Sapphire: Sugoi! I just saw one of my most fave RK episodes...the fireflies episode! (Which I'm sure all K/K fans are familiar with)...sigh. And what Kenshin said to Kaoru that night....I got super kilig (happy/excited)!
"....But that doesn't mean that I don't love you." -- Kenshin
Kawaii!! (jumps up and down crazily)...Okay, I'm clam now...ahem.
Anyway, I would like to thank everyone for the wonderful reviews. It meant a lot to me...and it also helped me get my posterior off the bed and type this chapter into my computer.
I would also like to thank Brittanie Love for being my beta-reader. Thanks girl!
Warning: Some crude language
Disclaimer: Do I own RK? (checks her wallet to find it empty)...Nope.
The Demon Child
Chapter three: Meeting Hiko
"What took you guys so long?" asked Misao as Battousai got down from the train with Kaoru following suit.
Both vampire and demon ignored the young woman and Kaoru leaned over the baggage compartment to get her luggage while Battousai stood calmly as far from Kaoru as possible but keeping the demon in his line of site. Neither had said a word.
Sano crept up behind Battousai and glanced at where his comrade's eyes gazed at…Jou-chan.
The spiky-haired vampire gave a fanged grin and slung his arm over Battousai's shoulders.
"You guys sure took an awfully long time ne?" It was more of a statement then a question.
Sano felt the red-head tensing slightly and his fanged grin grew wider.
"So…" he started. "What did you guys do exactly?"
Before Battousai could reply, a particularly large piece of luggage was thrown right at Sano's face. Due to the pull of gravity, the luggage slipped down and left a large red imprint in its place.
"We did nothing, Rooster-guy." Kaoru said in a clear voice as she bent down to pick up the luggage she'd thrown.
The still raven-haired demon lifted her kimono and stepped over the prone body of a certain spiky-haired rooster vampire, careful not to 'accidentally' step on any of his vital parts.
Kaoru wasn't that mean…yet.
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Kaoru gripped her kimono tightly as the group waited by the train station. Her sapphire eyes glanced warily at the humans passing by.
She let out a low growl. Those same humans kept staring at them, more so at Misao and Tsubame and herself. Don't they have anything better to do?
"It's so hot!" Sano groaned underneath his hood.
The afternoon heat was unbearable and the thickness of their cloaks weren't helping. Not in the mood to put up with the humans screeching in fear and the so-called demon exterminators; the vampires opted to wear their cloaks with the hood up to shield their sensitive eyes. Kaoru, on the other hand, refused to wear the material since her eyes didn't hurt.
The wailing vampire clutched the collar of his cloak and pulled on it in an effort to cool off. "Why do we have to wear these, anyway? Let's just ditch them and to hell with what might happen."
Soujiro gave his usual smile. "As much as I like to scare the wits out of the humans here, keep it mind that Hiko wants us to stay a low profile. We don't want Shishio to know that we were searching for the Demon Child also."
Kaoru flinched slightly at the mention of her 'title' and tossed a glare at the smiling vampire.
"Don't call me that," she hissed. "Kaoru's my name, not Demon Child."
Soujiro held his hands up in defense. "Yare, yare." He said. "I meant no harm, my apologies."
Kaoru simply rolled her eyes and made no comment. Instead, the raven-haired demon crossed her arms and closed her eyes in deep thought.
She had so many questions to ask: Like, why is Shishio after her? What does he want with her? What good would it be to him when his men killed Dr. Gensai and the girls?
Kaoru grimaced. Perhaps he knew her secret? She shook her head mentally. No that couldn't be it, she made sure to keep her non-crying vow a secret. Even Misao didn't know the inner beast raging inside her, waiting to come out. The only people who knew died years ago...her adoptive parents; the Kamiyas.
Kaoru sighed and leaned unconsciously against the post. In her mind, she tired to envision her beloved adoptive parents. The Kamiyas had always treated her like she was their own…and like she's a human, not a demon.
