Disclaimer: I own Rurouni Kenshin no more than I own the west coast of the United States. Which, needless to say, I don't. Solar power, anyone?
A/n: I meant to get this chapter out a lot sooner, but life caught up with me. I also meant for this chapter to be a lot better than it is. Boo. Anyway, I like it okay, but it's not exactly one of my favorites. I mean, there's nothing too great or memorable or interesting. Sorry.
I've decided to do author responses before the chapter, instead of after. It's just a lot less confusing.
Justagirl8225: I'm glad you think so. I never can find the right balance between the tactics and the philosophy in a fight scene…but I'm glad you think I did a good job!
Liem: I'm glad you're so excited for updates! I like all of your speculation, that's pretty much exactly what I was trying to convey. That quote has been in my head ever since I first decided Aoshi would be fighting Rokuro. I love it too! Naruku actually dressed herself in a kimono, but you're not really supposed to know that quite yet. (It doesn't matter, but I haven't said it so there you go.)
Another Baka: great!
Crewel: Hope you like the eeny bit of Sano/Meg in this chapter!
Zioncross: Always delighted to hear from you. Reading Harry Potter insanely quickly is like, my forte. I agree with you about the fighting between Rokuro and Aoshi—I've lost the ability to convey movement and fighting in few words. Sorry!
One and Only: It's true, we've never really seen a fight in which Aoshi kicked butt. That was part of my motivation for writing that one. I'm glad that you liked the last part with Naruku…it was supposed to be kind of creepy, and I'm glad I could get such a reaction out of you!
Kie-san: I'm sooo glad you started reading this…I'm sorry that you thought I was finished, I don't know why that would've been. Sorry! I'm also sorry for screwing up your name that once…I ALWAYS do it (not so much anymore, I've trained myself out of that habit!) I'm so happy that you're rooting for Kenshin and Naruku. That's really the toughest part of an OC, wouldn't you say? Also, you're right, this is a little bit like the Jinchuu arc. I guess like how WoM (terribly) mirrored Kyoto, this fic mirrors Jinchuu. Except, of course, for the main detail, which is that we HATE Enizu. We LOVE Enishi. (I thought of Enizu before I even knew about Jinchuu…a LONG time ago, yes. I asked my sister if she thought it sounded evil and she said, wholeheartedly, that it did, so I kept it.) Eww…fetish.
Genki Ninjagirl: I think you're questions about Soujiro and Misao will be answered very quickly. Thanks for your review!
Smiling Blue-clad Wanderer's: I know, poor Aoshi…I think Misao is just a bit defensive because of what Yahiko said about Soujiro…she's having a rough time, as you'll find out.
Question Marks: The thing about Naruku is that Enizu really and truly freaks her out. Anyone else, yeah, she would have slapped had they kidnapped her and tried to throw her around. Enizu, however, is a different story. He's not only her enemy but kind of the personification of everything in her that's miserable. It's really just too much for her.
Sorry for the length…Anyway, hope you enjoy this chapter.
Tanoshimu!
Chapter 20
Soujiro: A Second Prisoner
-
Misao squinted into the dim cavern, trying to look ahead for any sort of clue about what was coming next. Beside her, Soujiro held her hand and whispered comforting words as they picked their way through the tunnel.
"If there's anything I could possibly hate more than damp, soggy tunnels that smell like mildew, please tell me what," Misao grumbled, partly to herself. "Really, I'm open to suggestions."
Soujiro smiled apologetically.
Misao rounded on him. Apparently the smile hadn't been enough to put her off the scent of trouble. "Care to explain to me exactly what is going on and why we're down here?"
"We're rescuing Naruku-san," Soujiro replied easily.
"Isn't that what Himura's already doing? Didn't you say he was here before us?" Misao inquired.
Soujiro nodded. "He may already be fighting Enizu. But he may not. Knowing Takeda-san, he's going to be keeping Himura-san waiting. I think he's probably locked Himura-san out of the ballroom on the second story…that's where Takeda-san is. Until Himura-san breaks down that door, Naruku-san isn't even close to being rescued. This is the only way to get to the ballroom without having to break open six hundred pound oak doors."
Misao only really heard one part. "What do you mean 'knowing Takeda-san?' You don't—I mean, you shouldn't know anything about him! So how do you know all…all this stuff?" Misao asked, not caring if she sounded suspicious. She was rather suspicious, but if Soujiro cared enough, he'd just tell her the truth. If he trusted her.
"Because," Soujiro began unsurely. "I've been working with Takeda-san for the past two weeks."
Misao was floored. "You—what?" Whatever she had been expecting, it was not that.
