Disclaimer: Isn't that kind of self-explanatory? I'm dis claiming in. Not claiming. It's not mine.

A/N: I know, this chapter took a little bit longer than usual. But it's all my website's fault! Go blame it, not me. (Well, okay, it must be a little bit my fault.) Speaking of which, go check out said website because it just got, like, ten times cooler. I'm still really low on pictures, though. Whatever. Focusing on the fic now.

Tanoshimu!


Chapter 18

Iunctis viribus: United We Fight

-

Kenshin stepped tentatively into the entrance hall of the castle, listening carefully to the echoes of his sandals against the clean marble floor. The doors clanged shut behind him, alerting anyone within earshot of Kenshin's presence. Tired-eyed, Kenshin moved forward. He didn't care if they knew he had come. He knew he was expected. Welcome, even.

Even so, it surprised Kenshin to see that not a soul was in the main hall except for himself. He moved slowly onward toward the majestic stairways that loomed in front of him. The stairs were huge, snaking up and out of view to where Kenshin knew was his destination. Every step seemed to bring him closer, and yet, farther away.

He reached the intersection of the main hall and the east and west wings. There he stopped, looking carefully from one side to the other. No one.

So far the only people he had encountered were the guards at the front gate. They hadn't been hard to take care of at all. Just a simple swing of his sakabatou and both were on the ground, knocked-out.

Presently, in the marble hall, Kenshin wondered if Enizu was planning to deter his arrival at all. Perhaps not. Perhaps the entire point was to deliver Kenshin directly to him. Kenshin looked down, slumped his shoulder, and let out a long sigh. The steps he took felt so perfunctory, he was surprised when he was still moving. It all seemed so automatic, just the same motions he had gone through so many times. When he had fought Kanryuu, Jinei, Shishio, Nishiwaki and Genwa. He knew was it was before he had even reached it. They were just villains, just names and scars.

The night air had chilled Kenshin to a point where he still hadn't warmed up again. He wasn't sure he wanted to. It was the only thing that kept him from being completely unfeeling. Completely numb.

Kenshin knew that in a few moments, when he had reached the top of those twisted, gnarled stairs, he wouldn't be thinking this way. He would see him, Enizu, and everything would be different. Everything, inside and out, would be in a long, chaotic battle. And it would feel like it would never cease. And he would see Naruku.

Kenshin didn't know what to think about that one. It seemed weeks since he had seen her. It seemed he had spent years trying to find her, trying to reach out to her through the distant night and tell her to hold on. What had he last said to her? He couldn't even remember, but he knew it didn't matter. He knew that what mattered were the words he hadn't said to her. And what mattered was bringing her back to him, so that he could say those things.

He wondered if she knew he was there. He hoped so, if only to make himself feel better. For her, he would play the part of rescuer, one last time.

"You remind me to forget all the bad things."

Kenshin started up the stairs, slowly but purposefully. His sleeve brushed against the banister as he turned around on the landing. The flight of stairs continued in a zigzag pattern up to the second floor.

When Kenshin was halfway up, there was a thunderous boom, loud enough to shake the entire first floor of the castle. Kenshin didn't even flinch at the sound or the sensation of the floor swaying beneath him.

-

Misao jumped as she heard footsteps coming near her. She relaxed when she looked up and saw Soujiro's eyes staring down at her, a gentleness present in them that Misao had never seen before. He almost looked regretful. He helped her to her feet without a word.

Misao had no idea where he had gone to for the last thirty minutes, but she was in no position to ask. He was her only lead to Naruku.

No, scratch that, he was her only lead to Enizu. Because Aoshi knew exactly where Naruku was. But Misao realized that the importance rested with their enemy, not their friend.

She walked silently behind Soujiro, looking downcast and anxious with her eyebrows knitted and her jaw clamped shut. Soujiro stopped, suddenly and help out a hand to halt Misao's steps. She looked up at him. He pushed one branch of a woody pine tree and revealed in the distance, a building so grand that Misao had a hard time believing it existed at all.

"Castle Edo," Soujiro told her gravely.

"This is where Hannya-kun died," Misao told him solemnly. It didn't matter, but she felt like saying it would bring her strength.