The demon smiled as memories of her childhood surfaced: Her father, Toshiro Kamiya, teaching her the ways of the Kamiya Kasshin Ryu which he himself invented. Her mother, Miyuki Kamiya, patiently educating Kaoru in everything she knew; an ever present warm smile on her soft, beautiful face.
From them, Kaoru learnt how to bring out her powers to their true potential and control them with ease. She grew up mastering the arts of swordsmanship, martial combat and any other form of fighting to the point that she even experimented with new moves and techniques.
Kaoru also taught herself how to hide in the shadows and able to sneak up without anyone noticing her. She learnt how to control her ki by meditating everyday before and after her combat lessons. She had gotten so good in hiding her ki that more often than not, Kaoru would take her father by surprise and defeat him in a fight.
Her mother, being a born strategist and politician, taught Kaoru the many various strategies that the demon adapted to her own styles for battles and not just in the combat field, mind you.
'Perhaps that's where I got my sharp tongue and quick wit.' Kaoru thought with a smirk.
Miyuki Kamiya was also very gifted in the arts of culinary and herb-logy (medicine). From her, Kaoru learnt the different variety of plants and herbs and how to use them either as poisons or as antidotes.
All in all, Kaoru grew up to become a talented, graceful and level-headed young female with a warrior's passion and an unrivaled compassion…
Though she can get hot-headed and stubborn if she wanted to. Kaoru cringed mentally. And aside from making tea and her herbs, she couldn't cook shit. No matter how much she'd tired.
Kaoru wrinkled her nose when a past memory of her trying to make onigiri popped in her mind. 'Trying' was the emphasized word. She nearly succeeded in poisoning herself and Misao, who bravely volunteered back then to be her victim, er…guinea pig.
A series of yells and growls broke the demon out of her thoughts and Kaoru reluctantly opened her eyes, not bothering to hide the gleaming silver that had mixed with the sapphire depths, pissed at what had interrupted her reminiscing.
Her silver-sapphire eyes take in the scene before her. An arrogant-looking human male was currently having a heated verbal argument with Misao. They were both red in the face and Kaoru knew that if someone doesn't step in, it would only get worse.
The demon glanced around her; a crowd had formed around them. Some of them were even cheering for either the man or Misao. Sano had moved to stand behind Tsubame to protect her just in case anything would get ugly.
A shift in their stance told Kaoru that Battousai and Soujiro had their hand gripped in the hilt of their katanas. Aoshi stood the closest to Misao (a few inches behind her), a hand on his sword hilt and a grim frown on his face. All of the male vampires had a dark gleam in their eyes, though Aoshi's were darker and more menacing.
Swallowing a sigh, Kaoru stood upright and uncrossed her arms. If she didn't do something right now, things would surely get out of control and the guys' identities would be known…she was not in the mood for the screaming and chaos that would soon manifest afterwards.
The raven-haired demon moved and stepped in between the arrogant human male and furious Misao. She reached a hand up to silence them both.
"Enough." She said. Her voice was low yet commanding and firm.
"Sleeping Beauty's awake at last." sneered the human besides her.
Kaoru turned to glare at the same arrogant male who'd argued with her friend. She was already pissed and her patience right now wasn't that infinite.
"What's seems to be the problem?" She asked coldly.
"The pervert touched me!" exclaimed Misao, pointing an accusing finger at the man.
Kaoru nearly toppled to the ground in surprise with blinking eyes. What the? Of all the things she thought had happened… Kaoru would've sweat-dropped if she wasn't so shocked right now.
"I told you I did not!" hollered the man, clutching his fists. His face, by now, had turned a sea blue.
"Yes you did!" Misao retorted, her emerald eyes gleaming. "You bumped into me and pinched my butt!"
Kaoru smirked. So that's why Aoshi looked like he was going to murder someone in cold blood, namely the man arguing with Misao. The demon laughed mentally. Looks like Misao has an admirer. This would be so much fun.
Everyone jumped uneasily when a slow mischievous and insane grin suddenly began to spread across the demon's lips.
Kaoru noticed this and coughed softly to cover up the grin. After getting a hold of herself, Kaoru turned to face the man with a serious look on her face.