Soujiro took a deep breath. "Well it started when we got split up back in February. Takeda-san knew about me because of Shishio. I knew about him because of you. Then in Tokyo I found him again and agreed to join up with him."
"You did no such thing!" Misao wailed. She didn't know what to feel. Anger, confusion, frustration and doubt all seeped into her mind. These feelings were also accompanied by a strange sense of shame, as if she should have known this all along. Clearly Soujiro knew things about Enizu that he wouldn't otherwise, but to actually be working for the sorry excuse for a man? That was simply too much to fathom. There was no way Misao could have suspected that. Though Yahiko, evidently, had.
She shook her head. This was no one's fault but Soujiro's. Well, Enizu's too. "You mean to say that you teamed up with Himura's most hated enemy, the absolute bane of Naruku's existence and therefore my enemy as well, Takeda Enizu! Kanryuu's brother Enizu, the man who—well—what were you thinking?" Misao was pretty certain her words were incoherent but she had to shout anyway.
"Shh…" Soujiro whispered. "Not so loud. I did so that I could prevent something like this from happening."
"Something like what?" Misao said in a painfully harsh tone. "Like Naruku getting kidnapped? Great job preventing that Sou-chan. Really great."
It was a second before she realized she had used his nickname, Sou-chan, and not in a way to mock him or turn it against him. She had just simply done so out of habit. And that made the entire situation—laughable.
"So you do believe me?" Soujiro asked, a small smile lighting his face.
"Well—I…" she averted her eyes. "Yeah. All right. Sou-chan." She burst into fresh peals of laughter, loving the sound of it after such a long night and an extremely tense morning.
"Not so loud," Soujiro said again.
"Why?" Misao whispered, chuckles dying down. "I thought you said—"
He stopped abruptly, causing her to ram into his back.
"Ouch," she muttered, rubbing her nose.
Soujiro whirled around. "Do you hear that?"
Somewhere up ahead there were faint sounds of conversation, annoyed grunts and the shuffle of feet.
"Someone's…up there?" Misao asked, pointing where the tunnel became very sloped.
Soujiro nodded, not taking his eyes off her. Thinking quickly, he whipped his heavy brown cloak off of his shoulders and fastened it on Misao, making sure to heap the fabric over her head so that her face was obscured by shadow.
"What're you…" Misao began, starting to back away.
Soujiro grabbed her wrist and looked her in the eye, deciding to be upfront. "There are men that work for Takeda-san up ahead. Whatever I say to them, just play along and remember what we're here for. Got it?" he left no room for argument.
Misao nodded unsurely.
Soujiro stepped back and looked her over. She was completely covered by his cloak, but somewhere at her hip the fabric stuck out.
"What's that?" he asked, motioning at her hip.
"Huh?" Misao's eyes fell to where he was pointing. She reached a hand inside her cloak and extracted the item from inside. "It's Naruku's sword," she realized, having forgotten about it. "Aoshi-sama and I found it at the place where she was…taken."
Soujiro pursed his lips. "Can I hold it for you?"
Misao looked taken aback. "Yeah, I guess…I don't even know a whole lot of swordsmanship so it should be…" her gaze fell to where she was holding the sword out to him. His hand clasped the very top of the sheath, where it met with the slightly tarnished hilt. Misao's hand still clutched at the middle of the scabbard until she loosened her hold and let it go from her grasp into Soujiro's strong, steadfast hands. It would be safe there.
Soujiro discarded the sword at his belt—a saber. He felt he had no need for it. He attached Naruku's hanashitou to his belt, and liked the weight of it there, in place of the old sword. He unsheathed the hanashitou, marveling at how it slid out like liquid, and inspected it in all of its blunt glory, and then set it back to rest inside the sheath.
"This is a good sword," he said to Misao as they started up the hill.
Misao smiled secretively, her expression unknown to Soujiro because of her hooded cloak.
"Seta-san," a raspy voice infiltrated their ears.
Misao flinched at the voice, but tried not to draw attention to herself. The man who had addressed Soujiro was slumped against the wall, several others there joining him. This particular man, though, was smoking, looking like he didn't have a care in the world.
"Umake-san," Soujiro returned in all politeness.
"Aren't you supposed to be somewhere else?" Umake asked, letting a stream of smoke billow through his dry lips.
"I had an errand to run," Soujiro replied. Despite his cheeriness, Misao couldn't help but notice the stiffness of his voice.
"An errand…?" there was a smirk on his face. "Does it have anything to do with this wench you've got with you?" With that, Umake seized Misao's wrist and threw her against the wall beside him.