Soujiro didn't say anything, instead motioned wordlessly toward the gate in front of them. It was huge and towering, made out of thick, tarnished steel. Two unconscious guardsmen were sprawled in front of it, one guardsmen whose leg lay between the two doors of the gate, holding it open.

Soujiro stepped out of the trees and Misao trailed behind him, looking on wondrously.

"Someone got here before us," she said quietly. "…who?"

"It could have been Himura-san," Soujiro reasoned as he carefully shoved one of the guards away with his foot.

Misao paused. "So…then do you think he could be fighting Enizu already?" she felt a chill as she said his name. Enizu. She didn't even know him.

Soujiro didn't say anything, but pushed open the gate a few inches more for their easier access. Misao went in first.

And suddenly, being on the other side of gate made her afraid. She didn't say anything or give any indication. It wasn't because of her pride, but because she knew her fear could not help her. Once Soujiro was beside her, she began walking down the long stretch of dirt road that lead all the way to the castle. Soujiro walked beside her in silence. She quickened the pace, and soon she was flat-out running, her feet flying over gravel and pine trees flashing by on either side of her.

It was not until she had run up the steps and was at the front door that she stopped.

She swallowed, trying to get her dry throat to work. "Well?" she rasped, aware of how profusely her hands were sweating.

Soujiro wordlessly pushed open the front door to reveal a clean marble hallway that lead to a massive pair of stairways. Misao stood transfixed at the door. Soujiro took her by the arm and led her through the main hall and down one of the hallways that branched off of it. Even as they were continuing down the new hallway, Misao's gaze was still trying to follow the large staircase located at the end of the main hall.

A loud boom resonated in her ears and caused the ground to swing underneath her. She jumped.

"What was that?" she asked in a hushed whisper, turning her eyes back to Soujiro. Her eyes widened when she realized Soujiro was kneeling on the floor and had unearthed a trapdoor on the ground.

Without a word, Soujiro placed his hand on the perimeter of the trapdoor and dropped into it, everything but his arms disappearing into the dark abyss. Misao's question was left unanswered, but she barely remembered asking it at all.

"Misao!" Soujiro's urgent voice echoed upwards, beckoning Misao to follow him.

Unsure of what to do, Misao placed her hand over his. To her surprise, Soujiro's hand grasped her own and with a sharp tug he sent her toppling down the trapdoor after him.

She was aware of a loud screaming noise coming from her own throat as she fell. Her scream was abruptly silenced when Soujiro caught her effortlessly in his arms. She suddenly noticed how utterly and blindingly pitch black it was where she had fallen.

"You didn't have to do that, you know," she told Soujiro irritably, expecting him to set her down at once.

When he didn't, she was puzzled.

"We don't have a lot of time," Soujiro said quietly. He didn't move and for a moment the only sound was the faint dripping noise that came from far off. "I don't exactly know my way around here."

He still didn't put her down and she was starting to feel a little awkward.

"Where is here?" Misao questioned.

"Here," Soujiro began, arranging her more comfortably in his arms. "Is underneath Castle Edo. It was a tunnel built by Enizu very recently."

There was that chill again.

"Oh," Misao heard herself say faintly. Her eyes were starting to adjust to the darkness and she suddenly realized what Soujiro meant by tunnel.

It was truly a cavern carved out of the dirt. It was rocky, unsafe and looked fit for rats and lizards, not people. It sloped up wildly on both sides, but only for a short distance.

"Well, I guess there's nothing to it than to just pick a way and keep going," Misao piped cheerily.

Soujiro nodded. He closed his eyes and in a flash he was standing on the sloped ground about two meters from their original location. He was almost parallel to the ground. He situated Misao in his arms as he took another step upwards. Leaning forward, Soujiro loosened his grip on Misao and placed her at the crest of the slope as he scrambled up himself. He kneeled next to her and they exchanged a glance of foreboding. But Misao had been right—the only thing to do was to keep going.

-

BOOM. All the guns went off within the same millisecond, aimed right at them.