"Well? What do you have to say for yourself?" she asked. Now that she had found out the situation, Kaoru wasn't that pissed anymore. Instead, she even found it amusing.
"I bumped into her yes. For that I apologize," the man admitted. "But I didn't pinch her butt."
"She's not my type anyway." He added.
At this, Misao fumed. Her face a darker shade of red on the verge to turned violet. Fortunately though, she kept her mouth shut. (Probably because Kaoru had stomped her foot on Misao's).
Kaoru raised an eyebrow and, for the first time, took the time to glance at the man up and down. He was young, probably just a few seasons older than her, and had dark brown hair and hazel eyes. He wasn't that tall, perhaps a few inches taller than her. He was dressed in the usual gi and hakama.
He's cute, the demon concluded. But nothing compared to Battousai. Those amber eyes, that sexy hair and that well-toned body...wonder what he would be like as a lover?
Kaoru blushed at the thought and shook her head to wipe out similar thoughts. She needed more rest badly. Apparently, the nap on the train didn't help. (AN: cough...and what happened afterwards… Hohoho!)
As Kaoru was making her observation, the man grinned.
'Oh yeah,' he thought smugly. 'She's checking me out.'
The demon raised a delicate eyebrow when she saw the grin and the smug look on his face.
"What?" she asked as he continued to grin at her.
The man reached out a hand. "Himato Teisuki, pleased to meet you." He smiled.
Kaoru simply gave him a questioning stare.
Teisuki frowned. "Aren't you supposed to give me your name?" he asked.
Kaoru's eyebrow went higher. "Am I supposed too?" she counter-asked.
Frankly she was starting to get ticked off again. The demon looked around, trying to spot an approaching carriage and hoped that it's their ride. There wasn't.
To everyone's surprise, Kaoru the most, Teisuki boldly took the demon's hand and started to caress it with his thumbs.
Kaoru jerked her hand from his grip. The silver mixed in her sapphire eyes gleamed darker as Kaoru tired to hide her disgust. It was then she knew what his intentions were.
'Who the hell does he think he is? Arguing with my friend then having the nerve to flirt me!' She thought furiously. Kaoru felt a vein ticking somewhere in her temple.
Neither noticed the brightening of molten amber eyes with a hint of red in them and the sudden rising of violent ki. The other vampires however…
'Why is Himura angry?' thought Aoshi.
'What's wrong with Himura?' thought Soujiro.
'That human's as good as dead.' thought Sano, smirking slightly.
"What in the world do you think you're doing?" growled Kaoru coldly. She couldn't swear since Tsubame was present along with a few human children.
The tone of the demon's voice was so icy that it sent shivers down most of the spectators' spines, including Misao, Tsubame and even Sano who would usually hear that kind of tone from either Battousai or Aoshi.
Teisuki, the brainless idiot he is, didn't notice Kaoru's obvious 'dislike' towards him and pointed out.
"You have a nice posterior, do you know that?"
Misao, Sano, Tsubame and Soujiro (the last two blushing a pale pink) smacked their hand to their foreheads and groaned.
'Boy, is he really going to get it.' They all thought.
Kaoru mouth gaped open but felt her ki going up to dangerous levels and snapped her mouth shut as she concentrated hard for control. Her fists twitched slightly. She wanted so much to see her fist connected with the male human's face. Maybe even kneeing him in his 'sensitive' spot.
The demon opened her mouth, an insult at the tip of her tongue when someone gripped her arm. Kaoru turned, still pissed, to find that it was Battousai. Her silver-sapphire eyes soften unconsciously as she gazed into his molten amber-red orbs. Battousai held her gaze for a moment before he focused his sight on Teisuki and let out a low growl deep in his throat.
Battousai's voice was emotionless and cold when he muttered.
"Leave her alone." He said. "She doesn't want to talk to the likes of you."
Kaoru raised an eyebrow. Since when did he get so chivalrous at her?
A normal male of any specie would have cowered over the icy death glare Battousai gave him but Teisuki wasn't an ordinary human. He's a stupid one.
