Title: Kaoru's Gift
Author: Bradybunch4529
Ratings: PG-13 to R
Summary: Future Fic AU OOC A recent murder has a familiar look to it. Reminding Aoshi of a serial murderer. Aoshi is forced to bring in the FBI and a woman that he had sworn to forget. K/K hints of A/K.
Pairings: Kaoru/Kenshins hints of Kaoru/Aoshi
Chapter 2: Reminders
The girl ran hard. She ignored the rain pounding down, her feet swift and sure on the darkened path. The trees loomed out of the darkness surrounding her, their bare branches reaching out for her. Her clothes stuck to her skin, hair plastered to her head and still she ran.
Mud splashed up with every step. Her muscles burned, breath coming in short gasps as she continued to run. The pain was easily blocked, too many nights of this same ritual. Rain. Shine. Snow. Nothing had ever stopped her from running. Running from the demons that she never conquered.
She didn't even consider the oddity of it anymore. She found peace in the running, solace in the rhythm of her feet striking the ground as she raced over the path. Isolating herself in this valley hadn't prevented the nightmares. So she ran. Lightening lit up the sky, thunder booming out and shaking the ground. Still she ran.
Finally she broke free of the trees. She slowly drew up, pausing on the precipice in front of her. Her favorite path took her up the side of one of her mountains. The valley lay beneath her, seeming unblighted by human hands. Her house was hidden by the trees and easily unnoticed with a casual glance. Her heart slowed, drawing in deep breaths as her eyes traced the familiar landscape.
The wind bracketed her, wrapping cool arms around her. The sky was boiling in front of her. Dark clouds tumbled over each other as they raced across the sky. Grey, black and dark blue loomed over her as lightening lit up the sky. She stretched her arms wide, face tilting upwards to the driving rain, eyes closing as the rain struck her face. Mouth dropping open as she breathed deeply of the damp, clean, mountain air. Waiting for the peace that always came to her.
For the first time there was no peace to be found. Instead she found herself remembering a similar night so long ago. And the reason that she had been driven from her bed tonight.
He was coming.
She drew in a deep breath, ignoring the way that her heart jumped at the thought. Her stomach was queasy as she considered the implications of his arrival. She already knew of the killings. The way that the blood dripped from the ceilings, the message written on the wall. So eerily familiar to a scene from the past.
And an impossibility. Of course this time he wasn't coming alone. He was going to bring strangers into her home. Her sanctuary. The place where everything was muted. Her head and arms dropped, a deep sigh rattling from her throat. It seemed that the world she had been determined to leave behind had found her again.
Her arms wrapped around her waist, tears misting in her eyes, as a wry grimace crossed her face. There was no escaping the past. Slowly she turned away from the cliff, beginning to jog down the path. There were things she had to do if she was going to have company. If this storm didn't hold them up then they should be here no later than tomorrow evening.
Kenshin Himura closed his eyes, doing his best to block out Sano as he continued to rage. For the first hour Kenshin had been sympathetic, not liking the wake up anymore than Sano did. But going into the second hour Kenshin had long since quit listening. The airplane was almost empty and everyone else was asleep. Even the flight attendants were napping and Kenshin wanted to do nothing more than join them.
But Sano's voice was loud in his ear, even if it was a whisper of sound in the silent cabin. Kenshin supposed he should be thankful that Sano was trying not to wake up everyone else. His head shifted, his long red hair caught up in the familiar high pony tail on top of his head, as he tried to find a more comfortable position. He crossed his legs, the black suit pants crinkling slightly.
Sano's voice receded from his hearing and Kenshin sighed in relief. His training had accomplished something at least. He couldn't believe that he was 40 years old. A wry grimace crossed his face. Sometimes he wondered if his life had meant anything. The government had assured him that his missions made the world a little safer. But was it worth the blood that coated his hands?
Kenshin didn't think so. Especially not when he woke up in the dead of night, shaking from the images of the past. Being an FBI agent had been the idea of Hiko when Kenshin had first left the marines. Kenshin couldn't stand to have nothing to do and so Kenshin had agreed. Hoping that he could finally wash the blood stains from his hands. Instead the stains had spread until Kenshin no longer believed that redemption was possible for him.
With a firm mental shake of his head, Kenshin pushed those thoughts away. He had long ago trained himself to ignore these thoughts, not wishing to dwell on the past. So it had to be the rain and the rude awakening that had done it. Or it could be the fact that Aoshi Shinomori was the one that had requested help.
While Kenshin had never met the man before, he knew his name. That name had appeared on countless reports on a case close to Kenshin. Not that anyone but Hiko knew that Kenshin was related to the case. The perpetrator had never explained why and Kenshin had never come forward.
A hand on his shoulder brought Kenshin back to the present. He looked over and met the concerned brown eyes of Sano.