Sano's fist his the ground at the same time. He shoved Aoshi back with his left hand and watched in satisfaction as the broken granite tiles flew up in front of them, creating a wall between them and the gunmen. Silver and copper bullets clattered uselessly to the ground in front of Sano.

Before the rock had even completely cleared the air, Yahiko and Kaoru sprung forward, bokken and shinai in hand. The entire squad of gunmen had either lost their guns, or were unconscious before anyone thought to fire another shot.

Kaoru's bokken descended with a loud crack onto the last one's skull. She glanced behind her at Megumi, coughing delicately beside Aoshi who was staring back at Kaoru with a deeply astounded and impressed face.

She grinned as she pushed forward with Yahiko. Sano allowed them to lead, hanging back with an arm around Megumi. Aoshi strode quickly and gallantly in front of them.

"You don't need to baby me," Megumi said irritably to Sano as they walked briskly through the hallway.

"I know," Sano replied. "I'm worried about you. This is the place of your nightmares."

Megumi was speechless. She stared at him blatantly, her face frozen in a look of astonishment. Sano opened his mouth to speak again.

"Sagara-san!" Aoshi barked.

Sano looked up and realized that their little group of fighters had suddenly been confronted by a much larger battalion of guerrilla warriors. There had to be at least thirty warriors backed up in the passageway, all decked out in samurai gear, painted faces, and matching black topknots.

Not even a dozen of the warriors could squeeze up front to fight them.

Quickly calculating, Sano figured on about three waves of forces they would have to beat before they'd be done. And each wave had three times as many fighters than Sano and his friends had. These were odds he liked.

Though he was rearing to join the battle, Sano remembered to kiss Megumi on the cheek before he left her side and joined up with Yahiko, Kaoru and Aoshi.

"Ho!" Kaoru cried, making the first attack by lunging forward to attack a red-armored one with her bokken.

He blocked and everyone else froze. These fierce, ruthless warriors were carrying bokken as weapons.

Kaoru immediately jumped back to reassess the situation. The warrior she had attacked took this as an opportunity to take a short, stiff bow.

"It is rude to begin fighting without introducing yourself," he recited. "I am Mongkut Ghul, and leader to this troop of samurai warriors."

Yahiko looked at him shrewdly. "You aren't samurai," he told them matter-of-factly. "You aren't even Japanese."

Mongkut bowed his head. "Aye, it is true. We are only the beggars and slaves of the Mongols. But to Takeda-san, we are samurai warriors."

Impatient, Sano sent a flying punch to the speaker's face. Mongkut only barely dodged.

"Hneh," Sano chuckled. "Play samurai all you want, I don't care. I just want this fight to begin." And he threw another punch. This one Mongkut caught, skidding backward somewhat.

Sanosuke kicked high, aiming right for his head. Then they were engaged in an all-around battle, a flurry of fists and feet. Even Mongkut's bokken found its way into the fight.

All around them was fighting. Yahiko, Kaoru and Aoshi worked to hold off the fighters that poured into the hallway as quickly as they got rid of them. Aoshi sliced through his third, knowing the swings of his kodachi and knowing that one was not fatal, nor was the next. He knew Kaoru would be proud, if only she could stop to gather her breath.

"They use wooden swords!" Kaoru yelled between strokes. "Do you think…Enizu isn't trying to stop us at all?"

"Well than what would be the whole point of this little samurai show?" Yahiko retorted, ducking from a headlong attack. There was such a difference in strength and ability between each warrior; Yahiko had a hard time believing they were all of the same unit.

"Maybe—" Kaoru began. She twisted away from a downward stroke and managed to get her own strike in. "Maybe he's just trying to delay us!"

"They're coming in too fast!" Aoshi, who was patrolling at frontline, shouted. "They're getting past me!"

Kaoru's bokken descended almost in unison with Yahiko's shinai as the two Kamiya Kasshin fighters took down their respective opponents. "We have it covered, Aoshi!" she called back. He was too lost in his own skirmishes to reply.

"Keep them away from Megumi!" Sano bellowed. To his horror, two of the samurai shot bullet-like towards the doctor immediately after Sano had said this.

"NO!"

A warrior took advantage of Sano's distraction and slammed him hard in the midriff. Sano was forced to tear his eyes away from Megumi as he worked to keep two other warriors from getting past him.