"Who're you to tell me?" Teisuki puffed his chest out proudly. (AN: a bit egomastic ain't he? Hohoho! .) "I'm Himato Teisuki, the owner of the most popular restaurant in Kyoto."
Battousai took his hood off and the bangs of his crimson hair framed his narrowed gleaming bloody red-amber eyes. Unsheathing his katana, he swung the blade and held the tip underneath the human's chin, just barely piercing the skin.
"And I'm Battousai." He said cold and simple.
The vampire smirked as Teisuki turned pale as well as the crowd. However, the screeching, both women and men, soon erupted and the group of vampires, demon, and humans covered their eyes to block out the shrill sound.
Kaoru, being a demon, had the most sensitive pair of ears of them all and thus covered the area of her head where her real ears were with her arms. She almost howled in pain and would have if Battousai, eyes a blazing fiery bloody red-amber, hadn't then yelled.
"Shut up!"
The crowd went silent. It was so eerily quiet that one can hear a pin being dropped.
Kaoru's arms fell limp to her sides as the demon stood upright. She sighed with barely contained relief.
Somewhere in the crowd, a deep nervous cough was heard. All turned and the crowd parted to reveal a black-haired and brown-eyed human wearing a coacher's uniform.
"Erm…" he started nervously as he felt all eyes staring at him; some intently, some in relief.
"Battousai-sama, the carriage has arrived." He finally spurted out.
"Finally," breathed a flustered Misao.
"It's about damn time." She commented.
The others except Battousai let out a sigh of relief, eager to get back to the mansion.
Battousai, however, didn't move a flinch. His eyes continued to glare into Teisuki's hazel ones. The grip on his katana tightened and the vampire held the blade's tip deeper into the brown-haired human's soft under-chin, drawing out a small trial of blood that flow down Teisuki's chin to his neck.
Kaoru placed a soft hand on the crimson-head vampire.
"Let go Battousai." She said softly, as if speaking to a child. "We should get going. The rest are waiting for us."
Battousai looked back to stare into Kaoru's sapphire eyes which by now had lost its silver gleam. His own amber eyes had softened and lost its bloody red tint. An unknown emotion crossed the amber depths but then turned back to their usual emotionless look so fast that Kaoru thought she'd just imagined it.
The vampire tossed one more death glare at Teisuki before he withdrew his katana and flicked the blade to get rid of the blood that had begun to trail down his sword's blade. Normally, he would've licked the blood off but he didn't want to taste this particular human's blood. If ever he would get the sweet chance to kill Teisuki, he would just slash him to death and leave him dying in a pool of his own blood.
Battousai sheathed his katana and turned his back on Teisuki.
"Stay away Himato if you don't want to die a slow, painful death." He said calmly before he walked away towards the carriage.
Kaoru rolled her eyes at Battousai's threat but inside, she was steaming mad. Who was he to act like her bodyguard or a jealous boyfriend (she lightly blushed at the word)? She could take care of herself. Damnit!
Kaoru huffed stubbornly but followed Battousai nonetheless.
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The ride towards the mansion had been uneventful. After Kaoru and Misao gave the driver an earful for being late, they all had settled inside and went silent.
Kaoru sighed as she glanced outside the carriage's window, the past events playing across her mind.
Whoever said that life's a bitch was right.
Soon after, the mansion came into view. It was located at a remote place somewhere in Kyoto, hidden in the hills and forests that surrounds and serves as its' barriers.
Kaoru gazed at the mansion that became more noticeable the nearer they got. She had to admit that it was beautiful. The place was a mixture of Western and Japanese architecture. The mansion itself was made like that of a regular but much bigger Japanese house; wood, rice shoji and all. The front lawn though was obviously made under the Western influence and the tall gates were a pure golden color.
More likely, they would also have a dojo or a gym at least. Kaoru was excited to do her training so much that when the gates opened and the carriage went inside and stopped in the driveway, the demon hopped off the carriage as soon as the door opened and landed on the ground.
