary." Who cared that that wasn't an 'I forgive you'. If anyone thought he was actually going to forgive and forget almost being strangled, not even ten minutes after it happened, they were seriously deluded and had some issues to work out.
"Seta, get in the car."
He didn't know how long he'd been standing at the curb alongside the black car, but the brown-eyed vampire, the one who'd known Enishi, was the one who had spoken and he was looking impatient. Since it was probably a bad idea to make anyone impatient, Sou yanked the back door open and slid down onto the plush leather seats. The vampire called Uzi, or something like that, shut the door behind him and slid into the front seat on the passenger-side.
They were moving.
Soujiro found that he didn't much like the hypothetical idea of one unarmed human sitting in the backseat of a car with two vampires in the early hours of the morning, speeding towards a 'base' of vampires who all seemed to hate a blood relation of said human, and whose first reaction upon meeting this human was to strangle him or her.
Soujiro found he didn't like the idea of being cast in the role of said human even more.
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A/N – That said, please vote for this story at the Rurouni Kenshin Reader's Choice Awards, if you so choose. 'Silver Cross' was nominated in the alternate universe category.
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Get the link from my author's page, or here it is. But for some reason the slash slash after the http: isn't coming out...
http :tfme. net /rkrc /index .php
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I hope you were a fan of chapter 18. More K/K on the way.
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