Yahiko was alerted to Sano's protests of concern and shot back down the hall toward Megumi. He froze at the sight that greeted him.

Megumi stood with one foot planted on the floor and the other shoved accurately into the spine of one of the samurai warriors. With her hands, Megumi had pinned the warrior's wrists together and tugged them up as she pinned his body down.

Past her, Yahiko could see another warrior slumped forward into the wall, completely unconscious.

Two more samurai rushed at Megumi. She kicked away the one she had been tormenting and ground her teeth at the new arrivals. One rushed at her, hands outstretched to grab her.

Yahiko came to his senses and quickly took out the other, sending his shinai to impact on his most vital pressure point.

Yahiko then watched in amazement as Megumi coiled herself up and then launched herself, elbow first, at her opponent. He growled at seized her wrists, crossing them across her chest as though she were embracing herself. She dug a heel into the ground and swung around, taking her opponent by surprise. He slammed into the wall. Upon impact he loosened his hold and Megumi broke free.

Regaining her balance and mustering up as much strength as she could, Megumi drew her hand back and smacked the warrior hard against the right side of his skull. The shock was so great that his head slammed into the wall behind him and he was knocked out, probably sustaining a concussion of sorts.

Yahiko just stood there.

Megumi turned and saw him. She was breathing hard and looked frazzled, but proud all the same. "He was pretty weak," she told him.

"That was amazing," Yahiko replied.

Sano swooped in taking Megumi's hand and dashing to the end of the hallway where Aoshi and Kaoru already stood.

There were about five or six warriors shakily getting to their feet, Mongkut Ghul among them. Yahiko made a break for it, darting through and around the warriors, knocking down the ones who remained in his way. By the time he reached the others, he was breathing hard.

"…was incredible," Sano was saying breathlessly to an equally breathless Megumi. "But, jeez Megumi! You scared me."

"It was pretty unbelievable," Kaoru piped helpfully. "What you did to those three guys."

"Living among sweaty little girls and headstrong brutes does come in handy," Megumi said airily. No one missed the affection in her tone. Kaoru got angry anyway, only because it was what she did. And Megumi laughed her fox laugh.

"We'd better get inside," Aoshi said, eyeing the doorway to their left. "Unless we want to re-do that battle."

Kaoru flung open the door without even thinking and flung herself inside. The others piled in after her and she heard the distinct slam of the door shutting. The five of them stood there cautiously, eyes adjusting to the darkness.

A lantern in a far corner of the room was lit. From it they could see the contours of the wall around it, where the back wall began. From that they could tell just how big the room was. Fairly big, seemed to be the general consensus. Large enough for a fight to take place. Another lantern was lit.

Kaoru shifted uneasily and stole a glance at the others. Aoshi was the only one within eyesight and he was looking as stoic as ever, except for a shade of determination that appeared to be present in his face. Third and fourth lanterns were light.

A fifth lantern was illuminated and finally they could see the entirety of the room. In the center crouched a single figure, his eyes closed and his knuckles and knees pressed against the wooden floor.

There was a collective gasp from where the group of five friends stood as the stranger stood up to reveal his entirety. He was tall. More than that, though, he looked as though he could block out the sun. He was thick-built and burly with wild, tangled hair matted down his back. He wore a black threadbare gi and black hakama. A thick blue belt separated the two. There was nothing garnished or ornamental about his appearance. If he hadn't been so terrifyingly big then he would have been nothing special at all.

"Which one of you am I fighting?" he boomed. There was something flat and dead about his voice. It took a few seconds, but Kaoru realized it was the lack of audaciousness. This man did not speak as if boasting as she was so used to hearing from villains.

Aoshi stepped forward, his face calm. "I will," he said, partly to the stranger and partly to Kaoru and the others. "I was taught by your friend outside that it is rude to begin a battle without introducing yourself. I am Shinomori Aoshi."

The stranger's expression changed ever so slightly. "I'm Rokuro, but what does it matter? We are both here for one reason, and that is to live or to die."