Kaoru stretched her body and craned her neck as she waited for the others to get off.
Misao and Tsubame squealed with delight as they took in the sight with wide eyes. Not that Kaoru could blame them, the place was beautiful.
Kaoru opted to take her luggage herself when the human driver – whom trough hers and Misao's scolding learnt that his name's Okino— made a move to get them instead, including Misao's and Tsubame's, and handed them over to a couple of more human servants (who had suddenly seemed to pop out of nowhere) who in turn, carried their luggage inside.
A large, brooding figure then stepped out into the driveway and Kaoru held back a gasp.
The figure was that of a male, rather an intimidating-looking male. He had brown hair that cascade down his broad shoulders and wore a pair of pants and a plain shirt over a long white cloak that brushed against his brown boots. The edges of his cloak's collar had a single red stripe and was starched upwards that it seemed to defy gravity. (AN: I'm not sure how Hiko really looks like so bear with me…)
The four male vampires bowed their heads politely (Okino had long gone to the stables by then).
"My Lord," they muttered at the same time.
The Vampire Lord smirked and approached Battousai. To the girls' surprise, the large man…er, vampire bonked the red-head on the head with a sake jar.
"Baka deshi," he muttered, glaring down at Battousai. "You took an awfully long time to get here."
Battousai glared back at the Vampire Lord. "We could've gotten here sooner but Okino was late."
"Excuses, excuses." The larger vampire grumbled before he took a swing of his sake.
The Vampire Lord's brown eyes noted the three females and raised a thick eyebrow..
"Who're they?" he asked.
"They're the Demon Child and her friends, Hiko-sama." answered Aoshi.
Hiko rolled his eyes. "I thought I told you men not to call me 'sama'. I'm not an old man."
Sano coughed lightly to disguise a chuckle, causing the older vampire to glare at him for a moment.
"So which one of them is her?" asked Hiko.
Kaoru stepped forward. "I am." She said confidently.
"My name's Kamiya Kaoru."
She pointed to Misao. "This is Makamichi Misao, a skilled ninja." Kaoru then pointed to Tsubame. "And this is Tsubame Sukinari (AN: I just made it up okay people?)."
"Hiko Seijiruo, Vampire Lord of Kyoto." introduced Hiko as he shook hands with Kaoru.
"Why don't you all come inside and I'll get the servants to show you to your rooms?"
Kaoru nodded her head and followed Hiko inside with the others trailing behind her.
As the girls were shown to their rooms, Hiko and the other vampires sat down in Hiko's private office.
"Where's Kitsune?" asked Sano as he and the rest took their seats. Since they arrived, he hadn't seen the fox doctor.
"She's attending to some of our men in Station 12." answered Hiko, taking another swig of his sake. "A lone group of werewolves tired to take them by surprise. Luckily, no one was killed."
Hiko set his sake jar down and turned his gaze to Battousai.
"Now, what is this matter I heard about you and the Demon Child?" he asked
Battousai nearly choked on his cup of tea the servant had given to him much to the amusement of his fellow vampires.
------------------------------------------------------- (AN: Ain't I a sucker? Hohoho!)
Carelessly throwing her tabi sandals to the floor, Kaoru flopped down on the queen-sized bed and scanned around her room.
Her room was magnificent. The walls were a vibrant blue and gold color and her furniture are the colors of blue, gold, black and silver. Her bed was draped in a blue and silver-lined blanket and the curtains hanging from the bed's top sides were a bluish-silver color tied up in black rope. Aside from her bed, Kaoru also found a writing table, a wooden cabinet and even a silver-black comforter was placed in one of the corners besides a small stack of books and a small lamp stand.
Kaoru hugged one of her black-colored pillows and sighed against the silky material. This definitely beats her futon hands-down.
The demon caught sight of the large window with blue-gold curtains to find that it was actually a large glass door leading to the balcony. Kaoru opted to check it out…but right now. She yawned softly. She felt like taking a nap.
Kaoru closed her eyes and was about to doze off when a knock came to her door. Shuffling a groan, Kaoru reluctantly got up.