Soujiro froze up. He knew he couldn't say or do anything without arousing suspicion…Misao, on the other hand, was trying to decide whether to bite this 'Umake' or simply kecho kick him…in the head.
"Don't touch her," Soujiro said in a very low voice. It was somehow devoid of emotion, despite how threatening he sounded. "That is Takeda-san's prisoner, and I'm sure he wouldn't be too happy with you messing with her."
Umake blinked and released Misao, who stumbled backward and suppressed the urge to hiss at him. "Takeda's prisoner? What about that red-haired girl? Wasn't she enough to bring Battousai's ass over here?"
Soujiro sneered with as much contempt as he could muster. "Enizu will be facing two enemies this afternoon…as I'm sure you're well aware."
Umake stiffened, as if afraid he would be caught on a bluff. "Oh, of course," he replied lamely. "So this is…er, the other one's bait?"
"Precisely," Soujiro replied. "If you'll excuse me…" he grabbed Misao's wrist and dragged her along behind him, leaving Umake, quite literally, in the dust.
After many twists and turns of the passageway, Misao finally lowered her hood and spoke. "Is Enizu really facing another enemy besides Himura?" she asked in a whisper.
Soujiro nodded. "Yeah."
"Who?" Misao asked, her forehead creased in thought.
Soujiro's entire demeanor changed, his eyes hardening and his smile melting into a look of determination as he answered Misao's question.
"Me."
-
Kaoru felt the smoke searing at her left ear as she skidded down the hall, narrowly missing an explosion of bombs.
"I do not like this…" she said faintly, whirling around to check for other adversaries. It was useless; they were everywhere, bullets flying and smoke filling the air. She could only pray that no one had gotten hurt, no one had been killed.
"Jou-chan!"
A warm hand found her wrist and Kaoru was relieved to see Sano at her side, leading her through the chaos.
"Yahiko's got Megumi with him…neither of us have seen Shinomori, but my guess is that he's doing just fine." He had to shout to be heard over the tumultuous noise.
Kaoru seemed somewhat conflicted to be running away so quickly. Nevertheless the followed behind Sano faithfully, hoping to get away without injury.
Smoke obscured her vision and stung her eyes. She slammed her eyes almost all the way shut and trudged onward. When she felt the smoke clearing she blinked once, twice and found herself face-to-face with a gunman. He was no less than two meters away and holding out his handgun, aiming it at her forehead. She felt Sano's grip loosen as if he was being dragged away from her and she was alone.
The gunman grinned, his teeth yellow and foul, and cocked the gun with a resounding click. Kaoru was frozen to the spot, she couldn't think of a single thing that would get her out of this.
The gunman squeezed the trigger, and Kaoru felt like she was seeing it all in slow motion. Then her senses came back to her, and as soon as she heard the bullet exploding from the gun barrel, she felt a rush of wind and a shadow fell over her. Out of surprise Kaoru stumbled backward, barely keeping herself from falling onto the cold marble floor.
A hand clasped around her arm and jerked her forward. It was Aoshi, he had come, he had deflected that bullet with his kodachi, he was leading her now to safety. As a last explosion went off it Kaoru's ears, Aoshi burst open the door at the end of the hallway. The two of them toppled inside.
Kaoru was as relieved as ever to see Yahiko, Megumi and Sano already there, sitting restfully against the wall. The door behind her slammed shut and she sat up, utterly disoriented. She looked around at the faces of her friends…no one seemed happy, but they weren't sad or in pain either.
Sano and Aoshi both wore frowns.
"What is it?" Kaoru questioned, looking from one to the other. She swung her legs around and sat on her knees.
"I don't suppose you caught a glimpse of the kanji above the door," Sano spoke, his question clearly directed to Aoshi.
"Aa."
They frowned.
Kaoru's eyes flickered to the door. She squinted, barely able to make out the characters etched there. "The room without space," she read aloud. She blinked, looking back at Aoshi and Sano, whose frowns had only deepened. "What's that supposed to mean?"
For a moment neither of them spoke. Kaoru took a glance at Yahiko and Megumi, who seemed just as confused as she was. At least it wasn't just her who didn't have a clue what was the matter with the room without space.
Finally, Sano spoke up, subsequently moving away from the wall and pacing around the room. "'The room without space' or the 'abyss' was a room in Shishio's hideaway on Mt. Hiei. It was where Kenshin faced the heavenly sword of Seta Soujiro."
Kaoru looked stricken. "What are you saying?"
"He's saying that this proves it! This proves that Soujiro is working with Enizu. We can't trust him!" Yahiko exclaimed, jumping to his feet.