"You okay man?" Sano asked. "We've landed and everyone else has already left the plane."
"Sorry," Kenshin apologized. "Must have dozed off."
"Uh-huh." Sano shrugged and got up from his seat and stepped into the aisle. He had to duck slightly to avoid brushing his head against the top of the airplane. He reached into the overhead compartment and pulled out his and Kenshin's bag.
Kenshin stood up, forcing himself to relax his tight muscles. He slid out into the aisle, nodding his thanks at Sano when he handed Kenshin his bag. He adjusted his grip, pulling the black bag tight against his chest as he followed Sano to the front of the plane. He nodded his thanks at the flight attendant at the front, echoing Sano's thank you.
As they made their way up the gate, Sano slowed down so that Kenshin could come abreast of him. "So who's meeting us again?" Sano asked as he looked around.
"Special Agent Soujiro Seta," Kenshin replied as he headed for the baggage claim area. "And the detective that requested our help was Lieutenant Aoshi Shinormori," Kenshin told him.
"That name sounds familiar for some reason," Sano mused as he scanned the crowd for the man that was supposed to meet them.
"It should," Kenshin told him. "He's the one that caught Einish Yukishiro."
"Hey I remember that!" Sano exclaimed. "They used that case in the our training for serial killers." A frown crossed his face.
"It was a very nasty series of murders," Kenshin agreed. His eyes cashing a flash of sign in the corner of his eyes. It only took a minute to verify that the sign held his and Sano's name and to point it out to Sano. They both headed over to the sign and the smiling young man holding it.
Kenshin's eyes automatically assessed the man. While the face was smiling brilliantly, his blue eyes remained cool and dead. There was no sign of curiosity or welcome in those eyes. For a moment he was tempted to comment, instead he smiled and held out his hand. "Kenshin Himura and Sanoske Sagara," he said in way of introduction.
"Soujiro Seta," the other man responded as he shook first Kenshin's hand and then Sano's. "My boss Shishio Makoto sent me to pick you up and take you to meet up with Lieutenant Shinomori."
"Any idea why they are requesting our assistance," Sano asked easily as they headed for the parking garage.
"All they passed onto us was there was a murder they wanted our opinion on," Soujiro Seta relayed him.
"That doesn't sound like the NYPD," Kenshin observed.
"No it doesn't," Soujiro agreed. "But it was decided that it was better to honor their request. When my boss got the details he called your boss."
"So it's like any other assignment where the higher ups know what is going on and we don't," Sano grinned easily. "Got to love it."
Soujiro made no reply, simply unlocked the car doors and slid inside. Kenshin and Sano followed suit after placing their bags in the trunk. The three men were silent as Soujiro navigated out of the parking garage and merged with interstate traffic. Despite the early morning hour the traffic was terrible and Kenshin actually found himself wincing as they weaved in and out of traffic. He was glad that he was able to walk to work in the morning. City traffic was always a strain. He breathed a little easier when Soujiro finally swung the car into a garage and parked.
"Lieutenant Shinomori said that he would be waiting with the details," Soujiro told them as he got out of the car.
"Should we get our cases?" Sano asked.
"No," Soujiro shook his head and led the way to the elevators. They showed their credentials to the guard and got waved through. "I've been assigned to you while you are here. So you are kinda stuck with me."
"Works for me," Sano assured him when Kenshin remained silent. "I don't relish the thought of trying to find my way around."
Aoshi Shinomori looked up when Misoa Makimachi approached his desk. His dark blue eyes met her sparkling blue ones and felt something in him shift. Once again he shoved it away and concentrated on what she was holding. The folder was obviously the report from the coroner. He almost dreaded finding out what was in the report. Open in front of him was file of Enishi Yukishiro.
He had really hoped that he would have left all of this behind. The dreams about her drenched blue eyes were enough. To have somebody actually copying those murders were enough to drive him to drink. Instead he forced himself to go over everything from the original serial killings. Hoping against hope that he had missed something. But he had found nothing.
"Got the coroner's report," Misoa told him easily. "Something about it seems familiar to me but I can't place it. What are you looking at?" She placed the folder down and leaned over his shoulder. "Anything interesting."
"Don't know yet," Aoshi told her calmly. He reached for the folder and opened it up.
"The desk sergeant called, the FBI are on their way up," Misoa continued. "I don't know we had to call them."
"Because of the murder last night," Aoshi told her without looking at her.
"What's so special about the murder last night? Despite the fact it was a blood bath, I mean."
"It a perfect copy of a serial killer from 5 years ago," Aoshi finally admitted.
"Which one?"
"Enishi Yukishiro."
A/N: Well there is another chapter. I know really short. But I really just wanted to get it out there. And this chapter is simply dying a miserable death. The next one will be better. You'll finally get to meet the mysterious woman. So stick with me a little longer. Hope you enjoyed it. Forgive any mistakes.