Her bare feet touched the carpeted floor and smothered the sound of her footsteps as Kaoru approached the door.
Kaoru, who by now, had discarded her disguise, smoothen her silver-dark blue hair and checked herself before she opened the door.
It was Misao.
"Hey Kao-chan!" exclaimed Misao as the young woman skipped into Kaoru's room with Tsubame behind her.
The two glanced at Kaoru's room appreciatively.
"Your room's gorgeous, Kao-nee." Tsubame commented.
"Hai," said Misao. "It's even more eye-catching than mine. Not that mine's hideous, mind you. In fact, my room's beautiful."
Misao giggled. She nudged Kaoru lightly in the ribs. "But I guess that what you get when you're practically the guest of honor ne?" she said jokingly.
Kaoru simply rolled her eyes at Misao's babbling and was about to close the door when a servant came to inform them that there's a meeting and that the two humans are also welcomed to join.
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Aoshi, Soujiro and Sano were sent outside to wait for the females while Hiko made Battousai stay behind.
Hiko sipped on his cup of sake since his jar was empty.
"You know baka deshi," he said, casting a glance at his pupil. "We cannot choose what our heart desires for."
Battousai raised an eyebrow. "Do we even have a heart?"
The older vampire whacked the red-head in the head with his empty sake jar. "Don't be an idiot." Hiko muttered.
He continued. "I, myself, am shocked that the Demon Child turned out to be a female since female children are rare in both opposing clans."
Battousai, who was nursing the growing bump in his head, narrowed his amber eyes. "What's your point?" he growled.
Hiko sighed. "From what you've told me about that Himato incident earlier, you seemed to be attached to the Demon Child and I for one…"
"She doesn't like to be called 'Demon Child'." Battousai interrupted.
Hiko raised an eyebrow. "Pardon?"
"Kamiya Kaoru," continued the red-head vampire. "She doesn't like to be called by that title."
"I see…" said Hiko before he took another sip of sake. He smirked. "Who've thought?"
Battousai cast a questioning glance at his master.
"Who've thought that my baka deshi would finally get attracted to the opposite gender?" finished Hiko.
Battousai nearly fell off his cushion in surprise.
"I was beginning to worry that you might be gay." Hiko added, smirking.
This time, Battousai did fell off from his kneel-sit position.
'Oro!' came a voice inside his mind.
'I couldn't agree more.' Battousai thought wholeheartedly.
The shoji door suddenly opened and Soujiro peeked his head inside.
"They're here."
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When everyone had taken their seat, Hiko glanced at Kaoru with a serious expression in his face.
"I supposed you would like to know the whole story?"
To be continued
Sapphire: Well how was it? I hope you guys liked this chapter. I know it's not my best but what do you expect from someone who wrote this during a seven-day vacation of doing nothing but going to the beaches in Negros and shopping like crazy? Unfortunately though, my skin tone still remained the same! What a bummer…
Sigh. School's just around the corner…don't you ever get the feeling that May seems like Sunday? (fellow Filipino students, I know you feel the same way too…) Sigh. I need my comfort food. (opens a pint of 'Dulce Gatas' [Milk Candy], scoops up a spoonful and pops it in her mouth) Yummy! Ang namit! [delicious]. This is one of the reasons why I just love being a Filipino...the food. Hohoho!
Note: For those who didn't know, Dulce Gatas is a Filipino delicacy. It is made up mostly of sugar and (commonly) carabao's (I think the English calls them 'water buffalo') milk. There are several types of Dulce Gatas but I like the crunchy ones. Yummy yum yum!
Anyway, looks like the attraction between B/K and S/M are growing, small though but still growing! And The Rurouni made a cameo again! Sheesh…I'm beginning to suspect a conspiracy against my own fingers, they just love to mention his 'Oro-ness.' I'll have to watch out or else I might write about the Rurouni instead of Battousai. Hohoho! .
Next chapter, Megumi will be properly introduced as well as a few others. We'll also finally get to know why Kaoru has become so popular amongst the clans nowadays.