A/N: Oh yes. Don't tell me you didn't see it coming. I'm really proud of myself for putting in what I think is the right amount of fighting. Tell me what you think.

So, about the title. I came to the conclusion that this chapter isn't about any one character, it's about all of them getting to Castle Edo by their own devices, and what everyone encounters. I figured, even though they aren't all together they are still united in their fight against Enizu.

This new hit counter thing than fanfiction introduced…I know I said I loved it last chapter…but it's driving me crazy! Because I keep thinking about the other thirty-five people who read chapter seventeen (or at least looked at it) and didn't review. Ergh…Well, on the bright side, it could just be one person reading it thirty-five times!

…forget I said anything. That's not bright, that's depressing. Please review! I know I don't mention it much because I usually feel like everyone's reviewing, but you really just cannot understand how happy it makes me when I get reviews. And how disgruntled I am when I know you read it and you didn't review.

Okay, enough of me being a brat. Here's to the people who continually read and review my stories and give me confidence and inspiration! Huzzah!

Erica Mandarine: Thanks. I always think that Soujiro and Misao are sweet…aww…

Crewel: Thanks so much; it's lovely to hear that. I know, I'm being stingy with the Sano/Megumi pairing. I already have a plan of how to make it up to you. There's not a whole lot of romance left in this fic since the action scenes took over. Still, I'll try.

Justagirl8225: Yay! You're back. I love your reviews. You know, I never really though about how it could be ironic…hope you like this chapter as well.

Zioncross: Glad you like it! Rising action can be so fun to write, because no one knows what to expect. Of course, for the climax everyone is expecting a fantastical and epic battle. I'm working on it. Soujiro and Misao definitely have a secret or two…I think Aoshi's pretty much straightforward, though. I'm glad you noticed the bit of tenseness between Soujiro and Misao. It's because they're both hiding something. Okay, if I promise to have Outa show up one more time will you get off my back about it? Haha…just a joke, I really don't mind when you ask for him. He is pretty adorable…

Question Marks: Koneko means, literally "little cat" or kitten. Glad you liked it.

Chibi-Assassin: Haha, Soujiro's pretty great. And he doesn't really have a motive for being evil. Misao is pretty crucial, but in a way not even Soujiro expects.

Liem: Seemed like that to me. I get the feeling that Aoshi is acting like Kenshin a little too much. What with the not killing people and stuff. I suppose I could just say it's because of Kaoru and her influence on him. That part with Misao is actually a scene I came up with in the very early developments of the plot. I like how it came out, I think. I thought you said before that Enizu stopped scaring you…but I can't deny that he's pretty damn creepy. We'll see about Soujiro.

Cathy Mark: Actually, Naruku isn't being kept in Megumi's room…but there is something very important about that room that's coming up soon.

Mysterious Samurai: Thanks. Yahiko's pretty kick-ass most of the time, but you can't forget that he is just a kid. Ooh, you should really read the Megumi Arc, it's actually become one of my favorites (as you can see.) The Takedas are like the worst villains ever.

Long Island Grace: Okay, so your new penname is really growing on me. I think you're right about Misao and Soujiro. I'm glad you think Soujiro's conversation with Enizu was helpful. It was really difficult to write! I am never writing a double agent character again! (Yes I am.) As for Soujiro having a completely separate agenda…you'll find out. I know many people would love to see Enizu mauled. I like how you read so much into Megumi's statement. You got it, though. True, seven chapters is quite a bit…so, okay. Don't think about Naruku and Kenshin too much…that comes later.

Philia-chan: Soujiro makes a perfect genius, don't you think? Soujiro definitely has a lot of pressure on himself.

Hot Gurl: You're so weird. Soujiro is brilliant. Misao is probably going to kill you.

Someone—love RK: Of course I'll keep updating, especially if you keep reviewing. Enizu isn't exactly focusing on Soujiro right now, he's thinking about Kenshin and killing him. So Soujiro can kind of slip in under-the-radar and Enizu probably doesn't even care.

One and Only: That part is one of my favorites. Haha…you crack me up. Yeah, those are probably the only people who could kill Enizu and no one would feel badly about it. What about Rokuro? I'm glad I didn't have to make you wait long.