Aoshi held up a hand. "Whether or not Seta-san is untrustworthy is a different matter. What this proves is that Enizu expected us to fight him in this very room."
"But…" Kaoru bit her lip. "But he's not here," she said at last, her eyes sweeping the corners of the room as if she were checking for any sign of the boy wanderer.
Megumi looked Aoshi straight in the eye. "Do you think he's coming here to fight us?"
"I can't say."
"He's got to be with Misao," Kaoru realized. "She ran into him on the way over, right? Knowing Misao, she'll stick to him like white on rice. Whether he's trustworthy or not, Misao will deal with him, I'm sure of it!" Kaoru felt a peculiar burst of appreciation for her friend.
"She's right," Sano said, bobbing his head in agreement. "That kid's totally dominated by the weasel girl. No way is she gonna let him screw things up. The main thing now is how we get from in here to wherever that bastard is. Where Naruku is."
Kaoru turned her face from Sano to look over at Aoshi. He seemed worried, in that quiet, stoic sort of way.
"Do you know a way?" she asked slowly.
"The thing is," Aoshi replied after a moment. "This passageway used to lead straight to the ballroom. Now it leads here…to this room." He quickly glanced over at the wall farthest from where he sat. "There's a door there," he proclaimed, standing up and going over to it. He traced the lines with his hand, marveling at how easily it blended into the wall, like it wasn't even there. Wood on wood, the same shades, the same lines.
"It's locked," Aoshi said, pushing on it a little.
"Whaa—?" Yahiko joined him. "I mean, does it—"
"Shh…" Aoshi said, and everyone quieted. "Do you hear that?"
They did. Muffled voices coming from outside the door. It sounded like…
"Ken-san!" Megumi exclaimed. "Is he out there, fighting Enizu?"
Aoshi pressed her ear against the door. "They aren't fighting…Naruku's out there too, it sounds like—"
But what exactly it sounded like they never got to know because at that moment, Sano rushed forward, his fist descending on the door.
"Sanosuke, don't!" Megumi cried, seizing his other arm and pulling him back. "You can't!"
Sano whirled, frustrated with Megumi's intervention. "Can't what? Get in the middle of their fight."
"No," Megumi replied indignantly. "You can't use Futaenokiwami! You'll shatter your hand, it's already all bloody from when you deflected those bullets!"
Sano glanced at her and then at his messily bandaged hand. He withdrew. "Right." He then whipped his head to where Aoshi stood, deep in thought. "Can you cut it open?"
Aoshi shook his head sadly. "Not with my right hand arm injured. I can't possibly summon up enough strength to break it open with only one kodachi…and in my left hand. It's impossible."
"Just as well," Sano said offhandedly. "It's Kenshin's fight, after all. That bastard is no match for him."
Kaoru smiled back at Sano. A yelp at her left caught her attention.
"Hey, look!" Yahiko yelled at the door. Everyone turned toward him. "Watch this!"
Placing his hand on one of the flat wooden panels of the door, his slid it aside with a clack.
"It's a window!" Yahiko said, grinning. "Now at least we can see what's going on!"
"You forget, of course, that this building used to be owned by a group of spies," Aoshi said, explaining the peep-holes in the door.
Thoroughly excited by this news, Kaoru and Sano tried pushing aside every other wooden panel on the double doors. Only one other one slid open, this one at a taller height than the first.
Kaoru and Yahiko scrunched up against the first window while Aoshi, Sano and Megumi crowded around the taller one.
"Kenshin…" Kaoru sucked in breath. She could see him, she really could, and Enizu across from him. She hadn't seen him since…since before they even knew he had betrayed Naruku all those months ago. Seeing him there, like that, was a shock to Kaoru. He looked like a normal man…brown hair…brown eyes…a slightly maniacal look on his face. It was enough to make Kaoru's blood positively boil.
And then…at his feet…Naruku. Kaoru wished more than anything that she could call out to her. She looked so forlorn…so strained, laying there in that rose-tinted kimono. She heard Yahiko gasp beside her and soon realized why as she heard the sound of metal on metal.
The fight had begun. And now, like so many other times, it was all up to Kenshin.
A/N: there it is. The big 2-0. Twenty! Chapter twenty! I've never written over chapter twenty so I guess the big milestone will actually be number 21. Hope to have it out soon. Thank you everyone for all your reviews, I appreciate them with all of my heart. Receiving one makes me so much more ready to work on this. I'm hoping to break three hundred with this chapter, that would be awesome! (But I'm not holding out for it!) Thanks everyone!
